How to Plan Your Projects

It doesn't matter which industry you're in or project you're involved with, these 5 points should be taken every time to properly plan your project:

1: Set the Direction

Before you start out, set the direction for the project. Do this by clearly identifying the project vision, goals and deliverables. State the overall timeframes for delivery and clarify the amount of resource available. Determine what is "in scope" and "out of scope". Identify the benefits and costs in delivering the project and any milestones and constraints. Only once this is agreed with your Project Sponsor will you know what it is that you have to achieve.

2: Task Selection

You're now ready to start planning. Identify the groups of tasks that need to be completed to build your project deliverables. Then for each group of tasks, breakdown those tasks into sub-tasks to create what is known as a "Work Breakdown Structure" (WBS). Your WBS is essentially a hierarchical list of tasks, in order. Assign start and end dates to each task, as well as task durations. Always add a little extra time (e.g. 10%) to your durations, providing you with contingency. Next add Milestones to your plan. These are tasks that represent major achievements along the way.

3: Inter-linking

The next step is to add links (or dependencies) between project tasks. While there are a variety of link types, most Project Managers add "finish-to-start" links so that one task cannot start until another one finishes. To make your project achievable, only add links between tasks if there is a critical dependency between them. Remember, when one task slips, all tasks linked to it may slip as well. So use links wisely.

4: Resource Assignment

Now comes the fun part, assigning resources. A "resource" may be a person, equipment, location or materials. Against each task in your plan, assign one or more resources required to complete it. As you assign resources, watch your resource utilization. In other words, make sure you don't over-assign a specific resource to multiple tasks, so that it's impossible for that resource to complete everything assigned to it. So to make this easy for you, plan the resource utilization as you assign resources to projects.

5: Baseline, Actuals and Reporting

With a fully completed project plan, you're now ready to save it as a "baseline", so that you can later compare your progress against it. Then start recording your actual progress against the plan. Every day, record the amount of time you've spent against each task. Also record the new planned start and finish dates, and monitor the overall project completion date. Report on progress as you go. By regularly updating the project plan with your progress, you can control the delivery of your project and meet those critical goals set.

And there you have it. If you'd like smart software to help you plan and manage your projects online, use many online programs that is available, including EV graphs.

Project Managers view

Here is something with Knowing.net on various technologies.




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Regards
Vijayashankar

What does a Project Manager do?

• Better manage resources
• Achieve results in the most efficient manner
• Classify potential and real risk
• Overall to Initiate, plan, execute, control, close & manage
• To ensure that goals of projects are accomplished within prescribed time frame and funding parameters.
• Project managers look to save time and money and improve quality.
• Effectively manage complex projects in the best interest of their clients.

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Regards
Vijayashankar

Product Manager

Great Product Manager Questions

The Laudi Group and Red Canary organized and shared a great set of questions for product managers and answers from a panel of product management leaders.  Steve Johnson, another leader in our space shared his answers to the same questions, and in this article, I share mine.

The Product Manager Questions

Hat tip to Steve Johnson at Pragmatic Marketing, for extending the discussion and providing his answers to the questions.  And thanks to the folks at Red Canary and the product managers who originally shared their answers.
I really enjoyed reading their answers – thanks to all of you!
Here are the questions that were put forth and answered:

1. Tell us about the best product you've ever encountered.  Why do you like it?
2. How do you know a great product manager when you meet one?
3. What's your favorite interview question?
4. When is the best time for a start-up to hire a product manager?
5. What has been the defining moment in your career?
6. Mistakes.  What was your biggest?

I've personally enjoyed and grown from the great writing that many product managers have shared with us over the last few years.  I'd love it if they would share their answers.  So, either share your answers, or pester your favorite writers to share theirs.
Without further ado, here are my answers to the same questions.

Why Do You Like the Best Product You've Ever Encountered?

I love when products solve obvious (in hindsight) problems with elegant designs.  The products where, once they exist, you say "well, duh" or slap your head and ask "why didn't I think of that?"  These innovative products tend to be disruptive, redefining markets.  Some of the products are rather mundane – like the ketchup bottle where the lid doubles as the base (reducing waste and preventing countless red-water-stained buns).  Other products are more technology-dependent – like Tesla's radio, xerographic photocopying, solid-fuel rockets.
I think my favorite for elegant design might be Velcro – if you don't know how it works, or just want to know how it was invented, check out the wikipedia article.  The time that parents save tying tiny shoes is value enough, but it is far from the only (or first) use of Velcro.  An accurate clock that could be used on board a ship was a biggie too, although I never personally encountered one, at least when it mattered.  Accurate time-telling on a ship was the key to dramatically improved navigation back in the days of sailing by the stars.

How Do You Know a Great Product Manager?

