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Cheetah Around the Globe
Resource Management
Quotes of Note:
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my axe."
-- Abraham Lincoln
Lessons Learned: What can a project team do to overcome repeated
mistakes that seem to arise during every project? Find
out what the experts have to say in this issue's Dear
Cheetah column.
Happenings
Cheetah
Exam Prep for PMP® Celebrates Success
Cheetah
Accelerated Learning Techniques "Wow" PMI®
Puget Sound
PM Certificate Program: A New Way to Lead the Pack
Cheetah
Workout for a Healthy Body and Mind
Cheetah in the Spotlight
Featured
PMP®
And the Winner is...
Congratulations to the winner of Cheetah's Project Negotiations contest!
Cheetah Learning would like to congratulate Kai Chandler, PMP of Poole, Dorset, United
Kingdom.
He was the Grand
Prize Winner in the Cheetah Project negotiations contest, which was held in
May.
Thanks to everyone who entered our May contest. Be sure to enter our newest
contest (below) to win a free online Communicating Through Conflict course
worth $395, and 20 PDUs if you are a PMP®.
Congratulations, again, Kai!
Enter
to Win a FREE Online Communicating Through Conflict Class!
Enter today to win a free online
Communicating Through Conflict class -- a $395 value, and 20 PDUs for PMP®s. Click on this link
for contest entry form and rules. The contest will close on Thursday, September
30th, so be sure to enter today! (See the article below to learn
more about the Communicating Through Conflict class.)
Making Lemonade from Your
Sour Lemons
Do you feel like you are in constant disagreement with certain people
with whom you work? Are you getting frustrated with the seemingly
never-ending battles that never get resolved? Perhaps you could use a
course that would help you to transform these conflicts from destructive
confrontations into growth experiences.
Cheetah's online Communicating Through Conflict course helps you to learn and practice communication skills that will help change these negative relationships dynamically over time. You can use what you learn in the course to greatly improve your day-to-day effectiveness as a Project Manager.
Communicating Through Conflict is targeted to Project Managers who want to develop cohesive working relationships with people whom they might, at times, have difficulty communicating, such as team members, sponsors, stakeholders, functional managers, customers, and vendors. In this course, you'll:
- clarify your expectations for present and future interactions.
- practice constructive communication habits with people you find "difficult".
- turn destructive experiences into growth experiences.
- share information in a mutually respectful manner.
- renegotiate expectations to keep the group moving forward.
Do away with the negative
effects of conflict, and
resolve issues with goodwill, optimism, and gusto! For further information
on this course, please visit www.cheetahplanning.com.
"I've greatly enjoyed putting the techniques learned in
'Communicating Through Conflict' to use in my daily interactions with customers, project staff, and my kids.
Whether you are a Project Manager or a parent, it's the most valuable piece of knowledge in the world, to understand how to deal with difficult people in difficult situations. These lessons really do give you the skills you need to turn bad situations into productive ones. And the advantage of an online offering means nobody has to struggle without me for long periods of time. Thanks, Cheetah!"
--Christina Morgan, PMP
Course Details
Credit: 20 PDUs, 2.0 CEUs
Cost: $395
Duration: 20 hours (You'll have four weeks to access the online content and interact with your
instructor.)
Course Location: Online
Access: Instructions provided when you register.
Course Material: All material you will need to do the activities are provided online.
Back to top
As of May 1st, 2004, there are 128,844 Individual Members of PMI® -- a 24% increase for the year so far. Some other fun facts are:
- 89,057 members are from the United States.
- 13,248 are from Canada.
- 30,120 are from other International locations.
- As of May 1st, there are 79,823 PMP®s.
As of May 1st, 2004, the top five industry areas for PMI® Members are:
- Computers-Software
- IT
- Telecommunications
- Business Management Services
- Financial Services
Cheetah Racing Chevrolet Wins Two Out of
Three Races at Evergreen Speedway
The Cheetah Learning racing program is alive and well at Evergreen
Speedway in Monroe, WA. On July 9, 2004, our Chevrolet won both the Trophy
Dash and Heat Races. This dominating performance was delivered by driver
Dave Pioli, despite numerous mechanical setbacks. In the past, electrical
problems have plagued the racing team. And crash damage and bent
suspension parts have been a constant reminder of how rough stock car
racing can be.
The Trophy Dash victory was obtained from the pole position start. The
Cheetah Learning Chevrolet jumped to an early lead, but had to fight off a
challenger at the finish line.
In the Heat Race our Chevrolet gradually overcame a last place start. It was not until the next to the last lap of the race that the Cheetah Learning car took the lead and finished victorious.
The main event was a completely different story for our race team. The
Cheetah Learning Chevrolet only lasted three laps when we were bumped from
behind and crashed out. This event did not go unnoticed by the race
officials, however, who quickly black flagged the offender. But the damage
was done, and the race car was slammed into the inside barrier, sustaining
both front end and transmission damage -- and was done for the night.
The Cheetah Learning Chevrolet competes in the Thunder Car Class at
Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. This rough and tumble form of stock car
racing is populated with street stock cars from the late 1970’s.
The Cheetah Learning Chevrolet is a heavily modified 1975 Camaro.
Kayaks for Causes
Cheetah Learning students are having fun building Cheetah Kayaks, learning
valuable Project Management skills, and supporting good causes all at the
same time. Cheetah currently hosts classes where four people build a
cheetah kayak in a day to learn Project Management, conflict resolution,
and team development skills. Then the teams give away their kayaks to
support non-profits. All proceeds from the kayak giveaways are donated to
charities.
The Kayaks, all decked out and painted in appropriate colors, always draw
large crowds. People not only want to register to win the kayak being
donated, but they also just want to check it out -- after all, it's not
everyday that you see a kayak painted with parrots, decorated with
rainbows, or painted completely pink.
Last winter, Cheetah Learning began this
approach as one of the sponsors of the Parrot Head's convention, which was
held in Windsor, Connecticut. In addition to the non-profit fund raising activities, Cheetah
utilizes the kayaks for a number of programs where students replace
Powerpoint with power tools to learn how to get projects done quickly,
using a hands-on approach.
In a class called KaiZONE, executives stretch themselves past their
comfort zones when they are partnered with another executive to build the
kayak in three days. For more information, visit www.thinkkaizone.com.
Teams learn to use Cheetah Project Management to complete the Kayak in one
day. For more information, visit www.cheetahpm.com.
Cheetah has partnered with Pink Link Network to host Kayak Kamp, an outdoor adventure learning program where women work together over a long weekend to each build their own kayak. The next Kayak Kamp will tentatively be held in May, 2005. If you are interested, call 1-888-866-0751, or visit www.pinklinknetwork.org.
Progressive Public
Construction Reform Law Signed: Could it Happen Where You Live?
A July 19th article in the Boston
Herald discusses a new reform law signed by Massachusetts Lt. Governor
Kerry Healey in relation to public construction projects. To read more
about this new law, click on the following link:
Lieutenant Governor Signs Construction Reform Law
PMP® Exam Prep
September, 2004
1-17: Detroit-Plymouth, MI
13-17: San Diego, CA
13-17: Boston/Dedham, MA
13-17: Seattle, WA
13-17: Tampa, FL
20-24: New York, New York
20-24: Houston, TX
20-24: Hartford-Windsor, CT
21-25: Cleveland/Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, OH (Test on Saturday)
27-October 1: Atlanta, GA
27-October 1: Englewood, CO
October, 2004
4-8: Richmond, VA
4-8: Seattle, WA
4-8: Cleveland/Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, OH
4-8: Philadelphia-King of Prussia, PA
11-15: Hartford-Windsor, CT
11-15: Los Angeles-El Segundo, CA
11-15: Detroit-Plymouth, MI
18-22: New York-Secaucus, NJ
18-22: Madison, WI
18-22: Miramar, FL
18-22: Washington DC-Fairfax, VA
25-29: Boston/Dedham, MA
25-29: Dallas-Addison, TX
25-29: Seattle, WA
November, 2004
1-5: Chicago, IL
1-5: Hartford-Windsor, CT
1-5: Raleigh-Morrisville, NC
1-5: Cleveland/Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, OH
8-12: Orlando, FL
8-12: Atlanta, GA
15-19: Houston, TX
15-19: Phoenix, AZ
15-19: Washington DC-Fairfax, VA
15-19: Seattle, WA
29-December 3: Philadelphia-King of Prussia, PA
29-December 3: San Francisco-Burlingame, CA
29-December 3: Hartford-Windsor, CT
29-December 3: New York, NY
29-December 3: Detroit-Plymouth, MI
December, 2004
6-10: New York-Secaucus, NJ
6-10: Cleveland/Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, OH
6-10:Richmond, VA
6-10: Englewood, CO
6-10: Dallas-Addison, TX
6-10: Seattle, WA
13-17: Kansas City-Independence, MO
13-17: Los Angeles-El Segundo, CA
13-17: Hartford-Windsor, CT
13-17: Washington DC-Fairfax, VA
13-17: Boston/Dedham, MA
13-17: Chicago, IL
13-17: San Francisco-Burlingame, CA
January, 2005
3-7: Seattle, WA
3-7: Cleveland/Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, OH
3-7: Boston/Dedham, MA
10-14: Dallas-Addison, TX
10-14: Philadelphia-King of Prussia, PA
10-14: Chicago, IL
17-21: Houston, TX
17-21: Detroit-Plymouth, MI
17-21: Washington DC-Fairfax, VA
17-21: New York, NY
17-21: Tampa, FL
24-28: Hartford-Windsor, CT
24-28: Los Angeles-El Segundo, CA
24-28: Phoenix, AZ
31-February 4: Englewood, CO
31-February 4: Richmond, VA
31-February 4: Atlanta, GA
February, 2005
February 7-11: Seattle, WA
February 14-18: New York-Secaucus, NJ
Project Accelerator
September 24, 2004: New York, NY
October 5, 2004: Windsor, CT
For a complete list of upcoming classes, check
out our website
at
www.cheetahlearning.com.
For international class information and schedules, please visit
www.cheetahlearning.com.
Middle East
Exam Prep for the PMP® in
Dubai
Cheetah Learning is looking forward to its Exam Prep class in Dubai,
running from October 9th-12th, 2004. This will be the very first Cheetah class in the Middle East! Seats are filling up fast, but there are some still available. Register at
www.cheetahexamprep.com.
