Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and regulate your emotions as well as other’s emotions. The ability to sense and understand emotions and act accordingly in order to manage the team with emotions and empathy is called emotional intelligence in project management.

According to Sodexo, The World Economic Forum identifies Emotional Intelligence as one of the top 10 competencies for 2020

According to HR Daily ,

According to HR managers, the greatest benefit of hiring an employee with the highest emotional intelligence is increasing morale.

What are the components of Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is measured in five categories:

• Social skills: The ability to find common ground with others by maintaining friendships and good relationships with others.
• Motivation: The ability to build an interest in learning and self-improvement is called motivation. Motivation includes the increasing measure of commitment towards the task.
• Empathy: The ability to understand others’ emotions and reactions. The quality of empathy includes understanding others perception, ability to anticipate problems
• Self-regulation: The ability to hold the emotions and control one’s impulses. It also includes the ability to respond appropriately to others’ behavior and emotions.
• Self-awareness: The ability to understand one’s mood and the effects they have on others.

What is the importance of Emotional Intelligence in project management?

Project management involves a lot of communication and face to face interactions. Emotional intelligence helps the project managers to have effective communication and reduction in conflicts. Emotional intelligence plays an important role in all aspects of project management.

Emotional intelligence can enhance the effectiveness of all the knowledge areas of project management. According to PMI, The relevant concepts of emotional intelligence are applied in each of the knowledge areas.

1. Project Integration Management: In order to define the project strategy, the project manager has to be self-aware of emotions, weaknesses, and strengths. Self-awareness will help you to identify the stakeholders. The working relationship between all the stakeholders should be tied together through emotional intelligence.

2. Project Scope Management: Defining scope requires keeping everyone involved on track and adhere to the defined scope of the project. In order to define the scope, the project manager has to be self-aware and self- ejaculated. The control on self will help the project manager to define the scope and adhere to the purpose of the project.

3. Project Schedule Management: To create a schedule, a project manager should not fluctuate his mind and keep calm to make realistic estimates. Self-regulation is a must to keep values and yourself accountable.

4. Project Cost Management: Self-regulation and self-motivation play a very vital role in successfully managing the cost. The optimum utilization of the budget allotted can be managed successfully if you possess self-regulation and self-motivation traits.

5. Project Quality Management: Self-motivated individuals can successfully manage the quality of the project. Sometimes, even after submitting the quality deliverables, difficult negotiation skills are required to manage the auditors. Emotional intelligence can help you to successfully maintain the quality of the project.

6. Project Resource Management: The ability to set clear goals with the available resources can be possible by a highly motivated project manager. Resource management also involves building a good relationship with the team, understanding the team’s requirements, resolving conflicts, responding to the emotions of the team members.

7. Project Communication Management: Effective communication can be achieved by possessing empathetic behavior towards team members. Responding to the feelings and emotions of team members can help you build a good working relationship. Emotional Intelligence helps you to identify what stakeholders need and help you to respond effectively.

8. Project Risk Management: Emotional intelligence can help you to identify the source of the risk and will enable you to effectively mitigate them. Possessing Empathy can aid to put all the risk into perspective and help identify the likelihood and impact associated with risk.

9. Project Procurement Management: Having social skills can help you in procuring the required services or products. It will help you to build a strong relationship for future projects.

10. Project Stakeholder Management: Stakeholder management is one of the most crucial aspects of project management. The ability to socialize with other stakeholders will benefit to maintain a good relationship. Also, self-awareness will help to effectively manage all the stakeholders' needs and requirements.

What are the ways to improve Emotional Intelligence?

The following are the 5 ways to improve emotional intelligence:

1. Become self-aware of your emotions and feelings
2.  Monitor your responses, examine them, assess your trigger points.
3. Understand the perspective of others
4. Empathize with others
5. Listen attentively
6. Develop connections with the people working with you
7. Keeping the balance between self and others’ emotional balance

What are the tools available to test our emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence tools enable you to recognize your emotional balance level. The tools available can be categorized in terms of,

Ability Based: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)

Trait-based: Bar-On EQ-i

Competency-based: ECI

Behavior-based: Genos

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Project Management is all about maintaining the correct flow of the project, mitigating all the risks encountered. There are many aspects of project management to be taken care of. A successful project manager is the one who manages tasks, resources, budget, dependencies, and risks to successfully complete the project on time. The project manager should be well versed in the methodologies, business strategy, the objective of the project, and should have,

• Effective Communication Skill
• High-Vision
• Integrity and honesty
• Leadership
• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to motivate a team
• Task delegation
• Decision-making skills
• Negotiation skills
• Risk mitigation skill

Project Manager brings complete clarity on the scope of each function, the sequence of interdependency between functions, expected timeline for each function with a complete resource plan

According to the Pulse of the Profession 2018: Success in Disruptive Times,

The following are the reasons why the project fails:

Project management is quite challenging. The Project Manager must be always aware of the risks in the action taken, and hence should be careful to execute those actions with minimal risks or risks that can be mitigated and eliminated. The chances of taking the wrong step are quite high depending on the complexity of the project.

Here are the common mistakes of project management to avoid:

1. Lack of communication between stakeholders
2. Poor Resouce Management
3. Lack of knowledge on the project objective
4. Poor Prioritization
5. Lack of control on changes
6. Not following project management processes
7. Not using project management softwares and tools
8. Setting unrealistic goals
9. Micromanaging the team
10. Incorrect estimation of Budget and Time

1. Lack of communication between stakeholders

Lack of communication leads to insufficient knowledge of the requirements of the project. It affects the overall performance of the team. Effective communication is required to run the project activities successfully.

The required message to be conveyed should be clear and always have a record. Communication involves,

Encoding= Creating a message

Decoding= Interpreting and understanding the meaning of the message sent.

The primary rule of communication in project management is to inform the respective stakeholder about any change in the requirement.

Varying expectations can affect the overall project quality, cost, and schedule. Poor communication also affects team members.

The project schedule is disturbed when the required message is not reached on time. Poor communication between stakeholders can cause confusion among team members.

Almost 29% of the projects fail due to poor communication.

Project managers with effective communication skills convey the project goal, motivate the team and resolve the conflicts.

2. Poor Resource Management

The resources can be anything that is required to deliver the project on time. Resources can be people, equipment, skillset, space, tools, finances and time.

Poor project resource management can cause,

• Unsatisfactory deliverables
• Unexpected setbacks
• Increase in re-work
• Increase in cost

Identifying the wrong resources in terms of their skill set can result in poor quality, rework, and increase the overall cost of the project.

Effective resource management is carried out using the following technique:

Resource Allocation: Depending on their availability and skills, the resources are allocated to perform the project activities.

Resource Scheduling: The estimation of the resource required to complete the project activities within the specified timeframe.

Resource Leveling and Resource Smoothing: Resource leveling and resource smoothing take care of limited resources. It generally avoids over-allocation and under-allocation.

Resource Forecasting: The process of predicting future resource requirements ahead of time is resource forecasting.

3. Lack of knowledge on the project objective or goal

Unclear project objectives can cause project failure. The project objective and goal should be defined at the initiation stage to avoid miscommunication and wrong understanding of the project.

In order to define the project objective clearly,  DUMB method is used

Doable

Understandable

Manageable

Beneficial

By using a DUMB method, the project manager can set clear goals and define the project objective.

4. Poor Prioritization

Aligning the project activities and resources according to the project strategy is called project prioritization. Poor prioritization of the project activities can lead to,

• Project failure
• Delay in closing the project
• Unsatisfactory customer response
• Missed business goals

Effective project prioritization focuses on whole project delivery and can be carried out by using the following processes:

Value definition: The strategic value of the organization is defined by addressing the strategic goals to all the key stakeholders.

Weight your criteria: The process of turning all the business values and strategies to weighted criteria. All business goals are not equally important. The value of each business goal is measured.

Evaluate and score your project: The list of all the project activities are put together and evaluated according to weighted criteria.

Make the final prioritized list: According to the score of each project, the list is prepared.

5. Lack of Control on changes

Change control is a critical aspect of project management. Changes can occur anytime throughout the project life cycle. Changes become inevitable despite capturing everything in the scope but the changes must be controlled to avoid scope creep. Changes in the scope of the project can lead to project failure. Poor change management will result in

• The project might be put on hold
• Project delays
• Rework
• The project might fail to deliver
• Impact on customers
• Decline in morale
• Increase in expenses

The ADKAR model is used for effective change control.

Awareness: spreading awareness of change

Desire: Building desire to accept the change and support it

Knowledge: Training team members to gain complete knowledge of the change to be implemented.

Ability: Check the ability through evaluations and feedbacks

Reinforcement: Monitor the employees implementing the changes.

6. Not following project management processes

Poor project management causes project failure. The set of guidelines are to be followed. Project management is a complex process. Creating the work schedule in the initiation stage and assigning the tasks according to the schedule and monitoring will lead to successful projects. Processes are there to help the project run smoothly. Skipping the process can be the reason for rework.

7. Not using project management softwares and tools

In this digitalized era, not utilizing the softwares and tools is the common mistake in project management. There are many tools and softwares which help project managers to accelerate the project with minimum time. It helps in planning and executing and monitoring the project. Working manually and doing everything on your own takes a lot of time and chances of making mistakes are more. There are many project management tools available to fulfill the fundamental requirement. There are project management tools for the following functions:

Planning and Scheduling: The tools are available to plan tasks, subtasks, folders, templates, and workflows.

Tools for planning: Teamweek, 10,000 Ft plans

Collaboration: there are many other tools available other than emails.

Documentation: File management tools are available to manage the documents and records.

Evaluation: Tracking and evaluating is much simpler with tools.

8. Setting unrealistic goals

Setting unrealistic goals will increase work pressure in the team members. The unrealistic deadlines lead to poor quality of deliverables. Due to work pressure, the employee will target to finish the goal rather than producing a quality result.

The deadline for the project should be decided considering all the aspects such as

budget, time, resources availability, customers, stakeholders, suppliers.

9. Micromanaging the team

Micromanaging is one of the most critical factors to arise in conflicts. In simple terms, micromanaging is trying to control and monitor everything in the team. Micromanaging holds good in smaller teams as it makes complex operations more reliable. In larger organizations, the manager might lose track of the bigger assignment. Even though it gives a clear picture of the operations involved, over-controlling might affect the productivity of the team members.

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) is a technique used to micromanage without over-controlling. It provides all the useful elements to manage a team.

• OKRs allow the team to focus on their objective which is set every quarter.
• The objectives should be actionable and have a deadline.
• 4 measurable results are defined for each objective.
• The result should be measurable and lead to progress.
• The result should be quite difficult but achievable.

10. Incorrect estimation of Budget and Time

Lack of knowledge on the project at the initiation stage results in uncertainty in the estimates. Insufficient knowledge of the requirements and dependencies causes the wrong estimation of budget and time.

Incorrect estimates are not the direct cause of project failure. Poor estimation practices and Upfront planning are the main causes of incorrect estimation.

All the projects are different in terms of requirements, technology, business context, and constraints.

In order to minimize the errors in estimation and issue faced during execution,

• Ranged estimates are provided using a cone of uncertainty.
• Re-plan and re-estimates are done while tracking the progress of the project.

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With the onset of 2020, we behold a major change in the software development world which has evolved a lot since the last decade. The process of building software has changed in the following way:

• As the present times continue to push Agile adoption which is gaining widespread recognition and acceptance because of its iterative development,  Agile methodologies have become as popular and at times even outpace as the Traditional Waterfall methodologies.
• Object-oriented programming has changed to more technical and functional language
• The software development has become easier with premade solutions.
• Agile made software development and deployment differently through DevOps.
• “One-size-fits-all” solutions do not hold good for all the projects. A multi-dimensional framework is introduced based on the fundamental practices of project management.
• Development pace has increased due to lesser manual intervention
• Application Programming Interface (APIs) are growing

According to the report by EY: Digital Transformation for 2020 and beyond, Global Telecommunications Study, improved organizational agility is at the heart of successful digital transformation.

The book, Agile Project Management (APM) by Jim High smith, was one of the first attempts to broaden Agile techniques into a cohesive whole.

According to the 13th State of Agile Survey Report (2019),

• 71% of respondents adopted agile because it reduces project cost
• 74% of respondents adopted agile as it accelerates the software delivery
• 51% of respondents claim that adopting agile increases productivity
• 43% of respondents stated adopting agile enhances the product quality

Agile software development is a roof term under which all the frameworks and practices are based on agile principles and values.

The 12 principles of Agile Methodology are:

1. Customer satisfaction through early and continuous quality delivery
2. Welcome changes according to customer’s needs and requirement
3. Business and development go hand in hand
4. A collaborative approach to work
5. Build projects around motivated individuals
6. Promotes sustainable development
7. Face to face clear conversation
8. A measure of progress is working software
9. Continuous attention to excellence
10. Simplicity
11. Self-organizing teams
12. Reflect for Effectiveness

Here are the top 10 trends of Agile Software Development:

1. Automation
2. Focus on Customer’s experience
3. Value stream mapping
4. Global Outsourcing
5. Progressive Webapps
6. Security
7. Agile Maturity Model
8. Distributed Agile Teams
9. Scaling Agile
10. Cloud-based solutions
11.  

Automation

Automation in agile practice is very essential. The monotonous, routine and predictable tasks are automated through DevOps. It eliminates the manual effort of software developers and testers. The implementation of DevOps has resulted in an exceptional increase in time accelerated delivery.

DevOps is a methodology at the intersection of Software Development, Technology Operations, and Quality Assurance.

According to Deloitte,

“More than 500 executives from leading organizations have indicated that disruptive outsourcing solutions—led by cloud and automation—are fundamentally transforming traditional outsourcing.”

Implementing automation through DevOps increases automation, enhances productivity and reduces the time taken for execution. 

Focus on Customer’s Experience

In today’s digital era, customer experience strategies play a smart role in enhancing innovation and performance. Emerging technologies such as Artificial intelligence and machine learning are used to enhance the experience-centric economy. By enhancing user experience, innovation is more emphasized. End-user experience is vital for getting future projects.

Agile methodology through constant and continuous feedback from customers develops experiences iteratively which adds to the rigor and discipline in understanding the customer better and provides a consistent experience.

Agile adds rigor and discipline to customer experience management practices by developing experiences iteratively with regular consumer feedback. To use Agile to their advantage, CX pros must create a shared vision for a consistent experience, collect insights in a manner appropriate to Agile's workflow, and integrate current experience metrics. As new business realities continue to push Agile adoption, CX pros will need to refashion their approach to customer understanding, measurement, and design.

Value Stream Networks

Value stream mapping is a technique to define a project through a process map. Value stream mapping provides clarity to enhance the user experience. According to Forrester,

“A combination of people, process, and technology that maps optimize visualize and govern business value flow (including epics, stories, work items) through heterogeneous enterprise software delivery pipelines. Value stream management tools are the technology underpinnings of VSM practice.” 

According to Forrester,

Value stream mapping helps in filling the gaps in the processes and resources. It also helps in identifying and resolving disconnects and optimizing the software delivery pipeline.

It is because of agile and DevOps processes Value stream management has become more important. value streams can be created and managed by breaking the software into small pieces across multiple teams with the required tools for traceability and integration.

Global Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a practice where an organization hires a skilled individual to perform a certain task. In order to devote the company’s time to perform core functions, non-core activities are outsourced. The business activities are outsourced whenever there is a shortage of skilled resources. Due to the rapid transformation of cloud technology, organizations have become more agile. The non-core activities are outsourced and expanded their offerings.

According to Whitelane Research 2020,

• In the next two years, more outsourcing is predicted for Europe, with 74% of organizations planning to outsource at the same rate or more. Most outsourcing is expected in the financial services sector with 43% citing they are planning to outsource more, followed by the public sector with 39% (up 13% from last year). Financial services organizations are also most likely to insource with 15% of organizations planning to do so (an increase of 4% from last year).
• By country, most outsourcing growth is expected in Spain, the Netherlands, and the BeLux region, with (more than) 80% of organizations planning to outsource at the same rate or more.

