PMP Training - Day 1 : Hotel Aditya

Presenter's name : Ramesh Chepur. Find him on Linked in.

Find out user group for PMP in Hyderabad.

Visit on the Net : PMBOK 2008.

You need to get 123 answers right, out of 175. Nearly 70%. 25 dummy questions will be there but we don't know which are dummy.

Result : Proficiency : High / Medium / Low. Even low proficiency is pass but may not have market value.
3 attempts in 12 months. Exam fee : $405. Additionally, we need to pay $129 for PMBOK downloads. ( I need to learn to activate my ICICI bank net banking prov + SBI credit card).

Pay $10 and become a local PMI body member.

Claim 60 PDU s in the next 3 years. There are 9 knowledge areas in PMP.

Take the exam before August 2011. Exam pattern is going to change.

visit
http://www.pmp.org

There is no penalty for changing the exam date.

For exam : PMBOK : read at least twice before the exam.

There are 2 books available for PMP exam preparation.

1. PMP exam guide by Kim Heldman. Rs.500/-.

2. There is also a book from Tata McGraw-Hill. Please find out from Walden or book selection centre.

Time for preparation : 50 to 75 hours of ' serious' preparation is required.

A project has 4 charactaristics. Time, Scope, Cost, and progressive elaboration.

There are 3 constraints for the project. ( Net Search : ' Constraints for the project' or 3 constraints for the project). Time , Scope and cost.

In a project, an output becomes an input to another / next activity.

Identifying the stake holders is essential for project's success.

There are 3 types of organizations.
1.Functional org
2.Matrix Org ( which has rows and columns)
3. Projectised org.

Authority of a project manager is weak / balanced/ strong - respectively - in the above mentioned org s.

Almost 99% of all I.T. organizations are projectised organisations.

' Projectised Org' has the least communication gaps.
(Test)
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS
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Output defines the process.

A ' Phase' may contain many processes.

PDCA : Plan, Do, check, Act.

'Project Charter' is the approval issued by the sponsor.

PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT
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In project integration management, all the 5 process groups are involved. In no other knowledge area, all the 5 process groups are involved.

In Execution, my ' project management plan' forms the basis !

Total number of processes in Project Management Processes' : 42.

Initiation : 2
Planning :20.
Execution : 8.
Monitoring and contorl : 10.
Closing : 2.

A Project Manager does only 10% of all the active work. The rest is communication.

Net Search : ' Scope Management during the project'.

TO DO :
1.More learning on ' Project Scope'. All the I.T/ Software johnnies understood this. I could not !
2.Refer to the page no.350 of PMBOK book. Project Document. Project Management Plan context.

' Any change request / defect repair request should be approved by the Change Control Board (CCB). '
JAD : Joint Application Development. By both the client and the vendor. This is done mostly, but not confined to , military.

Net Search : Organizational Process Assets'.
Net Search : Project Management Jokes

SCOPE means , ' doing all the work and the only work'.
WBS : Work Break down structure.
Scope Baseline : It's the most important. It has 3 documents.
1.WBS. 2.WBS Dictionary. & 3. Scope Statement ( net search, this ! )

Performance Breakdown Structure : (a) Schedule baseline (b) Cost baseline (c) quality baseline.

There are 4 breakdown structures in a project

1. Work Breakdown Structure.
2.REquirement breakdown structure.
3.Organizational Breakdown structure.
4.Risk breakdown Structure.

Cost baseline, performance & schedule baseline - are the most important to the senior management. ( Test)

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Net Search : Project Management Tools.
There are 3 kinds of dependencies. (a) mandatory dependency (b) discretionary dependency & (c) discretionary dependency & (d) external dependency.

PROJECT ESTIMATES :
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There are 4 kinds of estimates for project estimates.
1.(rough) order of magnitude method.
2.Analogous Estimate.
3. Parametric Estimate
4.Bottoms up estimate. &
5. ' Weighted Average Estimate or PERT or 3 point estimate'.

Accuracy : will increase from method 1 to 4. But so will, time and money.

Difference between Lag and delay. Lag means, a delayed start. Delay means, late in completing the work.

PERT formula : O + ( 4*M)+P
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6


Where
O is optimistic estimate.
M is most likely outcome
P is pessimistic estimate

The result is always closer to the ' most likely.

Obs : This trainer speaks in a low and steady voice and is not tired at the fag end of the day. Maintains the same energy.

Critical path method : Shortest duration of time for the project is the longest path on the critical path.

Float or slack indicated a non critical activity. Postive difference between the early start and late finish is - float. Where there is zero float or slack, the task is ' non criticial'.

Important :
visit this web site ;

http://www.deltek.com - for ' MOnte Carlo method of analysis. Critical Path method.

More net search on : Earned value management system.

( Day 1 training is over : made quite a lot of notes ! )

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adult edu on About.com

Site of the day : ( 22.Jan.2010)


http://adulted.about.com

A veritable library and huge store for adult learning principles and adult education. Energizers, principles, ideas for actitivities !

How I found it : I searched for ' post lunch energizers' and got it. Read it thoroughly and make notes and put them into your training blog.

Good luck.

(Linx) Post Lunch Energizers in Training

Sat in a cyber cafe. I had half an hour ' time pass'. I , for a change, entered profession related key word, ' post lunch energizers in Training'. Number of interesting ( and very useful) results and web sites popped up !

