It's been a long time since rock & roll, and our predictions for 2010. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page can help you with the former, whilst Tipoffs will take care of the latter.
We’re tapping our inner-Robert Plant this month with the Project Management Tipoffs theme, “What Is & What Should Never Be”. Sometimes, they just give me too much leeway around here! Do I run with it? Of course I do. But I digress…
Here’s something to run with for our final go-round in 2010: we’re looking back at 2010 this month in our annual prediction/reflection issue. Predictions were made heading into this year by us: Did they hold up, or go askew? Was there a communication breakdown? We’ve brought out a couple independent arbiters to decide on their validity – in turn, said arbiters will offer their takes on 2011 for project management.
What you can expect from Tipoffs this month are subjects like the following…
- Is there an unforeseen trend lurking?
- Will the marketplace make a noticeable turnaround?
- Are certain industries crying out for PPM services more than others?
- How important are those still-undervalued soft skills in the midst of those “box-ticking” methodologies?
- How many more times, treat me the way you wanna do (sorry, I’m done!)
Whose expertise are we entrusting these ombudsman-like assignments?
Elizabeth Harrin, blogger for A Girl’s Guide to Project Management and editor of a monthly newsletter of her own, recently was crowned by Computer Weekly as the Blogger of the Year in Project Management, beating out the likes of yours truly. We didn’t hold it against her though – Liz has long possessed the project management know-how and skills to pay the bills. She talks to Tipoffs readers this month about our predictions on greenality in project management, the increase in (seemingly) qualified PMO personnel and offers her own take on project failure in general. For 2011, she talks about social media and new qualifications.
Robert Kelly writes for us with a perspective on our predictions as they applied across the pond (North Carolina, to be exact). Better known for his renowned, enlightened PPM blog, Kelly’s Contemplations, Robert was also a short listed blog editor by Computer Weekly, and often writes with an unbridled enthusiasm for the possibilities of project management. Robert holds a special place for graduates in his writing for us, whilst also writing of the risk-averse executive think of 2010 that showed in the manner of budget constraints, headcounts, and fear of failure. He wonders if that will change in 2011.
Pawel Brodzinski describes himself as a “project firefighter” in addition to being a blogger at blog.brodzinski.com. As a team builder and programme manager, Pawel has a more optimistic approach, and as a result, was a bit more positive about 2010 than Tipoffs’ original predictions were. Pawel opines on our view of competencies and pathways for entry-level project people, as well as the trends inherent in project failure, while looking ahead at the certification landscape, especially within Agile, Scrum and PMP, whilst also dropping some thoughts about project success.
Ron Rosenhead was a guest prognosticator a year ago for Project Management Tipoffs. Through many years of consulting, training, coaching, public & conference speaking and – more recently – blogging (ronrosenhead.co.uk), we felt then as we know now that Ron’s expertise was unsurpassed and beyond worthiness of such prestige. For this month, Ron addresses his specific forecasts for 2010 – strong project offices, senior executive involvement in the PM process, & people skills development – and looks ahead to 2011, with a clear and present message about the possibilities within benefits management and a renewed perspective of project offices.
Our celebratory guest contributor this year is Todd Williams, another project management expert from across the pond (suburban Portland, to be exact). Todd runs the Back from Red blog, geared (as one would imagine from the title) toward rescuing projects stuck in the red by delving into his experience and expertise from working with company presidents, vice-presidents and C-Level executives in manufacturing and service. For Tipoffs, Todd tackles the newness of project management as a professional discipline, then sets about assigning the appropriate tiers for the advancing project manager in the present climate. If you want a good perspective on the roles of certain competencies in this advancement, Todd’s article is the place to turn.
But hey, hey what can you do in order to turn to articles like Todd’s and others (including my own take on your importance to the 2011 Arras People Project Management Benchmark Report, and some careers advice from our own Nicola Thorp)? Simple: just subscribe to Tipoffs (go to Sign Up block) before Thursday. You have another option if you like preserving trees – download the podcast version when it goes live Thursday (iTunes as well), or subscribe to the podcast feed.
Zeppelin photo courtesy p_a_h, used with permission.