Great product managers are polymaths, with several areas of deep expertise and skill.  They are Renaissance women and men, with many areas of interest.  They are great communicators.
Most importantly, they are sooth-sayers.  By the last, I mean that they not only understand the big picture and context of their markets and their business, but they know what is likely to change their business, and where their markets are sensitive to or ripe for disruption.  One definition of sooth-sayer is "one who tells the truth."  You can't do that without data, and the ability to understand what the data is telling you.
Add to this a dash of humility and a full dose of open-mindedness, and you have a great product manager.
Of course there's all of the esoteric skills that the role requires.  When they aren't present yet, I feel like I've met a great product manager to be.
I know it when our conversation rambles all over, goes "depth charge deep" in areas, and then bounces back to the broad view, all with an eye for the relevance and insights that matter for the topic at hand.

What's  Your Favorite Interview Question?

"Why?"
I almost don't care what the context of that question is – reviewing a candidate's previous experience, asking them to provide a "fresh view" on my current situation, or convincing them to dance through a hypothetical situation.  What I want to know is why they think there is value, or a problem , or an opportunity, or … whatever.  A collection of well-dispersed, and sometimes-immediately-sequential "Why?" questions can tell me more about how someone thinks, and more importantly, how they are likely to solve problems, create solutions, and dominate markets than any other question I've found.

When is the Best Time for a Start-Up to Hire a Product Manager?

Not counting the founder?
Three to six months before the first product peaks.  All successful start-ups have one good product – solving a single valuable problem, for a single market.  Most (my opinion / observation) start-ups don't have a second good product or market.  A passionate and insightful founder can spend a long time understanding a market, a problem, and a solution.  That knowledge and passion can yield a successful product.  When is that founder, who is busy running the company, going to find a new problem to solve, a new market to dominate, or a new solution to replace his original idea?
Alternately, I guess the founder can hire someone else to run the company, and anoint herself "president of the product."  That still counts as hiring a product manager.

What Has Been the Defining Moment in [My] Career?

Switching from electro-mechanical design engineering to software development.  The shift in innovation time scales, the different approach to problem solving, and the markedly different economics of product creation had a profound effect on me.  The evolution from "creating solutions to (defined) problems" to "identifying problems worth solving" was more gradual, as I evolved into a programmer-analyst and consultant and product manager.
"Going agile" half-way through my software development career was pretty eye opening too.  I'll throw that in as my backup answer.

Mistakes.  What Was [My] Biggest?

From someone else's perspective, it was leading a team down a six-figure software-development path that solved a problem no one really cared about.  That's probably defining-moment number 3, when I started including validation of value as part of my scope of engagement as a programmer.
From my own perspective, as they say, it's the train you don't see that hits you.  I'll guess that it was something I didn't do, not something I did, that would turn out to be the key plot device in my Frank Capra movie.
(copyright) as dictated and applicable

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Regards
Vijayashankar

Do you want to jump in to the project management role?

Here are some snippets for the Project leads and as well as for seniors who want to have a quick revision from project management interview perspective. Note, there is nothing like theoretical interview. Be practical!

It starts with basics of project management fundamentals like ROI, stake holders, MOU, SDLC, CAR, DAR, traceability matrix and then improve towards more sophisticated aspects. Defect density and Control Charts are few high level question areas.

Estimation is the most frequented section during project management interviews. You should be able to explain various aspects is dedicated to estimation. Ensure you understand the most used estimation methodology like COCOMO, LOC, Function points and Use case points. Most practical approach is WBS - work breakdown structure, or Delphi. Here the users / developers give the idea of development time, and you take the average of 30% + 70% of the worst and best timings estimated, as an example, that I have used.

Many project managers fall out when it comes to answer aspects on schedule management. Groovy area. Most of the times, the sales folks, would have committed to a date,  even before you start. So you have to plan with loading of the project very clearly. Use many trainees as possible, which will not get affected in the GPM ( Pross Project Margin ) in a services company.You need to be thorough on schedule management covering fundamentals like EST, LFT, EFT, LST, PERT, GANT and Monte Carto. We are sure by knowing these fundamentals you can not slip. Make sure you understand Microsoft Project, even if you are managing through MS Excel!

You need to understand costing. It comes from the GPM, on the cost of project. You cannot spend more than what the project has been bid for. The costing management interview covers the most asked fundamentals like Earned value, planned value and Actual cost with some real examples. Read on risk management which covers basics like DR and BCP.

CMMI which has evolved as a very matured and standard process across IT industry is the biggest talk during project management interviews. Understand on CMMI covering maturity levels, staged and continuous representation, SCAMPI, PII and full details explanation of all CMMI KPA (Key Process Area).

Six sigma is catching up very fast in the IT industry and also one of the most frequented section during project management interviews. Understand the scope of various practical implementations in particular to the software industry. If possible, log on to net and join a Six Sigma group on Linkedin, Insidetech etc... You will get enough basics, and try to apply to various scenarios what you come across in a day to day work life. At least knowledge of six sigma is expected from any Project Manager.

