Archive for May, 2009

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The Critical Path Turns 1 Year Old

By
Derek Huether
– May 21, 2009Posted in: Application Development, General, Social Networking

iPhone CalendarWow, where did the time go?  A little over a year ago, I found the need to start blogging.  Little did I know how energized I would become.  Other then learn as much as I can about my craft, I want to share my knowledge and experiences with other project managers or those who wish to become project managers.  Since logging onto Twitter a little over a month ago, I have discovered a whole new world of people to exchange ideas with.  What will happen in the next year?

1.  Launch at least one project management centric iPhone application

2. Author an article pertaining to project management and have it published in a refereed journal (e.g. Project Management Journal or Crosstalk)

3. Publish a Project Management centric book and offer it on Amazon.com

4. Monetize the things I enjoy doing

(Calendar image by Apple)

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10 Helpful Steps to Submit PMI PDUs

By
Derek Huether
– May 8, 2009Posted in: General, PMP

I’m in the process of helping a group in the PMO make their submissions for PMI Professional Development Units (PDUs).  All PMPs need 60 PDUs during a CCR cycle so don’t put it off until the last minute.  In this case, they all participated in a workshop.  If you want to collect PDUs, you’re going to need some kind of evidence.  It might be a program agenda, copies of a publication, transcript, certificate, registration form… do I need to go on?  This is actually for you in the event PMI audits you.  In this case, participating in a workshop, the evidence is not required to actually complete the PDU request online.

Know your PMI ID #, Cert #, and Last Name on file with PMI.

Step 1: Log into the PMI homepage.
A Membership Status box will appear in the left navigation menu with the following data:
PMI ID No.:
Member Since:
Expires:

A Certification Status box will also appear in the left navigation menu with the following data:
PMP No.:
Earned:
Renewal Date

Within that Certification Status box, at the bottom, is a link titled “View PDUs”
[http://tel.occe.ou.edu/pmi/PMI_Member/PDUlogin.php3]

Step 2: Select the “View PDUs” link
Step 3: Enter your ID#, Cert#, and first four letters of your last name
Step 4: Select the “PMI PDU Self Report Form” radio button
Step 5: Select the “Login” button to continue
Step 6: Select the Activity you wish to claim  (“2e” for participating in a workshop)
Step 7: Complete the entire form (know the knowledge area and process group)
Step 8: Select the “I Agree” checkbox and the “Continue” button
Step 9: Review for accuracy
Step 10: Select the “Submit” button

Go back and review your Online Transcript in a few days to verify your submission was successful
Repeat Steps 1, 2, and 3

At Step 4,  select “PMI Transcript” radio button
Step 5: Select the “Login” button to continue to your Online Transcript

See, it’s not as hard as you thought!

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Critical Path is Back Up

By
Derek Huether
– May 7, 2009Posted in: Application Development

As my eyes rolled to the back of my head last night, waiting for the server to finish configuring, I hoped my website transition plan was going to work.  Yesterday, I took control of the Critical Path hosting. That meant everything would have to be reinstalled on a new server and database restored. I kept asking myself if I had planned enough.

Other then 6 hours of dead time, due to the release of the domain by the other host, things went relatively well.

The final indicator that I did indeed plan my transition correctly was when the database was restored this morning. The line read better then a tweet.

Import has been successfully finished, 1503 queries executed.

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The Big Move

By
Derek Huether
– May 5, 2009Posted in: Application Development

The Critical Path website is in the process of being moved today. If you get a timeout, it is hopefully just the IP address changing. This will be a true test to see if the backup and recovery procedures work. See you all on the other side.

Popularity: 1%

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Did you learn your lesson?

By
Derek Huether
– May 5, 2009Posted in: Project Management

I’m going to be facilitating a second lessons learned session later today.

As part of the project closing processes, all project managers should collect and document lessons learned.  But, as many will attest, you need to be able to implement approved process improvement activities or you will just continue to revisit history at the end of each cycle or project.

Do you learn from your mistakes?  You should be able to at least be aware of them if you document them at the end of each cycle or project. Revisit them at the beginning of the next project or cycle.

Corrective Action:  Document your direction for executing future project work. Bring expected performance of the project work in line with the project management plan.

Preventive Action:  Document your direction to reduce the probability of negative outcomes associated with project risks.

Defect Repair:  Document a defect in a project component with the recommendation to either repair it or completely replace the component.

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