j e s r u s h . c o m

Cornelius Fitchner has put together another great episode over at the project management podcast, this one is an interview with quality expert Stacy Goff.  Goff has some great insights into how and why project quality suffers and what PMs can do about it.

My favorite nugget came when Fitchner asked Goff whether good processes are the key to good quality.  Goff asked Fitchner to imagine a project where the goal was to bake a great cake.  A fantastic cake recipie was located for the endeavor… it was clear, descriptive, straightforward and produced consistently excellent results.  In other words, the process was a very good one.  However when the cake was actually made, the cook had to use a cheap chocolate because it was the only thing locally available.  They had to use a hand mixer (poor aeration) since there was no counter-top unit in the kitchen.  They followed the process word for word, but the end result was of mediocore quality.

I love this example because it illustrates the need for holistic quality management: Even the best process fails when the inputs are off.

[ Note: This is a continuation from Part 1 ]

• Use a braindump. A “braindump” is where you sit down and write key knowledge and formulas onto a sheet of scrap paper. You do this just before beginning an exam, so that the questions don’t twist your memory into a pretzel. A braindump is unbelievably critical on the PMP exam because the test writers love to rearrange simple formulas in complex ways. Remember back in algebra how you could rewrite the same equation ten different ways by moving X around, adding a value to both sides, using fractions, etc? The exam is a lot like that. So your braindump should include (at minimum) all those numerical formulas (earned value, etc) as well as anything that frequently trips you up. At the beginning of the exam, you are offered an optional 15 minute tutorial on the user interface. Take the tutorial (which only requires five minutes) and instead use the extra time to write your “braindump.”

• Do the little things. The exam no longer generates detailed score reports, instead it now shows only a very general area / competency report. But back when it showed actual scores, it was amazing to hear how many people passed the exam by the slimmest of margins. If they had gotten four or five additional questions wrong, they would have failed. Lesson: You need to nail the little things that can give you the slightest edge. Imagine if you failed the exam and wasted $400’s because you got two questions wrong? During the week leading up to the exam, make sure you:

Eat right. Three balanced meals (fruits! vegetables!) a day with an emphasis on brainfoods. Brainfoods are those foods which have been conclusively shown in (real) clinical studies to improve memory and recall. To summarize an ocean of research in one sentence, think protein (e.g. eggs) and omega-3 (e.g. tuna).

Exercise. Every day walk, run, bike, lift weights or do whatever you enjoy. Exercise improves blood flow and increases alertness.

Sleep. It’s really tempting to stay up late for extra study time. Don’t. That time is likely to be some of your least productive and you probably won’t have a chance to make up the slept debt before the exam.

Take off from work. Thinking you can skate by without using any of your vacation? Don’t. Again, imagine if you failed the exam because you were too hard headed to take two days off?

Drive ahead. If possible, visit the test center before test day so there aren’t any surprises. The last thing you need is to get lost, arrive late, or out of sorts.

Bring a snack. In your locker, you can store some caffeine, water, and something to eat just in case you get tired or hungry.

• DO buy the Project Management PrepCast. Remember back in part 1 when I talked about exposing yourself to the PMBOK through many different mediums instead of trying to straight up memorize it? One incredibly easy way to kick start that effort is with Cornelius Fitchner’s project management PrepCast. Basically Fitchner has broken down the PMBOK content into a series of nearly 100 twenty minute audio podcasts. The PrepCast isn’t detailed enough to work as one’s primary study guide, but it’s powerful when you follow up a topic from your (written) study guide by listening to the corresponding topic on the prepcast. It reinforces what you learned and it does so using another part of your brain (audible instead of reading/visual). This was a really effective one-two punch for me and I could study during my daily commute. At only fifty bucks it’s also a good value.

• Set a date. Last but not least, nothing quite motivates you to study as a date set in stone. My recommendation is that once you get approved to take the exam, go ahead and schedule it for 2-3 months out. If you near exam day and you still aren’t ready–you can always reschedule it for later. But most people will dig their heels into the dirt, rise to the occasion, and get it done. Good luck!

There is a brillant podcast over at Cornelius Fitchner’s aptly titled ‘Project Management Podcast’ about the challenges of working with virtual project teams (i.e. when team members are scattered all over the world). In addition to all the usual difficulties in managing a project team, virtual teams add an additional layer of communication complication and other relational problems. But this week’s guest–Adrienne Keane of Cisco–has some incredibly good advice for handling these issues. She has organized them into six success factors:

• Foster effective communications
• Focus on building relationships and trust
• Establish team identity & key processes
• Conduct effective virtual meetings
• Recognize & reward team members
• Enable collaboration & communication with technology

This is not pop-management nonsense, Keane has some really good ideas on implementing those factors.  Listen to the full podcast for all the details.