The Agile Approach

So, What About The 50% Agile Questions? 

Conclusion

• People (42%): this domain emphasizes the soft skills a project manager needs to manage a project team effectively, considering the many environmental changes.

• Process (50%): This domain focuses on the technical sides to managing projects successfully

• Business Environment (8%): this domain highlights the connection between organizational strategy and projects.

• The current ECO deviates valuably and significantly from the last one.

• Each of the domains enlists the responsibilities of project managers in the form of tasks and the actions taken to complete those tasks--enablers.

• The ECO also mentions that “About half of the examination will represent predictive project management approaches and the other half will represent agile or hybrid approaches.”

• An exam completion time of 230 minutes, down from 240 on the previous exam.
• There is an additional 10-minute break for the computer-based tests (time stops during this break) and none for the paper-based test (time does not stop during the break).
• A total of 180 questions, contrary to the former 200 questions.
• The questions consist of multiple-choice, limited fill-in-the-blank, multiple responses, matching, and hot-spot questions compared to only multiple-choice on the previous exam.

• The Minimum education is still 35 Contact Hours

• You Must Know Agile

• The New Exam Will Be Harder

• Read the new Exam Content Outline carefully.
• Use the PMBOK guide in studying for exams.
• Study the agile approaches the PMI way carefully by utilizing PMI’s Agile Practice Guide.
• Contact your trainer to know if they have an Agile background and have worked in your industry.
• Meet the requirements to take your exam virtually at home or in a private setting.

When you start working on any new project, especially one you’re excited about, it can be challenging to stop yourself from getting started right away. Why wouldn’t you want to get started right away? The answer lies in an essential step of your project process known as defining your project’s scope.

Ultimately, projects have a beginning and end phase in mind that will produce some desired product or service that will benefit your business or customers. Without properly defining the bounds and goal of any project, you run the risk of running off course, encountering inefficiencies, or ultimately producing something different from what you and your team had initially intended.

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What do we mean by ‘project’ and ‘scope’?

When we talk about a project, we refer to any temporary initiative put in place or the purpose of creating some result, whether that means a product, service, or other finished product. A project is only completed when the end goal is achieved or when it is deemed that goals cannot or will not be able to be achieved. Any successful project must begin with a plan, and defining a project’s scope is an integral aspect of any project plan.

Next, when we talk about scope, we refer to the vast array of tasks that your team must complete to accomplish a specific project's objectives. This process includes identifying the various outcomes, milestones, and overall goals that make up the larger project's accomplishment and success. This will identify points such as timelines and costs to be planned for and accomplished without roadblocks.

Necessary Steps For Defining Your Project Scope

While the project scope is just the first step in actually getting started on your project, there are many steps that you should be careful to take into account to ensure the success of the rest of the project.

Step 1: Planning

This step should be completed by the Project Manager (PM). To identify and outline the project's purpose, the PM should list and answer questions such as, what are the project objectives and goals? Or how is success measured and defined as progress is made?

After some of these questions are answered, the scope may come a little clearer into focus. However, the scope can be made even clearer by identifying those tasks or items that are not within the project’s scope. Identify the products and areas that will be focused on and which will be not. Additionally, identify which team members will use capital infrastructure to complete the project and what should be left out. The more detail included in your scope, the better chance of your project ending successfully. 

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Step 2: Definition

This part of the process involves identifying keep players, employees, or ‘stakeholders’ involved in helping to make the project happen. This involves delineating tasks, determining who has the authority to make project decisions or individuals who are the go-to for providing project information.

Step 2 includes identifying the needs of the individuals who will be benefiting from the growth and implementation of your project. Your team can complete this step by conducting focus groups, interviews, or surveys to tell you more about the population of focus. You’ll also want to identify the specific compliance standards by regulatory and industry authorities to keep in mind when moving forward with the project.

Step 3: Documentation

For the first aspect of this step, you’ll want to physically write or type out the justification behind the project's implementation. Make sure to write down what the project deliverables are, the deliverables' objectives, and how your team should accomplish each aim to achieve the deliverables. Making a hard copy of the plan and expectations helps keep the entire team on the same page and ensure that the project doesn’t drift from the original intended purpose.

Step 4: Change Management

No matter what your project is and no matter how sure you are that nothing will change over its journey, changes will always occur. Thus, it becomes necessary to establish a scope management control process and plan. 

That said, it can be difficult to properly manage a project and its scope if it is poorly planned for in advance. Changes can lead to increased time, money, and energy spent on specific steps of the project or the project as a whole, which in the end, might not be beneficial to the overall success of your business. These changes are called scope creep.

Preventing Project Scope Creep

Scope creep refers to the additional steps, responsibilities, and jobs that are added to a job that you initially did not draw up in the original plans for the project. As previously mentioned, this can lead to deviations from the initial amount of time, money, and resources that you initially delegated for the project. It’s easy to understand how this could be detrimental to the project's success and your organization.

