Project Management Professional (PMP)

March 2013 Webinar Alert - The Illusion and Promise of Self-Organizing Teams

2013-02-26T00:04:00.001-08:00

Teams and teamwork are the heart and soul of every project. This is especially true for agile teams. It is not the individual performance or accomplishment that counts but that of the team. Just like in team sports the team succeeds and fails together. Interestingly Agilists propose self-organizing teams. But what does "self-organizing" mean? If teams are self-organizing why do so many teams and projects fail?

This lecture sheds light on self-organizing teams. It explains what distinguishes them from manager-led and self-governing teams. It then outlines the ingredients that self-organizing teams need in order to develop and prosper.

Self-organizing teams have an immense potential for achieving powerful results on a project. However, there is no guarantee that self-organizing teams will form and be able to sustain themselves. This is particularly the case in non-agile organizations. Under those circumstances it is important to know common pitfalls of self-organizing teams and learn to overcome them. The lecture will discuss difficulties in developing and nurturing self-organizing teams. And it will show what it takes to master these challenges. This is not an easy task. The returns, however, are multifold and worth the investment. Self-organizing teams can thus become a cornerstone of project success.

You can Register and login to the webcast.

Source: PMI Information Systems Community of Practice (ISCOP)

Reducing the Estimation Gap

2013-02-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

Based on a Knowledge Shelf article by Hrishikesh Karekar, PMP

Your project is going deeper and deeper into crisis as time goes on. Costs spiral upward; milestone due dates are pushed back ever later.
We all know that cost and time overruns can lead to project cancellation or failure. Yet these overruns continue to happen. Why is that, and what can you do about it?

Why Do We Overrun?
Often, cost and time overruns are blamed on forecasting errors — imperfect techniques, inadequate data, honest mistakes, lack of experience by the forecasters, etc.
But were the planned budget and timeline correct and realistic? Or were they underestimated and impractical from the beginning?

What is surprising is that all project estimates go through a series of reviews for validation to ensure their correctness. Even with those reviews, we can’t seem to get it right for many — if not most — projects. Is this simply an oversight, or are there deeper phenomena influencing the planning?
Optimism and Other Biases
Neuroscience and social science suggest that humans in general are more optimistic than realistic. So we tend to exaggerate our own ability and minimize potential difficulties.
This optimism isn’t the only bias that can affect project estimates.
Self-serving bias is the tendency to take credit for success and blame external factors for failure. Project teams that ignore lessons learned from previous projects, hoping that external factors influencing failure were one-time incidents, act under this bias.
The false consensus effect is the tendency to believe that most people share one opinion. The potential incorrectness of this assumption can lead to trouble later on.
Illusion of control is the tendency to exaggerate one’s perception of control over external events, also possibly leading to problems when these events prove more difficult than expected.
Strategic Misrepresentation
More insidious a phenomenon is strategic misrepresentation, which is the planned, systematic distortion or misstatement of fact (i.e., lying) in response to incentives in the budget and schedule planning process.
Factors stimulating these misrepresentations include:

Uncertainty, which leads to erring on the high side or cutting excessively because assumptions were made about generous time or money buffers
Information asymmetry, where stakeholders with more information than other stakeholders choose to withhold or share that information based on their strategy and the expected outcome of budget or schedule planning
Absolute constraints on resources and benefits that align only with objectives of several stakeholders, possibly not aligning with the overall organizational objectives for the project
Making planning decisions in a highly accelerated timeframe lacking thorough analysis and/or sufficient data
Short-term versus long-term perspective (i.e., lowering the estimate on purpose in order to “win the bid”)

The result of any of these factors and biases is an estimation gap that can cause real business losses. Levi Strauss & Co., for example, took a US$192.5 million charge against earnings to compensate for problems caused by a possibly misestimated US$5 million IT upgrade project.
Minimizing the Gap
Although optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation cannot be completely avoided, organizations can take steps to limit their negative impact.

Approaches include:

Improving systems and procedures for historical data gathering and trend analysis
Training project teams to improve their understanding of biases connected with estimating
Maintaining extensive checklists based on lessons learned from previous projects, and using the checklists to validate that estimates account for everything to ensure on-time and on-budget completion of the project
Collecting reference estimates for similar projects done in the company and/or industry to establish baselines
Creating incentives in the forms of rewards and praise for those who provide, review or approve project forecasts in a realistic way
Auditing forecasts to enforce transparency of information

Minimizing the gap between estimates and reality will go a long way toward increasing project success rates.
This article is based on "Expectation versus Reality: Reducing the Estimation Gap" by Hrishikesh Karekar, PMP, an article posted on the Knowledge Shelf. Knowledge Shelf is a growing (more than 250 articles written and reviewed by your peers) online resource for categorized project management knowledge.

Source: PMI

PMO Survival — Can Charters Help?

