Getting PM Education Right

Advertisement [Silo Demolition: End of Traditional Project Roles]( Project roles are changing, and so should your approach, but it's hard to see a problem you're a part of. [Download this article]( by Strategy Execution to learn how to identify the barriers you didn't even know existed and what you can do to overcome them. [Contact Us](mailto:contactus@projectmanagement.com) [About Us]( [Update Profile]( August 29, 2018 What are we getting wrong with PM education? As our monthly focus nears its end, we also ponder working independently and look at the future of corporate training. Plus: the PM as translator, success on multicultural teams, and admiring at PM tattoos. The Knowledge Shelf puts meaning into your meetings, while our blogs explore diversity of perspective and the GIGO factor. And readers ask for help with agile retrospectives and defining high-performing teams in our forums! Advertisement [Building a scalable, visible and flexible IT PMO system]( ProjectManagement.com and Smartsheet invite you to this thought provoking educational webcast where you'll get critical insights into the fundamental changes occurring within the Program Management Office (PMO). In this free 60-minute webinar, you’ll get critical insights from Terry Dembitz, VP, IT and Larry Tu, Director of IT with Western Digital in how they have adapted their PMO operations to manage these significant changes. [Join us September 13th.]( "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity." — Martin Luther King, Jr. []PM HEADLINES [What We Still Get Wrong About PM Education...And How to Get It Right]( Since the advent of project management, there’s been a lot done in terms of education, training and skill development in the field. We should be getting it right by now. We're not. [Is Independent Work for You?]( The rise of the independent worker is changing the career landscape for many of us. Have you considered becoming your own boss? Where should you start? [Project Management and the Future of Corporate Training]( The corporate training and learning market is evolving, and that has implications for project managers and the organizations that employ them. Are you ready? [The Project Manager as Translator]( One of the most important roles a project manager plays is to act as translator between different project areas. Here’s how to become multilingual. [Project Management Tattoos That Don't Wash Off (Part 2)]( Getting a tattoo is an act of meaning. You get “inked” to help you remember something: an idea, a person, an inspiration. What PM tattoos should you consider to help you on your road to success? Part 2 explores more ink options. "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." — Aristotle [Finding Success on Multicultural Teams]( Working in a diverse, multicultural environment is fun—but also challenging. It requires an endless curiosity and acceptance of other cultures. If you manage this right, you will experience an enlightening journey. [PM Parallels From Seven Samurai]( The idea of drawing inspiration and learning lessons from movies has become a habit for this practitioner over the years. How can we view Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai through the lens of project management principles? []KNOWLEDGE SHELF [Making Meetings Meaningful With a Project Management Mindset]( Meetings are often viewed as "business as usual," with stakeholders dreading each occurrence and calendar invitation. Adopting a project management mindset will propel meetings to the next level by treating each meeting as its own project, enabling you to plan proactively, execute effectively, adjust accordingly and close meaningfully. 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 do you prepare your schedule for quantitative risk analysis?]( - No preparation needed, I just use my regular schedule as is - I try to reduce the number of tasks - I check the logic links and make sure all tasks are connected - I reduce tasks AND check the links - I refer to classic audit schemes, like the 14-point assessment 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 Dave Wakeman It’s easy to assume that the people we work with have the same viewpoint as we do. But in every instance, people are often going to see the project differently—and that’s not a bad thing. This [Diversity of Perspective]( can have a positive impact on our projects in several ways. The Money Files by Elizabeth Harrin Elizabeth recently did a webinar about her book, Collaboration Tools for Project Managers, for the ProjectManagement.com Book Club. She spent some time answering people’s questions about collaboration tools...and continues the conversation in her [latest entry](! Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice by Kiron Bondale Project management practices have been used since human beings first started to work together. Unfortunately, some anachronistic PM terms still linger in spite of overwhelming evidence that their time has passed. It's [Time to Turf These PM Terms!]( Risk & Reward by Guilherme Caloba Guilherme covers a top-five threat in a schedule risk analysis or any simulation/numerical exercise: [The Destructive Power of GIGO]( (garbage in, garbage out). It can send the whole team on a wild goose chase, or calm things down when your foot is halfway into the abyss. Game Theory in Management by Michael Hatfield Experienced PMs often have a rather extensive array of technical approaches to their work assignments, and are usually right in their selections of said tech approaches. So, what’s the problem here? Find out in [Experience: The Best (Strikethrough) Worst PM Teacher](. People, Planet, Profits & Projects by Richard Maltzman There are distinct and different ways of response strategies for threats. In his graduate PM courses, Rich teaches that a flowing mixture is often used—not distinct, staccato responses. That’s the case with respect to the risk response to sea-level rise. [Tame Abandon]( has more. PM View from Rail Transit Programs & Projects by Henry Hattenrath Saying "better, faster and cheaper" to employees at every interim point of progress is not the best method for achieving business success. Unfortunately, today’s managers see this style as the foundational approach to managing. Henry's [latest entry]( has more. []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... [High-Performing Teams]( "How do we build high-performing teams? What are the special characteristics of a high-performing team?" [Agile Retrospective Problems]( "Have you worked in agile development teams? What issues did you encounter while facilitating agile retrospectives? What steps did you take to overcome them?" [PMs: The Solution for Every Corporate Gap?]( "It's important to be knowledgeable and proficient in as many fields as we can. However, there has to be a line. Quality over quantity. I find myself questioning where this will all go and if I want to be a part of that ride...anyone else out there experiencing this or have any food for thought?" [A Humble Profession?]( "I attended a meeting recently where the new PMO director explained to a room full of PMs that she wanted them to practice being humble. Now given my experience, project management is anything but humble. I've always seen it as a mentoring, leadership role and on occasion a contact sport with elbows, if required. Your thoughts?" [Favorite Sport?]( "Recently I discovered that running marathons is a great sport to do. What is your favorite sport you do apart from the gym?" "Whatever you want to do, if you want to be great at it, you have to love it and be able to make sacrifices for it." — Maya Angelou []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... [Project HEADWAY: Rethinking PM Education]( If we’re serious about project management gaining traction, we need to develop beyond the basics. In this webinar, Mark Mullaly takes a critical look at PM education. He explores how we have approached project management education to date, and the successes and challenges that we've experienced. He also discusses the gaps, the missed opportunities and the blind spots of how we think about learning to be project managers. 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.