Tryon and Associates provides training and consulting on modern, accelerated and repeatable processes for Project Management, Process Modeling, and Knowledge Management (more information below under "What's New"). The concepts and techniques presented in our seminars are applicable to the entire business environment and are used by companies around the world.  We have organized our site content into the following topic areas:

 SEMINARS AND SERVICES   This is where you will find both overview and detail descriptions of each of our courses along with information about the consulting services we offer.

 NEWS AND INFORMATION   A primary goal of our site is to be an portal to information, products and services that are related to the seminars and consulting we offer.  We have gathered templates, forms, processes, articles, position papers, links and general reference materials that you may find interesting and useful.  This is the most popular area of our site.  What you will find here is lots of good information.   What you will NOT find are fees and restrictions.

 COMPANY INFORMATION   If you want to know more about who we are and what we believe in, look here.            

You are invited to email me directly with questions about Tryon and Associates by simply clicking on my name below.  You are also welcome to call me at the 918-455-3300.  Thank you for visiting. Chuck Tryon

WHAT'S NEW...

KNOWLEDGE WORKER PRODUCTIVITY - My past 30 plus years has been spent in the company of very intelligent people.  My entire career consists of working with and training people on project teams.  When compared to industrial, task-based worker that dominated business in the early days of this century, I find that today's workers, who are asked to apply a wide range of creative skills, bring with them new management challenges and realities.   

The late Dr. Peter Drucker also recognized this contrast when he wrote in 1999, “The most important and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20^th-century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing.  The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21^st-century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and knowledge workers.  The most valuable assets of the 20^th- century company was its production equipment.  The most valuable asset of the 21^st-century institution (whether business or non-business) will be its knowledge workers and their productivity.”

In the Fall of 2007, I launched a research project to survey a cross-section of managers and professionals for their views on the challenges of improving knowledge worker productivity.  The result is a paper titled MORE BRICKS, LESS STRAW:  Improving the Productivity of Knowledge Workers on Single-Time Efforts.  This paper was initially created as part of a Knowledge Management graduate program at the University of Oklahoma.  My intent is to make a few more modifications to the paper and then (attempt to) have it published in an academic journal.  For now, I am placing the current draft on my website.  A condensation of the paper is also featured in the January and February 2008 editions of Project Landscape, a project management newsletter used by numerous PMI chapters.  You may read Part One of this paper in the Tulsa PMI Chapter's version of the January newsletter.  Part Two was published in the February newsletter.  I welcome your comments and suggestions as this is an ongoing study.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT - In August of 2006, Tryon and Associates launched an association with Dr. Suliman Hawamdeh to develop training and consulting services for organizations seeking to create practical Knowledge Management strategies for their organizations.  Dr. Hawamdeh is the program coordinator for the Master of Science in Knowledge Management at the University of Oklahoma.  He has written several books and hundreds of papers on the subject.  He is the founding chair for the International Conference on Knowledge Management.

Dr. Hawamdeh and Chuck Tryon have collaborated on a new approach to Knowledge Management titled Project-Based Knowledge Management.  The two authors have created a one-day seminar to introduce the concepts of Knowledge Management and then explain how projects make for an ideal environment to identify and capture meaningful organizational knowledge.  The session concludes with a discussion on how to create a Knowledge Retention Policy.  This formal, written document declares the items of intellectual property an organization considers to be a valuable asset.  It is the logical first step for launching a Knowledge Management effort.  Contact us if you would like to discuss this emerging topic.  The following items are available through our website...

• A Seminar Description of Project-Based Knowledge Management
• A seminar brochure
• A position paper on Bridging the Knowledge Gap that presents the case for and the content of a Knowledge Retention Policy.  Due to the significance of this topic, it is presented as Part One and Part Two.
• A position paper titled Project-Based Knowledge Management
• A curriculum map that shows how established Tryon and Associates seminars integrate with training provided by Dr. Hawamdeh

KPM SYMPOSIUM - The 2007 version of the Knowledge Management/Project Management Symposium came to a very successful conclusion on October 3rd and 4th with over 150 attendees representing many major organizations, universities and a dozen states.  It is clear that this event has "legs" and the 2008 edition will be even bigger and better.  KPM 2008 will be held August 18th through 20th at the new University of Oklahoma conference center on the Tulsa campus. Additional information is available at www.KPMSymposium.org.  If you attended this year's event, I'm sure you will return in 2008.  If you missed the 2007 conference, be sure to sign up early.  It will be a true regional event and will likely sell out.

KNOWLEDGE RETENTION POLICY - Many organizations recognize of the need for and promise of Knowledge Management.  Efforts to establish a meaningful strategy, however, suffer from a lack of tangible processes and a meaningful superstructure.  These organizations routinely document their physical assets with an inventory list.  Tryon and Associates has now built templates and processes to create an inventory list of intellectual assets.  Called a Knowledge Retention Policy, this document list the Knowledge Areas and Knowledge Topics of an organization along with the significance this knowledge represents to the organization and the current state of transfer. 

This report may be used to insure proper attention is given to capturing and transferring knowledge that is critical to an organization.  It also validates intellectual properties that are well-defined.  Information on creating a Knowledge Retention Policy for your organization is available by contacting Chuck Tryon.

SYMPOSIUMS/CONFERENCES - Chuck Tryon continues to bring his fresh and inspiring views on Knowledge Management, Project Management and Business Requirements to professional gatherings. 

2008 - Among the conference/symposium speaking engagements for Chuck in 2008 are...

• Great Ideas! workshop for Oklahoma Sheriffs and Peace Officers Annual Conference on February 21-22. 