The agile model works differently when compared to conventional outsourcing models. Agile focuses on teamwork wherein vendors work collaboratively. In an Agile environment, companies should work together with vendors and enable the agile team members to work side by side – be it virtually or physically to achieve the objectives. This approach is called the distributed agile, which can consist of many vendors and company staff and all of them treat as equals and engage in one mindset to understand the business need and find out solutions.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Progressive Web Apps are developed using modern web capabilities to deliver an app-like experience to users. It creates better customer engagement and conversion rates. PWAs is one of the emerging trends in agile. A scrum driven, agile approach is adopted by the team to the workstream, and incrementally deploying the PWA, helps to realize the expected benefits.

Security and Compliance

Security and compliance are very critical issues. In order to achieve continuous and secure development, agile methodologies are applied by mapping security requirements to agile.

Every organization has a set of regulations called compliance which ensures that you are doing the right thing and being able to prove it. Business innovation and business goals run simultaneously with security and compliance for better and enhanced productivity.

Agile Maturity Model

On the basis of maturity, Agile teams are being evaluated. The Agile Maturity Model is maturity in agile teams in the measure of adhering to the processes, practices, and values.

The following levels are defined on the basis of the maturity of agile.

• Initial
• Beginner
• Defined
• Measured
• Optimized

At the initial level, the agile team requires training on agile methodologies and agile principles.

At the Beginner level, the agile methodologies are adopted at the basic level.

At the defined level, the development team is well versed in agile methodologies and practices. The consistency in delivering sprints are high.

At the Measured level, the code quality is measured in matrix form.

At the Optimised level, the development teams are self-organized and capable to develop a product as per demand and schedule. The optimized level team focuses more on continuous learning on the basis of key performance indicators. The organizations at this level invest in automation to enhance productivity.

Distributed Agile Teams

Nowadays, agile project teams do not necessarily work in collocated space in the same time zone. The work can be done anywhere and anytime. Due to the rapid development in technology, globalization, increasing outsourcing, and talented resource availability in a different location the work is distributed in an agile manner.

According to The Modern Workplace 2019: People, Places & Technology study by Condeco,

Condeco concluded that remote working is the major trend in America

43% of U.S based organizations stated that more employees are expected to work remotely in 2020.

There are many benefits of distributed agile teams

• Flexible schedule
• Comfort working from home
• Higher Productivity
• Can avoid commuting
• Better work-life balance
• Better health
• Reduces attrition
• Improves morale

Scaling Agile

The scaling framework such as Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Scrum of Scrums were developed to meet the long-term planning benefits and help organizations in scaling lean and agile practice.

The proper scaling framework is required to implement the Agile Methodology. Scalable Agile Framework (SAFe) is the most used agile scaling framework which enables to implement Agile Methodology such as SCRUM at the bigger enterprise level.

According to the 13th State of Agile Survey Report (2019),

The Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) continues to grow in adoption as the scaling method of choice and was identified as the scaling method of choice by 30% of respondents.

Cloud-Based Solutions for agile development

The cloud-based solution is an on-demand service, storage, and networks accessed through cloud computing infrastructure. In order to reduce the time required to code, test and deploy, cloud-based solutions are in great demand and dominate in an agile environment.  The cloud-based tool reduces cost, boosts efficiency and increases scalability

According to Forbes,

IDC predicted that by 2022, 70% of enterprises will integrate cloud management.

The team can access world-class enterprise technology by using a cloud-based solution.

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Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a process of solving a problem in order to maintain the quality of the project. Lean and six sigma both are two different methods. Lean is a systematic approach to identify and reduce project activities that are not required. Six Sigma is a problem-solving methodology that focuses on continuous improvement with minimum defects. A combination of Lean and Six Sigma results in increased quality and revenue.

Lean Six Sigma certification is a quality management certification offered by the International Association of Six Sigma Certifications (IASSC™) designed to reduce variations and eliminate waste which ensures the quality of the process. It solves an existing problem with unknown causes.

LSS methodology is based on a problem-solving framework with a cycle called DMAIC. It is a data-driven quality strategy for improving the quality of the process. DMAIC is a five-phase process and is an acronym of:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Improve
• Control

DMAIC is pronounced as, “duh-may-ik.”

Define

The first phase of Lean Six Sigma is to Define. The main aim of the define phase is to define the “problem statement” and plan the improvement initiative.  In order to understand the overview of the project, ‘Project Charter’ is created.

The project charter is a key element that describes the whole project in brief. The project charter generally includes the objective of the project, stakeholders, requirements, high-level assumptions and constraints.

Define phase includes,

• Defining problems by developing a “problem statement” document
• Defining the project goal by developing “Goal Statement” document
• Defining the process of the project by developing a process map
• Defining the requirements from the customer 

Problem statement: It is a document created to know about the symptoms of the problem and its effect.  First, the indications of the issue are confirmed and then the problems are prioritized. 

Tools used in defining phase:

A project charter is used to define Goal Statement

SIPOC: Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers. SIPOC is a high-level map used for developing process maps.

Similarly, Value Stream Map and Swimlane Maps are used.

In order to define the customer and their requirement Voice of the Customer (VOC), Translation Matrix and Tree Diagram are used.

After defining all the above statements, A3, Relationship Map and Stakeholder Analysis are used to inform others about the progress of the project.

Measure

In this phase, the magnitude of the problem is identified. In order to measure the problems, baseline or the start point is created. Before making any changes, the baseline is created. Measure phase is vital because the data collected for the project will be used throughout the project.

The Measure phase involves,

• Creating a baseline
• Root cause analysis is done for the problems identified
• Baseline Data collection
• Ensuring the data collected is reliable
• Update the project charter

The main aim of this phase is to determine the current performance and refine the definition of each measure. This results in an improvement in quality and reduction in lead time. 

The tools used in Measure phase are:

Data collection plan is used to define where to get the data, how much data is required, who will be responsible for data collection and how to collect the data.

Operational definitions are used to define and refine the processes that lead to collecting critical process information.

The check sheet is used to collect the baseline data

The collected data and the changes are updated in the Project charter.

Analyze

In order to get the solution, The problems have to be analyzed. This phase is carried out parallelly with the measure phase. When the data is reviewed in the measure phase, the person reviewing might adjust the additional data in the data project plan. The processes and the data are analyzed in order to verify the root cause of the defects.

This phase involves,

Examining the process: When the process maps are created in the Measure phase, the problems and defects are listed within the process. Then process analysis is carried out which consists of,

• Time Analysis: work time versus the waiting time.
• Value-Added Analysis: Analyzing the process through the customer’s point of view in terms of cost.
• Value Stream Mapping: Mapping of process data with value-added analysis in order to remove the waste.

Visually inspecting the data: Inspecting the data collected using charts and graphs

Analyzing the root causes by developing the theories on all the possible causes. The problems are analyzed by brainstorming together.

Verifying the causes of the defects through,

• Process analysis
• Data analysis
• Process observation
• Comparative analysis.

Updating the project charter after finalizing the process performance and scope of improvement.

The tools used in Analyze phase are:

Value stream mapping and Value-added Flow Analysis use to examine the process.

Run Charts, Histograms, Box Plots, and Pareto Charts are used to visually analyze the data.

Fishbone Diagram and the 5Whys are used to analyze the root cause.

Root Cause Hypothesis is used to verify the causes of the defects.

Improve

Once the root causes are determined, the solutions are developed and implemented. In this phase, the ideas are produced to solve the problem. In this phase, the team refines the ideas by collecting all the ideas, monitor process changes and finally implement the ideas.

This phase involves,

• Listing out all the possible ideas that might fix the problem: Techniques like, Cross-Training, Setup Reduction, Kanbans are used to bring out the innovative ideas for the defects or problems identified.
• Selecting the best of solutions.
• Process-based maps are developed based on different solutions
• Based on the process map, the best solution is decided
• The solution decided is implemented.
• Measurable improvement is recorded.

The tools used in this phase:

• To brainstorm solution Benchmarking and Classic lean improvements are used.
• Weighed Criteria Matrix is used to make the best decision and Impact Effort Matrix is used to assess the solutions providing the best impact.
• To-Be Map, Value Stream Map and Swimlane Maps are used to develop a process map.
•  PDCA (Plan Do Check Act ) is used to select the solution. PDCA is a mini testing cycle carried out in order to select the best one.
• A pilot checklist is used to implement the plan
• Process changes are measured to check the improvement against the baseline. 

Control

Once the problem is fixed, it is very essential to maintain it. This phase aims to create a monitoring plan, measure success, update process and develop a response plan if any dip is found.

 Control phase is based on 4 principles:

• Value: To determine the steps which are important and are valued.
• Flow: The flow of the project process to be maintained smoothly.
• Pull: To ensure the customer’s demand is aligned with a process change.
• Perfection: The accuracy in the process.

This phase involves:

Ensuring the project process is continuously monitored using Lean. The response plan is prepared that involves the level at which the performance started to dip or reduce.

Recording the improved or changed process. Visual workspace is created to ensure others follow the new process.

Applying the improvement in all the areas. The knowledge gained in one project is applied in all the other areas of the organization.

Share the improvement and project success with everyone.

How to Get Lean Six Sigma Certified?

There is no such prerequisite to take any of the Lean Six Sigma Certification exams accredited by IASSC™. LSS has a hierarchy of certifications to progress in career path:

• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Who is the Target Audience for Lean Six Sigma Certification?

• Quality Managers
• Quality System Managers
• Quality Engineers
• Quality Supervisors
• Quality Analysts
• Quality Auditors
• Team Leaders
• Software Professionals
• Project Managers
• Improvement Managers
• Operational line managers

What is the average annual salary of Lean six sigma certified professionals?

According to ZipRecruiter, as dated on Feb 06, 2020,

The average annual salary for certified Lean Six Sigma professionals:

What is the exam format for the Lean Six Sigma Certification?

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt

60 multiple-choice questions

Duration: 2 hours

Qualifying points: 230 points out of 300 points

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

100 questions

Duration: 3 hours

Qualifying points: 385 points out of 500 points

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

150 questions

Duration: 4 hours

Qualifying points: 580 points out of 750 points

How to maintain Lean Six Sigma Credentials?

Lean six sigma certifications have no expiry date.

For more information on how you can accelerate your career with these certifications, visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ or call now on +1-713-287-1213 / 1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

We provide instructor-led classroom and instructor-led live online training across the globe. We also provide Corporate Training for enterprise workforce development.

Quality Management Training by iCert Global:

- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses

- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) Certification Training Courses

- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) Certification Training Courses

Scrum Training by iCert Global:

- CSM (Certified ScrumMaster) Certification Training Courses

Agile Training by iCert Global:

- PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Professional) Certification Training Courses

DevOps Training by iCert Global:

- DevOps Certification Training Courses

Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:

- ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

- CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

- CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Courses

iCert Global both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across the United States and around the world.

Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

Which certifications are you aiming to achieve in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the 'Comments' section below.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Hope you found it useful and interesting. Team iCert Global wishes you all the best for your learning endeavors.

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Here's a list of Top Project Management Trends for 2020:

1. Artificial Intelligence and Automation
2. Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
3. Hybrid Methodologies of Project Management
4. Virtual or Remote Team Management
5. Emerging Project Management Tools and Techniques
6. Soft Skills and Emotional Intelligence
7. Continuous Learning 

Project management is a practice to initiate, design, execute, monitor, control, and close a project within cost and schedule constraints. The main challenge of project management is to achieve all project objectives within the given limits.

Managing a project was quite challenging and difficult a decade ago due to a lack of project management tools and insufficient resources. The projects were smaller and simpler compared to current projects.

According to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession - Success in Disruptive Times 2018,

The field of project management is evolving with advanced technologies, tools, and emerging trends. The trends are meant to be implemented. Irrespective of the size of the project, the implementation of the latest project management trends is vital for the development of the organization.

Here is a list of the most prominent project management trends for 2020.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Automation

The hype for Artificial intelligence (AI) is alive since 2018. The main purpose of project management is analyzing risk, reducing cost, minimizing the repetition, ensuring smooth project flow, delivery on time and within budget.

The role of project managers is to monitor and manage the project with minimum repetition work and excellent decision-making skills. There are many project activities involved to successfully complete the project. 

Irrespective of the size of the project, there is always uncertainty. Risk-based probability management is always challenging for humans. The uncertainty can be reduced by using AI, machine learning and predictive analysis.

According to Gartner,

By 2030, 80 percent of the work of today’s project management (PM) discipline will be eliminated as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on traditional PM functions such as data collection, tracking, and reporting.

Gartner also predicts that,

By 2021, 70 percent of organizations will assist their employees’ productivity by integrating AI in the workplace.

Humans face challenges while handling complex data. Artificial Intelligence plays a vital role in minimizing human interference in day to day work.

In Project management, AI can be useful in,

1. Early prediction of risks
2. Eliminating repetitive work
3. Improved project analysis
4. Increase inefficiency

There are many tools and technologies of artificial intelligence used in project management:

1.  Knowledge-based expert system (KBES):

The combination of knowledge Base and Inference Engine, KEBS is a system created by collecting the facts and opinions from the subject matter expert (SMEs).

KEBS is used to provide the resource requirement and estimates of the duration for project activities based on the information by SMEs.

2.  Artificial neural network (ANN)

Artificial neural network (ANN) is a machine learning approach that has the ability to learn, generalize from the data and use the data the same as the human brain.

ANN is used to sequence the project activities based on the requirements.

ANN helps in predicting cost overruns based on project size, the competence of project manager and type of contract used.

ANN estimates the probability of occurrence of risk by allowing a quantitative approach to risk analysis.

3.  Genetic Algorithms (GA)

Genetic algorithms (GA) is an iterative search method based on the social behavior of the species or humans. It uses the natural evolution process to bring out the optimum solution to the large scale problems.

GA uses the natural evaluation process of selection, mutual decision and cross over to arrive at a decision.

GA in project management is used to optimize the schedule of project activities within constraints in order to reduce the cost.

4.  Fuzzy Logic

The logic computing by which we can determine the “degree of truth”. Fuzzy Logic helps to prioritize the project activities.

Fuzzy logic is used to assess risk in the project to model the probability distribution.

AI and automation are not taking over the project manager’s jobs. It is just making the process simpler.

Project managers getting familiar with AI and automation will make work much simpler and systematic. With AI and automation, you can deliver the project on time and on budget. 

2. Data analytics and Business intelligence

Project management includes a lot of data. Optimizing the business with lots of data is quite challenging. Project-based data are sometimes complex. In order to observe, measure and analyze the data, data analytics are used. Data analytics and Business intelligence both play a vital role in project management.

According to Gartner,

By the end of 2020,  the Data Analytics and Business intelligence market are forecast to grow to $22.8 billion.

By using the data analytics, project managers will be able to know the magnitude of the information available, performance of the project which will help project managers to make strategic decisions.

Project managers can use analytical reports to breakdown complex data into insights. These insights from data analysts are sent to project managers or decision-makers.

According to Gartner, the top ten technology trends in data and analytics are:

Project managers are more focussed and continuously engaged in facing strategic and operational challenges. The project managers aim to make the project more effective with efficient resources within budget.

Poor project management can lead to cost overrun and delay in completing the project than expected.

Effectiveness in project management can be increased by business intelligence. Business intelligence can help project managers in 4 ways.

1. Business intelligence can automate the processes
2. BI helps to predict risks
3. BI controls the cost overrun
4. BI provides more reliable and accurate data

The trending software used for Business intelligence are:

1. SAP Business Intelligence
2. Microstrategy
3. Datapine
4. SAS Business Intelligence
5. Yellowfin BI
6.  QlikSense
7. Zoho Analytics
8. Sisense
9. Microsoft Power BI
10.  Looker

According to a survey conducted by  Business Application research center, the importance of Business intelligence trends for 2020 by 2865 respondents is shown below:

Hence, Master Data Management is the top trend for business intelligence for 2020.

3. Hybrid Methodologies of project Management

Project management methodologies are all about determining how the project should be planned, monitored and executed.

