Project Management Overview
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Peak Performance Group, Inc. (PPG) in partnership with ESI International, offers project management courses for beginners to advanced project managers, project team members, project directors, program directors, project executives, and others involved in managing projects. ESI's programs, combined with PPG's expertise in all areas of leadership and management enables PPG to bring a unique perspective to project management education – combining critical project management technical skills with required leadership and team management skills to ensure that our clients' project management team is well prepared to implement those projects that will enable the organization to meet its goals.
ESI International's programs are continuously updated and revised to incorporate feedback from clients and course participants by ESI's product development staff of 30 employees. This same staff is available for tailoring and customization of programs to meet client's specific needs and objectives.
Courses include core project management courses, IT project management courses, advanced project management courses and PMP® preparation courses. Please see our Course Offerings for details on each course. Every class will incorporate leadership, organizational and global concepts to ensure that project managers and others working on project management teams are provided the education they need to succeed.
In addition to education programs in project management, PPG offers a variety of consulting services to help our clients ensure their project management training is applied back on the job and that they are utilizing project management effectively and efficiently to ensure their long term success. Please see our Consulting Services for more details.
As a component of all courses, PPG utilizes action planning to ensure that the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom can be applied back on the job. PPG will assist the client in developing an action plan between the course participant and his/her manager to ensure the learning is applied back on the job. If desired, PPG will work with the client to track and implement the action planning, measuring progress at regular intervals and providing coaching when required.
Course Offerings
PPG, in partnership with ESI International, a premier provider of project management programs, offers the following courses. All courses incorporate leadership, organizational and global concepts to ensure that project management teams are provided the education necessary to implement projects that meet the short and long-term objectives of their organization.
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Core Project Management Programs
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Information Technology Project Management Programs
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Advanced Project Management Programs
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PMP® Certification Preparation Programs
Project Management Certificate Program
Peak Performance Group's Project Management Certificate program incorporates core project management technical skills with management and leadership skills to ensure success in a project management role. A variety of electives enables you to customize the program to meet your individualized needs.
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Core Courses (4 required)
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Management Courses (3 required)
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Electives (Choose at least 3 with a minimum of 9 course days total)
Additionally, PPG provides a variety of options for those clients interested in customizing a certificate to meet specific organizational needs, incorporating project management technical skills education with leadership and team skills building courses to ensure that project managers, program managers, program directors, project executives and other members of the project team have the skills necessary to ensure that projects are implemented successfully and meet the strategic goals of the organization.
Contact us today to learn more about our certificate programs and how to customize them for your specific needs.
Program Management Leadership Certificate
Program management is a complex specialty on which all successful companies depend. Often misunderstood, program management is much more than a sophisticated project manager. Successful companies rely on program managers to knit together critical components of the enterprise, influence staff to get their best, manage interdependent projects across the globe, manage conflict constructively, communicate effectively and lead mindshare in the best collaborative way in the best interest of the enterprise and its employees.
The Program Management Leadership Program is specifically designed to develop the interpersonal and organizational leadership skills of the program manager. These human leadership skills enable technical skills to be effective.
This program has been designed based on industry research of best practices and core competencies required for success.
The certificate program is comprised of the following core courses and one elective course:
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Required Courses
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Elective Courses (Select at least one)
Contact us today to learn more about our Program Management Leadership Certificate program and how to customize the program for your specific needs.
Project Management Assessments
In partnership with ESI, Peak Performance Group provides a comprehensive, easy-to-use, online assessment tool covering project management skills for individuals and project teams and an organizational 360 Project Management Competency Assessment.
PPG is able to combine ESI's PMAppraise online assessment tool and the PM360: A PM Competency Assessment™ tool with a variety of other assessments designed to gauge critical skills and management, team and leadership competencies of individuals. See our Human Assessment section for further information on PPG's assessment tools. Contact us today to learn more about assessments.
Learn more about the online assessment tool for individuals and project teams – PMAppraise.
Learn more about the project management competency assessment tool: PM360: A PM Competency Assessment™.
