11.26.09
The Interim Management Value Proposition
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The Interim Management Value Proposition
There are several factors that make the Interim Management value proposition increasingly popular and cost-effective to client organisations. These factors are characterised as a ‘Value Proposition’ that Interim Managers offer to their clients.
Although there is some variation at the margins of Interim Management (with Temporary Workers, Freelancers, Contractors and Consultants) the following factors are typical of the Interim Management Value Proposition:
- Return On Investment. Interim Managers provide an outcome, solution, service or risk mitigation that provides a measurable ‘Return On Investment’ to their clients. While Interim Managers are typically paid on a ‘day-rate’ basis, such payments continue to be made on the understanding of goals and objectives being performed and delivered, and not simply on the basis of attendance.
- Speed. Interim managers can be in place within days as opposed to weeks or months (essential when time constraints are paramount). They are quickly effective upon joining a client organisation because high-speed engagement has become practiced. Interim Managers also conduct and complete assignments at due speed because they have the necessary expertise and effectiveness to do so.
- Expertise. Interim Managers will be sensibly over-qualified for the position they are taking on and bring the knowledge and expertise to have an immediate effect and be productive from the outset. They will also have seasoned past experience of similar challenges to the ones they are about to face, minimising the risk of things going wrong and, more importantly, maximising the likelihood of success.
- Objectivity. Unencumbered by any previous involvement in company processes or management relationships, Interim Managers provide a fresh perspective and are able to concentrate on what’s best for the business. Interim Managers are able to side-step company ‘politics’ and contribute straight-forwardly without constituting a threat to incumbent managers.
- Accountability. Rather than taking on a purely advisory role (as a management consultant would), Interim Managers are responsible and accountable line managers who will implement and manage a business or project in their own right. By being instrumental in an assignment’s successful delivery, they give clients the peace of mind that the Interim Manager has immediate stewardship of the project in hand.
- Effectiveness. Operating at or near board-level gives Interim Managers the authority and credibility to effect significant change or transition within a company. Unlike a ‘temp’, they’re not just there to ‘hold the fort’. They actively add value to the client organisation as a result of their expertise and approach, even when the work and the decisions to be made are difficult.
- Commitment. Interim Managers commit to the assignments they have undertaken, so that clients need not be concerned that the Interim will walk away to an alternate permanent position. Interim Managers typically perform a succession of different assignments and maintain high professional standards because their future work relies upon communicating and marketing a successful Interim track record.
Referenced at:
The IIM site: http://www.ioim.org.uk/WorkAsAnInterim/index.asp
The IIM Blog site: http://instituteofinterimmanagement.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/the-interim-management-value-proposition/
Download it at: http://filesocial.com/1rfplls
10.24.09
Interim Manager’s guide to using LinkedIn
Anyone can improve their LinkedIn profile and ‘hit-rate’ by using some straight-forward techniques. I wrote this article for the Institute of Interim Management’s blog site, but am mirroring it on my own blog as well 
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With the growth of social networking and business networking sites like LinkedIn, recruiters are increasingly turning to seeking and finding candidates online. This can be accomplished more quickly, and with more under the control of the recruiter, than posting adverts and waiting for people who are out of work to ‘apply’ for those positions.
So as well as being good at applying for advertised positions, and networking with recruiters and networked clients, the ability to be found and discovered on LinkedIn and on Google becomes increasingly important.
And if you doubt the speed of pending change, it was not many years ago when candidates applied for jobs by sending paper CVs and covering letters by post (sometimes on quaint ‘marble-effect’ CV paper).
This blog articles focuses on use of the business networking site: LinkedIn, and
- Having a profile worth reading,
- Being found on LinkedIn
While many of the ideas presented in this article are relevant to any business person, it particularly addresses the marketing needs of Interim Managers
Having a profile worth reading
Because your LinkedIn profile is a preferred item searched by Google, your profile will show-up in searches about you. Treat your profile with importance and respect – too many profiles are ‘banged together’ or are incomplete.
Get the basic information right: This will be searched upon so make it count. Don’t have your name all lower case. Opinion is divided about letters after your name – I choose not to use these on the ‘name line’ but do reference them in the Summary and it may be appropriate to reference them in your “Headline”.
Your professional “Headline’: This should accurately represent what you want to have people search for, and what you are most equipped to carry out. If what you ‘do’ is carry out assignments as an ‘Interim XYZ’ then that should be your “Headline”, not that you are “Owner of XYZ Limited Company” unless you want to be found by people looking for owners of Limited companies.
Be sure to select an Industry: Recruiters will often filter by Industry so make sure you select one.
