PRINCE2 2017 – Full one hour overview of PRINCE2 from Mandate to Closure

One of the best overviews of how PRINCE2 works by Antony della Porta of  The Sustainable PM

This video looks at getting the project started with the activities, and any documents recommended and take you up to a point at the end of Initiating a Project and being ready (hopefully) to kick the delivery part of the project off in earnest. Run the plan!

The message is that we need to start with a broad yet formal understanding of the “Why What and How” of the project in “Starting Up a Project” and build on the that with more detail through “Initiating a Project.” At the end of “Starting Up a Project,” the next step is to go to “Directing a Project” (which is where the Project Board function for direction and decision) to “Request Initiate a Project” and kicks off this Process. Note that even though the Project Executive is on board from Starting Up a Project, it is only when “Starting Up a Project” is complete, and the Project Brief is ready along with the Initiating Stage Plan, does “Directing a Project” start.

“Step at a time” – “Detail builds with each step” so we can keep in control and by that I mean from a “Governance” perspective, so we do NOT have a “runaway train.” In “Initiating a Project” we look at Planning as this is the key activity here. We need to understand the products (product breakdown), so then we can prioritize, estimate and then Plan. This helps us update all the project documents we started in “Starting Up a Project” to provide the business with the best information they need to make an “informed decision” as to whether the project is worth the investment or not. The underlying point here is to understand and agree on the project “Scope”!

Should we get the “Green Light” at the end of “Initiating a Project” we then move into the “Delivery” part, “Controlling a Stage” and “Managing Product Delivery”.

Now for the product build part, there are some separate videos that you through “Scrum” and how the core of the “Product Deliver” approach, Iterative Development, and using “Timeboxes” (Sprints in Scrum) are used to control ID. The session also explains how to use this approach in a project as there need to be some changes! We also look at handling Risk and Issues, with escalation and the “Exception” route.

Finally, the video takes you through a recap of the previous videos and then leads into “Closing a Project,” with a look both aspect, normal and premature closure.

Please note: this is not a course in itself, its a “walkthrough” to provide you with a good and reasonably detailed understanding of the approach.

PRINCE2 is a guidance and a framework to guide you through the project.

The full accredited course can be found on http://www.d-p-c.net/courses.html

You will see the course card on the Landing Page.

All the courses are run as a “Classroom” with the details drawn on a whiteboard throughout the explanation

For a full image of the new life cycle follow this link: http://bit.ly/P2-2017ProcessMap

PRINCE2®, MSP®, M_o_R® and MoP® are registered trademarks of AXELOS Limited.

By PRINCE2, Project Management Leave a Comment

Ancient Technology That Proves An Advanced Civilization Was On Earth

Recently I engaged with some friends in a conversation regarding the human history vs religions, and I argued that if we enjoyed the same openness and/or creativity that other cultures enjoyed, namely the ancient Greece, we would most likely end up drawing the same characters they have whether you call them Gods, demons, and daemons; but based on their description in Quran or Hadeeth, or Torah & Gospel.
I’m most certainly not interested in the endless debate of why Muslims didn’t draw angels for example, but this conversation got me interested in learning more about our history as humans. For this, and after bit of googling, I ended up liking the work of Rita Louise author of The E.T. Chronicles: What Myths and Legends Tell Us About Human Origins but as such history is better visualized, I looked her up on YouTube and found the following interesting lecture on how ancient technology proves advanced ancient civilization.

Ancient Technology That Proves An Advanced Civilization Was On Earth

Organized into a chronology that starts with “in the beginning” and ends with the advent of civilization, it brings together myths from many cultures (including the Sumerians, the Greek, the Maya and the Aborigines of Australia) and explores them in the context of current scientific discoveries. The result is a mind-blowing re-visioning of human origins through a close reading of ancient texts.
Rather than simply visiting our planet at the dawn of Sumerian civilization as some researchers believe, the ET intervention occurred 3.8 billion years ago when they helped to terraform the planet. Physical descriptions of these entities as well as their alleged origins suggest that there were at least four different races of ETs visiting Earth and interacting with both humans and each other during ancient times.

By Uncategorized Leave a Comment

PMP Formulas – Cost Variance

I started taking Project Management course, and I feel stuck at the formulas for the lack of business background, and instead of running away from it (IT IS SCARY!). I will face it by reading online materials and share it here (with proper citation) and hopefully will get feedback on whether I’m on the right track or not.

AccountingCoach costing is an important subtopic of cost accounting. Standard costs are usually associated with a manufacturing company’s costs of direct material, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead.
Rather than assigning the actual costs of direct material, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead to a product, many manufacturers assign the expected or standard cost. This means that a manufacturer’s inventories and cost of goods sold will begin with amounts reflecting the standard costs, not the actual costs, of a product. Manufacturers, of course, still have to pay the actual costs. As a result there are almost always differences between the actual costs and the standard costs, and those differences are known as variances.
Standard costing and the related variances is a valuable management tool. If a variance arises, management becomes aware that manufacturing costs have differed from the standard (planned, expected) costs.
If actual costs are greater than standard costs the variance is unfavorable.
An unfavorable variance tells management that if everything else stays constant the company’s actual profit will be less than planned.
If actual costs are less than standard costs the variance is favorable.
A favorable variance tells management that if everything else stays constant the actual profit will likely exceed the planned profit.
The sooner that the accounting system reports a variance, the sooner that management can direct its attention to the difference from the planned amounts.

I think the quality of this introductory paragraphs to Cost Variance is the reason why AccountingCoach is making it the first result when you Google accounting related keywords.
The concept of Cost Variance is explained as

Cost Variance (CV)
Concept: Provides cost performance of the project. Helps determine if the project is proceeding as planned
Formula: CV = EV – AC
Result Interpretation:
Negative = over budget = bad
Positive = under budget = good

This did not sound simple when I read it first, as someone who did not come from a business background, I could not understand the formula without a scenario like the one provided by AccountingCoach.
I will try to make it a habit to post on issues that I see as problematic during my PMP training and share whatever I find.

By Project Management One Comment