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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year Greetings !
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Congratulations Raman Parthasarathy PMP
I passed PMP last week. Thank you very much for your valuable session. (April 25-27 2008).
&
I am also going through your blog, very interesting.
Regards
Raman.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Congratulations Antony PMP !
This is to inform you that I have passed the PMP examination yesterday (16th Dec 08). I took the ‘PM Distilled’ course at Cochin, in August 08. Your way of teaching, exam tips, course material and the sample questions all are really good and helped me a lot.
Regards,
Antony
ARS Software
Trivandrum
Kerala
Monday, December 15, 2008
If Better Is Possible by John Buchanen
" If better is Possible" by John Buchanen - The winning strategies from the coach of Australia's most successful cricket team.
This is a great book, for anyone who is leading a team. A good read for every project manager. Through this book, John Buchanen shares his experiences in building a world class team and has lots for any team leader. After a long time, I am reading a book which is this interesting.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Fish for life !
1) Work places can have lot of ‘toxic energy dumps’. Meaning negative energy (gossip, back biting, frowning, complaining, blaming etc….).
2) Choose your attitude. There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself. Do not allow the surroundings to determine your attitude at the work place (can be your days as well). You choose your attitude. Choose the attitude of positivity. Every day morning, tell yourself that “I am going to enjoy this day by doing the best I can”.
3) Play. Play your work. Make it fun filled, and enjoy it to the core.
4) Make their day. Include others into the play. While making your day memorable, help others to make their days also memorable.
5) Be present. Focus on the ‘NOW’. Always live in the present, and look for opportunities to play and make their days memorable.
Authors : Stephen C Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen
Friday, November 28, 2008
Warm welcome to Mr.Mohammad Tufail Ahmad to PMRI's advisory body !
- Project planning
- Scheduling
- Monitoring and controlling
- Progress and cost monitoring using 'S' curves
- Design coordination, construction coordination and quality management
- Procurement and subcontract management
- Tendering and bid preparation
All of us at PMRI wishes him the very best.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Ask PMRI forum at Knowledge Oman
PMRI and knowledge Oman have jointly started 'Ask PMRI' forum at Knowledge Oman. They objective is to propagate professional project management concepts.
Congratulations Robson PMP !
Dear Aby,
Finally I also became a PMP. Now it is the time to celebrate.
You Initiated, Bali Planned, I Executed, God Monitored and Controlled, now it is the time for Project closing.
Thanks again,
Robson.
Congratulations Shuaib PMP
Hi All,
I have passed the PMP exam yesterday and want to share my experience with you.
The exam didn’t have many calculation questions as I had thought.
Altogether there were probably four or five to do with earned value
techniques like CV, SV, CPI, BAC, SPI. Some formulas to note:
SPI = EV / PV
ETC = BAC – EV
EAC = BAC / CPI
EAC = AC + ETC
EAC = AC + BAC – EV
% COMPLETE = EV / BAC x 100
I’d suggest you thoroughly go through the inputs, outputs and
tools/techniques for each of the nine knowledge areas as listed in the
PMBOK. I got several such questions from the Integration,Scope and
Quality management topics.
Also, several questions related to the Professional Responsibility
topic as well.
My exam prep included going through the PMBOK(3rd Ed.), PM Distilled
Notes, practicing the questions on ClassTube and also from couple
other sites found after ‘Googling’.
I wish you all the very best and look forward to hear your experience.
Cheers,
Shuaib
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
One day SCRUM workshop at Oracle, Bangalore
Monday, November 17, 2008
3 day PM fundamentals at HP, Chennai
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tips on PMP certification by Pratap K Sahoo PMP
Thanks to all for congratulating me.
Yes , of-course ! It's my pleasure to share my success.I think following things can be the better way of passing the PMP exam in first Attempt.(I cleared on Nov-6th, with total exp of 4.7 year)
Priority No1:Whether or not a candidate is into project management its better to study from:
1) Start preparing Question / Answer. Try to attempt all available Questions/ Answer.(This will give a general idea).2) Try to visualise (no need to remember all, if possible then its good) all Input/Output of each Process Group,and its tool & technology...
2) Remember all Calculations / Formula, e.g. EV,PV,AC,CPI,SPI,BAC, ETC,EAC,VAC ,BCR ,BCWS,BCWP,its very easy , just remember.(I got more questions on this approx (15/20)4) Go for simulation software (any) just to acquaint yourself with the pattern ,also give you a strength for sitting constantly 4 hr in Exam.