Have a decent professional looking Photo: A photo builds trust and credibility and makes you a real person. It’s the first thing people notice. Have your face visible (no long-shots, weird cropping or strange photo effects). Have a plain background (no cars, dogs, companions).
Write a powerful Summary. A powerful summary section that explains your ‘Value Proposition’ is a vital component of your profile. This explains ‘what you are about’ and is findable in searches. Don’t fail to describe what you want to be known for, what you want to be doing next, because again, if you don’t list it, a search for it won’t find you. This Value Proposition should reflect consistently through your marketing materials – it is your ‘elevator pitch’.
List applicable specialities: By supporting your summary with ‘keyword rich’ information highlighting your skills, competence and expertise, you make it easier to be ‘qualified in’ by those reading your profile, and to be picked up by LinkedIn and search engine searches.
Diligently complete the ‘Experience sections’: This is your ‘online CV’ so complete it accurately, highlighting evidence of your expertise and making sure to maintain a strong ‘keyword’ density of those words that will be searched for by those who are searching someone with your skills.
Because it is so public, take care not to share anything that will compromise a prior client (because they will look) and make sure it is congruent with and not contradicting any other CV you publish or submit. Naturally you may have different CVs that emphasise different facets of your expertise, but ‘facts’, where quoted, should match.
This section is key for being picked up in LinkedIn search, and also gets picked up in Google search.
Education and Associations: This just needs to be accurately completed. If an Association does not fit your brand, you don’t need to list it. Similarly you do not need to have LinkedIn groups that are not directly applicable to your brand ‘show up’ their logo on your profile (group settings).
Update ‘old’ job titles: This is a marketing document after all; particularly with older jobs, it is perfectly acceptable to update job titles to accurately describe the role in line with a current understanding of such a role. You don’t have to slavishly stick to out-dated or meaningless titles that will no longer be understood (by people or search engines) as long as such a change is honest.
Quote useful ‘Additional Information’: This section contains key information that will help you get found. Make sure you link to other virtual locations and help people to find you:
Specify ‘your’ website: If you have a website (if not, why don’t you?), select the ‘Other’ not the ‘My Website’ drop-down, because if you choose ‘other’, then you can name your website link, e,g.: “Interim XYZ Company”.
Select an easy ‘Public Profile’ URL – Select a ‘public profile’ URL that’s easy to use and easy to arise in searches. Typically, this will be your name, for example I use: http://www.linkedin.com/in/advanderrest.
Check your spelling: Paste your finished profile into a spell-checker (LinkedIn fields don’t do this) for a final ‘ok’ and you’re done.
Being found on LinkedIn
Having a strong profile is the ‘starting point’, but additional techniques will help you get found.
Build a strong network of connections: If you are not within the extended network of the person searching for you, you will not be found. Many commentators advise getting your connections to 500+ as quickly as possible, but I disagree with a ‘shotgun’ approach to doing this.
I prefer to maintain an active and steady ‘quality’ network growth, but am happy to be flexible. So I accept and invite decent quality connections that I develop in my business endeavours, including clients, client employees, recruiters, consultants and other industry key players.
Additionally, I will accept invitations from people I have had a meaningful intelligent banter with on LinkedIn groups, Q&A groups or on blog sites. I will not connect without a very good reason to an unknown “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” invitation. These invitations come with the risk of destroying your trusted network by leaving other connections open to being spammed and preyed upon.
When inviting – say more that the ‘default greeting’, show some enthusiasm for making that connection and if the invite is not immediately obvious, explain the reason for it. When accepting an invitation – send them a short message to reinforce your pleasure at being connected.
Connections that would help to develop your network more effectively are ‘node’ individuals – these are people who through position or force of personality have many real and meaningful connections; they are well worth linking to.
Finally if a weaker immediate connection acts improperly or ‘updates’ you to death, there is nothing wrong with quietly de-connecting them – this is not something they will be notified of.
Be obviously available for assignment (if you are): Don’t confuse people. If you are currently employed by your Limited Company – make sure it is clear that you are seeking assignment. Either through the creation of a job ‘Seeking assignment’ (you can always delete it again when working) or by making it very clear at the top of your own Company entry that you are seeking assignment. If you do little pieces of ‘ad-hoc’ for a client, don’t leave them listed as a ‘current’ employer to give the impression you are working. You can always keep updating that client’s end-date to be the ‘month before’ the present.
Keep it up-to-date: There’s little point still being listed as working where you are not. A quality LinkedIn profile justifies periodic updates, typically in conjunction with your CV or CVs and other profile listing on other websites. To keep it simple, if I am updating a role, or adding expertise to a section, I will do this consistently across my profile, CV’s and other sites in one session.
