Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is the largest and most well known project management designation with 830,000 people certified worldwide. Issued by the Project Management Institute (PMI) based in the United States, it gives you the initials "PMP" after your name. The PMI issues a PMP Handbook which lists all the details. The following overview … [Read more...]
Project Initiation (PMBOK)
Project initiation is the processes under which the project is created and defined to the extent necessary to begin planning the project. This step involves the project setup, and ensures that the performing organization is clear about the purposes and priorities surrounding the project. There are usually certain issues that require setup, like funding or stakeholder … [Read more...]
How to Perform a Critical Path Analysis
Critical path analysis is a method used in project management for optimizing the completion of project tasks. If you need to go to yoga class and buy groceries, but yoga class doesn't start for 2 hours, you should buy the groceries first. The critical path is defined as the list of tasks which determine the completion date of the project. If you need an extra day … [Read more...]
How to Become a Project Manager
How would you feel if your boss gave you a 23% raise? The Project Management Institute reports that certified project managers earn 23% more than non-certified ones. Job security also increased substantially over the 33,000 professionals surveyed in 37 countries. How do you become part of this club? Well, I've been part of it for 11 years, and in this article I'm … [Read more...]
Project Management in 5 Easy Steps
Like many things in life, project management is an art form as well as a science. But fortunately, a strong knowledge of the science helps you practice the art form with more skill. Although some people are naturally good at the art of project management, I believe that anyone can become a great project manager simply by learning and implementing the fundamentals of … [Read more...]
Estimating Activity Durations
Like the tiny O-rings that brought down the space shuttle Challenger, one small underestimation often results in a chain reaction that the project can't recover from. Therefore, project planning needs to make sure that enough time is assigned to each task. Once the project has been divided into activities and resources assigned to those activities, the next step is to … [Read more...]
The Five PMBOK Process Groups
The foundation for project management theory is called process groups. Although relegated to one of many project 'models' in the PMBOK version 7, it is a well established sequence of events which guides the project life cycle as a whole, as well as each iteration within the project. They are not project phases, although phases often result in the full cycle of … [Read more...]
The 10 PMBOK Knowledge Areas
In the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) the process groups are the chronological phases that the project goes through, and the knowledge areas occur throughout any time during the process groups. The process groups are horizontal, and the knowledge areas are vertical. They are the core technical subject matter of the project management profession, … [Read more...]
Applying the PMBOK to Real Projects
The Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a very structured, analytical outline of a somewhat abstract topic. Using it to manage projects is like trying to enjoy a play by reading the script. Although the relevant information is there, it is difficult to put into practice without external training. To that end, I … [Read more...]
How to Use Tacit Knowledge for Competitive Advantage
Tacit knowledge is that which is not codified and transferable through written or oral language, for example personal experience. It is the opposite of explicit knowledge which is learned and can be repeated. Tacit knowledge is held by human beings; It is more difficult to obtain than explicit knowledge but has more value. Tacit knowledge is business … [Read more...]