Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Mark C. Allman, PMP
Title: "Project Management Challenges in the Space Shuttle Flight Design Program"

Synopsis:
Many of the same competing project forces which are common in the business world are also well represented in the Shuttle Program.  The Space Shuttle has always been a work-in-progress, constantly being reviewed, revised, studied, and improved.  How is this constant change managed?  Projects compete for scarce resources (knowledgeable staff, funding, time, etc.).  Complicating the management of these competing forces is the nature of the program: America's National Space Transportation System.  Although the day-to-day work becomes as routine as it does in most environments, what we all work on everyday (designing Space Shuttle missions) requires a special attention and thoroughness.  This presentation will discuss Space Shuttle flight design and the challenges, risks, and opportunities unique to driving projects in the shadow of Apollo and the rarified air of mission control.
 
Speaker Bio:
Mark C. Allman is an independent consultant specializing in all things relating to IT, especially project management.  Mark focuses on adapting project management best practices to the different environments, challenges, and personalities which make each client unique.  He has managed many projects in a wide variety of industries, including NASA, biotechnology, financial services, and healthcare.  Mark has authored several papers and co-authored a graduate textbook on astrodynamics ("rocket science").  He has also received a NASA New Technology award and is listed in several Who's Who publications.  Mark is also an entrepreneur and is completing the Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship program at Boston University.

Sponsor:

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Chuck Moulter, MBA, PMP
Title: "How to Manage Virtual (Remote) Teams"

Synopsis:
The days of collocated teams working a standard 40 hour work week are long gone.   We are now in an era where the standard is quickly approaching a 24/7 global workforce.   While many project managers had a difficult time managing a local team, they most certainly will be even more challenged in managing and building a productive global team.  While the techniques for managing a team have not change greatly, the execution of these techniques to be successful with a global or virtual team have definitely changed.  In addition to the standard set of team management tools, there needs to be more of a focus on the so-called "soft skills" of project management and for many these are the difficult skills to master.  This presentation will explore these techniques and tools: communications, goals, expectations, trust building and cultural differences to name a few.   At the conclusion, I am hopeful that the attendees will understand they already possess many of the skills required to succeed in this new age of business, but they may just need to modify the execution of these skills.
 

Meeting Location:

Sponsor:

Note: Corporate recruiters will be at the meeting to discuss exciting career opportunities at CVS!

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Gregg Brett
Title: "The Meeting Information Management Lifecycle: The Missing Link In Effective Project Management"

Synopsis:
The presentation is focused on helping project managers to become even more efficient and skilled at running highly productive meetings - before, during and after they take place. The presentation will focus on showing you how to improve your meetings and the way that you capture, track and manage the information and action items shared in those meetings. Through Deep industry knowledge and experience, coupled with that of our partners, several best-selling meeting productivity authors, we have created a complete learning experience that demonstrates through example how to manage meetings more effectively.
We will cover:

• Overview - Problem Defined
• Meeting Fundamentals
  
  • Meeting Information Management Begins with Productive Meetings
  • Bringing together meeting practices and information management
• Meeting Logistics
• Structured Working Sessions
  
  • One to One Meeting
  • Information Distribution
  • Information Collection
  • Facilitated Meetings
• Meeting Information Management
  
  • The Meeting Information Management Life-Cycle
  • Meeting productivity tools
• The Links to Project Management
  
  • Tracking meeting information across the planning, launch, configure, rollout and close phases

Sponsor:

Event: All-Day Seminar
Speaker: Gwynne N. Dawdy, Ph.D.
Title: "The Social Compass: Time Tested Methods to Better Communication, Understand Others and Coach Your Project & Team to the Top"

Synopsis:
Approximately 33% of a project manager's time is spent troubleshooting poor communication issues. Communication differences and disengaged employees may be big issues within project management.

• Enhanced communication: Keep your project at the top
• Keep members engaged & productive
• Recognize behavioral & communication styles, strengths and weaknesses
• Coach your team to greater performance and results; how to coach through problems
• Build effective interpersonal relations
• Much More ...

PDUs: 8

Location:

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Bob Wysocki
Title: "Adaptive Project Framework: A Common Sense Approach to Managing Complex Projects"

Synopsis:
The contemporary information technology (IT) landscape can be characterized as a two-dimensional grid. Those projects for which both the goal and the solution to reach it are clearly defined are well-supported by traditional project management (TPM) approaches. Those projects whose goal and solution are not clearly defined are well-supported by extreme project management (xPM) approaches. But what about those projects whose goal is clearly defined but whose solution is not? A new approach called Adaptive Project Framework (APF) is designed specifically for those situations.

