Blog: Fixing Problem and High-Risk Projects

The steps I think would be best are:

1. Apply to PMI and start the application process. This provides you with a tool to track your hours, much like the spreadsheet I have, which should be considered a good starting point. I mailed this to each person that might end up being questioned on it so that it would minimize the chance of problems.
2. When you think you have your hours, take a class. PSU has great PMP prep classes. I took a set of online courses from a reseller. The big thing to look for is the sample tests.  I think they are critical and the I bought had two sets of test. They other offerings too.
3. From the PMBOK and the classes I made flash cards to help me memorize certain material. I did them by hand, since I learn better that way, but you can probably find them for sale somewhere.
4. After you get your 35 contact hours, then determine how long it will take you to nail the tests and apply for a test with enough time to study the sample tests. I would lot a few weeks for that.
5. Watch the timing. The PMBOK's Fifth Edition in in progress and I am not sure when it will kick in.  Do not study the fourth edition and find out you need the fifth. It is best to check with PMI on the timing.

I, also, borrowed the textbook Project Management: A system approach to planning, scheduling and controlling, by Harold Kerzner, and found it very good. I am thinking about getting it for my library. It is not something you need for the PMP, it is a good PM reference textbook.

The total cost for the PMP in 2009 was $997.00. Now it is about $50 more.

Let me be perfectly clear, I hate PMOs. It matters not if you call them project management offices, program management offices, or portfolio management offices, they only spell one thing—poor leadership. Now those of you that know me, have heard this enough times that your eyes are rolling back as you mumble, "Here he goes again. Who set the bait in front of him this time?" However, I have confused people with a couple of PMO articles that might seem contrary.

From her corner office, the new executive decried, "Decentralize the PMO. Let each department be responsible for their own projects." Maybe she had made a pact with another executive for some other bit of power, or it could be she lost a power struggle and the PMO had to go, or possibly she has little regards for project management thinking it is a mechanical, blue collar discipline that methodically follows a recipe to execute each project. Bottom line, she is missing the point of the Project Management Office (PMO)—it is all about business goals. Unfortunately, for the company, decentralized PMOs provide little if any value. They are similar to distributed teamwork—an oxymoron. The concept is illogical.

Again, I was chided for saying there are no Information Technology projects. This time, the excuse was that the company built software. I countered my antagonist by asking if the same group that built their software also maintained the account system, workstations, email, and network. "No, that is a separate group." He was missing that his company's production group was not IT. Information Technology is the support group... and yes, they should not be doing anything that fails to directly affect getting product out the door or reducing costs. Every project's goal must be to deliver to the operational needs of the company—selling product—not to the whims and desires of the IT group. If a project fails to address the needs of the customer (directly or indirectly), then it should never see a penny of funding. This seems such an elementary concept, but it is routinely violated by techno-bigots trying to implement the latest toy or tool.