Posts Tagged ‘pmp’

PMBOK 3rd edition vs PMBOK 4th edition & references

In: Project Management

1 Jul 2009

PMBOK 3rd ed

PMBOK 4th ed
4.1 Develop Project Charter 4.1 Develop Project Charter
4.2 Develop Preliminary Project Scope Statement
4.3 Develop Project Management Plan 4.2 Develop Project Management Plan
4.4 Direct and Manage Project Execution 4.3 Direct and Manage Project Execution
4.5 Monitor and Control Project Work 4.4 Monitor and Control Project Work
4.6 Integrated Change Control 4.5 Perform Integrated Change Control
4.7 Close Project 4.6 Close Project or Phase
5.1 Scope Planning 5.1 Collect Requirements
5.2 Scope Definition 5.2 Define Scope
5.3 Create WBS 5.3 Create WBS
5.4 Scope Verification 5.4 Verify Scope
5.5 Scope Control 5.5 Control Scope
6.1 Activity Definition 6.1 Define Activities
6.2 Activity Sequencing 6.2 Sequence Activities
6.3 Activity Resource Estimating 6.3 Estimate Activity Resources
6.4 Activity Duration Estimating 6.4 Estimate Activity Durations
6.4 Activity Duration Estimating 6.4 Estimate Activity Durations
6.5 Schedule Development 6.5 Develop Schedule
6.6 Schedule Control 6.6 Control Schedule
7.1 Cost Estimating 7.1 Estimate Costs
7.2 Cost Budgeting 7.2 Determine Budget
7.3 Cost Control 7.3 Control Costs
8.1 Quality Planning 8.1 Plan Quality
8.2 Perform Quality Assurance 8.2 Perform Quality Assurance
8.3 Perform Quality Control 8.3 Perform Quality Control
9.1 Human Resource Planning 9.1 Develop Human Resource Plan
9.2 Acquire Project Team 9.2 Acquire Project Team
10.1 Communications Planning 10.1 Identify Stakeholders
10.2 Information Distribution 10.2 Plan Communications
10.3 Performance Reporting 10.3 Distribute Information
10.4 Manage Stakeholders 10.4 Manage Stakeholder Expectations
10.5 Report Performance
11.1 Risk Management Planning 11.1 Plan Risk Management
11.2 Risk Identification 11.2 Identify Risks
11.3 Qualitative Risk Analysis 11.3 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
11 .4 Quantitative Risk AnalysiS 11.4 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
11.5 Risk Response Planning 11.5 Plan Risk Responses
11.6 Risk Monitoring and Control 11.6 Monitor and Control Risks
12.1 Plan Purchases and Acquisitions 12.1 Plan Procurements
12.2 Plan Contracting 12.2 Conduct Procurements
12.3 Request Seller Responses 12.3 Administer Procurements
12.4 Select Sellers 12.4 Close Procurements
12.5 Contract Administration
12.6 Contract Closure

Additional appendix on interpersonal skills

  • - Leadership
  • - Teambuilding
  • - Motivation
  • - Communication
  • - Influencing
  • - Decisionmaking
  • - Political and Cultural Awareness
  • - Negotiation

Summary

More details here:

The major differences between the Third Edition and the Fourth Edition are summarized below in PMI’s webpage:

  • - All process names are now in a verb-noun format.
  • - Efforts were made to distinguish between Enterprise Environmental Factors and Organizational Process Assets.
  • - A standard approach for discussing requested changes, preventive actions, corrective actions and defect repairs was employed.
  • - The processes decreased from 44 to 42.
  • - Two processes were deleted.
  • - Two processes were added.
  • - Six processes were reconfigured into 4 processes in the Procurement knowledge area.
  • - To provide clarity, a distinction was made between the Project Management Plan and project documents used to manage the project.
  • - The distinction between the information in the Project Charter and the Project Scope Statement was clarified.
  • - The process flow diagrams at the beginning of chapters 4-12 have been deleted and replaced with data flow diagrams.
  • - A data flow diagram for each process has been created to show where information comes from as an input and where it goes to as an output.
  • - A new appendix was added that addresses key interpersonal skills that a project manager utilizes when managing a project.

When should seek a PMP certification?

In: Project Management

20 Nov 2008

Takeaway: Should a manager in midcareer seek a PMP certification? Which IT areas are best suited to the PMP? Learn why the PMP is right for certain IT managers–and what motivated one seasoned PM to get the certification.

You’ve moved up through the IT ranks over the years. You’ve seen projects that made it and projects that failed. In your journey you’ve become an IT manager. Even though you’re battle-tested, now may be the right time to formalize your experience with a certification.

For managers involved in initiating, planning, or running a project, the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) may be the right cert to pursue. In the IT field, the PMP may be right for managers who are heavily involved in areas such as software engineering or network design IT projects. The PMP certification demonstrates that a project manager (PM) understands the fundamentals of project management and can put them into practice.

Strong motivations
What’s the point of getting a certification when your career is already firmly established? While certifications aren’t everything, they might make your name stand out in a stack of resumes. That’s what prompted Tony Johnson, a veteran PM, to obtain his PMP certification.

Johnson said when he was looking for a new job, he noticed that many open positions preferred or required applicants with a PMP certification. He went after the certification to become a stronger candidate. “I felt that…with all things being equal…having the certification would be a key differentiator,” said Johnson, a project director with WorkPlace Technologies, a division of real estate solutions company WorkPlaceUSA.

Of course, the PMP certification is good for more than just landing a job. Johnson listed two more reasons for earning the certification in the middle of his career. First, many organizations have their own project management style. “Over the years, you tend to develop your own style and preferences, which may mean you have both good and bad habits. Certification reinforces the good stuff and provides standards and structure to change the bad habits,” he said.

