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CONFLICT AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT..
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The Sixth Edition of PMBOK® Guide Will Be Soon Out
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The Sixth Edition of PMBOK® Guide Will Be Soon Out | Project Management
PMI (Project Management Institute) is expected to roll out the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition by the third quarter of 2017. It is expected that the draft version of the Sixth Edition is ready by the first or second quarter, and the final version of the Sixth Edition should be available by mid-2017, if things go as planned.
What are the changes expected in the Sixth Edition?
>> The size of the book. Presently, the fifth edition PMBOK® Guide, has 13 chapters that spans 415 pages. The sixth edition is expected to be quarter the size of the 5th edition, which means it should be close to 84 pages and the number of chapters too have come down to 10. So, sixth edition should be 10 chapters with 84 pages in the draft version. By the time sixth edition gets published, PMI possibly will add more pages. The final number of pages for now is unknown.
>> Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs (ITTOs) – the sixth edition will not dwell deep into ITTOs, rather it will be covered at a high level.
>> The first version of the PMBOK 6th edition is ¼ the size of the PMBOK 5th edition. The 6th editions currently has 10 chapters and 84 pages, while the 5th edition had 13 chapters and 415 pages.
>> Alignment with Process Groups: the sixth edition will be divided based on the 5 process groups, and not the 10 knowledge areas. This is considered a major change as the Role Delineation Study (RDS) conducted by PMI has presented its findings and proposed the changed to be aligned with process groups.
>> Combination of first three chapters. In the sixth edition, the first three chapters will be combined as one – the interpersonal skills of the project manager and organizational skills will be merged in to one.
>>Two processes are expected to be deleted. The Close Procurements process and Estimate Activities Resources are more likely to be deleted.
>>Two knowledge areas to be renamed; Time Management and Human Resource Management to be renamed. Time management will be renamed Schedule management, while human resource management becomes Resource Management
>> Knowledge Areas to feature four section. Every knowledge areas will have four new sections, namely, Key Concepts, Trends and Emerging Practices, Tailoring Considerations and Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments.
>> An exclusive chapter on role of Project manager. This chapter on Project Manager will cover the key concepts about core competencies, expertise, leadership skills expected in leading a project.
>> Approaches for Agile : every knowledge area will be inclusive of a section with a the title Approaches for Agile, Iterative and Adaptive Environments’. This will , detail the integration of agile practices in project backgrounds.
>> PMI Talent Triangle™: PMI spells the details about the technical skills, business intelligence , and leadership considered the key skills for success. It is also known as Talent triangle.
Reference source: http://www.examspm.com/2016/07/16/pmbok-6th-edition-release-date-changes/
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/about/current-projects
http://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp/update
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational-standards-exposure-draft
https://www.pmi.org/learning/training-development/talent-triangle
CONFLICT AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
http://www.pmi-ksa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Stakeholder-Management-and-Conflict-Resolution-Course-Brochure-3.png
The biggest
challenge in any corporate or company [big or small] is conflict management.
Most of the professionals as part of the human capital are admittedly
millennials and the most worrisome aspect is their psyche. This generation is
simply intolerant or less tolerant. However talent they might, being a bigot is
the last thing a Project Manager want in the team, the delivery is not going to
happen. No project has ever delivered by one person. It’s a team effort. The
team has to be open to each other and are to criticize the ideas but criticize
the person. That’s a very line as differentiating a person from their thought
isn’t easy as put. Many tend to take it personal.
Another
challenge is that most of the people don’t have common objective. Or the vision is not the same for everybody.
The same thought can be perceived differently – just like half full and half
empty. We tend to see things differently looking at the same object. So this
lack of sync in project members adds to the conflict. Hence people at different
layers in a project need to be in the same and understand one another. This, of
course, is easier said than done because there is something called residual
anger that becomes a huge bottleneck. There could be a bitter rub in the past
project or some engagement and human by nature are egoist. Hence, in a
professional environment, we have to conduct professionally setting aside
personal differences.
