₦airaland Forum

Dear All,

this is a professional forum and i guess the best approach to discussion is to have a robust mind.  i know somebody who did his PMP recently infact i was like a mentor to the guy. he works in shell and guess what i once asked him how he is planning to earning his PDUs. he said he is even trying to get IPMA. certification because shell said they recognised IPMA. now IPMA is a dutch project managemnt association and shell is a dutch company. this is the situation. a US company will definately go for a PMP and a UK company will go for Prince 2. and the truth is that EUROPE tends to tilt towards UK certification. now what do we do.


I think to be a global player in this profession you need both. i am of the strong opinion that a global PM should have both. i am getting my prince 2 this year by his grace. and not only that i am seeing the profession hearding towards a specialist thing. ie we may start having telecom PM, IT pm, Construction PM. OD. PM etc. as such what i recomend is to get a core subject area expertise and you becoming a known PM on that field. eg you can decide to be an ERP- Project manager that means you need to get SAP, and Oracle certification. or you might decide to be a construction PM then you need to belong to such bodies like COREN, AACE etc. or may be an Investment PM then you need to have your ACCA, ACA or CFA. or an IT PM then you need such stuffs like MSCE, CCNP CCIE etc.

secondly as you chose your subject area matter you need to also get the work experience in your chosen field not just certification this call for sacrifeces. the truth for you to excel you need a lot of hard work. your drive at the earliest stage of once career should not be money but carving a niche for yourself in your chosen field.

so conclusively if you ask me i will say get both PMI and prince 2. and never you forget to get your Application knowledge area certification or industry certification.

modus,
send me an email on this six sigma stuff the various belt. i have being looking for how to get these certification ( my email ezeuloho@yahoo.com) since my PMP.




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.

at times i am really surprise about the way we behave in this country. is it inferiority or years of neglect by our leaders that have erode our national pride.

bill gate did not fill his form correct and the form was return for him to fill correctly. is that not a recognitation enough? do the immigration officer have to over look due proces because it is bill gate? are you telling me that if achebe or soyinka forget to fill his visa form the us embassy will not denied them the visa? or we have not read on paper how the likes of soyinka has being embarrased at the embassies and/or airports in other countries. how is bill gate different from soyinka or achebe?

my heart bleeds when i read some people statement on this thred. it is this inferiority complex that have crept into our employment system- and even the work place. have you ever work into any company front desk with a foreigner even an india and see how they ignore you for them. i was at the airport this morning with a similar problem with a foreigner an india for that matter you need to see how they gave him attention.

Have you notice also that even in thesame office- in other to do your work, you pass a document to a co-nigeria worker to process along with a non-black ( what they called expatriate) he or she will tell you drop it i am busy, but watch how he/she will attend to the non-black. " hello mr y. how are u this morning. don't worry drop it, just give me 5 minutes i will process your document"


common we need to be proud of our self. we are not as corrupt as we believe nor the worst country on earth.


if you are not proud of your identity you are a slave to others who are proud of there identity.

lawuyi,
this is the attachement

lawuyi,
i am planning to take the prince 2 exam. this is the reply from the prince2 guys.

Customer Closure Receipt



Dear Afieroho ,



We are pleased to inform you that your reported request has been completed.



Reference No : APM- TSK -25988

Description : Interest for candidates sitting the exam outside the UK



Solution



How can I take Examinations outside the UK ?



For candidates outside the UK we use the British Council to run the PRINCE2™ exams for us on an ad-hoc basis. In Nigeria the British Council have the facilities for delegates to take exams at their offices.



Should you wish to continue with taking the exam please can you complete the attached application form, state when you wish to write the exam and return it to me along with payment. We can then go ahead and arrange your requested date to take the exam.



For your information you pay us for the exam and we then pick up all the associated costs charged by the British Council.



Please note we need at least 4 weeks notice of your intended exam date.



Please click on the link below for information on the British Council details in your area:



http://www.britishcouncil.org/home-contact-worldwide.htm?mtklink=contact-us-worldwide-corporate-homepage-link





PRINCE2™ is a Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce



Regards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harvinder Sehra
Service Desk Advisor
+44 (0)1494 452450

i believe this will help u . also attached is the form that state the cost implication.


