PMI Mass Bay Chapter e-Newsletter

When I think of our chapter and its volunteers, the first thing that comes to mind is teamwork - people working together cooperatively. The Mass Bay Chapter is large, and as your Board of Directors, we have a 3-year strategic plan and ambitious goals. Without teamwork we would not be able to fulfill those objectives and serve you, our members.

Primary characteristics needed for a team are respect for and trust in each other. This produces a willingness to step in and help when colleagues may have work or attend to family obligations and are temporarily unable to fulfill their volunteer commitments. It is not always easy to assume additional work, but we support each other knowing that “our turn will come” and it will be reciprocated. Because we are an organization based on volunteers and not paid employees, we need to be more flexible and understand the many different roles we play so we can be responsive and backfill for each other.

We all know the importance of good communication. In our “non-PMI lives” we don’t work for the same companies or live in the same community. Thus we often don’t see each other except for the monthly board and chapter meetings. We are the quintessential virtual team. Through email and conference calls we work together listening to our fellow volunteers, sharing ideas, brainstorming, learning from our sister chapters' experiences, and sharing knowledge from PMI Global. We do this to enhance the benefits of your membership: training events, organizing PMP study groups, low cost PDUs, help with job searches, opportunities to network, and providing volunteer opportunities.
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Creating Functional Team Leadership: The Fine Art of Herding Cats
Thursday November 16 Chapter Meeting
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID...
by Steve Rankel, Principal Product180, edited by Ann O'Connell, Programs Chair

How can you get your team to "play nice" in the sandbox, and ship on time while you’re at it?

Do you know the secret of leading cross-functional teams?

If you are charged with leading a challenging and underperforming team, you must attend Steve Rankel’s presentation on “Leading Cross Functional Teams: The Fine Art of Herding Cats” at the November Meeting.

Our November speaker, Steve Rankel, a principal of Product180, is a product evangelist, leader and marketer who helps clients ‘Get More Product off the Shelf’ by selling what they have, as opposed to what they wish the development team built.

In Steve’s opinion, one of the laziest things any company can do is to blame the product for why sales aren’t going well. It’s a common complaint and malady that he has proved over and over again to clients that is NOT the biggest reason their products aren’t selling well.

Steve is a first-generation Austrian American, whose family came to the US after losing everything in World War II. Part of a clan called the ‘Gottscheers’ originally from the Black Forests of Germany, they settled in the New York area to rebuild their lives. After arriving in North America, Steve’s extended family started more than a dozen businesses and once again he was drafted to help. Given the unfair advantage of being the son and grandson of entrepreneurs, Steve cut his teeth on management and marketing way too early to choose any other career path.

Please sign up for the November PMI MassBay Chapter meeting at:

http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=119864

New Meeting Reservation Policy: To insure that the dinner portion of our chapter meeting is efficiently run and that all pre-registrants will be served, the PMI Mass Bay Chapter will no longer support the “Pay at the Door” option for dinner registration. Although the chapter is not discouraging walk-in meeting registration, including a meal, as we understand that plans may change allowing you to attend at the last minute; please be aware that the hotel may not be able to provide you with the same meal as others who pre-registered. In case of a much higher than expected demand, there may only be “Speaker Only” registration available.
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Report from the PMI Leadership Conference in Seattle, WA
What Happens in Seattle Stays in Seattle
by Linda F. Desmond, PMP, President

The Famous Seattle Pike Street Market fish toss!

The PMI Leadership Meeting was held in Seattle this month, October 19-21, 2006. Here are a few of the many photos taken. And yes, we did work and learn a lot. To see what this was all about, stay tuned for the article next month co-written by the chapter leadership who attended including Evans Travis, President Elect, Kathleen Langone, VP of Professional Development, Diana Bishop VP of Finance and Administration, along with Rita Read, Outreach Director, and myself.
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PMI Mass Bay Chapter PMP 2-Day Prep Class
November 15-16 in Waltham, MA
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID...
by PMI Mass Bay Chapter & William George Associates

2-Day PMP Exam Prep Course

William George Logo
Date/Time:
Wednesday and Thursday
November 15th and 16th, 2006
Daily Start 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Location:
Logo
404 Wyman Street, South Entrance
Suite 150
Waltham, MA 02451

For more information and to signup for this class click on this link -

http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=120152

Class Description: This review course provides an intensive review of all knowledge areas that form the basis of PMI's PMP Certification exam. After completing a PMP pre-test and final sample exam you will be able to identify personal strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas and develop a personalized strategy for passing the exam.

NOTE: This is a two-day training class and will provide 15 hours towards the 15-hour PMP exam application training requirement. You will receive a certificate of completion from the Trainer. If you already have a PMP certification and are taking this class as a refresher, this class will also earn you 14 PDUs.

