May 14, 2012 WMPMI Annual Business Dinner Meeting
Presented by WMPMI President, Gilann Vail-Boisvenue and the Board of Directors.  A drawing will be held for valuable $100 fuel cards along with other door prizes to be awarded.

Bonus Presentation: Decision Fatigue - The Challenge of Writing for the Program Manager by Lisa McNeilley, Ph.D.  Bonus begins at 5:10 p.m.

Held at the Holiday Inn Express / Crossroads in Grand Rapids.
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PMP Certification Prep Class
Summer class session starts on June 2nd and runs through June 30th.   Held at the Amway Learning Center in Ada, MI
Registration Information

Fall classes run from September 8th - October 6th.   Held at the Amway Learning Center in Ada, MI
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Attention All WMPMI Members! 2012 WMPMI Board Election is Now Open - Cast Your Vote Now Through Sunday, May 13^th, 2012, at Noon EDT!

In accordance with the WMPMI By-Laws, the voting period is now open to all WMPMI Chapter Members for the 2012 WMPMI Board Election.  In this election cycle, VP of Volunteers, VP of Administration, and VP of Education positions are on the ballot. Use this survey link to log in and view the online ballot which contains the names and short bios of the nominees for each Board position. After making your selection(s), click the “Submit” button. As a WMPMI Chapter member, you may cast one ballot.

The results of the election will be announced at the Annual Business Meeting on Monday, May 14^th, 2012.  Thanks for voting!

Congratulations to Grand Valley State University - Winner of THE Project

 By Kelly M. Talsma PMP, MSPM, VP of Education WMPMI

On April 9th, eight college teams presented their final project plans to a panel of executive judges.    The final presentations were the last step in a three month process that included three phase gates of project management deliverables and an overall plan.

The student teams, along with their school, business, and PMP mentors, had to create a project management plan for a business seeking B Corporation certification. B Corps permit and protect businesses in making social and environmental decisions. Instead of being accountable only to shareholders, B Corp businesses must also consider their impact on employees, their community, and the environment.

Project Plans included:  Project Charter, Scope Statement, WBS, High Level and Timeline, RACI, Communication Management Plan, Executive Scorecard and a response to a Risk.  Deliverables were scored on their adherence to PMBOK standards as well as overall value of the plan to the business.

Senior executive business leaders judged project plans.  The panel included:

Dick Posthumus, Senior Advisor to Governor Rick Snyder

Carol Valade, Editor - Grand Rapids Business Journal & Gemini Publications

Fred Keller, CEO - Cascade Engineering

James A. Mitchell, Chair, Intellectual Property MITCHELL IP LAW, PLLC

Matthew VanVranken, Executive Vice President Spectrum Health Delivery Systems

The Winning Universities for the inaugural event were:

• 1st Place - Grand Valley State University
• 2nd Place - Michigan Tech B
• 3rd Place - University of Phoenix

I would like to send out a very special thank you to all the sponsors:

Dematic Corp., Davenport University, Grand Rapids Business Journal, New Horizons, Amway, Steelcase, Lean Logistics, Stryker, Mitchell Intellectual Property Law, and SIS.  Also, special thanks to Bruce Wilk of BVW Photography, the official photographer for the competition as well as Cynthia Kay and Company Media Productions for the video production.

Additional coverage on The Project 2012 can be found on the Advisicon blog.

By Kelly M. Talsma PMP, MSPM, VP of Education WMPMI

As I wind down my final few months as VP of Education, I would like to reflect on some of the accomplishments over the past several years.

PMP Certification Classes

The PMP Certification classes have changed from 15 weeks to five Saturdays.

We are now buying materials from Crosswinds Project Management, one of the leading developers of PMP certification curriculum.  Deb VanElls has joined the team as the Director of Education Operations responsible for all aspects of the class.

Education Council

Deb Wilk joined the Education team Q4 2010 and led the development of the educational council.  The education council, which was made up of leaders from education, business and PMI, was responsible for THE Project 2012, PM Collegiate Competition.

Mentors

Kim Cook joined the education team as Director of Mentors and led the development and management of the mentor team for THE Project 2012.

I have learned much the past several years, and consider the experience very rewarding.  I want to sincerely thank everyone who partnered with me during the past few years.

