From left to right: @josephgruber @TheGreenPM @ProjectRecovery @derekhuether

The other night, I enjoyed the company of three awesome people who use the Twitter hashtag #pmot (project managers on Twitter).

It was nice to hear why someone else would blog about project management, why they would engage others on Twitter, or who they thought was interesting in the project management community.

We talked; we laughed; we shared stories.  What I found most intriguing was we weren’t all that different.

If you ever get a chance to attend a Tweetup, I say go for it!  It’s not like one of those swarmy networking events where someone you’ve never met walks up to you and hands you a business card.  These are people you’ve interacted with before.  You all have a similar interest.  You’re not there to sell anything.  You go, have a few drinks, and enjoy the company.  It was really nice to shake their hands, making that direct connection.  Though I enjoying singing praises of people on #FollowFriday or tweeting back and forth, it doesn’t top meeting them in person.

I hope I didn’t talk to much.  I get so excited, I sometimes can’t help myself.  Next time, I won’t drink the pot of coffee and will just listen.  Thank you Joseph, Jhaymee, and Michiko for a wonderful night.  And thank you again, Joseph, for picking up the tab!

Image courtesy of Michiko’s iPhone

I have to admit, doing a guest post for PMStudent was harder than I thought it would be.  I’ve been wanting to do it for a while but haven’t because I couldn’t think of the perfect topic and then wound up posting all of those topics on my own site.  What would be good enough for this guest post?  Clearly, the answer was whatever is good enough to post on my own site!   I’ve done a guest post before, writing about the challenges to task prioritization at the Personal Kanban website.  Still, pondering a topic and writing about it are two very different challenges.   I finally followed through and completed my guest post.  After I let go of my anxiety, it was really quite easy.

I’ve been following Josh Nankivel, and his PMStudent blog, since I first logged onto Twitter and started PM blogging.  Josh is an excellent resource for anyone in the PM industry. Particularly, he is passionate about helping new and aspiring project managers succeed.  It shows!  Since I aspire to do the same thing, you can understand my trepidation in choosing a topic for my guest post on his blog.

My topic of choice was on “Contract type: Here’s the best one…“

Unfortunately, there is no ONE best type of contract because the risk the vendor and customer share is determined by the contract type.  The best thing to do is understand who bares the risks or benefits of each.  Being I don’t know if you (the reader) are a vendor, a customer, or a project manager, I offered an objective description of each contract type to help shed some light on the subject.

Please check out Josh’s blog and let me know what you think of the post.  Scathing reviews are welcome.  OK, that’s a lie. No scathing reviews, please.  I hope this is the first of many guest posts I will be doing.  If you want me to write something for your site, please send me an email or direct message me on Twitter.

Now that I published some information on the PMStudent site, I think I’m going to add a little more content and provide it for download, as an informative product.

I’m really disappointed that, for the second week in a row, a key communications meeting was canceled.  Though I review the slide deck hours before the meeting, I look forward to the interaction with everyone.  I’m sure some across the table from me don’t agree.  Some may be relieved they don’t need to look me in the eye and answer questions from me or my colleagues.  Unfortunately, regardless if it temporarily relieves their anxiety, it just complicates matters in the long run.  You can’t get all of the information you need from a PowerPoint slide deck.  You need to read body language and engage with people.  In an age of PowerPoint slide decks, conference calls, and Go-To-Meetings, there is still a need to interact with people one-on-one.

Do you want a better relationship with a customer, vendor, or colleague?  Then talk to them!  Get your butt out of that chair, walk down the hall, drive across town, and engage them.  Though you may actually have a need to talk to them about a given subject, take a moment and try to interact with them on some topic other than business.  We’re all human.  Reach out and communicate!

