5 Minutes Project Management Podcast

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the events of 2011 from the point of view of project management. He said that 2011 was a year when there was a huge demand in Brazil for projects that are happening at the moment and at the same time a very large uncertainty in the world. It has invested heavily in projects around the world in a period of crisis and there is a violent demand for project management, but a great difficulty in the use of best practices in project management.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the fear of failure. He explains that within the project environment we are not in a comfort zone and easy things doesn't need to be managed. Ricardo also said that failure is always part of the process and is also part of the DNA of the project, but who has a fear of failure can not manage projects. Inside the possibility of failure is that we project managers earn our life.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the support tools for project management and the best time to instal them. He explains that there are several softwares on the market that are excellent, but installing a project management tool without a defined methodological process can be a big mistake because the tool must be adapted to the work process.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the time that the project kick off meeting should be performed. He explains that as the size of the project, the kick off meeting does not necessarily have to be just one but many. Ricardo shows that we can have a kick off meeting early in the project where the WBS is still wider, and we can have another kick off meeting once the plan is ready.

In this podcast, Ricardo differentiates technical stages from management stages. He explains that usually we divide our projects in technical stages to prepare the project schedule where we can drive more than one stage simultaneously, whereas, according to Prince2®, the project is divided into stages that can not be conducted simultaneously, where the manager and the board of the project decide at the end of each stage if the project will continue or not, as the results achieved so far.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the execution of multiple projects simultaneously and using the same resources, ie multitasking. He explains that we often think that sharing resources across multiple projects can generate the perception that work is evolving, but this can cause delays and loss of quality in work. Ricardo suggests that it is better to concentrate efforts on one project at a time than to do all at once.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about workaround, contingency and fallback plans - risk's responses. He explains each type of response and gives examples of use of these responses.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the VI Brazilian Congress of Project Management, he explains that this is the most important event in Brazil because is promoted for all the chapters in Brazil. Ricardo says that the one of the global directors of PMI - Ricardo Triana will attend the event beyond the astronaut Marcos Pontes and other major conferences.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks directly from Dallas where the Global Congress of PMI is heppening. He talks of the Leadership Meeting, the persons who received awards and Brazilians who are attending the event. He also comments on the lectures and speakers who will make presentations, including on the presentation that he will hold tomorrow.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about crisis management. He explains that the first reaction in crisis management is the denial and that this is the worst option. Ricardo also explains that the crisis is caused by a "trigger" that is triggered by some event that will generate a chain reaction and can cause an uncontrolled situation in the project.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about Steve Jobs, he says that after reading many biographies, articles and news about Steve Jobs, there were many doubts about the DNA that generated so much success for Apple - it was the genius, innovation or the ability to manage projects from Steve Jobs? He notes that the way Apple manages its business is totally different from what is taught in administration books where collaboration and customer are essential for the growth of the organization.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the number of projects that one person can manage at the same time. He says that there is no a specific number, but explains that the most important is the focus that the project manager must have. Ricardo also says that for very large projects does not justify a project manager to share the work with other projects, but in small projects that have some similarity, the project manager could manage multiple projects simultaneously.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the strength of a positive feedback. He says that we have  a culture of giving negative feedback and that we usually do not remember to praise when a good work is done. Ricardo explains that just an email or a comment about the good work  is usually enough to motivate anybody, thus leading her/him to make less mistakes in the execution of his/her work. He also explains that a positive feedback must always be honest.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the actions that the project manager should have when the sponsor of the project changes. He explains that although the sponsor is the great supporter of the project, this is a natural fact, he also gives 4 tips on how the project manager should act when it happens.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the project objective, he explains that many people think that only the name is enough to understand the project, but the objective is important to write and explain "what is" the project, within time and estimated costs. Ricardo also says that the objective should be a sentence that explains exactly what you want to do. The objective is not a justification, but is related to the work to be done, unlike the justification that is "why" the project will be done.