Delegation

PMs should delegate:

o Routines (to get out of comfort zones)
o Tasks that require technical expertise (to offer challenges)
o What someone else can do better (to increase morale)
o Some enjoyable things to others (to motivate)
o Tasks or challenges to vary the routine of those who have boring jobs
o Activities that will allow people to cross-train one another so that they can manage their day-to-day crises (to increase self-confidence)
o Projects involving the critical, visible issues of quality, quantity, cost and timeliness to self-managed project teams or self-directed teams



What should not be delegated:

* Long range planning (although you should involve others)
* Selection of key team players
* Responsibility for monitoring team’s key project or key function
* Task of motivating fellow team members (people value how much the leader cares for them)
* Evaluation of team members (performance appraisals)
* Opportunity to reward team members
* Rituals such as groundbreaking ceremonies and celebrations
* Touchy, personal matters, or crises
* Items that set precedents or create future policies



Guidelines for effective delegation:

* Explain why the tasks are being delegated and what is their relative importance to the project, larger projects and to organizational goals
* Establish mutually agreed upon results and performance standards related to tasks
* Delegate in terms of objectives rather than procedures. To encourage creativity, give people freedom to pursue tasks their own way (but establish parameters or limits)
* Give team members authority necessary to accomplish the tasks
* Ensure acceptance from the delegatee. Build team members’ confidence in the use of the delegated authority
* Provide continuous support, training, and guidance to assist in the satisfactory completion of delegated tasks
* Demonstrate your confidence and trust in the abilities of project team members by encouraging new ideas and minimizing their fear of failure
* Uncover any obstacles to delegation and develop a plan to minimize the effect of these obstacles
* Remember that people produce the best results when they are having fun and doing what they WANT to do rather than what they HAVE to do. Thus, when possible, delegate tasks on the basis of employee interests
* Facilitate team members’ access to information, people and departments that are not normally available to them. This will demonstrate the PM’s sincerity and confidence in team members and improve task performance

Lesson Learned - Salman Saeed

With the grace of Almighty Allah, Mr. Salman Saeed passed his PMP Exam with flying Colors on 18th June,2009.

I really like the way Mr. Salman wrote his lesson learned so i decide to publish it on this post .....

Study Material:

I symbolized my study to PMP by five fingers of my hand as follows:

• Thumb --------- (One time read RITA Mulachi & Glossary, Figures of PMBok)
• Index Finger ---------- Notes (DON KIM, Benoit Aumars, Sridhar)
• Middle Finger --------- Online Questions (PM fast track, Crosswind, PM Study)
• Ring Finger ----------ITTO (Understand and use Mnemonics for learnt by heart---really work)
• Little Finger ----------Formulas (Prepcast – One page formulas)

Exam Highlights:

• Exam is very straight forward and I didn't see any questions from online questions /commercial database
• Small Scenario based questions from all Phases
• Two Questions from delegation
• One Critical path Questions & 3 to 4 EVT questions.
• 2 to 3 Question of professional responsibilities

Special Lesson Learnt For Intelligent Persons:

Smart people learn by experience but Intelligent people learn by the experience of smart people.

I also mapped the project management terminologies with my aim of life which should become of every , we can extend the list but the main point is getting SUCCESS.

Project	Whole Life (24*7)
Project Manager	Myself
Strategic Goal	Success in the Life hereafter & seek reward from Allah i.e. Heaven
Sponsor	Allah with all good names.
Stack Holders	All prophets (PBUH), Family, Friends, Relatives etc. Evil ( Negative Stack Holder must consider )
Project Charter	Holy Manuscripts From Allah
Scope Statement	Do the right things and keep away from dreadful & nasty activities
WBS	Break up of daily activities according to priorities reflect our goals
Scope Control & Verification	Close monitoring of every action with the impression of accountability
Budget + Resources	Life span with ability and assets to survive
Vendors/Partners	Pious gatherings
Meetings	Continuous Meeting with Sponsor (Pray & seek guidance) and Close Interaction with Stack holders (fair dealings & good relations)
Status Review Meetings	Daily before sleep with myself and sponsor obviously
Project Closure	End of Life --- Result entirely depends upon my activities during life span.
Project Archive & Lesson Learned	Not for me but for others (If they willing to learnt), No chance to Re-attempt

Written by:
Salman Saeed
PMP,ITIL,VCS, SCTS,HPCP,MCP
MS,MBA,MA,BE

Lesson Learned

By the Grace of ALLAH and prays of my mother I cleared my PMP exam on 26th of May 2009. I start my preparation in Feb 2009, it was very difficult for us to manage our studies with job because we were doing group studies and we had a Project plan which we are following and every week we update the schedule baselines because we can't meet them. Finally we decide to take a one week vacations from offices and get to gather on a one place to complete our studies and that last one week is the memorable days of live. We only slept 3 or 4 hours in a day and night to meet the schedule.

Preparation Material:
1) Read Head First.
2) Read Rita
3) Gave PM FasTrack after studding each knowledge area from RITA for that knowledge area. It was really use full and I recommend you guys to try it and I saw few questions of FasTrack in exam and FasTrack really helps me to remember and understand thing.
4) Read PMBOK for references only.
5) Gave head first Exam, score 73%.
6) Gave exam on PassPm.com and score 75% and on PMFinal.com take 79%.
7) But on Pmstudy.com I just score 62% just because I haven't read PMBOK properly.
8) And I change my exam date. But please I suggest you guy please please please don’t change your date specially when you are doing group studies.
9) Two days before exam I memorize & understand ITTO's and hear PMBOK line by line. You can use the Acrobat reader "Read out Load" feature to listen PMBOK. Understand & Memorize ITTO's it will really helps you in the exams.
10) After Reading I again appear in the PMStudy Exam and this time I score 78.5%.
11) Also read delegation. Almost 8 9 questions are appeared on this topic.
12) Last but not least, we found a study notes on internet and they are really useful [But we call them stupid notes :)]. All the key points are available in this PDF. I will send the link of these notes in my next email.

