PMP studies notes

Avoid Whack-a-Mole Development

2010-12-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

Venkat Subramaniam
Broomfield, Colorado, U.S.

Software project managers

face a lot of pressure to deliver fast. Time is of the essence. How can you get things done fast?

Imagine you have two programmers on your team, Bernie and Rob. Both are capable, have the same amount of domain knowledge, and have equal language skills. During development, you find that Bernie finishes his feature implementations much faster than Rob.

While Bernie focuses on getting the code completed quickly, Rob spends time writing code and then refactoring* it. He names the variables and methods better. Once he gets things working, he breaks the code into smaller pieces. Now he writes tests to make sure each piece of his code does what he meant it to do. When he’s reasonably satisfied, he declares the coding of that functionality done.

But assume you don’t know these details. If you only look at the speed with which the functionalities are declared done, clearly Bernie is the better man, right?

A few weeks go by, and you demonstrate the features to your customer. As usual, the customer loves your completed features, but now wants you to change and improve them. You ask your developers to make those code alterations. When you take the new and improved functionality back to your customer, they try out the features that Rob implemented and are pleased with the changes.

Unfortunately, they discover something odd with the features that Bernie implemented. While Bernie has programmed in the new functions fine, now a few things that worked before don’t work anymore. The customer marks these as defects, and you ask Bernie to fix them. The customer tests the features again. Now even newer, stranger things seem to be broken. What’s going on here?

If you have a child, you know what is happening. Bernie has created a Whack-A-Mole application. Whack-A-Mole is a toy. Kids are given a wooden hammer to strike moles that pop up at random. It’s fun for them to be surprised by which mole pops up next. However, fixing applications with broken code popping up at random places is not fun. It is frustrating, unpredictable, and it slows your product development. Bernie was sprinting initially, but he was running in the wrong direction.

While Rob appeared slower at the outset, he was actually creating superior code. His pace proved sustainable. The better quality of his initial code helped him make workable changes quickly. Plus, the tests he wrote in the beginning gave him instant feedback regarding whether or not his new code was compatible with other parts of the application where the code was used.

When measuring time for a feature implementation, do not consider only the time it takes to write it in the first place. Add the time it takes to enhance, fix, and improve the code. Writing good quality code and tests takes time. It appears to be a short-term loss. However, it comes with a long-term gain.
Ask yourself if you want speed, or if you want to savor sustainable progress.

PMP - Delegation

2009-06-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

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

PMP - Lesson Learned - Salman Saeed

2009-06-27T00:56:00.000-07:00

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

PMP - Lesson Learned

2009-05-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

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.

PMP - Chapter 13 – Professional Responsibilities

2009-05-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

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

PMP - Chapter 12 – PROCUREMENT Management

2009-05-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

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:

Performance: what final product should be able to accomplish, car with a speed of 240 KM per hr (T&M, CR; IT, R&D)
functional: end purpose or result, car with 6 seats (T&M, IT, R&D)
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

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

Select Sellers – Tools & Techniques

Weighting System – Numeric Weight to each criteria, rating sellers, selection based on total weight
Independent Estimates – called “Should-Cost”, prepared by procuring organization.
Screening System – Establish minimum performance requirement for one or more criteria and use 1 & 2 methods
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.
Seller Rating Systems
Expert Judgment
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.

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

PMP - Chapter 11 – RISK Management

2009-05-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

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.

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

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

Qualitative Risk Analysis – style="font-weight:bold"> Prioritizing risks for subsequent further
analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence
and impact.

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

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

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

Methodology (Approach, tools and data sources)

Roles and responsibilities

Budgeting (assign Resources and
estimated Cost for inclusion in cost baseline)

Timing (When and how often;
includes risk activities in project schedule)

Risk Categories style="font-weight:normal;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt">
(RBS, Good practice is to review risk categories during RMP prior to Risk
Identification Process)

Definition of Risk Probability and Impact style="font-weight:normal;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt">
(Definition of probability and impact)
1. Probability and Impact Matrix
  (Look up table, with impact categorized
  as Low, Moderate or High)

Revised Stakeholders tolerances

Reporting Formats style="font-weight:normal;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt">
(Describes Risk Register Contents and format)

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 style="font-style:italic">; 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:

Expert Judgment

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.

