What is Project Management and How Will It Improve Nonprofit’s Effectiveness?

Having a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification can do many things for leaders of nonprofits. It not only makes you a more efficient employee, it’s going to open up a lot of opportunities. Project management is a growing career industry, particularly in the nonprofit sector, and having a PMP certification shows organizations that you’re capable of effectively managing projects, budgets, and time.

Tamara McLemore, PMP is the founder of Tamara McLemore Enterprises, an executive consultant, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) Instructor, and a sought-after award-winning speaker. Her expertise lies in coaching mid-career professional women, empowering them with the necessary skills, confidence, and language to obtain their PMP Certification and secure significant career advancements. Through her PMP Exam 2-Week Intensive where she has successfully shortened the traditional preparation timeline, enabling candidates to pass their PMP exam within 30 days (a process that typically takes 6-8 months). This accelerated timeline not only aims to achieve certification but also to position women in the careers they truly deserve. With a wealth of experience spanning over 25 years in various industries including technology, federal government, and aviation, Tamara has risen from being a project manager to now serving as the chief impact officer (CIO) of her own company. Tamara’s expertise has been recognized through her appearances as a guest on the Women Of Project Management® and the Harvard Business Review, Women at Work podcasts, and has been a keynote speaker at prestigious events such as the Women of Project Management Conference, AE Ignite conference, and the Wonder Women Tech summit. She is also a LinkedIn Top Voice In Project Management. Additionally, she has shared her knowledge by teaching project management at universities and organizations worldwide, including appearances in India and Dubai. Outside of her professional endeavors, Tamara enjoys traveling extensively and lives by the motto: “To be a Service to All Mankind.”

More at – https://iwantmypmp.com/ 

The Interview Transcript

Hugh Ballou:
Welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. This is Hugh Ballou, founder and president of SynerVision Leadership Foundation. Now that word is synergy. Synergy goes with vision because we have a vision as a leader. And we build synergy with our team. So we got great plans. Now today, have a wonderful guest. Today, we’re going to talk about how you make it happen. You got plans, you got a strategy, you got a piece of paper that says where you’re going to go. How do you really make it happen and get everybody on the same page? So my guest today is Tamara McLemore, and she’s fascinating. But Tamara, first, if we get started, tell people a little bit about your background and your passion about the work that you’re doing.

Tamara McLemore:
Okay, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. So, just a little bit about me. I’ve been in project management for over 20 years, and I have had the pleasure of managing projects back when the old Ma and Pa Bell South, which became Singular Wireless, which is now AT&T. I worked for the federal government, GSA. I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many good federal agencies. I had a contract with Delta Airlines. I can go on and on. The point for your audience is project management is for everybody. It is not for the technical. It is not for just construction. Project management is for everybody. And Hugh, if I was to ask your audience, and even you, what my undergrad degree was, you would never guess. If I was to ask you what I wanted to be when I grew up, when I was in high school, and what I went to college for, you would never guess. but I’m going to tell you it was journalism. I wanted to be, I was a, exactly. I wanted to be a sports reporter. And so, so I wanted to be Barbara Walters, Hannah Storm, Oprah Winfrey. And so I have dated myself, but I’m saying all I have to say is anybody can become a project manager. In fact, my belief is everybody’s a project manager. They just don’t know it yet. So that is my mission. That is what I wanted to get across to your audience. Everybody’s a project manager, the end.

Hugh Ballou:
If you’re a mother and you’re having a birthday party for your child and you invite a bunch of other child, you are a project manager, right?

Tamara McLemore:
You are, think about all the PTAs and those other duties assigned, let alone at your nine to five work, but everybody’s doing projects, your family reunion, at your church, your civic organizations, everything’s a project. It has a beginning and an end, and you’re trying to get some things done. You have tasks, you have a budget, you have a deadline, you have a ton of stakeholders, and you’re trying to get things done. You’re trying to get things checked off that list. That is project management.

