5 Minutes Podcast with Ricardo Vargas

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about time management in projects, he explains that many people are tied to time management and comments that the delay acts as a thermometer, but it may not necessarily be a problem in time management and it can result in poor management of scope, human resources or other problems that the project manager may not identify.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about his visit to the Silicon Valley and explains the importance of using project management as a success factor in the companies he visited. He also talks about the need for a good basis for study, innovation and competence of people that are working in these companies.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the importance of volunteering for those starting a career in project management and want to gain experience. He talks of his experience as a volunteer and about how much he learned.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the project objectives and in which document it should be written. He explains that the Project Charter is the document where the project is born and the Scope Statement is a response to the Project Charter and is where the work being done is more detailed.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the stakeholder analysis and the types of interest they may have in the project. He explains that stakeholders will have a positive interest or negative interest in the project. Under this approach, he talks of levels of interest, showing who the people are more interested in and how the manager should involve them in the project.

In this second podcast of the series, Ricardo talks of five links that we need to pursue in our careers to be worthwhile a project manager. This tips that as he explains, are valuable not only for a professional of project management, but for any area.

In this podcast, Ricardo reflects on the profession of project management and talks about three links that the project manager needs to build during his career to make the profession worthwhile for him to society and to the company. He comments that the project manager needs to prepare like any other profession and that the path to becoming a great project manager is not simple.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the authority of the Project Manager. He explains that it is very common in projects where the company has a functional or weak matrix structure, project managers with little authority. Ricardo gives some tips on how to increase the authority in projects

In this podcast, Ricardo explains the concept of "Parkinson's Law" on projects and how to prepare a feasible schedule to avoid the law. He gives tips on how to develop work packages to be are easier to measure.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the relationship between suppliers and customers, the process of procurement management and claims. He explains that often the claim generates a discomfort between the parties and that the best way to avoid this problem is to plan the project in the best possible way, defining in detail the scope and trying to document all the changes during the project.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan with regards to project risk management. He explains that any given risk has a probability greater than zero and less than 100%. Ricardo mentions that this earthquake was above any risk evaluation that had been established so far, and cites the atomic power plant in Fukushima as an example, which had very high and strong walls but have been nonetheless destroyed by the tsunami.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the new certification - PMI Agile Certification. He explains that Agile is a work philosophy based on strong collaboration of people. Ricardo also says that PMI has a set of best practices for managing projects, and the most important is choose the best to manage each project.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the removal of foreign professionals who were in Libya when the political crisis happened. He explained that this was a crisis situation, where changes and variations in the environment are not supported and you have to take any action that is unusual. Ricardo says that this work of removal was extremely successful and gives five tips for managing crises in projects.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about how the negotiation between the project manager and sponsor, which is often difficult and requires a different dynamic than usual. He explains that this negotiation is not competitive but collaborative, as both the project manager and the sponsor are working to project success.

In this second podcast of the series, Ricardo gives some tips on how to prepare an excellent status report. He explains that the great secret of the report is the ability to condense informations into a small and precise report, which usually can be 6 to 10 pages, trying to present visual data, colors, larger letters and graphics with performance information.

In this first podcast of a series of two, Ricardo talks about how an executive status report must be submitted, showing condensed information relevant to the sponsor and key project stakeholders. He explains that visual information is of great importance and that the report needs to have a pattern, without necessarily being presented in only a page.

In this second podcast of the series, Ricardo talks about the success in projects from the perspective of the sponsor or the executive. He explains that the project must be aligned with the company's strategic planning, generate strategic benefits, financial results and that these benefits should be defined at the initiation of the project.

In this podcast Ricardo discusses the importance of characterizing the successful execution of a project by the regularity and precision of results and not by overcoming the plan. The project plan should be implemented and not necessarily overcome. The worries with deadlines and challenging costs should be part of initial planning and not part of the project execution. Part 1 of 2.

