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Issue Seven, January 2003
Top Stories
Cheetah of the month
Quote of the month:
"You have to recognize when the right place and the right time fuse and take
advantage of that opportunity. There are plenty of opportunities out there.
You can't sit back and wait."
--Ellen Metcalf
Conflict Resolution: How can this Project Manager move from destructive to constructive conflict within her team? Find out what our Cheetah experts have to say in this month's Dear Cheetah column.
Members of PMI®'s certification program worked closely with the China State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs to host a PMP® examination item-writing session in Beijing, China that took place on December 14th and 15th. This was PMI®’s first item-writing meeting on mainland China. An ongoing maintenance activity, PMI® routinely holds similar sessions around the globe to develop additional examination questions for the PMP® examination item bank, from which the examination questions are randomly generated. Attendees from this meeting were from China, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore - a reflection of the global nature of the PMP®.
Cheetah in Canada
"Thanks very much for your time and effort. The course was excellent. I echo the words of one of my fellow students: it was the best technical training that I have ever had. The focus was outstanding and the results speak for themselves. I am 100% sure that I would not have passed if I had not taken the course.
I appreciate the efforts of yourself and Matthew (one of the instructors for the course). There is a lot of material to plow through and your professionalism and skill kept it all going. I would appreciate if you
would pass this feedback on to Cheetah as well."
-- John Koch, PMP, P.Eng., Vice President of Operations for Trident
Exploration Corp -- PMP® graduate, recent Calgary class
Cheetah operations in Canada are an "unqualified success", according to Peter McBride,
PMP, President of McBride Consulting Group Inc., which is a Cheetah Learning Authorized Provider. Since July, over sixty people have taken the Cheetah Accelerated PMP® course, with a first-pass rate of over 82%. McBride predicts a 10 - 13% market share in Canada by end of 2003. Not bad for the new Cheetah on the block! McBride Consulting and Cheetah Learning now have regularly scheduled classes in five major Canadian
cities, to include Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.
In addition to the public classes, there have been growing requests for in-house courses.
Recently, McBride Consulting and Cheetah Learning were approached by the Department of National Defense, which was seeking information on the Cheetah PMP® Exam Prep course in order to certify the course for their Project Managers as a path to certification. This is a very exciting development for both McBride Consulting and Cheetah Learning, and demonstrates the quickly rising profile of Cheetah in Canada.
As always, Cheetah's students are the best advertising. One student from the
insurance industry has been so enthusiastic about her Exam Prep class - (she passed, of course!) - that The Cooperators, a major Canadian insurance firm, is investigating the Cheetah Project Accelerator course for their managers.
The Canada Technology Triangle chapter in Ontario is asking Cheetah to present two classes per year just for their members. Cheetah has completed two classes for a total of fourteen students, thirteen of which are PMP®s today. The fourteenth student will complete his exam before the end of January.
Congratulations to Peter McBride, and to all of our Canadian PMP®s! We look forward to continued growth in Canada and wish all of you much success in your endeavors.
Earn Your PDUs
If you are a PMP®, you know that you need to obtain 60 PDUs every three years to maintain your certification. And it's never too early to start.
You may know Cheetah Learning for our extremely popular Accelerated PMP® Prep course, but did you also know that we are a full-service provider of Accelerated Project Management Training? If you thought (or heard) that the PMP® class was great, you'll really love the PDU classes.
Cheetah Planning, an affiliate of Cheetah Learning, is now offering Online PDU classes, providing you with the luxury of learning from home, work, or wherever is most convenient for you. At only $20 per
PDU, you will:
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Learn cutting edge Project Management concepts that will help you advance your capabilities as a Project Manager.
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Enjoy the flexibility of participation - you set your own schedule.
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Experience an award-winning online format (Emerging Business Award from Bellevue Community College, 1996), which teaches advanced accelerated learning methods while leveraging the capabilities of the Internet. Our methods don't require a high bandwidth Internet connection because participants learn the concepts by performing activities related to what they need to learn in the course of their day-to-day lives.
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Retain more of what you have learned as our methodology has eliminated the conventional lag time between learning something new and being able to apply it in one's work environment. With our approach, participants learn by immediately applying what they've learned in every day, real-world situations.
We'll be offering a series of these online courses, most of which are currently in development, on Project Management topics
that are applicable to all project managers. Two of these classes, near completion, are on Negotiations and Leveraging Your Innate PM Talent. We'll keep you posted on our progress, or
you can check http://www.cheetahplanning.com periodically for the latest updates and available courses.
If you're ready to immediately begin earning those PDUs, and if you want to learn how to design your projects for speed, then try out our Project Accelerator Online class, which is available now at
http://www.cheetahplanning.com.