Quantitative Risk Analysis and Modeling Techniques
- Sensitivity
  Analysis – Determine which risks have most potential impact,
  
  Tornado style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt"> 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 style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt">. 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 style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt"> 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)

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.

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.

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.

Reserve Analysis: style="font-weight:normal;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt">
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)

List of Identified Risks
(including root causes and assumptions)

List of
Potential Responses

Root causes
of Risks

Updated Risk
Categories (RBS which is developed in RMP is enhanced or amended)

Updates after Qualitative Risk Analysis

Relative Ranking or Priority
list of Project Risks

Risks
grouped by categories

List of Risk
requiring Response in the near term

Watch list
of low priority risks

Trends in
Relative Risk analysis results

Updates after Quantitative Risk Analysis

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

Probability
of Achieving Cost and Time Objective

Prioritized
List of Quantified Risks

Trends in
Quantitative Risk Analysis Results

Updates after Risk Response Planning

Identified Risks, their
descriptions, areas of the project and how they affect project objectives

Risk owners
and their responsibilities

Agreed upon
response strategies

Symptoms and
warning signs of risks occurrence

Budget and
Schedule activities required to implement the chosen responses

Contingency
reserves of Time and Cost and Triggers.

Fallback
plan

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 style="font-style:italic"> - 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	style="margin:0in;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> 68.3%
2 sigma	style="margin:0in;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> 95.5%
3 sigma	style="margin:0in;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> 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.

PMP - Chapter 10 – COMMUNICATIONS Management

2009-05-27T13:59:00.002-07:00

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

PMP - Chapter 9 - HUMAN RESOURCE Management

2009-05-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

Knowledge Areas	Major Processes	Primary Inputs		Tools & Techniques	Primary Outputs

HUMAN RESOURCE	PAD
Human Resource Planning style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">	Identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships as well as creating the staffing management plan		1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Project management plan .Activity resource requirements	1. Organization charts and style="mso-spacerun: yes"> position descriptions 2. Networking 3. Organizational theory. style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">	1. Roles and responsibilities 2. Project Organization charts 3. Staffing management plan style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">
Acquire Project Team	Obtaining the human resources needed to complete the project.		1. Enterprise Environmental Factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Roles and responsibilities 4. Project Organization charts 5. Staffing management plan	1. Pre-assignment 2. Negotiation 3. Acquisition 4. Virtual teams	1. Project Staff Assignments 2. Resource Availability 3. Staffing management plan (updates)
Develop Project Team	Improving the competencies and interaction of team members to enhance project performance.		1. Project Staff Assignments 2. Resource Availability 3. Staffing management plan	1. General management skills 2. Training 3. Team-building activities 4. Ground rules 5. Co-location 6. Recognition and rewards	1. Team Performance assessment
Manage Project Team	Assigning the tasks to the team member, Tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues, solving the conflicts among the team members, appraises team member performance and coordinating changes to enhance the project performance style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">		1. Organizational Process Assets 2. Project Staff Assignments 3. Roles and responsibilities 4. Project Organization charts 5. Staffing management plan 6. Team Performance assessment 7. Work Performance Information 8. Performance Reports	1. Observation and conversation 2. Project performance appraisals 3. Conflict management 4. Issue log	1. Requested Changes 2. Recommended Corrective Actions 3. Recommended Preventive Actions 4. Organization process assets (updates) 6. Project management plan style="mso-spacerun: yes"> (updates)

Project management team is a subset of the project team and is responsible
for project management activities. Can be divided into administrative and behavioral
decisions

HR Planning

I/P to HR Planning

Enterprise
Environmental Factors – (I/P to HR Planning)

1.
Organizational (which departments, their working arrangements, relationships)

2.
Technical (Disciplines and Specialties needed)

3.
Interpersonal (Formal or informal reporting relationships, culture
and language differences etc)

4.
Logistical (How much distance)

5.
Political (Individual goals and agendas)

Constrains – Organizational Structure, Collective bargaining agreements,
Economic Conditions.

Collective bargaining agreements: Contractual agreements with unions or other
employee groups can require certain roles or reporting relationships.

Organizational process assets- templates and Checklists

PMP: Activity Resource Requirement

Organizational Charts and position description– Hierarchical, Matrix based
and Text Oriented. Some assignments are in risk, quality or communication plan.
To ensure each work package has clear owner and each member has clear understanding
of their R&R.

Hierarchical

Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) -
A depiction of the project organization
arranged so as to relate work packages to organization units.

RBS – Resource Break Down Structure is an hierarchical chart which shows
break down of project by resource types. RBS is helpful in tracking project
costs, aligned with organizations accounting system, can contain categories other
than human resources.

RAM (Matrix based also called table) – Responsibility assignment Matrix,
can be developed at various levels. RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consult
and Inform). Show who does what (x=person,
y=phase). The most important feature of the RAM is the participatory development
process involving all stakeholders

Text oriented more detailed include responsibilities, authority, competencies
and qualification also known as position description and “Role responsibility authority
forms”.

Networking: Informal interaction including proactive correspondence, luncheon
etc. Concentrated Networking is useful at the beginning of the project. Interpersonal
Skills – Are also known as soft skills

O/P of HR Planning

Roles and Responsibilities Role, Authority, Responsibility and competency

Staff Management Plan – Describes when and how human resource requirements
will be met. SMP can be updated because of promotions, retirements, illness, performance
issues and changing workloads. SMP contents:

1.
Staff acquisition – internal or external or contract, same
location or different, Cost etc

2.
Timetable – Resource histogram is prepared, bars beyond
the maximum available hours identify need for resource leveling strategy.

3.
Release criteria – Morale is improved if transitions are
already planned.

4.
Training Needs

5.
Recognition and rewards

6.
Compliance – With Government regulations

7.
Safety

Project Organization Chart

Acquire Project team: improves the
competencies and interaction of team members to enhance project performance. Includes
improving skill and feeling of trust and cohesiveness.

I/P : EE factors (availability, ability, experience, Interest, cost), OP
assets, R&R, Project Org Chart, Staffing Mgmt Plan.

TT: Pre-assignment, Negotiation, Acquisition, Virtual teams

O/P: Project Staff Assignments, resource availability, SMP (update)

* Before creating final schedule “resource availability” has to be confirmed.

Develop Project Team: Involves tacking team member performance, providing
feedback, resolving issues and coordinating changes to enhance project performance.

I/P : Project staff assignment, staffing management plan, resource availability

TT: General Mgmt Skills (Soft Skill), Training, Team Building activities,
Ground rules, Co-location, R&R

O/P: Team Performance Assessment: Project team effectiveness is evaluated.

Manage Project Team: involves tracking team member performance providing
feedback, resolving issues and coordinating the changes to enhance project performance.
Project management team observes team behavior, manages conflict, resolves issues
and coordinating changes to enhance project performance. Management of Project teams
is complicated in Matrix organization.

I/P: OP asset, Project Staff Assignments, R&R, Org Charts, Staff MP,
Team Performance Assessment (for project teams), Work Performance Information (for
team member), Performance Reports (for projects).

TT: Observation and conversation,
Project performance appraisals, conflict management (team members initially responsible
to resolve and later manager), Issue log.

O/P: Inputs to org performance appraisal, LLs,

Halo Effect – Tendency to rate high or low on all the factors due to the
impression of a high or low rating on some specific factor.

Five Stages of Team Development – Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing
and Adjourning

Kickoff Meeting – Indirect Method to start team development. It should answer
1.Why am I here? 2.Who are you and your expectations of me? 3. What is this team
going to do? 4.How is the team going to do this work? 5.How do I fit into all this?