In this podcast, Ricardo explains that the degree of risk exposure is the composition of the impact and severity of risk and that the definition of degree as high, medium or low involves the experience, culture, fears and emotions of those who are evaluating. He gives some tips on how to assess risk in an impartial manner.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the most common mistakes people make when calculating the percentage of completion of a phase or activity group in the schedule. He explains that when calculating this percentage, we need to consider the total duration of phase or group and the worked hours.

In this podcast Ricardo Vargas pays tribute to Greg Balestrero, President and CEO of PMI. He highlights Greg's dedication and commitment to PMI during his 8 years as the institution's main executive, leading the world's most important organization dedicated to project management. Ricardo also emphasizes the transition of the Institute's new executive leader, Mark Langley, who takes over as President and CEO in 2011.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the opportunities for project management that will happen in 2011. He explains that in Brazil will be many opportunities in the areas of infrastructure, engineering, energy, oil and mining. Ricardo also reinforces that there is a shortage of skilled project managers in Brazil and that the highly qualified foreign competitors are coming in search of opportunities here.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the main events of 2010 and the opportunities for project management. He explains that 2010 was a year marked by instability with the electoral process in Brazil and at the U.S. Congress and the fluctuation in world financial markets. Ricardo also talks about the growth of social networks, Wikileaks and the value of information.

In this podcast Ricardo discusses the importance of monitoring and controlling the risks. He says that the risks are "alive" and that monitoring is the only guarantee that the response will be really effective.

In this podcast, Ricardo discusses the importance of feedback during project communications. He approaches the "screen" concept regarding personality and perception and that understanding the cultural and social differences can influence the project results directly.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the Soccerex - the largest convention and business of football in the world, which was held in Rio de Janeiro between 20-24 November. He was invited to attend the event and had the opportunity to talk about some key issues for planning the 2014 soccer cup. Ricardo reminded that the works for the World Cup will be competing with the pre-salt, construction of hydroelectric, PAC and they will miss the entire human resources to meet this demand. Ricardo also said that the works for the crown in 2014 will not only reform in stages, is much more extensive since it involves infrastructure, transmission, data link training to taxi drivers in the English language.

In this podcast Ricardo discusses the project and crisis management to seize the Alemão (German) Complex in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil, one of the most violent slums, dominated by drug dealers and gangs. He discusses the coordination of actions, speed and strategy in the successful management of the crisis.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the production of mega-events from the viewpoint of project management and uses Paul McCartney's concert that he attended last Sunday. He shows the complexity of performing a concert with 65,000 people watching and the activities needed to realize the show. Ricardo made the first version (draft) of a WBS for mega-events that is available at the downloads page.

In this second podcast of series CAPM, Ricardo talks about the test and certification process. He explains that the test has 150 questions and the CAPM credential is valid for five years, Ricardo also talks of the most knowledge areas charged in the test.

In this first podcast of the series, Ricardo talks about the importance of CAPM certification (Certified Associate in Project Management) and for whom it is directed. He explains that this certification is intended to complement the skills of the project team, but can help sponsors better understand the universe of projects. Ricardo also talks of the main functions of the professional certified in CAPM.

In this podcast Ricardo discuss the highlights of the 5th Brazilian Project Management Congress that happened in Brasilia-DF - Brazil on October 27th to 29th (#5cbgp)

In this second series about the PMI Global Congress, Ricardo talks about the presentations that have happened and major focus. He explains that the congress brought 2,800 people from 64 countries and Brazil was the fourth country with the largest representation in the congress, behind only the United States, Canada and Japan. At the event happened 80 presentations and one of the most talked about was the concept of agile methodologies, and other topics such as virtual teams and negotiation. Ricardo presented a technical paper about selection criteria of projects using AHP and in the next day a team from Petrobras presented a case study about selecting projects. See the paper at: http://www.ricardo-vargas.com/articles/analytic-hierarchy-process/

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the rescue of 33 mining workers in Chile from the view of project management. He comments that the expectation in realizing the rescue was very bad and the planning of the actions and setting priorities was essential for a successful rescue. In the next week, Ricardo will publish the second part of the podcast about the Global Congress

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the presentation made by Bill Clinton at the Global Congress held in Washington between 9th and 12th October. He explains that Bill Clinton watched a television for the first time when he was 10 years old and before television, he most liked to do was talk. Ricardo talks that Bill Clinton told who is the three people that he most admires and he also adressed the problems faced by poor countries, especially African countries and the major challenges found in Haiti where 17% of the workforce was died in the earthquake.

