Hello everybody in the house. Please, i need an assistance, i just want to undergo a training on PMP. I really need somebody to assist me pertaining to Manuals and the likes- this goes to the certified or already a member in the house. please i look forward to any help. I am currently serving in Abia State. Thanks fo r ur genuinely assistance!

Kolapo Oduwole

If you really are interested in project management, given your stated experience, go for CAPM by PMI. I think a training session was held in Umuahia(?) some time ago by Albert Benjamin Ross(abr, one of the best in the field) For first hand info, visit www.pmi.org or call 08059363437. cheers

hello all,

I have being following this thread for some time now and i need to clarify some facts about the PMP exam and project management in general.

1. It is not only REP that can provide PMP exam training as a pre-requisite for attaining the 35hours training required for the exam. nolaodus is not correct. please see the pmp handbook page 6. for the criteria for satisfying the education requirement.
One more point to note is that for you to become an REP you must have provided project management training for at least one year and pmp exam related courses must be taught by PMPs ( see REP Criteria handbook). this deductively means that whatever training programme you want to attend check the status of the faculties ( you can easily get this from the pmi website).to ensure that they are certified PMPs

you can download all these free.from the pmi website. www.pmi.org.


2 . it un ethical to sell the PMBOK. ordinarily as soon as you pay for membership you have access to the PMI online library were you can read other standards and textbooks ( this was the only library i used for my PMP Exam).

3. you don't write the PMP exam in embassies. I did mine in a prometric centre by name touche at Abagbon close V/I. this centre also have an office at Abuja. this is far better than arranging a paper base exam. it is more convenient and you can re-schedule it .

4. it very easy to pay for the exam and membership through any master card ( i used an intercontinental master card for my exam and membership why i recently used a GTB master card for my 2007 membership due). registering online is faster. just follow the instruction with the click of the mouse you are a PMI member and then depending on your numbers of years experience going for the PMP or CAPM EXAM and you become a member of the three golg letters that rule the world .


Ulohomuno Eze Afieroho. MBA PMP

To all the PMPs in the house,

Pls how have you been earning your required PDUs?

Also, how can we network better for career developmen in Naija?

Pls share.

kaypinchi,
that is the next challenge after the pmp exam, for me i aready have comfortable 30 pdus. i have two published articles .
one in projects & profit magazine--- i don't know if they will accept it as a refereed jornal article thou it pass through a blind review process. if they do that is 30 PDU if not guarantee 15 PDUs

the second one was published on ESI newsletter one of the leading project management and business analysis firm in the world. that is certain 15 PDUs for sure, thou it also went through a peer review process. i have not registered them yet. i hope to do so soonest.

i will write them a letter to clarify the staus of these two and if they accept them for category 2A then that means i have gotten 60PDUs which is what i need to remain a PMP for the next cycle.

we really need a forum to network not the PMI Lagos chapter stuff that refuse to be realistic and robust in accepting members ideas.


do you write we can co-author article together. that will be nice most intellectual journals love co-author articles more that single author onces it shows the team work stuff.

thanks

@ ulohomuno

Cool. I envy u o!
I write but haven't been up to dat lately. Busy?, Wouldn't mind to bring that back.

I was just wondering how best to make PM interesting to new commers in the field. As it relatively new here. At the moment, nothing is happening in the Lagos chapter and anyone interested in PM may be discouraged. Relating with peers seems to be the best way to drive up interest and followership.

I suggest we share insights on how PM fundamentals work for various careers as a way of bringing home the interest.

We can discuss more thru my username at yahoo.

What do u think?

Hi all,

I need some information regarding the PMP exam.
One of my friends is about to apply and not going thru it the traditional way.
first of all he's just finished service and been working for about 6-8months in a major multinational.
The guy has registered for the PMP exam using some project experience he got in school. He's a Civil Engr and included some work he did with companies while in school. He was also an executive of his Unis chapter of an International student body so he included work he did htere as well. As a matter of fact he was Director in charge of Projects in that body.

So he's using his ecperience form school+NYSC+d little he's gotten from his present company.

2nd thing is he's not going to a REP for training, he's citing most of the training he got in school. Some specific courses some of which include PM courses as sufficient training in PM.

Do u guys think he can make it thru the audit before taking the exam?
More importantly if he makes it thru that audit will he be able to maintain the certification or run d risk of being stripped of it sometime later on after taking the test due to subsequent audits??

Please let me know what u guys think cos i want to take this route myself if it will work. cos we have very similar academic and extra-curricular backgrounds.

MUST PM WORK EXPERIENCE BE IN A COMPANY OR WILL INTL ORGS WORK JUST AS WELL??

thanks guys

lawuyi,

i doubt if you friend can survive an audit.  get one thing straight about life you don't need  to jump procedures and processes, it very unethical.

