Derek Rhodes

😃 Are you ready for this? After getting away for a few days to see family I haven’t seen in over 2 years, I’m back and about ready to roll out another series! The topic for this series? 🎉 Common PMO Mistakes! This series will have 15 parts to it—15 nuggets of wisdom to help PMOs succeed and ultimately provide HUGE VALUE to orgs. 💰💰💰 Who should be interested in this upcoming series? If you are any of the following: 🎯 Work in a PMO 🎯 Lead a PMO 🎯 Work on project teams 🎯 Work in a department that has project work 🎯 Lead an org or department 🥳 Stay tuned for this series starting next week! 👉 While I have the series planned out, like any good project professional, I can be adaptable! If you have an area you want me to consider addressing, let me know in the comments! ____________________ 🌟 Want a leader for your business who can help transform your PMO into a strategic IMPACT DRIVER that can solve your greatest organizational issues? Today can be your lucky day! Reach out to me and let’s discuss what I can do for your org to support its goals and objectives! _________________ 🔔 Ring the bell to follow me on LinkedIn for topics on #ProjectManagement, #ProgramManagement, #PMO, #BusinessTransformation, #CareerTips, and #Leadership. #ProjectManager #ProgramManager #BusinessAnalysis #BusinessAnalyst #ProjectManagementProfessional #PMOLeadership #PMOLeader #PortfolioManagement

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It's been an amazing #ProjectManagement and #PMO journey with Arraya Solutions. We are here to serve the interest of our customers and ensure high-quality #ITSolutions #Project success! I've enjoyed working with great thought leaders such as those on my team and our executive leadership team. This blog article is a good summary of some of our activities. I'm also proud that our #team has scored another perfect 100 #NPS. AWESOME TEAM, #ArrayaRocks! #PMI #Agile

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For those who are following my progress, I finished the Certified Technical Architect program. Completed week 9 thru 12. Also, this morning, I defended/finished my Capstone Review. Thank goodness this is nearly over. Key dates - started January 24th was the kickoff and I defended May 13th - 110 days. We covered the following: ✅ Week 9 - Integration Leading Practices, Plarform Data and Integrations, and Integration Protocols and IntegrationHub ✅ Week 10 - Design and Optimize Intelligent Workflows, Process Automation Designer, and Citizen Developer ✅ Week 11 - Testing Leading Practices, Performance Optimization, and Go-Live Preparation ✅ Week 12 - Presentation Skills Refresh and The Power of Slides ✅ Capstone Review - 2 presentations with a Certified Master Architect and a Certified Technical Architect. The last 4 to 6 weeks was more difficult than I would like to admit. My wife, manager, mentors, freinds, and the Impact squad helped me get across the finish line. Without a great support crew, I would have failed for sure. As part of my capstone, I created 2 final presentations to defend. It seemed like an impossible task to complete. The presentations were never good enough, I literally edited them until the final hours this morning. I changed strategies on how to present them at 2 AM. This experience was harder than any of my other professional certifications. Even though I am confident That I will pass….there is a little voice in the back of my head that says you can still fail one or both presentations…..you fail one, you get a chance to defend that one presentation and still pass within a resonable time. You fail both, you have to do it all over again….I will be dammed if I have to go through this experience again🤣🤣🤣 To my “NOW Alchemist” team good luck 🍀 defending this week! As stated by my colleagues this was hard as hell. I want to thank my Cohort for an excellent program. My delivery manager is awesome…I won’t name him unless I pass. 👍🏽 I learned a lot about ServiceNow and how awesome it is as an Enterprise Platform…it’s not just a tool. Also, I learned how to make exciting presentations….that will captivate audiences. In two weeks I should know if I passed 👍🏽or failed👎🏽 Wish me luck 🍀 More cool badges! #servicenow

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Our Organizational Change Management services are comprehensive and will support your specific project. Contact us to discuss your needs. @Steve Mollen Steve.Mollen@rcmt.com OCM@rcmt.com #OCM #Organizationalchangemanagement #Changemanagement #TeamRCM #structuredchange #businessvalue #useradoption #training #communications #usersatisfaction #heartsandminds #transformation #culturechange #organizationaldesign #mergersandacquisitions

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According to a Gallup poll, employees who feel their opinions count are 4.6 times more likely to perform their best work. 🌟 Do you remember this famous quote from Dale Carnegie? "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get others interested in you." By showing interest in team members, stakeholders, and their perspectives, you can have better collaboration, trust, and successful project outcomes. Do you agree? Message me if you want to add your thoughts! Follow me for more tips and tricks on project delivery and elevating customer satisfaction. #ProjectManagement #Leadership #RelationshipBuilding #CustomerSatisfaction #Teamwork #Success

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Our Organizational Change Management services are comprehensive and will support your specific project. Contact us to discuss your needs. Steve Mollen Steve.Mollen@rcmt.com OCM@rcmt.com #OCM #Organizationalchangemanagement #Changemanagement #TeamRCM #structuredchange #businessvalue #useradoption #training #communications #usersatisfaction #heartsandminds #transformation #culturechange #organizationaldesign #mergersandacquisitions

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Don’t let hidden inefficiencies derail your strategic plans! Join us on June 18th for a webinar discussing common challenges faced by PMO and engineering leaders and actionable strategies to foster alignment, mitigate waste, and boost productivity.

