News Alert

The demand for professionals with IT security and project management certifications has never grown faster. Off Peak Training has expanded its ownership and its course offerings. This month Chris Talmont and Chris Schulz, were added as principals to the business.

Official Press Release:

www.offpeaktraining.com/press

Additional Courses:

Additional PMP Certification courses and CISSP Certification courses.
www.offpeaktraining.com/pmp
www.offpeaktraining.com/cissp

As a certified Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.), Off Peak Training will attend the Project Management Institute’s R.E.P. Forum, from July 11-14th. The conference will be held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center, in Maryland’s National Harbor. We are excited to be attending this conference, which will feature speakers and presentations from project management scholars and experts. We are committed to continuous improvement in our knowledge of project management and in our course material, and we are looking forward to enhancing our current PMP certification course content with the latest, cutting edge information presented at this conference.

According to the PMI website, “this premier educational conference gathers thought leaders in project management to share new research findings and shape future directions for the profession. Participation in the event is limited to 500 scholars, senior practitioners and students of project management. It will feature upwards of 60 sessions and, in addition to traditional paper presentations, will include new interactive session formats, symposia and student poster sessions. Attendees will also use the latest in social media networking to further their participation and enhance their experience.”

PMI is the world’s leading professional membership organization for project managers and is the only project management association with an established academic research program. In order to become a Registered Education Provider, Off Peak Training’s course materials went through a rigorous review by PMI education experts to ensure that our course material is of high quality and in-line with PMI standards.

Sign up today for PMP Certification training in Tyson’s Corner Virginia August 23-27th, 2010. Full schedule available at www.offpeaktraining.com/pmp

Read testimonials at: http://www.offpeaktraining.com/category/testimonials/

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private classes to help prepare business professionals for the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.

“Off Peak Training’s course was extremely helpful in helping me learn what to expect for the PMP exam and in guiding me as to how best to approach it and ensure my success. One of the greatest benefits is that the instructors gave me typical situations and tips, strategies and approaches that gave me a lot of confidence. I had taken it before and hadn’t passed so they sat me down, gave me some great info and I felt like hey ’I can do this!’ I’m managing a few projects and will be sending one of my employees to take their course. Both my boss and myself felt it was important. He feels it’s important for people to “get it.” If I had to describe the course and what I got out of it in one word, I would say ‘outstanding.’ “

Ted Kramer, PMP
Booz Allen Hamilton

Sign up today for PMP Certification training in Tyson’s Corner Virginia August 23-27th, 2010. Full schedule available at www.offpeaktraining.com/pmp

Read more testimonials at: http://www.offpeaktraining.com/category/testimonials/

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private classes to help prepare business professionals for the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.

Come join us at the 8th annual PMIWDC golf outing being held at Westfields Golf Club tomorrow June 3rd at 1pm. As a sponsor, Off Peak Training is giving away more than $10,000 worth of prizes. The odds are in your favor. Come out and have fun!

Off Peak Training is proud to sponsor this season’s Friday Night Live concerts in Herndon, VA. Come join us, starting this Friday night, and enjoy free outdoor music. This event is great for the whole family and features local cover bands from all over the east coast. Your food and beverage tips help support local schools. The big kickoff is this Friday, and Off Peak Training will be in attendance, so look for us this Friday, and all summer long.
More details and concert schedule can be found online at: http://herndonrocks.com/

Off Peak Training is excited to announce our participation in this year’s DC Urban Dare! Urban Dare is like a one-day Amazing Race with teams of two racing around the city using a list of clues to lead them to various locations. At each location, the teams must complete a “dare” (a challenge) in order to proceed to the next area. Off Peak Training has assembled a series of teams that will be competing on April 17 for the chance to proceed to the Super Dare and compete in a 3-day race on a cruise ship for a $5,000 prize.

The proceeds from this year’s Urban Dare will be going towards the fight against breast cancer. Off Peak Training understands that breast cancer awareness and research is vital to women everywhere and is thrilled to be a part of an event that will not only raise money and spread awareness, but is an opportunity to have fun while doing it. We care deeply for our friends, family, and followers and encourage everyone to help support the cause.

Off Peak Training would especially like to thank the IT Security and Project Management Professional community for their support. Please be sure to check out photos from Urban Dare following the event on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/offpeaktraining

The much anticipated FastTrack Schedule 10 was released by Sterling Virginia based AEC Software this week. This version promises effort driven scheduling. I love FastTrack Schedule and have been using FastTrack Schedule since version 7. Effort driven scheduling is the one feature that has been lacking all these years. I am very excited to role up my sleeves and dive in!