In order to prevent the presence of scope creep, it’s advised that pre-project scope planning is taken as seriously as possible. All and all, the more detail you can include in the scope defining process, the better off you will be, long-term. Be sure to set clear measurable objectives and steps that can help you to moderate the progress of the project. This all requires communication acuity with all parties involved in helping to bring the project to fruition.

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Project management is wonderfully vast. Every industry and sector needs project managers, and their work is vital to making all things work. As project management projects vary, so do the techniques competent project managers (PM) need to employ.

Why you need techniques

Project management isn't just about making projects happen, but making them happen smoothly and efficiently. There are many moving parts to any project, and the PM has to help every stakeholder see how they all work together, how the timeline must flow, and be the organizational brain behind it all. That requires skill and know-how, but it also necessitates having methods that work best with various projects types and timespans. 

The best PMs have a full complement of tools and techniques (regardless of industry) that they know well and can bring into play as the project determines fit. These techniques don't eliminate the need for project management software but may work alongside and in many cases enhance use of the software available. 

The following techniques will help you oversee and direct the projects under your purview toward success and manage your team efficiently and effectively.   

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1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 

At first glance, any project can be overwhelming. There is so much to do, and each deliverable or project within the project must flow to keep things moving. Guesswork at the beginning of any project usually spells disaster down the line. So it is imperative to plan out the work before anything begins. 

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) precisely does what it says it does. It takes the work and breaks it down into a series of smaller, individual tasks. That doesn't just help you, as PM, to better organize things, but it is helpful to your team. Instead of concerning themselves with the entire project, they can focus on portions relevant to them and their skillset. 

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) says WBS is a ‘hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the team.’ A graph displays the completed product at the top of the page, extending to a box (or boxes) that shows larger tasks. Each larger task has lines that go to smaller tasks that will complete this larger one. The decomposition will continue until every job is listed. 

You can easily accomplish this by taking your project, and determining the elements needed to make it happen. For example, my project is a party, and the elements are food, drink, entertainment, location, and people. I can take the element drink, and break down to non-alcohol and alcohol. As I continue, once I get to a point I can no longer use nouns and must use a verb, I have broken down to an appropriate level. 

In a smaller project, you may be able to do this by hand, but project management software can assist you with larger projects. Whether sticky notes on a wall or a hierarchical structure, having the ability to create a visual representation of the work to be done is key.

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2. SCRUM

Scrum is a technique that comes from the Agile Development Framework. It entails the work of the project broken down into a Backlog of work consisting of Epics and User Stories with deliverables being produced in short cycles, called sprints. A team facilitated by a Scrum Master meets daily to discuss the progress and determine how they may efficiently remove any roadblocks. This is known to many as the daily standup.

The frequency of the discussions and the team's function means that adjustments and revisions happen quickly and typically leads to a faster finish time and a more optimal result. It requires the PM to become a Scrum Master and play a servant leader role, facilitating the team towards self-organization and full accountability while facilitating roadblock removal.

In Scrum, sprints typically last two weeks, but can be any length as long as it is a time-boxed period. At the end of the sprint, the team will demonstrate to the customer(s), key stakeholder(s), and/or product owner(s) what was created during that time. Following the demo, the team meets to discuss in retrospect how working together went and how it could have gone better. That is in preparation for the next sprint planning session, and leading to the beginning of another sprint, which takes on another iteration, or deliverable of the overall project.

3. Gantt Charts

One tried and tested method is the use of Gantt Charts. They have been around for a while and have proven to work well for experienced PMs and beginners. Gantt Charts are a visual representation of identified tasks needing completion to finish the entire project, along with timelines of each. 

You can see all dependencies, the time lengths, and how they interact and affect each other. Start dates and deadlines are also apparent. The charts can work well alone and can also be a visual, organizational tool used alongside other techniques. 

These charts are useful for simplifying complex projects and the bar chart format allows you to quickly check on progress with a quick glance and are helpful in managing the dependencies between tasks. 

4. Kanban

Kanban is the Japanese word for a billboard, first developed by an industrial engineer at Toyota. They used it for scheduling to improve their manufacturing processes. Kanban entails using cards on an analog or digital board to show workflow. It's instrumental in helping teams work well together because the emphasis is on the overall flow and not on any specific task or group. 

In its most basic and simple form, Kanban takes each task and assigns them to one of three columns:

• To Do
• Doing
• Done 

You and your team move cards, or tasks, across the three columns as they complete tasks. 

This method makes it easy for team members to see their tasks in the entire project context. It shows them what they must accomplish each day toward the broader goal. If needed, additional columns are added based on workflow such as “In Review” or “Testing” to name a few. Oftentimes, a “Priority” or “Rush” row is added near the bottom of the Doing Column for any fires that need to be put out. Prioritizing the cards results in greater efficiency. 

Another great feature of Kanban is the Work-In-Progress (WIP) limit. This feature limits the number of tasks that may be added to the project at any stage. Being a core property of this software, WIP limits optimize work capacity and aid in the efficient performance of the team,  while avoiding bottlenecks and overloading. WIP limits, tracking, forecasting, reporting functionality, and other features, mean that Kanban is a continuous improvement tool as well. As a company moves toward excellence, this software encourages each project to be carried out better than the last.  

