Leaders must perform to motivate staff

Managers should inspire their people to excel and act with commitment

Make motivation your daily mantra

There is a need to stay motivated to be able to pursue goals single- mindedly

Attitude defines you at the workplace

Your level of profrssionalism affects work relationships and productivity

Blue Ocean Launches Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam Preparation Training

Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competence for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals — and thus, better compete in their markets.

Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam Preparation Training

Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification is the international standard for Project Managers and is the credential of choice in industries and organizations across the globe. Today, companies and clients are insisting on Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from their project managers. Passing the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam is your first step towards the right direction.

Blue Ocean, the region’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise is a Registered Education Provider of  Project Management Institute(PMI®), USA to provide this prestigious certification Exam Preparation Training. This is an international endorsement of a professional’s project management skills.

Why Companies Need Certified Project Managers

In today’s competitive and chaotic global economy, companies are turning to project management to consistently deliver business results. Disciplined project management starts at the portfolio level, where the strategic vision drives initial investments and where value measures are established. A fully aligned project, program and portfolio management strategy encompasses the entire organization, dictating project execution at every level and aiming to deliver value at each step along the way.

Project management is, in fact, shorthand for project, program and portfolio management. And more companies are clearly seeing the payoff from investing time, money and resources to build organizational project management expertise: lower costs, greater efficiencies, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage.

Economic downturn has heightened the value of project managers

An Economist Intelligence report showed that 80 percent of global executives believed having project management as a core competency helped them remain competitive during the recession. There is little doubt that a strong organization-wide commitment to project management leads to better results and long-term business value.

The delivery of business outcomes is realized through the success of projects, and in the essence that is the way that project management strategies drive organizational success.  

A survey by consulting giant McKinsey & Co. found that nearly 60 percent of senior executives felt strongly about building a strong project management discipline considering it to be among the top-three priorities for their companies as they look to the future.

Why Project Management Matters

Leading organizations have been steadily embracing project management as a way to control spending and improve project results.

Many companies look at project management shortcomings and forced them to do better. With little room for error and fewer resources to rely on, project is helping organizations streamline their delivery process, cut costs and sidestep risks, enabling them to ride out the recession and implement stronger project management practices for the future.

Tighter budgets and fewer resources mean less money for the innovative projects that help move the company forward.

Creation of formal Project Management Offices (PMOs)

Companies are also discovering that as their project management strategy matures, the business value derived from it also increases. To increase that value and ensure strategic alignment across the project portfolio, executives at many global organizations are creating formal project management offices (PMOs).

Keeping the project on track requires a strict management of metrics and project goals that extends across the project team and out to suppliers, contractors, the client and the stakeholders.

To keep that competitive edge, companies need to align their project management strategies directly with their strategic business goals. And PMOs can serve as a powerful bridge in creating and managing the link between strategy and results.

Project Management Professional (PMP®)

Project managers are the agents that drive success in organizations.  As the body of knowledge in project management grows at a steady pace, project managers need to stay on top of this knowledge and enhance their skill set.

The Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certificate from the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is geared for professionals, business analysts and business process managers from a wide range of industries and services in both the private and public sectors. Whether you are beginning your career in project management or want to develop and formalize your experience, Project Management Professional (PMP®) certificate will give you confidence and competency in the field.

Participants receive a comprehensive overview of project management along with the critical skills for managing small and large projects, the hard skills of cost, schedule, and implementation management, and the crucial organizational management skills necessary for long term success. You will build a solid foundation and prepare for professional certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI®).

Certificate Highlights:

• Become familiarized with the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) project management methodology

• Gain employer recognition and a competitive edge in the marketplace

• Formalize your project management skills and experience

• Understand how the Project Team and the Project Management Office functions, and the relevance of the Project Management Maturity Model.

• Learn how to build high performance teams; hone leadership skills; manage human resources and conflicts; and analyze organizational structures, cultures and influences on project management.

The role of Blue Ocean Academy in raising the bar of Project Management Professional (PMP®)-certified professionals in the Middle East

Blue Ocean is UAE’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise and partners with the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development and the Dubai Quality Group. Blue Ocean Academy is a Registered Education partner for Project Management Institute(PMI®), USA.

All Blue Ocean trainers are Project Management Professional (PMP®)-certified.

Keeping in mind the high-profile clientele, Blue Ocean Academy conducts all its training courses in five-star venues.

Blue Ocean: Assurance of Quality

·       The Stamp of Quality

·       18 years of training excellence

· 500+ Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam practice questions.

·       Limited number of candidates per class.

·       Computer/Laptop for each candidate.

·       Highly interactive workshops.

·       Free social media and email support for 3 months.

·       Personal Support & follow up




Disclaimer: "PMI", the PMI® logo, PMI R.E.P logo, "PMP", the PMP® logo, the PMI-ACP® logo, "PgMp", the PgMP® logo are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

Gulf News, April 3, 2014

Supply Chain Logistics Group Magazine, March 2014

Women are Driving the Optimistic Trend in Micro-Businesses

Women are Driving the Optimistic Trend in Micro-Businesses

 

By Dr. Sathya Menon

Do women make better entrepreneurs than men?  As businesses worldwide are persevering and adapting to a new economy, there is a new trend:  women are driving the new optimistic trend in micro-businesses. 

Many are setting up enterprises that they are easily being able to generate, operate and sustain from their homes.  From bead-making to human potential re-engineering, women are doing a great job of generating money through small enterprises.  “We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change,” said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook , explaining highlighting how women are becoming the new face of small and medium enterprises worldwide.

Using different innovative and cost-cutting measures, they have been able to sail through the recession and into happier times.  Not surprisingly, an increasing number of women juggling with home and work are now spurning regular employment and have conveniently created workplaces at their homes.

Reports from the US-based National Federation of Independent Businesswomen revealed that women will create over half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs expected to be created by 2018 and more and more will be doing this from home offices across the world.

The reason why women are being able to create and successfully control micro-businesses is because they are frugal and also innovative. Studies showed that controlling costs was the most popular strategy adopted among women entrepreneurs to get through the recession and there was a 52 per cent  increase in the number of women entrepreneurs using social media to boost business while saving on marketing costs.

In the Middle East, the global opinion that women work harder than men to be considered half as good remains contentious. However, statistics reveal that businesswomen control  more than Dh15 billion in investment and the funds are set to increase in the future.

The investments are concentrated mostly in equities, real estate and trade in the UAE and other countries. There are 14,000 women who manage more than 20,000 companies in the UAE, the second largest Arab economy and one of the world’s 10 top oil and gas exporters.

In the UAE and around the world, women are ushering a new revolution nurturing and developing small scale businesses. In the words of Michelle Obama, America’s First Lady : “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.”

 (ENDS)

Dr. Sathya Menon is Academic Director, Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai.