Nairalanders,
I believe that now there is a craze for project management certifications like PRINCE2,PMP

A forum is necessary to discuss issues that project managers in Nigeria/Africa face and we try and resolve them on this thread. what challenges are you facing as a project manager.

NON PROJECT MANAGERS ARE INVITED. PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS COMMON SENSE

Mr Crackles you are right so tell me what challenges can you give as an example for people on this forum to learn from. I will try my best as a PRINCE2/MSP Practitioner with your help to tackle them. I want this forum to be very educative.

By the way are you studying by yourself for the qualification

Can someone help with the details of PMP and the prince2. which one is more lucrative, and offers easy market.
where can I register for the exam.

Prince2 is a Project Management methodology which originated from the UK OGC (Office of Government Commerce). It is widely used in the world and recognised because of it's control of change from initiation to closure.

PMP on the other hand completely ignores the initiation and Starting a project processes and goes straight into project implementation.


Both certifications are lucrative but the benefits to you will depend on what extent you will like to apply project management skills i.e do you just want to be a project manager and stop there or are would you want to move up the project management career ladder by being a Programme Manager  or Programme Office Manager.

1) If you would like a foot in the door to being a project manager you can achieve this by studying( and sitting for the PRINCE2 Foundation exam at any of the British council offices in Lagos,Port Harcourt or Abuja.ODESE will commence the online course on Jun 2009 for only ₦900 per hour)
You may also decide to go for the PMP course for which you must attend a class to qualify to seat the exam.

You will ideally need to take a Simultrain assisted course to help you in gaining the necessary job experience that you may not already have.


Simultrain is a Project Management Simulation Software that puts you in an virtual office where you manage a project from beginning to the end. You will be tasked with planning resources ,making decisions,dealing with team issues and so on. ODESE will commence this training at the end of June 2009 and you get a certificate which confirms that you successully attended a Project Management Simulation class.


2) On the other hand if you want to  become a consultant,trainer or Programme Manager the truth is to get some experience as a project manager first and then attempt to do the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam.


PRINCE2 Practitioners get paid as much as £300 to £800 a day in the UK depending on experience and sector. In Nigeria I know that PRINCE2 Practitioners are paid more money than PMP certificate holders.


PRINCE2 Practitioner exam is a lot tougher than PMP as it is a scenario based exam. I have known people to have repeated the Practitioner exam 4 to 5 times just because they were not practicing Project Managers.

With PMI you can go to the class take the course and do the multiple choice exam and pass it easily. The choice is yours really. There is a PMI institute in Lagos and they can advise you on where to a take the PMP exam if you choose to do so.

Hey guys,

Whats the relevenace of this certification to an internal auditor in a telecom company?

What are the opportunities available ?

@ ODESE_REP
thanks so much for ur response , do u run PMP program as well.

Yes we do.

ODESE_REP:

I will kick this forum off with one of my own challenges.

There was a construction project in Abuja to build a 25 story building. I was visiting at the time when one of the contractors involved advised me that the Sponsor of the project etc,

After probing my friend I discovered that the architectural software that was used for designing the floors was a new one introduced architects and they were just using it for the first time etc,

My Opinion:

A formal change request should have been raised by the manager that decided to change the architectural software and an impact analysis should have been performed before approval.

My advise for anyone managing a construction project are as follows.



1) For a start there should have been a governance/project board to monitor the progress of the project on a regular basis etc,

First of all, let me appreciate your effort in discussing project management here. However, it will be much fun if objectivity rules here.

On the issue raised, it is worthy of note that one of the things to be done during project initiating is risk identification. PMI advocates that anytime a state-of-the-art or one-of-its-kind or entirely new technology is used, project risk is expected to be high. Risk categorisation would have been a high level tool to use in identifying many of these risks.

Ok, what was peculiar with the seventh floor that made it different than the rest? At what point was this flaw discovered? ie, how many floors are now on the seventh? If something was wrong with just the seventh floor then permit me to absolve the design software of any blame. One of these might have happened - poor structural design, poor quality assurance/control or sheer oversight.

