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Upcoming Classes  |  Special Events  |  PDU Corner

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Cheetah Learning goes to England

Project Accelerator debuts in Mexico

Trickle in Learning: The faster, easier way to learn new skills

A letter from PMI®: Important policy changes

Featured PMP®

Cheetah in the Spotlight

Cheetah Racing
As many of you know, at Cheetah Learning we like to do things fast. Now, you might know about our Accelerated PM courses, but you probably didn't know about Cheetah Racing. Take Cheetah Learning’s accelerated programs, add a race prepped Chevrolet Camaro, and zoom zoom! Look out! 

Our Cheetah Learning Chevy had a fantastic season competing in the Thunder Car class at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Washington (visit www.evergreenspeedway.com) With the support of Cheetah Learning, numerous first place trophies were collected.

Our season ended with a respectable top ten finish in the WWRA (visit www.WWRA.net.) A highlight of the season was the Western Washington State Fair Labor Day Race, where the Cheetah Learning Chevy blasted to first place in both the Heat Race and the A-Main Event. 

The class in which the Cheetah Learning Chevy competes is a rough-and-tumble street stock class. The Cheetah Learning Chevy is a 1978 Camaro, which has been modified for racing by Pioli Racing with co-sponsor Criterium-Pioli Engineers (visit www.Criterium-Pioli.com.) It is a stock 307 with racing roll cage, tachometer, racing seat, and a driver’s bad attitude. 

Congratulations to the Cheetah Racing Team! 

Knowledge Areas of the PMBOK® are now available from Cheetah Learning
This 36"x56" poster has the 9 Knowledge Areas and the 5 Process Groups displayed in color for easy viewing. It's great for hanging in a Project Management office or for studying for the PMP® or CAPM exams. To order one, send $25 in check or money order to:

Dan Novotney
Cheetah Learning
88 Day Hill Road
Windsor, CT 06095

The poster will be sent via mail when Dan receives your check. Please add a note that you'd like to order the Process Chart.

There's been lots of talk about PMI® coming out with a new PMBOK® in 2004 and the resulting changes to the PMP® Exam. As of this date, and based upon the REP Monthly update for October 2003, the new PMBOK® will not be released until October 2004. In all likelihood, no changes to the exam will be made before 2005. So, keep using PMBOK® 2000 as you study for the PMP® and CAPM Exams. Cheetah Learning will provide you with updates to the PMBOK® release as necessary. 

Upcoming Classes
Cheetah Learning will be seen in some noteworthy new places in 2004. If you are interested in take the Cheetah Exam Prep for the PMP® course, and you live in the following areas, check out our newest venues:

• Philadelphia, PA: 
  January 12 - 16
• Jacksonville, FL: 
  February 9 - 13
• Brooklyn Heights, NY: February 17 - 21
• Portland, OR: 
  February 23 - 27
• Ronkonkoma, LI: 
  March 1 - 5

For a complete list, check our website at www.cheetahlearning.com.

Special Events
There are no special events listed at this time. Check back for more listings in the next issue of Cheetah News.


The events schedule is updated frequently on our website, or you can click on the Events link found on our home page www.cheetahlearning.com.

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PDU Corner
PDUs at your fingertips
Confused about PDUs and Continuing Certification requirements? You're not alone. Here's the scoop:

Every three years, you must recertify by obtaining at least 60 Professional Development Units. PMI® is calling this "Continuing Certification Requirements", or CCR. Your three-year cycle starts the January following your certification. For example, if you passed the PMP® Exam in June 2003, then your three-year recertification cycle does not start until January 2004, and you must obtain 60 PDUs by Dec 31, 2006. If you earn more than 60 PDUs in a three-year cycle, then you can carry 20 PDUs over to the next cycle. 

To find out exactly what PMI®'s requirements are, you can download the complete CCR handbook on certification at www.pmi.org/info/PDC_PMP®CCR.asp.

