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PMI Atlanta Chapter Mentoring Program FAQs

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General

Q1. What is Mentoring?
A1. Mentoring in the PMI-Atlanta Mentorship Program is the volunteer act of helping someone to improve their project management skills. Mentors are facilitators and catalysts in a process of discovery and insight. In a learning partnership, the Mentor’s role is to “guide on the side” rather than be “the expert with the answers”. Instead of being Mentor driven, with the Mentor taking full responsibility for the Mentee’s learning, the Mentee learns to share responsibility for the learning, setting priorities, learning, and resources and becomes increasingly self-directed.

  • The Mentoring program is not a job placement or resume writing program.
  • The Mentoring program is not recommended as a PMP study group. For information about PMI Atlanta Study groups, contact PMP Study Group Program Manager.
  • Under no circumstances should a mentor/mentee enter into a mentoring partnership for financial gain or with the intent to sell a product or service.

Q2. Who is eligible to be a Mentee?
A2. PMI Atlanta Chapter members in good standing. Typically, a Mentee is somebody who is in or seeking the role of a project manager, program manager, project coordinator or project scheduler and is looking to enhance skills in a particular Knowledge Area or learn more about project management within a particular industry.

Q3. Who is eligible to be a Mentor?
A3. PMI Atlanta Chapter members in good standing. Typically, a Mentor will be:
• Be considered an experienced project manager by his/her peers
• Have 5+ years of experience as a project manager or project related roles
• Have a PMP designation

Q4. Are only professionals from specific industries allowed to participate?
A4. All industries are welcome.

Q5. How much time is required for the Mentor?
A5. The Mentor will spend a minimum of 2 hours with the Mentee per month. This can be face to face or over the phone. This is a minimum 6-hour time commitment plus attendance at the 2-hour Kick-Off Meeting.

Q6. How much time is required for the Mentee?
A6. The Mentee will spend a minimum of 2 hours with the Mentee per month. This can be face to face or over the phone. This is a minimum 6-hour time commitment plus attendance at the 2-hour Kick-Off Meeting.

Q7. How long is the program?
A7. The Mentor/Mentee partnership will last approximately 3 months (with a minimum of 8 hours: a 2 hour kick off meeting plus 6 hours within the 3-month period). If you wish to continue in the formal Mentoring program at the end of this period you must re-apply. The Mentor/Mentee can continue informally but will not include any PMI Atlanta involvement.

Q8. How do I apply to the program?
A8. Anyone interest in being considered for the program must be a member of the PMI Atlanta Chapter and needs to complete the following:

 Mentor/Mentee
     1. Read FAQ’s
     2. Complete the survey during enrollment period: MENTOR ENROLLMENT APPLICATION or MENTEE ENROLLENT APPLICATION
     3. Attend the mandatory “kickoff” meeting to formally launch Mentor partnership

Q9. Why is there a Kick-Off session?
A9. Best practices indicate a successful Mentoring program is based on:

  1. A good Mentor/Mentee match
  2. A Kick-Off Meeting to provide guidelines and set-up expectations for Mentors and Mentees

PDUs

Q10. As a PMP, how many PDU’s (Professional Development Units) will I earn?
A10. Both the Mentor and/or the Mentee, if they are a PMP, can each earn PDUs as follows:

Activity PMP Mentor PMP Mentee PDU Type
Kick-Off Meeting: Meet and Greet, Working Agreement   2 2 Activity: Organization Meeting
Category: Education 
Mentoring for 3 months @ 2 hours minimum per month   6 6 Mentor
Activity: Share Knowledge, Category: Giving Back.
Mentee
Activity: Informal Learning, Category: Education.
Total Mentoring PDU’s (maximum) 8 8  

Q11. I am working on obtaining my PMP designation, can I claim Mentoring as part of the required 35 contact hours of Project Management Education towards my PMP qualifications?
A11. No, unfortunately, Mentoring programs do not qualify for the 35 contact hour requirement. This portion of the PMP Certification examination application is specifically focused on structured learning programs addressing specific PM knowledge areas exemplified by a classroom setting. A classroom setting specifically focuses this portion of the PMP Certification examination application on structured learning programs addressing specific PM knowledge areas exemplified.

