Saturday, November 28, 2015

PMLL Episode 0173 From the Dance Floor to the Raised Floor (PMBestPractices)

Notes and Podcast info from the PMlessonsLearned.com Conference Call:
Topic: From the Dance Floor to the Raised Floor (PMBestPractices)
PM Best Practices host Alicia Colantuono leads this call.
Presenter: Howard Smallowitz, PMP

Date of Conference Call: 19Nov2015
Podcast Number: 0173

MP3 / Podcast: Download the MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.

If you're studying for the PMP Exam, you may want to listen to the MP3s of past PMP Exam Study Group conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).

PRESENTATION:
The presentation materials will be available just prior to the call - follow the Files and Presentations link on our website to download it

NOTES FROM THE CALL:
The popularity of television shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” has led to an explosion in the number of people wanting to learn how to dance. Presenter Howard Smallowitz knows this because, in addition to being an ITIL-certified systems engineer and a PMP-certified project manager for IBM, he is a professional dance instructor.

At first glance, it would seem that these two jobs could not be more different. But hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t learn something from teaching people to dance that could help us all to be better project managers. Dancing is all about leading and following. The rules don't differ much whether you are on a dance floor or a raised floor. The skills dancers spend years cultivating to be better leaders apply directly to project leaders.

Some lessons are obvious:
• Know, in advance, what you want.
• Communicate it unambiguously to your partners.
• Constantly refine your skills.
• Above all, if you're not having fun, it's time to change something.

Some lessons are not so obvious:
• What's your number one job as a leader on the dance floor? (Hint: It’s not leading.).
• Why it is not true that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backward in high heels, and what you can learn from it.

Howard will reveal these secrets and many more. So even if you believe you have two left feet, no rhythm, and you retired from dancing the moment you were done with your first dance at your wedding, Howard will show you lessons from the dance floor that will help you to be a better leader and project manager.

Session Objectives and Participant Benefits: At the end of this session, participants can expect to learn a great deal about how to get what they want from their personal and professional lives and, as on the dance floor, can expect to have a lot of fun while learning how to do it.


PRESENTERS BIO:
Howard Smallowitz, PMP®, is an ITIL-certified and PMI-certified project manager. He is a widely published author and has had a variety of responsibilities in his 15 years with IBM. He has trained people world-wide on systems engineering tools and techniques. He currently is a first-line manager at IBM, overseeing a large group of IT architects implementing service management systems on to some of the world's largest strategic outsourcing accounts.

====================================
Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMlessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers make a difference. Open to all.


Saturday, November 14, 2015

PMLL Episode 0172 Know How To Report Project Status Using Traffic Light Indicators (PMBestPractices)

Notes and Podcast info from the PMlessonsLearned.com Conference Call:
Topic: Know How To Report Project Status Using Traffic Light Indicators (PMBestPractices)
PM Best Practices host Alicia Colantuono leads this call.
Presenter: Jo Morrison, PMP, PCPM, SSMBB

Date of Conference Call: 15Oct2015
Podcast Number: 0172

MP3 / Podcast: Download the MP3 or Listen on Internet Archive or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.

If you're studying for the PMP Exam, you may want to listen to the MP3s of past PMP Exam Study Group conference calls. They're located in our Archive (see the link on our website).

PRESENTATION:
The presentation materials will be available just prior to the call - follow the Files and Presentations link on our website to download it

NOTES FROM THE CALL:
Jo Morrison is a senior program manager for Wells Fargo in the IT division. Her credentials are Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Project Management Professional (PMP), with a second Project Management Professional Certification. She has 35 years of experience in project management in the banking, water resources, and technology manufacturing industries. She work 18 years at Intel Corporation mostly in their IT department. She developed a PMO for Central Arizona Project and held the VP of PMO position for the Phoenix PMI chapter. She has published articles on Operational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) and contributed to a Book on the subject.

====================================
Please join us for a future conference call (they're all free and open to all). We currently have several calls a month. See our calendar of future calls via the link on our website.

If you're looking for a PM job, we invite you to join our FREE PM JOB SHOP conference calls.
Join the Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmjobshop

We highly recommend that you join the free PM Lessons Learned Yahoo group in order to get announcements of our calls and other information to further your PM career.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pmLessonsLearned

Join our Yahoo group for details, reminders of the calls, and information to help you in your PM Career. Visit the website for details.

PMlessonsLearned.com - Project Managers helping Project Managers make a difference. Open to all.


Monday, November 09, 2015

FREE Conf Call (11/19/2015) "From the Dance Floor to the Raised Floor" (PM Best Practices)

What: FREE PM Lessons Learned PM Best Practice conference call

Topic: "From the Dance Floor to the Raised Floor"

Subtitle: "Project Management Secrets of a Ballroom Dance Instructor"

Who: Howard Smallowitz, PMP
  

When: Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 9pm Eastern time

Where: Conference Dial-in: (641) 715-3640 Access Code: 142349#
=======================
Presentation Materials:
The presentation materials will be available just prior to the call, click on the presentation slides link on our website to follow along with screen sharing, or you can download the presentation files here
=======================
Abstract of the Presentation:
The popularity of television shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” has led to an explosion in the number of people wanting to learn how to dance. Presenter Howard Smallowitz knows this because, in addition to being an ITIL-certified systems engineer and a PMP-certified project manager for IBM, he is a professional dance instructor.

At first glance, it would seem that these two jobs could not be more different. But hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t learn something from teaching people to dance that could help us all to be better project managers. Dancing is all about leading and following. The rules don't differ much whether you are on a dance floor or a raised floor. The skills dancers spend years cultivating to be better leaders apply directly to project leaders.


Some lessons are obvious:

Know, in advance, what you want.
Communicate it unambiguously to your partners.
Constantly refine your skills.
Above all, if you're not having fun, it's time to change something.

Some lessons are not so obvious:

What's your number one job as a leader on the dance floor? (Hint: It’s not leading.).
Why it is not true that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backward in high heels, and what you can learn from it.

Howard will reveal these secrets and many more. So even if you believe you have two left feet, no rhythm, and you retired from dancing the moment you were done with your first dance at your wedding, Howard will show you lessons from the dance floor that will help you to be a better leader and project manager.


Session Objectives and Participant Benefits: At the end of this session, participants can expect to learn a great deal about how to get what they want from their personal and professional lives and, as on the dance floor, can expect to have a lot of fun while learning how to do it.


Presenters Bio:
Howard Smallowitz, PMP®, is an ITIL-certified and PMI-certified project manager. He is a widely published author and has had a variety of responsibilities in his 15 years with IBM. He has trained people world-wide on systems engineering tools and techniques. He currently is a first-line manager at IBM, overseeing a large group of IT architects implementing service management systems on to some of the world's largest strategic outsourcing accounts.