Invitation to the MSCPMP Circle 2011 Quarterly Forum #2

From Email:

 

ENHANCE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

&

SUPERCHARGE YOUR CAREER

in Project Management

(Event Updates)

(Kindly share with your friends and bring them along)

Greetings from AsiaICTpm and Advanced Technology Studies Center!

If you have encountered any of the following challenges, you will find this email PRICELESS to your career in Project Management.

a) Having difficulties to accumulate enough PDU to maintain your PMP Certification

b) Have been stuck in the current position in Project Management and looking for ways to move UP to Program Management career

c) Having issues is dealing, leading or managing people in the project environment

1) 5 – 6 April 2011, Managing Large Scale High-Profile Multiple Projects and Programs

PDU: 14

Prof. Hubert Vaughan – Prof. Hubert who has more than 40 years of real life experience in complex program and project management will be facilitating a two-day EXCLUSIVE Program Management workshop using the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Shanghai Expo 2010. Prof Hubert is a member of PMI’s Certification Governance Council (CGC), Advisor to Shanghai Expo 2010 & Program Consultant to several multi-billion dollar technology programs in China

40% special discount to subscribers of MSCPMP Circle. Last few seats up for grabs!!

For more details, please download the PDF flier: http://www.asiaictpm.org/uploads/1300112225_pdf_atSC_ProgramMgmt_5April_final_a.pdf

Ms YY Kow,  Mobile: +6012 345 3829  yykow@atsc.org.my

2) 8 April 2011, MSCPMP Circle Quaterly Forum 2

People – ‘Make’ or ‘Break’ the Project!

PDU: 4

The MSCPMP Circle is honored to have Prof. Hubert Vaughan – member of PMI’s Certification Governance Council (CGC), Advisor to Shanghai Expo 2010 & Program Consultant to several multi-billion dollar technology programs in China – to zoom into the PEOPLE aspect of MEGA PROGRAMS: “Looking into the Critics and Politics played by the External Stakeholders” in these mega programs. He will share with you the skills to help your project sponsors and stakeholders enunciate not just what’s required, but also what’s most important to them, in his presentation ‘External Stakeholders: Critics and Politics’.

We will also be having Dominic Siow, an Australian-based International EQ Strategist & Coach to speak in our forum. Some of our MSCPMP Circle subscribers have seen Dominic Siow in action in our previous events, and in his comeback, he will share on How To Deliver The Results That Matter.

To register the Quarterly Forum, Select “2.Online Registration Form”

http://www.asiaictpm.org/mpc_event.php?id=109

and register using your email 1, email 2 or mobile phone registered with us.

- The event is FREE for all subscribers for 2011 MSCPMP Circle and RM200.00 for outsider.

- You are encouraged to post questions to our invited speakers prior to the event.

165 have already REGISTERED. What are you waiting for? Registration will be closed on 4 April 2011.

Click here to Join or renew your MSCPMP Circle subscription! http://www.asiaictpm.org/cms/2011MPC_NewRenewUpdateForm_a.ppt

Further Details: Email to mpc@AsiaICTpm.com

3) 25-26 May 2011, The High EQ Project Leader – Building a High Performance Project Team

PDU: 14

Dominic Siow, an Australian-based International EQ Strategist & Coach will be facilitating a two-day INTERACTIVE hands-on workshop to build a High Performance Team. The workshop will help participants create a structured plan to improve team culture and increase project staff engagement and commitment. The workshop will also provide a constructive structured methodology for measuring the organisational ‘climate’ and empowers project managers and aspiring managers with the tools, knowledge and skills to create the desired climate that is congruent with results that are to be achieved by the team.

40% special discount to subscriber of MSCPMP Circle

For more details, please download the PDF flier:

http://www.asiaictpm.org/uploads/1301324431_pdf_EQTeamBuilding_25May2011_final.pdf

Ms Lim Lay Kun, Mobile: +6017 9867666  laykun@atsc.org.my

p/s: Please do not click ‘reply’ to this email

Best Regards,

How Eng Keong

COO of Advanced Technology Studies Center

www.atsc.org.my

General Inquiry: mpc@AsiaICTpm.com

www.AsiaICTpm.com/mpc

ENHANCE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

&

SUPERCHARGE YOUR CAREER

in Project Management

(Event Updates)

(Kindly share with your friends and bring them along)

Greetings from AsiaICTpm and Advanced Technology Studies Center!