This class is designed around eight learning modules that can usually be completed within four weeks. In each lesson, you'll learn a facilitation technique relating to launching, directing, or tracking your project team's performance. Your online instructor acts as a guide while you practice the new techniques in your own environment. If you're already a PMP®, you'll earn 20 PDUs when you complete the course. If you're not a PMP® yet, this class satisfies PMI®'s 35 hour Project Management training requirement for the PMP® eligibility letter.
For more information, or to register, visit http://www.cheetahplanning.com or call
800-246-9106.
Keep
up with the Cheetah
Do you know where you can
find us? We may be closer than you think.
Cheetah Learning will be attending many PMI® events in 2003. We may even be visiting your local PMI® chapter. If so, we'd love to have you stop by to chat with us.
If you live near Grand Rapids,
Michigan, come hear Michelle LaBrosse, Chief Cheetah, speak at the February
10th meeting of the Western Michigan PMI® Chapter. She'll be speaking about
the benefits of the accelerated approach to earning your PMP® -- a subject
near and dear to her heart!
Live in North Carolina? Cheetah Learning will be the February Meeting Gold Sponsor of the NC PMI® Chapter, on February 20, 2003 from 6:00 - 8:30 PM. We hope to see you there!
You can learn more about our scheduled speaking engagements and/or promotional events by visiting our
website at http://www.cheetahlearning.com and clicking on the "events" link on the home
page. You can also go there directly by clicking on http://www.cheetahlearning.com/index_frame.asp?task=events.asp.
Keep checking back frequently, as we will update this link as events are confirmed.
Upcoming
Classes at Cheetah Learning
Cheetah Learning is offering the Accelerator Course for the PMP® in many locations both across the United States and internationally, so that you can easily earn your PMP® whenever you would like. Below you'll find the cities where we'll be in February and March, 2003. Please visit our website,
http://www.cheetahlearning.com for
complete course schedule information.
February/March Courses in the U.S.:
Dallas, TX
Cleveland, OH
Raleigh, NC
Fairfax, VA
Seattle, WA
Minneapolis, MN
Boston, MA
Saddle Brook, NJ
Detroit, MI
Hartford, CT
Houston, TX
Orlando, FL
Atlanta, GA
Denver, CO
Newark, DE
Tarrytown, NY
San Diego, CA
Madison, WI
February/March Courses in Canada:
Ottawa, QC
Vancouver, BC
Toronto, Ontario
If you're already a PMP®, you probably need to start thinking about earning the PDUs you'll need to maintain your certification. Our Project Accelerator Course is the perfect way to get some PDUs under your belt.
For your convenience, we offer two ways to take this course, so choose whichever is easier for you. Our one day course,
which is worth 8 PDUs, is held at the Cheetah Learning Training Centers throughout the year.
Or you can choose to take the class online, starting whenever you wish, and earn 20
PDUs. For more information, and to register online, visit
http://www.cheetahplanning.com
Cheetah of the Month
We are pleased to announce that Cheetah Learning's First Cheetah of the Month is
Jean Steinmetz. Jean was Cheetah Learning's first employee and has
fulfilled many roles during her tenure with Cheetah Learning.
Currently, Jean Steinmetz is Operations Manager at Cheetah Learning, overseeing much of the administrative and accounting operations at headquarters in Hartford, CT, including employee, customer, and contractor services. Jean's philosophy is 360 degree service - that is, treat our employees with the same high standards as we treat our customers. Her career began in administrative roles within the insurance and utility industries, and quickly led to her developing and implementing state and federally regulated safety and health compliance and training programs for both the public and private sector. Jean came to Cheetah Learning after starting up and operating a business of her own, which evolved into a small training company. While managing all the administrative operations of her own business for the past decade, Jean developed several safety, health, and character-building programs, which continue to be offered within her local community and online to various pre-school and school age youth, and adult groups.
She recently created and implemented an etiquette course for young people
within the local community. Using some of the same accelerated learning techniques
that are used at Cheetah Learning, the students learn acceptable rules of behavior and quickly achieve
and maintain a positive polite attitude.
Jean holds a Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of Connecticut, a Course Developer and several instructor certifications, and is certified to teach Cheetah's one day Project Accelerator course.
CN: Are there any special goals you'd like to accomplish in the near future?
JS: I'd like to turn my newly built house into a home by doing landscaping, gardening, interior decorating and, most importantly,
playing hostess to family and friends, in order to bring life and love to the
structure. I feel these things are desperately needed in the next couple
of years to really turn my house into a home.
CN: Are there any new realms explored by Project Management today, anything that you want to elaborate on?
JS: While building my home, the importance of all the parties speaking the same
language became quite apparent. The push for PMs to do this throughout differing
industries worldwide is apparent as well.