AEC Software describes the feature – “For tasks that can be completed faster by adding more resources, use effort-driven scheduling for simple schedule compression. Automatically adjust task durations as resources are added or subtracted, while keeping the total work for a task constant.”

Here is a video about effort driven scheduling:

Here is a video about the Mac Version:

I really enjoyed taking the PMP exam prep course offered by Off Peak Training. Their offering was in the evenings that worked perfectly for me as I have an 8 to 5 job. Chris Talmont was the instructor of the course. He is a knowledgeable guy on how to master PMP exams. His knowledge of the PMBOK is outstanding and his teaching methodology is excellent. For a person who has never seen the PMBOK, this would be an excellent course to prep for the PMP exam. The biggest value-add for me was the simulated exam set by Chris that helped me focus on my weaknesses. Overall, this was an immensely helpful experience for me considering the material that was covered, the instructor and the classroom discussions with other potential PMP candidates. Both Chris and Nicholas were very helpful before and after the class. I highly recommend Off Peak Training to anyone who is trying to prep for the PMP exam.

Gurdial Saini, PMP
Emergent BioSolutions

Read more testimonials at: http://www.offpeaktraining.com/category/testimonials/

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private classes to help prepare business professionals for the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.

Without Off Peak Training there is no way I would have successfully passed my PMP Exam. My instructor was so knowledgeable and made every effort to ensure the material was understood. He even stayed late going over project management concepts that I needed extra help with.
Their goal is your goal which is why I am so thankful I selected Off Peak Training with their expertise in the field of Project Management and their flexibility with scheduling. It would be a big mistake to go with anyone else for your PMP Training.

Thank you!

Manohar Kumar, PMP
eMentum Inc.

Read more testimonials at: http://www.offpeaktraining.com/category/testimonials/

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private classes to help prepare business professionals for the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.

Sometimes it happens. Or it doesn’t happen. The cause is irrelevant because no matter what, at some point we must deliver bad news to our project sponsors or contacts. Even project managers with the most impeccable track records run into trouble every now and then—it’s part of risk. There are plenty of materials out there on dealing with and mitigating risk, but sometimes we have to face the situation.

There are some best practices to handling this scenario. It’s not a guarantee that no one will become upset or that it will save your project, but at the very least, these are a series of actions that you may take to get the best results out of a bad situation.

1. Get the facts together. Never walk into a situation without knowing the lay of the land and all the available information. This will help to keep you in a position of expertise and help to alleviate some stress.
2. Gather solutions. The best thing you can offer your client contact after delivering bad news is some actionable items to rectify the problem. It shows that you are aware of the issue and on top of solving it.
3. Be proactive. The more time that passes between discovery of the problem and informing your client, the worse the results will be. Do not ever wait for your clients to discover the issue on their own.
4. Be objective and pragmatic. The client sometimes gets upset; it is inevitable. Your job is not to battle them, but to work through the situation and get to a solution as quickly as possible.
5. Don’t get emotional. This may be the most difficult rule to abide. When problems arise, tensions mount, stress rises, and sometimes hurtful things are said. You must always remind yourself that this is a business situation—not a personal one and that to persevere, you have to push whatever feelings you have aside and get the job done.
6. Blame can wait. You may want to blame someone on your team or even on the client’s team. The client will probably want to do this even more than you do, but this is not the time. Finding fault before the problem is solved only wastes time and further complicates the issue. There is always time during performance reports, debriefs and meetings to worry about post-resolution responsibility.

You may encounter situations that require different approaches, but following the above tactics will help you to brave what can be a very difficult task during a project. Never forget to be proactive and to act as an expert and you will experience success, despite unavoidable problems.

Harris Eisenberg, MBA
Harris has worked in a project management role within both the marketing and music industries. Most recently, as Strategy and Business Lead for a small marketing agency in Virginia, Harris managed dozens of projects from individual brochure development to enterprise software development for the Federal government. If you wish to contact Harris, you may email him at harris.eisenberg@gmail.com.

Off Peak Training, a Reston, VA based company, offers public and private training classes to help prepare business professionals for professional certifications like the PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-SP®, CISSP®, CAPM®, CISA®, and is a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute.