Several years ago I shared a series of articles in the Rational Edge for IBM that showcased real life applications of use cases and incremental development. Two of those articles focused on replacing a legacy unemployment insurance system. The entire article provides a much more thorough introduction from that example – so take a quick… [Read more…]
March 1, 2011 by David Kohrell
The whiteboard. The dry eraser. The multi-color pens. The overbearing meeting participant. Those four things often come together when thinking of brainstorming. It’s a technique among multiple management nexus disciplines and at the heart of agile, business analysis and project management. It can produce great results from a team. The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge… [Read more…]
February 5, 2011 by David Kohrell
Certification exams for management and information technology have become a necessity for finding a job, advancing a career and validating knowledge. Certification does not measure intelligence, work habits, team work and a myriad of additional competencies and talent needed to succeed. Sometimes they’re a necessary evil. Other times they bring a tremendous sense of fulfillment!… [Read more…]
January 22, 2011 by David Kohrell
While environmental IQ through stakeholder’s analysis addresses the outside / in part of the equation, evaluate the team’s pulses addresses the inside / out. When the two are balanced through an equal amount of attention and thought, then the conflict potential is lowered. There are two steps for knowing a teams pulse.
January 21, 2011 by David Kohrell
We have IQ, there’s Emotional Intelligence (EI) – I say we add EQ – environmental intelligence based on applying that Emotional Intelligence to what’s going on with stakeholders. A quick recap, a stakeholder is someone who has a professional interest in the outcome of a project. That interest may be acknowledged and formalized – corporate… [Read more…]
January 20, 2011 by David Kohrell
Step Two of Resolving Virtual Team Conflict is to treat it as a potential risk. The advantage of looking at team conflict as a risk is it’s an easier to say “hey let’s treat team conflict as a risk element, something that might happen” rather than “gee, we’re conflicted and at each others throat, upper… [Read more…]
January 19, 2011 by David Kohrell
Conflict. The mere term evokes a strong response. In today’s environment, examples of conflict are replete: Middle East, War on Terrorism, Political Divides. Intra personal conflict also appears to be increasing. Project managers also encounter a variety of conflicts: inadequate resources, changing organizational direction, project direction, disagreement among stakeholder groups, clash with functional teams, role… [Read more…]
January 18, 2011 by David Kohrell
Swift Trust as an academic topic seems to have emerged by Meyerson et. al in 1991 within the context of temporary groups. Lynda Bourne shared about it recently, 2010, in a PMI blog. Philip Merry developed the RICE Analysis for improving and cultivating “swift trust” in 2002. He is a global speaker and trainer who’s… [Read more…]
January 17, 2011 by David Kohrell
While delivering over forty Effective Virtual Team workshops at TAPUniversity since 2006, one question we encourage participants to ask is "well, OK, how does this differ from team members we see in person?" Swift Trust is one concept worth digging in to help answer the question of differentiation.
January 11, 2011 by David Kohrell
Virtual teams are geographical dispersed teams (GDT) who are formed for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the virtual team is formed as a result of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), or a collaboration among organizations may trigger it, perhaps a key employee moves or a company wishes to get some “boots on the ground” in a… [Read more…]
January 10, 2011 by David Kohrell
Schedule (Activity Duration or Activity Resource) and Cost estimating are two lynch pins for business analysis and project management. The most common estimate techniques are: analogous, bottom-up, parametric and three-point – PERT. For those pursuing a CBAP® or PMP® how to use them and whether those are mutually exclusive can become a bit confusing. The… [Read more…]
December 28, 2010 by David Kohrell
Synonymous term or a different term, that’s a common question we receive in our course delivery for secondary versus residual risks. Those two terms do sound quite a bit a like. Are they? They’re similar concepts but are different! Secondary risk occurs once a risk event triggers and the appropriate management response strategy deployed. The… [Read more…]
December 2, 2010 by David Kohrell
Weaving throughout the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), ISACA content & CobiT, Lean Six Sigma best practice and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) / PRINCE 2 is the concept of proactively managing risk. Risk is based on a probability of an event occuring (positive and negative) and the impact should that even… [Read more…]
September 30, 2010 by David Kohrell
Risk management weaves through multiple disciplines. Addressing potential future events, both good and bad, is the focus of risk management. There are two primary factors: 1) the probability of that event occurring and 2) the impact of that event occurring. Take those two together (multiply) and a Risk Priority Number can be calculated. For example… [Read more…]
August 8, 2010 by David Kohrell
In a Request For Proposal selection process or project a flexibility, well defined rubric is critical. That rubric is more commonly known as score sheets, scales and weights. The best practice is to define that rubric prior to issuing the RFP – the selection committee needs to know 1) what they are selected and 2)… [Read more…]
July 27, 2010 by tapuniversity
A Request For Quotation is a seller selection process where the buyer knows what they need and specifies quantity, terms, even target price. It is a companion, complimentary seller/vendor selection tool to the Request For Proposal. You might use a RFQ at your work place and not even realize it. For example purchasing 100 copies… [Read more…]
July 24, 2010 by David Kohrell
A Request For Proposal (RFP) is a common way to select for a vendor based solution or product. They are used when what is needed can be identified and described, but a detailed step by step method may not be known. RFP’s may result in a fixed bid or cost plus performance contract awarded to… [Read more…]
June 21, 2010 by tapuniversity
“Welcome to the company, Kaite!” says Kenneth. “Thanks, I just finished the 3-day orientation session” says Kaite. “Did they talk about the Kentucky Derby taboo?” whispered Kenneth. “Uhh…no.” said Kaite confused. “Don’t ever mention it! The CEO lost all his savings betting on Trippi ten years ago. Actually, it’s best never to mention the names… [Read more…]
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March 2, 2011 by David Kohrell
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