• Your news headline, in this format: Call for Papers for World Congress Extended: 30 May; this headline cannot exceed 45-50 characters;
• A 60×60 pixel small and distinctive logo, used as a featured image to call attention to the news item;
• A 20-30 word introduction to the news item, explaining the Journalist’s 5 W’s: What, Who, Why, When and Where. Do not repeat details from the headline. You may follow the introduction with one or more paragraphs containing more details;
• Optionally, include a link to a more information, as in a press release or a separate website;
• Optionally, a larger graphic, in the range of 350×200 pixels. Note that we do not typically post full-width banners; our maximum width is 720px;
• Include a contact name and method of contact for more information (phone, email address).

News posting requests that carefully follow the above guidelines are also candidates for rotation onto the front page of the IPMA website on a periodic basis.

Note: Many of our Press Releases and News items are jointly posted here and on the website of our Media Partner, PM World Journal. See their website at pmworldjournal.net. Because of this joint posting, you will see their branding on many of our releases. Learn more about this relationship on our Press Room page.

Additionally:

- 3 Jury members are previous IPMA PE Award Finalists
- 2 Jury members were also IPMA Vice Presidents responsible
for the Awards
- 3 Jury members acted as an Award Assessor
- 2 Jury members acted as a Jury for the National PE Awards
- 3 Jury members received the prestigious Otto Zieglmeier
Award for contribution to the development of the IPMA
Project Excellence Awards.

This year Project Excellence Awards Applicants will be in great hands:

• Mrs. Mary McKinlay, UK
• Mrs. Constanta Bodea, Romania
• Mr. Frank Menter, Germany
• Mr. Roberto Mori, Italy
• Mr. Hans van Wieren, The Netherlands

The Awards Jury was convened for the 2013 PE Award edition by Reinhard Wagner, IPMA Vice President–Awards, Mary Koutintcheva–Award Management Board Chairman and Ewa Bednarczyk–IPMA Award Office Manager.

See the full Press Release: aw-awards-jury-announced-2013

This year, the Young Project Manager Award is now part of the IPMA Achievement Award category, resulting in it being renamed Young Project Manager of the Year. The IPMA Achievement Award is a new category of IPMA Awards that provides the opportunity for industry recognition, at both the project and individual level.

To Apply: All information and material for application, including award process description, guidelines and submission form are available on the IPMA website: http://ipma.ch/awards/achievement-awards/young-project-manager/.

Download the full Press Release: yc-2013-IPMA-Young-Crew-Call-for-Nominations

The report found that 61% of respondents indicated an affiliation with a professional organisation. This figure has increased each year since the annual report began and this year’s figure shows an increase of 6% from last year’s 55%.

The report, which enjoyed a record response this year, also reveals that 61% of those who indicated a professional affiliation have chosen to be members of APM. This figure also shows an increase; up 8% from the 53% in last year’s report.

APM’s head of membership development Julie Legge said: “As the project management profession goes from strength to strength, more and more practitioners are seeing the benefits of joining a professional association and it’s great to see that they are choosing APM.”

“It’s the commitment to personal development, professionalism and sharing expertise which will drive the profession towards APM’s vision of a world where all projects succeed.”

Julie added: “We are delighted that the project and programme management community continue to share and support the aims and beliefs of APM. We are committed to continuing to support our members in their development and to raising awareness and standards in the profession.”

• Other findings from the Arras People 2013 Project Management Benchmark Report include:
• PPM Practitioners who recorded themselves as unemployed dropped again, to 9%
• 90% of public sector workers see salary increases of 2% or less
• 33% of private sector employees (up 9% on last year) see salary increases of >2%
• 21% of contractors see their day rates fall, whilst another 58% saw no change in 2012
• Experience is rewarded. High end earners (employed and contractors) are doing best in the remuneration stakes as they were the most successful group in 2012

Sign in for the Arras People 2013 Project Management Benchmark Report.

IPMA World Congress Organizer

The Croatian Association for Project Management (CAPM), in cooperation with the University of Zagreb, the International Cost Engineering Council and the Baltazar Adam Krcelic College of Business and Management; and under the patronage of Government of the Republic of Croatia, is proud to host the 27th IPMA World Congress.

Congress Theme and Insights

The theme of this IPMA World Congress is “Finding Balance and Moving Forward”. Case studies, best practices, research results, new methodologies, tools and technology developments on project, programme and portfolio management are planned.

