What Agile is Not

What Agile is Not

Agile is a methodology to manage a project that uses iterative and incremental approaches during project execution. Organizations across the globe have been using agile to boost their project success. While Agile is widely used, there are several misconceptions related to the methodology.

Due to its flexibility, people often relate agile with a lack of planning or structure. While it is essential to understand what agile is, it is also crucial to understand what agile is not. This is the area that we will focus upon in this iteration of agile learning.

1. Not a Silver Bullet

Like all other project management methodologies and techniques, agile does not guarantee the success of the project. Project executed along agile principles can also fail and face issues like missed deadlines, over budgeting, and changed requirements. Like any other project management methodologies, it is essential in agile project management to bring the development team and the client close and provide all the indispensable resource to the development team.

2. Not Anti-Documentation

Agile manifesto values working software over comprehensive documentation. However, this has led to the misinterpretation that agile is anti-documentation. This is not correct. A better way to put it would be that agile does not prefer documentation just for the sake of creating documents. While agile pushes back on documentation, it identifies it as an essential model of communication.

3. Not Anti-Planning

This myth may be farthest from the truth. Agile includes a lot of planning, ranging from daily planning in the form of daily standup to bi-weekly iteration planning and long term release planning. However, it is essential to note that Agile is anti-static planning. This means that agile expects the plan to change with the requirement and feedbacks. 

4. Not Undisciplined

The flexibility offered by agile is often identified as a lack of discipline. However, agile is a very disciplined way of project management and includes:

i. Upfront testing

ii. Regular feedback

iii. Regular delivery of product iteration

iv. Constant analysis and updates in the plan

5. Not Anti-architecture

The 90s saw a great rush in the development of big, complex structures. However, these architectures were complex, expensive, and hard to maintain. Agile reintroduced the culture of keeping things simple. However, agile is not entirely devoid of architecture and includes serious thinking. It just identifies that the best way to build a system is to make it simple.

6. Not an Excuse for Poor Quality

The whole objective of executing projects through MVPs is to deliver products quickly while ensuring that the minimum quality standards are met. Agile, in no way support the delivery of substandard results. The iteration plan should include sample checks for each iteration.

7. Not about Isolation

While agile supports the idea of downscaling for efficiency, it does not promote isolation. Agile is not about product owner or scrum master hiding the team and often promotes interactions between teams. We have already mentioned that it is essential in agile execution to bring the development team and the client closer and facilitate fluent communication between the two and other units.

8. Not About Rituals

The iterative approach of agile should not be confused with being a ritual. If any step loses its utility during project execution, it should be eliminated or modified to deliver better results.

9. Not About Stuff from the Book

Very often, due to an inaccurate understanding of agile, organizations do things by the book. Story, points, velocity, POs, Scrum Master, user stories, etc. are items used by the agile team, but they are not the definition of agile. Teams fail when they pay more attention to these activities rather than understanding their work.

So this is it! This is an extensive list of things that agile is not. If you are planning to try agile, it is essential to kill any misconception about the methodology. Don’t opt for agile project management just because everyone uses it or because it seems to deliver better results. You need to ask yourself if you need agile. If you have been working in the project management spectrum and want to validate your learning or to explore prominent project management methodologies, we can help you with courses designed by industry experts. Explore our Project Management Courses Catalog and choose the course that enables you to improve your skill. You can also reach out to our career experts at support@certificationplanner.com if you have any query related to agile certifications. Happy Learning!

Critical to Quality Tree 101

CTQ tree 101

Quality is easily the make or break element of any product, service, or project. Organizations push to deliver prime quality for two significant reasons, first to satisfy their clients and second to stand out from the competitors.

In layman terms, Critical to Quality requirements relate to customer’s expectations and needs with the quality of the output delivered. While the need for the CTQ requirement is clear, it is not always easy to identify the exact features that provide the quality in the customer’s eyes. This is where the Critical to Quality Tree comes into the picture.

Critical to Quality tree is a diagram tool that helps in translating broad customer needs into specific, actionable, and measurable performance quantifiers. For example, “Deliver quality pizza and good service” is too broad a term to do much about it. CTQ tree is used to break this requirement down to actionable items.

Developing Critical to Quality Tree

Step 1: Identify Critical Needs

Critical needs are the needs that your product or service needs to satisfy. The first step in the process of developing a CTQ tree is to identify critical needs. Conduct needs analysis or even ask the client or customer what they require. It would help if you also brainstormed along with other team members to identify needs that the client might not have recognized. It is best to define these needs in broad terms as this will prevent you from missing out on essential pointers.

Step 2:  Identify Quality Drivers

Quality drivers are the factors that must be present in your product or service for the customer to think that you are delivering a quality product or service. This level will require effective communication with the client or the customer. It is of utmost importance to spend a considerable amount of time on this to not miss out on any of the drivers.

Step 3: Identify Performance Requirements

Once you have identified the quality drivers, you need to decide on these quality drivers’ minimum performance requirements. There are several factors that you will have to consider while deciding on the performance requirement. Examples of such factors are the availability of resources, availability of the technology, etc.