APF is an iterative and adaptive five-phase approach designed to deliver maximum business value to clients within the limits of their time and cost constraints. The fundamental concept underlying APF is that scope is variable, and within specified time and cost constraints, APF maximizes business value by adjusting scope at each iteration. It does this by making the client the central figure in deciding what constitutes the maximum business value and how scope should change to achieve it. A very good example of an APF project was given to us by President John Kennedy when he said to NASA: "Your mission is to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and return him safely." There can be no confusion or ambiguity about that goal. But how would it be done? When the challenge was issued we can be certain that NASA didn't have a clue how they would do it. The IT discipline abounds with examples of APF projects. Until APF was first defined, IT didn't have an approach that worked well. Trying to fit TPM into an APF project was just courting disaster and outright project failure.

APF represents a shift in thinking about projects and how they should be run. Here are a few tidbits to get your APF juices flowing:

• It is a new mindset - one that thrives on change.
• It is not a "one size fits all" approach - it continuously adapts to change.
• It utilizes a just-in-time planning approach.
• It adapts tools and processes from TPM and xPM to the APF project.
• It is based on repeatable principles and therefore can be integrated.
• It is based on the principle that you learn by discovery.
• It guarantees "if you build it they will come."
• It seeks to get it right every time.
• It is client-focused and client-driven.
• It is grounded in the following set of immutable core values:
  
  1. Client-focused
  2. Client-driven
  3. Incremental results early and often
  4. Continuous questioning and introspection
  5. Change is progress to a better solution
• It delivers maximum business value.
• It eliminates all non-value added work.
• It is less costly and requires less time to execute than TPM.
• It meaningfully and fully engages the client as primary decision maker.
• It is based on a shared partnership between client and team.
• It works - 100% of the time! No exceptions!

Do I have your attention?
 

Meeting Location:

Event: Neal Whitten Seminar and Chapter Meeting Presentation

Seminar #1, June 12^th (full-day)

Chapter Meeting, June 12^th (evening)

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Ms. Dale Beyer, PMP
Title: "Tricks for Dealing with Unrealistic Schedules"

Synopsis:
If someone told you that being given an unrealistic project schedule was nobody's fault but your own, would you believe them? You will after this session! You'll also learn how to push back, as well as how to come to agreement on a project schedule that everyone can live with.

Chapter Meeting Location:

Event: RMC 1/2 Day Seminar
Title: "Common Risk Management Errors That Can Ruin Your Career"

Synopsis:
Through presentation, exercises and examples this course will cover the process of risk management, explain the errors people make each step of the way and provide Tricks of the Trade® from around the world for advanced risk management. Based on Rita Mulcahy's award winning book Risk Management Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers, this captivating course is full of real world information.

Learning Objectives. At the end of this course you will be able to:

• Describe the risk management process
• Improve your ability to identify risks for your real world projects
• Identify gaps in your knowledge that may hurt you and your projects
• Identify errors others are making so that you can avoid them
• Apply many new Tricks of the Trade® to your projects
• Be a better project manager

Target Audience:
This course is ideal for people who need advanced project management training or who already have an understanding of risk management and wish to focus on the tricks of the trade and common errors. It is also an excellent way to learn something useful while collecting PDUs.

For more information visit the RMC website.

PDUs: 4

Seminar Time:

Seminar Pricing:

Seminar Location:

Sponsor:

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Tony Lapreste
Title: "Managing Project Requirements"

Synopsis:
The Requirements Planning and Management Knowledge Area defines the resources and tasks associated with the planning and management of requirements activities throughout the requirements process. How the Business Analyst defines the requirements activities that will be performed and how those activities will be performed on a project. This includes the identification of key roles, selecting requirements activities, managing the requirements scope and ongoing communication of the requirements status will be discussed.

Meeting Location:

Event: Chapter Meeting
Speaker: Mark Kozak-Holland
Title: "Project Lessons from the Great Escape"

Synopsis:
The Great Escape from the prison camp Stalag Luft III is widely regarded as one of the most audacious and daring escape attempts of the 20th century. But as an event in March 1944, set in dire circumstances, what actually happened? How was the escape planned and executed as a project? How did it get around numerous obstacles in a habitat designed to be escape proof? How was the project tracked? In today's world business people are grappling with numerous obstacles in planning and executing projects in a climate of rapid changes. What can be learned from this event and put into practice today?

The topic is based on my latest book "Project Lessons from the Great Escape."

[ Online Registration for the monthly meeting. ]