What's the Difference Between the CAPM and PMP Examinations?

Founded in 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) is best-known as the publisher of, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)." PMBOK is considered one of the most important tools in the project management profession today. The PMI offers two levels of project management certification, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and Project Management Professional (PMP).

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Product details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Burgee Press; 4th edition (5 Sep 2005)
• ISBN-10: 0971015821
• ISBN-13: 978-0971015821

Review

Cosentino is the Dean of case interviewing prep. Case in Point is lucid, down-to-earth, demystifying and surprisingly entertaining. --Hillary Harrow Senior Recruiter, McKinsey & Company

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Article:SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis



A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the
strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually
can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those
external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T).
Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT
analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's
resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates.
As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. The following
diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into an environmental scan:



SWOT Analysis Framework

Environmental Scan           / \            Internal Analysis       External Analysis / \                  / \ Strengths   Weaknesses       Opportunities   Threats | SWOT Matrix

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+Feature:Pm Crash Course For It Professionals CISCO Press 2010 (20 USD)

Pm Crash Course For It Professionals


Mulcahy Rita, Young Martha

Editore: Cisco Press

Anno di Pubblicazione: 2009

EAN: 9781587202599

ISBN: 158720259X

Pagine:275

Disponibilità Al momento non disponibile a magazzino - Generalmente disponibile in 5 giorni

Stato Reperibile


Description
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Description Back Cover Contents Author

Description

Real-world project management tools and techniques you can start using today!

IT professionals are often faced with extremely challenging project deployments, as well as initiatives that are mission-critical to their organizations. For IT project managers, a strong understanding of the discipline of project management can be invaluable—both to success with individual projects and to their overall careers. However, most books and training materials on project management pay little or no attention to the unique challenges IT project managers face.

PM Crash Course™ for IT Professionals is full of project management tools that you can apply immediately to your IT projects—to deliver them on time, on budget, and with fewer headaches. Authored by world-renowned project management trainer Rita Mulcahy, this book will help you get your IT projects back on track using proven, real-world project management tools and techniques.

This revolutionary Course in a Book® covers the basics of project management, including planning, scheduling, budgeting, and more. It also moves beyond the basics to cover a number of real-world project management tools and techniques for IT initiatives. The authors provide indispensable practical checklists, templates, and exercises to reinforce your learning of these concepts. The book includes dozens of tricks, insights, and contributions from real project managers sharing what has made a difference for them when managing real-world projects.

If you are looking for easy-to-use tools and processes to make an immediate impact on your current IT project, PM Crash Course™ for IT Professionals is the resource for you.

Rita Mulcahy, PMP, founder and CEO of RMC Project Management, is the most popular project management author in the world. Since 1991, hundreds of thousands of project managers have utilized her 30+ best-selling books and resources to expand their project management knowledge and further their careers.

Real-World Issues Covered:

• Understanding why IT projects fail--—and preventing failure

• Defining effective IT project charters and requirements

• Organizing IT roadmaps into manageable projects

• Capturing, creating, and using historical data

• Establishing “soft” and “hard” project metrics and milestones

• Defining project scope, and avoiding scope creep

• Identifying and managing stakeholders and expectations

• Choosing the right PM tools for your needs—including in-house, hosted, and cloud-based solutions

IT projects are not only immensely challenging and mission-critical, but are often prone to failure due to poor project management. For IT professionals, a strong understanding of the discipline of project management can be invaluable–both to success with individual projects and to their overall careers. However, most books and training materials on project management pay little or no attention to the unique challenges IT project managers face.

But now, there is a guide to project management written specifically for IT professionals. Authored by world-renowned project management author and trainer Rita Mulcahy, PM Crash Course™ for IT Professionals teaches IT project management through specific examples and case study-like interviews with IT project management executives. This revolutionary Course in a Book® starts with the basics of IT project management, including planning, scoping, scheduling, budgeting, and more. Then, it moves beyond the basics to cover a number of real-world project management tools and techniques for IT initiatives–like defining IT project charters and requirements, breaking down IT roadmaps into manageable pieces, capturing and using historical data, identifying and managing stakeholders, defining IT project scope, and more. If you are looking for easy-to-use tools and processes to make an immediate impact on your current IT project, order a copy of PM Crash Course™ for IT Professionals today!

Contents

Chapter 1: Before You Read This Book: Introduction to the world of IT project management

Chapter 2: How to Use This Book: how to use the case studies to inform your approach

Chapter 3: Understanding the Project Management Process/ Why IT projects fail

Chapter 4: Defining the Project Charter and Requirements

Chapter 5: Incrementalization: How to break down the IT Roadmap into Projects

Chapter 6: Learning from History: Gaining, Creating and Using Historical Data

Chapter 7: Identifying and Managing Stakeholders

Chapter 8: The Project Scope Statement: Key to IT Project Success

Chapter 9: Preventing Scope Creep: The Work Breakdown Structure and WBS Dictionary

Chapter 10: Estimating in the Real-World of Business

Chapter 11: Real-World Scheduling: or What to do when things go really wrong

Chapter 12: Communications Management

Chapter 13: Preventing Problems: Identifying and Managing Risk

Chapter 14: Saving the IT Project that has Failed

Chapter 15: Measuring Success post Project and Avoiding Career Damaging Errors

Chapter 16: Conclusions and What to Learn Next
Author

Rita Mulcahy, PMP, founder and CEO of RMC Project Management, is the most popular project management author in the world. Since 1991, hundreds of thousands of project managers have utilized her 30+ best-selling books and resources to expand their project management knowledge and further their careers.

Martha L. Young is president and founder of Nova Amber, LLC, a virtual business consultancy specializing in business process virtualization strategies and methodologies. She has been engaged in the technology industry for nearly 20 years.
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Feature :Kim Heldman, Vanina Mangano "PMP Project Management Professional Exam Review Guide", PMP Exam Review Guide by Kim Heldman, Vanina Mangano for PMBOK4 th ed. 20 USD

A concise, focused study aid aimed at preparing you for PMP certification


The Project Management Profressional (PMP) certification is the most desired skill in today's IT marketplace and candidates are required to have thousands of hours of PM experience even before taking the PMP exam.

As the ideal reading companion to PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide, Fifth Edition, or any PMP exam prep guide, this focused study tool gives you that extra preparation you need to approach the grueling PMP exam with confidence. More than 120 review questions, two bonus exams, electronic flashcards, and a searchable key term database all contribute to your preparation for taking the PMP exam.

• Works hand in hand with PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide, Fifth Edition

• Six chapters correspond to the six domain areas of the PMP exam: initating the project, planning the project, executing the project, monitoring and controlling the project, closing the project, professional and social responsibility

• Accompanying CD-ROM features a test engine, electronic flashcards, and a searchable PDF of key terms

If you're looking to be as prepared as possible before taking the 200-question, 4-hour PMP exam, then this review guide is a must-read.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

 

 

Paperback: 360 pages

Publisher: Sybex; Pap/Com edition (Jul 10 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0470479582

ISBN-13: 978-0470479582
 
 
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Over 300 of the most important and difficult to recall exam-related terms and concepts are now available for study as you drive, fly or take your lunch break.



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Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 gives you robust project management tools with the right blend of usability, power, and flexibility, so you can manage projects more efficiently and effectively. You can stay informed and control project work, schedules, and finances, keep project teams aligned, and be more productive through integration with familiar Microsoft Office system programs, powerful reporting, guided planning, and flexible tools.


Note Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 includes all the capabilities in Office Project Standard 2007. In addition, Office Project Professional 2007 provides collaborative enterprise project management capabilities when used with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007.

Understand and control project schedules and finances



Effectively track and analyze projects with a better understanding of the schedule and impact of changes. Benefit from better financial control and richer analytics.



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New! See the impacts of a change. Office Project 2007 will automatically highlight all items that shift as a result of the most recent change you make. Now, with Change Highlights you gain a better understanding of the impacts of your choices.

New! Experiment with what-if scenarios. Undo and redo changes to views, data, and options with Multiple Level Undo. You can undo actions or sets of actions from macros too, so you can test several what-if scenarios in order to fully understand the implications of each choice while making scope changes

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+Feature :SYBEX The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification Exam Study Guide, 2009, 5th Edition

The much-anticipated update to the highly acclaimed PMP study guide!

The Project Management Profressional (PMP) certification is the most desired skill in today's IT marketplace and candidates are required to have thousands of hours of PM experience even before taking the PMP exam.

This fifth edition is completely updated for the newest exam and is the most comprehensive review guide on the shelf. You'll benefit from the detailed discussions on a wide range of PMP topics, concepts, and key terms-all of which cover the Project Management Process and Procedures.

• A comprehensive study guide for the PMP certification exam that can also be used as a reference after the exam
• Each chapter covers a list of objectives, followed by in-depth discussions of those objectives
• Includes hands-on, real-world scenarios to prepare you for the many situations you may face on the job
• Companion CD-ROM features a test engine of practice questions, electronic flashcards, and two hours of audio
Essential reading both before and after the PMP exam, this study guide is also aimed at anyone studying for the new Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) program.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

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Feature:PMBOK 4th Edition arabic 10 USD

As per request from Many peaple in Arab world Today , I introduce PMBOK 4th Arabic translated I would like to get Feedback for members , is it useful or Not I can publish in the Other Language like Chinese ;German,
The Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced the release of the 4th Edition of it’s t's hard to imagine a time when A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) wasn't around. Yet, just twenty years ago, PMI volunteers first sat down to distill the project management body of knowledge. Their hard work eventually became the PMBOK® Guide, now considered one of the most essential tools in the profession and is the de facto global standard for the industry. With more than a million copies of the PMBOK® Guide-2000 Edition in use, PMI has received numerous positive comments and suggestions for improvements. Methodical updates occur on a four-year cycle to ensure PMI's commitment to continually improve and revise the information contained in this essential reference manual.

So how do you make the best even better? PMI is doing this by once again setting the bar higher and raising the level of information included. Users will find a number of changes when they upgrade from the PMBOK® Guide-2000 Edition. One of the most important changes is the criteria for included information, which evolved from "generally accepted on most projects, most of the time" to "generally recognized as good practice on most projects, most of the time." Unique to the PMBOK® Guide-Third Edition is the increased clarity and emphasis on processes, including highlighting that the five Process Groups are the key to the management of projects. Efforts also have been made to ensure better consistency of material within and between chapters and to make sure that all figures and tables throughout have been updated for clarity and completeness. Furthermore, an expanded index and glossary reflect the changes that the project management industry has seen during the four years since the previous edition.

As the updated official standard of the world's leading project management organization, PMBOK® Guide - Third Edition is an essential reference tool for every project management practitioner's library.
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Feature:Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 10th Edition

he landmark project management reference, now in a new edition
Now in a Tenth Edition, this industry-leading project management "bible" aligns its streamlined approach to the latest release of the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMI's PMBOK® Guide), the new mandatory source of training for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certificat-ion Exam. This outstanding edition gives students and professionals a profound understanding of project management with insights from one of the best-known and respected authorities on the subject.
From the intricate framework of organizational behavior and structure that can determine project success to the planning, scheduling, and controlling processes vital to effective project management, the new edition thoroughly covers every key component of the subject. This Tenth Edition features:

• 
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  More than twenty-five case studies, including a new case on the Iridium Project covering all aspects of project management
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Description:The PMBOK® Guide–Fourth Edition continues the tradition of excellence in project management with a standard that is even easier to understand and implement, with improved consistency and greater clarification.

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* Standard language has been incorporated throughout the document to aid reader understanding.
* New data flow diagrams clarify inputs and outputs for each process.
* Greater attention has been placed on how Knowledge Areas integrate in the context of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing process groups.
* Two new processes are featured: Identify Stakeholders and Collect Requirements.
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+Free download:PM FASTrack® PMP® Exam Simulation Software - V 6 demo

Developed by Rita Mulcahy, PMP
Created with the assistance of a psychometrician (just like the actual exam) PM FASTrack® is designed to simulate the actual exam in every detail. The program's database of 1,500+ questions allows you to take exams by knowledge area, process group, keyword/concept, PMP and Super PMP simulation.
Features for version 6 include automatic question bank updates (for people with Internet connections), upgraded exam reporting and archiving, and more “wordy” questions that more closely match the actual exam. In addition, all questions are cross-referenced with RMCs PMP® Exam Prep textbook, so you may quickly and easily go back and work on your weak areas. Why be surprised when you take the actual exam? Find your gaps before the exam finds them for you!
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Feature:Head First PMP: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam

Head First PMP: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam

Description
Head First PMP offers 100% coverage of The PMBOK® Guide principles and certification objectives in a way that's engaging, not tedious. This book helps you prepare for the PMP certification exam with a unique method that goes beyond answers to specific questions and makes you think about the big picture of project management. By putting project management concepts into context, you will be able to understand, remember, and apply them--not just on the exam, but also on the job. Full Description
Media Reviews
"I have been doing project management for over 30 years and am considered a subject matter expert in the PMBOK(r) Guide -Third Edition primarily because I am the Project Manager who led the team that developed this edition. As a consultant I was hired to review and evaluate eight of the top selling PMP Exam Preparation books for their accuracy in following the PMBOK® Guide - Third Edition. I have developed and taught a PMP Exam Prep course for a leading R.E.P., and taught PMP Exam preparation classes for PMI Chapters. I can honestly say that Head First PMP is by far the best PMP Exam Preparation book of all I have reviewed in depth. It is the very best basic education and training book that I have read that presents the processes for managing a project, which makes it a great resource for a basic project management class for beginners as well as a tool for practitioners who want to pass the PMP exam. The graphical story format is unique, as project management books go, which makes it both fun and easy to read while driving home the basics that are necessary for preparing someone is just getting started and those who want to take the exam." --Dennis Bolles, PMP DLB Associates, LLC and co-author of The Power of Enterprise-Wide Project Management
"This looks like too much fun to be a PMP study guide! Behind the quirky humor and nutty graphics lies an excellent explanation of the project management processes. Not only will this book make it easier to pass the exam, you'll learn a lot of good stuff to use on the job too." --Carol Steuer, PMP and PMBOK(r) Guide, 4th Edition Leadership Team
"This is the best thing to happen to PMP since, well, ever. You'll laugh, learn, pass the exam, and become a better project manager all at the same time." -- Scott Berkun, author of The Art of Project Management and The Myths of Innovation
"Original, fresh, and fun... this is truly the perfect study companion for anyone aiming for PMP certification." --Teresa Simmermacher, PMP and Project Manager at Avanade
"I love this format! Head First PMP covers everything you need to know to pass your PMP exam. The sound-bite format combined with the whimsical images turns a dry subject into entertainment. The organization starts with the basics then drills into the details. The in-depth coverage of complex topics like Earned Value and Quality Control are presented in an easy to understand format with descriptions, pictures, and examples. This book will not only help you pass the PMP, it should be used as an daily reference for practicing project managers. I sure wish I had this when I was studying for the exam." --Mike Jenkins, PMP, MBA
"I think that under the fonts and formalized goofiness, the book has a good heart (intending to cover basic principles in an honest way rather than just to pass the test). Head First PMP attempts to educate potential project managers instead of being a mere "how to pass the PMP exam" book filled with test taking tips. This is truly something which sets it apart from the other PMP certification exam books." --Jack Dahlgren, Project Management Consultant
"Head First PMP is a great tool to help make sense of the Project Management Body of Knowledge for the everyday Project Manager." --Mark Poinelli, PMP

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Free download :Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic Planning for Project Management, 2nd Edition

updated for today's businesses-a proven model FOR assessment and ongoing improvement

Using the Project Management Maturity Model, Second Edition is the updated edition of Harold Kerzner's renowned book covering his Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM). In this hands-on book, Kerzner offers a unique, industry-validated tool for helping companies of all sizes assess and improve their progress in integrating project management into every part of their organizations.

Conveniently organized into two sections, this Second Edition begins with an examination of strategic planning principles and the ways they relate to project management. In the second section, PMMM is introduced with in-depth coverage of the five different levels of development for achieving maturity. Easily adaptable benchmarking instruments for measuring an organization's progress along the maturity curve make this a practical guide for any type of company.

Complete with an associated Web site packed with both teaching and learning tools, Using the Project Management Maturity Model, Second Edition helps managers, engineers, project team members, business consultants, and others build a powerful foundation for company improvement and excellence.
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Article:MoSCoW Method

By Duncan Haughey, PMP

When managing a project it is important to establish a clear understanding of the customers' requirements and their priority. Many projects start with the barest headline list of requirements, only to find later that the customers' needs have not been properly understood.

Once there is a clear set of requirements it is important to ensure they are prioritised. This helps everyone (customer, project manager, designer, developers etc.) understand which the most important requirements are, in what order to develop them and which won't be delivered if there is pressure on resources.

So what is the best method for creating a prioritised list of requirements?

The MoSCoW prioritisation method can help. MoSCoW stands for must, should, could and would:

M - Must have this requirement to meet the business needs.

S - Should have this requirement if at all possible, but project success does not rely on it.

C - Could have this if it does not adversely affect anything else in the project.

W - Would have this requirement at a later date, but it won't be delivered this time.

The o's in MoSCoW are added to make the acronym pronounceable, and are often left in lowercase to indicate they don't stand for anything.

MoSCoW as a prioritisation method is used to determine which requirements must be implemented first and which must come later or will not be implemented at all.

Unlike a numbering system for prioritisation, the words mean something and make it easier to discuss what's important. The must requirements need to provide a complete coherent solution and alone lead to project success.

The must requirements are non-negotiable and have to be delivered. Failure to deliver even one of the must requirements means the project has failed.

The project team should aim to deliver as many should requirements as possible. Could and would requirements are "nice to haves" and do not affect the overall success of the project. Could requirements are the first to go if the project timeline or budget comes under pressure.

To deliver a successful project, it is essential that a clear set of prioritised requirements are agreed with the customer along with the overall objective, quality, timescale and budget. The recommended method for prioritising requirements is MoSCoW.

Article:Work Breakdown Structure: Purpose, Process and Pitfalls

 
In this article we are going to look at what many project managers and project management professionals refer to as the "foundation" of the project, or at least the foundation of project planning. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK Guide) as:
"A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables."
Wow! That is a lot of buzz words and jargon, but do not worry. It is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Creating a quality WBS will require a substantial amount of energy, time, and people, but in the end is not rocket science. However, before we get too deep into how to actually create a WBS let's first look at its purpose.

Purpose

Why do we need to create a WBS for our projects? What purpose does it serve? Why should I waste my time writing on post-it notes and drawing charts when I could be getting my team started on the actual work of the project? Now, I know everyone reading this is a great project manager or team member, so I am sure none of you have ever said comments such as these, but I am sure you have heard them from those "other" project managers who will remain nameless.
So to answer these questions, let's take a look at what purpose the WBS serves to our project and our project team. There are three reasons to use a WBS in your projects. The first is that is helps more accurately and specifically define and organise the scope of the total project. The most common way this is done is by using a hierarchical tree structure. Each level of this structure breaks the project deliverables or objectives down to more specific and measurable chunks. The second reason for using a WBS in your projects is to help with assigning responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project. The WBS makes the deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows exactly what has to be accomplished within each deliverable. This also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. Finally, it allows you double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make sure there is nothing missing or overlapping.

Process

Now that we have agreed that creating a WBS will be help to our project's efficiency and effectiveness, how do we go about it? First, let's look at what all we need to get started. There are several inputs you will need to get you off on the right foot:

• The Project Scope Statement
• The Project Scope Management Plan
• Organisational Process Assets
• Approved Change Requests - (PMBOK Guide)

These inputs should give you all the information you and your team needs to create your WBS. Along with these inputs, you will use certain tools as well:

• Work Breakdown Structure Templates
• Decomposition - (PMBOK Guide)

Finally, using these inputs and tools you will create the following outputs:

• Work Breakdown Structure
• WBS Dictionary
• Scope Baseline
• Project Scope Statement (updates)
• Project Scope Management Plan (updates)
• Requested Changes - (PMBOK Guide)

The first step to creating your WBS is to get all your team, and possibly key stakeholders, together in one room. Although your team is not listed as an input or tool in the above sections, they are probably your most vital asset to this process. Your team possesses all the expertise, experience, and creative thinking that will be needed to get down to the specifics of each deliverable. Next, we have to get the first two levels setup. The first level is the project title, and the second level is made up of all the deliverables for the project. At this stage it is important to function under the 100% Rule. This rule basically states that the WBS (specifically the first two levels) includes 100% of all the work defined in the project scope statement and management plan. Also, it must capture 100% of all the deliverables for the project including internal, external, and interim. In reality the WBS usually only captures between 90-95%, and 100% is our goal.
Once we have gotten the first two levels set, it is time to launch into our decomposition. Decomposition is the act of breaking down deliverables in to successively smaller chunks of work to be completed in order to achieve a level of work that can be both realistically managed by the project manager and completed within a given time frame by one or more team members. This level of breakdown and detail is called the work package. Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS and are pieces of work that are specifically assigned to one person or one team of people to be completed. This is also the level at which the project manager has to monitor all project work. Now the million dollar question is how specific and small does a chunk of work need to be to still be considered a work package? Well PMBOK does not seem to give a definitive answer on that. Most project managers concur that this varies by project, but can usually be measured using the 8/80 Rule. The 8/80 Rule says that no work package should be less than 8 hours or greater than 80 hours. Notice we said that the work package is the lowest level of the WBS. Activities and tasks are not included in the WBS. They will be planned from the work packages once they are assigned.
Now you are ready to start your team on the work of decomposition, but do not get too far ahead of yourself quite yet. As grandpa always said "There is no reason to reinvent the wheel." Occasionally, you will run into a project that is a "first of its kind," but that is not usually the case. Most of the time, you, your team, or your organisation has done a project like this one in the past. That means that there should be a WBS from the previous project that you can use as a template. This will save you a lot time and effort. Even if you have not done a project like this one before, most Project Management Offices (PMOs) have basic WBS templates that can get you started. Another great technique to make your life easier is the Post-It Note Technique. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it actually works very well. In this technique you simply write each deliverable on a post-it note and stick them at the top of a wall. Then you and your team start to break down each deliverable into components and write each component on its own post-it note. This way, as you place them on the wall and start to create your tree structure, everyone can easily see what has been accomplished and where you are headed. Also this technique allows for easy movement of components around within the WBS.
Now the conference room wall is covered in post-it notes and Sally is frantically wanting to write everything down before they start to fall, but wait one more step before you put it into an official (or semi-official) document. You can use your newly created WBS to look for missing or overlapping pieces of each deliverable. This will help eliminate change requests and double work down the road. Once that is completed, put your WBS on paper and log it into your project.
Many projects will also find it necessary to create a WBS Dictionary to accompany their WBS. The WBS Dictionary is simply a document that describes each component in the WBS. This helps clarify any specifics later on when team members completing the work or stakeholders viewing the deliverables have questions. Also, when creating the WBS for very large, lengthy, or complex projects, all the deliverables' specifics might not be known up front and, therefore, it is difficult to create a full WBS. In cases such as these many people use what is called Rolling Wave Planning. This is when you plan down to the level of detail currently known and go back to plan deeper once more information is acquired. Usually rolling wave planning needs to stay as least 2-3 months ahead of the actual work being done, but of course this varies slightly by industry.

Pitfalls

Lastly let's look at five common pitfalls to creating a WBS. If you can keep these few possible issues in mind when you are creating your WBS, you and your team will be much more successful at creating a useful and accurate Work Breakdown Structure.

1. Level of Work Package Detail

When deciding how specific and detailed to make your work packages, you must be careful to not get too detailed. This will lead to the project manager to have to micromanage the project and eventually slow down project progress. On the other hand, work packages whose details are too broad or large become impossible for the project manager to manage as a whole.

2. Deliverables Not Activities or Tasks

The WBS should contain a list of broken down deliverables. In other words, what the customer/stakeholder will get when the project is complete. It is NOT a list of specific activities and tasks used to accomplish the deliverables. How the work is completed (tasks and activities) can vary and change throughout the project, but deliverables cannot without a change request, so you do not want to list activities and tasks in the WBS.

3. WBS is not a Plan or Schedule

The WBS cannot be used as a replacement for the project plan or schedule. A WBS is not required to be created in any type of order or sequence. It is simply a visual breakdown of deliverables.

4. WBS Updates Require Change Control

The WBS is a formal project document, and any changes to it require the use of the project change control process. Any changes to the WBS change the deliverables and, therefore, the scope of the project. This is an important point to help control scope creep.

5. WBS is not an Organisational Hierarchy

The WBS and Organisational Hierarchy chart are never the same thing. Although often similar in appearance, these two documents are very different. The Organisational Hierarchy shows things like chain of command and lines of communication, but the WBS is restricted simply to a project and shows only the deliverables and scope of that project.
We hope that this article has helped you better understand the Work Breakdown Structure's purpose, process, and common pitfalls. The WBS is an extremely valuable tool to the project management methodology. It can make or break a project. It sets the foundation for the rest of the project planning. A solid WBS helps ensure proper project baselines, estimating, resource use, scheduling, risk analysis, and procurement.

Micah Mathis holds a Masters Degree in Instructional Technology and is a certified PMI Project Management Professional. He is currently the VP of Sales and Customer Relations for the Mathis Group. With the Mathis Group, he trains commercial and government organisations in Project Management Methodology and manages PMI Expert.com  an online project management resource. For more information on Micah Mathis or the Mathis Group please visit www.pmiexpert.com . Have a question or comment for Micah? Please contact him via the website above.

Article:Managing The Project Time

Though we all have the same amount of time, it just seems to slip by me faster than it does other people. It's not that I'm lounging around smoking cigars, playing poker all night, and ignoring my work (okay, not usually). It's that I take on much more than I should and everyone suffers. And the projects that I take on magically grow from cute, innocent endeavours into eight-armed monsters that crush my schedule over and over.
Project managers know, or should know, the iron triangle of project management sometimes called the triple constraints of project management because all projects are constrained by these three elements: time, cost, and scope. My nemesis is the angle on the left, time.
Any project, from developing a new piece of software to building a new house, takes some amount of time. The relationships between the scope of the project, time, and cost should balance. If there's not enough time or budget, the project is doomed. (No kidding.)
The real problem? Planning. Delegation. And learning to say no. First, we must define the product scope: the verifiable, tangible deliverables that make the customer happy (or happier, depending on the customer). Once all agree on the product scope, then it's on to the project scope, all of the work and only the work to create the project deliverable. The product scope and the project scope are dependent on one another; if you change a detail in the product scope gosh, the project scope will change, too. And these changes take time.
Now, sometimes I'm late and it just ain't my fault. (Come on, I did say "sometimes.") For example, I was working on a project for a company that couldn't decide exactly what they wanted. It was like one of my usual dates: "I don't know what I want, but this isn't it." We'd go round and round through feasibility studies, new versions of the training manual, class development, and more frustration, then they wanted to know whether I could still hit the target deadline for project completion. My mental response? "Yes, just as soon as I get back from my bike ride to Hawaii."
On any given day the phone rings, e-mail chimes, or the fax spits out some new request, and without thinking we say yes. That failure to think is killing us. A little change here, an addition there, and four or five new projects coming in; time disappears faster than a plate of donuts at a Weight Watcher's meeting.
But this isn't an article on how to whine. We're all crushed for time; some of us just manage it better than others. When it comes to project management, I know that the time management discipline is my Achilles' heel. In the past, I would gladly take on the work without thinking, planning, and delegating. But I'm getting better about it, I told someone no last week. It was sad and disappointing, but I can't let things pile up anymore and current commitments slip by.

The Official Approach (How It Looks on Paper)

In the perfect project management world, which doesn't exist, there is a logical, practical approach to calculating how long a project should take to complete. Let's pretend that we're living in this perfect project management world and see how things should go.
First we work with the customer to define the product scope, describing the thing that they want us to create. Then we create the project scope, all of the required work and only the required work to create the product scope. And then, boy oh boy, we create the work breakdown structure (WBS).
The WBS is not a list of the activities to complete the project. That's right. The WBS is a deliverables-oriented decomposition of the project deliverables, not the project work. Once we've created the WBS, we can generate a list of the activities that the project team will need to perform to create the identified deliverables.
The activity list should conform to a fun heuristic called the 8/80 rule, which states that the smallest element of the WBS, called the work package, should take no more than 80 hours to create and no less than 8 hours to create. We don't want the WBS to be so granular that we're dictating each step to create the deliverable; nor do we want the work package to be so large, as in more than 80 hours large, to leave much of the work open to interpretation. (As with most rules, of course, there are exceptions.)
The activity list should then be arranged in the order in which the activities must or should take place. Many of the activities will rely on hard logic; they must occur in a particular order for the project to be successful. We have to install the operating system before installing the application. Soft logic relies on management discretion. For example, we could create a fancy script to install the operating system and then call a remote server to pull the application and install it on the target machine once the OS has been installed. But we may choose not to do that. It's preferential logic based on experience, the nature of the work, or your mood on that particular day.
Now the real fun starts. As the expert time starved project manager, you examine the work sequence and realise that you can actually take several paths to project completion in tandem. So you map out the work visually in a project network diagram (PND). A PND visualises the work and allows you to find the critical path. The critical path is not the path with the most important activities; it's the longest path to reach the project's conclusion. The critical path reveals the activities that, if late, will cause your project to miss its target completion date. You can find the critical path by simply counting the duration of activities from day 1 to project completion.
But what of the activities that are not on the critical path? These activities have float, the amount of time by which an activity can be delayed or late without affecting the project end date. There are some fancy formulas called the forward and backward pass to calculate the float for each activity.
You don't have to be a genius to do the maths, but it's easier to just let your project manager information system (such as Microsoft Project) do the calculations for you.
Your critical path can change. Some of your non-critical path activities may be late, additional activities may be added to your project, or the duration of non-critical activities may be revised. Your project may take longer if any of this happens, and you'll have a new critical path.
Between each set of activities in your PND are relationships that describe how and when successor and paired activities may begin. There are four different relationship types, though chances are that you'll use only one or two of them:

• Finish-to-start. This most common of relationship types means that the upstream activity must finish before the downstream activity can begin. For example, you must create the disk image before you can push it out to 1,200 machines.
• Start-to-start. This relationship allows two activities to start at the same time, but not necessarily end at the same time. For example, imagine that your organisation has a new piece of software that all users will have installed on their desktops. In your project plan, all users must complete a four-hour training session before the application is installed. You create a system that installs software on users' desktops while they're in class for the new application. Both activities start at once, but they sure won't finish at the same time.
• Finish-to-finish. This relationship requires both activities to end at the same time. For example, you're managing a project to redesign your new web site. To promote the new chic look, your organisation will mail a million postcards to current and potential customers. Your project plan requires that the final modifications to your web site and the postcards arriving at your prospects' offices finish at the same time. Fascinating.
• Start-to-finish. This is the most unusual and least-used relationship of all. It's special. You'll find this relationship when you're using just-in-time scheduling. Basically, the upstream activity must start so the downstream activity can finish. Imagine that you're a manufacturer of plastic bottles. You don't have room on your shop floor for an infinite amount of plastics, so you only order plastics when your supply is running low. The depletion of plastics by current activities triggers an order for more plastics so you can create more bottles in the future.

Coupled with each of these relationships you can use lags and leads. A lag is simply waiting time, while a lead is hurry-up time. For example, you're installing a brand new network in a building. You'd like the cable installation and the installation of the punch panel to happen in tandem. Realistically, however, the punch panel needs a head start on your cable runs, so you add lag time to the cable installers. This plan allows both activities to happen at once, but requires the cable installers to wait a bit until they begin their activity. (Cable installers usually have no problem waiting.)
Sometimes project managers have to hurry things along in a project. This is where lead time comes into play. It allows you to move activities closer to the project start date by subtracting time from each activity's scheduled start time. Lag is positive time; lead is negative time.

Estimating Project Duration

The estimated project duration is based on the sum of the activities. With some maths magic, we can predict the best, worst, and most likely scenario for how long each activity will take, and ultimately how long before we put this beast to bed and move on to the next.
To create an estimate that's accurate or close to accurate, it's really more than just adding up the activity durations. We also have to consider several factors that could wreck the schedule, drive managers nuts, and cause our hair to fall out:

• Constraints. A constraint is anything that restricts project options. You've hired a consultant who is only available on December 29. You've enrolled your project team in a training class on January 20. Sam the systems engineer is taking a four-week vacation in February. All of these are constraints and there are tons more.
• Assumptions. We all know what happens when we make an assumption (think ass and umption). For example, we assumed that the vendor was honest when saying that the new servers would be delivered by October 1. We assumed that the client was using Windows 95 or better, not OS/2. We assumed that we could have access to the job site 24/7, not just during business hours. If we don't document and share these assumptions, it's trouble.
• Available resources. Have you ever calculated that you'd need four network engineers to pull and install the cable, only to discover that you only have two network engineers for your project? If your required resources aren't available, your project will be hurting.
• Law of Diminishing Returns. The Law of Diminishing Returns controls yield against the amount of labour available. Suppose we have an activity that will take 40 hours with two network engineers assigned. If we add two more network engineers to the activity, can we finish the work in 20 hours? Maybe. If we add 40 network engineers to the activity, can we get done in a few minutes? Not likely. In addition, not all activities are effort-driven; many are of fixed duration. This is a nice way of saying that it doesn't matter how many experts you throw at the activity, it will still take the same amount of time to complete.
• Parkinson's Law. Parkinson's Law states that work will expand to fill the amount of time allotted. Imagine that Joe says an activity will take 40 hours to complete, although he knows he could finish the work in just twelve hours. He's added padding to account for potential mistakes, issues, and games of solitaire he may encounter. Magically the task will grow to take the allotted 40 hours. Think of your workload the day before you leave for vacation. You can crank and get it done. But the day after vacation? Takes all day to send one email. (Maybe not you, but probably that guy in the cube next to you.)
• Risks. Business risk can have an upside or a downside, although we usually think of risks with the downside. Most risks that come into fruition have potential to delay the project work, add activities, and in some instances require us to wave the white flag of surrender. (I'll cover risks in more detail in another article. I know, another time management issue for me. Thanks.)

Time Management and the Crystal Ball

How do we ever know how long any given activity will take? For some activities, you can rely on experience. Other activities have to rely on expert judgment, historical information, and approximation. Approximation?! Yep. Consider any IT project you've ever managed, worked on, or heard about. Each IT project is subject to the first-time, first-use penalty. Just about every IT project is unique. Even if it's an integrator installing the same old piece of software over and over in different environments, there are unique aspects to each environment. No two IT environments are identical. Even if it comes down to the humidity in the air, the ghosts in the machines, or the users who will crunch and crank on the software, there are always differences.
These subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle differences can drive us crazy, or inspire us to take up professional roller hockey. These unique configurations also confound best efforts to predict how long an activity will take to complete. Sometimes you think you know and other times you know that you don't know.
And now a word from reality: That's why estimates are called estimates. Management and customers don't seem to get this part, do they? Have you ever given an ad-hoc estimate where you pulled a duration estimate out of the sky? This is a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate; a simple, ballpark guess that management and customers are certain to hold you to. No fun for you, just them. I encourage you to not give any ballpark estimates. If you must, add an asterisk to your verbal quote, indicating that this is an ROM estimate and that it can be way, way off from 75% up to 125%. Otherwise, you're stuck with the number you throw out there. Should your actuals be different from the ROM, you've heck to pay. Right?