Asia/Pacific
Hot and Hotter in the Asia Pacific Region
It’s getting hot in the Asia Pacific
region, with three new locations now active. The growth strategy in the Asia Pacific
region is no longer theory -– it’s reality. The Cheetah Accelerator
Course for the PMP® has now been successfully delivered in three new locations:
-
Singapore
-
Hong Kong
-
South Korea
Now that the locations have been established, we'll return each quarter to complete further classes, and to support our students in obtaining their PMP® certification.
PMP® Exam Prep in Singapore
Diane Bussey, PMP, who is delivering the programs, thoroughly enjoys the new surroundings and working with the students –
it's nice to be in the warmth in the middle of her New Zealand winter.
But wait -- there’s more!
Plans are to have courses in both Malaysia and Japan up and running in September this year, along with other areas within Mainland China
in early 2005. Watch for more details in this space…
Hong Kong Vista
Will You Have a Problem With Your Identification for ProMetric?
An issue has arisen concerning names entered when applying to sit for the PMP® exam
-- this name must be exactly the same as the name on your identification
in order to avoid any last minute hassles.
But sometimes, especially with Chinese names, for example, there is confusion
about which is the first name and which is the last name. Also, it has
been found that there is a problem regarding an insufficient amount of
space on the application form, which is published on the PMI® website.
Write us and let us know if this is an issue for you –- we have raised this with PMI®
directly and we are expecting a resolution soon.
You can contact us at
email@cheetahlearning.com.
New Course -- Old Location
During May and June, The Project Accelerator Course was delivered in three locations within New Zealand,
with raging success. There was lots of fun and learning going on! This course is the best way to improve
your (and your team's) Project Management skills in a practical and fun way. By
breaking up into teams and completing an actual project, you can start applying the
Accelerated Project Management tools and techniques immediately –- and the Mayhem game at the end is the true test of how robust your project is!
Thanks to Barb McClintick, who traveled down under to ensure the success of the courses.
Feel free to check out www.cheetahpm.com for future courses.
Project Accelerator Course in New Zealand
How to Pass the PMP®?
Here are the steps you can take to pass you PMP® exam with flying colors:
-
Register for the Cheetah Exam Prep for the PMP® course.
-
Apply for eligibility by completing your online application at www.pmi.org.
-
On receipt of eligibility, book your online exam with the ProMetric Testing Centre (Note: If you are sitting in Wellington, NZ, you'll need to approach PMINZ initially, as they host the pen and paper exam.)
-
Complete the memory map, and other goodies, on the student site.
-
Get plenty of rest, so that you can start bright and early at 8:00 a.m. on Day One of your course. Join us on this four-day journey, and learn in an accelerated manner all you'll need to know in order to pass the PMP® exam.
-
Confirm your exam with ProMetric Testing Centre during the week.
-
Sit and pass your PMP® exam on Day Five. Congratulations! You did it!
First-time PMP® Success
As certified trainers of the Cheetah Learning systems and processes, we hold responsibility for delivering the courses in a prescribed manner, so wherever in the world you complete your Cheetah course, it will
always be the same. Why standardize the courses? Simply because it is a winning formula. It is proven
to be successful, and we have thousands of students who can attest that the process works.
Ken Holley, PMP, one of our trainers in the Asia Pacific Region, has completed his fifth class in a row where every student in the class has gained their PMP® certification –
on their first try. This success rate can be attributed to how well the students are prepared, the proven
value of the course materials and structure of the course, and of course, the manner in which the course materials are delivered.
Oh, and congratulations, Ken!
Online Access for Certification Exams
No more running up your phone bill! Now all eligible PMP®
and CAPM®
candidates
are able to schedule, cancel, and reschedule the certification examinations quickly and easily
at www.prometric.com.
To access this system, follow these steps:
-
Log on to : www.prometric.com.
-
Select Schedule a Test.
-
Select your area of study.
-
Select your country.
-
Click on Schedule an exam.
-
Click Program Selection, and then select the test from the 'Drop Box'.
-
Click on Exam Selection, and select the test from the 'Drop box'.
-
Click Next after reading the test information
-
Select Agree or Not Agree to the test policies and then click Next
-
Please proceed with the registration by following the instructions until you see the 16-digit confirmation number.
Or
you can call the Kuala Lumpur Regional Registration Center at +603-7628 3333.
Canada
New Trainer for Cheetah in Quebec
As our PMP® success stories grow here in Canada , so does our staff. We are pleased to announce that we have certified Yvan Bastien as a Canadian Cheetah trainer. He lives in Ottawa, is
French speaking, and will be training primarily in the Quebec area.
Welcome, Yvan!
McBride Consulting Offers New Exam Prep Classes
In the fiscal year of 2004, Cheetah licensee McBride Consulting Group,
Inc., or MCGI, put 136 candidates through the PMP® Exam Prep class in Canada, and another 100
candidates in classes throughout Europe. To date, MCGI has had nearly 400 clients sit
for the class in Canada and Europe since becoming a Cheetah licensee in July of 2002. As word
spreads about the Cheetah Exam Prep being the class to take if you want to become a
PMP®, we expect these numbers
in Canada and Europe to grow exponentially in 2005. Keep up the good
work, everyone!
Back to top
Europe
Cheetah in Belgium
Cheetah is taking part in Benelux Day in Antwerp, Belgium on October 2nd, 2005.
