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Biography
Mike Beard is the Managing Partner of Value Based Project Management (VBPM). VBPM’s mission is to assist companies Eliminate Waste and Confusion™ through improved efficiency, increased productivity, and enhanced communications to improve the bottom line.
Mike has been speaking since 1999 and consulting since 2001. For a detailed list of past speaking topics, dates, and locations please email Mike separately.
Mike has authored two books Successful Project Portfolio Management: 28 Critical Elements and Tame the Schedule Dragon: Microsoft Project 2007. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Projects@Work magazine and has authored hundreds of articles on program management and business resilience approaches for national and international magazines. He is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Past President of the Association of Professional Consultants in Southern California, and Past President of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Inland Empire Chapter. While living overseas, Mike served on the Board of Directors at the International School of Bangkok Thailand.
Mike speaks about 8-10 times a year at diverse industry association meeting. He speaks like he works: with energy and a straight forward approach for high performance.
Industry Expertise (3)
Aerospace
Management Consulting
Professional Training and Coaching
Education (1)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: BS, Aerospace
Affiliations (2)
- Institute of Internal Auditors
- A&D Forum
Links (1)
Testimonials (5)
Aida Hercules-Dodaro, Engineering Manager | Lake Arrowhead Community Service District
Easy to relate some project management approaches to different processes within my area of responsibilities. Good class. Very interesting. You are a great instructor. Small class. Great class. Excellent class. Lots of involvement. Mike is a excellent Program Manager and an exceptional instructor. Mike has the desirable quality paying attention to details and seeing the big picture at the same time. His ability to simplify complex concepts or situations to students new to Project Management is brilliant. All of us enjoyed and Mike’s humor. Due to such positive feedback, management wants Mike back. Thanks Mike.
Jen Yoon Leong, Engineering Manager | Black & Veatch
As a Vice President of Programs of the PMI Southern Nevada Chapter, I invited Mike as a speaker in our chapter meeting in January 2011. His presentation on Sustaining the Program Office was well received. I would recommend him to other PMI meetings as a speaker not only because of his depth of knowledge of the subject matters but also because of his friendly manner and good time control of his speech.
Marv Serhan, Business Development/Sales Executive | LA County Project Management Day
It is indeed a pleasure to offer my endorsement of Mike Beard, a superb professional, an expert in the Project Management field, and a genuinely solid leader who obviously loves to work with people. I first met Mike after his presentation to the Greater Los Angeles Project Management and Leadership Seminar in March 2008. He not only gave a well-organized, content-rich and professionally delivered speech, but it was clear he elicited the full attention of his audience as he outlined his mission to assist companies in reducing the waste and confusion associated with their internal PM functions. His presentation was informative and enjoyable as Mike offered humorous anecdotes to reinforce the significance of ... see LinkedIn profile
John Drew, Dreww & Associates | Leadership Workshop
Mike is a startling, modest professional, with unusual interpersonal skills who manages to pull together engineers, planners, government officials, vendors and contractors to implement extraordinarily complex management projects. He makes it look easy because he has mastered all the other interpersonal, communication and psychological skills needed to deal with all elements of a challenging effort. If we launch a rocket to Mars, Mike is the guy who will be figuring out how to make it happen with out a whole lot of red dust.
Kevin Reilly, President KR-PM Training Solutions | Project Management Institute - Orange County Chapter
As the Speaker Coordinator for the PMI Orange County Chapter, I had the pleasure of having Mike Beard volunteer to be the speaker at our March 13, 2012 Dinner Meeting. Mike’s presentation skills are top notch. He is very personable, is an expert in his field and was very creative and interactive with the chapter members during his presentation. One of the key aspects of Mike’s presentation style was that he kept providing the audience with key take-aways they could put into practice the very next day in both our personal and work lives. I believe this to be one of the most important traits that an effective speaker can possess. ...I have had the opportunity to work with many speakers...Mike is at the top of the list. See more at LinkedIn.
Sample Talks (1)
Critical Decision Making: Deciding How to Decide
• Who decided to go with New Coke? • It got out of hand before I could do anything! • It wasn’t my choice! The ability to make critical decisions is totally dependent upon accurately defining a risk or problem, framing risks related to the solutions, handling personal bias, and adherence to governance and process. We have all either made or seen the results when a critical decision is made using the “shotgun” or “ready-fire-aim” approaches. People die and business go under due to poor decision..
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- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Corporate Training
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