Agile and XP has caught lot of attention in the recent times. Understand various topics like Agile, XP, AXEUM, FDD and LSD.  Also do not forget the various development methodologies which was used in olden days, like Waterfall method, V curve method ( mostly for maintenance ) and the serial module development.

Go through standard templates and software by which you can gain an insight of project management tools.

Ensure that you read your resume thoroughly, where there are catchy words, and try to remember those, to answer well. Interviewer catch them fast, before you! So understand them well.

If you are just started applying, pass your resume to a good friend, or compare with his, by which you can get a fair idea of how to prepare a resume, if there are any mistakes and correct it before sending out in the market from a project management job perspective. At times, the consultant might suggest to add or update certain section to have the company short list you.

In short, here are the basic points you need to take care Resume Contents - Basics of Project Management - Risk Management - Schedule Management - Costing - Estimation, Metrics and Measure - CMMI - Six Sigma - Agile Development ( Methodologies ) and last but not the least, don't forget to say few things nice about your present / last company!

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Regards
Vijayashankar

Ten Things Not To Do In An Interview

1. Don't leave your cell phone on. "Don't even leave it on mute or vibrate - this is distracting to you and definitely rude to the interviewer," says Arlene Vernon, www.arlenvevernon.com, a human resources consultant.

2. Don't smell like smoke. If you smoke, make sure there's no evidence. This is especially important if you're interviewing for a position where you have direct contact with others.

3. Don't speak badly about previous employers or co-workers. Make sure you've practiced an honest answer but one that doesn't show that you're angry with the previous employer or circumstance.

4. Don't bring up personal information. The interviewer doesn't want to hear about your personal life or other information not related to how you can succeed at the job being interviewed for.

5. Don't focus on the salary and benefits. Joyce LeMay, an associate professor of business at Bethel University says, "The interviewer may be turned off and feel that you are only interested in what the company can do for you."

6. Don't fidget. Find a comfortable position in the chair you're offered and while you don't want to be stiff, you don't want to move around a lot. If you fidget with your hands, keep them empty. These nervous behaviors can hurt your image.

7. Don't ramble on. Balance talking and listening. Measure how long it takes to answer a question. Watch the interviewer's body language to see if you're going on too long.

8. Don't be late. Perform a test drive to the location a day in advance.

9. Don't tell the interviewer you have no questions. This shows a lack of interest, curiosity and depth. Have 5- 10 questions prepared, and it's OK to pull out the list if you need to.

10. Don't rush the interviewer. Never leave until the interviewer says it's over!

Saas is definitely better

When I pressed send this morning on an email message, Gmail popped up a dialog box asking whether I'd meant to attach a file. "You wrote 'find attached' in your message," it gently mentioned, "but there were no files attached." Of course, as so often happens, I'd finished the message and pressed send without remembering to add the attachment, doh! I was really pleased and impressed that Gmail had added this gentle and oh-so-useful hint. It will save so many embarrassing resends, and thus go a small way to reduce the burden of overflowing inboxes in our lives.

The silent introduction of this reminder is a great demonstration of why SaaS is so much better than on-premise. The old way a feature like this used to be introduced was that it would get scheduled for release and you'd start reading about it for months before you actually saw it. The vendor would send out a press release about it, product managers would demo it at trade shows, journalists, analysts and beta testers would rave about it in reviews, and then finally it would show up on your shopping list. In large organizations it might be a five-year lag between the feature first being talked about and actually implementing it on a person's desktop (I know someone working for a large oil company head office who has just been redeployed to a hotdesk station that is still running on Windows 2000, believe it or not).

Of course, these days, it's possible for vendors to update on-premise software on an ongoing basis, through initiatives such as Windows Update (which I'm a great fan of) and Software Assurance. To be sure, too, it's not always so pleasant an experience as discovering the small Gmail enhancement I've cited. Murphy's law says that Windows Update will always have a big upgrade planned just at the moment when you most need to close your laptop and head off for an urgent appointment. And I was mighty irritated when I went to the search toolbar in Firefox yesterday to do a Google search and discovered that McAfee SiteAdvisor had silently installed itself as the default search engine and removed all other alternatives. Maybe that had been an accidental change made by my young son, who had been using the computer earlier, rather than an automated update, but it illustrated how disruptive it can be when an unbidden change upsets your work routine.

The fact remains, though, that the business model of on-premise software vendors is built around denying functionality to users until they can no longer resist paying for an upgrade. The success of this business model depends on spending large amounts on marketing so that users become aware of what they're missing. And of course it forces vendors to stuff the upgrade full of desirable new functions so that users can justify the cost and hassle of making the upgrade.

Whereas the business model of on-demand software vendors is built around supplying functionality to users of such pleasing utility that they remain content to continue paying their subscription, month after month. In my view, it's simply a far more elegant business model.

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Contact Sharon Software Systems for your Saas needs.