Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
PMI, PMBOK and PMP
I was one of the fortunate in 2002 to get a certification in PMI, when I was having lots of time in Birmingham, I studied.
It was valid for 2 years only, and need to keep the PDU's accumulated, to be active and renew it in 2 years. Now it is 4 years with a diluted pass score (81 to 65).
Too much of theory and no one can understand how is the practical way of Project Management.
But the certification helps. Atleast the recruiters notice.
Too many coachers and coaching institutes.
Hope it helps for all.
It was valid for 2 years only, and need to keep the PDU's accumulated, to be active and renew it in 2 years. Now it is 4 years with a diluted pass score (81 to 65).
Too much of theory and no one can understand how is the practical way of Project Management.
But the certification helps. Atleast the recruiters notice.
Too many coachers and coaching institutes.
Hope it helps for all.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Basix of PM
Basic of Project Management as different groups....
But as a true Manager, I like the 4th and the 5th, and quite like to question 1, 2 and 3.
Source - PMI.org and my own experience
- Initiation Process Group
- Planning Processes Group
- Execution Process Group
- Controlling Processes Group
- Closing Processes Group
But as a true Manager, I like the 4th and the 5th, and quite like to question 1, 2 and 3.
Source - PMI.org and my own experience
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Key Traits for a Manager
Read the presentation and immerse yourself.
Very nice.... http://www.20minuteitmanager.com/sessions/06040211KEYTRAITS/
Very nice.... http://www.20minuteitmanager.com/sessions/06040211KEYTRAITS/
Monday, September 1, 2008
Creativity
1) In corporate contexts, societies and countries having environments suitable for engendering useful creativity, is instrumental having an influential leadership with the courage, willingness and passion to get through an inspiring vision to be followed for engaged and committed professionals working in projects which outcomes may be beneficial for an enterprise, community or society.
2) Companies that are leaders in innovation typically encourage an creative mindset as integral part of a corporate culture where true collaboration, effective knowledge sharing and systematic practices of innovation are fostered, supported and developed by the influential action from Senior Management who believe faithfully in the value of promoting innovation to achieve competitiveness in a business context highly volatile and uncertain.
3) The most innovative companies apply an aggressive policy of incentives when rewarding and recognizing those ideas with the potential of becoming in innovative products and services. Google, offers the opportunity to its engineers of using 20% of their working time to create, promote and develop personal projects of innovation. This practice of nurturing environments of useful creativity may be similarly applied in universities, societies and countries with minor modifications and additions to produce true innovations of great commercial value.
4) Those companies, societies and countries that have created state-of-the-art environments to nurture processes of useful creativity consider that the investments in education, training and capacitation are the key strategies to empower, motivate and engage the best talents around important projects with transformational value for a company, country and society. The companies that excel in this discipline have developed systematically as part of their Employer Brand Management practices career exciting development plans and excellent succession plans to assure that human talent relevant to the corporate projects will have the right mix of knowledge, skills and competences to succeed in today´s highly demanding and competitive business context.
5) The professionals who generate, share, disseminate and improve by applying their creativity the knowledge relevant in investigation projects and transformational projects to produce innovative theories, processes, products and services are the main asset of a company, society, community and country where the strategic guideline of encouraging, supporting and promoting environments propitious to apply creativity and transform it in useful innovation is enthusiastically encouraged, visibly supported and explicitly promoted by the incumbent leadership.
2) Companies that are leaders in innovation typically encourage an creative mindset as integral part of a corporate culture where true collaboration, effective knowledge sharing and systematic practices of innovation are fostered, supported and developed by the influential action from Senior Management who believe faithfully in the value of promoting innovation to achieve competitiveness in a business context highly volatile and uncertain.
3) The most innovative companies apply an aggressive policy of incentives when rewarding and recognizing those ideas with the potential of becoming in innovative products and services. Google, offers the opportunity to its engineers of using 20% of their working time to create, promote and develop personal projects of innovation. This practice of nurturing environments of useful creativity may be similarly applied in universities, societies and countries with minor modifications and additions to produce true innovations of great commercial value.
