Your boss announces his plan for cutting some project costs during a team meeting. You realize that this planned activity cheats the client and is illegal, so you cheerfully point that out for that group. Right? Unfortunately it’s usually not so easy to raise ethical concerns. If you’re dealing with an ethical individual who would truly want to know that they are accidentally doing something they should not be, they may thank you. However, sometimes we deal with unethical people who know full well that what they are doing is wrong, and it can be unpleasant to say the least to have an unethical person angry with you for pointing that out. If you raise concerns about the ethics of someone’s behavior and they try to cause you harm in some way because of the trouble you are causing them, this is called retaliation. The fifth mandatory Responsibility standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “2.3.5 We pursue disciplinary action against an individual who retaliates against a person raising ethics concerns.” PMI values an environment where people can raise ethics concerns without fear. If ethical people are afraid to do or say anything, unethical behavior can take root and flourish. As Edmund Burke said, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” For this reason, retaliation is taken very seriously in the project management profession.
March 11, 2010
March 10, 2010
Rules, Regulations and the PMI Code of Ethics
“Ignorantia juris non excusat”—ignorance of the law is no excuse! This well-known legal principle states that we are held liable for laws even though we may not be aware of them. This suggests that it’s a good idea to be aware of the laws and other rules that directly pertain to our work. As a project manager, you may have access to legal counsel as well. The first mandatory Responsibility standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “2.3.1 We inform ourselves and uphold the policies, rules, regulations and laws that govern our work, professional, and volunteer activities.” Although there are some activities that most of us can safely assume would be wrong to do, some policies and rules can be quite detailed and have nothing to do with ethics. For example, in a former place of employment, my organization was inspected and marked down for the way the toilet paper was hung in the bathrooms. Because many rules are not immediately obvious, we must educate ourselves on the different sets of rules to which we are held accountable.
March 9, 2010
Upholding the PMI Code of Ethics
In order to be a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) one must agree to abide by the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. It establishes expectations for behavior and serves as guidance for members as they make decisions in their profession. The sixth aspirational Responsibility standard in the PMI Code of Ethics (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “2.2.6 We uphold this Code and hold each other accountable to it.” It seems redundant that the Code itself states that we are to uphold it, but the key here is that we are to hold each other accountable. So for your colleagues who have also agreed to abide by the code, it means you should remind them about the standards when they face an ethical dilemma and expect that they will hold you accountable as well. In order to do this, we must have a good familiarity with the Code, or at a minimum, be able to recognize that a situation or decision involves ethics and then reference the Code. This aspirational Responsibility standard is closely tied to the Mandatory Responsibility standards which require us to report, and even file an ethics complaint, when there has been a substantiated ethics violation.
March 8, 2010
Listening and the PMI Code of Ethics
Listening carefully in order to understand someone is a practical skill for everyday life, but it’s also considered a matter of respect, and is so listed as the second aspirational Respect standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) as “3.2.2 We listen to others’ points of view, seeking to understand them.” During a conversation, it can be easy to concentrate more on what we’ll say next rather than focus on the meaning of what the other person is saying. Not paying attention at all conveys that the other person and their thoughts are not important to us. Just because we understand someone’s view doesn’t mean that we’ll agree with it, but we have to first understand in order to decide whether or not we agree. Also, as project managers, we can save ourselves much trouble if we seek to understand what key stakeholders want for the project and if we listen to the people in the trenches when they warn that there are some additional considerations.
March 5, 2010
Opportunity Fairness and the PMI Code of Ethics
Who will get that great, new opportunity within your organization? Perhaps the daughter of the top salesman, or the young lady that was in the same sorority as the CEO? The fourth aspirational Fairness standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “4.2.4 We make opportunities equally available to qualified candidates.” Not everyone has the needed qualifications, so opportunities should not be equally available to unqualified candidates. But the pool of equally qualified candidates should all have the same opportunity. Some people deliberately use their position of power to show favoritism, but what is difficult about this standard is that someone can have every intention of trying to do the right thing by “helping someone out” without realizing that it is precluding the opportunity for other individuals. This standard asks us to think through our actions to ensure that they are fair.
March 3, 2010
Information Access and the PMI Code of Ethics
Knowledge is power. Individuals who serve as gatekeepers of knowledge are in a position of power, and that power can be abused by unfairly exercising control over who knows what. The third aspirational Fairness standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “4.2.3 We provide equal access to information to those who are authorized to have that information.” We must first know who is authorized to have the information. I remember being told once by a colleague that if I needed certain information, just wait until the student office worker was there, because she would tell you anything when the other people in the office knew we weren’t entitled to the information. Apparently no one had told this young lady who was authorized to have access to certain types of files. Once we know who is authorized, we must allow them the same access. So if we have a useful piece of information, it isn’t right to quickly let our friends know and only tell the other authorized people if they directly ask. The emphasis here is on treating people fairly regarding information.
March 2, 2010
Errors and the PMI Code of Ethics
Uh, oh. You found a mistake in your report that was already sent out to key stakeholders. People can have a range of reactions at this moment of realization. Some will shrug it off and tell themselves that everyone makes mistakes. Others may feel devastated over the error and obsess about it.
As hard as it may be, what we should not do is blame someone else for the mistake, attempt to cover it up, or hope that it will disappear on its own. The fourth responsibility aspirational standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “2.2.4 When we make errors or omissions, we take ownership and make corrections promptly. When we discover errors or omissions caused by others, we communicate them to the appropriate body as soon they are discovered. We accept accountability for any issues resulting from our errors or omissions and any resulting consequences.” If people are making decisions based on the inaccurate information in your report, the problem is going to quickly get worse rather than go away. So we are urged to promptly correct the problem.
In another scenario, you find a mistake in a report, but it was not you who made the error. This is not the time to stay quiet because you don’t want to cause problems for the person; nor is it appropriate to broadcast your evidence of how incompetent the individual is. We need to be logical about informing people of what they need to know so that corrections can be made and the project can move on. Ideally as a project manager we do what we can to make team members comfortable with bringing errors to our attention. Being afraid of the boss’s reaction can be strong motivation to keep mistakes quiet and cover them up.
March 1, 2010
Conflict of Interest and the PMI Code of Ethics
Conflict of interest was discussed in the last posting on the second aspirational fairness standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). The first and second mandatory fairness standards in the code of ethics address conflict of interest more directly.
A conflict of interest situation occurs when we have competing loyalties. We all play multiple roles and have multiple loyalties that extend beyond the workplace. Although sometimes we can make decisions that support multiple loyalties at once, sometimes roles conflict and we must make a decision that does not support all our loyalties. For example, have your parents wanted something and your significant other wanted something else? When your boss wants you to work extra hours during your child’s sporting event, there is a conflict between your role as an employee and your role as a parent. If you’ve become friends with one of your subordinates, conflicts may arise between your role as a boss and that of a friend.
The first step is to be open about the conflict of interest—not just when someone asks, but taking it upon ourselves to inform others. Section 4.3.1 of the code states “We proactively and fully disclose any real or potential conflicts of interest to the appropriate stakeholders.” If a situation is not disclosed and others discover the potential conflict, it can appear that we have a reason to be hiding something.
Once stakeholders are informed of the situation, the second step is to excuse ourselves from the decision-making process unless or until we have the permission of the stakeholders to participate and a plan. Section 4.3.2 of the code states “When we realize that we have a real or potential conflict of interest, we refrain from engaging in the decision-making process or otherwise attempting to influence outcomes, unless or until: we have made full disclosure to the affected stakeholders; we have an approved mitigation plan; and we have obtained the consent of the stakeholders to proceed.” Project managers preparing for the PMP Exam® often believe that we must excuse ourselves permanently from conflict of interest situations, but this is not always the case. With stakeholders’ permission and a plan, we may participate.
For example, as a teacher’s assistant in college I graded papers and maintained the grade books for certain courses. I remember informing the professor that one of his students was my roommate. He trusted that I would grade fairly, so I had his permission to grade her exams as well. I was glad I had disclosed the information after my roommate did exceptionally well on the test—the professor may have been suspicious if he later found out she was my roommate.
February 26, 2010
Conflict of Interest–The Second Aspirational Fairness Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Conflict of interest situations can be commonplace, and have been regarded as one the biggest problems in the field of project management. The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) contains comments on some standards, and the second aspirational Fairness standard includes the comment “the subject of conflicts of interest is one of the most challenging faced by our profession. One of the biggest problems practitioners report is not recognizing when we have conflicted loyalties and recognizing when we are inadvertently placing ourselves or others in a conflict-of-interest situation.”
The standard drafted to confront this problem is the second aspirational Fairness standard: “4.2.2 We constantly reexamine our impartiality and objectivity, taking corrective action as appropriate.” This standard does not simply say what we will or will not do like many other standards, but consistent with the problem that project managers may not even realize that they are in a conflict of interest situation, it states that we “constantly reexamine.” For example, a relative to the person making the procurement decisions may submit a proposal. If coming under-budget for a project is rewarded financially, decisions may be made to reduce costs in a way that compromises the quality of the deliverables. What appears to be a gift may be a subtle bribe. Many situations can arise in which we have multiple interests, so project managers first of all need to maintain awareness to assure that they act in a fair manner.
September 11, 2008
November 22, 2008
Top 10 list for contractors
I began a consulting services contract this week for a large, fortune 2000 company. The mission is to support their consolidation efforts into some massive data centers.
This is the seventh longer term contracting assignment I’ve had since going solo in 2002/03. The first few assignments were challenging in that I was unlearning the “successful full time employee” habits and needed to learn and get smart about “successful contractor”. Now there are different stripes and kinds of contractors from, an ala Big 6, 4 (OK how ever many there are now) consultant, to a true time and material laborer. I tend to fall in between the two. Success characteristics tend to be similar.
I’ve found that success in growing TAPUniversity and delivering training is slightly different than success in being a “roaming Jedi, hired hand”. While there’s a lot in common there are some differences.
So here’s some tips – a top 10 list if you will that may help you if you’ve found yourself joining the ranks of “contractor”. These tips are not all areas I’m perfect in — in fact I’ve stumbled on each of these at some point over the last seven years. Please feel free to add, comment and respond!
- 10 arrive early for bridge calls – nothing raises the ire of the full time, permanent crowd than that late arriving conference call “beeps” and drive by call participants.
- 9 understand you’re expendable and can be bounced in a day… so mute or tone down your personality. This is tough for me to do and is different from my training delivery and small business growth. In those I let my natural self show. Yet I need to mute the “Dave show”.
- 8 don’t use the client’s computer to surf the net. Even where permissible for permanent employees, understand that it’s a privilege that may not be conveyed to contractors
- 7 save your drama for your mama and away from work. I’ve overhead some rather bizarre Dr. Phil conversations over the last six years and, while strange for managers of full time, permanent employees to deal with, are a real liability for contractors. Take personal calls at lunch and away from the limelight.
- 6 pitch into the local corporate goodwill. Though you’re a passerby and stranger in a strange land, you can still help with community food-banks, santa cops, etc.
- 5 do pitch in outside your role (this is not a contradiction to #2). If a team member needs a hand, help them. You are on a team, whether for 4 weeks or 2 years. Help out. Just don’t call a lot of attention to it.
- 4 offer your collective wisdom in private conversations — especially with your direct report “boss”. Yours is a temporary life and you really don’t need to “grease the execs”. Help the one signing your timesheet / approving your bill rate and life will be good.
- 3 Stay positive, at all times. You may be frustrated and feel XYZ organization is inept. But unless you’re a Merger and Acquisition Tsar it’s not your job to inform them of their ineptness. A bit like Patrick Swayze portraying a tough yet smart bouncer in the movie “Roadhouse” — be nice, then be nice, then be nice outside (meaning don’t take the fight inside the bar or office).
- 2 Don’t gather unnecessary attention — fulfill your role (explicit and implicit) and only your role. It’s unlikely you’ll earn a promotion by ranging far and wide. You might be given additional assignments as you carefully network. Grandstanding typically leads to short assignments
- 1 Don’t engage in the internal politics. you’re there for 4 weeks, 6 months or maximum of 2 years (US Federal Code due to Microsoft class action suit). Nothing is gained by engaging in turf wars.
Please do let me know of your tips as well!
David
December 20, 2008
TAPUniversity’s Effective Virtual Team Institute Graduates — December 2008
Congratulations to TAPUniversity’s eight most recent Effective Virtual Team graduates. Since August of 2005 over 175 people have graduated from this class. Look forward to the unveiling of the Effective Virtual Team Institute soon.
The honor roll includes:
Ken Bratch, Quad Cities
Karen Miller, Quad Cities
Melissa Olson, Minneapolis
B Howard Penix, Quad Cities
Peggy Pangersis, Denver
Mary Regan, Nashville,
Bobbi Stark, Minneapolis
Max West, Boston
Best success all on a healthy, prosperous new year and on all your virtual team interactions!
January 26, 2009
PMP Exam Tips
Greetings! As many of those preparing for their PMP® exam already know, the Project Management Institute has now released the 4th edition PMBOK®. If you have been studying using the 3rd edition PMBOK, it is best if you take the exam before June 30th, which is when the 4th edition exam will replace the old one. Otherwise, you will be faced with learning some additional processes and concepts, and will find that some of the process and concepts you have learned are now called something else. If you have already taken a prep course, it’s time to get serious about finishing your final studying and applying for the exam. We’ve found that our students are the most likely to pass when they take their exam within about a month of finishing their PMP course. If you have finished a course recently, now is the time to schedule your exam. If you have finished your PMP course more than two months ago, give yourself at least a few weeks to do some intensive review before taking your exam. For those of you who have not taken a PMP course, plan ahead—study the 3rd edition if you’ll be able to take the exam before June 30th. Otherwise, start your studies with the 4th edition PMBOK. Best of success to you!
February 3, 2009
PMP Exam – Communication Formula
There are a number of formulas to memorize before taking the PMP Exam. The good news is that once you know the formulas, those questions should be particularly easy to answer correctly as there is a definite right answer. Here we’ll review the communication formula, which is used to calculate the number of possible paths of two-way communication among a group of people. The formula is (N * (N-1))/2 where N is the number of people in the group. So if you have 4 people in your group, the number of communication paths is (4*3)/2 which is 12/2 which is 6.
Let’s use an example—say the four people in your group are Annie, Barney, Cathy, and Dannie. Annie could talk directly to any of the other three—Barney, Cathy, and Dannie—which makes 3 paths of communication. We’ve already accounted for Barney and Annie talking to each other, but Barney could also talk directly to Cathy or Dannie, which adds 2 more communication paths. Lastly, Cathy and Dannie could talk directly to each other (we’ve already accounted for them talking to Annie and Barney), so that adds 1 more communication path. So 3 paths, plus 2 paths, plus 1 more path equals 6 paths, which is exactly what we quickly calculated using the communication formula.
If you’d like some practice with this formula, try answering the following:
1. There are 10 people on the project management team. How many communication paths are there?
2. There were 8 people on the team, but 2 people left. How many communication paths are there now?
3. There were 5 people on the team, but the team has now doubled in size. How many communication paths have been added?
February 4, 2009
PMP Exam – Cost Estimating Tools and Techniques
So, how much is all this going to cost me? Project Managers must routinely obtain estimates of project and activity costs. The Cost Estimating process (a process in the PMBOK®’s cost knowledge area and planning process group) deals with the task of obtaining reliable estimates for project costs. The Cost Estimating process has three tools and techniques that are specifically meant to obtain cost estimates—Analogous Estimating, Bottom-up Estimating, and Parametric Estimating.
Here are some example of these techniques. The Estemitte family is planning their annual vacation. Mr. Estemitte says that last year’s vacation cost $2,300, so this one should cost about the same. This is an example of Analogous Estimating. Notice that this was a very quick way to obtain a cost estimate and that it may not be highly accurate. If Mrs. Estemitte replies that the cost of travel has increased substantially since last year, and they would obtain a more accurate estimate if they used the vacation expenses of someone who has travelled recently, she is calling into question her husband’s Expert Judgment. Expert Judgment (for example, knowing what vacation or other project to use as a comparison) is critical in order to obtain a cost estimate that has the degree of accuracy needed to be useful.
Mrs. Estemitte breaks down the vacation expenses and obtains costs for lodging, car rental, meals, entertaintainment, souvenirs, and the pet sitter. She totals all these costs at $3,500. This is called bottom-up estimating. Notice that the more detail she uses to break down the vacation activities, the more accurate her estimate is likely to be. Also, it is likely to be more accurate than Analogous Estimating.
The Estemitte family has decided to go to a local all-inclusive resort, which charges $500 (taxes included)/day per family. Travel and other expenses will be miniscule. They want to have 5 days of vacation, so they calculate that the resort will cost about $2,500. This is an example of Parametric Estimating. The cost per unit is multiplied by the quantity of work. Other examples of units of work could be line of code in programming and miles of highway in constuction.
February 5, 2009
Develop Project Team – Team-building
Develop Project Team is one of the 44 processes in the third edition PMBOK®. This process is classified as a Human Resource process in the Executing process group. The Develop Project Team process concerns improving the competencies of project team members and the interactions among team members. One of its tools and techniques to accomplish this is team-building activities. In some fields and situations, a group of people may work together for many years and form a high-functioning team that is impressive to observe in action. Project Management by its very nature deals with the temporary—teams are formed quickly and disbanded as soon as the project comes to a close. To add to the challenge, some teams are virtual teams that never or rarely actually meet in person, yet to meet the project’s goals they must learn to work together effectively.
The project manager that can encourage the rapid development of a team has a great advantage. According to a well-known theory, teams go through stages of Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. A team that reaches the Performing stage will work most effectively. At the beginning, project managers should make certain that team members understand the objectives and importance of the project to help guide their individual decisions and to make the project goals their own. If the team members have individual agendas overshadowing a mutual team goal, problems are likely to ensue as they work against each other rather than together. Also, the project manager should try to encourage an atmosphere of trust and communication. To these ends, team-building activities may be introduced. Examples that people have used include: ice-breakers, ropes courses, off-site corporate events, games, company parties, and workshops. It can be difficult to find and execute a good team-building activity. What team-building activities have you experienced? Please share any ideas for team-building activities that you’ve found useful.
February 6, 2009
PMP Exam – PERT Formula
The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) formula is a simple and useful tool for project managers, and those who are planning to take their PMP Exam should have it memorized. There is much more to PERT as a project scheduling and planning technique than this formula, but here we’ll focus just on the formula. The PERT formula is mentioned in the 4th edition PMBOK® as a tool and technique of two processes—Estimate Activity Durations and Estimate Costs. The formula provides a weighted estimate—and the formula doesn’t care if the numbers you use represent time or money—so that’s why it’s in both the PMBOK’s Time and Cost knowledge areas.
To use this formula, we need three estimates—Optimistic (best-case scenario), Most Likely (realistic), and Pessimistic (worst-case scenario). We then find the average, but we first weight the Most Likely estimate by 4. The formula is (O + (4*ML) + P) / 6. We must divide by six because we in effect have six different estimates (although three of these estimates are the same number). We are averaging (O + ML + ML + ML + ML + P) / 6.
Here’s an example. The Estemitte family is driving home. They guess they are most likely 10 minutes from home, so that is their Most Likely estimate. If all the lights turn green, they guess it may take just 7 minutes to get home, so that is their Optimistic estimate. If it starts raining hard, they guess it may take them 12 minutes to get home, so that is their Pessimistic estimate. We simply put these numbers into the formula: (7 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 12) / 6 = 9.83 minutes.
This formula is most useful in estimating time or cost of activities for projects that are especially unique, such as in research and development where there are many unknowns. For projects that are similar to previous projects and there is good historical data and expert experience, the formula is less useful.
February 9, 2009
Pareto Chart
The Pareto Chart (also called Pareto Diagram) is used to show the various causes of defects. It is listed as a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Perform Quality Control process. The purpose of the Pareto Chart is to identify the biggest problems affecting quality so that those causes may be targeted for improvement first. This concept is based on Pareto’s Law (also called the 80/20 rule) which is applied in this context to state that 80% of the problems are due to 20% of the causes. The various causes of defects in a Pareto Chart are ordered from left to right starting with the biggest cause of defects. The exception to this is the “other” category which is always at the far right. If the first several bars are substantially larger than the others, it is called a Pareto Effect. Note that if the “Other” category is comparatively large, it warrants further investigation to determine whether there are some major causes of defects that need to be further investigated. Pareto Charts typically display the number or percentage of defects, and some also have a line above the bars illustrating the cumulative percentage of the causes of defects.
Pareto Chart
February 10, 2009
Scatter Diagram
The Scatter Diagram (also called Scatter Plot) graphically illustrates data from two variables. It is listed as a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Perform Quality Control process. One of the two variables is on the x-axis, and the other variable is portrayed on the y-axis. In this fictional example, 17 people were given IQ tests and were then asked how many books they owned. Their IQ scores are shown on the y-axis, and the number of books they own are on the x-axis, so the red dot illustrates an individual with an IQ of 130 who owns 200 books. The dots are showing a general pattern of the higher the IQ, the more books that are owned. This is called a positive correlation, because the variables are increasing together. If we had seen the opposite pattern—that the higher the IQ, the fewer books that are owned, it would be a negative correlation because one variable increases as the other decreases.
Scatterplot
February 11, 2009
Reserve Analysis
Several processes found in the PMBOK® listReserve Analysis as a technique . It is also referred to as a “contingency reserve” or “buffer.” The concept is quite simple—we know to expect the unexpected, so we plan for it. Applicable to both time and cost, it is the technique of adding some extra time to complete activities and extra funds to the budget. Although we may know how long our project activities should take, we also know that it is likely that there will be at least some minor setbacks—a key person is sick, weather delays a shipment, etc. Similarly, although we may know how much things should cost, we can easily find ourselves dealing with unexpected costs. By planning upfront for a little extra time and/or funds, we have a safety net when things do not go as hoped. Adding these buffers is one of the principles of the Critical Chain Method. There is not a set way to determine how much of a buffer to add—some may simply add a couple days to each activity or systematically add a certain percentage to the budget. The nature of the project relates to how large of a safety net to spread. A routine project should not need as much of a buffer as will a critical project in unchartered waters. Do you perform reserve analysis? If so, how do you choose how much time or funds to add?
February 12, 2009
PMP Exam –Process Inputs and Outputs
In the third edition PMBOK®, there are 44 processes—each with its own set of inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. When learning these processes for your PMP® exam, look for patterns in the inputs and outputs and focus especially on any that are unique to a particular process. For example, in the third edition PMBOK, there are six risk processes: Risk Management Planning, Risk Identification, Qualitative Risk Analysis, Quantitative Risk Analysis, Risk Response Planning, and Risk Monitoring and Control. Here are some things to note:
o Risk Management Planning has the risk management plan as its only output
o The risk management plan is then an input to the five other processes
o Risk Identification has the risk register as its only output
o The risk register is then an input to the four remaining processes
o Updates to the risk register is also an output to the four remaining processes
o Only Risk Response Planning and Risk Monitoring and Control do not have organizational process assets and the project scope statement as inputs
o Only Risk Response Planning and Risk Monitoring and Control have more than one output
o Except for Risk Monitoring and Control (which is a Monitoring and Controlling process) the risk processes are Planning processes
February 13, 2009
Project Stakeholders
A project stakeholder is a person or organization that is actively involved in the project, or whose interests are affected by the project. They have an interest (stake) in the project. If a stakeholder benefits from the success of the project, they are a positive stakeholder; whereas if a stakeholder benefits from the failure of the project, they are a negative stakeholder. The members of the project team and performing organization are expected to be positive stakeholders. A competitor is an example of a likely negative stakeholder. Stakeholders can be both internal (belonging to the organization performing the project) or external (not belonging to the performing organization). A given stakeholder may or may not exert influence over the outcomes of the project. Examples of stakeholders include the project sponsor, project manager, project management team, project team, as well as any PMO office or customers. The fourth edition PMBOK® has added a process called Identify Stakeholders which emphasizes knowing who the stakeholders are early in the project, and understanding their interests, expectations, and level of influence over the project. The Stakeholder Register and Stakeholder Management Strategy are outputs to the Identify Stakeholders process that document information concerning the project’s stakeholders.
February 16, 2009
Run Chart
The tool of Run Charts are a way to graphically illustrate a set of data. The passing of time is usually graphed on the x-axis. Time could be measured in any increment—seconds, days, months, decades, etc. The measure of interest is graphed on the y-axis. Run Charts are especially useful for showing any trends over time in the data. For example, is there a trend that the data is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? A formal examination of these trends using specific rules is called Trend Analysis. Run Charts are also useful for drawing attention to extreme data points called outliers. The fourth edition PMBOK® lists the run chart as a tool and technique of the Perform Quality Control process. When measuring the performance of a process for quality control purposes, one may be hoping to observe as little variation as possible, which would appear as a fairly flat line. When graphing the number of defects over time, if measures are implemented to decrease the rate of defects, one may be expecting a downward trend. Below is an example of a Run Chart illustrating how many cookies Katy ate per day over three weeks.
Run Chart
February 17, 2009
Control Chart
The Control Chart is a type of run chart that shows whether a process is in statistical control by adding lines called Control Limits to the chart. There is both an Upper Control Limit and a Lower Control Limit. It is also common to add a line representing the mean (average), and sometimes lines representing specification limits. The Control Limits are frequently drawn three standard deviations above and three standard deviations below the mean, because normally over 99% of the data should fall between these two limits. When the data exceeds these limits, it is worth investigating. There are different varieties of Control Charts named for the type of data it contains (c-chart for count type data, p-chart for proportions, etc.) that are especially common in Six Sigma. However, the underlying principle is the same.
There are three Quality processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®—Plan Quality, Perform Quality Assurance, and Perform Quality Control. Plan Quality and Perform Quality Control specifically list the Control Chart as a tool and technique, and Perform Quality Assurance contains all the tools and techniques of the other two processes, so the Control Chart is a part of the all quality processes.
Below is an example of a Control Chart showing how many cookies Katie ate each day for three weeks. The average number of cookies she eats a day is 9, which is drawn with the red line. The blue line is the Upper Control Limit (which is 3 standard deviations above the mean) and the purple line is the Lower Control Limit (which is 3 standard deviations below the mean). What the Control Limits make clear is that on day 10, Katie enjoyed eating an exceptional number of cookies!
Control Chart
February 18, 2009
Develop Project Charter Process
Project managers (especially those preparing to take the PMP exam) should be familiar with the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. Develop Project Charter is categorized as one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the two Initiating process group processes. The most important thing to know about this process is that it creates one of the key project documents—the Project Charter.
The Project Charter accomplished a number of things, including formally authorizing and initiating the project, justifying the project, and assigning the project manager. At this point, the project has just formally begun, so although the details have not all been worked out, the Project Charter can still include broad descriptions of the requirements, budget, milestones, and risks. There are a few documents that the author of the Project Charter should have in front of them as they write—the Project Statement of Work (SOW), Business Case, and if performing the project for a customer, the contract is needed as well. Who writes the project charter varies across organizations and projects, but ideally the project manager participates in the creation of this document.
February 19, 2009
Identify Stakeholders Process
Identify Stakeholders is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s new to the fourth edition. Identify Stakeholders is categorized as one of the five Communication knowledge area processes, and one of the two Initiating process group processes. The purpose of this process is twofold—first, discover the people and organizations that are impacted by the project, and secondly, document relevant information about them. There are a couple documents that should be examined when discovering stakeholders—the Project Charter, and if there is procurement involved in the project, the procurement documents. These documents should list names and organizations of key stakeholders involved in the project. By interviewing these stakeholders, they are usually able to identify additional stakeholders. The task of gathering information about the stakeholders is called Stakeholder Analysis, which is a tool and technique of this process. Information gathered may include: roles, interest areas, expectations, influence levels, amount of potential impact and support, and how they are likely to respond in certain situations. If there are a large number of stakeholders, they should be classified into useful groups. The Stakeholder Registry is the primary output to this process—this is the document containing the list of stakeholders and relevant information about them. The other output is the Stakeholder Management Strategy which outlines a plan to increase support and minimize obstruction from the stakeholders. Project managers must be careful about the type of information that is included in this document and control who has access to it.
February 20, 2009
From a Triple Constraint to Six Constraints
Central to the work of a project manager is balancing competing demands. The term “triple constraint” is a well-known phrase in project management that refers to the competing demands of scope, time, and cost. The manner in which these three demands are balanced affects quality. If one of these factors is affected, at least one other factor will also be affected. For example, if the scope of the project increases, there will need to be an increase in the amount of time to complete the project, an increase in costs, or both. The new, fourth edition PMBOK® changes the name “time” to “schedule” and changes “cost” to “budget”, plus adds three new constraints. The six constraints are: Scope, Quality, Schedule, Budget, Resources, and Risk. Now quality isn’t merely affected by how the constraints are balanced—it is considered an actual constraint. Especially when dealing with highly-skilled individuals as resources, it makes sense to consider them a unique constraint as there may be very few each with limited time to commit to a single project. If stakeholders decide to change their tolerance for risk, this will affect other constraints as well. How to balance these constraints is a skill, and how they should be balanced differs across projects. For example, a certain deadline might be crucial to meet, and the project may be given as much funds as they need in order to meet that deadline. Conversely, it may be impossible to increase the budget, so the scope and quality have to be reduced. In your experience, what has been the most important constraint in your projects?
February 23, 2009
Develop Project Management Plan Process
Develop Project Management Plan is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s categorized as one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning process group processes. As the name suggests, the purpose is to create the Project Management Plan, which is the only output. The Project Charter should be available when writing the Project Management Plan as it provides direction to keep plans within the purpose of the project. The Project Management Plan is not simply a single plan written at the beginning of the project—rather, the Project Management Plan is a collection of plans and baselines that are progressively elaborated upon until the completion of the project. Which plans and baselines are included in this collection of plans depends on the particular project. Examples of these subsidiary plans are: Scope Management Plan, Requirements Management Plan, Schedule Management Plan, Cost Management Plan, and Risk Management Plan. Baselines could include: Schedule, Cost, and Performance baselines. It’s important to realize that these subsidiary plans and baselines are outputs from separate processes—they’re not from the Develop Project Management Plan Process. For example, the Requirements Management Plan is an output of the Collect Requirements process, and the Scope Baseline is an output to the Create Work Breakdown Structure process. What the Develop Project Management Plan does is define, prepare, integrate, and coordinate all the subsidiary plans and baselines.
February 24, 2009
Collect Requirements Process
Collect Requirements is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s new to the fourth edition. Collect Requirements is categorized as one of the five Scope knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to define and document the needs of the stakeholders as they relate to meeting the project objectives. This process describes the responsibilities of the business analyst—if one is part of the team. This alone is an indicator that specialized knowledge and experience is especially useful for performing this particular process. Also, Collect Requirements has numerous tools and techniques in addition to three unique outputs. The tools and techniques represent different methods of learning the details of what stakeholders want—interviews, focus groups, facilitated workshops, group creativity techniques, group decision making techniques, questionnaires and surveys, observations, and prototypes. The outputs are: requirements documentation (stakeholders’ needs), the requirements management plan (how the requirements will be analyzed and documents), and the requirements traceability matrix (tracking of requirements throughout the project). This process requires more knowledge and a greater time commitment than does many of the other processes.
February 25, 2009
Define Scope Process
Define Scope is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It was called Scope Definition in the previous PMBOK. Define Scope is categorized as one of the five Scope knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to make a detailed description of the project and the product. The most important thing to know about this process is that is creates the Project Scope Statement. The two major documents used to develop this scope statement are the Project Charter (which was developed in the Develop Project Charter process) and Requirements Documentation (which was developed in the Collect Requirements process), so these processes must be performed before writing the Project Scope Statement. When writing the Project Scope Statement, be sure to include the following: product scope description, product acceptance criteria, project deliverables, project exclusions, project constraints, and project assumptions. So not only is the scope of the project described, but also the project exclusions, which is specifically stating what is out of scope. A line is being drawn between what is within the boundaries of the project, and what is out of bounds. The project constraints are limitations placed on the project (such as a set budget), and project assumptions are things that the team is assuming to be true (such as assuming that a vendor will be available when needed). As more information becomes known, the Project Scope Statement is further elaborated upon and defined.
February 26, 2009
Earned Value Management – Step 1
There is much to understand and a number of formulas to know in order to apply Earned Value Management (EVM). It’s often the most difficult concept for project managers to learn when they are studying for their PMP exam if they have not applied it in their work. The very first step is gaining a conceptual understanding of what this thing is that we called Earned Value. Earned Value is the idea that even though we have not completed the work, there is value to the amount of work we have accomplished. How do we define value? It’s usually by money, such as in dollars, but it could be by hours of labor also. Here is the basic earned value formula: BAC * (work completed / total work). BAC stands for Budget at Completion, which it the total budget for the project. This is multiplied by the percentage of work completed.
Now for the examples—if Patty’s budget for her party is $1000, and the work is half done, what is her earned value? It’s $500, because half the work is done and half the budget is $500.
If Carl’s car re-design project has a budget of $4 million dollars, and he is one-fourth done, what is his earned value? It’s $1 million, because 25% of the work is done, and 25% of the budget is $1 million.
In this example, you aren’t told the percentage of work completed—that must be calculated. Shelly has $20, and wants to use it to find 10 seashell souvenirs to buy. So far, she’s bought 2 seashells. What is her earned value? It’s $4. BAC * (work completed / total work) = $20 * (2 seashells/10 seashells) = $4. The project work is to buy 10 seashells, so far she’s bought 2, so the work is 20% complete. 20% of $20 is $4.
February 27, 2009
Create Work Breakdown Structure Process
Create Work Breakdown Structure is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is categorized as one of the five Scope knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to break down the deliverables and project work into smaller components. The documents used as a reference for knowing what work needs to be broken down are the Project Scope Statement (created by the Define Scope process) and the Requirements Documentation (created by the Collect Requirements process). The project manager’s organization may also have templates available to help in creating the WBS. There is only one tool and technique for this process—decomposition. Decomposition refers to the actual work of breaking down components into smaller components. For example, a project’s deliverable may be a position paper. This may be broken down into performing background research, writing the paper, and proofing the paper. Each of these may then be further broken down—background research may be decomposed into determining relevant sources, obtaining written sources, reading written sources, and interviewing human sources. It’s important to know how far to breakdown components and to make sure sub-components completely meet the requirements of the component above so that nothing is missing. The major outputs of this process are the WBS, WBS dictionary, and scope baseline. The WBS illustrates the components and how they’ve been broken down. It could be displayed in various formats—such as an outline, organizational-type chart, etc. The WBS dictionary is the accompanying document that further elaborates on the individual components of the WBS. The WBS and WBS dictionary together with the Project Scope Statement is called the Scope Baseline, and this Scope Baseline becomes incorporated into the Project Management Plan.
March 2, 2009
Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2
An earlier posting described the concept of Earned Value—the idea that accomplished work has value, even if the work is incomplete. There are a number of formulas and acronyms to know when applying Earned Value Management (EVM). A couple more will be introduced here. Actual Cost (AC) and Budget at Completion (BAC) are two basic concepts to understand. AC is how much money you’ve actually spent at this point in time (not planned to spend, meant to spend, wanted to spent, but really and truly actually have spent). BAC is how much money has been budgeted for the entire project. So if Benjamin is part-way through managing a project that has been allotted ten thousand dollars, and as of today he’s spent seven thousand on the project, the BAC is ten thousand dollars and the AC is seven thousand dollars. The term AC is used in formulas to calculate whether a project is on-budget, how much value is being obtained for the cost, and how much more the project will cost. The term BAC is used in formulas to calculate how much the total project will cost, how much more the project will cost, and the difference in how much the project was supposed to cost compared to what it actually will cost.
March 3, 2009
Define Activities Process
Define Activities is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s categorized as one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to identify the specific tasks needed to be done in order to produce the project’s deliverables. The Scope Baseline is used as a starting point to breakdown the documented deliverables even further, as well as a guide to assure that the entire scope of the project is covered, but that the activities do not extend beyond the boundaries of the project. The Scope Baseline, an output of the Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) process, comprises three things—the WBS, WBS dictionary and the Project Scope Statement.
Decomposition is a tool and technique of Define Activities, just like the Create WBS process; here the work is being decomposed to a more detailed level than it was in the Create WBS process. Define Activities involves examining the lowest level of the WBS, called work packages, and breaking them down even further into activities. For example, if a work package was “bake a birthday cake,” the activities derived from this could include: select recipe, determine which ingredients needed to be bought, buy ingredients, preheat oven, mix ingredients, place ingredients in cake pan, place in oven, and remove from oven when done. The outputs of this process are the Activity List, Activity Attributes, and Milestone List. The Activity List is simply the list of activities, whereas Activity Attributes can document a number of things about each activity, for example, who is responsible, which activities must come first, constraints and assumptions. In summary, Define Activities creates a list of activities based on the deliverables defined in the WBS.
March 4, 2009
Earning Your PMP
In order to take the PMP Exam, you must have a certain amount of experience managing projects and have 35 hours of formal education in project management. If your highest degree is a high school or associates degree, you’ll need to document 5 years and 7,500 hours of managing projects. If your highest degree is a bachelor’s degree or higher, you’ll need to document 3 years and 4,500 hours of managing projects. The 35 contact hours of formal education can take the form of various types of instruction, although it is often in the form of taking a course with a Registered Education Provider (REP). A REP is an organization that is approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI) for providing education and has the ability to award contact hours and Professional Development Units (PDUs) to its students. For example, here at TAPUniversity we are a REP whose 10-week online PMP course both prepares participants for their PMP Exam and also satisfies the requirement of 35 contact hours.
For those that meet the experience and education requirements, the first step is going to www.pmi.org to work on the application for the PMP exam. You’re able to save your application and come back and work on it later if you wish. On this application, you’ll be documenting your education and the specific details of the projects you have led. After submitting your application, PMI reviews it for completeness. Then you’ll be asked for payment. The cost of the exam for PMI members is $405. At this point, some applications will be audited. Otherwise, the exam can be taken. The computerized exam is scheduled through Prometrix at a testing center. You’ll be taken to the Prometrix website through the PMI website.
The exam itself is 200 questions. Only 175 of these questions are actually scored. The rest are questions that are being tested for future exams, and you won’t know which questions these are. You’ll have four hours to take the exam. You’re allowed to take breaks, but the clock is still ticking so it’s best to keep breaks short. Immediately after you finish the exam questions, you’ll be informed whether you passed. To maintain your PMP certification, you’ll need to earn PDU’s. During the three years after you earned your PMP, you’ll need 60 PDU’s. There are various ways to earn PDU’s—for example, you can be involved in your local PMI chapter meetings, give talks or write papers on project management, and take classes. If you choose to take classes for your PDU’s, TAPUniversity has a variety of online classes available.
