FPP Programs and Seminars can be arranged to meet your needs. FPP offers a variety of Do-It-Yourself, FPP Instructor Provided, and FPP Conducted options. Please contact FPP at 703-295-6410 or fppnet@asce.org to discuss ways that FPP can assist in meeting your organization's professional training needs. Available Titles:
Instructor Provided or FPP Conducted Courses: Applied Ethics In Professional Practice By Richard H. McCuen This program prepares future professional for "real-world" engineering situations: encouraging frequent communications about ethics and business practices; providing opportunities to consider professional issues in a "safe" learning environment; and integrating "real-world" experiences into the formal education process. The modular format of the material permits consulting firms to cover a specific issue during a "brown bag" seminar, facilitates practitioner visits to classrooms to validate ethical concerns for students, and allows university faculty to develop a full semester course on professional ethics. The versatility of this material is the key to its success. Curriculum Guidebook, $150.00 The Guidebook provides objectives, reading assignments and hundreds of study questions on topics such as: Morals and Ethics; Resume Padding; Human and Societal Values; Selfishness vs. Selflessness; Professionalism; Code of Ethics; Conflicts of Interest; Gratuities/Gifts; Fraud in Research; Bid-rigging; Sexual Harassment; Whistleblowing; and Risk. Each section of the Guidebook contains a complete bibliography. 1999, first edition, 194 pages. (comes with one copy of the Essays and access to the Transparencies via the Internet) Essays, $40.00 The Essays student reader contains real-world case studies and example essays organized along the topic areas in the Guidebook. Each chapter includes study questions for personal reflection and group discussion, and a bibliography. 1999, first edition, 96 pages. [ ]
Incident at Morales: An Engineering Ethics Story $250 ($125 Special Education Institution Price) This recently released NIEE video, study guide and powerpoint slideshow presents a study of ethical responsibilities and choices similar to many encountered in engineering practice. The video shows that good and well meaning people can unintentionally get into situations that may result in unethical and unfortunate consequences. The video is designed to help viewers become more aware that:
[ ]
Jump-Starting Your Career as a Professional Engineer This PowerPoint presentation of the results of a survey conducted by the Engineers' Leadership Foundation (ELF). The survey looked specifically into courses and activities that a group of almost 200 senior engineering managers and leaders engaged in, or wished that had engaged in, while in college, to advance their careers. While few would disagree that engineering knowledge has been essential to their careers, almost all agreed that they would have achieved leadership positions much faster had they engaged in what most would categorize as "nonengineering activities," such as management, public speaking, and association involvement. ELF developed this program to help engineering students become more involved in those activities and courses that will help them advance more quickly in their careers. Members of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Department Heads Council suggested that presentation of the survey report by practitioners would comprise an excellent student experience. Most of the senior managers and leaders who responded to the survey have agreed to present the findings. The PowerPoint material should not be presented as a report. Instead, the practitioners who present the survey's findings are expected to also talk about what they did themselves, or wished they would have done, and what the impact was or could have been. Personal experiences and anecdotes are what will make the presentation come alive for most students. Questions are to be encouraged. We are most hopeful that engineering faculty will contact area practitioners and that area practitioners will contact engineering faculty in order to schedule presentations. We are most hopeful, too, that a number of the senior managers and leaders will develop additional opportunities for engineering students, through internships or cooperative programs, tours of sites, and, possibly, through special assignments of one type or another. ASFE, an organization that helped sponsor this endeavor, has said that Member Firms may make its materials and programs available to students, to facilitate the formation of lasting relationships and to expose students to the nontechnical aspects of an engineering career. The presentation is also available in PDF FORMAT. Note that you must have the plug-in to view PDF files. Please CLICK HERE to view the list of volunteer speakers. Those who wish to volunteer to become a listed speaker should contact Walt Marlowe at the Foundation for Professional Practice by telephone (703-295-6410) or e-mail (fppnet@asce.org). [ ]
Testing Water . . . And Ethics Video Tape and Workbook, $150.00 A young engineer confronts his first professional dilemma and designs an engineering solution to an ethical problem. 1998, 28 mins. Each video comes with a Workbook that includes: Suggestions for using the video; Instructor notes; An analysis of ethical issues (Telling the truth; Protecting the public; Loyal employee; Obligation and sacrifice); Details of the FPP Method; Suggestions for small group discussions and written assignments; Worksheets; Additional case studies; NSPE Code of Ethics; Site plan map; and a complete video script. [ ]
Essentials of Risk Management, Client Relations, and Profitability for Project Managers The seminar is designed to alert design and environmental professionals to their key professional responsibilities, what lawsuits are really all about, and how to use avoidance techniques to lower risk exposures and improve client relations, client loyalty, and profitability. Topics covered: The negligence standard. Cost of a lawsuit. The secrets of avoiding claims and keeping clients for life. The causes of claims and how to turn threats into opportunities. Our legal system in brief. Duty of care. Key contract issues. Limitation of liability. Professional liability insurance. [ ]