Have flexible contact Settings: Be as easy to contact as you can be (or your sense of privacy allows). If you’re hard to contact, a recruiter may not talk to you, but may instead speak to other qualified people ‘with’ easy contacts. The link to your website or blog gives you a further route to your contact information, and if you want you can share your phone number in the Personal Information settings (up to you…).
Issue ‘Network updates’ appropriately: You can issue ‘Twitter-length’ Network updates. Your connections will see your updates on their LinkedIn home page.
Your updates can vary from communicating a change, to asking a question, to letting people know you are alive. But treat network updates with respect; Keep to the guideline of not ‘selling’ more than 20% of the time. People will tolerate the occasional request or pitch if is dropped into a tapestry of informative updates.
If your Connections ‘eco-system’ includes Contacts, Clients, Recruiters, friends and associates, then your ‘thought-leadership’, activities and assignment availability or non-availability will be passively apparent to your immediate network.
Recycle your marketing: If you Tweet, ‘Network update’ your Tweet (if relevant). If you blog, signpost the blog in your ‘Network update’. Don’t forget when referencing your blog site or website to use URL compression sites such as www.bit.ly to shrink your hyperlinks – or they won’t fit. If a LinkedIn group comment is stunning, also blog it, tweet it and ‘network update’ it – how efficient a use of your ‘thought energy’ is that!
Advertise your LinkedIn identity by including your LinkedIn Profile URL in your normal e-mail signature.
Have recommendations: Recommendations push your profile up the search criteria; That’s why you may sometimes receive scurrilous recommendation requests (which you should not respond to), and it is even known for people to create bogus identities to recommend them (LinkedIn don’t like that at all).
The best time to work on your recommendations is when you are on assignment or when you are not under pressure because they must never look desperate, urgent or rushed.
Subtle method:
Proactively write recommendations of people you respect and have worked with, particularly in recent assignments. This acts as a ‘thank you’ for value you have received from them. Emphasise their professional behaviour rather than getting bogged down into technical skills because these will be more useful recommendations to them in the longer term.
A one liner explaining how you know them, followed by a short ‘story’ highlighting why you are recommending them is most memorable. Actively encourage the recipient to tinker with it and recommend how you could make it ‘just perfect’.
Direct method:
You can ask for a recommendation through LinkedIn. Do this only with people you are sure gained value from your work and would have naturally recommended you had they only got round to it.
I prefer to give them an ‘escape route’ by adding that they might suggest an alternative recommender instead, and not to be concerned if they don’t do one at all. Why give them an escape? The relationship is more important than the recommendation. There may be other reasons why they don’t like to recommend people – and putting them in a position through your request where they feel uncomfortable may prejudice that relationship.
Getting the most out of LinkedIn groups: We’re back to brand here; If you are commenting on relevant discussion posts in an intelligent way, you become visible and may make interesting alliances into the bargain. Find a site that fits your niche; join it; enjoy it.
Naturally, I recommend the LinkedIn group: Interim Management IIM, as an example of such a group for Interims, prospective Interims, Recruiters, Clients and others in the Interim Management eco-system to share their ‘thought leadership’.
If you are in a LinkedIn group that has died or has become spam-laden, leave it. Why, because high member-numbered groups will naturally attract more members and frankly, if they are rubbish – they don’t deserve to be at the top of the group searches!
Conclusions
Being savvy on LinkedIn is not an ‘instant win’ but is a long-term investment. The recession has taken a toll on many Interims and new technologies are changing the nature of the game.
When things properly perk up, being findable on LinkedIn, and having a coherent proposition once found will be a distinct competitive advantage.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant
www.visiblegoal.com
Acknowledgements
This article was triggered by a discussion post at the LinkedIn group: Interim Management IIM, posted by Juhi Bera entitled: “Has anyone secured a role using sites like LinkedIn, in this economy?”
Particular thanks offered to Jen Gemmel for his wisdom on the matter, which has been included in this article.
The Interim Management IIM LinkedIn group welcomes Interim Managers and prospective Interim Managers, Clients who utilise the services of interims, or are thinking about doing so, Service Providers / Recruitment Consultants who specialise in Interim Management, or who source Interims and Consultants and Industry partners or members of other interim and professional bodies with an interest in Interim Management
The Institute of Interim Management (IIM) hosts the Interim Management IIM group. Since September 2002, the IIM has been a fully independent professional Institute and incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation. It is the only independent UK body serving the interests of Interim practitioners on an international basis. www.iim.org.uk
10.12.09
The state of the Interim Management market October 2009
The Interim Management profession sits at a fascinating cross-roads.
