5 Minutes Project Management Podcast

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the concept of project baseline and discusses in which conditions is acceptable to redefine the baseline.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the difference between total slack and free slack in projects. He explains clearly how to identify the free slack and total slack, through a practical example.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the soft skills of leadership. He gives tips to capitalize these skills and explains the difference between being born with these skills or acquire them with training.

Ricardo presents in this podcast his reflexions about the polemic generated by the referees in the FIFA Worldcup matches and the FIFA resistance in provide this changes. He also discuss the cultural aspects of change and compare this resistance with the resistance we face in most of the projects in the organizations.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the key information that must be produced by the project manager when receives a very urgent project and need understand the purpose, scope, budget, schedule and constraints of the project in a very short period. He explains that making a quick planning and not very detailed is not ideal and can not be a normal situation in the company.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the difference between the Contingency Reserve and the Management Reserves. He explains that both work with a financial protection for the project and that the management reserve is about the perception of the risks of the company.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the project critical path and explains that the use of softwares to calculate the critical path, causes the manager forget the basics and concepts of project management. Ricardo also explains that the critical path consists of the activities that directly determine the duration of the project and this activities are not necessarily more expensive or riskier in the project.

In this second podcast about the corporate strategy course that Ricardo took at MIT, he talks about the lock-in position with the customer, ie, to create an unique channel with your customers by offering customized and complete solutions. Ricardo explains that in order to address the customers expectations in a different manner, it is necessary to think in a projectized way and also to create an unique channel with your customer.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the course of Corporate Strategy that he took at MIT. In the course the focus was the strategic model called Delta Model, where the customer relationship is the cornerstone of any strategy. The course was conducted by Prof. Arnoldo Hax, one of the world's experts in strategy.

In this podcast, Ricardo pays a tribute to Rita Mulcahy, who passed away on May 15th. He says he had the opportunity to meet her back in 1998 in California, when he attended to a presentation she was giving. At that very moment he realized that Rita was a different person. Ricardo mentions that he participates in many project management discussion groups from several countries, and by the messages posted on these groups, it is easy to see that people from everywhere have her book as the reference when it comes to preparing for the PMP certification.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the concessions that the project manager often does. He explains that the concession usually is harmful to the project, because when the project manager makes a concession, he ceases to follow the plans, and shows that he is not serious about the plan. Ricardo also explained that once made the concession, it becomes very difficult to not do more.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the management of virtual teams in projects. He explains that this is a big trend in the business world and shows the benefits of leading a virtual team, as well as the major challenges that must be dealt with like cultural, communications and geographic issues. Ricardo shows that technology is a major enabler for the project manager in this task and that the leadership style of the project manager while managing a virtual team is quite different from leading a face-to-face team.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the Lean Six Sigma Brazilian Congress that will take place on May, 12- 13th in Sao Paulo. He has been invited to talk about how project management can make a difference in Brazil. He explains that the congress will address several issues related to efficiency in corporate management in Brazilian companies so as to compete in international markets. Ricardo also emphasizes that the congress will cover topics such as ecology, social responsibility, sustainability, world economy and innovation - a theme he discussed a lot when he studied “Management and Development of Complex Products” at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about procrastination in projects, ie the act of delaying something in the project. He explains the reasons why people take this attitude also called of "student syndrome".

In this podcast Ricardo talks directly from Albert Einstein Hospital, his first project management work in health care. He reflects the dimension that project management is taking place in non-typical areas for projects.