Let the SME do what you are paying him to do

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to a client site to deliver IT Project Management training. This will be conducted over 3 days at their facility and I'm really dreading it. Why? Because it's not the training that I believe in. What I mean by that is that the client dictated what topics to cover and what not to cover.

I understand that the client pays and we do what they want. However, when you ask for a subject matter expert (SME) to come in to do what they do best and then handcuff them, what do you think the result will be? Probably not good, right? And if the end result is terrible, who does it reflect on? You get my point.

To make it worse, the guy who asked for this training for his team attended a speaking engagement that I was at last year. Trying hard not to be immodest but most people who meet me learn to trust me. They take my words to heart because every word that comes out of my mouth has truth behind it and is filled with my passion. Yet from time to time, I meet people who are as green as a Pebble Beach fairway in August who think they know more than someone who does this every day.

So you must be curious at this point, what are they asking me to do? I'll just give you a single example and you'll see the picture. The request is to not discuss network diagramming but spend as much time as possible in MS Project. For those of you who still do not fully understand, it's the equivalent of teaching a first grader how to use a calculator before they know why they have to add in the first place. It'll be easy to teach them how to push the buttons but will they really understand why they need it?

More speaking...

Tonight and tomorrow night, my PSU classes will be delivering their project presentations to me. This is the pinnacle for the course for them.

Unlike some instructors, I will be spending a good deal of time providing feedback. I also expect them to apply that feedback to their presentation for their next course.

Why? Because presentation skills are one of the more underrated, yet valuable skills to have as a PM. The top PMs (we can assume in prestige and salary) give presentations regularly. They present changes to boards, updates to executives, design info to teams, etc... Any time they have to stand in front of a room, they're presenting!

Have you ever left a meeting where the presenter was dull? That's probably all you remember. How about a meeting where the presenter was dynamic? That meeting is probably still very vivid in your head. Remember what I stated in one of my previous posts, content can easily get lost if not delivered well.

So tonight will be fun -- for me, that is. It will be fun for the students too but they don't know it yet.

Speaker in the House

I just got back from the Baltimore area where I was the keynote speaker at a PMO forum. At this forum, there were several speakers but I was last to present. I was there representing Microsoft and the topic was Microsoft Enterprise Project Management -- How It Can Help You Manage Expectations.

Anyway, as each speaker presented his or her topic, I quickly realized how nearly all of them were inexperienced at it. Some where clearly better than others but certainly there weren't any superstars. As I waited for my turn, I knew that I would just do my "thing" and get the audience pumped up about the topic.

When I was done, I had a nice applause and a real sense that the audience really enjoyed my presentation. People came up to me afterwards and asked for me to personally train them in either the tools or to become a PMP.

So what did I do differently from everyone else? Here's a quick list:

• I opened with a hook: Ask a question to get the audience involved early. For instance, "So how many of you really like project management? C'mon, tell the truth and don't be shy, we're all nerds in here."
  
• I kept my points high-level: There's no need to "teach" anyone anything at an event. Just keep your slides light and tell your story.
• I used other presenters' names in my stories: This makes it appear as though everyone is in agreement of my presentation.
• I walked around: Don't stay behind a podium! Move about and simply talk.
• I didn't bring notes: If you know your topic (and want to look like you do), know your topics and simply talk.
• I smiled: Do you know how many speakers don't smile? That's right, nearly all of them!
• I kept it funny: If you're not naturally funny, be prepared to write something up prior. People will remember the funniest presentation and if you can't get through to them, they will tune you out, even if you have the meaning of life.
  

So who exactly trains PMI employees?

Everyone needs training, even PMI. When PMI has a need to train their employees in project management, who do you think they call? That's right, yours truly.

I'm not telling you this to boast, nor am I telling you this to sell you something. Rather, the message I'm trying to convey is that project management is project management. Good trainers and consultants are as good as the message they can deliver.

The message itself can actually be delivered by anyone but there's a big difference between someone who can be dynamic versus someone who just, well ... delivers it. Even if I am the most knowledgeable person on the subject matter, no one would really choose me solely because of that. I am chosen because of my presence in front of an audience.

For the record, I do not claim to be the most knowledgeable but I will continually get speaking engagements (sometimes for PMI) and additional training opportunities because I can drive a message home. The lesson for today? Go get some practice speaking in front of others.

PMP passing score?

This is a question I get a lot…”What is the passing score for the PMP?”

The reason why there’s confusion is that different materials may have different answers Let me make it easy for you.

PMBOK 2000 (old version of exam) = 69%

PMBOK 3rd ed. (new version of exam) = 81%

PMBOK 3rd ed. (new version of exam after the first few months of release) = 61%

I remember telling my students a few years ago that they better apply for the PMP soon since you never know what you’re going to get in the new version. When the new version finally came out, 81% was the passing score. However, based on the candidates’ scores, PMI realized that people who should be passing weren’t passing! Rather than updating the entire exam, they lowered the passing score. The 61% was determined the appropriate passing score after reviewing several months of data.

However, prep books and other materials that were printed obviously were not updated. That’s why you may see varying passing scores.

In short (until PMI changes it again), you need 61% to pass.

When should I use LEAD in MS Project?

Last week, I answered the question of when to use lag. Now I’m going to describe its counterpart – lead.

Lead is the amount of time a successor task can overlap its predecessor. In other words, how soon can a task begin before its predecessor completely finishes? My two-word definition for lead is overlapped tasks. Please note that I’m referring only to tasks that have a relationship between each other.

For instance, let’s say that I am a programmer and one my tasks is Develop code. I also have a task for unit testing my own work, Test code. Would you agree that I can’t actually test the code unless I develop the code? Therefore, I should use a finish-to-start relationship. However, I am asked to shorten the duration of my project. One of my options is to simply start testing before I am completely done developing. Maybe I will start testing two days before I am scheduled to finish developing. If that’s the case, I will apply two days of lead on that link.

By the way, if you’re looking for the lead field in MS Project, you won’t find it. You have to put a negative number in the lag field.

And lastly, just as I stated for lag, the same applies here — no dependencies, no lead.

When should I use LAG in MS Project?

The definition of lag is the amount of time a successor task must be delayed. If you’ve attended any of my classes where I walk my students through activity sequencing, you’d already know that I like using two-word definitions and that I simply refer to lag as a forced wait.

Let’s walk through an example of when lag makes sense. I am redecorating a room and part of this project includes painting the room and hanging up pictures. Therefore, Paint walls is a predecessor of Hang up pictures. If I intend to “force” a waiting time between the tasks (I should probably let the paint dry a bit!), I place lag right on that finish-to-start dependency. If I want to let the paint dry for a day, then I’d add 1 day lag. The start of the successor task will now begin after a one day waiting period once the predecessor has finished. Lag is dynamic so if it takes more or less time for me to paint, the lag will still remain as a fixed 1 day wait prior to hanging up pictures.

An alternative to adding lag is creating a new task, such as Wait for paint to dry. The reason why lag is usually the preferred method is because there is no effort for paint drying. Unless you need to exhibit these types of tasks on the Gantt Chart, then just use lag and save yourself the trouble. In general, using lag will reduce the number of tasks you need to view on your project schedules.

Of course, if you’re not using dependencies at all, then you can’t actually apply lag!