Field Representation: The Technician's Role on Site Field technicians stand in the project managers shoes. The project manager -- often an engineer -- is liable for what the technician says and does. Field technicians who attend this seminar will learn not only about the how-to's, but the why's, so they derive more appreciation for the importance of what they do, and more encouragement to do it right. Case histories and quizzes used throughout. Topics Covered: The technician's role on site. Understanding the courts. Understanding liability (professional, contractual). Role of insurance. The typical claim. Preventing claims through effective attitude and behavior. The biggest problem of all -- small projects. Prevent communications breakdowns. Parts of speech. DFRs and journals. [ ]
Hassle Free Selling For Project Managers Selling is one of a project manager's most important functions, yet one that often is not done well or at all. Hassle-Free Selling for Project Managers focuses on techniques many project managers will find surprisingly easy - and fun - to acquire, with special emphasis on active listening. The seminar relies extensively on group exercises whose instruction can be applied the following day. This is not a seminar that has been designed to help people sell. It has been designed specifically to help technical people sell, recognizing that, in fact, many would far rather solve technical problems than work actively to make sales. Topics covered: Your favorite sales primer (a primer with which every member of the audience will be familiar). The value of a client for life. Whose client for life are you?and why? My favorite client. The 30-second exercise. First impressions are often lasting, and you have only one chance to make one. All dressed up?. Active listening. If walls could talk (but they do, and so do desks and lapels). Can you give me a half-hour? The proposal. RFR: Request for Referrals. Some tricks of the trade. [ ]
Write Right Project managers spend 50-90 percent of their time communicating, often via the written word. Few are gifted with natural aptitude. Few feel comfortable leading oral presentations, if only because they fear they will say something wrong. Mastery of written communications skills can often help overcome presentation jitters, and a focus on writing basics is what this seminar is about. Each participant receives a comprehensive hand-out developed specifically for the seminar, including samples of the various quizzes and exercises given, along with suggested responses. Topics Covered: Professional advantages of effective communication. Parts of speech: verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, in particular. Answering six fundamental questions to create supercommunication. Understanding, spotting, and eliminating explicatives, absolutes and other taboo words, pejoratives, archaisms, and the passive voice. Sentence structure and design. Helpful hints for writers and editors. [ ]
Project Manager Training Program The Project Manager Training Program comprises 90 hours of instruction for folks who are relatively new to project management, and probably have more questions than answers. Because it's an ASFE program, it's different and it's relevant. It has been developed because nothing else was available to fill the needs of ASFE Member Firms and the thousands of other firms in the same boat. Overall, the Program comprises ten courses and 90 hours of instruction. The project managers who attend the courses receive continuing education units -- CEUs -- for their involvement. Those who take all 90 hours, and who stay active in project management, earn ASFE's Registered Project Manager, or RPM designation; a designation designed as a credential of credibility, for clients, employers, colleagues, and peers. The most innovative part of the Program is its flexibility. Except for one course -- the introductory course called Fundamentals of Project Management,a group of firms can get together and pay FPP to put on a course, or they can put a course on their own, by calling in a speaker. Or firms can use their own trained and accredited speakers and conduct the courses internally -- wherever and whenever they want -- and get full credit, both for CEUs and for the RPM designation. [ ]
Fundamentals of Professional Practice This is the course of courses, often described as bootcamp for project managers. Participants engage in six months of home study, working with an in-firm mentor. The course is designed to emulate a small project; precisely the kind of project that FPP case histories show is most problem-prone. The course director plays the role of a client who believes the "project" is a big deal, an attitude that irritates participants who often look at it somewhat as a bother. "Why should I pay you to be nasty?" some participants ask. In truth, firms all to often wind up paying "unappreciative" small-project clients, due either to overruns or claims. Participants are required to read one basic text and take five open-book examinations. Participants also select (or create) a research project that uses either the firm or the local professional community as the laboratory, and submit a proposal for conducting the research. The proposal is then followed by submission of a draft report and, subsequently, the final report. Many participants and firm CEOs have reported that the value derived from the research project alone has far more than paid for the cost of the course. The proposal and first draft report are reviewed particularly closely not only for technical merit, but also for written communications skills. Throughout the home study period, participants learn that failure to meet deadlines or notify the client of slippage in a timely manner can result in harsh penalties. So can failure to document oral conversations. The program is capped off by a 2 1/2-day seminar tipically held in the Washington, D.C. or St. Louis, MO areas. Participants oral skills are tested when they present biographical information and research report summaries. They learn about the problems that can arise when professionals forget about their duty to the public through a dramatic Kansas City Hyatt case history workshop. A nationally known practitioner addresses the issue of what he or she would have done differently if it could all be done again. And a role-playing session is used to focus on the need for effective dispute resolution skills. [ ]
Ten Ways To Stay Out Of Financial/Business Trouble By Lee R. James This modular course will meet the needs of engineering, architectural, and design firms by addressing: Communications; Go/No Go Decisions; Pricing; Insurance; Contracting; Kick-off Meetings; Project Financial Management Systems; Internal and External reporting; Flexible Invoicing and Supporting Documentation; and Change Orders. The program is adaptable to a specific firm, or group of firms; will promote group participation; and includes numerous case studies based on real life experiences. [ ]
|