ON Exam Day

On exam day I waked up early in the morning. Read ITTO's and Study note.
Complete Exam in 3.5 hours but I only marked 4 questions and I also suggest you guys to avoid marked questions because there are 75% chance that you change the correct choice to wrong.
Exam was not too much difficult; few questions were lengthy.

I suggest you guys to read questions & choices carefully and figure out which process group you are and I bet you got the right answer in a minute. 4 hours are more than enough to complete 200 Question.

Also write all earned value formula's on paper before start of the examination.

After four hours when I press the end exam button and processing start to process my result and I was wait the screen of Congratulations but suddenly prometric survey is appeared on the screen. It was really painful to me to read and fill the survey form. And finally after some processing I saw the congratulation screen.

I special thanks to Faizan Dosani and Shahzad Sarang to help me in my studies motivate me.
If anybody need any help from me feel free to contact.

Bust of luck for your Exam.

Chapter 13 – Professional Responsibilities

Routine Government Fee (Transfer Fee) – only government official can collect routine government fees (this is not a bribe)

Company Policies - It is the project manager’s professional responsibility to ensure that company policies are followed during the project.

Copyright laws – do not violate

Employee mistake - when a team member makes a mistakes, allow him to save face and to fix the problem. Try to workout an issue before escalating. Exception: if it is not considered a project related issue (e.g. harassment), it should be reported directly to the employee’s manager.

Do not make illegal payments, report thefts

Company and Customer’s Interest - professional responsibility requires the investigation of any instances where the legitimate interests of the customer may be compromised. If such compromise is found, action must be taken. Protect your company’s interests

Budget tampering - presenting anything besides your original estimate to allocate more to the budget is inaccurate and calls into question your competence and integrity as project manager (e.g. if a customer ask to estimate “pessimistically”, you should add as a lump sum contingency fund to handle project risks)

Rights - do not do business with a country where there is a clear violation of the fundamental rights (e.g. non-discriminating treatment).

Major Roles of Project Team in PR (Professional Responsibility)

• The Project team has a professional responsibility to its stakeholders including customers, the performing organization and the public.  Especially the project team members who are PMI members and/or PMPs should adhere to the updated versions of the “Code of Ethics” and “Code of Professional Conduct”.
• Specifically, PMI members should adhere to “Code of Ethics”
• Specifically, Project Management Professionals (PMP) certification should adhere to a “Code of Professional Conduct”.

 

Code of Ethics (few to mention):-

• Maintain high standards of integrity and professional conduct.
• Accepts Responsibility for the actions.
• Continuously seek to enhance the professional capabilities
• Practice with fairness and honesty.
• Encourage others in the profession to act in an ethical and professional manner

 

Code of Professional Conduct (few to mention):-

 

• Adhere to legal requirements and ethical standards
• Protect stakeholder
• Share Lessons Learned and relative information within and outside your organization
• Advance the profession of project management
• Improve your competency as a project manager
• Balance stakeholders interest on the project
• Maintain and respect confidential information
• Strive for fair solution
• Ensure that a conflict of interest doesn’t compromise the customer’s legitimate interest

Act in an accurate truthful manner.

Notes: I am not the writter of this post, please thanks the anonymous writter

Chapter 12 – PROCUREMENT Management

 

Knowledge Areas	Major Processes	Primary Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Primary Outputs
PROCUREMENT	PPSSAC
Plan Purchases & Acquisitions	Determining what to procure and when   and how (make or buy)	1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Project scope statement 4. WBS 5. WBS Dictionary 6. Project Management Plan	1. Make or buy analysis 2. Expert judgment 3. Contract types	1. Procurement mgmt plan 2. Contract Statement(s) of Work 3. Make or Buy Decisions 4. Requested Changes
Plan Contracting	Preparing the documents needed to do contracting. Document requirement and identify sellers	1. Procurement management plan 2. Contract Statement(s) of work 3. Make or Buy Decisions 4. Project Management Plan	1. Standard forms 2. Expert judgment	1. Procurement documents 2. Evaluation criteria 3. Contract Statement of work (updates)
Request Seller Responses	Obtaining quotations, bids, offers, or proposals   (answer questions)	1. Organizational Process Assets 2. Procurement Management Plan 3. Procurement Documents	1. Bidder conferences 2. Advertising 3. Develop qualified sellers list	1. Qualified sellers list 2. Procurement Document Package 3. Proposals
Select Sellers	Involves the receipt of bids or proposals and the application of evaluation criteria to select a seller. Also involves applying evaluation criteria.	1. Organizational Process Assets 2. Procurement Management Plan 3. Evaluation Criteria 4. Procurement Document Package 5. Proposals 6. Qualified Sellers List 7. Project Management Plan	1. Weighting system 2. Independent estimates 3. Screening system 4. Contract Negotiation 5. Seller Rating System 6. Expert Judgment 7. Proposal Evaluation Techniques	1. Selected Sellers 2. Contract 3. Contract Management Plan 4. Resource Availability 5. Procurement Management Plan (Updates) 6. Requested changes
Contract Administration	Ensuring that the seller’s performance meets contractual requirements	1. Contract 2. Contract Management Plan 3. Selected Sellers 4. Performance Reports 5. Approved change requests 6. Work Performance information	1. Contract change control system 2. Buyer conducted performance review 3. Inspections and audits 4. Performance reporting 5.Payment system 6. Claims administration 7. Records management system 8. Information technology	1. Contract Documentation 2. Requested Changes 3. Recommended Corrective actions 4. Organizational Process assets (Updates) 5. Project Management plan (updates)    * Procurement Management Plan    * Contract management plan
Contract Closeout	Product verification and administration closeout    (finish)	1. Procurement management Plan 2. Contract management plan 3. Contract documentation 4. Contract closure procedure	1. Procurement audits 2. Records Management System	1. Closed Contracts 2. Organizational process assets (Updates)

 

Procurement Processes Repetition - When the project obtains products and services (project scope) from outside the performing organization, the processes from procurement planning through contract closeout would be performed once for each product or service item.

