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Finding out who owns the information |
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Timothy Porter - PM in China
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By Timothy Porter on
5/13/2010
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In China, you’ll sometimes hear people refer with a special reverence to a person using the title “Shifu”. This Chinese word means “master” and can be used to refer to special “gurus” in any profession. But as in most things Chinese you need to dig deeper for true meanings. “Guru” is not quite the right word. Shifu is usually translated to “master” and even this misses the connotation embedded with the Chinese word. The word shifu is made up of two characters. “Shi” which means teacher. Teachers are generally held in somewhat higher regard in China as a matter of respect than they are in the West. “Fu” has the connotation of father. So for example you’ll hear this term applied to a kungfu master or to a master craftsman. But again in traditional Chinese culture the shifu is not just a master. There is an expression in China that you are a teacher for a day and a father for life. So the “shifu” is also master for life. The Shifu holds a position higher than both the teacher and the father, and is tr ...
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Chinese Culture Traits and Knowledge Transfer |
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Timothy Porter - PM in China
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By Timothy Porter on
4/30/2010
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[Excerpt from an article written by Tim Porter and Liu Shufeng]. Knowledge management practices are in general fairly mature in the developed, western world. A great acceleration in knowledge management practices occurred in parallel with the evolution of the internet in the 80’s, 90’s, and into the 21st century. The internet has been a great engine for change. We recall our experience in working for a Fortune 500 company and the “intranet” that evolved during that period. The company’s intranet had a name and developed a personality of its own has it grew to full maturity during this period. It became an essential and highly effective resource for storing and accessing the knowledge base that was at the core of the company’s business. At a basic level virtually everything administrative would over time find its way to the company’s intranet. Access was strictly limited to employees and access to sensitive information was limited to those with a need to know. At a more advanced level, marketing and ...
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Project Manager and Business Analyst |
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Timothy Porter - PM in China
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By Timothy Porter on
11/20/2009
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I just finished listening to the recent webinar from the PMI ISSIG by Richard Fox. I found it very interesting and relevant to recent trends. In my own experience I certainly see many more BAs as members of the project team than I used to and see them making critical contributions. The increased focus on "requirements" is essential especially in light of the widespread adoption of Agile methods. In the Agile world, when thinking about productivity and meeting project goals, requirements volatility is a much larger factor than team capabilities, tools and development environment. While finding myself in general agreement with Richard I had a couple of points of disagreement. First, it was said that the BA should report to the PM. I don't find this to be the practice nor is it desirable. The BA is very much like a user surrogate and should not be within the span of control of the PM. I believe that separate individuals, separate job descriptions and separate reporting chain is highly desirable ...
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PMO’s Must Manage Benefits |
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How do projects really save time, cost, and your professional reputation?
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By Rosemary Hossenlopp on
7/29/2009
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The role of the PMO is to manage benefits of programs and projects. A program is a set of related projects, managed in a coordinated fashion. The added cost of the program or project management office (PMO) is expected to be offset by the benefits of someone coordinating all the day-to-day project information flying around; cost, schedules and risks. In addition, the PMO has a more strategic reason for its existence; keeping a discussion of benefits alive.
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Who Makes Sure That Projects Add Value? |
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How do projects really save time, cost, and your professional reputation?
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By Rosemary Hossenlopp on
7/26/2009
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There is a lot of concern in the project management industry. Why? Well, it is no secret that many projects can’t answer this key question very well; what value do you provide the organization?
So, I’m writing about Organizational Project Management. What is that? It is a thought that somehow we should better align project work with the needs of the organization. Compare it to a bridge between project work and operations. Someone needs to be a toll keeper to monitor the traffic that gets to use this bridge.
And, by the way, who is responsible to be a toll keeper on this bridge? There could be a couple of answers:
- Project managers responsible for getting the work done.
-Program managers responsible for coordination among projects
-Portfolio managers responsible for intake of the projects and measurement of the health of the project work.
-Business managers responsible for the project funding decisions
-The organization that has to use project results.
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Call for Project Management Authors |
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How do projects really save time, cost, and your professional reputation?
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By Rosemary Hossenlopp on
7/23/2009
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It is hard to just get IT projects done, let alone worry about whether the business believes they will get the results they need. So the cycle continues; business distrust of IT and poor communication between senior leadership and the project office.
There is a ground breaking effort to target business management leaders with project management information of specific interest to them. A book is being pulled together on Organizational Project Management (OPM) that aims to create knowledge about the interfaces among projects, programs and portfolios, how projects benefit the ongoing operations in organizations and how strategic objectives are attained through projects.
What's your opinion; does the industry need this book? Do you have something to say about this topic?
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