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I came across this very informative article by Carleton Chinner, titled, "How to Navigate 7 Future Challenges Project Managers Will Face". Key points: 1. Generation Z Workplace Impact: Expect changes in team dynamics as Gen Z enters the workforce, valuing job security and benefits like hybrid work and ongoing education. Hence learn how to connect and work across Generations to ensure project success. 2. New Collaboration Methods: The rise of hybrid work demands effective remote interaction tools and processes for project teams. Leverage technology to make connections and build relationships. 3. Advancing AI and Technology: Project managers should leverage emerging AI tools and technologies while considering ethical implications like bias and GDPR compliance. 4. Skill Development: Upskilling project teams is crucial to handle new technologies and complex projects efficiently. This ties to #3, learn and keep yourself in touch with the relevant technology, processes and best practices. 5. Agile Resourcing: Geopolitical shifts and trade changes necessitate creative procurement strategies and contingency planning. 6. Importance of Soft Skills: Strong communication and stakeholder management remain vital for project success. This is the longest section of the article and Carleton does a very good job of showcasing the value of soft skills in our profession. 7. Black Swan Events: Prepare for unpredictable, impactful events with proactive risk planning and team resilience. Link to the article : https://lnkd.in/gtK9CjgP

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#CincyDeliver24 just published its schedule for July 26, and you guessed it, I'm closing out the event 😅 just like I close out each day at #AgileBeyond24 this week. If you're in the Cincinnati area and interested in better understanding how to get the best performance from yourself and your employees, checkout my talk on Human Intelligence! And this talk isn't just like, my opinion, man. It's based on SCIENCE! (I hope you imagine all the associated memes like I do) #letsgo #agile #agileconference #techconference #conference

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Celebrate International PMO Day with Arraya Solutions! We're committed to ensuring the success of your projects, prioritizing your goals and outcomes every step of the way. As someone who has proudly led and contributed to Arraya's PMO for over two years, I've witnessed firsthand the dedication and professionalism of our team. We employ a diverse range of methodologies to efficiently deliver results. Dive deeper into our PMO insights by exploring our blog. #internationalpmoday #InternationalPMODay2024 #pmoday #pmo #projectmanagement #projects #projectmanager #pmi #agile #hybridPMO #itsolutions #arrayarocks

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Just passed my PMI ATP PMP trainer certification.

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Some Tuesday ramblings about positivity! We live in a very negative world. There’s bad stuff happening all the time.  I work in the service industry, meaning unfortunately people only ever call us when something is broken. They are frustrated, and they are likely focused on the negative impact that is having on them. This leads to negativity in our own lives as well. A frustrated client can frustrate us. Maybe they’re down cause they did something we think is stupid. Maybe their old IT didn’t keep things up to our standards. Maybe someone didn’t help us the way we needed them to. It can be very easy to find the negatives and focus on them, or even share them. When we share a negative, or "vent", we’re really just spreading the negativity. Often, when it’s shared, it’s shared to get other people “on your side” or to try to laugh at someone else. But does sharing and spreading that help anything? Does it change the situation or better our lives? Not really. In fact it can bring others down, and invites more people to join the negative space. What we really need to do is flip our brains and focus on the positives. Let’s look at the examples above and flip them around: A client did something silly and now their down: Let’s look at the situation as a teachable moment. Maybe the client wants to learn what they did wrong, so they don’t repeat it. An other IT company did something that we would never do: This one presents us with a very easy way to wow a client, especially during onboarding. We can show them the right way to do things, and we can do that without ever mentioning the other IT company. We can say “I’ve fixed this up to our standards, I think it will work much better for you.” If someone hasn’t helped you, or hasn’t given you the guidance you need, you can just talk to them. “Hey, I appreciate the help you’ve given so far, but I’m still a bit stuck, can you help me some more?” or “Hey, I know you’re really busy, but I need help on this, can we set a time for you to sit with me?” Rephrasing and re-purposing our minds with positive intent helps us to spread that positivity. It’s not easy, but there are some action items that can help. Any time something has you frustrated or feeling negative take a pause. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing for a few seconds. Force yourself to find the positive outcome. The more you practice this, the more it will come naturally instead of needing to be forced. Make a point each day to do two things: First write down something you did that had a positive impact on someone else’s life. Second write down something someone else did that had a positive impact on your life. Keep a log of these and look back on them from time to time. You’ll see a pattern of positivity, and it can help to drive away the negatives. In the end, our lives are only as positive as we let them be. To quote Willie Nelson, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” 

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In my younger years I was ultra-competitive, but as I age this is more my jam. 👇😎 Collaboration is key to a project teams' success and a great project manager knows how to foster it. Collaboration also just happens to be one of the core values Peritius Consulting, Inc hires for! #CoreValues #ProgramManagement #PMI

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Just passed the PMP certification exam

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