Project Management Competency Assessment
In partnership with ESI, PPG provides a project management competency assessment: PM360: A PM Competency Assessment™. This 360 degree project management assessment helps organizations to examine their employees' abilities from every angle. The PM360™ project management assessment enables companies to gather information in any of the following areas:
Organization and industry acumen- Process expertise
- Customer focus
- Team leadership
- Communication
- Personal effectiveness
The assessment culminates in a detailed and comprehensive report that will help organizations examine their employees' competency levels in a variety of ways.
The confidential PM360™ survey is comprised of 40 targeted questions that measure the employee's ability to perform certain practices and the importance of those practices as they apply to your organization. The project manager can be evaluated by his/her direct supervisor, current and former project sponsors and project team members.
PM360™ is based on a profile of the ideal project management. The profile was developed by ESI experts over 25+ years. Once complete, PPG subject matter experts will review the results with the organization in comparison to the ideal benchmark, identify strengths and weaknesses, and recommend a strategy for performance improvement.
Consulting Services
PPG provides a variety of consulting services around project management to support our clients' initiatives and ensure that what was learned in the classroom is applied back on the job. Our goal is to ensure that clients can:
- Ensure successful completion of their projects
- Ensure consistency in how projects are managed from start to finish
- Provide improved reporting of projects' status
- Enable a proactive approach to managing project risks
- Improve project decision making and problem solving
- Enable lessons learned to be captured and applied to future projects
- Develop strong, effective and efficient project teams
- Alignment of project portfolio to organizational long-term strategy
Facilitated Project Kick Off
By working alongside the client to facilitate the planning of client projects, PPG will provide clients a way to incorporate recently learned skills and newly gained knowledge along with small group mentoring to ensure that projects are on track for a successful conclusion. Facilitated project kick-offs can be run in conjunction with education so that immediately after attending a course, participants are at work on a current project with the support of the instructor.
Project Management Best Practice and Processes/Project Management Center of Excellence
PPG will provide guidance to clients in developing and implementing project management best practices and processes. By developing a Project Management Center of Excellence, with consistent practices and processes shared throughout the organization, clients will improve the success rate of their projects and ensure that projects are aligned with strategic initiatives. Over time, projects can be completed in reduced timeframes, with less resources and tighter budgets.
Project Rescue and Recovery
Through our seasoned consulting staff, PPG will provide guidance in getting troubled projects back on track, helping you to problem solve to ensure you are able to make strategic decisions to get your projects moving in the right direction. Mentoring provided to the project team will repair relationships and develop stronger teams to ensure project success. Guidance provided to the project manager ensures he/she is able to work with the team to get the project moving in the right direction.
Business Impact and ROI of Project Management Practices and Project Management Training Programs
Determine the business impact and ROI of your project management practice and education programs through the use of Phillips ROI Methodology™. Through Phillips ROI Methodology®, evaluate whether the impact your project management practice is having on the business and to the bottom line is a positive one. Ensure that strategic learning programs are meeting the ultimate goals and objectives of the organization by evaluating their business impact.
Project Team Mentoring
DPPG can work with organizations to help jumpstart new project teams, providing half day, 1 or 2 day programs in team leadership and team building. Ensure your project team, whether everyone is together in one location, working virtually, or global starts off on the right track by providing them some time up front to become acquainted with each other, understanding how they work individually and how they will work as a team. Through the use of the Myers Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI) and team building activities, PPG can help ensure that your team is on the right track right from the beginning. Continued mentoring is available for those teams that need extra support due to global presence or strategic projects that have an impact on the organization's bottom line.
Evaluation of Project Portfolio
PPG can provide executives support in ensuring that the right projects are selected to meet the organization's long term strategic goals. Through evaluation of current projects and planned projects, along with the organization's short and long-term goals, PPG will work with the client to develop a strategy to ensure that projects selected are aligned to the organizational strategy and that there is a plan in place to execute those projects at the right time with the right resources to ensure success.
To learn more about any of our consulting services, contact us today.