 

Contract – Subjects covered include Responsibilities, authorities, law and terms, technical and management approaches, financing, schedule, payments and price. Contract negotiations conclude with a document that can be signed by both buyer and seller, that is contract. The final contract can be a revised offer by the seller or counter offer by the buyer.

 

PLAN PROCUREMENT (OP)

 

Procurement Management Plan – Describes how procurement will be managed till contract closure. It includes Type Of contract, who prepares independent estimates, standardized procurement documents, Constraints and assumptions, identifying seller list etc.

Contract SOW – Developed from Scope Statement, WBS and WBS Dictionary describes procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing it.

Type of Contract SOW:

1. Performance: what final product should be able to accomplish, car with a speed of 240 KM per hr (T&M, CR; IT, R&D)
2. functional: end purpose or result, car with 6 seats (T&M, IT, R&D)
3. design: what work is to be done, built car as per the design (T&M, FP, construction)

Make or buy decisions: Costs - Direct costs are costs incurred for the exclusive benefit of the project (e.g., salaries of full-time project staff). Indirect costs, also called overhead costs, are costs allocated to the project by the performing organization as a cost of doing business (e.g., salaries of corporate executives).

 

PLAN CONTRACTING (OP)

 

Procurement Documents – Common names for different types of procurement documents include: Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), tender notice, Invitation for Negotiation, and Contractor Initial Response. Procurement documents are rigorous enough to ensure consistent, comparable responses but flexible enough to allow seller suggestions for better ways to satisfy the requirements. Seller is allowed to propose alternative solution in a separate proposal.

It has 1. Information for sellers 2. Contract SOW 3. Proposed terms and conditions of the contract (Legal & Business)

Evaluation Criteria

 

Proposal - technical approach, Bid, Tender and quotation – price

 

REQUEST SELLER RESPONSE

 

Bidder Conferences (TT) – Also called, as Contactor Conferences, Vendor Conferences and Pre-Bid Conferences are meetings with prospective sellers prior to preparation of bid or proposal, ensures clear and common understanding of procurement needs.

Procurement Document Package (OP) – Buyer prepared formal request sent to each seller and is the basis upon which a seller prepares a bid for the requested products, service or result.

Procurement Documents

1. Request For Proposal/Tender (RFP, RFT ) – Requests for Price and Detailed Proposal (CR)
2. Invitation for Bid/Request for Bid (IFB, RFB) – One Price (FP)
3. Request for Quotation – Price Quote per item (T&M)

 

Select Sellers – Tools & Techniques

1. Weighting System – Numeric Weight to each criteria, rating sellers, selection based on total weight
2. Independent Estimates – called “Should-Cost”, prepared by procuring organization.
3. Screening System – Establish minimum performance requirement for one or more criteria and use 1 & 2 methods
4. Contract Negotiation – Project Manager may not be the lead negotiator, PM team may be present during negotiations for providing any clarification of project’s technical and management requirements.
5. Seller Rating Systems
6. Expert Judgment
7. Proposal Evaluations techniques – Use some Expert judgment and evaluation criteria to rate and score proposals.

 

Output

 

Contract Management Plan – Lists documentation, delivery and performance requirements that the buyer and seller must meet. The plan covers the contract administration activities throughout the life of the contract. Part of PMP.

Selected Seller

Contract

Resource Availability

 

Contract Administration – Ensures the seller meets the performance requirements of the contract. Because of legal considerations many organizations treat contract administration as a separate administrative function from the project organization. Contract administration includes application of the appropriate project management processes to the contractual relationships(s) and integration of the outputs from these processes into overall management of the project.

Contract administration also has a financial management component. Payment terms should be defined within the contract and must involve a specific linkage between seller progress made and seller compensation paid.

 

TT:

Contract CC system

Buyer conducted perf review

Inspection and audits

Performance reporting

Payment System – Usually handled by accounts payable system of the buyer. It includes reviews & approvals by PM team.

Claims Administration – Contested Charges (claims, Disputes or appeals) are those where buyer and seller cannot agree. If both parties do not resolve a claim it is handled according to the resolution procedures established in the contract. Contract clauses can involve arbitration or litigation and can be invoked prior or after contract closure.

Records Management System – Set of procedures and automation tools that are consolidated as part of PMIS to manage contract documentation and records.

IT

 

OP:

Organization Process Assets (After Contract Administration) –

1.       Correspondence – In addition to documentation, it is a record of all the written and oral communication.

2.       Payment Schedules and Requests

3.       Seller Performance evaluation documentation

PMP updates – Procurement Management Plan and Contract Management Plan.

 

Contract Closure

Procurement Audit – Review of procurement processes from Plan purchases to Contract administration. Aims to identify successes and failures.

Records Management System

Contract closeout is similar to administrative closure in that it involves both product verification (Was all work completed correctly and satisfactorily?)

Administrative closeout (updating of records to reflect final results and archiving of such information for future use).

Administrative Closure (Internal)—generating, gathering, and disseminating information, to formalize a phase or project completion.

Contract Closeout—completion and settlement of the contract, including resolution of any open items. (External )

 

Difference between Contract Closeout and Admin Closure

1. Contract Closure comes first 2. AC is done at end of each phase or project, CC is done only once at the end of Contract 3.AC – Lessons learned   CC – Procurement audit    4. AC – Less Formal           CC – More Formal.

 

a contract, an agreement, a subcontract, a purchase order, or a memorandum of understanding.