5. Critical Path Method (CPM)

Since the 1940s, in the Manhattan Project, the Critical Path Method (CPM) has become the mainstay of project management. CPM helps the project manager to create a project schedule that is used to make a timeline. CPM calls for a project model that includes all of the project's tasks, the task's duration, and where the dependencies lie; this is known as a network schedule diagram. It can also show milestones and deliverables within the schedule.  

As a project may be considered a series of tasks that must be accomplished within a time frame to complete a larger project, a scheduling tool like CPM is crucial for knowing what needs to be done by when and keeping things running on time.  

CPM uses the above information to work out the longest path for the outlined tasks and the shortest and longest possible periods. CPM evaluates possible start times, identifying the earliest and latest start and finish times. Float, or buffer time can be determined, helping to separate the most crucial tasks from those that are less consequential to the schedule. All of this data will indicate for you the shortest possible time for the completion of the project. CPM also helps with prioritization and decision-making. 

6. Waterfall 

The Waterfall takes the requirements of customers and project stakeholders and creates a plan to fulfill these requirements. It is a linear system of activities that flow through sequential phases. Simply put, one phase flows to the next.

Very often, project managers use Gantt Charts in conjunction with this technique. It allows them to include dependencies, subtasks, and follow the flow of tasks through the project life cycle. 

An example of waterfall in five phases are:

• Analysis 
• Design (Can use WBS to create tasks list)
• Implementation or Execution
• Review and Verify
• Maintain (and Modify, if necessary)

This method works best for known projects or work that has been done before that have distinct phases and few iterations or changes. The Project Management Institute, or PMI has one of the best known methodologies for waterfall project management known as the PMBOK Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge) where projects move through 5 distinct process groups; Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. 

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Final thoughts

Project management can be exciting work, especially if you feel competent and on top of things. There are hundreds of tools and techniques available to help your project run smoothly. The above techniques are just a few of those that can help you do and feel better at and about your work. Eventually, you will modify these techniques, or even blend them together or with others you pick up along the way, creating hybrid approaches. Regardless, always have these in your toolbox.

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Every project requires five process groups known as the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) process groups. They can be confusing for team members and leaders who are newer to formal project management, but we’ll break down and explain what each one requires and entails.

Project management process groups define what a team needs to do and the knowledge areas they need to know during the lifecycle of a project. Let’s start with the first process group: initiating.

1. Initiating

Initiating is the first process group of project management, and it helps set the vision of what the project wants to accomplish. This stage is when the project becomes formally authorized, the initial scope is defined, and the stakeholders are identified.

Stakeholder identification is one of the most crucial steps in the initiating process; correct identification and analysis of those stakeholders are what makes or breaks a project, and this information is located in the Stakeholder Register, which gets created in the process of identifying Stakeholders. The Initiating process group happens to ensure projects and programs are sanctioned by the sponsoring organization, align with their strategic objectives (or diverge and the reason why,) and a project manager is assigned.

During the initiating process group, a project charter gets developed, and the document usually includes:

• Required resources
• Known risks
• Key stakeholders
• A high-level timeline
• A high-level cost estimate
• Success Criteria or Definition of “Done”

Projects that don’t go through the initiating process group tend to go without a specific goal or objective, and the odds of being successful drop significantly. With no objective to fall back on, it is easy for scope creep to occur. 

This stage is also when a project manager is selected and authorized to carry out the project. The sponsoring organization should establish a project manager early on during this process because they are the ones who hold accountability for the entire program. This is also a good time to determine the authority level, or what changes the PM can and can’t approve.

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2. Planning

The second process group of project management is planning, and establishing the scope of the project happens here. The project’s scope, milestones, budget, risks, and summary get defined at a high-level in the initiating phase, but there is still more to do regarding those.

Progressive elaboration is an iterative planning process, and it happens in this stage and throughout the project as well. The team begins developing much more detailed project documents by collecting project/product/stakeholder requirements and breaking that scope into individual work packages, or deliverables. 

There are many discrete processes involved in planning, and a project team chooses which ones to use for any given project - which is known as tailoring. Planning is crucial to project management; if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Nearly half, 24 of 29 project management processes happen in the process groups.

Not only is the team responsible for planning out the project, but they consider the risks and the best way to respond to them. A project management plan gets created and includes items like:

• A definition of the project’s scope (what they are and are not doing)
• A list of detailed requirements
• An estimate for time and costs
• A detailed timeline and schedule
• A Risk Register and Risk Report
• A plan for communications, quality, and procurement

The planning process group creates a roadmap and path to success for the project. The team should come out of this stage with a well-defined understanding of how to execute the project within budget and schedule.

3. Executing

After the planning has occured to the point where work on the project can start (remember progressive elaboration? This is an iterative process, planning is usually finished when the project is finished), it’s time for the executing process group. Now the work starts, and there is a project management plan to keep everyone on track throughout the project’s execution. This is when the project team starts creating deliverables, and the project manager coordinates the resources.

