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Subjects of the White Belt PM Training:

1. What is a project?
2. What is Project Management?
   1. History of Project Management
3. Why is project management important? (The Logic)
4. How is Change related to Project Management?

The White Belt training on this website is a free service for those interested in change and its primary implementation tool, Project Management (PM).  We have designed the White Belt training to give you an executive summary or high-level overview of project management. The other levels go into more detail and require a membership to join the community.

We use a Lean/Six Sigma type approach to help you learn and master Project Management.

1. White Belt Training – helps you understand the basics of Project Management and is designed for executives and others just wanting a top down summary of project management.
2. Yellow Belt Training – builds on the executive summary of the White Belt Training and is geared toward the managers of project managers. This is what supervisors, champions, and sponsors of project management should know.
3. Green Belt Training – builds on the Yellow Belt Training and is designed to empower the practitioners of project management. Green Belt Training will give the project manager everything he/she needs to know to be a successful project manager.
4. Black Belt Training – builds on the Green Belt Training and is designed to help project managers master the senior level subjects of project management. When you complete the Black Belt Training you will master Project Management Offices (PMO – Sometimes known as Project or Program Management Organizations or Offices), Strategic Project Management, Program Management, and other senior level project management subjects. Our Black Belts also learn how to facilitate, train, and consult and become a part of the e-WBS.com team. Selected members are then qualified to help us train and/or provide services in project management.

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What is a project and how does this differ from other forms of work?

The first question people ask when they are first exposed to project management is – “What is a project?” The most important thing to know is, “A project is a tool that an organization uses to bring about a desired change.” Therefore, project management is the way to manage the project tool to bring about (or implement) a change.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.” However, this definition seems limited, for some people may argue that some projects may not create a new product or service (i.e., transitioning of a system to a different state such as decommissioning, expansion of services, destruction, or demolition, maybe even research and development, etc.) Nevertheless, each is a change, and one could argue that each produces products or services.[/vc_column_text]

[vc_column_text]The American Management Association International (AMAI) defined Project Management (PM) as the process of leading a team of people in planning, organizing, staffing, controlling, and directing resources of an organization in pursuit of a specific goal.

The project starts with the end in mind — a vision of what “Good Looks Like.” The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines PM as both a science and an art; as a science, it is organized knowledge; as an art, it is the application of organized knowledge to obtain desired practical results.[i]

Harold Kerzner, my personal favorite author on project management, defines project management as “the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of company resources for a relatively short-term objective that has been established to complete specific goals and objectives.”[ii]

Project Management requires a Project Manager, a Project Team, and Project Management Systems. The project manager is the main person accountable for and dedicated to achieving the project goals:

1. Coordinating efforts across participating functional areas, and
2. Integrating conceptualization, planning, and control (of cost, schedules, and work tasks.)

The project team is a group of individuals often recruited from the functional areas involved and developed into a cohesive, high-performing team working toward a common super-ordinate goal.

[i] This definition is based on those adapted by the American Management Association International’s from around 2001. Craig was an AMAI facilitator from 1997 to 2001.

[ii] Kerzner, Harold, PhD., Project Management, A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Seventh Edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2000.

 

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4266″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”left-to-right” img_link_large=”yes” title=”What is Project Management?”][vc_column_text]What is project management and how does this relate to management in general?

A project is a temporary endeavor to bring about a change and during the implementation of the change we use a set of project related tools. Therefore, Project Management (PM) is the act of managing a process using the tools to implement a change. Furthermore, Project Management goes beyond “project management” as a profession, it is a part of every manager’s job. Every manager should be able to implement a strategy or tactic to change or continuously improve his or her processes and systems. Therefore, every manager should seek a basic understanding of Project Management.

Project Management is management! Therefore, the classical functions of management apply to project management. The project manager plans, organizes, leads, and controls the project. These four functions are applied to ideas, people, and things at different levels (organization/Institution, groups, and individuals). Therefore, project managers require skills related to managing – conceptualizing, planning, understanding human relations, improving processes and systems, implementing technology, et.

Link to Agile Video: https://www.commoncraft.com/video/agile-methodology [/vc_column_text]

[vc_single_image image=”3622″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”left-to-right” img_link_large=”yes” title=”How is Change related to Project Management?”][vc_column_text]It is all about Change! One can not start to understand project management without first understanding “CHANGE.” So lets start here, Change Management is a way to make changes happen in an optimal way.  Change is required to transition from any operational state to a better or improved state. However, improvement is not guaranteed. Every strategy that results in a different path or improved process or system requires a change.

