Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).  The closed-book exam consists of 180 multiple-choice questions written against the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)  specification and the PMP Code of Ethics .  Since January 2021, the exam is tested on three different domains : People (42%) Process (50%) Business Environment (8%) The exam is based on tasks from five performance domains or process groups , encompassing a total of 49 processes. The PMP Examination Specification  weighted these groups as follows: Initiating the project (13%) Planning the project (24%) Executing the project (31%) Monitoring and controlling the project (25%) Closing the project (7%) Mapped to these five process groups are ten project management Knowledge Areas : Project Integration Management Project Scope Management Project Schedule Management Project Cost Management Project Qu...

Project Management Institute (PMI) is offering a Foundational level online course  Generative AI Overview for Project Managers  that can fetch 5 Professional Development Units (PDUs) for certifications holders.  The course is a hands-on learning experience for project professionals that will empower you with practical knowledge of AI in project management that you can apply right away to your project management approaches. What is covered:     Definitions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI     Understand Generative AI applications in project management     Discover the AI project manager tools that can use to maximize efficiency     Learn best practices for project management in AI as a way of working Some useful content from the course Resources : DO’s for Project Practitioners Using GenAI: Use AI to automate repetitive tasks to increase efficiency Use AI to make informed decisions based on large data sets Use AI to ...

This Week I Learned -  * HTML condenses whitespaces.  Whitespace is any string of text composed only of spaces, tabs or line breaks (to be precise, CRLF sequences, carriage returns or line feeds). The presence of whitespace in the DOM can cause layout problems and make manipulation of the content tree difficult in unexpected ways, depending on where it is located. Most whitespace characters are ignored by CSS, but not all of them. *  Periodic table  of Elements  created with CSS grid * For some time, containerization was a Linux-only feature. Windows applications could not benefit from containers. That changed with Windows containers and their subsequent support in Kubernetes and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). *  Free Datasets for Analytics Projects *  Open Government Data (OGD) Platform - India *  Mastodon is free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services.  * There are 15,048 public repositories whic...

The Project Manager’s Tool Kit, 100 Tips and Techniques for Getting the Job Done Right by Tom Kendrick is a useful collection of short summaries on project management  practices that make for easy reading. The recent Third Edition of this book is based on the processes in the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMBOK Guide, Fifth Edition (2013) but it focuses on the practical aspects of project management like Conflict Resolution, Influence Without Authority, Motivation, Project Metrics, Responsibility Analysis etc in an informal way. This is a good book for project managers and leaders - a handy guide for beginners and a reference for the experienced. While bullet points are liberally used, I would have loved to see more of them to highlight actionable points. I feel information conveyed through bullet points make summaries sticky. All keywords are marked in bold face and that will help novices pick up on the project management terminology and improve their business communication...

Some of the key behaviors of Google Managers that are rated by their team members (paraphrased from a HBR blog article ): delivers difficult feedback constructively gives actionable feedback that helps subordinate improve performance does not micromanage regularly shares relevant information from his/her manager and senior leadership helps reportee understand how his/her work impacts the organization has regular 1:1s has the technical expertise required to effectively manage reportee talks about all aspects of career development - not just promotions has a meaningful discussion with subordinate about his/her career development in the past six months. Following the rating , each manager gets detailed pointers on applying the semiannual feedback and developing essential skills -practical guidance that traditional 360s generally lack. Google which has more than 37,000 employees, has just 5,000 managers, 1,000 directors, and 100 vice presidents

uCertify is a provider of test preparation software for 400+ IT certification exams from 18 different Testing agencies including Microsoft & PMI. uCertify offered me access to an online PrepKit in exchange for an unbiased review. I tried their PrepKit for the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) course and found it to be comprehensive and useful. For me the best part of the PMP v-5 online PrepKit is the collection of 710 Practice Questions with full explanations. Besides that, there are 110 Interactive Quizzes & a Pre-Assessment Test. The Practice Questions can be taken in Test, Learn & Review mode. There is also review study material based on the Fifth edition of PMBOK which includes Tips & Flash Cards to highlight points important for passing the PMP exam. Test history & performance analytics reports help in gauging your progress, identify the areas you have mastered and help you focus on areas which need improvement to pass the actual exam. The PrepK...