Payments: We prefer full payment at the time of registration to insure that the chapter can meet its obligations to the instructors and it will guarantee you a place in the class. However, we are providing a "Register now, pay by October 31st" option so that you can register now while pursuing any necessary approvals.
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PMCC Networking Proposal
Networking for Career Advancement and Job Search Support
mailto:CareerConnections@pmimassbay.org
by Diane Kemsley, PMCC volunteer

The Project Management Career Connection's Team is considering new ways to facilitate networking amongst our many talented members. The current idea under discussion is how to provide an opportunity for members to corrale during the cocktail hour preceding a Chapter Meeting.

Some members have previously requested the opportunity to meet with other people in their discipline. Others have expressed a desire to dialogue with  colleagues who have common challenges in the workplace or meet with people who are in the same stages of  job search or PMP certification.

Would you like to network with a purpose?  Do you have specific questions, topics or issues that you would like to bounce off of your Mass Bay Chapter comrades? If ,the answer to any of these questions is yes, please email us at CareerConnections@pmimassbay.org with your interests, ideas and any suggested topics.

With enough member interest, we can design an offering that meets the demand. Once we identify some juicy topics for discussion, we need a few folks to help us facilitate these discussions.  This should come naturally to many of you, so don't be bashful! And remember, this is all in the name of meeting new people in a comfortable, low pressure and fun setting.
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News from PMI
Excerpts on News Topics of Interest from PMI Global
http://www.pmi.org
by Marie Gunnerson

PMI attains ANSI reaccreditation as a standards development organization.
PMI is pleased to announce the positive results of its second periodic review audit by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and its formal reaccreditation as a standards development organization (SDO). The results of the audit decidedly indicated compliance with the ANSI Essential Requirements: Due Process Requirements for American National Standards, ANSI’s guidelines for standards development organizations.

PMI became an ANSI accredited standards development organization in October of 1998. Maintaining ANSI accreditation is a key part to PMI’s strategic direction; the U.S. standardization system is highly regarded and recognized as one of the most effective and efficient standards development systems in the world.

International Project Management Day: PMI CEO to participate in global e-conference; Governor of Arkansas issues Project Management Day proclamation.
PMI CEO Gregory Balestrero will be among the featured presenters on a live, interactive, global e-conference to celebrate International Project Management Day on Thursday, 2 November. International Institute for Learning, Inc. will produce and sponsor the e-conference, entitled Reaching the Summit: Achieving Greatness in Project Management.
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Survey Respondents Say No to Light Dinner Fare
by Ann O’Connell, PMP, Programs Chair, PMI MassBay Chapter

Approximately half of the attendees from the October meeting filled out the survey designed to measure satisfaction with the speaker, the venue, and interest in training programs the chapter would like to sponsor.

To highlight some of the results:

Fifty-five (55) percent favored keeping the traditional dinner format. Twenty –two (22) percent showed a preference for a lighter fare, and twenty-two percent were uncertain. The majority of members surveyed rated the Marriott food as excellent or good.
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October Speaker Review - Tom Carbone, PMP & graduate student at U. Alabama
The Marriage between Product Development and Project Management
http:/www.tomcarbone.com
by Holli Jones-White, PMP, PMI Mass Bay Newsletter Editor

Tom Carbone’s presentation on Product and Project Management achieved a rare synthesis where with the aid of his new and improved methodology has nearly seamlessly combined the process of product development with project management. In a fascinating talk, Carbone drew the audience through the history of product development and management. He presented a generic model of product development processing that has been in use for many years where poor communication and processes eventually lead a 50-70% product success at the very best. Today’s reality is that of the $2.3 trillion spent annually on projects in product development, most of which are NOT aligned with corporate goals!

In general, 1 in 3 and up to 3 in 4 product launches are failures. Why? As Carbone’s study and research show there are several reasons for these failures. Foremost is that the average product development lifecycle is dramatically decreasing timewise. Second, about 2/3 of most business concepts lack innovation, and the likelihood of meeting growth needs in the next five years is about 33% at best.
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December 2006 Chapter Meeting Speaker News
101 Ways to Reward Teams for $20 or Less - with Kevin Aguanno, PMP
by Ann O’Connell, PMP, Programs Chair, PMI MassBay Chapter

Even with the best reward ideas, rewards can fall flat if they are not suitable to the person, the organization, the situation, or the magnitude of the accomplishment. Learn the four key factors that will maximize the impact of your rewards, and guarantee delighted recipients. Our December speaker, Kevin Aguanno will give a presentation based on his book “101 Ways to Reward Teams for $20 or Less.”
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Regional Chapter Events
by P. A. Balasubramanian, MBA, PMP, Director of Member Communications

Each month PMI Mass Bay will provide you with a list of the education programs being presented by the other PMI chapters in our region.
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Published by PMI Mass Bay Chapter, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 PMI Mass Bay Chapter, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Website: www.pmimassbay.org / Email: info@pmimassbay.org / Edited by: Michelle Runge, PMP, Director of Marketing and Communications

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