Lessons Learned from Manage Project Team –

Project organization charts, positions and Staff MP

Ground rules, conflict management techniques and recognitions

Procedures for Virtual teams, co-location, training and team
building

Special skills and competencies by team members discovered

Issues and solutions

Role of Sponsor

During initiation: to provide financial resource,
provide requirements, SOW, info for Prelim project scope statement, dictates milestone,
issue project charter, set priority between projects and triple constraints,

Act as a protector of the project

During planning: May review WBS, supply initial
risks, determine reporting needs, provide expert judgment, approve PMP

During project executing and M&C: approve
changes to project charter, enforce quality policy, resolve conflict beyond PM,
help evaluate tradeoffs between crashing, fast tracking and re-estimate, clarify
scope questions, approve or reject changes

provide formal acceptance of deliverables (if
he is a customer)

Role Team member:
completes the work in addition involve in determining WBS, estimates and its completion
and deviation from PMP.

Role of functional manager:
individual who manages and owns the resources in a specific department and directs
the technical work. Approves PMP and final schedule, assigns resources, assist with
team member performance.

Role of Project manager:
Is in charge of the project not necessarily of the resources. May be technical expert,
leads and direct project plan development, determine and deliver quality level,
create change control system, maintains control over the project, accountable for
project success and failure, integrates project components into a cohesive whole.

Leadership Styles
Autocratic	PM makes decision without soliciting information from team
Consultative	Intensive information solicited; PM makes decision
Consensus	Team makes decision; open discussion and information gathering by team
Directing	Telling other what to do
Facilitating	Coordinating the input of others
Coaching	Instructing others
Supporting	Providing assistance along the way

Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC) –
identifying responsibility, assignments by work packages and action required. style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Also referred to as RAM.

Resources Histogram – often part of
Staffing Management Plan; shows resource usage (eg staff hours) per time period
(eg week, month) of a specific job function.

Types of Power
Legitimate (Formal)	Derived from formal position
Penalty (Coercive)	Predicated on fear
Reward	Involves positive reinforcement and ability to award something of value Project often needs their own rewards system to affect employee performance. Used correctly, bring the team’s goals and objectives in line with each other and with the project.
Expert	Held in esteem because of special knowledge or skill (requires time). Earned of our own.
Referent	Ability to influence others through charisma, personality, etc.

The best forms of power are generally Reward and Expert. Form of power by position
are reward, penalty and formal

Reasons of Conflicts in Order of Frequency – 1. Schedule 2. Project Priorities
3. Resources 4. Technical Opinions 5. Administrative Procedures 6. Cost 7. Personality

style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt">

Conflict Management		width="1">
Avoidance/Withdrawal (Ignoring)	At least one party withdraws from conflict. Cool off period, could be lose/lose Retreating from actual or potential disagreement; delaying (e.g. “Just document the problem”)	width="1">
Competition/Forcing	Exerting one’s viewpoint; a last resort [win/lose] (e.g. “Call the customer and demand that you receive the approval today.”	width="1">
Compromising	Bargaining and searching for solutions; neither party wins but each gain some satisfaction. [Lose-Lose Situation] this is very rarely a good way to resolve technical issues. Definite solution is achieved in the end	width="1">
Accommodation	Opposite of Competition. One party meets other party need at expense of his own. Lose/Win	width="1">
Collaborating	Involves incorporating multiple ideas and viewpoints from people with different perspectives and offers a good opportunity to learn from others (good when project is too important to be compromised) Win/Win Best Strategy	width="1">
**Smoothing	De-emphasize differences and emphasize commonalities; friendly but avoids solving root causes; delaying (eg. Manager says an issue is valid but doesn’t think it will be a big problem later)
**Problem Solving / Confrontation	Address conflict directly in problem solving mode [win/win]
3 steps of problem solving: 1. Analyze the situation / Document the situation 2. Develop alternatives with the team 3. Go to management		width="1">
Motivational Theory: Content & Process Theories Content: “What” energizes, directs behavior – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Physiological (need for air, water, food housing, clothing), Safety (security, stability, freedom from harm), Social (love, affection, approval, friends, association), Esteem (accomplishment, respect, attention, appreciation), Self-Actualization (self fulfillment, growth, learning) Hertzberg’s Motivator/Hygiene Theories ( style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Motivator: Responsibility, Self-Actualization, Professional Growth, Recognition; Hygiene: Working Conditions, Salary, Relationship at Work, Safety, status) Process: “How” personal factors influence behavior 1. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y (X: Assumes people lack ambition, dislike responsibility, are inherently self-centered and are not very bright; motivate by reward and punishment. style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Y: Assumes people become lazy w/o recognition, will accept responsibility, can become self-motivated and exercise self-control; motivate by removing obstacles and providing self-directed environment.) 2. Ouchi’s Theory Z/Japanese Theory ( focus on team, company; usually lifetime employment, collective decision making )		width="1">

