CHAMP Success Story: One of the Best Hybrid-Agile Certification Courses I Ever Attended

By Dr Kish Ranai, CHAMP

Introduction

The Certified Hybrid-Agile Master Professional or CHAMP certification course is one of the few best courses I have attended. The course provides very detailed, step-by-step examples on how to go about implementing the concepts of Hybrid Project Management. Satya, the creator of the course, is an excellent teacher and very dedicated to what he does.  

I enrolled in this course because I wanted to know more about agile project management especially on how we go about incorporating these agile features in MS Project. Most of the infrastructure projects that I have planned during my long career in IT was very much based on the traditional predictive approach. This course gave me the opportunity to fill this missing gap in my understanding.

Why this Certification Course?

The important strength of the CHAMP certification course was it starts from the beginning of planning a project via the traditional waterfall approach which we are all so used to. Then the course slowly guides us on how to incorporate the agile features such as Scrum and Kanban in this project plan, thus ending with a full-blown Hybrid project plan.

This course will give you a broad understanding on how to go about managing a project which takes advantage of the strength of two distinct project management approaches – namely predictive and adaptive. 

You will also get the opportunity to clear a lot of your questions and doubts on your understanding on how projects are planned during Satya’s Management Review Sessions. I found these sessions most valuable as it reinforces my understanding and enabled me to gain more insights of the current industry practices.

CHAMP Certification Course – Key Features

After completing the course, you will find that the whole curriculum of CHAMP certification course is well thought of and well planned for you. 

In my view, following are the key aspects: 

• It guides you from the very beginning right up to the final project reports. 
• The course is structured very methodically, and all videos are short and very precise in showing what is being covered in course content.
• A lot of tricks, techniques and tips are shared by Satya to make you more productive as a Hybrid-Agile master practitioner. His instructions are very clear and easy to understand. 
• You will get answers to any additional queries you may have during the course promptly.
• Every module is well guided, and all the instructional videos are clear and easy to follow. 
• Concepts are clearly explained, and tips and techniques are also shown along the way enable you to be more productive in your Hybrid-Agile planning.

Most of us are familiar with waterfall planning using MS Project but are unsure of how to include the agile features in the same project plan. I found the topics/lessons Hybrid Project with MS Project, Hybrid Scrum Project and Hybrid Scrum Project Reporting the most interesting and informative. 

I guarantee that after going through these topics you will not have any apprehension on how to plan a hybrid project using MS Project.

CHAMP Certification Course – Lessons and Coverage

There are 11 lessons in this course (see main webpage for details). At the end of each lesson you get a chance to test your understanding on well-crafted situational scenarios of hybrid-project management issues.

The other strong point is that this being a video based instructional course you can replay the instructional videos as many times as you wish until you are satisfied with the understanding before moving on to the next lesson.

Each lesson’s video is short, self-contained, and well organized and you able to achieve the objective of the lesson very quickly.

The quality of the video and audio are excellent and understanding Satya’s instructions and accent is not an issue. You can grasp all the technical concepts very easily. 

Conclusion

If you are someone who is in the software development area or managing software projects this course is a must attend. It will empower you to be an effective project manager and enhance your career path in this field of project management. 

You will gain a lot of insights from Satya from his vast experience in this field that will enrich your understanding in this area of project management. 

The investment you put for this certification course is money and time well spent.

Brief Profile: Dr Kish Ranai, CHAMP is a management professional, based out of Singapore.

CHAMP Certification Course:

• Certified Hybrid-Agile Master Professional (CHAMP)

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A Practical Risk Breakdown Structure with MS Project and Primavera Risk Analysis (PRA)

In the earlier article, I wrote about various Breakdown Structures and specifically, the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). As noted in the previous article, breakdown structures are progressively decomposed into greater levels of detail.

But then the following questions come-up?

• How does that happen practically?
• How does the RBS level (Level n) be associated with the identified risks?
• What is its usage as you proceed with risk management?

To know these, one needs to know how an RBS is prepared in a practical manner with a hands-on software tool. In this article, I'm going to use the Primavera Risk Analysis (PRA) software. 

The content of this article has been taken from this course: Practical RMP with Primavera Risk Analysis. 

Now, let’s see the various steps and its role in risk management in a hands-on manner. 

Step – 1: Create the Plan

I’ve a simple plan created with MS Project (MSP), which is shown below. It has a couple of work packages and associated activities.  

Next, I’ll take this plan and import it into the Primavera Risk Analysis (PRA) software. After the import, it’ll look like the following one. 

As you can see, this plan in the PRA is an exact reflection of the previous plan in MSP.

Step – 2: Build the First-Cut of RBS

Now for the above plan, we are going to create the first-cut risk breakdown structure (RBS). 

To get to the Risk Breakdown Structure in the PRA software, first you have to open the Risk Register by going to PRA Menu and using Risk > Register… command. This will open the default risk register without any entry. 