Buyer(Give Order )----PO------------à Seller

Seller ----Invoice------à Buyer (Pay order)

 

Contract Types and Risk	1. Fixed Price 2. Cost-Reimbursable 3.Time & Material
CR	Buyer has risk, as total cost are unknownYou are buying “what to do” from seller.
Cost plus fee or Cost Plus Percentage of Cost (CPPC)	No valid for federal contracts. Sellers are not motivated to control cost, used when buyer can tell what is needed then what to do. Seller write SOW. Bad for buyer
Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)	Used for research and development contracts (which generally have low level of detail in the scope); fixed fee can change if there is a change to the contract (usually through change orders). The risk rests with the buyer. This is the most common cost reimbursable contract.
Cost Plus Incentive Fee CPIF)	Buyer and seller share in savings based on predetermined %s; long performance periods and substantial development and test requirements (incentive to the seller to perform on or ahead of time) Cost plus agreed fee plus a bonus for beating the objective
Cost plus Award fee	Similar to CPIF but award amount is amount is determined in advance and apportioned out depending on performance.
	·         In Cost plus contract, the only firm figure is the fee
T & M	Used for small amount contract. Good if the buyer wants to be in full control and/or the scope is unclear/not detailed or work has to start quickly. Profit factor into the hourly rate. Fixed rate but variable total cost. They are open ended.
Fixed price or Firm Fixed Price (FFP)	Buyer defines reasonably detailed specifications (e.g. SOW). Shift risk to seller. Good when deliverable is not a core competency. Fixed Price (FP) is the most common type of contract in the world. Seller is at risk.
Fixed Price Plus Incentive Fee (FPIF)	Incentives for fixed price contract. The inventive is same as CPIF. High-value projects involving long performance periods
Fixed Price Award Fee	“bonus” to the seller based on performance (e.g. 100K + 10K for every designated incremental quality level reached. Award fee is decided in advance.
Fixed Price Economic Price Adjustment (FPEPA)	Allow Price increase if the contract is for multiple years
Purchase Order	A form of contract that is normally unilateral and used for simple commodity purchases. It is simplest type of fixed price contract and is usually unilateral(Signed by one party instead of bilateral)
Contract type Vs Risk	FP – FPIF – FPAF – FPEPA – T&M – CPIF – CPAF – CPFF - CPPC Fixed Price – T&M - Cost Reimbursable Buyer’s risk from low to high Seller’s risk from high to low

Cost Reimbursable

Advantages	Disadvantages
Simpler contract SOW	Required auditing sellers invoices
Usually required less work to write the scope than FP	Requires more work for buyer to manage
Generally lower cost than PL because the seller does not have to add as much for risk.	Seller has only a moderate incentive to control costs
	Total price is unknown

T&M

Advantages	Disadvantages
Quick to create	Profit is in every hour billed
Contract duration is brief	Seller has no inventive to control costs
Good choice when you are hiring to augment your staff	Appropriate only for small projects
	Requires the most day to day oversight from the buyer

Fixed Price

Advantages	Disadvantages
Less work for buyer to manage	Seller may under price the wok and try to make up profits on change orders
Seller has a strong incentive to control cost	Seller may not complete some of the SOW if they begin to loose money
Companies have experience with this type	More work for buyer to write the CSOW
Buyer know the total price at the project start	Can be more expensive than CR is the CSOW is incomplete. The seller will add to the price for their increased risk.

 

Elements of a Contract
Offer	Assent to certain terms by both parties
Acceptance	Agreement, written or spoken
Consideration	Something of value
Legal Capacity	Able to contract
Legal Purpose	No violation of public policy

 

Stages of Contract Negotiation
Protocol	Introductions
Probing	Identify concerns, strengths, weaknesses
Scratch bargaining	Actual bargaining
Closure	Positions summed up
Agreement	Documenting

 

Specification - precise description of a physical item, procedure, or service.  The SOW supplements the specification in describing what must be done to complete the project.

Privity - legal relationship that exists between any contracting parties (e.g. if company “A” hires “B” and “B” subcontract to “C”, “C” is not legally bound by anything “A” can say; the privity is with “B”)

Waiver - a party can relinquish rights that it otherwise has under the contract. Forebearance can mature into waiver.

Force Majeure – Act of God, Floods, Fire etc  

Indemnification – Liability, who is liable

Retainage – withholding of funds under contract. Amount of money usually 5% to 10% withheld form each payment. This money is paid when work is complete.

Warranty - assurance of the level of quality to be provided

A contract ends by:
Successful performance
Mutual agreement	Last two are Termination
Breach of contract

Terms and Conditions – the project manager must uphold the Terms and Conditions of the contract, even if it meets the needs of the project, it has to also meet the requirement of the contract.

Liquidated damages -

Contract Control System vs. Project Control System – they both include procedures. The contract control system requires more documentation and more signoff.

Work Authorization Systems – can be used to coordinate/control what time and sequence work is done. It helps with integrating tasks into a whole.

Performance Scope of Work – describes the performance – not the functionality-- required by the customer

Independent Estimate – most concern with costs, comparing cost estimates with in-house estimates or with outside assistance (part of Source Selection)

Procurement Audit – structured review that flush out issues, and set-up lessons learned. Helps ensure problems are resolved for future projects. Identify successes and failures that warrant transfer to other procurements.

Beneficial Efficiency – when the work is being used for the intended purpose and has been certified

Terminating contract for Convenience – if a project is terminated before it is complete, the level of extent of completion should be established and documented.

Material Breach – Breach so large that it may not be possible to complete the work.

Sole Source (not Single Source) – Only one seller, it might be a company that owns a patent.