My analogy is like bringing your wife (or loved-one) flowers (or some other gift).  Don’t bring do it because of a birthday, an anniversary, or some other holiday.  They expect that.  Bring the gift because it’s Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or because you thought of something that reminded you of them.  Now, realize that gift is communication.

image by lrargerich

My first exposure to the PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification was several years ago when I was dealing with a stakeholder over at National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Though I had worked in technical consulting before, I hadn’t worked strictly as a PM until this point.  I remember seeing this stakeholder had this “PMP” at the end of her name and I also recall how she was horrible to deal with.  She was demanding, rude, and exhibited no control over what she did.  In retrospect, she didn’t follow the PMBoK at all.  My boss at the time made things very clear to me.  He said talk to her a lot.  She liked to feel important and in charge.  I didn’t have formal PM training at the time so I treated her like I would any customer.  I was polite and engaged her, listening to not just her needs but her wants.  Wow did she had a lot of wants.

Oh did I say I wanted that button in blue?  That’s not the blue I wanted.  Be specific?  Bluer then that.  Make it bluer than that but not too blue.  No, I won’t sign a change request.  Just do it.

I tried to understand her motivations.  But let’s face it, sometime people are just miserable and mean and you have just let it go.  Because she had a PMP credential, she was suddenly justified in her actions.  I compare this with the age old question, “What do you call the people who graduate last in their medical-school class?  That answer is “Doctor”.

This person clearly was hiding behind her credential.  As far as I was concerned, she gamed the system.  She passed the test but didn’t learn the lessons.  That’s not how I operate.  But, I saw the trend.  The PMP was getting the hype from stakeholders and hiring managers.  It suggests a PMP is a prerequisite to being able to manage a project.

My motivation was different from this “paper” PMP and many others I’ve met since.  I wanted to be a great project manager.  I wanted to create things and solve problems.  I wanted to be both disciplined and personal.  So, I studied and studied, with the hope of becoming a PMP and I did it.  For those out there who think they can go get the certification and be great project managers, think again.  That’s like saying all great cooks are great chefs.  They aren’t!  Great cooks can follow directions.  Great chefs can create something remarkable out of whatever they are given.  Just because you’ve been to culinary school doesn’t make you a great chef.  If you don’t have that creativity and passion, it’s just not going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not so arrogant that I think I am a great project manager.  I am merely a student of project management who wishes to refine his craft and teach others to do it as well.  If you think getting the PMP is what you’ll need to be taken seriously, do what you have to do.  I don’t write the rule book.  I just try to play the game the best I can.  If I can help others out there, I will.

This post was inspired by Geoff Crane and the comment he made here on The Critical Path.

(Image by officiallifebydesign.com)

Every month I get a copy of PMI Today and I annotate 3 data points: New PMPs for the month, New PMPs YTD, and Total PMPs.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see PMI is certifying a volume of PMPs with no end it sight.  In January, there were 3,714 new PMPs.  Since they’ve only reported January (2010) numbers, YTD totals match.  What is the shocker is the total number of PMPs.  We’re looking at 367,619, up from 361,238 in December.  That’s right, numbers are up overall 6,381 in one month.

I did a quick compare to January of last year.  The overall total of PMPs is up by 45,369 in 12 months.  Average that out and you’re looking at 3,780 a month.

Some of you out there with other credentials curse the PMP®.  I have to admit, some of the worst project managers I have EVER met, were PMPs.  I guess the same could be said for any profession.  Certifications don’t guarantee quality, but like it or not, a lot of people drank the Kool-Aid.  If you want to exceed in project management, many of you find yourself going after one certification or another.

I do think there is merit in the PMP certification, though I would feel more comfortable if I thought PMI wasn’t in it for the money.  That’s kind of hypocritical of me, since I do make money in the support of the PMP certification.  My prediction of 2010 is PMI will hit 400,000 PMPs by June and close to 450,000 by year end.

Though not all of these current 367,619 PMPs are currently PMI membership holders, if they were (at $119 each) you’d be looking at $43,746,661 in annual membership fees.

Isn’t math fun!?