Content Tech: Project Management

CPQQRT - A way for assigning a task to get what you want and by when you want.

09:16:00

When you ask someone to complete a task for you, it depends on how you ask, what you are asking and why you want it.

The delegation of work or assigning tasks and getting them successfully completed is a management practice. When your approach of asking someone to do a task for you is clear, it is more likely that you will get it delivered as you want it and when you want it.

A great approach exists to make sure our task assignment is thorough and our team member has the clear idea of what are the task requirements?

Having worked directly with the higher level management for few IT projects, we observed that they have practised and created a better approach of how to assign a task and get it delivered as they wanted it. This might be a well-known practice all over the industries, but to put it simple, it is just a group of 6 letters - CPQQRT.

Most managers actually bear in mind these 6 letters when a task is being assigned to a team member and explain the necessary.

Context - Requirement, why is this task required? does it have any background or are there any previous efforts which have been put into it, which created the need for this task? Are there any issues which need's to be addressed?

Purpose - Objective & Reason, what is the aim/ objective of this task and reason for doing it.

"Context actually provides historical information related to issue and explains the current situation, whereas Purpose looks ahead to achieve what is desirable or solve the issue".

Quality - Outcome, what are the required outcomes? what standards are required to perform the task and what key parameters are to be identified from the outcome to say we got the successful outcome. This is to make sure the outcome has desired standard and form you prefer.

Quantity - Measure, it is the physical measure of an outcome. This describes how many and how much measures does an outcome needed to have. Every outcome might not have this kind of measure.

"Quality is about the standard to which the task is completed and Quantity is about the physical measure".

Resources - Parameters, what does a person have to use and complete the assigned task. Is it the technology skill set, equipment, tools, workspace, vehicles, meeting rooms, budget, people for assistance and how much of their time have to be utilised for the task.

Time - (how long: effort & duration) how long does it take to complete a task and what milestones have to be achieved. Communication of their progress is needed all the way through reports or through regular discussions.

Reference: How to use CPQQRT

Easy way to Learn Project Time Management Processes - Schedule Management Plan and Tools

13:20:00

Project time management is one the biggest challenges for managers. It is critical to manage and make sure every activity of the project runs as per schedule. No matter what happens on a project, time passes as it has least flexibility. Scheduling activities of a project are the main issues. Handling them effectively can only learnt by experience and training from peers. As inspired by the Project Managers from Indian School of Business who found ExcelR, we planned to contribute to share our knowledge to #PMSociety. Keeping aside all the complex definitions and explanations of "Project Management Professional", here we tried to simplify project time management by giving a high level overview and then drill down to key concepts with explanation. We shall start with Plan schedule management in this post and you can find rest of them in the laters posts. Keep visiting ExcelR or ContentTech for the key updates on #PMP . All the peers of project management are welcome to comment and contribute to the post.

Plan Schedule Management

To prepare schedule management plan you need to identify various parameters linked with the project, which help in executing it. Those parameters can be identified by using two fundamental questions like How ? & What ? .

How ? Time Management

How the process of "Time Management" will be performed using a schedule.

What ? Scope

What is the scope of the project ? identify the scope of the project to develop a schedule based on project requirements.

What ? Deliverables

What are the deliverables of a project ? identify them and plan the schedule accordingly. In this scenario one might have to hold meetings with all the stake holders to identify deliverables and feasibility of them.

What ? Policies & Procedures

What are the policies to be followed in a project ? identify the required policies and procedures to be followed, then plan accordingly. This might differ from one project to other. Organizational factors might have impact in this scenario.

What ? Activities

What are the activities to be carried out in a project ? identify and define them based on planned deliverables. Then plan on how to perform the activities.

How ? What ? Resources

How and what kind of resources to be assigned ? identify the activities nature and then verify the resources availability based on their skill set. Plan and select the qualified resources who meet the activity criteria.

How ? Duration

How to plan duration ? identify the planned activities and resources available to perform the activities. With respect to number of resources allocated to each activity assign an approximate time. Sum up the approximate amounts of all the activities to have an estimated duration.

How ? Milestones

How milestones can be set ? identify the planned activities and estimated duration, set up milestones accordingly to verify the completion of activities as per the duration planned.

How ? Budget

How budget can be planned ? identify the duration, no. of activities and no. of resources planned for each activity. Once you have these details, you have to check with organizational factors and other stake holders of the project to arrive at the budget which is feasible.

What ? Reports

What reports to be used ? identify what kind of reports to be used based on project implementation methodology

What ? Methodologies

What are the methodologies to be used in planning a project ? identify the methodologies required to plan a project and further to implement the project.