Coaching for Project Management Executives
The partnership between executive and coach starts with trust and the mutual intention to expand the competence and effectiveness of the client within the business and organizational context. As the coach, we bring capabilities, tools and models for assessing effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement, designing plans and facilitating learning and change. We bring a distinctive ability to identify root cause at the organizational as well as individual level. This helps the executive discern when to focus on individual leadership development and when there is an organizational issue requiring a structural approach. The client brings an inquisitive attitude for increased self-awareness and growth. Together we develop clear demonstrable outcomes for the coaching experience and work with a plan through which the client achieves those goals.
Coaching for development of project management executives is particularly effective at times of transition, including promotion to a high level project management role, start up with a new company or role, strategic or organizational change, or launch of a major project to meet organizational strategic goals. PPG’s skills-based coaching approach will follow the core competency model of project management, consistent with PMI® Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide standards. Our coaching is customized for the unique needs of the individual and the environment in which the individual functions to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in a shorter timeframe. Your senior project managers may be the best at meeting project deadlines and managing to tight budgets, however, these individuals may need some additional guidance and support which is best provided through one-on-one coaching opportunities in order to continue to develop and strengthen their skills. A traditional educational program may not meet their specific individualized needs.
Benefits of providing coaching opportunities for project management executives include, but are not limited to:
- Increase the influence and execution effectiveness of their project management leadership within the organization by developing key skills unique to the executive’s business and operational environment
- Analyze the project leader’s personality traits and identify those that will drive success and others that need to be managed which could be unique to the business and cultural environment of their enterprise
- Develop critical skills in analyzing the organizational management needs of the business to effectively develop project plans, communication strategies, cross-functional labor and resource support requirements, and risk mitigation strategies
- Design and execute effective and efficient strategies and plans for managing virtual and global teams
- Develop influence and communication skills necessary for a global, multicultural and complex environment
Investing in your project management executives enables you to show increased values in efficiency, effectiveness and market expansion/innovation.
Our coaching takes a unique turn by first providing the project management executive with an assessment to determine strengths and weaknesses and the effectiveness of the project management executive within the context of his/her organization structure.
Contact us today to learn more about coaching for project management executives and PPG’s unique approach.
Knowledge Base/Case Studies
Project Management is Strategic
Lately I have seen an increasing number of organizations who are interested in looking at project management as a strategic function within the organization. (Yes…project management is tactical; but it's strategic too and it is time that organizations look at it from a strategic viewpoint.) When project management is seen as strategic, all
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Project Managers Need Leadership Skills
Yes – if you are a project manager you really need leadership skills! Today's project managers must have leadership skills in order to effectively perform their roles in the organization and stand out from the crowd of other project managers. Something must make you distinct from the others – especially if you are currently
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Capturing Those Lessons Learned
Do you capture your lessons learned? If you do, how effectively do you capture them?
There are many reasons why lessons learned are not captured, or, if they are captured, not used, including:
[Download PDF of article]
- Lack of time
- Lack of management support
- Lack of resources
- Lack of clear guidelines
Taking the Initial Steps toward Understanding the Project Management Function in an Organization (Part I)
When I meet with a client for the first time about how they might improve their project management function, I prefer to spend the first few meetings getting to learn about their organization, how the project management function is structured and perceived, and their long-term goals and objectives.
[Download PDF of article]
Learning about the Project Management Function in an Organization: Data Gathering and Presentation to the Client (Part II)
In Part I we looked at the beginning of a high level approach to taking the initial steps to learn about an organization's project management function. The client, who is a service company, had plans to grow their project management function by an additional 100 project management employees worldwide within 2 –
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Kicking off the Project Team
One of the most important things a team leader can do is find time to kick off the start of the project with the project team. I'm not talking about day 1 and the group is together ready to dig in on the project.
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Hey Project Sponsor - We Need Your Help Please!
First, let's define Sponsor. According to the Project Management Institute's, The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide, the Sponsor "is the person or group [of people] that provides the financial resources, in cash or in kind, for the project.” As defined by Wikipedia.com, "….(t)he project sponsor will be a senior executive
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Establishing Project Management Best Practices
In the last few months, in meetings with a variety of clients, I have seen an increased desire to establish best practices around project management. However, with each client – "best practices around project management” seems to mean something different. For some clients, discussion has focused around putting policies and procedures in place
[Download PDF of article]
Communicating the Value-Add of a Project Management Best Practice
In the last posting, we discussed the growing interest in establishing best practices around project management and discussed generally how to get started. In this posting, we are going to focus on how to communicate the value add to the organization of having a project management best practice.