Hugh Ballou:
And you and I talked before we went live with this interview, and I shared that I had been a church music director for 40 years, and that’s project management every Sunday. You’ve got the event, and so we’re talking to people who are doing wonderful work in their communities, serving others, helping others, and doing some great charitable work. And I think there’s some myths that are out there. And I think one myth is, oh, project management, that’s for big corporations. I don’t need it in my nonprofit. So address that myth.

Tamara McLemore:
So if you had asked me that question years ago, I might have said, perhaps. However, I have to tell you that one of my favorite people, I shouldn’t say favorite, but one of my, I learned so much from her because she was a nonprofit. And so she was in one of my early boot camps and we were taking our mock exam and she was a nonprofit. She is the first person to ever pass a full length four hour mock the first time. No one had ever done it in my boot camp. And everybody in the boot camp, I had some heavy hitters in this boot camp, and we were all pleasantly surprised. But the thing is, she worked for a nonprofit. The projects that she was working on real time, she needed those tools. So for example, she was working on a website, and the website vendor did not put a space to get donations. That’s the, I’m gonna say that again. They had no way for as a nonprofit on their website to collect money to get donations. And so they had not gathered requirements. She didn’t even know what requirements were that she needed to give this to the web developer. And just to add to that, she had recently gotten married too. And so planning a wedding, although you cannot use that on your application, that is a project. Because a lot of people have beer taste and champagne taste and beer money. And so I’m saying that everybody is a project manager. And when that person, Brenda, first passed the PMP and got stellar remarks, I was like, And then I start to get other people in nonprofit, and they are excelling in project management, because now they have the tools to manage those budgets, to manage those tight deadlines.

Hugh Ballou:
So your business is teaching people and getting them certified as being a project manager. And we think of it as a corporate job. But our audience, we need to get rid of the scarcity mindset that comes from the word nonprofit.

Tamara McLemore:
Yes.

Hugh Ballou:
So God’s given us abundance. So we need to raise the bar on our performance. So why is it important for somebody, anybody in the organization, and maybe this isn’t the director, maybe it’s somebody that’s on the board or on the staff, that’s the project manager, that’s probably not the duty of the top leader. So why is it important for charities to study project management and define project management in that answer, please?

Tamara McLemore:
So that was a loaded question. I have so many things to say about that. The first one being you want to impact more people. And so in order to impact more people, you have to get more funding, more grants. And in doing that, you have to manage those grants that you have and that money that you have effectively and efficiently so that you can get more. And so that’s what project management is, is managing with ease. It is giving you the tools to learn from your mistakes, lessons learned, to understand your stakeholders, bring them in early to write those grants, and actually have a project plan on how you’re going to write the grants, execute the grants, and do everything in between. So it is so important that they understand the tools used in project management. It is so important. Because like I said, in this world now, there’s so much lack of. And nonprofit, they’re the key to sustaining food, shelters, different things, venture capitalists. The list can go on and on and on. I have so much in my head about nonprofits because I have a couple of them in each boot camp. And so the mission and the impact, you can reach more people if you understand the tools and how to execute a project.

Hugh Ballou:
You spoke briefly, you referred to grants. Now, it’s not the magic bullet that’s going to solve everything. I don’t think we can get grants. But should we get a grant? Now, there’s $100 billion in grant funds out there. So if you do your due diligence and you write your proposal that matches what you want to do, then you really need to think about managing the project. So talk about, you know, why is it important? Maybe there’s a major donor that gave you money for a project, or it’s a grantor, or maybe it’s a corporate sponsor that you’re doing a project with. So let’s define what is project management in that sense. And then how does somebody get smart enough to know how to do this? Now, we’ll talk about your bootcamp in a minute, but to talk about what skills people need to develop.

Tamara McLemore:
So first, you need to understand requirements. What are the requirements for this grant? We all know, even besides nonprofit, even in corporate, even in government, that money is allocated for X, Y, Z. Even in corporations, it’s operations versus project versus philanthropy. We all have money that is designated, and that’s no different in grants. So you have to really, really understand that so that you bring in all the right people to execute that grant, because after you win the grant, that’s where the work begins. Are you using the money for the programs intended? Are you letting the stakeholders, meaning the people that gave you the money, know these are wins that we have? Because we’re always head down working. No, no, no. We have to engage stakeholders, meaning the people that are giving the money to say, whoa, this organization is doing great work. We need to give them more money to do more great work. And so just understanding the effectiveness of running that project, it will create dividends of impact.

Hugh Ballou:
Evidence of Impact. You’re listening to it here on The Nonprofit Exchange. If you’re coming by on social media and you see this broadcast, this is The Nonprofit Exchange. You can find us at thethe.com. nonprofitexchange.org, and you’ll find this in 411 other episodes, but nothing like this one. This is unique. After all of those, Tamara, you’re giving us some really, really good information. So, you were going to be a journalist. Let me go back to that, and then you pivoted to do this work. So, You must have done it because there was a need. Why is there a need? How did you pivot and what was the need that compelled you to want to do this?

Tamara McLemore:
I’m going to keep it all the way 100 with you. I needed a job. I needed a secure job because I was tired of being broke and my aunt was into technology and she told me that is the wave of the future and that’s what you need to do. And my writing skills did come in hand because you have to write requirements. When I worked for the federal government, the acquisitions that I had to write, sometimes there were 75 pages. And so though, exactly. The requirements, the acquisition, the FAR, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, I can go on and on. So like I said before, the tools that we already have, the characteristics and our skills, those translate to project management. Now I have the gift for gab talking that stakeholder management. I can talk to the C-suite. I can talk to middle management. I can talk to the guys that are in the field, the line guys, the warehouse logistics, those are stakeholders. So those are skills that I possess. And so once you get into project management, you’re like, oh my gosh, I’ve been doing this the whole time. And I didn’t know it.

Hugh Ballou:
That’s a good word. It’s used more in corporations than in nonprofits. It’s an important word for nonprofit leaders to understand. So go back and talk about who’s a stakeholder and what does stakeholder mean.

Tamara McLemore:
So stakeholder is anybody that can be impacted by your project. So that is your organization, that’s you. A lot of people get that wrong. They don’t understand you’re a stakeholder, your co-workers are stakeholders, everybody within the organization. Then your customer, meaning who’s your customer, the people that you impact. meaning the people that you serve. Also your stakeholders, the people that you get the money from and their donors. So the list can go on and on and on of who’s a stakeholder and you have to juggle them all. Just like you have to juggle your family obligations, your spouse, your partner, your kids, your nieces and nephews. The list goes on in your family stakeholders. It goes on at work too.

Hugh Ballou:
There’s an aha moment there. My family members are stakeholders too. They are. Gotta pay attention, right?

Tamara McLemore:
Absolutely. And that’s why the project management tools are so beneficial because you want to work your nine to five and then get off work and not have to go and clock in from your five to nine, meaning work at home. Yes, we love what we do and we want to be impactful. but you have to separate it so that you go to work the next day fresh and eager to make an impact. You don’t want to go to work tired and burnt out because that’s what I’m hearing a lot, not just a nonprofit. In all these organizations, people are not working effectively and efficiently. They want to do the work, they want to serve, but they just cannot continue to do it this way. And that’s what the project management tools help with.

Hugh Ballou:
That’s big deal you hit on so folks you’re listening. You can’t take notes fast enough. Don’t worry If you go to the non-profit exchanged org, there’ll be a transcript All these precious sound bites are going to be right there for you to copy So tamra, you’re giving us a really a wealth of information in a very short period of time. This is good So let’s let’s talk about the the results you teach people So what are some of the tools? that people need. I get objections when I talk to nonprofits about doing a strategy. What is your plan? How are you going to get to where you want to be? And how do people know what they’re supposed to do? And I get answers like, oh, we don’t have time for that. We have to help people. And I bet you get the same kind of answers. Why do I need to study this? We’re doing it. We’re OK. We’ve got to help people. So what’s a tool? Why do we need to study this?

