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).
May 29, 2009
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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