Free PMP PDU - Category B - SWAT: A Tactical Approach to Designing Project Accomplishments

Note: Beginning March 1 2011, PMI has changed the categories & consolidated and eliminated redundant categories.

The new system now has Category A, B, C, D, E & F (Much simpler, no more sub categories) like 2 SDL etc..

So you can claim this PDU under Category B - Continuing Education.

How to get 1 Free PMP PDU?
See this Free Webinar and you can report 1 PDU against Category B.
At the end of this webinar are the details on what to report for the provider.
Link
No need to create a login, you can see the recorded webinar by clicking on the "View the webinar now" button and enter your email. Then the webinar should start automatically, it runs for 1 hour.

About the Webinar
This webinar takes a holistic look at project management through systems thinking. By using examples from his experience as a tactical law enforcement photographer, Timothy Johnson will demonstrate how Systems Working All Together (SWAT) really are the best "Special Weapons and Tactics" available to project managers.

Note: I will post more posts on how to earn more PDU's.

PMP New PDU Categories

Beginning March 1 2011, PMI has changed the categories under which we report PDUs.

The new one is good because under Category B we get 30 PDUs for Self Directed Learning, in the old system under 2 SDL only 15 PDUs was granted.

And we still have no maximum for Category B, which is always good.

Keep learning folks & keep reporting all your PDUs...

Note: If you follow my blog, I will keep posting different official ways to earn and report PDUs (without spending a penny) all you need to do is learn and allocate time and energy.

If you like what you see on my blog, leave me a comment, encourages me to post more.

Category	Description	PMP - Max Earnable PDUs
A	Courses offered by PMI's R.E.P.s or Chapters and Communities	No maximum
B	Continuing Education	No maximum
C	Self-Directed Learning	May earn up to 30 PDUs per cycle
D	Creating New Project Management Knowledge	PDUs earned count toward the maximum of "Giving Back to the Profession" May earn up to 45 PDUs per cycle in the three "Giving Back to the Profession" categories - D, E and F
E	Volunteer Service	PDUs earned count toward the maximum of "Giving Back to the Profession" May earn up to 45 PDUs per cycle in the three "Giving Back to the Profession" categories - D, E and F
F	Work as a Practitioner	May earn up to 5 PDUs annually or 15 PDUs per cycle.

Free PMP PDU - Category B - Soft Skills for Project Managers: The Human Part of the Gantt Chart

Note: Beginning March 1 2011, PMI has changed the categories & consolidated and eliminated redundant categories.

The new system now has Category A, B, C, D, E & F (Much simpler, no more sub categories) like 2 SDL etc..

So you can claim this PDU under Category B - Continuing Education.

How to get 1 Free PMP PDU?

See this Free Webinar and you can report 1 PDU against Category B.

At the end of this webinar are the details on what to report for the provider.

Link

No need to create a login, you can see the recorded webinar by clicking on the "View the webinar now" button and enter your email. Then the webinar should start automatically, it runs for 1 hour.

About the Webinar

In this webinar, Pam Stanton will share her experience and insight on the soft skills necessary to distinguish yourself as a great Project Manager.

Note: I will post more posts on how to earn more PDU's.

Free PMP PDU - Category 4 - Stop Playing Games...

How to get 1 Free PMP PDU?

See this Free Webinar and you can report 1 PDU against Category 4.

At the end of this webinar are the details on what to report for the provider.

Link

No need to create a login, you can see the recorded webinar by clicking on the "View the webinar now" button and enter your email. Then the webinar should start automatically, it runs for 1 hour.

About the Webinar

In this webinar, Rick Morris will bring to life true issues and solutions which help Project Managers avoid the games we are forced to play in our projects.

Note: I will post more posts on how to earn more PDU's.

Free PMP PDU - Category 4 - The life long project

How to get 1 Free PMP PDU?

See this Free Webinar and you can report 1 PDU against Category 4.

At the end of this webinar are the details on what to report for the provider.

Link

No need to create a login, you can see the recorded webinar by clicking on the "View the webinar now" button and enter your email. Then the webinar should start automatically, it runs for 1 hour.

About the Webinar

In this hour long presentation project management expert, Joseph Phillips, will share how you can use the principles of project management to achieve your professional and personal goals in 2011.

Note: I will post more posts on how to earn more PDU's.

EVM - Earned Value Management

EVM - Earned Value Management

Earned Value Management (EVM) also referred to as earned value, is a technique for the management of cost and schedule.

Planned Value => is the amount of resources, usually stated in terms of dollars, that are expected to be consumed to accomplish a specific piece of work scope.

Actual Cost => is the amount of resources, usually stated in terms of dollars, that were expended in a specified time period to accomplish a specific scope of work.

Earned Value => is a measure of the amount of work accomplished, stated in terms of all or a portion of the budget assigned to that specific scope of work.

Some formula,

Schedule Variance (SV) = Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV)

SV % = Schedule Variance (SV) / Planned Value (PV)

Schedule Performance Indicator (SPI) = Earned Value (EV) /Planned Value (PV)

To Complete Schedule Performance Indicator (TSPI) = ( Total Budget - EV ) / ( Total Budget - PV )

Budget At Completion (BAC) = Baselined Effort-hours * Hourly Rate

Estimate At Completion => EAC = AC + ( BAC -EV )

Estimate At Completion => EAC = AC + ETC ( Estimate to complete )

Estimate At Completion => EAC = AC + ( BAC- EV ) / CPI

Variance At Completion => VAC = BAC - EAC

% Completed Planned = PV / BAC

% Completed Actual = AC / EAC

Realistic project estimates using PERT Program Evaluation and Review Technique

I have had several experiences with different managers with respect to estimates.
Some have said this is too high, some have said this is too low, please add lots of buffer. Some took my estimates and doubled it and gave it to their management. :)

So looking at PMBOK is there a good way to arrive at an estimate, yes one of the ways is to use the PERT estimation.

Break down you entire task in to activities and for each activity do the following.

The most pessimistic (P) estimate when everything goes wrong
The most optimistic (O) estimate where everything goes right (past experience doing similar projects can help here)
The most likely (M) estimate given normal problems and opportunities


PERT estimate for an activity = (O + 4M + P)/6

This is also called the weighted average. (Because the most likely estimate is weighed 4 times the other two).

Next time you are asked for an estimate try this & best of all after your activity is completed, try how realistic your estimates were !