NASA Virtual PM Challenge

Did you know that NASA has publicly available Project Management Podcasts, presentations and a NASA Virtual PM Challenge?  This is all available at: http://go.nasa.gov/2ft5X4f  The sessions are available to the public.  Each session is live, interactive, with opportunity for the audience to pose questions to the speaker via a session Moderator.  Sessions are recorded and made available for on-demand viewing.   

The VISION of APPEL is “Through its world-class training curriculum, development programs, and strategic communications, the Academy helps ensure NASA’s project management and systems engineering communities have the skills and knowledge they need to advance mission success.”

But wait, there’s more!  They’re a PMI REP!  his means the Academy’s project management training counts toward the requirements for PMI®‘s Continuing Certification Requirements Program. Participants who attend registered PMI-approved Academy courses can earn Professional Development Units (PDUs).  They’re also closely associated with The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), The International Program/Project Management Committee (IPMC)

2016 Session 2: Project Derailed? Get Back on Track with Schedule and Cost

Abstract: When they agree to lead an aerospace project, project managers commit to delivering a product that is technically excellent within a specified schedule and budget. But what can they do if a project falls behind schedule or runs over budget?  

In this second session of the NASA’s Virtual PM Challenge series on cost, schedule, and risk, we will look at the actions project managers can take to recover in-house instrument projects that are exceeding budget or behind schedule. Specifically, we’ll examine the project manager-business manager partnership and how a high-functioning partnership translates into project success.

Speakers will be Kate Earle, Chief Learning Officer of the Quiet Leadership Institute, Jason Lee, Assistant Director for the Applied Research and Methods team at GAO, Vernell Jackson, Engineering Systems Resource Manager of Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Applied Engineering & Technology Directorate, and Cynthia Simmons, Associate Division Chief of GSFC’s Instrument Systems and Technology Division. Moderator Ramien Pierre is from NASA’s Academy for Program Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL).

Here’s some information on the last session:

2016 Session 3: Considering It All For Project Success: Dissenting Opinions at NASA

Abstract: Program and project managers must make thousands of decisions in the course of delivering successful products and missions. But how can they be certain their decisions are based on unvarnished inputs from their team members? The final session of NASA’s Virtual Project Management (PM) Challenge three-part series on schedule, cost, and risk will look at how project and program managers might reduce project risk by actively encouraging the expression of dissenting opinions among their team members.

Speakers will be Nigel Packham, Manager of the Flight Safety Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Peter Spidaliere, Mission Systems Engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Moderator will be Ramien Pierre from NASA’s Academy for Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL).

Here are a few interesting slides from the DOWNLOADABLE PowerPoint Deck