Other Motivational Theories:

Behaviorism – people behavior can be
modified through manipulation of rewards and punishments

Expectancy Theory – Motivation is explained
in terms of expectations that people have about (1) their ability to perform effectively
on the job, (2) the rewards they might obtain if they do perform effectively and
(3) the value or degree of satisfaction they anticipate from those rewards.

Leadership Theories:

McGregor – Theory X (employee lack ambition)
and Theory Y (org structure are responsible for motivation)

Tannenabaum-Schmidt model – Continuum
of leadership styles between the autocratic and participative styles

Blake and Mouton – ref to managerial
grid (Concern for People Vs Concern for Production), whereas 1,1 is laissez faire
mgmnt, 1,9 is Country Club mgmnt, 9,1 is Task oriented mgmnt, 5,5 is Compromise
mgmnt and 9,9 is team mgmnt.

Forms of Organization
Functional	A hierarchical organization where each employee has one clear superior, staff are Grouped people by areas of specialization, and managed by a person with expertise in that area. Project manager has no formal authority of resources and must rely on informal power structure and his own interpersonal skills to obtain resource commitments from functional managers.
Project Expeditor	Retains functional but adds a Project Expeditor who serves as a communications link and coordinator for the project across functional units
Project Coordinator	Similar to Project Expeditor except the Coordinator reports to a higher level manager and has some authority to assign work
Weak Matrix	Vertical functional lines of authority maintained with a relatively permanent horizontal structure containing managers for various projects. Balance of power leans toward the Functional Manager. Can cause a project to fall behind because functional managers are pulling resources away to perform non-project related tasks. The Project Manager may be able to make resource decision on his own but not technical decision.
Strong Matrix	Same as Weak except that the balance of power leans towards the Project Manager
Projectized	A separate, vertical structure is established for each project. All the project team members report directly and solely to the project manager.
Memorize PMBOK “Organizational Structure Influence on Projects” Team building is most difficult in a matrix organization. Its main purpose is to improve team performance. Team development is based on the individual development** of each member.

Resource calendar – identifies period
when resource is working through the year.

Performance Appraisals/Assessment – Project Manager will collect information
from team member’s supervisors when project performance appraisals are completed.
Team Performance assessment is done by the PM in order to evaluate and improve the
effectiveness of team.

Arbitration – The hearing and resolution of a dispute performed by a neutral
party.

Perquisites – Giving Special rewards like corner office, parking space.

Fringe Benefits – Standard benefits given to all employees.

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

PMP - Chapter 8 – QUALITY Management

2009-05-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Knowledge Areas	Major Processes	Primary Inputs		Tools & Techniques	Primary Outputs