How to fix
when we have multiple stakeholders [internal stakeholders]?
People
should know their boundaries. [It is already mentioned that they must have
common objectives,]. There might be a QA manager in the development team.
Though the QA Manager identified some issues in the development, it will not in
in the person’ premise to fix as part of the common objective. Rather, the QA
manager must escalate to the Dev Manager who must attend on the fix. The
conflict arises when the QA Manager tries to solve the Dev manager’ problem out
of enthusiasm or interest or urgency or reason conceivable. But this is unacceptable. This will cause chaos and conflict in the
system. Unless they are the owner of the
problem, they should not solve the problem. In a professional environment, if
every profession tries to solve every other problem, that itself will create
conflict because different people will different strategies to deal with
problems and manage project. The need of the hour then is people at al layers
must be organized – they should their mission, vision, boundaries and roles
& responsibilities.
In a complex
project, conflicts are common, and this where the project plan plays a critical
role. The project plan helps in communication plan – as how as stakeholders –
must communicate with each other and the frequency of communication and manner
in which information can flow back and forth. The moment people start to
respect their project plan, then there is less chances for conflict. Sometimes
we may need to set back and view what the plan states. T There might be moments
when you may have to listen to your instincts. Before the project started, you
might have agreed to do, and by now looking the project plan, you may not be on
track and even lag. Whether you are over boarding or under. Whether there burn
rate is more as compared to the efforts or within control. Going by experience,
the burn will be more. That’s why you may have to sit back and look back at the
rule of engagement drafted at the start of project initiation for greater
clarity.
The
boundaries for the stakeholders too must identified, well documented, and
respected. Thus will avoid inference, intrusion and encroachment. Thus when
there is greater collaboration and cooperation within the team is paramount to
keep the stakeholders satisfied.
Management Styles
Authoritative Style: In this style project Manager gives the direction to the team however team has space to come up with the solution and implement the same. Project Manager has complete vision of the project and helps the project team to understand the vision and let them to execute the same. In this style project team gets assistance and guidance. In this case project Manager needs to have very good functional and some technical expertise to exercise this type of management style
Affiliate Style: In this style project manager is more friendly with the project team and also takes care of they needs including the career goals and personal needs. In most cases when the team has right set if technical and functional skills where the team needs very less guidance from the manager on the project delivery this style will fit aptly.
Democratic Style: In this style everyone in the team has a say in the project execution and planning. In this case to arrive at the proper project plan, it takes longer time as everyone in the team involves in the planning and at times its very hard to come to a conclusion when more than one people have different opinion.
Coaching Style: Any project Manager is required to play the role of coaching at some point in time of the project execution. This too comes along with democratic style where project manager encourages the project team even in their times of failure. This skill/style is more required when the project team is inexperienced and needs more hand holding.
We have gone through the different styles of project management, and its clearly visible that we may need to exercise different styles at different phases or times of projects. Depends on the complexity, maturity of the team, stakeholders we have to decide what type of style we should exercise..
Role of Project Manager
img source: http://www.projectmanage.com/
Here I would like to share some of the project management styles that would be effective in certain environments. We can consider some of the common project environments and what type of project management style will go well with those situations
1. Customer is well organized (Clear Scope, fixed time line & Efficient project Teams)
This is very ideal scenario however this may not the case in most cases but there is some challenge if the project team is not engaged well, there is high chance they will lose the interest which will damage the work. So in this type of environment Project Manager needs to be more organized and more people -centric to manager for the project to be successful as the focus needs to be there on the people more (in terms of engaging them well)
2. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Efficient Project Teams)
This is most common scenario which we can see in most of cases. Here challenging part is stakeholder management and clear communication mechanism should be in place. In this case Project Manager needs to be commanding and have control over all the stakeholder to ensure that all commitments from different stakeholders are honored on time. All communications to be strictly followed and any deviation to be communicated and rebaseline accordingly upon the approval of the respective stakeholders
3. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Unorganized Project Teams)
When both Customer and Project Teams are not as expected, then project manager’s role become even critical and Project Manager needs to implement almost all the project management principles strictly in all phases of project execution so that he/she can bring the predictability of the project to the stakeholders. So in this case for sure Project Manager needs to be trained in Project Management thoroughly to reduce the risk to the project.
