The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #220 Green Project Management Maltzman and Shirley
Posted on 20. Dec, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Rich Maltzman and David Shirley of the EarthPM blog about green project management. What is it, why do we care and how do we do it? We also look at Noah’s project management prowess, a quote from an idealist and we shamelessly plug our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” workshops. Just another day in the salt mines for us Cranky Middle Managers.
Rich Maltman
Dave Shirley
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we celebrate Green Project Management- getting things done while doing good things for the planet and your Karma. It seems only right, somehow that we dedicate this show to Noah, project manager and defender of wildlife. Any project where you can stop the stakeholders from eating each other is a successful project in our book!
3:00 If you manage teams, have responsibility for managing teams or just want to help your company’s managers, check out January’s How to Create and Manage Remote Teams workshop. Drop me a line and save an additional 10% per attendee! If you can’t make it, look at February’s scheduled class.
4:08 The quote of the week is from Carl Schurz, who knew a thing or two about practical idealism.
5:00 Welcome Rich Maltzman back to the show (hear his first interview here) along with his partner Dave Shirley. Together they run the EarthPM blog. Do you need to be a tree hugger to want your projects to be greener? Projects will run better if you think big picture and long term even if that’s not your job description.
7:27 What kind of things fall under “green”? It’s more than just shutting off computers (although you should do that). Can effective communication be done without paper, for example? Collaborative tools saves travel, time, paper and waste in general. Identifying risk triggers like travel or energy costs is a great start.
11:25 When you look at your projects, do you look at the Beginning of the Beginning and the End of the Beginning as well as the Beginning of the End and the End of the End? When you do that you’re outside your normal scope but it’s good business.
16:23 Even if (like me) you’re a skeptic about Cap and Trade and Carbon swaps, there’s real money at stake- and how much of an idealogue do you need to be to ignore millions of dollars just to prove a point? New technology is all about new projects. Coming out of Copenhagen it will be all about projects and their management. And your projects don’t have to have anything to do with “green” technology to understand sustainability and waste reduction.
20:05 Is this whole topic easier to contemplate from a rich white person’s perspective or are people with REAL constraints adding to the body of knowledge? The leadership of Project Management Institute(PMI) are very aware of sustainability and globalization. Should green be a separate discipline or should it be just built into how projects are run to start with?
26:42 Communicating virtually is a great way to green your projects. So is life cycle, or “lean” thinking. Take the end of your product into account.
Books and Resources
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