As a project management trainer I teach the PERT estimating technique. PERT is the Program Evaluation Review Technique developed by the Navy in the 50′s to support the Polaris submarine project. It was used a method of scheduling. I teach it as method of estimating. The basic idea of PERT is that instead of using the traditional one point estimate or guess, the estimation is done using a pessimistic estimate, and optimistic estimate and a most likely estimate. The most likely estimate is weighted times four and the sum of the three estimates is divided by 6. The result is a weighted average. I think his method of estimating makes the estimation process more accurate and ask the estimators to consider both the positive and negative events that could affect the schedule. How many of you use this type of estimating? Does it work for you? Is it supported by your project teams and sponsors?
I recently attended a short seminar that talked about creating stories for an Agile Scrum project. Without going into a lot of detail Scrum is a methodology for working projects in short bursts called sprints. Work in concentrated in two to four week increments with a deliverable at the end of each sprint. There are daily stand-up five minute meetings and the focus in on quality and getting what the user wants done right. Scrum seems to be used in software development but can be used in other projects. My concerns are about the other elements of traditional project management getting left out. How does Scrum deal with risks, communications, stakeholders, quality, human resources, scheduling, cost management and procurement? Is there a critical path? Can critical chain method be used? Do all those traditional project management steps get done in the background or are they left out or assumed to be overhead. These are just my thoughts. I’m looking for answers.
In my last blog I talked about the new PMP exam which actually has been used since August 2011. As an instructor for the PMP certification I have received feedback from many exam takers. The good news is that 94% have passed. I’m not sure there is any bad news. The exam is hard and it takes longer than before at least for the majority of recent test takers. I did have a student who took the test last week and passed only taking 2 hours. Most of the feedback is saying about 3 and half hours. My advice is to develop a battle plan for the test. Plan to read all the questions but read the last lines to determine what the question is asking. Eliminate the obvious wrong answer and there is usually one. Eliminate the next most wrong answer and then think process and order to determine the best answer. Both of your last two choices may be correct but only one is the best answer. The other big advice is learning the 42 processes and the inputs, tools / techniques and outputs. I said learn not memorize because feedback from the exam says there are over 40 questions just on these processes. Good luck but you may not need it if you are well prepared. I’ll talk about that in the next blog.
Many of you may know that a new PMP exam went into effect on the 31st of August 2011. For the first several months the Project Management Institute withheld test results from test takers for a few weeks to study the new exam. In October of 2011 PMI started again releasing the test results as soon as the exam taker took the exam. This apparpently indicated that the exam was successful. The changes were that the separate area of professional ethics was merged into the other five areas of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing projects. So what was the feedback from test takers? As a PMP certification trainer I have collected feedback from many test takers of the new exam and main changes noted are that the questions are longer and that the new test takes over 3 hours and 15 minutes which is about 30 minutes longer then test takers before the change. So what does this mean to the new test taker? I’ll talk about that in the next post.
As a project manager and a trainer I have learned that sharing knowledge is a vital key to success. Over the course of the last two years I have been able to collect or create several documents that I feel will be helpful to any project manager. Some of the documents will help when taking the PMP exam and some of them are just great for the beginner project manager. Please feel free to use and shre any of these documents. Any feedback on these documents would be appreciated.
PMP Preparation Review – A good review
PM Essentials Guide v.2 – My version of cliff notes for any project manager
Project Management Bibliographies – A good list of project management references
PMP Comprehensive Notes – A set of comprehensive notes for the PMP exam in a spreadsheet
Project Workbook - A spreadsheet that serves as a workbook for tracking project activities
PM in 4 Pages - A PowerPoint of 4 slides covering all the key things you need to know for the PMP exam
Every company, every business, every structured organization uses project management. It may not be called project management or maybe it is but really doesn’t follow any rules or checklist. I think that project management is really just getting things done by applying a basic set of skills that make the difference between getting it done and getting it done right the first time while meeting your objectives and those of your client. Most projects are just trial and error because they are moving targets with change being the main element of the effort. There is nothing wrong with change but too much of it isn’t acceptable. So ask yourself if you or your organization would benefit from learning project management essentials. Getting trained can be easier than you think. Any training should be customized based on your needs and objectives. I’ve always been about learning what people need and then applying the right set of training to accomplish what’s requested. If you’d like to get trained in any area of project management or perhaps all of the essentials let me know and perhaps we can talk about your needs. Send me an email and let me know what I can do for you. wlewis55@comcast.net
I’ve been teaching PMP Prep classes for the last two years and have been asked several times to teach a basic PM Essentials course. I thought it would be a great idea and have recently finished developing the content. My biggest challenge was determining what was essential for new or part time project managers. I figured that gathering requirements, creating a good scope statement and then the WBS (work breakdown structure) were certainly basic to all project managers. I decided to talk about risk management early in the process to bring more focus to the art of risk management. Other essential topics included building a schedule and understanding the critical path. I also thought that learning about estimating techniques and controlling cost were important. I touched on quality and communications but not with the levels of depth that the PMBOK covers. And finally I will cover change control and managing the project team. So I’m not covering procurement, no coverage of quality tools, very little HR and no integration management. I’d love to hear what you think is essentials to being a project manager.
The PMP exam will change this August. The last day for the old exam is August 31. The new version will eliminate a separate section for the professional responsibilities and ethics section. Instead all the questions covering these topics, and there will be a bunch, will be integrated into the rest of the knowledge and process area questions. The information required is the same, the only change is that this area will not have it’s own section. I don’t think there is a need to panic and take the exam just because of this change. I do think that if you are qualified you should take the exam.
What do project management and contract management have in common? The answer is a lot. The simple fact is that every contract should be treated like a project. Managing a contract has all the elements of managing a project. You need a reason to have a contract, you need a plan for the contract, you’ll need to execute the contract and monitor it. Controlling it and performing the contract administration as also essential. And last but not least is closing the contract. So if you are a contract manager, you either need to use your project manager to help you manage the contract or learn the fundamentals of project management to manage your contracts.
If you or your business needs help in project management, I’d like to provide support. I know many project managers are really electricians, construction experts, teachers, business analysts or many other jobs, that get assigned to do a project. If you are in that situation or have a whole business that operates this way then getting a quick overview of project management essentials will help. I have a simple checklist outline and notes that cover the steps required in most projects. Of course there are details behind each step and the list does not provide all the answers but it may just get you on the right track. Please feel free to use the list and if you need additional help or would like some on site training contact me. http://billlewistraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Project-Management-Essentials-Notes-v21.docx