Priority No2:
5) PMBOK Guide atleast twice, with remembering 5 KA, 9 PG.(no need to read all , bcz few are reapeated like I/O , tools & techniques.6) Study Material Abby/ Rita Mulcahy PMP Text book.
Imp questions: i) What happen if (CPI +ve,,SPI -ve) / (Both -ve )/ (Both +ve) / (CPI -ve,,SPI +ve). ii) No of communication channel , for n number of team members. iii) What are the type of Handling Conflicts. iv) Selection of a project , ireespetvive of IRR,BCR,NPV. v) Maslow Hierrachy/Herzberg Thery(Theory X/Y)/Douglas Mc-Gregor Thery. vi) Type of Management Style(6 types, e.g autocratic/leissez faire/democratic etc). vii) Conflict Intensity . highest --> Lowest (e.g Schedule , Priorities, then Manpower , .... at last Cost) viii) Five interpersonal Influences of a successfull PM.(e.g Legitimate,Reward,Penalty , Exper, Referrent) ix) Forms of communications. x) Try to understand Professional code conduct & responsiblity( its different from real Life)
Since all questions are situation based, we have to have enough understanding of issues.
Hope this might be usefull for you.I believe the plan to study should come from ones Job Profile, time availability, Liking , and Own way of remembering,reading habit.
Please let me know for further info , for this exam, at any time, i am available to answer you!
Regards,PRATAP K. SAHOO MCA, PMP, 6s Black Belt(CSSBB), OCA "Stay with Business"SSE Ignis Technology Solution, Bangalore, India www.ignistech.com Work : +91-80-26592165 Mobile : +91-9880-319-807
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Congratulations Pratap Kumar Sahoo PMP
Thanks a lot for your method of teaching.
I cleared my PMP at first attempt on November 6th, Bangalore.
Pratap Kumar Sahoo,PMP
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Collabteam - New features
1) The home page is made simpler. The central theme is log in and signup. This is deliberately done to help the real user of collabteam (simple and faster).
2) Implemented the sprint velocity calculation feature. This feature helps the team to;
a) Continuously understand it’s capability by analysing the sprint velocity (planned story points / completed story points). The planned story points are frozen while activating the sprint, where as the actual story points are calculated by adding up the completed story points at the end of the sprint. This helps the team to really analyse how much they are able to complete against committed features for the sprint. The key benefit - continuous improvement (the gradually learns to deliver what they committed). This is key to improving productivity of the team.
b) Sprint velocity calculations are implemented under the ’sprint wall’
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Dont Miss this one
TiE will host TES 2008 between December 16 and 18, 2008. The event is guaranteed to inspire, inform and encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. Can you afford to miss this opportunity to meet some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our times?
TES 2008 is aimed at different industrial sectors and verticals such as Retail, Real Estate, Hospitality, Healthcare, Education, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Social entrepreneurship, Clean Tech, Mobile and Financial Services. It will provide a common platform for communication between successful entrepreneurs, industry leaders and professionals.
The event will promote interaction with Indian and overseas investors, senior Government representatives and policy makers, business leaders and selected companies representing India’s entrepreneurial talent.
Invaluable Mentoring Sessions:
TES 2008 will also feature highly focused one on one mentoring sessions for entrepreneurs. The mentoring sessions will be led by successful entrepreneurs and VCs offering you instant insights into your business. These sessions are limited in number and an early registration improves your chances of meeting top notch mentors.
Who should participate?
TES 2008 is undeniably unique. It offers a local, national, and global platform designed to connect entrepreneurs, policy makers, the investment community, academia and Governmental agencies - all of which form an integral part of the ecosystem. If you wish to be part of the ecosystem, you should be at TES 2008.
You can’t afford to miss this opportunity
For more information on TES 2008 visitwww.tiesummit.org
Contact our Help desk: 080 65461770 / 71 (10 AM to 6 PM, Monday – Friday & 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday)
Agile project management using SCRUM workshop
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Some useful tips from Ashraf PMP
Thank you so much for congratulating me and i wish all the best in your life. Below is my experience that i would like to share with you, i hope you will find them usefull:
- After the class, i went through the course material and the prestenation.
- I focused on practicing the questions as much as i could.
- Here are some usefull formulas that you might need:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EV = BAC * (work completed/total work required)
PV = BAC * (time passed/ total scheduled time)
EAC = BAC/CPI
standard deviation = (Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 2
stright line deperciation = (purchase value - salvage price)/time period
total contract cost (cost plus incentive fee) = finished cost + profit margin + (0.20 * under budget amount)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- My exam was at 8:30 am so my mind was fresh.
- I had a big breakfast, strong coffee and 1 vitamin tablet.
- elmintaing the wrong answers helped me a lot.