Q12. If I obtain a PMP status during the Mentoring program, will I be eligible for PDUs?
A12. Due to the short duration of the program PDUs will be available to participants who have a PMP designation at the start of the program.

Q13. How do I get my PDUs?
A13. Upon completion of the Mentoring program you submit your PDUs through the normal PMI procedures (CCRS account).

Q14. What time is and is not considered eligible for PDU credits?
A14. The following activities are considered eligible for PDUs:

  • Attendance at the Kick off Meeting
  • Time spent together by both Mentor and Mentee
    o Face to face
    o Telephone conversations

The following activities are considered not eligible for PDU’s:

  • Work (decided upon by Mentor/Mentee)
  • E-mails
  • Reading
  • Travel

Q15. If I complete my contact time before the program ends, can I claim the PDU’s earlier?
A15. PDUs will only be awarded at the end of the program. See the next question.

Q16. To which category do the earned PDUs apply?
A16. PDUs earned during the Mentoring program for the Kick off Meeting are applied to Category: Education, Activity: Organization Meeting. PDUs from time spend in the mentoring partnership are applied as follows: for the Mentor: Category: Giving Back, Activity: Shared Knowledge; For the Mentee: Category: Education, Activity: Informal Learning.


Mentor/Mentee Matches

Q17. Can I continue my current Mentor/Mentee relationship for a second term?
A17. Due to the limited number of spots available, all interested parties must reapply to participate in the program. If the Mentor/Mentee relationship continues informally outside the program, a PMP should review his or her Mentor/Mentee activities to establish if additional PDUs can be claimed.

Q18. How many Mentor/Mentee partnerships are allowed in the program?
A18. At this time there is not a specific number of pairings targeted, but the group will work to accommodate as many pairings as possible. The number of partnerships is limited to the number of mentors that volunteer for the term.

Q19. How will the Mentor/Mentee pairs be chosen?
A19. Generally they will be chosen on a first come/first served, best match basis. However, the logistics of matching may mean that even if your application was #1 and no appropriate match was found then you would not be paired. The general concept for matching is experience, industry, professional specialization, Mentoring preferences, location proximity and a variety of less important considerations.

Q20. How many Mentees will be assigned to a Mentor?
A20. One Mentee will be assigned per one Mentor, unless there is a 'Group Mentor' offering for the term. 

Q21. Who participates in ‘Group Mentoring’?
A21. The profile of a mentee candidate for group mentoring is someone with 'zero to less than 3 years' experience LEADING projects. In most cases, the person does not have their PMP. The person may know about Project Management from an intellectual perspective but not much in practice, or they want more fundamental information about Project Management from a day-to-day perspective. There will be one mentor with multiple mentees. The group will meet and examples of topics which may be covered are listed below. Each group mentoring session is a little different, so topics may vary.

  • Overview of skills that are typically needed by anyone pursuing a new career as a PM or developing their PM career
  • Aspects of certification (CAPM/PMP) including maintaining a PMP certification (but this is not a PMP Prep class)
  • How project Management helps organizations improve
  • Tips/tricks for interviewing (but not job search or resume building)
  • Handling challenging situations/stakeholders
  • Aspects of becoming/maintaining a PMP certification (but this is not a PMP Prep class) 
  • Disciplines of and additional helpful skills for PM's
    o Vendor Negotiations/Vendor Management
    o Managing Project Resources
    o Project communications
    o Handling challenging situations/stakeholders
    o PM Tools (discussion and good uses of MS Project vs Excel, what is a PPM? Word, PowerPoint, E-mail)

Q22. What if my Mentor/Mentee and I don’t get along?
A22. It is expected that both Mentors & Mentees will put forth their best efforts to create a positive relationship. If these efforts are unsuccessful contact the Mentorship Program Manager.

Recruiter Panel 2017: July Dinner Meeting Summary

by Mike Ososki, PMP

Happy Summer! And welcome back to PMI Atlanta’s annual hosting of recruiters and career advice panel. This year, we had 4 professionals chipping in their knowledgeable opinions and sage advice on how to play the hiring game well. Participants often echoed each other’s statements to emphasize, agree and complement opinions.