Project management methodologies can be a set of methods, techniques, guidelines, templates and best practices. Generally, a single method is chosen as an end to end solution for executing a project.

Traditional methods are suitable when there are a definite path and well defined final outcome.

Agile methodologies are trending but it is quite challenging to implement it.

Project management requirements along with increasing uncertainty and complexity make it more difficult to choose any one method of project management.

Hybrid methodologies of project management refer to implementing different methodologies together as per the requirement.

Projects are classified based on the following four components which will further decide how projects should be managed.

• Complexity
• Novelty
• Technology
• Pace

Different projects have different requirements. One-size-fits-all solutions do not hold good for all the projects. A multi-dimensional framework is introduced based on the fundamental practices of project management. In order to characterize a project, 14 parameters are considered and three potential levels are identified for each parameter. Based on the results, different project management approaches are proposed.

The multi-dimensional framework includes 14 attributes and 23 different project management approaches derived from the traditional waterfall method, Agile method and Theory of Constraints (TOC).

Source: PMI

The below table shows the main approaches identified in the waterfall method, agile method, and TOC.

Source: PMI

Specific projects are characterized based on selecting the appropriate value on each dimension of 14 attributes.

The mapping between the fourteen attributes and different approaches are carried out by project managers.

This results in the successful implementation of project management. PRINCE2 certification can be done along with Agile and Scrum for better understanding and implementation of hybrid technologies.

According to PMI’s Pulse of Profession 2019 11th Global Project Management Survey,

Nearly 60% of Project Management Technology Quotient (PMTQ) Innovators used Hybrid Project Management Practices for successful project completion.

PMTQ is the person’s ability to adapt, integrate and manage technology-based requirements in the organization.

4. Virtual or Remote Team Management

The virtual or remote team is when the project is carried out by the team members working in different locations and virtually. Virtual projects are led by the managers and are one of the top trends in project management due to the rapid development of technology, globalization, increasing outsourcing, and talented resource availability in a different location.

According to The Modern Workplace 2019: People, Places & Technology study by Condeco,

Condeco concluded that remote working is the major trend in America

43% of U.S based organizations stated that more employees are expected to work remotely in 2020.

52% of U.S companies said they offer remote working to increase employee retention.

There are many benefits of Remote Working,

• Flexible schedule
• Comfort working from home
• Higher Productivity
• Can avoid commuting
• Better work-life balance
• Better health
• Reduces attrition
• Improves morale

Based on the State of Remote Work-2019,

There are many challenges to be faced in managing the Remote team but there are ways to overcome the challenges.

Challenges faced in managing a remote working team:

1. Hiring the right resource
2. Language
3. Setting schedules might be quite challenging
4. Difficulty in tracking progress and performances
5. Lack of connection with the team
6. Lacking appropriate communication

These challenges can be faced by using the best practices and tools:

Best practices to manage remote working

1. Encourage transparency in work: Regular communications about the project, project scope, and objective, vision, review of the output. A clear chain of command helps in setting expectations.
2. Utilize technology: Reliable, secure and well-equipped technology can ensure effective remote work
3. Hiring the right resources: Hiring Self-motivated individual with the required amount of skill can make managing the remote work simpler.
4. Arrange events and meetings: Arranging common meetings for the remote team along with the company staff can help them to interact more with other team members.

Tools used for managing remote working teams:

1. Slack
2. Proprofs
3. Basecamp
4. UberConference
5. Document sign by Adobe
6. Zapier
7. 1Password
8. Canva for work
9. Hubstaff
10. Process street

5. Emerging project management tools and techniques

Implementing new tools and technologies can ensure project success in every aspect. Project Management Softwares have become an integral part of the projects.

According to PWC,

Every project has goals and objectives, to accomplish the goal certain project activities are carried out with effective project management. Project management is quite a complex process. To streamline a process, project management software is used.

According to Mordor Intelligence,

The project management software market is expected to register a CAGR of 10.17% during the forecast period (2019 – 2024).

The top three requirements from project management software are:

• Reliability
• Ease of use
• Ease of Integration

There are two types of project management software available nowadays:

Online: Cloud-based technology with application providers such as SaaS (Software-as-a-Service).

On-Premises: Project management software residing in the company’s own server and is managed by the company’s IT team.

There are many project management software that fulfills all three requirements.

The top reasons to adopt project management software according to the survey conducted by Project-management.com,

The project management softwares are used for the following function:

• To set a project management plan
• For resource allocation
• Budget
• Schedule management
• Collaboration and communication
• For records and documentation
• Tracking the project progress

The list of top  project management tools are:

1. ClickUp
2. Wrike
3. Asana
4. Trello
5. Workzone
6. ProofHub
7. MeisterTask
8. Monday
9. Teamwork
10. Podio

Implementing project management tools and software can ensure the completion of all kinds of a project successfully.

6. Soft skills and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to monitor one’s emotional balance and make decisions using multi-level awareness.

A good project manager does not only possess the ability to manage projects, but also the one who builds a good relationship between team members through emotional bonds.

The project manager should be open to work in a complex matrix environment where PM needs to influence, collaborate and negotiate.

Emotional Intelligence is the key to leadership.

Project management requires,

• A great communication skill
• Must be in tune with team members emotions
• Ability to understand the situation
• Must be aware of the behavior
• Need to motivate the team members

There are five categories to measure emotional intelligence:

1. Self-Assessment: Being aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses.
2. Self-Regulation: Discipline to control and/or redirect emotions.
3. Empathy and Compassion: The ability to feel what others feel and being concerned and helpful.
4. Relationship Management: Connecting with others in a healthy way.
5. Effective Communication:  interacting in an effective manner with decent body language

According to Sodexo, The World Economic Forum identifies Emotional Intelligence as one of the top 10 competencies for 2020

Soft Skills: Effective interaction with clients, team members or management is called a soft skill.

According to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® in-depth, In SHRM’s report The New Talent Landscape: Recruiting Difficulty and Skills Shortages, HR professionals in organizations that were hiring full-time employees rated the need for new skills for these positions.

7. Continuous Learning

Learning is never-ending. When any new projects are taken, the organization may adopt new technology to carry out the project. By training the resources with the new technology holds good for both employer and employee. Training the existing employee will help in executing the project successfully and employees are benefited from added skill.

The employee with continuous learning and dedicated to professional growth is an asset to the company.

The employers know the importance of training in project management.

According to PMI’s Pulse Of The Profession,

Three in five organizations provide training on project management tools and techniques

The resources capable of executing the project with added skill also helps in retaining the employee and elimination of hiring new resources.

Training and development not only helps in learning a new skill but also helps in developing the existing skill.

The project management skill developed through courses and certification helps the project managers to,

• Dealing with Change
• People Management
• Stakeholder Management and Engagement
• Communication with Stakeholders
• Communication with Project Teams
• Planning
• Leadership
• Developing Critical Success Factors
• Managing Conflict
• Managing Quality

Typical new skills learned included:

• Active risk management
• Planning, implementing and monitoring projects
• Pert Charts
• Costing
• Detailed knowledge of scheduling
• The Procurement process
• Earned Value Management

According to ILX research report,

63% of the respondents conduct training to improve business capabilities.

For more information on how you can accelerate your career with these certifications, visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ or call now on +1-713-287-1213 / 1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

Know more about our Professional Certification Training Courses for preparing for the below mentioned recommended certifications.

Recommended Courses:

• Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning Certification Training Course
• Machine Learning Certification Training Course
• Big Data Certification Training Courses
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• CompTIA Cloud Essentials Certification Training Course
• AWS Solution Architect Certification Training Course

We provide instructor-led classroom and instructor-led live online training across the globe. We also provide Corporate Training for enterprise workforce development.

Visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ for more information about our professional certification training courses or Call Now! on +1-713-287-1213 / +1-713-287-1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

Project Management Training by iCert Global:

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Quality Management Training by iCert Global:

- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses

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Scrum Training by iCert Global:

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Agile Training by iCert Global:

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DevOps Training by iCert Global:

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Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:

- ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

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- CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Courses

iCert Global both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across United States and around the world.

Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

Which certifications are you aiming to achieve in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the 'Comments' section below.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Hope you found it useful and interesting. Team iCert Global wishes you all the best for your learning endeavors.

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Project Integration Management is one of the most important aspects of project management. Different organizations adopt different methodologies of project management according to the complexity of the project, and convenience.

Within the same organization, different teams or different departments might work on different methodologies. There are many processes involved to achieve the targeted goal and successful completion of the project. Project integration management ensures to connect all the dots of processes in a structured manner irrespective of the variation in methodologies to successfully complete the project.

Project Integration Management involves a collaborative system between all the elements of project management such as,

• Schedule
• Cost
• Scope
• Quality
• Resources
• Risks
• Changes
• Stakeholders

Integrated project management refers to the interconnected and collaborative approach to executing the project with effective coordination.

Project integration management is one of the 10 knowledge areas of project management. This knowledge area runs throughout the 5 phases of project management.

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing

The main objective of project management is the coordination within all the stakeholders of the project to ensure the team is working in the right direction to reach the same goal.

The importance of project integration management listed below:

1. Provides coordination and synchronization throughout the project lifecycle

The collaborative approach between all stakeholders to ensure the ease flow of project processes throughout the project.

During the transition phase of project processes, project integration plays a vital role in transferring all the inputs required for the next phase of the project.

Integration management is necessary to ensure there is teamwork and all information is synchronized.

2. Ensures the project run smoothly

With proper integration management, the project activities are completed without any confusion. After finishing all the tasks it can be officially closed and resources can be utilized for the next project.

Due to proper coordination and synchronization projects can run smoothly.

3. Clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities

With structured integration management, all the stakeholders will be clear about their roles and responsibilities. The planning and coordination between the stakeholders are monitored by the project manager.

4. Measures and monitors the project’s progress

Integration management ensures the project’s progress information is distributed to all the stakeholders for clear information about the phases and transitions. The necessary steps are taken to bring the firm decisions to meet the objective.

5. Decisions are made more clear

The decisions about the key changes required for the smooth project flow is taken by conducting meetings with all the stakeholders. The structured coordination between the stakeholders makes the decisions clearer.

6. Manages and controls the performance

Project integration management manages and controls the team’s or individual performance, or delay due to the input from other teams or departments.

7. Ensures due dates,  result,  project lifecycle, and the benefits management plan are aligned

With proper coordination, the project deliverables are delivered on time according to the plan.

What are the processes involved in Project Integration Management?

There are seven project processes involved in project integration management that runs throughout the project life-cycle in all the phases. The coordination between the resources, stakeholders, and other project elements that ensure to execute the project end to end successfully is Project Integration Management. It is very important because project success highly depends on integration management in terms of schedule, cost, quality, scope, risks, etc. The seven processes are:

1. Develop Project Charter process :

The develop project charter process is a document that is prepared in the initiation phase to formally authorize the existence of the project. In this process, the document is prepared and given to the authoritative project manager to use the resources required for the project.

The project charter is a key element that describes the whole project in brief. The project charter generally includes the objective of the project, stakeholders, requirements, high-level assumptions and constraints, etc.

2. Develop Project Management Plan process:

The process of combining all the project plans and sub-plans into a single integrated plan. It is one of the most crucial processes of project management. Project success is dependent on the project management plan. The authoritative head to plan project management is the project manager.

This document is approved and signed by authorized stakeholders.

3. Direct and Manage Project Work process

In this process, the project work activities are directed and managed while executing. This refers to the term “leading and controlling” the assigned project activities. The key outputs of this process are final deliverables and change requests for the project work.

4. Manage Project Knowledge process

The main objective of this process is to improve the project process using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge. The knowledge created is used for further processes and future projects. The continuing knowledge gain and utilizing the existing knowledge is the main objective of the project.    

5. Monitor and Control Project Work process

Monitoring and controlling project work refers to continuous tracking, reviewing and reporting the project progress status to achieve the required target of the project work activities.

The performances of each assigned resource are monitored and controlled. The document is prepared regarding the issue and the improvement possible.

6. Perform Integrated Change Control process

The perform integrated change control process includes reviewing all the change requests and managing them effectively from all the working departments. The document is prepared for approval of any change requests.

The change requests are approved when there is not much impact on scope, time and cost of the project. The change requests can be project deliverables, project plan or project assets.

7. Close Project or Phase process

This process refers to closing the project activities by finalizing all the deliverables of project activities and the documents related to closing the project or phase is prepared by the project manager. In this process, the resources are released to work for other projects.

What are the emerging practices in Project Integration Management?

Project integration management is the combination or consolidation of the results of all the processes of remaining knowledge areas. The following are the emerging practices in Project Integration Management:

1. Project Management Information System(PMIS)

The information project managers want to integrate is collected, analyzed and used in order to meet the objective of the project. This is done by using the Project Management Information System(PMIS) or any other automated tool. PMIS is a software application used to collect information.

2. Using Visual Tools

Visual tools are used to understand critical project elements rather than a written document. By making the project element visible gives a clear picture of the project status to all the team members. This further facilitates knowledge transfer and helps in solving the issues more effectively.

3. Project Knowledge Management

Project Knowledge Management enables continuous learning and knowledge transfer by bringing together stakeholders, procedures, tools, and knowledge required during the project life cycle. It ensures to optimize the knowledge gained by all the team members.

4. Expanding responsibilities

The responsibilities of the project managers are expanded by calling them to initiate and finalize the business case development and business benefits management. Project managers are also responsible for the identification and engagement of stakeholders.  The frequent meetings with all the stakeholders due to expanded responsibilities result in better integration management.

5. Hybrid Methodologies

The different methodologies such as agile , business analysis techniques, tools to identify complex elements are combined and used as a part of the emerging practice of project integration management.

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Project Management Training by iCert Global:

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Agile Training by iCert Global:

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The company conducts both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across the United States and around the world.

 Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

 Which certifications are you aiming to achieve in the New Year? Let us know your thoughts in the 'Comments' section below. Thank you.

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What is the Difference Between PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner Certifications? 

PRINCE2® is an acronym for PRojects IN Controlled Environments and the "2" refers to its relaunch in October 1996. It is the non-proprietary process-based project management methodology. PRINCE2 is mainly focused to establish,

• Control at the commencement.
• Progression of the project.
• Termination of projects.

PRINCE2 is one of the most globally accepted project management methods. It can be applied to any kind of project irrespective of scale, type, geography, organization or culture.

In the UK, PRINCE2® (Projects in Controlled Environments) is considered the de facto standard for IT project management. PRINCE2 doesn’t define the project as a temporary endeavor, rather as a project management method it delivers based on a business case.

The PRINCE2 method is in the public domain therefore, users are not tied to any single organization for consultancy, training, and support.

PRINCE2 is widely regarded as a common standard that enables projects in the public or private sector to be executed with a common understanding of the processes and terminology used.

PRINCE2 is a certification program owned by AXELOS and this method is sustained by a scheme that offers four levels of certification:

• PRINCE2 Foundation
• PRINCE2 Practitioner
•  PRINCE2 Agile Foundation
•  PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner.

There are two levels of PRINCE2 Certification:

• PRINCE2 Foundation: Entry-level certification
• PRINCE2 Practitioner: Certification for project managers working on running projects

Before we get to know the differences, it is important to know what includes in PRINCE2.

The structure of PRINCE2 includes:

7 Principles of PRINCE2

• Continued business justification.
• Learn from experience.
• Defined roles and responsibilities.
• Manage by stages.
• Manage by exception.
• Focus on products.
• Tailor to suit the environment

7 Themes of PRINCE2

• Business case.
• Organization.
• Quality.
• Plans.
• Risk.
• Change.
• Progress.

7 Processes of PRINCE2

• Starting up a project.
• Directing a project.
• Initiating a project.
• Controlling a stage.
• Managing product delivery.
• Managing a stage boundary.
• Closing a project.

There are many differences between PRINCE2 Foundation certification and PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification in terms of syllabus, eligibility criteria, target audience, exam pattern, career path, demand, and scope. 

Eligibility Criteria:

PRINCE2 Foundation certification: There is no formal prerequisite to take up PRINCE2  Foundation Certification. But having a basic knowledge of project management will be an advantage.