From there, execute the Edit > Risk Breakdown Structure … command.  

As shown above, at this stage, the risk register doesn’t have any entry at all. Stay with me! We are going to add risk (s) and associate them,

Now, with the above command the RBS first view will come-up. 

As shown, the current RBS:

• Four entries – Organizational, Commercial, Environmental and Technical.
• Each of this entry is at Level – 1. One can add as many entries as one wants. We will see that shortly. 
• There are commands on the right such as Insert (for insertion of new levels), Edit (to edit the names), and Delete (to delete any level).
• Below the delete command there are left, right, top and bottom arrow marks, which are used to change the levels and indentation.  

Step – 3: Add Risks into the Risk Register

Our next step will be to add a risk into the risk register. Click the OK button in the previous screen to close the above RBS window and go back to the risk register. 

To add a risk, simply type the risk in the “Title” part/column of the risk register. The risk will be populated with ID, T/O (threat or opportunity), Probability scale and Impact scales such as schedule, cost, performance, score etc.  

As shown above:

• We have Risk ID – 001 and it’s a threat or negative risk.
• The default probability value is Very High (VH). 
• The default impact scales are VH, VH and VH for schedule, cost and performance, respectively.
• The scope has been calculated to be 72 internally with the help of PRA Risk Matrix. 

The most important one to note for this article and at this stage is this:

• RBS is shown in the bottom right half of the above view.
• There is no level for the RBS. In other words, the risk is not associated with any RBS level.

Step – 4: Build A Refined RBS

Next, we will go back to the RBS and add a few more levels, e.g., Scope. I’m taking scope, because in the previous step we just added a scope related risk.

Do note that:

• RBS Level – 0 is the project level.
• RBS Level – 1 is Scope, Political, Environmental etc.
• RBS Level – 2 will be another one. For our case, we will take two: Scope definition and Scope Change.

You can go to any level you want. However, do ensure that it’s reasonable and not too fine-grained. Many risk management practitioners get into very low levels, which can pose problems later.

After adding the levels, the refined RBS will look as shown below. This is again drawn with the PRA software.

I’ve used the Insert, Edit, Delete and arrow commands to create this structure. For example, to move the Technical (L1 of RBS), I’ve used the up-arrow mark. To add a new level of Scope (L2), I’ve used the Insert command. To add another level of Scope definition (L3), I’ve used the Insert command and right arrow mark. 

You can click on the “OK” command to close the RBS and go back to the risk register.

Step – 5: Associate the Risk with the RBS

Next, we are going to associate the risk with Scope change (L3) of the RBS because the risk “Scope related risk” is due to the rapid scope change.

To associate with a risk, use the “…” command next to the RBS text box. This is shown below.

As you select the “…” command, the Select Risk Breakdown dialog box will be opened-up. Choose the Scope change (L2) and click on the “OK” command.  

Next, the risk in the register will be associated with this level of RBS. 

As shown in the above figure:

• Risk ID – 001 of scope related risk is now associated with an RBS element.
• The element is “Technical.Scope.Scope change”.
• Technical is at L1, Scope is at L2 and Scope change is at L3.

That’s it! If you could follow these simple steps, a practical RBS can be created. And you can associate all the risks of the register with various levels of RBS.

Conclusion 

As I just demonstrated, the risk breakdown structure can be a key artifact used in Risk Management used in conjunction with the risk register. Like WBS is important to know the required deliverables, the RBS can be crucial, if you're really doing risk management.  

As WBS can be used as a communication tool, the RBS can also be used as a communication tool. The risk register with various levels of information can be exported to an excel sheet. This can be communicated with the stakeholders.

References:

[1] Course – Practical RMP with Primavera Risk Analysis, by Satya Narayan Dash.

[2] Course – RMP Live Lessons, Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back, Satya Narayan Dash.

[3] Course – RMP 30/40 Contact Hours Online, Satya Narayan Dash.

Fundamentals of Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)

 

A breakdown structure is what the name tells. It's basically a hierarchical decomposition and each lower level gives more details or information. One of the best-known breakdown structures is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). In this article, however, we will know more on the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). The Standard for Risk Management and the PMBOK 6th edition use RBS as a tool, whereas in the PMBOK 7th edition, it's an artifact and kept under Model-Methods-Artifacts (MMAs). 

RBS is not a much-understood concept, but very useful in real-world risk management. But before you proceed further, I'll suggest that you read this article on WBS, to understand breakdown structure more.

Other Breakdown Structures in Management

Other than Risk Breakdown Structure, here are some of the breakdown structures that you need to know in Project Management, Program Management and  Agile management. This will be useful and helpful in your professional work.