Here’s the link to PMI’s official handbook that goes into more detail on the PMP certification if you wish to read more: http://www.pmi.org/PDF/pdc_pmphandbook.pdf
March 5, 2009
Sequence Activities Process
Sequence Activities is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s categorized as one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to document the relationships among the project activities. We already have the list of activities—they were documented in the Define Activities process. So the three outputs of the Define Activities process—the Activity List, Activity Attributes, and Milestone List—are all inputs into the Sequence Activities process. For a given activity on the list, we determine which activities come before (called predecessors) and which activities come after (called successors). If one of our activities for baking a birthday cake is “buy ingredients,” then predecessor activities could be to select the recipe and determine which ingredients need to be bought. Successor activities could include preheating the oven, mixing ingredients, and placing the ingredients in a cake pan. The tool and technique of the Precedence Diagramming Method categorizes the relationships between activities based on whether an activity can be merely started, or has to be completely finished, until the next activity can be started or completely finished. For example, you have to finish buying all the ingredients for the birthday cake before you can start mixing all the ingredients together. Another tool and technique of this process is Dependency Determination, meaning that the relationships between activities may be categorized as Mandatory, Discretionary, or External. A Mandatory dependency would be that you must buy the ingredients for the cake before you can possibly place them in a cake pan. An example of a Discretionary dependency is that although it may be best to preheat the oven before mixing the ingredients, you could also mix the ingredients and then preheat the oven. The primary output of Sequence Activities is Project Schedule Network Diagrams, which graphically illustrates the order and relationships among the project activities.
March 6, 2009
Estimate Activity Resources Process
Estimate Activity Resources is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s categorized as one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to examine the project activities and estimate what materials, people, equipment, and supplies are needed and how much is needed. The first thing to obtain is the list of activities and the accompanying information about them. These documents are called the Activity List and Activity Attributes, and they were created in the Define Activities process. Another input needed in order to make the estimations involving people is Resource Calendars, which is an output of the Acquire Project Team process that indicates when people are available. To actually estimate the resources needed for a specific activity, someone who is knowledgeable about the activity can provide an estimate—this is called Expert Judgment. Sometimes there are publications available that indicate what one should expect to pay for certain materials or labor. Utilizing these publications is called the tool and technique of Published Estimating Data. Lastly, an activity may need to be broken down into smaller components whose resource needs can be more accurately estimated. The total resources for these smaller components are simply added together to provide the overall resources needed for that activity. This is called the tool and technique of Bottom-Up Estimating. After the estimations are made, they become the major outputs of this process— Activity Resource Requirements and the Resource Breakdown Structure. Activity Resource Requirements is the documentation of the type and quantities of resources needed for each activity, and the Resource Breakdown Structure illustrates the needed resources in a hierarchical form based on the different categories of resources.
March 9, 2009
Estimate Activity Durations Process
Estimate Activity Durations is one of the 42 project management processes outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s categorized as one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is straightforward—it estimates how long the individual project activities will take. We first need a list and information about these activities, which is in the form of the Activity List and Activity Attributes documents (outputs of the Define Activities process). We also should know the resource requirements, which is in the form of the Activity Resource Requirements document (an output of the Estimate Activity Resources process), and we must know how much time people have to work and when they are available, and this is in the form of the Resource Calendars (an output of the Acquire Project Team process). Estimate Activity Durations lists four different ways to actually estimate how long an activity will take—Expert Judgment, Analogous Estimating, Parametric Estimating, and Three-Point Estimating. Also, the tool of Reserve Analysis may be used to add a little time into your estimates as a safety, so that the entire project will not be behind schedule if some activities take longer than planned. To read more about these tools, please see earlier postings on TAPUniversity’s blog: PMP Exam – PERT Formula (posted February 6, 2009) which is a weighted three-point estimating formula; Reserve Analysis (posted February 11, 2009); and PMP Exam – Cost Estimating Tools and Techniques (posted February 4, 2009). The primary output of Estimate Activity Durations is the Activity Duration Estimates, which is then used to develop the project schedule in the Develop Schedule process.
March 10, 2009
Develop Schedule Process
Develop Schedule is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this particularly important process is to create the project schedule. This is the most important Time process, and there are more inputs and tools for the Develop Schedule process than any other Time process. The four Time processes that occur beforehand (Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, and Estimate Activity Durations) all contribute information that is needed to create the schedule, and the process that begins after the schedule is made (Control Schedule) monitors whether the project is on track with the schedule. In addition to the Project Scope Statement and Resource Calendars being inputs, the Time processes provide the inputs of Activity List and Activity Attributes (from Define Activities), Project Schedule Network Diagrams (from Sequence Activities), Activity Resource Requirements (from Estimate Activity Resources), and Activity Duration Estimates (from Estimate Activity Durations).
The Develop Schedule process takes all this information from these inputs concerning the activities, their needed durations and resources, and their dependencies among each other, and creates the Project Schedule. This is not a simple process. In fact, PMI (Project Management Institute) even offers a credential for scheduling professionals, the PMI-SP. Software is frequently used to make schedule creation easier, which is this process’s tool of Scheduling Tool. Leads and lags are determined, which is accounting for lead time before an activity and lag time after an activity. The Critical Path Method and Critical Chain method are two common methods of organizing individual project activities into a complete schedule. If the schedule must be compressed, there are the options of crashing (adding some type of resources) and fast-tracking (performing tasks in parallel). Of course, the primary output of this process is the Project Schedule.
March 11, 2009
Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3
In earlier postings, the concepts of Earned Value (EV) and Actual Cost (AC) have been discussed. Earned Value is how much value is in the work already accomplished, and Actual Cost is how much money the work already accomplished has actually cost. The third term to understand is Planned Value (PV). PV is how much we estimate the value to be of the work that we’re planning to do. Another way of thinking about PV is the amount of money we’ve budgeted for the work scheduled at that point in time. The chart below illustrates the EV, PV, and AC for a ten-week project that is currently on week 5. PV should be estimated for the whole project at the beginning of the project. Note that the PV on the chart extends for all ten weeks, whereas we do not know what the EV or AC will be for that week until we get to that week, so those lines stop at week 5. At week 5, PV is $5000. So we budgeted to spend a total of $5000 by week 5. The AC for week 5 is $5,500, so we’ve spent $500 more than we had planned. The EV for week 5 is $5,200, meaning that the value of the work performed so far is worth more than we had planned it to be at this point in time. This all means that we’re a little over budget, but we’re also a little ahead of schedule.
Planned Value
March 12, 2009
Estimate Costs Process
Estimate Costs is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Cost knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to estimate how much money will be needed for the project activities. Although the purpose is straightforward, this process has more inputs, tools, and outputs than most—6 inputs, 9 tools and techniques and 3 outputs. It’s difficult to accurately estimate costs, especially at the beginning of a project, so these estimates are refined during the course of the project. Estimates at the beginning of a project could be over or under by 50% (called the rough order of magnitude), whereas later on the estimates may be within 10% of the actual costs.
The Human Resource Plan (from the Develop Human Resource Plan process) is used as a reference to help estimate costs associated with paying the people who are working on the project. The Scope Baseline (from the Create WBS process) contains information on the budget constraints in addition to the project activities and their inter-relationships. Like the Scope Baseline, the Project Schedule (from the Develop Schedule process) contains a large amount of information related to the needed resources and activity durations. Mitigation costs should also be calculated using the Risk Register (from the Identify Risks process) as a guide.
As mentioned, there are many tools that can be employed when estimating costs. When vendors are involved, there may need to be an overall analysis of what the project should cost. The costs of quality should also be considered. To read more about the tools of this process, please see earlier postings on TAPUniversity’s blog: PMP Exam – Cost Estimating Tools and Techniques (posted February 4, 2009), PMP Exam – PERT Formula (posted February 6, 2009) which is a weighted three-point estimating formula; and Reserve Analysis (posted February 11, 2009).
The major outputs of Estimate Costs are Activity Cost Estimates and Basis of Estimates. The Activity Cost Estimates are the actual estimates of expenses, and the Basis of Estimates is the supporting detail, such as the assumptions used for a particular estimate.
March 13, 2009
Determine Budget Process
Determine Budget is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Cost knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to add up the estimated costs of the project activities in order to create the budget. These cost estimates and their explanations are found in Activity Cost Estimates and Basis of Estimates, which were outputs of the Estimate Costs process. Cost Aggregation is the fancy term for simply adding up these estimated costs. Additionally, there are a few other documents that are good to reference when developing the budget—the Scope Baseline, Project Schedule, Resource Calendars, and Contracts. The Scope Baseline should be referenced for mention of funding constraints. Assuring that the budget is within these funding constraints is called Funding Limit Aggregation. The Project Schedule and Resource Calendars are used as a basis for knowing how much to budget for different calendar periods of the project. For example, costs may be low for the first couple months, but according to the calendar, in the third month a substantial amount of material may need to be purchased and specialized labor hired, so more funds will be budgeted for that time. Contracts associated with the project should also be examined for agreed-upon costs.
While developing the budget, having some information available on relevant past costs is called Historical Relationships, and taking advantage of someone’s expertise in the area is called Expert Judgment.
The major outputs of Determine Budget are the Cost Performance Baseline and Project Funding Requirements. The Cost Performance Baseline is usually a graph illustrating the budget over the length of time of the project. It does not include reserves which are funds set aside in case they are needed. Please see the earlier posting of Reserve Analysis (posted February 11, 2009). Project Funding Requirements, however, includes the cost baseline in addition to any reserves.
March 16, 2009
Payback Period
One of the several financial selection techniques that may be used to compare potential projects in order to estimate which would be the most financially beneficial is Payback Period. Selecting among projects takes place at the program or portfolio level where the organization decides which projects are worth the investment. The potential return on investment may be only one of several criteria used for selecting among projects, however. Project selection methods were considered a tool of the 3rd edition PMBOK’s Develop Project Charter process, but it is not mentioned in the 4th edition. Payback Period is not as informative as other financial selection techniques such as Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value. But it is a quick, simple method for comparing potential projects that project managers should understand.
Payback Period is simply the amount of time it will take for the project to break even with its initial investment. The faster one can get their money back, the better, so the project with the shortest Payback Period is preferred. For example, if project A has a Payback Period of 1 year and project B has a Payback Period of 2 years, we would prefer to select project A.
Before comparing among projects, the Payback Period will have to be calculated. It is important that accurate data be obtained to make these estimations. For example, if project C will cost $75, and the first 3 months will provide no returns, but after that the project will bring $25 per month, what is the Payback Period? The Payback Period would be 6 months. The first three months total $0, month 4 totals $25, month 5 totals $50, and month 6 totals $75. At month 6, we have gotten back the $75 that we invested in the project.
March 17, 2009
Observations
Observation (also called Job Shadowing) is a tool and technique of the PMBOK’s Collect Requirements process. The Collect Requirements process defines and documents the needs of the stakeholders as they relate to meeting the project objectives. This method consists of watching people perform their work. It can be useful in understanding how the work is actually done (which may be different than how it should be done, or how a manual states that it should be done, or how managers think it is being done). Also, some work processes may not be written anywhere and only the workers themselves may know how the work is actually done. At times, people are unable to clearly communicate how work is performed, so observing them is the best method.
There are two approaches to observation: Passive (invisible) and Active (visible). In Passive observation, the observer does not interfere by asking questions or participating in the work—they simply observe and take notes (afterwards they may ask questions). In Active observation, the observer is free to ask questions and may even perform some of the work. In some cases, the observer may act as an apprentice. There are advantages to both methods. Passive observation provides a more accurate representation of how the work is performed because the observer interferes less. However, Active observation allows the observer to have a better understanding of the work by asking questions while the work is being performed and perhaps even gaining first-hand experience of performing the work.
March 18, 2009
CBAP Exam Changes
For Business Analysts studying for their CBAP (Certified Business Analyst Professional) certification, be aware that the exam will be changing. The current exam is based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®) version 1.6. The new version, BABOK 2.0 is being released on March 31st, 2009, according the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) which is the organization that awards the CBAP. The exam will not change with the release of the new BABOK however, and the IIBA states that the current BABOK should be used to study for the exam. A date has not yet been provided for the exam change, but IIBA states that candidates will be “informed well in advance” of the test change date (http://www.theiiba.org). Here at TAPUniversity our online and in-person CBAP courses for those preparing for their exam are currently based on BABOK 1.6, as suggested by the IIBA, and we’ll change to using the BABOK 2.0 for our courses when recommended by the IIBA. If you are planning to take the exam in the future, simply be sure that you are studying from the correct version of the BABOK.
March 19, 2009
Plan Quality Process
Plan Quality is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Quality area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes—which should not be difficult to remember with its name. The purpose of this process is to decide what quality requirements and standards should apply to the project and develop a plan (Quality Management Plan) to assure compliance with them. The Scope Baseline includes acceptance criteria for the project which is especially useful in the development of the Quality Management Plan.
The quality processes contain many tools and techniques. In fact, after listing Cost-Benefit Analysis, Cost of Quality, Control Charts, Benchmarking, Design of Experiments, Statistical Sampling, Flowcharting, and Proprietary Quality Management Methodologies as tools and techniques of this process, “Additional Quality Planning Tools” is listed. See earlier posting of Control Chart (posted February 17, 2009). The Cost of Quality technique examines costs of conformance (prevention and appraisal costs) and nonconformance (internal and external failure costs). The primary output of this process is the Quality Management Plan, which describes how the conformance to the selected quality standards will occur. The Quality Management Plan is then used to guide the other two quality processes—Perform Quality Assurance and Perform Quality Control.
March 20, 2009
Leads and Lags
Applying Leads and Lags is a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Sequence Activities process; and Adjusting Leads and Lags is a tool and technique of the Control Schedule process. In order to manage a project schedule, a project manager should understand the simple concepts of leads and lags. Leads and lags are sometimes needed in order to more accurately describe the relationship among project activities. For example, the relationship between two project activities may be that one is the predecessor (it needs to be done before the successor activity) and the other activity is the successor (it occurs after the predecessor). If one activity is mixing cake ingredients and the other activity is placing the cake batter in the oven, then the relationship between these two activities is that mixing cake ingredients is the predecessor and placing the cake batter in the oven is the successor.
A lead allows the successor activity to begin more quickly, and a lag means there is a delay before the successor activity may begin. For example, the activity of turning the oven on may take less than 1 minute, and the successor activity of placing the cake batter in the oven may take less than 1 minute. The schedule would be flawed, however, if only a couple minutes were allowed for completing both turning on the oven and placing the cake batter in the oven. This is because there is a lag of the time it takes for the oven to heat to the desired temperature. We may need to add a lag of 15 minutes to account for the oven heating before we can place the cake batter inside the oven. However, even though the oven is not done heating, we could be mixing cake ingredients while it is heating, which gives us some lead time (the ability to start on this activity sooner).
March 23, 2009
Cost of Quality
How much should be invested in quality efforts? Cost of Quality is a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Quality process. These are the expenses associated with the investment to make a quality product and the costs of failing to meet quality standards. Cost of Quality is broken down into these two major categories which are called the Cost of Conformance and the Cost of Nonconformance. The Cost of Conformance may be further broken down into Prevention Costs and Appraisal Costs. Prevention Costs represent the investment of keeping the defects from happening at all. This could include extra training for staff members and sophisticated equipment that accurately assembles a product. Appraisal Costs are the expenses of checking the product in order to find any defects that may have occurred. This could include visually inspecting the product, turning the product on to see if it works, and using equipment that detects products that are not within the set parameters. The Cost of Nonconformance may also be broken down into two categories—Internal Failure Costs and External Failure Costs. If a defective product is discovered in-house before being sent to the customer, the costs of scrapping or re-doing the product are Internal Failure Costs. If the product is sold to the customer, the costs of handling returns, complaints, lawsuits, and lost business are called External Failure Costs.
March 24, 2009
Develop Human Resource Plan Process
Develop Human Resource Plan is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the four Human Resource knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to create the Human Resource Plan. The Activity Resource Requirements document (from the Estimate Activity Resources process) is needed as a reference for knowing what human resources are needed for the project. To document the roles and responsibilities in the Human Resource Plan, the organization’s Organizational Charts and Position Descriptions are used, which outline reporting relationships. Networking in order to know more people, and to know people better is especially helpful at the beginning of the project when people are being selected for the team. Having an understanding of how people work together and are motivated is also helpful in putting together a good team, and this is called Organizational Theory.
The Human Resource Plan contains the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the project, organization charts outlining reporting relationships specific to the project, and the staffing management plan. There is much information contained in the staffing management plan, including a description of how staff will be acquired and released, resource calendars, training needs, how safety and compliance issues will be addressed, and how rewards will be given to team members.
Plan Communications Process
Plan Communications is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Communications knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to create the Communications Management Plan based on the communication needs of the stakeholders. It must be documented who should receive what information, how often, in what format, and from whom. Information about the key stakeholders can be found in the Stakeholder Register and Stakeholder Management Strategy (both documents are from the Identify Stakeholders process). This is the starting place for performing Communication Requirements Analysis, which is the identification of the unique communication needs of the various stakeholders. In developing the Communications Management Plan, one needs to know what type of communication technology is available (phone, email, video-conferencing, etc.) and should have knowledge of Communication Models and Communication Methods. The primary output of the Plan Communications process is the Communications Management Plan, which becomes part of the overall Project Management Plan. This document can contain much information depending on the size and formality of the project, including stakeholder communication requirements, what information should be communicated and why, who is responsible for communications, when communications should occur, the time and budget allowed for communication activities, communication constraints, and information flowcharts.
Please also see the related, earlier posts of Identify Stakeholders Process (posted February 19, 2009) which is a predecessor to this process, and PMP Exam – Communication Formula (posted February 3, 2009), which is part of performing Communication Requirements Analysis.
March 26, 2009
Plan Risk Management Process
Plan Risk Management is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to develop the Risk Management Plan which lays the foundation for the other risk processes on how risk activities will be performed for the project. The Project Scope Statement is referenced to better understand the project and its deliverables as every project has a unique set of risks. A project that involves unchartered territory will have more unknowns involved than a more routine project based on a history of similar projects. Understanding the contingencies in place for risks affecting the budget and schedule can be accomplished through examining the Cost Management Plan and the Schedule Management Plan. Knowing with whom to discuss project risks and responses may be found in the Communications Management Plan (from the Plan Communications process). Interestingly, Planning Meetings and Analysis is the only tool and technique of this process. This demonstrates that planning for risk management essentially is determined by a group of stakeholders discussing and deciding what is best for the particular project at hand. The result of these discussions is the only output of Plan Risk Management—the Risk Management Plan which describes what risk activities will be performed and how they will be performed throughout the project.
March 27, 2009
Risk Register
The Risk Register is an important project management document. It originally appears as the only output to the Identify Risks process of the fourth edition PMBOK®. As more analysis, planning, and monitoring occurs throughout the four risk processes that follow it (Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, Plan Risk Responses, and Monitor and Control Risks), the risk register is updated as part of performing each of these processes. As each of these risk processes are performed, more information is added to the expanding document. Eventually it may contain a list of all identified risks, along with information describing them including their causes, categorization, probability of occurrence, impact if they occur, planned responses, person responsible, qualitative and quantitative risk analyses, and current status. The risk register is also used as an input to three other processes outside of the risk knowledge area—Estimate Costs, Plan Quality, and Plan Procurements.
March 30, 2009
Milestone List
A milestone is stone along a roadway carved with information for travelers such as how many more miles to the next town. Today, we see the common metal road signs and mile markers which serve the same purpose. They provide an indication to travelers on how close they are to their destination and which way they should go. Similarly, milestone lists are utilized in project management as an indication of progress through the achievement of a major project accomplishment. A project milestone is a significant project event or point in time. Milestone lists are an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Define Activities process and an input to the Sequence Activities process. The milestone list is considered a project document that is not part of the project management plan. The list contains all the project milestones along with information indicating whether they or not they are mandatory to achieve. Dates may be included that correspond with the milestones, which is especially useful for the Sequence Activities process and later scheduling.
March 31, 2009
Negative Risk Strategies
For a project manager, a risk is an uncertain event. This potential event could be either desired (positive) or undesired (negative). A positive risk may be referred to as an opportunity, and a negative risk may be referred to as a threat. There are three unique strategies used for handling negative risk (avoid, transfer, and mitigate), and one strategy that can be used for either positive or negative risk (accept). These are described as a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Risk Responses process. Below are some examples of the negative risk strategies as related to Katy baking a wedding bake for her daughter’s wedding.
Avoid means that plans are modified to completely eliminate the threat. Katy originally planned to bake a five-tier wedding cake, but she is so afraid that it will collapse, that she has decided to avoid the risk of collapsing altogether by baking the five cakes and setting them each on their own platter beside each other on the cake table.
Transfer means that the ownership and consequences of the risk are transferred to another party. Katy decides to buy cake insurance from a local baker—so that if the risk of her cake being ruined occurs, the baker will be able to bring a replacement cake in time.
Mitigate means that the probability or impact of the risk is lessened. Katy found a sturdy silver stand with five platforms for the five layers of cake. Although it appears that the cakes are balanced on top of each other, they actually aren’t. Because of this, it is very unlikely that the risk of the cake collapsing will occur.
Accept means that plans are not changed due to the risk, and the consequences of the risk event happening are simply accepted. Katy decides to make the five-tier cake. In the unlikely case that it becomes ruined, there simply won’t be wedding cake for the guests to eat.
April 1, 2009
Positive Risk Strategies
For a project manager, a risk is an uncertain event. This potential event could be either desired (positive) or undesired (negative). A positive risk may be referred to as an opportunity, and a negative risk may be referred to as a threat. There are three unique strategies used for handling positive risk (exploit, share, and enhance), and one strategy that can be used for either positive or negative risk (accept). These are described as a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Risk Responses process. Here are some examples involving Katy, who is hoping that the positive risk event of “cookies being available this afternoon” occurs.
Exploit means that the potential positive event is made to occur. Katy drives to a grocery store and buys a box of chocolate chip cookies.
Share means that the opportunity is shared with a third party for the benefit of both. Katy has a friend who makes delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. Katy offers to buy the ingredients if her friend will bake a batch that they can share.
Enhance means that the probability and positive impact of the opportunity is increased. Katy sends a text message to her mother that reads “I wish someone cared enough to bring me cookies.”
Accept means that plans are not changed due to the risk, but if the opportunity does occur, it will be accepted. Katy hopes that because people know she is addicted to cookies, someone will think of her and give her some. She won’t ask anyone to get her some though.
April 2, 2009
Identify Risks Process
Identify Risks is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to document the risks along with their characteristics in the Risk Register that may affect the project. With the many inputs and tools to this process, there is only one output—the risk register—which is then updated in subsequent processes. The Risk Management Plan (output of the Plan Risk Management process) is a key input because it provides guidance as to how all the other risk processes are to be performed. Additionally, a number of project plans and other documents are used to uncover and identify risks that should be incorporated in the Risk Register, which is called Documentation Reviews. Simply having the team think about what risks could occur is covered by the tool of Information Gathering Techniques, and if thinking specifically about challenging the project’s assumptions, it’s called Assumptions Analysis. Tools to guide this thinking in a more structured way include SWOT Analysis and Diagramming Techniques. Using historical information such as the risks from similar, past projects is Checklist Analysis. Altogether, these tools simply aid the team in forming the list of risks to be placed on the Risk Register for further analysis and planning in later processes. For more on this topic, please see the earlier posting of Risk Register (posted March 27, 2009).
April 3, 2009
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis Process
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to perform a qualitative risk analysis, which prioritizes risks based on their probability of occurring and their potential impact. The Risk Register, which contains the list of project risks, is needed in addition to the Risk Management Plan, which contains pre-defined definitions of probability and impact. To perform the qualitative risk analysis, the probability of each risk occurring is estimated and this is multiplied by a number representing how severe the impact would be if the risk occurs. This assumes that the data is accurate—investigating the quality of the data is the tool of risk data quality assessment. The risks are then prioritized based on which have the largest ratings, as these will be the most important risks to invest in planning and monitoring. This information is then added to the Risk Register, and this update to the Risk Register is the only output to this process. For more on this topic, please see the earlier posting of Risk Register (posted March 27, 2009).
April 6, 2009
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis Process
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to numerically analyze the effects of project risks. This can be time-consuming, so it typically is only performed on the risks that have been considered high-priority based on the qualitative risk analysis that was done during the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. The list of project risks, including the results of any qualitative analysis that may have been done, can be found in the Risk Register. The Risk Management Plan provides overall guidance on how the risks processes, including this one, are to be performed. In order to model the potential impacts of risks, data is needed. This can be obtained through interviewing people and using probability distributions that statistically indicate the likelihood of events. To perform the analysis, one may use a variety of techniques including a sensitivity analysis (the tornado diagram is a common example), expected monetary value analysis, or a modeling/simulation technique such as a Monte Carlo analysis. The only output to this process is Risk Register Updates which represents adding the results of the quantitative analysis to the Risk Register. Also see the earlier postings of Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis Process (posted April 3, 2009) and Risk Register (posted March 27, 2009).
April 7, 2009
Schedule Compression
It needs to be done in less time… Schedule Compression is a tool and technique of the Develop Schedule process described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. If a project needs to be completed faster than it is currently progressing, the project manager may apply a schedule compression technique. Two schedule compression techniques are crashing and fast-tracking. Crashing applies additional money and/or resources to shorten the duration of the project. This can increase risk to the project, so the trade-off should be carefully considered. Also, there some types of tasks that additional money or resources cannot shorten. Fast-tracking is the preferred method of schedule compression. Fast-tracking performs activities in parallel that are normally done sequentially. Like crashing, there can be additional risk introduced.
Here are some examples involving Katy, who is planning on making cookies tomorrow afternoon just before her dinner guests arrive so that the cookies will be warm from the oven. She discovers that her dinner guests will be arriving earlier than planned, but she can’t start making the cookies earlier, either. She applies the technique of crashing, and buys a couple more cookies sheets so that she bake three sheets of cookies at once, rather than just one sheet of cookies at a time. So, she has invested more money (to buy the extra cookie sheets) in order to shorten the duration of her cookie baking project. Typically, Katy watches the cookies the entire time they are in the oven so they don’t burn. But she decides to also apply fast-tracking and set the table for her dinner guests while the cookies are in the oven. Normally the task of setting the table would come after her cookies are taken out of the oven, but now the task of the cookies baking is done at the same time the table is being set. As you can see, there is some added risk that the cookies are more likely to burn, but she decides it is worth the trade-off to have warm cookies ready for her guests.
April 8, 2009
What-If Scenario Analysis
Thinking through potential outcomes, the What-If Scenario Analysis is a tool and technique of the Develop Schedule process and the Control Schedule process, both described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. This technique is used to estimate impacts to the project schedule if potential scenarios occur. This technique simply repeatedly asks “what if” a certain event should happen. It is useful to have more than one person’s perspective and ideas for this analysis. For example, Katy has two hours to bake three dozen cookies. She and her family are doing a What-If Scenario Analysis for this cookie baking project. “What if you burn the first batch?” asks her husband. They estimate that will extend the schedule an hour. “What if Dad is eating the cookies as fast as you can make them?” asks her daughter. They estimate that he’ll become full at a certain point, so it’ll extend the schedule half an hour. In summary, What-If Scenario Analysis simply estimates the effect that potential events may have.
April 9, 2009
Plan Risk Responses Process
Plan Risk Responses is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to develop plans to minimize threats (negative risk) and maximize opportunities (positive risk). The Risk Register, which lists the project risks and information about them, and the Risk Management Plan, which provides overall guidance for the risk processes, are both needed. For each risk on the register that is important enough to warrant investing time into planning a response, a strategy is chosen. The seven strategies are: Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate, Accept, Exploit, Share, and Enhance. Please see the earlier postings of Positive Risk Strategies (posted April 1, 2009) and Negative Risk Strategies (posted March 31, 2009) to read more about these strategies. Contingency Response Strategies may also be developed, which are plans that are executed only if a certain trigger occurs. The outputs of this process include Risk-Related Contract Decisions and updates to several documents including the Risk Register, Project Management Plan, and Project Document updates.
April 10, 2009
Group Decision Making Techniques
How can direction be set for a group? Group Decision Making Techniques is listed as a technique of the Collect Requirements process described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. However, these can be used at any time a group decision must be made—not only decisions regarding requirements or project management. Four methods of reaching a decision are: unanimity, majority, plurality, and dictatorship. Katy and her husband have three children. The family is trying to decide what type of cookies they should bake. Here are examples of each of the decision making methods.
Unanimity: everyone in the group agrees to the same thing. Everyone in the family has to come into agreement. After discussing their options and hearing a passionate speech from the youngest child about how good great-grandma’s recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies is, each person decides that they could have oatmeal raisin cookies.
Majority: more than fifty percent of the group decides. There are five people in Katy’s family. Her husband and two of the children want sugar cookies, and since three of five people is sixty percent (which is more than the necessary fifty percent), the family has sugar cookies.
Plurality: the largest block of people in the group decides. The parents are a block of two people and the children are a block of three people, so the children are permitted to decide that the family will have peanut butter cookies.
Dictatorship: one person makes the decision for the group. Katy states that she’s the one that will be baking, and she alone decides that the family will be having chocolate chip cookies.
April 13, 2009
Prototypes
One of the tools and techniques of the Collect Requirements process described in the fourth edition PMBOK® is Prototypes. They are a working model of a product that allows for feedback before producing the final product. Feedback cycles may be utilized in which people (such as stakeholders) can provide input, and then a revised model can be presented for further input and revisions. For example, Katy is trying to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies to be entered in an upcoming cookie contest. She bakes an experimental batch and asks her family for feedback. They tell her that she needs more chocolate chips in the cookies, and that they need to be chewier. Katy revises her recipe and bakes another batch for her family. This time they suggest that she make the cookies larger and a little less sweet. After a few more iterations, Katy believes she has the recipe for a winning chocolate chip cookie.
TAPUniversity has received its renewal as a Global R.E.P. for PMI
For immediate release —————————-
Technology As Promised and its learning portal TAPUniversity recently completed their renewal as a Global Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute. This designation allows TAPUniversity to continue its expanding delivery of project management related courses – online and in-person. That delivery now includes not only project management but virtual teams, business analysis, Six Sigma, CobiT, Career Survival Series and several additional subject areas geared toward helping our alums succeed in difficult economic conditions.
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Best Regards,
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R.E.P. Processor
Project Management Institute
April 14, 2009
Plan Procurements Process
Plan Procurements is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the four Procurement knowledge area processes, and one of the twenty Planning processes. The purpose of this process is to document the purchasing decisions and approach as well as identify potential sellers. There is much information needed beforehand to accomplish this, which is represented by eleven inputs to this process. The Scope Baseline and Requirements Documentation are important inputs used to describe the project work to be performed. The specific work that is to be performed in a contract is called the Procurement Statements of Work.
It must first be decided whether certain work is best done in-house or whether it should be purchased. This is called Make-or-Buy Analysis, and its outcome is Make-or-Buy Decisions. There are advantages and disadvantages of the different types of contracts that need to be considered as well. The types of contracts that should be used, in addition to much other information, is written in the Procurement Management Plan that provides guidance for performing the procurement processes. Procurement Documents describing what work is needed are made available to sellers in order to elicit their offers. Source Selection Criteria are the criteria developed in this process that will be used to choose among sellers’ responses. For example, sellers representing larger or local organizations might be preferred.
April 15, 2009
Make-or-Buy Analysis
The project management technique of deciding whether certain work should be performed in-house or whether it should be purchased is called Make-or-Buy Analysis. Make-or-Buy Analysis is listed as a technique for the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process. A project manager may have a Procurement Management Plan for the project that offers guidance in making these decisions. There are many considerations to take into account when deciding whether or not to purchase, and these considerations will vary across organizations and projects, and over time. Seller’s price will typically be a key consideration. Whether there is currently the level of in-house expertise for the work that needs to be done and the time project team members have available are also important to consider. An example Make-or-Buy Analysis question is: should you mow your own lawn or hire a lawn service company to do it? You may consider whether you currently own a mower, how much time you have to devote to lawn mowing, if allergies or other health issues would make mowing difficult for you, and how much you’re willing to pay a lawn service. The decisions on whether to make or buy something are called Make-or-Buy Decisions. These Make-or-Buy Decisions are an output to the PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process and then used as an input to the Conduct Procurements process.
April 16, 2009
Fixed Price Contracts
Project managers increasingly need to be knowledgeable about procurement and contracts. Contract Types is a tool of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process. There are a variety of contract types falling under the general categories of Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursable, and Time and Materials. The types of Fixed Price contracts (as termed in the PMBOK®) are Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF), and Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment (FP-EPA). Fixed Price contracts are generally preferred by project managers. Below are examples of each type of Fixed Price contract.
Firm Fixed Price (FFP). The price is set and cannot be changed unless the scope of work changes. For example, Katy has agreed to bake ten dozen cookies for her neighbor for the price of $40.
Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF). The price is set, but there is the potential for the seller to also receive a financial incentive if an agreed-upon, objective metric is met. Katy has agreed to bake ten dozen cookies for her neighbor for $40, and if she is able to finish baking by 2:00pm this afternoon, the neighbor will pay her an additional $10.
Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment (FP-EPA). The price is set, but especially for contracts over long periods of time, it may be adjusted due to changing economic conditions. Katy has agreed to bake ten dozen cookies every year for her neighbor’s annual office party. This year she will receive $40, and every year afterwards she will receive 3% more than the year before to account for inflation.
April 17, 2009
Cost-Reimbursable Contracts
As project managers work with procurements, it’s important that they understand the different types of contracts. Contract Types is a tool of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process. There are a variety of contract types falling under the general categories of Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursable, and Time and Materials. The types of Cost Reimbursable contracts (as termed in the PMBOK®) are Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF), and Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF). Note that the definitions have changed slightly since the last edition of the PMBOK®. Cost Reimbursable contracts reimburse the seller for their actual costs. Below are examples of each.
Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). The seller is reimbursed for their actual costs plus given a percentage of those costs. Katy’s neighbor pays her for the cost of ingredients plus 50% of those costs in return for ten dozen of Katy’s homemade oatmeal raisin cookies. The ingredients cost $40, so Katy is paid $40 plus 50% of $40 (which is $20), which totals $60.
Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF). The seller is reimbursed for their actual costs plus given a financial incentive if an agreed-upon objective is met. Katy’s neighbor offers to pay her for the cost of ingredients in return for ten dozen of Katy’s award-winning sugar cookies, plus $20 if she can finish the cookies before 7:00pm this evening.
Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF). The seller is reimbursed for their actual costs plus a financial incentive based on criteria that are at the buyer’s discretion. Katy’s neighbor offers to pay her for the cost of ingredients for 100 of Katy’s peppermint chip cookies, plus $50 if the neighbor decides they are the best cookies she has ever eaten in her entire life.
April 20, 2009
Time and Materials Contracts
Time and Materials is one of three broad types of contracts—Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursable, and Time and Materials. Contract Types is a tool of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process. Time and Materials contracts are useful when the full scope of the project is unknown. They resemble Fixed Price contracts in that there can be a fixed price for each unit. However, it is unknown how many units will be purchased so there is not a fixed price for the entire contract. As an example, Katy’s neighbor knows that there will be numerous times this summer that she’ll want to purchase homemade cookies from Katy. Katy’s neighbor doesn’t know exactly how many times, but she and Katy agree that each time over the summer she wants a dozen cookies she’ll pay Katy $10 for them. Although the unit price is set at $10, it is unknown how much Katy will earn in total by the time summer is over.
April 21, 2009
Project Charter
The Project Charter is the only output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Project Charter process. The Project Charter is a key project management document. This document formally authorizes and initiates the project. Ideally, the project manager assigned within the document participates in creating it. Earlier editions of the PMBOK described the Project Charter as containing more detailed information than the standard describes today. Now the information tends to be high-level—which is logical, as this is the document that initiates the project. The information contained in the charter will be progressively elaborated upon as the smaller details of the project are later decided. Here is a list of what a Project Charter may contain: project purpose or justification, measurable project objectives and related success criteria, high-level requirements, high-level project description, high-level risks, summary milestone schedule, summary budget, project approval requirements, assigned project manager with their responsibility and authority level, and name and authority level of who is sponsoring the project. For more on this topic, see the earlier posting of Develop Project Charter Process (posted February 18, 2009).
April 22, 2009
Focus Groups
The Focus Group is common across many disciplines, including project management. They are a tool of the PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process. The desired type of group should be determined. A homogenous group will have similar people who likely have similar perspectives. A heterogeneous group will contain a variety of people who have varying perspectives. A homogenous group will likely feel more comfortable voicing their opinions and will more likely come to a group consensus. A heterogeneous group will display the interaction of different perspectives. There should be at least several people in the focus group, but beware of allowing the group to so large that people become reluctant to speak. It’s common that not everybody who is invited will come, so more people can be invited than are needed. About an hour is a good length of time for a focus group session—they shouldn’t be so long that people lose interest. The moderator of the focus group should have questions prepared beforehand, and encourage participation from everyone. The focus group should be recorded for later analysis and summary. For more on this topic, see the earlier posting of Collect Requirements Process (posted February 24, 2009).
April 23, 2009
Project Exclusions, Assumptions, and Constraints
Project exclusions, assumptions, and constraints (among other information) are included in a Project Scope Statement. Katy has a project to make exotic papaya honey cookies to enter in her city’s bake-off competition. The scope of the project is to make and enter one dozen cookies for the competition. Here are some examples of exclusions, assumptions, and constraints for this project.
Project exclusions are those things that outside of the project boundaries. It explicitly states what is not included in the project. This project does not include making enough cookies for Katy to eat some herself. This project does not include submitting her recipe to the judges.
Project assumptions are those things that are believed to be true. Katy believes that she’ll be able to obtain the cookie ingredients from her local grocery store. She also believes that her car will reliably transport her and the cookies to the competition.
Project constraints are limitations placed upon the project team. Katy must have the cookies delivered to the competition one hour before the judging starts. Katy’s husband insists that she spend no more than fifty dollars on exotic ingredients for the cookies.
April 24, 2009
Rolling Wave Planning
A common type of Progressive Elaboration is Rolling Wave Planning. Progressive Elaboration means to continuously improve and refine planning. Rolling Wave Planning is a technique of the PMBOK®’s Define Activities process and it also describes how the Project Management Plan evolves. The planning is on-going during the project—not completed beforehand. Rolling Wave Planning means that the work to be done in the near-term is detailed; work in the more distant future is not yet detailed. As work is being performed during a stage that had already been planned in detail, the upcoming work is broken down into more detail.
For example, a family is on vacation. On Monday, they decide that on Tuesday they will go to the Dizzying Fun Rides amusement park at 9:00am and will make dinner reservations at 6:00 for an Italian restaurant. They know that they want to go to a zoo on Wednesday, but they don’t have any details worked out. On Tuesday, they go to the amusement park and Italian restaurant as planned, as well as refine their plans for Wednesday’s trip to the zoo. They find a map and directions to the zoo and decide that they’ll arrive at the zoo at 10:00, and bring a picnic lunch to eat at the zoo grounds. They decide that on Thursday they’ll see a national monument, but they won’t decide which one until tomorrow. In this way, the near future of the next day is planned in detail, but the planning of further than one day into the future is still at a high-level.
