The Power of Relationship Building – To do or Not to do

Project management is a powerful tool and a powerful discipline but is it powerful enough to achieve the perfect relationship. To achieve anything we have to work closely with others to build a pathway for success. Creating success is about continually maintaining our relationships and this is not just having a list of people in your phone list or contacts file nor a meeting roster to follow … simply put, relationship building is about forgetting the world of technology and focus on the people themselves

You may have some doubts about the level of investment in developing personal relationships, but genuine contact with people can help make your career, project or business a success. Some of us may say … surely the technology, the tools, the disciplines we invest in will develop and manage the relationship … to a certain extent this is true, but will it foster and cultivate the relationships we have? Personally, I am not too sure but here are some tips to cultivate those relationships: -

1. Sharing advice. If you’re feeling lost or confused, turn to the people around you with experience or expertise in an area can give you a few pointers. Do be afraid to ask for help or reach out irrespective of the level of seniority
2. Investing and lending opportunities. You may find that it’s almost impossible to get ahead in a particular area. However, if you have built great rapport with others, they may help lend you the advice you need. In turn don’t be afraid to reach out to those you think that may need the same help
3. Your relationships create new relationships. If you work closely with someone who you’ve impressed, you may get introduced to someone else who will play an important and influential role in your life. Likewise, do the same in return, introduce people and make connection
4. Business / project relationships can turn into good friendships. Whether at work or outside work, days are better when you’re interacting with people who you enjoy spending time with. Sometimes you will just need a buddy to go share a drink with after a hard day or blow off some steam. Why not approach each and every person, including your colleagues, as potential long-term friends?
5. Listen to those around you. It is not always what you say that is worthwhile, sometimes it is ability to listen to a person and not cast a judgement. Take the time to acknowledge that the person requires some space and time to blow off a bit of steam. 

It is often said that relationship building cannot be taught and some people are naturals and some people need to work on it. Irrespective, the more time spent doing it, the bigger the dividend.

The PMP Exam is Changing on Jan 2016 ... what does it mean to the Exam

This is a quick and concise summary of the PMP changes that are due to take effect from Jan 11th 2015

Background .... a recently completed Role Delineation Study (RDS) provided an updated description of the project management professional role. Research included a large-scale survey of global Project Management Professional (PMP)^® certification holders to validate updates to domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills. The RDS captures perspectives of project management practitioners from all industries, work settings, and regions. It serves as the foundation for the PMP exam and ensures its validity and relevance.

Changes ... the following areas are added to and updated across all the domain areas of the standard ... to look more closely at these areas browse the PMI website: - 

• Identify key deliverables based on the business requirements in order to manage customer expectations and direct the achievement of project goals.
• Conduct benefit analysis with relevant stakeholders to validate project alignment with organizational strategy and expected business value.
• Inform stakeholders of the approved project charter to ensure common understanding of the key deliverables, milestones, and their roles and responsibilities.
• Develop the stakeholder management plan by analyzing needs, interests, and potential impact in order to effectively manage stakeholders' expectations and engage them in project decisions.
• Manage the flow of information by following the communications plan in order to keep stakeholders engaged and informed.
• Maintain stakeholder relationships by following the stakeholder management plan in order to receive continued support and manage expectations.
• Capture, analyze, and manage lessons learned, using lessons learned management techniques in order to enable continuous improvement.
• Monitor procurement activities according to the procurement plan in order to verify compliance with project objectives

What does this mean for the exam and those preparing for the exam:

• There should be a stronger focus on developing the project business case – this focuses on specifically point 1 and point 2 above 
• There is a focus on the Tool and Techniques for Lesson Learnt – this focuses specifically on point 7 above.  
• The responsibilities and engagement of stakeholders is always relevant for the exam and this will continue on

Turlon & Associates will be hosting the next PMP Exam Preparation Course for those wishing to take the exam prior to November 1st and for those after November 1st 

Sample PMI-Risk Management Practitioner (RMP)® Questions

Many people are asking about the Risk Management Practitioner (RMP) ® and the level of difficulty it stands at. All information regarding the exam, entry criteria and information is on

But here are some sample questions to get a taste of what is involved. Our Risk Management Practitioner Preparation Course outline is available here http://turlon.com/frontend/data/files/Risk_Management_Professional_CourseOutline.pdf 

Question 1: - Lisa is the project manager of the Database project for her company. She has completed the risk response planning with her project team and is now ready to update the risk register to reflect the risk response. Which of the following statements best describes the level of detail Lisa should include with the risk responses she has created?
A. The level of detail is set by historical information.
B. The level of detail should correspond with the priority ranking.
C. The level of detail must define exactly the risk response for each identified risk.
D. The level of detail is set of project risk governance. 

Question 2: - Jenny is the project manager for the Tidal projects. She is working with the project team and several subject matter experts to perform the quantitative risk analysis process. During this process she and the project team uncover several risks events that were not previously identified. What should Jenny do with these risk events?
A. The events should be entered into qualitative risk analysis.
B. The events should be determined if they need to be accepted or responded to.
C. The events should be entered into the risk register.
D. The events should continue on with quantitative risk analysis. 

Question 3: - You work as the project manager for Tidal Inc. Your project has several risks that will affect several stakeholder requirements. Which project management plan will define who will be available to share information on the project risks?
A. Risk Management Plan
B. Stakeholder management strategy
C. Resource Management Plan
D. Communications Management Plan

Question 4: - You work as a project manager for Tidal Inc. Your project is using a new material to construct a large warehouse in your city. This new material is cheaper than traditional building materials, but it takes some time to learn how to use the material properly. You have communicated to the project stakeholders that you will be able to save costs by using the new material, but you will need a few extra weeks to complete training to use the materials. This risk response of learning how to use the new materials can also be known as what term?
A. Team development
B. Benchmarking
C. Cost of conformance to quality
D. Cost-benefits analysis

Question 5: - Jenny is the project manager of the Compose Project for her company. She has identified several positive risk events within the project and she thinks these events can save the project time and money. You, a new team member wants to know that how many risk responses are available for a positive risk event. What will Jenny reply to you?
A. Four
B. Three
C. Seven 
D. Acceptance is the one of the risk responses for positive risk events.

Answer are available from admin@turlon.com

Increase in Certifications in 2014

Another great year was had in 2014 for Project and Program Management Certifications. If you of the 50,000 that gained your Project Management Institute (PMI)® Certification during 2014, then a heart congratulations. So how did the statistics work out ....

• Project Management Professional (PMP)® showed an increase of 7.51%
• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® showed an increase of 11.12%
• Program Management Professional (PgMP)® showed an increase of 16.68%
• PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)® showed an increase of 16.33%
• PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® showed an increase of 16.22%
• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® showed an increase of 56.91%

It is safe to say that the real mover is Agile. With over 55% uptake on the certification in 2014 there is a constant demand and acceptance from industry of the value of the ceritification.

If you wish purse the ACP certification, we at Turlon (a Registered Education Provider with
PMI®) provide a Exam Preparation Course

http://turlon.com/frontend/data/files/Agile_Certified_Practitioner_ACP_Training.pdf