Lisa Leff, Director of Recruiting, Genuent graced us with a return appearance, as we enjoyed her contributions in the 2016 panel, too. Her 20 years of IT staffing expertise encourage us to listen up in general, with Genuent emphasis on Fintech and IT infrastructure. Lisa says that flexibility is key, so if you can do contract or contract-to-hire, then it’s always worth asking to go direct, if it’s what you want. In your resume, Lisa feels it’s important to emphasize accomplishments, purpose, IT certifications, and technical abilities. Customize to reflect buzzwords in the job description, and be ready to answer questions about gaps (volunteer work is good). She encourages us to always engage in both internal and external networking, and use employee advocates wherever possible at target companies. Reach out to recruiters and work closely to help them help you and sell you. Be sure and tell them when you get more certifications and/or references. If you do a Skype interview, be sure your “set” is clean and fresh, with decent lighting.

Peter Sherman, Managing Partner, Riverwood Associates specializes in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) programs, training, coaching and consulting, especially in healthcare, logistics, and technology. Peter asserts that all organizations seek cognitive problem solvers—professionals who think on their feet and learn on the fly. He says that the demand for LSS know-how is very strong, with pressure to get the release out faster and define root cause problems before solutioning. In the new gig economy, resume gaps are more of a non-issue. He advocates being authentic and genuine, and says that leaders look for the core competency to lead project teams, which is bigger than skill sets. For interviews, Peter references the SAR method: Situation, Activities, Results, and says that behavioral questions are fading out, with a better success predictor being, “What is your 90-day plan?” He’s a fan of the stealth interview, wherein a potential candidate contacts the company as a prospective customer to gather information. Peter also recommends being a member of professional organizations, and recommends these media resources ...
Adam Bryant of The New York Times
Atlanta Business Chronicle
• Indeed and Zip Recruiter

Bianca Guidry, Senior Recruiter, Hollstadt Consulting primarily serves Delta Airlines, seeking Program and Project Managers, BAs, Scrum Masters, and Project Coordinators. For the higher level roles, she’s always on the lookout for problem solvers who can manage large budgets. Delta likes to hire for the long-term, with 6-7 year average FTE tenure, and 6-12mo. contract temp. In resumes, she feels that the summary is most important, because “some managers stop at the first period.” She typically invests about an hour with each candidate to help optimize their resume, highlight core competencies, remove work history older than ~15yrs, and recommends both month and year for each job/project duration. On LinkedIn, Bianca recommends to consistently use the same professional picture, with a simple background. She feels that companies appreciate candidates who set personal career goals, and do 3mo. reviews to assess progress. Bianca shared about the Delta process via Hollstadt: 1) resume to her, 2) 30min phone screen, 3) resume to her manager to present to Delta, 4) 30min. phone screen w/Delta manager, 5) in-person interview within 5 days, 6) offer within 2 days. For Skype interviews, she says to dress professionally, and affirms that the millennial mindset is to leave the job if they’re not happy.

Stephanie Warner, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, North Highland is also a return panelist, having been with us also in 2012. She states that Project Managers and Business Analysts are the bread and butter at her company, and that working contract can open more doors. She recommends to keep a comprehensive record of all work you’ve done, then extract to customize to each specific opportunity. LinkedIn is a great tool to expand networks, and you are wise to partner with quality recruiters to increase options for your best success. Stephanie shared a current statistic: The mean rate of a job vacancy is 35 days, in contrast to the 48hr. shelf life of a quality candidate with the right skills and core competencies that is drug-free and has good references. She believes that age discrimination is real, but that being a confident communicator to sell yourself with a little bit of oomph energy is highly beneficial to counter it. Stephanie mentioned that continuing work on certifications is important, and that Honeywell’s recently joining Atlanta’s IoT Tech Center is very beneficial.

It seems that the going hourly rate for Sr. PMs is $55-75, but avoid shorting yourself to a lower rate during interviewing. You’ve likely heard much of this before, and there’s a good reason that it is often repeated: in the world of business, recruiting, talent acquisition, hiring, resumes and interviews, most of it is most often true.