Are the curtains coming down on certification? NO
Temperament – Tame Your Tongue | Human Resources Management
Quality Management – Six Sigma
Automation is almost everywhere, and head more in the IT sphere. Of course it started from there and soon spread to other industries. It wasn’t a question when they are introduced in software industry, especially in testing. It was more about the replacement skilled hands good at manual testing. No matter how good you are testing, there is a slack on everyone as the day wears out, human fatigue, wear and tear is all part of the daily rigor, but for a machine that’s lifeless and programmed to perform complex and complicated work, there is no such fatigue except the glitch, which the engineers anticipate, preempt before deploying into production.
There is flip side into automation but the benefits far overweigh manual testing and hence the job loss. With automation taking over as a technological drive, it was only a matter of time before manual testing would replace men with machines. That’s the reality and sooner one reconciles and find alternatives to stay relevant, and required there is less to worry about pink slips.
It is a technique that was devised way back in 1990s by two engineers working in Motorola to improve the quality by decreasing the numbers of errors that might occur. It is basically about identifying the causes of the errors, and systematically removing there errors, so that there will be not any recurrence. The quality engineer follows management methods based on experimentation and observation and analyse their findings through statistical methods.
The higher the probability of reducing the errors, then higher will the profitability to the organization. This was the underlying principle. This practice created a specialized pool of talented people who have an eye of detecting the flaws and direction solutions to fix.
They follow a step of methods that sequential in inspecting and identifying the defect to create a defect-free product. Statistically speaking 3.4 defective features per million opportunities means 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part that are free from defects. That is six sigma in a nut shell.
Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
Couresty:wiki
DPMO is Defect Per Million Opportunities. From the chart, it is evident the desired six sigma level is 6.
Along with the various level of identification came the expertise with in a person to handle six-sigma related projects and to evaluate their expertise, karate belts like yellow, black were used to identify the skillset of the six sigma professionals.
The Six Sigma Green Belt professionals are generally employees who are involved with maintenance of Six-Sigma as part of their job responsibilities. This does mean that this is their only job but one among many parts of their line of work. Six Sigma Certification Online is very much possible as training centers provide different modes of imparting knowledge transfer: Instructor-led Classroom, Instructor-Led Online Class and E-Learning.
There are many benefits of Sig Sigma testing, some of which are highlighted below:
Improved quality: when Motorola initiated in early 90s, it almost went unnoticed. Jack Welch made it popular when he announced the annual results and heads started turns to Six Sigma and more companies followed suit.
Increased ROI: As mentioned above, higher probability of reducing the errors leads to greater profitability to the organization.
Greater Customer Satisfaction: It’s a win-win where both the stakeholders are happy: the client and vendor.
Employee Recognition. The employees who worked in bringing the turnaround by tightly controlling the defects deserve due appreciation and accolade.
The Importance Of IT Service Management.
What Are Your Skills | Resource Management
The human capital, with the exponential growth in population, is immeasurably huge. Today the talent pool is just terrific. Paradoxically, the skill gap persists despite the overwhelming numbers of resource. The issue, as always, is the fitment. The question is: do you fit? An organization's needs vary from time to time, and that’s why the insistence of skills upgrade. Stopping at a place in today’s pace Is walking backwards. That spells something about the competition – which means you have to have always in your guard, keep your eyes and ears open and be ready on your toes. The physical attributes aside, the mental faculty needs to be brushed up and stepped up. Now comes the key question? What are your skills? Everyone is gifted with a primary skill. Problem is we don’t know what we are good at. Really! We just follow the crowd and flow with the tide and knock on doors that have good opportunities – that pays you well offering good positions. So it’s more about aligning your skills towards the direction of boom and bucks.