At the point of project design (in this typical example), a change request (category 1) might not be necessary because it would be assumed that all deliverables were being taken care of, and the design software was suitable. Most change requests come during execution and/or monitoring and control. From project life cycle however, if the design is part of the cycle then, a change request would be applicable.

To get things straight, it would be fool hardy to continue using a software if quantitative risk analysis tells you that its product would be unreliable. (This is assuming that the "Design" phase is part of the project). The best risk response would be to avoidance - have nothing to do with the software. There are many missing details that would enable one do an informed judgment.

It is unfortunate if you say PMI ignores project planning. Meanwhile, the Simultrain you talk about is PMBOK-based.

I will contribute more with time. More project management issues please,

Kashif,
   
     Finally someone else comes on board to share ideas. Let us make one thing categorically clear my statement about PMP was as follows
"PMP on the other hand completely ignores the initiation and Starting a project processes and goes straight into project implementation"

It would be wrong for me to say that PMP ignores planning so please do not misquote me

I did not start this forum to begin banter on which methodology is better than the other. In practice I have found that PRINCE2 and PMP complement each other and I say this because I have studied both materials.

The objective of Simultrain software is to give candidates the experience of performing the day to day roles and responsibilities of a project manager and is not PMBOK centric. It is based on the generic principles of managing projects it is not there to teach you any specific methodology.

One of the major points that I believe we both will agree on is that from the start a comprehensive Requirements/Design document should have been reviewed and the high level risks outlined (the use of a new software being one of them).

The question that you could answer for us from your experience is "how do you make management to review project documents properly, be accountable and have proper visibility of projects in Nigeria so that failure is minimized" Could it be the lack of skills maybe or no project governance structure and or no knowledge of their roles and responsibilities

@ Odese,

It is like you have read some other thread(s) before this one. PMP DOES NOT ignore project initiating. PMBOK has five processes - Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and closing. We are not wrestling for superiority my Oga; just trying to correct an impression.

You didn't say anything again about the subject of discuss - the 25-storey building.

As per your question, if you work with documentation-resistant fellows, making them appreciate documentation will only be aided by a colossal lack-of-documentation-related project failure. Some will look at you and tell that you like work; some ask you "Is it everything that you write?"

To get management to review documentation properly, their communication needs MUST be determined. Some people are at home with figures while others are more comfortable analysing pictorials (charts). Know who needs to get what, why, how, frequency, and through whom.

But one of the important psychological aspects is that your project MUST command relevance, and not a second fiddle. If the project has a lot of business influence and peharps, holding one or more rollouts then, they'll go through your project documents, and approvals would not be of much issue. As projects progress, cost of implementing requested changes become higher, even though the number of these requests diminish.

In risk identification , poor project management is one of the cardinal risks. This is because you as the project manager could be lacking in the knowledge base. Lack of PM skills leads to the other issues there raised. In PM team conflict management, properly stated roles and responsibilities trim down the number of conflicts.

Cheers.

The question that you could answer for us from your experience is "how do you make management to review project documents properly, be accountable and have proper visibility of projects in Nigeria so that failure is minimized" Could it be the lack of skills maybe or no project governance structure and or no knowledge of their roles and responsibilities

to

In addition to the response by Kashif, as the project Manager make it a duty to educate the stakeholders of their roles and expectations on the project during initiation meetings, 2ndly it is high time we the project managers started to 'insist' that a formal change control board be put in place cos in most cases the members assist you in monitoring and control hence management involvement and lastly keep verbal communication with stakehoders or management as the case may be minimal on your projects.

Goodluck!

Hi guys,
    Sorry been rather busy,
 
     @kashif
As a result of not being directly involved in the 25 storey building project I was limited on what issues and risks had arisen from the project. It would be a lot easier to comment on failling projects I was directly involved with. Though I would rather hear of experiences in Nigeria as that is what this forum is for. Your comments have been taken on board.


