PMP or PRINCE2? Which Is Right for You?

Certification in the Project Management sector has long been associated with improved employment opportunities and increased salaries. If you need proof, check out the latest Project Management Salary Survey from PMI taking feedback from more than 30,000 Project Management professionals.

If you’ve been following the news regularly then you’ll also know ‘the Global Economic crisis’ and ‘a shrinking job market’ appear to be the current order of the day. With that in mind, it’s no surprise Project Managers are increasingly turning to certification to get the edge over their competitors for that promotion they are looking for, or even just to hold onto their current role.

The Big Two

Those considering a certification will most often turn to the two globally recognized Project Management certifications:

1. The Project Management Professional (PMP) - is the flagship certification offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMP is based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) guide which is about to move to its Fifth edition. 
2. Projects in Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) - split into Foundation and Practitioner certification is the leading offering from APMG. 

As the title suggests this often leads to the question “PMP or PRINCE2?”

5 Project Management Secrets You Can Use

Project management is one of those fields of which many people have heard, but few are familiar. In fact, some people can view it as downright intimidating, especially considering the size and complexity of some of the projects they handle: construction, software, etc.

While project management does employ specialized knowledge and strict procedures, it uses key principles that everyone can use, regardless of your industry.

1. No goal, no success.

How can you tell if you’ve achieved success if you haven’t defined what success is? Sales people know this to a T, which is why they work off sales targets and projections. But this applies to any aspect of a business, whether its customer problems solved within a week, bugs squashed in a day, or words written in an afternoon. Keeping your goals measurable and achievable is a great way to track performance while improving morale.

2. You don’t have to know all the answers to lead.

This is one of the biggest secrets of good leadership. Project managers lead teams of highly talented and educated people, with technical knowledge and experience far beyond the norm. Project managers are not there to show you up, or be a threat, or expose your ignorance. They’re there to extend your knowledge base. Knowing where to get answers is just as important as knowing the answers yourself.

The New Microsoft Project Online

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft released to the public Project Online, its cloud version of Project Server 2013. I am really excited about it and can't wait to implement it at my company. But I have a big problem... I can't find a Microsoft Partner that knows anything about it!

I've contacted some of the "Gold Project and Portfolio" partners but they all seem to want to push me to Project Server 2013. I can't find any training classes for it and even my EPM Rep at Microsoft doesn't seem to know much about it.

Am I too far ahead of the curve here?

Need some help! If you know of a Microsoft Partner that is up to speed on Project Online, or you know of any virtual classes available for this product, please post a comment with the details.

Appreciate the help!

7 Responsibilities of a Project Management Office

By Alvin Soltis

PMO responsibility can vary greatly depending on who you ask. In my career I have had the opportunity to setup a few Project Offices. The first we won’t talk about, the second and third turned out very well. I am sharing some of the key routines I used below:

Manage Proposed Projects Pipeline

• Score proposals. This is a quick way to gauge the cost, benefit, and risk of the project so you know how much effort should go into it and who to involve. You also score this against other competing proposals who take from the same budget pool.
• Vet that project Business Case is sound. The bigger the project the more work in this area.
• Ensure that the project aligns to the organizations vision and strategy. It could be a great idea, but does it advance the greater goals of the organization?

Manage Project Portfolio

• Project Dashboard. This will list key metrics and is usually color coded so leadership can quickly see where to focus attention.
• Exception Reporting. This regularly goes out to all the project managers and points out anything that is missing from the project. I recommend you score the projects so ones missing a lot go red. It works wonders in getting projects in tip top shape.
• Portfolio reviews. This is done with an operating or governance committee who has the authority to move the projects through each phase and make major changes to the cost, scope, and time of the project.
• Ensure projects are following the process. This is a combination of active monitoring and reviews done at the end of each phase.