Have you ever tried to identify your own talents or primary skills and pursue a career where you can flourish given your natural abilities and gifted talents? Today, most of us want to try our hand in IT. Why? Because it pays handsomely, and the scope is just superb. What if you are good at writing? Or painting or fixing wheels or sort or any other vocation? Sense of job satisfaction is a far cry these days because our occupation is marked by demand in the market. What happened to your skills? Either untapped or unaware.
So how to identify your skills?
• Whatever you can do with relative ease and keep motivating you keep going.
• Whatever you enjoy doing
• Whatever people come to you often for aid/assistance/assignment
Once you know what you are really good at, nurture. Try getting advice from peers and superiors. Mentoring helps. Remember, there are primary skill and secondary skills. In today’s competitive world, you need to don more than one hat as a performer. So learn more skills. Become multi-talented. Versatile. And that’s makes you more in demand, rather than following the demand of the market. Make them come to you, instead of you approaching them. You know well where lies the bargaining power. The one to give the most job satisfaction is the one you really enjoy.
the banner image is courtesy:
Problem And Incident – Are They Same? | Problem Management
Topline is Talent
The HI-B visa creating a ruckus and protectionism playing it out in the front with full force, the parity in the pay that reckoned to be lopsided, the crunch now will be on the talent as the metric has been set for the minimum pay – be it native or foreign workers. Still, there exists a gap between the available with the desirable. The numbers simply don’t add up to it. The reason why foreign workers were hired was to offset the numbers. Jobs were there in numbers but hand were fewer. With the new change in hiring policy and severe clamp in the Hi-B policies mainly aiming to guard the interest of the citizen.
Alright, enough said about safeguarding jobs of residents. The question now would be “are you employable?” as one of the leading online education service provider, we regularly conduct boot camps, workshops and training mainly to equip the professionals/participants in enriching their knowledge base, and confidence level in order to become capable of becoming counted first as candidates and then crack the number of interview rounds to be make it on top as ‘employee’. The grind is difficult. Its talent alone that takes you to the top of the heap. Remember, there is no shortage of resume, it’s the skill that suffers a shortage. The demand-supply is always skewed and very rarely have we witnessed the demand surpassing the supply. More often, vacancies remain vacant for want of the right talent.
You are an amazing resource – just showcase it. Most of us are unaware of our true potential. Tap it. How will you when they are hidden. That’s when mentoring helps.
Consult . Especially the ones you respect and value their opinions.
Mentoring. Everyone needs a mentor. A guide to show the path and lead them on. Not everyone can become your mentor. There has to be a connect and chemistry, the one who earns your confidence and you repose faith in them to groom and guide you.
Identify your natural skills. The ones that comes to you naturally. May be writing is your forte, or painting or some sports. Every individual is gifted with some ability. It’s all about sighting and sprucing up. Remember, that’s your primary skill.
Whatever be your chosen field, unless you excel and exceed expectations, you talent remain unharnessed. Certifications help you to amplify your skills and , get the doors opened. Talent is what takes you further to the top.
we value your feedback and your comments are important to us. Please post it to info@icertglobal.com.
banner courtesy: https://businesstalentgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/post-merger-integration.jpg
Where the Differently-abled Deliver | iCertGlobal
By the time Beethoven was in his prime, he was deaf. What about the greatest music compositions? The innate abilities will somehow find its way.
The creations are unique and unequalled. That’s the beauty of life. Mortals can be so different. The law of nature is such that any shortcoming or deficit is made up in its own way.
I am reminded of the story when one night a blind boy walks beaming torch light in a dark lane. Two boys who happen to walk that way guffaw “why are you lighting that torch when you can’t see?” The blind boy replies “the light is for you to see. I know this way well.” Stunned, that smirk on their faces was wiped off. That’s when they realized their stupidity and respected the blind boy.