The Congress Organizing Team has made the first announcements for Keynote Speakers, and those who submitted they Abstracts by the 14 April due date will receive their notification of acceptance by May 15. If you are not getting the Congress Newsletter, you can register for it in the upper left corner of any page at the Congress website.

Important Congress dates:

Registration opens January 22, 2013
Abstracts submissions closed April 15, 2013
Abstracts acceptance notifications May 1, 2013
Author registration closes June 15, 2013
Papers submissions closes June 15, 2013
Papers acceptance notification July 15, 2013
Presentation Schedule posted Sept 15, 2013
27th IPMA World Congress Sept 30 –Oct 3

About Dubrovnik

Plan to visit the City of Dubrovnik, the historical republic from 1358-1808 http://www.tzdubrovnik.hr, whose cultural monuments still bear witness to projects from past centuries. Dubrovnik is without doubt currently one of Europe’s most fashionable destinations. Steeped in history and virtually unchanged since the 13th Century the old quarter provides a fascinating distraction from the day’s business.

Add to that a mild Mediterranean climate all year round and direct flights from over 50 European ‘hubs’ and it’s easy to see why Dubrovnik is such a popular choice for combining business with pleasure. A little further south of the city centre, the verdant oasis of Babin Kuk is just one of many resort areas nestled amongst the pines and oaks of the Dubrovnik Riviera providing a picturesque setting for a successful congress.The over a thousand year old history of Dubrovnik is visible in every part of this city. See more about Dubrovnik and Excursions at the Congress site.

About the Congress Venue

The Congress will be held at the Valamar Dubrovnik President Hotel and Conference center, just north of Dubrovnik Old Town, on the peninsula facing Italy. The Valamar Resort has a range of hotels, all at excellent prices. See the interactive map, where you can view the locations of the hotels (may not work in all browsers). Or, see more details about the hotels.

This year, Construction Management Association of Korea (CMAK, South Korea) is cooperating with its government in celebrating the day for the entire month; they will host a major event, to be attended by IPMA officials, in South Korea 25-26 March 2013.

Background

Leading construction and project management bodies from across the globe met in 2010 in South Korea, and agreed that the second Monday in March each year will be International Construction Management Day. IPMA was represented by then-president Brigitte Schaden. In later years, current IPMA president Mladen Radujković has represented IPMA.

The declaration is an outcome of a conference in 2010, where the participants decided that the time has come for the Construction Management industry to stop, reflect on our achievements, and to re-energize for the future.

These leaders in Construction and Project Management include:

• Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB, UK),
• Construction Management Association of America (CMAA, USA),
• Construction Management Association of Japan (CMAJ, Japan),
• Construction Management Association of Korea (CMAK, South Korea), and
• International Project Management Association (IPMA)

In the years since, events celebrated the day around the World, from Galway, Ireland, to Bangkok,
Thailand (perform a web search for International Construction Management Day). In describing the day, Saleem Akram, CIOB Director for Construction, Innovation and Development said, “Construction processes have been transformed from merely erecting structures to complete management of built environments based
on extensive knowledge, experience and management skill.”

“We call this comprehensive group of services Construction Management, and it has become a global focus of attention.”

See more information on the South Korea ConsMa 2013 event. From this page you can select item 21, for the 2013 event.

More links from the CM Leaders…

International Construction Management Day 2013 … – CMAA

Over 250 Delegates to Attend International Construction Management

Mark Hudson to speak at 3rd International Construction …

International Construction Management Day | CIOB

Other sponsors include; the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM), the Chicagoland Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), and Planbox.

This study will assess the dynamics of product team performance and determine what factors impede or improve product development outcomes. For the purposes of this study, the core product team consists of product managers, project and program managers, user experience professionals, business analysts, development managers, and engineers. Results will be compiled and the aggregate survey results will be made available to participants through our sponsors and partners.

Take the Survey!
The survey takes approximately 9 minutes to complete, and is scheduled to be available until February 28th. We had great representation of project and program managers (with a strong IPMA flavor) last year, and we’d really like to enjoy that representation of our perspectives again this year. Click Here to Take the Survey.

Your input is very important to us and your responses will remain confidential. On behalf of IPMA and all of the sponsors, and promotional partners, thank you for your time! We look forward to sharing this year’s results.

Free Access to Last Year’s Survey Summary
While this survey runs, you can download the results from last year’s survey! We each paid $19.95 a copy for this last Summer! And, see the (see the related webinars that analyzed the results here at the IPMA website).

The analogy is similar in projects. In projects, the Esses, or S’s, as shown in the title, include: Stakeholders, Sponsors, Sustainability and Success. And just as in racing, these appear to be gentle curves that the project throws at you—but competent and performing project managers know they are far more than that. They are the places where you can achieve the most project momentum.

