Project Management for Training
Panel

September 27, 2006

Note:  Senior Training Directors' Forums are targeted for training and development professionals who have a minimum of 10 years of training and development (or equivalent) experience and are responsible for developing training and development strategy. Director level professionals are also responsible for decision making in their organizations. These programs are designed to offer strategic insight and time for round table interaction with peers.

Overview

Your skill at managing large scale projects determines in large part your effectiveness in carrying out your training and change management missions. In this session, we will hear from two highly tenured professionals who have taught project management skills to a wide variety of organizations. We will explore both key process tools and the human relations and communications and change management side of the equation.

Program

Jeff Crow will address the following critical project success factors:

• Beginning with a clear goal rather than a delivery date
• Overcoming lack of control and inadequate resources
• Responding to unrealistic deadlines
• Planning before taking action

Using a simple training-development project as an example, Jeff will provide some key planning and tracking tools that can contribute to successful project outcomes.

Tonia McConnell will further develop the topic by discussing the critically important aspects of communicating and managing toward change.

We will then break into smaller groups to apply these concepts by developing a “stakeholder analysis” and “communications plan,” using templates and techniques provided by the speakers. Each group will determine its top three questions, which will be addressed by the speakers in the large group setting during the second half of the program. This event promises to be highly interactive and each participant will leave with practical tools and templates to take back to the workplace.

There will be refreshments and networking time before the program begins at 8 am, a 15-minute mid-morning break and 30 minutes for networking with your peers at the end of the program.

Speakers

Tonia McConnell

Tonia McConnell, MS, has experience in retail, healthcare, government and social services, manufacturing and high tech, and wears several consulting hats. Tonia has developed and delivered classroom training and facilitation of group process. She has worked with public and private sector clients in the areas of trainer and team development, leadership, quality and process improvement, organizational alignment, and communication skills. Tonia teaches Leadership and Change, Teambuilding and Employee Development and Project Management Communications and Teamwork for Portland State University’s Professional Development Center. She is most interested in the sine qua non (the essential element) that sparks real change in the individual and the organization.

Jeff Crow

Jeff Crow is president of Crow Development Corporation, a professional services consulting firm headquartered in Portland serving clients throughout the world. Jeff’s practice is focused on assisting organizations undergoing significant change, either self-imposed or brought about by changes in the organization's environment, with a strong emphasis on project management and process effectiveness. Jeff has over 40 years experience in business, with the last 21 years in management consulting on organizational development and training. His clients range from small, family-owned enterprises to multi-national corporations, government, and non-profit organizations. He and his associates provide consulting services and customized training in project management, process improvement, organizational effectiveness and team building as well as client-specific services to individual clients and organizations.

Jeff is the developer of an innovative project management methodology and author of Applying Project Management in the Workplace. The book is being used as the textbook for project management classes in several colleges and universities across the country. His training programs in project management, process analysis and design, and team building are dynamic and highly interactive. They focus on providing practical tools and techniques, and hands-on experience in a real-world setting.

Facilitator

Jan Foster
Account Executive
Planet Productions

Jan Foster is the Account Executive for Planet Productions, which develops custom web-based training programs for a wide variety of clients including OHSU, Intel, HP, Kaiser, Powell’s Books, Nike, Standard Insurance and many more. Jan consults with Planet’s clients to understand their needs for developing and deploying custom e-learning programs and then is involved as they manage the launch of programs and the supporting communication to ensure its success. Jan works closely with Planet’s project management team to ensure that programs are completed on time, on budget and meets the client’s objectives. Jan manages her own processes to complete complex RFPs, ensure client satisfaction and manage the many details of client contractual requirements. Jan will guide the discussion on project management adding relevant information from her clients’ experiences.

Details

Return to Top