Can I qualify for the PMI-ACP? A Few Quick Tips

This article has a few quick tips for those who have thought of applying for the Project Management Institute’s Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) certification - but aren’t sure if they have the right Agile experience. I recently earned my PMI-ACP and the learning involved has been valuable.

The requirements for getting this certification include eight months of agile project experience in the last three years. (There are additional requirements for education and experience.)

When considering my application, I wondered if I could use projects where I hadn’t used the words “Scrum” or “Agile” in them.

The short answer is yes.

I knew I had been using an agile approach for many years in my work.  Largely I develop courses and deliver them. If you’ve ever given a course that spans a few months or more, you know there are many iterations of making updates to the material to keep it relevant as you deliver.

So - my projects were iterative and incremental, which fits with Agile. (Tip: think how you repeat portions of your work as you go along and build on that work.)

I’d recommend looking at the PMI-ACP Examination Content Outline when filling out your application. As you go through the Domains and Tasks, you will hopefully see a lot of familiar things you’ve done.

Read the Agile Manifesto – if you follow the principles, you’ve got the basis of Agile.

By the way, I did write the exam and passed - it was even an enjoyable experience! Of course, my idea of fun is taking tests…

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If you have thoughts on this article, I’d be happy to hear them at brenda@brendaniel.com.

We are offering an online Agile 101 course. Let me know if you’d like more information.

Until next time, Brenda

Risk Analysis Doesn't Have to Be Scary

I'm working on a project and we're having an important phone meeting on Friday. The Project Manager (my friend) was talking with me about some things that could go wrong. What if the clients postpone the call (again)? What if they don't like who we're proposing to do the work? What if the partner on the call goes off on a different agenda that doesn't further the purpose?

My friend was spit-balling ideas and worries. "No problem," I said. "You're doing a risk analysis and that's the perfect thing to do at this time." I suggested we talk about the very worst case scenario that could happen – just to get that out of the way. My friend laughed.

We realized that even if the worst happened, we could deal with it. Even thinking about the worst possible thing happening was balancing. What if these things did happen? Would we survive? (Of course!) Would the world fall apart? (Well, no.)

Doing a risk analysis in a project involves a few more steps but this is a good start. It's also a great way to get perspective on a project and deal with what could go wrong... or very right!

Is It You or Is it Me?

This week, I was feeling out of sorts with no evident reason why - until Thursday morning. That's when I got back into my meditation routine. My Muse device told me I hadn't meditated in four days!

When I started meditating daily six years ago, I saw remarkable changes in my life. Good things started coming to me out of the blue. Things which used to drive me bananas didn't phase me anymore. I had changed and life around me changed.

Is meditating the answer to world peace? Maybe. I do know it helps with my corner of the world.

Free Funding for IT Startups in Nova Scotia

Innovacorp has announced that it is offering up to $5,000 in funding for training for IT startups in Nova Scotia. The training needs to be incurred by March 31, 2018.

If you are interested, check out this link: innovacorp.ca/acceleration-initiatives/training-funds-it-start-ups.

Is It Clear?

Last week my daughter Shannon and I went for a walk around the local pond. As we came around the corner, the garbage can caught us by surprise. It said:

“What?!” we said to each other.

We decided to take a closer look. The can actually said:

A little misplacement of the sign, whether on purpose or not, gave a totally different message.

I guess we can forgive a garbage can for its miscommunications. In the garbage goes...

New Ways for Canadian Government Projects

If you're interested in agile, change and projects, the CBC has an excellent article on these topics: Canadian Digital Service takes startup approach to building better IT for government.

If you have two minutes to spare, take a look at the video "Shopify's lessons for the public service" in the article. Hint: failure is not a bad word.

Statistics on Project Failure

Most Common Causes of Project Failure:

• Changing priorities within organization – 40%
• Inaccurate requirements – 38%
• Change in project objectives – 35%
• Undefined risks/opportunities – 30%
• Poor communication – 30%
• Undefined project goals – 30%
• Inadequate sponsor support – 29%
• Inadequate cost estimates – 29%
• Inaccurate task time estimate – 27%
• Resource dependency – 25%
• Poor change management – 25%
• Inadequate resource forecasting – 23%
• Inexperienced project manager – 20%
• Limited resources – 20%
• Procrastination within team – 13%
• Task dependency – 11%
• Other – 9%

source: Project Management Institute: Pulse of the Profession 2015: Capturing the Value of Project Management 2015

Controlling Project Stakeholders

Can we? Probably not.

As PMI says in its latest edition of the PMBOK:

"Because project managers rarely, if ever, have the ability to control stakeholders, Control Stakeholder Engagement was renamed to Monitor Stakeholder Engagement." (page 650, PMBOK)

What We Focus On

The other day I found myself focusing on some negative events in the news. Looking for inspiration, I stared at my library of books. One book jumped out to me (felt like it literally did!)

"QBQ!", by John G. Miller, is a great book of not-so-common sense. (The full title is Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and Life - QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®, What to Really Ask Yourself to Eliminate Blame, Complaining, and Procrastination.)

Mr. Miller talks about making better choices through changing the questions we ask ourselves and others. His three simple guidelines for creating a QBQ are:

1. Begin with "What" or "How" (not "Why," "When," or "Who").
2. Contain an "I" (not "they," "them," "we," or "you").
3. Focus on action.

As he says, "What can I do?" fits the guidelines perfectly.

So, instead of thinking, "Why are they acting like that?" I started re-focusing on where I was and what I could do.

Hey, sounds like some good things are happening in the world now. Funny how that happens!

Will Working on Projects Help You Be Less Stressed?

I was talking with a business manager the other day about organizing a presentation for her group. She said, "It's always so hectic around here, people aren't so organized. Let's see if they have time to attend the session."

I replied, "Well, there you go. Project management can help with that!"

How can working with a project mindset help with organization?

First, there's the defining of the project itself and its scope. What are we doing and not doing? Clarifying that will help keep focus and eliminate unnecessary efforts.

Then there's the schedule. What has to be done next? Can someone else do part of the work concurrently to save time? Knowing what is to be done when can help reduce the running-around-with-the-head-cut-off routine.

And there's risk analysis. What should we take care of now and what money can we put aside for in case uncertain events occur? Then we can rest assured we have taken care of the what-if's and what-may-happen and get on with the job.

These are just a few examples of how organizing work into projects can reduce stress. But let's not forget communications – lack of proper communications can cause many headaches in a project. That's why identifying who is interested in the project, who can affect it positively and negatively, and how the stakeholders want to be communicated with, is so important.

If we can define these things at the beginning of the project and keep an eye on them as we go along, we will have a stronger project.