Project Stakeholders
Everyone knows that Stakeholders are important in projects, yet too many project teams do a poor job of aligning with them, understanding their needs, and delivering to them. This is of recent interest for some, as the new ISO Standard for project management, 21,500, adds Stakeholders as one of the key Subject Groups. And, the PMBOK® Guide’s 2013 release also now includes Stakeholder Management as a knowledge area. Of course, many of us have long recognized Stakeholder savvy to include knowledge, skill, competence and a key performance area. This insight has been key to project success for decades.

Professor Rodney Turner, who was recently recognized as an IPMA Honorary Fellow (congratulations!), made a very insightful point about Stakeholders in a video filmed by The PM Channel at the 2012 IPMA World Congress: Professor Turner stated that the correct term should be Stakeholder Engagement, not Stakeholder Management. Of course, more-experienced PM practitioners know the difference. Stakeholder Engagement begins much earlier than most project managers realize, and extends longer than most project managers stay on the project. Which brings us to another of the Esses.

Project Sponsors
Who is it that does (or should) participate in projects, from inspiration through benefit realization? Our Project Sponsors! Every effective project team has one or more Project Sponsors. In cross-functional projects, there may be a Steering Committee of Sponsors, with an Executive Sponsor chairing it. But what does a Project Sponsor actually do? Is this just an honorary role? It too often is, which reminds us of a story.

Over 20 years ago, working with one of my consulting firm’s best long-term clients, I held a two-day workshop for the Executive Sponsors and Project Managers of the organization’s 12 largest, most-strategic projects. We called the workshop Enterprise Project Management, and most of the content was oriented to the essential front-end actions of major initiatives. We applied each of the workshop topics directly to the portfolio of projects this leadership team was managing. In one exercise, teams in each part of the room were identifying the most important responsibilities of each of five key roles: Sponsor, Resource Managers, Core Team, Customers or Clients, and Internal Experts.

The room was abuzz with conversations, as each team recorded their assigned role’s responsibilities on a flipchart. And then one group, those documenting the responsibilities of Sponsors, suddenly went quiet. We walked over to that group, observed an excellent list of responsibilities, and asked, “You’ve done a great job; but you’ve stopped. Are you finished?” And the VP of Marketing, who was holding the marker, said, “Yes, we were on a roll. But I stepped back, looked at this significant list of responsibilities, and asked, Is anyone doing any of this stuff?” That’s when the group fell silent. The answer: No! That session began the transformation of the way that organization manages projects.

We’ve maintained our own version of these lists for each of these roles for over 30 years, because we understand their importance. We’ve used them in our consulting engagements for project start-up, for risk analysis, and for project interventions. But start-up is the best time to capture the commitments of Sponsors, because they are the key to getting the engagement of all your other Stakeholders. In fact, that Stakeholder Engagement responsibility is the first item on our list. Sponsors check each item on the list for which they will assume or assign responsibility. The team reviews the list at each major milestone or decision point. And thus effective Sponsors help the team navigate the Esses of projects.

Sustainable Project Management
This is a “new” topic that is not really new at all. The most effective project managers and teams have always had sustainable practices. Much of the recent interest in Sustainable PM can be attributed to friends and members of asapm, including Joel Carboni and Gilbert Silvius (presenters in the 2012 World Congress PM Sustainability Stream). The Sustainable approach involves a wide range of smart practices that add value to a project in much the same way spices add to a meal. For example, they add considerations that all teams, including stakeholders, should add to each step along the project’s course.

We like one key aspect of the Sustainability concept, the element of People, one of Joel Carboni’s five measurable elements (based on attributed sources). Sustainable PM includes pacing your team, rather than burning them out. It should improve scalability by continuing to develop Talent. Sustainability probably also includes engaging your Stakeholders, rather than merely managing their expectations. Which brings up another story.

In another client company, we performed a workshop for Information Technology (IT) project managers and their top internal customers. We were discussing key themes in successful projects, and introduced the topic, “Managing Expectations.” Immediately, one of the Customer Managers said, “We know what that means. IT is coming to tell us what else we are not going to get.” Sad, but often true. This is not a Sustainable approach! Managing the momentum and energy of the team and meeting stakeholder expectations are, in our opinion, key Sustainable approaches to project management. Of course, this is in addition to all the other insights the Sustainable PM enthusiasts coach us in applying.