April 27, 2009
Basis of Estimates
This document, Basis of Estimates, is an output of the PMBOK®’s Estimate Costs process. This is a companion document to Activity Cost Estimates, which details how much each project activity is expected to cost. The Basis of Estimates document indicates how these estimates were derived. It could include information such as how the estimate was developed, assumptions, constraints, range of possible values, and confidence in the estimate.
For example, in Katy’s Activity Cost Estimates document, she has the activity of “Shopping for Cookie Ingredients” with the cost estimate of $17. Her Basis of Estimates document first contains how this estimate was developed. It was developed by using expert judgment to estimate the cost of the individual ingredients on the shopping list. The flour is about $4, the sugar $3, the chocolate chips are $3, the vanilla is about $2, the eggs are about $2, and the butter is around $3, which totals the $17 estimate. Next are the assumptions and constraints. She assumes that the chocolate chips that typically cost about $4 will only cost $3 because she has a coupon for one dollar off the price of the chocolate chips. She is constrained by only having $20 to spend. Last is the value range and confidence level. The range of possible values for this activity is from $12 to $20, and she is 75% sure that her estimate of $17 will be accurate.
More on this topic can be found in the earlier postings of Estimate Costs Process (posted March 12, 2009) and of Project Exclusions, Assumptions, and Constraints (posted April 23,2009).
April 28, 2009
PERT Sample Questions
One of the most common topics read on this blog is the PERT formula. Please see the posting “PMP Exam – PERT Formula” (posted February 6, 2009) for an explanation of this formula. To use this formula, we need three estimates—Optimistic (best-case scenario), Most Likely (realistic), and Pessimistic (worst-case scenario). We then find the average, but we first weight the Most Likely estimate by 4. The formula is (O + (4*ML) + P) / 6. Here are some practice questions:
1. Anne hopes that it takes just 10 hours to make preparations for an important meeting. It will probably take 12 however, and if some key things go wrong, it will take 20 hours. How many hours should be scheduled for the meeting preparations using the PERT formula?
a. 14
b. 15
c. 11
d. 13
2. Tim’s mother-in-law just called. He hopes he can get off the phone in 4 minutes, but he knows she usually talks 20 minutes. If her arthritis is bothering her, the call could be 45 minutes. How many minutes should he plan on being on the phone, using the PERT formula?
a. 21.5
b. 23
c. 21
d. 23.5
3. Ginger is racing her horse against her neighbor’s horse. She hopes her horse will run a fourth of a mile in 30 seconds. Usually her horse runs that distance in 32 seconds, but when he’s grouchy it takes him 37 seconds. How many seconds can she guess her horse will run a fourth of a mile, using the PERT formula?
a. 33
b. 32.5
c. 33.5
d. 35
4. Using the PERT formula, George estimated that a certain report will take 10 days to write. His optimistic guess was 7 days and his pessimistic guess was 13 days. What was his guess for the time it would most likely take to write the report?
a. 10
b. 9
c. 11
d. 20
5. Using the PERT formula, Geraldine estimates that it will take her 6 hours to clean her house. Her optimistic guess was 3 hours and her most likely guess was 5 hours. What was her pessimistic guess?
a. 7
b. 4
c. 12
d. 13
Answers: 1. D; 2. A; 3. B; 4. A; 5. D
April 29, 2009
Direct and Manage Project Execution Process
Direct and Manage Project Execution is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The purpose of this process is to actually perform the project work described in the Project Management Plan. The key input is the Project Management Plan, as that provides the guidance for performing the work. Expert Judgment is used in carrying out the work. During the course of performing the work, Change Requests will arise. This process interacts with the Perform Integrated Change Control process to manage these requests. If a Change Request is approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control Process, this Approved Change Request then becomes an input to Direct and Manage Project Execution. The primary output is Deliverables, which demonstrates the importance of this process. Of the 42 processes, this one is most affected by the application area. Whereas planning and documenting will be similar across all projects, the actual work performed will vary tremendously.
April 30, 2009
Perform Quality Assurance Process
Perform Quality Assurance is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Quality knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The purpose of this process is to perform quality audits to ensure that the appropriate quality standards are being met. A quality assurance department within the organization may work together with the project team in performing this process. To perform a quality audit, the quality standards chosen for the project must be compared to the work being performed on the project. These quality standards are found in the Project Management Plan, specifically in the Quality Management Plan and Process Improvement Plan, and in the selected Quality Metrics, which are an output of the Plan Quality process. Information on the work being performed is obtained through two other processes—Direct and Manage Project Execution provides Work Performance Information and Perform Quality Control provides Quality Control Measures. Interestingly, the PMBOK simply states that the tools for this process include all the tools for the other two quality processes. But additional tools are Quality Audits and Process Analysis. Especially if quality standards are not being met, the output of Change Requests can be expected. The other outputs are updates: updates to the Project Management Plan, Project Documents, and Organizational Process Assets.
Other related postings on this blog include: PMP Exam – Pareto Chart (posted February 9, 2009); Scatter Diagram (posted February 10, 2009); Run Chart (posted February 16, 2009); Control Chart (posted February 17, 2009); Plan Quality Process (posted March 19, 2009); and Cost of Quality (posted March 23, 2009).
May 1, 2009
Acquire Project Team Process
Acquire Project Team is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Human Resource knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The purpose of this process is to obtain the team members needed for the project. The Project Management Plan contains the Human Resource Plan which outlines what roles are needed are how long they are needed. If people have been assigned to the project before it has started, it’s called Pre-assignment. Acquisition is used to obtain people from outside the organization, and Negotiation may be performed by the project management team to obtain the best people for their project. If the team is to spend little or no time face-to-face with each other, the tool of Virtual Teams is used. The primary output of this process is Project Staff Assignments, which assign individuals to their roles on the project. Documentation of the time these individuals are able to work on the project is done for the Resource Calendars. Overall, this process examines the needed roles as defined in the Project Management Plan and finds individuals to fill those roles.
May 4, 2009
Develop Project Team Process
Develop Project Team is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Human Resource knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The purpose of this process is to improve the team’s competencies and their interactions among each other. The list of who is on the team can be found in the Project Staff Assignments, and the times when each person is available can be found in the Resource Calendars. If the team members are at the same location, it’s called Co-location. The Project Management Plan may contain information on planned team development activities and training. It is helpful if the project management team has relevant Interpersonal Skills in their attempt to improve the interactions and skills of the project team. Training can increase competencies of individual members, and Team-Building Activities and Ground Rules can increase the overall functioning of the team. Recognition and Rewards can be used in a fair manner to recognize and increase desirable behavior. The primary output to this process is Team Performance Assessments which evaluate the effectiveness of the team. Also see the related posting of Develop Project Team – Team-building (posted February 5, 2009).
May 5, 2009
Manage Project Team Process
Manage Project Team is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Human Resource knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The primary purpose of this process is to track an individual’s performance and provide them feedback. The list of team members can be found in the Project Staff Assignments document, and the Project Management Plan further outlines team members’ responsibilities. Performance Reports provide data indicating how well the project is being performed, whereas Team Performance Assessments are appraisals on how well the team itself is performing. It is possible for the team to be working quite effectively as a group, but due to circumstances beyond their control, the project itself is not going well. Project Performance Reports, which provide feedback to individual project members on their performance, are completed as part of this process. It is common for problems to arise among team members, and these can be handled using Conflict Management techniques and keeping track of problems in an Issue Log. The project management team can utilize their Interpersonal Skills and the tools of Observation and Conversation to facilitate a well-functioning team comprised of unique personalities and motives. The output of this process is the updating of documents in additional to generic change requests, which can include a request for a staffing change.
May 6, 2009
Activity List
The Activity List is the primary output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Define Activities process. The Activity List is the complete list of the scheduled activities for a project. As it is used to help develop the project schedule and estimate needed resources, it serves as an input to the following processes: Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, and Develop Schedule.
The Activity List is created through examining the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), WBS Dictionary, and Project Scope Statement, and making a list of specific activities. The WBS is a hierarchy of all the work that needs to be performed for a project. The lowest level of the WBS hierarchy is composed of work packages, and these are broken down into the specific activities that are included on the Activity List. For example, if a work package were “laundry,” the activities added to the list may include: Obtain laundry detergent, Sort laundry, Wash laundry, Dry laundry, Determine which laundry to iron, Iron laundry, Fold laundry, and Put laundry away. The Project Scope Statement serves as guidance to assure that the listed activities cover all the project work, but do not extend beyond the boundaries of the project. For example, the scope statement could state that ironing is not considered part of the laundry process. Activity Attributes is a companion document to the Activity List, just as the WBS Dictionary is a companion document to the WBS. The Activity Attributes document contains details on the listed activities such as who is responsible, which activities must come first, constraints and assumptions. For more on this topic, see Define Activities Process (posted March 3, 2009).
May 7, 2009
Cost-Benefit Analysis
A Cost-Benefit Analysis is a comparison between the costs of an activity and its benefits. This is a broad concept that can be applied across many situations. In general, if the benefits outweigh the costs, the activity is worth pursuing. It can also be used as a means of comparing multiple potential projects to discover which would be the most valuable to initiate. For this reason, it may be included in a project’s Business Case, which is the document that justifies the project.
Cost-Benefit Analysis is specifically listed as a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®s Plan Quality process. In this case, the costs of a potential quality activity, such as a one-day training seminar, are compared to the benefits, such as higher quality products due to less human error. Essentially, it is part of a Business Case for each proposed quality activity that may be planned.
If the benefits and costs are measured strictly in financial terms, the Benefit-to-Cost Ratio may be examined. This is simply dividing the benefits by the costs. For example, if project Alpha is expected to bring in $100 and it will cost $50, then the Benefit-to-Cost Ratio is 100/50, which is 2.0. If project Beta is expected to bring in $75 and it will also cost $50, then the Benefit-to-Cost Ratio is 75/50, which is 1.5. Because project Alpha has a higher ratio, on financial considerations alone, it should be preferred over project Beta.
May 8, 2009
Project Management Plan
The Project Management Plan describes how a certain project is to be executed, monitored and controlled, and closed. Its contents, length, and level of detail will vary across different projects. It is the only output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Project Management Plan process. Because it serves as a roadmap for the project, the writing of the Project Management Plan should begin very early in the project. When writing begins, the Project Charter may be the only previous document to use as a reference. However, the Project Management Plan is not completely written before the project begins. On the contrary, it is continuously updated and elaborated upon throughout the project. Also, the Project Management Plan is not a single plan—it is a collection of subsidiary plans and baselines. Examples of these subsidiary plans are: Scope Management Plan, Requirements Management Plan, Schedule Management Plan, Cost Management Plan, and Risk Management Plan. Baselines could include Schedule, Cost, and Performance baselines. These subsidiary plans and baselines are outputs from separate processes that are then integrated into the Project Management Plan. The level of detail of these subsidiary plans, and whether or not they are even included, will vary from project to project. A long-term project with a large team will necessitate a far more detailed Project Management Plan than will a smaller project. The PMBOK’s Develop Project Management Plan Data Flow Diagram on page 79 shows how this process directly interacts with 32 other processes that provide additions to the Project Management Plan and/or are directly guided by it. This emphasizes that the Project Management Plan is central to a well-managed project. Also see Develop Project Management Plan Process (posted February 23, 2009).
May 11, 2009
Change Requests
During the course of a project as situations change and the scope of the work is better understood and elaborated upon, it can be expected that there will be some changes to the original planning. A suggested change is called a Change Request. The third edition PMBOK® had several types of change requests that could be outputs of various processes, but this has been simplified so that now they are all referred to as Change Requests. The process that handles Change Requests is the fourth edition PMBOK’s Perform Integrated Change Control. Change Requests which have arisen from other processes are an input. These requests are discussed in Change Control Meetings where the request may be approved or rejected. The primary output of the Integrated Change Control process is Change Request Status Updates, meaning that the requests are now approved or rejected. Change Requests can only be an input into the Integrated Change Control process. If this process has approved a request, this Approved Change Request may be an input into these three processes: Direct and Manage Project Execution, Perform Quality Control, and Administer Procurements. Change Requests can arise during the performance of the following processes: Direct and Manage Project Execution, Monitor and Control Project Work, Verify Scope, Control Scope, Control Schedule, Control Costs, Perform Quality Assurance, Perform Quality Control, Manage Project Team, Manage Stakeholder Expectations, Report Performance, Monitor and Control Risks, Plan Procurements, Conduct Procurements, and Administer Procurements. Notice that the three processes that have Approved Change Requests as inputs also have Change Requests as an output.
May 12, 2009
Recognition and Rewards
What should be done when good behavior occurs to encourage it? Recognition and Rewards is a tool of the Develop Project Team process listed in the fourth edition PMBOK®. The purpose of recognizing and rewarding desirable behavior is to encourage that type of behavior in the future. This extends into our everyday life—far beyond the boundaries of project management. It is most effective when people know what behaviors will be rewarded, rather than be surprised that something they did happened to deserve a reward. For some people, the promise of a reward can be a strong motivator. For example, if a team is told that if they finish the project early each person can have an extra week of vacation, that could be a strong motivator. However, it should be kept in mind that what is rewarding to one person may not be rewarding for another person. A highly-driven person might not want an extra week of vacation as it could interfere with their work goals. Similarly, a shy individual may dread the thought of being publically recognized for something they have done. In order to be fair and prevent frustration, the rewarded behavior should also be within the control of the person or team. Lastly, the reward or recognition should be appropriate for the behavior. Heroic efforts deserve a greater reward than doing basic job requirements. Also see the earlier posting of Develop Project Team Process (posted May 4, 2009).
May 13, 2009
Team Development Stages
As a project team matures, they go through certain stages. These Team Development Stages are described under Team-Building Activities, which is a tool of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Project Team process. According to this theory, there are five stages of team development—Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Teams typically begin at the first stage and then progress to later stages. However, teams can stop progressing at a certain stage and never reach the higher stages. Also, an event such as the addition of a team member can cause the team to regress to an earlier stage. In the Forming stage, the team members meet each other and learn about the team’s purpose and goals. In the Storming stage, team members may struggle for certain roles and responsibilities as well as try to convince others of their perspective on how the work should be performed. When the Norming stage is reached, team members are working together and an element of trust has been established. The Performing stage demonstrates a highly effective team whose members are working together smoothly as a unit. When the work is done and the team is disassembled, it is called Adjourning. Project Managers have an advantage if they are able to quickly move their team into the Performing stage. Also see the earlier posting of Develop Project Team Process (posted May 4, 2009).
May 14, 2009
Conflict Management
Managing conflict is part of managing projects and people. Conflict Management is a tool of the Manage Project Team process listed in the fourth edition PMBOK®. Also see the earlier posting of Manage Project Team Process (posted May 5, 2009). Conflict Management is an important skill not only project management, but for any situation in which people have disagreements. There are six general techniques of managing a conflict—Withdrawing/Avoiding, Smoothing/Accommodating, Compromising, Forcing, Collaborating, and Confronting/Problem Solving. Here are some examples of these techniques. Katy plans to bake her family Carrot Raisin cookies, but her children start complaining, because they want Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chip cookies.
Withdrawing/Avoiding – avoiding the conflict or situation. Katy runs out of the room screaming that she can never please anyone.
Smoothing/Accommodating – emphasizing areas of agreement. Katy’s husband reminds everyone that all are in agreement that they would like a batch of cookies.
Compromising – finding a solution that brings at least some satisfaction to everyone. Katy makes Chocolate Carrot cookies rather than Carrot Raisin or Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chips.
Forcing – one’s viewpoint is pushed at others’ expense. Katy says that she is making the Carrot Raisin cookies as she planned—and there will be no further discussion!
Collaborating – incorporating multiple views. Each family member discusses exactly what they like and dislike about the two types of cookies, so that together they can create a new recipe to incorporate what is most important to everyone. Katy’s husband wants the raisins included, one child wants them soft and chewy, one child wants them shaped in balls, and Katy wants them to be relatively healthy.
Confronting/Problem Solving – treating the conflict as a problem to solve. Katy and her family try to think of some alternatives to solve the problem, including: making one batch of each kind, helping the children make a batch of the kind that they want, and making one kind today and making the other kind next week.
May 15, 2009
Distribute Information Process
Distribute Information is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Communications knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The primary purpose of this process is to distribute relevant information to stakeholders. This is a relatively simple, straightforward process. The Project Management Plan is needed because it contains the Communications Management Plan that outlines the details of how the information is to be distributed. Performance Reports contain the actual information on the status of the project that will be distributed. This information is distributed through Communication Methods (one-on-one meetings, group meetings, videoconferencing, etc.) and Distribution Tools (hard copies, email, telephone, portals, press releases, etc.). The only output is Organizational Process Asset Updates. These updates could include copies of the reports that were distributed, presentations given, and feedback from stakeholders, etc. This process is simply the act of providing accurate project information to stakeholders in a timely manner.
May 18, 2009
Manage Stakeholders Expectations Process
Manage Stakeholders Expectations is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Communications knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The primary purpose of this process is to work with stakeholders to meet their needs and resolve issues. The Stakeholder Register provides the list of stakeholders, and along with the Stakeholder Management Strategy, contains information on each stakeholder that will assist in working effectively with them. This process is fundamentally about communication, so the Project Management Plan, which contains the Communications Management Plan, is needed as a guide for communicating with individual stakeholders. An Issue Log and Change Log are maintained to track stakeholder concerns and any changes that are made. Communicating with upset stakeholders can involve finesse and tact, so the intangible tools of this process are: Communication Methods, Interpersonal Skills, and Management Skills. Change Requests are an expected output of this process, and with those changes comes updates to Project Documents and the Project Management Plan.
May 19, 2009
Virtual Teams
Becoming increasingly popular, Virtual Teams is one of the tools of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Acquire Project Team process. A virtual team is a team who has some or all members that spend little or no time face-to-face. With advances in communications technology, the advantages of virtual teams are becoming leveraged more frequently in today’s organizations. A virtual team allows for geographically dispersed people, including outside experts, to work together. Also, it can allow employees to work from home. Team members can be included who have difficulties traveling, and travel expenses can be saved for all team members. Virtual teams is a favorite topic here at TAPUniversity, with online courses offered through our Virtual Teams Institute. There are numerous forms of communications technology as well as best practices that can be learned and leveraged to maximize the effectiveness of a virtual team.
May 20, 2009
Alternatives Identification
This tool of Alternatives Identification is part of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Define Scope process. The purpose of this tool is to generate ideas on different ways to accomplish the project. The desired work is already known, but there may be preferred ways to accomplish the work. Clearly, this should preferably be performed at the very early stages of the project before work is already begun using a less desirable method. At its basis, this tool is simply the generation of useful ideas. This can be accomplished in any of the typical ways such as brainstorming; lateral thinking; reverse thinking with no feedback; random word association with critical feedback; metaphors and supportive feedback; and exaggeration with feedback.
May 21, 2009
Project Scope Statement
The Project Scope Statement is a major project document that is produced through the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Define Scope process. The Project Scope Statement contains the project’s deliverables and required work in detailed statements. It includes the Product Scope Description, Product Acceptance Criteria, Project Deliverables, Project Exclusions, and Project Constraints. For example, Katy’s project is to bake a dozen cookies for her neighbor. One dozen round chocolate chip cookies that are three inches in diameter is the Product Scope Description. If the neighbor deems them not burned, that is the Product Acceptance Criteria. The Deliverables are: one dozen cookies and a paper plate that they will be placed upon brought to the neighbor’s door. A Project Exclusion is that the recipe will not be provided. A Project Constraint is that the cookies must be delivered by 4:00pm this evening. Also see the earlier posting of Define Scope Process (February 25, 2009).
May 22, 2009
Conduct Procurements Process
Conduct Procurements is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the four Procurement knowledge area processes, and one of the eight Executing processes. The purpose of this process is to obtain responses from sellers, select among those sellers, and award a contract to the selected seller. This was formerly two processes, and so there are several activities involved. The previously performed Plan Procurements process provides Procurement Documents, Source Selection Criteria, and Make-or-Buy Decisions as inputs to this process. Other inputs include the Project Management Plan which contains the Procurement Management Plan that serves as guidance; and the organization may have a Qualified Sellers List of sellers that have already been determined to meet certain criteria important to the organization. Finding prospective sellers can be aided by the tools of Advertising and performing an Internet Search. Bidder Conferences may be conducted to provide information to interested sellers, and then sellers submit their Seller Proposals. An organization may use the tool of Independent Estimates to judge whether the proposals are suggesting reasonable prices. These Seller Proposals are compared using the pre-defined Source Selection Criteria and Proposal Evaluation Techniques to determine which sellers will be selected. A major output is the Selected Sellers, who are then provided a Procurement Contract Award. This contract may have its terms negotiated through the tool of Procurement Negotiations. Also see the earlier posting of Plan Procurements Process (posted April 14, 2009).
May 26, 2009
Monitor and Control Project Work Process
The Monitor and Control Project Work process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to track, review and regulate progress on the project. This is accomplished by comparing the Project Management Plan to actual progress, which is represented by the Performance Reports obtained from the Report Performance process. The only tool for the Monitor and Control Project Work process is the common, broad tool of Expert Judgment. Expert Judgment is used to determine whether project progress is matching the expectations outlined in the project management plan. And if not, the output of Change Requests will go to the Integrated Change Control process for approval to bring performance back in line. These changes can then be reflected as updates to the Project Management Plan and Project Documents. Also see the earlier postings of Change Requests (posted May 11, 2009) and Project Management Plan (posted May 8, 2009).
May 27, 2009
PMP Exam Studying with WEMSHA
When studying for your PMP® Exam, if you deeply interact with project management tools and standards, rather than simply read about them, you’ll not only be better prepared for your exam, but you’ll learn more that you can utilize in your project management career. At TAPUniversity, for our PMP exam preparation courses we use our project management workbook called WEMSHA, which is aligned with the new fourth-edition PMBOK®. It contains 111 exercises on the processes, tools, and concepts necessary for project managers to know for their exam. When studying is more engaging, it’s also easier to find the required time to study. For those of you currently enrolled in our fourth-edition PMBOK PMP courses, you can download the 321-page workbook at no extra cost from your course website. Also, it can be obtained at Lulu Publishing using the following link: http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=7141508
May 28, 2009
Statement of Work
A Statement of Work (SOW) is a narrative description of the products, services or results to be supplied by a project. The SOW is considered a Project Document—not part of the Project Management Plan. The SOW is written by the project’s sponsor, and then used as an input to the fourth-edition PMBOK®’s Develop Project Charter process, which formally initiates the project. The SOW references three things—the Business Need, Product Scope Description, and Strategic Plan. The Business Need describes why the project is needed. The Product Scope Description contains the details of the product that will be the project’s outcome. How this particular project supports the organization’s Strategic Plan should also be included. When dealing with procurements, a Procurement SOW will be necessary which is the SOW referring only to the part of the project scope that pertains to a particular contract. Time and Materials contracts are especially well-suited to situations in which it’s not possible to have a well-defined SOW. On a smaller scale, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Dictionary contains a brief SOW for each component in the WBS. Overall, the SOW describes what work needs to be done and why it is important to perform that work.
May 29, 2009
Resource Breakdown Structure
A Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) is a Project Document utilized by project managers. It is one of the documents created by the fourth-edition PMBOK®’s Estimate Activity Resources process. A RBS is a heirarchical structure of a project’s resources by category and type, including human resources. This provides an illustration of the overall materials, people, equipment, and supplies needed, in addition to the quantity needed of each. The portion including people can be utilized in the Develop Human Resource Plan process. The Activity List, Activity Attributes, and Resource Calendars are used to form a starting point for estimating the needed resources. Someone with expertise can estimate how much resources are needed for a given activity, and Published Estimating Data may also be available. These estimated resources are then organized in a hierarchy. For example, Katy needs 500 cookies baked in a single day. Her RBS may include the major categories of ingredients, cooks, baking equipment, and baking tools. Her category of ingredients might be broken down into refrigerated and non-refrigerated ingredients, and the non-refrigerated ingredients category could contain 20 lbs of flour, 20 lbs of sugar, 10 cups of cocoa, and 1 cup of baking powder. Also see the earlier posting of Estimate Activity Resources Process (posted March 6, 2009).
June 1, 2009
Perform Integrated Change Control Process
The Perform Integrated Change Control process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to review change requests, determine whether to approve them, and then manage the effects of those changes on the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and project management plan. There are fifteen processes that have Change Requests as an output. These Change Requests then all become an input into the Perform Integrated Change Control process. In order to help determine whether changes should be approved, the Project Management Plan and Work Performance Information are used as additional information. The change control board convenes in Change Control Meetings to make the decision to approve or reject each change request. The primary output of the Integrated Change Control process is Change Request Status Updates, meaning that these discussed Change Requests are now approved or rejected. Because of these changes, updates may need to be made to the Project Management Plan and Project Documents. If a Change Request is approved, this Approved Change Request may be an input into these three processes: Direct and Manage Project Execution, Perform Quality Control, and Administer Procurements. Also see Change Requests (posted May 11, 2009).
June 2, 2009
Control Scope
The Control Scope process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Scope knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to watch the product and project scope as well as manage any changes to the scope baseline. This process safeguards against scope creep so that the project’s boundaries do not expand. Knowing what the project boundaries are and how to handle changes to them is found in the Project Management Plan (specifically the Scope Baseline, Scope Management Plan, Change Management Plan, Configuration Management Plan, and Requirements Management Plan), Requirements Documentation and Requirements Traceability Matrix. Work Performance Information indicates how well actual progress aligns with the scope baseline. The only tool and technique of this process is Variance Analysis. This simply compares actual progress to the scope baseline. These comparisons of Work Performance Measurements are an output that can be shared with stakeholders. If changes are needed based on these measurements, there will be Change Requests which go through the Perform Integrated Change Control process. Updates may also be needed to Organizational Process Assets, the Project Management Plan, and Project Documents. Also see the earlier postings of Change Requests (posted May 11, 2009) and Perform Integrated Change Control Process (posted June 1, 2009).
June 3, 2009
Verify Scope Process
The Verify Scope process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Scope knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to formalize acceptance of the completed project deliverables. The most obvious input is Validated Deliverables. The finished deliverables are validated if they have been checked for meeting quality standards through performing the Perform Quality Control process. To determine whether these deliverables are acceptable, the criteria for the deliverables is examined which is found in the Project Mangement Plan’s Scope Baseline, Requirements Documentation, and Requirements Traceability Matrix. There is only one tool and technique of this process—Inspection. The deliverables are examined in some manner and compared to the acceptance criteria. Essentially, this process verfies that the deliverables are consistent with the Scope Baseline. If the deliverables are satisfactory, the output is Accepted Deliverables. If the deliverables are unacceptable, the output is a Change Request outlining what changes can be made to make the deliverables acceptable.
June 4, 2009
Control Schedule
The Control Schedule process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Time knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to update progress and manage any changes to the project schedule. The Project Management Plan contains the Schedule Baseline and the Schedule Management Plan which outlines how changes to the schedule are to be made. The most recent Project Schedule is compared to Work Performance Information in order to gauge how well the project is on-schedule. Comparing actual progress to planned progress is called Variance Analysis, and this leads to the output of Work Performance Measurements. With the mathematical calculations involved, Project Management Software and Scheduling Tools are useful for ease of making schedule changes. If the work needs to be performed over a shorter duration of time, Schedule Compression techniques such as crashing and fast-tracking may be needed. Adjusting Leads and Lags and Resource Leveling are other tools to adjust the schedule. When changes are needed, there will be Change Requests which go through the Perform Integrated Change Control process. Updates may also be needed to Organizational Process Assets, the Project Management Plan, and Project Documents. Also see the earlier postings of Change Requests (posted May 11, 2009), Project Management Plan (posted May 8, 2009), What-If Scenario Analysis (posted April 8, 2009), Schedule Compression (posted April 7, 2009), and Leads and Lags (posted March 20, 2009).
June 5, 2009
Statistical Sampling
There is much to know about selecting a good sample and it should be done carefully by someone knowledgeable. A good sample can accurately describe the whole population with a fraction of the cost and time it would take to measure the entire population. Project managers may use statistical sampling as part of performing the fourth edition PMBOK®’s quality processes. The first step is to define the population of interest, such as every full-time employee in a certain organization. Then a sampling strategy, such as random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling or others, is used to select the individuals who will be in the sample. Random sampling selects a sample of employees with each one having an equal chance of being selected. Stratified sampling first divides the population into strata—for example the organization’s population could be grouped by men and women, and then a separate sample drawn from each group to assure that the desired number of men and women are included in the sample. Cluster sampling samples a sub-group of the population. For example, everyone in the marketing department could be chosen instead of choosing people from throughout the organization. It is also important to determine the correct size of sample. Too small, and your data will be misleading, while an unnecessarily large sample will waste resources.
June 8, 2009
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Psychological and sociological theories explaining how individuals and groups behave, such as this theory, is listed as the tool of Organizational Theories in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Human Resource Plan process. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivation theory that explains how people are differentially motivated depending on their state of needs. The most basic needs are physiological—such as eating, sleeping and breathing. Only after these needs are met, are people able to concentrate on meeting the next level of needs. The next level consists of safety needs, following by belongingness needs, and esteem needs. Only after all these have been satisifed can an individual be at the highest level called self-actualization, which is fully meeting one’s potential. Later, Maslow suggested additional levels to his hierarchy. Note that it is possible to take steps backward on the heirarchy. For example, one may be focused on gaining respect at work and forget to take lunch. Eventaully the physiological need to eat will become more urgent to meet than the esteem needs. Also see the earlier posting of Develop Human Resource Plan Process (posted March 24, 2009).
June 9, 2009
Control Costs Process
The Control Costs process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Cost knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to monitor the budget and manage any changes made to the cost baseline. The Cost Performance Baseline and Cost Management Plan can be found in the Project Management Plan, which is used to guide this process. Project Funding Requirements and Work Performance Information are additional inputs. There are many tools available to manage costs, such as Earned Value Management, Forecasting, To-Complete Performance Index, Performance Reviews, Variance Analysis, and Project Management Software. The tools enable the project manager to calculate how close spending matches the budget, and how much more funding is needed. This results in Work Performance Measurements and Budget Forecasts that can be used to plan the remainder of the project. As Change Requests are approved through the Perform Integrated Change Control process and implemented, there may be updates to the Organizational Process Assets, Project Management Plan, and Project Documents. Also see the earlier postings of Earned Value Management – Step 1 (posted February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), and Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009).
June 10, 2009
Quality Management Plan
The Quality Management Plan outlines how selected quality policies will be implemented for a certain project. It’s part of the Project Management Plan. The Plan Quality process described in the fourth edition PMBOK® decides which quality requirements and standards should apply to the project and then develops the Quality Management Plan to assure compliance with them. The formality and level of detail of the plan varies across projects. The other two quality processes—Perform Quality Assurance and Perform Quality Control—are guided by this plan. Quality and Risk are closely tied together. The Quality Management Plan is used as an input to the Identify Risks process, because the approach to quality will increase or decrease overall risk. And when performing the Plan Risk Responses process, the plan may be updated to reflect changes in how risk will be addressed. In the course of doing the project work and monitoring its progress, the two processes Direct and Manage Project Execution and Monitor and Control Project Work, can additionally lead to revisions to the Quality Management Plan. Also see the earlier posting of Plan Quality Process (posted March 19, 2009).
June 11, 2009
Resource Calendars
The documentation of the time individuals on the project team are able to work on the project is called Resource Calendars. They must take into consideration vacation time and holidays as well as time dedicated to other work in the organization. A composite Resource Calendar may also indicate the skills of the resources. Interestingly, the fourth edition PMBOK® lists Resource Calendars as an output of two processes—they are an output of the Acquire Project Team process to show when internal resources are available, and they are an output of the Conduct Procurements process to indicate when contracted resources are available. Resource Calendars are an input to the Develop Project Team process in order to know when individual team members are available for team development activities. In creating the project schedule, Resource Calendars are an input the Estimate Activity Resources , Estimate Activity Durations, and Develop Schedule processes. They are also an input of the Determine Budget process so that compensation for team members can be included in the project budget. Resource Calendars are considered a Project Document—not part of the Project Management Plan. However, they can be included in the Staffing Management Plan, which is part of the Human Resources Plan, which is part of the Project Management Plan. Also see the earlier posting of Acquire Project Team Process (posted May 1, 2009).
June 12, 2009
Acheivement Theory
Psychological and sociological theories explaining how individuals and groups behave, such as this theory, are listed as the tool of Organizational Theories in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Human Resource Plan process. David McClelland, an American psychologist, is the author of Achievement Theory. This theory postulates that humans are motivated by three general needs—achievement, affiliation, and power. Individuals vary in how strongly these three things motivate them. For example, one person may be highly motivated by power, and only slightly by achievement. Another person may be motivated by affiliation, but not as interested in achievement or power. To generalize these types of motivations, those who are high in achievement motivation are driven to excel in what they undertake. Individuals high in affiliation motivation strive for good relationships with others and they want to be accepted. People who are high in power need to have an influence on others. Also see the earlier posting of Develop Human Resource Plan Process (posted March 24, 2009).
June 15, 2009
Perform Quality Control Process
The Perform Quality Control process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the three Quality knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to monitor the results of the quality activities so that any needed changes can be made. The Quality Management Plan, which is found in the Project Management Plan, is used to guide this process. The Plan Quality process provides Quality Metrics and Quality Checklists to be used in this process. Information about that actual work that is compared to the pre-determined quality standards is found from Work Performance Measurements and Deliverables. Also, performance data is gathered through the tools of Statistical Sampling and Inspection. A better understanding of the causes of defects can be accomplished through Cause and Effect Diagrams. Once data is gathered, it can be displayed in a variety of ways, including: Control Charts, Flowcharts, Histograms, Pareto Charts, Run Charts, and Scatter Diagrams. The outcome of these measures are Quality Control Measurements. The data is not simply displayed, however—it must be assessed to determine whether or not it demonstrates that quality standards are being met. If the quality is not acceptable, a Change Request will be made. If the deliverables are acceptable, the output of Validated Deliverables goes to the Verify Scope process for final approval. Also see the earlier postings of PMP Exam – Pareto Chart (posted February 9, 2009), Scatter Diagram (posted February 10, 2009), Run Chart (posted February 16, 2009), Control Chart (posted February 17, 2009), Change Requests (posted May 11, 2009), and Statistical Sampling (posted June 5, 2009).
June 16, 2009
Stakeholder Management Strategy
A Stakeholder Management Strategy is a document used by project managers to outline a plan to increase support and minimize obstruction from the project stakeholders. This document is created through the Identify Stakeholders process, which is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. The Stakeholder Management Strategy is then used as an input to two other Communication processes—Plan Communications and Manage Stakeholder Expectations. The document should include all key stakeholders for the project. Groups of stakeholders should be identified that increase the ease of communication and management. For example, a group could include individuals from a certain geographic location or individuals with a specific interest in the project. Also documented should be the level of participation desired by these key stakeholders. Do they want to be intimately involved with each phase of the project, or merely informed when the deliverables are approved? Because this document can include sensitive information on managing specific stakeholders, the project manager must be careful about the type of information that is included and control who has access to it. Also see the earlier postings of Project Stakeholders (posted February 13, 2009) and Identify Stakeholders Process (posted February 19, 2009.)
June 17, 2009
Activity Dependencies
A project is composed of many smaller activities. Although some activities are independent of each other, others have dependencies that must be accounted for when making the project schedule. Using the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), there are four types of dependencies that two activities can have with each other. These four types of dependencies are: Finish-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, Start-to-Start, and Start-to-Finish. The names of these dependencies describe what must happen to activity “A” before what can happen to activity “B”. For example, for a Finish-to-Start dependency, activity “a” must finish before activity “b” can start. Here is an example of a Finish-to-Start dependency: Katy must finish mixing her cookie batter before she can start shaping the dough into cookies. Mixing the cookie batter must be completely done before individual cookies are made. Here is an example of a Start-to-Start dependency: Katy must start shaping the dough into cookies before she can start baking them. She doesn’t have to finish the whole activity of shaping all the dough into cookies, but she has to at least start this activity so that she has some cookies that can start baking while she shapes more.
June 18, 2009
Pairwise Chart
A Pairwise Chart is a tool used by a group of people to rank a set of alternatives. In project management, it is used to decide among a set of potential projects, among other decisions. The charts may vary somewhat in appearance, but the purpose is the same—to reach a decision by systematically comparing two choices at a time. A vote is taken for each set of two choices, and the alternative that overall receives the most votes is the winning choice. Here is an example of a committee trying to decide what to serve at the annual company picnic. The five nominated choices for the main dish are: fried chicken, hamburgers, macaroni, spaghetti, and steak. There are ten committee members. First they vote between fried chicken and hamburgers—s even people preferred fried chicken and three preferred hamburgers. Next they compared fried chicken and macaroni—five people preferred fried chicken and five people preferred macaroni. They had eight more votes to compare the remaining pairs. Then, the total votes for each choice were summed. Altogether, steak received the most votes so it was the winning choice.
Pairwise Chart
June 19, 2009
Product Analysis
For projects that have a product as a deliverable (as opposed to a service or result), product analysis may be performed. Product analysis is a tool and technique of the Define Scope process described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It means gaining a deep understanding of the product. Because there are so many different types of products and perspectives, there are many different ways that products can be analyzed. One of these methods is product breakdown which analyzes the components of the product. For example, does the container of weed killer have the correct percentages of each chemical? The method of systems engineering begins early in the process with designing and making the product to meet customer needs. The value analysis method examines the relationship of cost and quality. How much more will customers pay for luggage that lasts fifty years than low-quality luggage that will need to be replaced after several trips? Other methods that the PMBOK mentions are: systems analysis, requirements analysis, and value engineering.
June 22, 2009
Expert Judgment
An expert is someone who has specialized education, knowledge, skill, experience or training in a certain area. A project manager should obtain the opinions of experts throughout the course of managing a project. Expert Judgment is a common tool and technique of the processes found in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It is a general tool, and its use will appear differently depending on the process. For example, a team member may be able to provide good activity duration estimates, an outside consultant may be hired for technical advice, and already identified stakeholders may be experts in identifying additional stakeholders. For the Conduct Procurements process, an entire panel of experts that each specialize in different areas may evaluate seller proposals. An expert may be a consultant, stakeholder, professional and technical association, industry group, SME, PMO, other unit in the organization, senior management, and a project manager. It could also simply be a member of the organization who has been there for 35 years.
Of the 42 processes, 19 have Expert Judgment listed as a tool and technique. In fact, some of these processes have Expert Judgment as their only tool and technique. Note that all six of the Integration processes contain Expert Judgment. Here is a listing of the processes: Develop Project Charter, Develop Project Management Plan, Direct and Manage Project Execution, Monitor and Control Project Work, Perform Integrated Change Control , Close Project or Phase, Define Scope, Define Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, Identify Stakeholders, Identify Risks, Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, Plan Risk Responses, Plan Procurements, and Conduct Procurements.
