Image by Geodog via Flickr

As many of you are aware, I am currently a project manager for a software company.  My job specifically has me managing implementation and migration projects.  I have been doing this for a number of years, enough in fact that I have another of the requirements to taking the PMP (Project Management Professional) exam under my belt. 

The PMI (Project Management Institute) is a non-profit organization started in 1969 by project management professionals with a goal of “advancing the practice, science, and profession of project management throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner…”  Through the years the PMI has created a set of project quality standards that are published in their definitive guide – the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). The PMBOK guide is now widely regarded by organizations throughout the world as the “industry standard” in project management.  The PMP certification, which is administered by the PMI, assures that project management professionals understand the project quality standards, adhere to a code of ethics, and embark on a continuing journey of learning and participation in the project management community.

To qualify to take the PMP exam you have to have demonstrated project management experience.  For those holding a Bachelor’s Degree this is 3 years (4500 hours) of project management experience.  For those with a high school diploma it is 5 years (7500 hours) .    You must also complete 35 contact hours of PMP instruction from a company, institution or facility that is registered with the PMI.

Since I have my Bachelor’s degree, and I have more than 3 years of project management experience I decided it was time for me to get those initials after my name.  To do that I needed 35 contact hours of training.

I had researched this a couple times in the past and let me tell you there are myriads of opportunities available.  Just do a Google search for PMP Education and be overwhelmed by the over 3 million results.  As I began reviewing the options I became very cognizant of the costs and since this is a non-company funded activity it became a primary concern.  (The exam itself is not an inexpensive endeavor.)  Costs ranged from thousands down to hundreds.  I had almost settled into a local university offering which would have been about $1800.00 when I decided I would Twitter and ask if anyone knew of anything that was available online.  

It wasn’t long and I got a reply from Cornelius Fichtner pointing me to his PM-PrepCast.  This was an interesting approach that I hadn’t even considered.  A podcast that provides me with the supplementary instruction material required by the PMI.  I read through the content of the site and decided that for $49.99 it was probably worth investigating.   I was even happier to learn that if I wasn’t satisfied he would provide me with a refund. 

I listened to the couple of examples he had on the website because I was a bit concerned about being able to keep my interest.  (I know in reading the PMBOK that if you are having trouble sleeping all you really need to do is open up the guide and you will be sound asleep in a matter of minutes.)  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Cornelius has a very pleasant accent and the podcast was actually not too bad.  I signed up yesterday.   Certainly the price is right.  I don’t know of another way to get 35 contact hours for 50 bucks. 

(Shameless plug:  If you are reading this and you are interested click on the PM-PrepCast link or the image above.  His company pays referrals/commission if you sign up using my link. – You can also get 1 of your own.)

I look forward to this journey and I will keep you updated with periodic posts of my progress.  I have until the end of June to complete the exam using the 3rd edition of the PMBOK.  The 4th edition was released in December and the test will be modified for this edition after June 30th.  So with PMBOK in hand I am off to listen to a couple of podcasts.

So in no particular order, here are some things that I consider when I build a post:

1. Structure of the post. By structure I mean the layout. Paragraphs are utilized, bold and italics where necessary, lists, etc. A post that consists of one long paragraph is probably not going to get much attention from readers.

2. Include a relevant picture on the post.  This adds a level of visual interest and in some cases could even be pertinent to the topic at hand.  Please keep in mind when using photos that you should respect the copyright of the owner.  

There are a number of services out there like Acobox where you can get hosted blog photos.  You can also use Flickr, or Google, etc…

3.  Spelling and Grammar should be checked on all posts.  No one expect all blogs to have professional copywriters with exceptional grammar and spelling skills but in this day an age obvious mistakes should be corrected.

4.  Link to other content.  If you make reference to something that is available on the Internet it is always nice if you can link to that content to make it easier for your readers to get there.  In the above paragraph I liked to all of the image providers that I mentioned… this is just an example.

5. Write to your target audience.  Blogs are not one size fits all.  You have a group of people that read what you write.  Try to keep your posts/articles on topic for that targeted group.  Don’t write about rocket science if you primary reader is the backyard gardener. (Unless of course there was some breakthrough in rocket science that is important for backyard gardeners to understand.)

Again, these 5 items may seem to be basic but it is absolutely amazing to me how often none of them are done.

The article that I link to below includes the top 50 which was derived from more than 11,000 companies based on approximately 75,000 employees responses to a survey.

What I really like about this survey is that in order to even be eligible for the list a company had to have a certain number of respondents, they had to have an overall satisfied rating, and the CEO of the company had to have at least a 50% approval rating.    Unlike other surveys I have seen this one also focused on employee attitude about the workplace, work/life balance, fair and equitable treatment, respect, recognition, compensation, etc…   In the 20 questions they really tried to discover a “true” understanding of all aspects of a job.