- As mentioned by Mr. Abarchan in the course material, don't ignore topics like professional responsiblity and human resources management.
I look forward to hearing your success stories in the near future,
Good luck..
Bye
Ashraf
Quick Start Guide Collabteam Version 1.0
Setting up the environment
1) Click on the signup link, and register yourself
2) Log in as an administrator (while logging in, ckeck on the 'log in as administrator' check box)
3) Create users (the resource pool is created against the organization)
4) Create projects
5) Allocate resources against the project and log out
Product backlog creation
1) Log in as a user
2) Create product backlog (if you are the product owner)
3) Expand product backlog to user stories. Allocate story points to the features
Sprint creation
1) Create sprint backlog and drag the respective product backlogs to the sprint.
2) Prioritize these features for production.
3) Break the sprint backlog entries into activities
4) Once the sprint creation is complete, activate the sprint.
Sprinting
1) The users are allowed to volunteer the work (to be done) , by going to the sprint board, and choosing the activities they want to perform. The sprint board provides the complete status of the sprint, including the burn down chart.
2) When someone volunteers for an activity, the activity moves to the 'being done' category.
3) Once an activity is completed, it moves to the 'Done' category
Defect handling
Defects are entered into the product backlog, as 'defects', which will be scheduled in the same sprint or in the subsequent sprints.
Project dash board
The project dash board provides the status of all sprints till date
In case yo face any difficulty contact us
email : team@cllabteam.com mobile : 0091 9745003819 or 0091 9895372115
Monday, October 27, 2008
Congratulations SVS Rao PMP
Greetings,
Further to my earlier mails, I wish to inform you that on 23.10.08, I attended the PMP exam and passed the exam in first attempt itself.
I would like to thank you all.
Exam preparation module in classtube is really a good tool, which is reinforcing the gained knowledge in PMPdistilled and PMBOK.
Wish you more success.
Regards,
SVS RAO
Projects Engineer
TRANSCO Projects
Tele: +971 2 694 4429
Mobile:+971 50 6780950
FAX: +971 2 694 4374
Congratulations Ashraf PMP
I would like to inform you that I have passed my PMP exam today 27th Oct in UK. Your valuable course & material were of a great help to prepare for it.
Now it is my time to celeberate and enjoy my holiday...
i hope i am the first delegate who clears the PMP exam within 90 days...
best regards,
Ashraf
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Collabteam project management tool from PMRI
The beta version of the 'Collabteam' project management tool is available for use now. This tool is based on the agile principles, especially scrum methodology, which is one of the leading agile project management methodologies. To use the tool, one need to have a fair understanding of the SCRUM methodologies. If you know scrum, then follow these steps to get going..
1) Register yourself as an administrator
2) Login as the administrator
3) Create a project
4) Create a product backlog (feature list)
5) Create a sprint backlog
6) Create team members
7) Team members can volunteer for work
The key features of the current version collabteam are
1) Product backlog creation
2) Sprint backlog creation
3) Work volunteering
4) Sprint burn down charts
5) Sprint boards, where the entire sprint's progress can be viewed
6) Project dash board - where the snapshot of all the sprints of the project is shown
To start using the tool click here
For a demo of this tool, contact team@collabteam.com
Back to the PMRI headquarters in Kerala
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Project Management Fundamentals - for HP, Chennai
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Fun and Work
I am sitting in the conference room of Chancery hotel, amidst a bunch of brilliant youngsters from HP, mastering the project management skills. For a change, this three day workshop is designed around hands on exercises only and all of us are really enjoying it. In this training I have borrowed some concepts from SCRUM. The entire team is really developing a deliverable within 45 minutes, and time is non negotiable. The result is very positive. Just the introduction of a tight non negotiable target and the freedom to execute alone improves productivity.
Implement tight deadlines, freedom to choose and execute work, write the acceptance criteria first, introduce daily stand up meeting... these alone improves teaming and productivity.
Give it a try...
Monday, October 6, 2008
Congratulations Fathima Fabin PMP
(10:16:15 AM) fathima_fabin: Good morning
(10:16:25 AM) fathima_fabin: I hope you remember me
(10:16:47 AM) fathima_fabin: I was in your Qatar PMP batch during first week of May
(10:16:53 AM) fathima_fabin: A good news
(10:17:11 AM) fathima_fabin: Got PMP certification on 27th of August 2008
(10:18:58 AM) abrachan: congratulations
(10:19:07 AM) abrachan: that is really pleasing news
(10:19:18 AM) fathima_fabin: thak you very much
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Are you a project manager and a smoker?
