5 Minutes Project Management Podcast

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about his visit to the Silicon Valley and explains the importance of using project management as a success factor in the companies he visited. He also talks about the need for a good basis for study, innovation and competence of people that are working in these companies.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the importance of volunteering for those starting a career in project management and want to gain experience. He talks of his experience as a volunteer and about how much he learned.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the project objectives and in which document it should be written. He explains that the Project Charter is the document where the project is born and the Scope Statement is a response to the Project Charter and is where the work being done is more detailed.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the stakeholder analysis and the types of interest they may have in the project. He explains that stakeholders will have a positive interest or negative interest in the project. Under this approach, he talks of levels of interest, showing who the people are more interested and how the manager should involve them in the project.

Is it worth it to be a Project Manager?

In this second podcast of the series, Ricardo talks of five links that we need to pursue in our careers to be worthwhile a project manager. This tips that as he explains, are valuable not only for a professional of project management, but for any area.

In this podcast, Ricardo reflects on the profession of project management and talks about three links that the project manager needs to build during his career to make the profession worthwhile for him to society and to the company. He comments that the project manager needs to prepare like any other profession and that the path to becoming a great project manager is not simple.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the authority of the Project Manager. He explains that it is very common in projects where the company has a functional or weak matrix structure, project managers with little authority. Ricardo gives some tips on how to increase the authority in projects

In this podcast, Ricardo explains the concept of "Parkinson's Law" on projects and how to prepare a feasible schedule to avoid the law. He gives tips on how to develop work packages to be are easier to measure.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the relationship between suppliers and customers, the process of procurement management and claims. He explains that often the claim generates a discomfort between the parties and that the best way to avoid this problem is to plan the project in the best possible way, defining in detail the scope and trying to document all the changes during the project.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan with regards to project risk management. He explains that any given risk has a probability greater than zero and less than 100%. Ricardo mentions that this earthquake was  above any risk evaluation that had been established so far, and cites the atomic power plant in Fukushima as an example, which had very high and strong walls but have been nonetheless destroyed by the tsunami.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the new certification - PMI Agile Certification. He explains that Agile is a work philosophy based on strong collaboration of people. Ricardo also says that PMI has a set of best practices for managing projects, and the most important is choose the best to manage each project.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the removal of foreign professionals who were in Libya when the political crisis happened. He explained that this was a crisis situation, where changes and variations in the environment are not supported and you have to take an action that is unusual. Ricardo says that this work of removal was extremely successful and gives five tips for managing crises in projects.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about how the negotiation between the project manager and sponsor, which is often difficult and requires a different dynamic than usual. He explains that this negotiation is not competitive but collaborative, as both the project manager and the sponsor are working to project success.

In this second podcast of the series, Ricardo gives some tips on how to prepare an excellent status report. He explains that the great secret of the report is the ability to condense informations into a small and precise report, which usually can be 6 to 10 pages, trying to present visual data, colors, larger letters and graphics with performance information.