2013-02-25T07:27:00.001-08:00

Credit: PMI

PMI’s Pulse of the ProfessionTM report showed that the number of project management offices (PMOs) is increasing, but it also found that simply having a PMO does little to improve project success rates.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that many PMOs have a short “shelf life.”

How do you resurrect a failing PMO? What can prevent it from failing? Should a PMO ever close?

We posed these questions to discussion participants on the PMI Career Central LinkedIn Group, as well as the PgMP Credentialed Networking Group on LinkedIn. The discussions centered on what can be done at the start, long before the PMO gets in trouble. Gaining executive buy-in, chartering the PMO and mandating a review after a set period of time were popular ideas.

Key Success Factor
Kimberly Field, a 14-year project management veteran in the health care industry, from Rhode Island, USA, says she is working in a PMO that has never gotten off the ground (it is a department that has only project managers working in it). “The new leadership in my company has committed to establishing a true PMO and integrating standards and controls to help deliver quality projects on time and within budget,” said Ms. Field. “The key success factor is having leadership with enough authority to influence the organizational change that must take place to implement a PMO.”

Craig Letavac, MSP, PMP, PgMP, of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, who has managed IT projects for 15 years, led a seminar at the 2012 PMO Symposium. During the seminar he suggested a “renewable charter” model that defines a clear scope for the PMO and set a review for 18 to 36 months. “The charter would be tied to some organizationally relevant value that the PMO would be expected to deliver and the PMO would work toward driving value against this charter,” Mr. Letavec said.

Then the PMO charter could be renewed, changed or potentially cancelled, if appropriate.

Definitive End Date
A charter with a definitive end date appeals to Jeff Siegman, a 10-year project and program management veteran from Connecticut, USA. “I have seen a PMO outlast its useful life and persist purely because no one considered an end to the life cycle,” he said. “Setting up a charter that has a renewal cycle would allow the major stakeholders a chance to review the process, its goals and progress [and] define new goals and changes, gaining buy-in from all stakeholders, some of whom might be new.”

Stephen E. Harris, of Trinidad and Tobago, who has been leading projects in several sectors for 15 years, agrees that a charter might help prevent PMO failures due to “unclear or inconsistent objectives and associated timelines, and changes in leadership focus.” He advises those involved with PMOs to track their successes, as “when budgets get lean, the PMO is often one of the first casualties, unless you can ‘validate’ your benefits.”

Take it Up as a Program
Prasad Kamath, PMI-ACP, PMP, PgMP, a 19-year IT project management veteran from Mumbai, India, has headed up program management offices and has consulted for organizations setting up PMOs. “One thing that I have seen missing is a sound understanding of what exactly a PMO is,” he says. He has rarely seen a charter for a PMO signed off by executive management.

“The implementation of a program or project management office must be taken up as a program,” said Mr. Kamath. “Just like any other program, it is essential to detail out the expected benefits and how they would be realized. This must be proactively reviewed at stage gates.”

A PMO can be a tool for executing organizational strategy, but our discussion participants believe it should be created with executive buy-in, clear documentation of purpose and a set date for formal review.

If you have further PMO insights, please add to the discussion on either the PMI Career Central Group or the PgMP Credentialed Networking Group.

Source: PMI

Project Management Professional Study Strategy Part 2

2012-09-13T03:10:00.002-07:00

PMP CERTIFICATION STUDY STRATEGY PART 2[Continued from the previous PMP blog]

Now if you map this as a graph, you will be getting the Bell Curve shape.

Hence, you will begin to understand the mindset of the examiners. I bet you, it has been one of my
best wisdom of getting away with any exam – finding out what the mindset of the examiner is. This
help me map the exam framework and hence focus my energies where they matter most while leaving
the “ less weightier matters of the law”

My prognosis and diagnosis of the CAUSE of failure revealed to me as it will reveal to you that my
energies were focused at the wrong places , so while I scored high at those less weightier areas my
cumulative average ended me being below the “Average” or “Proficient” scale. I quickly realised that
if I needed to PASS the exam all I needed was to dimension my study time so that I will put 30% of
my PM FASTrack revision time on Executing which became my number 1 area of focus; 25% on
M & C which became my number 2; 24% on Planning which became my number 3 and I must have
acquired sufficient confidence level or score level on these domains before I could then lastly touch
Initiating, number 4 and Closing number last.