Second, Johnson said, the PMI’s project management standards provide a solid base that makes it easier to introduce changes to internal methods and processes.

One of the plusses of pursuing the certification in midcareer was that Johnson’s experience made studying for the PMP easier. “I did not have to revisit areas I was comfortable with, and only had to concentrate on learning the way PMI describes the processes, [the] PMI terminology, and brush up on the areas requiring calculations,” he said.

Good for forward-facing organizations
The PMP certification is good for managers, but it’s also good for employers. Johnson’s supervisor, Don Altwein, said having the PMP makes Johnson a more valuable employee. Altwein’s organization, WorkPlace Project Management, another division of WorkPlaceUSA, is a service company, so having PMPs on staff can help attract business.

Johnson added that having a PMP shows customers that “we take…project management seriously enough to invest time in developing and maintaining our knowledge of the discipline.”

Continuing education
Your PMP experience doesn’t end when you become certified. To keep your certification, you must complete 60 hours of the PMI’s Professional Development Units (PDUs) within three years. If you don’t keep current, you have to re-apply, be found eligible to take the test, pay the $555 test fee, and pass the test again to be recertified.

The PMI offers several ways to earn PDUs. Many cities have PMI chapters that hold monthly meetings that feature a speaker or project management-related function. Each meeting counts as one PDU hour. You can also earn PDUs by:

  • Attending PMI seminars and symposiums.
  • Writing a paper and delivering it at a seminar or a symposium.
  • Participating in your local PMI chapter.
  • Serving on a chapter committee.
  • Serving as a board member for the PMI.

Shari Stern, a PMP and a member of the PMI’s Certification Board Center, said PDUs are a way for PMPs to stay on top of project management trends and make contacts with other PMPs.

Conclusion
Even in midcareer, managers in certain areas of the IT field can benefit from attaining a PMP certification. The PMP demonstrates your project-management expertise, helps correct bad habits you’ve picked up over the years, and makes you both a more valuable employee and a more tempting job candidate.

Original Published

Avoiding Project Failure

In: Project Management

17 Nov 2008

It is true that every project is unique; however the underlying causes of project failure are usually restricted to a few specific areas. Once we know what these are we can take steps to minimise the chance of problems in these areas and increase the likelihood of success.

Poor Project Initiation

The Problem:

This is probably the most common pitfall. Not initiating a project properly with sufficient time spent to define and agree the user requirements, create a realistic plan and gain buy-in from all of the stakeholders means you’re almost certainly destined for problems.

The Solution:

Resist the temptation to start the project too early before it has been properly initiated. Don’t allow the customer to push you into starting the work on the assumption that it will result in an earlier delivery. The reality is that poor initiation extends projects by causing rework, errors and omissions. Just say no when pushed and never start too early.

Weak Ongoing Project Management

The Problem:

It’s no good doing a thorough job of planning and initiating a project if you don’t manage it effectively to its conclusion. Typical problems here are scope creep, poor work-plan, lack of change control, poor communication and poor management of risks and issues.

The Solution:

  1. Introduce a change control process and make everyone aware of it. Use it to ensure that the resources stay focused on delivering what is important
  2. Practice exception reporting
  3. Communicate on a regular basis with your sponsor and other key stakeholders
  4. Update your plan regularly. If you don’t intend to update the plan then it’s not worth creating in the first place

Insufficient Resources

The Problem:

Not having the right amount of resource or indeed having the right amount with the wrong skill mix can be a cause of project failure.

The Solution:

Insist that management provide appropriate resources either from internal staff or if necessary by hiring some on a contract basis.

Lifecycle Problems

The Problem:

There are many occasions during the lifecycle of a project for issues that may lead to failure. Examples of these include:

  • Failure to define the requirements clearly, resulting in expectations not being met
  • Cutting edge or new technology that causes unforeseen problems
  • A poor technical design preventing the solution from being changed or scaled in the future
  • Poor change control allowing change requests to cause the project to drift
  • Changing priorities diverting attention away from core work
  • Poor testing leading to bugs and errors later in the project

The Solution:

All of these issues and many others should be considered at the start of the project. A good approach is to brainstorm the possible issues with your team or other project managers who have run similar projects. Some solutions for the examples above include:

  • Employing a business analyst to draw out the user requirements and document them in a clear concise way
  • Asking if it is necessary to use cutting edge technology or whether a more tried and tested solution would deliver all or most of the benefits
  • Using the team to create the technical design, this way you have a far greater chance of something robust and scalable with the added bonus that everybody has a stake in making it succeed
  • Agreeing a change control process with the customer before the project starts and sticking to it.
  • Creating a weekly work-plan for the resources so they remain focused on the priorities and don’t get side tracked.
  • Putting together a test plan with test scenarios based on the user requirements and ensuring you have enough resource and user commitment to run them.

Managing Expectations

The Problem:

Often projects start on a high with a huge amount of optimism. During the project lifecycle expectations can inflate to an unreasonable degree well beyond the reality of what can be delivered.

The Solution:

It is the role of the project manager to manage expectations to a sensible level. One way to do this is to break projects down into smaller chunks or phases with frequent milestones. This way you manage expectations by making regular deliveries so the customer sees what they are getting. This approach ensures the project delivers to the customers’ expectations by giving them early visibility of what you are building.

Don’t become the casualty of a failed project, put measures in place that address these five key areas to help ensure your success. After all it’s not Rocket Science!

Original Author: Duncan Haughey, PMP


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