“How a Combination of Treatments and Vaccines Is Creating a Paradigm Shift in Combating Infectious Diseases”: April Healthcare Forum Summary

Written By Nevella Paul, MBA, CHTS-IS, CTT+, PMP®

PMI Atlanta’s Healthcare Forum for April was enlightened and high informed with the eye opening presentation delivered by Darnisha Harrison, President and CEO, Ennaid Therapeutics.
Darnisha Harrison is responsible for guiding the Ennaid Therapeutics toward its intention of being first-to-market with the world’s first therapeutic cure for two of the most notorious mosquito-borne diseases in the world, Zika virus and Dengue virus.

Prior to founding Ennaid Therapeutics, she spent three years as a scientist, most notably at Amgen and the University of Georgia, and fifteen years in Business Development/Licensing as a Director in various companies within the pharmaceutical industry. Once a Microbiologist and Chemist, Darnisha is now a nationally recognized pharmaceutical entrepreneur by Newsweek Magazine and has greater than twenty-three years’ experience in the Life Sciences

About Ennaid Therapeutics

  • Ennaid Therapeutics translates complex science into medicines while employing a strategic, accelerated platform to develop and commercialize such therapies.
  • Ennaid Therapeutics is developing an orally deliverable anti-viral peptide that treats and prevents (much like anti-malarial) Zika virus and has 9+ additional indications to treat and prevent the following viruses: dengue, chikungunya, West Nile, hepatitis c, yellow fever, tick-borne encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, European encephalitis, Kyasanur Forest virus. 
  • Ennaid Drug Development (EDD) is one of two subsidiaries of Ennaid Therapeutics. EDD is developing cures to help > 400 million people worldwide when infected with the mosquito-borne diseases, Zika virus and Dengue virus, the world’s fastest-growing pandemic.
  • The therapeutic has been compared to an antibiotic as patients may have to repeat treatment due to different virus strains.

Darnisha began opened her presentation with a thought provoking question – “In the history of vaccines only one virus has been eradicated. Can you guess which disease that is?” Answer: Smallpox. This was an unknown fact to many which made the audience eager to know more. Darnisha shared the nine deadliest viruses and how viruses are invisible threats. Those nine are: Small pox, Influenza, HIV, Retroviruses, Measles, Yellow Fever, Dengue, Lassa virus and Ebola. Many others are very harmful including, Zika virus, bubonic plague, H1N1, SARS, and chikungunya, often posing an economic burden greater than $39 billion globally.

Darnisha went into detail on some of the viruses:

Influenza

  • Influenza viruses cause disease among persons in all age groups.
  • The risks for complications, hospitalizations, and deaths from influenza are higher among persons aged 65 years and older.

Zika

  • Zika primarily spreads through infected mosquitos. You can also get Zika through s sex without a condom with someone infected by Zika, even if that person does not show symptoms of Zika
  • Infection during pregnancy can cause a birth defects called microcephaly.
  • Zika and Dengue have been linked to Epileptic seizures.
  • There was no real concern or notice of Zika until a physician noticed the increased number of babies born with microcephaly. Microcephaly are congenital birth defects such as small heads and severe brain damage in infants.
  • Prevention: Use EPA-registered insect repellent for mosquitos. Wear long sleeves and long pants and remove standing water from your home.
  • A number of case studies are taking place within Ennaid Therapeutics.

Polio

  • Eradication of Polio has been pushed from year 2019 to 2023.

Ennaid Therapeutics has collaborated with from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, FL and The University of Washington in Settle, WA to develop an anti-flavivirus technology. This proprietary technology shows > 99% effectiveness against flavivirus infectivity (both Zika virus and Dengue virus are flaviviruses). EDD’s fast track development plan will safely and rapidly get these cures to market in record time. Ennaid Therapeutics is dedicated to creating Therapeutics and Vaccines to Save Lives and money!

Darnisha concluded her presentation with a question and answer session, and Lasondria Hill closed the meeting by thanking Darnisha and the Healthcare Forum participants.

Please join us Wednesday, May 17 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Healthcare Forum for the:
Keynote Presentation: “The FDA Moved My Cheese: Leveraging Quality and Regulatory Resources to Keep the Project On-Track” presented by Melissa Gaynor O’Connor, Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs for StimLabs, LLC

Location: Philips Healthcare
PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004

Presence Maximus: May Dinner Meeting Summary

by Mike Ososki, PMP, Public Relations Committee

Reilly-Teresa-3Fast-paced, intense and confident high energy—this is Nadia Bilchik’s personality and presentation style, brimming with motivational content. Nadia practices what she preaches, and Monday’s Dunwoody Dinner meeting attendees enjoyed her advice how to “Maximize Your Presence : Persuade Influence Inspire.”

