Organizational Excellence

Project Management

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Project Management

Project management can be defined as:

Identifying, analyzing, and improving existing business processes to optimize performance, meet best practice standards, or simply improve quality and the user experience for customers and end-users.

Share your thoughts for how you would define project management by sending a note to strategicplan@psu.edu.

Resources

  • Project Management Institute
    Project Management Institute has an extensive library of resources that members can access – everything from basic stuff to advanced, agile methods; resources include the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), certifications, microcredentials, courses, webinars, articles, and templates.
  • Udemy.org
    Great, inexpensive place to find training.
  • Penn State’s Learning Network (LRN)
    Has 1,000’s of courses at all levels of project and portfolio management.
  • Penn State Staff
    Penn State IT has more than a dozen ITPM staff. Eight are organized in a group named Enterprise Projects & Initiatives with Business Analysts and Organizational Change Consultants. These staff are always willing to engage. Another concentration of ITPM staff is in Outreach and Online Education.
  • Penn State’s IT LEADS
    This program is open to all members of the University community and includes a Peer-to-Peer element where Penn State staff teach various topics to other staff; Project Management, Organizational Change Management, and Business Analysis are frequent offerings.
  • Manager Tools
    Provides numerous useful recommendations related to project management and effective communications.
  • Book – Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage
    Pinto, J.K., Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, 5th ed. (2019), Pearson Publishing – Textbooks like this are critical for gaining background theory and having a template for organizing and executing projects.

Communities of Practice

  • Penn State’s Project Management Working Group (PMWG)
    The Project Management Working Group (PMWG) is a community of practice for anyone involved in Project Management at Penn State or who is interested in the topic; Great for knowledge sharing, mentorship, templates
  • EDUCAUSE Project Management Community
    Penn State is a member! To gain access to the online platform, select “Penn State” on the login page. The online platform includes access to:
    • Discussion – ask project related questions, network with peers, or respond to postings from other Community Group members.
    • Library – share or access community documents, templates, and examples.
    • Blogs – hub for the posting items that could have broader appeal or more in-depth content
    • Events – what is going on in the Community, from conferences to upcoming PMCG meetings
    • Members – network with fellow Higher Education professionals
  • Project Management Institute
    Local PMI chapters give you access to communities both locally in person and virtually to any location; They have training and shorter programs, including their annual “Project Days” events. While membership in PMI is on an individual basis, Penn State is a Project Management Institute (PMI) authorized training partner (A.T.P.) that provides (across its campuses) ongoing professional development of both current and future PMI Members, MPI-certified Project Management Professionals (PMP), and other project management stakeholders.  PSU also offers Project Management Supplemental topics.

Professional Organizations

Tools

  • Microsoft products:
    • Project (it does not have a Mac version, so Mac users would need an emulator, like open source Project Libra)
    • Office 365 apps like SharePoint, Planner, and Excel templates (these are free to Penn Staters)
  • Monday.com
  • Smartsheet
  • Workfront
  • Trello 

Formal Educational Opportunities