• How do we know a best practice, what are the criteria for a best practice?
• Number of occurrences of practices could merely indicate a common "bad" practice rather than a "best" practice.
• Suggestions for topics for white paper(s).
• Common issues/problems you would like addressed.
• Identify key words to search scheduling best practices literature.
• Potential companies to interview/survey companies on their best practices.
• Identify list of organizations that might be have industry/government groups that would be deemed validated sources of best practices, both in DoD/aerospace, but also outside this area.

Please contact me with any ideas, questions or suggestions. Thank you!

Michael Dahlberg, PMP, CPA, MBA
A&D SIG Ambassador for Northeast
ambassador_northeast@pmi-adsig.org

No one knows the challenges of managing project costs better than the PMO charged with the daunting task of mapping project costs and schedule to calculate EVM. For the Program team mapping planned spend to actual spend on multiple projects requires hours of manual entry and analysis. In this webinar, hear the latest techniques on tools and processes that automate this, taking the guesswork out of project cost & EVM.

Join us as we share insight into best practices for managing costs, calculating EVM and reporting metrics across multiple projects using Microsoft Project. Learn how Aerospace and Defense are using the latest integrated Enterprise Project Management (iEPM) tools to manage schedule and cost. Attendees will learn the best ways to deal with:

• Standardization and automation of EV metrics leveraging existing tools
• The challenges posed by balancing project schedule, budget, and customer requirements
• Maintaining profitability on contracts
• The benefits of automating EVM and other project metrics through iEPM

Sign up for this free, exclusive interactive webinar.

The Value of Earned Value - The PM Metric that Just Keeps on Giving 2 August 2007 • 1 PM EDT Register Today Free for A&D SIG members! Enter the A&D SIG member promo code. (Please contact the A&D SIG Administrator to receive the code). Click on "Update" button and ensure that the total is 0. Click on the "Checkout" button. Complete the required fields* and hit the "Submit" button. A confirmation email with login/dialin info will be sent to you on or before 31 July. Contact our Help Desk at Office@MetSIG.Org if you do not receive the confirmation email by 1 August.

Are you Ready for Earned Value Management?
Lee Lambert, PMP, one of the world's most recognized experts on achieving value added earned value on real world projects, will deliver a live, one-hour webinar on the "Value of Earned Value."

Earned Value Management System (EVMS) - say these words loudly and then watch as fully grown professionals run from the project kick-off meeting screaming as if the end of their project management world was near.

After four decades this incredibly powerful and insightful project management tool (yes it is just a tool like the dozens of others that are stored in the PM professional's tool box) remains viciously maligned and grossly misunderstood by the very people it can help the most-the people who have been charged with the responsibility determining and analyzing the status of the project AND making suggestions for dealing with project variances.

This webinar will confirm for each participant that the secret password to productive use of the Earned Value project metric: COMMONSENSE! Unfortunately, CommonSense doesn't seem to be that Common when it comes to managing projects. But, join in and learn why you should be using Earned Value before it is mandated. Learn how to implement the Earned Value metric in a totally painless way without anyone even knowing you are using it. Learn the techniques that will allow you to "baby step" your way to capitalizing on the real power of the EV process while rendering the problems that face every project powerless. Once you realize how easy EV application is you will decide that the cost of using Earned Value on your project: PRICELESS.

In the process of co-authoring the Project Step by Step books (starting with the 2000 edition and continuing through the 2007 edition), Carl Chatfield and his co-author, a former technical support engineer for Microsoft Project, learned first-hand some of the problems Project users encounter. Some are straight-forward problems with the software, but many common problems were really about how people define, understand and practice project management. In this talk, Carl guides you through the top ten problems new or inexperienced project managers encounter, and what you as a subject matter expert can do to help identify and address these problems.

To Register: Contact Chuck Patten at chuck.patten@honeywell.com

View more details and get driving directions.

As a token of the A&D SIG's appreciation for your participation in the SIG, we would like to send you a lapel pin. We encourage all members to wear the pin at PMI® chapter and international events and to look for, and network with, other A&D SIG members wearing their pins. Show your pride in the A&D SIG!

Request an A&D SIG pin
Be sure to include your mailing address.

World Project Management Week 2007

The PMI® Melbourne Australia Chapter will be supporting the 4th annual World Project Management Week to be held from 12-16 November 2007 in Singapore. This year's theme is Project Management: Driving Growth; Creating Equality.

Egidio Zarrella and Bill Stewart have been announced as keynote speakers and will lead a program with several keynotes and over 40 session presenters which soon to be announced. The conference will also features a 25 trade exhibition, a quality pre-conference workshop program and a number of interactive networking opportunities that are not to be missed.

Register Online

PM Challenge is sponsored by the NASA Office of the Chief Engineer, the NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership (APPEL), and the NASA Office of Safety & Mission Assurance.

Download the Speaker Requirements Document

Speaker abstracts and bios due 14 September 2007.

©2007 PMI Aerospace and Defense Specific Interest Group