How to establish Green Operations?!

Green Operations, here, refers to operations, which follow the rules and regulations "by the book" to achieve the highest interests for the enterprise.


First - Red - Policies: (Rules and Norms)

Establish the required policies.

Second - Blue - Standards: (Build on others' success )

Define the related standards.

Third - Orange - SOPs: (How to get it done?)

Detail the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

Fourth - Yellow - Guidelines: (Recommendations)

Support with guidelines and best practices.

Fifth - Green - Operations: (Actual Work)

Act in a green way! 

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.

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. 

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

Confused project management terminology: Issue, Off-specification, and Change Request

Issue: A problem that needs either resolution or attention by the project manager.

Off-specification: A project product which has not or forecast-ed not to be delivered as originally base-lined.

Change Request: It is a request for a change to a product from its base-lined form.


For example (Producing a budget laptop):

Issue: Processor specified is no longer in production.

Off-specification: Processor in the final laptop product over-heat.

Change Request: Senior User request a higher frequency processor for the laptop.




N.B. This is within the context for PRINCE2 terminology

Difference between Business Analyst and Systems Analyst (within the context of the IT)

This is from my own perspective and mainly based on my personal experience:

Business Analyst:
Re-document the business rules and the business processes in a format and terminology that is eligible to be consumed as requirements for introducing new system(s) or redefining an existing business.


Systems Analyst:
Either re-document the exiting system(s) or conclude other systems in an answer to highlight the suitability for fulfilling the defined set of requirements.

User experience - Apple support in Egypt: Thanks Apple!

In comparison to my frustration last year trying to figure out an issue with my iPhone in my home country Egypt, I was very satisfied few days ago when I approached the company for an iOS support ticket. It's understood that Apple has no Apple stores in Egypt, only re-sellers, and the iPhones especially are supported through the mobile network operators. So those who purchase their handsets from outside the country, like my case, are mostly left behind with very limited support through the re-sellers.

My story started when I first tried to enable keychain on my device. To complete the operation, I should receive the security code on my registered phone number with Apple; however, since I purchased my device from Geneva, it looks like I have selected the country as Switzerland when I first set it up. Hence, whenever the service tries to send to me an SMS, it never reaches me as it was addressing my correct Egyptian number, except with a Swizerland's prefix.

https://www.apple.com/eg/support

Contact Us --> Get Started --> Select a product --> Select a topic --> "This Topic is not listed" --> Fill in the topic details -->

I have started my support request through Apple's online chat where the agent advised me to dial Apple support through the phone since resetting my account information requires verification which cannot be completed through the chat window. Moreover, he kindly shared a list of contacts which did not include Egypt and advised me to call the nearest location if my country is not listed. Before I do, I gave it a second shot for searching again on the Apple official site for support contacts until finally I found a toll-free support number (0800 000 0888) which answered with the reply that my call was outside the working hours. Another visit to the website, I was amazed to find a support call-in service with doubts that it might even work in Egypt. Anyway, I decided to give it a try and reserved an appointment annotated with my request topic. On the pre-defined time, I received the call which started by few minutes of waiting time. Then an agent replied and asked me about my issue, and looks like she recorded it very professionally and consulted someone or or another system. Finally, after some relatively long waiting period, she kindly returned with questions for verifying my identity, then some more waiting time which seams to me that she was waiting for her system interface to respond. Consequently she very patiently helped me through the resolution and confirmed it before we close the line.

Overall, I can say I had a very good user experience, starting from the scheduled call, passing by the very helpful agent, and more importantly she was able to find a way to resolve my issue in a single call.

It is worth mentioning that I questioned the location of the call center which turned out to be located in Athens; however, all the experience I perceived was merely Egyptian; the whole call was in the local Egyptian accent. Impressed!

I believe this post is my thank you token for Apple and that dedicated agent!

Writing technical documents with gender neutral language

1)
The form no one enjoys reading:
The project manager approved the estimates and added it to her or his project plan.

The more appropriate form:
The project manager approved the estimates and added it to the project plan.


2)
The form no one enjoys reading:
The professional project manager considers all the risks. S\he also categorizes them.

The more appropriate form:
The professional project managers consider all the risks. They also categorize them.


3)
On the level of words comes some examples:

Chairman --> Chair
Policeman --> Police officer


4)
For titles, unless you are sure about the specific person's preference; 

Miss --> Ms
Mrs  --> Ms

A killing mistake for task scheduling: 12:00AM or 12:PM

To cut it short:

12:00PM is noon.
12:00AM is mid-night.

Difference between Start\Finish times, Baseline Start\Finish times, and Actual Start\Finish times for project tasks.