@bebe4u,
i think what u need to do is to group your collegues and get a PMP/trainer to come and organise the training for your group. some time last year some of my friends in warri contacted me on their interested to take the pmp exam. i did link them up with cpms and the organisation has to send a team of trainers to warri for 3 weekends. you can contact me on ezeuloho@yahoo.com. for more information i am certified and serve as a facilitator. thou for now i am not into it full time because of my work pressure.


mystical,
to the best of my knowledge project management for now has know area of specialisation. it has nine knowledge area ( risk, cost, human resource,procurement,time, scope,communication,intergration and quality management).
the pmp exam is an online exam and as such can be taken any time of the year in approved prometric centres. as for the institute you can attend any one advertise on the website so long as the trainers are pmp certified. you can confirm a trainer status by login on to www.pmi.org.
you need 35 hours training to take the exam and as such your triaing duration should not be less than 35hours. a three weekend training of 12hours/weekend is sufficient.

i do hope this help u can also see my post on https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-148.96.html#msg1474679 for more on this topic.
thanks

dear all,

let get something straight.

1. what are road design for? vehicular traffic or street trading.
2. Supposing a vehicle failed break what happen to the citizens?- death or life
3. supposing it is death? can u praise the government for allowing street trading.

for crying out loud. let be disciplined for once. i see a lot of dis-ordeliness in lagos as the reason why people think lagos is over populated.
have u noticed one thing that most time u can't find the cause of traffic on the roads?. this is because as soon as u encounter any hitch on the road, no body follow the rules of driving. any available space ( both opposite direction) is taken over by motorists ( from Molue to even posh cars). even the side drain covers? do you know the load difference used for designing the side walks and the roads?

democracy is not demonstration of craze it is a respect for rule and order. freedom has responsibilities.

your freedom as a citizen of lagos has its own responsibilities the environment neatness is one.

your freedom to own a store whereever you like has its own responsibilities- allow people to move freely is one. ( common even in the village foot path are clean and nobody plant on them nor can u even pack your bicycle on these paths) but in lagos right at the centre of the road we trade or even stop passagers. common we can't call oursellves human and behave like this.

your freedom to earn a leaving with any means has its own responsibilities- earning the leaving legimately is one.
it is beacause most people seek for freedom without understanding that there is no freedom with responsibility that we have young men of 18 even 15 sleeping under the bridge.

finally because most people don't understand this or better put are unlawfully. it is now the cardinal responsibilty of any freedom giving government to spelt out laws for governance.

what the lagos state government is doing is her cardinal responsibility in ensuring that the citizens enjoy their freedom and express it with the necessary responsibilities that are attached to it.


i don't see any thing bad in it my only concerning is that some of those places already being used as football field should have being upgraded to good football pitch. maintenance of such places would have being even cheaper if not free and also help create recreational grounds.

i really get surprise the way most so called christian paint God as a sadist- there is no burden in christianity that is why i am one and i always pray to God to keep me going, christianity has no compulsion absolutely there is no compulsion in this religion. somebody ask question on how to invest you are talking about tithe. what is tithe? do you think God loves your money or your soul.

For God sake the guy need an advice , and i  aslo click this thread to see the advice of experience people not some fanatics.

the bible teaches us to invest. me i do invest for any time i travel or have an income outside my monthly pay even if it 5000 i pay it straight to my account with my broker and if i don't have any stock in mind i instuct him to buy in penny stock. why my structured savings go into researched stocks.

any thing forex, diamond club and the ibadan stuff even sefteg and co, don't go into them brother. but always keep some liquid cash in bank. it help. I built upon a certain amount in my saving account which serve as buffer becos attimes you spend more thatn your income especially if you have junior ones or people who look up to you.

hello, all,

the problem with today christians is that they are not sincere. and to the best of my knowledge that is the reason why it seems as if following Jesus is difficult.

We are human with blood and if we fail to take care of our self we can be sick. Timonthy leave with an ailment ( paul wrote a letter to him and said take a little wine for your stomach sake). i don't know among us who is better than paul or timonthy. even paul has  thorn in his flesh.

Let be realistic and stop being deceived by pastors who are puffed up by there own knowledge rather than God's.

those who warship God must do so with the spirit and truth ( truth is a function of sincerity).

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

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

hello all,
all de age stuff me no concern me i am not a football person, the bpttom line for me is the answer to this question how do we translate the boys cohesiveness, determination and discipline into our world cup and other aspect of our life as a nation.

but una see wetin i see- one gold medal was missing or was held hostage. the last nigeria guy medal.

if na naija we go done de say we lack planning as if other countries no de make mistake.

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

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

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

hello,
I am trying to take the december 2007 CFA part 1 exam. how can i get the Curricullum.

i am in nigeria and planning to organise a study group base in lagos.

thanks