Quickly and effectively earn your recertification credits
Cheetah Planning offers an easy way for you to get recertified. We have a number of instructor-led online classes where you can learn new Project Management concepts, techniques, and skills by performing practical activities as part of your day-to-day work.

Once you register for the class, you can start as soon as you'd like. You'll be assigned an online instructor who guides you through the various activities within your own work environment. You'll learn by actual application, as opposed to the classroom method of theoretical learning. By applying what you've learned directly to your work, you are allowed the opportunity to really put your skills to the test in a hands-on environment.    

Each class is competitively priced at $20 per PDU (except for the kayak class, in which we ship you a kayak kit as part of the course.) The most up-to-date listing of available courses can be found at http://www.cheetahplanning.com.  

Featured PDU course: PM Negotiation Skills
"That's not the way we should do it!"

"I don't think that will work."

"She said that she would help me on this issue, but she never had the time. Now what am I supposed to do?"

"I just don't like his attitude. He's always so negative."

Sound familiar? 

Even if you haven't heard these exact phrases, you've probably had to deal with conflict in some way, shape, or form. Conflict can be a healthy thing, but too often it paralyzes a project team, so much so that your project can wither away and become part of "it-might-have-been" history. Everyone has experienced conflict at some point in their professional and personal lives, and it's always somewhat difficult to manage. People have different personalities, and naturally there is sometimes a butting of heads over matters large and small. 

Enter PM Negotiation Skills, a course that is designed to take you through the process of efficiently preparing for the many styles of conflict and negotiations you encounter daily as a project manager. Each step might seem simple, but that's exactly what makes this technique so fast and effective. The more you implement the process, the more habitual it will become and the easier it will be to apply to increasingly complex negotiations.

PM Negotiation Skills is offered as a way for you to successfully manage those difficult but unavoidable situations that often arise within the context of any given project. Help your team and yourself combat potentially debilitating conflict, and negotiate your way to a happy project completion.

The PM Negotiation Skills course gives you a total of 20 PDUs towards your certification or recertification. Register now and receive $50 off the price of this course. You can register online at www.cheetahplanning.com -- and be sure to use the promo code "NovFeature" when you register. This special offer is valid through December 31st. 

Cheetah Learning goes to England
As some of you may know, Peter McBride, Canadian Cheetah Licensee, has already held a PMP® Exam Prep class in England for Avaya, UK. 

The success of this class has led to a rapid follow-up class in London, England, and has attracted people from all over England and as far away as Germany.

"I am very happy with the response so far," says Peter. "We had expected to build a lot more slowly over the first year, but we have a full class already, and the promise of several PMP® candidates in our January class. Our experience at Avaya, UK in July of 2003 has taught us a lot about the culture in Great Britain. This helped us to reach potential PMP® candidates that we might have otherwise missed. We are attracting clients from Avaya, Celanese (Germany), EDS, Shell, and other large organizations in England."

Even more exciting are the opportunities opening up in other places in Europe. "We have had initial contact with groups from France, Hungary, Ireland and Scotland, Germany and Belgium. Cheetah really seems to be hitting a sweet spot in the minds of European PMP® candidates," says Peter. "In fact, we even had a request from Nigeria - there may be opportunities in Africa that we have just discovered!"

While Peter and his team expect it to take several years to fully build up a class schedule across Europe, Cheetah Learning has proven itself to move much more quickly than that. Peter states "We are constantly amazed by Cheetah's ability to adapt, respond, and move very rapidly toward opportunity. We feel very fortunate to be part of the Cheetah team. Thanks to the everyone for your support!"

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Project Accelerator debuts in Mexico
Cheetah Project Management's Project Accelerator course, or "Taller Acelerado de Proyectos", was taught for the first time in Mexico -- and in Spanish.

Taught by Michelle LaBrosse, PMP and Bob Bradley, PMP of Cheetah Learning, and Roberto Toledo, PMP and Fabian Cortes of Alpha Consultoria, the inaugural class in Mexico City was attended by 32 students -- far exceeding enrollment expectations. 