Approximately 150 Project Managers from across Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg will gather to meet and greet. Cheetah will be represented by Peter McBride and Andy McClary --
stop in to say hello, hallo, bonjour, guten tag, or al salaam a'alaykum, and
pick up a cool t-shirt while you're at it!
Mexico
Cheetah Exam Prep for the PMP® in Mexico this
Past August
Alpha Consultoria, Cheetah Learning's licensee in Mexico, offered the successful
course Cheetah Exam Prep for the PMP® in the Latin American market
for the very first time. The course was hosted on August 16th-20th at a premium facility in Mexico City, conveniently located close
to the local Prometric testing center. Bob Bradley, one of the knowledgeable certified instructors from Cheetah Learning, facilitated the course, which
was offered in English.
This was the first of a series of courses scheduled for 2004 that take place in Mexico’s biggest cities: Mexico City, Monterrey and
Guadalajara. These courses will clearly revolutionize the way Project Managers in Mexico prepare to obtain the highly-sought PMP®
credential.
If you feel like getting away to receive your PMP®
certification, come and join us in Mexico.
Give us a call at +5255 5553 0353, or feel free to contact Rocio Vazquez at
rocio@alpha-hardin.com, and we can make hotel and transportations arrangements for you.
For more information and to register, please visit www.cheetahlearning.com.
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP Speaks at a Project Management Conference in Mexico City
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, Cheetah Learning's CEO, recently visited Mexico City to be the keynote speaker at a learning event
that was hosted by Alpha Consultoria, Mexico’s licensee for Cheetah Learning’s innovative products.
The event, sponsored by PMI®’s Mexico Chapter and Microsoft Mexico, attracted an audience of more than 160 participants who quickly engaged in the fast-moving and energetic style
that is Michelle’s unique trademark.
Michelle’s lecture, entitled Project Management as a Business Building
Tool, spoke to the multiple applications of Project Management (PM) practices throughout any organization. From scratch, to business plan, to production, to customer
service, PM practices mark the difference between an unsuccessful and a
successful business. Michelle’s powerful messages about making PM
practices easy-to-learn, fast, and standardized, sparked an enthusiastic
response from the audience.
After Michelle’s presentation, Gerardo Rojas, Microsoft® Project product manager, conducted an overview presentation on the new line of Project products, bundled together in the suite known as Enterprise Project Management
(EPM). The insights and benefits of the various products
that Microsoft offers were followed by the discussion of two different case studies
regarding companies in Mexico who already implemented Microsoft’s products to manage their own projects.
Roberto Toledo, Alpha Consultoria CEO, noted “The event allowed us to offer our clients and Mexico’s Project Management community a first-class learning
experience that has already increased interest in Cheetah’s products.”
Look for a white paper entitled Project Management as a Business Building Tool, soon
to be available to download at Cheetah’s website www.cheetahlearning.com.
Special Events
Cheetah Learning Presentation at PMI® North American Conference
Location: Anaheim, CA
Date: Tuesday, October 25th
Presentation Topic: How to Accelerate Team Consensus
For more information, please visit www.pmi.org.
PDU Corner
For those who might be planning on attending the PMI® North American Conference in Anaheim, California in October, Cheetah Learning will be presenting a class on how to accelerate team consensus. Look for our presentation on Tuesday,
October 26th.
Come and learn, have fun, and earn some PDUs!
Resource Management
Managing
Human Resources to Achieve Growth: An Inside Peek at the Chief Cheetah's
Strategy for Success
by Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, CEO Cheetah Learning
“Our people are our biggest assets.”
You hear companies say this all the time, but do they walk the talk? As the leader of Cheetah Learning, I have a moral imperative to walk the talk concerning our collective and individual learning.
Last January, I rolled out a “best in class” program. With this initiative, I
encourage and challenge Team Cheetah to become best in class in each of their respective areas. To support their pursuits, we cover the costs of any training needed to achieve best in class status.
Our IT staff have attended courses offered by the Software Engineering Institute
(SEI), and take ongoing classes staying ahead of the curve in web programming.
Our event planners are participating in a year-long program to become certified event planners.
Our business development team has taken courses in innovative networking, led by Stever Robbins of
Leadership Decision Works, and
also courses in negotiations techniques. The team has also set up a book of the month club to learn new sales and marketing strategies.
Our course development team has taken courses in advanced experiential learning course design and information design.
Our trainers take time out every quarter to share best practices, and to refine their approaches to delivering accelerated learning events. The executive team participates in Harvard Business School’s Executive Management program.
We also hosted courses on writing, delivered by Carey Earle of Harvest Communications, and
courses on Project Management for the entire staff. Additionally, we encourage all eligible
staff to become PMP®s by taking our Cheetah Accelerator Course for the
PMP®. Once a staff member becomes a PMP®, they receive a $4000 bonus. Our new
PMP®s also move into positions of greater responsibility, earning them promotions and pay raises.
And how has this investment in training paid off? By focusing on a best in class staff we have created the
best in class company for our students and for our staff. At Cheetah Learning, we continue to grow at exponential rates because of the quality of our programs and the business systems that support those programs. By investing in our
staff, we have been able to dramatically
develop the business without a concurrent growth in staff.
