It took a bit longer to go through this, but here they are, all the terms that have been added to the 5th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 5th edition. There are some interesting terms in it, terms that we would have thought were already part of the project management world but that had not been added officially. And who would have thought that Emotional Intelligence finally made it into the PMBOK? 238 new terms while some terms also had to leave our beloved PMBOK. Schedule Activity had to leave the PMBOK already in the 4th edition, but what has S-Curve done to the project world that it did not make it into the 5th edition? [Read more…] about All new terms of the PMBOK 5th edition
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Agile Techniques That Mesh With Traditional Project Management
Agile project management is an iterative approach that focuses on achieving project objectives in distinct stages. It is typically used in the software development industry but has some applications in other fields as well. When the overall scope and specific deliverables are likely to change throughout the lifecycle of a project, an agile approach can make it easier to keep moving forward. This methodology is often best suited for use with small to mid-sized projects. For large scale projects with well-defined deliverables and a high degree of complexity, the agile approach tends to be less useful. However, this doesn’t mean certain features from the agile “toolbox” can’t still be used.
Learn as You Go
You might consider a blended approach that involves traditional waterfall and agile methods. For example, regular meetings that include a review of all lessons learned in the previous week are a core feature of agile project management that can be incorporated into many projects. Since stakeholder feedback is a key factor in compiling lessons learned, the project’s communication management plan must include a way to collect this feedback on an ongoing basis. So, this is an ideal option for projects that involve a client who likes a very “hands on” role.
Quality Takes Center Stage
The agile method also relies heavily on quality control at each stage (since software must be tested and debugged). This is another area where PMs in traditional industries would do well to pay attention. Project quality management should be designed to monitor project deliverables at crucial junctures. Let’s say component B’s performance is predicated on the quality of component A. To avoid delays and increased costs, a quality check should be performed during or immediately after the schedule activity that results in the completion of component A. This type of quality assurance plan can be developed based on an activity sequencing diagram.
Adaptation Requires Flexibility
No matter how thoroughly you plan, there will always be issues that require change requests. With an agile attitude, your team doesn’t have to view these as setbacks. Instead, each modification to the project plan can be seen as an opportunity for brainstorming and problem solving. A project management team that learns to collaborate is more likely to increase the value of a project through creative solutions rather than simply suggesting stop-gap measure to keep the whole thing from falling apart. To make this work, a leadership style that focuses on developing team members rather than simply issuing instructions is essential. In the long run, companies that feature a collaborative environment are almost certain to outperform their competition. So, this is one aspect of the agile method that should be adopted by all businesses that want to remain viable in today’s marketplace.
Project Time Management – Watch The Clock
In the world of project management, it could be argued that no other resource is as valuable as time. This commodity, unlike money or materials, really is irreplaceable. Once a project falls behind schedule, it is extremely difficult to close the gap and get things back on track. One activity or event that is delayed affects the next like a line of falling dominoes. This means wise time administration must be a top priority. Here are several areas where accurate planning and management make a big difference.
Don’t Make Activity Sequencing Too Rigid
When you are creating a WBS, it can be tempting to construct a tidy timeline with one schedule activity flowing neatly into the next in chronological order. However, smart project management planning often means scheduling many activities concurrently even if they will be incorporated during different phases of the actual project. There is no reason to have Team B sitting around with nothing to do when they could be preparing for the role they will play when Team A is done with the first stage of a project.
Unless there is an actual dependency that prevents a schedule activity from a future project phase from being performed in advance, consider staying ahead of the curve by having work done on as many critical aspects of the project as possible simultaneously. This approach can buy you time if your project hits an unexpected snag later on.
Learn Project Duration Shortening Tricks
The old phrase “It takes as long as it takes” doesn’t always apply in project management. When you are estimating the time needed for each scheduled project activity, fully explore your options. Often, there are creative ways you can reduce the time resource required for one or more phases. Here are some questions to ask when planning time commitments:
- Will adding more human resources to this activity shorten the project duration?
- Will having employees work overtime get this done task faster or will quality be degraded due to fatigue?
- Is there an individual on the team who needs to be reassigned because he/she tends to slow things down creating a bottleneck?
- Would delaying the start of this activity until I have all the right resources in place actually lead to a quicker turnaround time?
- Is there a tool or training option I can provide (within budget) that will reduce labor for this activity?
Shaving off a few days here or a week there creates a buffer that may help keep your project on schedule in the event of unavoidable delays.
Remaining Duration
In project management, accurate reporting on schedule progress entails documentation of the remaining duration of each schedule activity. In schedule reporting, this term is used when referring to work that is currently in progress. The time remaining for an activity is calculated from the date that the report is created (the “data date” or “as of” date).
The remaining duration is defined as the number of calendar units between the date the report is generated and the current (expected) finish dates for the activities in question. This information is often displayed as a bar graph that also shows the actual start dates of the schedule activities. This type of project management “snapshot” report makes it possible to visually assess the percentage of work completed and the estimated percentage remaining. This information is often helpful for ongoing human resource planning. It can be used to calculate an estimate of how many labor hours are required for completion of a current schedule activity.
Calendar units are used rather than days to provide the greatest level of accuracy in remaining duration reports. A calendar unit may represent a workday, a shift, a work hour, or any other time unit that is relevant to the nature of the project. This includes only units during which work is actually performed and not times when the schedule activities are idle (weekends, nights, holidays, etc) unless otherwise specified. This means it is important not to confuse the number of units remaining with the number of actual days. For example, if 10 calendar units are left in the duration of an activity, this might represent 80 total hours of work done between Monday and Friday on two consecutive weeks. So, the actual date of completion might be 14 days in the future rather than 10 days.
This project management term is defined in the 3rd edition of the PMBOK, but not in the 4th.
Path Divergence
Similarly to its counterpart path convergence, path divergence plays a significant and important role in the life of a project and the attempts by the project management team. In regards to project management specifically, path divergence refers to the instance in which the project management team and or project management team leader represents the act of actually extending or generating parallel schedule networkpaths from the same point, or node, on the pre-existing project schedule network diagram. Ultimately, when all is said and done, the actions of path divergence when conducted by the project management team and the project management team leader involves the act of characterizing a preexisting schedule activity into with more than one single successor activity. Path convergence is quite common to find as a project unfolds and it can cause for confusion if not handled carefully by the project team.
This term is defined in the 3rd and the 4th edition of the PMBOK.