Project management is “The Tool” to Implement Change and is the most effective tool to manage the transitions during a change. Tom Peters, world-famous author and consultant, said, “The whole discipline and art of project management is going to be the essence of management training, operational excellence, and value added.” Managing and implementing changes is one of the most important jobs of any management team.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row top_margin=”0″ bottom_margin=”0″][vc_column]

[vc_column_text]This Video 1 of 7 on How Basic Project Management Relates to Change – Introduces Change – The Abstract for the series says, “Project Management is one skill that every manager has to master. Tom Peters, (author and consultant) put it this way “The whole discipline and art of project management is going to be the essence of management training, operational excellence, and value added.” Why? The world is changing faster than ever before and Project Management is the key tool for implementing a change. During this presentation, we will gain insight into this world and learn how managing changes require a basic knowledge of Project Management. We will leave with a template we can use for managing projects and a mentor to call on as we have future questions.”[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3621″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”left-to-right” img_link_large=”yes” title=”Why is project management important? (The Logic)”][vc_column_text]According to Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J., Jr. (2000)[i] companies have experienced the following positive effects when implementing project management:

1. Better control leading to positive results
2. Better customer relations
3. Shorter development times
4. Lower cost of implementing
5. Higher quality and reliability
6. Higher profit margins
7. Sharper orientation toward results
8. Better interdepartmental coordination
9. Higher worker morale

Project management has the potential to drastically improve an organization. However in the same reference, Meredith and Mantel note the following potential negatives:

1. Greater organizational complexity
2. Increased likelihood of organizational policy violations
3. Higher costs (likely infrastructure related)
4. More management difficulties (strong wills may conflict)
5. Some lower personnel utilization

[i] Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J., Jr. (2000). Project management: A managerial approach (4th ed.) [UOP Special Edition Series]. New York: Wiley[/vc_column_text]

[vc_column_text]This Video 2 of 7 on How Basic Project Management Relates to Change – Part 2 is all about Making the Right Decisions – Being Effective.

Change is applied in a number of ways, but there are two basic types of change:

1st Order Changes are small, incremental changes or continuous improvements. Small being defined as more of a transitional adaptation and not a major paradigm shifting step change (2nd order change). Small, incremental changes may not require a project at all. However, 2nd order changes could also require small or large or project.

2nd Order Changes are major step changes. Major step changes shift the way you do business, changes paradigms, and may make entire lines of products or services obsolete. Whereas, a 1st order change may only make the current product or service better or more efficient. Major 2nd Order step changes may also require small or large projects.

In any case, a change when large enough is implemented using project management tools. Improving operations is directly related to changing an operational process or system within an organization. Once an improvement is suggested, the appropriate prioritized and selected changes are implemented using project management.[/vc_column_text]

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This Video 3 of 7 on How Basic Project Management Relates to Change – it is all about Understanding the Bigger Picture of Being Efficient.

Project managers are change managers. To illustrate this Figure shows the project management’s triple constraints “iron triangle” superimposed on the three phases of change model. Traditionally the iron triangle represents the full scope of a project manager’s interest. However, the Strategic Project Manager is also concerned with the regions outside of the actual project, both before and after the change.[/vc_column_text]

[vc_column_text]This Video 4 of 7 on How Basic Project Management Relates to Change – Part 4 is all about Understanding the Project Life Cycle Phases..

The project manager’s steps to implementing change can be divided into four basic phases:

1. Concept Phase (Defining what good looks like),
2. Planning Phase (Planning what will be done),
3. Implementation Phase (Doing the work), and
4. Transition Phase (Transferring the project deliverables to the clients/operations).

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Part 5 is all about Understanding the Concept Phase of the Project Life Cycle.  Here we talk at a very high level about understanding what good looks like. (This graphic is older, the newer versions would also include the PMBOK Stakeholders Knowledge Area.)

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Part 6 explains a high level view of the Planning, Implementation, and Transition Phases of the Project Life Cycle.

The Basics of Project Management for Excellent Change Management – Project Management is one skill that every manager has to master. Tom Peters, (author and consultant) put it this way “The whole discipline and art of project management is going to be the essence of management training, operational excellence, and value added.” Why? The world is changing faster than ever before and Project Management is the key tool for implementing a change. During this presentation, we will gain insight into this world and learn how managing changes require a basic knowledge of Project Management. We will leave with a template we can use for managing projects and a mentor to call on as we have future questions.[/vc_column_text]

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Part 7 – The Last Video in this series. It explains leadership and management part of project management.

Here we talk about the Basics of Management. We look at the seven attributes of Excellent Management and how they fit together and balance each other:

1. Leadership
2. Culture
3. Customer Focus
4. People (and team building)
5. Core Competencies (Skills, tools,  and problem solving)
6. Change Management (Continuous Improvement, Systems, and Processes)
7. Performance Measures

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