If you have encountered any of the following challenges, you will find this email PRICELESS to your career in Project Management.

a) Having difficulties to accumulate enough PDU to maintain your PMP Certification

b) Have been stuck in the current position in Project Management and looking for ways to move UP to Program Management career

c) Having issues is dealing, leading or managing people in the project environment

1) 5 – 6 April 2011, Managing Large Scale High-Profile Multiple Projects and Programs

PDU: 14

Prof. Hubert Vaughan – Prof. Hubert who has more than 40 years of real life experience in complex program and project management will be facilitating a two-day EXCLUSIVE Program Management workshop using the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Shanghai Expo 2010. Prof Hubert is a member of PMI’s Certification Governance Council (CGC), Advisor to Shanghai Expo 2010 & Program Consultant to several multi-billion dollar technology programs in China

40% special discount to subscribers of MSCPMP Circle. Last few seats up for grabs!!

For more details, please download the PDF flier: http://www.asiaictpm.org/uploads/1300112225_pdf_atSC_ProgramMgmt_5April_final_a.pdf

Ms YY Kow,  Mobile: +6012 345 3829  yykow@atsc.org.my

2) 8 April 2011, MSCPMP Circle Quaterly Forum 2

People – ‘Make’ or ‘Break’ the Project!

PDU: 4

The MSCPMP Circle is honored to have Prof. Hubert Vaughan – member of PMI’s Certification Governance Council (CGC), Advisor to Shanghai Expo 2010 & Program Consultant to several multi-billion dollar technology programs in China – to zoom into the PEOPLE aspect of MEGA PROGRAMS: “Looking into the Critics and Politics played by the External Stakeholders” in these mega programs. He will share with you the skills to help your project sponsors and stakeholders enunciate not just what’s required, but also what’s most important to them, in his presentation ‘External Stakeholders: Critics and Politics’.

We will also be having Dominic Siow, an Australian-based International EQ Strategist & Coach to speak in our forum. Some of our MSCPMP Circle subscribers have seen Dominic Siow in action in our previous events, and in his comeback, he will share on How To Deliver The Results That Matter.

To register the Quarterly Forum, Select “2.Online Registration Form”

http://www.asiaictpm.org/mpc_event.php?id=109

and register using your email 1, email 2 or mobile phone registered with us.

- The event is FREE for all subscribers for 2011 MSCPMP Circle and RM200.00 for outsider.

- You are encouraged to post questions to our invited speakers prior to the event.

165 have already REGISTERED. What are you waiting for? Registration will be closed on 4 April 2011.

Click here to Join or renew your MSCPMP Circle subscription! http://www.asiaictpm.org/cms/2011MPC_NewRenewUpdateForm_a.ppt

Further Details: Email to mpc@AsiaICTpm.com

3) 25-26 May 2011, The High EQ Project Leader – Building a High Performance Project Team

PDU: 14

Dominic Siow, an Australian-based International EQ Strategist & Coach will be facilitating a two-day INTERACTIVE hands-on workshop to build a High Performance Team. The workshop will help participants create a structured plan to improve team culture and increase project staff engagement and commitment. The workshop will also provide a constructive structured methodology for measuring the organisational ‘climate’ and empowers project managers and aspiring managers with the tools, knowledge and skills to create the desired climate that is congruent with results that are to be achieved by the team.

40% special discount to subscriber of MSCPMP Circle

For more details, please download the PDF flier:

http://www.asiaictpm.org/uploads/1301324431_pdf_EQTeamBuilding_25May2011_final.pdf

Ms Lim Lay Kun, Mobile: +6017 9867666  laykun@atsc.org.my

p/s: Please do not click ‘reply’ to this email

Best Regards,

How Eng Keong

COO of Advanced Technology Studies Center

www.atsc.org.my

General Inquiry: mpc@AsiaICTpm.com

www.AsiaICTpm.com/mpc

Invitation to the MSCPMP Circle 2011 Quarterly Forum #1

 

From Email:

Mark Your Calendar
MSCPMP Circle 2011 Quarterly Forum #1
 26 February 2010 (Saturday 4.00pm to 8.00pm)
Venue: Glenmarie Golf & Country Club

 

Greetings from AsiaICTpm and Advanced Technology Studies Center! 