Toledo, the Cheetah Licensee in Mexico, says, "The instant feedback we received that day was phenomenal. Everybody talked about it being a great course, having a great time and a satisfactory learning experience." A 4.9 out of 5 rating on post-course evaluation forms further corroborates Toledo's testimonial. After experiencing the course first hand, everyone at Alpha Consultoria was in agreement that this kind of course makes great sense for the Mexican and Latin American markets. 

As such, Cheetah Learning and Alpha Consultoria are scheduling a second course for this year on December 10th, and six more for 2004 in Mexico City. Further plans for expansion into other cities and countries are already underway.

For information about upcoming courses in Mexico and Latin America, contact roberto@cheetahlearning.com. 

Project Accelerator Discount! 
Click here to register for the December 10th course in Mexico City. If you register by November 30th, you'll receive $100 off the fee for this course, normally $395. Use promotion code "MexicoCPM" to receive this discount.

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Trickle in Learning: The faster, easier way to learn new skills
How many times have you signed up for an online course demo, only to have to wade through a mass of PowerPoint slides that someone passed off as "online learning?" Or participated in an online or computer-based training course that was little more than a multi-media presentation of theoretical concepts? PowerPoint is as boring online as it is in person, and while these multi-media experiences are usually quite entertaining, the actual "learning" (that is, acquiring useful knowledge or skills) that occurs is difficult to measure. 

There are far more effective ways to stimulate learning in an online environment than just replicating presentations used in traditional settings or crafting a rich multi-media presentation. 

Michelle LaBrosse has spent the last ten years studying how to teach accelerated learning online. While acting as Research Scientist with UTC, she collaborated with the Center for Advanced Educational Studies at MIT to better understand just how people best learn online. She also did extensive prototyping of systems to deliver effective accelerated learning experiences online. 

Research shows that people learn the fastest, and retain information the longest, when they can immediately apply what they are learning into their own context and work environments. The challenge is to deliver a learning experience that students can use immediately in their work environment in a way that enables them to learn new concepts and at once puts them to work for improved effectiveness.

LaBrosse found a solution called "Trickle in Learning" - that is, to deliver short snippets of learning in a scheduled timeframe throughout the week, over a period of four to ten weeks. The Internet makes it possible to carry out this Trickle in Learning technique, which conventional classroom training cannot utilize due to the hectic work requirements of today's professionals. 

When LaBrosse and her course development team go through the process of designing an accelerated online course, they first evaluate the skills a student needs in order to be proficient in the specific course topic. The team then develops activities that the student can perform within the context of their day-to-day work, to learn and master those skills. The course topics are broken into weekly modules, with activities that take up to five hours to complete. 

While a student could potentially perform all the activities in one sitting, the value of Trickle in Learning  would be lost. The benefit comes from taking the time to perform the activities over a week's time, practicing the new skills in different situations within the context of the workplace, and evaluating the effects of the new techniques. After the student has practiced the activity in some element of his or her work, he or she shares the learning experience with their online teacher, and receives feedback. 

The level of skill mastery achieved with this approach is difficult to replicate in a traditional educational setting, and is impossible to replicate in a non-instructor led online experience. The instructor is a critical element of this process as they guide students through various experiences as part of a one-on-one mentoring that happens in the natural progression of this style of online course delivery. Slowing things down using the Trickle in Learning technique actually speeds up learning in the long run. 

For most lecture-based, theoretical continuing education programs, it's just too big of a leap for students to take what they learned in the classroom and apply it in their work environment. While the classroom event may have been a well-crafted experience, the long term benefits of the training are often times negligible. 

As more effective habits and practices are created on a long-term basis, it is easy to see that learning has occurred. This changed behavior occurs with the Trickle in Learning technique, as students have time to assimilate the new concepts into their day-to-day professional practices. 

