FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions - Workshops
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1. What is “Managing Projects Across Borders” (MPAB)?
The Managing Projects Across BordersSM
series enables program managers, project managers, and other professionals to master the challenges of cross-cultural project management
and collaboration. The workshops in the series teach the competencies needed to:
master the many challenges of communicating across distances, languages, and cultures,
avoid misaligned expectations across international project teams and internal/external stakeholders,
initiate projects effectively by leveraging cultural differences rather than letting them become obstacles, and
successfully execute projects in spite of differences in values and work styles.
2. What is the “Managing International Projects” workshop about,
and
who should attend?
The Managing International Projects (MIP) workshop teaches participants how to tailor team
communication to expectations and preferences, initiate international projects effectively, master the virtual team challenges of
distance, culture, and languages, and execute the right strategies to anticipate, prevent, and/or resolve conflicts. The same
content is taught in a combination of two online classes called Initiating International Projects (IIP)
and Executing International Projects (EIP). The
following participant groups will find this workshop / these online classes highly valuable:
Project managers working with international project teams
Project managers working with foreign collaborative development or outsourcing partners
Team members assigned to international projects
3. What is the “Negotiating and Working with International
Customers,
Suppliers or Partners” workshop about, and who
should attend?
The Negotiating and Working with International Customers, Suppliers or Partners (NIP) workshop
teaches participants the rules and best practices needed to master complex cross-boundary situations. It addresses
the special requirements of influencing and negotiating in other cultures as well as the complex relationship and conflict management
skills involved in establishing productive relationships with international customers. The following participant groups will
find this workshop highly valuable:
Project managers working with foreign customers or with collaborative development / outsourcing partners
Program managers overseeing an international project environment that includes foreign stakeholders and/or customers
Others involved in an international project environment that includes foreign stakeholders and/or customers, for instance business development managers, relationship managers, operations managers, or functional domain managers
4. I would like to take both “Managing International Projects”
and
“Negotiating and Working with International Customers,
Suppliers, and Partners.” Is there anything I need to
consider?
The order in which you take the two workshops is not critical. However, the first day of each workshop covers the same content: the
cultural differences and their relationship to an international project success. If you attended one MPAB workshop, you can safely
skip Day One of the next one.
5. Do the MPAB workshops include case studies and exercises?
Which
countries and cultures do the MPAB workshops address?
MPAB workshop time balances group discussions (large and small) and application exercises in which participants apply the skills taught to actual business situations. The MPAB workshops include a number of different case studies, some of which extend across several practice sessions.
The workshops cover a wide range of cultures, with examples geared specifically to those that are of highest interest to participants.
Application exercises include role plays involving Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Hungarian, and Korean nationals, as well as case
studies and other practice with examples from several other cultures. In addition, time is provided for participants to ask specific
questions about international groups with whom they are most concerned.
6. How will I personally benefit from attending the “Managing
International
Projects” workshop? How will my company benefit
from sending me?
Individually, you will communicate more effectively, identify potential problems and conflicts before they affect project success, achieve more productive teamwork across your international project team, and improve the overall planning and execution of your projects. You will avoid some of the common and costly errors that project managers make in working different cultures: errors that sometimes cost you time and goodwill, and sometimes cost you the project.
Your company will enjoy considerable returns on the investment from better forecasting, higher resource utilization, and significantly
higher project success rates.
7. How will I personally benefit from attending the “Negotiating
and
Working with International Customers, Suppliers and
Partners” workshop? How will my company benefit from
sending me?
Individually, you will communicate more effectively, improve your ability to influence and negotiate with foreign customers, suppliers, and partners, build stronger international client relationships, and resolve conflicts with customers, suppliers, and partners in a productive fashion.
Your company will enjoy higher project success rates because of better partner alignment and stakeholder support. In addition,
they can expect more favorable negotiation outcomes as well as substantially higher levels of customer satisfaction and supplier
productivity.
8. What do past participants say about MPAB workshops?
The first MPAB workshops have been conducted in May 2005. Many have been held since then. The feedback from participants has
consistently been extremely positive when measured against the highest standards. When asked whether they would recommend the
workshop they took to others, 100% of participants said “yes.” Frequent comments include “best workshop I ever attended” or
“I hope that my co-workers and my boss can come.”
9. Who teaches the MPAB workshops?
The primary instructors are Sue Freedman, Ph.D, and Lothar Katz
10. What minimum work experience are MPAB workshop
participants expected
to have?
MPAB participants should be familiar with all fundamental project management practices and should have at least two years of actual
project management experience either as team members or project managers. Being a certified PMP® is advantageous, but it is not
a prerequisite for the series. Having personal experience in an international project environment is a great advantage and may make
the learning experience more valuable.
11. Do the MPAB workshops follow the practices described in
PMI’s
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®)?
Yes. The MPAB workshops were originally developed and conducted in cooperation with the University of Texas at Dallas, whose
Project Management Program is accredited by PMI. All MPAB workshops are based on the practices described in PMBOK®.
12. Which areas of project management as defined in PMI’s
PMBOK® are
addressed in the MPAB workshops?
Managing International Projects (MIP) focuses primarily on these project management knowledge areas: Integration Management, Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, and Risk Management.
Negotiating and Working with International Customers, Suppliers or Partners (NIP) focuses primarily on these project management knowledge
areas: Integration Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, Procurement Management.
13. Will I get a certificate for attending a MPAB workshop?
Yes. You will receive a certificate from the University of Texas at Dallas.
14. I am a Project Management Professional (PMP), certified by
the
Project Management Institute (PMI). Can I get credits for
my continuing professional education by
attending MPAB
workshops?
Yes. Attendees of MPAB workshops earn 24 PDUs for each three-day workshop.
15. How long are the MPAB workshops?
Managing International Projects (MIP) and Negotiating and Working with International
Customers, Suppliers or Partners (NIP) are each three days long, though there is an abbreviated two-day version of MIP.
Workshop days usually start around 8:30am and end around 5pm, which includes about 1.5 to 2 hours for lunch and breaks.
16. Are MPAB workshops also being offered on-line over the web?
Yes. Please see our information about Online Classes for more information.
17. Can I copy MPAB workshop materials and give them to my
colleagues
or friends?
We sometimes give special permission for distribution of specific articles and tools, if they are produced as is, with all references
included. Unless otherwise noted, copying any of the MPAB materials without written permission from the copyright owners is
prohibited by law.
® PMI, PMP, and PMBOK are registered marks of
Project Management Institute, Inc.