During this process group, the project manager is not only responsible for acquiring and managing the team but also for cultivating them by utilizing team-building exercises. The project manager also manages communications and stakeholder engagement while ensuring the project and product quality.

In the execution process group, most of the budget gets spent and the project’s deliverables get produced. It is also the most likely time to receive stakeholder change requests. 

Project execution could last for weeks, months, or years. The most important task for any project is to stay on track, and that’s where the fourth process comes in.

4. Monitoring and Controlling

• Track, review, and regulate the performance and progress of the project.
• Identify any areas where a change in the plans might be required.
• Initiate any necessary changes to the project plan.

No project stays on plan perfectly. The monitoring and controlling process group helps you get back on track by comparing the plan to where you actually are, measuring variances, and taking corrective actions.

Scope, cost, and schedule all have variations in regard to the tools and techniques used to control them, but they all have baselines that were defined in the planning process. Because progress gets tracked by those baselines, planning changes aren’t made lightly, but they can be made.

Proper planning is essential to project management, but monitoring and controlling is the process that keeps the team on top of the plan and keeps the project focused on hitting its objectives.

5. Closing

Closing is the fifth and final process group of project management. This process is when the project is formally closed, and the customer signs-off and accepts it. The closing stage is where projects often fizzle out; team members stop showing up to every meeting, and communication efforts go downhill.

Project management best practices show that the effort applied to the whole project should be applied to the closing stage as well. The project manager should close the project by holding a lessons learned session, archiving records, and celebrating the team before releasing them from their duties.

• Creating a report that measures productivity, schedule variation, and return on investment (ROI).
• Holding a stakeholder meeting to ensure they are satisfied with the deliverables.
• Archiving the project records, including the plan, process, budget, and notes from the lessons learned session.

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What attributes make an effective and successful project manager? Every good project manager knows how to execute projects on time, on budget, but what makes an exceptional leader stand out?

Effective project managers go above and beyond simply meeting requirements; they build cohesive teams, encourage innovative ideas, and communicate with all stakeholders while being fully vested in an organization’s success.

If you’re a project manager, or want to become one, and want to stand out and expand your project management career, these are the traits of a highly-effective project manager:

1. Communication

A good project manager has the ability to communicate with people at every level. Not only does project management depend on the clear communication of responsibility, goals, performance, and feedback, but also on openness and directness.

Project managers are the people who connect the team’s efforts with the rest of the organization. Good project managers must negotiate and use persuasion to ensure the success of the project and team. By using effective communication, project leaders support the team’s achievements by creating explicit guidelines that lead to successful results. 

But there’s more to success than simply communicating. How you communicate is just as important. Writing skills are a prerequisite for great PMs, and understanding styles including when to match, be formal or informal is an important aspect of effective communication. Same goes for verbal communication. Having control of your tone, speed, eye contact and other non verbal communication cues will take you a long way.

This involves listening too. Listening to what is not being said is just as important as knowing what was spoken. Can you wait until a stakeholder has completed their sentence without finishing their sentence for them or cutting off the last part to give your answer? Can you deal with accents? A big part of project management communication is being able to synthesize large amounts of information and report out only the important parts in a clear and concise way.

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2. Ethical Practices

Integrity is an important attribute of an effective project manager, and their actions set the methodology for the entire team. Good project leadership happens through the commitment and demonstration of ethical practices.

Creating and living by these ethical standards, along with rewarding those who follow the same practices, is a large responsibility for a project leader. If a project manager is motivated solely by self-interest, it damages the well-being of their team. Project managers earn their teammates’ trust by representing the values they set in place.

When do you take gifts and when do you politely refuse? When do you back the team vs. when do you back the sponsor? How do you handle receiving negative information about the team or the project? While there is no single response to these types of scenarios, in the end, if the project’s best interest is the north star, staying objective and free from self-interest becomes easier. Oftentimes, the right response may not be the popular one, and good leaders understand this. 

3. Empathetic

An empathetic project manager understands and acknowledges that their team has responsibilities outside of the workplace. Teams that know their project manager cares about them are much more likely to have success. This is where the idea of servant leadership comes into play. Successful project managers understand that the team, and not the PM, actually does the work. 

Having an interest in ensuring that team members are able to be the best version of themselves goes a long way towards success. This means that you must be able to put yourself in their position and understand what that means in context, and when you can’t do that, being open to listening and asking questions until you reach the necessary level of understanding. 

Each team member is entitled to their own ideas, feelings, and emotions, and by recognizing this, a good project manager can earn trust and loyalty from everyone they work alongside. 

4. Competent

If a project manager wants their team to have trust, loyalty, and success, the team must believe that the leader is competent and knows what they are doing. Competence for a project manager not only refers to their technical abilities but to their abilities to lead others.

Project managers are often referred to as competent when they have a winning track record of leading successful teams. Their experience in leadership allows a good project manager to inspire, encourage, and challenge the team to receive the best results possible. Many times, the team members do not report to the project manager, so knowing how to lead without formal power is very important. This is where your technical abilities come into play. 