  @bode228
Thanks for the contribution. Question to you though is what should the Project Manager do if he does not have the clout to convince stakeholders of their resposibilities on the board i.e. if for example the project manager is new and just taking over a failed project. What if he is more versed on Project Board responsibilities than the Sponsor or Project Director

I know I am playing devil's advocate here but I have come to realise that these are some of the issues that PM's face in Nigeria i.e how to manage ego's

how can project management impact on Nigerian economy positively?

"how can project management impact on Nigerian economy positively?"

The Nigerian Economy is made up of two sectors. The Public and Private sectors. The operation of the private sector is dependent on the successful delivery of government policies and development programmes.

  I will focus on the public sector because of the ripple effect it has on the private sector.

Please note that that the objective of any project management methodology is to ensure successful delivery of projects within approved budget,time and quality. The expectation also is that any methodology should be adapted and embedded into a framework that suits the operation of that organisation.  Project management is not an antedote for corruption it is a mitigation of project failures.

The public sector can successfully deliver viable project outputs by adopting the use of a project management framework  tailored to meet it's various operations.
            I used the word "viable" because it is the key word to deem the success of project delivery. Presently there are numerous instances of projects in Nigeria that are signed off as completed(In the contractors mind) but have not delivered the intended output of a project.  These so called completed projects are unsuccessful in the project management sense as a result of not meeting the quality intended or not adding any value to the development of the public. One of the route causes of this issue is the lack of adequate risk management at the corporate/programme level in most cases the high level risks preventing the projects from moving from initiation to start or planning stage are never logged or managed.
      Project management instists on logging all risks and evaluating (at all stages) before moving to the next stage of approval to reduce the chances of more issues arising in succeeding stages. Any such issues would increase project cost, time and quality. Risks should never be allowed to become issues in a project.

        I will not touch the cost and schedule indicators too much because Nigerians have mastered these (In a sense) what the public sector struggles with is Quality management, Benefits realisation management and Project Transition management.         

I know some readers are seating at the edge of their seats and shaking their heads because I have not mentioned planning on the list.Planning is dependent on these initial factors i.e. if a comprehensive Benefits realisation analysis is not performed  properly then the project scope will be flawed from the start and the planning will yield invaluable output.(So cool down)

Successful delivery of government projects taking into account all the indicators(budget,time,quality) I mentioned above will improve on the realisation of project benefits to the public and private sectors of the governement.

    I will try and explain in more detail in my next note with an example by drilling down down further on the positive impacts of project management on the operations of suppliers (i.e government contractors), the sponsors(i.e. ministries,state governemnents and governement agencies) and the user (nigerian public/private sector)
    It will be easier to convince the interest groups than to give a wholistic view of positive impacts on the economy.

Am planning on Registering for the PMP Certification Examination by PMI. Can anyone help me with any helpful material. I will appreciate if the fellow can send to me on fislon1502@yahoo.co.uk.
Thanks

Very nice thread. Some questions

Odese,
Which Institutes in Lagos offer PMP training that are valid for their 35hr requirement?

@crazylegs

You can check them out at www.torquayglobal.com/index.php and send them an email.

ODESE_REP:

@crazylegs

You can check them out at www.torquayglobal.com/index.php and send them an email.

Thanks mate. Will check em out. Having a look at your site now.

Odese is right !!!, Two of my PM friends trained with Torquay Global Solutions and both got certified this week, I hear their lead facilitator is quite a character!!! . His email address is kayode@torquayglobal.com. Also heard they also market the attask PM Software

kplusa:

Odese is right !!!, Two of my PM friends trained with Torquay Global Solutions and both got certified this week, I hear their lead facilitator is quite a character!!! . His email address is kayode@torquayglobal.com. Also heard they also market the attask PM Software

Can you prove that? I also know three people who trained with Torquay that failed! Failure or success depends largely on the candidate. Even if you train at PMI itself without studying hard, failure is sure. Lets try and do these marketings objectively.