Contracting
Centralized	Decentralized
+ More economical	+ Project Manager has more control
+ Easier to Control	+ Contracting personnel are more familiar with project
+ Higher degree of specialization (expertise)	+ More flexible and adaptable to project needs
+ Orders can be consolidated	- Duplication of contracting efforts
- May become a bottleneck	- Higher costs
- Less attention to special needs	- No standard policies

 

Negotiating Tactics
Deadline	Strategic Delay
Surprise	Reasoning Together
Limited Authority	Withdrawal
Missing Man	Unreasonable
Fair and Reasonable	Suggesting Arbitration
	Fait Accompli (A done deal)

Notes: I am not the writter of this post, please thanks the anonymous writter

Chapter 11 – RISK Management

 

Knowledge Areas	Major Processes	Primary Inputs		Tools & Techniques	Primary Outputs
RISK	It's risky to have an IQ in DC.
Risk Management Planning	Deciding how to approach and plan risk management activities.	1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Project Scope Statement 4. Project Management Plan		1. Planning meetings and analysis	1. Risk management plan
Risk Identification	Determining which risks are likely to affect the project & documenting their characteristics	1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3.Risk management plan 4. Project Scope Statement 5. Project Management Plan		1.Documentation reviews 2. Info-gathering techniques 3. Checklist analysis 4. Assumptions analysis 5. Diagramming techniques	1.Risk Register
Qualitative Risk Analysis	Assessing the impact and likelihood of identified risks.	1. Organizational Process Assets 2. Risk Register 3. Project Scope Statement 4. Project Management Plan		1. Risk probability & impact assessment 2. Probability and impact matrix 3. Risk data quality assessment 4. Risk Categorization 5. Risk urgency assessment	1.Risk Register (Updates)
Quantitative Risk Analysis	A process that analyzes numerically the probability of each risk and its consequence on project objectives		1. Organizational Process Assets 2. Project Scope Statement 3. Risk Management Plan 4. Risk Register 5. Project Management Plan     * Project Schedule Management Plan     * Project Cost Management Plan	1. Data Gathering and representation techniques (Interviewing, probability distribution and EJ) 2. Quantitative Risk analysis & modeling techniques. (Sensitivity, EMV, Decision Tree)	1. Risk Register (Updates)
Risk Response Planning	Developing options & determining actions to enhance opportunities to reduce threats to project objectives		1. Risk Management Plan 2. Risk Register	1. Strategies for negative risk or threats 2. Strategies for positive risk or opportunities 3. Strategies for both threats and opportunities 4. Contingency response strategy	1. Risk Register (Updates) 2. Project Management Plan (Updates) 3. Risk related contractual agreements
Risk Monitoring & Control	Tracking identified risk, monitoring residual risks, and identifying new risk, ensuring the execution of risk plans and evaluating the effectiveness in reducing risk.		1. Risk Management Plan 2. Risk Register 3. Approved Change Requests 4. Work Performance Information 5. Performance Reports	1. Risk reassessment 2. Risk audits 3. Variance and trend analysis 4. Technical performance measurement 5. Reserve analysis 6. Status Meetings	1. Risk Register (Updates) 2. Requested Changes 3. Recommended Corrective actions 4. Recommended Preventive actions 5. Organizational process asset (Update) 6. Project Management Plan (Updates)

 

Project risk - Is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or a negative effect on a project objective.

A risk has a cause and, if it occurs, a consequence. Risk identification is an iterative process. (Just like core process). Objective is to decrease the probability and impact of negative events and vice versa.

1.       Risk Management Planning: deciding on how to approach, plan and execute risk mgmt activities for a project.

2.       Risk Identification: determining which risk can effect the project and documenting their characteristics.

3.       Qualitative Risk Analysis – Prioritizing risks for subsequent further analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact.

4.       Quantitative Risk Analysis – Numerically analyzing the effect on overall project objectives of identified risks.

5.       Risk Response Planning: developing options and actions to enhance opps and reduce threats to project objectives.

6.       Risk Monitoring and Control: tracking identified risk, monitoring residual risks, identifying new risks, executing risk response plans and evaluating their effectiveness though the project life cycle.

 

RMP: it is input to cost and time estimating, schedule development and cost budgeting.

I/P: EE factors (attitude towards risk and tolerance, which can be found in policy statement or revealed in actions), OP assets, Project scope statement, PMP

TT: Planning meetings and analysis: Risk cost element and schedule activities will be developed for inclusion in the project budget and schedule respectively. Responsibilities will be assigned; templates will be tailored for use later.

Output:

Risk Management Plan – Describes how Risk Management will be structured and performed, it includes

1. Methodology (Approach, tools and data sources)
2. Roles and responsibilities
3. Budgeting (assign Resources and estimated Cost for inclusion in cost baseline)
4. Timing (When and how often; includes risk activities in project schedule)
5. Risk Categories (RBS, Good practice is to review risk categories during RMP prior to Risk Identification Process)
6. Definition of Risk Probability and Impact (Definition of probability and impact)
1. Probability and Impact Matrix (Look up table, with impact categorized as Low, Moderate or High)
7. Revised Stakeholders tolerances
8. Reporting Formats (Describes Risk Register Contents and format)
9. Tracking (Auditing and Documentation for current project, future needs and LL)

 

 

Risk Types – 1. Business (Gain or Loss)  2. Pure Risk (Only Risk of Loss)

 

Attitude about Risk – Should be made explicit, Communication about risk should be honest and open. Risk response reflects organizations perceived balance between risk taking and risk avoidance. Some one who does not want to take risks is said to be Risk Averse.

Tolerance and Threshold – Tolerance are areas of risk that are acceptable or unacceptable. A threshold is the amount of risk that is acceptable. You use this information to help assign levels of risk on each work package.