Example of CTQ tree

Now that you know how to create a CTQ tree let’s revisit our initial need statement and see how we can break it down.

Need:

 Deliver quality pizza and good service

Drivers

1. Variety of pizza

2. Quick Service

3. Use of good ingredients

Performance Requirements

1. Variety of pizza

– Diversity in the pizza toppings

– Include the option to add seasonal toppings

2. Quick Service

– All customers addressed within 2 minutes of

– Orders fulfilled within 10 minutes

3. Use of Good Ingredients

– Including gluten-free pizza

– Calories of each item mentioned          

We hope the example will give you an idea about the creation of the Critical to Quality tree and its steps. While the tool is a part of Six Sigma, it can efficiently and effectively be used during a project or product development. You can explore similar essential concepts of Lean Six Sigma with CP’s Lean Six Sigma Courses and apply them in your domain to deliver excellent quality products or services. Happy Learning!

Optimizing Stakeholder Engagement

Optimizing Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders are individuals or organizations who are involved in the project, or whose interests are positively or negatively affected by the result of the project. Stakeholders are essential as the project’s success or failure largely depends on the fulfillment of stakeholder’s needs or expectations. Due to this, the engagement of stakeholders intrinsically becomes an essential part of project management.

The key to effective stakeholder engagement is “planning.” One has to systematically identify and prioritize stakeholders, along with establishing proper communication modes with them. So let’s look at the steps in the strategy to develop and optimize stakeholder engagement.

1. Stakeholder Identification

The first step is to identify who all are being affected by the projects. It would be best if you considered all the individuals, interest groups, and right holders who would have an interest in the project. If you are running the project for a client, you may be in contact with the high-level stakeholders. However, engaging other stakeholders, especially at the beginning of the project, will help you uncover risks and gain additional sources of expertise.

2. Analyze the Stakeholders

Once you have identified the stakeholders, your next step should be to analyze them and understand how you should engage with them. You can make use of techniques like the power-interest grid. The method works by considering the power and interest level of stakeholders.

power-interest grid
  • Players: Players are stakeholders with high interest in the project and hold high power over the project as well. These are the prime stakeholders for a project, and one should collaborate with them.
  • Subjects: Subjects are stakeholders who are profoundly affected by the project and hence are involved in it but cannot change significant decisions. They can help a lot during the projects, and it is good to keep them engaged throughout the project.
  • Context Setters: These are the stakeholders that hold high power but take little interest in the project. It is good to consult with them regularly but don’t let them dictate the decisions as well.
  • Crowd: These are low interest and low power stakeholders. As they neither have the interest nor the power to affect your project, it is sufficient to keep them informed about the project growth.

The power-interest grid model will also help you with the prioritization of stakeholders.

3. Stakeholder Communication:

There will be a difference in how various stakeholders prefer to communicate and take part in the project. It is essential to identify how you can effectively communicate with the stakeholders. Also, consider communicating with them as early as possible and with as much transparency as possible. You will also have to make decisions on how often you would like to communicate with various stakeholders through the project.

4. Construct a Stakeholder Management Team:

Decide or identify who all are working with the stakeholders. Make the expectations clear with each member of the team and devise a clear and consistent reporting for each member. Properly utilizing and channeling the company resources and contact touchpoints will make sure that none of the crucial information coming from the stakeholder is missed.

5. Stakeholder Data Collection and Reporting:

You can make use of specialized software and team support tools to manage all the communications centrally. Try to find a solution that facilitates a quick input, tracking, and cross-referencing of information. Also, pay attention to the reporting functionality of the tool.

6. Monitoring Stakeholder relationship and improvement:

Stakeholders pay a vital role throughout the process. You will have to monitor stakeholder engagement and overall relationship with the stakeholders constantly. Doing so will maximize stakeholder engagement and, thus, the project support.

Constant involvement and inputs from the stakeholders can transcend into the success of a project, and this necessitates the need for effective stakeholder engagement. You can also make use of the Agile Principles of Stakeholder Management to gain insight into the process of maintaining better relations with the stakeholders.

Principles of Stakeholder Management

If you are looking for more learning iterations in the domain, you can take up any structured course in the project management domain. PMP and PMI-ACP are two of the most prominent certifications in the spectrum and can help you explore similar essential concepts and practices for effective project management. Visit us at www.certificationplanner.com to explore the complete training catalog or connect with our learning experts at support@certificationplanner.com to know more about the learning opportunities. Happy Learning!

Scrum Master vs. Project Manager: The Similarities & the Differences

We are often asked about the difference between a scrum master and project manager in our scrum and project management training. While this might not be a difficult question for professionals who have spent considerable time in the domain, it sure looks confusing for young professionals. The question also troubles freshers, who are planning to build their career in project management.
In this article, we clear these doubts and will discuss questions like:

  • Who is a Scrum Master?
  • What are the Scrum Master’s roles and responsibilities?
  • What Scrum Master’s do not do?
  • Who are Project Managers?
  • What are the roles of Project Managers?