By Cornelius Fichtner, PMP - Your Guide to PDUs

[Note: This is an update to the article “10 Easy Ways to Earn PDUs" that was published in 2010. The update is necessary because PMI changed the categories, structure and policies governing Professional Development Units (PDUs). See http://www.pmi.org/en/GLOBALS/PDU-Updated-Category-Structure-Implementation.aspx.]

PDUs we need and PDUs we want. Professional Development Units (PDUs) dominate our minds, our conversations, and our spare time in the last quarter before our Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) deadline. With a little proactive planning we can all make the PDU procurement process much easier. The bottom line is that we want the fast and consistent path to our PDUs… and we want them now!

How do we accomplish this? By just ‘doing’ what ‘you do’. The easiest way to earn PDUs is to leverage what you currently do. Here is a short list of PDU eligible activities that might already be part of your professional life.

1. Your Day Job (PDU Category F)

If you work as a Project Manager this is probably the easiest way to tick off up to 25% of the PDUs you’ll need at the end of the recertification cycle. If you are a practitioner of project management services for at least 6 months each year, you can claim up to 5 PDUs per year for a maximum total of 15 PDUs per three year period. For the details on this and the other PDU categories mentioned below please refer to the CCR section of the PMP Handbook, which you can find at http://www.pmi.org/certification/~/media/pdf/certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx#page=38.

2. Take a Quiz! (PDU Category A)

Did you know you can earn up to one third of your PDUs by taking the PMI publication quizzes? The member price starts at $10 per quiz. Score a 80% or higher and you will earn between 0.5 to 2.5 PDUs depending on the individual quiz and the CCR requirement you are trying to fulfill. (See http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/PMI-Publication-Quizzes.aspx)

3. Volunteer Service (PDU Category E)

Become a volunteer of your local project management association (either as an elected officer, as a committee member or by managing a project for them) and earn 1 PDU for each hour of service. Note that the PDUs earned in this category count towards the combined maximum of 45 PDUs for categories D, E and F. A letter or certificate from the organization acknowledging the participation is required for confirmation. (To find your local PMI chapter, go to http://www.pmi.org/GetInvolved/Pages/PMI-Chapters.aspx)

4. PDUs That Go Wherever You Go (PDU Category A)

The PDU Podcast delivers monthly webinars by a variety of presenters to your personal media player. Watch and earn PDUs whenever and wherever you want them. There is no limit to how many Category A PDUs you can earn from The PDU Podcast. A single subscription keeps you on track with fresh content delivered consistently and reliably month in and month out. (See http://www.pducast.com)

5. Get free PDUs just for listening (PDU Category C)

The Project Management Podcast delivers interviews with project management experts from around the world as free podcast episodes every so often to its subscribers. The topics are as varied as the guests. Because the programs are shorter than the 1 hour needed to claim a PMI PDU you have to listen to several free episodes to earn 1 PDU. But with over 200 free episodes available that shouldn’t be a problem. It’s also important to remember that you can claim a maximum of 30 PDUs in this category per recertification cycle. (See http://www.project-management-podcast.com/pdu)

6. Watch a Movie (PDU Category A)

“Applying the Fundamentals of Project Management” delivers 23 PDUs in the form of a movie via the internet to your home. It’s available on the PMI.org web site at a cost of $500 to PMI members. Well, I didn’t say it was cheap. I just said it was easy. (See http://marketplace.pmi.org/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00101232800)

7. Formal Academic Training (PDU Category B)

Formal Academic educational courses related to Project Management can earn you 10 to 15 PDUs per semester. It’s one of the easier categories, as long as you are not financially challenged. If you are, there may well be project management related courses offered at your local community college that are more economical than the state and private collegiate institutions. The transcript or grade report is required for confirmation.

8. Create new Project Management Knowledge (PDU Category D)

There is a lot you can do in this category to earn PDUs. You could be authoring or co-authoring articles, books or newsletters, present a webinar or podcast, or create and present a project management course. Each will earn you PDUs. The rule is that every hour spent in preparing and delivering these activities is equal to one PDU. The PDUs claimed in this category count toward the 45 PDU maximum for categories D, E and F.

9. Turning CEU’s into PDUs (PDU Category B)

Like Formal Academic Training, Continuing Education (CE) can be submitted as PDUs. Unlike Formal Academic Training, CE’s are courses that comply with IACET standards. CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) can be converted to PDUs; generally at a ratio of 1 CEU to 10 PDUs. Your best bet is to confirm with the provider that the course you are interested in complies with the ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard and of course it must be about project management.