June 23, 2009
Communications Management Plan
The Communications Management Plan as outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK® describes how communications will be accomplished throughout a project. It is a subsidiary of the Project Management Plan and is developed through the Plan Communications process. It is specifically listed as an input to the Plan Risk Management process. The Communications Management Plan is executed through the Distribute Information and Manage Stakeholders Expectations processes, but rather than being listed specifically as an input, the broader Project Management Plan is listed as an input instead.
The nature of the Communications Management Plan will vary with the size and complexity of the project. There are many items that can be included. The requirements that the stakeholders have for communications should be included. Specifically contained could be what information should be communicated and why, who is responsible for communications, when communications should occur, the time and budget allowed for communication activities, communication constraints, and information flowcharts. Also, a glossary of common terminology, escalation processes, and the method for updating the Communications Management Plan may be included. Also see the earlier posting of Plan Communications Process (posted March 25, 2009).
June 24, 2009
Project Schedule Network Diagrams
A Project Schedule Network Diagram is any display of the relationships among project activities which is then used to develop the project schedule. A subnetwork is simply a section of the overall Project Schedule Network Diagram. Project Schedule Network Diagrams are an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Sequence Activities process and an input to the Develop Schedule process. The most common type of network diagram is the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) which is also called Activity on the Node (AON). In this diagram, activities are represented by boxes or nodes with arrows connecting these nodes to demonstrate the relationships among activities. The PDM method uses all four types of dependencies between activities (Finish-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, Start-to-Start, and Start-to-Finish). The older network diagramming method of Activity on the Arrow (AOA) places the activities on the arrows rather than the nodes, and only uses the Finish-to-Start dependency. This method is not as commonly used. Also see the earlier postings of Activity Dependencies (posted June 17, 2009), Sequence Activities Process (posted March 5, 2009), and Develop Schedule Process (posted March 10, 2009).
June 25, 2009
Business Case
The Business Case document presents the reasoning for performing a project or activity from a business standpoint. The content, formality, and length will vary across situations and organizations. For external projects, the customer may be the author of this document. The Business Case is an input into the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Project Charter process, so it is used as a reference when creating the charter that formally initiates the project. According to the PMBOK, there are seven reasons for creating a business case:
Market Demand (A farm changes to organic in response to more customers preferring food products that have not been treated with pesticides or herbicides).
Organizational Need (An office building is expanded due to the need to hire more employees).
Customer Request (A customer orders a custom-built home).
Technological Advance (A boat manufacturer upgrades their engines after a more fuel-efficient engine has been developed).
Legal Requirement (Hiring procedures are updated after legislation is passed mandating reporting on the demographics of applicants).
Ecological Impact (A manufacturing plant takes steps to lessen air pollution from their smokestacks).
Social Need (A non-profit company provides fans at no cost during heat waves to those with low income).
June 26, 2009
Report Performance Process
The Report Performance process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the five Communications knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to collect and distribute information about project performance. First of all, to know how well the project is progressing, the project manager needs to know how it was supposed to progress, and this is found in the Project Management Plan. The plan is then compared to Work Performance Information, and the difference is called Work Performance Measurements. Understanding the causes of these differences is the tool of Variance Analysis. Estimates on how much more funding is needed for the project is found in the Budget Forecasts, and the tool of Forecasting Methods estimates future project performance. Once the information is collected, it is formatted into Performance Reports, which is the primary output of this process, and it is distributed through the tools of Communication Methods and Reporting Systems.
June 29, 2009
Variance Analysis
If projects went exactly as planned, this tool would be unnecessary. Variance Analysis is the comparison of planned results and actual results. The planned results may be found in the Project Management Plan and compared to work performance information. The project manager should be certain that the data itself is trustworthy, and then examine how much variance exists between planned and actual results. Then, the potential impact and causes of any variance should be analyzed, along with determining what action may be needed. Variance Analysis is listed in the fourth edition PMBOK® as a tool of Control Schedule, Control Costs, Control Scope, Report Performance, and as part of the Monitor and Control Risks process. When Earned Value Management is utilized, the formulas of SV and SPI can indicate schedule variance and the formulas of CV and CPI can indicate cost variance. The results of a Variance Analysis may be found in a project’s Performance Reports.
June 30, 2009
Monitor and Control Risks Process
The Monitor and Control Risk process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Risk knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to implement risk plans, watch already identified risks and residual risks while watching for new risks, and evaluate risk process effectiveness. The Risk Register is where the list of identified risks and information about then can be found. How risks are to be handled can be found in the Risk Management Plan, which is part of the Project Management Plan.
Monitoring the status and effects of risks, as well as the potential for new risks can be done through obtaining Work Performance Information and Performance Reports. Variance and Trend Analysis and Technical Performance Measurement are tools that examine actual project performance and therefore provide current information on project risk.
Because the status of risks change throughout the project and new risks arise, Risk Reassessments should be scheduled during the project. And to determine whether risk responses are effective, Risk Audits should be performed. Comparing the amount of contingency reserves to the amount of remaining risk is called Reserve Analysis. Throughout the project, Status Meetings should include updates and discussion on project risk.
The outputs of this process include updates to the Risk Register when changes occur as well as the results of risk audits and reassessments. If a change is needed in response to more information about risks or new risks, Change Requests may be made. Also, updates may be made to the Organizational Process Assets, Project Management Plan, and Project Documents. Also see the earlier postings of Risk Register (posted March 27, 2009) and Variance Analysis (posted June 29, 2009).
July 1, 2009
Administer Procurements Process
The Administer Procurements process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the four Procurement knowledge area processes, and one of the ten Monitoring and Controlling processes. The primary purpose of this process is to manage procurement relationships, monitor contract performance, and make any needed changes. Information about the procurement work can be found in the Procurement Documents, Procurement Management Plan (which is part of the Project Management Plan), and the actual Contract. Monitoring the procurement performance is aided through Performance Reports and Work Performance Information.
Any Change Requests that have been approved through the Integrated Control Process relating to procurement are also an input to this process. A Contract Change Control System manages changes to the contract. These and other changes will be in the form of the Change Requests output. Contested Changes between the buyer and seller are handled through the Claims Administration.
The day-to-day management of the procurement relationship uses Payment Systems and a Records Management System. Assuring that the obligations of the parties are being met is done through Procurement Performance Reviews, Inspections and Audits, and Performance Reporting. Outputs of this process include Procurement Documentation and updates to the Organizational Process Assess Updates and Project Management Plan.
July 2, 2009
Inspection
The technique of inspection is an examination to assure that work meets the required standards. In project management, this is most closely related to quality inspections, procurement inspections, and the final inspection of deliverables.
Inspection is a technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Perform Quality Control process. Although prevention is preferred over inspection, inspection is part of the Appraisal Costs of the Cost of Conformance. If a project involves a contract, the buyer should examine the work while it is being performed to assure that it is being performed as agreed. For this reason, Inspections and Audits is a tool of the Administer Procurements process. When completing a project, there should be a final inspection of the deliverables. This is the purpose of the Verify Scope process, and inspection is its only technique. At this point, the deliverables are reviewed with the customer or sponsor. The work should be measured, examined and/or verified to determine whether it meets the project requirements. This may also be called reviews, walk-throughs, product reviews, or audits.
July 8, 2009
Organizational Process Assets
The fourth edition PMBOK® defines Organizational Process Assets as “any or all process related assets, from any or all of the organizations involved in the project that can be used to influence the project’s success.” Examples include: plans, procedures, lessons learned, historical information, schedules, risk data and earned value data. Organizational Process Assets fall into two broad categories—Processes and Procedures, and the Corporate Knowledge Base. The key concept is that these are assets a project manager may use for the benefit of the project.
Organizational Process Assets is a common input into the project management processes. In fact, most of the 42 processes list it as an input. These processes are: Develop Project Charter, Identify Stakeholders, Develop Project Management Plan, Define Scope, Create WBS, Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, Develop Schedule, Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, Plan Quality, Develop Human Resource Plan, Plan Communications, Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, Plan Procurements, Direct and Manage Project Execution, Acquire Project Team, Manage Project Team, Distribute Information, Manage Stakeholder Expectations, Conduct Procurements, Monitor and Control Project Work, Perform Integrated Change Control, Control Scope, Control Schedule, Control Costs, Perform Quality Control, Report Performance, and Close Project or Phase
Fewer processes have updates to the Organizational Process Assets as one of their outputs. These processes are: Perform Quality Assurance, Manage Project Team, Distribute Information, Manage Stakeholder Expectations, Control Scope, Control Schedule, Control Costs, Perform Quality Control, Report Performance, Monitor and Control Risks, Administer Procurements, Close Project or Phase, and Close Procurements.
July 9, 2009
Stakeholder Register
The Stakeholder Registry is a project management document that contains the list of stakeholders and relevant information about them. It is developed through the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Identify Stakeholders process which first discovers the people and organizations that are impacted by the project, and secondly, documents relevant information about them. This information can be placed into three categories—identification, assessment, and stakeholder classification. Identification information includes name, role, location and contact information. Assessment information includes stakeholders’ requirements, expectations, and influence on the project. The classification of stakeholders could be whether or not they belong to the performing organization, whether or not they are supporters of the project, and any other useful categorization. The Stakeholder Register then serves as an input to five other processes: Collect Requirements, Plan Quality, Plan Communications, Manage Stakeholder Expectations, and Identify Risks. Also see the earlier posting of Project Stakeholders (posted February 13, 2009) and Identify Stakeholders (posted February 19, 2009).
July 10, 2009
Close Project or Phase Process
The Close Project or Phase process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the six Integration knowledge area processes, and one of the two Closing processes. The primary purpose of this process is to finalize activities in order to complete the project or phase of the project. The Project Management Plan and Organizational Process Assets may both contain guidance on how the project is to be closed. Expert Judgment is used in applying the standards for closing.
The Accepted Deliverables (those which have been inspected and accepted through the Verify Scope process) are an input to this process, and after performing the administrative closing, are considered the output of Final Product, Service, or Result Transition. Project files, closure documents and historical information may be added to the Organizational Process Assets, so the other output from this process is Organizational Process Assets Updates.
July 13, 2009
Close Procurements Process
The Close Procurements process is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. It’s one of the four Procurement knowledge area processes, and one of the two Closing processes. The primary purpose of this process is to complete all the project’s procurements. It is closely tied with the Close Project or Phase process. The Project Management Plan is used for guidance for this process, as are all the collected and organized procurement documents. A records management system can help organize information for this process. For use in future procurements, a procurement audit may be performed to learn what worked well and what should be done differently next time. Any disputes over the contract need to be resolved, leading to negotiated settlements. The procurement file, deliverable acceptance, and lessons learned documention may be added to the Organizational Process Assets, so an output of this process is Organizational Process Assets Updates. The primary output is the closed procurements, in which the buyer gives the seller formal written notice that the contract has been completed.
July 14, 2009
CBAP and PMP Certification Exam Changes this Summer
The summer of 2009 brings changes to two certification exams for which TAPUniversity provides preparation. Both the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP®) exam and the International Institute of Business Analysis’s (IIBA) Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) have version changes this summer. As of July 1, the PMP exam is based on the fourth-edition PMBOK®. There will be no more exams given based on the third-edition PMBOK (not even re-takes for those who have failed the exam based on the third edition). The changes from the third-edition PMBOK to the fourth-edition PMBOK are minor. For example, most processes have been re-named and procurement processes have been merged, but this has no effect on the underlying concepts. Two new processes have been introduced—Collect Requirements and Identify Stakeholders—but they should be familiar concepts to most project managers.
The CBAP exam will be based on the BABOK® (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) version 2.0 beginning August 1. The BABOK change from version 1.62 to version 2.0 has been dramatic. Information has been deleted, added, re-named, and re-arranged. The earlier version was basically an incomplete draft, and the current version is much better edited. If you plan on taking the 1.62 version exam, you only have 3 more weeks to do so.
July 15, 2009
Risk Management Plan
The Risk Management Plan is a document used by project managers to provide guidance on handling risk throughout a project, and because this includes early risks, it should be created early in the project’s planning phase. It is the only output of the Plan Risk Management process, which is one of the 42 project management processes described in the fourth edition PMBOK®. There is only one tool utilized in developing the Risk Management Plan—Planning Meetings and Analysis—which indicates that the quality of this plan is dependent on the productive meetings of thoughtful individuals. Resources that may be used by these individuals include the Project Scope Statement, Cost Management Plan, Schedule Management Plan, Communications Management Plan, Enterprise Environmental Factors, and Organizational Process Assets. The Project Scope Statement is referenced to better understand the project and its deliverables as every project has a unique set of risks. A project that involves unchartered territory will have more unknowns involved than a more routine project based on a history of similar projects. Understanding the contingencies in place for risks affecting the budget and schedule can be accomplished through examining the Cost Management Plan and the Schedule Management Plan. Knowing with whom to discuss project risks and responses may be found in the Communications Management Plan. Enterprise Environmental Factors includes risk attitudes of the stakeholders, and organizational process assets includes risk templates, definitions, and categories used by the organization. There is much included in the Risk Management Plan, such as: Methodology, Roles and Responsibilities, Budgeting, Timing, Risk Categories, Definitions of Risk Probability and Impact, Probability and Impact Matrix, Revised Stakeholders’ Tolerances, Reporting Formats, and Tracking. Risk Categories may be in the form of a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). The Risk Management Plan is an input to the following processes: Identify Risks, Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, and Plan Risk Responses. Monitor and Control Risks lists the Project Management Plan as an input rather than specifically listing the Risk Management Plan, but mentions that the Risk Management Plan is contained there. So all the other risk processes use the Risk Management Plan, but it is not listed as an input to any processes other than the risk processes. Also see the earlier posting of Plan Risk Management Process (posted March 26, 2009).
July 16, 2009
Questionnaire
The questionnaire is a commonly used tool utilized across many fields, including project management and business analysis. It is listed as a technique both of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process and as a technique of the BABOK® 2.0. It can be a cost-effective way to gather large amounts of data from individuals.
Questionnaires are easy to make, but they are hard to make well. Make certain there is a clear purpose for the questionnaire and that the target population is appropriately selected. The questions themselves may be close-ended (there is a provided set of choices) or open-ended (the respondent can give any answer). There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of question. Close-ended questions are much easier to analyze, but they prevent unique and insightful responses that may be critical in situations such as gathering requirements from a select group of stakeholders. The wording of questions must be clear, and shorter questions are preferable—especially if the questionnaire will be administered audibly. The questionnaire should not be so long that the respondents lose interest or refuse to participate altogether. Arrange the questions so that they flow logically, with some questions that are enjoyable to build rapport at the beginning, and any more personal or difficult questions at the end. It’s useful to have a pilot test of the questionnaire, as it can be surprising how people misinterpret questions.
July 17, 2009
Interviews
An interview is a straightforward method of gaining information and opinions from others in a verbal manner by the interviewer asking an interviewee a set of questions. It is listed as a technique both of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process and as a technique of the BABOK® 2.0. In the fields of project management and business analysis, interviews are commonly used to collect requirements. Also, when identifying stakeholders, already known stakeholders may be asked to identify additional stakeholders. Expert Judgment is a common tool across the project management processes, and it may be obtained through several methods including interviews. Lastly, risk management typically involves interviews, because dealing with risk depends much on people’s knowledge, experiences, and ideas of what might go wrong for a particular project.
Interviews are usually one-on-one, but a group of people can be interviewed simultaneously. The interview itself can be structured (the interviewer must exactly follow the script of pre-written questions) or unstructured (the interviewer can ask follow-up questions and has some flexibility).
It is important that the interview questions be prepared beforehand, and it is best if the session can be recorded. The quality of the interview results depends in part on the interviewer. The interviewer should be able to build rapport, be knowledgeable (especially when performing unstructured interviews), and maintain focus on the goals. Afterwards, the information from the interview is analyzed, and notes may be sent to the interviewee for confirmation.
July 20, 2009
Proposal Evaluation Techniques
When selecting among multiple potential sellers, Proposal Evaluation Techniques can assist in choosing the best seller. Proposal Evaluation Techniques is a technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Conduct Procurements process. It involves an evaluation committee comparing seller proposals against pre-defined criteria. The evaluation committee is the group of people who examine the information provided by and about the sellers. The entire committee could review everything, or certain people could be responsible for certain criteria. The criteria for selecting the seller should be defined beforehand, and these criteria may already be an organizational process asset. The criteria could include price, past performance of seller, seller’s technical capabilities, years the company has been in business, creativity of solution, etc. Assuming that not all criteria are equally important to the buyer, the criteria will be weighted. For example, the cost may be three times more important than how many years the company has been in business. After scoring the different areas, the committee will offer their choice of proposal.
July 21, 2009
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
A WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) is a project document that displays a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the project work. At the first level of decomposition, the major branches of the WBS could represent phases, major deliverables, or subprojects. At each lower level, the work is broken down into more detail. This process of breaking down the work into its more detailed components is called decomposition. The lowest level components of the hierarchy are called Work Packages. The WBS contains the entire scope of the project. The approved detailed scope statement with its WBS and WBS Dictionary is called the Scope Baseline for a project.
The WBS is an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Create Work Breakdown Structure process. The Project Management Institute has also released an 111-page standard for creating a WBS called The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (http://www.pmi.org/Marketplace/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00100084701). Also see the earlier posting of Create Work Breakdown Structure Process (posted February 27, 2009).
Exercise and Certification Exam Peformance
Greetings.
Laura Hilkemann, the chair of TAPUniversity, has done the heavy lifting on this blog the last several months. As of July 21, 2009, there are 124 core descriptions of project management. We’ve indexed over 500 core learning objects across business analysis, human resource management, information technology, project management and quality management disciplines. A good number of those objects cross over those disciplines – for example group formation and development (forming, storming, norming, performing and reforming).
To help your understanding and mastery of those objects, over the last six months I’ve been researching the impact of physical, spiritual and mental performance on each other. The gate swings all ways. There’s some solid, reliable research out there to back it up. Call it the body, spirit and mind game. My interest is twofold:
- from our work to help professionals achieve certification results as efficiently as possible and
- my passion for exercise – primarily in triathlons, marathons and quests to reach milestones in each.
Exam Day
What started as “ten things to do before your PMP exam” five years ago has grown into a deeper passion of mine. In looking at 9 certification exam experiences of mine since 2000, I did very well on 8 and so/so on 1. One of the factors on the so/so one in 2004 was taking exam after a period of 2 weeks of semi activity and on depleted resources (lack of sleep, stress and poor nutrition).
Before my most recent exam (CBAP – certified business analyst professional – in April of 2008) I purposely ran two miles (7 minute pace) , 30 minutes prior to the exam. I had a good overall aerobic and anaerobic exercise week (30 mile running week and 3 strength training sessions). I felt pumped, though sweaty. Pity my fellow exam takers 
. My pulse was moderate through the experience – not spiking up. I got up twice to grab some water and finished the exam rather fast. Now, my mental preparation wasn’t necessarily text book – I crammed during a 6 hour lay over at the St Louis airport. Granted I had been immersed in the BA jargon for 15 years –still not the ideal prep.
So what? We coach and recommend that exam takers get up and move around during an exam. Prior to entering the exam we recommend aerobic exercise commensurate with the exam takers current level of fitness. It helps the different pieces and parts of the brain. It will not replace adequate preparation! It does help you reach the optimum mental state.
Day to Day Performance
I’ll share more on later blogs in terms of how it does that. The essence of it is that we’re wired to move; as we move our brain thinks and learns better; as we move we also touch a spiritual pulse inside and the spirit and mind also propel our body to move. The three are connected.
To complete this first “exermindspir” blog – I want to share two links to one of the works I’ve studied from Dr. John Ratey’s “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.” Take a peek and let me know what you think!
http://brainsciencpodcast.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/brain-science-podcast-33-exercise-and-the-brain/
July 23, 2009
WBS Dictionary
The WBS dictionary is the document that accompanies the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) which further elaborates upon the individual components of the WBS. The WBS Dictionary is an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Create Work Breakdown Structure process. Together with the WBS and Scope Statement, it composes the project’s Scope Baseline which becomes part of the Project Management Plan. The WBS Dictionary can include: code of accounts identifiers, description of work, responsible organization, list of schedule milestones, associated schedule activities, resources required, cost estimates, quality requirements, acceptance criteria, technical references, and contract information. If useful, the WBS Dictionary can contain additional information about the components as well. Also see the earlier posting of Create Work Breakdown Structure Process (posted February 27, 2009) and WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) (posted July 21, 2009).
July 24, 2009
Resource Leveling
The project management technique of Resource Leveling examines the possible need for adjustments to a schedule already constructed using the Critical Path Method based on the availability of resources. The fourth edition PMBOK® defines it as “any form of schedule network analysis in which scheduling decisions (start and finish dates) are driven by resource constraints.” It is listed as a technique of the PMBOK’s Develop Schedule and Control Schedule processes. Although typically the resources are people, other types of resources may also be leveled. If the schedule was constructed assuming that a project team of ten would be working forty-hour weeks, it will need to be adjusted if the team is only available to work mornings or if the team has been reduced to eight people. Also, a highly skilled person may be needed to perform several activities which are currently listed as occurring simultaneously, and there are simply not enough hours in the day for that single person to accomplish all the work. Another situation which may require Resource Leveling is if the team is unwilling to work varying number of hours (for example, the schedule may currently require 20 hours of a person’s time during some weeks, and 60 hours of that person’s time during other weeks). In this situation, the schedule could be adjusted so the resource(s) work the same number of hours each week. Often the project schedule will need to be extended to account for these constraints.
July 27, 2009
Issue Log
The Issue Log is a project document (not part of the Project Management Plan) described in the fourth edition PMBOK® whose purpose is to record and monitor issues. It is a tool of the PMBOK’s Manage Project Team process and an input to the Manage Stakeholder Expectations process. Note that one is a Human Resource knowledge area process and the other is a Communication knowledge area process, so the issues of concern in this case focus on human interaction and communication, not on all the technical project problems. Although the issues themselves can seem minor, unresolved problems have the potential to cause schedule delays and other detrimental effects. The Issue Log should assist in communicating the issue to the project team. A template is useful in which columns represent for each issue who is responsible for resolving the issue, the urgency of the problem, the potential impact of the problem, and the target date for resolution—along with any other information useful to the project management team.
July 28, 2009
Bidder Conferences
A Bidder Conference is a project management technique used for procurements. It is a technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Conduct Procurements process. They may also be called contractor conferences, vendor conferences, and pre-bid conferences. A Bidder Conferences is a meeting for potential bidders to all fairly understand the buyer’s requirements. If the buyer were to meet individually with bidders or answer a particular bidder’s question privately, they would not all receive the same information—placing some bidders at a disadvantage. Imagine that Katy wants to pay one of her children to bake a dessert. She meets with all three of her children at the same time to inform them that she’ll pay one of them to bake a dessert that serves ten people by six o’clock this evening. Her oldest daughter wants to know if she’ll give preference to chocolate desserts, and Katie says “yes.” Her youngest daughter wants to know if the dessert can be a chilled dessert. Katie tells them all that the dessert should not be a chilled dessert. Her son wants to know if Katie will go to the grocery store if they need an ingredient not in the house, and Katie says that she will go to the grocery store, but won’t spend more than ten dollars on ingredients they don’t already have. After the Bidder Conference, the children are dismissed and each of them writes a simple proposal. The oldest daughter will make a German Chocolate cake if she is paid ten dollars. The youngest daughter proposes to make brownies for three dollars, and the son proposes to make s’mores for two dollars. At this point, Katie decides which proposal to accept. Also see the earlier posting of Proposal Evaluation Techniques (posted July 20, 2009).
Exercise & Brain Power – getting started
Getting started – often the first step is the most difficult. It’s also the most important step. I remember listening to John “The Penguin” Ingram, contributing editor for Runner’s World and self effacing ’slow runner’, share at the prerace dinner for the Tulsa Marathon in 2003 that the “miracle wasn’t that I finished, the miracle was that I had the courage to start”. At the time he began running he was considerably overweight and had a myriad of health issues. So that first step was a good leap for mankind (giant leap belongs nobly to Neil Armstrong). http://thepenguin.runnersworld.com/
I’m not presuming that running is the only exercise to begin with. It is a lower cost and simple way to begin – go out and run. There are other equally effective ways. There’s also some good advice from the Mayo Clinic on what to consider for any exercise program
- Assess current fitness level
- Design your program
- Assemble your equipment
- Get started (Penguin’s miracle)
- Monitor your progress
for our Six Sigma fans this resembles the DMAIC process a bit… but I digress http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/hQ00171
A good program should include both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.
Here’s a quick list of lower cost entry aerobic exercises to begin with:
- Walking
- Running
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Dancing (ah, not slow, you need to move)
- Others – may require some investment
- Skiing - downhill or cross country
- Indoor passions – elliptical, stair climber, treadmill – at a local club, Y or home
- Soccer
- Roller Blading
Anaerobic exercises includes
- Circuit training (health club)
- Free weights (can be done at home)
- the “ups” – push, pull, chin and modified sit ups.
How often should you do it each week? The traditional wisdom is 3 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes to begin. My observation and one shared by the “Younger Next Year” authors Chris Cowley and Dr. Harry Lodge http://www.youngernextyear.comis more than that – at least 4 aerobic sessions for 45 minutes each week and 2 to 3 anaerobic / strength training programs. Why? Am I harsh? Old School? Grumpy?
Maybe, but the deeper reason is our bodies were made for movement every single day and not just 2 or 3 days a week. While 3 days a week for 20 minutes is a start, your body actually craves a bit more . As we share more on heart rates and endorphins, 45 minutes is when you begin receiving the “thank you” from your body.
Now that 45 minutes is NOT at break neck pace. If your goal is to run, then begin with a walk/jog combination – a 50/50 mix over those 45 minutes. If cycling, then a mix of 8-12 mph with occasional bursts to 15. The idea is to extend your session, reasonable. How long should you stay at this “introduction” phase – the simple answer, as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable to add time to each session or increase intensity or both. That may mean weeks or months or even a year.
Next up are blogs on Anaerobic exercises, “Pain”, Extending your Performance and psychological benefits from exercise. For now venture out and make the exercise stuff happen!
July 30, 2009
The Delphi Technique
Although listed as a Group Creativity Technique for the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process, this technique is versatile and used beyond the boundaries of project management. The Delphi Technique consists of rounds of gathering opinions from a select group of experts. For example, Kent wants to buy a car, but he wants to make sure it’s a “really cool” car. So he asks some of his friends who work in the automobile industry to be part of his panel. Each friend is unaware of who the other panel members are. Kent receives all the surveys back and reads the responses, such as the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, Maserati 3200 GT, Rolls Royce Phantom and Saleen S7. Kent summarized his results, and then sent this summary back to all his panel members. A number of them changed their mind, writing comments such as “I forgot about the Saleen S7 that someone mentioned! Yes, that is the coolest car.” Once again, he summarized the results and sent them to his panel to see if the group came to even more agreement about which is the coolest car. In this way, he was able to get valuable information from the experts, and there was no concern about group dynamics or individual personalities unduly affecting the results.
Exercise – Brain Connection: Pain Relief
So you thought exercise meant pain?
While there’s some pain that results from exercise (either during or after – called delayed onset) the pain relief benefit from exercise greatly outweighs the pain creation. This article provides a nice summary of what’s involved and I’ll shout and echo the sentiment that “Moving is what the human body is designed to do”…
Mixing aerobic, strength (anaerobic) and flexibility are the key – one type alone will not accomplish it.
- Aerobic exercise from running or cycling or aerobics classes help fuel that authentic wonder working tonic called endorphins. From Medicine.net “Endorphins are manufactured in the brain, spinal cord, and many other parts of the body. They are released in response to neurotransmitters and bind to certain neuron receptors (the same ones that bind opiate medicines). Endorphins act as analgesics (diminishing the perception of pain) and as sedatives”
- Flexibility helps your body correct itself from a generally sedentary lifestyle we have. If you think about it, sitting at a computer or standing all day on your feet are the most punishing things you can do to your body. So stretching, yoga and Pilate’s help increase your range of motion
- Strength training does not mean “you’ll get pumped up” in the “governator” sense. It does mean you’ll build muscles first and then over time (3-6 months later) your joint strength.Consider strength training your body’s natural ibuprofen.
I’ve seen the benefits of exercise increase as I age or struggle with some minor chronic pain issues. I have a flaky almost non existent thyroid that presented itself in 2001. A 2 mile run felt like I was at mile 20. It didn’t add up. After a diagnosis and proper meds – Levoxyl rocks – I was back on my way. However by focusing too much on running I would find myself fatiguing. As I’ve mixed in a heavy triathlon dose and kept my strength training year round, I’ve noticed a much greater improvement in pain management. Again, my pain management is very minor and I empathize with those who have arthritis or fybromyalgia or Lyme disease. I’ve also seen that blending in healing aerobic activity of swimming and cycling helps with the body pounding nature of running (in a future blog I’ll share some secrets on how to make it less body pounding beginning with “get off your heals and onto the balls of your feet”). My next step is improving my flexibility.
Now further testifying to the benefit of exercise, I’ve felt the old body aches more if I’m away from some serious workouts for 4-5 days (lets say traveling). The lower back creaks, feet hurt, etc.
Please do share what you’ve found – whether you’ve exercised all your life, its been a few months or you’re just beginning.
Next up – overcoming the Pain from Exercise.
July 31, 2009
Exercise – Brain Connection: Soreness and Pain
The following article from WebMD helps and encourages anyone beginning an exercise program or anyone who’s been in their program for years. Sore muscles will occur – call it the acute pain of overcoming inertia. I was thinking of this very topic during a 20 mile run today – which was relatively pain free. There will be some pain from exercise. That’s OK. The key is to determine what is normal soreness and what may be an indicator of a more serious problem. This blog concerns normal soreness.
Two Types of Soreness that are good
acute, immediate- this is the type of soreness that occurs during or very soon after you’re done exercising. It can happen to newbees or experts. There’s also some characteristics of soreness from different activities – here are some that bubble up high on the list
Running: shins, quads, hamstrings, knee, feet and shoulders, oh my! Each of those will be pushed. Depending on current fitness level and body composition, your soreness in any one area will vary. Here is one big hint. Learn to run on the balls of your feet (I’ll have an entire blog on fore foot running). For now let me just say that our bodies are meant to run toe to toe or on the ball of the foot (walking is heel to toe). The downside is most running shoes cater to heel to toe strike. Test this yourself – run barefoot for 200 meters and see how your foot falls. Its natural fall is on the balls of your foot right before your toes.
Cycling: buns, quads, shoulders and back. Lots of bending over on top of a bike. Proper technique (smooth and fast rotation instead of straining or chopping your stroke) helps. For the buns aka “saddle sore” a cycling or triathlon pair of shorts is well worth the investment.
Swimming: a wonderful healing aerobic activity swimming can strain the shoulders and back depending on type of stroke and, more importantly, your efficiency with each stroke. Other irritations include swimmer’s ear and even the dreaded google imprint on the nose. Compared to running there’s far less soreness involved.
Lifting: more related to DOMS and discussed below, the soreness from weight lifting is typically 30-48 hours after. This is the old “bench pressed 205 yesterday and can’t lift my toothbrush today” syndrome.
Sore Muscles? Don’t Stop Exercising http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/sore-muscles-keep-exercising?page=3
After participating in some kind of strenuous physical activity, particularly something new to your body, it is common to experience muscle soreness, say experts.
In the next Exercise – Brain blog we will share a bit about what to do about chronic soreness or pain that indicates a deeper issue. Additionally some ideas on how to manage that pain will be provided.
The day after the Marathon
“Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to,” says David O. Draper, professor and director of the graduate program in sports medicine/athletic training at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.To be more specific, says Draper, who’s also a member of the heat-responsive pain council, delayed onset muscle soreness occurs when the muscle is performing an eccentric or a lengthening contraction. Examples of this would be running downhill or the lengthening portion of a bicep curl.
August 3, 2009
Cost Performance Baseline
The Cost Performance Baseline is an “authorized time-phased budget-at-completion (BAC) used to measure, monitor, and control overall cost performance on the project” (PMI’s fourth edition PMBOK®). All the minor budgets are added together to create the overall Cost Performance Baseline, which is displayed as a graph of cumulative funds to be spent over time. The periods of time are on the x-axis and the funds are on the y-axis. The periods of time could be days, months, years, etc. Because spending is generally less at the beginning and end of the project, the line on the graph representing cumulative funds tends to be in an S-shaped curve.
The Cost Performance Baseline, also called the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB), is one of the project baselines that are incorporated into the Project Management Plan. It is developed in the PMBOK’s Determine Budget process which adds up the estimated costs of the project activities in order to create the budget. The Cost Performance Baseline is then used an input to the Plan Quality and Plan Procurements processes. Also see the earlier posting of Determine Budget Process (posted March 13, 2009).
August 4, 2009
Requirements Management Plan
The Requirements Management Plan, a subsidiary of the Project Management Plan, describes how requirements will be “analyzed, documented, and managed throughout the project” (Project Management Institute’s fourth edition PMBOK®). This document is created through the Collect Requirements process, which has just been introduced in the fourth edition PMBOK. This process concerns business analysis activities, and may be performed by a business analyst if one is on the project team. The Requirements Management Plan can incorporate a number of things, such as how the requirements activities will be planned, tracked, and reported; how configuration management will be handled; the process for prioritizing requirements; product metrics and the reason the metrics were chosen; and which attributes will be included on the traceability matrix. The Requirements Management Plan is similar to the International Institute of Business Analysis’s (IIBA) Business Analysis Plan and Requirements Management Plan. Also see the earlier posting of Collect Requirements Process (posted February 24, 2009).
Exercise – Brain Connection: Chronic Pain – MS, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Back Pain
Exercise and pain – two blogs have been devoted to it and a third one is presented here. Maybe there’s a connection? Even back to our brains. This blog addresses chronic pain from three prevalent health issues and the benefit of exercise to each. The next blog will address managing long term pain from exercise – pain not to be ignored whether associated with knees, plantar fasciitis or achilles tendons. Call this a sort of ying and yang of exercise. This blog addresses the ying once again.
Benefits of Exercise – Take 2 – Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Back Pain.
I’ve shared that exercise provides benefit to a person of any age. Can it help with significant pain diseases / issues? The research indicates yes! As with any exercise consult your physician first. Also, as with the entire series on the Exercise – Brain connection, exercise is not offered a singular, exclusive solution that’s accomplished in four simple steps – it’s meant for a life long commitment that weaves and supports other treatments and activities. This ain’t an informercial.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – I’ve seen the debilitating effects of progressive MS on my oldest brother. Formal confirmation and diagnosis was provided in 2004/05. His is not a relapse form of MS – it’s a downhill slope. He is still active, aided by an iron will, tremendous family support, treatment and moderate exercise. While a marathon is not in the cards, he can be there at then end laughing at me trying to hold off the winner of the 80 and older age group. That’s what brotherly love is all about. Swimming and moderate strength training are his two primary forms of exercise. The following video from WebMD provides some insights on how exercise can help manage the symptoms from MS
http://www.webmd.com/video/multiple-sclerosis-and-exercise
Fibromyalgia
A disease which has exercise intolerance as a root symptom might seem an unlikely candidate to benefit from exercise. Research does indicate that, in moderate and careful doses, exercise can provide invaluable support. The following is from the Arthritis Foundation, Research Update, March / April 2008.
Exercise and Education for Fibromyalgia
The authors conclude in their article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “The present study suggests that progressive walking, simple strength training movements, and stretching activities are effective at improving physical, emotional and social function, key symptoms, and self-efficacy in women with fibromyalgia who are being actively treated with medication. Furthermore, the benefits of exercise are enhanced when combined with targeted self-management education.”
Back Pain
Back Pain is a common discomfort for most everyone at some point in their life. For a some though chronic back pain is a life long issues. President Kennedy’s struggle with back pain following his WW2 service is widely documented. What is not as widely known is that the best relief was not provided by six daily pain treatment shots, rather it was after that approach was abandoned for moderate, back strengthening exercises. The National Pain Foundation chronicles the work of Dr. Kraus in the following article:
Muscles, Back Pain and Exercise
Dr. Kraus, who originally was an orthopedic surgeon, actually established the first multidisciplinary pain center in the world in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which very few people know. It was at the Columbia University School of Medicine in the department of orthopedic surgery. There were psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, physiatrists, and orthopedic surgeons researching at back pain and trying to understand it.
They found that about 80% of patients presented with nothing that could be demonstrated on an x-ray or physical exam that suggested there was something significant pathologically, so they tried to understand it from the perspective of conditioning since that was Dr. Kraus background. They studied about 3,700 patients for 4.5 years and created a test – called the Kraus-Weber test – and an exercise program to go along with the test to deal with what they thought were the types of functional muscle pain that exist
August 5, 2009
Affinity Diagram
Although listed as a Group Creativity Technique for the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process, this technique is versatile and used beyond the boundaries of project management. The purpose of this technique is to sort a large number of ideas into smaller groups. First, each idea is written on its own piece of paper. Then, similarities are found among the ideas and the paper is sorted into groups based on these similarities. Sticky notes work well if the ideas are to be sorted and grouped on a wall. In a group setting, people may have different ideas for groupings. For example, during a Six Sigma Green Belt training event at TAPUniversity last summer, each participant wrote down a types of food on sticky notes. There were meats such as fried chicken, barbeque chicken, and kung pao chicken. Other dishes included snow peas and broccoli stir-fry, egg roll, steamed fish with ginger, apples, ice cream, and cereal. It was not surprising that we ended up with a group of foods labeled “chicken” and a group labeled “Chinese food.” There was then some discussion on which of these two groups kung pao chicken should be in! Overall, affinity diagrams are a good method to take a large number of ideas and concepts and start making sense of them by breaking them into workable groups.
Exercises – Brain Connection: Pain of it all
Least I seem like a simple pied piper for exercise, oblivious to any potential harm or risk, this blog should help lessen that perception. Exercise has wonderful therapeutic qualities to help manage pain and increase your brain functioning. It’s not without a price. That price comes in the form of pain – some of it is soreness as shared previously. There is pain that can not be ignored, It varies by type of exercise. I’ll share a bit of the “soreness” versus “pain to get checked”.
Running – the #1 culprit in aerobic exercise pain. So simple to do. So simple to get injured from. The amount of force that hits the ground with each little pitter patter is profound. Each foot strike can be a bit like a right jab from Mike Tyson in his prime x 20. Not pretty. There are some technique flaws that contribute to potential running injury – the top is, ironically, the way modern running shoes force the foot into a heel to toe strike. While good for walking it’s biomechanically inefficient and awkward for running. Related to this is the more spent on a running shoe the lesser the benefit – if the human foot is coddled it becomes miserable and aggressively shares its misery with the knee and lower back. See the article below from Wired for more.
Pain not to ignore in running – chronic pain indicator:
- Plantar Fasciitis – more than just a mild sore arch, plantar fasciitis is a slight to major tear or fracture of the tendon and connecting tissue in your foot. It’s truly a runner’s plague. Rehab can take months. Best prevention is to ensure a strong arch (alas where most running shoes coddle too much and weaken) and cold soaks of the foot before the pain starts. I had a nasty bout of this in 1996 and went from a semi-curved last shoe to a straight shoe (new balance, mizuno and saucony are good brands for the straight last). It did linger for five months.