4) Those companies, societies and countries that have created state-of-the-art environments to nurture processes of useful creativity consider that the investments in education, training and capacitation are the key strategies to empower, motivate and engage the best talents around important projects with transformational value for a company, country and society. The companies that excel in this discipline have developed systematically as part of their Employer Brand Management practices career exciting development plans and excellent succession plans to assure that human talent relevant to the corporate projects will have the right mix of knowledge, skills and competences to succeed in today´s highly demanding and competitive business context.
5) The professionals who generate, share, disseminate and improve by applying their creativity the knowledge relevant in investigation projects and transformational projects to produce innovative theories, processes, products and services are the main asset of a company, society, community and country where the strategic guideline of encouraging, supporting and promoting environments propitious to apply creativity and transform it in useful innovation is enthusiastically encouraged, visibly supported and explicitly promoted by the incumbent leadership.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Art of Interviewing
Recently I was interviewing some candidates for a Senior Level position for the new venture that I have started.
I was happy and comfortable to deal with managers, with 3 to 4 years of leadership experience, and very good technology hands-on approach. This was going from the tradition of looking at more expeience, which would cost more money, that a startup venture cannot afford.
With more than 18 years and also with the experience of handling labours in my Father's factory, I believe that was a right choice. Social designation would be there and I expect the sincerity of candidates to show that they are capable. We are willing to pay the right money for the right candidate with right experience.
I interviewed so many candidates, mostly referrals from friends, and they were taking it so light.
One guy a development manager in a financial software co. based out of USA at Bangalore (In...t), talked to me once for the job. Now the badger starts. He is keeping on calling me and this has become a pain now to answer him. I couldn't just cut him off. He threw a new ball doosra at me saying that "I am ready to take a plunge in untested waters ...","I am actually the key guy in this company, and willing to leave it for you.." etc etc
Tell me should I hire this candidate? Or based on his attitude, should I report to his manager, who happens to be a good friend of mine? Time would tell.
I was happy and comfortable to deal with managers, with 3 to 4 years of leadership experience, and very good technology hands-on approach. This was going from the tradition of looking at more expeience, which would cost more money, that a startup venture cannot afford.
With more than 18 years and also with the experience of handling labours in my Father's factory, I believe that was a right choice. Social designation would be there and I expect the sincerity of candidates to show that they are capable. We are willing to pay the right money for the right candidate with right experience.
I interviewed so many candidates, mostly referrals from friends, and they were taking it so light.
One guy a development manager in a financial software co. based out of USA at Bangalore (In...t), talked to me once for the job. Now the badger starts. He is keeping on calling me and this has become a pain now to answer him. I couldn't just cut him off. He threw a new ball doosra at me saying that "I am ready to take a plunge in untested waters ...","I am actually the key guy in this company, and willing to leave it for you.." etc etc
Tell me should I hire this candidate? Or based on his attitude, should I report to his manager, who happens to be a good friend of mine? Time would tell.
Motivation
The Motivation Mistakes Managers Make
I. Too much emphasis on pay, benefits, and perks:
The Saratoga Institute reports that 88% of employees voluntarily leave their jobs for other reasons, such as misalignment of mutual expectations, person-job mismatch, insufficient coaching and feedback, perception of poor career-advancement prospects, work-life imbalance, and both distrust toward and low confidence in senior leadership. Still, most managers refuse to acknowledge the "push" factors, preferring to see the "pull" factor of more money as the prime motivator.
The truth is, both push and pull factors come into play, but companies make a big mistake by hanging their employee-retention strategies solely on the easier-to-manipulate tangible factors of more pay, better benefits, and flashier perks. It's not that these factors are unimportant; they're very important. In fact, most employers of choice typically offer better pay and benefits than their competitors. But what sets them apart are positive, caring cultures where most managers know how to provide the everyday coaching, feedback, and recognition that keep employees engaged.
II. Blindly following other companies' best practices:
One of the disadvantages of reading Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work in America" list each year is that we become so enamored of great employers that we think their best practices will work equally well for our companies. Sometimes they do, but often they don't.