Tamara McLemore:
If you don’t plan, you plan to fail. I’m going to say that again. If you don’t plan, you’re planning to fail. And everyone that I come across with, I ask them, what is the first thing you do when you get in your car? I don’t care if you’ve been there 10 times, you get out your navigation. You want to know where the traffic is, the accidents, the best way to go. We have navigation and it tells us that is a plan. And even in our, in our, our calendar, it tells you like yesterday it told me very very busy or light traffic. Well I could spend, you know, a couple more minutes, you know, moseying around the house. We need a plan for everything, and that includes the work that we do. And so it is so important that we spend time and slow it down and spend time planning. Then you don’t have to execute and spend so much time at the end because things are smooth sailing. Everybody’s on the same page and you’re going to learn. I’m going to use this term, learn. We call it lessons learned. And in technology and project management, we call it fail fast. We want to fail. All multi-billion dollar companies understand this methodology. You want to hurry up and fail at the very beginning so that you can learn from it. You don’t want to fail at the end or in the middle. You want to fail out the gate so that you can learn and move on. We’re afraid of failure, aren’t we? You should not be. I failed this exam not once, but twice. And that’s the only reason why I’m able to teach it. If I had been successful the first time, I would not understand what it takes to be successful as far as teaching the technology. I mean, I’m sorry, the methodology. Because I was already doing the job. And I had to slow it down. I had to understand, OK. You have the soft skills with project management and then the harder skills. And so one of the questions you just asked me refers to the softer skills. So a lot of people don’t know that the new project management curriculum is 42% on people. 42% of the new exam is on people because we have to, we’re in the business of working with people. And we have got to understand that. And PMI, they felt that. All the nonprofit, Fortune 500, 100, they surveyed them all. Said that project managers are amazing, but they suck at managing people, and that those are stakeholders. And so that goes for everybody.

Hugh Ballou:
We can, let’s define a couple of terms. So suck me halfway to success. You don’t get there suck. And PMI project management Institute. Is that what that is? And it’s correct. Project management Institute. Correct. And so you had us with a lot of really good stuff there. So if you’re inviting 25 people for Thanksgiving dinner, you’re jolly well going to plan it and it’s all got to come together. And you’ve got to have the resources or your aunt Matilda is going to be pretty upset when you run out of turkey. So it’s a fundamental skill. And really, it’s part of leadership is sharpening your skills and sharpening the skills of the team around you.

Tamara McLemore:
Absolutely. So let’s stay with that example. And I use that in my boot camp because everybody is going to have somebody at their house or not. Some people have that lesson learned, like, I’m not going to do it. I’m just going to go to somebody else’s house. But you just can’t say I’m having 25 people over for dinner. You have people that are vegan. You have people that only eat organic. They eat clean. You have so many different type of eaters now. You have to plan for that. You really do. And so if you don’t gather those requirements, I live in a cul-de-sac and it is hard to park. In Atlanta, they’re strict about parking. How are you going to handle 25 people coming to your house as far as parking? Gathering those requirements, the seating, the games. You have different age groups. We’re a family of games. We play Jenga, throwing eggs. We play different kind of card games. What activities are we going to do? Are we going to take family photos? And you’re like, oh my gosh, yes. We’re gathering requirements for Thanksgiving.

Hugh Ballou:
That’s like a nonprofit playing in a gala.

Tamara McLemore:
Oh my gosh, absolutely. Absolutely. And if it were, if it’s successful, you, you write down, well, whether it’s successful or not, because you do want to get those failures right before you start. That’s the first thing you do. What worked well and what did not. And then you start planning from, from there.

Hugh Ballou:
So I know there’s somebody out there going now, what does she mean by soft skill and hard skill? So give us a little elimination on that, please.

Tamara McLemore:
You know, when I said the soft skill, I kind of cringe because there’s a new term called power skills. People don’t like you to say soft skills anymore. So soft skills are those people skills, those communication skills. And let me tell you, that’s why I’m very successful in project management because of those soft power skills, because like I said, I have a journalism degree. So those skills matter as well. So communication, stakeholder management, engagement, writing, those are the softer power skills. The harder skills are quality management, and risk management, which is my favorite, I love risk, execution, things like that.

Hugh Ballou:
Wow, it’s people skills, isn’t it?

Tamara McLemore:
That’s all it is.

