Project Management / Business Skills Catalog

$129

Have you ever wondered how you can improve your project management processes or methodology within your organization? Do you feel like you have a pretty consistent way of doing your projects, but how a project is run in your group differs greatly by who the project manager is assigned to lead the effort? I believe the optimal solution is having a mature project management methodology and well defined processes that folks have been thoroughly trained on and supported to follow.  This course will review some large projects and the lessons learned from these project experiences.

$129

$129

“Agility is the ability to adapt and respond to change … agile organizations view change as an opportunity, not a threat.” Organizations like to work in a controlled manner to meet their expectations and align to their business drivers. Traditional project management techniques have been followed for many years and statistics show that in IT nothing has really changed in terms of the success rate, or rather the perceiver success rate. Along comes agile as an alternative. The seeds were in software development and now it is branching out and being adopted in many aspects of the business. The purpose of this webinar is to:

• Introduce the principles of agile
• Considers the value to the organization of adopting an agile approach
• Integrating agile into your current project management

$129

The focus of this 2 Hr. webinar is on developing the human competitive edge. It emphasizes applying positive psychology to build better brains for business. To be smarter this year is no longer the gift of the young. Neuroscience is veritably racing ahead with evidence that it is never too early and never too late to enhance brain power. Relatively brief, research based, and focused interventions will be related to performance on project teams and satisfaction of participants in the organization.

$129

Business process improvement (BPI) is a process of continuous incremental improvement that avoids large-scale “all-at-once” improvement to focus on more organic organizational change. In this 2 hour event, Peter will share how by changing or removing ineffective behaviors and enhancing value-adding behaviors. BPI improves quality, lowers cost, and enhances satisfaction within the organization.

$129

You are running a project and its hub is around IT. It is a great project as new technology is involved, networks in the cloud is such an exciting concept. You see lots of potential to introduce some exciting workflow concepts that the users will really love and make their life easier. Then you speak to the stakeholders. In this 2 hour seminar, John Moore, consultant to the United Nations, will discuss:

• What are the challenges faced by the IT project manager?
• How do you fit in with the overall project?
• How different is an IT Project Manager to any other Project Manager?

$129

$129

This 2 hour presentation with David Gibbs discusses: Anatomy of Conflict

• Defining conflict
• Stages of conflict
• Balancing results vs. relationships
• Ways of looking at conflict

• Developing rapport
• Exercising Active listening
• Using multiple perspectives
• Leveraging shared interest
• Exploring options
• Creating a Shared Vision
• Coming to agreement
• Formalizing the agreement

$129

Terri Wagner leads this 2 hour event on Cost Estimation tools and techniques. Standards are discussed along with the progressive elaboration of estimates and how that tends to mirror the maturity of the project organization. Checklists are reviewed and strategies to improve estimating are examined.

$129

Planning for business analysis activities as part of the overall project can be a daunting task for the business analyst. This 2 hour seminar with Susan Weese focuses on how to integrate the right BA activities into the overall project plan at the right time. We will review planning for effective stakeholder communications, requirements development and solution assessment and validation activities using common project management tools and techniques.

$129

$129

Innovation is the key to maintaining a healthy and productive environment. Organizations constantly strive for better performance, and the ability to develop innovative solutions is a key part of any improvement strategy. This 2 hour event with Peter,  focuses on finding your personal route to creativity and introducing you to tools to expand your thinking, kickstart your creative process, to generate, evaluate and select new ideas. All tools, document, templates, and examples used in this course are given to the delegates to guide them back in the workplace.

$129

This 2 hour seminar looks at the kinds of information you need to capture and organize in order to build business rules to help with your project requirements documentation. As a group, we will review the business rule classification scheme, distinguishing between business rules, terms, constraints, guidelines and facts.   We will then survey and practice creating different types of commonly used business rules, such as simple, decision, calculation and fact generation.

$129

$129

$129

This is a 2 hour event with Susan Weese. Listen as Susan reviews an important requirement technique, use cases. This technique has been widely used in modern software engineering over the last two decades. Use case driven development is a key characteristic of process models and frameworks like Unified Process (UP), Rational Unified Process (RUP), Oracle Unified Method (OUM), etc. With its iterative and evolutionary nature, use case is also a good fit for agile development.