 

Celebrate Your Chinese New Year Dinner with Board of Director from Project Management Institute!

After concluding 2010 with a record breaking 266 subscribers, MSCPMP Circle will kick start the prosperous Year of the Rabbit, 2011 Quarterly Forum in a completely new innovative approach!  We will be celebrating the Chinese New Year with our invited Guest of Honor who is none other than Mr Frank Parth, Board Director of the Project Management Institute. He is also the co-author of ‘Introduction to IT Project Management, Project Manager’ for PMI’s Standard for Program Management (2nd Edition), as well as the contributing author of ‘The 77 Deadly Sins of Project Management’. 

Topic, abstract, speaker profile, agenda, registration details for 2011 Quarterly Forum #1 will be shared on 1 Feb 2011 at www.asiaictpm.com/mpc

MSCPMP Circle was founded in Jan 2008 using a cost subsidized model and we charged as little as RM380.00 per year. It entitles the subscriber to attend FOUR Quarterly Forums (total 16 PDUs) free at exclusive venues such as Royal Selangor Golf Club, Tropicana Golf Club plus attending workshops/conference at 40% discount, definitely a worthwhile investment. 

We have received feedback that many of you have difficulties getting the required 20 PDUs per year even as you attend all four Quarterly Forums, since the four Quarterly Forums will only earn you 16 PDUs. To solve this challenge and to constantly provide you with better solutions, you are now entitled to attend one (1) additional SPECIAL EVENT if you subscribe with us, earning you a total of 20 PDUs. Therefore, the MSCPMP Circle will now be your One-STOP, comprehensive solution to maintaining your PMP Certification.

PMP Trained by AsiaICTpm:

New subscriber – Registration Fee: RM100.00, 2011 Subscription Fee: RM480.00

Renewal: 2011 Subscription Fee: RM480.00

PMP Trained by Others:

New subscriber – Registration Fee: RM200.00, 2011 Subscription Fee: RM600.00

Renewal: 2011 Subscription Fee: RM600.00

Special Loyalty Promotion: PMP Trained by others whom had been subscribers of MSCPMP Circle two years consecutively (2009, 2010), will be entitled to renew his/her subscription at RM480.00.

The adjusted new rate will entitle you to enter four Quarterly Forums (16 PDUs) plus one special event (4 PDUs) FREE.

Please join or renew your subscription for 2011 MSCPMP Circle now and subscription details can be found at:

 http://www.asiaictpm.org/cms/2011MPC_NewRenewUpdateForm_a.ppt

Celebrating Year of Rabbit with your spouse:

Limited spouse’s ticket is available at RM150.00 per pax which allow you to treat your spouse with a excellent nine (9) courses Chinese New Year Cousine at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club ( www.glenmarie.com.my ). Please write to skhor@asiaictpm.com for details.

Please help us to circulate this message and you may write to mpc@AsiaICTpm.com for further question.

We look forward to enjoy our Chinese New Year Dinner with you and your friends at 2011 MSCPMP Circle Quarterly Forum 1 on 26 February 2011

Best Regards,
SK Khor PMP(r)
Founder of AsiaICTpm’s MSCPMP Circle
skhor@asiaictpm.com

General Inquiry: mpc@AsiaICTpm.com

www.AsiaICTpm.com/mpc

The Death of Common Sense

(Received this piece via e-mail, thought it was good sense to reproduce it)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

• Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
• Why the early bird gets the worm;
• Life isn’t always fair; and
• Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:

• I Know My Rights
• I Want It Now
• Someone Else Is To Blame
• I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Leadership within Toastmasters

In 2008, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in the Toastmasters movement and to enhance my leadership skill. I had the pleasure to serve as one of the Toastmasters District 51 Division B Area Governor for Area B4 for the term 2008/09. Today, I wish to share my personal thoughts, opinions, and experience during that part of my journey.

Definition of ‘Leadership’ within Toastmasters

In my opinion, the kind of leadership in Toastmasters is ‘Servant-hood Leadership‘. Toastmasters being a non-profit & voluntary organization does not pay the Area Governors, Division Governors, and District Governors. In fact, these leaders not only have to invest their time but their own money as well. In the corporate or working environment, the leader/manager is in a position of authority and if the employers under that chain of command does not toll the line there will be repercussions. However, in Toastmasters these leaders are not granted such power or authority – it is just a title and the opportunity to serve.