Along with this, we will also discuss the similarities and differences between the two roles.
Let’s start by understanding the two roles in detail.
The Scrum Master

Who is a Scrum Master?

A scrum master is a person who is responsible for ensuring that the Scrum framework is being implemented properly by the scrum team. He does so by promoting and supporting the team, as defined in the Scrum guide. Scrum is a framework, and scrum masters make sure the team understands what scrum is. It is the job of Scrum master to make sure that the team enacts the scrum principles, rules, and values.
Roles & Responsibilities of Scrum MasterScrum Master is a servant/leader who offers his/her support to the product manager. The duties of Scrum Master generally includes:

  • Helping the product manager to manage the product backlog effectively
  • Helping in communicating product needs to the development team
  • Ensuring that the product manager knows how to manage the product backlog
  • Facilitating Scrum events
  • Coaching the development team to understand and follow scrum rules
  • Helping in removing roadblocks to the team’s progress
  • Assisting in maintaining team dynamics and delivering high –value results
  • Contributing to the implementation of the scrum on an organizational level

What do Scrum Masters not do?A scrum master’s roles can be more aligned to that of a coach, and he/she does not pay a lot of attention to the day-to-day activities. Scrum Masters do not perform tasks like:

  • Creating and maintaining business cases
  • Addressing changes and change requests
  • Solely designing the project plans
  • Gauging team progress and quality

The Project Manager

Who is a Project Manager?

A project manager is responsible for managing the day-to-day focus of the project. A project manager addresses the planning, procurement, and execution needs of the project. Along with this, project managers are often responsible for project support and team management.
Roles & Responsibilities of the Project ManagerThe role spectrum of a project manager is much broader than that of a Scrum Master. Some of the tasks associated with the role of the project manager include:

  • Defining project scope and identifying available resources
  • Organizing and motivating the project team
  • Define the project activities, sequence activities, identifying the timestamps to develop schedules and maintain the schedule
  • Cost estimating and preparing the budget
  • Ensuring customer satisfaction
  • Identifying and managing project risks
  • Monitoring and gauging the progress of the project
  • * Managing the essential reports and creating related documentations

These are just the most common tasks of the project manager, and the role may include several other administrative tasks as well.
Similarities between Scrum Masters and Project ManagersAlthough project managers and Scrum Masters are aligned to different frameworks and have different roles, there is some level of overlap between the two. While the overall approach of both Scrum master and project manager is different, there are certain characters, traits, and tasks that are common for both:

  • Both are concerned about the performance of the team and find ways to improve the overall efficiency
  • Both face limitations in terms of decision making. While scrum master assists product owners, a project manager has to seek inputs from clients and other stakeholders.
  • Both the roles require a person to hold extensive experience in the respective frameworks

Differences between Scrum Master and Project ManagerWhile there is some similarity between the two roles, the differences outweigh the similarities. Because of entirely different frameworks, there is a lot of difference in roles, responsibilities, industry, and commitments. Some of these differences are:

  • Scrum Masters often have to rigidly follow the scrum framework, whereas project managers have higher flexibility in the approach they select.
  • On the front of knowledge areas, scrum manager majorly focuses on resource management, quality management, and knowledge management. Project managers, on the other hand, focuses on all the knowledge areas of project management.
  • As scrum is best implemented in small teams, Scrum masters generally deals with smaller units. Project managers manage a bigger team.
  • While the Scrum Master coaches the team on the Scrum framework and helps them in realizing it, the project manager takes a more direct approach by preparing the work schedule for the team members. Project managers also are responsible for managing work packages, people, and resources, while the Scrum master does not indulge in these tasks.
  • * A project manager has to create and update several documentations like project brief, budget, risk log, etc. A Scrum Master does not have to create or maintain such documentation.

 It is essential to understand that the two roles are very different from each other. While the project manager is more of a leadership role, the part of a scrum master is more aligned towards coaching and mentoring. One thing is sure, both these roles are crucial in the respective frameworks and require a professional to hold both extensive experience and knowledge.
If you are working to build a career in project management, you can opt for:
CAPM: If you are in the beginning stage of your career
PMP: If you already have extensive project management experience
PMI-ACP: If you have experience in agile project management and want to explore the project management type or validate your experience in it.
If you want to build a career as a Scrum Master, you can consider taking CSM certification. If you are a scrum product owner, CSPO can significantly benefit you.  
Certification Planner, LLC, is a global training provider that offers training courses designed by industry experts for these certifications. You can explore the certification options at www.certificationplanner.com or directly drop your query at support@certificationplanner.com.

Pivoting with Lean Six Sigma to Optimize Work from Home

Pivoting LSS to optimize work from home

We are living in an unprecedented time. Never before has the global workforce been affected in this manner and to this magnitude. Working professionals across the globe had to make serious adjustments when they had to start working from home. While work from home was not unheard of before the pandemic, it was surely not so popular.

However, the paradigm might have shifted, and experts are suggesting that a significant portion of the workforce will continue to work from home even when the pandemic ends. If you have been similarly affected by the pandemic, this article is for you.

While people all around are discussing the benefits of work from home, there are a lot of disadvantages that may seep in as well.

Challenges

1. Communication:

Communicating with a distributed team has never been easy, and with people working from home, this problem will grow. Managers and leaders will not only have to find new and efficient ways to communicate with everyone in the team but might have to develop new protocols and routines. Luckily, several tools can help in prompt and robust communication for the team.

2. Technical issues and training:

People may run into technical problems related to their old tasks and with the new system that the organization has put into place. While there had always been a need for training, working from home increases an iteration of training needed and limits training delivery methods.

3. Discipline and time seep:

This might be the biggest problem with the work from home setup. Even with all the training, deadlines, and plans, it will take employee discipline to get the job done. Office workplaces remove several distractions that may exist in a home-based workplace. This may include disturbance from family members, children, and even the desire to have a quick word with others.

The last problem is the primary concern of organizations and also the issue where lean six sigma tools and techniques can help.

5S Method

The 5S method includes Sort, Set, Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. The method involves going through items in the workplace, removing what is unnecessary, and organizing things.

Sort: This involves sorting through the materials and keeping only the essential items needed to complete the work that you have. This will directly eliminate any object that may cause distraction.

Set in order: Setting things in order means organizing everything so they can easily be acquired while you are working.

Shine: Keep the work area clean and tidy. An untidy workspace has a direct adverse effect on productivity and the will to work.

Standardize: This is where you take the first 3 s and make a rule about them. You can also create a work plan with targets that will help you get your work done.

Sustain: The sustenance part is related to your commitment to the task that you have and the standards that you have set. There can be no long-lasting benefit of the 4s unless one commits to them.

DMAIC

Another major issue that may come with WFH or flexible hours is time management. You can easily get lost in discussion with your favorite cousin that may take some time of your away from work or get occupied with helping a family member. DMAIC is one of the most popular tools of Lean Six Sigma and can help you with the problem of time management.

Define: In the define phase, you identify the problem, which in this case is “leak” of time or time you spend on non-essential or non-work-related tasks. You can also determine the time you require actually to get the work done and the best method to do so.

Measure: This is a phase where you map and measure the time leak. You will have to review your schedule and identify areas where you waste time or identify habits that do not directly add value.

Analyze: Now that you know about the leaks, you need to identify the reason behind those time leaks. Analyzing the root-cause will not only help in stopping the time leak but will also help you in optimizing your task. The 5-why root cause analysis technique of LSS can help you here.

Improve: This is the time to eliminate the cause of deviations. Do not just consider non-work-related tasks but the work-related tasks as well. You might have to find workarounds for several task-related delays that might be a result of working from a remote location.

Control: In this phase, you commit to doing things in a different way to avoid wasting time. Several day-to-day tasks include habits, and you might have to work on certain habits as well.

So these were a couple of examples of how lean six sigma tools can help you in not only setting up the home office but will help in optimizing the process of working from home. LSS finds similar small and large applications in your life and work and can play a significant role in optimizing your business processes and the overall all quality. If you have been planning to take up structured learning in Lean Six Sigma, you can explore our Lean Six Sigma Course catalog here or connect to our learning experts at support@certificationplanner.com. Happy learning!

The Dimensions of PMCD Framework

PMCD framework or Project Management Competency Development framework was launched by PMI® in 2002 to provide individuals and organizations with guidelines to access, plan, and manage the development of project management competency. The third version (latest version launched in 2017) provides a comprehensive list of characteristics describing what a competent person in project, program & portfolio management should know, do, and be.

The PMCD framework is useful for a variety of stakeholders like:

  • Organizational decision-makers
  • Individuals working in the project management spectrum or aspiring project managers
  • Trainers/coaches and training organizations       

For each of the project, program & portfolio domain, the competencies have been described on three competencies:

  • Knowledge & Skills         
  • Performance
  • Personal behavior

What is Competence?                                                                                                                      

Before we move to the dimensions of PMCD frameworks, let’s identify what competency stands for. Competence can be defined as a cluster of related knowledge, attitude, skills, and other personal characteristics that affect a major part of one’s job.

The Dimensions of PMCD Framework                           

Knowledge competence                                                                                     

This dimension is quite straightforward: it describes what the project manager knows about project management, its processes, methods, tools, and techniques. PMI identifies that the knowledge competency is not industry-specific, and the same knowledge areas apply to all projects, regardless of size, scope, country, or complexity of the project.

PMI also identifies that the knowledge competence can be demonstrated through an exam, and hence it has not even provided a breakdown of the knowledge competence. However, it is worth noting that knowledge in itself is not enough to make you a successful project manager. Application of the knowledge plays a significant role, and this is where the next dimension of project competency comes in.

Performance competence

Performance competency can be identified as applied Knowledge competency. In simple words, this dimension pays attention to how a project manager uses his or her knowledge to meet the requirements and obtain project deliverables. The performance competence is depicted by the demonstratable performance of the project manager and focuses on project outcomes grouped into five sets:

  • Initiating
  • Planning
  • Executing
  • Monitoring and controlling
  • Closing.

Unlike knowledge competence, performance competency has a detailed breakdown of the sources of evidence of performance competence. 

Personal Competence              

Personal competence is a soft skill related proficiency that covers how a project manager behaves or should behave in a project setting. This competency refers to a project manager’s attitude, motives, traits, personality, and how he or she carries out the project activities. The competency has been grouped into six units:

  • Communication
  • Leading
  • Managing
  • Cognitive ability
  • Effectiveness
  • Professionalism

Demonstration of competence

Now that we are acquainted with the dimensions of the project management competency development framework let’s identify how a project manager can demonstrate these competencies.

  • Knowledge competency: Project managers can depict knowledge competency by passing exams like PMP®
  • Performance competency: can be exhibited by successfully delivering a project
  • Personal competency: Project manager’s behavior is the best test to depict Personal competency

Another essential point to remember is that a “competent” project manager does not guarantee project success. While a “competent” project manager can successfully manage scope, time, cost, resources, and risks associated with the project, other factors like the organization’s project management maturity and capabilities will affect the project performance.

Whether you are an experienced project manager or a new one, the Project Management Competency Development framework can be an excellent tool to gauge your skills. The good news here is that almost all the competencies identified in the PMCD can be learned. If you are looking to develop your knowledge competency, you can take up CAPM or PMP certification based on your project management experience.

How can we help?

We at Certification Planner help professionals working in the project management domain explore skill development opportunities through structured learning and certifications. We offer an extensive catalog of certifications available in various training formats for you. You can take up Certification Planner’s PMP or CAPM certification (in project management). Both these courses are designed by industry experts and incorporate all the essential knowledge areas identified by PMI. With the courses, you will also receive Practice questions, Quiz, and Case studies that will provide a taste of real-life application of the knowledge base. Visit us at www.certificationpalnner.com or connect with our learning experts at support@certificationplanner.com. Happy learning!

8 Essential Steps to Effectively Managing Project

Planning a project is not easy. Organizations spend a hefty amount on planning the projects, and often the project crosses the demarcated boundaries of time and budget. Numerous variables can cause deviation during the project execution.

We are investing our experience in project management to provide 8 essential steps that can generate the maximum chance of project success. We will not be discussing any specific project management framework but will discuss the critical structure that will help you lead your project from day 1.

Step 1: Identifying the Vision                                                                                                   

A project is said to be successful when it meets the needs of a stakeholder. A stakeholder can be anyone who is affected directly or indirectly by the project outcome. A few examples (not an extensive list) of stakeholders are:

  • Project sponsor
  • Customer receiving the deliverables
  • User of the project outcome
  • Project managers and Project team

It is essential to get the project team along with the stakeholders, in line with the goals of a project. Start with the most basic questions like

  • Why are you doing this project?
  • What do you want to achieve by the project?

Discuss the outcomes of the project with the stakeholders. The objective of this step is to identify the main aim of doing the project, and the deliverable for this step should be a statement describing the vision and the critical outputs of the projects.

Step 2: Identify the Milestones                                                                                                                                               

By the end of Step 1, you will be able to identify the direction of the project. This is the time when you breakdown the primary outcomes to smaller milestones that can be tracked. Identifying the milestones will help you in building a structure, which will, in turn, help in making a project plan.

The process of identifying the milestones can start by marking the most significant and apparent milestones initially. It is good to include the project team in the process. Start with the basic questions like “When does the project start”, “When does the project finish?”, “What do we need to create, and by when?”

Try to identify milestones that are crucial to keeping the project on track. Milestones are necessary, and you should make sure that the team understands these milestones and identifies the consequences of not meeting the milestones.

Once you have identified the milestones, it is crucial to identify the risks associate with the milestones and find solutions to these risks.

Also, make sure you put a time stamp on each of the milestones. Time is always a crucial element in the success of a project, and putting a timestamp on the milestone will help you identify if you are on schedule during the execution.

 Step 3: Building a Project Plan                  

In this step, you add details to the milestone. You will have to identify the activities associated with each milestone. The nature of the activities depends on factors like the size of the project and the project management framework. If you are following the waterfall model, the activities will mostly be sequential. However, if you are using agile, you will have to designate a timeline for various stages.

The Work Breakdown Structure is going to be the base outcome of this step. This is also the time to determine the cost baseline, delegate tasks, and assign resources. Now that you have a clearer picture of the activities, tasks, and work packages, it will be easier for you to allocate resources. It is also essential to mark resource constraints and make it known to the project team.

Activities like stakeholder approvals, marketing endeavors, and 3rd party action items need to be identified in this step. Remember that you need just enough information to devise a plan and need not worry about adding every activity in this stage. The plan that you have created now will evolve over the time where you might have to add tasks or address new risks.

 Step 4: Identifying the Dependencies and Critical Path

Step 4 is very closely related to step 3. This is where you will take a closer look at the activities and try to determine the dependencies. Dependencies are the relation of the preceding task to the succeeding task. Again, you should not aim at identifying all the dependencies. It is good to start with the significant dependencies and planning for them.

Once you have identified the critical dependencies, you should look at removing dependencies or at minimizing them. You might have to add more activities to mitigate the dependency. This is more of an optimization process, and you might have to rethink the order of work.

 Step 5: Risk Identification and Quality Analysis

Risk is an event that may or may not happen but can have a significant effect on the outcome. Risk identification is not just a one-time activity but an approach that needs to be integrated into all your endeavors. Not only should you include the project health check action at the start of the project, but in all the planning meetings.

Brainstorming is the first step where you ask the project team, ”What could go wrong?” Risk management is not limited to identifying the risk. It includes developing a plan if the risk occurs. Pay attention to the probability and impact of the identified risks to identify the high risks that need critical attention. A risk management plan should include plans to understand and communicate how teams should respond to high-risk events.

Creating a quality plan involves setting the standards, acceptance criteria, and metrics that will be used throughout the project. The plan, then, becomes the foundation for all the quality reviews and inspections performed during the project and is used throughout project execution.

 Step 6: Reporting Structure

This might not strike as a bare necessity; however, the availability of relevant data can turn out to be a prime tool during project management. It is always important to ask “Why” for each report. While the availability of information is good, too much reporting can slow the team down and prevent them from working on high project value actions. So how do you identify the essential reporting?

  • The first step is to ask the project team and stakeholders what information would they need.
  • Identify information without which, clients can’t do their jobs.
  • Identify templates for reports if necessary, along with designating the responsibility of sending the reports. Also, decide on the frequency of the report.

 Step 7: Communication Plan

The communication plan is a bit broader than the reporting plan and includes critical decisions like:

  •  How issues will be escalated and when?
  • Where will the project information be stored and who can access them

The formal communication matrix helps document the project team’s agreed-on method for communicating various aspects of the project, such as routine status, problem resolution, decisions, etc.

Once the project plan is complete, it is essential not just to communicate the importance of the project plan to the sponsor, but also to communicate its contents once it’s created.

Step 8: Identifying Relevant Tools

Project management tools can significantly boost the productivity of the team. Very often, the selection of tools is not given priority, and organizations have various project management tools in place, and one is expected to use them. However, it is prudent to compare the plan you have created with the tools at your disposal. Pay attention to factors like reporting risk management, communication, emails, file storage, etc.

Discuss with the team the tools they need and identify the critical tools: tools that are necessary for the project. Consider tools that have not been identified as critical. Check if these tools can be removed entirely, or will they have utility through the project execution? Also, identify tools that have been mandated by company policies and share the information with the team.

 So this was the 8 Essential steps to effectively managing your project. Managing projects can be tedious, and it is easy to fall in the trap of controlling everything, rather utilize the project team. The competency of managing projects effectively can be acquired. If you feel you need more elaborate help and learning in the project management spectrum, you can take up specialized training in the domain. There are several project management certifications like PMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP, CSM, etc. that provide an excellent learning opportunity in the field.

How can we help? We have developed a considerable catalog of industry-recommended Project Management courses that can extensively help you in improving your skills and mastering the minutes of project management. You can also reach out to our experts at support@certificationplanner.com to instant help. Do visit us at www.certificationplanner.com. Happy Learning!

Agile and Lean Six Sigma: Comparison and Alignment

Agile works towards managing projects in an improved manner and Lean Six Sigma focuses on improving processes. If one follows both the methodologies to word, they may pull one in entirely different directions. However, once you dive deep into the two frameworks, you can find a significant level of alignment between the two.

Each of the two contributes significantly to business. Still, they might be combined to deliver even better results in terms of team collaboration, project speed-to-market, quality, and customer satisfaction.

Basics of Agile                                      

Agile found its inception in the software development spectrum, in an attempt to break from the traditional development models. The objective was to put more emphasis on speed and quality. The main idea behind Agile has been identified in the form of Agile manifesto:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software in place of comprehensive documents
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to changes over following a Plan

Basics of Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six sigma in itself is the combination of Lean and Six Sigma. Lean pays emphasis on the identification and removal of wastes and Six Sigma works towards reducing variations in a system. Born in the manufacturing sector, Lean Six Sigma found popularity in almost all the industries. While Lean Six Sigma includes many approaches, the most utilized one is DMAIC.

Major difference   

Agile and Lean Six Sigma can easily be differentiated on the following grounds:

1. Alignment:                             

While Lean Six Sigma is aligned to the idea of removal of wastes and variations, Agile is more aligned to providing value to the end-users.

2. Delivery:

The end objective of Agile is to deliver working software. Lean Six Sigma aims at providing value. This means that it tries to eliminate any step in a process that does not add value.

3. Challenges

The significant challenge for agile comes when practitioners start using “Agile-as-religion.” This is a condition when practitioners refuse to implement agile in a partial format. The main idea of agile is to become flexible in the whole process of project management and, at times, may require making changes to the designated agile methods. If the practitioners fail to do so, they might not derive utility out of Agile.

Lean faces challenges when the principles are applied without considering if the principle is yielding results or taking a toll on the overall experience.

Collaboration

While the two frameworks have their differences, they can be combined to complement each other. For example, Agile permits teams to deliver high-quality work quickly. However, they do lack a bird’s eye view of the entire situation. This is where Lean Six Sigma strategies can help. LSS can assist in solving critical problems by using tools and phases based on the bird’s eye’s view of the situation.

That is not all. On closer inspection, one would identify that lean is a significant base for Agile. Both share the idea of removing unnecessary entities while providing value. Lean, by removing variations and Agile by giving importance to delivering working products aim at providing product or service faster. Agile also makes use of Lean principles like iterative development approach, and short feedback loop.

Organizations often fail because they tend to find answers to all their problems with a single framework. Organizations that do find success combine various frameworks. They are never limited to just one framework and pay attention to the principles behind the framework rather than practices. Such organizations often identify these frameworks as tools to supplement business rather than recognizing them as programs that are imposed on their business.

There is no denying the fact that what organizations need to do is to compliment various frameworks like Agile and Lean Six Sigma, and scores of organizations are doing it already. Such organizations are always on a lookout for professionals who are experts in these frameworks.  You can make use of this situation by getting established as an expert in either of the domains

We at Certification Planner are helping professionals validate their experience through industry recommended certifications. If you have been working in the Agile project management spectrum, you can opt for PMI-ACP or CSM certification. For professionals working in the quality management spectrum, we offer various certifications in Lean Six Sigma. With CP, you get to learn from workshops that have backed 5 out of 5 ratings on Google reviews. Visit us at www.certificationplanner.com to know more or connect us at support@certificationplanner.com. You can also directly speak to our career experts at +1 8553221201. Happy Learning!

30 Essential Terms of Project Management

Knowing project management jargon is the very first step for both preparation of standard project management exams and being a part of or handling a project. While acquaintance with PM terms is considered a primary step, not knowing the project management tongue can easily lead to miss-communication and eventually to critical loss during the project execution.  

So, let’s revise the project management glossary to identify some standard terms that you may come across or should know as a project manager or as an associate working on any project.

1. Activity: PMBOK V6 defines it as the smallest portion of a project used in planning, tracking, and control. It is also identified as an amount of work performed that converts inputs into appropriate output.

2. Assumptions: Assumptions are listed factors while dealing with the statement of work. It contributes to ensuring the validation and result of a project.

3. Backlog: Backlog is essentially everything that needs to be done to ensure the completion of a project. It is a prioritized list of tasks derived from the requirements and roadmap of the project.

4. Baseline: It is a fixed reference point against which all the actions and tasks of project progress is compared.

5. Business Case: It captures the reasoning for initiating a project and answers the question, “Why are we undertaking a project?” The business case generally outlines the problem statement, potential investments, and the benefits and impact of the project.

6. Work Breakdown Structure: It is a deliverable oriented breakdown of projects into smaller components. The main objective of WBS is to organize the term ‘work’ into manageable sections.

7. Milestones: These are tools to mark specific points along a project timeline and describes a set of related deliverables. Milestones are one of the components of the Gantt chart and are mainly used as anchors that may signal to project start, ending phase, etc.

8. Stakeholder: Stakeholders are people who are engaged in the project and are influenced by the project. They can be from both within an organization or from outside the organization.

9. Work Plan: It creates a clear path to the desired outcome. It is essentially a project management plan that outlines that identifies and describes the steps needed to achieve the goals.

10. Change Management: It a written document that holds the set of activities and procedures that needs to be undertaken by various roles to control and deal with the changes.

11. Gantt chart: Named after Henry Gantt, it is a bar graph that visually represents a project plan over time. A Gantt chart typically shows the status of tasks and who is responsible for them. The chart helps with planning, scheduling, and managing relationships between tasks.  

12. Dashboard: A project management dashboard displays key performance indicators of a project along with crucial problems that require further attention.

13. Deliverables: A deliverable is an element of output of project, activities, and tasks within the scope of a project.

14. Dependencies: Dependencies are the interlinking relationships between preceding tasks to succeeding tasks.

15. Kickoff Meeting: It is the first meeting between the client and the project team and sets the course and tone of the project.

16. Agile: Agile is a project management approach that focuses on the iterative progress and delivery of the project and starts delivering business value from the very beginning of the project.

17. Minimum Viable product: It is a project development methodology where the product development team moves towards the end product by adding a minimum number of features to satisfy early adopters and each iteration of the project.

18. Mission Critical: Being mission-critical identifies anything as being critical to the success of a project. While it can be associated with an activity or deliverable, it can also be associated with a whole project.