[Download PDF of article]
One Central Resource – Getting Started Slowly in Rolling Out Your Organization-Wide Project Management Best Practice and Processes
In the previous posting, we discussed the importance of communication around the value add of having an organization-wide project management best practice and processes. Additionally, we provided a few options for doing so.
In this posting, we will discuss how to go about slowly rolling out the organization-wide project management best practice and
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A Virtual Global Team in Trouble: A Case Study – Part I
A virtual global project team was having significant difficulty in getting a major project completed. The project was a strategic one for the organization and would affect all offices worldwide. There appeared to be quite a bit of dissension among the team members on a regular basis and the project manager seemed unable
[Download PDF of article]
A Virtual Global Team in Trouble: A Case Study – Part II: Now What??
In Part I we started our story on a virtual team in trouble. In this post, we will cover the stakeholder meeting and the decisions made to move the project forward, along with processes put in place to ensure this situation does not occur in the future.
[Download PDF of article]
Using ROI to Evaluate Project Management Training
Executives today are demanding to see the monetary value that project management training programs bring to the organization. This means they need to see a dollar value placed on the benefits of the training, not just that participants believe the training to be valuable to them or they enjoyed the training
[Download PDF of article]
Developing a Project Management Best Practice
Executives today are interested in developing a best practice around project management within their organizations. Some of this interest stems from the economy and the need to do more with less – reduced timelines to get a product/service to market to increase revenue
[Download PDF of article]
Business Analysis Overview
Peak Performance Group, Inc. (PPG) in partnership with ESI International, offers business analysis courses for beginners to advanced business analysts, information technology project managers, project team members, and those interested in working as a business analysis. ESI's programs, combined with PPG's expertise in all areas of leadership and management enables PPG to bring a unique perspective to business analysis education – combining critical business analysis technical skills with required leadership and team management skills to ensure that our clients' project teams is well prepared to implement those projects that will enable the organization to meet its goals.
ESI International's programs are continuously updated and revised to incorporate feedback from clients and course participants by ESI's product development staff of 30 employees. This same staff is available for tailoring and customization of programs to meet client's specific needs and objectives.
Courses include technical business analysis programs , a CBAP® preparation program, and Certificate programs. Please see our Course Offerings for details on each course. Every class will incorporate leadership, organizational and global concepts to ensure that business analysis and others working on project teams are provided the education they need to succeed.
As a component of all courses, PPG utilizes action planning to ensure that the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom can be applied back on the job. PPG will assist the client in developing an action plan between the course participant and his/her manager to ensure the learning is applied back on the job. If desired, PPG will work with the client to track and implement the action planning, measuring progress at regular intervals and providing coaching when required.
Course Offerings
PPG, in partnership with ESI International, a premier provider of business analysis programs, offers the following courses. All courses incorporate leadership, organizational and global concepts to ensure that project teams are provided the education necessary to implement projects that meet the short and long-term objectives of their organization.
Business Analysis Certificate Program
Peak Performance Group's Business Analysis Associates Certificate program and Business Analysis Masters Certificate program incorporates business analysis technical skills with management and leadership skills to ensure success in a business analyst role. A variety of electives enables you to customize the program to meet your individualized needs.
Business Analysis Associates Certificate Program
Choose from the following courses to obtain your Business Analysis Associates Certificate. Four courses are required to obtain the Certificate.
All courses applied to the Associates Certificate may also be applied toward specific Masters Certificate requirements.
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Core Courses (Choose one or both):
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Other Business Analysis Technical Courses (Choose at least one)
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Electives (Remaining courses necessary may be taken from the following)
Business Analysis Masters Certificate Program
Choose from the following courses to obtain your Business Analysis Masters Certificate. Seven courses are required to obtain the Certificate.
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Core Courses (Choose one or both):
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Other Business Analysis Technical Courses (Choose at least four)
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Electives (You may also apply two courses from the following)
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Project Management Overview