QUALITY	The quality 3-Pack. (3 PAC)
Quality Planning	Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them.		1. Enterprise environmental factors 2. Organizational Process Assets 3. Project Scope Statement 4. Project Management Plan	1. Cost-Benefit analysis 2. Benchmarking 3. Design of experiments 4. Cost of quality (COQ) 5. Additional quality Planning Tools	1. Quality management plan 2. Quality Metrics 3. Quality Checklists 4. Process Improvement Plan 5. Quality Baseline 6. Project Management Plan (updates)
Perform Quality Assurance	Applying the planned systematic quality activities to ensure that project employs all processes needed to meet requirements		1. Quality management plan 2. Quality Metrics 3. Process Improvement Plan 4. Work performance Information 5. Quality control Measurements 6. Approved Change Requests 7. Implemented Corrective Actions 8. Implemented Preventive Actions 9. Implemented Change Requests 10. Implemented Defect Repair	1. Quality planning tools and techniques 2. Quality audits 3. Process analysis 4. Quality control tools and techniques	1. Requested Changes 2. Corrective Actions 3. Organization process assets (updates) 4. Project management plan (updates)
Perform Quality Control	Monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.		1. Quality management plan 2. Quality Metrics 3. Quality Checklists 4. Organization process assets 5. Work performance Information 6. Approved Change Requests 7. Deliverables	1. Cause and effect diagram 2. Control charts 3. Flow-charting 4. Histogram 5. Pareto chart 6. Run Chart 7. Scatter diagram 8. Statistical sampling 9. Inspection 10. Defect repair review	1. Quality Control Measurements 2. Validated Defect Repair 3. Quality Base line (updates) 4. Recommended Corrective Actions 5. Recommended Preventive Actions 6. Requested Changes 7. Recommended Defect Repair 8. Organization process assets (updates) 9. Validated deliverables 10. Project management plan (updates)

Approach is compatible with ISO.

Quality Planning Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them. Although it usually occur during planning phase, it can occur during execution if there is a change.

Quality Assurance Applying the planned, systematic quality activities to ensure that the project employs all processes needed to meet requirement. (e.g. evaluating overall project performance regularly)

Quality Control Monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.

Project Quality Management – processes, procedures, policies required and followed to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.

Quality the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements. Quality is planned, designed and built in – not inspected in.

Input: Major input to quality management is to turn stakeholder needs wants and expectations into requirements through Stakeholder analysis performed during Project Scope Management.

Grade is a category assigned to products or services having the same functional use but different technical characteristics. (a limited number of features). Low Grade is not a problem - low quality (many bugs) is a problem

Precision – Consistency is value of repeated measurements having fine cluster and little scatter. Accuracy is a correctness of how close is measured value to true value.

4 Pillars of Quality Management: customer satisfaction, Prevention over inspection, Management responsibility, Continuous Improvement.

Quality - Is planned, designed and built in, not inspected in.

Joseph Juran – Quality - Fitness of Use

Edward Deming – Quality Improvement – “14 steps to TQM”, Plan, Do, Check and Act

Philip Crosby – Quality – COPQ, “Conformance to requirements”, Advocated Prevention over inspection and “Zero Effects”.

Action for ensuring Quality

Review the project charter and project scope statement
Ask customer what is his definition of quality
Identify any quality standards that are applicable to the project
Identify the desired levels of performance in the product
Identify level of control for the project
Set standard to reach to that level of performance
Decide what will you to to ensure processes are followed and standards are met
Meetings, reports, measurements, calculations.
Perform QA
Perform QC

Quality Planning: Key inputs are Quality Policy, rules, govt regulation, procedures, scope statement etc. Project Scope statement provide info on major project deliverables, project objectives, requirements, thresholds and acceptance criteria. If thresholds are exceeded it will require action from the project management team. Acceptance criteria include performance requirement and essential condition that must be achieved before project deliverables are accepted. The result of deliverables satisfying all acceptance criteria implies that the needs of the customer have been met and further formal acceptance during scope verification validates that the acceptance criteria have been satisfied.

TT of Quality Planning:

1. Cost Benefit Analysis

2. Benchmarking: Comparing practices of other projects. Provides a standard to measure performance (time consuming). (e.g. investigating quality standards that other companies are using)

3. Cost of quality - All work to ensure conformance to requirements + nonconformance to requirements. Like audit, training, rework, COPQ. It is total cost incurred in preventing NCs to requirements, appraising the product etc. It includes Prevention Costs (training), Appraisals Costs (inspection/testing) and Internal (scrap, rework)/External (warranty) Failure costs

4. Additional Quality tools: like brainstorming, affinity diagram, force field analysis, nominal group techniques, matrix diagrams, flowcharts, and prioritization matrices.