- Knee – all sorts of knee pain can be aggravated by running. Some is transitional soreness. Others in terms of ligament or knee cap stress should not be ignored. Efficient running can help avoid this. Another preventive measure is avoiding 100% of running on concrete surfaces (mix in trails, asphalt and cinder). You can run on weak knees and see improvement in those knees. A good friend of mine, after reconstructive knee surgery in one knee and a cocktail of treatments in another, has been able to regroup and resume his cycling / running combination as well as his pursuit of a marathon in every state.
Pain that is typically transitional soreness
- Shin splints. When I first began running, post high school running in 1992, one of my pain companions was a good old shin splint. Shin splints occur as muscle and joints are stressed and strengthen along the calf / shin. These typically grow and heal as consistent running occurs. A simple way to strengthen your shin is to take can old paint bucket (empty), place a small brick in it (about 2-3 lbs max) and then place over your foot. Lift your foot up and ease down slowly 12 to 15 times.
- Sprained ankles, oh my. Sprains travel in pairs. Sprain one ankle and another one follows. There are some good stretching exercises – a primary one is to simply flex your ankle in every possible direction. Strength training for ankles (and other aliments) is important as well. Check this article out for some good tips http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/tendon-strength-training-7
- Sore shoulders, quads, buns, etc. Soreness in those areas is just that – soreness. Typically chronic pain will not ensue. It’s just your body’s way of saying “hey, was pretty comfy all of these years, why are you changing now?”
To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes | Wired Science | Wired.com
Strong evidence shows that thickly cushioned running shoes have done nothing to prevent injury in the 30-odd years since Nike founder Bill Bowerman invented them, researchers say. Some smaller, earlier studies suggest that running in shoes may increase the risk of ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis and other injuries. Runners who wear cheap running shoes have fewer injuries than those wearing expensive trainers. Meanwhile, injuries plague 20 to 80 percent of regular runners every year.But the jury’s still out on whether going barefoot is actually an improvement.
“The running shoe right now is doing nothing for preventing injuries,” said Reed Ferber, director of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Kinesiology. But, he adds, going barefoot has downsides too, and the research so far is still inconclusive. “It’s a total tradeoff.”
Chris McDougall, author of the recent book Born to Run, goes further. “If this were a drug, it would be yanked off the market,” he said of running shoes. McDougall says his own persistent problems with plantar fasciitis cleared up after he started running in Vibram FiveFingers.
On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest I’m probably a 5 on institutional running pain knowledge. For two other aerobic exercises, swimming and cycling, my pain savvy is lower (4 for swimming and 2 for cycling). I do want to share some about each in terms of chronic pain and touch on strength training. Avid cyclists please add your insights as well.
First and foremost cycling and swimming are considering healing aerobic exercises – they do not impose nearly the force on the body that running does. There are some longer term, chronic pain issues.
Cycling – there should be minimal chronic pain, if done with proper technique (not grinding the pedal with your legs but smooth stroke cadence) and proper equipment (clip shoes, right bike for right road, right size and seat placement). The potential for a crash at high speeds does ratchet up the pain potential (remember your helmet). Beyond that, knees can be stressed by cycling – though as shared this is due more to improper technique or gear. Buns also take awhile to adapt.
Swimming – even more than cycling, swimming is considered a healing exercise. Your body endures no impact in terms of gravity. You’re buoyant in water. You learn to move well. There are some chronic pain problems associated with adapting to water (swimmers eye or ear). The butterfly is the number stroke culprit in terms of strained shoulders. Then again butterfly is not a staple for endurance swimming. Its a great change up stroke for simulating anaerobic debt for workouts. I have yet to see someone crank out a 1,500 meter fly in the open water and doubt I will. Also if piling up swim laps is on your agenda, give your body some rest (24 hours) between swimming and strength training – some strength training during a swim is a great idea!
Strength Training – truly no pain, no gain is NOT the right mindset. The benefit of strength training is for longer term muscle and joint strength. Keep weights light and reps high as your body adapts. There’s no benefit from trying to slam down 8, 45lb plates on your squats or 4 plates on your bench to compete in the weight room. Most serious weight lifters are very helpful in terms of explaining proper technique and weight. I’m a bit beyond caring whether someone uses my bench press weight for their curls – the person that does can be a great resource. Absent a physical trainer (recommend you do find a good physical trainer) you can pick up some solid advice.
An overall pain prevention technique is to blend and weave in multiple exercises – tie in the ones listed here with Aerobics, Spinning, Indoor machines (elliptical, stair step), Martial Arts, etc. Ongoing repetition limits improvement and reinforces the “pain side” of the exercise force.
Next up on the Exercise – Brain Connection is Goal Setting. Whether at our TAPU blog or via Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn – please do share your experience and opinion with exercise and chronic pain.
August 6, 2009
Critical Path Method Explained with Cookies
The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a scheduling technique that demonstrates the time periods for which it’s possible to perform a project activity. This is accomplished through calculating for each activity the early start, late start, early finish, and late finish. Individual activities also have float, which is the amount of flexible time for the activity to occur without delaying the overall schedule. CPM is a technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Schedule process.
Here is an example. Katy is going to bake a batch of cookies. She tells her son that he needs to have the table set by the time the cookies are done so the family can sit down together and eat the cookies. There are two paths through the network—baking cookies and setting the table. Baking cookies includes three activities: mixing dough (takes 5 minutes); putting the cookies onto the baking sheet (takes 10 minutes); and baking the cookies (takes 20 minutes). Setting the table has two activities: washing the table (takes 2 minutes) and setting the table (takes 5 minutes). After these two activities, the family will spend 10 minutes eating the cookies.
Katy’s son doesn’t want to stop playing before he has to, so he makes a network diagram. First he must do the forward pass.
1. He places “0” in the Early Start boxes (top left corner) for the two starting activities—Mix Dough and Wash Table.
2. He places the duration of each activity in the Duration boxes (top middle). So for Mix Dough, he places “5” representing 5 minutes, for Cookies on Sheet he places “10”, etc.
3. He calculates the Early Finish for each activity by first adding the Early Start and Duration boxes for the starting activities. So for Mix Dough, he adds “0” and “5” and places “5” in the Early Finish box. That “5” in the Early Finish box is then moved forward and also put in the Early Start box for the next activity, which is Cookies on Sheet. The Early Finish for the Cookies on Sheet activity is calculated by adding this “5” to the Cookies on Sheet duration (which is “10”) and that equals “15”. He finishes calculating all the Early Finish times for all activities. Note that for Eat Cookies, the Early Start is “35” because it is the larger of the two preceding tasks’ Early Finishes (Bake Cookies has “35” and Set Table has “7” for their Early Finishes).
Now that he has completed the forward pass, with the end calculation of finishing eating the cookies after 45 minutes of beginning the process, it is time for the backward pass.
1. That “45” Early Finish for the Eat Cookies activity is also placed as the Late Finish (bottom right corner) for Eat Cookies.
2. He calculates the Late Start (bottom left corner) by subtracting the Duration from the Late Finish. So the Late Start for Eat Cookies is the Late Finish of “45” minus the Duration of “10” which is “35”.
3. The Float is calculated by subtracting the Early Finish from the Late Finish. Also, the Early Start can be subtracted from the Late Start…the result is the same. So for the Eat Cookies activity, the Float can be calculated either as “35” minus “35” or as “45” minus “45”. Either way, the resulting Float is “0” and that is placed in the bottom middle box.
4. The Late Finish for Bake Cookies and Set Table is the same as the Late Start for Eat Cookies which is “35”. (Note: if there were another task also dependent on Bake Cookies and Set Table being complete before it could start, whichever later task had the smaller Late Start time would be the Late Finish for Bake Cookies and Set Table.
5. The remaining Late Start, Float, and Late Finish times can now be filled in.
The baking cookies path takes longer than the setting the table path in terms of minutes to complete, so it is the critical path. Katy’s son examines the Late Start for Wash Table, and now he knows that when his mother starts baking cookies, he has no more than 28 minutes of playtime before he has to start washing and then setting the table, or he will be in trouble!
Also see the earlier postings of Activity Dependencies (posted June 17, 2009), Leads and Lags (posted March 20), Project Schedule Network Diagrams (posted June 24, 2009), and Develop Schedule Process (posted March 10, 2009).
August 7, 2009
Critical Chain Method
The Critical Chain Method, developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, is a schedule analysis technique that is listed in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Schedule process. Although similar to the Critical Path Method, this method emphasizes resource limitations and buffers. After building a project schedule network diagram, any necessary changes are made to the schedule based on resource limitations. For example, the original schedule could have four simultaneous paths that each has a certain type of specialist working full-time on that path’s activities. However, the organization may only be able to obtain one specialist, and that person cannot work four full-time jobs at once! So the schedule in this case would be lengthened so that the specialist can do all the work within normal full-time hours.
The Critical Chain Method also inserts buffers, which is a length of time without scheduled activities that can be used for activities that may last longer than expected. For example, if everything goes as planned, a project could take 11 months to complete, but an extra month is scheduled at the end whose days can be used for activities that take longer than expected. This is called the project buffer. Buffers throughout the project are called the feeder buffers.
Critical Chain does not place as much emphasis on finding the shortest possible critical path, as it recognizes the high element of uncertainty in the duration of project activities. Also see the earlier postings of Critical Path Method Explained with Cookies (posted August 6, 2009), Develop Schedule Process (March 10), and Project Schedule Network Diagrams (posted June 24, 2009).
Exercise – Brain Connection: Goals and Measurements
Goals and measurements, a topic that once again blends in some management concepts (TAPUniversity is a learning portal that supports management and technology so it’s fitting). The brain thrives in goal setting situations. Often it’s the mental part of the game that keeps exercise programs on target, or causes them to slip. So put on your SWOT caps, step up the dry-erase board and chart your life!
For the last several years I’ve seen them boldly rush in to the local YMCA we belong to in the first week of January. Brave and very well intentioned people making a change. Hit the gym, push the pedals, ramp up the treadmill and check out a class! Somewhere in early February it becomes apparent those that can make it stick and those that won’t. What was made as a resolution soon fades under the pressures of life or unrealistic expectations.
Now rather than lament what happens to those that fade, I’ve been thinking about what’s consistent with those who stick. What seems apparent are a few simple yet powerful things:
- Relationships develop- we are meant to do things together. Even if it’s a bunch of introverts who just meet at the same thing and do their stuff quietly. When done in pack we stick. We’re pack animals. Even Rocky had Mick, then Apollo, Duke and finally Paulie (ok 1 of those is not like the other). Some activities can be done alone, but doing stuff together makes it motivational.
- Doing something that you can enjoy once you’re over the learning curve. If you’ve never swam before it’s a stretch to think you can jump out of adult swim lessons and into lap swimming in 4-5 weeks. I know several triathletes have greatly improved their swimming over the course of a year and found enjoyment. There is a learning curve to each new exercise, technique so patience helps. It can be fun. Kicking myself from a recreational bike rider to one that has clip shoes, cares about carbon forks/frames and has the foggiest notion about rhythmic stroke motion has been a blast. It’s also been good for the brain – you see I’m learning something new and triggering that learning in the limbic or “doing” part of the brain.
- Goals and measurements - I should add “reasonable” goals and measurements. Unreasonable goals flow through two channels (one) if exercise is viewed as a one shot, 90 day miracle deal or (two) if the expectation is to shed 50lbs, increase strength, speed, stamina potentially in 90 days. Neither works. Reasonable goals with measurement should help propel you – not defeat you. Goal setting start with an accurate assessment of what your current level is. Here’s mine for 2009 I typed into a simple spreadsheet I keep on 12.28.08 and a measure of where I’m at as of August 6, 7 months into it. I try to just keep an honest flowing conversation going with myself – no bull.
- Goals:1,500 running (29 per week).. 100 swimming or 3,200 laps.. 200 bike. Lincoln Marathon – 4:15; Pikes Peak Double! 4:55 and 7:55. HyVee Long Course Triathlon – Finish. Des Moines Marathon 4:10
- Measurement as of 08.08.09 –
Running on target – 27.9 average, highest number of 40+ mileage weeks since 1997. High points – Cornhusker State Games & Thunder Run 5k’s, winter and Pikes Peak build up; Low Points – after my father passed away in April – a bit listless.
Swimming below target but planned up tick in August following Pikes Peak – 17 miles. High points – most mileage since high school and tried new events (1k open water swim) and HyVee 1,500 meter swim at 38 minutes. Low points – CSG sprint tri was 4 minutes slower?
Cycling – over or ahead by 65 miles – cranked in more for HyVee and hope to finish with 500 total (leads into 2010 goal of 1/2 iron man). High point – learning to ride a ‘real’ road bike for CSG in June and somehow not totally embarrassing myself on HyVee bike portion. Low point – taking too long to ask to borrow a decent road bike.
Pike’s Peak Double is next week – in as good as shape as I’ve been since 1998,
Lincoln Marathon – blew up and overheated at mile 21 – missed goal by 17 minutes was able to help a friend from high school finish her first marathon – was over’joy’ed with that,
Des Moines 4:10 updated to sub 4 hours, why that when I blew up in Lincoln? Figuring out the root cause (thyroid / hydration / base mile / April stress) and am getting in much better shape. I also have 4 to 5 “litmus test” races from 1/2 marathons to 10k/5k to validate. - My longer term, 2 to 4 year horizon, goals include 1) Boston Qualifying marathon of 3:30, 2) 1/2 Iron Man and once #1 goal is met, Iron Man Triathlon, 3) 10k swim without search and rescue and 4) matching PR’s in running (5k, 5 mile, 10k, 10 mile and 1/2 marathon). Could I knock these goals off based on where I was at in December of 2008? No. But I can build each year. Could someone new to any of these activities blaze by me with 6 months of training – absolutely! And after tripping them I would applaud – goals and measurements are personal. The miracle is making it out the door.
Please let me know some of your exercise goals and ways you use to measure. Another method I’ve found fun to measure is a through a couple of ad-in’s in Facebook: VOMaxer and RunLogger. It’s been encouraging to see how virtual and ‘real’ friends are doing and to chart my own progress.
Finally wanted to share a cartoon the extols the benefits of beginning your program.
So what do I need to do for good health?
August 10, 2009
Qualitative Risk Analysis
A Qualitative Risk Analysis prioritizes risks based on their probability of occurring and the potential impact if they do occur. It is performed as the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. First, decide which risks will be included in the Qualitative Risk Analysis. The listing of project risks can be found in the project’s Risk Register. Also, refer to the Risk Management Plan for the project’s definitions of probability and impact. Then the probability of each risk occurring is estimated and this is multiplied by the number representing how severe the impact would be if the risk occurs. The risks are then prioritized based on which have the largest ratings, as these will be the most important risks to invest in planning and monitoring.
Here is an example of Katy baking a batch of cookies. Her impact if the risk occurs definitions are as follows: 0 to .10 is not noticeable; .11 to .25 is noticeable but not severe; .26 to .75 is edible, but not presentable to anyone but family members; and .76 to 1.00 is inedible and they must be thrown out.
She decides to prioritize four risks: forgetting to add sugar, burning the cookies, cookie dough not thoroughly mixed, and cookies breaking when they are removed from the sheet. She first estimates the probability of occurrence. She believes there is a 2% chance she could forget to add sugar, so she lists .02 for the probability of this risk, whereas she believes there is a 15% chance of burning the cookies, so she lists .15 for that risk. Next she determines the impact rating using her impact definitions as a guide. Forgetting the sugar would make the cookies inedible, so she rates that a .90, whereas if the dough isn’t quite mixed thoroughly, that would only be a .20 rating. Next she multiplies the probability by the impact. For the risk of the dough not being mixed thoroughly, she multiplies .10 by .20 which is 0.020. After obtaining all four ratings, she examines which risks have the highest ratings as they are the risks deserving the most attention. The risk of the cookies breaking when removed from the sheet has the overall highest rating at 0.175, so it is the top priority risk. Also see the earlier posting of Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis Process (posted April 3, 2009) and Risk Register (posted March 27, 2009).
August 11, 2009
Reserve Analysis for a Vacation
Katy and her family are planning to take a one-week vacation that they believe will cost $2000. However, Katy and her husband decide to set aside 10% more, for a total of $2200, since they guess there could be some unknowns that will end up making the vacation cost more as has happened the last several years. This is an example of Reserve Analysis. If Katy’s husband decides to take along an extra $500 in case the car breaks down while they are on vacation, this amount is a Contingency Reserve—it’s been set aside in case a specific risk event (car breaking down) occurs. If the family places some money in a reserve in case they change their mind about the vacation scope (for example, instead of going to a free state park one day, they decide to go to an expensive amusement park), that money is called a Management Reserve.
Reserves can be set aside for time in addition to cost. Although Katy’s family calculates that it will be a three-hour drive to get to Grandma’s house, they tell Grandma to expect them after three-and-a-half hours of driving so in case they need to stop somewhere Grandma won’t become too worried.
There are four processes in the fourth edition PMBOK® that include Reserve Analysis—Estimate Activity Durations, Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, and Monitor and Control Risks. Also see the earlier posting of Reserve Analysis (posted February 11, 2009).
August 12, 2009
Stakeholder Analysis
The tool of Stakeholder Analysis examines the interests, expectations, and influences of a project’s stakeholders. It is a tool and technique of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Identify Stakeholders process and it is the purpose of the BABOK®’s Conduct Stakeholder Analysis process.
First, the stakeholders need to be identified and important information about the documented, such as their role, department, interests, knowledge, expectations of the project, and level of influence. Which stakeholders are enthusiastic supporters versus which ones are negative stakeholders who prefer that the project fail? Often questioning the most obvious stakeholders about who else might be a stakeholder is a useful way to expand the stakeholder list. Missing a key stakeholder can cause a significant amount of problems later on in the project. When there is a large number of stakeholders, they may be grouped by geographical location, how many people a stakeholder represents, etc. Next, stakeholders are classified in a way that is useful to the project, such as making a stakeholder map of a matrix containing some combination of their influence, impact, interest, and power or an onion map. Lastly, hypotheses are made as to how these groups of stakeholders will react so that they can be influenced for the overall success of the project.
Here is an example—Kevin is a teenager who is trying to convince his family that their annual summer vacation should be to a car race. He has made a stakeholder map on which he has placed his family members—examining their level of influence over where they take a vacation as well as how much interest they have in where they end up going. As the matrix shows, Baby Sister really has no power over where the family takes a vacation, and she doesn’t care where they go either. Mom and Dad have the real power (although Older Brother does have some influence), and Mom is less interested than Dad in where they decide to go. Little Brother cares the most where they go, but he has very little influence on the decision. Also see the earlier postings of Identify Stakeholders Process (posted February 19, 2009), Stakeholder Register (posted July 9, 2009), Stakeholder Management Strategy (posted June 16, 2009), and Project Stakeholders (February 13, 2009).
August 13, 2009
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Psychologist Frederick Herzberg studied the characteristics of one’s job that lead to the work being satisfying or dissatisfying. He found that there are a set of characteristics, such as having responsibility, making achievements, and advancing, that lead to job satisfaction. He called these characteristics “motivators.” Interestingly, it isn’t the absence of these characteristics that lead to job dissatisfaction. There is a completely different set of job characteristics that lead to job dissatisfaction, and he called these “hygiene factors”. Examples of hygiene factors are job security, job safety, and salary. When these hygiene factors are present, they do not lead to job satisfa ction, but if they are absent, they lead to job dissatisfaction. For example, Kevin likes that his job at the car dealership has allowed him to learn more about cars, so that is a motivator. However, he doesn’t like that he has to sit in the passenger seat when crazy drivers take cars for a test drive because he fears they will get into an accident, so that is a hygiene factor. What motivates you at work? What do you expect to be there or you’ll be dissatisfied? Health insurance? Updated technology? Ample parking spaces?
This theory and additional psychological and sociological theories explaining how individuals and groups behave are listed as the tool of Organizational Theories in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Develop Human Resource Plan process.
August 14, 2009
Facilitated Workshops
A Facilitated Workshop is one of the most effective methods of requirements elicitation. Key stakeholders meet together in a focused session, usually lasting one to several days, to define the requirements for a product. They may be originating new ideas for requirements, reviewing existing requirements, or trying to reach agreement on conflicting requirements. Bringing together the stakeholders who are defining the requirements rather than meeting with them individually increases efficiency and allows discussion. The event is kept focused by a facilitator and a scribe takes notes throughout the session. Afterwards, the documented requirements are presented to the attendees.
Facilitated Workshops are also called Requirements Workshops and Elicitation Workshops. It’s a tool and technique of both the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process and Define Scope process. Also see the earlier postings of Collect Requirements Process (posted February 24, 2009) and Define Scope Process (posted February 25, 2009).
August 17, 2009
Nominal Group Technique
The Nominal Group Technique is a group decision-making technique that strives to obtain input from all group members. Before having everyone share their ideas, it can be helpful to have tem first write their ideas on pieces of paper. While people are taking turns sharing their ideas, it may inspire group members to have even more ideas to share. After all ideas are shared, similar ones may be combined and discussed. The facilitator assures that everyone is heard, and that the discussion is kept non-judgmental and focused. Lastly, group members rank each unique idea and the votes are tallied.
Nominal Group Technique is listed as part of Group Creativity Techniques for the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process, as an Additional Quality Planning Tool for the Plan Quality process, and as an Information Gathering Technique for the Identify Risks process. Also see the earlier postings of Collect Requirements Process (posted February 24, 2009), Identify Risks Process (posted April 2, 2009), and Identify Risks Process (posted April 2, 2009).
August 18, 2009
Mind Mapping
The Mind Map is a diagram that illustrates brainstorming around a central word or idea. This method encourages creativity and can be applied to numerous situations, such as generating ideas, classifying them, and visualizing them. It is less constraining than the traditional outline-form of documenting ideas. It can be used to consolidate the brainstorming of multiple individuals. See the example Mind Map below from a session to think of an animal mascot to help market Katy’s new line of cookies.
Although project managers can apply this tool in many situations, it is specifically listed as part of Group Creativity Techniques for the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process. Also see the earlier postings of Collect Requirements Process (posted February 24, 2009), Affinity Diagram (posted August 5, 2009), The Delphi Technique (posted July 30, 2009), and Nominal Group Technique (August 17, 2009).
August 19, 2009
Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009)
Cost Variance (CV) and Schedule Variance (SV) are indicators of how closely accomplished work is on budget and on schedule. The formula for CV = EV – AC and the formula for SV = EV – PV. Both of these formulas begin with Earned Value (EV), which is the value of the work already accomplished. The actual amount of money spent is represented by Actual Cost (AC). Planned Value (PV) is how much we estimate the value to be of the work that we’re planning to do. Another way of thinking about PV is the amount of money we’ve budgeted for the work scheduled at that point in time. If CV is negative, the project is over budget; if CV is positive, the project is under budget. If SV is negative, the project is behind schedule; is SV is positive, the project is ahead of schedule.
Here is an example: Carl’s car re-design project has a total budget of $4 million to be spent evenly throughout the one year scheduled to complete the project. The project is now one-fourth completed. So far they have actually spent $2 million, and they have only worked two full months on the project.
What is the AC? It’s 2 million dollars, because that is how much they have actually spent.
What is the EV? It’s 1 million dollars, because 1/4 of the work is done, and 1/4 of the $4 million budget is $1 million.
What is the PV? It’s 2/3 million dollars. There is $4 million to spend evenly over 12 months, so every month they were budgeted to spend 1/3 of one million dollars. They have worked 2 months, so they had planned to spend 2/3 million dollars at this point.
What is the CV? -$1 million. CV = EV – AC = $1 million – $2 million = -$1 million. The CV is negative, meaning that they are $1 million over budget at this point.
What is the SV? 1/3 million dollars. SV = EV – PV = $1 million – $2/3 million = $1/3 million. The SV is positive, meaning that the project is ahead of schedule.
Also see the earlier postings of Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), and Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009).
August 20, 2009
Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009)
Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI) are indicators of how closely accomplished work is on budget and on schedule. CPI shows how many dollars (or other type of currency) worth of work is being accomplished for every dollar spent. SPI shows how the work is progressing compared to the original schedule.
The formula for CPI = EV / AC and the formula for SPI = EV / PV. Both of these formulas begin with Earned Value (EV), which is the value of the work already accomplished. The actual amount of money spent is represented by Actual Cost (AC). Planned Value (PV) is how much we estimate the value to be of the work that we’re planning to do. Another way of thinking about PV is the amount of money we’ve budgeted for the work scheduled at that point in time. If CPI is less than 1.0, the project is over budget; if CPI is more than 1.0, the project is under budget. If SPI is less than 1.0, the project is behind schedule; if SPI is more than 1.0, the project is ahead of schedule.
Here is an example: Carl’s car re-design project has a total budget of $4 million to be spent evenly throughout the one year scheduled to complete the project. The project is now one-fourth completed. So far they have actually spent $2 million, and they have only worked two full months on the project.
What is the AC? It’s 2 million dollars, because that is how much they have actually spent.
What is the EV? It’s 1 million dollars, because 1/4 of the work is done, and 1/4 of the $4 million budget is $1 million.
What is the PV? It’s 2/3 million dollars. There is $4 million to spend evenly over 12 months, so every month they were budgeted to spend 1/3 of one million dollars. They have worked 2 months, so they had planned to spend 2/3 million dollars at this point.
What is the CPI? It’s .50. CPI = EV / AC = $1 million / $2 million = .50 The CPI is less than 1.0, meaning that the project is over budget at this point. They are only getting fifty cents worth of work out of every dollar they are spending.
What is the SPI? It’s 1.50. SPI = EV / PV = $1 million / $2/3 million = 1.50. The SPI is over 1.0, meaning that the project is ahead of schedule by 150% of the planned rate.
Also see the earlier postings of Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009), and Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009).
August 21, 2009
Estimate at Completion – Bottom-Up Method
The Budget at Completion (BAC) is how much the project is supposed to cost when finished. However, during the project it may become clear that the project will not end up costing what it is supposed to cost. The Estimate at Completion (EAC) replaces the BAC for the amount that the project is now believed to cost when it is completed. Calculating EACs are part of the tool and technique of forecasting outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Control Costs process.
There are many ways to calculate EAC. The bottom-up method of calculating the EAC is a simple concept. This simply adds the Actual Cost (AC), which is how much money was actually spent at this point, to the bottom-up ETC. The bottom-up ETC is the sum of how much all the remaining estimated costs will be. This may be provided by different people working on the project.
For example, Carl and his siblings are working on restoring a car. The BAC is $500, but now it’s obvious that this project will cost more than $500. So far they have spent $450. Carl’s older brother says they will need $1000 more for some engine work, Carl’s younger brother needs $200 more for some interior work, and Carl’s sister says she will need $400 more for the paint job. To calculate the EAC, add the AC to the bottom –up ETC. So, EAC = AC + bottom-up ETC. = $450 + ($1000 + $200 + $400) = $2050.
Also see the earlier postings of: Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009), Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009), and Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009).
August 24, 2009
Estimate at Completion – Budgeted Rate Method
The Budget at Completion (BAC) is how much the project is supposed to cost when finished. However, during the project it may become clear that the project will not end up costing what it is supposed to cost. The Estimate at Completion (EAC) replaces the BAC for the amount that the project is now believed to cost when it is completed. Calculating EACs are part of the tool and technique of forecasting outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Control Costs process.
One of the many EAC formulas is the budgeted rate method. The formula is EAC = AC + BAC – EV. So the Actual Cost (AC), which is how much money was actually spent at this point, is added to the Budget At Completion (BAC), which is the original estimate of the cost of the project, and then Earned Value (EV), which is the worth of the work completed so far, is subtracted from this sum. This formula makes the assumption that the remaining future project work will be completed at the original budgeted rate. Note that if the project is already falling behind, this may not be a safe assumption to make.
For example, Carl and his siblings are working on restoring a car. The BAC is $500, but now they suspect that this project will cost more than $500. So far they have spent $450. Of all the work that the car needs done, they believe that they have 80% of it completed at this point. EAC = AC + BAC – EV. We were given AC and BAC, but we need to quickly calculate the EV. The work is 80% complete, and 80% of the BAC (which is $500) is $400, so the EV, the value of the work completed, is $400. Now we can place the numbers into the formula = EAC = AC + BAC – EV = $450 + $500 – $400 = $550. So the EAC using the budgeted rate is $550.
Also see the earlier postings of: Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009), Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009), Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009), and Estimate at Completion – Bottom-Up Method (posted August 21, 2009).
August 25, 2009
Estimate at Completion – Present CPI Method
The Budget at Completion (BAC) is how much the project is supposed to cost when finished. However, during the project it may become clear that the project will not end up costing what it is supposed to cost. The Estimate at Completion (EAC) replaces the BAC for the amount that the project is now believed to cost when it is completed. Calculating EACs are part of the tool and technique of forecasting outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Control Costs process.
One of the methods to calculate EAC is the present CPI method. This method assumes that the rate the project has been progressing up to this point is the rate that the project will continue to progress until it is completed. The formula is EAC = BAC / cumulative CPI. So the original budget for the project is divided by the Cost Performance Index (CPI), which indicates how many dollars (or other currency) worth of work is happening for every dollar being spent.
For example, Carl and his siblings are working on restoring a car. The BAC is $500, but now they suspect that this project will cost more than $500. So far they have spent $450. Of all the work that the car needs done, they believe that they have 80% of it completed at this point. We know AC and BAC, but we need to quickly calculate the EV so that we can use it to calculate CPI. The work is 80% complete, and 80% of the BAC (which is $500) is $400, so the EV, the value of the work completed, is $400. CPI is calculated by EV/ AC = $400/$450 = 0.89. Now we have all that we need to calculate EAC. EAC = BAC/cumulative CPI = $500/0.89 = $562.
Also see the earlier postings of: Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009), Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009), Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009), Estimate at Completion – Bottom-Up Method (posted August 21, 2009), and Estimate at Completion – Budgeted Rate Method (posted August 24, 2009).
August 26, 2009
Estimate at Completion – Using CPI and SPI Method
The Budget at Completion (BAC) is how much the project is supposed to cost when finished. However, during the project it may become clear that the project will not end up costing what it is supposed to cost. The Estimate at Completion (EAC) replaces the BAC for the amount that the project is now believed to cost when it is completed. Calculating EACs are part of the tool and technique of forecasting outlined in the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Control Costs process.
One method of calculating EAC takes into consideration both the Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI). The assumptions for this formula are that the project is going poorly—the cost performance has been poor and that there is a deadline that cannot be moved. The formula is EAC = AC + ([BAC – EV] / [cumulative CPI * cumulative SPI]). Note that one may use discretion to weight the CPI and SPI. If perhaps the CPI is three times more important than the SPI for a certain project, they can be weighted at 75/25. So what has been actually spent thus far (AC) is added to the result of the total budget (BAC) with the worth of the work (EV) subtracted from it which is then divided by the product of how closely on-budget the project is (CPI) and how closely on-schedule the budget is (SPI).
For example, Carl and his siblings are working on restoring a car. The BAC is $500, but now they suspect that this project will cost more than $500. So far they have spent $450. Of all the work that the car needs done, they believe that they have 80% of it completed at this point. They expected to work 5 months on this project and spend $100 each month for the total BAC of $500. They just completed the third month of working on the car.
We already know AC and BAC, but we need to quickly calculate the Earned Value (EV) so that we can use it to calculate CPI and SPI; and we also need to calculate Planned Value (PV) for use in calculating SPI. The work is 80% complete, and 80% of the BAC (which is $500) is $400, so the EV, the value of the work completed, is $400. They planned to spend $100 per month and they have just completed the third month, so the PV is $100 x 3, which is $300. CPI is calculated by EV/ AC = $400/$450 = 0.89. SPI is calculated by EV/PV = $400/$300 = 1.33.
Now we have all the terms we need to put into the formula. EAC = AC + ([BAC – EV] / [cumulative CPI * cumulative SPI]) = $450 + ([$500 – $400] / [.89 * 1.33]) = $450 + ($100/1.18) = $450 + 84.75 = $534.75. So now the car restoration project is expected to cost $534.75, which is $34.75 more than originally planned.
Also see the earlier postings of: Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – Planned Value – Step 3 (posted March 11, 2009), Earned Value Management – CV and SV (posted August 19, 2009), Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009), Estimate at Completion – Bottom-Up Method (posted August 21, 2009), Estimate at Completion – Budgeted Rate Method (posted August 24, 2009), and Estimate at Completion – Present CPI Method (posted August 25, 2009).
August 27, 2009
To-Complete Performance Index
The To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) estimates the cost performance necessary in order for the project to meet the original project’s budget goal (Budget At Completion (BAC)) or the new estimate of how much the project will cost (Estimate At Completion (EAC)). This is accomplished by calculating how much work is remaining on the project divided by how much money is remaining for the project. Work remaining is calculated as the BAC minus the Earned Value (EV). Remaining money is calculated as either the BAC or EAC minus the Actual Cost (AC). If using BAC, the formula for TCPI = (BAC – EV ) / (BAC – AC). If using EAC rather than BAC, TCPI = (BAC – EV ) / (EAC – AC).
For example, Carl and his siblings are working on restoring a car. The BAC is $500, but they clearly are going to spend more, so they calculated an EAC of $2050 using the bottom-up method to replace the BAC. So far they have spent $450, which is the AC. Of all the work that the car needs done, they believe that they have 80% of it completed at this point. Since the work is 80% complete, and 80% of the BAC is $400, the EV, the value of the work completed, is $400.
EAC has been calculated to replace BAC, so the TCPI formula using EAC will be used, which is TCPI = (BAC – EV ) / (EAC – AC). Placing our values into the formula, TCPI = ($500 – $400) / ($2050 – $450) = $100 / $1600 = .0625. So the project’s cumulative Cost Performance Index (CPI) must not fall below .0625, or it must immediately improve in order to meet the cost goal. CPI is calculated by EV/ AC = $400/$450 = 0.89.
Also see the earlier postings of: Earned Value Management – Step 1 (February 26, 2009), Earned Value Management AC and BAC – Step 2 (March 2, 2009), Earned Value Management – CPI and SPI (posted August 20, 2009), Estimate at Completion – Bottom-Up Method (posted August 21, 2009).
August 28, 2009
Requirements Traceability Matrix
The Requirements Traceability Matrix is a tool that organizes a project’s requirements by linking them to their origins and tracing them throughout the project. It is the purpose of the Manage Requirements Traceability process in the BABOK® 2.0 and it is an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process. Tracing illustrates how a requirement relates to something else. Backward Traceability indicates from where a requirement has come, and Forward Traceability indicates which requirement(s) came from something else. Requirements can be traced based on business needs, goals, objectives, project scope, product design, test scenarios, etc. Also, high-level requirements can be traced to more detailed requirements. Requirements attributes, such as an identifier, description, owner, source, priority, stability, etc., can also be recorded in the matrix. The value of the matrix is that it can quickly demonstrate if a requirement does not appear to belong anywhere, indicating that it may be out-of-scope. Also, it can indicate that requirements are missing. For example, if a business objective has no requirements linked to it, additional requirements may be needed to meet that objective.
Here is a simple Requirements Traceability Matrix that links Katy’s three objectives for her cookies—that they taste good, and are big and safe, with six of her requirements. As can be seen, all three objectives have requirements linked to them, and there are no requirements that cannot be linked to any of the objectives.
August 31, 2009
Brainstorming
This general technique used throughout different fields as well as in everyday life. It is a way to creatively generate ideas such as solutions or risks. It is listed as a Group Creativity Technique under the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process, as Alternatives Identification for the Define Scope process, as an Additional Quality Planning Tool under the Plan Quality process, and as an Information Gathering Technique for the Identify Risks process. The BABOK® 2.0 lists Brainstorming as a technique which can be used throughout many processes.
Brainstorming is usually performed in a group. It is important that the group is composed of individuals who understand the topic and can think creatively. The topic should be clear and a facilitator should be selected that can maintain focus on that topic. Typically a time-limit is set for the session. The ideas that people share should not be criticized, as that will make people reluctant to share additional ideas as well as divert time to discussing ideas that should be used to generate ideas. In fact, people should be encouraged to share ideas even if they are not sure that they are good ideas. The goal at this point is to obtain as many ideas as possible. Once enough ideas are generated, then they can be discussed and rated. Preferably there are some pre-defined criteria for rating the ideas that were shared with the group as the session began. The best idea(s) will then be further explored.
September 1, 2009
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X and Theory Y describe two different management attitudes towards their subordinates. These ideas were developed by Douglas McGregor and can be found in his 1960 book “The Human Side of Enterprise.”
Theory X suggests that employees are lazy and dislike work and responsibility. Because of this, managers must coerce them to work and supervise them closely. The employees do not care about the organization—just themselves. This is a rather negative perspective on human behavior.
In contrast, Theory Y suggests that employees inherently like work, and that work is a natural part of life. They can demonstrate self-motivation and a desire for more responsibilities. This is a much more positive perspective on human behavior.
McGregor’s theory was based in part on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Theory X organizations are satisfying the lower-level needs on the hierarchy, whereas Theory Y organizations are satisfying employees’ higher-level needs. Also see the earlier posting of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (posted June 8, 2009).
September 2, 2009
Professional Ethics for Project Managers
Members of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and those who simply hold a certification from PMI have agreed to follow the profession’s code of ethics. For those seeking their Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification, ethics questions will be a significant section of their exam. The ethics code has four values at its foundation that were chosen based on feedback from practitioners—responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty.
Each of these four values contains both aspirational and mandatory conduct. Aspirational conduct tends to be an abstract ideal that is not easily measured, whereas mandatory conduct consists of concrete rules that must be followed. For example, for the value Respect, one of the aspirational types of conduct is “We listen to others’ points of view, seeking to understand them”; and a mandatory conduct is “We negotiate in good faith.”
The entire Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct can be found on PMI’s website at http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf.
September 3, 2009
Net Present Value (NPV) for Project Managers
Projects have a starting date and an ending date—but that does not mean they are short! When comparing potential long-term projects, Net Present Value (NPV) is a financial valuation technique to help indicate which project may represent the best financial investment. If a 1-week project is expected to have a $10,000 profit, it may be a great choice. But what if a 30-year project is expected to have a $10,000 profit? Or how about a 50 or 100 year project? What should become obvious is that $10,000 in today’s money is not worth the same as $10,000 in the future. NPV accounts for this change in the worth of money and examines the value of money in terms of how much it is worth today. Technically, it is the total present value of a time series of cash flows. This means that for a given number of years, for each year we examine the difference between the cash inflow and cash outflow and adjust it for the rate of return. The sum of each year (the present value) is added together to obtain the total Net Present Value. If the NPV is positive, it is expected that the project will lead to a profit; whereas if it is negative, the project is expected to lose money.
For practice on calculating NPV, see TAPUniversity’s WEMSHA workbook, Exercise 10, page 44. Also see the earlier postings of Payback Period (posted March 16) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (posted May 7, 2009).