We all have learned how to work smarter and faster to pursue new business opportunities. The Return on Investment
(ROI) for our
best in class initiative has been accomplished in months, not years. Besides the standard bottom line improvements, the best in class initiative improves our top line –
and our quality of life and day-to-day satisfaction with doing meaningful work.
A learning and growing team stays motivated and inspired. It makes Cheetah Learning a fun place to come to work day in and day out. At the end of the day, a deep fulfillment that comes from using what you are learning to make a significant contribution gives the charge to life.
Resource Management for Start
Ups: A Case Study on How to Reach Your Target Market Without Spending a
Fortune
As Cheetah Workout (www.cheetahworkout.com)
is in the concept exploration stage of the new product development
process, we prefer to test out no-and-low cost marketing ideas to evaluate how our prospective customer base perceives our product concept. We have found that the more costly the marketing effort at this stage
of development, the less we can use the information we collect, since we don’t really have a product that is ready for sale yet.
One member of our team wanted to spend over $10,000 to participate in a women’s fair to get exposure for the Cheetah Workout concept, but we decided to shelve that idea until we are more established.
No-and-low cost marketing is easy, if you know how to do it. The team joined the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, has participated in their networking events, and is hosting a breakfast meeting to kick off the opening of the first Cheetah Workout training facility.
We have found it a great way to meet with people in businesses in the surrounding area.
We've been concentrating the funds we do have on our target market, which is professional women in the local Windsor area. We do not need to go to a state women’s fair to target the Windsor area. Also,
we've been using the resources that we already have, such as the Cheetah mobile, membership in the chamber, spiffy Cheetah Workout uniforms, and hosting chamber of commerce events to promote our facility.
We've learned to be creative when coming up with our marketing strategies.
It must be noted that the most expensive way to market is not always the best.
Also, it's important to use any and every occasion as a networking opportunity. This does not mean to hard-sell your product wherever you find a possible buyer, but
try and be open to the possibility, wherever you go, of people who could use or need your services,
as well as services that others provide, from which you could benefit.
Good luck with your marketing strategies!
Cheetah Workout is one of Cheetah Learning's new affiliates, which celebrated its Grand Opening on Sept 1st, 2004. Cheetah Learning has taken the typical 30-minute workout -- we use the same equipment and circuit training techniques as most 30-minute workouts do -- and kicked it up a few notches in true Cheetah fashion. With Cheetah Workout, you "learn while you burn", exercising your brain and body simultaneously by reading interesting learning bites as you go through the circuit. Earn PDUs and CEUs by working out just ten times per month!
Currently located in our Windsor, Connecticut facility, Cheetah Workout will soon be coming to a location near you. For more information, visit www.cheetahworkout.com.
Happenings PMP® Exam Prep Expands Around the Globe Dubai City, UAE Paris, France Frankfurt, Germany Arnheim, Germany Geneva, Switzerland Tokyo, Japan With licensees around the world, and over
twenty trainers, Cheetah Learning is serving the needs of the Project Management community
worldwide.
Cheetah Accelerated Learning
Techniques "Wow" PMI®
Puget Sound
PM Scorecards
Our staff has recently completed their baseline PM Scorecard measurements and are being trained in using Cheetah PM methodologies to enhance their planning and performance on their next project. To improve the consistency of using good PM practices in their day-to-day project work, Cheetah
operations staff receive a $1000 bonus if they complete four PM Scorecards in a year. Additionally,
in order to be considered for a pay raise at their yearly performance reviews, members of the operations staff need to have three passing PM Scorecards in a year. PM Certificate Program -- A
New Way to Lead the Pack Cheetah Workout for a
Healthy Body and Mind
Challenging your mind on a regular basis through mental exercises and stimulation can help keep your mind sharp and in tip-top shape as you age. With this in mind -- (no pun
intended!) -- here are our "Top 10" fitness trend predictions for 2004:
Join us at Cheetah Workout to experience the fulfillment you get when you exercise your mind just
as vigorously as your body. Check out our website at
www.cheetahworkout.com to learn more about our
"Learn While You Burn" philosophy.
“The ideal exercise for peak physical and mental performance would be a total-body routine that includes aerobic training such as brisk walking, weight training for strength and some complex activity that requires continual learning or refinement of skills.” Back to top
Barb McClintick, PMP, Director of Training, Cheetah Project Management CL: Are there any special goals you'd like to accomplish in the near future? BC: To build a kayak at our Alaskan Adventures site in Haines,
Alaska. Q: While we
usually complete our projects on time -- (more or less!) -- we never
seem to be able to learn from the mistakes that we made in previous
projects. Old patterns seem to inevitably come back and haunt us. Is there
a way to ensure that we don't keep making the same mistakes over and over
again?
As to your question -- yes,
there are a number of ways that you can make sure you don't keep making
those same mistakes again. As Aldous Huxley said, "Experience is not
what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to
you." That being said, you might
want to add to your project schedule a "lessons learned"
exercise, which will help you in the long run to keep track of the
mistakes you made along the way. Have all the persons on your project team
take a few minutes every week to record what they have learned while doing
their current project, and spend a couple of hours at the end of the
project recording their lessons learned. By doing this, they can use the
information when launching their next project, and benefit from their
experiences. It is easier to keep a running log of lessons learned as the
project progresses, rather than to try and remember everything once the
project is complete. You can use some
reflecting-type questions to help you to document the lessons learned on a
daily basis. For example: Three things I learned
this week when working on my project were ____. When implementing ____
on the project, I felt ____. (If you can attach your learning to
feelings, you will better remember what you've learned.) When I tried ____ on the
project, the following happened: ____. Next week, I am going to
try ____ on the project based on what I've learned this week. You can also record your
lessons learned for others in the industry, and therefore help them to
learn from the mistakes you've made. One way you can do this is to publish
a case study. Many trade and professional organizations welcome case study
illustrations about projects that people undertake within their industry.
