Friday, February 09, 2018

Sample Videos: MS Project Agile 2016 Live Lessons




This is in continuation of the following posts:

 Earlier, I had shared 18 sample videos on MS Project 2016 Live Lessons. You can check them at:

 In this post, 5 sample videos, related to the NEW Agile Features of MS Project 2016, have been made public. The access to these videos is completely free and can also be seen at the YouTube channel of Management Yogi.

The videos are noted below.

 Lesson: Working with Agile Methods - Scrum (3 videos)
  • Video 19.4 - Creating Agile (Scrum or Kanban) Projects
  • Video 19.8 - Creating a Scrum Product Backlog
  • Video 19.15 - Reporting for Scrum Project 
Lesson: Working with Agile Methods - (2 videos)
  • Video 19.21 - Customizing the Kanban Board
  • Video 19.24 - Executing Kanban Project 
You can check these videos one by one.

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Videos: Lesson - Working With Agile Methods (Scrum)

Video 19.4 - Creating Agile (Scrum or Kanban) Projects (2m:27s)
This video explains how to create a Scrum or Kanban project. You can create via the new template given (or from Agile command under Projects tab).

Video 19.8 - Creating A Scrum Product Backlog (3m:48s)
The Product Backlog (or PB) is a key artefact in Scrum. Each item in the Product Backlog is known as Product Backlog Item (or PBI). This video explains on how to create this backlog and how to populate it, along with two new views - "Sprint Planning Board" view and "Sprint Planning Sheet" View - for Agile methods in MS Project 2016. 




Video 19.15 - Reporting for Scrum Project (1m:21s)
A powerful functionality in MS Project 2016 is its reporting. With the introduction of Agile, new associated reports are available. There are 5 new in-built reports, i.e., "Agile - Task Status", "Agile - Work Status", "Current Sprint - Task Status",  "Current Sprint - Work Status", and "Sprint Status". This video explains.





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Videos: Lesson - Working With Agile Methods (Kanban)

Video 19.21 - Customizing the Kanban Board (1m:37s) 
A new view specially created for Kanban projects, is the Backlog Board View with few default workflow states or columns. You can customize the board view based on your need, e.g., adding  new column, renaming a column, moving the columns etc.

Video 19.24 - Executing Kanban Project (2m:54s)
While executing your Kanban project, you have to update the backlog items. These items pass through the workflow states. How to update and track these items? This video (first part) explains how to make the updates.


To know more about this course and what is "Guaranteed MS Project Learning or Your Money Back Program", please refer:
MS Project 2016 Live Lessons – Guaranteed Learning or Your Money Back

If you require more information, please send a mail to: managementyogi@gmail.com.

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Monday, February 05, 2018

PMP Success Story: Lead Self, Lead Others and Lead Your Business to Improve Your Concepts and Achieve Your Dream

By Suresh K, PMP


Introduction
I am working with GMR® Energy in Power Plant Projects. I have over 16 years of experience and presently responsible for Procurement Planning. Strong enthusiasm to make Project Management as a professional career and commitment towards that drove me to become a PMP®. Also, with the unique PMP certification, I believe you make much more valuable contribution in your professional work and for your organization. Also, I take this opportunity to thank our Project Head Mr. Anil Kumar Jain.

 PMP Coaching Experience
Before confirming my PMP session, I asked Satya Sir, if he can give guarantee for clearing the exam. He said if you are determined and dedicated, you as a PMP aspirant, will surely pass. Many have done so and there is no reason why I can’t do it.

In the session (I met him personally), the inter-relationships among the process groups were clearly explained. He cleared all my gaps in Risk Management, Procurement Management. The discussions were deep and thoughtful. The project management process flow chart was explained in depth. His tips and techniques will be useful for clearing the PMP Exam in first attempt as well. Also, his tips can be applied in real time projects to be a Successful Project Manager.

 He is not a mere PMP Trainer and Coach. He is a PMP Guru. 

 Time is more precious than money. By attending his coaching, you can save precious time and can crack the exam in shortest possible time. Bangaloreans are very fortunate to have Mr. Satya Narayan Dash. I'll advise all PMP Aspirants to utilise this opportunity.

 Own Study
I took 7 Months to clear my PMP Exam after his Coaching. I spent 4 Hours daily before 20 Days. Candidate’s concentration plays a main role. Though I was spending time, due to my workload, I could not fully concentrate. But, consistency pays and I kept on reading and preparing. This led me to clear my PMP Exam. 