• PMI Tulsa Chapter Meeting on April 4th

• Opening keynote for the Dallas PMI Chapter's Professional Development Day on April 12.

• Oklahoma City PMI Chapter's Spring Conference on April 28. (Understanding Business Requirements)

•  Modern Project Management workshop for the Tulsa PMI Chapter on May 10.

• Knowledge/Project Management Symposium in Tulsa on August 18-20.

• International Conference on Knowledge Management on October 23-24.

2007 - In April, Chuck presented his Managing Single-Time Efforts seminar at the Northwest Arkansas PMI Symposium at Roaring River State Park..  He spoke for the Mile-Hi (Denver) and Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs) PMI chapter meetings.  Chuck gave his one-day seminar Modern Project Management for Colorado Springs in June 2007.  He gave the opening address for the Oklahoma IT Symposium (Retaining Organizational Knowledge) and the general session for the IMA Conference, both in August.  On October 19th, Chuck presented Understanding Business Requirements at Tulsa TechFest 2007.  Modern Project Management was the topic for a one-day session with the Oklahoma City PMI Chapter on October 20.

2006 - Chuck spoke for the 2006 PMI Region 6 Leadership Conference on Modern Project Management.  He was a keynote speaker for the 2006 Oklahoma City PMI Spring Symposium and 2005 Austin PMI Symposium.  Chuck was also a featured speaker for a Knowledge Management symposium hosted by the University of Oklahoma.  Chuck was the opening night speaker for the November 2006 PMI Symposium in Houston. 

Chuck offers a variety of challenging and informative talks featuring Project Management and Requirement Engineering.  One of the more popular of these talks is "What's so MODERN about PROJECT MANAGEMENT:  Thriving in the Information Age."  His newest and perhaps most significant keynote is titled "RETAINING ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE: Projects Meet Knowledge Management."  If you would like to schedule Chuck for one of your meetings, contact him at ChuckTryon@TryonAssoc.com or call 918-455-3300.

NEW SEMINAR - New for 2007, Tryon and Associates introduces a new seminar, Business Analysis Fundamentals.  This 2-day session provides the foundational skills and concepts every Business Analyst needs in order to succeed when asked to gather and evaluate business requirements.  This session is an ideal introduction into the world of business analysis and provides an excellent educational launching pad for a multitude of specialized skills and methods.

If you are looking for a way to leverage the natural problem-solving ability of your people and take full advantage of the skills that caused you to hire them in the first place, you need to attend Tryon and Associates newest mini-seminar titled Great Ideas!  Any organization seeking to make dramatic improvements in the way they operate and fully leverage the capabilities of their people will find this seminar an absolute necessity.  These concepts apply to any business sector and all levels of your organization.  Launch an INSPIRATION revolution!

PROJECT CHARTER UPDATE - We have just released Version 2.0 of our highly popular Project Charter.  This document is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to successfully launch their projects.  Version 2.0 provides two significant changes over the previous version.

• Project Goals and Objectives are now combined into a single topic.  As projects have become more proficient at creating Project Goals to identify improvements their project will provide to the larger organization, we have recognized a more direct link to specific Project Objectives that can certify these improvements.  It was a natural next-step to combine these two components.  This is also a natural starting point for defining detailed Project Scope.

• Affected Knowledge Assets is a new addition to the Project Charter.  This topic recognizes the growing crisis over the potential loss of vital organizational knowledge AND the reality that projects encounter all types of important knowledge assets on a regular basis.  Listing the significant knowledge assets that will be affected by a project highlights the importance of these assets and makes it more likely that the organization will insure their refinement during a project.  Adding this component is a direct result of current work on Project-Based Knowledge Management.

MANAGING LAW ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES - In January, 2004, Tryon and Associates launched a partnership with the Tulsa Police Department on a training program that promotes officer safety and may help reduce crime in the Tulsa community.  The ultimate goal is to provide an ongoing source of new ideas to improve Tulsa PD.  As cities feel the economic squeeze from reduced tax collections and limited internal funding, they may partner with community groups to create alternate programs to reduce crime or redirect young offenders.  Federal and state agencies often provide grants for such endeavors, but few in law enforcement have been trained in identifying, launching, controlling and closing these initiatives. 

Tryon and Associates created a new training seminar for this purpose titled Managing Law Enforcement Initiatives.  The goal of this training is to help law enforcement officers and support organizations...

• Clearly document and propose ideas they wish to see become  implemented programs.

• Manage approved, funded initiatives using proven Project Management techniques. 

While this seminar was created with and for the Tulsa Police Department, the concepts and materials are applicable to any law enforcement organization.  This material is supported with easy to use processes and templates tailored to the law enforcement environment.  Tulsa PD's Initiative Proposal template may be downloaded along with a short guide on Proposing a New Initiative.  (Read the Tulsa World article on the MLEI program.)

CCSAS PROJECT - During the first six months of 2000, Tryon and Associates guided the State of California's efforts to create a Project Charter to launch a multi-year project to create a single state-wide automated system for child support programs.  That  Project Charter  is located on the Franchise Tax Board's website.  One of the most significant innovations of this charter is the mapping of Goal Sets into Business Goals and then to Automated System Objectives.   This information will also be linked to business requirements that will be used for vendor proposals.  You may also be interested in a very unique and highly successful approach FTB uses to procure technology products.  They don't pay vendors to write code!

Special note recent conference attendees:  The two presentation made by Chuck Tryon for the IMA conference, Modern Project Management and Beyond Project Management, are available for download until August 31.  The Retaining Organizational Knowledge handout used for the Oklahoma IT Symposium is available through September 15.