The Most Common Earned Value Mistakes

The THREE Most Common Earned Value Mistakes

#1 -Setting up your project with “level of effort” planning. Rather than having discrete tasks, you just create categories, like “design” or “engineering” and allocate a certain number of people to it over a fixed period of time. The right way to structure the WBS - make each task finite with a specific, measurable outcome.

#2 - Lack of Fidelity or Resolution; having tasks on the WBS so large in scope that we can only guess partial completion from week to week. Typically happens on larger projects where tasks aren’t broken down far enough.

#3 -We don’t have enough frequency of reporting information to be effective. An example is having a six month project with monthly reporting; by the 2nd update we are already 33% through the schedule and have insufficient time for corrective action vs. crises action.

Corollary to #3:
-We get information often enough, but it is based on time-late data. Example is having major cost categories (labor, material or ODC) in a project but each report update contains information aged many weeks prior and not current.

PMP Exam Lessons Learned from Scott

PMP Exam Lessons Learned from Scott

I recently passed the PMP exam. I completed the PMP certification course and PMP Exam Prep course from NMA and took the exam within 4 weeks. The course material provided an excellent foundation of the knowledge areas and the PMP Exam Preparation course provided the appropriate tips and example test questions to feel confident going into the exam. In addition to the course work, I read the PMBOK a second time the week before the exam. I studied the terms in the glossary and made flash cards for the terms that I felt that I did not know or that had a different meaning than the conventional meaning (not PMBOK specific terms). I spent a significant amount of my study time learning the process groups and the processes for each knowledge area. I was able to recreate Table 3.1, Project Management Process Groups and Knowledge Areas Mapping, from memory. I also made sure that I could write the basic EV formulas from memory (SV, CV, SPI, CPI, TCPI, EAC etc). During the PMP Exam Prep course, Stu had made many suggestions about how best to prepare for the exam. In hind sight each of the suggestions proved to be very valuable. I also followed the lessons learned from several of the blog postings on the NMA web sight.

On the exam day, I arrived a few minutes early so that I would not be anxious prior to the test. At the site where I took the exam, they had lockers for all of your personal items, jacket, pencils, watch, cell phone, paper etc.) The testing site provided all of the necessary items to take the exam, I asked for a separate calculator. I even had to roll up my sleeves to show that I had no marking on my arms! Once a test console was available I was able to sit down and start the exam, so even if you arrive early you do not have to wait very long to start the exam. The first 15 minutes is used to provide a tutorial on how to use the computer equipment. I was able to move through the information quickly and use the remaining time to write down my formulas and recreate Table 3.1, a quick knowledge dump. I was able to refer to the information during the test and I this gave me more confidence answering the questions. I finished the exam in 3 hours, so there is plenty of time to take the test. I tried to minimize the number of questions that I had to go back and review so I did not feel rushed at the end. I had taken several on line tests (200 question exams) from different sources prior to the actual exam, so I was comfortable with the timing and the difficulty of the questions.

In summary, heed the advice from Stu and the input from others that have taken the exam and you will be well prepared and feel confident during the exam. Stu had suggested that we treat the exam preparation as a project and make a plan. I followed my plan and was able to achieve a positive result. Good luck to future candidates!

Best regards,

Scott
Business Team Leader
Parker Hannifin Corporation

PMP exam Lesson Learned (from Val, 1/4/2010)

Another former student passed the PMP exam and provided her LL:

{You're welcome to post, paraphrase, and otherwise use whatever you'd like if it will help.
Your teachings stuck with me.
Thanks for all your help in this process.
Wishing you the best,
Val}
--
Lessons Learned

I took an additional prep class on the fourth edition then took the exam quickly afterward. I knew that I needed more memorization before I went into the test but didn't want to delay any longer. I concentrated my memorization efforts on the tools and processes of each knowledge area. I felt by understanding the tools used in the knowledge area, I would better remember the inputs and outputs.
I also took practice exams as often as possible.
It was still easy to be frustrated by the questions on the real exam and feel that there were more than one correct answer to each. Keep taking the practice exams. Get ahold of as many as possible and get used to picking the best answer. In answering the questions, I thought it was crucial to read the question carefully and look for clues such as is the question looking for a tool, process, knowledge area, or definition and be sure to find the answer that match accordingly.
The exam doesn't let you know which process group or knowledge area its testing and its not in order. There were a few times, I just couldn't understand the vocabulary. It might be good to brush up on your word of the day calendar. There was at least one each critical path, earned value, and channels of communication exercise. They were fairly easy and could be done with the calculator and scratch paper provided.
It was recommended to me to do a memory dump when you first arrive at the test scene. Get out the scratch paper and write down your formulas, the process groups, the knowledge areas, and your trouble spots. I personally kept having trouble remembering the Project Initiation inputs and outputs
There's no better resource than the PMBOK book but don't forget the ethics portion. The ethics were heavily tested.
Anyway.. I am moderately proficient in all areas .. which sounded so commonly adequate it was hard to celebrate but heck I passed right!

Valori
IT Business Analyst
Enterprise Engineering IT Services