PRINCE2 Practitioner certification: To take-up PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification, you should have any one of the following certifications.

• PRINCE2 Foundation
• Project Management Professional (PMP)®
• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®
• IPMA Level A (Certified Projects Director)
• IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager)
• IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager)
• IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate)

Syllabus

PRINCE2 Foundation Certification:

• PRINCE2 Foundation is the basic level of certification.
• The PRINCE2 method is introduced in the PRINCE2 Foundation Level. The PRINCE2 Foundation certification establishes your credentials in the knowledge and understanding of the PRINCE2 method.
• The PRINCE2 Foundation qualification will impart knowledge about the PRINCE2 principles, themes, and processes, and terminology and when qualified you will be able to act as an informed member of a project management team using the PRINCE2 methodology within a project environment supporting PRINCE2.
• The PRINCE2 Foundation certification endorses your credibility to engage as an informed team member to work on projects in an environment supporting PRINCE2.

PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification:

• The Practitioner certification validates your knowledge and understanding of PRINCE2  concepts and principles. It includes detailed explanations about PRINCE2 principles, themes, and processes.
• The Practitioner certification assesses your capability in applying and tailoring the PRINCE2 project management method in different project environments and scenarios.

Target Audience

Target audiences are those who are best suited for taking up PRINCE2 certifications:

PRINCE2 Foundation Certification

PRINCE2 Foundation certification is recommended for current and aspiring project managers. It is applicable for:

• Team Managers
• Project Board members
• Project Support
• Operation Managers
• Professionals who manage projects

PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification

This certification is best suitable for project managers, professionals involved with managing projects and aspiring project managers. It is also applicable for:

• Team Managers
• Project Board members
• Project Support
• Operation Managers

Exam Pattern

PRINCE2 Foundation Certification:

• Multiple-choice questions
• 60-minute duration
• 60 questions
• Closed book
• 33/60 required to pass = 55% passing score
• The exam can be taken in any of the 5 languages

PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification:

• Multiple-choice questions
• 150-minute exam duration
• 68 questions
• 38/68 required to pass = 55% passing score
• Open book exam (official PRINCE2 manual only)

Cost

According to AXELOS,

“AXELOS is not a training organization or exam body and so prices for training courses and exams are set by our partners and will vary.”

The cost of PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification fees will be higher compared to the PRINCE2 Foundation Certification cost.

Demand and Scope

PRINCE2 certification proves to be an asset as it accelerates your career in the field of project management.

A 2016 AXELOS survey questioned individuals in project management and other roles, such as IT, senior management and operations. They reported that "regardless of function, candidates do find that PRINCE2 is valuable to their career".

According to Payscale.com,

The average annual salaries for certified PRINCE2 professionals in the United States are shown below.

Currency: USD, Updated: Mon Nov 11 2019

According to payscale,  the salary of a PRINCE2® Practitioner ranges from $97,000 per year.

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What is Project Schedule and Cost Control in Project Management?

The project is considered successful when it is delivered on time and within budget. Project cost and project schedule are the two main critical and uncertain aspects of the project lifecycle. Forecasting cost and schedule both are quite challenging.  Project managers play a vital role in the completion of the project with respect to all the processes of project management aligned with Schedule, Cost,  Scope, Quality, Resources, Risks, Changes, Stakeholders by,

• Keeping projects on track
• Setting time frame
• Assigning resources and allocating time
• Monitoring and controlling cost
• Reduce errors
• Conflict Management
• Reducing errors
• Keeping a record of all the project activities

Successful completion of the project highly depends on effective and efficient Project Schedule and Cost Control. Project Managers hold the responsibility of deciding the resources and getting the project task done within the allocated budget and time.

What is Project Schedule?

The project schedule is a documented framework of the project’s milestones, project activities, deliverables, and timeframe that is highly efficient for any project. The project schedule can be related to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). It gives an overview of the overall project’s timeframe. The project schedule is nothing but giving the project a reliable timeframe. Project Schedule helps in tracking the project in all the 5 phases of project management.

There are many tools to develop a project schedule. Gantt Charts are used for small projects and network analysis can be used for large projects.

What are the inputs required to prepare the Project Schedule?

The requirements to create a project schedule is as follows:

1. Scope of the project: Detailed description of the scope is required to decide the start and end date, know the limitations and set the project milestones to meet the stakeholder’s expectations.
2. Resource availability: Before assigning the resource it is very important to know the resource availability. This will be helpful to know if there are any other constraints.
3. Working calendars: List of holidays, working shifts, working days, employee holidays are required to create a project schedule.
4. Project risks: Risk assessment is carried out to make sure there is enough time to deal with the identified risks or make alternate plans.

How to develop a Project Schedule?

Project schedule management involves listing the tasks, deliverables, duration, stakeholder assigned, start and end date of the tasks within the project. The main purpose of the project schedule is to know,

• What needs to be done?
• Who will do the task?
• When is the deadline for the project?
• When should the task needs to be finished?

The Project Schedule is the main output of the Develop Schedule process. Defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating the activity durations.

Define Activities

The list of all the project activities to be conducted during the project execution is documented in this process. The exact actions to be taken to achieve the project objective is the main output of this process. In this process, the input, tools and techniques and output is clearly defined.

Sequence Activities

The process of identifying the priorities of the project activities and documenting the same. The sequence of all the project activities is documented in this process. It is one of the most important processes of project management to keep the project flow smoothly.

Estimate Activity Durations

Estimating the activity durations refers to document the time allotted to each project activity. This process helps to set the whole project timeline according to the sequence of project activities.

Develop Schedule

The process of combining all the components of schedule management to the project timeline is the scheduling process. The document is created by analyzing the sequence of project activities and the estimated duration.

What are the tools and techniques to develop a project schedule?

The following are the tools and techniques used to develop a project schedule:

1. Schedule network analysis: The graphical representation of all the project activities are listed according to sequence and the duration. Schedule network analysis is generally carried out through Gantt Charts or PERT Charts.
2. Critical Path Analysis: The technique used to prioritizing the high-risk task by calculating the critical path in order to complete the project in minimum time. It determines the best possible start and end date of the project.
3. Schedule Compression: The technique used to reduce the project duration considering all the constraints. This technique is used only in certain activities. The two methods are used for schedule compression.

• Crashing
• Fast-tracking

There are many other tools and techniques used in project schedule management such as,

• Critical chain method
• Modeling techniques
• Leads and lags
• Resource optimization techniques

What are the softwares used for Scheduling Projects?

The top 10 softwares used for project schedule is listed below:

• monday.com
• Celoxis
• Hive
• ProjectManager.com
• Forecast
• Mavenlink
• Hub Planner
• Microsoft Project Online
• Workfront
• Asana

What Is Cost Control?

The process of monitoring, tracking and controlling according to the actual cost of the project is cost control. The success of the project is not only determined by completion. It is very essential to complete the project within the planned budget. Cost control is a challenging task due to uncertain circumstances that might occur throughout the project life-cycle.

In simple terms, the prevention of exceeding the actual cost is cost control. Cost control helps in an increase in profit and carries out the project in the best economical way.

According to PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, Project cost management is defined as Project cost management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so the project can be completed within the approved budget.

What includes in Cost Control?

Cost control generally manages the overall project costs. There are 5 types of project costs in any project. They are,

• Fixed Cost - Any Cost which is fixed throughout the project and does not fluctuate.
• Variable Cost - Any cost which changes in proportion to a product or has a high tendency to variate
• Direct Costs - Costs that are directly linked to the budget of the project.
• Indirect Costs - Costs that are not particularly connected to the project but shared across multiple projects.
• Sunk Cost - Sunk Costs are costs which are already spent, but have failed to generate any business value for the project.
• Total Project Cost: The Total Project Cost (TPC) is calculated by putting together the fixed cost and variable cost and Other Project Costs (OPC). It is important to get the total project cost accurate or close to the accurate figure with minimal tolerance as it would severely impact the project scope and schedule resulting in cost overrun.

The comparison of the cost is done according to the project baseline. Project Baseline is a document with the approved plan of project performance. The project performance is compared within the acceptable guidelines. Project baseline also includes,

• Budget Baseline
• Schedule Baseline
• Scope Baseline
• Quality Baseline

Considering all the aspects of the project baseline, cost control is carried out throughout the project lifecycle.

What are the processes involved in Cost Control?

Cost is the most critical factor in any organization. The process of estimating, allocating and controlling the cost of the whole project comes in project cost management. The budget is fixed according to the project activities. The costs are estimated during the planning phase and controlled if it exceeds during execution.

Before controlling the cost, the cost management plan is prepared, individual project costs of all the project activities are estimated and overall

Plan Cost Management process

The process of cost management plan includes the policies, procedures, and guidelines to plan, manage, and control the project costs. It also includes documenting the costs throughout the project. The cost management plan is done according to the project activities, schedule, resources, and requirements.

Estimate Costs process

This process includes estimating all the monetary resources included in the project activities to achieve the target on scheduled time. The costs are estimated based on the resource requirements. The main objective of this process is to determine the overall cost required to complete the process.

Determine Budget process

The process of combining the cost of all the project activities to establish the formal cost baseline of the overall project. This process helps in project cost flow, risk management. Cost baseline helps in monitoring and controlling the cost of individual activities.

Control Costs process

The process of monitoring and controlling the cost of individual project activities during execution is called a control cost process. The costs are controlled and brought to the cost baseline if it exceeds. The document of cost update is maintained throughout the project.

What are the tools and techniques used for Control Costs?

The following are some of  the cost control techniques used:

1. Project Budget Planning: Planning a  proper budget by setting the cost for all the project activities is one of the techniques used throughout the project lifecycle. The project budget is created with a lot of research and critical thinking
2. Keeping track: Monitoring the expenditures effectively during the execution of project activity is highly essential in order to control cost. If anything new comes up, the project activity is proposed as “change requests”
3. Effective Time Management: Time management is the most essential and effective technique used for cost control. If the project activity goes according to schedule the scope of exceeding the cost is less.
4. Change control: The technique to minimize the changes in order to avoid the excess cost.

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Here is a list of  20 Project Manager Interview Questions compiled from project management concepts and personal experience in managing projects. The project management techniques don’t change from person to person but each project manager will have their own approach. The answers presented in this blog are more from an individual’s perspective in the role of a project manager more from personal experience.

Your opinion or assessment of the same scenario might be different and we would like to to know about your insights and impression. So do leave a comment on this page after reading this blog.

1. Why do we need Project Integration Management?

In many matrix organization project managers are part of the function of Project/Program Management vertical and each function falls under different verticals. Hence Project Manager may not have the complete authority to handle different functions.  In this scenario, the Project Manager brings complete clarity on the scope of each function, the sequence of interdependency between functions, expected timeline for each function with a complete resource plan as part of the Project Integration Management plan.

2. What is RAID in project management?

RAID is an acronym for  Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies. The Project Manager must be always aware of the risks in the action taken, and hence should be careful to execute those actions with minimal risks or risks that can be mitigated and eliminated. Assumptions about the estimates or actions should be clear, if not they will backfire. Issues and dependencies have their own bearing on the actions and tend to limit. Hence it becomes crucial for the project manager to be aware of RAID and its impact on the project’s outcome.

3. What are the 3 challenges you have faced as a Project Manager?

Planning for future Projects:

To prepare the project plan or charter for the project which commences a year later is a big challenge in this dynamic era as there could be multiple unforeseen things that could happen in the lag time. Hence project manager should conduct detailed risk analysis regularly and review/revisit the project plan even before the commencement of the project. The Project Manager should list down all the unknows risks and known assumptions, dependencies, issues with required mitigation action items that need to be reviewed regularly.

Complex Scope with multiple dependencies:

Complexity is measured by the degree of uncertainty.  Unknowns are a bigger risk for any project delivery as in most case unknows stays as unknowns until it occurs. Due to this uncertainty, the project manager is unable to come up with an apt plan. By the time unknowns becomes known, the project team will be able to decide based on risk management in absorbing the impact without affecting the final delivery plan.

Difficult Stakeholders:

Project Management is all about communication which is the most crucial part of the Project Manager. Handling people requires different skills/art than handling resources with no emotions. Studying/understanding the stakeholder, their role and their decision-making power in the project will be critical in the success of the project. Unless enough attention is paid to understanding our key stakeholders, the Project Manager may end up spending more time on communication.

4. Why do we need a schedule plan?

Schedule Plan is the critical artifact in the project management which is used to track, monitor and control the project. Without the schedule plan, one will not be able to visualize which tasks are on the way and which one to be completed on what sequence. One can represent schedule plan in multiple ways and there are many tools available to represent the same

1. Simple excel

2. Gantt Chart

3. Network diagram

5. What are the benefits of Risk Management?

Risk Management is required to take control of project deliveries proactively. With efficient risk management, one can identify the project's strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. As we pre-empt all these in advance that helps to respond better if they arise.

Risk Management involves 4 activities.

1. Risk Identification

The first step in risk management is identifying the risks. Risks can be from any source eg. Natural disasters, Unexpected events, Unknowns in the projects, Complex nature of the project, Market dynamics, Economic changes, etc. All identified risks are to be documented for further reviews (Risk Register).

There are multiple techniques to identify risks.

1. Brainstorming
2. Delphi technique
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. SWOT
5. Assumption Analysis

2. Risk Assessment

All identified risks are to be assessed thoroughly to assess the probability of occurrence, possible impact on a project with respect to objective, cost, schedule, and quality.

3. Risk Control

Based on the analysis that was done on all identified risks, mitigation plans to be defined with the right owner for the same. The objective of the action plan is to reduce the impact, shift the impact/risk or resolve/nullify the risk.

4. Risk Review

And all these 4 activities are reoccurring and based on the nature of the project the duration can be planned how often these activities to be repeated.

6. How do you decide which project is a priority when you handled multiple projects in parallel?

Decision making is another key critical skill which is required for Project Manager especially when a different project is from different project sponsor or customers. Every project's primary goals and objectives could vary from one another so as the nature of the contract.

Prioritization based on urgency and Importance

There could be one or two fixed factors of the project which might be Schedule, Time/Cost or defined Scope while the other be variable.  Hence during the prioritization that factors the decision making.

7. What will be your leadership style?

Naturally, everyone inherits the leadership style of one or more from the below

1. Autocratic Leadership
2. Strategic Leadership
3. Coaching Leadership
4. Democratic Leadership
5. Charismatic Leadership
6. Transformational Leadership

Mostly no one will exhibit the same style of leadership all the time as we can’t say one type of leadership style will work all types of management. One may need to adopt different styles or a mix of styles based on the nature of the project and the stakeholders. There are only a few types mentioned above however there could be more.

8. How would you handle a difficult stakeholder involved in your project?

Identify the stakeholders – the primary stakeholders who will define the success of the project. Based on that I will allocate time to spend with them, meaning if there are 10 stakeholders it's not possible to spend time with all of them equally. So decide on the key stakeholders. I will come out with my own stakeholder management plan which addresses critical questions like - What are their expectations on the project, to what extent they would like to be involved in the project, how often would they like to meet and receive updates?

Assuming the difficult stakeholder is my key stakeholder who is going to define the success of my project, what are the expectation, how much time can be given to the project or what extent or detail and depth the stakeholder would like to know from me. So know your stakeholder is my first strategy.

Some stakeholders will provide us the space to make our own decisions, while some stakeholders would want them to be kept in the loop and seek approval for each and everything that goes on in the project. To such stakeholders, I will enageg in a detailed meeting to understand their requirements and expectations and level of engagement in the project, and I will follow-up by posting the minutes of the meeting. Whenever I  face some changes in the plan or commitment, I ensure to keep them informed.

Those customers that trust me to some extent and they don’t want to be involved at all – their only focus being success or delivery of the project based on timeline and budget and leave the rest to me, I keep it simple and don’t call for a weekly meeting as they do get annoyed. I  present the weekly summary or executive summary kind of report once in a week or 2 weeks or even a month depending on the need of the hour. And when there is a difficulty or change in the existing plan, then I will request a call and explain the situation and offer different options: this is the problem statement and this is the solution conceived. So let's decide on the course of action.