LaBrosse has recently partnered with the award-winning online experience development company, New Tilt, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to create the best-in-class online accelerated learning programs, using her Trickle in Learning methodology. The Project Management community is the benefactor of these efforts, with Cheetah's growing list of online professional development courses targeted toward Project Management Professionals. 

As many alumni of Cheetah programs can attest, these programs significantly accelerate learning. 

The current online course topics are:

Enterprise Wide Project Management (35 PDUs): $695
Implement a best practices PMBOK® framework throughout your operation, FAST! 

Cheetah Negotiation Skills for Project Managers (20 PDUs): $395
Get what you want, FAST!

Cheetah Project Management - The Project Accelerator (20 PDUs): $395
Make that project happen, FAST!

Communicating Through Conflict (20 PDUs): $395
Resolve that conflict, FAST!

Building Your Consulting Practice - the Cheetah PM approach (50 PDUs): $895
Get your business going, FAST!

Project Kayak (60 PDUs): $1,895
Earn your PDU's, FAST!

Note: Most courses are priced at or below $20 per PDU. The Project Kayak course costs a bit more because it includes the costs of the kayak kit.

Cheetah Learning offers a 100% unconditional learning guarantee, which guarantees students will learn using this approach or will receive a full refund. Cheetah is a Registered Education Provider through the Project Management Institute, so all the courses are accredited and can be used for earning professional development units if you are a Project Management Professional (PMP®). 

A Letter from PMI®: Important policy changes
PMI® recently changed its advertising policy for PM Network. Advertisers can no longer use the word "guarantee", and cannot state their pass rates. You may have noticed those changes recently in many of the ads in PM Network. Cheetah Learning complied immediately with the new guidelines -- however, rumors started among the PMP® community that Cheetah Learning was the impetus for the changes in the PMI® advertising policy. Below is PMI®'s e-mail message responding to our concern. 

Cheetah Learning has been a Global Registered Education Provider since 2000, and is pleased and proud to be part of the PMI® community. And while "guarantee" does not show on our ads any longer, we still have the best guarantee in the business!


Dear Cheetah Learning, 

I wanted to take a moment to respond in writing regarding the feedback your people have been getting about Cheetah's role in prompting PMI®'s new advertising policy. 

Please let your people know that Cheetah's ads were in no way the impetus for PMI®'s advertising policy change. PMI® undertook the policy change due to a pervasive trend in REP advertising that had developed over time. In fact, Cheetah was one of the first to contact PMI® for clarification and made certain their ads were compliant even before the deadline PMI® established, something not all REPs chose to do. 

Please communicate to your people that PMI® considers Cheetah a world-class REP organization and is proud to have them as an advertiser. 

Sincerely, 

David Parker 
PMI® 

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Cheetah in the Spotlight

Peter McBride, PMP 

Peter McBride, PMP has been in the software consulting business since 1990. Prior to this Peter was an accountant, narrowly escaping that career when he opened his own computer support and training practice. Peter is certified in Microsoft software development tools and has extensive experience in writing and managing small project database development. Until recently, McBride Consulting Group Inc. provided computer hardware and software sales and service, and networking installation and support. These days, the firm specializes in IT Project Management and the delivery of the Cheetah Accelerated Learning system. Peter sings in a Barbershop Quartet, and considers himself very witty (he is half right!) This comic approach fits well into the Cheetah philosophy that laughter aids in the learning process. Peter is a Rotarian, railroad hobbyist, an avid home-brew wine maker, and is rebuilding his 1980 Thunderbird from the ground up. In his spare time he visits with his wife and two dogs, or he sleeps.

Peter is the Cheetah Learning licensee in Canada, where he has very successfully developed the Canadian market. Peter is currently focused on growing the European market, as well. Peter is one of Cheetah's PMP® Coaches and has also been certified to teach the one-day Project Accelerator course, which has recently debuted in Canada. 

CN: Are there any special goals you'd like to accomplish in the near future?

PM: I have an older car, a 1980 Thunderbird. Since I was a young man I have wanted a "street rod" - this 1980 T-bird is going to be my dream street machine.