Granted, you can make a survey’s results say anything you want them to say, and there are probably many companies not included on this list because they were too small, their employees didn’t know about it, etc…

So who are the top companies?  I’ll give you the top 10 and let you go take a look at the rest for yourself…

1. General Mills
2. Bain and Company
3. Netflix
4. Adobe
5. Northwestern Mutual
6. Whole Foods
7. Google
8. SAP
9. Continental Airlines
10. NetApp

The entire article and list (complete with linked reviews) is available at this link… Best Places to Work | Glassdoor.com.

Found this great project management article over on informative articles…

Effective project managers know how to get the job done, and get it done right. Success comes not only from wise selection of the team members and utilization of the best project management software tools; effective managers know how to lead, and how to encourage project team members to do their best. This includes clearly setting and communicating project goals, providing proper training and/or equipment, as well as other necessary items and expertise. Effective project management also requires constant re-evaluation of your performance as the project leader. The most effective form of leadership is by example. If your team members see that you strive to live up to the high standards you require from the project team, they will inevitably be more productive.

Set Attainable goals. Project managers should clearly define the objectives of the assignment and then see that each stage of the project plan has reasonable milestones that mark the accomplishment of the included tasks. All project team members should be aware of the project goals, and understand what his or her part is in accomplishing these goals. Break the project down into sections that allow members to see real progress being made at each stage.

Provide Training & Equipment. Project Team members should be chosen for roles according to their areas of exper

Read the rest: Informative Articles » Project Management, A Forgotten Perspective.

Creating basic highlight reports which clients and management can comprehend.

Letting people know how a project is coming along is obviously a key responsibility of any project manager. With so many methodologies to choose from these days, it becomes hard to determine which key pieces of information will be useful to those involved in the project. These methodologies often come with a tangled mass of cryptic terminology, often only recognizable to practitioners of the system (e.g. burn down chart, sprint backlog, concession, story points, etc).

Let’s say for instance your client is in the food transport business and is getting your company to build them an ERP application. Chances are they wont understand concepts from Agile or PRINCE2, and why should they, they are in a totally different industry.

The issue then becomes; what information do you present when creating a status report that will be useful to the broadest audience (e.g. client, senior management, non-technical user advocates, etc). The project information maintained internally for planning and day-to-day management is one thing, but what gets shown to non-technical stake-holders is something entirely different.

via Project Management for the Web: Project Status Reports Everyone Can Understand.

I received the video at the bottom of this article from a co-worker and I just couldn’t help but laugh.  As a frequent business traveler, the holidays are probably one of my least favorite time to travel due to the large number of people that are traveling, but even more important than that, the number of people that are infrequent travelers that seem to make the experience even worse.

Don’t get me wrong… I have nothing against the infrequent traveler!  I just wish there was some way that they could be better prepared for the journey on which they are about to embark.   Things that would make the journey more pleasant for them as well as me.

Be prepared for Check-In. 

• If you are checking baggage know the piece count and weight limits for your airline.  Each airline has their own policies so check! 
• Have all of your bags tagged with identification tags before showing up at the airport.  Its also a good idea to put some ID inside the bag.
• Know what fees are being charged for baggage and don’t argue about paying them.
• Proper ID is required – no a credit card is not good enough and your your gym membership doesn’t count either.
• Don’t use the airport as a place to weight balance your bags so that you don’t have to pay extra fees.   Do your weight balancing at home!  Surely you have a bathroom scale that you can use to approximate baggage weight.
• Make sure liquids and gels over 3 ounces are IN your checked baggage.  This will include the jams and jellies, and the bottle of Scotch you got from your family for Christmas.

Be prepared for TSA Security Check.

• You will have to take your shoes off!!!
• They aren’t joking about the quart size bag with items of 3 ounces or less.  Don’t make them find the items you’ve tried to hide in your carry-on bag.  It doesn’t matter that you just paid $80.00 for that moisturizer if it is over the wight allowed you can plan on leaving it behind.   Make sure you have it OUT of your carry on and in a scan “bin”.
• Computers and large electronic equipment like video recorders and DVD players should be taken out of the bag they are in a placed in a separate “container” to go through the X-Ray machine.
• Hold on to your boarding pass… don’t send it through the X-Ray.  They are going to check it when you pass through the metal detector.
• Coats, hats, scarfs and sweatshirts have to go through the X-Ray machine.  Don’t make them ask you to take them off.
• Take off your jewelry, belts with metal buckles, cell phones, coins, etc… These are going to set off the metal detector.  Unless you are an authorized tester for the government you can be assured that these machines work and you don’t need to help with the testing process.
• Gather your things from the X-Ray belt quickly.  There are usually places past the belt to put your shoes, jewelry, coats, etc… back on.  The X-Ray scanner will hold up the line while you get dressed and there are other people waiting.