Methodologies may be :

Adaptive Project Framework

Agile Software Development

Crystal Methods

Dynamic Systems Development Model ( Successor of RAD methodology)

Extreme Programming

ITIL , JAD, Lean Development, RAD, SCRUM, Spiral, Waterfall etc.,

The combination of all the above activities and on implementing them with below given tools help in preparing a schedule management plan to accomplish one of the key processes of project time management i.e., "Plan Schedule Management".

Tools ?

Work Breakdown Structure

Terminal Elements

Statement of Work

Contract Data Requirements List

Expert Judgement

Analytical Techniques

Planner's: Primavera, Microsoft Project Professional, Smart sheet, Wrike, Asana

We shall discuss more on the above mentioned "Tools" in the later posts.

Result : Project Schedule Management Plan

10 Simple points to know before you start PMP - Project Management Professional Certification

07:57:00

Qualification required to take PMP

Basic qualification for PMP eligibility is Diploma or Degree or Degree and higher educational course.

How to know if you are qualified for PMP or not

Along with the degree if you at-least have 5 years experience with mandatory 35 hours training you are eligible for PMP. You may also utilise this "Eligibility Calculator of PMI" to find out specifics by clicking the below link or speak to one of the well known institutes ExcelR Solutions for guidance.

Refer : http://www.pmi.org.in/webapp/EligibilityCalculator/

Prerequisites of PMP

35 hours of Mandatory PMP Training, Project Management Experience. If you have Agile Project management experience that is an added advantage.

Career Benefits of PMP

Higher salary benefit, Enables stronger communication with your peers. Once certified, it gives you a privilege to plan ahead for high project manager demand.

How many hours of training and preparation time need to be invested ?

35hrs of mandatory training and then at least a month or two with daily preparation of 2hrs to learn well. Then having a mock tests till you gain confidence have to be invested.

What after Certified as PMP and if not Certified

Once certified you need to follow the continuing certification program ( CCR ) and earn 60 unit's by attending professional development units in the span of 3 years. If not certified in first attempt you can retake the exam. For specifics you may verify by clicking the below link or speak to one of the well known institutes ExcelR Solutions for guidance.

Refer : https://www.pmi.org/certification/earn-pdus.aspx

How does PMP help in our day to day activity at work

This depends on the experience you got as a project manager and the maturity of your project team. The routine activities performed by PM varies organisation to organisation. Simple and important routine generally every PM follows, might be :

1. Read high priority emails - follow up with calls if required,
2. Review scheduled meetings for the day and be ready,
3. Review project plan and check if anything has changed,
4. Walk the job where necessary and speak with people to get to know the status or requirements.

Observable changes in your career growth

Being a PMP will put you before whole lot of networking opportunities and potential job offers. You will experience high precedence and will soon be part of well statured professionals. You will be the first point of contact for non-PMP's in finding or deriving any project managerial solution.

Expert Advice on Choosing PMI-PMP or any other Project Management Certification

It depends on the organisation you work. Firms which are originated or support companies in United States they usually prefer PMI-PMP. This is same with companies in Middle East. Whereas companies in Europe prefer PRINCE2 or Agile Project Management.

Refer : http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/project-management-certification-pmp-scrum,2-622-3.html

Know your worthiness in getting PMP certified

You will feel worthy in having increased skills and capabilities. Increased income and you may have access to be part of PMI chapter. Many PMP enthusiasts share their valuable thoughts in these events conducted by PMI chapters across the world. You can be privileged with many opportunities on being a PMP.

Marketing Partner of ExcelR Solutions (Your Partner in Professional Skills Training)

3 Simple Online Project Management Tools for Developers

12:03:00

Project Management

Project management tools are very essential these days. Project management adds organisation to your activity. These help you in keeping every project and every task associated with each project coordinated and in one place. You can glance your calendar and know right away whether or not a project is on schedule. These are not just for business consultants but also for developers to keep track of what they are doing and how productive they are. Below are 3 simple online and free project management tools which developers can use to keep their activity organised.

Asana

Below are the following features of Asana:

5 free Users,
Project Creation with List View,
Filter and Customised View,
Email and App Integrations,
Project Conversations,
Delete Conversations,
Tag Project Members,
Notification With Conversations,
Calendar View,
Create Tasks in Calendar and many more features.

Wrike

Below are the following features of Wrike:

5 free Users,
Collaborators,
Storage space,
Hierarchy or projects,
Manage tasks,
Discussions in tasks,
File sharing,
Real-time Activity Stream,
Spreadsheet View,
Subtasks
Mass actions with tasks
Workload view
Time-tracking
iPhone and Android apps,
Advance Email Integrations,
Basic Integrations,
Dynamic timeline and many other features