As a CNN Editorial Producer, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, and keynote speaker, Ms. Bilchik also has impressive credentials interviewing such luminaries as Nelson Mandela, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep. Her clients have included Time Warner / Turner Broadcasting, The Home Depot, Coca-Cola, and Porsche USA—can we kick it up a notch?

Nadia defines presence as “the quality that projects calm and competence, and inspires confidence.” She expands to also include “your ability to positively INFLUENCE and PERSUADE,” and recommends that we light the FIRE ...

Bendre-Sameer2jpgWe always source from our self. If our thoughts cycle around negative, troubled attitudes like work sucks, life sucks, and I want to be somewhere else, then it will self-defeat our positive presence. We will struggle to maximize our powers to persuade, influence, and inspire. Nadia advises that, instead, we use our story and reach into our positive emotional memory database as a rapport-building cornerstone. This helps empower us to network and build relationships outside of our comfort zone. Courage can be thought of as taking action despite fear, as we are always free to stop, challenge, and choose.

Now consider communication. It’s always a combination of verbal—the words we choose—and non-verbal : the subtleties of our expression, such as tone, inflection, pitch, volume, emphasis, pauses, body language, gestures, etc. Non-verbal is always the most impactful.

How about content and delivery? Nadia recommends that we strive to be HEARD, comprising Hook, Evidence, Anecdotes, Reel in, and Delivery style. Important elements include your energy, eye contact, effective visuals, and body language.

Other ideas shared: Start grounded, move with purpose, show palms, don’t use a podium, and start with questions. Hem-mem-mem is a good voice warmup. Strive to make others feel honored: respect, revere and appreciate. No words of judgment; instead go for a sense of joy. Experience more at www.NadiaBilchik.com

“What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do: The Joys of Non-Specific SOWs”: March Healthcare Forum Summary

Written by Nevella Paul, MBA, PMP

PMI Atlanta’s Healthcare Forum attendees were pleasantly enlightened with the engaging presentation delivered by Brett Byrnes, Project Manager, Implementation Services at nThrive. Brett began has presentation with three intriguing questions:

  1. Where do the Client expectations originate?
  2. What is Statement of Work (SOW)?
  3. How do they become mismatched?

These questions led into a case study that created an interactive discussion on project expectations and what to do when the expectations are not clearly defined. The case study focused on a Patient Accounting System (PAS) conversion project.

Brett delved into the case study by sharing the general background information, initial requirements and the standard timeline for the project. He discussed the importance of having a SOW defined at the beginning of the project and the need to continuously managing expectations throughout the project. The lack of a SOW will mostly like cause scope creep and other changes to the projects. These unmanaged and unexpected changes will create rework in the project management life cycle and subsequently increase the likelihood of project failure.

When this occurs, what do you do now?
Option 1: RUN AWAY or Option 2: Manage Expectations

You should manage the expectations by:

  • Communicating with the Project Team
  • Communicating with the Stakeholders
  • Enact the Change Management Process

Executing these steps will help get the project back in line and increase the potential of project success.

Presentation key takeaways:

  • If there is no SOW or SOW is not clearly defined do not move forward with the project.
  • Plan, Plan, Plan before you execute! If it takes 4 months to plan, DO IT!
  • Pre-planning, do more up front. It will save time and effort throughout the project.
  • Everyone should know their responsibilities and they should be outlined in the Master agreement.
  • Client responsibilities and “Our” responsibilities need to be quantified with dates.
  • The Change Management Process is key in any project

Brett concluded his presentation with a question and answer session, and Lasondria Hill closed the meeting by thanking Brett and the Healthcare Forum participants.

Please join us Wednesday, April 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Healthcare Forum for the:

Keynote Presentation: “How a Combination of Treatments and Vaccines Is Creating a Paradigm Shift in Combating Infectious Diseases” presented by Darnisha Harrison, President and CEO, Ennaid Therapeutics

Location: Philips Healthcare
PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004