 I’ve studied and referred:
  • The PMBOK® Guide, 5th Edition from Project Management Institute(PMI) at least 3 Times
  • Book “I Want To Be A PMP” by Satya Narayan Dash, along with the PMBOK Guide.
  • Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep, 8th Edition for the Process Groups domain Knowledge.

One caution: Don’t take the PMBOK guide as a raw theory book about management. It covers every important topic and you need to consolidate them in notes. It’s the best book for reference and conceptualisation. One thing I would have liked to see is this: project management processes divided and described with respect to the domains, rather than being described knowledge area wise. But, it’s our duty to orient ourselves Domain wise by referring Process Charts in the PMBOK guide, spread across the 10 Knowledge Areas.

I also did the mock questions from Christopher Scordo’s book and Ayman Nasser Exam Prep, 2nd Edition for medium-level typical situational questions.

 While preparing, I created consolidated notes to be prepare – divisions based on the Process Groups, which were very much useful for Exam.

 I scored 65% in Mock#1 of Satya Narayan Dash’s PMP Book. I worried about the score but with his guidance I kept efforts to refer back for my Gaps in the respective Process Groups.
Book Review - I Want To Be A PMP

 I have met my dear friend Mr. Asad Abbas after clearing his PMP. After seeing his happiness in achieving the PMP Certification, I came to know he was trained by a Professional PMP Coach. I have asked the details and decided to buy the Book “I WANT TO BE A PMP” by Satya Narayan Dash.

The process groups, overlapping processes within the process groups and the iterative nature of project management – you will clearly know while going through the book. The activities/processes are very defined within the 10 Knowledge Areas, along with many Flow Charts. The main/key topics are stressed and highlighted as YOGIC TIPS and YOGIC REVISION TIPS. Kudos to him for giving back the society this valuable book.

 Mr. Satyanarayan Dash’s PMP training techniques are excellent both from exam point of view as well as for application in real time projects. The wordy questions at the end of chapters are very near to the real PMI-PMP Exam.

 In Project Time Management, Critical Path Method (CPM) videos, Forward/Backward videos are presented in detail. In a way, it becomes self-explanatory learning. In PMP Exam, these helped to solve the problems in less than 1 minute.

 In Procurement Management, Point Of Total Assumption (PTA) Videos cover the content with detailed explanation. It is very much useful in real time projects.

 PMP Exam Experience
I scheduled my exam at Kolkata. My main strategy to crack 200 questions in 4 hours was this: maintain a sense of time and answer more than 50 questions in every hour. 

 Most of the questions were situational. I would say more than 100 questions were situational questions. There were a lot tricky questions, which will lead you in a different direction, but actually they are asking something else! I had a number of mathematical questions along with Earned Value Management (EVM) Questions – around 20 in total. 

 I was confident in answering the Tricky Questions, by keeping the Tips in mind given by Mr. Satya Narayan Dash and the concepts of the PMBOK guide, 5th Edition.

 Suggestions for PMP Aspirants
Dos 
  • Ask yourself - Do you want to make Project Management as a professional career? If answer is yes, then go ahead. 
  • Minimum project management experience is required for cracking the exam in first attempt. It will be relatively easy to crack the exam if you are having 5 years of Project Management Experience. 
  • Increase your awareness regarding the requirements for clearing the PMP Exam suggested by PMI, various institutes and professional trainers available by searching online.
  • Before staring your preparation confirm with your family members for the required support during your dedicated study without any further excuses and confusions.
  • Lead self, lead others and lead your business – your concepts can be improved while you try to make the projects successful.

Don’ts
  • Don’t be overconfident that the exam seems to be easy and can crack the exam, enough study and Mock Test Practice is a must.
  • Don’t rush in for the giving the exam without filling the gaps in specific Domain Knowledge Areas and Process Groups
  • Don’t make false attempt. It may impact your confidence level.
  • Don’t publicise yourself that you are preparing for PMP you may lose your seriousness. Instead you take an oath and commit yourself keep good efforts and clear the exam.
  • Never give up in between after taking an oath to become a PMP because of unexpected and unforeseen Risks and one should not take it as excuses for PMP Exam.

Conclusion
In professional life, my main target to be a valuable contributor and reduce the cost overrun in my projects, which is more nowadays. In personal life, proper planning of my daily routine works to complete within time. My dream is to make my two sons PMP Certified. 

