Becoming a Lifelong Learner

Advertisement [Contact Us](mailto:contactus@projectmanagement.com) [About Us]( [Update Profile]( August 22, 2018 As we continue our focus on PM Education, we stress the need for lifelong learning, ask how to effectively teach PM and encourage an LMS. Plus, why conflict can be good, and an exploration of PM as a U.S. government vendor. The Knowledge Shelf helps organizations deal with the aftermath of mergers and acquisitions, while our blogs share a four-step process for involving stakeholders—and ask if our craft is art or science. And readers ask for help with communication struggles and career stagnation in our forums! Advertisement [Project Management Survival Guide Every Business Needs]( Up to 40% of all projects fail due to poor project planning, unclear requirements and unrealistic timetables. Don't be another project management failure statistic this year. [Discover]( what tools work for your business and learn how to survive deadlines in order to deliver projects on time and on budget, every time. "Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall." - Ray Bradbury []PM HEADLINES [The New Need to Be Lifelong Learners]( We are a generation who stand with one foot in the outgoing industrial era and one in the knowledge-based future. Training and education that prepared us well for careers in the past will not work in a faster-moving future. Now, we need to be not just lifelong learners, but engaged, active lifelong learners. [How Do You Effectively Teach Project Management?]( More and more people are leaving school and college with some form of project management education. But how do you really teach people to be ready for the world of projects? [What Is an LMS (and Why Do I Need One)?]( Long thought to only be useful, beneficial and cost effective to larger firms, smaller businesses are also able to incorporate the advantages of a learning management system—a software application/service that helps organizations track, document, report and deliver educational courses and training programs to a workforce. [Why Conflict Can Be a Good Thing]( New project managers are rarely comfortable with conflict on their teams. But managed effectively, conflict can be healthy. [Strategic Tips for Your Personal Development Plan]( According to PMI, your personal development plan should cover the strategic and business management portion of the Talent Triangle™. But finding useful information in this area can be difficult. [Project Management as a U.S. Government Vendor: From Task Award to Closure]( For a project manager to be successful in running government projects, they must adapt their standard routine individually to each project and be especially careful to fully understand the deliverables. "Music is the silence between the notes." - Claude Debussy []KNOWLEDGE SHELF [Managing Entropy and Increasing ROI in Post-Merger and Acquisition Organizations]( What happens when a company is acquired by a larger entity that fails to provide adequate leadership support with the resulting loss of corporate culture? Self-inflicted wounds can be avoided with a working project management framework, proper governance and a customer-centric focus. The mission of [Knowledge Shelf]( is to help project professionals advance our practice by sharing their experiences and viewpoints. It is comprised of practitioners from a wide range of fields, covering both popular and niche topics. From lessons learned and case studies to opinion pieces and articles, this platform gives a voice to peers new to our online community, and allows for longer form contributions. For more information on how to submit your own article, please see our [Editorial Guidelines](. []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: How would you rate the negative impact of poor decisions on project success? (The best comments may appear in a PMI Global Conference presentation!)]( - Very High - High - Medium - Low - Very Low TRAINING SPOTLIGHT We are the Project Management Success Center. 'PMP® Certification' is only the beginning - partner with us on large 'IT Project Implementations' by joining the group of passionate 'PMP® Professionals' on a Mission to Deliver Value to our Clients. [Learn More]( [Search for your solution on our Training Finder]( []BLOG IT Voices on Project Management by Kevin Korterud Who is the worst project manager our blogger ever worked for? Himself. In his [latest entry](, Kevin shares the most significant behaviors that led to consistently poor performance as a PM early in his career. The Money Files by Elizabeth Harrin In her [latest entry](, Elizabeth shares an infographic with a four-step process for establishing who your stakeholders are and how they are going to be involved. Is this similar to what you do on your projects? Let us know in the comments! Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice by Kiron Bondale When we categorize the competencies that are required to be a successful PM, we find the need to have a solid foundation of PM theory and practice, coupled with significant soft skills and sufficient domain expertise. Read more in [PM Education Should Be Like Riding a Tricycle](. Thoughts on Project Management by Gina Abudi Every project launched is a change project. If PMs take a change view of every project they lead, they will do a better job engaging the stakeholders in the project and reaching a successful conclusion. [Project Managers and Change]( has more. Game Theory in Management by Michael Hatfield It’s virtually impossible to define art in such a way as to encompass all that claims to belong to it, kind of like listening to risk analysts attempt to define what all is involved in risk management. [Is Project Management Art or Science?]( Ethics Bistro by Karthik Ramamurthy Julio and Martin were best friends in graduate school. Since then, their careers took them to many cities around the world. They now work in the same city and share the same profession: project management. So begins [A Tale of Two Friends](.... People, Planet, Profits & Projects by Richard Maltzman Rich concludes his trip to the ocean for his three-part entry from the PMI® viewpoint about risk, which can present both threat and opportunity. [Plastic Risk Management Part 3]( has more. PM View from Rail Transit Programs & Projects by Henry Hattenrath While project/contract progress can be accelerated by working on multiple locations, the construction management team must ensure that the work is performed and integrated with other work and that the area is accessible for completing remaining work. Henry's [latest entry]( has more. PM Network by Dan Goldfischer While most of his PM Network® posts aim to draw you into one of the interesting feature stories, Dan's goal here is to tell you about the [Voices section]( of the magazine. Voices is where you will gain information and perspectives that you can use right away. The Critical Path by Marjorie Anderson We've got some great programming coming up for you over the next couple of months. For now, [August Community News You Can Use]( takes a look at what's coming up in the immediate future—and a question that one of your fellow community members needs help with. []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... [Communication Struggles]( "What questions or struggles have you faced when it comes to communication skills?" [Career Stagnation]( "How do you beat career stagnation and move on? What are some best practices to follow?" [Career Highlight]( "What is the best thing that has ever happened to you as a project manager? If you have any stories and successes to share, I would love to hear them." [Common PM Mistakes to Avoid]( "Here are some common mistakes project managers need to avoid...and even senior leaders can learn from it..." [The Techy PM]( "How technical does a PM have to be nowadays?" [Team Productivity Techniques]( "As a project manager, you can help your project team to achieve more or less. What techniques do you use to improve productivity of your project team?" "Don't live in fear of dying." - Valerie Harper []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... [Organizational Resilience: How to Thrive, Not Just Survive Major Change]( In this webinar, we’ll discuss organizational resilience, leading tipping-point indicators and mitigation strategies. The objective is for you to be able to identify the signs of diminishing resilience, and how to turn the tide before it derails your project. 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.