Author Archive
Earned Value - Clearly Defined in Layman’s Terms
Earned value analysis is a tool that can be used to track performance on your project. From a PMI perspective, it’s part of the cost control and schedule control processes.
In this writeup, I’m simply going to start you off with the four critical pieces of data that are used as the framework.
BAC (Budget at Completion) [...]
New Microsoft Project Exams
Microsoft has released their new MS Project certifications and they are on par with their other serious certs.
70-632 Microsoft Project 2007 Desktop, Managing Projects
70-633 Microsoft Project 2007 Server, Managing Projects
70-634 Microsoft Project 2007 Server, Managing Projects and Programs
The first two are MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) exams, while the last is a MCITP (Microsoft Certified [...]
If I’m Going to be the Gatekeeper at My Meeting, How Do I Take Notes?
As I stated one of my posts last week, your main job at your meetings is to be the gatekeeper. So how do you take notes when you’re controlling the flow of communications? You don’t!
For example, when I teach my courses, I know my material inside and out. However, from time to time, I play [...]
I’m the PM — So What’s My Role in This Meeting?
Of all the “roles” project managers can play during a meeting, there’s only one that is crucial — that’s the gatekeeper. Sure, it may sound bad (partially because of Sigourney Weaver’s role in the movie Ghostbusters!), but it simply means that you control the flow of the communications.
In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than sitting [...]
Project Managers: Remember These Two Words!
Every class I teach, I write my name, a welcome message with the course title, and the following two words on the board:
Manage Expectations
Take a moment and think of every good project manager you ever have worked with. I guarantee these folks communicated to you what is occurring, when things were changing, and what is [...]
Baseline Best Practices Using MS Project
Many new users to MS Project, or any other project management tool for that matter, do not set baselines for their project files. Without a baseline, however, a you can never really accurately gauge performance on the project. For instance, you won’t see variances or earned value data.
A baseline is what I call an original [...]
Skipping Questions on Your PMP Exam
A commonly asked question when I teach my PMP exam prep course is “When I’m taking the PMP exam, can I skip the questions that I don’t know?”
Let’s take some of the guesswork out of that. You should never skip any question on the exam! That’s because you are not penalized for wrong answers (unlike [...]
MS Project: The Difference Between Standard and Professional
What’s the difference between MS Project Standard and MS Project Professional? I get this question a lot when I teach MS Project classes.
Here’s Microsoft’s explanation:
Office Project Standard 2007 is the latest version of the desktop project management program. As a stand-alone product, Office Project Standard 2007 helps project managers, business managers, and planners to manage [...]
Wait, QA and QC Aren’t the Same?
Some of my students already know that QA and QC are not exactly the same. However, a very small percentage can actually tell me the difference between the two.
For many of us, we refer to quality under one breath, even going as far as having roles in our organizations such as Director of QA/QC. This only [...]
Portfolio Server in a Nutshell
Microsoft Portfolio Server 2007 is a powerful, somewhat complex portfolio management tool so when I state ‘nutshell’, I really mean it.
Portfolio Server allows senior management to meet their organization’s strategic objectives by providing insight on their projects. This allows them to make sound decisions on the choosing the right project mix.
The tool is broken down [...]