If I could have had all my contractors take the Cheetah Learning One Day Project Accelerator, we surely
would have avoided many pitfalls and delays. And if we could have somehow
made the whole team feel more like stakeholders, that would have been
great, too!
CN: What are some of the projects you've been working on?
JS: Build, build, build! The home is being factory built while the land and foundation are being
prepared. The fast-tracking allowed during modular home construction left very little time for anything but the massive coordination of over
fifteen contractors in a two month period. I've had little time for any other projects in the fall.
I'd like to get back to some other creative writing projects I have at home
that are on the back burner.
CN: When did you get interested in the work you do?
JS: I suspect all young girls at some point want to be a teacher, but as an adult I realized there
is more to teaching others - it's about showing others how to learn, and learning how the mind works.
In my job now, I am less in the classroom, but can appreciate the importance of my
piece at work in helping others reach their goals by taking responsibility for their own learning.
CN: What is the most challenging part of your job?
JS: Keeping up with a lot of changes as we continue to break new ground and add new products.
CN: Would you like to improve anything about yourself in your career, or is there anything more you'd like to learn?
JS: I would like to get more organized, and help to empower and trust others to get things done.
I'd also like to spend more time being, instead of doing. I'd like to get comfortable with the quiet moments - if, of course, I ever find
any!
CN: Is there anyone who has been a mentor to you, or someone who has influenced you?
JS: My boss is my mentor in business. I've read the greatest leaders create new leaders.
In life, I'd say my sister is my mentor. She always stays positive by
looking at the bright side of things, and maintains a sense of calm among the
chaos. She always begins with an end in mind and is able to keep the end in view.
I call her for advice often.
CN: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
JS: I see myself as a lot more stable, in terms of family life, finances,
and work. The past ten years have been full of fast paced change and growth in my family and career.
I see my daily schedule settling down, and I hope to have a more consistent routine that will allow me to be flexible
enough to help others in need. I hope to have my house paid off - (well, at least
75%!) - and hope to have the time to volunteer in my local community, helping troubled children or providing for the less
fortunate in some capacity.
CN: What do you do for escape?
JS: Go to a quiet place where I can be near nature and see and appreciate the natural wonders around
me - those things that are grander than I. My new home provides such a
wonderful view of a lake and mountains, as does the Berkshire cottage on the lake where I lived every summer, and any ocean or brook where I can hear the water move.
Coincidentally, these are all places away from any type of media - no phone, radio,
television, or pc.
CN: Of all your accomplishments, what makes you the proudest?
JS: Staying involved with children. I teach children every week, either through local community programs
at home or in the schools. I truly feel that at least one of these
children will contribute to the betterment of our world - maybe by something I didn't even know I said.
CN: Is there anything you'd like to be able to do, something you've dreamed of?
JS: Fly. I mean really fly, like I've dreamed of. Although, I am afraid of heights.
(laughs)
CN: What's most important in life?
JS: Peace of mind. Knowing that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed be doing.
And that others around me are, too.
Dear Cheetah
Q: I am a Project Manager, and am currently facilitating a team of ten people for a project, which is due for its first iteration in a few weeks. One of the team members is angry that some of the other members on the team are missing deadlines, and has come to me about it. I want to help him feel like his concerns are being heard, but I also want to help alleviate his angry feelings. How can I calm this person down, while at the same time help him improve the situation with his team?
A: No matter how often teams engage in a dialog on expectations, sometimes conflicts emerge that can be destructive to the teaming relationship. You can diffuse a potentially explosive situation by assuming an observer role with this team member, and say "It sounds like it's very important to you to get this job done, and you don't feel like this is happening." When you acknowledge what someone else has said, and you see the positive intent, that person feels validated and heard. You've diffused the situation and reduced the chance for a negative response.
Once the angry teammate calms down, you can ask if he would like to learn some techniques to prevent the situation from escalating or from happening again in the future. Help him to take time to reflect on the situation - and to understand why he became angry in the first place. This will help the team member to determine a more appropriate response.
Explain to the team member that in all negotiations, it is important to start from an objective point of view, rather than from a position of one person being right and the other being wrong. Recommend that the team member take the time to tell his team members how he feels, and then to listen to what the other team members have to say. By airing the issue openly, the team members should be able to better understand one another's point of view and work toward a resolution that everyone agrees to. If done routinely when problems are still small, this method turns any destructive conflict into constructive conflict.
With the first iteration approaching,
there isn't a better time for this team member to work toward getting the team and the project back on
track.
Good luck!
Have a problem that needs
solving? Need some help with your most recent project? Bogged down and
burned out?
Let the experts at Cheetah help you get things straight - write us at email@cheetahlearning.com today, and we'll attempt to answer your question by publishing it in a future newsletter.