5. Design of experiments - is a statistical method that helps identify which factors might influence specific variables. A statistical method to identify the factors which influences specific variables of a product/process and optimizes the product/process. The aspect of this technique is to provide a statistical framework for systematically changing all the important factors

Output of Quality planning

1. Quality Management Plan – it describes how the PM team will implement the performing organization’s quality policy. Provides input to the overall project management plan and must address Quality Control, Quality Assurance and continues process improvement for the project.

2. Process improvement Plan – Subsidiary of PMP, it details the steps for analyzing processes that will facilitate the identification of waste and non value added activity, it includes: 1. Process boundaries (describes the purpose, start and end of processes, input/output, owner and stakeholder) 2.Process configuration (flowchart of the process) 3.Process metric (maintain control over status of the processes) 4.Targets for improved performance.

3. Quality Metrics – Defines what something is and how to measure it.

4. Quality Baseline: records quality objective of the project.

Perform Quality Assurance:

Inputs: QMP, Quality metrics, PIP, Work performance information, Quality control measurements.

TT: Quality Planning TT, Quality Audits, process anal, Quality Control TT

Quality Audit: objective is to identify ineffective policy, procedure, processes in use on the project, performed by auditors and can confirm implementation of approved CRs, CA, PA and defect repairs. It also creates LLs

Process analysis: follows PIP to identify needed improvement and create preventive. It includes root cause analysis

Checklist: Used to verify that a set of required steps has been performed in quality control process

Perform Quality Control: involves monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant QMS and are in control and identify ways to eliminate the causes of unsatisfactory results.

Project management team should have working knowledge of statistical quality control, especially sampling and probability to help evaluate QC outputs.

Following pairs useful to know:

· Prevention (keeping errors out of the process) and inspection (keeping errors out of the hands of the customer).

· Attribute Sampling Measures whether or not the results conform to specifications and Variable Sampling is the result on a continuous scale that measures the degree of conformity.

· Variable Sampling Are characteristic you want to measure (size, shape, weight, etc…). An attribute is what you are measuring. The result is rated on a continuous scale that measures the degree of conformity

· Special Cause Unusual event, Random Cause Normal process variation also know as common cause.

· Tolerance is the result is acceptable if it falls within the range specified by the tolerance. Control limit is the process in control if the result falls within the control limits

Inputs: QMP, Quality Metric, Checklists, Work Performance Information, Deliverables.

TT: Seven basic tools of quality - C&E diagram, control chart, flowcharting, histogram, Pareto chart, run chart, scatter diagram, Statistical Sampling, inspection, defect repair review.

Cause and Effect Diagram (Fishbone)

(1) Creative way to look at actual causes and potential causes of a problem

(2) Process of constructing helps stimulate thinking about an issue; helps to organize thoughts; generates discussion

(3) Used to explore a wide variety of topics

(4) Also known as Ishikawa or Fishbone diagram

Control Chart Help determine whether the project is out of control (in order to verify quality level). Used for bother project and product life cycle processes such as schedule variance, volume and frequency of scope changes, and errors in project documents.
“Out of Control” points that are beyond control limits or non-random still within the upper and lower control limit

(1) Upper and Lower Control Limit on a Control Chart Acceptable range of variation of a process, 3 sigma. [The control limits are determined from data obtained from the process itself.]

(2) Assignable Causes Data point on a control chart that requires investigation

(3) Specification Limit Shows customer’s expectations for quality (on a control chart). Fixed by the customer

(4) Rule of Seven – Based on Heuristics, seven random data points grouped together in a series with in control limit. It represents that they are not random and should be investigated.

Flow chart Help analyze how problems occurs, A diagramming technique shows how various elements of a system are interrelated.

Histogram: it’s a bar chart showing a distribution of variables. Its helps identify the cause of problems in a process by the shape and width of the distribution.

Pareto Diagram – Histogram, ordered freq of occurrence, take corrective action & 80 prob/20 causes. Used to identify and evaluate NCs. Rand ordering is used to guide CA.