 

Risk Identification

IP: EE Factors, OP assets, project scope statement (assumptions), risk management plan(R&R, RBS, risk provisions), project management plan

Tools: Documentation reviews, info gathering techniques (Brainstorming, Delphi tech, interviewing, RCA, SWOT);   Check List Analysis - based on Historical information of previous similar projects. The lowest level of RBS is used as Risk Checklist; Assumption analysis; Diagramming tech: C&E, system/process flow chart, influence diagram,

OP: Risk Register

 

Delphi tech: is a way to reach a consensus of experts, questionnaire is sent to solicit ideas and responses are summarized and re-circulated to the experts. Consensus is reached in few rounds. It helps to reduce bias in the data and keeps any one perform fro having undue influence.

 

Qualitative Risk Analysis: focuses on prioritizing risks using probability and impact of the risk as well as time frame and risk tolerance. It also leads to over all risks of the project. It is also known as Risk assessment.

IP: OP assets, project scope statement, RMP, Risk Register,

TT:  Risk probability and impact assessment, Probability and impact matrix, Risk data quality assessment, Risk Categorization (based on common causes, using RBS/WBS/Phases), Risk urgency assessment.

OP: risk register (updates)

 

Quantitative Risk Analysis: it assigns numerical ranking to the prioritized risks primarily uses Monte Carlo Simulation and Decision Tree Analysis. It should be redone after RRP and RMC to asses risk reduction.

IP: OP Assets, Scope Statement, RMP, Risk Register, PMP (SMP, CMP).

TT:

1. Expert Judgment
2. Data Gathering and Representation Techniques
• Interviewing,
• Probability Distribution Beta Distribution and Triangular Distribution can use ordinal or cardinal values. Both uses 3 point estimates and are continuous distribution. Decision tree uses representation of discrete distribution. Uniform distribution can be used when no obvious value in early concept stage of design.
3. Quantitative Risk Analysis and Modeling Techniques
• Sensitivity Analysis – Determine which risks have most potential impact, Tornado Diagram (compares relative importance of variables that have a high degree of uncertainty to those more stable)
• Expected Monetary Value – Opportunity expressed as Positive, Risk expressed as negative example Decision tree. Modeling and Simulation is recommended for Cost & Schedule Risk analysis because they are more powerful and less subject to misuse than EMV analysis.
• Decision tree analysis – Shows available choices and their possibilities with more complex process than EMV. It assumes mutual exclusivity.
• Modeling and Simulation – Done using Monte Carlo Technique. In simulation project model is calculated many time (iterated), with the input values randomized from a probability distribution function and a probability distribution is made. Cost Risk Analysis use CBS or WBS. Schedule Risk analysis use PDM.

OP: Risk Register (updates)

 

Risk Response planning: it creates owner for each agreed to and funded risk. Risks responses are developed in risk planning and risk response planning stage

IP: RMP, Risk Register

TT: Strategy for negative risk (avoid, transfer, mitigate), Strategy for positive risk ( exploit, share, enhance), for both acceptance, contingent response strategy,

OP: Risk Register (Updates), PMP (updates), Risk related contractual agreement.

               

Risk Management Control

Process of identifying, analyzing and planning for newly arising risks, keeping track of identified risks and those on the watch list, reanalyzing existing risks, monitoring trigger condition for contingency plans,  monitoring residual risks and reviewing the execution of the risk responses and their effectiveness.

IP: RMP, Risk Register, App CRs, work performance Info

TT: Risk reassessment, Risk Audits, Variance and trend analysis, Technical performance measurement, reserve Analysis, Status Meetings (RM is an agenda)

1. Risk Audits: examine and document the effectiveness of risk responses in dealing with identified risks and their root causes, well as the effectiveness of the risk management process.
2. Variance and trend analysis: reviewed using performance data, EV anal and other methods used. Measure overall project performance deviation from baseline indicating the potential impact of threats or opps.
3. Technical performance measurement: compares technical accomplishments during project ececution to the PMP’s schedule of technical achievement. Reveals degree of success in achieving project’s scope.
4. Reserve Analysis: it monitors contingency reserves remaining to the amount of risk remaining at any time in the project in order to determine if the remaining reserve is adequate.

OP: Risk register (updates), CRs, recommended CAs and Pas, OP asset (update), PMP (update)

 

Risk Register – (O/P of Risk Identification)

1. List of Identified Risks (including root causes and assumptions)
2. List of Potential Responses
3. Root causes of Risks
4. Updated Risk Categories (RBS which is developed in RMP is enhanced or amended)

Updates after Qualitative Risk Analysis

5. Relative Ranking or Priority list of Project Risks
6. Risks grouped by categories
7. List of Risk requiring Response in the near term
8. Watch list of low priority risks
9. Trends in Relative Risk analysis results

Updates after Quantitative Risk Analysis

10. Probabilistic Analysis of the project: this output typically expressed as a cumulative distribution is used with stakeholder risk tolerances to permit quantification of the cost and time contingency reserves
11. Probability of Achieving Cost and Time Objective
12. Prioritized List of Quantified Risks
13. Trends in Quantitative Risk Analysis Results

Updates after Risk Response Planning

14. Identified Risks, their descriptions, areas of the project and how they affect project objectives
15. Risk owners and their responsibilities
16. Agreed upon response strategies
17. Symptoms and warning signs of risks occurrence
18. Budget and Schedule activities required to implement the chosen responses
19. Contingency reserves of Time and Cost and Triggers.
20. Fallback plan
21. Residual and Secondary Risks

 

Risk Response Planning Techniques

Strategies for Negative Risks or Threats

·         Avoidance (elimination/abatement) Eliminate the threat posed by an adverse risk. Can be done by changing the Project Plan or protecting (isolating) project objectives from its impact. Or relaxing time, cost, scope and quality or cut scope

·         Mitigation (reduction) Reduce the Expected Monetary Value by reducing probability or impact. Float can be use to mitigate potential risks. Reduction in the probability or impact of an adverse risk. Adoption less complex processes, conducting more tests, stable supplier.