Having the privilege of moderating an Interim Management forum on LinkedIn (Interim Management IIM), I am seeing many interms actively delivery on assignment, but also many Interims increasingly deperate to secure further assignments in the current market. This post is an attempt to make some sense of what is happening in the market.
The state of the market
The first busineses to ‘fall over’ in this recession were those whose business models were either unsustainable outside of a ‘boom economy’ or who through ‘corporate greed’ had ’sold the family silver’ making them critically vulnerable when the downturn came.
Those businesses that have clung on this long have cut costs, used up their reserves and shed staff to the point that then can economically deliver their services in this market. The big question is whether the anticipated and hoped-for upturn in business through this Autumn and into 2010 will be in time to save some of the businesses who are coasting ‘on empty’ and may yet splutter to a stop, tragically short of a fresh injection of ‘fuel’…
There are sector differences of course, with its longer-term budgeting, the public sector (government and health predominantly) is still spending the money that in many areas will be cut from budgets in the months and years to come.
Across the private and not-for-profit sectors, many hatches are still ‘battened down’ and spending is often for emergencies only.
The state of the interim market
Interim assignments have fallen away significantly over the last 2 years, and while there are some market signs of up-turn, that’s an upturn from the bottom of the dip.
There are more interms in the market now beacuse the ‘appeal’ of the interim market in the mid 2000’s brought many new players into the space, meaning that both the average price and average age of interims is under downward pressure in recent times by virtue of more entrants at the bottom end.
As we have hit recession, redundant ‘permanent employees’ have also been offering themselves for ‘interim fixed-term’ work, often at lower day-rates or on fixed-term PAYE contracts. In such a flooded market, there isn’t enough work to go round.
Many seasoned interims are taking permanent work where they can. Many of those who have become interim ‘by convenience’ will doubtless seek to ‘convert’ their fixed term assignments into permanent positions.
It seems inevitable that the number of interims in the space will fall, though not without considerable suffering along the way.
Discretionary and even ‘Investment’ spending by businesses has been hit hard. Interims who have been pretty much continually on assignment for a decade or more are now having 3-6 month assignment gaps, or more…
The state of the recruitment market
There are many challenges facing the recruitment market. With less vacancies to fill, many recruiters are understandably putting on a brave face. Those with strong financial positions are weathering the storm, but everywhere there is downsizing to be seen, with many recruiters changing jobs and either leaving the profession altogether or attempting to find a Corporate ‘in-house’ recruitment role (which are naturally also in short supply.
Recruiters have in multiple cases scaled back their Interim provision, often merging Permanent and Interim practices into one. This has ‘taken the eye off the ball’ when it comes to Interim in many areas.
Sharp practices are on the increase (by Interims and Clients too), and typically fuelled by desperation. Those practices will hurt those individuals / organisations in the medium term, as reputation will remain a key competitive advantage in the longer term.
Added to these woes, the threatening change in the ‘recruitment paradigm’ with social networking sites such as LinkedIn, it is so much easier to find people if you are bothered to look – and many are bothered to do this, cutting the recruiters out of the equation.
With many Interims newer to the Interim profession, they may not yet have built up robust business networks which allow them to pitch for business direct, meaning they are swamping the recruiters with their CVs – and calling, calling calling.
So the dilemma for recruiters is too few vacancies, too many candidates, and actually, finding the perfect candidate remains tricky.
The state of the ‘Interim offering’ with Clients
Many Client companys have been and remain unclear about what Interims do and don’t do. Clients still try to equate Interim day-rates to pro-rata salaries and misunderstand why the two do not match, either from a position of their own savings in PAYE and benefits payments, or from the perspective or having a season Interim with applicable skills to ‘hit the ground running’.
There remains a challenge to Interims themselves and to the Interim Institutions to further market the Interim profession, to enlighten business about the benefits this form of ‘on tap’ professional assistance can bring.
What next for Interims?
The first question is about who you are, and what you believe. That the market will improve seems inevitable, but how long can you ‘breathe underwater’? Those with in still boyant sectors or with better Client pipelines will be able to stay the course, as will those with built up reserves they are able to run down. For others who are committed to the Interim lifestyle, it’s going to take hightened marketing, sales acumen, sheer stubbornness and some measure of luck to ensure ongoing work.
Whatever emerges from the recruitment industry, sharper, leaner and probably evolved will remain a key component of the market, and meaningful relationships with valued Consultants remains important – and they are relationships to be fostered for mutual business benefit, not just the ‘panic CV’ when ‘off-assignment’, but returned calls and help to identify possible vacancies when the Interim is ‘on-assignment’.