Run chart: shows the history and pattern of variation. It is a line graph that shows data points plotted in the order in which they occur (over time). Trend analysis involves using mathematical techniques to forecast future outcomes based on historical results.

Scatter Diagram: shows pattern of relationship between two variables.

Statistical sampling - Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection. Appropriate sampling can reduce cost of quality.

Inspections - are variously called reviews, product reviews, audits, and walkthroughs. It is examination of a work product to determine whether it conforms to standards. It is also used to validate defect repairs.

Defect Repair review.

Output

Validated Deliverables, recommend CA and PA, defect repair, Validated Defect Repair, quality baseline (updates),

Quality Control Measurements – Results of QC activities that are fed back to QA to reevaluate and analyze the quality standards and processes for performing organization.

PM is ultimately responsible for quality. Senior management has the overall responsibility and 85% of costs of quality are due to them.

Operational definitions are also called metrics

Quality function deployment – provide better product definition and product development. Its main feature are to capture the customer’s requirements, ensure cross functional teamwork, and link the main phases of product development.

Rework – action taken to bring a non-conforming item into compliance. Rework is a frequent cause of project overruns.

Marginal Analysis – Optimal Quality is reached at the point where the increased revenue from improvement equal incremental cost to secure it.

Gold Plating – Giving Customers extras, it is not recommended.

Quality Variable	A quality characteristic that is measurable
Quality Attribute	A quality characteristic that is classified as either conforming or nonconforming
Inspection	Prevent errors from reaching the customer before delivery to the customer. Can be done throughout product development.
Ishikawa	Made popular Pareto Chart, Cause-and-Effect Diagram and Control Chart
Taguchi Method	Is used to estimate the loss associated with controlling or failing to control process variability. If you select good design parameters, you can produce products that are more forgiving and tolerant. The tool helps determine the value or break-even point of improving a process to reduce variability.
ISO 9000	Provides a basic set of requirements for a quality system, without specifying the particulars for implementation.
“Statistically Independent”	Determine if problems are related before planning what to do about them, one can use scatter diagram or regression anal to know that.
Mutually Exclusive	If two events cannot both occur in a single trial
Conformance			Non-Conformance (most accurate)
Planning			Scrap
Training			Rework and repair
Process Control			Additional Material
Design and process validation			Repairs and service
Test and evaluation			Complaints
Quality audits			Liability
Maintenance and calibration			Product recalls
Inspection			Field service
Field testing			Expediting

Impact of Poor Quality		Increased cost, Decreased productivity, Increased risk and uncertainty, Increased costs in monitoring

Goal of the cost of quality program should be 3 - 5% of total value.

Cost of non-quality is estimated to be 12 - 20% of sales.

Two components of product availability are reliability and maintainability.

To effectively use statistical quality control, the project team should know the differences between special causes and random causes.

Sampling and probability are the most important topics to understand in statistical process control.

TQM – Total Quality Management Philosophy encourages companies and their employees to focus on finding ways to continuously improve quality of their business practices and products.

Normal distribution is used to measure variation

Standard Deviation – From 3 point Estimates = (P – O)/6

Six Sigma – Level of Quality 3 sigma is 2700 defects ppm. +/- 1

+-1 Standard deviation equal to 68.26%, +-2 = 95%, +-3 = 99.73, +-6 = 99.99996% which is percentage of occurrences to fall between the two control limits.

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

PMP studies notes

Avoid Whack-a-Mole Development

Software project managers

PMP - Delegation

PMs should delegate:

What should not be delegated:

Guidelines for effective delegation:

PMP - Lesson Learned - Salman Saeed

PMP - Lesson Learned

PMP - Chapter 13 – Professional Responsibilities

PMP - Chapter 12 – PROCUREMENT Management

Select Sellers – Tools & Techniques

PMP - Chapter 11 – RISK Management

PMP - Chapter 10 – COMMUNICATIONS Management

PMP - Chapter 9 - HUMAN RESOURCE Management

Forms of Organization

PMP - Chapter 8 – QUALITY Management