Success
asapm has done quite a bit of work in this arena, from spirited dialogues and articles to webinars, to building the foundation for a true understanding of success. Parts of that foundation include our asapm Competence Baseline, our Performance Competence-based advanced certifications, and aPRO, our asapm Performance Rated Organization standard. Yet some pm practitioners still think that if the project is completed on time and in budget, that it is successful. Others believe that the endeavor is only successful if you have met the business needs. Some, for example, asapm Certification Chair William Duncan, clarify by separating Project Success from Business Success; then he states that both are essential.

Of all the Esses to navigate in your projects, this Success curve can be the trickiest one. And, rather than just “managing expectations” of all stakeholders, we must clarify each stakeholders’ view of what Success looks like, learn how they will measure it, identify who will do so, and schedule when that will occur. Then we must engage (not just manage–thank you Prof. Turner!) our Stakeholders in meeting those expectations. At the end of the project, when we are in the Winner’s Circle, accepting the acclaim for a project well done, it is our Stakeholders who are the winners, and we are really just driving the car that got them there.

The skill and competence with which you navigate these Esses of your project have more impact than all the formulas, memorized facts and processes, and most everything else most project managers focus upon. Well, in addition to your grasp of your context, and your effective communication and interpersonal skills, of course. Standards, such as the new ISO 21,500 provide a great starting point, but communication and interpersonal skills, plus negotiating the Esses, differentiate the merely standard from the outstanding.

By Stacy Goff, asapm President, IPMA VP of Marketing & Events

Your Comments?

PMBOK is a registered trademark of Project Management Institute in the USA and other countries.

Click for larger version (130k)

It started with a message from IPMA Certification Chair Werner Schmehr: “Dear colleagues, Please have a look in the App store: Sehen Sie sich diese App im App Store an: Project Roadmap App (German) or Project Roadmap App (English).” Either link gives a choice of language, after successful installation.

The two links above are for the free app (mobile application) for the iPad/iPhone (we prefer the iPad’s larger screen size. And, this app is also available for Android tablets; once installed. the app works in English or German.

So What Is It?

Essentially, Project Roadmap is a free multi-platform tablet-based app that serves as a mobile reference to project management methods. For more information, from the website, in the app author’s words:

The Project Roadmap App is the easiest way to navigate through a huge amount of project management methods. With the Project Roadmap App the project team can easily get a common understanding of project management methods. In the current version, supporting English and German, the app also shows the translation of the pm method name in ten more languages on the detailed sheets (but does not translate all the method explanation). For more information, the app also provides external links to further background knowledge at Wikipedia, helpful literature and links to expert groups. Where it is helpful to offer a Template for the project work, a link to the Project Roadmap website is offered.

And did we mention, it is free? One of the things we like about this app, in addition to its multi-platform, multi-language emphasis, is that it does not just focus on the technical, or “Hard” topics of project management; it also balances that perspective with the aspect that has the most impact on project success, the “Soft” side. We think this is an insightful use of the new apps approach for project management, and there will no doubt be many more.

App Content Background

If you create a comparison of global project management standards and guidelines, then match all tables of contents, you will discover that recommendations to succeed in project management are very similar. You might say: „It does not matter how long you invent, at the end the wheel will be round.” If you go to the next step and create a “full list” of all recommended project management methods or steps in the global project management standards and guidelines, you create a useful resource. Then, the quantum leap is to create a small picture or icon for each method or step and draw a line to connect each related icon. The result: A Project Roadmap.

This overview was first developed by Klaus Pannenbäcker (GPM, Germany) with his son Olaf and Dr. Ulrich Wolff. It was published in 1991 in the German book “Project Management Specialist” under the name „PM Topic Map.“ With many interested project managers involved, the app author has developed and complemented this overview over the last ten years . Today there is a simple „Practitioner version“ to start with competent project management by applying both hard and soft project management methods. Now developed in an IOS and Android app, this makes it quickly possible to navigate within the project management methods to get a common understanding of the project management methods used within the project team.

About the App Author

Raimo Huebner is a Senior Project Manager, for Volkswagen AG. He is also involved as an Assessor with PM-Zert, in the German Project Management Association (GPM, IPMA-Germany). With a background in Project Management and Civil Engineering, he is well-published, and received the IPMA Project Excellence Award in 2005. And since 2002, he has been working with associates on this Project Roadmap, or Projektatlas. On his LinkedIn page he states: „People make projects!?” The basic intention most people is to have a fulfilled life in happiness. That’s why the competence to mange the “projects of your life” is essential for your own happiness.

Thank you Raimo, and your team, for your contributions!