Cornelius Fichtner help you with your PMP Exam Prep (https://www.project-management-prepcast.com) as well as earn free PDUs (www.pm-podcast.com/pdu). Passing the PMP Exam is tough, but keeping your PMP Certification alive is just as challenging. Preparing for the exam requires an in-depth study of the PMBOK Guide and dedicated study discipline. And once you are PMP certified, then you are required to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every 3 years to keep your certification alive. Let me help you make this journey easier with tips and tricks on how to prepare for and pass the exam as well as efficiently earning your PDUs once you are certified.
What is the definition of the project sponsor role?
If you have an executive sponsor on your project and you have a documented and agreed upon project sponsor definition, then you are exceptional.
Why? According to Todd Williams’ (eCameron, Inc) latest white paper titled “Challenges in Executive Project Sponsorship” the lack of project sponsor roles and responsibilities is a major issue. It’s right up there with a lack of engagement, missing change management and the fact that executives don’t even acknowledge that these challenges exist to name just a few.
This executive sponsorship white paper is at the core of our discussion. Todd and I will review the identified challenges and give you the solutions he proposes. You’ll even get his definition of the role of project sponsor.
When you think of your project manager skills, then “compassion” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. You would probably first list some other hard project management tools and techniques like your scheduling abilities or completing your projects on scope and on budget.
And only if you keep adding words to this project management skills list will you eventually come to terms like conflict management, team building, empathy and compassion.
Margaret Meloni (http://www.margaretmeloni.com) says that we project managers should value compassion much more than we do.
If we are supposed to use compassion as one of our project management soft skills then we have to first define what it is, how it relates to project management and hear examples of how to use it on our projects. And that’s exactly what you are going to get from Margaret’s interview.
But the most important question that I have asked Margaret is this: If compassion is truly so important for me as a project manager, how can I see quantifiable results on my projects?
Listen to this free interview and earn 0.50 PDUs (Leadership):
Generally speaking there are six leadership styles: authoritative, democratic, affiliative, pace setting, commanding and coaching. Each one of these has its time and place.
But for you and me as project leaders, project management coaching should be at the top of our list. After all, it is the people working on our projects who get things done, so we want to unlock their potential. And coaching may just be the answer.
A little while back we had Susanne Madsen on the program to discuss how her Project Management Coaching Workbook can help unleash your potential. And today, we are going to do a deep dive into various coaching techniques and how it can make you a better project leader.
This interview was originally published on The PM Podcast.
Listen to this free interview and earn 0.25 PDUs (Leadership):
When we talk about “change management in project management”, the words “resistance” and “tension” often spring to mind.
Consider the resistance to project change management for instance, when two organizations merge, or the fear that employees will feel when a part of their job is automated and some of their skills become redundant.
But the problem isn’t the change itself in spite of the difficulties that it may bring.
To discuss the project change management process with us today I’m very pleased to welcome back one of our favorite interview guests: Susanne Madsen whose book The Power of Project Leadership contains a large section on change management.
She says: Organizational change is vital for any business that wants to survive and thrive in our increasingly competitive and fast paced word. The problem is that many project leaders struggle to fully motivate and engage their teams in the process. They often move too fast, are too outcome driven and not sufficiently consultative in their approach.
This interview was originally published on The PM Podcast.
If you are in the middle of preparing to take the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam you have undoubtedly read through A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition at least once and possibly even more. If you are just starting to prepare to take the PMP Exam, then you should be planning to read through the PMBOK® Guide at least a couple of times. The PMBOK® Guide should be your primary resource when studying for the PMP Exam as it is the globally recognized standard and guide for the project management profession; however as you probably already know, it does not cover every possible topic that the PMP Exam may touch on.
One of those topics not covered by the PMBOK® Guide is Opportunity Cost. There is no guarantee that you will see it during your PMP Exam, but there is also no guarantee that you will not. Here we will explain why as a project manager you need to understand Opportunity Cost, beyond that it may be on the PMP Exam, and what exactly Opportunity Cost is. We will also go through a couple of examples of Opportunity Cost questions.
Why does a Project Manager need to understand Opportunity Cost? It is very possible as a Project Manager you will be charged with project selection at some point in your career. You will need to make sure you evaluate and select projects based on your organization’s goals and needs to ensure returns are maximized as well as opportunity costs are minimized. As part of the project selection process you will need to evaluate where to best utilize valuable resources such as specific skill sets, time, and of course money. Allocating these resources to a specific project prevents their use for other projects at the same time, after all an organization only has so many resources and needs to take on projects with the highest potential for success and the greatest return.
What is Opportunity Cost? Opportunity cost is the loss of potential future return from the second best unselected project. In other words, it is the opportunity (potential return) that will not be realized when one project is selected over another. For example if Project X has a potential return of $25,000 and Project Y has a potential return of $20,000, then selecting Project X for completion over Project Y will result in an opportunity cost of $20,000. That is the “loss” of not completing Project Y.
Let’s take a look at a couple of PMP Exam sample questions around Opportunity Cost:
PMP Exam Sample Question 1: “Which definition best fits Opportunity Cost?”
a) The sum of all of the potential returns of projects not selected.
b) The potential return of the second best project that was not selected.
c) The difference between the potential return of the project selected and the potential return of the second best option that was not selected.
d) The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows.
The correct answer is B. Opportunity Cost is the potential return of the second best option that was not selected. It is not the sum of all potential returns that were selected or the difference between the potential return of the project selected and the second best option. It is also not the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows as that is the definition of net present value.
PMP Exam Sample Question 2: “You are part of a project selection team evaluating three proposed projects and you need to select the project that would bring the best return for the organization. Project A has an NPV of $25,000 and an IRR of 1.5, Project B has a NPV of $30,000 and an IRR of 1.25, and Project C has an NPV of $15,000 and an IRR of 1.5. What would be the opportunity cost of selecting Project B over Project A?”
a) $15,000
b) $5,000
c) $25,000
d) $30,000
The correct answer is C. Opportunity Cost is the potential return of the project not selected. In this case we did not select Project A, so it is $25,000. There is extra unrelated information in this question; IRR is not relevant when evaluating opportunity cost. Once all of the unnecessary information is filtered out the questions is simply asking what is the dollar value associated with Project A.
Opportunity Cost simply comes down to the benefits or returns that are passed up when one project is selected over another. Understanding what Opportunity Cost is may or may not be necessary when taking the PMP Exam. Even if questions about Opportunity Cost are not on your PMP Exam it is still important for you as a Project Manager to understand Opportunity Cost as it is a method for selecting one project over another especially when valuable resources are limited.
About the author: Cornelius Fichtner, PMP is a noted PMP expert. He has helped over 34,000 students prepare for the PMP Exam with The Project Management PrepCast at http://www.pm-prepcast.com and The PMP Exam Simulator at http://www.pm-exam-simulator.com
What is the definition of the project sponsor role?
When you think of your project manager skills, then “compassion” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. You would probably first list some other hard project management tools and techniques like your scheduling abilities or completing your projects on scope and on budget.
Generally speaking there are six leadership styles: authoritative, democratic, affiliative, pace setting, commanding and coaching. Each one of these has its time and place.
If you are in the middle of preparing to take the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam you have undoubtedly read through A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition at least once and possibly even more. If you are just starting to prepare to take the PMP Exam, then you should be planning to read through the PMBOK® Guide at least a couple of times. The PMBOK® Guide should be your primary resource when studying for the PMP Exam as it is the globally recognized standard and guide for the project management profession; however as you probably already know, it does not cover every possible topic that the PMP Exam may touch on.