9. When do you consider that your project is off track and what will be your steps to ensure that it finishes within the given timeline?

Check first why the project went off track – is it because of external dependency or internal,  Issues or unknown risk. Bottomline is to understand what the customer wants to achieve as the project outcome.

At any given point in time, in my management strategy, the project cannot delay by a week because I am a person who will review my project on a weekly basis. So when I know that the project is pushed for 5 days, the first thing I will check is – can the 5 days be absorbed in the remaining timeline. This is my first option.

In case, it cannot be absorbed or it will be a risk to absorb, the next option will be to deploy additional people provided we have additional fund – buffer budget.

The third option is to carefully examine if there are non-critical things that can be descoped. I will review the remaining scope with the customer clearly stating that the project is off the track, and with the time left what are the critical things that can be identified and taken up for completion and seek their help to prioritize. So reprioritizing the remaining items, I will ensure the critical things are taken care of.

In case there is no buffer budget, then another strategy is to convert to smarter tasks, let us say 10 tasks are remaining. I will convert it into 7 smart tasks – to come out with a better solution based on my experience because the project plan was derived at the beginning of the project, and assuming if we are half-way through the project, our experience will be much better in the project given the time spent. So we will review the remaining action items or tasks to check if the tasks can be redefined or redesigned in such manner the effort can be reduced.

10. How will you manage the team members who are not working to their full potential?

Not all the resources are the same in terms of potential. The output determines productivity. The resources that deliver consistently within the given timeline are high achievers and utilize the full potential. And this takes time to study the team members’ competence and capabilities and accordingly work will be assigned, and those team members who don’t work to the full potential will be informed through appropriate channels about performance or the lack of and counseled to step up. identify those resources. If the person is continuously struggling to complete a day’s work, I will monitor for 1 week and for the next 2 weeks reduce the workload, and also help them to train on the areas of the sphere of work that the person is struggling.  Is it lack of skills or lack of understanding of scope or needs some tools to execute the work effectively or some problem in the infrastructure, I will review and rectify whatever and wherever necessary. So it's trying to understand the team members’ problems and addressing with proper solutions. Either I can propose or provide them the opportunity to explain their pain points and together arrive at a solution.

11. Which communication style do you prefer using in your projects?

The meeting is my first mode of communication of everything. Any type of stakeholder I prefer face to face meetings and then document and send as minutes by mail. I don’t want to take any decisions through mail or made over a mail. We must involve all the stakeholders for decision making in the meeting, try to understand why the decision has to be taken and the various options available before making the decision. Everyone involved should know the rationale behind the decision and then communicate by email to the entire team to be of aware of the decision made and its  consequences

12. What will you do if any of the customers are not happy with the quality or results of the product by the end of the project?

The specification is never clear at the start and any project is evolutionary in nature. Is there a problem in the quality or has the customer’s expectation has changed over a period of time. In case the quality that was agreed and delivered at the end doesn’t match, then I will do the gap analysis, explain to the customer my approach. The first thing I will check is how to reduce the impact because of the quality issue. For example, some features may not function as desired, which I will disable as a temporary fix till a solution can be worked upon. Then assure the customer about the recovery from the situation and I will come out with a recovery plan for it.

13. What were the communication challenges on your last project?

If there are ten different stakeholders, and a meeting is scheduled – let's say for some key decisions, not all the ten will attend. The decision might be made by those present in the meeting. The one who missed might have their strong opinion on the matter.  The challenge is to align all the stakeholders to keep them on the same page.

The other challenge is that different people prefer different modes of communication.  Some wish to know and be updated about all the information. Some prefer the summary.

Different geographical locations, the context which explained will not be understood as intended due to cultural conflicts. The message tends to get distorted and even misleading. What's acceptable to us may not acceptable to the other end due to cultural incompatibility where a yes may not be perceived as ‘yes’. Let's say, I am a techno-functional background project manager and the person at the other end might be operational, the context and terminology  I use may not be understood by the operational manager. It can be my limitation or the other person’s but it is certainly a limitation. So I don’t make any assumption when the customer or others involved in the meeting say. So I always ensure if I have understood correctly by reiterating to clear the doubt and get clarity. This is more so the case with a new customer – geographical location, and it takes time to understand their culture and communication method.

14. How have you handled disgruntled employees?

It is important to understand why the employee is disengaged. Is there anything assigned that is not aligned with core interest?  Or personal career aspiration. If that’s the case I will try to sync it up and consider moving to other teams where the employee’s expertise can be utilized to the fullest. Or I will put the employee in some technical training or close gap identified in the employee’s core competency, or lack of knowledge because of which the employee is disengaged.  Or if there is any conflict within the team being the reason for the employee’s disconnect, I will try to understand and resolve by engaging more and restore normalcy.

15. What is your delegation style?

Delegation depends upon the situation. Normally I communicate whats that we want to achieve and let the team decide based on their passion and prowess., skills and competency I will let them choose what they want and how they want to do. So, overall the big picture will be explained clearly which part who will do and how it will be done will be left to my team to drive. We have capable project leaders and team leaders who know their team and skill-matrix, and there is always higher accountability when you let them choose than thrust on them.

16. What’s your leadership style?

I prefer transformational leadership. Again, in leadership style, there is no hard and fast rule. There are three styles I wish to identify and follow them on the merit of the situation and people with whom I have to work. With youngsters, I may have to do a lot of coaching and handholding hence the leadership style would be mentoring or coaching style. When I have to deal with an experienced crew like managers then I guide them but leave the floor open for them to make their move. I don’t like to drive them or dictate. Sometimes, the strategic style also works fine.  Sometimes I apply coaching style, sometimes strategic but mostly it's transformational.

17. How do you go about managing the performance of your team?

I always have a clear objective with measurement criteria. I will define the criteria which makes everyone to assess themselves rather than me assessing them.  I will define the objectives and measurement criteria clearly.  And also the timeline to achieve.  Its always time-bound objectives.

18. Can you give me a few examples of a time when you made a tough decision, and it backfired?

 Yes. There was one incident when the customer asked to include “additional scope” which was not agreed upon scope while drawing the contract.  My commercial team and the top brass did not want me to take up further work. The customer put me under a lot of pressure that I had to agree because I know that additional scope is critical and will impact the customer. It has to be delivered. I know  I can reject the change request still I accepted because it's very critical for the customer which I understood from the business case. Then I agreed to deliver. Part of my delivery team was not happy because they thought I had overruled and committed. They were totally unhappy with my move. The sales team was pleased because I made their customer happy but the internal stakeholders or my team wasn’t keen about engaging more – which is actually scope creep as this would set a bad precedent and the customer might come again with some other change request. Finally, I had to request the heads of all departments concerned to be considerate and cooperate in making the project live. Because it was a short duration I had to deliver and the team was under a lot of pressure and during production.

We had to secure the approval from multiple teams and at that time it became more visible that this was out of scope and as extra work was done for the customer at the same cost and I didn’t receive any support. I really struggled a lot to pacify all the team heads concerned to be considerate and cooperate in making the project live.

19. Describe two areas in your current project, where there is a high level of uncertainty. How do you tackle these uncertainties?

I like to work with uncertainties, the reason being uncertainty is a big challenge.

For any customer, it is critical for them to go live on a particular date. So based on that “go-live” date, we work backward so that the customer is also working along with us and the engagement with the customer is good to deliver the project on time

#1 uncertainty: In the current deliveries, we don’t know when the customer will do the UAT. The customer will never commit the timeline by when they will perform  UAT. But we are bound to give the complete project plan or delivery plan. We knew for sure that the customer will not be committed. So every time, we kept that as an assumption as to when the customers will do the UAT at a certain point in time in the plan.  When the UAT phase is close by,  the customer will provide a list of their   UAT testers to us to provide the platform, access, and other necessary controls to conduct UAT. This itself is a challenge and then secure their time to get the UAT done is another.

#2 uncertainty: the scope will not be clear. The customer can never provide the requirement completely. During the initiation phase, the customer would have communicated the basic requirements that are usually light and positive flow scenarios.  But as the project progresses, we will come to know multiple operational scenarios. We come up with a plan factoring that only 50% of the scope is certain. With that assumption only, we start the project.  We know for sure that at least 30% of scope will get added – additional scope.  So we anticipate the customer is going to come up with an additional 3 or 4 use cases,  or we interview the customer to preempt the flow.

20. How did your last project end?

Overall it was good. I could have done better provided I had some background about customer, profile, and history. I had to learn about my stakeholders all along the way.  If I have to redo this kind of project,  I will understand my stakeholders and business first before I get into any meeting.  That’s the lesson learned; to get to know your customers and business well before engaging with any time of communication with them. 

Also,  I should have helped in the scope definition better because the scope was getting defined all along the way.   Though it was our flagship project and despite knowing the cutover date,  the scope still wasn’t clear till the delivery phase. The customer couldn’t get the scope right because of their own difficulties and I could have helped them to define their scope by knowing them better.

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What are the Benefits of Project Time Management? 

What Is Time Management?

Can you get more done in less time?

That’s the challenge in present times when there are always more things to do and time is always at a shortfall. 

The process of organizing and dividing the time between activities through an effective plan is called Time Management. Effective Time Management enables smart work to accomplish more work in the given time despite the mounting pressure and tighter deadlines.

Those who are hailed as high achievers are the ones who manage their time exceedingly well to accommodate more in the timeline provided. More often than not being busy is interpreted as being effective but its not the efforts but the results that count. Hence time management is critical to be fiercely competent and productive.

It's poor time management that results in missed deadlines, poor quality of work, higher stress, inefficiency, poor professional reputation stunted career growth and Work and life imbalance.

Proper time management is about managing time efficiently to actually save time. It provides space to be proactive and creative in completing tasks. Strong time-management skills are one of the critical factors in achieving key goals of the organization by providing a clear picture of what needs to be completed within the given timeline boosting productivity.

Why Time Management Is Important?

Good time management ensures more work is accomplished in a shorter time period that frees up more time or bandwidth, which can be leveraged in taking up additional tasks. It opens up opportunities as the additional time can be utilized to the project’s advantage that essentially eases the pressure on the schedule, relaxes the crew, lowers the stress and strengthens the focus – eventually resulting in the successful outcome of the project.

Here are 5 reasons time management is crucial:

1. Time is limited

Divide it in any which ways, but a day has only 24 hours. You cant stretch it any further. So it is important to acknowledge that constraint and plan the day effectively to make the most of the hours through smart work. Innovation and improvisation in getting things done will help to rise through the ranks and effectively manage and utilize limited resources  -in this case, time too is a limitation.

2. Accomplish more with less effort

the ability to focus is strengthened through effective control of time. And that enables the ability to focus which bolsters momentum and enhances efficiency. The net result is the completion of the task at a quicker turnaround in time much faster than anticipated.

3. Improved decision-making ability

When hard-pressed for time, the decision-making ability gets impaired as the pressure is piling making it difficult to arrive at an informed decision.  Good time management skills eliminate the pressure that stems from the inadequacy of time, calms the mind to be more in control to carefully examine all the options in making the right decision.

4. Become more successful in your career

One of the keys to success is Time management which lets you take control of yourself rather than follow others.  When the decisions are sound, the results will get recognized. The people around will notice and frontrunners will approach you for assistance in completing the tasks or activities, that shifts the spotlight on your profile and helps to accelerate your career.

5. Reduce stress

Lack of control of time can lead to complications as the deadlines might be delayed or milestone missed.  Effective management of time helps you to take control and negotiate with the constraints and demands on time through proper estimation and completion of the given task within the timeline. This essentially lowers the level of stress as you are in control of the schedule and confident in delivery as planned. 

What are the Project Schedule Management Processes?

There are six processes in Project Schedule Management:

1. Plan Schedule Management
2. Define Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Estimate Activity Durations
5. Develop Schedule
6. Control Schedule

1. Plan Schedule Management

Plan schedule management is the first process of Schedule Management in which various policies and procedures are established. The information about planning, developing, managing, executing and controlling of the project schedule is documented to minute details. This provides direction to the project manager in managing the project from initiation to final delivery. This process is executed once or predefined points in the entire project management lifecycle.

2. Define Activities

In the Define Activities process, all the actions required to prepare the final deliverables identified and documented. The work packages are broken down into smaller tasks. These smaller tasks act as the baseline for estimation, scheduling, execution, monitor, and control of the overall project work.

3. Sequence Activities

All the relationship among various project activities is identified and documented in Sequence Activities. This process defines the logical sequence of work which helps in gaining maximum efficiency despite the constraints. This process is executed throughout the project lifecycle.

4. Estimate Activity Durations

Estimate Activity Durations estimates the number of work periods needed to complete a single activity documented in the project schedule along with necessary and sufficient resources. The estimated time required to complete the individual activities are calculated in this process. This process is executed throughout the project lifecycle

5. Develop Schedule

In Develop Schedule process the schedule model is created to execute, monitor, manage and control the project. The finer details of the project activities are analyzed in terms of sequence, duration, resource requirement, constraints. Develop Schedule process and produces a model schedule complete with dates of various project activities and is executed throughout the project lifecycle.

6. Control Schedule

The last process of the Project Schedule Management,  Control Schedule is executed throughout the project lifecycle. Based on the status of the project, the project schedule is updated in this process and as a result, the changes are incorporated into the schedule baseline. Because of this process,  the schedule baseline is maintained throughout the project development.

What are the Benefits Of Time Management?

Proper management of time has its own benefits. Listed are some benefits of Time Management:

1. On-time delivery

 To complete work on time,  a definite time should be allocated, which will also help to manage the workload.  When there are time-boxed tasks, achieving the target on the set timeline is possible through a structured schedule. Managing time effectively results in delivery on time.

2. Better quality of work

Proper utilization of time and effective use of resources, it is possible to deliver work of expected quality and standards. The focus can be shifted to important tasks that are of the highest priority in the list of activities with undivided attention and dedication resulting in improved quality of work.

3. Productivity and efficiency

Effective and efficient time management skills help in completing the tasks adhering to the highest standards m- and it requires proper planning and scheduling.  when urgent tasks are taken on priority and identifying those tasks that are unimportant thus balancing the time and sticking to the schedule without slippage increases overall productivity.

4. Much less procrastination

Deferring the work to “sometime later” is not only the worst excuse but proves too costly in consequences as the postponed work will have a cascading effect adversely impacting the progress of the project. Applying good time management is necessary to motivate the employees in closing the tasks and removes the roadblock in the form of procrastination.

5. Less stress and anxiety

 Difficult times are always a result f poor time management. When there is excessive work on the schedule, then time estimation has not been properly thought through, which can unnecessarily burden the employee. This inevitably adds to the stress and anxiety given the unreasonable deadlines that lead to depression, hypertension, and other illness.

6. Improved quality of life

Time management skills not only benefit professional life but it helps balances personal life too. The work-life balance is very much possible if the right balance is struck in apportioning time accordingly.  Effective time management ensures tasks are on track which in turn provides time to focus on personal needs. This harmony improves the quality of life.

7. More opportunities and career growth

When tasks are completed on time, it becomes noteworthy and good work is always appreciated and complimented. Those who can get the work done consistently with a quicker turnaround in time are ‘achievers’ who are assigned more work. The one who gets work done always gets promotional opportunities at work that help up walk up the ladder.

What are The 4 Ds Of Effective Time Management?

Project managers often struggle with time management due to various reasons – maybe the client wasn’t clear about the specifications or introduction of last-minute changes or resource crunches or it can be anything. Managing time is not easy.  One of the most popular productivity strategies for effective time management is known as “four Ds”.

Delete it.

It is very important to identify the task or activity that needs to concentrate. Confirm if that needs your full focus and attention. If it is not worth your time, better to delete it. Pareto principle (80/20 rule) in this context states that people spend 80% of their on activities either unproductive or a total waste.

Delegate it.

