Long Live Project Management

5 common mistakes while taking PMP Exam

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 14:44:00 +0000

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Now that PMI (Project Managment Institute) guide PMBOK 5th Ed is out and soon exams will be attuned, and here are few common mistakes PMP exam aspirants can avoid.

1. Blind Dates - Aspirants' failing to plan a tentative date at the least after their application is approved.
You are so busy until email alerts you and you rush a booking at the end of 1 year window and go for exam with the hope that you had a good initial preparation and training and now glancing at the eleventh hour will suffice. So instead of a blind-date try a Backward pass with last date as exam date (include contingencies) and check your availability time over weekends. Be a student but not with student syndrome.

2. Pride and Prejudice - Famous author book collections, lot of downloads, are merely data or prints or held for pride. It is essential to read the prescribed Guide and books but not to by-heart or treat particular book is 'The book' for the exam. You are likely to be tested for managerial skill not book-worm skill. So think logical, draw your own charts, write you own notes. Talk with or Think as other industry folks if you have time (break the mindset of mapping your own experience). You may have decade+ years of experience but become a student for a while, and pen your notes in A4 sheets for each knowledge area OR process group respectively and finally to one A4 that goes in your pocket. Remember, if at all you want to buy a second book or download just ask if you have trashed the first .

3. Impatience - Once you take say 10%-20% of questions or when you see a negative score trend, do not mellow down. Practice makes a man perfect, guess everyone would agree. Apart from conventional approaches, set a timer and try taking 50%-100%, so that, you develop the habit of not missing simpler quiz and become also time conscious. Also set your focus on one area of result at a time and repeat as many times (forget if you score less in a particular area or group) but ensure score improves on iterations. Instead of going with one big question bank and get convinced of a good achievement, you may have to try with few more third party question banks so that mindset are not skewed. 150-200 questions are more than enough as per a statistic to judge your success rate. So do not put everything in a single basket. Last but not least when you read a quiz, be sure you are able to identify which process area it belongs to. Do not chose those question banks where you find them asking for PERT, CPM etc.. expansions or twisted expansion of the same.

4. Forgetting the Trainer - Oops!, Why would I remember?. Relationship matters, being in touch with the trainer helps you to reassure your confidence. It may not be for entire day appointment but probably an hour or less. Do your home work (revise once thoroughly, especially those tips that was offered earlier, write down things to clarify), get an appointment ( may be for a fee or in kind, it is worth), tell your progress, seek for tips, get inputs, and have an open mind to follow the feedback. If you still could not do it with the old trainer, check for any boot-camps near by and go for it. Rehearsals are worth before any performance.

5. Self Deception - Aspirants have got to do justice to themselves upon training completion. You are a dedicated project manager busy with all project things, this is good for the company and appreciation letter from client boost your confidence as well. Both have benefited from your contribution, but wait, what is that for you ? Adding to it, may be your personal commitment that steals away your time. Favour yourself for a while, allocate 2 hours in the weekend when birds-chirp after sound sleep, you are calm, fresh for 'revision breakfast'. Oh Well, if you have been busy Friday evening, you may change your revision timing! ... But remember you have got to work something for your self.

Hope to be useful to readers who are planning to take the exam sooner or later. If you liked it share to your friends.

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How to control politics in project management

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:40:00 +0000

COQ Items	Project A	Project B	Effort A	Effort B	Diff %	Comments(A-project A, B-Project B)
Prevention
Functional Training	5000	10000	5%	10%	-100	More scope definition effort-in-B
Build Training	2000	2000	2%	2%	0	Assume equally qualified
Process Training	9000	2000	9%	2%	78	More process learning points-in-A
QC Training	2000	5000	2%	5%	-150	More role orientation-in-B
User Training	10000	2000	10%	2%	80	More handover effort-in-A
Appraisal
Build and Test	15000	50000	15%	50%	-233	Shared stakeholder responsibility-in-B
QA Test	15000	5000	15%	5%	67	More External stakeholder testing-in-A
Acceptance Test	10000	2000	10%	2%	80	More External stakeholder testing-in-A
Failure
Rework	15000	2000	15%	2%	87	Change updates-in-A
Support	7000	2000	7%	2%	71	Added demand need for rework-in-A
Testing	10000	2000	10%	2%	80	Lag time for assurance-in-A
	100000	84000	100%	84%

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