For those Interims whose traditional routes to market have withered, they will need to reinvent their marketing offering; To differentiate their Interim brand from the un-branded or opportunist ‘Interim’. Survival of the fittest. Flexibility and adaptability remain key.
As social networking and the internet play an increasing part of marketing and brand, the time of ‘Interim Manager 2.0′ has arrived. Weaving a credible identity in cyberspace; A clear and attractive website that validates your offering, and enough ‘lures’ on a variety of social networking and job websites to lead those searching for someone like you, back to you.
The Interim profession that emerges in 2010 will be stronger, fitter and better equipped to assist recovering buisinesses, but not without casualties.
To discuss this post, please feel welcome to comment or drop me an e-mail via my website.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant (Thames Valley & London)
Looking for that next HR assignmement. Small HR jobs also carried out.
www.visiblegoal.com
09.21.09
How to not win a job assignment
Lets clarify one thing straight away:
This post is not about mistakes that may lead to you failing to win a job assignment; It is about what good things can be done in instances when you do not secure an assignment, particularly when it is a ‘close miss’.
The route to an assignment (and this applies to permanent recruitment as well) can be summarised as:
“no”, “no”, “no”, “no” (n), “yes“…. (n = as many instances as applicable)
Bluntly, securing a role rarely happens on the first application, so ‘rejection’ is inevitably part of the process.
These strategies have helped me with this process:
- Rejection is rarely personal. Hiring managers make choices, be they good or bad, for the benefit of their businesses. Unless you gave really dumb answers to questions or otherwise behaved inappropriately, there is no reason to feel hurt or lessened by a adverse selection decision. Within reason, they are entitled to engage who they want and their decision should be respected.
- Review any answers you gave that did not hit their mark. If a hiring manager wants ’skill x’ and you didn’t ‘t have it, there is no fault with your interview technique (though if this happens regularly you may consider training to get ’skill x’). On the other hand, if a question left you flailing, or your answer confused the interviewer, make a few notes afterwards about how you could have better answered, so that you are better prepared if you get that type of question again in the future. Try to be dispassionate about this process, there is no need to feel bad about ‘mis-answered’ questions.
- Use the ‘no’ as positive mental energy. There is nothing to be gained by wallowing in angst following a ‘no’, because it spoils your mental outlook which needs to be in good shape for other leads and applications. Use this ‘no’ as a trigger to ‘put your foot back on the accelerator’ in respect of other applications, networking, and other activities. There is a natural temptation when an interview process is going well to ‘ease off’ on other activities and start to invest an emotional connection with your target role and company; Feeling sorry for yourself hinders your search activity, use a ‘no’ as an energising ‘kick up the pants’…
- Take care if asking for ‘feedback’. Following up with the hiring manager for feedback about why you didn’t get them job should only be done with great care. Most managers will avoid getting into such a discussion, particularly in these days of common litigation, and will offer ’stock reasons’ about the other candidate having better ‘fit’ or ’skills’. Personally, I would only ask the line manager for feedback if they explicitly offer it, and then I would restrict my enquiry to: What skill areas or Industry knowledge would have helped being stronger/present? Were there answer areas that could have been more clearly explained? If a recruiter is involved, they may be a better source for feedback data, but again be careful and be very dispassionate in your questioning. Focus on ‘what can help in the future’, not ‘what went wrong in the interview’.
- The hirer may be a source of work in the future. If you formed a decent relationship with the hiring manager or any others within the interview process, then despite not being selected for this role, you got this far, so try to ‘bank’ that relationship for future reference. This can be achieved in several ways: A quick e-mail or text to say thanks for considering you, and leaving your contact details in case ’someone else’ is looking for a suitable person at some point in the future. The key here is a ‘light and friendly touch’; No-one will keep your details if you are not gracious in non-selection. I have had work referrals as a result of this appraoch.
- If a recruiter/service provider was used, build that relationship. If you were a ‘close miss’, the recruiter has concrete evidence that you are placeable. The recruiter has invested time in assessing and submitting you, so help them realise their ‘investment by placing you into a similar more suitable role somewhere else. Be courteous, ask for feedback gracefully and ask to keep on the recruiter’s radar (this could by by occasional e-mail or by LinkedIn).
With practice, it is possible to make ‘not getting assignments’ a productive activity, rather than a source of frustration.
To discuss this post, please feel welcome to comment or drop me an e-mail via my website.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant (Thames Valley & London)
www.visiblegoal.com
08.26.09
When does an e-mail disclaimer over-kill?
I totally creased myself laughing today.
