Our organization has recently began training line level managers as Project Managers. We have a thorough course that takes them through our methodology. Because we are fairly new at this I would like some input on how to develop our PMO and "bring up" new PM's to the business. Here is what I am considering and would like ideas/tips/etc
1. Format for bringing PM's back for lessons learned session that have already gone through the Project Management workshop training.
2. PM Reviews - Format for giving a PM review - these are not seasoned PM's so I am not sure how to benchmark
3. Development plan fo PM's -Ideas on how to develop PM's, then in 18-24mos merge somehow with PMI to get the PM's PMI certified through our company?
Any thoughts on input from experience would be greatly appreciated.
*Establishing a PMO* :What questions do you see a PMO answering for your organization?, What decisions might they make, or contribute to? I once helped set up a PMO that only answered 2 questions at first "What are we working on now?" "Are we getting the results we expect?" It evolved with time and experience, but in the beginning it just worked to master those 2 questions.
**Bringing PM's back...** Your options are endless; brown bag seminars, mentoring/sponsoring new students in the program, a periodic 'leadership lab' where they trade war stories or offer different points of view on existing projects, and more. A lot depends on the culture, personality, and needs of the PM community.
***PM Reviews*** This suggestion may seem hardnosed, but just hear me out. Judge their performance against the standards established in their training. I don't know anything about your training program, and how you establish levels of mastery and performance (I'd love to hear about it, though...) In the program I ran, each subject had practical exercises, drills, and folks brought stuff from current projects to work. There were also simulations, and a coached/supervised internship (real) project. By the time they sat down with a QA person after graduating, they'd already demonstrated their ability to perform to a particular level.
****PMI and certification**** PMP certification may or may not be a 'value-add' in your organization. I don't know enough to have an opinion on that that's worth very much. What you might consider is making every member of your training class a member of PMI, expose them to the magazines, the interest groups, and so on.
Have I made things better or worse? Saving Changes...
This was very helpful, thanks very much. Here are some items I added for anyone else who is developing PM's....
Brown Bag Sessions
Meet once a month via conference call and NetMeeting for this hour long session.
The BB format would be via NetMeeting from 12-1:00pm
Some topics we might want to present in the Brown Bag Series would be:
Motivating Meetings
Conducting a Project Risk Assessment
MS Project Tips and Tricks
Using Visio to Document Processes
PmBok Review
Project Management Interest Groups
Enterprise Projects - Tips of managing
PMI Overview
Additional Thoughts:
*We could also partner with the Training Group to offer these courses to all ee's - this might help us identify up and coming PM's while at the same time allowing us to partner with our Training Resources and add value
**Another option could be to offer an E-Learning session (for example- Have them go through the online demo of MS Project and then we ask them to answer some questions regarding their experience) - there are quite a few free E-Learning Courses available
***We could ask one of the existing PM's to facilitate the meeting and then as they become more experienced we could use the Experienced PM's to deliver the Brown Bag to the new PM's that come up.
Quarterly Project Manager Meetings
Meet for one full day session to discuss lessons learned (morning) and then follow up with one Continuing Education class (afternoon), end with 5 sample questions from the PMI examination for fun! Whoever gets all the answers gets a surprise (a book on PM) , or whoever gets the most correct answers gets the book. This format could rotate locations each time in order to allow PM's to truly see how other locations are operating offering a well rounded view of operations across Aggeko.
Some examples for Continuing Education topics would be:
Team Leadership & Managing Conflict
Tracking and Status Reporting
Identifying Project Scope
Negotiation Skills for PM's
Vendor Selection and Management
Additional Thoughts:
*We could trade project war stories and have everyone vote on the "Best Lesson Learned", "Best Problem Solver" and a "Murphy's Law Award" - those that win can possibly get a PM Book, Management Book or subscription to a PM Magazine.
PMI Certification
Currently there is no option to partner with PMI for training/certification purposes. However, as part of certification each candidate is required to complete 35 hours of PM Training Courses and these hours can be obtained from an Employer based training program. There are different application requirements for PMI certification based on your education background. I have provided some details below:
Category I - Candidate holds an baccalaureate degree
*Must have 4,500 hours of PM experience within the last six years
*Must have obtained 35 contact hours of PM education
Category II - Candidate does not hold baccalaureate degree
*Must have 7,500 hours of PM experience within the last eight years
*Must have obtained 35 contact hours of PM education
Additional Thoughts:
*As the PMO we could begin documenting PM hours, project duration and deliverables to assist them in obtaining their certification, we can also provide the 35 hours of PM education
**We could also add value by monitoring upcoming CE courses availability, Local Chapter Meetings and communicating to all PM's as well as monitor hours each PM needs.
*** We could have PM's that attend CE courses provide a Brown Bag lunch discussing their course and providing a knowledge transfer to other PM's.
****One of the PMO members might need to attend various PM topic classes for the purpose of "Train the Trainer", prior to delivering to Aggreko PM's
*****We could assist PM's with scheduling in house practice exams for PMI
Enjoy...and please provide additional ideas that we can all use.... Saving Changes...
