What Does Successful Projects Do? Since its inception in 2001, Successful Projects has focused on project management general instruction and coaching as well as specific training that ultimately puts many students on the track to become PMP certified. Successful Projects has also created project management related products and distributes them worldwide. Instructors with Successful Projects are either PMP or Prince2 certified. PMP certification is the most popular in the US and much of the world. Prince2 certification is popular in Europe and Australia. Successful Projects offices are located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA and Melbourne, Australia.  Kay Wais is the President and founder of Successful Projects and she also is a very experienced project management instructor. She is known for her passion for the effectiveness of project management education and her innovative ways of teaching project management. She has 21 years of project management experience, a Master's degree in Project Management, a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). She has helped many students become PMP certified.
Kay has presented numerous project management workshops and classes and has trained many other project management instructors. She has taught project management for many years at Viterbo University, UW-La Crosse, UW-Green Bay, UW-Superior and Western Technical College. She assists with project management curriculum design for many colleges, corporate training programs, and publishers (such as McGraw-Hill). She started the Certificate of Project Management program initially with the University of Wisconsin SBCD offices.
Innovation of has invented numerous training products including the Project Risk board game, scheduling game, earned value simulation, estimating game, and the success cards. She also facilitates our weekly PMP exam prep study group. She founded the La Crosse PMI chapter, became its first president, and serves on the board. She is also active in the PMI Risk Special Interest Group, Counsultant's Community of Interest, and PMI's Education Special Interest Group.
Kay and her husband, Ed Wais, founded The AVS Group in 1989, AVS Properties in 1998, and Successful Projects in 2001, all of which still operate under their ownership today. They live in Dresbach, Minnesota. 
Amanda Symonds, Director of Successful Projects Asia Pacific, is Prince2, ITIL and MSP certified and is a project management instructor. She is located in Melbourne, Australia. The Prince2 certification is popular in Europe and Australia. And through Amanda, Successful Projects is better able to provide their students with knowledge on both certification approaches and this is a big benefit for larger businesses that manage projects across various regions of the world. Ms. Symonds also works as a project manager for the Australian Department of Justice. She worked in project management in the UK and in a project management capacity for Hewlett Packard for over 6 years.  Ángel Águeda Barrero is Director of Successful Projects in Spain. He is PMP, PRINCE2, and SCRUM certified. He is an MBA with over twenty years of professional experience including working as a senior project manager at Microsoft, ING, Siebel (now Oracle), and Informatica El Corte Inglés including international experience in Argentina, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain. He is a project management trainer and he is leading the effort to have the Successful Projects products translated and produced in Spanish.
Project management instructors must be professionally and technically competent. For me this means continuing to perform professional project management, maintaining my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, being involved with industry organizations such as the Project Management Institute, participating in project management research, applicable reading of the top-ranking project management books, attending project management conferences and symposiums, networking with other professional project managers, reviewing the new tools and techniques, staying current with the lingo, and working with a mentor. Personal guidance is an important part of the learning activities. Students come from all different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and styles. This diversity means that an activity that is tremendously successful for one student may be a meaningless activity for another. Good communication including personal feedback, flexibility and customization, and learning assessment from a variety of different perspectives is important to providing effective personal guidance. Small group sizes, and one-on-one time with the instructor, should be designed into effecting training and educational programs. Innovation is stressed as important to good project management. With respect given to specific methodologies, Project Management Office (PMO) policies, and the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, effective project management practices must include innovation and flexibility in order to operate at its highest possible level. Coaching and mentoring provides the most direct and effective feedback possible. While classroom learning, online learning and book knowledge is valuable, nothing builds competency better than coaching and mentoring on real projects. Comprehensive planning is stressed as integral to successful project management. A professional project plan includes a clear understanding of the project objectives, stakeholders, scope, schedule, resources, risks and issues, communication needs, quality and the environment. Although many approaches, such as SCRUM and Agile, may aim to minimize time spent in planning, thorough planning is a generally a high payback activity. We must figure out ways to perform comprehensive planning in innovative and time-efficient ways. |
"I recommend Kay Wais for all your Project Management needs, she is a wonderful instructor. Very easy to talk to and understand, she also incorporates a lot of fun activities in the learning process to enhance learning. I love that she has everything from 30 minute classes to 16 hour classes, whatever your needs are, she will make it fit." Miranda Eisermann, training coordinator, Trane University "I want to thank you again for putting together an excellent workshop. I have taken several courses on PM and I have to say, without a doubt, I left this one with more take-a-ways that are applicable to my work in product development than any other. Of most importance were the tips and tools I learned on time estimating. It will be most helpful as I prepare the business case for my next project. After 40 years of managing projects of various sizes, I think I am finally able to transition from a dominating “seat of the pants” approach to an approach that is much more disciplined. Never too late, I guess." Eugene G. McNurlen, P.E.
Project Manager - Applied Engineering Systems
Trane
"Kay was lively and entertaining, with a great grasp of the material. I liked the clickers and the class involvement. Jerial Knight Project Management Workshop Participant
The instructor was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the subject matter. She kept the class interesting and brought up good examples.
The risk plan analysis and the concept of negative stakeholders was most helpful. Stan Project Management Workshop Participant
She loves what she does! Her experience makes her credible. Her voice and presentation make her effective in front of the room. Jeni German Project Management Workshop Participant
Kay is an experienced project manager, able to elaborate on “book” answers when “real world” differs. Very engaging. The WBS and network diagram exercises were very helpful. Jennifer Craft Project Management Workshop Participant
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