December 2010 - Project Management Reviews

PMP Concepts: The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

By Son Nguyen, on December 31st, 2010%

This entry is part of 8 in the series PMP Concepts

A work breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering, is a tool used to define and group a project’s discrete work packages in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project. A work breakdown structure element may be a product, data, a service, or any combination. A WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimating and control along with providing guidance for schedule development and control. Additionally the WBS is a dynamic tool and can be revised and updated as needed by the project manager.

PMP Concepts: Enterprise Environmental Factors

By Son Nguyen, on December 29th, 2010%

This entry is part of 8 in the series PMP Concepts

Enterprise environmental factors is the concept that you meet most frequently while reading the PMBOK Guide. In fact, it is used as an input for almost every planning processes. Therefore, it is essential to understand this concept completely.

The definition of enterprise environmental factors is given on page 14, the PMBOK Guide, 4th Edition.

Enterprise environmental factors refer to both internal and external factors that surround or influence a project’s success. These factors may come from any or all of the enterprises involved in the project. Enterprise environmental factors may enhance or constrain project management options and may have a positive or negative influence on the outcome. They are considered as inputs to most planning processes

Top 10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Implementing Project Management Software

By Son Nguyen, on December 27th, 2010%

This entry is part of 3 in the series PM Software

Recently, the LiquidPlanner team took some time and conducted in-depth interviews with nearly 40 of our most active customers. We asked a lot of questions and heard some great success stories. One thing quickly became clear: the method you use to roll out a new tool can make or break its adoption on a team.

So what made these teams successful? They each avoided most (or all) of the pitfalls below when introducing project management software to their teams.

Pitfall #10: Export data from your old system and re-import it directly into the new one. Expect everything to magically improve.

Instead: Clean house (project-wise and process-wise) during implementation. Get rid of old project data you don’t need. Delete unnecessary steps from your project template. Make sure you have the best possible processes in place for your team. Now is the time to make a change if change is needed.

PMP Exam Tips: Think About Large Projects on the Exam

By Son Nguyen, on December 24th, 2010%

This entry is part 9 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

Actually, this is an advice from PMP Exam Prep, Sixth Edition: Rita’s Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam. I found it extremely useful that I would like to share with everyone who is preparing for the PMP exam.

There is hardly any general definition for large projects. However, for the purpose of the exam, I would define large projects as multi-million dollars projects that involve at least 30-50 project team members, with various groups of stakeholders: customers, vendors, third-party companies etc.