Month: November 2016

Certification, PMI-ACP

The True Cost of Free Exam Prep. Questions

Most people taking a project management certification exam use sample tests. Whether it is a PMP exam, ScrumMaster, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PgMP or many others, there are plenty of online options for getting familiar with the format and determining if you are ready to sit the exam proper. Unfortunately, like all things found online, the quality and relevance varies considerably. If we are just looking for funny cat videos, the occasional shaky video filmed in portrait mode is annoying–but easily skipped and not the end of the world. However, bad exam simulators can give a false sense of security–or a false sense of insecurity–and generally do not prepare you at all for what the actual exam will really be like. Before getting […]

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Agile Project Management, Events, Leadership, Metrics, Risk Management, Teams

Agile Risk Management

This article aims to dispel the myth that agile projects somehow magical manage risks for us, and outlines a couple of practical tools that can be used to start improving risk management approaches.  Agile is Not a Risk Management Approach Some people believe agile approaches with their short cycles and regular feedback have a risk management approach naturally built into the process.  It is easy to see why, the building blocks and attachment points for plugging in an effective risk management process are undoubtedly present, but unfortunately, just building something iteratively or incrementally does not ensure risks are managed. It is all too easy to develop iteratively, missing opportunities to actively address threats or exploit opportunities. Many agile teams also […]

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Agile Project Management, Estimating, Leadership, Metrics, Planning, Risk Management, Teams

When Outsourcing Makes Sense

Disclaimer: This article is based on my personal experience of software project development work over a 25 year period running a mixture of local projects, outsourced projects and hybrid models. The data is my own and subjective, but supported by 1,000’s of industry peers I question while delivering training courses for the PMI. I do not work for a local based or outsourcing based company, I have nothing to gain from favoring either approach, but I hope these thoughts are useful for determining some of the pro’s, con’s, true costs and circumstances when outsourcing is better or worse than local development. To the uninitiated, outsourcing seems like a great idea. Software engineers are expensive in many countries but much cheaper […]

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