Hugh Ballou:
You know, Tamara, what we teach in Center Vision is the bottom for everything, the basis is relationship and leadership. fundraising, project management, and communications. It’s all based on relationships, isn’t it?

Tamara McLemore:
That’s all it’s based on. I am excited to say and proud to say I had imposter syndrome before the word was out in the late 90s because I could not figure out why I was getting promotions and bonuses on the high-profile projects. It’s because of my relationship with the customer, both internal and external. So I got early on, I was coached into project management, but they were telling me, Tamra, these are the skills that you have inherently, you have, that you don’t need to develop. You just need to develop the other skills, you know, to complement. So you’re correct. Those leadership skills, those people skills, whatever skills you have already, you’re just fine-tuning them. Like you said, you just sharpen them up a little bit.

Hugh Ballou:
Absolutely. Well, everything that I’ve asked you to explain in a very understandable and tangible way that I can take it to the bank. I know what to do with it. So, your area of expertise is project management. You do certify people. So, I’m going to share your website. For those people who are listening and don’t see it, you can go to iwantmypmp.com. P-M-P. So, we’re going to talk about that when we go there. But when people go to your website, they see this lovely picture of you, I think. But what is PMP?

Tamara McLemore:
It is the project management professional certification. So, as I said before, the technology companies, government, and private sector were requiring PMPs, but now everybody is requiring a PMP, especially nonprofits, healthcare, and education are the fastest growing industries that want project managers.

Hugh Ballou:
And we will find connect with me on the link and what else will they find here is a jiffy video about you.

Tamara McLemore:
Yeah, so they’ll find videos. What’s super exciting is there is a short quiz on here. And we’re updating this as we speak. There’s a free quiz at the bottom where you can answer a couple of questions. And you can say, oh my gosh, I really am a project manager. Or do I need a couple more tools in my tool belt to actually become a project manager? So we have all kinds of freebies. If you want to just chit-chat and see how we can improve your organization, I have a free consultation link where you can set up a time with me as well.

Hugh Ballou:
This is a wealth of really helpful information. I’m glad that you found us and that we were able to interview you today. This is a whole area of expertise that I’m willing to bet 90 above 95% for sure of nonprofits are not even aware that aware exists. So the ideal person in your target client, it’s somebody in an organization, doesn’t necessarily have to be the top leader, does it?

Tamara McLemore:
Oh, and it really probably shouldn’t be because you want the person who is actually doing the work to become your project manager because they’re already doing the work. They are the project manager. I will say for leadership, a foundation, a fundamental course would be excellent so that they understand the terms and the language. So they don’t have to become certified, but they do need to know some project management tools.

Hugh Ballou:
I’m going to put a B in their bonnet of people listening. You know, you’ve got corporate relationships, maybe corporate leaders on your board. Maybe this is since corporations understand this, and that might be something they would fund for you as a corporate donation or corporate sponsorship. So it’s an investment that would pay dividends over time in many ways. And so she did say, Mr. Leader, Miss Leader, it’s not you. It’s somebody on your team that’s doing the work. So then the other skill that we need to learn Tamra is delegation, figure out what you want, and ask somebody to do it that’s really competent. We have covered so much territory in this short interview. Thank you so much. So as we depart, as we close out this helpful interview, what do you want to leave people with a tip or a thought?

Tamara McLemore:
I want to leave everyone with, everybody’s a project manager, even you. And I want to, I love this scenario. We all have that toolbox that’s in the hall closet, down the hall, and we have our hammer, our wrench, our, you know, all those tools that we use regularly. Well, every once in a while you pull out one of those tools because the ones that you use every day are just not working anymore. That’s project management. It’s a toolbox, and when you need that tool, you can pull it out to manage things effectively and efficiently. So I want to leave your listeners with, everybody’s project manager. The PMP curriculum gives you the tools to do that better.

Hugh Ballou:
Tamara McLemore, you’ve been a wonderful guest today. Wealth of information, and you even inspired me to want to look into this. Thank you so much.

Tamara McLemore:
Thank you for having me, and have a wonderful rest of your day.