The PM FASTrack tool was cool for me as it gave an option to test myself using the DOMAIN areas.
See the snapshot below

[To insert picture here]

All I did was put in more test time for Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and Planning as my
priority and tada! I made it very well at my second and last attempt!
Why is this so? Because , the Bell Curve of PMP exam questions frequency histogram showed
me that the highest number of questions would come from Executing, next M & C, Planning and
Initiating while Closing will be very few. They even have made you know that your success is based
on the more questions you answer accurately!
Now follow me...let’s do a simple math. So PMI says that total number of questions would be 200
abi? And about 25 questions will be diagnostic and wouldn’t count towards your score.
What are they testing you on? 200 minus 75 = 175 Questions

That means that, for Executing,
30% of 175 = approx. 53 Questions!
For Monitoring & Controlling
25% of 175 = approx 44 Questions!
For Planning,
24% of 175 = approx. 42 Questions
For Initiating,
13% of 175 = approx. 23 Questions
For Closing Process Group,
8% of 175 = approx. 14 Questions

Now, if your final score is an average of everything you answered correctly, then will notice that
Executing plus M & C plus Planning = 139 Questions
Let’s assume you answered Ex + M&C + P = 130 Questions right,
130 divided by 175 and multiplied by 100 equals 74.28% which already is above 67% which is the
PMI benchmark or “Proficient” level.
I believe you have seen the trick to pass your PMP exam on first attempt.

If this piece of information was useful to you then, drop me a few lines or comments.

2012-09-11T13:42:00.001-07:00

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP) EXAM PREP STRATEGY

What is the PMP certification?

According to PMI, the Project Management Institute [insert pmi.org link], the PMP® certification “demonstrates that you have the experience, education and competency to lead and direct projects.” You can find that on their website.

Hence, lots of professionals cutting across myriads of industries and marketing sectors desire to be PMP certified since this is likely to increase their recognition or remuneration base in their respective organizations.

Truly, the PMP certification is a really desirable accomplishment for any professional seeking the earlier mentioned plus more importantly the PMBOK framework helps a person to imbibe the attitude and mindset of a project manager. However, it better to seek knowledge than to crave for mere certificates. I have seen lots of so-called PMP-certified individual who flunk on very critical projects, especially those where their organizations have invested lots of project capital and funds. Before you take the exam it is better to ask yourself whether your purpose is just to add another acronym behind your name or to improve yourself as a person involved in handling critical projects. Hence, your objective should be to excel at your role of being a custodian of scarce resource, rather than just cram up your brains with jargons since your ambition of reaching increased pay may hit the rocks.

According to PMI, in order to qualify to sit for this test, a candidate must have the following

"■A four-year degree (bachelor’s or the global equivalent) and at least three years of project management experience, with 4,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education.

■A secondary diploma (high school or the global equivalent) with at least five years of project management experience, with 7,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education."

You can visit their website for more information on these. They have a handbook that details the exam eligibility requirements.

My main gist in this blog is not to talk about PMP exam eligibility requirements but to help those who wish to succeed at their first attempt of this important exam. To be candid, I did not make it at my first attempt. Why? You are about to find out.

At my first attempt, having prepared for about over 3 months and having seen my confidence level rise to the skies, I sat at the end of my CBT test to an appalling result – a FAIL! I was surprised just as many of you who must have put in lots of time studying Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Prep 6^th edition. In fact, I studied using a combination of PMBOK 4^th edition, Rita and the PM FASTrack v.6. After more than 3 months of intensive study I only got a FAIL, it was almost demoralizing but there are few of us there who understand that a FAIL on paper isn’t really a fail in LIFE! Praise God.

One good thing about the new PMP CBT exam is that you will get a feedback at the end of the exam across the five(5) domains of the PMI project management life-cycle or phases, namely, Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Control, and Closing. A snapshot of my first attempt looked like you see below

1. Initiating – Proficient

2. Planning - moderately proficient

3. Executing – Moderately proficient

4. Monitoring & Controlling – below proficient

5. Closing – Proficient

And at the end, the computer computes and averages across the five domains and assigns a FAIL.
I believe many of us would have faced similar disheartening feedback and a few of us geniuses made it on the first attempt. Kudos to the whiz kids amongst us!
My objective for writing this blog is to help those of us who are a bit weak at exams-like-this preparations and I hope this insight would help us. If you find my tips helpful simply send me feedback.

My first attempt pushed me to find out why my result was bad. The feedback from the computer directed me to an important piece of document which I FAILED to look at while preparing for my PMP exam. What is this piece of information booklet about? You are about to find out...

Take a wild guess . I took my time to read thoroughly the feedback note from PMI on my result. You will most likely see it as the last sentence. It directed me to look into the “PMP Examination Content Outline” which many of us do not ever mention while discussing about the PMP exam! It takes more than reading or studying to be successful after FAILING. You need to diagnose yourself and be courageous to make another attempt. It isn’t easy you might say. Of course and who promised you that achieving some useful endeavour in life is that easy?

Through this important piece of document, I discovered that the effort you require to put in to pass the PMP exam should not be the same for all the domains. Hence, I needed to put in more study time in certain domains or project phases that the others! It doesn’t matter how much time you put in totally to study for this exam, to be successful you have to exert your energies in the right direction and right proportions. This is a key for being successful at the first attempt.

From the PMP Exam Content Outline, you will find out like me that just like a real project, the efforts which a project manager is expected to put in throughout the Project life-cycle takes the form of a BellCurve.

The snapshot below will show you in percentages the amount of preparation efforts which PMI expects you to exert at each domain area.

to be continued....