A simple ‘out-of-office’ vacation e-mail reply was automatically caveated by that company’s longer e-mail disclaimer. I’m still trying to get my head around the legal ramifications of how I treat the privileged information that the person is on holiday; Whether the individual and the company would share the view that he is actually away; and should I quake in my boots because I have committed an unauthorised dissemination.
E-mail text:
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From: Sender Name [mailto:sender.name@xyzcompany.com]
Sent: 26 August 2009 17:49
To: Ad van der Rest
Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: (E-mail from Ad)
I am on annual holiday on From 17th August returning on 1st September with occasional access to emails.
If you have an urgent request please contact Shirley on 01234 567890
________________________________________
This message contains privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the recipient named above.
Its contents do not constitute a commitment by XYZ Company PLC (“XYZ Company”) unless separately endorsed by an authorised representative of XYZ Company.
Any use, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or unauthorised disclosure of this message is prohibited.
If you receive this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your computer systems.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect those of XYZ Company.
XYZ Company believes this e-mail and any attachments to be virus free. However, the recipient is responsible for ensuring it is virus free and XYZ Company do not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage howsoever caused from use of this e-mail, attachments or contents.
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For students of e-mail disclaimers, I found this interesting article written by Jeffrey Paul Goldberg on the subject of Stupid E-mail Disclaimers.
(And if you recognise this quoted e-mail as your own – I hope you also think it is funny!)
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
08.09.09
From data to wisdom
With the moon landings anniversary fresh in mind, this is a snippet from a (member protected) article on the nature of knowledge, from the pm4success newsletter (no.1),
which made me smile…
Data: ASCII 0110010 01100010110000 0110111 0110110 0111001
Data converted: 2 1 0 7 6 9
Information: 21/07/69 (21st July 1969)
Knowledge: The day man first set foot on the moon.
Wisdom: “A giant leap for mankind” (Armstrong)
Exaggeration: “the greatest week in human history since the Creation” (Nixon)
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
08.07.09
Studying for PRINCE2 2009 Practitioner
This is a subject-specific post about studying PRINCE2 (2009 standards) and taking the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner exams, as part of a ‘5-day’ trainer-led intensive training course, in London (3-7 August 09). The purpose of the post is to give my ‘take’ on this approach, so that anyone considering PRINCE2 study may have another perspective about what happens day-to-day during this method of study. I make no claims that what happened to me is representative, as it is simply my personal view as a delegate and exam candidate, though from what I can tell, the 3+1.5 day Foundation/Practitioner course format appears fairly typical.
PRE-COURSE
I received pre-course materials 10 days before the course. The training company provided ’summarised’ pre-course reading (about 1/4 of the ‘density’ of the PRINCE2 manual, as well as the PRINCE2 manual itself. You may be tempted to buy the manual (Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2: 2009 Edition) ahead of time, so check if it is included in the courseware, if it is (as it was in my case) that will save you £60-75. The manual is the reference-work for the exams; you could just buy, read and understand the manual, and book the exams direct, but that would be very tough. The manual is clear and nicely written, but the training process does aid understanding and a group training setting adds focus and impetus.
The pre-course guide recommended 8-12 hours pre-study for Foundation only (one exam) and a total of 12-20 hours before doing the 5 day Practitioner (both exams). I did about 16 hours. Skim-reading the material is not enough in my opinion, actually summarising some notes for yourself is a good move and frankly I would have benefited from a few more hours preparation. In hindsight I would have liked to have been able to have at my recall all the ‘bones’ of the Themes, Principles and Processes before the course started; As it was, I was fairly ok, but I had a few gaps. Once the course starts, there is little opportunity to ‘make up time’ due to the intensity of the learning.
DAY ONE
The trainer started going through the Principles, Themes and Processes of PRINCE2. There were opportunities to ask questions and try some ’sample’ questions. It is intensive; the PRINCE2 method is not ‘rocket science’ but there is quite a lot of it. While I have run projects before (in a non-PRINCE2 environment) prior non-PRINCE2 project management knowledge does not really help, in fact it can hinder. The PRINCE2 method is detailed and logical; It can be Tailored (particularly emphasised in the 2009 standards) but it is not a methodology forgiving of ’dodges’ and ‘tricks’. Some of the more seasoned project managers on the course found it all too easy to fall into the trap of inferring extraneous knowledge from their own experience that misled them from the correct PRINCE2 approach. By the end of day one, I was very tired, and a further 2-3 hours of homework lay ahead (including trying sample exam questions). Having any evening commitments during such a training course, would prove problematic.