19. Contingency plan: It is the plan B that comes into action when the primary plan does not work. They provide solutions to critical risks that may have disastrous effects.

20. Cost estimation: Cost is an essential factor for any project. As that name suggests, cost estimation id the method of calculating the entire project cost.

21. Network Diagram: A network diagram is the graphical representation of all the activities, time duration, roles, responsibilities, relevant interrelationships, tasks, and the workflow scheme of your project.

22. Critical Path method:  It is the longest duration path through a network diagram, which determines the shortest time to complete the project.

23. Dummy Activity: it is a simulated activity of zero duration. Dummy activities are created for the sole purpose of demonstrating a specific relationship and path of action on the arrow diagramming method.

24. PMO: The project management office is a department in an organization that is in charge of overseeing project management in the organization. They can be internal or external departments with varying levels of control over projects.

25. Earned value: It is an approach that monitors project plan, actual work, and value to identify if the project is on track. It shows how much of the budget and time should have been spent on the current amount of work done.

26. Feasibility Study: It is the assessment that determines the viability of a project based on various lines like legal and technical feasibility.

27. Organizational Structure Planning: It is a hieratical structure of the organizational framework and is used for project planning, resource management, etc.

28. Risk Management: It is the process of identifying possible risks that may arise during a project and measuring their potential impact on different aspects of the project.

29. Scope Creep: Also referred to as requirement creep, it is the change in project scope at any point after the project begins.

30. Sprints: Sprint is identified as a set period of time during which a specific task or set of tasks/activities are completed and reviewed.

So, there it is. You know are now acquainted with 30 essential terms of project management. However, a word of caution is in order. This is not an extensive list, and there is much more to learn.

If you are interested in extensively diving into acquiring project management training, Certification Planner brings to you digital courses that you can take up from the safety of your home. Choose from CAPM, PMP, and PMI-ACP certification, depending upon your career requirements and secure your professional career. Visit us at www.certificationplanner.com to explore additional training solutions or drop your requirement at support@certificationplanner.com, and we will reach out to you. Happy Learning!

The Alignment of ITIL with Agile

ITIL, a framework governed by AXELOS, is a collection of best practices that hold the potential to optimize IT service delivery. Organizations have extensively been using the framework, and it has proved to be very rewarding and efficient in optimizing IT service delivery. However, ITIL started facing criticism on the font that it was just too firm. ITIL provided best practices or procedures that describe how to conduct various activities. This meant that IT service delivery based on ITIL included pre-identified processes that left little room for adjustments. Also, companies had often been following the practices to tooth and nail, losing significant chances to change strategies in case of diversities.

As the popularity of agile increased, professionals started rooting for the capability of adapting to changes. The Agile service management is nothing but the application of Agile mindset to IT service management and is constructed around four foundation pillars

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software services over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

Until ITIL V3, ITIL appeared quite far from the agile mindset. ITIL gave importance to a lot of points that are considered not essential by Agile. Several professionals had started considering ITIL obsolete until AXELOSE rolled out the latest version of the Certification: ITIL 4.

The Change

With the help of 12 lead Architects, 61 authors and reviewers, and hundreds of practitioners from the IT industry, AXELOS was able to make significant changes to ITIL and made it more aligned to Agile. The new version of ITIL included features from other frameworks like DevOps.

The changes made to the ITIL is more of an attitude adjustment with more importance being given to “Value.” ITIL has now witnessed a shift of focus to customer experience identified as achieving value & establishing the value chain as a function.

The new ITIL 4 is much more aligned to the agile mindset and focuses on what organizations identify as value. The idea is to take a holistic approach to IT service management and keeping things simple and functional. ITIL 4 has exempted the service lifecycle and is paying more emphasis on the Service Value System (SVS) and Service value change. The SVS indicated towards the collective functioning of different components and activities of an organization to facilitate value creation. This brings into light a new concept: Value stream. A value stream always starts with demand and concludes with value. The idea of the Value stream has effectively replaced the service life cycle of ITIL v3.   

While this maturity does not sideline concepts such as change management, problem management, and incident management, ITIL 4 is no longer looking at IT processes without considering people as well as their skills and roles.

The latest version of the ITIL has been met with immense appreciation from IT practitioners and experts. AXELOS has already rolled out the Foundation module, Managing Professional Transition module, and Managing Professional module. Scores of IT practitioners who had been planning to take up the new version of the certification have begun their ITIL journey. If you are one of the professionals planning to start your ITIL journey, you can take up Certification Planner’s ITIL 4 Foundation Certification training. Owing to the current global situation, CP has released two new models: Self Styled Learning and Self Styled Plus Learning, that can be taken from the safety of one’s home and are easy on the pocket. With CP’s ITIL 4 Foundation certification training, you get to learn from courseware designed by industry experts holding ITIL 4 credentials. Visit us at www.certificationplanner.com to know more. You can also reach out to our certification expert at support@certificationplanner.com or call us at +1 8553221201. Happy Learning!