CN: Are there any new realms explored by Project Management Education today, anything that you want to elaborate on?

PM: As a Cheetah Instructor, I am very interested in expanding the offerings -- particularly in developing a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Exam Prep class. This would be my first major collaboration in developing a training product. I am really excited about learning how to develop courses. 

CN: What are some of the projects you've been working on?

PM: We are expanding the class base in Canada -- there are several Provinces where we yet do not have classes. We are determining if the potential client base can support classes in Manitoba and Quebec. Quebec is a special problem, in that there are language laws that require any course offered in English to also be offered in French.

We are also continuing in our efforts to break open the European market. We are planning our 3rd class in London England, and also a new class in Dublin, Ireland.

CN: When did you get interested in the work you do?

PM: I have been a trainer since the first days of Lotus 123. Way back in 1986 -- imagine that! In 1988 and 1989, I was a course developer and trainer for an agency in Vancouver, BC that was trying to help adults with mental illness to return to the workplace. I wrote courses in DOS, WordPerfect and Lotus123, as well as dBaseIII. That was fascinating, and instilled in me a deep curiosity about the human mind and how it works.

I actually started my own consulting firm in 1990, McBride Consulting, which offered support and trained people in Lotus and WordPerfect. That firm, although in a different stage now, is the business we operate today. When I took the Cheetah class in 2001, my interest was rekindled, and it hasn't slowed down yet.

CN: What is the most challenging part of your job?

PM: As an instructor, managing myself has been the most challenging aspect of my work. I must maintain my energy levels, keep positive and upbeat, and stay ahead of my clients. This has been very challenging.

CN: Would you like to improve anything about yourself in your career, or is there anything more you'd like to learn?

PM: If I could wave a magic wand, I would like to know a whole lot more about psychology -- the ins and outs of learning, and of adult behavior. This area still presents me with my biggest challenges, as I struggle to understand and respond to the behaviors I see in my clients. I think I could do a better job for them if I better understood their base motivations.

CN: Is there anyone who has been a mentor to you, or someone who has influenced you?

PM: I have been really fortunate in my career. There have been many people who have helped me along the way, but most recently, Michelle Labrosse has been a large influence. No, really! I have learned more about the power of positivism since I started with Cheetah Learning than I ever had before. It has fundamentally changed the way I view the world.

CN: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

PM: I would like to be running my firm, with several trainers leading Cheetah courses around the world. I see us enjoying the financial benefits of the ten years of work, and my successor preparing to take over the reins so I can enjoy some leisure time!

CN: What do you do for escape?

PM: I like to golf, I read a lot, and of course, there is that car to rebuild!

CN: Of all your accomplishments, what makes you the proudest?

PM: My successful marriage to my wife, Judith, is my proudest accomplishment. It is the single most important relationship in my life, and the fact that it works well and keeps us happy and strong is really important to me. My family and their well being is one of the strongest driving forces in my life.

CN: Is there anything you'd like to be able to do, something you've dreamed of?

PM: I would like to learn to fly a small plane, and use this to go from place to place on business. Also, I wish I could learn to worry less!

CN: What's most important in life?

PM: Health and Family - no question. Oh, and having a good time. I like to laugh and I'd like to do it more often.

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Dear Cheetah

Q: There are two members of my project team who are distracting the rest of us, and consequently slowing down our project launch. Each time the team meets, these two people do nothing but talk about all of the things that could go wrong with our project. The rest of the team is trying to focus on what we need to do to launch this project successfully, but it's getting more and more difficult to do so. These two team members are really hampering our efforts, and I'm afraid that their concerns will become contagious, which will further weaken motivation and debilitate our team. Any suggestions on how to make our launch go more smoothly?


A: While there are certainly benefits to being an optimist, it is also important to realize that every project team faces risks. You can't avoid them, but your team can effectively deal with them so that they do not become a distraction and disrupt the rest of the project launch. 