·         Transfer Deflect or share (eg. Insurance, warranties). Shifts  the negative impact of a threat to a third party it doesn’t eliminate it, insurance, performance bonds, warranties, guarantees etc,

Strategy for positive Risks or opps

·         Exploit: assigning better quality resource to reduce time to complete

·         Share: allocating ownership to third party who has expertise.

·         Enhance: by facilitating or strengthening the cause of the opportunity, targeting its trigger.

Strategy for both

·         Acceptance Accept or retain consequences. 2 types: Active Acceptance (develop a contingency reserve) or Passive Acceptance (no action).

 

Residual Risks – Risks that are expected to remain after planned responses have been taken, as well as those have been deliberately accepted.

Secondary Risks – Risks that arise as a direct outcome of implementing a risk response.

Recommended Corrective Actions – For Risk monitor and Control include Contingency plans and workaround plans.

Workaround Unplanned response to negative risk events (requires to be impacted by the risk first).Work around plans are not initially planned but are required to deal with emerging risks that were previously unidentified or accepted.

Contingency Plan Planned action steps to be taken if an identified residual risk occurs. (e.g. developing alternative activity sequences). It is for the risks which are accepted.

Contingency Reserve: calculated based on the quantitative analysis of the project and organization’ risk thresholds.

Fall Back Plan: It is plan executed when contingency plan is not effective.

 

Risk database - A repository that provides for collection, maintenance, and analysis of data gathered and used in the risk management processes.

 

Types of Risk
Business			Normal risks that offer gain and loss
Pure / Insurable			Only loss:  property damage, indirect consequential loss, legal liability, personnel. For risk we can outsource, we have contract. For pure risks, we obtain insurance.
Statistical Independence			Occurrence of one event is not related to occurrence of the other
Data Precision Ranking			Purpose is to test the value of data (input to Qualitative Analysis)
Path Convergence			Tendency of parallel paths of equal duration to delay the completion of the milestone where they meet. It is characterized by schedule activity with more than one predecessor activity
Uncertainty			An uncommon state of nature, characterized by the absence of any information related to a desired outcome.
Expected Monetary Value			= Probability * Monetary Impact (used in Decision Tree Analysis)
Risk Event			A discrete occurrence that may affect the project for better or worse. After a risk event, the project manager’s role is to reassess the risk ranking. The risk owner is responsible to take action when an identified risk occurs.
Risk Trigger			A symptom of risk; indirect manifestation of actual risk event; output of risk identification; example is poor morale
Risk Portfolio			Risk data assembled for the management of the project
Utility Theory			Technique that characterizes an individual’s willingness to take risk
Sensitivity Analysis   Risk Auditor			Places a value on the impact to the project plan by adjusting a single project variable; simplest form of analysis Role is to investigate the effectiveness of the risk owner (which can cause potential conflict with risk owner)
Numbers to Know
1 sigma		68.3%
2 sigma		95.5%
3 sigma		99.7%
6 sigma		99.99%

The range of an estimate with the smallest range is the least risky.

 

Documentation

Risk Management Plan – would most likely be developed during scope planning phase of the scope management process.

Decision Tree Analysis - 1. Takes into account future events in trying to make decision today

2. It calculates EMV in more complex situations 3. Involves mutual exclusivity

Fall back Plan – Specific actions that will be taken if the contingency plan is not effective.

 Notes: I am not the writter of this post, please thanks the anonymous writter

Chapter 10 – COMMUNICATIONS Management

 

Knowledge Areas	Major Processes	Primary Inputs		Tools & Techniques	Primary Outputs
COMMUNICATIONS	CIPM
Communications Planning	Determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders		1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Project Scope Statement 4. Project management plan    .Constraints    .Assumptions	1.        Communications requirement analysis 2.        Communications Technology	1. Communication management plan
Information Distribution	Making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner		1. Communication management plan	1. Communication skills 2. Information gathering and retrieval systems 3. Information distribution methods 4. Lessons learned Process	1. Organizational Process Assets (updates) 2. Requested Changes
Performance Reporting	Collecting and distributing performance information.  This includes Status reporting, progress measurement and forecasting		1. Work Performance Information 2. Performance Measurements 3. Forecasted completion 4. Quality control measurements 5. Project management plan       Performance measurement     baseline 6. Approved Change requests 7. Deliverables	1. Information presentation tools 2. Performance information   gathering and compilation 3. Status review meetings 4. Time reporting systems 5. Cost reporting systems	1. Performance reports 2. Forecasts 3. Requested Changes 4. Recommended Corrective Actions 5. Organizational Process Assets (updates)
Manage Stakeholders	Managing communications to satisfy the requirements of and resolve issues with project stakeholders.		1. Communications management plan 2. Organizational Process Assets	1. Communications Methods 2. Issue Logs	1. Resolved Issues 2. Approves Change Requests 3. Approved corrective actions 4. Organizational Process Assets  (updates) 5. Project management plan (updates)

 

Communications Planning—determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders: who needs what information, when they will need it, and how it will be given to them. It is often tightly linked with enterprise environmental factors and organizational influences. It is required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval and disposition of project information.

 

1.       Communication planning: determining the info and comm. needs of the project stakeholders

2.       Information distribution: making needed info available to project stakeholders in a timely manner.

3.       Performance reporting: collecting and distributing performance information, including status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting

4.       Manage Stakeholders: managing communication to satisfy the requirements of and resolve issues with project stakeholders.

 

Art of Communications – Includes Sender-receiver Models, Choice of Media, Writing Style, Presentation techniques and Meeting Management Techniques.

 

Communication planning: determines who needs what, when, how and by whom.

I/P:

EE Factors, Org Process assets, Project Scope statement, PMP (constraint and assumptions)

TT:

Comm requirement Analysis: info required on: org chart, pjt org and stakeholder resp relationship, departments in org, logistic of how many channels, int-ext comm need,

Communications Technology – factors that affect the project include Urgency of the need for information, Availability of technology, Expected Project Staffing, Length of the Project and Project Environment.