Technical PM skills include the ability to break down scope, develop a schedule and budget, identify and engage stakeholders, develop communication and risk management plans, control changes and keep quality levels high. But it doesn’t stop there. Can you manage conflicts with grace, deliver bad news tactfully, and drive decision making? 

Having the ability to run a technically sound project while leading a team is the measure of competence for a project manager. 

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5. Enthusiastic

A project manager’s attitude is one of the first things their team will notice; they want to see an enthusiastic leader with a can-do attitude. A negative attitude is the downfall of otherwise good project managers because no one wants to follow a leader who brings them down.

Enthusiasm shows that a project manager is committed to the team’s success, and they display that commitment through optimism. One thing that all good project managers know is that enthusiasm is contagious, and an encouraged team is a successful one.

It is important to note that the timing and delivery of your enthusiasm is key. Knowing when, knowing where, knowing with who, and knowing how to show your enthusiasm is a skill that can be developed over time. However, having a positive and optimistic attitude is where it starts, both with your team and with stakeholders. 

6. Problem Solving

Project managers and their team share problem-solving responsibilities, but a true leader is expected to have exceptional problem-solving skills. They provide creative responses to opportunities as they arise rather than concerning themselves with how others would approach the problem.

With problem-solving comes decision making; good project managers make effective decisions on the fly when a project isn’t going as planned. Leaders that a team wants to follow take these problems in stride and come at them with a hardy, positive attitude. The best leaders ensure that team members are involved in the process. 

Project managers who master problem solving typically create environments that foster innovation and remain free from judgement. This allows people to be free to experiment and fail their way to success. Successful project managers understand the key consistent problem solving lies in harnessing the collective power of the team. 

7. Stakeholder-Focused

Companies, team members, and project managers all face hardships from time to time, which can make it difficult to prioritize stakeholder needs over personal ones. Good project managers are professional leaders and know how to separate their personal needs from the stakeholders.

Effective project managers give their best performance for each job, regardless of any personal needs or bias. This high level of focus is what makes the best project managers stand out. See, when you break it down, even team members are stakeholders. In fact, the definition of a project stakeholder is anyone whose interest is positively or negatively affected by one or more of the project’s objectives. 

By keeping the sponsor (customer) and team in the forefront, successful project managers are servant leaders that ensure roadblocks are removed, information is radiated, and all stakeholders are aware of and working towards the same goal. No project is completed without people - focus on the people and your chances of success increase. 

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Become an Effective Project Manager With a PMP Master Class

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is one of the best ways to become recognized as an effective, professional project manager. Becoming PMP certified and following the above attributes is how a project manager can go from simply being a team leader to becoming an invaluable asset to any organization. Remember, it is not just knowing the “what,” but understanding the “how” and “why” of project management that will help you to become a successful project manager. 

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The demand for good project managers is always on the rise, and the field has grown extensively over the years. Project management is a critical aspect of every organization, and how a project manager handles their work directly impacts the success of a business.

Project managers are the ones who make sure everything goes as planned and get the team back on track during unexpected events. It is an essential position that comes with rewarding work and a generous salary, but how do you become a project manager?

We’ll get to that, but first, you need to understand why project management is so important.

The Importance of Project Management 

The importance of efficient project management in an organization can not be overemphasized; a good project manager ensures that each aspect of the business runs smoothly. Project management empowers employees to deliver better results and directly impacts the organization’s bottom line. It also allows the team to focus on the right work at the right time, helping everyone to stay on track and within budget constraints.

Some of the benefits that stem from good project management are:

• Improved Communication: Project management, when done right, makes internal communications easier and more efficient. Working within multiple departments or teams can be challenging, but with good project management, you can increase transparency, simplify collaboration, and ensure accountability.

• Track Performances: Through project management, businesses can utilize data from past projects to see where their team can make improvements and what they are doing well. Measuring your key performance indicators (KPIs) allows you to track and understand the ways your team performs over each project. This can lead to operational improvements as well. 

• Save Money and Time: Well-planned projects allow your team to deliver their work within budget and on time. A good project manager maps out the entire project roadmap and tracks commitments, deadlines and the projected spending to reallocate resources when necessary; this prevents project delays and overspending.

• Make Better Decisions: When you can see the details of each project your business takes on, you understand what to prioritize, where resources are going, and if the organization is moving closer towards its goals. Project management allows you to discover problems before they become an issue by making decisions based on actual data.

What Do Project Managers Do?

Ifyou ask a project manager what they do, they’ll probably reply with “what don’t I do?”

Defining a project manager’s role in an organization can be challenging since they are involved in different parts of each project from start to finish. Their responsibilities range from measurable things like budgets and planning to less tangible ones like the leadership and support they give to their teams. It really depends on industry, company, job function, and project type.

Some of the primary duties of a project manager are:

• Planning Projects: Project managers define the range of a project and ensure that it is within the scope of stakeholder’s expectations while being linked to a long-term strategic goal for the organization. There are two stages where the project manager creates an outline of the plan and discusses the timeline, budget, and required resources. In the beginning, the goal or objective and success criteria need to be developed along with high level constraints and the project manager’s authority level, which is known as scoping or chartering. Once complete, the project manager moves on to what is known as the scheduling or project planning, where the detailed plan is created and executed by the team. 