Be prepared for Aircraft Boarding.

• Everyone has a seat assignment (unless you are on Southwest)  Milling around the gate just slows up the boarding process as people try to get through the herd of people
• Frequent fliers get to board first.  It’s a perk for dealing with this hassle trip after trip after trip.  (If nothing else it assures us that our carry-on bags are going to have a place in the plane.)
• Most roller bags fit into the overheads lengthwise.  Depending on the plane it will be wheels out or wheels in.  The overhead doors are designed to allow for those wheels in most cases… Please try to fit your bags in this way first.
• Under the seat in front of you space should be used!!!  If you brought a computer bag and a roller bag one of them belongs under the seat in front of you.
• Wait to put your coats up into the overhead until everyone in the rows around you have had an opportunity to put their large items overhead. 
• Fragile items overhead?  I don’t think so just ship them!  You have a better chance at getting them there.  I was just on a flight where someone had a “very valuable” rolled up “poster” in the overhead.  When the passenger in the row across from them started to use the overhead space for a bag we were close to a fist fight because they might “crease” the poster.   The flight attendant made them “hold” it at their seat the entire flight and of course the customer complained the entire way – all 4 hours.  If I had to hear about this valuable poster one more time I think I might have had to “snap”.

Remember folks that those of us that do this week after week get into a routine and know the ins and outs of the process.  We get just as frustrated as you do but for different reasons.   The real trick is keeping your cool through the process.  Be pleasant, be tolerant, be understanding.

Now without further adieu the video:

Auctiva eCommerce, slated to launch in January is tagged as the eCommerce that works for everyone. 

Features are quite extensive and after years of experience with online shopping we can only hope that they would get it right the first time.   Some of the extensive features list includes:
    Store Setup Wizards
    Product and Image Import
    Real-time Inventory Display
    Automated Emails to Customer and Store Owner
    Flexible Shipping Options Including Weight, and Number of Items
    SSL Enabled
    Flexible Payment Options including Real-time Credit Card Processing
    Promotion Management With Start and End Dates
    Quantity Break Pricing
    Comprehensive Order Management Module
    Automatic Store Manager Notification of Low Inventory Levels
    Complete Reporting Module

The feature list is quite extensive and goes well beyond what I have included above.

My only concern from what I have seen in all of their marketing materials is the pricing model.  At the time of this writing they were promoting a price of $9.95 which is reduced from their normal monthly price of $14.95.  These seemed quite reasonable but then in reading the additional details on the pricing page I was a little disappointed to see that they are also going to take a percentage of all of the sales from your site.  5% to start gradually reducing to .5% if you sell over $100,000 in a month.  

Since I have stopped selling on eBay, my use of Auctiva at this point is zero.   I may decide to look at their eCommerce option in January.  If you have a business online I would encourage you to check it out.  Let us know your thoughts.   Does this type of offering fit into your business plans?

As you all know I use ClearContext’s Outlook Addon to help me manage my email… and below you will find a snippet of an article and a link to help with the management of vacation email.  If you don’t use ClearContext I would encourage you to take a look while you are there… they have a free version that you can download to give it a try.  Once you’ve gone ClearContext you won’t go back… at least I never did!

“Here are some tips to help you cope with an avalanche of email after a vacation:

Use ClearContext’s AutoAssign rules to quickly categorize and file messages. We all receive informational messages from the usual suspects; email that we like to review such as newsletters and company updates, but is not time sensitive. Upon your return, create some rules to quickly file newsletters, bulk mail, non-critical corporate updates, etc.. Put them out of the way and review at your leisure after you’ve had the chance to catch up on your important email.

Delete or file unimportant messages. After you’ve cleared out the informational emails, use ClearContext’s Prioritized view to see your email listed in priority order. Utilizing CC’s default scoring parameters, the gray messages at the bottom of your Inbox can almost certainly be deleted with little or no review – all of these emails are from unknown senders, are not addressed directly to you, and are likely spam. If you’re worried about bulk deleting, move them to a review file for consumption after you’ve had the chance to…”

ClearContext Corporate Blog: Vacation Email Triage.

Use the email traffic reduction tips below to combat spam and carbon copy bloat and secure the sanctity of the inbox.

1. Maintain multiple email addresses.

Set up personal and public email account(s) in addition to work email. Use the personal account for friends and family and the public account for online shopping, newsletters, etc.. Never give out the work address for non-work related reasons.

2. Don’t post an email address in public places.

Marketing companies harvest email from public places on the net. Refrain from posting an address on websites, in newsletters, or in email groups to avoid identification by these companies. When posting is inevitable, use the public email address.

Read more via ClearContext Corporate Blog: Top 5 Ways to Reduce Email Traffic.

Job satisfaction: It’s highly overrated | IT Leadership | TechRepublic.com.