The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #230 The Project Management Minimalist Mike Greer
Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel visits Mike Greer, The Project Management Minimalist to uncover how much project management is just enough? Do we need big certifications? When does it help and when is it overkill? Also we look at a Chinese emperor and a Russian composer, all in the name of keeping our sanity and keeping the weasels at bay.
Mike Greer helps us understand "Just Enough Project Management" to get the job done
Don’t forget our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” workshops for managers no matter where you are in the world.
March 22nd Webinar Workshop Click here to register and learn more.
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By the way, I’ll be speaking at the Northeast Indiana PMI Chapter meeting April 28th in Fort Wayne, IN and at the PMI Madison chapter annual conference in Madison, WI on May 21st.Will I see you there?
Oh, and check out my new BNET blog with articles like this one on Project Management for remote teams…..
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome all managers, whether project managers or just regular old managers. Today we look at Project Management and how much do you really need to know to be functional. As a result we dedicate this episode to the Chinese Emperor Qin Shih Huang a man who knew a thing or two about starting huge projects, although not a big fan of continuous learning and development.
4:51 The quote of the week is from Igor Stravinsky How do you view constraints? Are they barriers to success or opportunities to focus and excel? Just asking.
5:40 Please welcome Mike Greer to the show. The man actually listens to this show so I don’t know what kind of credibility hit he takes for that. Also, what kind of madman thinks we should learn just enough project management instead of becoming an expert? PM is not an end in itself, most of us do it to achieve what we really want to do. It can kill the fun, if you let it.
8:55 Most of us are not doing multi-million dollar projects with multiple parts. There are some basics you can learn to just get on with the job. Let the smart PMs develop the tools, and you can learn them without getting a degree.
12:45 The first thing you want to do is in fact make sure it’s a project. Define it, and find out who cares about it from upper Management. You want to get a “Project Charter” and find all the stakeholders.
15:00 How do you break the project down into the right task descriptions? You need to figure out who does what with which and to whom. You need a “high-res” project plan.
19:37 When you’re building in a timeline, don’t forget to build in time for input and people sticking their nose into your business. Be realistic, not overly optimistic. Stakeholders are like puppies in the yard- watch your roses.
22:00 How do you balance being a micromanager and just knowing what’s going on? Get the team’s participation and buyin into the communication plan to start with.
25:11 At what point does certification like PMI/PMP certification make sense? Does your career path depend mainly on doing projects, or your expertise in your area of focus? Do you want to do projects across fields, then you should look into certification.
Mike’s Resources
Check out Michaelgreer.biz for articles, podcasts and other stuff
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