How many of us think street-smart till someone physically challenged humbles us with their human dignity. Remember Hellen Keller’s emotional outpour “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”. It’s awe-inspiring. Every individual is incredibly talented.
In this company where I work, the most incredible and impressive aspect are the opportunities provided for the “Differently-abled’ people. I shook hands with that new face and question about his native and he responded through gestures and sound “I have hearing problem and speech too” and for a moment I stood there transfixed. I warmly shook his hands and mouthed a “pleasure meeting you” and never miss to greet him whenever our paths cross.
When the CEO announced the top performer for the month, , it was that person who went to collect the gift and certificate from the CEO and beamed me huge smile flashing a V sign. Moments like that can make one emotional. Oh yes, I was incredibly happy for him. Despite the physical difficulties. the sheer courage to overcome and become one among the equals. Call it fortitude. That moment of glory is frozen in my memory. They have to complete like any of the employees. My HR confided that we have many such ‘professionals’, An individual career path is carved and can carry oneself with pride as being ‘specially and significantly’ abled. And deliver too.
I was reminded someone saying “life is like a chess board. We cannot get into a white square without crossing the black”. Pearls of wisdom from all the corners of this place that enlighten me and continue to do so.
You don’t have to enlisted in the fortune 500 or rake in millions as turnover. In a small way, you still contribute to the society by hiring people who are ‘specially-abled’ and qualify to be recruited. To me this wasn’t just benevolence or CSR, but very noble to ’have such a heart’ to that you don’t have to big shot in business – just a big heart will do. Awesome!!!
And the company I am associated is iCertGlobal.
Divya works as Business Manager, and is actively involved with NGOS and charitable institutions. Divya actively contributes to our blogs .She loves arts, music and fond of street-food.
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Attrition Has Never Been An Issue To This EdTech Company - iCertGlobal
People are leaving. Dropping off like nine pins. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stating he the people who quit was at 2.2% which translates to 3.22 million Americans. The highest seen since February 2001.
Does it impact the companies when employees leave? It depends on who is leaving. If it is a top performer, then it might rock the boat
No Scarcity In Skills
iCertGlobal has faced a number of challenges, but never struggled with talent erosion. The ability to anticipate and manage expectations is one of its cornerstones. The company has risen in headcount steadily – not in leaps and bounds, but steady growth, just as their bottom line. “From that simple set-up with few heads” acknowledged their CEO Irfan Sharief “to where we stand today, I would say we have grown in numbers, increased our technology space but never compromised on core principles.”
Attrition Low. So what’s the big deal? That speaks a lot that fails to meet the eye. For an industry that’s known for poaching talent, it speaks a lot about the stability of the company.
It’s not a story by luck or chance that a company is started and survives and thrives in the digital transformation age when competition is fierce and you need to more than firefighting tactics. It’s one of audacity and ambition.
So, the challenge always is to enroll the employees in your mission. Unless, there is a buy-in from the staff, things will stall.
Pay, Passion, Or Profession
Why do employees stay or quit? The same reason can be cited for staying or leaving – the corporate culture, may be suiting or stifling. Again, subjective. The likes and dislikes vary from person to person. As a professional, what drives you to work? Pay, passion, policies, principle, or perks or any other factor. It could also be the same for you to stick on. It may be difficult to pinpoint. It is imperative to retain key talent. Looking at workforce, some have chosen to stay since inception.remain since inception.
What makes them stay? This is a place wherein every hand is ‘deemed’ indispensable and the philosophy of the ‘leader is as good as the team” is perfectly embodied in spirit and letter.
iCertGlobal wins Business Leadership Award | Success Story
An award — for the Accomplishment
iCertGlobal was back in the news bagging their second award in the year.
During the International Achievers Summit, 2017, convened last week, iCertGlobal was awarded the Business Leadership for their outstanding contribution towards progress and development in the educational segment. The selection committee for the award included the Chairman-ASEAN Affairs, Thailand, President-IB Alliance, Russia, Vice-Chairman, Indo-American of Commerce (IACC). iCertGlobal emerged as the winner after a close scrutiny in terms of excellence in commitment, market strategy, business potential, financial stability, innovation and leadership outclassing its peers and rivals.