September 4, 2009
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
There are many things to consider when making the decision whether or not to invest in a particular project. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a financial valuation technique that can be applied to a potential project. The IRR examines the percentage rate of return on an investment. So all things being equal, a return of 30% on the investment into a project is more desirable than a return of 5% from a project. IRR is similar to the financial valuation technique of Net Present Value (NPV). IRR is the percentage obtained when NPV is set to 0. Also see the earlier postings of Payback Period (posted March 16), Cost-Benefit Analysis (posted May 7, 2009), and Net Present Value (NPV) for Project Managers (posted September 3, 2009).
September 6, 2009
Excercise – Brain Connection: Pike’s Peak Double – A Summer Kedging
Chris Crowley in “Younger Next Year” (page 135) shared an important concept in keeping your exercise fires burning – a “kedging”. A kedging is borrowed from old school sailing (not the sport but when sails and ships were the primary transport). The purpose was to get a ship forward when there was a lack of wind or threat of storm. The practice was to send sailors out a 1/2 mile or so in a long boat with a large rope, secure with anchor, return to the mother ship and the whole crew “pulls” with all their might. They do so until they reach the anchor and, if need be, start it all over again.
For exercise this is critical to keep and heighten motivation. Each person’s kedging is different – for some their first 5k or 500 yard swim is it. For others it may be a multi day bike ride (100 – 400 miles) or ultra-marathon. The idea is there’s something pressing you beyond what you’ve done before and you’re doing it with a group of other athletes.
I thrive when there are a few kedgings each year and have increasingly found myself drawn to events of different types (longer triathlons, open water swimming and nasty marathons). It’s far too easy to slip into a sedentary state without a goal in front of me.
The Pikes Peak Double presented the perfect kedging opportunity to test myself. I was blessed to complete the 2005 and 06 Ascents and notched my first PP marathon in 2007. Last year I was turned back before the A-Frame due to ice (grrrr). Feeling frustrated and wanting to hedge my bets, I signed up for the Double: half marathon Ascent on Aug 15 (Saturday) and full marathon on August 16 (Sunday). Net – 40 miles / 14 hours of absolute fun and some pain in 2 days. I’ve scribed some great information from the Pikes Peak website below.
Before that are my own reactions and notes I shared with friends a couple of days after (Tuesday, August 17th).
Feel good, very good on Ascent. Jogged the first 1.32 with a short, light stride. Walked to Double W then steady jogging to Barr Camp. Walked with some jogging to A-Frame. I crossed into Barr Camp at 2:07 and A Frame at 3:14 – was going for 4:15 if conditions allowed. Scaled back at Cirque (1.25 to go) since hit that at 4:04 so final 1.25 was 39 minutes. I was feeling lively enough to let out a happy shout in one of the photo opportunity just about one mile from the finish. The weather was perfect and no need for additional cold weather gear gathered about me.
Ascent - closing in on the finish
The Marathon was a whole new experience. The marathon Ascent time was 5:43 or 1 full hour slower. Going down was 3:40.
I didn’t feel like the day after a marathon at start, but could tell legs weren’t fully there (calves were very tight). I had a good cold soak and massage on Saturday. Plenty of ibuprofen as well. Sunday morning was a wee bit nervous. Plus my new Garmin froze and left my back up Timex in the hotel. Calves continued to be a little sore going up so walked the entire way up. Split was an hour slower but reinforced you can walk up the entire way – much more traffic though than the 2007 marathon (8:04 then with 4:49 Ascent up). Felt more altitude in terms of swollen hands, lips, etc). Good news going up is that my quads were feeling much better than usual.
I had been practicing some of Matt Carpenter’s tips on up/down hill (finding what good hills are available at 1,300′ in Lincoln Nebraska). Going down did a bit more running than in 2007 on the Summit to A-Frame, slowed from A-Frame to Barr Camp and then cranked in much faster (approx based on cell phone) from mile 21 in. Much more confident on foot stride and not hitting anything (leaning in going down and straight posture going up). My last 5 miles were by far my best of the 2 days – was great to apply Matt’s techniques for running the tangent and correct, slightly bent posture going down (versus very straight posture up). Had enough to race the final strong – 7:45 mile and give a nice strange looking finish photo.
Pikes Peak Marathon and Double Finish 2009
Definitely felt the adrenaline rush Sunday night – didn’t sleep a whole lot. But made up for it the two nights after. Did some walking on Monday and Tuesday after the Pikes Peak Double – lots of hobbling.
So next year goal is Ascent only, under 4:15; then maybe another double in 2011 for 13 hours…. Trying to ramp up to 1/2 Iron Man Tri as well and chase the all elusive Boston Qualifier for 45-50 beginning in January…
I’ll be in Matt Carpenter’s 5 year age group next year.. Ah, he has NO worries from me. He’s very cool and like 07 congratulates each runner as he passes you on his return trip (which was either Barr Camp or the Cog Railway in my case 
).
Whatever your current fitness level, select a “kedging” that truly challenges you – whether your first 5k, group bike tour, ski trip or ultimate freesbie tournament. The adrenaline of the day will pay dividends to you for months!
Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon [Home]
A Journey to the Top and Perhaps Back
The Pikes Peak Ascent® and Pikes Peak Marathon® will redefine what you call running. Sure, they start out like a lot of races on Any Street, USA. But your first left turn will have you turning in the direction of up! During the next 10 miles, as you gain almost 6,000 vertical feet, your legs, lungs, heart and mind will be worn to a ragged nothingness. But it won’t be until your last three miles, with still over 2,000′ of vertical to go, that you will realize where the Marathon got its moniker—America’s Ultimate Challenge.
There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000′ on Pikes Peak. They can’t! Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury, it might start to snow!
Then, if you are on the deluxe tour, you run back down for the second half of the Marathon. Along the way protruding rocks are waiting to send you crashing to the ground mangling flesh and only temporarily masking the pain of blood filled blisters. Meanwhile, the temperature has often risen by more than 30 degrees since the race start. After all, it’s always best to cook raw meat.
Join us in 2009 for the 54th running of America’s Ultimate Challenge®.
There’s a reason trees don’t bother
growing above 12,000′ on Pikes Peak.
They can’t!
September 8, 2009
Requirements Documentation
Understanding the individual requirements for a project and how they each support the business need is the purpose of Requirements Documentation—an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process. According to the PMBOK, this documentation can include many things, such as business need for the project, traceability requirements, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, quality requirements, acceptance criteria, business rules, impact, support and training requirements, assumptions, and constraints. This documentation is most similar to the BABOK® 2.0’s Validated Requirements, which are an output of the Requirements Validation process. These are requirements that have been demonstrated to provide business value and work together to meet the project’s objectives. Before being validated, they have been verified for quality to assure that they are cohesive, complete, consistent, correct, feasible, modifiable, unambiguous, and testable. A separate BABOK process, Determine Assumptions and Constraints, is where the assumptions and constraints for these requirements are determined.
The other outputs of the Collect Requirements process can be found described in the earlier postings of Requirements Management Plan (posted August 4, 2009) and Requirements Traceability Matrix (posted August 28, 2009).
September 9, 2009
Projects, Programs, and Portfolios
A project is a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” (fourth edition PMBOK®). Projects are often not single, isolated endeavors, but rather part of a larger undertaking. For example, Carl’s project may be to restore an old Mustang. But he and his team of siblings also have projects to restore a Thunderbird and a Model T that they are working on now. Coordinating their efforts among these three car restoration projects is their program. A program is a “group of related projects managed in a coordinated way.” Carl’s oldest brother is trying to use the family’s skills to start a restoration business. His strategy to maximize their profits will include the car restoration program, a boat restoration program, some bike projects and other work. All of this will be included in a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of “projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet strategic business objectives.”
TAPUniversity Fall Subscription Offer and More Ways to Connect!
David Kohrell will be sharing about Effective Virtual Teams at the PMI Minnesota Chapter during their PDD on Friday, October 2, 2009 and about Professional and Social Networking for Results at the PMI North American Leadership Conference in Orlando on Thursday, October 8, 2009. If you’re at either event please stop by and say hello. It will be nice to catch up and hear about how you’re doing!
We’re thoroughly enjoying the growth and quality of interaction / learning in our continuing education subscription program. If you have a PMP and need a fast, economical and meaningful way of earning PDU’s – check out this PDF. If you act by September 30th you’ll be able to earn 45 PDU’s in the next 12 months for only $375.00. In October our class roster includes Effective Virtual Teams, Professional and Social Networking for Results and the last offering of our Six Sigma Green Belt within the subscription progam. Take a look at the attached PDF.
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September 10, 2009
Organizational Structures
For a Project Manager, and many other professionals, the organizational structure of one’s job environment affects how they perform their daily tasks. There are three major categories of organizational structure—Functional, Matrix, and Projectized. When there exists more than one organizational structure within a single organization (for example one department could be projectized and all other departments could be functional) it is called a Composite organization. Matrix organizations are further broken down into three categories—Weak, Balanced, and Strong.
In a Functional organization, people are organized by specialty within a clear hierarchy. A Project Manager has little or no authority and only works part-time on projects. The functional manager has control of the budget in a Functional organization. A Projectized organization is on the opposite side of the spectrum—the Project Manager has much authority, including control over the budget, and works full-time managing projects. Matrix organizations are in-between Functional and Projectized organizations, with Weak Matrix organizations being most like Functional organizations and Strong Matrix organizations being most like Projectized organizations. The Project Manager’s authority is limited in a Weak Matrix, but moderate or high in a Strong Matrix. In a Weak Matrix the functional manager controls the budget, in a Balanced Matrix the Project Manager and Functional Manager balance budget authority, and in a Strong Matrix the Project Manager has budget control. In a Weak Matrix, the Project Manager’s role is only part-time, but in a Balanced or Strong Matrix, it is a full-time role. Table 2-1, page 28 of the fourth edition PMBOK® has a good table clearly outlining the differences among these organizational structures for those interested in learning more.
September 11, 2009
Anniversary of TAPUniversity’s Blog
It was one year ago today that TAPUniversity’s blog was launched. Thank you to all those who have followed, read, and commented on our postings. Readership has grown steadily every month, and as of today we have 175 total postings. As we begin our second year of postings, we’ll be increasing the number of postings on the topic of business analysis. In addition to our project management and six sigma courses, our business analysis courses have become increasingly popular here at TAPUniversity. For the project managers who have been following our blog, look for a book to be available soon that includes the many descriptions of project management concepts that have been featured here in one convenient resource. Thank you again!
September 14, 2009
Project Management Office (PMO)
An organization’s Project Management Office (PMO) centralizes and coordinates the organization’s projects. It is considered a project stakeholder. Not all organizations with projects and project managers have PMOs, and some organizations may even have a department-level PMO and an organizational-wide PMO. The role of the PMO can vary dramatically. A PMO with little power may simply offer support to project managers in the form of maintaining templates and coordinating communication. More powerful PMOs can make project decisions and even terminate them altogether. Other roles a PMO may perform is the coordination of resources across projects, mentoring of project managers, overseeing compliance to project management standards, and developing their own policies and standards. Overall, the PMO provides a consistency and coordination across its portfolio of projects.
September 15, 2009
The Project Manager’s Role and Interpersonal Skills
A project manager’s goal is to meet the objectives of their projects. The PMBOK® describes three characteristics of an effective project manager—knowledge, performance, and personal. Knowledge refers specifically to knowledge about project management. For example, can the individual develop a project schedule and write a project management plan? Performance refers to what the individual is actually able to accomplish. Is the project moving forward? Personal refers to the individual’s attitude, personality, and leadership. Is the project manager relating effectively to the people with whom they must interact?
The PMBOK also has eight interpersonal skills described in Appendix G that effective project managers possess. These skills are: leadership, team building, motivation, communication, influencing, decision making, political and cultural awareness, and negotiation. Note that many of these directly relate to the ability to influence others to do what is necessary for the project to be successful, which is especially important in that project managers often do not have formal authority over the people with whom they are working.
September 16, 2009
Enterprise Environmental Factors
A very common input into the PMBOK®’s project management processes, Enterprise Environmental Factors are “internal and external environmental factors that surround or influence a project’s success” (PMBOK, p. 14). Unlike the other very common input of Organizational Process Assets, which are truly assets that are of benefit to the project manager, Enterprise Environmental Factors may be either beneficial or harmful to a project. Examples of Enterprise Environmental Factors include the culture of the organization, government and industry standards, infrastructure, existing human resources, marketplace conditions, stakeholder risk tolerances, political climate, and commercial databases. For instance, for Carl’s little car restoration business that he runs with his siblings, his Enterprise Environmental Factors include government automobile regulations, his siblings, his parents’ garage, and local demand for old cars being restored.
September 17, 2009
Process Group and Knowledge Area Descriptions
The PMBOK® describes 42 processes, with each process belonging to one of the nine knowledge areas (Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resource, Communications, Risk or Procurement) and one of the five process groups (Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing). Here is a description of each of these knowledge areas and process groups.
Integration (6 processes) – Coordinating processes and activities
Scope (5 processes) – Ensuring that the project includes all the work required, and only that work required
Time (6 processes) –Ensuring timely completion of project
Cost (3 processes) – Estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs
Quality (3 processes) – Determining quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities and then implementing a quality management system
Human Resource (4 processes) – Organizing, managing, and leading the project team
Communications (5 processes) – Communicating in a timely and appropriate manner
Risk (6 processes) – Increasing the probability and impact of positive risks while decreasing the probability and impact of negative risks
Procurement (4 processes) – Purchasing and acquiring goods, services, and results
Initiating (2 processes) – Gaining authorization and defining a new project or phase
Planning (20 processes) – Defining the scope, adding detail to the objectives, and planning what needs to be done to meet objectives
Executing (8 processes) – Actually doing the project work
Monitoring & Controlling (10 processes) – Tracking, reviewing, and regulating the project
Closing – (2 processes) Finalizing all activities
September 18, 2009
What is the PMBOK®, PMI®, and PMP®?
PMI® (Project Management Institute) describes itself as the world’s leading non-profit project management association with over half a million members. PMI awards several certifications relating to project management, with the PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification for project managers being the most common. Those who contribute to projects, but do not lead them, may earn their CAPM® (Certified Associate in Project Management), and those who manage multiple projects simultaneously in the form of programs may earn their PgMP ® (Program Management Professional). There are also two project specialty certifications awarded by PMI—the PMI-SP® (Project Management Institute Scheduling Professional) and the PMI-RMP® (Project Management Institute Risk Management Professional).
The PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) is the book produced by PMI that is the recognized standard for the profession of project management and the foundation for PMI’s certifications. Currently in its fourth edition, the PMBOK describes 42 processes that are “generally recognized as good practice” in the field of project management.
September 21, 2009
Project Life Cycle
Although projects vary dramatically, according to the PMBOK®, all projects go through the same life cycle structure. Accordingly, this is a very broad, big-picture view of a project life cycle. There are four components to this structure—Starting the Project, Organizing and Preparing, Carrying out the Project Work, and Closing the Project. The Starting the Project component ends when the Project Charter is created. The Organizing and Preparing component ends when the Project Management Plan is created. Carrying out the Project Work ends when the deliverables have been accepted, and Closing the Project ends when the project documents are archived. Note that these components correspond closely to the project management process groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, and Closing, with the Monitoring and Control process group overseeing all of them.
There are three characteristics to remember that are associated with the project life cycle. All three of these should be fairly intuitive. Imagine that Katy the project manager will be making cookies with her family.
1. Cost and Staffing are low at the beginning, highest as the work is carried out, and drop dramatically as the project nears the end. At the beginning, Katy is looking through recipes by herself. As she actually starts baking with her children, the number of people and the costs of materials she is using increases. Once the cookies are made, she is again by herself putting away her cookbook and writing a few notes on potential changes to the recipe she used.
2. Stakeholder influence and risks are greatest at the beginning and slowly decrease throughout the project. Before starting to mix the ingredients, stakeholder influences, such as her husband hinting that he would prefer oatmeal raisin cookies are at their greatest. By the time the cookies are in the oven, her husband has little influence over the final product.
3. The ability to influence the project’s product is easiest at the beginning and more difficult as time goes on. With every successful step, certain risks go away. Once the cookie dough is mixed, the risk of not having the ingredients is over. Once the cookies are safely out of the oven, the risk of burning them is over.
September 22, 2009
Phase-to-Phase Relationships
A large project may be broken into specific phases, with each of these phases having specific deliverables. At the end of a phase, a Phase-End Review may occur, which formally concludes that phase, and if the project is deemed worthwhile to continue, authorizes the next phase to begin. There are three major phase-to-phase relationships described in the PMBOK®: Sequential Relationship, Overlapping Relationship, and Iterative Relationship.
In a Sequential Relationship, when one phase is complete, the next phase may begin. In an Overlapping Relationship, the next phase may begin before the previous phase is completely finished. In an Iterative Relationship, which is useful for largely undefined projects, the planning for the next phase occurs during the current phase. Note that a project may have more than one of these relationships. For example, the early phases may have been performed sequentially, but due to falling behind schedule, later phases will be overlapped.
September 23, 2009
Configuration Management
It can be assumed that there will be some changes, however minor, made to a project’s original plans. The PMBOK®’s Perform Integrated Change Control process handles change requests throughout a project. The Configuration Management System is a set of formal procedures that is indirectly an input into this process, but listed as a tool in the PMBOK®’s glossary. There are three configuration management activities to understand: Configuration Identification, Configuration Status Accounting, and Configuration Verification and Audit.
Configuration Identification identifies the attributes of the product and creates a baseline. Any desired changes to this baseline necessitate formal configuration control processes.
Configuration Status Accounting records information about the baseline for a configuration item and reports information about it such as its status on proposed changes.
Configuration Verification and Audit checks that the performance of the configuration item is correct and the requirements have been correctly implemented.
September 24, 2009
Histogram
The histogram is graphical representation of data. It is a tool of the PMBOK®’s Perform Quality Control process, but can be used in any field where this type of data is to be displayed. The example here is from Carl’s Car Restoration business. For marketing purposes, he wanted to see what ages his customers were. His customers ranged from age 39 to 55. There were no customers ages 40, 53, or 54. The mode (most common) age was 46, with 5 customers being that age. Note that the bars are touching each other because of the continuous nature of the age variable. For example, someone 42 years old could be almost 43, and actually be closer in age to those who just turned 43 than they are to the 42-year-olds in their own category. By having the bars touch in a histogram, this continuous nature is displayed. If the x-axis were composed of a set of categories, there would be spaces between the bars and it would be called a Bar Chart.
September 25, 2009
Communication Methods and Models
Communication Methods is a tool of the Plan Communications, Distribute Information, Report Performance, and Manage Stakeholders Expectations processes. (Which means that Communication Methods is a tool for all Communications processes except for the Identify Stakeholders process). Communication Methods fall into three broad categories: Interactive, Push, and Pull. Interactive Communication is the most effective form of communication. The people involved are able to exchange information through sharing and receiving information. Examples include phone calls, videoconferencing, and meetings. Push Communication sends information to people, but it is unknown if they have actually received it. Examples include emails, voicemails, and letters. Pull Communication is information that can be accessed by people, such as through intranet sites and filing cabinets.
Communication Models is a tool of the Plan Communications process. A simple model includes: Encode, Message/Feedback-Message, Medium, Noise, and Decode. Encoding puts thoughts and ideas into a language that can be understood by someone else. The Message is the output of encoding that represents these thoughts and ideas. Medium is the method used to transmit the message. Noise is something that interferes with the understanding of the message. Decode is the process of understanding the thoughts and ideas represented by the message. For example, Carl imagines that the car he is restoring would look better if it were painted green, so he calls the client and says “May I go ahead and make your car green? It would be a huge improvement.” The client, an environmentally conscious man, understands “make your car green” as improving its gas mileage, so he agrees. In this scenario, the Encoding is Carl’s thoughts of a green car translated into English. The Message is what he actually said to his client. The Medium is the telephone. The Noise was the dual meaning of the word “green,” and the Decoding was the client’s misunderstanding of the message.
September 28, 2009
Checklist Analysis and Assumptions Analysis for Risk
Checklist Analysis and Assumptions Analysis are tools and techniques of the PMBOK®’s Identify Risk process. A Checklist Analysis can provide ideas for risks on a current project. These lists of risks can be from previous, similar projects; the lowest level of the Risk Breakdown Structure; or other sources. Care should be taken to also explore risks that are not on the checklist, because even highly similar projects will have their own, unique risks. For example, Katy will be baking a batch of cookies to enter at the state fair. She finds her list of risks from last year’s cookie competition which includes: missing an ingredient, under-baking, burning, and a stale ingredient. Although this checklist gives her a good beginning, she has some new risks with this project, such as the state fair rules specifically place some restrictions on ingredients and cookie size that will disqualify her entry if she does not follow them.
Although sometimes it is obvious that one is making an assumption, often assumptions are so subtle that they are not even recognized as such. Assumptions Analysis examines and challenges the project’s assumptions. For example, Katy assumes that she’ll be able to drive her car to the state fair and enter her cookies, but her car could break down. She assumes her grocery store will have the ingredients she needs in stock, but they could be sold out of an ingredient she needs. Also, she assumes she will have electricity for her stove, but her power could go out. The point here is to examine which of these assumptions warrant being listed as risks for further analysis and monitoring.
September 29, 2009
Expected Monetary Value
When dealing with risk, probabilities of different scenarios and the associated financial loss or gain can be calculated mathematically. An example of analyzing Expected Monetary Values is the decision tree, which is part of the PMBOK®’s Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis process. This can be applied to wide variety of project situations. For example, Carl is trying to decide whether or not to take a former client to court. Christopher, his lawyer, tells him that if he takes the client to court, there is about a 25% chance that the jury will side with him and award him what will amount to $50,000 after paying legal fees. However, there is a 75% chance that the jury will not side with him, and he’ll have to pay $10,000 for legal fees. If he takes the $5000 settlement that the former client is offering, it’s certain that he won’t lose any money. Carl calculates the EMV for going to court by taking the probability multiplied by the amount of money for both the winning outcome and the losing outcome and then combining them together. So, for winning in court, .25 * $50,000 = $12,500. For losing in court, .75 * $10,000 = -$7,500. Combining the two outcomes for going to court is $12,500 – $7,500 = $5,000. This just happens to be the same amount that is guaranteed if he takes the $5,000 settlement. So in this case, the EMV is the same for the two choices, so the decision must be made on other criteria, such as risk tolerance, for which EVM does not take into consideration, or the time involved and effects of negative publicity.
September 30, 2009
Certified Business Analysis Professional
The Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) is one of the certifications for which TAPUniversity offers exam preparatory courses. The certification exam is primarily based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®). The BABOK is composed of six business analysis knowledge areas, business analyst competencies, and descriptions of common techniques. The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) is the organization that both awards the CBAP and publishes the BABOK. Their website is www.theiiba.org. The IIBA endorses certain business analysis courses, and the organization with the approved course(s) is called an Endorsed Education Provider (EEPTM). TAPUniversity has EEP status. The CBAP exam has 150 multiple-choice questions and candidates have three and a half hours to take the exam.
There are strict guidelines on who is eligible to take the CBAP exam, as it is meant for experienced business analysts. When applying for the exam, 7,500 hours (about 5 years) of business analysis work must be documented within the last ten years. For at least four of the six business analysis knowledge areas, 900 hours (about 6 months) of work experience must be documented. Additionally, candidates must have at least a high school education, 21 hours of professional development in the last four years, and two references.
More about earning the CBAP certification can be found in the official PDF handbook: http://www.theiiba.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Certification/Process/IIBA_CBAP_Handbook22Jun09.pdf.
October 1, 2009
Requirements
At the heart of business analysis is requirements. The business analyst will plan how to elicit them, elicit them, manage them, communicate them, analyze them, validate them, and verify them. But what exactly is a requirement? There is debate on how to exactly define them, but the BABOK® 2.0 defines a requirement as:
“(1) A condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a problem or achieve an objective. (2) A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a solution or solution component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed documents. A documented representation of a condition or capability as in (1) or (2).”
The BABOK uses four broad categories to describe requirement types: Business, Stakeholder, Solution, and Transition. Business requirements describe the goals or needs of the organization. Stakeholder requirements describe the needs of the stakeholders. Solution requirements describe the solution that meets the Business and Stakeholder requirements. Lastly, Transition requirements describe the needs arising from transitioning from what the organization currently has into the new solution.
October 2, 2009
BABOK® Knowledge Areas
The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) contains six knowledge areas of business analysis—Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring; Elicitation; Requirements Management and Communication; Enterprise Analysis; Requirements Analysis; and Solution Assessment and Validation.
Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring concerns deciding which business analysis activities are needed. This includes identifying the stakeholders.
Elicitation concerns obtaining requirements from the stakeholders.
Requirements Management and Communication deals with contradicting requirements and changes to requirements as well as communication to stakeholders.
Enterprise Analysis defines the business need and a solution scope.
Requirements Analysis is the progressive elaboration of requirements into something that can be implemented.
Solution Assessment and Validation determines which solution is best, identifies any modifications that need to be made to the solution, and an assessment of whether the solution meets the business needs.
October 5, 2009
Business Analysis Approach
The Business Analysis Approach document describes how business analysis will be handled for a given project. It sets the stage at the beginning for the manner in which a project’s business analysis will be played out, and it provides broad descriptions that lay the foundation for further refining the necessary business analysis activities through subsequent tasks. The selected methodology may be highly plan-driven, such as Waterfall, or more change-driven, such as Agile. The Business Analysis Approach document may include a description of which organizational process assets will be utilized, and broad descriptions of team roles, project deliverables, and stakeholder communications. This document is developed through the Plan Business Analysis Approach task which is described in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®).
October 6, 2009
Onion Diagram
The Onion Diagram is a type of stakeholder map. At a glance, it shows stakeholders in the layers of their closeness to a project. In this example, the innermost layer includes the project team, followed by those whose work is directly affected by the project, the organization as a whole, and then external stakeholders such as regulators, customers, and suppliers. The Onion Diagram may be developed as part of the BABOK®’s Conduct Stakeholder Analysis task or the PMBOK®’s Identify Stakeholders process. The overall purpose is to better understand a project’s stakeholders.
October 7, 2009
Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities
Part of working successfully on a project is understanding who has an interest in the project. These stakeholders may have a positive or negative influence over the project, or simply have an interest or concern over the project. The Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities document is an output of the BABOK®’s Conduct Stakeholder Analysis task. This document includes information about the stakeholders relevant to a specific project. According to the BABOK, this document may contain: List of required roles, Names and titles of stakeholders, Category of stakeholder, Location of stakeholders, Special needs, Number of individuals in this stakeholder role, Description of stakeholder influence and interest, and Documentation of stakeholder authority levels.
Here is an example from Katy’s project of making cookies for a local bake sale. The stakeholder described here is her daughter who will be helping bake the cookies.
Required Role: Sous Chef
Name and title: Karen Cook, Sous Chef
Category of stakeholder: Represents two other constituents (her brother and sister)
Location of stakeholder: Resides in the same house
Special needs: She needs help in taking cookies out of a hot oven
Number of individuals in role: 1
Description of stakeholder influence and interest: She has little influence on this project, but her opinions are welcomed. She has high interest in this project as she will be receiving some of the profits from the bake sale.
Stakeholder authority levels: She has the authority to request changes. She has limited authority over her brother and sister to ask for help in doing the dishes.
October 8, 2009
Document Analysis
The technique of Document Analysis is based on the simple concept of reading through existing documentation to find relevant information. In business analysis, it is used to uncover additional requirements. The BABOK® lists a number of common types of documents used in Document Analysis: “business plans, market studies, contracts, requests for proposal, statements of work, memos, existing guidelines, procedures, training guides, competing product literature, published comparative product reviews, problem reports, customer suggestion logs, and existing system specifications.” To perform this technique, first decide which documentation to use. Read through these documents taking note of useful information and any questions you may have. Discuss the information with subject matter experts and have any questions answered. Lastly, write the information as requirements.
For example, Katy wants to bake an old-fashioned peach cream pie. She finds her grandmother’s old cookbooks and an old cookbook from her local library. These are the documents that she will analyze. After finding several recipes, she takes note of which ingredients and steps are common across all recipes. One recipe states that the ingredients should be “Mise en Place” which she does not understand. She asks a professional chef who tells her that it is a French term meaning that all the ingredients should be set in place beforehand, such as having the peaches already sliced. Lastly, Katy writes her findings in terms of requirements for the peach cream pie she will make.
October 9, 2009
Conduct Stakeholder Analysis
The Conduct Stakeholder Analysis task described in the BABOK® is performed early during the business analysis work and is often ongoing. It is similar to the PMBOK®’s Identify Stakeholders process. The primary purpose is to understand a project’s stakeholders. There are three elements to this process: identification; categorization; and attitudes and influence. One first needs to know who the project stakeholders are, which is the essence of identification. Known stakeholders are often able to indicate additional stakeholders that should be included. Once the stakeholders are known, it can be useful to group them into categories. Stakeholder location can be a useful category if they work at different sites. When scheduling a meeting, it is useful to know who is typically able to attend in-person and who may need to call in. The individual categorizing stakeholders should use whatever categories are helpful to the current project. Lastly, the attitudes and influence of the stakeholders are documented. Stakeholder attitudes may be documented towards the current project, the sponsor, business analysis in general, etc. Influence describes how much power the stakeholder has over the project. The output of this task is the Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities document. For more information, see the earlier posting of Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities (posted October 7, 2009).
October 12, 2009
Business Analysis Plans
The Business Analysis Plan is the roadmap that guides all later business analysis tasks. It describes the scope of the work, which may include a Work Breakdown Structure, and it may contain an Activity List with estimates for these activities. How this plan may be altered during the course of the project should also be stated.
The Business Analysis Plan is developed as part of the BABOK®’s Plan Business Analysis Activities task. The inputs for this task are: Business Analysis Approach; Business Analysis Performance Assessment; Organizational Process Assets; and Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities. The task contains four elements beginning with a consideration of the geographic location of the stakeholders which can be found in the Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities document. If stakeholders are co-located (at the same location), in-person requirements workshops may be useful, whereas if they are dispersed (in multiple locations), there may need to be increased reliance on conference calls and phone interviews. The second element of the Plan Business Analysis Activities task is determining the type of project. Is this a feasibility study? Process improvement? The next element is listing the deliverables specifically for the business analysis aspect of the project such as a Requirements Package. Lastly, the appropriate business analysis activities are chosen and described in the Business Analysis Plan.
October 13, 2009
Requirement Attributes
Requirements (something needed by a stakeholder to meet a solution) have a number of attributes. The BABOK®’s Plan Requirements Management Process task provides a listing of common requirements attributes and their definitions. Documenting the attributes of individual requirements aids in the management of all the project’s requirements. Here is a listing of ten commonly documented attributes along with an example of each. Katy is going to be assisted by her daughter Karen as she performs a cooking demonstration at their state fair. She will be baking cookies that require the pan to be greased. The requirement “pan must be greased” is used as the example requirement below.
Absolute reference is the identifier for the requirement. It could be numerical or textual. (#1254)
Author of the requirement is the person who wrote the requirement. (Katy Cook)
Complexity is how hard it will be to implement the requirement. (Easy to implement)
Ownership is who needs the requirement or will be responsible for it. (Karen Cook is responsible)
Priority is which requirements need to be implemented beforehand. (Two requirements implemented beforehand—Obtain pan and Obtain cooking spray)
Risk is what occurs if the requirement is met versus not met. (The cookies may burn if requirement not met)
Source of the Requirement is from what authority the requirement originated. (Better Baking Cookbook)
Stability is whether the requirement is mature or still changing. (Mature, we know the pan should be greased and how we want to do it)
Status is whether is has been accepted, verified, cancelled, etc. (Accepted as a requirement)
Urgency is how quickly it is needed. (Within two minutes into the cooking demonstration)
October 14, 2009
Business Analysis Communication Plan
Effective communication among team members and other stakeholders is critical for project success. Specifically planning how communication will occur concerning the business analysis component of a project is outlined in the Business Analysis Communication Plan. This document is created through the BABOK®’s Plan Business Analysis Communication task. The Business Analysis Communication Plan describes the requirements for communication; the format, content, medium, and level of detail for communications; and names who is responsible for the various communication duties. When planning communication, take into account how co-located versus dispersed the stakeholders are. Is it possible to have quick meetings or to stop by someone’s office? Or are stakeholders scattered throughout the world making in-person meetings not possible? Another element to consider is the stakeholders’ backgrounds. Are there language barriers or the potential for cultural misunderstandings? Determine how frequently communications need to occur and how formal they should be. A small team may be able to have quick conversations in the lunch room, whereas a large team may necessitate more carefully written documents dispersed to the group. What communication mediums work best for the team? Does everyone have frequent email access and a fax machine? Do certain stakeholders strongly prefer conversations and dislike writing? Also document the level of detail for communications. Perhaps a weekly email update should be no more than a paragraph for the sponsor and much more detailed for those developing the solution. The nature of the project itself also needs to be considered. A ground-breaking project will likely require more communication than a routine project that team members have done previously. All this should be documented in the Business Analysis Communication Plan so that everyone is clear on how communication will be handled.
October 15, 2009
Business Analysis Performance Assessment
The Business Analysis Performance Assessment document indicates how well the business analysis activities are being performed during a project. It is created as part of the BABOK®’s Manage Business Analysis Performance task which also plans how the performance of business analysis activities will be measured and reported. The Business Analysis Performance Assessment should contain a comparison of the plan to actual performance. This is the heart of Variance Analysis, which examines differences between planned performance and reality and suggests how to make reality consistent with the plan when the work is not meeting expectations. Root Cause Analysis examines the underlying reasons for a problem that is preventing performance from being consistent with planned performance.
Here is a simplified example of a Business Analysis Performance Assessment. “Carl has a total of 10 engineers to individually interview for purposes of requirements elicitation for our car re-design project. The deadline for the interviews is next week and at this point only four engineers have been interviewed and one additional interview is scheduled. The SPI is .80. After gathering some information on Carl’s schedule, it appears that he has a tremendous number of hours committed to another project. It is suggested that we do resource leveling and recruit another member of the team to perform at least three of the remaining interviews.”
October 16, 2009
October 19, 2009
Ethics in Business Analysis
Ethics is part of the BABOK®’s Behavioral Characteristics competency, which is one of six general competencies that a successful business analyst should possess. For each competency, the BABOK lists effectiveness measures. These effectiveness measures for ethics include: making decisions that consider the interests of all stakeholders, being clear with the reasons for decisions, disclosing potential conflicts of interest, honesty about one’s one abilities, and taking responsibility for errors. As can be seen, the values stressed here are fairness, openness, honesty, and taking responsibility.
Business analysts who have earned their CBAP® have agreed to the corresponding CBAP® Code of Ethical Conduct & Professional Standards. This can be found at http://www.theiiba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Application&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=5975 under “Code of Conduct Form.” There are two major sections of this code: Responsibilities to the Profession; and Responsibilities to the Client and the Public. Responsibilities to the Profession has three sections: Compliance with all Organizational Rules and Policies, Candidates Professional Practice, and Advancement of the Profession. Responsibilities to the Client and the Public has two sections: Qualifications, Experience and Performance of Professional Duties; and Conflict of Interest Situations and Other Prohibited Professional Situations. The code especially emphasizes acting in accordance with the law, not mis-representing yourself, maintaining confidentiality, and avoiding conflicts of interest.
October 20, 2009
Six Sigma’s DMAIC Approach
Six Sigma courses are one of the offerings at TAPUniversity, so our blog will contain some postings on this topic.
The problem-solving approach of Six Sigma is DMAIC (pronounced duh-may-ick). This is an acronym for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.
In the Define phase, the project and its scope are defined and background information is gathered. The Initiating processes of the PMBOK® should come to mind for project managers.
In the Measure phase, the current situation becomes objectively known through taking measurements.
In the Analyze phase, the data is analyzed and root causes for the patterns in the data are identified.
In the Improve phase, a solution is developed and implemented.
In the Control phase, the process is standardized in order to maintain the improvements made in the previous phase.
October 21, 2009
What is a Green Belt?
Six Sigma differentiates people’s level of expertise in Six Sigma using the belt system. Supposedly this originated from a Motorola employee who had an affinity for karate. Be aware that different organizations and authors use slightly different definitions. Some organizations may only recognize a Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt. Others also recognize the White Belt and Yellow Belt. A Green Belt has practice using Six Sigma tools and may lead a Six Sigma project. TAPUniversity’s Green Belt program is either a two-day seminar or a four-week online course. White and Yellow Belts have less exposure to Six Sigma than a Green Belt. A White Belt may simply have some awareness training and a Yellow Belt may have some practice with the tools, but neither has led a Six Sigma project. Black Belts are the core of a Six Sigma program. They have been well-trained, typically several weeks at a minimum, and often work full-time on Six Sigma projects. A Master Black Belt is an individual who is able to train Black Belts and has some rarely needed skills that are unnecessary for Black Belts.
October 22, 2009
Defects per Million Opportunities and Yield
Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO) is the flip side of Yield. DPMO is the number of defects in a million opportunities and Yield is the percentage of the output that is non-defective. For example, in Katy’s Cookie Factory, exactly one million chocolate chip cookies are made each week. They seem to have a problem with peanut butter chips being added to the cookies instead of chocolate chips. They are getting numerous customer complaints about this problem. They discover that each week there are 250,000 cookies of the 1,000,000 cookies that mistakenly have peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips. This means the DPMO is 250,000. This is one-fourth of a million cookies that have defects which means the rest of the cookies, three-fourths of a million (750,000), have no defects. These three-fourths of a million defect-free cookies translates into a Yield of 75%.
After investigating the problem, Katy discovers that a food bin was mislabeled as “peanut butter chips” that should have been labeled “chocolate chips.” She corrects the labeling. The next week, of the one million cookies made only 10,000 cookies mistakenly had peanut butter chips. This means that 990,000 cookies did not have that defect. So the DPMO is 10,000 and the Yield is 99%.
The lower the DPMO (which corresponds to higher Yield), the higher the Sigma Level. The stretch goal of Six Sigma is for the organization to be operating at the Six Sigma level which is only 3.4 DPMO. Originally Katy was operating at Sigma Level 2 and she improved that to Sigma Level of almost 4. She has more improvements to make in order to have only 3.4 cookies out of a million without this defect. If she reaches that mark, the factory will then be operating a Six Sigma level.
October 23, 2009
SIPOC Analysis
A SIPOC Analysis is a tool that enables better understanding of a process. To perform a SIPOC analysis, make five columns on paper or your computer and label them Supplier(s), Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customer(s). It is easy to become too detailed, so be sure to write information about the process using the level of detail that is useful to you. It is easiest to start filling the Output and Customer(s) columns first, and then work backwards on the previous columns. For example, for the process of creating an online course, the Customer(s) may be the online instructors and students. The Outputs may be the online course itself and a companion guide for instructors. The Outputs can be products, information, or services. The major steps of creating the online course are written from top to bottom in the Process column. The Inputs could be both materials, such as textbooks and a computer, and information, such as instructions from the academic dean. The Supplier(s) provide these inputs. The dean could provide information and a textbook company may provide the textbook. It is valuable to obtain feedback from those who are familiar with the process before you construct your final version as they may notice missing information or inaccuracies.