• Resourcing Projects: After the initial plan is in place, project managers look at the three primary resources needed to make the plan successful: people, time, and money. These resources are limited, and a project’s success relies on the project manager allocating them efficiently. Project managers are responsible for effectively identifying and sourcing resources as well as administering the procurement process for those resources, be it machines, materials, supplies, physical locations, and technology needs in addition to people. 

• Managing Projects: Projects rarely go as planned, no matter how well-managed it is. Project managers track their resources and deadlines closely to tackle any issues quickly and efficiently. They maintain the flexibility to make changes to a project’s plan at a moment’s notice to keep their team on the right path. Ultimately, creating transparency and accountability for team deliverables along with resolving conflicts between stakeholders and managing their expectations becomes the daily focus. 

• Delivering Projects: One of the most straightforward responsibilities of a project manager is to deliver the finished project within budget and on time. They are accountable for the planning, resourcing, and managing of a project to result in the project being delivered successfully. But a good project manager will deliver what a stakeholder needs, not what was simply requested. This goes back to the ability to accurately scope out the “Definition of Done” with detailed success criteria and then have the ability to manage stakeholder expectations throughout the project, including the team. 

• Analyzing Projects: Once the project gets delivered, a project manager has one more crucial step: reviewing it with the team. The project manager, and the team who worked with them, will review and analyze how it went and ways to improve on best practices for future projects. More and more, this process is happening multiple times throughout the project lifecycle in order to make on the fly adjustments rather than waiting until the end. The retrospectives look at the operational aspects of how the team interacts with each other and is more focused on the people vs the product. 

• Motivating the Team: One important and often overlooked responsibility of a project manager is to keep the team motivated and on track. Understanding what motivates different team members and how to navigate conflict allows project managers to keep their team feeling valued and happy, which leads to better productivity. Project managers have the responsibility to get stakeholders involved to perform their duties properly and timely, and this requires empathy, communication, leadership, persuasion, and consensus building. 

How Do You Become a Project Manager?

There are two different ways people become project managers:

• Traditional Path: A traditional project manager is someone who sought out a career as a project manager. They learned about the profession and subsequently seeked out roles and qualifications or degrees relating to project management. Folks may traditionally move from being a project team member, to becoming a project coordinator, assistant project manager, project engineer, or a role within a “PMO” or Project Management Office such as project analyst or project controls technician. 

• Accidental Project Managers: These are “non-project manager” project managers who manage projects as part of their work. These are people like marketers, web designers, producers, or product managers who aren’t typically viewed as project managers but typically manage projects as part of their day to day operations. These folks end up becoming full time Project Managers as their skill set increases and opportunities open up to move from their traditional roles. 
  
  

For any project manager, there are ten key aspects that they manage:

• • A project’s scope
  • Integration
  • Schedule Management
  • Communication
  • Risks
  • Costs
  • Resources
  • Quality
  • Procurement
  • Stakeholders

Becoming a Qualified Project Manager

Whether you’ve had your sights set on becoming a project manager or became an “accidental project manager” at your current job and want to pursue it as a career, getting certified as a project manager should be your first step.

Obtaining a formal qualification for project management is the best way to gain more job opportunities and more earning power, but it can also introduce you to new methodologies, techniques and best practices that you might have been unaware of.

The leading organization for project management, the Project Management Institution (PMI), offers the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification: the most well-recognized credential for project managers. Obtaining a PMP certification is the best way to build your project management portfolio of professional development and move up the ladder in an organization.

Become a Project Management Professional With the PMP Master Class

Many project managers have a notoriously difficult time getting their PMP certification. The exam doesn’t have to be as challenging as it’s made out to be; the right teacher makes all the difference.

Stop struggling with study guides, poor teachers, and out-of-date materials and become a part of the best PMP certification training around with the PMP Master Class -- the only PMP training course to offer your money back if you don’t pass the exam on your first attempt. Don’t be part of the 40% of people that will fail the next PMP® exam, Contact C.J. Mills, a.k.a. The Agile PMP® to get started.

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Project management is a fast-growing profession, and demand is rising for knowledgeable people with certifications to take on those roles. It is projected that employers will need 2.2 million project-oriented jobs filled each year through 2027. The work is challenging and requires professionals who can plan, budget, execute, oversee, and complete projects efficiently. They are team leaders in every industry and sector, who are resourceful, creative, intelligent, and organized. 

This is the perfect time for you to invest in yourself and become certified. 

Why certify at all

If you can work in the field without certification, why certify at all? If you have work experience as a project manager, certification is a way of validating your expertise and formalizing your knowledge. Of course, you will also learn new tools and techniques technical expertise for the benefit of any industry within which you choose to work. And if you have no experience, having a formalized certification will make you more attractive to recruiters. 

Certifications are globally recognized. Being certified makes it easier for you to transfer from one industry to another or even move from one country to another. With certifications that are widely acknowledged, you can demonstrate you are knowledgeable about the work and can do the job regardless of location or field. 

