Three Skills You Will Theoretically Re-Learn During PMP Exam Training
Article by Jessica Parklanes
Admittedly, the four-hour rigorous PMP examination is a multiple choice type of test. However, you will re-learn three skills necessary to become a successful Project Manager during your PMP exam training, if not in practice then at least in theory.
You will re-learn these skills precisely because you have to re-visit the five areas of expertise and the nine knowledge areas during the PMP exam training, which touch on these three skills.
Interpersonal Skills
During your PMP exam training, you will encounter sections dealing with interpersonal skills. Your skills with people are a very vital component of your success as project manager because you deal with people, first and foremost. It will indeed be an easier world for you if only you do not have to deal with human emotions and vagaries! Then again, with easiness comes boredom and stunted growth.
Your people skills should occupy the highest level of priority. There are many aspects that you need to develop before you can say with a certain amount of confidence that you are the leader of your people.
First, there is serving and helping. This does not mean that you have to reverse roles with your people; instead, you have to help them align their personal goals with the project’s goals. Second, you have to communicate. Indeed, it is said that as Project Manager, you will spend 90% of your time communicating to the team! During PMP exam training, the need for communication cannot be overstressed.
Third, you have to persuade and negotiate. These people skills are important to your success because a certain amount of compromise will have to be reached on the finer points of the means to the end. Fourth, you have to supervise and instruct. Though you can expect minimum supervision for people, you also have to provide for clear instructions and supervisory approaches to achieve the desired goals. Fifth, and arguably the most difficult of all, is mentoring your people. You have to provide a role model, and like it or not, it will be you.
Information Skills
Information is the lifeblood of any project. Without it, you and your people will be operating on blind faith, a classic case of the blind leading the blind. The process of analyzing the information and acting on your analysis lies entirely in your hands. You can re-learn the processes and rationales behind information skills during PMP exam training, too.
These will include coordination among multiple sources of data, creation of innovative approaches to problem-solving, and data synthesis. Though you probably encounter practical applications of these skills everyday, revisiting theory can be a new experience.
Tool Skills
Your skill with things, tools and other thingamajigs for decision-making comes least in the order of priority. This is not to say that you should disregard tools for decision-making. Rather, you have to see these tools in the context of their assistance towards developing your people and information skills.
During PMP exam training, you will be exposed to tools and techniques like quality audit and weighting systems. You have to take note of these tools since the PMP exam contains sections on them.
These skills are used everyday in your job as Project Manager, though you might not consciously label them as such. The fact that you can re-learn the theory behind the practice during PMP preparatory training is an added bonus.
Scenes from “Skillstreaming the Adolescent: People Skills, Doin’ Em Right”, available from Research Press: www.researchpress.com
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Leave a commentThree Essential Skills For the Success of Your Online Business
Essential Skill # 1 – Make sure your product has a market.
The often used adage, “It’s like trying to sell ice to the Eskimos,” illustrates an important point. If your product is something that nobody is looking for or particularly interested in buying, you will have a hard time selling it. The way to avoid that situation is to adequately research your potential product before you make a commitment to it. Make sure that there is a hungry market of potential customers looking to buy your product. Otherwise, find another product. There are many tools available online and off to help you do market research. Some really good ones are available through eBay.
Essential Skill #2 – Know who your potential customers are.
Knowing who your potential customers is critical. Lots of traffic to your website does not necessarily equal lots of sales if those visitors are not people who are motivated to buy your product. Not know your niche market also means that you will probably spend lots of time, effort and money on ineffective advertisement.
For example, if I were selling golf clubs, I would target my marketing toward golf enthusiasts and publications that serve golf enthusiasts. I would not advertise in a hunting and fishing publication.
Essential Skill #3 – Use a multi-faceted approach and place lots of media.
You are not going to make many sales if nobody knows that you’re out there. Also, not everybody uses the same method to search for the products that they’re wishing to buy. The best approach is to use a variety of methods to target your niche market. These can include classified advertisements, online advertisements, search engine optimization of your website, articles (both online and off), press releases, as well as many other methods.
The more proficient you become at doing market research, knowing who your potential customers are, and using a multi-faceted approach to effectively advertise to those potential customers, the more likely you are to succeed as an online entrepreneur.
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Three Actions to Build Your Self-Esteem And Self-Confidence to Improve Your Life
Self-Esteem can improve your personal and professional life, and in the right amount can boost your confidence and fling open doors of opportunity.
Some people naturally have self-esteem and a strong sense of self-confidence, and you might wonder – Why? Why do some people have a healthy dose of well-earned self-esteem, and some others have huge amounts and you think, why is this person so confident?
