• Validate your Expertise with the New PMI Scheduling Professional Credential
• Apply by 30 June for PMI Educational Foundation Scholarships

• Lead, Follow or Get Out Of The Way
• Insight on Intelligent Disobedience provided by PMI Western Australia Chapter
• Project Management Office – The Contemporary Approach to Project Management

• PMI Signs Higher Education Accord in China
• PMI Global Operations Centre Moves To a New Location

Validate your Expertise with the New PMI Scheduling Professional Credential

The growing complexity of global and virtual projects fuels the need for specialists with expertise in project scheduling. Having a professional credential, project scheduling practitioners can be globally recognised for their specialised expertise.

PMI is proud to announce the launch of the PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)^SM credential, which validates a project scheduling practitioner’s skills and expertise in developing and maintaining the complex project schedule.

Establishment of the new credential reinforces the valuable role that the project scheduler contributes to the field of project management. Employers can trust project scheduling credential holders to be capable and possess the experience to contribute directly to the timely completion and success of projects.

Eligible candidates can now apply for and schedule their PMI-SP credential examination online.  PMI is offering a 50 percent discount to the first 100 candidates to sit for the examination between 30 May and 31 July.  These candidates will also be entered into a PMI Asia-Pacific drawing for US$1,000.

Eligibility Requirements
All candidates must have the following:

• Three to five years of project scheduling experience
• A bachelor’s degree or global equivalent with:
  • 30 contact hours of formal education (must be in project scheduling)
  • Within the past five years, a minimum of 3,500 hours of unique, non-overlapping experience in project scheduling

• A high school diploma or global equivalent with:
  • 40 contact hours of formal education (must be in project scheduling)
  • Within the past five years, a minimum of 5,000 hours of unique, non-overlapping experience in project scheduling

Find out more about the PMI-SP credential.

For questions, e-mail customercare.asiapac@pmi.org or call +65 6496 5501.

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Apply by 30 June for PMI Educational Foundation Scholarships

The PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) has an established scholarship programme for qualified students pursuing degrees in project management and related fields. The programme is open to students preparing to enter or who already are attending an accredited college or university. Scholarships are granted to students at the bachelor, masters or doctoral level.

The application process for the 2008 scholarship programme will remain open till 30 June. 

Find out more about the available scholarships and the application criteria.

E-mail your queries to the PMI Educational Foundation, or call PMI Educational Foundation Associate, Andrew Stitt at +1 610 356 4600 ext. 7004.

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PMI Singapore Chapter Presents The Way to Becoming an Effective Leader

Michael Loh, PhD, executive consultant, IBM Singapore, delivers an empowering message on leadership in project management at PMI Singapore Chapter’s annual general meeting and social night

PMI Singapore Chapter’s annual general meeting and social night was held on 28 March. As part of the proceedings, Michael Loh, PhD, executive consultant at IBM Singapore, delivered a message on Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way. He showed project managers how to empower themselves to be effective leaders, especially when official titles do not provide them with the authority to do their jobs. 

Dr. Loh quoted German sociologist Max Weber, PhD, on his classification of three forms of authority: traditional authority, which is bestowed through inheritance from past generations; legal authority, which is based on a system of rules; and charismatic authority, which is built through a leader’s confidence or through the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishments. Dr. Weber’s theory explained that the presence of charismatic authority can inspire loyalty and obedience in followers.

Dr. Loh explained that project managers can become effective leaders through building up charismatic authority. He told the audience, “Speak the unspeakable and do the unthinkable – stand up, speak out and talk back.”

Project managers or leaders need to exude confidence while engaging with people as this builds up a leader’s charisma. In part, this means having the courage to face harsh realities and speaking out even in difficult circumstances. 

To build charismatic authority, project managers also must be able to deliver consistent results. This inspires trust in team members, allowing project managers to lead projects effectively. Furthermore, they must articulate their visions clearly, thus ensuring that team members are able to achieve their goals effectively. 

Dr. Loh cited the example of Eliot Spitzer, formerly a respected governor of the state of New York (USA), who resigned after the public learned of his involvement with a prostitute. Dr. Loh explained that to be an effective leader, project managers need to maintain both a public and personal life that is worthy of respect.

Ram Sivaram, PMP
Chapter Assistant Secretary,
PMI Singapore Chapter

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Insight on Intelligent Disobedience provided by PMI Western Australia Chapter

PMI Western Australia Chapter hosted Bob McGannon, director of Mindavation, in Canberra, for its March chapter meeting. Mr. McGannon presented on the subject of Intelligent Disobedience – The Difference between Good and Great Project Managers.

Intelligent disobedience is the ability to counter management directions or instructions and suggest improvements while defending the integrity of projects and keeping them close and consistent to their original goals.

This ability requires courage, good presentation skills and political awareness. These skills set the great project managers apart from those who are merely good.

The process of intelligent disobedience is similar to the way a seeing-eye dog is trained to help its visually impaired master. In moments of danger to their master, the dogs must sometimes disobey a master’s command and carry out the appropriate actions to protect and ensure the master’s safety. Similarly, project managers must possess the courage to defy management decisions, if the defiance can ensure the project’s success.

Project managers must possess the ability to say ‘no’ creatively. Creative presentation skills allow them to be able to convince management and stakeholders of the soundness of their counter-decisions.

Intelligent disobedience is an important topic that relates to ethical issues in project management. Project managers must understand their surrounding environment and the issues involved. They must be fully aware of the implications of their counter-decisions and the risks involved, as this will not only influence the success of the organisation but the success of project management as a profession.

One of the attendees, Ian Whyte, PMP, senior project manager at Unisys West, said, “The session on intelligent disobedience was excellent. Intelligent disobedience highlights the need for project managers to take a stance when we believe a project is going to have a detrimental result.”

Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, PMI Western Australia Chapter, Coffey Projects and Mindavation will conduct a two-day workshop with the same title on 16–17 June.  Visit the chapter's website for more information.

Jan Bryson, PMP
Chapter Events Director
PMI Western Australia Chapter

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Project Management Office – The Contemporary Approach to Project Management

Azhar Mansur Khan, PhD, PMP, associate director of Business Management Consultants (BMC) for Asia, Middle East and Africa, spoke on the Project Management Office (PMO) in Projectised Organisations at PMI Islamabad, Pakistan Chapter’s monthly seminar, on 31 March.

Dr. Khan explained that the contemporary concept of establishing PMOs has gained popularity with many organisations. These organisations identify with the necessity of having a PMO, as the value it contributes strengthens a project manager’s ability to successfully deliver projects on time and on budget. 

PMOs implement best practices in project management throughout an organisation. With the resources provided by a PMO, project managers are able to efficiently manage their portfolio, strategically plan and allocate resources, plan for contingencies in inter-project coordination, and manage quality and work processes.

PMOs also act as repositories for status reports and project updates, providing project managers with direct insight into the status of a project.

Dr. Khan is an adjunct professor at ESC Lille School of Management Science, France; visiting professor at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering, Pakistan; and executive director of the Institute of Project Management and Emotional Intelligence.

Ahsan Mumtaz, PMP
Chapter Director of Marketing & Professional Development
PMI Islamabad, Pakistan Chapter

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China National Steering Committee of Professional Education of Master of Engineering (SCME) and PMI Sign Higher Education Accord

PMI signed a cooperative accord with the China National Steering Committee of Professional Education of Master of Engineering (SCME) on 7 March.

The SCME oversees a national consortium of 103 higher education institutions that have been authorised by the Chinese government to offer masters of engineering degree programmes in project management. 

The accord encourages Chinese universities offering master degree programmes to seek accreditation by PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre for Project Management (GAC). This facilitates the transmission of best methodologies in project management education and research practices across the global academic community.

Gregory Balestrero, chief executive officer of PMI said, “GAC’s standards of project management education will ensure that future project managers are qualified to meet Project Management Professional (PMP) certification requirements. PMP credential holders are well prepared to meet the challenges associated with complex projects that come with China’s rapid growth as a world economic power.”  

With China’s rapid expansion in the construction, information technology, manufacturing and aeronautics industries, the government has committed significant resources to ensuring the availability of competent project managers to serve current and future projects. Currently, more than 14,000 students are enrolled in engineering master’s degree programmes in project management in China.

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PMI Global Operations Centre Moves To a New Location

Due to rapid growth over the last several years, PMI’s Global Operations Centre (GOC) staff was operating out of two separate sites in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA.

To better serve the needs of members, credential holders and volunteers, PMI has moved the staff and operations into one central location.

The new office, which is leased, is a renovated building equipped with state-of-the-art information technology infrastructure. Sufficient bandwidth, telephone line capacity and other features ensure that PMI is able to support both current needs and future growth.

Please update your address book with the new PMI address.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
14 CAMPUS BLVD
NEWTOWN SQUARE PA 19073-3299
USA

Please note that the address must be formatted according to approved USA Postal Service guidelines:

• Use the numeral, do not spell out the number 14
• Abbreviate “Boulevard” to BLVD in the address
• Use capital letters whenever possible to improve delivery speed and accuracy
• Use the ZIP code as provided: 19073-3299

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