DAY TWO
More of the same: the trainer continued going through the PRINCE2 material, supplementing this with group reviews of incorrectly answered sample questions. This was the longest day of tuition because it lacked the ‘nice intro’ from day one. The pace was relentless all day and then there was homework afterwards. This is why the pre-course study is so important; If you have learnt the basics ahead of time, it is so much easier to absorb, understand the knowledge delivered and mentally handle the rate of ‘knowledge absorbtion’. At the end of day two I was quite exhausted, struggling to complete all the recommended homework, in favour of getting a sufficient night’s sleep.
DAY THREE
The coverage of course material ended during the morning. From mid-day there was the opportunity to complete a sample Foundation exam ahead of the actual PRINCE2 Foundation exam toward the end of the day. I found the time spent ‘rehearsing’ the sample exam and going through incorrect answers, as a group, very valuable indeed, because there is an ‘approach’ to the PRINCE2 exam questions that is enhanced by your familiarity with it. I think this aspect of the study would be harder to do by distance learning and the trainer feedback during this part of the course was particularly useful. The Foundation exam itself consists of 75 multiple-choice questions in one hour. It is hard and tests your knowledge well. 50% is a pass, but as success in the Practitioner exam on the Friday relies upon having a decent grounding in the PRINCE2 method, achieving a strong score gives a firm foundation for the more practical applied approach (unsurprisingly) of the Practitioner exam. More evening homework, ahead of the Practitioner phase of the training.
DAY FOUR
Any last notion that the PRINCE2 multiple choice test paper may be ‘dumbing down’ is swept away as you start to go through Practitioner exam sample questions. To give an example of two types of question: One is selecting two correct answers from a list of five (one in ten chance), another is determining whether two related statements are independently true or false, and whether a pair of true statements have a justifying relationship. These questions are set against a backdrop of a given scenario with additional scenario information offered to tackle particular questions. It’s challenging. Day Four is essentially about going through sample Practitioner exam questions and reviewing weak areas. This is particularly useful, because the final evening’s homework can then focus on the weakest Themes or Process elements. One of the most successful way to improve overall marks is to lift the scores in the weakest areas as they are having the greatest impact (paradoxically) on the overall score.
DAY FIVE
After a focused evening reviewing the Themes and Processes where I was weaker, the exam took place on the morning of day five. I don’t see how it is possible to ‘wing it’ – you need to know, understand and be able to apply the PRINCE2 method to pass. There are no ‘half marks’ for being partially correct, so 59 correct out of 108 questions in 2.5 hours is a tough and challenging bar to attain. That said, the fruits of the previous days study fall into place now. It is very satisfying to identify possible answers that try to distract you, but are flawed because of their ambiguity, incorrect information or mis-directed timelines. It is very pleasing to be able to mentally say: “aha – I see where you are trying to steer me away (you cheeky exam author, you)”… There remain occasional questions where you agonise between two choices, but all being well not so many to be a problem. The other positive about the Practitioner exam is that it is ‘open book’. You have access to your PRINCE2 manual as you would in ‘real life’. This does mean that the Practitioner exam does not shy away from exacting detail, but if you know the method well, you just have enough time to check the manual to find or validate your answer, so long as you know pretty much where to look.
CONCLUSIONS
‘PRINCE2 Practitioner’ training is tough; This adds to its value.
The Training company I used was excellent (Datrix Training), as was the trainer (thanks Miguel). These courses cost a little over £1,000 for the course inclusive of exams and courseware. Just booking the exams and buying the manual by themselves costs 2/3rds of this amount so that’s not bad value. I have also seen other courses costing between £1,000 and £3,000 (some residential), as well as various distance learning options that seem to fall between the costs of the exam fees and the cost of a training centre course.
To find out more, check out APM’s official PRINCE2 site, as well as other interesting sites such as Project in a box, PRINCE2: 2009 Project, prince2.com and Datrix Training.
EPILOGUE
And I did pass.
Tough to achieve but well worth it.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
07.31.09
One size does not fit all
I value ideas of simplicity and elegance, but imposing blanket rules that are ill-equipped to handle with the complexity of the situation, can be naive and destructive.
I’ve been watching with interest, discussions concerning the introduction of UK protection legislation to benefit low paid agency workers (BBC News); Legislation that would at the same time fetter and hinder the commercial arrangements that interim managers, consultants and freelancers seek to have with their client businesses and third party service providers. (You can read some of the excellent rebuttals at the Institute of Interim Management and Professional Contractors’ Group sites.)
We are in the realm of babies and bathwater. Laudable aims have unintended or disgregarded effects in other areas.
Taking the time and thought to have intelligence of design is the hallmark of elegant change processe, regardless of whether those processes be more simple or more complex.
