Monday Morning :

DON’T ASSUME TOO MUCH…

Source:Explosm.net

 This could happen at work, home or anywhere else where people jump into conclusions and not listen!

Good COMMUNICATION is the best solution for many of problems that we might face in our life!

A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
 
 
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
 
They agreed that it was. 

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
 
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
 
They agreed it was.
 
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
 
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
 
 
He asked once more if the jar was full.
 
The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”
 
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  Read more... (455 words, 2 images, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

India couldn’t have asked for a better gift  on its sixty-second birthday. ISRO’s (India Space Research Organisation) well timed the launch of ‘Bhuvan’, india specific and much better resolution, an indian answer to Google Earth.

‘Bhuvan’, which means earth in Sanskrit, is not just the Indian version of Google Earth and Wikimapia. The remote sensing 3D image portal something more than that – a strong answer to such mapping application websites. It is really a powerful tool as the Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan called it.

The tool would offer pictures of the globe, just like Google Earth, and navigable in the same way but currently has the best resolutions over the Indian sub-continent. It allows users to fly from space to street level, grab, spin and zoom down to any place.

As mentioned on wikipedia  Read more... (234 words, 1 image, estimated 56 secs reading time)

Sharing free PMP resources that I think are worth spending time

Sample Questions:

Voightps : Set of 10 – 15 questions and provide reasoning for every answer, you can do this while taking small breaks at work, each test will not take more than 5 minutes. 2 test a day are good enough, identify the weak area and then make sure you clear your concepts.

Oliver
Lehman 75 questions: Not exactly as exam but good to identify gaps

Oliver Lehman 175 questions: In pdf format. These questions are more close to exam questions

Flashcards:

 Quizlet : Free PMP flashcards, I liked Rita’s process chart and PMP processes

Concepts:

Earned Value Analysis: I liked these videos as they are simple and do not complicate this concept.

Delegation :  Read more... (193 words, 0 images, estimated 46 secs reading time)

Once my application was selected for audit, I started my preparation using PMBOK as I assumed that I will not be able to appear before 30th June’09, however I got authorization to appear on June 11th and scheduled my exam for 25th June and later preponed it to 24th June’09. To be on point, what I learnt is that the concepts, logic and basics are same for both the guides, there are some changes in ITTO (Input – Tool – Techniques – Outputs) and in language, however if you are planning to cram ITTO then refer to latest PMBOK. Also, I feel the how you prepare for exam, your strategy and most of the questions will not change.

Here are the best sites which describe difference between two PMBOK’s. Please do add any good website which I missed out.

Websites:

Project Smart

Videos:  Read more... (167 words, 0 images, estimated 40 secs reading time)

As we all know that we can not cure everything with one medicine same way there are different ways of preparation for PMP exam. Some are like me who can not study for long and also do not have that much time to spend months and some are who have time and would like to spend quality time preparing for exam. I have listed two strategies for preparation, I will recommend that you customize these strategies depending on your style and convenience.

1. Strategy for PMP in 30 days:  60 Hours

2. Strategy for PMP in 60 days: 120 Hours

Also, you can read my exam strategy to be used on the day of exam.

Prospective PMPs have requested me a lot in different PMP preparation forums to share how I cleared my PMP exam in 30 days including the PMP audit process, please read my post on “PMP preparation strategy”. Here is the date by date account of PMP exam process, application to audit to exam.

I have been thinking of giving PMP exam for couple of years, but never prepared for it. One day in Feb’09, one of my friend mailed me that he has cleared the PMP exam with a message ” Pappu Pass ho gaya” (Kid cleared the exam). That day I asked congratulated me and he told me to stop being Lazy and I should also go ahead and get it, it’s worth it. So this instance triggered me to give a shot to PMP certification.
I reached to training department in my organization and asked them about PMP exam preparation courses (mandatory hours) and I was informed that they have tie up with cyberlearning to provide online Project management course which fulfills one of the eligibility requirements (mandatory 35 contact hours). If you are looking to get these mandatory hours at an optimum cost, I will recommend PMP prepcast. To know more about PMP prepcast, do read <”Benefits of PMP Prepcast”.>  Read more... (893 words, 0 images, estimated 3:34 mins reading time)

This is for people like me who can not study for months and can not go through 10 different sources. I strongly believe that for examination prespective, after certain amount of study the “Law of diminishing results” comes into effect. There are so many books available, you can not read all for exam. Total amount I spent apart from examination fee and online 35 mandatory hours (that too sponsored by company), was only $ 20.

Prerequisite: To clear PMP in 30 days or 60 hours, you need to have some background that supports this short duration. This study plan is a very focused and need you experience and education to reduce the learning time. I have listed some prerequisite which I could have think of and is not exhaustive list, try to get the intent.

Experience:  Read more... (1108 words, 0 images, estimated 4:26 mins reading time)

• Good amount of experience in Project Management
• Experience in Team management or middle level management experience

A leader should know how to manage failure
(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia , March 22,2008 )

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?  Read more... (492 words, 0 images, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)