Smoking is prohibited from Oct 2nd onwards in all public places of India. If you are caught while smoking, the fine is Rs.200. Why?. Last year 900,000 Indians died due to diseases from smoking. I personally see this as a great opportunity for all smokers to quit smoking. If you are a project manager in India, you are violating the professional responsibility of the project manager (violating the rules of the country, not being socially responsible), if you violate this rule. So quit smoking.
About PMP certification (a quick reference)
|
PMP Certification Exam Fees | ||
Member | Non-member | |
Computer based | $405 / €340 | $555 / €465 |
Paper based | $250 / €205 | $400 / €335 |
Re-exam Computer | $275 / €230 | $375 / €315 |
Re-exam Paper | $150 / €125 | $300 / €250 |
Eligibility for PMP Certification Exam | |||||
|
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Bottlenecks for knowledge sharing within agile teams (India centric)
Performers Vs Non performers
Whenever I conduct the SCRUM workshops within India, one regular
question I have to address consistently is about 'What to do with non-
performers within the team?'. For me, the whole corporate system or as
a country itself, everything is tuned to protect the weak. Thanks to
the democrats and the communists. The entire system is built around
protecting the weak. Hence I am able to empathize with the project
managers when he is more worried about the non performers in the team
rather than the performers. We must understand the fact that SCRUM
teams must comprise of performers (mentally and physically fit).
Marcus Buckingham in his book 'First break all rules' says very
clearly that the best of the managers worldwide are biased towards
performers and in fact they spend more time with the performers rather
than non-performers. It does not mean that non-performers must be
ignored. They must get the support and the consideration they deserve,
and it must not be at the expense of performers. Let us all admit the
fact that corporate life is all about capitalism and capitalists not
socialism.
Individualists Vs Team players
Since most of the management wisdom within India is borrowed from the
west, 'Team work is always promoted'. An Indian Psyche is always
'Individualistic' while whatever is promoted within the corporates is
'Team work'. So every Indian acts like a team player to gain
acceptance, while actually he is not. In India, even to get a seat in
a bus, we have to struggle, rather we have to compete. Naturally we
are tuned to compete with others, where as the organizational cultures
within India are blind copies from the west, which promotes team work.
What must be really promoted within teams in India is 'Team work of
the Individually competent'. First of all everyone has to prove their
mettle individually, and after that we can talk about team work.
Parenting attitude of the managers
Most of the Indians like to go to beaches, and at the same time
majority of the Indians do not swim in the sea. Thanks to the highly
protective parenting prevailing within India. The highly protective
parent do not allow the kid to experiment, rather they are driven
through the least risky- proven paths. This leads to lack of
innovation, poor risk taking and underdevelopment of potential and
skills. Once these kids graduate as managers, they also start
exhibiting the 'parental traits' while managing the teams, leading to
under development of skill sets. Actually they are damaging the teams
and at the same time they believe that they are building the teams.
This is very dangerous.
These are some of the burning points coming to my mind while thinking
of the cultural issues in agile teams within India. India is the
country where the maximum lines of software code is written, and at
the same time not many killer products have come from India ... may be
these could be some of the real root causes.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Congatulations Amitava PMP !
amitavintel is online. Dear Amitava, As your project management coach, I am on cloud 9 ! Go and impact the world now. Ab |
Congratulations Satish Kumar PMP ! Go and Impact the World!
I am happy to inform you that I passed PMP exam on 9th September 2008.
I took the classes from you in The Capitol, Bangalore in Nov. 2007.
After a string of postponements due to project pressure, travel and PMP audit process,
I finally got it over.
Your material and PMP exam tips was very useful.
Please accept my sincere gratitude for your genuine role in my PMP success.
I am spreading the message to my friends and colleagues.
Thanks and Regards,
Satishkumar Tegginamath, PMP
LFP-HSSL, Bangalore
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Key Business Outcomes of Professional project management
- Repeat business and client satisfaction
- Multiproject control and integration with organizational strategy
- Greater innovation
- Better resource management
- Shareholder value
- Higher revenues and higher profits
- Credibility to gain new clients
- Customers experience professionalism
- Public / government credibility (accountability)
- Realization of the business case
- Reduced contract disputes
- More timely decision making
- Enhanced managerial competency
- Holistic thinking
- Efficient resource allocation
- Creation of new revenue stream
- Improved ROI
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Open source project management software applications (wikipedia)
The following is a list of notable project management software applications.
Legend | |
---|---|
PM | Project management software |
C | Collaborative software |
IT | Issue tracking system |
PPM | Project portfolio management |
RM | Resource management |
DM | Document management |