October 26, 2009
Process Lead Time
To better understand a process, Process Lead Time may be calculated. The formula for Process Lead Time = Work in Process (WIP) / Average Completion Rate. Work in Process is anything that has entered the system and has not yet come out. More than just the physical materials found in manufacturing, Work in Process can be unanswered emails, customer requests, etc. For example, a team is currently working on five reports and the Average Completion Rate is 2 hours. The Process Lead Time is calculated as 5 / 2 = 2.5. To decrease the Process Lead Time, either the WIP may be decreased or the Average Completion Rate can be increased. Process Lead Time is also used to calculate Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE).
October 27, 2009
Baseline Measure
The Baseline Measure documents the state of existence before some type of treatment, solution, or other manipulation. This term is used in research including Six Sigma research. For example, Carl wants to know if the new product DubGal when added to a car’s gas tank really does double the number of miles that can be driven per gallon of gas. Carl first documents how much gas his car is using for the miles he is driving and calculates that he is getting 28 miles per gallon. This is his Baseline Measure. Next he adds a bottle of DubGal to his tank and calculates how many miles per gallon of gas he is able to drive. He discovers that with the DubGal, he is able to drive 30 miles per gallon of gas. If he had not calculated how many gallons per mile he was getting before he added the DubGal, he would not have known what the difference was. Taking measurement before and after an intervention (in this case adding DubGal was the intervention) is called an AB Design. If the intervention is removed and more measures are taken (for example, after using the bottle of DubGal, take more measures of mileage without it), it is called an ABA or Reversal Design. It is just simple logic—if you want to know the effect of something, you have to understand what the situation is without it.
October 28, 2009
Internal and External Failures
Despite the best of efforts, some portion of products will be created with defects. The point in time that this defect is discovered determines whether it is an internal failure or an external failure. If the defective product is discovered while still in the control of the organization that created it, it is an internal failure. If the customer discovers that the product is defective, it is an external failure. So the type of failure refers to whether it is internal or external to the organization that made the product. Here is an example: Katy’s Cookie Factory accidentally made a batch of cookies with Plaster of Paris rather than flour. There was some construction work occurring in the building, and someone mistook the white powder for flour. If someone notices the problem before the cookies leave the factory, it is an internal failure. If the cookies are sold and it is the customer who discovers the hard, poor-tasting cookies, it is an external failure.
October 29, 2009
Hawthorne Effect
You give your workers a cup of coffee in the morning and their performance improves! You give your workers a glass of milk in the morning and their performance improves! You give your workers a glass of water in the morning and their performance is outstanding! What is going on here? It may be that you have some really thirsty workers or it could be the Hawthorne Effect. The Hawthorne Effect describes an improvement in people’s performance due to the fact that they are being studied—not as the result of an experimental manipulation. Simply the fact that you were studying your workers and their performance may have improved their performance regardless of what you were offering them to drink. The term originated from studies performed at the Hawthorne Works company where the effect of different lighting levels for the workers was being examined. It appeared that the workers may have improved their performance because they were being studied–not because of the various levels of lighting–and this is how the term was born. The important thing to remember is that when performing a study involving human behavior, whether it be to improve a business process or further a psychological theory, people may not be reacting to what you assume is influencing their behavior.
October 30, 2009
Multi-Voting
The popcorn, chips, and drinks were ready, but we had a problem…so many choices for movie night and my sisters, cousins, and I just could not agree on which movie to watch. Becky wanted a musical, Damian wanted a war movie, Julie and Felicia were thinking about a horror movie, and I wanted a comedy. So we took a set of 10 movies that we were most interested in and we each had three votes. I chose my comedy, a horror movie, and the war movie. We ended up watching the war movie as that received the most total votes. Little did we know, this is the tool of multi-voting. In addition to selecting a movie, it can be used to narrow down a list of potential solutions, ideas, problems, etc. to determine what should receive the most attention. Multi-voting is commonly listed as a Six Sigma tool, but can obviously be applied to many situations. Although voters can be given any number of votes, giving them votes equal to about 1/3 of the choices works well.
November 2, 2009
Operational Definition
An operational definition is how a construct will be measured. This includes measurements in research studies such as Six Sigma studies. For example, in a pet obesity study a new weight loss drug will be given to overweight cats. But what is an overweight cat? Someone may suggest that if the cat is 15 pounds or larger, it is overweight. This is an operational definition, but it is not a great one because some cat breeds such as a good-sized Maine Coon could be thin at that weight. Another cat study needs a sample of happy cats. This is harder! Perhaps cats who purr ten minutes or greater on average per day with a complete absence of hissing and growling could be considered happy cats. As can be seen, if an operational definition is poor, the entire study can be poor. It is important not to rush the step of developing good operational definitions when conducting a study.
October 30, 2009
November 3, 2009
What is DMADV?
Six Sigma’s typical problem-solving approach of DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control which are the steps to improve an existing process. Six Sigma can also be used in the development of a new process or product. In this case, the DMADV phases are often used which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify. Here is an explanation of these five phases.
Define – what are the goals here?
Measure – what do customers want? What do the organization’s leaders want? What are our capabilities?
Analyze – what are options for our new design?
Design – what are the details for the design of our chosen solution?
Verify – does our new solution meet our needs?
November 4, 2009
Poka Yoke
The heat from some of the manufacturing equipment at Katy’s Cookie Factory sometimes melts chocolate chips together before they are added to the cookies. This results in extra-large, unsightly globs of chocolate chips that customers have complained about. Although a worker is supposed to be watching the temperature of the machines, it is easy to miss a brief time of extra heat that causes some chocolate chips to melt together. What can be of use here is Poka Yoke, which is a Japanese term for mistake-proofing. Poke Yoke either makes the mistake impossible from occurring or impossible not to notice. To prevent the large globs of chocolate from being added to the cookie dough, a sieve with holes just large enough for the correct-sized chocolate chips to pass through was added. Now there are no more mistakes of large globs of chocolate chips in the cookies. Anyone can come up with a creative idea to prevent mistakes in a process and therefore prevent a certain defect from occurring.
November 2, 2009
November 5, 2009
Voice of the Customer
Katy sifts through customer survey responses. “I like my cookies to be large, with lots of chocolate chips.” “Cookies must be chewy and soft.” “I need cookies that have the least amount of fat and calories as possible.” She is seeking to understand the Voice of the Customer (VOC). Understanding customer needs is foundational in Six Sigma. Customers may be both internal and external; and their needs may be both stated and unstated. There are many ways to learn what customers need, such as: individual or group interviews, surveys, focus groups, active or passive observations, and complaint logs. Reviewing data should lead to a better understanding of customer segmentation and customer needs. This is not something that can safely be performed once since customers change as do their needs. Customers of Katy’s Cookie Factory may prefer rich, buttery cookies today, but there could be a trend in the future towards concern about consuming butter and a preference for lower-fat foods. The key is to listen to what the VOC is saying and meet their changing needs.
November 6, 2009
Critical-to-Quality Requirements
Katy has been gathering data on the Voice of the Customer to guide her organization in developing a new line of cookies. She hires a company to survey 10,000 people on their cookie preferences. Gathering and organizing data about customer needs leads to Critical-to-Quality requirements (CTQ). These are the quality parameters of the product or process needed to assure that customer needs are met. For example, Katy’s survey found a large segment of customers that desire low-calorie cookies. So a CTQ could be that each cookie has 20 or fewer calories. Customer needs are often general, such as “low-calorie cookies.” The CTQ requirement translates this into something quantifiable. Katy’s customers also want “big cookies” which could be a CTQ requirement of having a diameter between three and four inches. A CTQ tree is a tool used to break down these general customer needs into specific and measureable requirements.
November 9, 2009
The 5 S’s
The waffle maker sits on the counter, and Katy doesn’t even like waffles. Flour dusts the counter and floors, and she can barely reach the brown sugar on the top shelf that she used almost everyday. Katy’s kitchen is a complete mess so she decides to apply the 5 S’s.
The 5 S’s method promotes a clean and organized area in the workplace. Needed items are found more easily and a safer environment is created. The 5 S’s are: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.
First Katy Sorts by taking away things that she does not need. She has mint julep glasses from a Kentucky Derby that she has never used and a deviled egg dish that she doesn’t use because she’s allergic to eggs. These and similarly unused items are packed into a box and stored in her attic. Next she Straightens by arranging things to be easily accessible. The flour she uses frequently was on a top shelf of the pantry whereas the cardamom she uses about once a year was conveniently on the counter. She changes the location of ingredients, appliances, tools, and dishes so that the items she uses most frequently are the most easily accessible. For the Shine step, she thoroughly cleans the kitchen including wiping down the refrigerator and cupboards. To Standardize, she maintains the first three steps. She does this with a little calendar magnet on her refrigerator on which she marks the days over the next year that she’ll Sort, Straighten, and Shine. She only Sorts four times a year. Some Shine tasks are done rarely, and others, like washing the counter, are done three times per day. The last step is Sustain, for which she remains dedicated to performing the tasks on her calendar to maintain a clean and organized kitchen.
November 10, 2009
Full Factorial and Fractional Designs
Would almonds, pistachios, or peanuts taste best in the new ChocoNut Cookie being launched by Katy’s Cookie Factory? And should sugar or honey be used as a sweetener? There are two factors here—nut type and sweetener type. There are three levels of the nut factor (almonds, pistachios, and peanuts) and two levels of the sweetener factor (sugar and honey). Katy decides to create samples of cookies to give to customers so she better understands the Voice of the Customer before launching the product. What kinds of cookies should she make? There are six possible combinations—almonds-sugar, pistachios-sugar, peanuts-sugar, almonds-honey, pistachios-honey, and peanuts-honey. If you were to suggest that she make all six kinds of cookies, you are recommending a Full Factorial design. A Full Factorial design examines every combination of all levels of the experiment’s factors. A Fractional design examines only some of these combinations. So if Katy’s subject matter experts tell her that honey would taste terrible with almonds or pistachios and she decides to exclude those combinations, she now has four conditions in her experiment (almonds-sugar, pistachios-sugar, peanuts-sugar, and peanuts-honey) and it is a Fractional design.
Another example would be a study to measure the percentage of defective cookies made across four factory locations which each have three shifts. There are 12 possible combinations of each factory location and each shift. If defects are measured across all 12 combinations, it is a Full Factorial. However, if they decide to exclude the third shift for two of the factory locations, it is now a Fractional design.
November 11, 2009
3 MU
Muda, Muri, and Mura are three enemies to maintaining a lean six sigma process. Muda (waste), Muri (strain), and Mura (discrepancy) are Japanese words representing what should be eliminated in a process. Muda may take on many forms, such as unnecessary waiting, defects, over-production, and adding details that are unimportant to the customer. Muri focuses on the problem of straining capacity, such as over-working people to the point that they make mistakes or get behind in their work so that others are waiting on them. Mura is unnecessary variation which can create a number of problems. For example, if different people choose to use different tools to do the same job, there may be differences in the output and more complexity in ordering supplies. In summary, the goal is to identify and eliminate Muda, Muri, and Mura.
November 12, 2009
Demerit Chart
Lately there have been problems in sampled batches of cookies from Katy’s Cookie Factory with the wrong amount of chocolate chips in the cookies, the wrong kinds of chips, and even stale chips. She wants to use a control chart to display how many non-conformities there are in each batch. However, she considers stale chips not as important as having the wrong amount of chips, and the wrong kind of chips as the biggest problem. So rather than simply count the non-conformities, she weights them and charts the weighted sum of non-conformities. Stale Chips is given a weight of 1, Wrong Amount of Chips is given a weight of 2, and Wrong Kind of Chips is given a weight of 3. So if there would be one problem of each, the weighted sum would be 6. She graphs these demerits on a control chart, making it a Demerit Chart (or simply a D-Chart). See the illustration below for the defects measured for a couple weeks and the corresponding D-Chart.
November 13, 2009
Null Hypothesis
Carl wants to know whether there is a difference in how fast men drive versus women. He’ll be using radar to clock the speed of every car that goes by for an hour and record whether the driver was a man or woman. In Null Hypothesis testing, the Null Hypothesis must be stated and the study results will lead to either rejecting the Null Hypothesis or not. The Null Hypothesis, symbolized H0, is that there will be no effect. In this case, the Null Hypothesis is that there will be no mean difference between the driving speed of men and the driving speed of women. Just as in America people are considered innocent until proven guilty, we consider that the Null Hypothesis is true unless the data is strong enough to suggest otherwise. After analyzing the data, the Null Hypothesis is either rejected or not. If Carl rejects the Null Hypothesis based on his data, then either men are driving significantly faster than women, or women are driving significantly faster than men.
November 16, 2009
Instant Pudding
“Let’s put up some posters around the building stating that quality is our number one objective, and we’ll certainly have fewer defects and better productivity.” This is an example of Instant Pudding. We may want quality and productivity to improve easily and almost effortlessly, but in reality it takes knowledge and hard work. Rather than an instant pudding, these quality improvements are a cheesecake that takes a long time to make correctly. W. Edwards Deming popularized the term “Instant Pudding” so one may encounter this term in Six Sigma circles. Deming is highly quotable, more of his well-known quotes can be found here: http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/w._edwards_deming/.
November 17, 2009
Central Tendency
How much time has Carl been spending test driving different cars? When describing the data collected on a given variable, whether it be a Six Sigma or other type of study, a measure of central tendency is often reported. The Mean, Median, and Mode are all measures of central tendency. Here is an example: Carl took 10 cars for a test drive and this is how many minutes he spent driving each of the 10 cars: 5, 10, 10, 10, 11, 12, 15, 15, 16, and 18.
The mean (average) is calculated by adding these 10 numbers and then dividing that sum by 10 since that is how many test drives he took. The sum of these numbers is 122 minutes. Divide this by 10 to obtain the mean, and the answer is that 12.2 minutes were spent on average with each car.
The Median is the number in the middle of the distribution. The numbers are first sorted as they are above from smallest to largest, and the number found in the exact middle is the median. Since we have an even number of observations in this case (10 test drives) there are two numbers in the middle—11 and 12. Because there are two numbers in the middle, the Median is what number would be right in-between those two numbers. This can be found by taking the mean of these two middle numbers. So 11 + 12 = 23 which when divided by 2 is 11.5. So the Median is 11.5.
The Mode is simply the most frequent number. In this case, three cars were driven for 10 minutes, which is the most frequent number in this distribution, so the Mode is 10.
November 18, 2009
Working with Difficult People
Who hasn’t had to work with a difficult person at some point in their career? Would you like to hear people’s stories of being reprimanded for reporting accurate numbers, disciplined for wanting to take a few hours off to be with a dying father, and being demoted because it rained during the company picnic? These stories and many more can be read on the My Bad Boss Contest at http://www.workingamerica.org/badboss/.
Working with difficult people is one of the topics of TAPUniversity’s online Working with People course. You Want Me to Work with Who? by Julie Jansen (http://www.amazon.com/You-Want-Work-Who-Stress-Free/dp/0143036807/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258478508&sr=8-1) is one of the books that we read during the course. This helpful book contains eleven keys such as confidence, empathy, humor, and respect to help deal with problem people at work.
Please share your experiences and tips for working with difficult people—we’d love to hear them!
November 19, 2009
Quality Circle
A Quality Circle is a small group of people with a leader that works together to suggest ideas for improving quality in their organization. The concept of the Quality Circle originated in Japan. An example of a Quality Circle would be five employees at Furry Friends Food, a pet food company, that meet every Tuesday afternoon to analyze quality problems and present their ideas to management. This week they are discussing the number of customer complaints about the sharp edges on the cans of cat food. After some brainstorming and discussion, they decide they will gather some data on whether using re-sealable plastic bags is a feasible alternative to the metal cans. If the data suggests that it will be well-received by customers and profitable, they will present their suggestion to management.
Exercise – Brain Connection: Core and Pillar Strength Training @ coachdavek.com
Greetings all!
Laura continues to provide exceptional content across project management, business analysis and six sigma. Please let us know what topics in those areas would help you the most! We’re well over 200 postings now.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing about the Exercise – Brain Connection. It does pay dividends on your work performance and certification exam success! As I’ve dug deeper it’s made sense to separate that into a different blog. So please check out www.coachdavek.com . Today I shared about a weak area for me – core and pillar strength. Please follow that blog as well!
I will be continuing a practice oriented thread on consulting tips and techniques. Look forward to those and again, please share your opinions!
David Kohrell
November 20, 2009
TGR & TGW
In the spirit of Thanksgiving being less than a week away, imagine hosting the traditional family meal at your home. Eager to impress the family, you have carefully written out specifications for each dish. You’ve made a rub for the turkey that contains a myriad of ingredients, and you’ve added sour cream to the mashed potatoes as your grandmother suggested. Unfortunately, a couple of family members are allergic to an ingredient in your turkey rub and they break out in hives. This is a TGW. However, the entire family loves the mashed potatoes and wants the recipe. This is a TGR. Quite simply, when discussing quality a TGW is a Thing Gone Wrong and a TGR is a Thing Gone Right. It may not always be as obvious as a family member covered in hives, so research may be needed to collect the data.
November 23, 2009
NQM One Month Later
As I was reading about Six Sigma I ran into an unfamiliar acronym—NQM. I found that it stands for National Quality Month. I was curious about which month it was and hoped that it would be this month so I could write something well-timed to commemorate it. But it isn’t—NQM is October, so I just missed it. The recognition of October as NQM was promoted by the ASQ (American Society for Quality www.asq.org) and recognized by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. For those involved in quality efforts or managing them, it is a good time to provide some recognition to quality achievements and promote quality efforts.
I became curious about other national months that were unknown to me, and I learned there are many, such as: Chocolate Lover’s Month (February), Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month (February), National Salsa Month (May), National Vehicle Theft Protection Month (July), National Water Quality Month (August), National Tumor Awareness Month (September), National Toilet Tank Repair Month (September), and Pants Awareness Month (December).
To my delight I discovered that this month, November, is National National Month Awareness Month. So even though it is a month too late to recognize and promote quality for NQM, it is the right month to become aware of which month is NQM! So here are some additional things for which November is the official month: National Stamp Collecting Month, Vegan Awareness Month, Aviation Month, and National Red Ribbon Month. Happy National National Month Awareness Month everyone!
November 24, 2009
Type I Errors and Type II Errors
One of the most common questions I get in our Six Sigma courses is how to understand the difference between Type I and Type II errors. I’ll offer an explanation and then describe how I personally remember which error is which.
Type I and Type II errors are mistakes made when performing null hypothesis testing. Remember that your null hypothesis is always that there is no relationship among your variables. We have to decide whether or not the null hypothesis is true, and we’re either right or wrong. This leads to four possible outcomes. Two of these four possible outcomes are correct decisions—your data leads you to conclude that there is no relationship among your variables and there really isn’t OR your data leads you to conclude that there is a relationship and indeed there really is. The other two potential outcomes are errors.
A Type I error means that your data leads you to conclude that there is a relationship among variables in your dataset, but in the real world there is no relationship. For example, your data shows that eating ice cream is related to living longer, but it really isn’t. A Type II error occurs when your data leads you to conclude that there is no relationship among your variables, but in the real world there is. For example, your data says there is no difference in lifespan between people who eat only junk food and those who eat very healthy, but in the real world there may be this difference.
How do I personally keep these two errors straight? What I remember is that researchers almost always want to find relationships among their variables—they want to find potential causes, interesting patterns, and things that are worth publishing. So the number one error that researchers are biased to making is saying that there is a relationship among their variables when there really isn’t it. This is the Type I error.
November 25, 2009
Kitting
Four children are assembling gingerbread houses around their dining room table. Each child is making five houses so that the family has enough to give away as gifts to relatives. Rather than have each child run back to the kitchen every time they need a spoon or have each child try to find a certain bag of candy (that would make an excellent cobblestone path ), their parents have put together little assembly kits. Each child has their own kit containing all the tools and ingredients they will need for their individual gingerbread house. When a house is complete, the child receives another kit of gingerbread pieces, frosting, candy, disposable bowls, and disposable spoons. This is the time-saving technique of kitting. This quality concept is simply to provide kits to people assembling something so they don’t waste time gathering supplies and tools.
November 27, 2009
N and n
Pop’s Popcorn Factory employs 1000 people. Management wants to know employee views on a number of topics such as whether they would prefer having underground parking built for them or a soda-fountain shop opened in the factory. They randomly chose a sample of 150 people from the list of 1000 employees to take a survey. “N” and “n” are notations for the number of the population and the number of the sample respectively. So in this case N = 1000 and n = 150. The purpose of sampling is to gather data from a subset of the population in order to draw inferences about the whole population. This subset is smaller than the population. So the uppercase “N” is the large letter representing the larger number of the whole population. The lowercase “n” is the smaller letter representing the smaller number of the sample.
November 30, 2009
December 1, 2009
Earned Schedule
The project manager’s tool of Earned Value Management (EVM) is extended through Earned Schedule which draws a distinction between schedule performance measured in terms of currency and schedule performance measured in terms of time. EVM typically uses units of currency as a means of tracking schedule performance. For example, in EVM, Schedule Variance (SV) is how close to schedule the project is in terms of cost. It is calculated as Earned Value (EV) – Planned Value (PV). It simply examines the difference between the value in currency of the work actually accomplished and the value in currency of the work we had planned on accomplishing at this point of time. The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) conveys this same information in terms of a ratio. It is calculated as EV / PV.
Earned Schedule makes the distinction between schedule performance based on currency versus time. SV and SPI as described above are denoted by SV($) and SPI($). When tracking schedule performance based on time rather than currency, the notations used are SV(t) and SPI(t). SV(t) is calculated as Earned Schedule(ES) – Actual Time(AT); and SPI(t) is calculated as ES / AT. The concept is the same, but time has replaced currency. To review additional notations, see http://www.earnedschedule.com/Terminology.shtml.
December 2, 2009
Hammock Activity
A Hammock Activity describes an activity type in project management scheduling. It is an activity (or an aggregate of activities summarized as one activity) that spans between two points in a schedule. Having no set duration of its own, its duration is derived from the difference in time between these two points in the schedule. It hangs between these two points as a hammock may hang between two trees. For example, activity “A” ends on day 3 and activity “C” begins on day 10 and there is a set of activities that are summarized as activity “B” (the hammock activity) that must be done between activity “A” and activity “C.” Activity “B” doesn’t have a specific duration—it has the duration of the time between day 3 and day 10. If activity “A” takes longer than expected and ends on day 4, then the duration of activity “B” is now the duration of time between day 4 and day 10.
December 3, 2009
Getting Projects Done On Time and Faster
Completing a project on-schedule (or even before schedule) is a fundamental goal of project management. Unexpected delays, poor planning, and scope creep are just some of the enemies of a project’s timely completion. According to a survey by the Project Management Institute®, about 55% of projects are completed on-time, which is an improvement from the prior survey (http://www.pmitoday-digital.com/pmitoday/200905open/#pg1).
The classic methods of getting a project done faster are crashing and fast-tracking, with fast-tracking being the preferred method. Crashing burns through your resources, such as your budget, as a sacrifice to get things done faster. Fast-tracking performs activities in parallel that were not originally planned that way.
Although these methods are good options when one is already behind schedule, keeping a project on schedule should start from the beginning. First of all, the schedule needs to be realistic. Are the duration estimates for your activities realistic or more wishful thinking? Does your schedule assume that everything will go as planned? One should plan that everything will not go as planned. Identifying risks and having risk plans in place early in the project can help protect your schedule. Also, based on known and unknown risks, you may wish to add buffers to your schedule. Adding a certain percentage of time, say 10%, to your overall schedule will give you some flexibility in handling delays. Project scheduling is a skill. In fact, one may even earn a certification from the Project Management Institute as a project scheduling professional (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/PMI-SP_Handbook.pdf).
Project managers should be vigilant from day one of their project about keeping their project tightly on-schedule. I appreciate the quote by Fred Brooks: “How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.” Even small delays should be taken seriously. If all the little deadlines of the activities and milestones are met, the project completion deadline will naturally be met as well.
Look at the details of the project to discover what at the moment is slowing things down or represents a bottleneck. Is it a particularly slow worker? A contractor who hasn’t returned your call? What can be done about this? One of my biggest delays on a project was scheduling meetings with a group of busy key stakeholders. These meetings had to occur before the next phase of the project could begin. The solution was to schedule these meetings far in advance before their personal schedules were filled.
Look at the big picture of the project. Are some of the scheduled activities even necessary? Are they redundant? Lean methodology can be useful here to eliminate waste. Are there better ways to perform the activities? I have used technology to complete activities much faster that were being done by hand simply because that is the way they had always been done. Guard against unnecessary and unapproved scope creep that gives you more to complete in the same amount of time. In fact, if your deadline is critical, you may need to consider reducing the original project scope.
Be creative in combating the obstacles to getting work done faster. Imagine if money and resources were unlimited to help jump start your thinking towards innovative solutions. Remember your project team and encourage behavior that supports your project goals, such as considering a bonus for completing the project on-time.
Please share with us what methods you have used to keep control of your project schedule and meet your deadlines. We at TAPUniversity would like to hear from you!
December 4, 2009
Program Management Professional
The PgMP® (Program Management Professional) certification from the Project Management Institute recognizes those who are responsible for managing multiple, related projects. There are several steps to achieving this certification. Candidates must have at least four years of experience managing projects. If the candidate has a Bachelor’s degree, they also must have at least four years of experience managing programs. If the candidate has a high school or Associate’s degree, they must have at least seven years of experience managing programs. After submitting an application, a panel reviews the candidate’s experience to be certain they are eligible for the certification. If so, the candidate takes a multiple-choice exam. The four-hour exam contains 150 scored questions and 20 unscored questions for a total of 170 questions. The exam sections are defining, initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the program. After passing the exam, the last step is a multi-rater assessment. An evaluation must be completed by the candidate and by 12 references of their choosing. These references should include one supervisor, four peers, four direct reports, and three professional references. If the candidate passes their multi-rater assessment, they are then awarded their PgMP certification. For more information on this certification, see PMI’s handbook: http://www.pmi.org/PDF/pdc_pgmphandbook.pdf.
December 7, 2009
Project Management Jobs in Today’s Economy
Project managers, how has today’s economy affected your career? Towards the end of 2008, we noticed a trend of less interest in employers paying for training for their employees as training budgets were reduced. However, there was also increased interest from project managers in earning their Project Management Professional (PMP) who believed that it was more critical than ever to earn their PMP either to stay competitive or to find employment. A number of project managers have told me they are overwhelmed with their current workload due to their organizations not replacing other project managers who are no longer working there. At our local project management chapter meeting some months ago, a new attendee approached others and asked how long it had been since they had been laid off, apparently assuming that most people there were unemployed. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has published optimistic forecasts for project managers, stating that “the global and long-term employment outlook for project managers is promising” (http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/Employment-Outlook.aspx) and cites the trend of many people retiring and the growth of global projects as positive indicators (http://www.pmi.org/Pages/PM-Profession-Thrive-Despite-Troubled-Economy.aspx). Project managers, what have been your observations and experiences with project management in today’s economy?
December 8, 2009
If Santa Thinks Chimneys Qualify He Calls “Reindeer Pause!”
A frequent reason people visit our blog is to find mnemonic devices for learning the nine project management knowledge areas listed in the PMBOK®. The nine knowledge areas are: Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, HR, Communication, Risk, and Procurement. A couple examples were posted on January 28, 2009. Here are some more starting with some Christmas spirit for this time of year:
If Santa Thinks Chimneys Qualify He Calls “Reindeer Pause!”
I Saw Ten Coaches Quit However Champions Really Play
I Swam The Coast Quickly Having Chased Rare Porpoises
I Search The Cupboard Quickly Having Cravings for Red-Peppers
In Season The Cooing Quail are Hunted on CRP (conservation reserve program land)
December 9, 2009
Cloud Computing for Project Managers
More and more, people are discussing and using Cloud Computing—services and applications hosted through the Internet (which is the “cloud”) rather than one’s own computer. CNN reports that Cloud Computing will be one of the top web trends next year (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/03/cashmore.web.trends.2010/index.html). This fast-growing trend is especially salient for project managers who work on virtual teams. The Project Management Institute recently published an article which describes how this trend offers project managers a competitive edge (http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Cloud_Computing_on_the_Rise.aspx). Cloud Computing has the capability of decreasing project costs and improving communication among a project team, but many have concerns about security—especially when sensitive data is hosted elsewhere. Security issues are one reason that organizations may select to have a Private Cloud (hosted on the organization’s private network) rather than a Public Cloud (which is an off-site third-party network). Hybrid Clouds have both internal and external providers. What are your opinions on Cloud Computing?
December 10, 2009
Earning PDUs to Keep Your PMP
Congratulations–you’ve earned your PMP® (Project Management Professional certification)! Now you must earn PDUs (Professional Development Units) in order to keep your PMP. One PDU represents about one hour of experience or activity. From the time you earned your PMP, you have three years to earn 60 PDUs. After earning PDUs, they must be reported to PMI (Project Management Institute) using their Continuing Certification Requirements System (www.pmi.org). If you earn more than 60 PDUs in your three-year certification cycle, you may transfer up to 20 PDUs to the next cycle that were earned in your third year. For more details, please see the PMP Handbook at: http://www.pmi.org/PDF/pdc_pmphandbook.pdf.
PDUs are organized into five categories:
Category 1: Formal Academic Education
These PDUs are earned by taking an academic course for degree credit relating to project or program management. One hour of degree credit is worth 15 PDUs.
Category 2: Professional Activities and Self-directed Learning
There are a number of ways to earn PDUs in this category. First of all, you can write an article on a project management topic. If you’re the author of an article published in a refereed journal, you may earn 30 PDUs. If the journal isn’t refereed, your article is worth 15 PDUs. If you’re a speaker or teacher at an event, you may earn 10 PDUs per activity. As a panel discussion member or a speaker at your local chapter meeting, you may earn 5 PDUs. For developing a new project management course, you may earn 10 PDUs. Although you can claim self-directed learning activities for PDUs, you’re limited to claiming 15 PDUs of this type per three-year cycle. For those of you who are working as project managers, you may claim 5 PDUs per year for practicing project management as long as you are working at least 1,500 hours per year.
Category 3: Courses offered by PMI Registered Education Providers/PMI Components
These PDUs are earned by taking courses through providers that are registered with PMI. We at TAPUniversity (www.tapuniversity.com) are a REP (Registered Education Provider) and our subscription courses fall into this category. We have a number of 100% online 4-week courses worth 14 PDUs as well as a subscription program that includes all the courses needed to keep your PMP certification.
Category 4: Courses offered by Other Education Providers
For every hour of learning about project management from education providers that are not registered with PMI nor formal academic institutions, 1 PDU may be claimed.
Category 5: Volunteer Service to Professional or Community Organizations
Getting involved and volunteering with your local project management chapter is a good way to earn these PDUs. You may claim a maximum of 20 of this type of PDUs in a three-year cycle. If you serve as an officer for 12 months for your project management chapter, you may earn 10 PDUs. If you’re on a committee for your chapter for 12 months, you may earn 5 PDUs.
December 11, 2009
What’s Your PMP Certification Status?
A PMP® (Project Management Professional certification) status is either Active, Suspended, or Retired. As soon as someone has earned their PMP, their status is Active. If they maintain their Continuing Certification Requirements by earning and reporting 60 PDUs (Professional Development Units) during each three-year cycle, they continue to have Active status. If they do not earn and report the required number of PDUs, their certification status is Suspended. If someone has Suspended status for one year, they lose their PMP entirely and must start from the beginning to re-apply to re-take the PMP Exam. If you have been a PMP for at least ten consecutive years and are retiring, you may apply for Retired status by writing a request to PMIs certification department. For more details, please see the PMP Handbook at: http://www.pmi.org/PDF/pdc_pmphandbook.pdf.
December 14, 2009
Project Managers’ Knowledge of their Project Field
How much knowledge of their project field should a Project Manager have? I enjoy asking people this question and have received a wide variety of responses. I have had colleagues tell me that they are true project managers and because the tools of project management are the same across different fields they are comfortable managing projects in any discipline—IT, manufacturing, research, etc. Other project managers (who typically primarily identify themselves not as project managers, but as engineers or researchers) are using their specialized knowledge of their field and would not consider managing a project outside their area of expertise. One individual who manages many project managers told me that project managers coming from the outside with project management skills performed better than those who were promoted from within and had deeper technical knowledge of the company’s products. What are your thoughts and experiences?
December 15, 2009
December 16, 2009
Span of Control
The Span of Control is the number of people for whom a supervisor is responsible. This metric is most relevant in hierarchical organizations, and in fact was originally a military concept. Simply put, if a manager has five people reporting to her, her Span of Control is five. What is the optimum Span of Control? It will vary by situation, including the tasks being performed and characteristics of both the supervisor and workers. Is the supervisor watching everything that everyone does, or does the supervisor mainly answer questions or solve problems as they arise? Is one worker taking an inordinate amount of the supervisor’s time? What have you found to be a good Span of Control in your position?
December 14, 2009
Consulting Pulse: Time Management – Covey’s 4 quadrants
- Moving the TAPUniversity DNS server
- Moving the TAPUniversity email
- Rethinking our sales and marketing approach with Laura for online learning
- Extending partner and academic relationships
https://www.stephencovey.com/blog/
Stephen Covey’s Four Time Management Quadrants (1994)
December 17, 2009
December 18, 2009
December 17, 2009
December 21, 2009
The Influence of Professional Ethics Codes
Project Managers, does the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct matter? Individuals who are certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) have all agreed to abide by this code. What influence does the code actually have?
I have often thought of professional codes as primarily a means for a profession to rid itself of its most unethical, and therefore embarrassing, members. In fact, I have mostly seen ethics codes mentioned in terms of listings of members who have been expelled from their organization. Take for example the recent news of three physicians in Mexico City who were telling mothers that their newborns were dead and then selling the very much alive babies. (More can be read about this at http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/06/mexico.stolen.babies/index.html). I can imagine other physicians saying “hey, we don’t want people like that called doctors. They give the rest of us a bad name. How are we going to get rid of them? Hmmm… how about finding something in our ethics code that we can use to kick them out?”
Bruce J. Rodrigues’ article “Do Ethics Make a Difference” in the December 2009 issue of PMI Today referred to a PMI survey for which 30% of respondents reported that the ethics code had helped them make decisions in their professional life. I found it impressive that this many people were first of all that familiar with their professional code (or perhaps cared enough to take the time to reference it) and secondly, that they applied it to a decision.
I am curious as to which sections of the ethics code people are finding most helpful in guiding their decisions. When I read sections of the code such as “3.3.3 We do not act in an abusive manner towards others” it is hard for to me imagine that an abusive project manager would instantly cease their bad behavior after earning their PMP® (Project Management Professional certification). In support of this, I received questions from someone taking practice PMP Exam tests who struggled because they could not see anything wrong with the abusive behaviors described in the ethics questions. Try as I might, I could not convince the individual that the described behaviors were in any way abusive or wrong. However, the section of the code stating “2.3.2 We report unethical or illegal conduct to appropriate management and, if necessary, to those affected by the conduct” describes a specific action to perform that people may be able to apply more easily. In any case, it is good news that this ethics code appears to be having a positive influence on practicing project managers and is much more that simply an instrument of discipline. The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct can be found at http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf.
December 22, 2009
The Cost of Multi-Tasking
If your goal is to maximize productivity, then multi-tasking could actually be a culprit. Although some simple tasks may be performed simultaneously, such as carrying on an idle conversation while washing dishes after dinner, without noticeably detrimental effects, the complex multi-tasking and frequent task-switching that we subject our minds to may actually decrease efficiency overall. An American Psychological Association article states that “multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error. Meyer has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time. (http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx).”
On an individual level, take note of how many tasks you’re trying to accomplish simultaneously and how often you switch tasks. Are you working on writing a report but quickly switching to your email every time you’re notified of a new message in your inbox? Are you trying to calculate some figures but your cell phone keeps ringing? It may help your productivity if you can reduce any unnecessary task-switching or find a block of time in a place free of distractions to focus fully on your task.
This research is something to consider for those working on improving the efficiencies of a project team in order to keep the schedule on track or of a processes, such as through applying Lean Six Sigma methodology. A point in the process which requires excess multi-tasking and task-switching may be a good candidate for improvement in order to increase efficiency.
December 23, 2009
Project Management in the Home
It is always an added bonus when the skills of your profession can benefit your personal life as well. For example, being in the medical field can be helpful when you have a sick child and having a plumbing background can be useful when the kitchen sink starts to leak. Project Managers, how have your project management skills helped you in your everyday life? The time that I drew the most on every ounce of project management skill that I had was not at work, but for planning a wedding in a relatively short time. The activity dependencies (I need to know how many guests are coming so I can finalize catering arrangements), vendor decisions (which reception locations are available on which dates?), many internal deadlines (I need the location finalized by a certain date so I can order invitations and get them sent out at the proper time), and risk planning (the wedding is outside—what if it rains?) required careful planning, organization, flexibility, and adherence to the project schedule. I find that even with tiny projects such as preparing a meal for guests, project management has creeped into my thinking as I imagine a little schedule network diagram indicating the time that this dish should be placed into the oven and when I should start gathering ingredients for that dish. Project Managers (and other professionals) please share with us your stories of how your professional skills have helped you in your home.
December 28, 2009
I’m Studying for my PMP Exam… and I Have Been for Two Years
This week we are bidding adieu to 2009 and greeting the arrival of 2010. Traditionally the New Year has been a time for people to make resolutions to meet personal goals such as losing weight, paying off debt, quit smoking, and volunteering. Making career and educational goals are also common New Year’s resolutions (http://www.newyearfestival.com/popular-new-year-resolutions.html).
I have worked with a number of professionals who want to earn their PMP® (Project Management Professional) or other certification but they are not making progress. They may be reading a study book once in a rare while, or maybe they are prepared for the exam but keep delaying the test date. Earning your certification in 2010 is an excellent New Year’s resolution to bolster your career, and here are some tips to keeping that resolution.
First of all, make a concrete plan on paper. Decide how you will prepare for your exam. Will you take an exam prep course from a Registered Education Provider®? If so, you will likely have weekly assignments that will help prepare you. If studying on your own, it is helpful to plan your own weekly goals. I have found that people who prepare for their exam with a group in either an online course or in-person seminar are typically more successful in completing their studies. It requires much more self-discipline to study on one’s own. Determine some target dates—for example, perhaps study for the exam until April and take the exam in May. Tell some friends and family about your goal so they can help keep you accountable and offer some encouragement. I have persuaded some people who have actually over-studied for their certification exam to muster their confidence and just go ahead and schedule their test date. Sometimes people are so nervous about failing the exam that they put it off and tell themselves they need to study more. Practice exams and honest feedback from an experienced instructor will indicate whether you should continue studying or whether you are ready to tackle the test. Best success to you in your resolutions!
