The Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) is one of the certifications for which TAPUniversity offers exam preparatory courses. The certification exam is primarily based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®). The BABOK is composed of six business analysis knowledge areas, business analyst competencies, and descriptions of common techniques. The International Institute of Business… [Read more…]
September 29, 2009 by tapuniversity
When dealing with risk, probabilities of different scenarios and the associated financial loss or gain can be calculated mathematically. An example of analyzing Expected Monetary Values is the decision tree, which is part of the PMBOK®’s Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis process. This can be applied to wide variety of project situations. For example, Carl is… [Read more…]
September 28, 2009 by tapuniversity
Checklist Analysis and Assumptions Analysis are tools and techniques of the PMBOK®’s Identify Risk process. A Checklist Analysis can provide ideas for risks on a current project. These lists of risks can be from previous, similar projects; the lowest level of the Risk Breakdown Structure; or other sources. Care should be taken to also explore… [Read more…]
September 25, 2009 by tapuniversity
Communication Methods is a tool of the Plan Communications, Distribute Information, Report Performance, and Manage Stakeholders Expectations processes. (Which means that Communication Methods is a tool for all Communications processes except for the Identify Stakeholders process). Communication Methods fall into three broad categories: Interactive, Push, and Pull. Interactive Communication is the most effective form of… [Read more…]
September 24, 2009 by tapuniversity
The histogram is graphical representation of data. It is a tool of the PMBOK®’s Perform Quality Control process, but can be used in any field where this type of data is to be displayed. The example here is from Carl’s Car Restoration business. For marketing purposes, he wanted to see what ages his customers were.… [Read more…]
September 23, 2009 by tapuniversity
It can be assumed that there will be some changes, however minor, made to a project’s original plans. The PMBOK®’s Perform Integrated Change Control process handles change requests throughout a project. The Configuration Management System is a set of formal procedures that is indirectly an input into this process, but listed as a tool in… [Read more…]
September 22, 2009 by tapuniversity
A large project may be broken into specific phases, with each of these phases having specific deliverables. At the end of a phase, a Phase-End Review may occur, which formally concludes that phase, and if the project is deemed worthwhile to continue, authorizes the next phase to begin. There are three major phase-to-phase relationships described… [Read more…]
September 21, 2009 by tapuniversity
Although projects vary dramatically, according to the PMBOK®, all projects go through the same life cycle structure. Accordingly, this is a very broad, big-picture view of a project life cycle. There are four components to this structure—Starting the Project, Organizing and Preparing, Carrying out the Project Work, and Closing the Project. The Starting the Project… [Read more…]
September 18, 2009 by tapuniversity
PMI® (Project Management Institute) describes itself as the world’s leading non-profit project management association with over half a million members. PMI awards several certifications relating to project management, with the PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification for project managers being the most common. Those who contribute to projects, but do not lead them, may earn their… [Read more…]
September 17, 2009 by tapuniversity
The PMBOK® describes 42 processes, with each process belonging to one of the nine knowledge areas (Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resource, Communications, Risk or Procurement) and one of the five process groups (Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing). Here is a description of each of these knowledge areas and process groups.… [Read more…]
September 16, 2009 by tapuniversity
A very common input into the PMBOK®’s project management processes, Enterprise Environmental Factors are “internal and external environmental factors that surround or influence a project’s success” (PMBOK, p. 14). Unlike the other very common input of Organizational Process Assets, which are truly assets that are of benefit to the project manager, Enterprise Environmental Factors may… [Read more…]
September 15, 2009 by tapuniversity
A project manager’s goal is to meet the objectives of their projects. The PMBOK® describes three characteristics of an effective project manager—knowledge, performance, and personal. Knowledge refers specifically to knowledge about project management. For example, can the individual develop a project schedule and write a project management plan? Performance refers to what the individual is… [Read more…]
September 14, 2009 by tapuniversity
An organization’s Project Management Office (PMO) centralizes and coordinates the organization’s projects. It is considered a project stakeholder. Not all organizations with projects and project managers have PMOs, and some organizations may even have a department-level PMO and an organizational-wide PMO. The role of the PMO can vary dramatically. A PMO with little power may… [Read more…]
September 11, 2009 by tapuniversity
It was one year ago today that TAPUniversity’s blog was launched. Thank you to all those who have followed, read, and commented on our postings. Readership has grown steadily every month, and as of today we have 175 total postings. As we begin our second year of postings, we’ll be increasing the number of postings… [Read more…]
September 10, 2009 by tapuniversity
For a Project Manager, and many other professionals, the organizational structure of one’s job environment affects how they perform their daily tasks. There are three major categories of organizational structure—Functional, Matrix, and Projectized. When there exists more than one organizational structure within a single organization (for example one department could be projectized and all other… [Read more…]
September 9, 2009 by tapuniversity
David Kohrell will be sharing about Effective Virtual Teams at the PMI Minnesota Chapter during their PDD on Friday, October 2, 2009 and about Professional and Social Networking for Results at the PMI North American Leadership Conference in Orlando on Thursday, October 8, 2009. If you’re at either event please stop by and say hello. … [Read more…]
September 9, 2009 by tapuniversity
A project is a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” (fourth edition PMBOK®). Projects are often not single, isolated endeavors, but rather part of a larger undertaking. For example, Carl’s project may be to restore an old Mustang. But he and his team of siblings also have projects to restore… [Read more…]
September 8, 2009 by tapuniversity
Understanding the individual requirements for a project and how they each support the business need is the purpose of Requirements Documentation—an output of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process. According to the PMBOK, this documentation can include many things, such as business need for the project, traceability requirements, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, quality requirements,… [Read more…]
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September 30, 2009 by tapuniversity
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