10. Self-Study (PDU Category C)

Do you consume a lot of materials like reading articles or books, watching videos or CD ROMs? Or do you have formal discussions with colleagues or customers? Or did you recently get coached? If you participated in any of these activities and the topic at hand was relevant to project management, had a specified purpose and used knowledgeable resources then you can claim 1 PDU for each hour spent on this as “self study”. There is a maximum of 30 PDUs for this and any other Category C activities.

11. Get Free PDU ideas via Email (PDU Category - Multiple)

If the 10 ideas above on how you can earn your PDUs easily and without breaking the bank aren’t enough for you then subscribe to The PDU Insider newsletter at http://www.pdu-insider.com. The newsletter will not only give you links to free events where you can earn PDUs, you can also have your PMP PDU questions answered and learn more about the rules and policies of earning PDUs with each issue. After all… knowledge is power, so it’s always best to know the rules of any program you participate in.

12. Leverage PDU Activities (PDU Category - Multiple)

One of the best ways to proactively plan your PDUs is to get creative and leverage one PDU opportunity upon another. For example, if you attend a PMI Chapter Meeting you will earn 1 PDU (Category A). Why not piggy-back on that PDU opportunity by taking an active role as a volunteer at the registration desk (Category E) and of course on your trip to and from the event you can listen to the latest PM Podcast episodes in your car (Category C) and earn another PDU right there. This way, you will have used one event to generate PDUs in three different categories. Don’t be afraid to get creative and leverage PDU opportunities as much as you can.

So there you have it….

No matter what your budget or your learning media preference, these 12 simple methods are waiting to help you earn the 60 PDUs required for your recertification. If you are proactively planning your PDUs, you will be prodigiously promising as a project manager! Whichever route you take, keep consistent and remember to have some fun with it.

By Tres Roeder, PMP, MBA, www.roederconsulting.com

Bubba Watson was in trouble.  Not life-threatening, but of critical importance to his career.  It’s the sort of trouble project managers run into when their projects go off the rails.  Bubba was trying to win his first major golf tournament.  The 33-year-old professional golfer was known for taking risks.  He knew that winning requires taking risks.  Sometimes, playing it safe is not safe at all.  Sometimes, project managers need to take risks too.

Bubba made a mistake.  He hit his tee shot deep into the woods.  Have you ever made a mistake?  Has someone else made a mistake that put you in a difficult position?  Bubba had three choices - he could give up, he could play it safe, or he could give it a rip.  He chose the latter.  When he began working with his caddy, Ted Scott, six years prior, Bubba had said to him, “If I have a swing, I’ve got a shot.”  He knew he could do amazing things just given the opportunity.  Project managers can do amazing things too.  We don’t typically get highlighted on national television when we overcome incredible circumstances, but this makes our accomplishments no less amazing.

As Bubba walked up to the ball he began to think about his shot.  He “saw it in his head.”  His caddy played back Bubba’s own words, “If you have a swing, you’ve got a shot.”  Bubba lined up, began his back swing, and then executed the amazing.  He shaped a shot that caused the ball to fly out of the woods in a straight line, then rise and turn dramatically towards the green.  The ball landed on the green.  Two putts later, Bubba was champion of the world-renowned Master’s golf tournament.  It all played out yesterday.  April 9th, 2012.  Analysts say Bubba’s whole life was leading up to that moment.  Has your moment happened?  Will you be prepared when it arrives?

This month, Roeder Consulting shifts its focus to project risk.  Roeder Consulting has applied its unique expertise on the human dynamic to the sometimes overly-analytical traditional process of project risk management.  Bubba encountered a risk and he won.  You encounter risk in your projects and you find ways to win too.  Often, the way out of a tight spot comes from creative and adaptable thinking.   Traditional quantitative and qualitative project risk management tools have value.  We’ll discuss many of them in our new course on project risk.  However, we’ll go beyond those tools to the most powerful ones you have … the human component.

Asked later about the shot, Bubba described what he did and said “it was easy.”  The reporters laughed.  He was serious.  He knows amazing things can happen.  He’s right.

The next time your project is in the woods get creative.  Tell yourself you can do it, visualize the successful outcome, and let ‘er rip.