Delegation is a great way to save time to spend on critical tasks that are your responsibility. Delegation should not be misunderstood or just assigning tasks to subordinates. Work can be delegated across, upwards or even other departments. It's about the identification of accountability and the right fitment to do the particular task. A project manager doesn’t have to manage financial accounting and hence delegate to an accountant. Delegation doesn’t mean shaking off the responsibility. It’s the fine art of getting work done.

Do it.

If a task is very important and can be done you and there is time left, without deferring, deleting or delegating, then it's better to do it. It avoids postponement or procrastination. It helps to stay focused and not get sidetracked. If it is worth your time, and efforts on that task, then do it and move on.

Defer it.

There are some tasks that can wait. If there is no urgency or if it can be dealt with later, then Defer it. It might not be important during the working day, but still, it is important to get it done. For example, it can be an email that doesn’t need your immediate attention – defer it till you get some free time. Those that do not call for immediate action and can be taken up at a later point in time can be deferred but should be done eventually.

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What is Project Quality Management?

What is Project Quality?

The measure of how accurate the results are from the project deliverables in order to meet the customer needs and is suitable for its intended purpose is Project Quality. Project quality is nothing but the quality assurance given to the customers through its output.

Project quality can be defined in the following terms:

• Validation: The assurance to meet the satisfactory results.
• Verification: The compliance required to meet project requirements.
• Precision: The condition of being exact.
• Accuracy: The degree or measure of the closeness
• Tolerance: The range of the acceptable results

When the project is initiated, the main aim is to deliver quality deliverables throughout the project life cycle within the constrained budget and schedule.

In simple terms, project quality is “fit for use”.

According to PMBOK-6th edition,

“Quality- The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements”

What is Project Quality Management?

Project Quality Management is the process or activity that ensures to meet the stakeholder’s expectations through effective and efficient project deliverables. The performance of an organization is measured, monitored and controlled through quality policies, standards,  guidelines, and procedures.

Project quality management is performed throughout the project. It aims to maintain the quality through obtaining optimum results from all the project activities performed.

Project quality management is one of the 10 knowledge areas of project management. The process of quality management is in three phases of project management: Planning, execution, and monitoring and controlling.

What are the processes involved in Project Quality Management?

There are three processes involved in Project Quality Management in three phases: planning, execution, and monitoring and controlling.

Plan Quality Management process

Plan Quality Management is the process of identifying the quality requirements and quality standards relevant to the project output. The document of a set of quality standards is prepared for each project activities. The methodology used, the resource assigned, the cost and the time allocated are the major factors affecting quality.

Manage Quality process

Manage Quality is the process of managing all the project activities according to the quality management plan while executing. The main objective of managing the quality process is to integrate all the quality policies in the project activities to maintain the quality plan management.

Control Quality process

Control Quality process is the process of monitoring and controlling the executed project activities according to quality management. The main objective of this process is to ensure the project output is correct, complete and meet the expectations of the customer and the quality plan. This process also includes the documentation of results obtained during the control quality process.

Why Project Quality Management is important?

Project Quality Management is very important in order to avoid defects and re-work. The cost and schedule baseline will be affected due to poor quality management.

The organization’s reputation will be harmed if the quality is not up to the mark.

Project Quality Management is important due to the following reasons:

• Customer satisfaction
• It enhances the understanding between the internal processes
• Identifying and reducing risk at an early stage
• Higher efficiency of project deliverables
• Maintains consistent performance of the resources.
• Chances of getting other projects or references for the same.

What are the characteristics of project quality to be maintained?

The common characteristics of project quality defined by stakeholders are:

• Performance: The act of performing a task or project activity.
• Sustainability: The ability to be maintained at a certain level.
• Functionality: The purpose of the task or activity to be fulfilled
• Suitanbility: The quality of being an appropriate choice to perform a task
• Reliability: The measure of being trust-worthy
• Consistency: The evenness in the performance
• Timeliness: The measure to finish the project task in the allotted time.
• Completeness: The quality of finishing the specified task to meet the project scope.

What are the elements of Project Quality Management?

There are elements of the modern Project Quality Management based on ISO (International Organization for Standardization) quality standards. The five elements are:

Customer Satisfaction

The process of understanding, evaluating, defining and managing the requirements and expectations to meet the customer’s needs. Customer satisfaction is a key measure of project quality management. There are two main requirements to achieve great quality:

1. Conformance
2. Fit for use

Note: Meeting the agreed customer’s requirement is not the same as meeting the expectations. If the requirements are met and the results are not satisfactory, then the main cause is poor quality management.

Prevention over Inspection

The cost of preventing a mistake is comparatively lesser than correcting a mistake during execution. In quality management, quality is desired quality is achieved by planning but it is not inspected.  Mistakes or re-work effects cost, schedule, and scope. In quality management, the Cost of Quality (COQ) is the money spent dealing with the issues related to quality.

The COQ is divided into two categories:

• Cost of conformance: Preventive cost
• Cost of nonconformance: Quality failure cost

The cost of conformance can be document process, training, equipment, and time.

The cost of non-conformance can be time spent on rework or scrap work.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is the on-going effort to improve product quality and services. It can be carried out through  Six Sigma or Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is the key concept of continuous improvement.

The continuous improvement can be done by analyzing the issues faced during the lesson learned after finishing the project activity and which can be used for future projects.

The main aim of continuous improvement is to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

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What is Project Integration Management?

What is Project Integration?

Integration is the act of combining or consolidating all the processes together. In simple words, it is the process of adding small-small parts to make it whole. In project management, Integration is evaluating and making trade-offs among stakeholders, overlapping processes, or competing activities to successfully reach the goal. Trade off’s means, you can’t have everything to finish the project on time and within budget. Alternatives are found out to meet the stakeholder’s expectations if there are competing project activities.

What is Project Integration Management?

Project Integration Management is the coordination of resources, stakeholders, and other project elements that ensures to execute the project end to end successfully. In simple words, project integration management is a way of making all the project elements and processes work together in order to run the project smoothly. This involves identifying, defining, unifying, combining and coordinating all the activities and processes.

PMBOK-6th edition defines Project Integration Management as,

“ Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Groups.”

Project Integration Management is one of the 10 knowledge areas of project management. Integration management involves managing the remaining knowledge areas such as:

• Schedule
• Cost
• Scope
• Quality
• Resources
• Risks
• Changes
• Stakeholders

Project integration management occurs throughout the project lifecycle in all the 5 phases of the project management.

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing

Why Project Integration Management is important?

Project management is a complex process. In large scale projects, keeping track of everything that can cause project failure is difficult. The project might be carried out by different departments and in different locations. The collaboration between departments can be difficult and can slow down the project. The key role of the project manager is to incorporate or consolidating all the activities and processes. Project integration management is the ultimate responsibility of project managers.

The primary role of the project manager is project integration. Project Managers are the bridge between top management and project delivery team as they make sure the scope of the project is clear, monitors and reports regularly on the progress of the project that is in line with the defined cost, schedule, and quality.

Project integration management aims to interconnect all the processes and activities with respect to time, scope, cost, quality, human resource, communication, risk, procurement, and stakeholder.

What are the advantages of Project Integration Management?

Project Integration Management is the most important aspect of any project. The success or failure of the project highly depends on Project Integration. The main advantages of project integration management are:

• Provides coordination and synchronization
• The organization will be able to run the project smoothly.
• Officially closes the project activities and phases.
• Measures and monitors the project’s progress
• Manages and controls the performance and the changes
• The decision making is clearer.
• Collects information on the results and convey them to stakeholders.

What are the processes involved in Project Integration Management?

There are seven project processes involved in project integration management that runs throughout the project life-cycle in all the phases. The coordination between the resources, stakeholders, and other project elements that ensure to execute the project end to end successfully is Project Integration Management. It is very important because project success highly depends on integration management in terms of schedule, cost, quality, scope, risks, etc. The seven processes are:

1. Develop Project Charter process:

The develop project charter process is a document that is prepared in the initiation phase to formally authorize the existence of the project. In this process, the document is prepared and given to the authoritative project manager to use the resources required for the project.

The project charter is a key element that describes the whole project in brief. The project charter generally includes the objective of the project, stakeholders, requirements, high-level assumptions and constraints, etc.

2. Develop Project Management Plan process:

The process of combining all the project plans and sub-plans into a single integrated plan. It is one of the most crucial processes of project management. Project success is dependent on the project management plan. The authoritative head to plan project management is the project manager.

This document is approved and signed by authorized stakeholders.

3. Direct and Manage Project Work process

In this process, the project work activities are directed and managed while executing. This refers to the term “leading and controlling” the assigned project activities. The key outputs of this process are final deliverables and change requests for the project work.

4. Manage Project Knowledge process

The main objective of this process is to improve the project process using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge. The knowledge created is used for further processes and future projects. The continuing knowledge gain and utilizing the existing knowledge is the main objective of the project.    

5. Monitor and Control Project Work process

Monitoring and controlling project work refers to continuous tracking, reviewing and reporting the project progress status to achieve the required target of the project work activities.

The performances of each assigned resource are monitored and controlled. The document is prepared regarding the issue and the improvement possible.

6. Perform Integrated Change Control process

The perform integrated change control process includes reviewing all the change requests and managing them effectively from all the working departments. The document is prepared for approval of any change requests.

The change requests are approved when there is not much impact on scope, time and cost of the project. The change requests can be project deliverables, project plans or project assets.

7. Close Project or Phase process

This process refers to closing the project activities by finalizing all the deliverables of project activities and the documents related to closing the project or phase is prepared by the project manager. In this process, the resources are released to work for other projects.

Do visit our Corporate Training to know more about core offerings for enterprises in empowering their workforce.

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Visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ for more information about our professional certification training courses or Call Now! on +1-713-287-1213 / +1-713-287-1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

Project Management Training by iCert Global:

- PMP Certification Training

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Quality Management Training by iCert Global:

- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses

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Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:

- ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

- CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

- CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Courses

The company conducts both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across the United States and around the world.

 Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

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What is Project Resource Management?

What is a Resource?

The resources are assets required to carry out a certain task or project. Resources are assessed and allocated before the project begins. They are the main catalysts of project management. In simple language, anything that is required to deliver the project on time is a resource. Resources can be people, equipment, skillset, space, tools, finances and time.

What is Project Resource Management?

The efficient use of all the resources by planning, estimating and acquiring all the resources is Project Resource Management. According to Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition (the PMBOK Guide),

 ‘Project Resource Management includes the processes to identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.’

Resources are a vital part of the project. Managing and optimizing resources is very important in order to complete the project effectively within available resources. This will determine how much revenue you bring from the invested resources.

Why Project Resource Management is important?

Project resource management is important because it gives an overview of everything and everyone involved in the project. The optimal utilization of all the resources available results in maximum efficiency and minimal waste.

In short, Resource management is all about working on “doing more with less”.

The resource managers are responsible for allocating the resources required to complete the project successfully within the allocated budget and time. Poor resource management is one of the main reasons for project failure.

What are the advantages of Project Resource Management?

There are many advantages of effective resource management:

1. Enhances productivity: Appropriate identification of capability and skill set of the resource enhances productivity.

2. Optimum utilization of resources: The main aim of resource management is to utilize all the resources available in an efficient manner. The best of all the resources can be witnessed in structured resource management.

3. Avoids unforeseen obstacles: Resource management enables you to know all the details of the resource availability, risk, quality requirement, budget and time. So, the obstacles can be avoided before it occurs.

4. Prevents stress and exhaustion: The team’s workload is effectively distributed according to the capabilities, skillset and required quality. The overallocation and dependency are managed well with structured resource management.

5. Control over budget: The optimal usage of the resource within the availability enables to monitor and control the budget.

6. Transparency throughout project life-cycle: The framework and the bandwidth of the resources allocated is transparent which enables to analyze and improve the team performance.

What are the processes involved in Project Resource Management?

There are 6 Project resource management processes in three phases of project management.

In the Planning phase:

• Planning resource management

 Planning Resource Management process is a process of identifying the required resources, equipment for the required for the project activities. Planning resources include preparing the user guide document to identify, acquire, manage and monitor the required resources for project activities. Human resources can be identified by networking.

• Estimating activity resources

The process of estimating the type and amount of resources required for each project activities. The main objective of estimating resources is to plan the resource requirement for the overall project. The type and quantity of the resources are estimated in this process. This process is carried out in the planning stage of the project lifecycle. The various inputs, tools and techniques and outputs are involved in this process.

In the execution phase:

• Acquiring resources

The process of acquiring the resources like team members, types of equipment and other resources required for the project delivery. The main objective of this process is to ensure there is no shortfall of resources required for the project.

• Developing the team

The process in which the stakeholder or project manager improve the knowledge, skills and techniques of the team members as per the requirement of the project quality. This improves the competencies and enables the interaction between the team members enhancing the quality of the project.

• Managing team

The process of tracking and recording the performances of the team and managing by giving feedback, resolving issues, managing conflicts and optimize the project performance according to the project requirement. The main objective of this process is to improve the overall performance of the team and enhance productivity.

In monitoring and controlling phase:

• Controlling resources

The Control Resources process aims to fulfil all the resource requirement for the project activities. It ensures all the resources allocated are according to plan. The probability of change requests is high in resource management. Therefore, controlling the resources and monitoring according to the resource plan management is highly essential.

What are the techniques of Project Resource Management?

Some of the important techniques for effective Project Resource Management are:

Resource Allocation

Depending on their availability and skills, the resources are allocated to perform the project activities. Resource allocation is a process of assigning human resources along with equipment and materials required to complete the task within the assigned time. The project managers are responsible to identify the resource and assign the work. The allocation can be done in an effective way by following the tips given below:

1. Know the objective of the project thoroughly
2. Identify the resources according to their capabilities and skills
3. Know the dependencies of the resource
4. Track the schedule of the resource required.

Resource Scheduling

The estimation of the resource required to complete the project activities within the specified timeframe. There are two categories in resource scheduling.

• Reusable resources
• Consumable resources

Reusable resources can be human resources, software, space, machinery, tools.

Consumable resources can be money, time, materials.

There are three steps involved in resource scheduling:

1. Allocation-In this step project managers decide what type of resource is required to finish the task
2. Aggregation- Splitting of resources over the project life cycle.
3. Scheduling- Schedule the resources according to the availability. When resources are limited, then the requirements are addressed through resource smoothing or resource leveling.

Resource Leveling and Resource Smoothing 

The resource leveling and resource smoothing take care of limited resources. It generally avoids over-allocation and under-allocation. According to The PMBOK® Guide, Resource levelling and resource smoothing can be defined as,

“Resource leveling is a technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing the demand for resources against available supply.”

“Resource smoothing is a technique that adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirement for resources on the project does not exceed certain predefined resource limits.”

Resource Forecasting

The process of predicting future resource requirements ahead of time is resource forecasting. Resource forecasting helps to determine the potential risks and possible constraints. Understanding the availability and demand can help project managers to predict the resource requirement throughout the project cycle.

What are the best practices for Project Resource Management?

The best practices of resource management to successfully complete the project are:

1. Identify the resources which might fall short during the project lifecycle.
2. Prioritize the work considering all the aspects when dealing with shared resources.
3. Different ways of work can be adapted to meet the demand and supply.
4. Understanding that resource management runs throughout the project-lifecycle.
5. Create resource-breakdown structure.
6. Keep track of reporting time.
7. Limit multi-tasking
8. Record time spent on non-project work.
9. Don’t over-allocate the work.
10. Keep the resources motivated for better productivity.

What are the tools and softwares used for Resource Management?

The list of latest tools and software used for efficient resource management are:

• Float
• Resource Guru
• Hub Planner
• Saviom
• Mavenlink
• elapseit
• Forecast
• Productive
• 10,000ft Plans
• eResource Scheduler

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- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses

- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) Certification Training Courses

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What are the Benefits of using the Gantt Chart in Project Management?

It’s never easy managing a project. In fact, it is very challenging and the project manager is the important driver for the project’s success. Project Manager will require all the resources possible and that includes tools and techniques in achieving the positive outcome for the project. There are a lot many tools employed by the project manager and this blog will deal with one of the significant and specialty tools called Gantt Chart.