The best employers thoughtfully match their cultures, benefits, and management practices to the needs and desires of their workers. FedEx gears its workplace to the short-term work-experience needs of younger part-timers, while American Express focuses on long-term career development with a strong emphasis on gender equity. SAS Institute has created an employment brand that says, "Come to work for us and enjoy a campus-like environment, and have a life outside of work." This software-development company is famous for its 3% turnover rate in an industry where 20% is the norm.
Most companies can't-or won't-invest the up-front dollars to do what SAS has done. The good news is they don't have to. But by asking their particular workforce what they most want and need, companies can usually provide what it takes to keep employees-and keep them engaged.
The danger of benchmarking against others in your industry is that it may keep you from tailoring an innovative benefit or practice to meet the needs of the 20% of the talent that's creating 80% of the value in your company or department.
III. Failure to train managers and hold them accountable:
Studies of employee turnover consistently show that the direct supervisor builds or destroys employee commitment. Yet, how many companies select executives for their ability to manage people, train them in effective people-management skills, and then hold them accountable? You could probably count those on the fingers of one hand.
Many employers of choice carefully monitor their managers' voluntary-turnover rates, new-hire retention rates, and employee-engagement survey scores, and reward those who score highly with bigger bonuses. Managers with low scores get lower bonuses and are called into meeting with their superiors, which may lead to more training, coaching, reassignment, or termination.
In other words, smart companies know that as the competition for talent heats up, they can no longer afford the luxury of another bad manager.
I. Too much emphasis on pay, benefits, and perks:
The Saratoga Institute reports that 88% of employees voluntarily leave their jobs for other reasons, such as misalignment of mutual expectations, person-job mismatch, insufficient coaching and feedback, perception of poor career-advancement prospects, work-life imbalance, and both distrust toward and low confidence in senior leadership. Still, most managers refuse to acknowledge the "push" factors, preferring to see the "pull" factor of more money as the prime motivator.
The truth is, both push and pull factors come into play, but companies make a big mistake by hanging their employee-retention strategies solely on the easier-to-manipulate tangible factors of more pay, better benefits, and flashier perks. It's not that these factors are unimportant; they're very important. In fact, most employers of choice typically offer better pay and benefits than their competitors. But what sets them apart are positive, caring cultures where most managers know how to provide the everyday coaching, feedback, and recognition that keep employees engaged.
II. Blindly following other companies' best practices:
One of the disadvantages of reading Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work in America" list each year is that we become so enamored of great employers that we think their best practices will work equally well for our companies. Sometimes they do, but often they don't.
The best employers thoughtfully match their cultures, benefits, and management practices to the needs and desires of their workers. FedEx gears its workplace to the short-term work-experience needs of younger part-timers, while American Express focuses on long-term career development with a strong emphasis on gender equity. SAS Institute has created an employment brand that says, "Come to work for us and enjoy a campus-like environment, and have a life outside of work." This software-development company is famous for its 3% turnover rate in an industry where 20% is the norm.
Most companies can't-or won't-invest the up-front dollars to do what SAS has done. The good news is they don't have to. But by asking their particular workforce what they most want and need, companies can usually provide what it takes to keep employees-and keep them engaged.
The danger of benchmarking against others in your industry is that it may keep you from tailoring an innovative benefit or practice to meet the needs of the 20% of the talent that's creating 80% of the value in your company or department.
III. Failure to train managers and hold them accountable:
Studies of employee turnover consistently show that the direct supervisor builds or destroys employee commitment. Yet, how many companies select executives for their ability to manage people, train them in effective people-management skills, and then hold them accountable? You could probably count those on the fingers of one hand.
Many employers of choice carefully monitor their managers' voluntary-turnover rates, new-hire retention rates, and employee-engagement survey scores, and reward those who score highly with bigger bonuses. Managers with low scores get lower bonuses and are called into meeting with their superiors, which may lead to more training, coaching, reassignment, or termination.
In other words, smart companies know that as the competition for talent heats up, they can no longer afford the luxury of another bad manager.
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