Have you heard of PMP? Probably you have, I guess.
My feeling about PMP (or any other certificate) has always been somewhat in line with Scott Berkun: License to manage?. Certificates are nice to have, but not requirements.
Most certificates today have specialized learning guide for you to quickly grasp everything you need to get those certificates. I do admit the acquiring a certificate itself does add some value in learning a topic. It gives you a goal and some study area (most of the time with a truly excellent study guide). I do tend to acquire certificates as bonus for learning a new topic (if I don’t need to pay for them). It might not be useful, but certainly not harmful.
Well, PMP is by far the most painful one I’ve ever tried (and probably the most valuable one). Naturally there’s an excellent study guide for it:
PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita’s Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam
by Rita Mulcahy
I would say the book itself (along with its simulation software) should be enough for you to pass the exam. I have read it thoroughly for 3 times and have done 4 simulations (all with scores much higher than the passing criteria).
BTW, I did take several project management courses during the last few years. So my experience might not be a perfect match for you.
Waltzing with Bears - Managing Risk on Software Projects
by Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister
The business of believing only what you have a right to believe is called risk management. Say you have a schedule set for the project and you believe that it is reasonable. But do you have the right to believe that? You can’t just say “yeah, I believe I can do it!” and just hope the result will be what you want. You have to do you best to make sure that what you want will be the result. That’s “risk management”.
If a project has no risks, don’t do it. If you do it, you have to manage the risks of it. There are 4 main tasks in risk management:
- Create a risk list and assess the risks on it. You have to determine the impact and probability of the risk materialization, its exposure, contingency and mitigation actions for it. Keep refining the list should be a continuing part of the project.
- Create risk diagrams to express the uncertainty. This book provides a tool for doing that.
- Create an incremental delivery plan and an earned value running diagram. This is used to track the progress of the project.
- Monitor all risks for materialization or expiration and EVR diagram for any deviation.
This book provides detailed steps in risk management. It tells you what you should do but not how to do it. To learn how, you have to practice in your projects.
I’ve always been wondering how a reasonable deadline could be decided on. If you do risk management, you must know that the best we can do is to put our estimate about risk versus schedule. But most customers don’t buy that. If you’ve ever tried to put a risk estimate on their table, they will no doubt choose the one with earliest deadline (yeah, and the most risky one).
Nevertheless, if you want to give the customer a firm deadline and still want to be reasonably flexible, Bert Webb gives a formula. Basically the formula just gives more weight to the realistic deadline but still gives you some buffer (in the face of the most pessimistic one). In my opinion, how you pick the weight depends on the team you have.