What your project team learned on your project will likely provide
valuable insight to others who are making similar efforts. Furthermore, it
has been shown that the most creative people are the ones who freely share
their experiences through publishing papers for their peer groups. When
you publish and present your papers, others will come forward and share
their experiences with you, allowing you to learn from them as well. You can also try
storytelling as a way to share your lessons learned. Creating a story
about what team members experienced on the project establishes closure, since
working on a project can sometimes be an intense experience. It is best if
each team member creates his or her own story about the project. In the
story, the team member can elaborate on the hero, the villain, the twists
and turns, the suspense, the drama, the high and low points, and the
lessons the case of characters walked away with, which forever changed
everyone's lives. Stories are a fast and fun way to summarize what people
experienced during every phase of the project. I hope that these
suggestions work for you and your project team members. Remember to
actively record your experiences, and try not to get too bogged down in
the frustration that you might feel from making mistakes. Sometimes those
very mistakes are the catalyst for positive change and a restorative new
direction! 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.
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.
Jeannine McConnell, PMP has always been passionate about the importance of effective Project Management, so
for her, becoming certified as a PMP® through PMI® was a no-brainer. Jeannine has been managing software development projects for about
ten years. In her current position dealing with Fortune 1000 customers,
she feels that getting certified is important for two primary reasons: For
one, she is typically in a situation where she is trying to convey her organization’s value proposition to
CIOs, CTOs, and CPOs. By becoming a PMP®, Jeannine feels her credibility is
elevated, so that she is not only able to speak from a basis of many years of experience, but also
from a firm background and training, which her certification has brought
about. Secondly, as part of her job, Jeannine is called on to handle some fairly complex proof of concepts,
which if successful, may result in huge sales for her organization. Due to
the possible financial enormity of these sales, Jeannine wants to be as proficient and professional as possible in dealing with these endeavors. Currently in the software tools industry, Jeannine McConnell, PMP sells
and mentors software development shops on application lifecycle management tools and processes. Previously,
she was a Software Process and Quality Engineer for a 200+ developer shop.
Cheetah Exam Prep for PMP®Celebrates
Success
PMP® Exam Prep Updates Bring Higher Pass Rates in July
In June, Cheetah Learning updated the PMP® Exam Prep materials -- again.
What, again?
But, of course! Cheetah Learning is always improving its course materials by adding not only new material, but also fun ways to learn and remember the material. Some providers use the same material over and over again, not instituting updates until a new
PMBOK® is released. Cheetah Learning, using Just In Time (JIT) inventory, is
responsive enough so that when new ideas come from our course development team, we can react quickly and get them to our students within a week or two.
What does this mean for you? If you take a Cheetah Exam Prep course you can be sure you are receiving the highest quality preparation with the most up-to-date materials you'll find anywhere. This means you'll be even more likely to pass the PMP® exam the first time. Just ask our students who took our classes in July,
after the last materials update -- they are living proof!
Congratulations to the instructors and students in the five classes in July receiving a 100% pass rate on the PMP exam the first time they sat for it!
Cheetah Exam Prep held its first courses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Munich this summer, and have
more courses on the way in these locations, as well as in:
Walk into many training workshops today and you’ll experience the relentless drone of a speaker, hushed silence, dimmed lights, and soggy cheese and crackers.
But if there’s a Cheetah in the room, you can expect an interactive, participative session that is PowerPoint-free. The power of participation was in full motion when we facilitated a scheduling workshop for the PMI® Puget Sound Chapter.
Barb McClintick, PMP, Director of Training, was the facilitator for this hands-on, high-energy scheduling workshop for over 100 PMI® Puget Sound members. The 45-minute pre-dinner workshop was designed to teach members the finer aspects of scheduling. Participants were divided into teams and were charged with planning a school reunion. From “Pointdexter the class nerd” to “Bill the former all-state linebacker,” every member in a team had to assume a different persona for the exercise. Teams then focused on planning the reunion successfully by defining milestones, responsibilities, dependencies, and creating a color-coded Gantt chart.
Barb McClintick, a PowerPoint rebel, shunned what she calls the “Bore ‘n’ Snore” approach that talks at people, instead of engaging
and actively involving them in the learning experience. Shortly into the session, over 100 participants were on their feet, laughing, working, and meeting the High School Reunion challenge.
PMI® chapter members gave the workshop rave reviews and welcomed an interactive experience that was also similar to real-life.
To read further about the workshop, you can visit the web-based Puget
Sound PMI® newsletter website.
Of course, what’s most important is that people learn. The scheduling workshop was based on the tenets of Accelerated Learning that Cheetah has been using over the years to successfully teach Project Management.
Barb began with a mind-mapping exercise that shows how learning can be
quickly internalized. Cheetah’s Accelerated Learning Framework improves retention by using humor and encouraging participation. This ensures that there’s a successful transition from the classroom to the workplace.