If you’d like to raise your self-esteem but you don’t want to come across as full of yourself, you’d be well served to focus on “authentic self-esteem.”
Think of “authentic self-esteem” as self-confidence that emerges as a natural development when you consistently hold yourself to a higher standard, and benefit yourself and others as a result.
To build “authentic self-esteem” follow these three actions.
Number one: Focus on your positive traits, your goal is to be who *you* are at your best. You’re not trying to be the jokey, center of attention, life of the party if that’s not your natural style. Perhaps your style is to be more quiet and introspective, to listen rather that to take the lead in every conversation.
Appreciate how your unique qualities help others feel connected, important, unique and interesting.
Your goal is to be your best self, not someone else. You couldn’t sustain this kind of false approach, it would feel fake, and it would be exhausting! Besides, you want to be appreciated for who you truly are, yes?
So, first step, focus on your very best traits, and play them up!
Action number two: Track your progress. Each day, think of ways your unique traits can contribute to the world around you. You don’t have to solve major world problems, here. Simply consider how a specific action will help enhance the quality of life of those around you. And, be sure to write down specific actions you can take and follow through on them.
Here’s how to carry out this specific action: Go buy a spiral notebook. No need for a fancy 0 leather-bound journal, just a simple spiral notebook the kids use for school.
Consider 3 actions a day that play to your strengths that you could track. Let’s say that you are kind and sensitive. Simple. You can set these simple goals: Look the grocery checker in the eye and make small talk. Ask the receptionist how her weekend was as you walk to your desk. Compliment someone in the break room on their hair cut or sweater.
Your actions are breaking you out of your shell, connecting you to others, and improving the quality of life for those who get to be in your space. Sounds like something to feel good about, wouldn’t you agree?
Action number three: feel free to start small, with the suggestions above. You’ll soon find that “authentic self-esteem” blooms quite quickly when you focus on these three steps.
Remember that this brand of self-confidence is not about you being prideful, but rather you get to experience a genuine emotion of feeling good about yourself. Your actions matter to others, and so do you! Act now!
Posted in Improving Self Esteem | Actions, Build, Improve, Life, SelfConfidence, SelfEsteem, Three | Leave a commentThe Three Communication Skills Required To Run A Successful Business
Across the vast landscape of needed skills, both technical and soft, where do communication skills required to run a successful business fit in?
Even in the best and strongest of economies, starting your own business can be difficult. The capitalistic free market is rife with predatory competition, fickle customers, and a consumer base that is easily affected by outside factors. When it comes to start-up small businesses, most fail, and fail quickly. However, there is hope: The entrepreneurial spirit can provide one of the most fulfilling and rewarding lifestyles available, once you have your dream idea up-and-running off the ground. One element that may greatly increase your chances of small-company success is a mastery of some of the communication skills required to run a successful business of any size.
Promotion
In this case, the term “promotion” is not referring to the act of raising an employee’s status to a new position; rather, it means the constant, relentless habit of making your business more visible, through marketing campaigns utilizing advertising, news releases, proper signage, and other means of promoting your cause to the world.
One large ingredient to the promotions mix is simple verbal communication, which means that promotion is one of the communication skills required to run a successful business because whether you are speaking to a prospective business partner or an interested customer, the ability to convey your cause in the most effective, appealing manner possible will greatly increase chances of establishing a positive reputation, appearing professional, and landing leads.
Courteous Service
Business owners will have to deal with many clients, whether pleasant or putrid. In either case, it truly helps to be able to serve them with a smile, and courteous service as one of the communication skills required to run a successful business means communicating in a manner that is positive, in a way that offers assistance, in a voice that compels action, and generally in a mastered method of customer service that will enhance client retention rates and present a pleasant overall presentation.
Vendor Relations
From enormous corporations to mom-and-pop start-up operations in a small town, business owners must deal with vendors. This is a necessary evil, considering that some companies out there genuinely are offering valuable, useful, necessary, or helpful goods and services at fair rates. In these cases, the communication skills required to run a successful business simply dictate being able to nimbly verbally navigate offers, advertisements, industry lingo, and other pathways toward potential purchases. On the other side of the financial coin, strong communication skills will come into critical importance when negotiating for a better deal or a contract alteration.
Although it may seem like common sense, there are definitely some communication skills required to run a successful business. Promotion, courteous service, and vendor relations are just a few, but even this handful alone should provide a few excellent weapons in the arsenal of holding a business afloat in a competitive business environment.
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