1. you need 3 years or 36month project management experience if you holds a Bachealor degree or its global equivalent . if your need to get the pmp he and you should go for CAPM if not please wait until you get the requirement right.
   have you ever attend an interview where the panel take time to check the details of your qualification with your experience? brother you may not be able get through if they pin point that, especially if you have a highly ethical PMP on the panel. that one person get away with the audit is not a reason for you to follw suit.  PMI is a highly ethical body and as a project manager you need to follow due process and be very ethical. these two will open doors for you i am speaking from experience.


2 As i said on my first post you do not need an REP to fufill the 35 hours of formal education. refer to my first post.


Finally I want to get some thing clear to you from the couples of PMP exam prep classes i have serve as a faculty, i did sound it clear that the reason why people fail the exam is to think that the exam is all about project management- therefore their donkeys years experience and project management courses done in school, will see them through.

please  the PMP exam is about the PMBOK and how the PMBOK is applied to project management that is why i advice you to attend the training. ( PMI do not accept self study, ).
i hope this post will help you.

   thanks

Hi Guys
Pls I'm a young graduate of statistician. Could this PMP and PMI be of any benefits to me. I need someone to enlighten me on it. Cos i'm in need of a good work.
Thanks Cheers

First, I want to appreciate Ulohomuno's contributions especially, the clarification on where prospective PMP's can recieve training. Just make sure you are trained by a PMP!

@bodija, I suggest you go for Capm since you don't know much about projects. But, if you want to become a PMP because you "are in need of a good work" then you are in the wrong place. If you don't have the drive and love for PM, the time-consuming nature of the preparation drills will definitely frustrate you. It is not a bandwagon thing.

Cheers.

Dear all,

what is project management all about? it is about translating an organisation strategy into reality. it is the bridge between strategy and performance in any organisation, world wide high performing organisation are investing on developing their organisation project management capabilities. the implication to project managers is that the profession is still emerging and  is only fit for those who are delibrate and patient in growing with an eye on ethics and professionalism.

this morning i read an article in the harvard business review- it state that " the journey to superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient. the development of genius expertise requires struggle, sacrifice and honour, often painfull self-assessment. there are no short-cuts. it will take you at least a decade to achieve expertise, and you will need to invest that time wisely by engaging in delibrate practice- practice that focuses on tasks beyound your current level of competence and comfort"


To all aspiring PMPs - what do you want? the PMP certification or to be a project management professional? if it is the PMP i think you are only trying to be more employable but if it is the later you are trying to become an expert.


project management is a profession just like accounting, civil engineering and medicine etc. it is not an additional certification like CCNA, CCNP etc. do you want to be a subject matter expert PM or a professional PM.


I am a civil engineer by training ( thou i have an MBA)  but i have look forward always to be PM right from school so i go for an MBA rather than continuing with my engineering even thou i made distinction. when i start to work even till date i have being managing project that relate to civil engineering but recently i decide to let the world to konow that i am not a civil engineer but a PM and guess i invest my time reading and learning more about PM rather that engineering and it has so pay that i once attend an interview as a PM in a multinational company. and guess what why the panel is waiting for management approval of the recruitment a panelist recommend me for one of their subsidairy to be their project manager for new product development far from my subject matter area.

I have also being offered a job to be a PM in an IT company that help clients carry out what they call system intergration. ( why because they read one of my article and they discovered that i have passion for PM hence i can learn it fast )thou i did not take these offers because i have a delibrate plan and the pay stuff but they re assured me that if it is PMP i am looking for i will be disappointed but if it is to be a project management professional i need to delibrately practice this profession, i need to be patient ,and above all be ethical.


bodija and all aspiring PMPs you need to fulfill requirement. short cut are paths that lead you faster to a place but without the experience attach to the normal path.

motorist that normal take the short cut around TBS to VI ( I mean that military one way) don't have the opportunity of seeing the NITEL office and the TBS. you may not understand this until you are new in lagos like me . I only recently saw these two places when the military start enforcing the one way rule.

i hope i have communicated. quiet long, i love writing because i love it.

thanks

@ ulohomuno
nice one

muchmoney
many many thanks you've cleared issues in my head to a large degree. I think i'll just pass on the exam for now, although i'll likelytake the Prince2 foundation exam in the interim (this is cos i'll b in the UK for studies for next yr and it might help). You're quite right about having a qualification and not being able to back it up adequately, there's always also the possibility of running into someone that's a stickler for the rules guiding the certification.

Althoughi should say that i think we've actually had project management comparable to those that will want to take the PMP exam after about 3yrs work experience (cos most of em haven't had experience specific to PM). However, we might as well just take our time and not rush things too much. There are definitely NO sustainable short cuts in life

Ulohomuno, thanks for ur comments as well. One needs to decide the driving force behind taking the exam.
Gr8 thread guys, I SALUTE UNA and look forward to joining the ranks soon

@Kashif
man ure d bomb. Im a strategy/finance consultant. My firm actually bring in trainers from UK for prince 2 and PMP and my firm is also a center where u can write the exams.

Im actually lost cos i dont know which to do. Please, ill also love if you can send the prince 2 materials to me too
demosleek@yahoo. com

Thanks man

ulohomuno,
i like your contribution,pls i will need your email address,i will go for the training at the end of the month.i want to ask you some questions.My email id is kunle_ola2000@yahoo.com

kunle ola,
this is my email ezeuloho@yahoo.com. you can reach me on this.

Kaypinchi,
pls sorry for the delay in not responding to your mail. I will send you an email by sunday so that we can discuss further, there was this project proposal i did submit to the PMI Lagos chapter that some how they couldn't see reason with me, ( this form my 2nd published paper) we can work on that. the laptop with the soft copy is stolen, but i think i have a hard copy some where in the house i will look for it over the weekend and mail you a soft copy. I want to work on that topic it is on management attention and how it affect project delivery

hello kashif, pls i will appreciate if u can help me with ur Project management materials (prince and pmp). Hoping to hear from u soon. thanks!

Iyke.

@ kashif
I would apprecite it if you could send me the Prince2 Manual. I studied computing and electronics engineering here in uk and currently working as a database programmer.
Thanks

na wa o

hello
please kindly send the Prince 2 manual and pmBOK to bekkylola33@yahoo.com
Thanks for all your effort.

@kashif
pls also forward to me the prince2 manual to
udokasy@yahoo.com
Thanks.

Pls i want to know the equlibrium point between project management and procurement and what Blanket purchase order stand for, and a little enlightment on contract laws; maybe a little light on job specification of a Contract/project officer in an organisation. Thanks.

ekorick,

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT

First I don’t understand your first question but I guess this explanation below will throw more light on the procurement process as it relates to project management in the true life scenario.
Procurement is the process to acquire the product or service needed for a project. Basically the project procurement process involves- preparation of contract statement of work/specification, vendor pre-qualification, RFPs/RFQ, vendor selection, contract administration and closure. Contract administration is all about vendor management- measuring performance, vendor relationship management etc.

In a projectised environment the procurement process is fully under the project management team, but in reality this is not the case. In an outsourced driven global economy the supply chain management is as strategic as project management hence in other to established strategic alliance with vendors/suppliers organisation usually creates a business process unit to managed vendors. These are call. Supply chain dept., logistics dept. or Vendor management office (VMO) depending on the organization. Therefore what the project management team really does during the procurement process is to prepare the statement of work/specification, liaison with the VMO to select vendors, and evaluate vendor performance/monitoring of payment as agreed. And contract administration and closure.

[center]BLANKET PO[/center][/b]
A blanket PO is an order a customer/company/client makes with a supplier/vendor which contains multiple delivery date scheduled over a period of time. Sometimes it is done with a pre-determined price.
You normally used a Blanket PO when there is a re-occurring need for an expandable good/service. For example let say a telecom company is rolling out 250 BTS site across the nation in a year. They decide to issue a PO to mikano to supply and installed 250 generators according to there roll-out scheduled. This will have the following advantage to the telecom company.
1. Eliminate the time to produce POs for each site generator
2. Reduce the cost of warehousing
3. If the price is pre-determined is serving as a hedge against price increase.


[b]Contract laws
I am not an authority in this area but from my project management experience and training the whole essence of signing a contract in project is to ensure that both parties respect the rules of the game. As soon as a PO is signed and received by the vendor a contract has been established and it become legally bindering on both parties to obey the agreement except both parties mutually agreed to waiver a part of the contract.

A Contract agreement in project management should normally comes with the following;
• The project schedule- which should be prepared by the vendor and approved by the client
• Contract statement of works/specifications
• A PO stating the payment terms
• Bill of material/Bill of quantities
• A performance clause stating the penalty for any delay.
• How dispute arising from the contract shall be settled- by litigation or arbitration.
Please note that these points vary according to the industry and organization and service being rendered. my background is construction projects.

Generally the client dictates the terms of contract, therefore as a PM my advice is that you should asked for enough time to digest the content of the contract before you sign or advice your management to sign. Once a contract document is signed and the contractual parties are eligible to enter a contractual agreement (i.e. they are not minors or insane at the time of signing the agreement) the document become a legal document and the terms must be respected to the latter.