In this second podcast of the Resumé series, Ricardo talks about how to present the experience in the resumé. He explains that often the job does not explain much. You need a separate space informing activities and projects that participated, focusing on project management. He also shows the importance of spending accurate information and good and bad experiments.

In this series of two podcasts Ricardo gives some tips about how to prepare correctly a resumé for the project management area. He explains how to insert your professional background, courses and experience. He describes in detail how to put your credentials (PMP, PgMP, CAPM, etc) in order to maximize your curriculum in a selection process. Part 1 of 2 podcasts.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the compulsory change in the power socket to the new standard. He aims to analyze what he believes are the main failures in the project with respect to the reasons for the change, including the increase in competitiveness for the Brazilian industry, and the decision process based contrary of what we call global marketplace.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about projects in services. He explains that many people associate projects to major constructions and tangible products, but a training program or an improvement in the organization are also projects. He remembers that the project is to be temporary and unique and the service sector benefits greatly by using the best practices in Project Management.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the conflicts during the project life cycle. He explains that when the conflict happens in the initial phases of project, the project manager should encourage to discuss the differences and clarify the understanding of the goals, but when the conflict happens in the stages of implementation, monitoring and control means that the project is being poorly managed.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about PMI Career Framework, which is an initiative to provide organizations and professionals with the necessary support for job descriptions in project, program and portfolio management, at no cost. He explains that this PMI service has mapped the professional positions and corresponding skills related to project, program and portfolio management by taking advantage of a research that was conducted with over 5,000 professionals from around the world.

In this podcast, Ricardo discusses the definition of the word "project". He says that the word "project" has two meanings. The first is related to the endeavor needed to produce a unique product or service, as presented in the PMBOK® Guide. The second concerns the word "project" with the discipline of knowledge related to projects, programs and portfolios, such as the letter "P" from PMI and IPMA and the word "project" from the Project Management MBA courses.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the resource leveling and when it should be done. He explains that this is a complex task that requires a cost-benefit analysis and decision making, and do this task only through software is not the best decision.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the fractionation of a project into smaller slices. He explains that if the project is large you can divide it into phases when there is no dependency between them. He shows the advantages and disadvantages of managing multiple projects and cases in which this technique can be used.

In this podcast, Ricardo explains where the costs related to project management should be registered. He points that, according to surveys, the costs of project management range from 0.5% to 2% of the project total costs, and that, even though many people consider 1% to be expensive, when any error arises from the lack of an adequate management, the correcting costs are much higher than just 1%.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the concept of project baseline and discusses in which conditions is acceptable to redefine the baseline.

In this podcast Ricardo talks about the difference between total slack and free slack in projects. He explains clearly how to identify the free slack and total slack, through a practical example.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the soft skills of leadership. He gives tips to capitalize on these skills and explains the difference between being born with these skills or acquiring them with training.

Ricardo presents in this podcast his reflexions about the polemic generated by the referees in the FIFA Worldcup matches and the FIFA resistance in provide this changes. He also discuss the cultural aspects of change and compare this resistance with the resistance we face in most of the projects in the organizations.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the key information that must be produced by the project manager when receives a very urgent project and need understand the purpose, scope, budget, schedule and constraints of the project in a very short period. He explains that making a quick planning and not very detailed is not ideal and can not be a normal situation in the company.

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the difference between the Contingency Reserve and the Management Reserves. He explains that both work with a financial protection for the project and that the management reserve is about the perception of the risks of the company.