Our regular monthly chapter program meeting will feature speaker of the month Jim Kendrick CMC, who will present on Getting Control of Costs and Schedules with Earned Value Management".

Jim Kendrick applies Earned Value Management as an integral part of IT project planning, business case development, and portfolio management. He was the principal Subject Matter Expert supporting enterprise-wide planning and implementation of EVMS at the U.S. Department of Labor, where he was responsible for policy, process, and implementation planning. This included requirements, gap, alternatives, and cost-benefit analyses. Jim also developed the EVM user guide for project managers, draft order for implementation, and evaluation of the initial implementation. His work included market research on software tools to support EVM as well as EVM requirements for the Department's new core financial system.

Jim is president of the P2C2 Group, Inc. The P2C2 Group has also performed consulting engagements in support of the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and Treasury. The P2C2 Group primarily works as a subcontractor to Federal prime contractors.

IMC NCR Program Listing July- December 2006

• July 13 - Earned Value Management by Jim Kendrick,CMC, P2C2 Group, Inc.
• Aug 10 - Competitive Sourcing by Joann Kansier, Grant Thornton
• Sep 14 - Key Government Contracting/Legal Issues for Consultants by Anthony Anikeeff,Partner, Bracewell & Giuliani.
• Oct 12 - Lessons Learned in Using the Balanced Scorecard by Becky Roberts
• Nov 9 - Collaborations and Partnerships by Mark Haas, CMC
• Dec 14 - IMC USA Annual Holiday Gala

IMC USA Interactive Workship

KEY FACILITATION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR THE EXPERIENCED CONSULTANT

Date: July 15, 2006 Location: IMC USA Offices 2025 M Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036 Instructor: Mr. Charlie Markert PE, CPF President and Executive Facilitator, Dynamic Leadership Consulting Group, Inc. Audience:Executives, managers, analysts, consultants, lawyers, and business advisors in strategy, operations, finance, or HR.

Most experienced management consultants are required, at one time or another, to perform facilitation in their consulting practices. This may occur on a wide range of engagements, including, but not limited to, process improvement, organizational analysis and design, strategic planning, information systems development, and human resources planning. This four-hour workshop is directed at filling this need. It will present key facilitation tools and techniques for the experienced consultant, organized along three dimensions- (1) facilitator role, (2) interpersonal issues and (3) tools/techniques.

The American Society for Training and Development DC Metro chapter is hosting a class on Instructional design.

Evolving Instructional Design
Thursday, July 20, 2006
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Courtyard Marriott, Silver Spring, MD

2006 IMC USA Chicago Conference by Michael Cohen, CMC.

On May 10-11, 2006, representatives of 17 of IMC USA’s 24 chapters met in Chicago for a 1½ day meeting to share experiences and discuss ways to improve Chapter operations. Michael E. Cohen, Executive Vice President, attended on behalf of IMC NCR. Four main topics were discussed: (1) chapter and board management, committees and volunteers; (2) strategic alliances, including sponsorships, professional associations and pro-bono work; (3) member acquisition and retention; and (4) marketing, PR, and branding. In addition, the participants developed recommendations for the IMC National Board. The meeting was extremely useful in obtaining important benchmarking information on other chapter approaches for possible adaptation by NCR.

IMC survey method and content

The following, in part, is taken from the ideas expressed by Jack Welch over the last several years while he was head of GE. For detail see "Ideas The Welch Way" which was written by Jack and Suzy Welch and published in BusinessWeek, May 8, 2006.

Every business and every executive most likely has his or her set of vital statistics which are revealing of the effective functioning and health of an organization. There are many ways to measure, as Jack Welch puts it," the pulse of a business". What applies to a business can also apply to a non-profit association such as IMC and IMC NCR. This refers to a triad of indices as follows: employee engagement ( applied to IMC NCR members and especially Board members, this refers to how engaged or active and invested they are); customer satisfaction (this includes member satisfaction and also client satisfaction); and getting cash flow right (in our case this means the flow of dues, program revenue and expense management).The issue is the development and implementation of a survey or a research to measure these three critical factors.

Under the leadership of Wai Ling Pong with the advise of Mike Cohen and inputs from the IMC NCR Board, an electronic survey using SurveyMonkey was implemented this year. The return rates (after reminders to members) were about 30% which for this kind of survey was mentioned as a high level of return. Our NCR survey did reveal much useful information-- some of which was used as a base for planning forward programs. In terms of economy associated with this survey-- meaning cost factors related to money, time, and energy of Board members as well as value of returs-- this was an excellant survey. My thought is that such a survey ought to be repeated annually with the results distributed widely.

Regarding the next IMC NCR survey -- I would recommend a more in-depth approach combining the electronic survey with qualitative methodologies -- meaning phone and possibly face-to-face interviews with a select sample of NCR members and maybe even member's clients.

What should be the focus of the next research? I would recommend the focus be on the three critical factors Jack and Suzy Welch specified --engagement of members, customer satisfaction, and cash flow right evaluation.

Member engagement is the first factor to be measured. An organization, small or large, cannot be succesful without energized members who believe in the mission and know how to implement agreed-upon programs. Measuring this factor via surveys, with or without attribution, should be considered in order to tap what members are really thinking about IMC and it's programs. Specifically, how do members feel about the strategic direction of IMC NCR, do they believe in the goals, understand, accept them and support them? Would they want IMC members to work as a team and do they feel or think that IMC is helpful to them as a part of their quality of life and career progression?

Secondly, customer satisfaction factors must be researched. Would members recommend IMC to their friends, contacts, clients and enemies? Are they happy or not with IMC and why? As one can conclude, these questions are open-ended and part of qualitative methodologies involving at the least phone interviwes and at best face-to-face group and/or individual interviews. This is time consuming but maybe IMC members will have time to volunteer?

The third factor is the right cash flow which means profit and loss numbers -- net income and free cash flow. Emphasis should be on the core funds available and how they are put to use. This cash flow factor evaluation is best done by the NCR Board with the results distributed to members for comment or review.

There are advantages to this kind of market research. It makes for awareness that IMC Board members care enough to do such detailed evaluation. Important issues surface and members can talk about them. Executives outside of IMC become aware of the organization when they learn about this type of in-depth research. Thus, it serves as a strategic awareness market development tool.

IMC USA Mission: To promote excellence and ethics in management consulting through certification, education and professional resources.

IMC NCR Objective: Help our members Get Smart, Get Known, and Get Business

Join IMC: If you're satisfied that IMC is the right professional organization to help you "Get Smart, Get Known, and Get Business," then join IMC online. You will become a member of IMC USA and may affiliate with any US chapter at no additional charge.