• Product Breakdown Structure (RBS): A hierarchical chart showing a product's components and deliverables. It's mainly used in Scope Management.
• Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS): A hierarchical chart showing the project organization. It’s mainly used in Resource Management. 
• Resource Breakdown Structure (ReBS): A hierarchical chart showing the resources by category and type. Examples of categories can be personnel, material, equipment etc. Examples of type can be role 1 (engineer), role 2 (plumber), which can be further broken down into levels (Level 1 engineer). It’s also mainly used in Resource Management.
• Story Breakdown Structure (SBS): A hierarchical chart showing the breaking down of epics into stories and finally into tasks. This is my term and I use it in an Agile context. You can learn more about it in this article on stories.

Initial Top Points 

I've used ReBS to distinguish between the Risk Breakdown Structure (RiBS). In this article, I'll use RBS acronym for risk breakdown structure. 

The Project Management Institute (PMI) gives a simple definition for the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS):

"A hierarchical representation of potential sources of risk."

As it’s a representation of potential sources of risk, it’s widely used in risk identification, or specifically in the Identify Risks process. 

Following are the top points about RBS at this stage:

• Can be generic or specific. Generic ones are used across projects, whereas specific ones are developed for a specific project.
• Can be tailored, which is an extension of the previous point.
• Can be broken down to any level, from Level 0 to Level N.
• When broken down, each low level will give more information.

Levels in an RBS

As noted earlier, you breakdown into any levels while building an RBS. But you have to be careful. Don’t make it too fine-grained and hence, difficult to manage. 

Following are the levels in an RBS:

• Level – 0 (L0): This is the project level, just like the WBS. After all, the project itself will have all potential sources of risk. But do note, not all project management literature considers L1 to be the project level.
• Level – 1 (L1): Here we breakdown into the higher-level categorization of risks such as Technical, Political, Environmental, External, among others.
• Level – 2 (L2): The one level below L1 and it has more information with respect to one of the previous categories. For example, considering Technical, it can be broken down into Scope, Requirements, Technology.
• Level – 3 (L3): This is further refinement of the previous level. For example, consider Scope, it be “Scope definition”, “Scope change” etc. 

While breaking down, I’d generally suggest that you don’t go beyond L3, unless really needed.

Progressive Elaboration and Breaking of RBS

As is the used norm, a hierarchical chart is generally progressively elaborated. I hope you have read the previous linked article on WBS. I'll slightly change the definition of progressive elaboration in the context of RBS. 

"Progressive elaboration is the iterative process of increasing the level of detail in an RBS as more information is known about the project."

The definition is important, because building an RBS is not a one-time activity, but it’s developed and iterated over the project’s life cycle. If one finds more information and/or more categories of risks, then it should be added to the RBS.

In other words, during risk management strategy and planning, the first-cut of the RBS is available. However, if it's a multi-phase project or as you progress with respect to the project, the RBS will be updated. 

An Example

To understand more clearly, let’s take an example. A sample RBS (reference taken from PMI) is shown below.

Interpreting the above figure, one can say the followings:

• Level – 0: The highest level and it’s the level of the project.
• Level – 1: You have categories such as Technical, Management, Commercial etc. 
• Level – 2: A further breakdown of each at Level – 1. For example, technical has been broken down into 'Scope', 'Requirement'.
• Level – 3: L2 is further broken down with more information. For example, scope has been broken down to ‘Scope definition’, ‘Scope change’.

Another important point to note in RBS is that every element in the RBS is associated with the RBS Identifier (RBS ID), which uniquely identifies the elements. For example:

• 1. Technical Risk
• 1.1 Scope 
• 1.1.1 Scope definition
• 1.1.2 Scope change
• 1.2 Requirements 
• 1.2.1 Requirement definition
• 1.2.2 Requirement change
• 2. Envionmental Risk
• 2.1 Market
• 2.2 Industry changes

This is very much like the WBS IDs, where each element in the WBS is uniquely identified with the IDs such as 1.1, 1.2.2.

By this time, you would have realized that an RBS can not only be represented in a chart, but it can also be tree structure, tabular structure. The one shown above with RBS IDs is a tree structure, whereas the table shown before, depicts the RBS in a tabular structure.  

Final Words – Usage of RBS

Finally, as we reach this basic article, some more final key points with respect to the Risk Breakdown Structure. These are important to know!

• The lowest level of RBS (available risk categories) can be used as a prompt-list to identify individual project risks. 
• Along with this prompt-list, you can apply the brainstorming to get more information with respect to risks.
• RBS can be used in combination with WBS to identify potential sources of risk. For example, the XYZ work package of WBS can be technical, environmental and political risk categories.
• One can combine the results of qualitative risk analysis (specifically the Perform QLRA process) with the project’s RBS to show clusters of risks, which are coming from specific sources. 

I hope this article gives a foundational understanding on RBS and it helps in your work and preparing for the Risk Management Professional (RMP) Exam.

References:

[1] Course – Practical RMP with Primavera Risk Analysis, by Satya Narayan Dash.

[2] Course – RMP Live Lessons, Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back, Satya Narayan Dash.

[3] Course – RMP 30/40 Contact Hours Online, Satya Narayan Dash.