What is the Gantt Chart in Project Management?

Wikipedia  describes the Gantt Chart as a “ type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule and shows the dependency relationships between activities and current schedule status.”

Gantt Chart, in simpler terms, is a Data visualization tool that depicts in a graphical format by mapping the tasks and activities of a project against time. All the activities performed in a project are outlined in the chart in an organized order displaying critical information.

The information presented on the Gantt Chart specifies the tasks of the project, the resources assigned to the task, duration of the task, and also the activities that might overlap. Gantt Chart helps the Project Manager to plan, schedule, track, and manage all the tasks effectively.

What is the History of Gantt Chart

Joseph Priestly in his “Charts of Biography” introduced the idea of bar charts in 1765. William Playfair in 1786 pioneered the Gantt Chart in his Commercial and Political Atlas. Karol Adamiecki, a Polish engineer built something close to Gantt Chart in his construction project in the year 1896. Then came an American Engineer named Henry Gantt introduced his version somewhere between 1910 to 1925 that rose to prominence and became popular in the form of mass adoption in a very short span of time. Gantt Charts were used in wartime during 1917-18 for the tracking of arms and ammunitions. Wallace Clark’s book named “The Gantt Chart – A Working Tool of Management“ released in the year 1923 mentioned Gantt Chart, which by then became an official term.  With the passage of time, the adoption of the Gantt Chart kept growing in a wide range of domains and fields.

What is Gantt Chart Elements?

A typical Gantt chart is made up of several elements. The various elements in a Gantt Chart  are detailed below:

Tasklist: depicted on the extreme left of the Gantt chart, the task list that runs down vertically describes the project work. The tasks can be grouped together and it is possible to create sub-groups.

Timeline: depicted as the horizontal bar that runs on top of the Gantt Chart. In order to keep track, the time is displayed in terms of months, weeks, days, and years

Dateline: depicted as a vertical line on the Gantt chart. that highlights the current date

Bars: depicted on the right side of the Gantt Chart. as horizontal markers, the bars display the tasks, duration, progress,  tasks’ start dates and end dates for project completion.

Milestones: depicted as yellow diamonds, Milestones show up between the Bars denote an important achievement in a project especially dates,  goals, events and deliverables.

Dependencies: depicted as the light gray lines linking tasks, Dependencies specify the relationships between tasks and the execution of tasks in a specific order.

Progress: depicted as a percentage of completion in the form of shading in the bar indicating the progress made in the project work.

The resource assigned: depicted the resource (team member) or the team assigned to complete the task.

Benefits of Gantt Chart in Project Management

1. Get to know your projects

Gantt charts acts as a great visualization and prioritization tool as it provides the total overview of the project and presents critical information like resources deployed in the project, the tasks and its orders, the duration,  the start and end dates, the dependencies, and progress made in the project at any given point in time. Hence, it’s a great tool for project managers to equip themselves with the information to plan, coordinate and manage the project.

2. Enhance communication and team organization

Communication is critical to the success of a project. A study observed in the public domain revealed that 86% of employees cited the communication gap and issues are the worst reasons for the failure of the project. With regard to ti communication Gantt Chart as very effective as it provides clarity in communication. Project managers use the Gantt Chart to find out ‘who is working on what tasks’, secure information and provide inputs in getting the tasks completed. The communication with the team members is enhanced as the same tool can be used for both communication and tracking, resulting in a better relationship as a team.

3. Eliminate resource overload

There could instances when resources could be tasked with more than the permissible bandwidth. It does happen in a project wherein resources could be overloaded or stretched out. Effective use of resources is facilitated by Gantt Chart that aligns with the project timeline. Resources can be delegated tasks without saddling with too much work, which helps the project manager in proper and effective utilization of resources.

4. Assess the progress of projects

Gantt chart helps in scheduling and also tracks the project’s tasks. This assists the project manager in keeping under check the progress made in the project and also enables in shifting strategy to introduce necessary changes in case of slippage of schedule or if the project is lagging behind in timeline. Gantt Chart can be used by the project members to update the percentage of work completed, which is useful to the project manager in making the whole team stay on one page and also ensure the project is making progress rightly as planned.

5. Monitor task dependencies and overlapping activities

The dependencies can at times slow down or even derail as some tasks are dependent to start only upon the closure of another task. Dependencies make project development difficult and complex to manage.  Gantt Chart presents the dependencies of the tasks and helps in scheduling in such a manner that the overlapping can be totally eliminated. This ensures that there is no adverse impact execution of the tasks and the overall progress of the project.

6. Experience more clarity
 

It's easy to get lost in the maze of numbers or stuck in the project details to lose sight of where the project is heading. Gantt Chart provides clarity by enabling to see instantly the progress made in the tasks and also of the team members involved in the project. It builds a better understanding of how the project is shaping out and brings more clarity about the project’s outcome.

7. Practice better time management

Time is an integral and critical component of project management. The biggest benefit of using a Gantt Chart is scheduling. The Gantt Chart plays a significant role by helping the team members recognize the severity of their tasks and realize the impact in case of delay. Gantt Chart presents the big picture of the overall progress to plan better on the allocation of time on every task and get it done within the scheduled timeline.

8. Create a sense of accountability

Gantt charts highlight the milestones achieved, big wins scored, deadlines met and the deliverables, slippage in schedule, failures which allow the project manager and team members to keep a track of the progress made. It creates a sense of accountability is created in the workplace with the help of the Gantt Chart, thus enabling the project manager and team members to work out solutions in closing the gaps and work towards exceeding the expectations of the stakeholders.

RECOMMENDED POST:

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Top 10 Reasons to Get PMP® Certified

How To Qualify PM Experience In PMP Application Form

The Step By Step Procedure To Fill The Application Form

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Improve Project Success With These Project Management Skills

Project’s success highly depends on project managers and their skill sets to manage the project effectively. In today’s competitive talent pool, you need to acquire all the project management skills to become a successful project manager.

There is a thin line between a qualified project manager and a certified project manager. Qualified professionals possess all the skills required but certification validates their skills, education, experience, and expertise. Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification helps in improving the skills required to manage all types of projects. It opens the doors to go ahead in the career. The project management skills to be improved for project success are:

• Leadership
• Communication skills
• Time management
• Negotiation skills
• Decision-making skills
• Risk management

1. Leadership

A good leader has the ability to bring the best out of the team with soft skills. The motivated team always gives the best result. A project manager with great leadership qualities lead the team, manage a team, motivate the team and get the work done in an effective manner. The team should be led in both strategic and operation’s perspective.

Project managers can possess effective leadership quality by the following ways that can improve the success rate of the project:

• Social- Influence: The performance of the team can be influenced by conformity, socialization, obedience and peer pressure. The productivity of the team can be improved by improvement in work culture. The opinions, emotions, and behavior team members are affected by the project managers.
• Clarity: Clear vision towards goal. Without a clear vision of the consequences, the team cannot be led by the project manager effectively.
• Inspire team members: Project managers should make things happen. The inspiring team is making team members work willingly.
• Motivate team: The motivated team always gives the best result. The team can be motivated by appreciation, opportunities, and rewards.
• Guidance: Project managers guide the team by providing all the required information clearly.
• Setting Measurable goals: The common goals are to be set by project managers. The timeframe required to reach the objective is set to accomplish the common goals.

2. Communication skills

The impact of communication is very high in project success. Communication is one of the most essential skills required to improve the success rate of the project. The effect of the project manager’s communication has an impact not only on the project but also on clients and stakeholders. Communicating clearly is one of the primary responsibilities of project managers. The changes are to be communicated to all the team members. The following skills include the best practice of communication skills:

The following modes of communication can help in improving the success rate of the project:

• Group meetings
• Email
• One-on-one meetings
• Status reports
• Updates
• Telephonic call

Great communication skills include:

• Active listening
• Clarity in discussion
• Confidence
• Responsiveness
• Respect
• Reach on agreements
• Result oriented
• Addressing important issues
• Resolving issues

Poor communication can mislead the project and result in project failure or delay.

3. Time management

Time management is the most important aspect of project management. Planning helps in setting goals and provide a definite path to reach the project objective. A strategic mindset is important for effective planning. Planning includes defining the project activities of each team member to achieve the project objective in constrained time without any obstacle.

It is completely project manager’s responsibility to deliver the project on time.

Keeping track on the project status and individual project activities helps in proper time management

The standardized time tracking tools and schedule templates are used to keep the transparency of the project.

4.  Negotiation skills

Bringing a group of people to settle the differences in order to accomplish the common goal with the agreed resource, budget and time. A good project manager is always a good negotiator. Negotiation always comes with a settlement. In any disagreement, people bring out the best possible outcome. The project manager achieves a desirable outcome of the discussion if PM is a good negotiator. There are two types of negotiation

• competitive negotiation
• collaborative negotiation

The negotiation skills a project manager should possess to improve the rate of project success are:

• An ability to set goals and limits in order to reduce conflict management
• Excellent listening skills
• Effective verbal communication skills
• knowledge of when and how to close the negotiation.
• Reducing misunderstandings is a key part of effective negotiation
• Rapport Building.
• Problem Solving.
• Decision Making.
• Assertiveness.
• Dealing with Difficult Situations.

5. Decision-making skill

Decision making skill is the most important skill a project manager should possess. Some decisions on a daily basis are not much important but there are some critical decisions that lead the project to be successful. The character of the decision should be:

• Rational
• Unbiased decisions

The decision can be taken in the following steps:

• Identify the problem – Recognize the problem in the project process and gather all the information required to take the rational and unbiased decision.
• Summarize all the information
• Figure out all the possible solutions–  find all the possible solutions and ideal way to resolve preferably in a group. Consider all the points and do not ignore anything
• Produce objective criteria – generate the measurement criteria to check the feasibility of the solutions.
• Decide what is best – Make a decision based on what is best for the successful completion of the project within a constrained time.
• Implement the solution – implement the solution decided
• Track the results – Track the outcome of the implemented solution.

6. Risk Management

The project manager identifies the risk at an early stage to avoid the impact of risk on project progress later. To predict the uncertainties, the streamlined risk management process is carried out. Risk identification and analysis are done throughout the project lifecycle to reduce the impact on the resource, processes, technology, and schedule.

In risk management,

Identifying the source of risk -  The potential risks are listed out based on the previous projects.

Risks identified are categorized in:

• Technical
• External
• Organizational

Risk Analysis is done by performing two processes:

The qualitative Risk Analysis process

In order to set the risk priorities, the analysis is done on the probability of the risk, the impact of the risk on the project and other risk parameters affecting the project deliverables. The main objective of performing qualitative analysis is to predict and reduce the uncertainty of the risks.

The quantitative Risk Analysis process

Performing quantitative risk analysis is the process of numerically analyzing the effect parameters of identified risks on overall project activities. This process helps in further prioritization of risks, reducing the uncertainty.

Risk Responses are planned against the identified risk:

The process of developing action plans against the identified risks to reduce the overall impact on the project. Planning the risk responses involves selecting strategies and agreeing on the actions developed.

Implement Risk Responses process

The process of implementing risk responses involves executing all the actions planned against identified risks to reduce the uncertainty of the project.

Monitor Risks process

The process involves monitoring the implemented action plans against risk identified. This process involves tracking risk responses, analyzing new risks and reducing the risk factor throughout the project.

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Agile Training by iCert Global:

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Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:

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 Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

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What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a PRINCE2 Certified Professional?

What is Prince2 Certification?

PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. PRINCE2 is regarded as a common standard that enables both public and private sector projects to be executed with a common understanding of the processes.

 PRINCE2 is one of the leading and popular project management professional certification course that is highly recognized and widely used. PRINCE2  is applicable to any project regardless of the scale, type, geography, organization or culture.

The delivery of products is focused on PRINCE2  more than carrying out activities. There must be a business vase and plan in PRINCE which have to be reviewed periodically.

PRINCE2 is a non-proprietary process-based methodology that is in the public domain and hence not therefore, users are not attached to any single organization for training, consultancy and support.

The structure of PRINCE2 includes:

7 Principles of PRINCE2

• Continued business justification.
• Learn from experience.
• Defined roles and responsibilities.
• Manage by stages.
• Manage by exception.
• Focus on products.
• Tailor to suit the environment

7 Themes of PRINCE2

• Business case.
• Organization.
• Quality.
• Plans.
• Risk.
• Change.
• Progress.

7 Processes of PRINCE2

• Starting up a project.
• Directing a project.
• Initiating a project.
• Controlling a stage.
• Managing product delivery.
• Managing a stage boundary.
• Closing a project.

Roles of PRINCE2 Certified Professional

The jobs are not defined in PRINCE2, instead, the roles are defined detailed with responsibilities and it is not necessary that an individual is assigned to a role. There can be more than a person playing that role.

The important criteria are choosing the right person for the roles that come with its responsibilities and the person with the required skill set, knowledge, experience, expertise, leadership, competency, credibility and authority is the best fit.

There is an exclusive term in PRINCE2that comprises of the project manager, the project board and other roles that are optional. It is called Project Management Team.

For a project to be successful in PRINCE2, there must be three categories of stakeholders with a set of roles and responsibilities.

The project board roles and responsibilities are made up of three primary interests.

The Business interest – the value for the money is provided by the Business Case,

the User interest –project’s outputs are used to realize the benefits, or the user interest used to operate, maintain or support the project outputs.

The Supplier interest – the resources and skills are supplied to produce a project’s products.

The PRINCE2 project organization roles and responsibilities include 4 levels, which are,

1.  Corporate or program management,

They are responsible for the Project Mandate, project-level tolerance definition, and identifying the executive. They are not apart of the project management team and are outside of it.  

2. The Project Board

They are accountable for the success of the project by providing guidance and overall direction.  The Project Board is also accountable for the project’s success or failure of the project, by supplying the required resources, approving the project funding and facilitating effective decision-making. The Project Board must possess the right level of authority, credibility, and ability to delegate. The Project Board Executive has the veto power on any decision making and is primarily responsible for the Business Case.

3. The Project Manager

The day-to-day management of the project is the responsibility of the Project Manager. The project board will lay down the constraints within which the Project Manager must manage within the project.

4. Team members

They are responsible for project delivery on time, within cost and desired quality.

Roles & Responsibilities of PRINCE2 Certified Professional

 The Senior User roles and responsibilities  

Who will use the project’s products will be represented by the Senior User. This also includes how the products will be to achieve an objective.  The Senior User stipulates the benefits and held accountable by corporate or program management.

The Senior Supplier roles and responsibilities 

The design, development, facilitate, procurement and implementation of the project’s products are represented by the Senior Supplier.   The technical integrity of the project is the main responsibility of the Senior Supplier.

The Project Board

It is responsible for Project Assurance which comprises of assurance, business, user and supplier.  Project Assurance can be performed by each project board member who may choose to delegate it. Project Assurance is not dependent on the Project Manager, rather it is independent. Project Assurance offers guidance and counsel to the Project Manager in managing the project. In the case of change requests, the Project Board should decide during the initiation stage if there is time to take up the changes or set up Change Authority who will own up the responsibility on their behalf.  The Project Board should ideally comprise of six to eight members for effective decision making. If the number of persons shoots up, then it slows down the decision making process.

The Project Manager roles and responsibilities

 is responsible for the project management, the delegation of responsibility to the team members and specialists for the creation of products. The project manager will assign work packages to the team which will be handled through a team manager.

The Team Manager roles and responsibilities

The Team Manager will assign the Work Packages to the team members and present the Project Manager with regular updates and Checkpoint Reports. It is the Team Manager who will manage the team members on a day-to-day basis.

Project Support

It is an optional role whose main roles and responsibilities are to provide administrative services to the project. Whenever required, it provides direction and guidance about the use of project management tools. It also provides configuration management.  In the absence of Project Support, then the Project manager will have to manage by themselves.

Demand for PRINCE2 Certified Professionals

The PRINCE2 certification is an important asset to accelerate your career growth in project management.

A 2016 AXELOS survey interviewed project management professionals and other roles, like IT systems and operations and reported their findings as  "regardless of function, candidates do find that PRINCE2 is valuable to their career".