As one of the thought leaders and pioneers in Edtech Industry, iCertGlobal was acknowledged for its influence and involvement in shaping the career of many professionals by its dedicated drive to up-skill and thereby close the skill gap.
“The Business Leadership Award by the International Achievers Summit is a telling testimony of iCertGlobal’s outstanding performance and contribution in augmenting and enhancing soft skills of professionals in the region.”
Participating in the event that was graced with Diplomats, leading lights from various industries, other dignitaries and hundreds of delegates, Irfan Sharief remarked “we need to reinvent constantly and continuously, to stay relevant in this market where people compete for mindshare. We are pleased to receive the award and humbled by the recognition. It will be an honor in carrying the expectations forward.”
iCertGlobal, is one of the leading professional certification training providers, offering several programs to corporate and consumers. Based out of Houston, Texas, US, and operations in UK, Australia, APAC and India, iCertGlobal has a global imprint across the globe.
Microsoft, one of the major corporate, among many has partnered with iCertGlobal in recent times for nurturing more talents.
Success Streak
When queried for the success in winning this award, Irfan remarked “we have upgraded from traditional teaching to technology backed learning, but offer the choice to the customer to decide on the mode. As compared to the physical learning and current training, there exists a huge gap. Our job is to bridge. From classroom training to eLearning and then Instructor led Live Virtual classes, the customer has many a choice. Be it blended or dedicated mode, we strive to offer the best and scale as much as we can by staying competitive in cost, and to pass on the benefits to our customers. It has been a rewarding experience so far as we have never stopped in our efforts to strive and scale.”
iCertGlobal conducts professional trainings on varied and diverse list from Project Management, Service Management, Quality Management, Agile & Scrum and Niche technologies. They are active in both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumers) models, and successfully trained more than 75,000 professionals with more than 3,000,000 quality hours of active training, spread across strategic locations like Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, UK and US.
Irfan further asserts “our charts have climbed ever since commencing operation in 2013. We have seen variations in some regions, and managed to keep the sales steadily rise up. We never saw any slump so far. “
Some insights about iCertGlobal
About The Company
Website:www.icertglobal.com — — -Industry: EdTech Services
US Headquarters: Houston, Texas — Growth: up by 200%
Headcount :up by 300% — — — — — No of Trainers:300
No of SME 200 — — — — — — — — — Founded:2013
‘What lies ahead of Successful run ‘
“Huge opportunities” noted Irfan.
Reminiscing the time of start, Irfan walked down memory lane “there are newcomers in the market with soaring ambitions. And that’s inevitable. Just the way we started, there will be new faces trying to explore. Today, the customers are spoilt for choice, and competition is real hard to outrun and outclass. So, it’s all about digging deeper and harder to keep pace with the changing expectations. What the customer want yesterday, may not remain the same this day. So in such a dynamic and volatile environment, one can’t be complacent. So to be successful, treat every day as special and significant. Keep igniting yourself with innovation in customer service. That is the edge. That zeal and passion should never waver or lower. It might be trite but so long you compete with the best, burning as much energy and enthusiasm, we can be successful.” iCertGlobal has posted remarkable growth year on year. On a concluding note, Irfan stressed “customer service is undergoing a paradigm shift. From my experience, it looks like the finish has been redrawn upfront to the pre-sales. You need to convince the client about your capabilities and move forward together. That’s the way ahead.”
About the Award
Achievers’ World Excellence Awards
There are people in the society for whom circumstances, lack of resources and setbacks are no hurdles. These individuals are people of strong will and dedication. Despite all odds, these champions polish their lives so much in their field of interest that they stand apart in society. Having achieved great heights in their respective domains, these individuals need to be encouraged, hence Achievers’ World Excellence Awards.