This environment is the best learning & testing ground for leaders. The reason is, if the people were to agree and follow your lead, then it is because they WANT TO and not because they HAVE TO. You lead by example and by influence. John Maxwell‘s  second  law in the ‘21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership‘ ; the Law of Influence says it best.  By continuing my advanced speeches also helped me as I recall the objectives of “Speeches by Management” project #3: Manage to Motivate are:

• Understand the concept and nature of motivational methods in management.
• Apply a four step motivational method with the objectives to persuade and inspire.
• Deliver a motivational speech to persuade an audience to agree with your management proposal.

There were other advanced manuals that helped me to relate to the members, such as ‘Speaking to Inform‘ and ‘Special Occasion Speeches‘ - who knew writing and presenting speeches would actually help develop my managerial skill.

The leadership challenges I faced during the journey;

(1) When you do not get the expected response - sometimes no matter how enthusiatic you are, or how encouraging you try to be, certain clubs or members just do not respond in kind or at all. All you can do is to try your best and be prepared to accept the actions or reactions of those individuals. Remember in Toastmasters, we are not giving people task or jobs to do, we are actually providing opportunities to learn and develop skills that would benefit themselves. If they do not receive it well, then it is still no lost to you. You need to recognize that you do not have the authority to order people to work for you, thus encourage and influence them to work with you instead.

(2) Learning quickly - unlike in the working environment/job, you have years to work at it, serving in Toastmasters is only for one term. So you either learn from your mistakes quickly or learn from others’ mistakes. This is where observation skills comes into play and sharing of ideas. After an event, the team normally does a post mortem and find out how we can do better. In the next event, we would have taking steps to improve our delivery.  

(3) Acknowledge you cannot do it all by yourself – Remember the saying, ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself‘, I used to believe that and if there are some task that I know I’m capable of handling, I would most probably do it myself. Unfortunately, by doing it myself, I’m depriving myself of doing more important task, and also depriving others of learning by doing. I had to learn the art of ‘delegation’ as well as ‘motivation’ to get things done in a team. There acronym that I remember, T.E.A.M. – “Together Everyone Archieves More“

Advices to those who wishes to take up leadership positions within Toastmasters.

(1) Serve WILLINGLY. In Toastmasters, nobody and I stress NOBODY can force you to do anything that you do not wish to do. There is no obligation. HOWEVER, there needs to be a SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. Nobody can force a role upon you but do bear in mind that if you had volunteered to take up a leadership role, you have deprived another from that opportunity. If you serve well, you will also be remembered well for that. However, if you do not serve well, people will remember you for that as well. 

(2) Have FUN. Sometimes we are become to caught up with the work and the results that we forget to enjoy the journey. As I look back to my term and I talk about the ‘good old days’ with my previous Toastmasters colleagues, I can just smile or burst out laughing. Remember those moments, and pass it on to others. Share the fun.

(3) Be KNOWLEDGEABLE. Being a leader does not mean you need know everything but to acknowledge what you do not know and find out. Being an Area Governor is being the bridge between the Clubs and the Division, use the resources there are available and leverage on the experience of senior members and past officers. If all else fails, you can go direct to the source and contact Toastmasters International.

What’s next?

I took a year off from taking up any official position as I wanted to evaluate my feelings and personal commitment towards Toastmasters - I wanted to know that I am serving willingly instead of the sense of obligation. Some Toastmasters have encourage me to continue my service to higher levels, but before I do that, I need to evaluate myself and my current situation. To be a leader, organization skill is also crucial, and as such I wish to continue to develop and strike a balance between my personal life, career and Toastmasters. A good friend and mentor of mine has told me before, ‘for you to go higher, you need to develop others to take your current place‘.