 Getting PMP Certified is neither an end or start. I want to dedicate and commit to be a valuable contributor in the profession of Project Management and want to give back. I want to influence and motivate my Project Team to get sincerely engaged in successfully achieving the project objectives.

 Brief Profile
K.SURESH
Manager – Mechanical (Super-Critical Power Projects)
Installation and Execution of Power Plants’ Construction, Deployment of Human Resources for accomplishing the Work Targets to achieve Milestone Schedule, Cost Optimisation and Involvement till Plant Commissioning.



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    Thursday, February 01, 2018

    More Sample Videos: MS Project 2016 Live Lessons - Guaranteed Learning or Your Money Back





    This is in continuation of the following posts:

     In this post, 9 more sample videos have been made public. The access to these videos is completely free and can also be seen at the YouTube channel of Management Yogi.

     The videos are from the following lessons.
    Lessons - 3: Tasks (2 videos)
    • Video 3.16 - Understanding WBS
    • Video 3.17 - Default WBS Codes
    Lesson - 7: Developing Project Plan (1 video)
    • Video 7.10 - Team Planner View (1)
    Lesson - 9: Analyzing Project  (1 video)
    • Video 9.6 - Understanding Gantt Chart
    Lesson 12: Reporting Project (1 video)
    • Video 12.10 - Creating Histogram Report
    Lesson 13 - Earned Value Management (2 videos)
    • Video 13.14 - First Few Checks (Example 2)
    • Video 13.15 - Earned Value Table (Example 2)
    Lesson 14 - Resource Pool and Managing Multi-Projects (2 videos)
    • Video 14.2 - Resource Pool - Basics
    • Video 14.4 - Creating A Resource Pool

    You can check these videos one by one.
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    Videos: Lesson 3 - Tasks

    Video 3.16 - Understanding WBS (4m:04s)
    This video explains - how to create the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the components of the WBS and levels of WBS and other options given to you by MS Project.

    Video 3.17 - Default WBS Codes (2m:52s)
    Every element in the WBS is uniquely identified by an identifier (or ID). It's known as WBS ID. MS Project calls it WBS Code. This video explains how to check the default WBS Codes.

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    Videos: Lesson 7 - Developing Project Plan

    Video 7.10 - Team Planner View - Part 1 (3m:56s)
    Team planner is relatively a new view, but very useful one. It's also graphical. This video (part - 1) explains how this view can help you. 


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    Videos: Lesson 9 - Analyzing Project

    Video 9.6 - Understanding Gantt Chart (4m:24s)
    Gantt Chart is one of the most widely used views and also one of the most misunderstood ones! What are the components of this view? How to interpret this view? How to check execution status of tasks or activities with respect to the status date? Check this video to find the answers.


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    Videos: Lesson 12 - Reporting Project

    Video 12.10 - Creating Histogram Report (5m:00s)
    You can generate a number of reports in MS Project 2016 - many in-built reports and a variety of custom reports. It's a highly useful feature - whether you are in traditional mode of development or Agile mode of development. This video explains how to create Histogram report with an example.


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    Videos: Lesson 13 - Earned Value Management

    Video 13.14 - First Few Checks for EVM (Example 2) (3m:52s)
    Earned value management (or EVM) is an advanced techniques and a popular one by management professionals. If you are a Project Management Professional (PMP) or an aspiring PMP, it's a must know. But before doing EVM, you need to do a few checks, without which you won't get the proper EVM metrics. I've taken an example to explain.


    Video 13.15 - Earned Value Table (Example 2) (2m:21s)
    This video explains how to see the various metrics associated with EVM in a table, such as Planned Value (PV) or Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule (BCWS), Earned Value (EV) or Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP), Actual Cost (AC) or Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Variance (CV), Budget At Completion (BAC), Estimate At Completion (EAC),  and Variance At Completion (VAC). 

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    Videos: Lesson 14 - Resource Pool and Managing Multiple Projects

    Video 14.2 - Resource Pool - Basics (2m:25s)
    Resource Pool is another advanced concept which is used by a management professional managing multiple projects. The basics of resource pool are explained in this video.


    Video 14.4 - Creating A Resource Pool (2m:07s)
    How to create a resource pool? It's not that difficult as many think. It can be created in matter of minutes, in fact seconds!

    I believe with these videos (in this post and earlier one), you can reasonably surmise what this course offers and finalize.

    To know more about this course and what is "Guaranteed MS Project Learning or Your Money Back Program", please refer:


    If you require more information, please send a mail to: managementyogi@gmail.com.


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