Here is the Google search result. For ' post lunch energizers in Training'.

http://www.google.co.in/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=Post+lunch+energizers+in+Training&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

Here is a very useful web site for ice breaker.

http://www.wordjuxtapoz.com/icebreakers.html

Here is one more, from an experiential learning web site. post lunch energizers

http://www.experiential-learning-games.com/energizers.html

All this , apart from key word searching ' business balls'. Do that too, apart from reading from these web sites and picking up the most relevant ones, in leisure.

parameters to evaluate training

22.Sept.2010. Goa : Some guest trainers were asked to give presentations. These are the following paramters , on which, Trainers were assessed.

1. Preparation.
2.Content Knowledge.
3.Positive Start.
4.Energetic Presentation
5.Interactivity.
6.Audience Control.
7.Query Handling.
8.Summerizing and ...
9.Impactful Conclusion.

6 months ' Dip Stick Study' at Peerless: feedback from sales

Half of the financial year is over for Peerless in 20010-2011 and here is the time to review training activities, plan for the next 6-months session ahead and also take feedback from our internal customers, that is our Branch Managers and sales staff. Aditya Ganguly sends a ' Feed back' called 'Dipstick' steady of training activities.

I sincerely hope, all our BM s unanimously vote for ME as the ' Trainer they Like Most' and give 11 different reasons for the same !! That will further improve my stock within the company and would help me... complete my ISTD project.
Here are the 10 questions for Dip Stick study.

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ear BM's,

Thank you all for your support and cooperation in making Peerless Gurukul
Training a significant support function over the last 6 months.
As we are nearing our Half Yearly closing and then Training would take a
months break after Aug, I would like to seek answers of below
9  questions as your valued Feedback from each one of you who have
organized Training for your  Branch or in your pockets from April-August
2010.For the records,in last 5 months we have done almost 700 Training
sessions covering nearly 12,000 manheads and 48,000 manhours pan
India with 30 Trainers.

QUESTIONS

Q1. Have you sat through any one complete  Training sesion in your location
? If Yes, when and where.

Q2. In a scale of 10, how much do you rate the Training ? ( Parameters :
Content in vernaculars, Delivery in vernaculars, Handouts, Quizzes & Prize
)

Q3. Which Trainer you like the most ? (Mention name & why in one sentence)

Q4. What is the Best Part in Peerless Gurukul Training which you feel will
help your SG's ?

Q5. Which part of Peerless Gurukul Training  you feel should be improved
further ? Any suggestive content for 3rd and 4th quarter ?

Q6. Give any success stories by name of the SG (if you have,any) who has
benefited from Training.

Q7. What is your expectation from Peerless Gurukul Training from October,
when the Training journey for 2nd Half of 2010-11 again begins ?

Q8. How comfortable you are on TMS now(issues, if any) and whether you will
complete all backlog entries in TMS by 31st Aug deadline ?

Q9. Comments/Remarks, if any.

Kindly sent your answers (via- Email ONLY) by 20th Aug Friday to me with
copies marked to Mr D Sen,VP(CM) & Ms Sharmistha Bhattacharya
Majumder,Training Coordinator(H.O), hopefully without any reminder from my
end.

Look forward for your kind cooperation,

Warm Regards,

Wharton on Cyber Attacks, Hacking & Data Security

Challenges for I.T. Engineers : cyber attacks and data security
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From a corporate perspective, experts say the required response to these threats has two sides. The first is protecting IT infrastructure, meaning the systems, hardware, software and networks used by an organization. The second involves protecting the actual information or data that is supported by that infrastructure, whether the information is in motion, in use or in storage. Complicating those efforts, however, is the need to protect the business environment while ensuring that employees have access to the information and services they need to do their jobs.

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"We have witnessed companies going under, or being severely hit, due to a single untoward event. As a result, how to better manage and finance extreme events is now a question discussed by many more board of directors than five or 10 years ago."
( reminded me of ' Black Swan' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

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"What has changed is that both companies and hackers have grown sophisticated. So the good news is that most security software will protect us from the most basic threats, which was not the case in the past. But the bad news is that malware and viruses have become more sophisticated, so even advanced users can fall prey to them."

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Experts say that the recent attacks on information security suggest at least three things: First, that hackers increasingly know exactly what they want, while their targets often struggle to understand the threat or where it is coming from. Second, that attackers continue to rapidly develop new ways to access what they want, and as a result, the threats can come from anywhere. (For example, The New York Times disclosed this year that hackers were trying to use online advertising on the newspaper's own website to disseminate malware.) Finally, observers believe that almost everyone and every company ultimately is at risk, a result of today's highly networked global economy and communications infrastructure
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Here, monitoring and controlling access to information become even more challenging, as systems must be able to work both in-house and virtually, especially in cases of multi-tenant systems, where several companies or accounts may have sensitive information managed by a single server. CIO magazine recently reported that 51% of CIOs cited security as the greatest concern surrounding cloud computing.
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One approach often used in military scenario-planning exercises, for example, is to split key participants into two teams and run a one-day exercise where one team cooks up potential cyberattacks while the other team designs a response. "You will be surprised by how imaginative your employees can be about what is your true weak link," Michel-Kerjan points out. "Keep in mind here that what can seriously hurt you will not be a 'usual' scenario."
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From :

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2535

go game storm dot com !!

I was reading Thiagi news letter of May 2010. Here, a reference to a training games web site is given. Go through, browse this site with focus and attention, in leisure. Seems to be a great source of training games and ice breakers and interactive activities.

http://www.gogamestorm.com/