Monday 17 August 2015

Why aren't surveys the best feedback elicitation tool?!

Although the value of surveys cannot be denied, and the stakeholders’ feedback, in general,  is so valuable in improving the service they receive; I am in the habit of volunteering very little time for filling-in surveys!!

Simply for many reasons about the survey itself:
- -          Not my business.
It is not directly contributing to my own business objectives, only indirectly through the service I receive from that service provider.

-  -        Accountability.
In all ways, the service provider is accountable to deliver the service of highest quality based on its experience with its business, not based on the experience I transfer to it.

-    -      Prioritization.
My feedback as an end user to a service provider is voluntary, not explicitly a measured output for my day work, so it is with low priority unless there is a specific reason to change that.

-   -       Time.
It is time consuming, filling the survey is a commitment, which consumes time in context switching from other day activities into opening the survey tool, and reflecting on my past experience to fill-in the answers appropriately. It is not very accurate, in reality, to measure that by the few minutes consumed in checking the radio buttons.

-   -       Fun.
it is boring; it usually lacks any fun. Especially those typical direct expected questions like “Rate your satisfaction with that specific service in the scale A-D”, “Do you think we are doing good in delivering our service A?”


What I would suggest is to vary the tools to obtain the same desired output.

For example:
-  -       Feedback can be much more diverse and innovative through focus groups.
-  -       Highest reliability can be achieved through direct interviews with staff, where the input is based on real stories.
-  -        Much more engagement can be achieved through introducing gamification into the process. 
-  -        Improving the effectiveness of a specific tool might be reached through combining two tools together, such as focus groups and targeted surveys.

Wednesday 12 August 2015

The unit for measuring project's work

The answer is Time!

Yes, it is at the first sight a bit surprising since time is used also for scheduling. However, when we mention scheduling, we are more concerned about the task duration with a specific number of resources assigned to complete it.

Take care that!
A specified task duration assigned to a single resource can't be directly halved by assigning it to 2 resources:

This might be an over simplification, as usually this involves at least some interaction between the resources which can add to the communication overhead work to be performed. 

Tuesday 4 August 2015

PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam Time Preparation

Examination Paper:

   --> Scenario Booklet: (1 scenario + possible additional information for specific questions)
   --> Question Booklet:
      (8 questions,
      each contains 10 question lines subdivided into parts,
      each part covers specific syllabus area identified at the beginning of the question)
   --> Answer Booklet

Syllabus:


Area
Themes
Process Groups
Others

1- Business Case
1-
Starting up a project
Initiating a project
Overview
2- Organization
2-
Directing a project
Managing a stage boundary
Closing a project 
Principles
3- Quality
3-
Controlling a stage
Managing product delivery
Tailoring PRINCE2
4- Plans


5- Risk
6- Change
7- Progress
Examined
6 out of 7
2 out of 3
- Not examined
- May be included in other questions

Timing: (2h30)

Activity
Scenario & Overall
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7
Q8
Tolerance
Minutes
10
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
20
Accumulative
0h10
0h25
0h40
0h55
1h10
1h25
1h40
1h55
2h10
2h30

Grading:

80 Qs for 80 marks
Pass: 44 marks (55%)


Good luck!



* Some content is based on information from Axelos PRINCE2 Practitioner Examination Candidate Guidance ver 1.12