 

 

O/P:

CMP – Contains stakeholder communication requirements, information format, receiver, content, detail level, person responsible, methods or technologies, frequency and time of communication, methods for CMP updates, escalation process & Glossary of common terms. Can also include guideline for project status meetings, email etc. basically documents how one control and manage communication.

 

Information distribution: includes implementing the CMP as well as responding to unexpected RFI.

I/P: CMP

TT:

Communication skills: Written and oral, listening and speaking; Internal and ext; Formal Vs informal; vertical Vs horizontal (with peers).

Information gathering and retrieval system:

Infor distribution methods: Project meetings; electronic comm and conf tool (email, fax); electronic tool.

LLs: it can be good team building exercise. PMs are professionally obligated to hold LL session particularly if project yielded less than desirable results.

O/P: LL dox, Project Records, Project reports (DSRs, issue logs, closure reports), Requested Change

 

Performance reporting – Involves collection of all baseline data and distribution of performance report to stakeholders. Generally on Scope, Quality, Schedule and Cost. But may include information on Risk and Procurement. right definition is “Collecting and Distributing performance information in terms of status reports, progress measurement reports and forecasting reports. It is a control feature and is done during control and project closure phase.

I/T: Work performance info, performance measurements, forecasted completion, quality control measurements, baselines, deliverables.

TT: info presentation tools, performance info gathering and compilation, Status review meetings, time reporting system, cost reporting system.

O/P: Performance reports, forecasts, recomm CA, changes, LL update to OPA.

Manage Stakeholder: refers to managing comm. To satisfy the needs of and resolve issues with project stakeholders. Ensure persons to operate synergistically and limits disruption with stakeholders.

I/P: CMP, OPA

TT: Communication Methods (face to face, email), Issue log (that can be used to document and monitor the resolution of issues, owner is assigned and target date is given)

O/P: resolved issues, approved CRs, CA

 

Major responsibility of project expeditor is communication management.

Team Meetings – periodic team meetings is the most effective way to accelerate the project integration process.

Performance Reviews – meetings held to assess status and/or progress. The main objective of a performance review is to identify performance successes or failures, progress with respect to the contract statement of work.

Communications Model
Communicator	The originator of the message
Message	Thoughts, feelings, or ideas reduced to "code" that is understood by both sender and receiver
Medium	The vehicle or method used to convey the message
Recipient	The person for whom the message is intended
[Sender] -- Encoding à  Transmission  à  Decoding  -- [Receiver]  à Feedback

 

 

Communications Channels = (n²- n)/2 or n(n-1)/2

…the fact that two team members are working “directly” together does not reduce the number of communication channels.

Tight Matrix - all team members allocated in a single office space

A variance is considered to be significant if it jeopardizes project objectives.

Types of Communications
Formal Written	Project Charter, Management Plan, complex problem, change contract, clarifying work package, requesting resource, poor performance notice – Second (this is the best type of communication method to use when there are cultural differences and distance between team members)
Informal Written	Notes, memos, scheduling meeting, email,
Formal Verbal	Presentations, conducting bidder conference
Informal Verbal	Conversations, discover root cause, poor performance notice- first
Note:  55% of communications is non-verbal (it is the most important aspect of a conversation)
90% of Project Manager's time is spent acquiring and communicating information
Paralingual: Pitch and tone of voice also helps to convey a message.
Everything we do in contract environment is more formal than what we do in other project activities.
Objectives of a Kickoff Meeting
Get to know each other
Set team goals and objectives
Review project status
Review project plans
Identify problem areas
Establish responsibilities and accountabilities
Obtain commitments

 

Barriers to Communications (which lead to conflict)

Lack of clear communication channels

Physical or temporal distance

Difficulties with technical language

Distracting environmental factors

Detrimental attitudes

The most likely results of communication blocker and miscommunication as a whole is conflict.

Building Effective Team Communications

Be an effective communicator

Be a communications expeditor

Avoid communication blockers

Use a "tight matrix"  (single office space)

Make meetings effective (meeting during execution is the best format to communicate)

 

Management Styles
Authoritarian	Lets individuals know what is expected of them
Combative	Eager to fight or be disagreeable over any situation
Conciliatory	Friendly and agreeable
Disruptive	Tends to disrupt unity and cause disorder
Ethical	Honest and sincere
Facilitating	Does not interfere with day-to-day tasks, but is available for help and guidance when needed
Intimidating	Reprimands employees for the sake of a "tough guy" image
Judicial	Applies sound judgment
Promotional	Cultivates team spirit; rewards good work; encourages subordinates to realize their full potential
Secretive	Not open or outgoing in speech, activity, or purpose
Management Skills
Leading		Establishing direction, aligning people, and motivating and inspiring
Communicating		The exchange of information in a variety of dimensions
Negotiating		Conferring with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement
Problem Solving		A combination of problem definition and decision making
Influencing the Organization		The ability to get things done based on an understanding or the formal and informal structures of the organization
Documentation
Kind of Performance report Reports are a method to distribute information, not just to report on progress   ·         Progress Report - summarize project status. Preferred report to quickly review where a project now stands. ·         Trend Report – show performance over time (shows if it is improving or deteriorating) ·         Variance Report – compare project results, looks at specific project items or tasks ·         Forecasting Report – only looks into the future (predicting) ·         Status Report – relating a moment in time (static) regarding triple constraints. ·         Earned Value ·         LLs
·         Project Plan -Staffing Management Plan
·         Communications Management Plan - should cover all phases of the project

WBS – Can be effective tool for communicating in a situation internal and external to the project.

Risk response strategy should be communicated.

Communication in Contract – Everything we do is more formal communication in contract environment.

Notes: I am not the writter of this post, please thanks the anonymous writter