$129

In this 2 hour presentation by former White House staffer, Janet Eissenstat, listen as she coaches participants through their own goal setting. Topics covered include: * Developing and applying goals to succeed * Articulating your vision through goals * Allocating resources to meet priorities

$129

In today’s increasingly technical environment, we often have the need to communicate technical matters clearly to non-technical users. Sadly, often technical communication works poorly, or not at all. This often results in users calling helplines, adding organizational time and cost. Understanding how to talk to a non-technical audience can save the organization money, and the end user frustration. Peter Dillon-Parkin leads this 2 hour workshop.

$129

In this 2 hour seminar, Susan Weese will review and discuss:

• Defining program management
• Comparing portfolios, programs and projects
• Looking at PMI’s program management standard
• Stepping through the generic program life cycle
• Addressing program management’s three themes
• Sitting the PgMP certification examination

$129

This Three Hour event covers tips, tools and techniques for the following topics: Developing effective requirements Gathering and eliciting requirements information Analyzing and deriving the real requirements Defining functional and nonfunctional requirements Dealing with constraints and assumptions

$129

Leveraging momentum and the lessons of neuroscience Goal setting has the unique capacity to turn mountains into molehills when done properly. When done poorly, goal setting can have the reverse affect, making things harder then they need to be. All too often, goal setting triggers demotivation and self-sabotage and ultimate failure because the goals themselves do not take into account the lessons of neuroscience and human behavior. In this webinar we will discover:

• The neuroscience of goal writing
• The hidden language triggers that will either propel you to success or set you up for failure.
• How to leverage momentum to create a propulsion system that creates self-confidence, motivation and effective action.

$129

This 2 hour training event explores the science behind human motivation, and how to use it. New advances in neuroscience give us a clear indication of why motivation can be problematic. Although the world of business believes motivation to be associated with material achievement, in fact motivation connects to what we believe, and what we feel about the world.

$129

As four generations meet in the workplace for the first time in history, managers are learning that one size does not fit all. Intergenerational teams face significant communication challenges. Team members have significantly different attitudes and approaches to conflict management, time management and personal boundaries. The implications for an organization's productivity are profound. In this 2 hour seminar lead by former White House staffer Janet Eissenstat, we identify what distinguishes and divides the four workplace generations and learn how to effectively team members of the Silent Generation with Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Next employees.

$129

In this two hour event lead by former White House Staffer, Janet Eissenstat you will review:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Diversity Matters
• Brain Theory
• Multiple Intelligences
• Emotional Intelligence
• Emotions and Decision Making
• Self-Assessment
• Raising the Bar
• The Bottom Line

$129

Leadership is a critical success factor for all organizations. But as Peter F. Drucker says: “No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.” Understanding how to lead human beings is therefore a key management skill. Recent research in neuroscience has given clear indications of how the “social brain” operates and how the threat response can be triggered in a work environment. Leaders who understand this dynamic will be able to engage their employees’ best talents, and effectively foster necessary change. In this 2 hour seminar you will learn to:

• Understand how the brain links social connection, physical discomfort and survival
• Analyze the workplace as a social system, not just an economic transaction
• Avoid triggering the brain’s threat response in a variety of circumstances
• Reconfigure Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in the light of recent neuroscience
• Use the SCARF model to enhance your personal leadership qualities

$129

In this 2 hour presentation, Peter discusses: Understanding and accurately capturing what has been said, a skill you can use:

• Attending training courses
• Transcribing interviews
• Producing accurate minutes of meetings
• Summarizing conferences and presentations for others who cannot attend

• Leverage the four steps of listening
• Use active listening techniques to put interviewees at ease
• Deal proactively with issues of understanding
• Develop mindmaps and other graphical techniques to quickly structure and cross-reference elicited information
• Select the right tools for note taking
• Use document analysis to pre-organize your notes
• Identify the key points in any message
• Use active voice, contractions, abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms to speed up note taking

$129

So how does your Project become one of the success stories and how can the project team manage the project and keep it healthy?