If you are interested in high-energy, live, instructor-led courses using Accelerated Learning techniques for your company, visit
www.cheetahpm.com. For further information, or to schedule a course, contact
barb@cheetahlearning.com.
Cheetah Learning has adopted Project Assurance Technologies', or PAT's, PM Scorecards
in order to measure and improve the performance of our internal projects.
We've also set up a program where you can use PAT’s PM Scorecards to verify the effectiveness of Cheetah’s Project Management training programs.
PAT has organized a Project Management Office, or PMO,
within our operations staff. As part of that PMO, each member of
the operations staff is required to do one project per quarter using the Project Management methodology outlined in the Cheetah Project Management
book,
available at the Cheetah Store at www.cheetahstore.com.
At the end of each quarter,
our staff uses PAT’s PM Scorecard to perform a web-based 360-degree survey of key project participants, to
measure their performance as project managers. They can then pull up the easy-to-read graphical summary of the survey and use the results of the measurement to identify improvement areas for
their projects the next quarter.
We use PAT’s PM Scorecards to both measure and motivate our staff to
perform effective Project Management. PAT’s PM Scorecards make it easy to measure Project Management performance with its web-based surveys. The various types of project participants, such as project sponsors, project customers, project team members, and project stakeholders,
answer questions that are customized based on their unique perspectives. The web-based system returns a succinct one page report of the survey responses.
To help our operations staff improve their performance using their PM Scorecard results,
our course developers created a 15 hour online course on how to use the PM Scorecard results to improve Project Management performance. PAT is evaluating the best way to make that course available to their PM Scorecard users.
Cheetah Learning created an affiliate relationship with PAT to make the PM Scorecard available to you as a tool, in order to verify the effectiveness of Cheetah's PM Career Express training programs. We are well known for the robustness of our training guarantees. While
it's easy to guarantee training effectiveness for passing the PMP exam
-- (people either pass the exam or they don't) -- it's much more difficult to measure the effectiveness of training without a standardized exam as a benchmark.
With companies spending millions of dollars on Project Management training, it is indeed valuable to have a more objective mechanism in place to measure the effectiveness of that training.
With PM Scorecards, you can now definitively measure your improved performance as a project manager.
We guarantee that you will improve your PM Scorecard rating, and PM
performance, after participating in any of our PM Career Express training programs. If you do not improve your performance, you can participate in the training again at no cost and do two more PM Scorecards. If you still do not improve your performance, we will refund your course fee.
To participate in the training verification effectiveness program, you'll do a baseline PM Scorecard on a recently completed project.
(You'll also receive a promotion code, which you'll use to receive a discounted price on PAT’s PM Scorecard at
www.pmscorecard.com). You can
then use the techniques you've learned in a Cheetah Learning course, plan
your next project, and complete a PM Scorecard when your next project is complete.
For more information on how to use PM Scorecard to create or upgrade your PMO,
or to verify PM training effectiveness, contact Pam Peacock, PMP
at pam.peacock@pmscorecard.com.
Stand out from the Crowd with Cheetah's PM Certificate
Depending upon which research you review, there are an estimated 16 million people around the world who call Project Management their career. While the number of PMP®'s and members of
PMI® quickly approach 80,000 and 130,000 plus respectively, it is fairly clear that there is a sizable short fall between professionally trained project managers and those who call Project Management their career.
The 200 hour, six course Cheetah Learning PM Certificate program was designed to bridge the gap between inexperienced and experienced project managers, and to help project managers who simply haven't had the opportunity to obtain quality advanced Project Management training.
Over an eight-month to two-year period, the Cheetah Learning PM Certificate program takes students on a journey through Cheetah Project Management, MS Project, PM Strength Builder, PM Scorecards, PM Negotiation Skills, and several other advanced Project Management classes, ending with a sixty hour Project Management Demonstration Project. While the demonstration project provides a hands-on opportunity to show what managers have learned in the
200 hour program, successful completion of the Certificate signifies that graduating project managers are qualified to manage projects from start to finish. In fact, Cheetah Learning guarantees that students will be able to successfully manage a project from start to finish or will give them their money back.
If your company has a concentrated effort to train project managers, consider adding the Cheetah Learning PM Certificate program to your Project Management career track.
To reach the millions of project managers who seek this training, Cheetah provides the PM Certificate online at
www.cheetahpm.com.
While most woman-oriented health clubs today do a great job at getting women motivated to get in shape and pursue an active lifestyle, these programs completely neglect the intellectual aspect of total health.
Research shows that the lifestyle choices you make have a more profound
effect on your rate of mental decline then genetic factors do as you age.
1. Workouts and exercise programs will respond to the critical need for busy Americans to get an efficient workout in a very short period of time.
2. Mind and body programs will be blended into traditional workout sessions.
3. Functional fitness will become even more important. Rather than working on muscle groups in isolation, functional fitness will focus on exercising and strengthening several muscles and joints together to help people perform their daily activities with less pain and discomfort.
4. Health-care providers and companies will provide and partially subsidize preventive lifestyle health programs.
5. Fitness equipment will get smarter.
6. More fitness clubs will offer pay-as-you-go pricing, rather than long-term contracts.
7. Weight loss and nutrition will get back to basics. Millions of Americans who haven't had long-term success on restrictive weight-loss programs will turn to regular exercise and sensible eating.