I will continue to offer myself to be a mentor to members. I was entrusted to mentor some members in the club and I was especially proud when I was there to witness the ‘graduation’ of one of my mentee when she completed her tenth speech to be a Competent Communicator (CC). I had made an impact on that mentee’s life. I will continue to offer my assistance and advice if and when they are sort (as I do now wish to impose). Before I end, I wish to extend my appreciation and thanks to a few groups and individuals (in no particular order) that had made an impression and contributed to my growth in Toastmasters;

• Division B Council term 2008/09 lead by DTM Zaharah Ibrahim,
• D’Utama Past Presidents; Sharon Ng DTM, Nancy Liew ACS ALB, Lee Wei Seong ACG CL, and Allen Kam ACS CL,
• DTM Soh Fong Wai, DTM Francis Ng, DTM Sharmini Helen, and DTM Sue Ding,
• (honestly, there are so many Toastmasters that touched my life and helped me … thank you all)

My closing statement;

“I continue to help & serve because there were those in the past that helped me. This is the ‘circle of life‘ of Toastmasters”

MSCPMP Circle Quarterly Forum #3 (2010)

MC at work

Yesterday (3 August 2010) I’ve attended the MSCPMP Circle Quarterly Forum #3 and it was held at the beautiful Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort (map). The sun was shining brightly and the greens were singing their tempting tune to the golfers to play a few rounds. However, golfing was not the purpose for the large turn out of people there. The turnout for that morning was the largest for MSCPMP Circle with a total of 254 participants. It was truly fun to be able to meet my fellow project managers again – getting updates on which organization they are with now since the last quarterly forum, and to meet people who are new to the MSCPMP forums. I was the volunteer Master of Ceremony (MC) for the morning.

In the usual fashion, the founder of the MSCPMP Circle, SK Khor PMP CSM gave the welcoming address, acknowledging the first time participants to the forum, and the latest person (453rd) to obtained PMP certification that was trained by AsiaICTPM. He went in great detail to recap the Circle’s direction on how the last few forum topics has been to ‘Power Up Your Careers‘ and to bring project managers to the next level of success.

The topic of the morning was ‘Accounting and Finance for Project Manager‘. This was a real treat  because most IT Project Managers I know usually are not involved in establishing or creating the budget for a project. I’d remember in one of my previous employment the company Financial Controller loudly stated, ‘Why do project managers need to know the budget? just manage the project !‘, however when we are carrying out our projects we are usually expected to complete the project with Scope, Time and Cost.

Speaker: LEE Hooi Seng

The esteemed speaker of the day was a Chartered Accountant, Mr. LEE Hooi Seng, AMN, CA(M), FTII, FCA, CFP, RFP, MA. Extracted from AsiaICTpm website;

Lee Hooi Seng and his team from LLTC Chartered Accountants (www.lltc.com.my) will help you to understand the Accounting and Financial aspects of Project Management, including how to apply proper accounting principles to a project. He will cover Project Financing, Taxation, Cost Accounting and Budgeting as well.

Mr Lee was an eloquent, entertaining and established speaker. He established the basic understanding and fundamentals of accounting and finance first; by explaining the basis accounting and financial terms, and by showing to us two financial statements and reports of two public listed companies. During his presentation, he had constantly injected funny jokes and witty one liners that tickled our funny bone, and more importantly kept us focus on his talk. Sharing from his vast personal experience and knowledge, he was able to draw the relevancy of the topic to projects. He also shared some tips on how a company can go about obtaining project financing from different avenues, and how to keep the money legally.

Quotes:

“The basis principle of finance is to how maximise inflow of cash into the company, while minimising the outflow of cash out of the company.”

“When you have a vast amount of relevant information, you can decide on the appropriate actions“

The session ended approximately 11:50AM, allowing 20 minutes for Questions & Answers. The group then proceeded to capture a group photo and to a scrumptious buffet lunch.

MSCPMP Quarterly Forum #3 participants - photo courtesy of Angelia Ooi, PMP

As I was calling it a day I was thinking, there are not many project managers with the entrepreneur’s spirit, and being a project manager may not be something they had aspired to be but rather have been told to be – SK coined the term, ‘accidental project manager‘. I was thankful to the organizers of the MSCPMP Circle for bringing to the project managers relevant topics with the purpose of upgrading our career. I had posed a simple yet somewhat challenging question to the organizers, ‘What’s Next?‘. The organizer has the challenge to keep bringing exciting new topics while finding a way to provide the previous useful forum information to the new comers.

I am looking forward to the next MSCPMP Quarterly Forum #4 on 14th October 2010.

Organizers / Supporters:

• Advanced Technology Studies Centre (atSC): www.atsc.org.my
• Asia ICT Project Management: www.asiaictpm.com
• Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC): www.mdec.my