·        How to diagnose the situation by performing an impact analysis

·        How to manage a potential situation and the issues involved

·        How to establish responsibility and accountability in the team

$129

Creating a business case is a key part of any business analysis or project management process. Both PRINCE2 and PMI require a business case as part of project initiation, because without a business case the project charter will lack a clear idea of scope, initial risks, and confidence the right solution has been selected from all the possible available choices. A good business case:

• Identifies the key stakeholders for the proposed initiative
• Translates organizational goals into business requirements
• Outlines the scope of the business case
• Elicits the key success criteria for the initiative
• Compares costs and benefits, both tangible and intangible
• Recognizes and prioritizes risks to the initiative

$129

$129

The increasing pressure and speed of life today can make the possibility of maintaining a balance between work and life seem remote. This 2 hour webinar shows you how to:

• Identify both short and long-term life goals and their current status
• Recognize key themes in your life: workload, ambition, health, money, family and much more
• Devise strategies to get the life you want
• Determine what you need to change to still perform at your best, yet make time for the important things in life

$129

We all avoid certain conflicts. Avoiding conflicts erodes trust, inhibits clear communication, affects public perception, impedes relationships across the board between two or more people, and leads to stress, tension, more conflict, decreased productivity and reduced profitability in any organization. Attendees will walk away from this two hour event with in-depth knowledge and awareness of the visible and hidden faces of conflict avoidance, conflict triggers (their own and others’), and a personal toolbox of techniques and strategies they can use to begin to manage previously-avoided conflicts.

$129

Former White House Staffer, Janet Eissenstat, leads this 2 hour event exploring contemporary change management theories, examining change in context and sharing strategies to manage change effectively.

$129

Traditional budgeting accounts for the task costs, the costs to execute the tasks required for the project’s tasks. If risk is taken into account at all it is lumped into an unsupportable value called “contingency.” Contingency is typically calculated as a percentage of the task costs. The source of the contingency percentage is often determined by a visit to Professor Dumbledore, i.e. it comes from wizardry and thin air. The contingency dollars are usually sliced by the budgeteers since it is not defensible. This 2 hour presentation by Rich Hovey, provides a rationally derived and defensible set of values for both the risk and contingency budgets.

$129

John Moore, Consultant to the United Nations (UN), leads this two hour event on leading successful projects and programs at the governmental level. According to a PMI study, Federal government agencies can reduce costs by 20 to 30 percent by implementing project and program management best practice. The study surveyed 40 successful programs across government and identified four major success factors in successful programs

• active high-level executive support
• a culture of communication,
• stakeholder engagement
• agility

$129

SCRUM is the most popular approach to agile development. It is an approach that focuses on delivering value in an iterative way. The business sets the priorities and the development team deliver to these priorities by agreeing the work that can be undertaken within the constraint of time and cost This webinar:

• Introduces the Scrum manifesto
• Roles and responsibilities
• The scrum ceremonies

$129

How is the role of Project Manager seen? Are they just a planner, a servant of management or the key player in project success? This 2 hour training event illustrates how the role has developed over time and the core skills expected of the role. We also review the current trend that is expanding this demanding role beyond the traditional

$129

Stakeholders, in a project, are identified as anyone who is impacted by the output, either in a positive or negative way. This webinar covers the stakeholder lifecycle and the key commitments that contribute to project success. We also cover the issues that are inherent in their involvement that are both threats and opportunities during this two hour training.

$129

In this 2 hour presentation, former White House Staffer Janet Eissenstat, will discuss: •    Conducting a practical stakeholder analysis •    Incorporating tools for communicating with stakeholders •    Targeting, influencing, and rewarding stakeholders •    Developing and managing coalitions

$129

Whether you are taking minutes for one-time meetings or recurring project or team meetings, Peter will give hints, tips and tools to make your capture of meeting minutes consistent and focused on decisions, discussions, and actions that occurred during the meeting. Peter guides you through an action plan for 1) Before, 2) During, & 3) After the meeting.