8. Exercise will become a larger part of preventive care for middle-age adults to help fight osteoporosis, reduce the risk of everyday injury, and maintain independence.
9. Programs will focus on balance, stability, and strength training.
10. Simple programs to get sedentary people moving will become more important.
-–R S. Paffenbarger Jr. MD
Cheetah
in the Spotlight
Barb is the product owner of Cheetah Project Management and Cheetah Planning. Barb worked for
twenty years with Roadway Express, where she managed the company's quotation system.
She was a member of the start-up team for the Time Critical and Volume call centers before
becoming a Special Products Manager. Barb holds a MBA from Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio, and is a member of the Project Management Institute®. Barb is a part-time professor at the University of Akron and Malone College
where she teaches accounting, general ledger software, and management control systems.
CN: Are there any new realms explored by Business Development today, anything that you want to elaborate on?
BC: I've been developing online courses and putting them on Front
Page -- something I never thought I would ever get the opportunity to do. What a rush!
CN: What are some of the projects you've been working on?
BC: As the Product owner of Cheetah PM and Cheetah Planning, I am staying quite busy. We just released an online course called
On Par PM, and I am working on the Senior Executive Project Management Perspectives In-House course. With
the fall semester just around the corner, I am gearing up for the Cheetah PM Certificate online program available at many community colleges.
CN: When did you get interested in the work you do?
BC: I was named the Project Manager of a quotation system for a three billion
dollar a year company, and absolutely loved it!
CN: What is the most challenging part of your job?
BC: Knowing what city I am waking up in. (laughs) Actually, keeping up with the changes. As a Cheetah, things move
fast, sometimes within minutes.
CN: Would you like to improve anything about yourself in your career, or is there anything more you'd like to learn?
BC: I would like to learn more about Front Page and how to write HTML code.
CN: Is there anyone who has been a mentor to you, or someone who has influenced you?
BC: Without a doubt –- my parents. They taught me discipline, values, integrity, a strong work ethic and that I can do
anything, once I put my mind to it.
CN: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
BC: Semi-retired, and either working part-time as a contractor or teaching part-time at a University.
CN: What do you do for escape?
BC: Honestly, I clean. Really –- it relaxes me and I do my best thinking then. I also find that a trip to Las Vegas or a Caribbean cruise helps too!
CN: Of all your accomplishments, what makes you the proudest?
BC: Earning a Masters Degree while working full-time, and attending night school for
twelve years -- and marrying my best friend and soul mate, Dennis.
CN: Is there anything you'd like to be able to do, something you've dreamed of?
BC: To meet Steven Tyler from
Aerosmith (best song writer and singer) and Eddy Van Halen (best rock
guitarist!) But I think I'm too old to be a groupie now.
CN: What's most important in life?
BC: God, country, and family!
Back to top
A: First of all, congratulations on getting your projects
completed in a timely manner! That in itself is a great feat.
Back to top
Jeannine always likes to say that she leads a ‘JIT’, or 'Just in
Time', lifestyle. Between her job, family, and civic involvements, she
continually needs to find maximum impact and results within a minimum
period of time. To Jeannine, it seemed like Cheetah Learning would fill that bill to
a tee -- and she was not disappointed. "I was also intrigued by the ‘multi-sensory’ methodology Cheetah
employs," Jeannine asserts. "I realize we learn in more than one way, and different people learn different ways, and I thought it was great the way Cheetah leverages that fact."
Before finding Cheetah Learning, Jeannine had purchased a few books and
had done a bit of web browsing to try and find a good PMP® Exam preparatory
course. She found a few critical differences between Cheetah's course and
other courses -- differences that ultimately led her to dive into
Cheetah's highly acclaimed accelerated course. These differences included
the multi-sensory/multiple paths to knowledge methodology, the discipline that the
accelerated training requires, and the invaluable insights of the
instructor. Jeannine also found great value in the group learning element
of the course, which included bouncing things off of other students, and getting their
insights -- a component that significantly added to her educational
experience.
For Jeannine, the memory mapping and memorization of the formulas helped
the most in her passing the exam. "Also, the ‘PMI®-way or the highway’ mantra
helped, as I was tempted to drift to past experience rather than focus on the
PMI®-centric
thoughts," she adds. "The other thing I found critical was the way Cheetah had pulled information together from the countless other resources that the test invokes. I would have never read Kerzner’s epic work in its entirety, so I was happy to have it distilled into the relevant references for the test."
Jeannine found that the preparatory work she did with Cheetah enabled her
to relax and build up a much-needed self-assurance, so that she could
successfully pass the exam. "Using a training class such as Cheetah really removed so much of the test-anxiety
and failure anxiety that I had going into this process," she states.
"I think the confidence in knowing that you’ve worked through countless pre-tests is invaluable. Immersing yourself in the
PMBOK®, as well as other references
beforehand, is also invaluable -- especially if you are like me and have managed many projects,
but probably never managed one of them ‘the right way’ by using the
PMI®-suggested methodologies."
All in all, Jeannine was totally thrilled with the Cheetah course, so much
so that she has recommended it to everyone she has spoken to who is charged with Project Management.
With the PMP® certification firmly under her belt, Jeannine is able to effectively
handle all projects coming her way with confidence and self-possession.