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[Contact Us](mailto:contactus@projectmanagement.com) [About Us]( [Update Profile]( August 8, 2018 As we focus on PM Education, we encourage you to find (or be) a mentor, share 7 ways to grow your skills, explore project-based learning and look at the transformation of PM training. Plus, making organizational culture work for change, a lesson on communication, and leadership in the modern PMO. Our Topic Teasers debate call and contact centers. Our blogs explore the next-gen PMO and plastic risk management, while a reader asks about your mentoring stories in our forums! Advertisement [Juggling Resource Management (paper)]( Step right up! Welcome to the greatest portfolio on earth! Marvel at the size of the projects! Be amazed as the resource manager rides the unicycle across the tightrope, juggling resources while blindfolded! (Seriously: resource management doesn’t have to be a circus.) [Learn more >]( "When I can look life in the eyes, grown calm and very coldly wise, life will have given me the truth, and taken in exchange - my youth." - Sara Teasdale []PM HEADLINES [Find a Mentor, Be a Mentor]( Finding a mentor often happens because it needs to—whether you realize you need one or not. But when it comes to growing your professional prowess as a project manager and leader, finding the right mentor might require some time, trial and error. [7 (Less Expensive) Ways to Grow Your PM Skills]( Improving your project management skills requires high-priced training, right? But what if you need a different way to develop yourself—and you have a limited budget? There is a way to make this happen without breaking the bank. [Permanent Transformation in the Enterprise]( The challenge in any organizational transformation is how to make the culture work for rather than against the desired change. To do that, we need to first understand what an organization is, how it functions and how we can orchestrate relationships between those functions so that culture becomes an enabler of effective change. [The Transformation of Project Management Training]( The need for project management training won’t vanish, but how it is provided will forever evolve. Businesses will need to make decisions regarding how their employees will gain the maximum benefit for their training investment. [Project-Based Learning: A New Project Management Opportunity?]( Project-based learning is an important tool in education today. But how many project managers are familiar with it, let alone involved in it? [That Communication Stuff They Taught You? Yeah, Not So Much...]( You can’t take a project management course without being told how important communication is for a project manager. It is, but there’s a bit more to it than that. [Further Your Project Management Education Through Social Good]( As we focus on PM Education this month, it's the perfect time to get involved with PMI’s philanthropic foundation, PMIEF, and develop professionally and personally while giving back. "I fear no one, but respect everyone." - Roger Federer SPONSORED ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SPECIAL OFFERS Don't miss Workfront CEO, Alex Shootman, and tech visionary, Alan Lepofsky, for an in-depth look at how digitization is shaping the modern workplace. You'll hear real-world case studies and discover the skills you'll need to supercharge your project management in the digital age. [Watch now.]( USC MSPM Informational Webinar – August 24, 2018, 12:30pm ET / 9:30am PT Learn more about the online [MS in Project Management program]( at the University of Southern California. Earn your degree in one year, no GRE required. Our program is designed for the working professional. [RSVP today]( [Leadership in the Modern PMO]( As more and more “mechanical” project execution becomes automated, the need for effective people leadership grows. What does that mean in the context of a PMO? [The PM of Tomorrow: Everything Old Is New Again]( In environments where individuals and teams are recognized to be only as good as their most recent performance, the focus seems ever more about “get it done…and get on to the next one.” But if we don’t remember the mistakes of the past, are we doomed to repeat them? [Can Organizational Stigma Rub Off?]( Does the employer you work for say anything about you? Should it? How do you separate your job and career from the organization that employs you? []TOPIC TEASERS Welcome to Topic Teasers, which tests your managerial prowess! In Vol. 110, we debate [Call Centers and Contact Centers](: Question: I am very excited because I have just been hired by a start-up company as a project manager. Since we are small in size, I am handling more decisions about the structure of the organization than I would be able to do in a typical project management position. However, this also leaves me in a vulnerable position when I am asked to make management-level decisions. Currently, I am to lead a project to create a customer contact department. Should it be a call center or a contact center? A. For a new business, a call center focused on telephone contact as a resource for customers with questions would be a good first choice. As time goes on and the business grows, you can always expand to have a contact center. B. Call centers, contact centers, customer service centers, help desks are all just different names for the same services. Pick the one that sounds the most familiar to you, as that is probably the term used in your part of the world. C. As the project manager, most of the customer questions will be about the projects you are implementing and how close they are to completion. It will be of great value to your organization if you also offer to manage this inbound telephone part of the business. In this way, as the company grows you will be ensured of a more powerful position because of your range of knowledge. D. Most small businesses should not begin with either a call center or a contact center. Place a way for customers to send you an e-mail with any questions, and you can ask around for answers to their inquiry and then respond to them through their inbox. Check the answer [here](, and [send in your own question for consideration]( []THE PM POLL Is there a question you've been itching to ask? [Create a poll]( today to get some PM help from your peers! [Q: What is your leadership style?]