Certification may provide the opportunity for continued promotion within your company. You will now have proven skills and show the ability to take on more responsibility. Even if you are not promoted, you may ensure a dramatically higher salary for yourself - commensurate with your certification. 

Certification will certainly build your confidence. In addition to demonstrating to others your skills and abilities, you are also showing this to yourself. Greater confidence will lead to a higher level of work proficiency, promotions, higher salaries and more job responsibilities. 

Certification is an excellent idea whether or not you are an experienced project manager. But as you research project management certifications, you’ll discover that there is more than one framework, not than one methodology, and more than one certification for each possible. 

The two main frameworks are Agile and Waterfall, or what we call change driven vs predictable. Scrum is the most popular Agile methodology while the most recognized Waterfall methodology belongs to Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge or PMBOK Guide. PMI’stwo top industry-recognized certification programs are the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and the Project Management Professional (PMP). So which should you choose? 

What is CAPM?

The CAPM is for those beginning their careers or those already experienced in project management.

Since this certification requires no experience in the field, here are few prerequisites:

• 1,500 hours of project experience
• A high school diploma, an Associate’s Degree, or its global equivalent. 

Or

• 23 hours of formal project management education completed before you take the exam.

Since this certification doesn’t require a four-year degree or experience as a project manager, it is perfect for you to add to your resume as a recent college graduate or one who is looking for a change mid-career. 

This program is also suitable for those who can secure 23 hours of a project management education. The education hours may be completed in-person, virtually, or self-paced online. This makes completing the requirement very doable for people who may be working full-time jobs or in school full time. 

Duration

The CAPM is valid for 3 years and requires 15 Professional Development Units (PDU) for renewal.

The program and exam

The modules cover the knowledge, principles, and terminology from A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). 

They will include the basics of project management, making it an excellent program for those entirely new to project management or for those who don’t have extensive experience. 

The exam consists of 150 questions, multiple choice only (A,B,C, or D), and you have 3 hours to complete it. There are no situational questions on this exam. 

Cost

$225 for Members

$300 for Non-Members

Don’t be like most project managers who suffer every step of the way to get their PMP. Come and learn with the highest-ranked PMP teacher in the San Francisco Bay area. No boring classes or Zoom meetings! Contact or visit Creative Adaptive Thinking today!

What is PMP?

The PMP is the most renowned project management certification. It is developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and represents the gold standard for the project management industry. Over 1 million professionals from 200+ countries have achieved and maintained their PMP certification.It demonstrates a thorough understanding of the initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and completion of projects.  

To keep up with a changing industry, the PMP exam changed on the 2nd of January, 2021. Instead of measuring competency in the five process groups, scoring will focus on:

• People - emphasizing the skills and activities of effective team leadership.
• Process - looking at the technical side of project management.
• Business Environment - connecting projects and organization strategy. 
  
  

There is a new emphasis on the value delivery spectrum, which will include predictive, agile, and hybrid approaches. 

The requirements for taking the PMP are still:

• 60 months (5 years) of leading and controlling projects in the last eight years
• 35 hours of formal project management education
• A high school diploma, associate’s degree, or its global equivalent

Or

• A four-year college degree
• 35 hours of formal project management education
• 36 months (3 years) of leading and controlling projects in the last eight years
  
  

This certification is for the professional who has already been working in the field, been on project teams or led them, and is now looking to formalize their knowledge and prepare for career advancement. 

Duration

The PMP certification is valid for three years, and those holding it must earn 60 professional development units (PDUs) to maintain and renew their credential. The cycle begins on the day that you pass the PMP certification exam and ends on the same day three years later. 

It is recommended that holders of this certification begin early to implement a plan to attain their PDUs. Whether you choose to take online courses or get involved with activities and the PMI community, you should report PDUs right after completion and keep copies for your documentation. Remember that you may transfer up to 20 PDUs from one cycle to the next. 

The program and exam

The primary study source for the PMP is the PMBOK Guide, which consists of the most significant guidelines and best practices necessary for project management. Students may, of course, study additional materials. In fact, most elect to take courses taught by certified instructors, some will still take courses even after self-studying. 

The new exam is made up of 180 questions (down from the previous exam’s 200 questions). You will have 230 minutes to complete the exam, with a couple of breaks in between. There are several totes of questions such as multiple-choice, matching, multiple responses, hotspot, and a few fill-in-the-blank. 

The cost

$405 for Members

$555 for Non-Members

Are you ready for the next level in your career? Come to us to take AND pass the PMP on your FIRST TRY, guaranteed. You’ll be taught by a credentialed teacher who is also an experienced project manager. Lofty concepts are clearly explained with real-world examples. Contact us now!

Final thoughts

Gaining one of these certifications will separate you from the rest in your field. You will be acknowledged as a skilled and knowledgeable asset to your company. You will increase your confidence, as well as your team and managers’ trust in you. And, of course, your earning potential will go through the roof. Just ask anyone who holds one of them.   