December 29, 2009
Motivating Your Project Team Members
How does a Project Manager motivate their team to do their best, and therefore increase the likelihood of project success? The most important thing to remember is that because team members are individuals they each have a unique set of motivators. I have talked to salespeople who were rewarded by being given a vacation day if they had stellar sales. They hated it! That day off hurt their next month’s sales numbers. I have a quiet friend whose company sings “happy birthday” to employees on their birthday to motivate them. It is so embarrassing to her that she takes a vacation day on her birthday just to avoid the discomfort of being the center of attention. The movie “Baby Mama” (2008) includes an eccentric boss named Barry who is pleased with his employee, Kate, and says “Congratulations, Kate. I want to reward you with five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact.” And he proceeds with a very uncomfortable stare. In grade school I had a teacher with a collection of pets in her classroom who would reward good students by letting them play with a little live snake at their desk. Not liking snakes, I was often worried that I would be “rewarded” in class.
Some things motivate most people—such as money and a sincere word of appreciation. I personally enjoy working with team members who are highly motivated by opportunities to learn as I enjoy opportunities to teach. Some things also unmotivate most people—such as being treated with a lack of respect and appreciation. Again, there will be some differences among individuals in what hurts their personal motivation. What unique motivators have you found? What rewards gone wrong have you experienced?
December 30, 2009
The Perfect Project Manager
Do perfectionists make good Project Managers? Surely there are perfectionists out there who are good project managers and there are perfectionists out there who are bad project managers. But does the trait of perfectionism naturally mesh well with the demands of managing projects? I am a perfectionist, and I’ve been told in the workplace that it’s a strength because people can trust my work, and others have said it’s a disease that must be treated!
Perfectionists are people who believe that perfection is obtainable, and that’s what they must do. Different psychologists have divided perfectionists into categories. There is a healthy brand of perfectionism which can spur people on to produce stellar work results. But perfectionism can also be maladaptive when people believe that any work that is not absolutely perfect is completely worthless and a reflection of their self-worth.
One of the evils in project management is Gold Plating—adding bells and whistles when this extra effort is no longer adding value. The perfectionist may be especially prone to adding extras that enhance aesthetics but do not affect function. Anybody else out there spend too much time searching for the perfect images for a PowerPoint® presentation? Psychology Today states “because they equate their self-worth with flawless performance, perfectionists often get hung up on meaningless details and spend more time on projects than is necessary” (Perfectionism: Impossible Dream published May 01, 1995). Whereas an area such as Six Sigma seems to be designed by perfectionists for perfectionists (no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities), project management places more emphasis on getting things done.
Psychology Today also reported that perfectionists have a tendency to cover up their errors to maintain their super-human self-image, so they are poorly suited to work in risky environments where errors must be shared immediately (Perfectionism: Impossible Dream published May 01, 1995). Interestingly, the Project Management Institute’s Code of Ethics specifically states that mistakes must be admitted and ownership taken “2.2.4 When we make errors or omissions, we take ownership and make corrections promptly” which suggests that being open about mistakes is particularly important to project management success.
So here are three suggestions to fellow perfectionists who manage projects:
1. Recognize that your ability to envision stellar results and your drive to do exceptional work are indeed strengths that can benefit you as a project manager.
2. Ask yourself frequently, “is what I’m doing adding value? What’s the cost/benefit ratio here?” There have been times I have wanted many people to proof a report I wrote so that the final version has no typos. But at some point, how much time and money is reasonable to spend to find one more little typo?
3. As hard as it is, share your mistakes quickly and work towards a solution. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you make mistakes—learn from them. James Russell Lowell said that “Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.”
January 4, 2010
January 5, 2010
Change Requests in the Fourth Edition PMBOK®
In many ways, the fourth edition PMBOK has simplified its project management processes. In the third edition, processes could have preventive actions, defect repairs, corrective actions, and requested changes. Now these are all considered simply Change Requests. It is a generic term indicating that some type of course alteration is being called for. They can increase or decrease the project scope, and apply to anything from plans, policies, procedures, timelines, or budgets.
Change Requests are an output of fifteen project management processes: Plan Procurements, Direct and Manage Project Execution, Perform Quality Assurance, Manage Project Team, Manage Stakeholder Expectations, Conduct Procurements, Monitor and Control Project Work, Verify Scope, Control Scope, Control Schedule, Control Costs, Perform Quality Control, Report Performance, Monitor and Control Risks, and Administer Procurements.
Change Requests all go through the Perform Integrated Change Control process, so this is the only process for which they are an input rather than output. If through this process the Change Request is approved, the Approved Change Request may specifically become an input to three processes: Administer Procurements, Perform Quality Control and Direct and Manage Project Execution.
January 6, 2010
Project Charter Changes in the Fourth Edition PMBOK®
The Project Charter is one of the most important documents in project management. In addition to other purposes, this document officially authorizes the project so that resources may be assigned. The Project Management Institute has streamlined the Project Charter from the third edition PMBOK to the fourth edition PMBOK. Of course, individual organizations and PMO’s will choose variations that best suit their needs. Here are three categories of Project Charter content: items in the Project Charter that are listed in both the third and fourth edition, additions to Project Charter items, and deletions to Project Charter items.
• Project Charter Includes:
• Stuff that was Included Before
– Project Purpose or Justification
– Summary Milestone Schedule
– Summary Budget
– High-level Project Description, Product Characteristics
– Assigned Project Manager, Responsibility and Authority Level
• New Stuff!
– Measurable Project Objectives and Related Success Criteria
– High-level Requirements
– Project Approval Requirements
– Name and Authority of Sponsor Authorizing Project Charter
– High Level Risks
• Project Charter NO LONGER Includes:
• Assumptions (Now in Scope Statement)
• Constraints (Now in Scope Statement)
• Stakeholder Influences (Now in Stakeholder Register)
• Functional Organizations and Their Participation (Now in Stakeholder Register)
• Requirements (Now High-level Requirements)
• Business Case Justifying the Project (Now in Business Case Document)
January 7, 2010
Contract Changes in the Fourth Edition PMBOK®
Contract categorization has changed from the Project Management Institute’s third edition PMBOK to the fourth edition. The formerly simple Fixed Price has been split into three types. The old Cost Plus Fee and Cost Plus Fixed Fee are now both considered Cost Plus Fixed Fee. Cost Plus Incentive Fee has remained the same, except that in the cases of a subjective award fee, the contract type is now called Cost Plus Award Fee. Time and Materials contracts have remained the same.
To read more about the descriptions of these contract types, please see the earlier postings of Fixed Price Contracts (posted 4/16/2009), Cost-Reimbursable Contracts (posted 4/17/2009), and Time and Materials Contracts (posted 4/20/2009).
January 8, 2010
Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic in Cost Estimation
Cost estimating is a project management task that can involve an especially high number of “unknowns.” Although as more is known and the scope is refined, the cost estimates can be more accurately reported. The “Neandertals Guide to Cost Estimating,” which is a Naval Air booklet that can be accessed at http://www.navair.navy.mil/toc/initiative/NeandertalsGuide.pdf, contains a listing in chapter five of the 12 most common mistakes made in cost estimating. The number one error listed is mistakes in basic math—simple arithmetic that a fourth-grader could do. It’s always a good idea to double-check the calculations, which is often overlooked when someone proofreads a report. Other common errors are reading errors—either not reading or following the instructions for the specific format or template. One way this problem can easily occur is through recycling proposals and not assuring that the details are consistent with the current requirements. Lastly, a frequent mistake is in the writing—people may forget to explain (or their explanation is unclear) the basis for their estimates and the benefit of the project overall. Ironically it the very basics in education that are the most common source of errors here—the standard “Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic.” This also means that the simple solution of careful work and proofing can go far in improving the quality of cost estimate reports.
January 11, 2010
Skunk Works®
A Skunk Works team is an everyday business term that describes a team who has quite a bit of free rein as they are outside of the normal organizational hierarchy. This can be advantageous if there is a highly-skilled set of people who are being slowed down or burdened by traditional bureaucracy in the organization. If the project is to be kept top-secret, it is also an excellent candidate for a Skunk Works team. The term is also a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin and refers to their Advanced Development Programs which designs aircraft (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aeronautics/skunkworks/index.html). The original Skunk Works team at Lockheed Martin followed Kelly’s 14 Rules (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aeronautics/skunkworks/14rules.html) which stress things such as small, efficient teams whose work is kept quiet and shielded from the outside.
January 12, 2010
Burst Node
Here’s a scheduling term that’s not heard everyday—Burst Node. In a network diagram, which illustrates the sequence of a project’s activities, a Burst Node is a node where two or more activities start after it has been completed. So once a certain activity is complete, it initiates a “burst” of new activities. Here’s an example. A family is driving home after being on vacation. When they complete the “drive home” activity, there are several activities that can then all begin such as getting the mail, changing the thermostat, and unpacking their luggage.
January 13, 2010
Capability Survey
A buyer may be interested in a certain product or service, but wants to know the general capabilities of the seller. In this case, the buyer may prepare a set of questions known as a Capability Survey in order to better understand the seller. For example, Ben is questioning several potential babysitters on their past experience babysitting grade-school boys and toddlers, whether they have reliable transportation, and whether they know CPR. In this way he can evaluate which, if any, of the babysitters have the capabilities for which he is looking. For Project Managers, deciding the necessary capabilities of a seller would fall under the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Plan Procurements process, and actually obtaining the survey results would be part of the Conduct Procurements process.
January 14, 2010
Hard Project, Soft Project
A hard project may be easy! A hard project is one whose outcome is a clearly defined physical product, whereas a soft project’s outcome is not. If Kathy’s project is to make her father a batch of brownies, it is a hard project since it has a clearly defined physical deliverable. However if Kathy’s project is to teach her father how to make a good batch of brownies, it is a soft project since its deliverable is intangible. The fourth-edition PMBOK®’s definition of a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a product, service, or result.” This edition has expanded the definition of a project by adding “result” which now better represents soft projects as well as hard projects.
January 15, 2010
Management by Walking Around (MBWA)
Project Managers employing this style of management spend time walking around where their team members are working. They see firsthand how things are going and engage in informal communication with their team. When workers have better access to their boss and feel comfortable talking to him or her, they can share perspectives, problems, and suggestions that could otherwise go unspoken. Seeing and hearing information firsthand can offer insights that will not be reflected in reports and status updates. Also, the frequent, informal communication provides an opportunity for the project manager to offer due praise and recognition which can lead to increased morale and motivation. For those of you who use this style, please share what you have experienced as some of the benefits and drawbacks of this method.
January 25, 2010
Micro-Scheduling
The activities that Project Managers arrange in their project schedules have various durations, of course. If activities have durations of less than a day, the scheduling of them is called micro-scheduling. Some distinct activities may be small and simply take less than a day. If a project is exceptionally short, say several weeks, one may expect that some activities will be broken down into durations of less than one day. In once instance I had a long-term project but the deadline was critical, so towards the end I broke activities down into less than one day of duration and had multiple status updates per day so that if something got even a few hours behind I had the opportunity to make a correction while it was still possible to get the project back on track.
January 19, 2010
New Core Values for Project Managers
The Project Management Institute has unveiled its new core values. According to the January 2010 edition of PMI Today, the Core Values Review Task Team obtained feedback from stakeholders which led to 45 candidate values. The definition of core values are “essential and enduring principles guiding PMI.” From these 45 candidates, the 5 values deemed as best meeting this criteria were: Project Management Impact, Professionalism, Volunteerism, Community, and Engagement. PMI is clear that, among other purposes, these core values are designed to be “guiding principles” to help those in the project management profession make decisions.
January 20, 2010
Newly Released Standard for Risk Management
Risk is an important topic for project managers. The Project Management Institute (PMI) awards a Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) certification and within PMI there is a Risk Management Special Interest Group (SIG). The Project Management Institute has released its official Practice Standard for Project Risk Management. It can be purchased at http://www.pmi.org/Marketplace/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00101169201 for $55.95 for non-members and $44.75 for members. This book is consistent with the fourth edition PMBOK® and covers the PMBOK’s risk processes of Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis, Plan Risk Responses, and Monitor and Control Risks. PMI is clear that this book is meant as a guide for single projects only (not programs or portfolios). Also, it is emphasized that these are general guidelines and specific situations and organizations may need a different approach. I have been reading others’ opinions on this new standard. If you have read it, what are your thoughts?
January 21, 2010
Horse Blanket Project Schedule
I first saw the term Horse Blanket in reference to project scheduling in the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Scheduling. There in a flowchart for the Select Scheduling Method step, Horse Blanket is mentioned alongside Critical Path Method and Critical Chain. The term was undefined in the book’s glossary and a search on information about Horse Blanket will lead to an abundant amount of information on equine apparel! The Double-Tongued dictionary has the following definition: “horse blanket n. a large, complex, or comprehensive report or chart” at http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/horse_blanket/. There are several references to large charts called Horse Blankets, especially in the military. So as one can imagine, a Horse Blanket Project Schedule is an exceptionally large chart illustrating the schedule activities.
January 22, 2010
Inverted Matrix
Project Managers are usually familiar with the Project Management Institute’s categorization of organizations as outlined in the PMBOK®. There are functional, strong matrix, balanced matrix, weak matrix, projectized, and composite organizations. Another organizational structure term is the Inverted Matrix. This is actually more of a projectized type of organization that has specialists permanently employed to support projects. So when the project manager needs a certain specialist, that person may be conveniently located right down the hall.
January 18, 2010
Life or Death Project Management
Recent headlines have portrayed the absolute devastation in Haiti due to Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Countries and aid groups are scrambling to get aid and supplies to the victims. Most people killed in an earthquake die within 72 hours of the quake, so time is of the essence. A project to provide aid as quickly as possible during disasters such as this requires excellent project management technique. There isn’t time to write a lengthy project management plan or have a project charter signed by a bevy of stakeholders. Even though one can’t predict exactly when a where a major disaster will occur, hopefully people have already outlined a plan in enough detail that it is ready to be executed. Because that is the key here—execution, execution, execution. Having people in charge who have clear authority to make decisions and are not weighed down by committee decisions, unimportant paperwork, unnecessary approvals, and bureaucracy can speed up the project’s ability to meet its goals. For project managers who have managed critical projects, what do you view as necessary for meeting urgent deliverables?
January 25, 2010
Splittable and Non-Splittable Activities
A project schedule contains sequences of activities. Individual activities may be considered either splittable or non-splittable. A splittable activity may be easily interrupted and resumed later. However, a non-spittable activity needs to be finished once it has begun without any interruptions. For example, a teacher may have a stack of papers to grade. Part of the papers could easily be graded now, and the rest of the papers could be graded later. So this is a splittable activity. If someone places a pan of brownies in the oven, the brownies need to stay in there until they are done baking. They won’t turn out so well if one tries to bake them ten minutes today, stop, and then bake them ten more minutes tomorrow. So baking the brownies is a non-splittable activity. Whether an activity is splittable or not is good to know as the splittable activities offer more flexibility as the schedule activities are executed.
January 26, 2010
The 100% Rule of the WBS
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project. So if your project is to write a paper on puffins, “Puffin Paper” would be the highest level of the hierarchy, and below it could be “Puffin Research,” “Paper Outline,” “Draft Paper,” and “Proofed Paper.” These activities could then be broken down even further—for example proofing the paper could involve both checking spelling through the software used to write the paper and having a friend read the paper to check for mistakes. The 100% Rule states that your WBS must account for ALL of your project’s work. So, not just the typing of the paper, but the proofing, etc. as well. It can be easy to leave out the specific project management tasks of a project, such as developing a project management plan or identifying risks, but they should be included as well. The 100% Rule also means that every component in the WBS should be fully covered by the components below it. For example, a proofing component should include not only the ways of finding the errors but the action of correcting them.
January 27, 2010
Avoiding Verbs in the WBS
I naturally want to use verbs in my Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), but it’s wrong! A WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project. The Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures states that the WBS elements are to be defined using adjectives and nouns, but not verbs. So for my recent project of making a gingerbread house, I have the tendency to want to have components that state “bake gingerbread,” “make royal frosting,” and “buy fun-looking candies” and turn my WBS into an organized to-do list. But again, this is a bad WBS form and should be avoided. The correct way would be to have “gingerbread house” at the top level and the next level be “gingerbread,” “frosting,” “candy,” “house frame,” and “recipe.” (Note that although this was an actual project, I do not actually make a WBS or any other project management documents for small, recreational activities!) It can help to remember that the WBS is a set of DELIVERABLES, not the actions or to-do list required to bring those deliverables into existence.
January 28, 2010
A Coding Scheme for Your WBS
Building on the last two days’ postings, we have more today on Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). As a reminder, a WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project. According to the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, the WBS should have a coding scheme that makes the hierarchical nature of the WBS clear. This means that each individual element in the WBS has an identifier, and these identifiers cannot just be random—they have to have an order and meaning. It doesn’t matter if the WBS is in an outline or chart form. Here’s an example of a coding scheme for an outline WBS that shows a hierarchy for a Kentucky Derby Party. Notice that the number of digits indicates the element’s level in the WBS. For example, “1.2.1.3 Ice Cream” has four digits and is in the fourth level. Its last digit is “3” which indicates that it is the third element for its parent element of “1.2.1”.
1 Kentucky Derby Party
1.1 Television
1.2 Snacks
1.2.1 Food
1.2.1.1 Tea Sandwiches
1.2.1.2 Chocolates
1.2.1.3 Ice Cream
1.2.2 Beverages
1.2.2.1 Mint Juleps
1.2.2.2 Water
1.2.2.3 Pink Lemonade
1.3 Invitations
1.3.1 Guest List
1.3.2 Stamps
1.3.3 Invitations
January 29, 2010
Making a WBS – The Top-Down Method
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project, can be created through several methods. According to the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, common methods include: Top-Down, Bottom-Up, WBS Standards, and WBS Templates.
The Top-Down method begins with the final product and its major deliverables. These major deliverables are then decomposed into more detail. So if a Kentucky Derby party is the final product, and the major deliverables are a television, snacks, and invitations, one starts with them and then breaks down these deliverables further. Stakeholders should agree that the level of detail is sufficient before finalizing the document.
Since this method is so conducive to progressive elaboration, it is well-suited for projects with many as of yet unknown details and for project managers with less experience. If there are no suitable WBS templates available, this method works well also. It is easy to miss work packages that should be included and not go into enough detail with this approach, so the project manager should be aware of that.
February 1, 2010
Making a WBS – The Bottom-Up Method
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project, can be created through several methods. According to the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, common methods include: Top-Down, Bottom-Up, WBS Standards, and WBS Templates.
To apply the Bottom-Up method, all the project’s work packages must be known. Next, related work packages are grouped together. These groups can then be represented by parent-level deliverables, and these deliverables can be further grouped into higher levels so that everything is eventually arranged into a hierarchy. One should be careful that the child elements completely represent their parent element. Also, all groupings should come together under the highest level that represents the final product—there should not be any “stray” work packages that don’t support the final product. Stakeholders should agree that the WBS will meet the project’s needs before finalizing the document.
The Bottom-Up method is well suited for projects that are similar to previous projects because the deliverables are well-understood. Also, if a similar project has been done, that previous project may have a template that can be a useful starting point.
February 2, 2010
Making a WBS – WBS Standards Method
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project, can be created through several methods. According to the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, common methods include: Top-Down, Bottom-Up, WBS Standards, and WBS Templates.
Organizations possessing project management maturity are most likely to have organizational standards in place for creating a WBS. Applying this method of creating a WBS is simply adhering to the organization’s standards. These standards could include the requirement that certain elements that must be included in all WBS’s, a certain format, and a prescribed coding and/or naming scheme. A benefit of this method is that there is consistency across projects in the organization. However, a one-size-fits-all approach does not always work well, and if one forces a fit in these situations, problems may occur such as missing or extra elements in the WBS. It is important to be able to recognize if a particular project requires an adjustment to the organization’s standards.
February 3, 2010
Making a WBS – WBS Templates Method
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project, can be created through several methods. According to the Project Management Institute’s Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures, common methods include: Top-Down, Bottom-Up, WBS Standards, and WBS Templates.
The WBS Template method begins with a generic template that is filled in with project-specific information. So rather than starting from scratch each time, we are re-using existing materials. This method resembles the WBS Standards method in that both promote consistency across an organization. Project Managers should always be cautious that the resulting WBS is truly representative of the current project and does not include extraneous components from previous projects or has components missing that happen to not fit neatly into the template. Some projects are especially unique and a template should not be the final authority. However, as there are also commonalities across projects, this method can often make the Create WBS process faster.
February 4, 2010
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Component Tips
One of the most key project management documents is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy of the work to be done on a project. In fact, there is an entire standard from the Project Management Institute devoted to this document (Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures). This standard contains some useful descriptions of a high-quality WBS. Focusing here on the individual components of the WBS, each component should contain only one deliverable. This deliverable may be either tangible (such as a report or product) or intangible (such as information or administration). The components must be unique so that there is no wasteful replication of deliverables. Any intermediate deliverables necessary should be included as their own component. So if your final product is a strawberry cheesecake for your guests next weekend, then any practice cheesecakes made to test out different recipes are intermediate deliverables. Unlike us humans, WBS components can only have one parent. And they must have one parent—they cannot be orphans that do not tie into a higher-level deliverable nor are they allowed to trace their lineage to two or more parents.
February 5, 2010
Professional Responsibility on the PMP Exam
As project managers study for their PMP exam, they often read their PMBOK® repeatedly and memorize key aspects of it. However, too often people pay little or no attention to PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) upon which 9% of their exam questions will be based. This is unfortunate as the Code of Ethics is not time-consuming to learn and also because PMI members have agreed to abide by it so they should have a good understanding of its contents. There seems to be a common attitude that people believe they already know how they ought to behave, so studying the Code of Ethics is unnecessary. However, people have often told me that either practice or actual professional responsibility exam questions were not at all what they expected.
Let’s examine a specific section of the code that falls under the category of Responsibility: “3.2.1 We inform ourselves about the norms and customs of others and avoid engaging in behaviors they might consider disrespectful.” So in order to avoid being disrespectful, we first must understand the culture of the people with whom we are interacting. There are many ways to educate yourself. Perhaps you can get advice from a team member who has worked with people having certain customs or buy a book about the country that you’ll be visiting. Although “others” could be people from a different part of the world, it does not have to be—it could even be a group of people from your hometown that happens to have different social norms. Perhaps eating or drinking certain things is offensive to your client, so when dining together it’s best to avoid ordering those items off the menu. Certainly do not go as far as pretending that you’ve adopted the religion of your new client, as that in itself is dishonest. But do be aware that there are many small things you can do that can go a long way in demonstrating respect for the other person.
In summary, it’s a good idea for members of PMI to familiarize themselves with the Code of Ethics and understand how it can apply to their everyday work.
February 8, 2010
Understanding Ethics Complaints Questions on the PMP Exam
As stated in the last posting, even though 9% of the PMP exam is based upon the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) it is often not given enough attention. A question I frequently hear about the Code of Ethics concerns when it is appropriate to report ethics violations to PMI. For example, if your colleague claims to have her PMP®, but her boss tells you that she actually has her CAPM® because she doesn’t have enough hours of experience to obtain her PMP, should this be reported? Section 2.3.3 of the Code of Ethics states “We bring violations of this Code to the attention of the appropriate body for resolution.” Falsely claiming to have a certain PMI credential is certainly unethical, and if this is occurring it should be reported. However, we must keep in mind the companion Code of Ethics section 2.3.4: “We only file ethics complaints when they are substantiated by facts.” In the situation above, your colleague’s boss is providing you with information that may be considered hearsay, rumors, or gossip. Based solely on what you have heard, you do not have enough information to file an ethics complaint. Imagine that your colleague later says that last year she indeed told her boss that she did not have enough experience for a PMP, but since then she has gained the required amount of experience and recently passed her PMP exam. The key point is that only substantiated ethics violations should be reported.
February 9, 2010
Mandatory Honesty Standards in the PMI Code of Ethics
Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, and Honesty are the four pillars of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). Each of these four pillars contains both aspirational and mandatory standards. There are two mandatory standards for honesty in the Code of Ethics. The first statement is: “5.3.1 We do not engage in or condone behavior that is designed to deceive others, including but not limited to, making misleading or false statements, stating half-truths, providing information out of context or withholding information that, if known, would render our statements as misleading or incomplete.”
It should be obvious that if honesty is a value, outright lying by making knowingly false statements is unacceptable. However, that’s not all that is unacceptable. Even if everything that someone says or writes is technically 100% accurate, if it’s presented in a way that is meant to deceive, it is still considered dishonest and therefore unacceptable. For example, Kathy says, “Jim, I hear you took a sick day yesterday. Are you really sick?” Jim responds in a huff and snaps sarcastically at her, “No! I just felt like taking a day off to play golf! How can you even ask me that???” and then he storms off. The truth is that Jim did call in sick so that he could play golf, so what he said was technically true, but by saying it sarcastically he intended to deceive Kathy.
Here’s another scenario. Kevin asks Kathy if Jim would be a good addition to his project management team. Kathy says, “Oh, Jim is exceptional! He’s always working late.” So Kevin understands that Jim would indeed be a good choice for a team member. What Kathy is really thinking is, “Yeah, Jim’s exceptional—exceptionally lazy! And since he appears incapable of getting to work on time he’s always here late trying to get caught up.” So again, by deliberately leading Kevin to believe something that is not true, Kathy is being dishonest and violating the PMI Code of Ethics.
The second statement of the mandatory honesty standards is “5.3.2 We do not engage in dishonest behavior with the intention of personal gain or at the expense of another.” Now this statement seems superfluous, because if we are to be honest at all times, that includes the times when it would appear to be to our benefit to be dishonest. So this statement merely emphasizes the preceding statement that dishonesty is unacceptable conduct for members of PMI even when it appears to be in our best interest.
February 10, 2010
The First Aspirational Honesty Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Honesty is one of the four major values of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). The honesty standards are divided into aspirational and mandatory standards, and there are five aspirational honesty standards. The first standard is “5.2.1 We earnestly seek to understand the truth.” At first blush, this seems like something we would all want anyway—we don’t need an ethics code to tell us this. Don’t we all want to know what is really going on? Unfortunately, sometimes the truth is ugly and inconvenient and people do not want to know. For example, if your organization’s hiring practices lead to consistently underhiring certain protected groups of people, would the organization’s leaders want to know? It can certainly be easier at times to claim ignorance. How about if an internal survey shows that employees are very dissatisfied with several aspects of their organization—what is the temptation to “slice and dice” the data in different ways so that the organization can report more positive findings? Of course, problems and opportunities are not dealt with if they are ignored or denied, so understanding the facts is the basis of sound, well-informed decisions.
February 11, 2010
The Third Aspirational Honesty Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Honesty is one of the four major values of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). Like all four values, the honesty standards are divided into aspirational and mandatory standards. The third out of five aspirational honesty standards is “5.2.3 We provide accurate information in a timely manner.”
In order to behave in an honest manner, the information we provide to others should be accurate to the best of our knowledge. Obviously this includes not deliberately falsifying data for any reason. But information can often be inaccurate due to careless mistakes, so one should take diligence in assuring that the information being communicated is reliable. Information should be carefully prepared, not sloppily thrown together at the last minute.
The last part of this standard refers to providing information in a timely manner, which is not as clearly related to honesty. It can be difficult to communicate bad news and easy to want to delay it. But it is dishonest to withhold information from people to which they are entitled. Also, if we have made a commitment to provide information regularly or timely as it becomes available, it is irresponsible, in addition to a form of dishonesty, not to honor that commitment.
February 12, 2010
The Fifth Aspirational Honesty Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
We’re continuing our discussion on Honesty in Project Management, which is one of the four major values of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). Just like the other values of Responsibility, Respect, and Fairness, the Honesty standards are divided into aspirational and mandatory standards. The third out of five aspirational honesty standards is “5.2.5 We strive to create an environment in which others feel safe to tell the truth.”
I especially like this standard because it goes beyond governing one’s own behavior to making it easier for others to behave in an ethical manner as well. The second and third aspirational honesty standards concerns being truthful and accurate, and the code contains a comment stating that “this includes having the courage to share bad news even when it may be poorly received.” Sometimes it is difficult to share the truth and be the bearer of bad news. However, it can be really difficult when one’s boss reacts with anger. Even worse, is having a boss pressure you to communicate inaccurate information. In order to make sound decisions, one needs accurate information. So as a project manager, it is to your benefit to make people feel comfortable in reporting information accurately no matter what it is. Perhaps more importantly, you are serving as an example of encouraging ethical behavior in others.
February 15, 2010
The Fourth Aspirational Respect Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
This last week we’ve discussed much on the Honesty section of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf), but now we switch attention to the Respect section. The Respect standards are divided into aspirational and mandatory standards. The fourth aspirational Respect standard is: “3.2.4 We conduct ourselves in a professional manner, even when it is not reciprocated.”
Professionalism is one of the topics we discuss in our Working with People course here at TAPUniversity. Although people tend to know who is professional, it is often hard to explain. In course discussions, we often receive descriptions such as dressing neatly and refraining from offensive language. In looking through various definitions of the word, most are unhelpful because they simply refer to someone being in a given occupation, so a professional project manager may or may not behave professionally. Even more confusing, some definitions imply that professionals are only those in certain occupations involving higher education, so that a professional maid could not possibly be a professional. The most applicable definition I found was “Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior” (www.dictionary.com). The PMI Code of Ethics is a standard for the project management profession, so the behavior described therein, such as treating others with respect, can contribute to our understanding of what professionalism means for a project manager.
This standard indicates that professionalism is the rule, even “when it is not reciprocated.” Yes, it can be difficult to treat people with courtesy when they are rude, etc. but it is not an excuse for unprofessionalism and not worth damaging one’s professional reputation. Please feel free to share your views with us on what it means for a project manager to behave professionally.
February 16, 2010
The Third Aspirational Responsibility Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Responsibility is one of the four major values in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). There are six aspirational Responsibility standards, with the third one being: “2.2.3 We fulfill the commitments that we undertake – we do what we say we will do.” Although this is categorized as a Responsibility standard, I personally think of doing what one says they will as a matter of honesty and that’s where I would have categorized it. It is such a delight to work with people who consistently follow through on their commitments. After a pattern of fulfilling commitments is established, one can trust that if someone says they will do something, they will. There is then little or no need to worry about them forgetting to do the task or to waste time with frequent reminders to them about the task. When one needs to keep a project on schedule, working with people who complete their activities as they say they will and when they say they will makes life much easier for the project manager. Conversely, when someone is poor about fulfilling their commitments, that person will soon gain a poor reputation. An “Oh, I haven’t had a chance to look at that yet,” may seem innocent enough, but it can lead to a cascade of activity delays and even failure to meet a major deadline with disastrous consequences.
February 17, 2010
The Second Aspirational Responsibility Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
“I wish I could, but you need someone better qualified than I for the job.” Sometimes we are asked to do things that we simply are not qualified to do. This could be for many reasons. In my case, sometimes people have misunderstood my background. I am not a clinical psychologist, yet people have asked me if I can help them with their marriage problems or interpret their dreams. Nope! In other instances, I have been asked to do work in an entirely different profession in order for the company to save money on expensive outside consultant fees.
The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) contains six aspirational Responsibility standards, with the second one being: “2.2.2 We accept only those assignments that are consistent with our background, experience, skills, and qualifications.”
This does not mean that we cannot accept work if we haven’t performed that exact work before. In fact, we should be continuing to learn and expand our experiences. The Code of Ethics contains a comment stating “Where developmental or stretch assignments are being considered, we ensure that key stakeholders receive timely and complete information regarding the gaps in our qualifications so that they may make informed decisions regarding our suitability for a particular assignment.” They key here is to open and honest about your experiences and qualifications. Perhaps you are almost ready to do a certain type of assignment on your own, but you’d like permission to ask a consultant for advice if certain types of unusual problems arise. Know your own strengths and limitations.
When submitting bids, we also need to be honest about the qualifications of our organization as a whole. A comment contained in the Code of Ethics states “In the case of a contracting arrangement, we only bid on work that our organization is qualified to perform and we assign only qualified individuals to perform the work.” The loss of time and money can be tremendous when a buyer selects a bidder only to find out through experience that the organization was not competent for the work.
February 18, 2010
The First Aspirational Responsibility Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
It’s not all about money. An organization could select projects primarily based on financial selection techniques (which indicate the projects with the highest ROI), but there is more that should be considered by those who are responsible.
The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) contains six aspirational Responsibility standards, with the first one being: “2.2.1 We make decisions and take actions based on the best interests of society, public safety, and the environment.”
A project to develop a violent game for children could become a popular toy, but perhaps it would encourage children to harm others. Knowing that the seatbelts in a new line of cars tend to malfunction but selling the cars anyway because settling a few lawsuits would be cheaper than replacing the seatbelts, could lead to injuries and even death. A project to build a new canal could be quite profitable, but perhaps it would devastate the local environment. The responsible decisions project managers make are also on a smaller scale within a project. For example, could paper be saved by reading an electronic version of a particular report rather than printing it? This ethics standard challenges us to think about the consequences of our actions and evaluate whether they lead to helping or hurting others and our world, regardless of how we and our organization may personally benefit.
February 19, 2010
The Third Mandatory Respect Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Thirty-seven percent of workers have been bullied, 45% of targets suffer stress-related health problems, and 62% of employers ignore the problem (Workplace Bullying Institute survey at http://www.workplacebullying.org/research/WBI-Zogby2007Survey.html). The poor psychological treatment of workers is a prevalent and serious problem.
The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) contains four mandatory Respect standards, with the third one being: “3.3.3 We do not act in an abusive manner toward others.”
Although most importantly it is morally wrong to harm others in this way, the fact that it also leads to turnover, lower productivity, and litigation are additional incentives for an organization to be concerned about workplace abuse. In teaching this Code of Ethics, I have found that most project managers quickly recognize and condemn given examples of abusive behavior. However, some do not. This standard is well-placed in the Respect section, because abusive, bullying behavior shows a lack of respect for another person. Humiliating, belittling, intimidating, or threatening someone, stealing credit for their work, spreading gossip, and excluding them socially are all examples of abuse that must be avoided by project managers.
February 22, 2010
The Second Aspirational Honesty Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Happy birthday to George Washington! One of the most enduring folklore stories about the first President of the United States is that as a boy he chopped down his father’s cherry tree, and when his father discovered the ruined tree, George said that he could not tell a lie and so confessed his misdeed.
“5.2.2 We are truthful in our communications and in our conduct” is the second aspirational Honesty standard from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) and a fitting standard to discuss on Washington’s birthday.
This standard is relatively straightforward. We communicate and behave in an honest manner. We are to avoid not only telling outright lies, but also the intent to deceive and lies of omission. Recently people have told me of some of the lies that an organization’s leaders have been telling the employees in order to make the company look good. The leaders quickly lost the respect and trust of their employees. However, as people act in a truthful manner, people can grow to trust them rather than have doubts and suspicions.
February 23, 2010
The Fifth Aspirational Responsibility Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
In the course of your work, you may deal with proprietary or confidential information. This could be your organization’s information or that of a client or business partner. We are now living in the Information Age and certain knowledge can be extremely valuable. A small bit of knowledge may be all that separates one organization from their competitors.
“2.2.5 We protect proprietary or confidential information that has been entrusted to us” is the fifth aspirational Honesty standard from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf). I am often surprised at how poorly valuable information is protected and how many people often have access to information that they really do not need to have. Any victim of identity theft can attest to the problems that can occur when a few pieces of information are stolen such as a credit card or social security number.
How should we apply this Code of Ethics? When in possession of proprietary or confidential information, before sharing that information one should make sure that the other person is privy to it. Also, one should not be careless. For instance, you may have sensitive information on your laptop that you carry around so you must be careful about guarding it. The password you use to access work-related information should be difficult to crack. Perhaps careless talking is the easiest way to spread information that should be kept secret. As the WWII slogan says “loose lips sink ships.” With the realization of how valuable certain information is and what harm could happen if it falls into the wrong hands, it becomes natural to behave in ways that protect it.
February 24, 2010
Whistleblowing—The Second Mandatory Responsibility Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
“Isn’t it enough that I don’t do anything unethical or illegal at work?” In a word—no. An earlier posting described how we are also to make it easier for others to behave ethically (standard 5.2.5 “We strive to create an environment in which others feel safe to tell the truth”).
Now we go even beyond that and turn to what we ought to do when someone else is behaving unethically. The second mandatory Responsibility standard from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “2.3.2 We report unethical or illegal conduct to appropriate management and, if necessary, to those affected by the conduct.”
The consequences of bringing attention to someone else’s wrongdoing can be quite negative. The problem may be as simple as having an HR manger explain to an uninformed employee that some of the questions they asked while interviewing an applicant were illegal and they must not ask them again. Or it could be as difficult as reporting to a government agency that the leaders of one’s organization are involved in fraud that has stolen millions of government dollars. Because of the complexity and consequences surrounding whistleblowing, there are specific laws and policies concerning it (http://whistleblowerlaws.com/index.php). This particular standard in the Code of Ethics is probably one of the most difficult to follow because it is so easy to look the other way rather than bring attention to something negative and face the repercussions.
February 25, 2010
Transparency–The First Aspirational Fairness Standard in the PMI Code of Ethics
Transparency—the light shines through so that everything is revealed and nothing is hidden. The first aspirational Fairness standard from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “4.2.1 We demonstrate transparency in our decision-making process.”
In our TAPUniversity Values, which is prominently displayed at our headquarters, our first value is that of Integrity, which specifically includes openness and transparency. Why have we placed transparency as part of Integrity? Because transparency greatly reduces not only the suspicion of dishonesty, but the temptation of dishonesty as well. When some things are kept secret, people quickly wonder what others are trying to hide. By being open about how and why a decision was made, it is easier for others to accept the decision. Also, if input is being sought, informing people of the decision to be made allows for them to share perspectives that may have been otherwise overlooked.
March 4, 2010
Solving Conflicts and the PMI Code of Ethics
“Can you believe that guy? Sales is my area—he’s just trying to make me look bad in front of the boss.” Conflicts and disagreements are commonplace in the workplace. It is to everyone’s benefit if they are quickly resolved. The third aspirational Respect standard in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf) is “3.2.3 We approach directly those persons with whom we have a conflict or disagreement.” This standard sounds more like practical advice than an ethics standard, but here it is being considered a matter of respect to directly approach someone rather than resort to other less productive behaviors. It can be easier to complain about someone else’s behavior to your friends at the office and have them agree with you that so-and-so is unreasonable or worse. Unfortunately, it likely will make the problem worse rather than resolve it. It may not be all that difficult to approach a subordinate to discuss something you disagree on. However, sometimes it is very stressful to approach a superior with whom you have a disagreement. In TAPUniversity’s Conflict Resolution course, we discuss approaching people respectfully, being logical, and listening carefully to their perspectives when we have a disagreement. As a leader, if people are unafraid to share (in a respectful manner) a view that conflicts with yours, it can lead to valuable information and opportunities.
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