According to Payscale.com, the average annual salaries for certified PRINCE2 professionals in the United States are shown below which was last updated on Nov 11, 2019

Do visit our Corporate Training to know more about core offerings for enterprises in empowering their workforce.

iCert Global conducts Project Management, Quality Management, Business Analysis, Agile, Scrum, and DevOps Certification courses across various locations in the United States.

 Visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ for more information about our professional certification training courses or Call Now! on +1-713-287-1213 / +1-713-287-1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

Project Management Training by iCert Global:

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- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) Certification Training Courses

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- CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

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The company conducts both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across the United States and around the world.

 Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

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What is Agile Project Management?

Agile is an iterative and incremental method to develop software step by step taking frequent reassessment whenever required, instead of delivering the whole product after completion.

Agile Methodology is rapidly adopted by all types of organizations especially which cope with the turbulent customer-driven marketplace which resulted in rapid fame of Agile. The organization which adopted Agile Methodology observed a decrease in critical defects and an increase in productivity. It is considered highly successful and efficient.

In Agile Project Management, project activities are divided into phases termed as “Sprints”. Usually, a week span is allotted to each sprint. After completion, sprints are reviewed and evaluated by the managers. The feedbacks are taken from the stakeholders within a week. The project activities are completed within constrained time according to the feedback from the stakeholders.

Agile management relies heavily on teamwork, customer collaboration, time-boxing tasks and allows greater flexibility.

According to the 13th State of Agile Survey Report (2019),

• 71% of respondents adopted agile because it reduces project cost
• 74% of respondents adopted agile as it accelerates the software delivery
• 51% of respondents claim that adopting agile increases productivity
• 43% of respondents stated adopting agile enhances the product quality

According to the report by EY: Digital Transformation for 2020 and beyond, Global Telecommunications Study, improved organizational agility is at the heart of successful digital transformation.

The book, Agile Project Management (APM) by Jim High smith, was one of the first attempts to broaden Agile techniques into a cohesive whole.

PMI, the world’s leading project management institute for Project Management Professional (PMP), has introduced Agile in their PMBOK – 6th edition. Incidentally, PMBOK-version 6 is the reference material for their flagship Project Management Certification (PMP) course. PMP is globally acclaimed and universally recognized, and benchmark certification in project management

What are the different methodologies of Agile?

The different Agile methodologies include:

• Agile Scrum Methodology
• Lean Software Development
• Kanban
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Crystal
• Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
• Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Agile Scrum Methodology

Scrum methodology is an implementation of agile practices based on an iterative and incremental method.  According to the 12th Annual State of Agile Report, The Scrum Methodology is most widely used amongst software development teams as it divides complicated tasks to user stories.

The roles of product owner, scrum master and developer roles can be seen in this system.

Lean Methodology

Lean is an iterative methodology where the products are delivered through effective value stream mapping. The lean methodology was originally developed by Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Lean is an evolving methodology without any rigid rules and guidelines.

The main principle of Lean Methodology is to eliminate waste, fast delivery, team empowerment, continuous learning. Lean methodology eliminate waste by asking the customer to select only valuable features required. It relies on rapid and reliable feedback for faster productivity.

Kanban

Kanban is an agile methodology which relies on visual-based workflow. Kanban was developed on the production line of the Toyota factories in the 1940s. 83% of the teams using Lean methodology uses Kanban framework for continual delivery. Kanban promotes effective teamwork through continuous collaboration.

Kanban is based on 3 basic principles:

• Visualize what you’ll do today (workflow automation)
• Limit the amount of work in progress (WIP)
• Enhance flow

Extreme Programming (XP)

Extreme programming (XP) is a disciplined approach with higher customer involvement, faster feedback, work on prioritization, continuous planning, continuous testing and closer teamwork to deliver high-quality software. XP is mainly based on four simple values:

• Simplicity
• Communication
• Feedback
• Courage

The customer and development work very closely in this method to define and set the priorities. The development team works on an iteration-by-iteration to deliver a high-quality product.

Crystal

The Crystal methodology is of the most lightweight and adaptable approaches based on team size, project priority and system criticality. The crystal methodology is comprised of a set of crystal families mainly for smaller teams. Crystal promotes early and frequent delivery of working software with high user involvement and the removal of distractions. Crystal methodology doesn’t rely on fixing tools and techniques. The core elements are people and processes.

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is a common industry framework for rapid software delivery.  Earlier it was called as Rapid Application Development (RAD). DSDM provides a comprehensive foundation for planning, managing, executing, and scaling Agile process and iterative software development projects. DSDM is based on eight key principles:

• Focus on the business value and need
• On-time delivery
• Collaborate
• Never compromise quality
• Build incrementally from firm foundations
• Iterative approach
• Communicate continuously and clearly
• Demonstrate control

Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is a model-driven method with shorter iterations. It was built around software engineering best practices. The FDD is based on domain object modelling, developing by feature, and code ownership.  It consists of simple activities:

• Development of an overall model
• Building a feature list
• Planning by feature
• Designing by feature
• Building by feature

Combination of Agile Methodologies

The combination of other Agile Methodologies such as ScrumBan, Scrum/XP etc. are also used in different organizations as per the requirement of the company.

The proper scaling framework is required to implement the Agile Methodology. Scalable Agile Framework (SAFe) is the most used agile scaling framework which enables to implement Agile Methodology such as SCRUM at the bigger enterprise level.

Methodologies such as SCRUM, Kanban or combination of both (Scrumban) and frameworks such as Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Scrum of Scrums were developed to meet the long-term planning benefits and help organizations in scaling lean and agile practice.

What are the12 principles of Agile?

The 12 principles of Agile Methodology are:

1. Customer satisfaction through early and continuous quality delivery
2. Welcome changes according to customer’s needs and requirement
3. Business and development go hand in hand
4. A collaborative approach to work
5. Build projects around motivated individuals
6. Promotes sustainable development
7. Face to face clear conversation
8. A measure of progress is working software
9. Continuous attention to excellence
10. Simplicity
11. Self-organizing teams
12. Reflect for Effectiveness

Why adopt Agile project management?

• Provides Clarity: Work is divided into phases termed as “Sprints”. Usually, a week span is allotted to each sprint. After completion, sprints are reviewed and evaluated by the managers. This way of approach provides more clarity and it also provides predictable cost and schedule.
• Enhance quality: The feedbacks are taken from the stakeholders within a week, Stakeholder engagement increases the scope of improvement and to rectify errors (if any) in the early-stages. Regular feedback from customers enhance the quality of the product.
• Encourages teamwork: It is a collaborative process which encourages constant learning and knowledge sharing. It brings out a positivity towards work culture as it encourages a team-based approach to development.
• Faster Return on Investment (ROI) as Agile Methodology focus on fast product releases which justifies the business value.
• Simple Prioritization: Setting out priorities made easier with Agile Methodology.
• Reduces risk as adopting Agile Methodology eliminates the chance of absolute project failure.

What are the benefits of doing Agile Certifications?

Any Certification plays a key role in the career path as it holds solid proof of subject matter and continuous learning. The 10 benefits of doing Agile Certification is :

1. Agile certification is globally recognized and in-demand worldwide.

2. Recognizes your expertise in using agile practices in your projects, while demonstrating their increased professional versatility through agile tools and techniques.

3. Carries a higher level of professional credibility as it requires a combination of agile training, experience working on agile projects, and an examination on agile principles, practices, tools, and techniques.

4. Supports individuals in meeting the needs of organizations that rely on agile project practitioners to apply a diversity of methods to their project management.

5. Demonstrates your level of professionalism in agile practices of project management to employers and potential employers.

6. Increases your professional versatility in both agile project management tools and techniques.

7. Accelerates the scope of your career as an Agile Certified Professional with career advancement, professional growth, and increase in salary and earning potential.

8. Enables you to stand out from the crowd as an Agile Certified Professional. Professionals with formal scrum training and an Agile certification have higher salaries than those without an agile certification, according to the Scrum Master Trends Report 2019.

9. Expands your market reach as an agile certified professional and provides you with an opportunity to network with a vibrant community of agile professionals, related organizations, and experts worldwide.

10. Invest in your future. Invest in an Agile Certification to recession-proof your career. Agile professionals would retain their value even during a recession due to their strong and highly transferable core competencies.

Adopting Agile is not about being Agile or doing Agile, It requires a change in the mindset as well to adopt change in work culture resulting in clear product vision and roadmap.

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What is Project Stakeholder Management? 

Stakeholders are those who have a stake in the project and its outcome. The person or people who have invested in the project and affected by the project’s outcome are referred to as Stakeholders. It is absolutely necessary to communicate and constantly keep in touch with the stakeholders – which is ideally the best practice for good stakeholder management. When projects fail to deliver its outcome, the main cause is cited is the lack of communication between key stakeholders.

What is Project Stakeholder Management?

The success of any project depends on its fulfilment of the expectations of the stakeholders, which means the project has delivered on its promise. The management of stakeholders and influencing their expectations is the main responsibility of the project manager. It is the stakeholders who decide on the acceptance of the project delivery underscoring the importance of project stakeholder management.

Project stakeholder management involves identifying the people or groups, that can impact the project,  analyzing stakeholder expectations for effectively engaging stakeholders through business strategies for project decisions and execution. It also focuses on constant and continuous communications with stakeholders for regular updates and conflict resolution and enhances stakeholder engagement.

The processes defined in Project Stakeholder Management are defined below:

• Identify Stakeholders. The objective of this process is a stakeholder register.
• Plan Stakeholder Management. The objective of this process stakeholder management plan.
• Manage Stakeholder Engagement. The objective of this process issue log, change requests.
• Control Stakeholder Engagement. The objective of this process work performance information, change requests

What is the difficulty in Project Stakeholder Management?

It can be conflicting views and objectives. One of the stakeholders who has a major stake might want a new feature or functionality which can be negated by another stakeholder wielding appreciable influence. And this is the reason to classify the stakeholders in order of importance and priority. And the role of the project manager is critical in balancing out the expectations to resolve differences and steer through the conflicts.

How do you classify the stakeholders?

The stakeholders can be classified using Stakeholder Analysis.

Even before the stakeholder management begins, it is important to identify the stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis is used to classify stakeholders by identifying their r needs and requirements. Everything boils down to need, which includes information need that’s crucial for stakeholder management.

The stakeholders and their relationships to the project manager are listed below.

Top Management

Top management is represented by the company’s CEO or CFO or Presiden, vice-presidents, directors, division managers, the corporate operating committee, and others. These are the people that direct the strategy and responsible for the development of the organization.

The Project Team

The project team can be made up of dedicated or even shared resources, and at times borrowed resources on a part-time basis are deployed. The project manager, need to provide leadership, direction, and support to team members in accomplishing their tasks.

Peers

The people at the same level in the organization as the project manager are called peers. Peers may or may not be as part of the project team and don’t have any responsibilities or accountability towards the outcome of the project.

Resource Managers

The resources that can be borrowed are not in the control of project managers as they can be controlled by other managers. So the relationship with those managers ought to be good for a smooth transition of resources moving in and out based on mutual understanding.

Internal Customers

Internal customers are the persons who are customers for projects within the organization. Inter customers meet internal demands and have the power to accept or reject the work. The project manager must get their buy-in early of the work about deliverables and update the customers about issues and address them as well.

External customer

External Customers are customers of a business or project that can be marketed and impact the quality of service and its value.

Government

Dealings with government departments which can include all or some levels of government from municipal, provincial, federal, to international.

Contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers

When companies don’t have the in-house expertise or lack of resources, the work is farmed out to contractors or subcontractors or suppliers.

How to analyze stakeholders?

All the potential stakeholders should be listed and analyzed by placing them into categories.  The classification of the stakeholders is important as the interest of every stakeholder will vary and some stakeholders will prove to be more than the others. This stakeholder analysis will decide about the frequency of communication with the select group of stakeholders and the information to be communicated.

The stakeholders can be broken down into four categories:

·  High power, highly interested people (Manage Closely): These stakeholders are the key players and should be engaged by making all efforts in satisfying them with regular updates.

·  High power, less interested people (Keep Satisfied): These stakeholders must be kept satisfied not so much and again not less to the point of boring with communication inflow.

·  Low power, highly interested people (Keep Informed): These stakeholders must be adequately informed and consulted with regard to their area of expertise to ensure no major problems arise.

·  Low power, less interested people (Monitor): These stakeholders must be monitored by informing about general information again, and should not be burdened with excessive communication.

Culture of Stakeholders

It is possible that project stakeholders may not share a common culture, in which case, the project management must adapt its work processes to cope with cultural differences. The cultural difference that can affect a project is of three major aspects: Communications, Negotiations and Decision making.

Communication is the most critical aspect of differences in culture as Project managers may come across barriers with regard to languages and context. When the same language is not shared between stakeholders, it slows down communication and project execution as information exchange ought to be accurate and fast. Usually, the “need-to-know” information that is critical to the project is shared. When project stakeholders represent a different culture, the cultural influence can cause confusion in communication, negotiation and decision making.

Managing Stakeholders

Projects often have more than one stakeholder. more the number of stakeholders, the greater are the challenges as it adds on to the stress and complexity levels of the project. The emotional investment of the stakeholder and their influence on the project execution can impact the outcome. how does it make it so complex? Project stakeholders more often than not tend to agree or disagree which adds on to the complexity, and larger the stake then more is their say and influence of the project. So it is very vital for the project manager to manage the stakeholders by amicably solving the situation or the conflicts arising out of agreement or disagreement. This is one of the foremost reasons as to why the project manager’s role is very challenging. 

How to Identify Project Stakeholders?

The process of stakeholder identification begins even before the project starts. The identification process starts no sooner the charter is approved by the sponsor.

Stakeholder identification is not a one-time exercise but a continuous process as new ones get introduced in the course of the project and old ones may pull out citing lack of interest. So this shuffle in terms of power and interest brings about the changes about the old and new stakeholders and hence it is important to identify and keep a tab about them.

Some of the techniques and documents that help in stakeholder identification are listed below:

• Project Charter
• Contract Documents
• Procurement Documents
• OPA and EEF
• Interview the Experts
• Brainstorming Sessions

Project Charter

A project charter contains the names of the project manager, sponsor, client, and key stakeholders.

Contract Documents

The contract agreement records the names of suppliers,  and contacts representing the customer who have a stake in the project.

Enterprise Environmental Factors And Organizational Process Assets

 The enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets are sources to identify many stakeholders. Also,  the stakeholder register and lessons learned documents from past projects will also disclose the stakeholders involved in the project.

Interviews with Experts

There is no need to interview all the stakeholders. The most influential ones are interviewed to gain insight and information to understand their expectation as a stakeholder.

Try to ask open-ended questions during the interview and consider keeping one team member with you to record important information.

Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming with team members and experts is one of the best strategies in extracting information from the stakeholders. This exercise will help in identifying the stakeholders who wield considerable influence in the project execution and objectives.

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Project management has its own glossary and first-timers, especially those new to project management may find it difficult to blend in without becoming familiar with the project management terms that are often used during their course of work. Every business has its own jargon and project management is no different. In fact, some terms are so common that they can be used in other fields and some terms are very unique.

So, here are 50 select project management terms that will be helpful to communicate and ensure the team members are on the same page.

A. General Project Management Terms:

1.    Status Report

2.    Scope

3.    Project Plan

4.    Requirements

5.    Critical Path Method (CPM)

6.    Project Manager

7.    Project Stakeholder

8.    Project Baseline

9.    Deliverable

10. Project Portfolio Management

11. Agile Project Management

12. Waterfall Model

13. Project Budget

14. Project Timeline

15. Gantt Chart

16. Milestone

17. Dependencies

18. Start-to-start

19. Finish-to-start

20. Start-to-finish

21. Finish-to-finish

22. Work in Progress (WIP)

23. Work in Progress Limit

24. Bottleneck

25. Scrum

26. Sprint

B. Meeting Project Management Terms

27. Kickoff Meeting

28. Meeting Agenda

29. Meeting Minutes

30. Stand-up Meeting

31. Follow Up