While traditional Project Managers require a lot of planning, organizing, and managing resources and tasks to complete a project, Agile Project Management is a self-organizing team. Nobody micromanages them. The agile approach is most practical and is capable of delivering projects with evolving changes. Agile Project Managers usually focus more on facilitation and removing roadblocks for the team.

Soft Skills are essential if you are a budding Agile Project Manager as it will make your approach more effective. It also helps you evolve within your role and possibly, into that of a Scrum Master. As an Agile Project Manager, soft skills will increase the focus on individuals and interactions.

It is crucial to equip yourself with the six top soft skills to perform your tasks more efficiently.

Issue Resolution / Escalation

This will remove the roadblocks you're encountering along the way to achieve your project's objective. These can be some factors that are beyond your control. Once you have learned about these issues, it will be easier for you to determine how to get things done effectively. You may use your negotiation skills to arbitrate disputes. Your diplomacy and listening skills are useful in obtaining issue resolution.

Problem Solving

You will be helping the team to solve problems on their own. You can unlock team creativity in brainstorming activities. You may also use root cause analysis (Ishikawa Fish Bone Diagrams) or six thinking hats to find where the issue comes from and find the best solution to resolve it.

Team Building

Everyone needs to be jointly accountable for the work performed. Knowing that every team member is different, building your team in a fun, free, and open environment can help you determine your team's capabilities. The communication lines should be honest, and norms or standard behaviors should be shared as you expect the team to meet them.

Coaching

All team members need coaching about the practicalities within agile. Coaching helps make sure people understand what you are expecting from them. In coaching, you may need to move people from a fixed mindset into a growth mindset, into someone that accepts challenges and criticisms that help them grow. Your questioning and listening skills can help you achieve this.

Change Management

As an agile project manager, you can add value by initiating change within the organization structure. Agile builds a positive culture and principles that are deep within the organization.

Create the Right Environment

Follow these steps to have a productive, empowered, and supportive culture where team members feel safe to ask questions and share their opinions with the team. An open door approach is vital as it will help the team breathe fresh air in a toxic environment.

We discovered the soft skills that can make all the difference in your agile project management career. But, if you want to become a top-performing project manager and learn everything else, don't miss this chance to learn from the best and take your PM career to the next level - Contact us now!

Aside from the lucrative salary, a Technical Project Manager role is not only for those who are technically advanced but those with excellent people and communication skills.

Technical Project Managers are the backbone of every successful company. Typically, days are busy, tedious, but never dull.

If you are considering shifting careers or are on your way to becoming a technical PM, know these eleven traits successful, technical project managers have.

Strong Leadership Skills

You joined the team to step up and take responsibility. You are there to lead; therefore, everyone working on a project will adapt to how capable you are at leading them down the right path. If you lack in this area, the team will be a collection of individuals.

Be the Subject Matter Expert

You can quickly get up to speed on a variety of technical subjects. You might be assigned a project that you never had exposure to. Do your homework. You don't need to be an expert, but you can quickly study on most technology to know where the project is leaning.

See the Big Picture

Step back a little on a project and see it as a big old puzzle. By looking at the project with that perspective, you will better determine what works and what needs to improve to have success.

Be the Project Priority Evaluator

Before any project starts, you have no idea about the outcome or the problems you will encounter. You should have the ability to set, stick, and re-evaluate project priorities. As a Technical Project Manager, you should be the one to set the requirements and figure the steps to be successful. Always be open and honest about what is working and what is not.

Excellent Listening Skills

As a Technical Project Manager, you should be able to listen as much as you speak. You must listen to other's feedback to know what the business wants and what the team needs.

Great communicator

You cannot work in technical project management without communication skills. You will be working with team members stationed locally and other working globally. You should be able to communicate clearly and concisely. Strong written communication skills are essential; as they say, if it isn't written down, it doesn't exist. Communicate what has been discussed and maintain consensus to minimize confusion.

Detailed Oriented

Cathing those minor details is very important to becoming a successful Project Manager. Please focus on the most critical aspects of your project as it will make or break success.

Organized

Technical Project Managers must be process-oriented. Utilize tools and techniques to organize critical information that can affect the delivery of a project.

Persuasive

You can build a consensus and dive an outcome while productively managing stakeholders. You are selling the project even when it's completed successfully. You are the one to keep the fire burning within your team.

Proficient Connection Builder

As a Technical Project Manager, you must be skilled in building and maintaining informal networks. It would help if you were an influencer by getting feedback from groups, the team, or other stakeholders outside your network. You may never know all the ways people can help the project's success.

Positive and Motivated

You will be responsible for ensuring that everyone is motivated. Always note that a toxic PM will make a project toxic. Ensure that the team is excited and empowered but still professional to know how to handle difficult situations.

Take advantage of Cecilio Mills' experienced advice to earn your PMP certification as soon as possible! Join a group of people committed to improving their project management abilities by enrolling in the PMP Masterclass right away. You'll be provided with the resources you need to excel on the PMPtest and in your career thanks to interactive lectures, scenario-based studies, and personalized help from the educator. Don't wait; grab your spot right now and begin working with Cecilio to take the first step toward PMP certification!