The close of one year tends to make one reflect on what has occurred in the past year and ponder the future. Here we ponder some trends in the Project Management and Business Analysis fields for 2012. Here are our top seven predictions for business analysts (BAs) and project managers (PMs) in 2012. 1. Divergence …
Continue reading 7 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management to Watch for in 2012
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Watermark Learning opened for business! Yes, 1992 was a very good year. As the founder, I taught the first classes and was a solo act for a few years. Watermark mostly taught programming back then, with a few selected BA classes to complement them. My wife and co-owner, Elizabeth, …
A couple of days ago I fired up my online calendar and started to schedule a meeting with my manager. Our meetings are typically less than 30 minutes long, but I had a lot to talk about, so I was going to make it an hour long. Yessirree. I had a lot of stuff on …
Someone at a recent conference asked me how to respond to project stakeholders when they say that Use Cases take too long in an agile environment. I was presenting a talk on “BA Toolkit for an Agile Project (or any other for that matter).” Here are my answers with some added depth. (Thanks to Justin …
Continue reading Why Spend Time on Use Cases in Agile Projects?
Communications is, of course, the single biggest indicator of project success or failure. As project managers, we have to think about all aspects of communications, including how much, to whom, in what format, etc. We also get pretty savvy at knowing which communication channels to use. A lot of project work gets done through informal, …
Continue reading Grapevines and Rumor Mills – Assets or Liabilities?
Not every road to certification is the same, and some don’t go the way we plan. It’s gratifying to hear from people who have passed, and we get spontaneous notes frequently from successful CBAPs and PMPs. We love hearing from you! We also get emails from unsuccessful candidates, and do our best to offer advice or …
I ran my first triathlon this past summer. My biggest concern going into the race was how I was going to hold up toward the end. Running is the last of the three events, and the one about which I was least confident. I wondered if I would be able to finish that last mile …
Recently, a project management colleague was expressing frustration with her inability to get a project moving in a constructive direction. She commented that she knew the success of the project was her responsibility, but she felt hamstrung in her ability to get what she needed from people. Even simple requests for information from external stakeholders …
On every project there are things we know and things we don’t know – Knowns and Unknowns. Organizing your thoughts around those concepts can be a constructive approach to understanding a project as shown in the matrix. The Known Knowns you handle via the plan, but what about those various flavors of Unknowns? How do …
My son’s hockey team won their last tournament of the summer season this past weekend. As the athletes came into the lobby from the locker room, everyone cheered, recognizing each individual contribution. Another mom made a comment out loud that many of us hockey parents think just about every time we see them come out …
Continue reading Hockey Players and Project Managers: Just Trying to Win
Project Management Professional® (PMP)® Certification Training
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Project Management Professional® (PMP)® Certification Training
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner® (PMI-ACP)® Certification Training
PMI Scheduling Professional® (PMI-SP)® Certification Training
PMI Risk Management Professional® (PMI-RMP)® Certification Training
The PMI Talent Triangle® Bundle
Visit Project Management Academy®
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