Baseline Start\Finish times: Those are the planned times entered during planning to specify the planned start\finish times for each task. Once the plan enters execution, this should not change; however, this remains as a baseline (reference) for comparison with the actual Task Start\Finish times for each task for the purposes of monitoring or evaluation.

Actual Start\Finish times: Those are the actual times periodically entered for each task at the head of its execution and following its completion to specify the actual duration for each task.

Start\Finish times: Those are the forecast-ed times periodically updated for planned tasks to reflect any new inputs which are excepted to change the schedule and which were not foreseen at initial project planning.

Microsoft Project Printing Gantt Chart without Tasks Table

The key here is to hide the Tasks table :)

View Menu --> Tables --> More Tables --> New --> No Info Table with ID column of 0 width.

Then you can print freely, where the Tasks table will not be present.

To show again the default tasks table:

View Menu --> Tables -->

Moving\Migrating mail messages from Exchange account to Hotmail account

Taking into consideration that copy paste would not work from Outlook desktop application to Windows Live Mail and trying to Import the normal way would not work.

The key to succeed in doing that is configuring the Hotmail account using IMAP protocol on the same Outlook application.

Very detailed article about the steps:
http://www.msoutlook.info/question/765


I have tried the Microsoft Outlook 2013 procedure. Thanks!

3 Common Inheritance Storage Schemas

Table per hierarchy	Table per subclass	Table per concrete type
- One table contains all types within the hierarchy. - One type discriminate between types.	- One table contains the base properties across the type hierarchy. - Separate table for additional properties for each sub-type.	- Table per concrete type class including inherited properties

Tip: DOE on job postings

DOE: Dependent on Experience

This is usually associated with the expected salary figure

Tip: To mind your Ps and Qs

That is to be polite; hence, to consider saying the words: Please  and Thank you.


That's actually both an English and a Business communication tip, beside being an English idiom.

Determining Internet Explorer Bitness: 32-bit or 64-bit

Method #1:
Put the call in the IE console: (F12 to open)

> alert(window.navigator.cpuClass);

Method #2:
javascript: alert(window.navigator.cpuClass);


N.B.: Didn't work for my IE 11.0.9600



Result:

x86 --> You are using 32-bit of Internet Explorer
x64 --> You are using 64-bit of Internet Explorer

PMO Tools: Stakeholders Analysis Matrix

Stakeholders Analysis Matrix is one of the very effective tools which can be used to support the classification activity for the stakeholders.

According to PMBOK; Identify Stakeholders is an Initiation process group activity for a typical project management process. It is also the first activity within the Project Communications Management Plan establishment.

Herein, I do define from my own perspective a simple matrix which can be utilized for that same purpose:

Stakeholders Analysis Matrix

Based on this classification, all the communications plan components can be aligned to the goals and objectives for each stakeholders group; hence the channels, the messages, ..etc.

It is worth mentioning that this matrix can be organized from different perspectives. Here, I have tried to present a very simple approach which can be much more elaborated upon according to the project size and the number of stakeholders involved.

English Language Tip: Fortnight

It is an old English term used as a unit of time equals 14 days or 2 weeks.


Just a note to be careful because it is sometimes used in business referring to salaries, pay periods, social security benefits, or during task scheduling activities. 

ITIL 2011 versus ITIL V3

ITIL 2011 is an update for ITIL V3. Not a newer version! i.e. Text review, diagrams revision,...etc.
Therefore ITIL 2011 = ITIL V3 + some updates. Not ITIL V4!



Exam Retake: Not required

Workaround LinkedIn invitations to connect without validations, invitation limits

LinkidIn has invitation limits according to the below policy:

Moreover, many time when I try to add a person whom I have just met, it queies about a prior connection or the person's e-mail address which apparently I do not have:

To go around that, I do just search for the person from my iPhone (LinkedIn iPhone native App), and just send an invitation without any extra noise!! :)

LinkedIn iPhone App 8.4

From the most known Statistical Packages

STATA: Statistics (STA) + Data (ATA). Data Analysis and Statistical Software
http:/www.stata.com

SAS: Statistical Analysis Software. Business Analytics and Business Intelligence Software
http://www.sas.com

SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Sciences. IBM solution for Statistics

www.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss

Show time: PMI INPD CoP webinar: Product Team Performance Study Findings (Greg Geracie & Matt Jackson) [Tuesday 20th January, 2015]

You can join us on:

http://inpd.vc.pmi.org/Webinars/ViewWebinar.aspx?WebinarAction=View&WebinarExternalKey=9a84c4ab-6d08-461d-9dbf-2b61b9e14c34

This is PMI members exclusive content; moreover, for credential holders, 1 PDU can be automatically claimed against this activity.