Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) Compliant e-Learning is a specification of the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, SCORM defines communications between client side content and a Learning Management System (LMS).

MCM Project Management, a PMI Global Registered Education Provider (#: 1809) provides a full suite of convenient, efficient, affordable and PMBOK® Guide – 4th Edition compliant project management self-paced, e-learning courses through certified continuing education portal Savvy-U.com.

Principles of Project Management     $99.99

(4 Hrs/4 PDUs/.4 CEUs)

This self-paced, e-learning course is designed for both the novice and experienced individual, with participants being introduced to PMI-based standards, tools and techniques as they are interactively guided through the project management life cycle. Participants will examine all forty-two (42) processes (22 in depth) and you will receive fourteen (14) templates that will allow them to efficiently and effectively manage and deliver projects of all sizes within scope, on time and within budget.

Essentials of Project Management     $199.99

(8 Hrs/8 PDUs/.8 CEUs)

This self-paced, e-learning course is designed for both the novice and experienced individual, participants are introduced to PMI based standards, tools and techniques as they are interactively guided through the project management life cycle. Participants will examine all forty-two (42) processes in depth, and you will receive twenty-eight (28) templates that will allow them to efficiently and effectively manage and deliver projects of all sizes within scope, on time and within budget.

Overview of Project Management     $29.99

(1 Hr/1 PDU/.1 CEU)

This self-paced, e-learning course is designed for both the novice and experienced individual, with participants being introduced to PMI-based framework and methodology.

Project Integration Management     $44.99

(1.5 Hrs/1.5 PDUs/.15 CEUs)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all six (6) Integration Management processes in depth, and you will receive six (6) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the integration of various key planning and execution elements on your projects.

Project Scope Management     $44.99

(1.5 Hrs/1.5 PDUs/.15 CEUs)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all five (5) Scope Management processes in depth, and you will receive eight (8) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the scope of work on your projects.

Project Time Management     $57.99

(2 Hrs/2 PDUs/.2 CEUs)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all six (6) Time Management processes in depth, and you will receive five (5) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the timely completion of your project.

Project Cost Management     $29.99

(1 Hr/1 PDU/.1 CEU)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all three (3) Cost Management processes in depth, and you will receive four (4) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the budget on your projects.

Project Quality Management     $29.99

(1 Hr/1 PDU/.1 CEU)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all three (3) Quality Management processes in depth, and you will receive two (2) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the quality on your projects.

Project Human Resource Management     $29.99

(1 Hr/1 PDU/.1 CEU)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all four (4) Human Resource Management processes in depth, and you will receive three (3) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the human resources on your projects.

Project Communications Management     $44.99

(1.5 Hrs/1.5 PDU/.15 CEUs)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all five (5) Communications Management processes in depth, and you will receive twelve (12) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the communications on your projects.

Project Risk Management     $29.99

(1 Hr/1 PDU/.1 CEU)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all six (6) Risk Management processes in depth, and you will receive five (5) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the risk on your projects.

Project Procurement Management     $44.99

(1.5 Hrs/1.5 PDU/.15 CEUs)

In this self-paced, e-learning course you will examine all four (4) Procurement Management processes in depth, and you will receive fifteen (15) templates that will allow you to efficiently and effectively manage the procurement on your projects.

According to the feature article in the May 2009 PMI today titled Pulse of the Profession SURVEY – Shows Clear Trend Toward Better Project Performance, “More projects are being completed on time and within budget these days, and a larger percentage of projects are meeting their goals.”

This survey, conducted in late 2008 by PMI’s Market Research Department, compared the results with an identical 2006 survey. According to their survey comparisons, there has been an increase in projects finishing on time (+2%) and within budget (+3%).

In the survey’s look at centralization and project performance, 60% of the respondents work in a project management environment supported by a centralized Project Management Office (+7%), which naturally equates to more projects being completed on time and within budget then those managed in a decentralized PMO supported project environment. 

Are these results a surprise to anyone? 

Is it hard to fathom that a Centralized PMO (to bring under one control) performs better then a Decentralized PMO (to distribute powers or functions over a less concentrated area)? 

Somehow in a profession that exhorts control, methodologies, tools and techniques to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close projects, the distribution of control to a decentralized PMO goes against all good thought and practice. 

All poking aside, these (and their other) survey results are great in that they reinforce what the project management constituency has been advocating to their clients and stakeholders for years now; that the implementation of project management tools and techniques in and around a mature, robust, and centralized project management office, helps to increase the success of projects.  

Why then, during a time of difficult economic conditions, do project managers have to continually justify their value and the value PMI based tools and techniques to their clients, stakeholders and even their own management at times? 

In 2002, the Center for Business Practices conducted a survey (results posted on pmadvocate.com) that identified the percentage of increase in a variety of project support categories realized by the implementation of project management based tools and techniques. The increases were truly astounding. Based upon these astounding increases, why then aren’t project managers the first resources hired and the last resource fired during down economic times? An even a bigger question might be…how does the project management constituency make other industries aware of the enormous value that is gained through the hiring of project managers and the implementation of a centralized and robust project management office?

Welcome to PMAdvocate.com!

PMAdvocate.com is dedicated to the betterment of project managers, their programs, projects and profession through the collaboration and sharing of relevant project management knowledge and information.

To that end, let me start off this inaugural blog by first stating some facts, and then, posing a thought provoking question for careful analysis. The Center for Business Practices conducted a study that found that through the implementation of project management tools and techniques, project performance in the following areas could be improved by the following percent:

- Schedule Estimating – 38.6%;
- Customer Satisfaction – 37.6%;
- Strategic Business Alignment – 37%;
- Cost/Hour Estimating – 32.8%;
- Time/Budget – 32.5%;
- Schedule Performance – 32.1%;
- Quality Improvement – 31.9%;
- Labor Hours Performance – 25.6%;
- Cost Performance – 23.8%;
- Response Time – 23%;
- Staff Productivity – 22.8%;
- Time to Market – 21.7%.

Based upon the following survey, shouldn’t project managers be the first employees hired, and the last employees fired, at any company or agency? Additionally, and even in this time of economic turmoil and plunging corporate and government budgets, aren’t companies and agencies obligated to take advantage of the substantial return on investment that could be realized by providing their employees with the appropriate level of project management training?