Which Institutes in Lagos offer PMP training that are valid for their 35hr requirement?
@crazylegs

its not compulsory to get trained in a PMI REP. all that is necessary(compulsory) is to get trained by a PMP. you can confirm this from PMI Lagos office.

for further questions and assist, write to passpmpexams@yahoo.com, or call 08052401998

Hi Everyone,

It quite nice to have this forum so that Project managers can share and rub minds together. it seems ODESE_REP is a Prince2 professional. I quite aprreciate your contributions earleir above. However, it seems you had a little misconception of the PMP processes. PMP still does have intiation and the rest of the processes before the execution(Implemetation as you called it). When it comes to requested job qualifications, most of the people realise that PMP is the favoured PM method among the more ‘American’ organisations, whilst PRINCE2 is very British and vastly popular throughout Europe and Australia. PRINCE2 is 13 years old this year with well over 200,000 PRINCE2 Practitioners worldwide. The PMI has been going for over 35 years with 181,281 PMP to its name. both of them are growing rapidly in the Project Management industry and what matters most is looking at the environment where you find yourself and find out which one is highly demanded. Although I am not Prince2 practitioner but a PMP. With that notwithstanding I would rather have you take PMP because of job mobility et al. In case you need guidance or resource material you can reach me on tommie@mindworxinc.com. I believe so much in sharing of whatever knowledge we have in order to promote the Project Management industry in Nigeria and Africa at large.
Thank you.
Akintomiwa O.

Let me add a challenge I encountered:

A group (five) of independent organisation within the same industry belongs to a common forum setup specifically to explore avenues for joint working and cost sharing. A project mandate and project brief was jointly developed for a joint infrastructure project. A detailed business case was subsequently developed. The project will cost ten figures what put up. Cost sharing options were documented in the business case. All the work was done by forum programme management. Joint funding was required with a single project management structure. Each of the participating organisations needs to pitch the business case to their management board and obtain approval and funding commitment. There was an overall consensus that the project needed to be executed and of the key benefits are realisable. Problem is some of the forum members think they are getting the short end of the stick in terms of cost sharing. There was no consensus agreement on the cost sharing options presented. Other source of endless debate was the project management structure (five different organisations) and reporting relationship (considering that five different management boards provides funding and needs to be carried along). The forum management is responsible for programme management but is not influential in this case. There is a consensus that project needs to be executed. There is no do nothing option.

What project structure will you suggest for this project? What are the main items you'll want to put in your risk management plan? How will you seek to mitigate the risk of a back and forth in the case of a major change requiring significant additional funding? What will your communication plan look like?


Please note that the project is progressing well now after much acrimony. I just want to find out what others will do differently.

This type of project could pose a lot of challenge for the manager(s). It is indeed a complex project considering the size of the stakeholders

First thing to be done is to determine and document the aims, objectives and deliverables of the project. I would use a combination of Interviews and Delphi Technique to try capturing all the possible interests in the project. I dont know if funding obligation ratio is tied to individual organisation's percieved business benefit from the project.

Each participating organisation should constitute their own internal project management team that will be saddled with the responsibility of analysing their organisational needs and objectives as it relates to the project. This team will attend project mgt meetings and report to their managements. Truely, the central project management team have a daunting task on their hands because of the complexity of the communication needs of this project. They will have to worry about managing these representatives and trying to figure out if what these teams supply truely reflect the complete picture of their organisational project needs.

For example, if these fellows report that their organisation would be happy if nine deliverables are met, how would the central team know how reliable these data are? What if a key stakeholder was not identified? What if this stakeholder comes up with a change request that cannot be ignored but with monumental effect on other project variables? Remember that cost of change request implementation increases as project progresses.

The highest risk would come from stakeholder management. This is because the project is highly segmented and there could be high polarisation too. A good approach would be to break up the project into phases with a key milestone being Project Requirement Determination. Make mistakes with this and pay dearly for it. You might not be able to get it 100% at the initial stage but get as close to it as possible.

I will be back.