Attempts to legislate problems away, rather than thinking them through, have sometimes resulted in quirky results:
The UK’s 2004 ‘Three-step dispute resolution’ legislation, in which employers were constrained by ‘ process rules’ rather than common sense when dealing with grievance and discipline, is one of the few pieces of employment legislation to have been repealed (in April 2009) due to the burden of following rules for their own sake, and the growing ranks of serial litigants queuing up at Employment Tribunals. (Personnel Today: Defunct dispute resolution process contributed to stress litigation)
In the 1890’s Indiana’s legislature attempted to simplify the value of Pi to 3.2 (Indiana Pi Bill at Wikipedia)
Although the European Union has a wonderful notion of ’subsidiarity’: the idea that you should resolve matters at as local level, the EU struggles to hold back the temptation to issue continent-wide blanket legislation that fits in with the notion of ‘an ever-closer union’. (Subsidiarity at Wikipedia)
More hopefully, after 20 years, 26 sets of marketing rules about the shape of fruit have now been repealed (BBC News). The European Directive on Aubergines was said to have run to 700 pages.
With further enthusiasm, the 2009 version of Prince2, the ’standard’ Project Management method, has introduced a tailored approach to its method in order to respond practically to the varying size and complexity of projects: I wonderful step forward.
So tailored approches, and sensible customisation can find a usueful and valued home even within seemingly bureacratic processes.
I hope common sense will prevail in the discussion about Agency Workers rules.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
07.21.09
The best movies about work
In response to a super LinkedIn question by Lou Susi, this is a rundown of some movies that show insight, vision and resonance, into the ‘world of work’ (perhaps…).
The best depiction of cut-throat office ’sales’ is “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1982). It’s tough depiction of power and despair is very moving: “We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”
Other contenders include: “O Lucky Man” (1976). In this wonderful film, a coffee salesman goes on a surrealistic ‘life tour’. Careers after all often have structure and planning only in retrospect.
“The Secret Of My Success” (1987) is my favourite ‘corporate comedy’. You could almost sit at a desk in a large company and get away with it, couldn’t you? Michael J Fox does, in this funny film. Other corporate comedies include: “Nine To Five” (1980) and “Working Girl” (1988).
In darker territory, the compelling silent movie “The Last Laugh” (1924) shows the pain and suffering that follows a hotel doorman losing his job.
The Documentary “Enron – The Smartest Guys In The Room” (2005) deserves a mention for showing how we got to where we are now.
Recommended by mcarteratthemovies (http://mcarteratthemovies.wordpress.com/) are “Office Space” (1999) and “The Promotion” (2008). (Both do an excellent job of cataloguing the way it’s the little things — an annoying receptionist, a boss who thinks he’s smarter and funnier than he is, a cold-hearted coworker — that cause the biggest meltdowns.)
And finally, as an HR person, the movie to resonate for me would have to be “The Terminator” (1984), wouldn’t it…?
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
07.09.09
Winning ‘hearts and minds’ in military and corporate life
I had the privilege of being at an event a few days ago in support of the Afghanistan Trust. The after-dinner speech focused on the type of ‘day in the office’ armed forces in a conflict zone have, as opposed to the types of ‘conflict and crisis’ situations we supposedly have in Corporate Life.
One story told involved delivering 100 tonnes of Turbine to the Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province. Achieving this, in part, by consulting with the elders of the local population who would benefit from the Kajaki Dam Project is not the strategy that fills headlines, but it shows the importance of interpersonal as well as military engagement. By this dialogue, the local population encouraged the local Taliban to remove roadside bombs from the route – a plan which would have been even more successful, had non-local Taliban officials not rejected the ‘co-operation’ (read more about the Kajaki Dam Project).
Military and political matters aside, this reminds me of so many ‘corporate actions’ where a tough course of action must be implemented. Businesses who have a reasonable and appropriate engagement with local employees, using Consultative Forums in support have a better chance of carrying out difficult activities without leaving the state of employee engagement and motivation in tatters.
What type of victory is it to ‘push through’ a change programme without decent communication, if the employees you rely upon to move the business forward afterwards are left distrustful, poorly engaged, and have updated CVs ready to use when the ‘upturn’ comes.
Additionally, while it is fine to have a ‘corporate plan’, the principle of empowerment should apply equally, if not more, to bad times as to good times. Company Boards who leave space for local flexibility in the implementation of ‘corporate plans’ further allow for employees to remain engaged even in tough times.
These approaches are not ‘Namby-pamby’ HR. They are a common-sense recognition of the importance of ‘bringing the work-force with you’. Just as you can win a battle through military might, but lose a war.
Ad van der Rest
Interim HR Director & Consultant; Thames Valley & London; www.visiblegoal.com