Job spec. of a contract officer[center][/center]
I will try and explain a bit perhaps this may help you understand this question. In projects-both the vendor and the client administer the contract- this is to ensure that both parties meets their contractual obligation and that their own legal right are protected. This is simply in small project. But on large and complex projects with multiple vendors and critical participating stakeholders like Oil & Gas project, Telecom roll-out projects, even estate development a key aspect of such project becomes managing the interface among various vendors especially if you are the client. Because of its legal and relationship nature most organization treat contract administration as an administrative function separate from the core project function and as such employ a contract officer to take care of this administrative function. What is obtain in practice is that thou the contract officer may be in the project team he normally reports to his departmental head. For example in my organization the legal dept. takes care of all contract administrative duties like preparing the contract doc. RFP, Confirm APG, Performance bond etc, but for any complex and large project a staff is dedicated to that project. He attends meeting but he is not actually reporting to the PM. I hope these can help you to understand your question.

Ulohomuno,
I am a geologist presently working with a radiation safety firm,i would like to know how i can apply PM to my course of study and also were i can start from . prensently i am looking at attending a work experience programme i.e PM Training programme. pls e-mail me on agapecrown_2001@yahoo.com. i would appreciate if you can reply me as soon as possible. This could help me project my career into the future.

Thanks Adewunmi

Hello everyone,

Just to let you know that I am a PRINCE 2 accredited/ certified holder, with many years experience of working in FTSE 100 companies in The UK and western Europe. I also have a wealth of experience in telco, oil & gas, manufacturing and local/central government.

I am coming to Lagos in November, for a 5 days intensive project management and Six Sigma training. This is the first of its kind in Lagos and everyone interested in project management, process improvements and most importantly looking to gain world-wide recognised certifications, should definitely attend.

We have had an overwhelming number of interest and there a discounts available for people. visit our website: www.utmostconsulting.com to find out more or drop  me an email on enquiries@utmostconsulting.com

Everyone,

All of you can definitely benefit from project management trainings, it is a universal standard of delivering project - project by definition, is any piece of work - driven by strategic requirements, operational or just a business improvement requirement, with a sole aim of improving, creating or enhancing a system, people or function.

I will recommend PRINCE 2, it is more widely recognised in the UK and Europe. PMI is a U.S standard, not well known outside the US. Infact, only US multi-national companies outside the US use it.

Shell, Accenture and a few other multinationals have just moved to PRINCE 2 standards for a project delivery.

Drop me an email, if you want to have a conversation with me, on this training in Lagos in Nov - email: enquiries@utmostconsulting.com

@ulohomuno.

Thank you very much for your detailed and painstaking write-up. You really made my day.More grease to your elbow and wish we could have more people like you on this thread.Pls i will really appreciate it if you could send me materials that could be of use to a starter. Thanks may God reward your effort.rickeko@yahoo.com.

@ulohomuno.

Thank you very much for your detailed and painstaking write-up. You really made my day.More grease to your elbow and wish we could have more people like you on this thread.Pls i will really appreciate it if you could send me materials that could be of use to a starter. Thanks may God reward your effort.rickeko@yahoo.com.

Just to add to the question on contracts, PO (Purchase order) in projects; my background varies from telco, oil & gas, local and central government etc. and this is applicable to a N1,000 to N100M projects. Purchase orders, PO, are simply vouchers for payment of a service, issued to the supplier.

Certainly, in the UK and Europe, they are used as the standard of payment to suppliers and they can be legally binding. Contracts are slightly different, they are contractual obligations of the transaction between one or more parties and these will include, product or services, down to maintenance, product life cycle of the product /service provided, the limitations of the product/services etc.

modu:

Everyone,

All of you can definitely benefit from project management trainings, it is a universal standard of delivering project - project by definition, is any piece of work - driven by strategic requirements, operational or just a business improvement requirement, with a sole aim of improving, creating or enhancing a system, people or function.

I will recommend PRINCE 2, it is more widely recognised in the UK and Europe. PMI is a US standard, not well known outside the US. Infact, only US multi-national companies outside the US use it.

Shell, Accenture and a few other multinationals have just moved to PRINCE 2 standards for a project delivery.

Drop me an email, if you want to have a conversation with me, on this training in Lagos in Nov - email: enquiries@utmostconsulting.com

Marketer! Prince2 is simply cheaper/easier

Kashif,

It it the clarity of my explanation that is important and I have only managed to achieve this based on my experience.

I hope I have managed to sum up with project management is all about, stripping out the complexity of this subject area.

I agree with you, PRINCE 2 is simple and very easy read. On top of that, it is more widely recognised that PMI.

Also, I am curious, why do Nigerians refer to this subject as PMP ( project management professional)? It is not an industry recognised abbreviation here in Europe.

@kashif

Kindly count me as one of those lucky ones in your kingdom! by sending me the PRINCE2 & PMBOK materials.

Someone I know in the company I work for, who has passed the PRINCE2 seem to be hoarding information on training and materials.

_{AND I'M SICK-BORED OF ASKING HIM THE SAME THING ALMOST EVERYDAY.}

Can you help? My e-mail is opokonwa@yahoo.com

_{ANYONE ELSE WHO CAN HELP PLEASE?!}