$129

In this 2 hour introduction to technical writing Peter Dillon-Parkin shares 6 principles of clear writing:

1. Plan Before, Rewrite After
2. Design for your Audience
3. Structure Your Information
4. Use Appropriate Words
5. Signal with Headings & Sentences
6. Use Active Voice

$129

In this exceptional 2 hour event, former White House Staffer and Multi-cultural Negotiator, Janet Eissenstat shares: •    Uncovering the framework of a negotiation •    Understanding negotiation theory •    Creating effective environments for reaching win/win solutions

$129

The Project Sponsor is ultimately responsible for the project; but how can they ensure that all is well and that they will be able to inform the business of progress and eventually business benefit realization. This 2 hour seminar explores the identification and development of benefits  through the Project Life Cycle. The responsibilities for carrying out each step will be discussed as well as who has accountability In this seminar you will learn:

• The source of benefit definition
• How to define and measure benefits
• How to manage the benefit through the project
• The planning of reviews and determination of success
• Creating the Benefits Realization plan

$129

How do you allocate your time? How much time is discretionary? Is the discretionary time used to advance your goals? In this 2 hr course you will learn time management tools, practice time mapping your goals, review how to control your environment and manage time wasters. Event lead by Former White House Staffer, Janet Eissenstat.

$129

Creating a thriving Workplace Through Authentic Engagement Benefits of this Program: Have you ever been in a group where someone elevated the situation by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals, a marked passion for the work, and an ability to make the rest of the group feel recharged and energized? This person just might be what is called a transformational leader. Transformational Leadership is an "inside-out approach" that incorporates the best of management practices, leadership models and professional coaching. This contemporary leadership style is concerned with the growth and development of the people in the workplace team and shows as much interest in intellectual stimulation and personal growth of team members as in the day-to-day functions of the workplace. This training event will allow you the opportunity to:

• Explore, evaluate and assess your own leadership style
• Create a new approached to leading your team that is based on your values and sense of meaning and purpose
• Explore the contemporary principles of Transformational Leadership and apply them to your workplace
• Create a new lens that you can use to change unhelpful perceptions and approaches

$129

In this 2 hour presentation, noted author and presenter Terri Wagner discusses: ·        Recognizing various leadership models and styles

·        Cultivating desired leadership traits

·        Using various leadership techniques to your advantage

·        Understanding the value of symbolism and how to use it

$129

Many people find writing at work a challenging task, whether the documentation is business oriented or technical. Documentation is often the communication backbone of many of our organizational processes, and is a "mission critical" skill. In this 2 hour event, Peter:

• Examines why people find business and technical writing difficult
• Challenges conventional thinking about writing
• Splits the writing process into its component parts, making the process less intimidating

$129

Information graphics are becoming increasingly important in the modern world. Our culture is becoming more visual, with 86 percent of people preferring visual information to written information. We are increasingly time-deficient, so communicating information quickly has financial and process efficiency benefits To produce high quality information graphics you do not need talent: you need to understand the rules of graphics. This 2 hour training is organized into a series of mini-lectures, each explaining how a specific type of information graphic works. Each technique will be demonstrated, and example documentation is provided.

$129

Workforce Development – Motivation, Inspiration, Aspiration and Evaluation In this 2 hour presentation, former White House Staffer, Janet Eissenstat will discuss: •    Understanding various theories on employee motivation •    Identifying tools for employee assessment and training •    Incorporating coaching and mentoring into the workplace •    Maximizing performance appraisal effectiveness

$129

In the current business climate improving the flow of key information in your business is critical. Unclear or poorly written reports can lead to increase costs and lengthen timelines, resulting in reduced efficiency in the enterprise. Effective reports depend on developing and delivering a stakeholder-focused message every time, so readers can swiftly act on the information received. In this course, you develop effective writing skills to deliver reports that convey management information and Key Performance Indicators or KPIs to fellow professionals and stakeholders. In this 2 hour event, Peter shares practical hands-on exercises that will help you create compelling and powerful reports.

$129

Writing RFPs that garner the responses you want can be difficult. Poorly written RFPs often result in proposals that are too dissimilar to compare, poor vendor performance, or hidden fees. This webinar takes you through the RFP process, suggesting best practice for each element of an RFP. We also look at the RFP from the point of view of the vendor, seeing where you can leverage expectations to deliver RPFs that work with the vendor. In this webinar you will learn how to:

• Recognise the standard sections of an RFP
• Understand what content should be in each section
• Reverse engineer the proposal process to create easy-to-read RFPs
• Design a compliance matrix to ensure all requirements are understood and covered before investing time in reading the rest of the proposal

$129

This course will help you understand what requirements are and how they fit into a Request for Proposal (RFP). During this 2 hr event you will also explore why requirements divide into technical and management requirements and learn to recognize the different information that fits into the technical requirements and management requirements section of an RFP