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art by Steve McConnell is a book that meets my definition of a good technical book . In my opinion, Estimation is an underrated subject. A lack of understanding of this topic among team members (not just the PM) can negatively impact the success of the project. This is because the Project Manager has to draw on the judgement & experience of the software development team as well. This book is written for developers, leads, testers, and managers who need to create estimates occasionally as one of their many job responsibilities . It gently guides the reader through the esoteric art of software estimation with lots of practical real-world advice. Within the 300+ pages of the book spread across 23 chapters, the author explains 32 Estimation techniques graded according by these factors of applicability: What's estimated (Size, Effort, Schedule, Cost, Features)  Size of project (Small, Medium, Large) Development stage (Early...

I purchased Head First PMP after a PM friend recommended me that book as a good starter guide to prepare for the PMP certification. As he mentioned & others have vouched, no one book including this one can help you pass the exam. What this book does is that it makes learning Project Management concepts enjoyable. This was my first book in the Head First series. I liked the book's unusual, non-linear style (with things like notes in the margins) of presentation although the excessive use of goofy pictures put me off a bit. The tone throughout is very informal, friendly & conversational which makes the guide engaging. The 42 processes which form the core of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide, 4th Edition and cross-cut 9 Knowledge Areas & 6 Process Groups are explained well. Processes grouped by Knowledge Area make up a chapter. Besides the 9 chapters focusing on the Knowledge Areas, there are 6 more which cover the preliminaries & practice tes...

Project 2007 is a complex & powerful tool for Project management. By taking over the number crunching & analysis part, it helps Project Managers conserve time and focus on decision making aspects. In the Trenches with Microsoft Office Project 2007 by Elaine Marmel shows how to use Project 2007 for various Project management situations in about 350 odd pages. In a part cookbook, part tutorial style the author takes the reader through common scenarios that a PM can face, suggests best practices and offers useful tips. As the author admits, this book is not specifically a guide for Project 2007. It is ill-suited for beginners to Project 2007. It does not target any specific edition of Project 2007. I feel the contents could have been organized and presented in a better way to make it more engaging. I love it when key points are summarized at the end of each chapter (as in Code Complete or some of the Microsoft Certification guides). That way, the gist of the chapters are sti...

A study on team dynamics has found that groups that had a bad apple (a person with a personality type of "Depressive Pessimist" or "Jerk" or "Slacker") would perform worse and other team members begin to take on the bad apple's characteristics. ...the worst team member is the best predictor of how any team performs. Jeff Atwood writes... While it's depressing to learn that a group can be so powerfully affected by the worst tendencies of a single member, it's heartening to know that a skilled leader, if you're lucky enough to have one, can intervene and potentially control the situation. Still, the obvious solution is to address the problem at its source: get rid of the bad apple. Even if it's you. So how to spot a bad apple in a team or know if you are turning into a bad apple? Jeff quotes Steve McConnell on the possible warning signs that you're dealing with a bad apple on your team: 1. They cover up their ignorance rather than...

"How does a project get to be a year late?... One day at a time" - Fredrick P. Brooks When you are setting out on a long journey along an unknown path, it pays to seek advice from folks who know that path well. Similarly you can count on the book Software Project Survival Guide by Steve McConnell, the accomplished author of the classics Code Complete and Rapid Development, for guidance on completing your project successfully. The author draws inspiration from the best practices suggested by numerous Software Project Management publications and his rich experience to prescribe a Staged Delivery approach to tackle small & medium sized projects. His pragmatic & optimistic approach has some elements from the Agile methodology. He emphasizes the power of "Process" and shows how it can lead to better predictability, visibility and control. There was just one instance where I felt this may have been romanticized - The completed Software Project History provides a...