It will help your team to know that at an early point you can identify the risks involved in the project. During this "Risk Assessment" phase of the project launch, and only during this phase, it is appropriate for team members to talk about what could go wrong. Whenever team members begin identifying reasons why the project might not succeed, it is the role of the facilitator to bring the team back on track. The facilitator should remind team members that they will have the opportunity to identify risks later during the Risk Assessment phase of the launch.

There are four steps to completing the risk assessment process:

1. Identifying the risks

2. Quantifying, or calculating, the risks

3. Developing countermeasures

4. Assigning responsibility for completing the countermeasures

This process should take the team only about one hour. Again, the facilitator plays a key role in moving the process along so that the team members don't get caught up in all of the doom and gloom scenarios. 

This is a critical phase of the project launch because it enables individuals to air their concerns and to appropriately identify the risks involved at an early stage. It is more productive than what your two team members are currently doing, because it forces the team to find the necessary countermeasures for each risk identified. 

By finding solutions to any risks you may encounter during the project, your team decreases the chance that any of these risks will occur, and, therefore, greatly increase the likelihood of a successful project.

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.  

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Featured PMP® 

In each issue, Cheetah News features a newly certified PMP®, who shares his or her ideas, insight, and experience with potential PMP®s considering certification.

Congratulations to Rudi Mallant, PMP -- newly certified and coincidentally -- (or not so much!) -- a member of team Cheetah's IT department.

As a professional in the IT industry, Rudi had been motivated to become a PMP® through PMI® for several years. Prior to being hired by Cheetah Learning, becoming a PMP® had been his primary professional goal. Being an extremely busy Cheetah employee, he was unable to take the exam right away, but was finally able to complete his training and obtain his certification using Cheetah Learning’s exam prep program. "The certification was a natural step in the progression of my career," says Rudi, "enabling me to better understand and implement an industry standard Project Management methodology."

Rudi took Cheetah's Accelerator Course for the PMP® in Seattle. He contends that the PMP® Exam Prep class was the best part of his preparation. "I had read quite a bit of the PMBOK® and looked at a number of sample exam questions," he says, "but nothing prepared me and gave me the confidence I needed to successfully pass the exam better than Cheetah's four day program."

With his busy schedule, Rudi found Cheetah's approach to be quite helpful. He feels he would not have been successful had he tried a self-study program, or another program where he had to fit in his preparation around his work schedule and family life. Cheetah's program fit his needs because he was able to set aside one week where he could completely focus on earning his PMP® with no work or family distractions-- and by the end of the week he had met his long-time goal of becoming a PMP®.

He offers a bit of advice to others, based on his own experience. "If you take Cheetah’s Exam Prep program, then follow the recommendations that they make in the pre-course material. Although some of the advice will be more beneficial to some individuals than others, the recommendations taken as a whole provide an important and significant component to successfully passing the PMP® Exam." 

Rudi enjoyed his PMP® prep experience, and highly recommends Cheetah's approach to anyone who is serious about earning a PMP®. He does so not as a Cheetah employee -- (well, maybe just a little!) -- but as a fellow project manager.

Rudi Mallant, PMP, has been involved with Project Management since 1989. Prior to his work at Cheetah Learning, Rudi was involved in planning and designing various micro/mainframe financial systems. Over the past two years he has led the development of Cheetah Learning’s websites, and has made significant progress in creating a successful corporate Internet solution for the company.

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Cheetah News is a quarterly newsletter designed to bring you up-to-date information on programs, new Cheetah Learning Centers, PMI® updates, special events, and other pertinent information on Project Management. We hope you find this a valuable resource for information on Project Management. Check back every quarter for news, updates, and tips!

Questions? Suggestions? Hot news tips? Call us at (888) 659-2013 (from within the U.S.) or send us an e-mail message at email@cheetahlearning.com. We’d love to hear from you!

For more information on Cheetah Learning, check out our website at www.cheetahlearning.com.

Cheetah Learning is a PMI® Registered Education Provider.