( - Transformational leadership - Transactional leaderships - Servant leadership - Laissez-faire leadership - Bureaucratic leadership - Charismatic leadership - Democratic leadership TOOL SPOTLIGHT Statdash is a communication tool for working with team members on activities, tasks or projects and visually sharing statuses with clients or stakeholders. It eliminates the frustration of continually tracking down team members to get their status. [Learn More]( [Search for your solution on our Tool Finder]( []BLOG IT Voices on Project Management by Lynda Bourne & Jen Skrabak PMOs have been thought of as one of three categories: supportive, controlling or directive. [The Next-Gen PMO](, however, is disrupting these traditional categories. Plus, Lynda shares how managing knowledge means managing people in [Knowledge is Creative](. The Money Files by Elizabeth Harrin As she continues to look at what’s new in the PMBOK Guide®—Sixth Edition, Elizabeth arrives at [What's New in Project Resource Management Part 4: Develop Team](. Plus, her latest video entry shares [3 Types of Contracts](. Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice by Kiron Bondale Project managers frequently wish that they had a trusted right-hand person who could help them out of challenging situations. But why not broaden our imagination to think about the benefits of our multi-legged friends? [What is Your Project Management 'Familiar'?]( Thoughts on Project Management by Gina Abudi [The Executive’s Role in Project Management](is as the project sponsor. A strong project sponsor plays the role of mentor, catalyst, motivator, barrier remover and boundary manager; they are a leader (or a group of leaders) who provide the resources and support for a project they launch. People, Planet, Profits & Projects by Richard Maltzman Rich heads to the ocean for his three-part entry from the PMI® viewpoint about risk, which can present both threat and opportunity. To start, consciously note and identify the number of plastic items you touch over the next 24 hours. Then read [Plastic Risk Management Part 1]( and [Part 2](. Risk and Reward by Guilherme Caloba We are constantly warned of the risks in the world. It is something to be careful about. It is something to fear, to work around, to avoid. But why can't we see the bright side of life when we are identifying risks? [Risk and Reward: Why Not?]( has more. Game Theory in Management by Michael Hatfield What does The Wizard of Oz have to do with Michael's latest lesson about organizational culture? Find out in ["Oh We Love...The Old One."]( Then, in the project management space, are you [Forced to Do Useless Things?]( PM View from Rail Transit Programs & Projects by Henry Hattenrath On rail transit projects, adding resources and equipment is not always possible—and where it is possible, it is very challenging to achieve results that in theory should increase production and reduce activity duration. Henry shares more in his [latest entry](. PM Network by Dan Goldfischer In this month’s PM Network® magazine, we hear from a portfolio manager, chief project officer and PMO director who explain how they climbed the organizational ladder through developing and deploying leadership skills. Dan shares more in his [latest entry](. The Critical Path by Kimberly Whitby We are excited to announce the ProjectManagement.com [August Book Club](! The book club provides an opportunity to participate in webinars and discussions around selected books relevant to the overall practice of project management. []Q & A Did you know that help is just a click away? Our discussion forums give you access to the ProjectManagement.com community: more than 500,000 experienced minds and growing! Ask your question today or stop by to help out other members in need of advice, including these recent and ongoing discussions on... [Negative to a Positive]( "Has someone ever tried to say something negative about you and you took it as a compliment?" [Communication Challenges]( "What is your biggest challenge when it comes to communication skills? List your top 3." [Mentoring Magic]( "Have you ever been a mentor or mentee? How has mentoring contributed to your career development?" [Motivation Killers]( "What should you not do when you're trying to motivate your team?" [Embracing Change]( "Change is constant, but it's not easy to manage. People often resist change. What are the effective tactics to manage change? How do we make employees embrace change?" [Blogging Pet Peeves]( "For all of the bloggers and readers in this community, do you have any blogging pet peeves?" [Team Communication Tips]( "I'd kindly ask you some ideas on how to improve communication within the team...I am looking for something more like a 'real life' exercise." "The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it." - Esther Williams []PM ON DEMAND Did you know that we have an extensive library of PDU-earning webinars? Here's just one of the latest valuable offerings you can check out... [Cheating Just a Little Bit]( The topic of the webinar, close to the border of psychology, includes those ethical aspects that are tremendously influencing our projects and social life as well. The presenter, a member of the PMI Ethics Member Advisory Group, talks about the psychological distance between our actions and their impact, about how this distance explains some of our temptations (especially when we fell pray to them) and about the broken window concept applied in ethics. As always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome. How can we make your experience better? Is there something you haven't been able to find? Something you want to see that we don't have yet? [Let us know](mailto:cameron@projectmanagement.com). We'll handle it. If you do not wish to receive ProjectManagement.com's PM Insider Newsletter, you can [unsubscribe here]( or send an email to unsubscribe-pminsider@reply.projectmanagement.com and let us know. We will exclude you from future mailings. You can also change your e-mail address and other settings in [My Account](. ProjectManagement.com is located at 14 Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA 19073.