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projpro
From: [email protected] on behalf of ProjectPro E-News
Sent: 29 April 2011 02:35 PM
Subject: ProjectPro May e-Newsletter
Attachments: Untitled attachment 00043.txt
No. 108: May 2011 email: [email protected] or Tel: +27 (0)12 346 6674
In This Issue
• ProjectPro Celebrates 20th
Anniversary
• Resignations and Litigation
Hit Services Seta
• ISO 21500 Guidance on
Project Management- Is It a PMBOK Clone?
• Richard Branson Takes the
plunge
• Report on Gulf of Mexico
Oil-spill Disaster
• Demand is Growing for
Agile Practices in Project
Management
• Air France Wreck Found
After 22 Months
• Minamata "Disease" -
World’s 9th Worst Environmental Disaster
PROJEPROJEPROJEPROJECTPROCTPROCTPROCTPRO
PMBOK-based
methodology uses
Life Cycle Approach
7 – 10 June 2011
ProjectPro has converted
ProjectPro Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Two decades ago Terry Deacon,
while hiking in the Magoebaskloof
forests, made a watershed
decision to start a national project
management magazine, which
resulted in the establishment of
one of South Africa’s leading
project management training and
consulting companies.
Terry, then a project manager
with BKS Consulting Engineers,
had no experience in publishing,
marketing, journalism, editing,
typesetting or printing. However,
he applied project management
principles to this daunting
endeavour, and started compiling
a business case. This indicated a
need for marketing skills so Terry
went back to University for the
third time, to do a marketing
course at Unisa. For his
assignment he did a survey to
determine if there was a market
demand for a project
management magazine. The result was a resounding YES.
So in June 1991 the first edition of ProjectPro magazine was published.
While Terry was still working as a full-time project manager, he was
producing the quarterly magazine by working evenings, weekends and
holidays. His wife, Esther supported him as office manager and in raising
their two young daughters.
During the first year of publication the Specialist Press Association (SPA)
urged Terry to enter the ProjectPro magazine in the SPA national awards
programme. Terry and Esther arrived at the glittering function where they
were overawed by all the publishing tycoons, smoking cigars and wearing
tuxedos and bowties. Terry and Esther quietly retired to a corner table,
away from the limelight.
Much to ProjectPro’s amazement and delight they walked off with two
major awards that memorable evening. The look on the tycoon’s faces
clearly said, “How did these newcomers do that?” The answer is of course
PROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPRO
Engineering & Construction
Project Management Course
13 - 15 June 2011,
Midrand
The Engineering and
Construction Project
Management (ECPM)
training course is a
3-day intermediate level
course covering the
principles,
processes, tools and
techniques of project
management in an
engineering and
construction context.
This course is based on
the internationally
recognised Project
Management Body Of
Knowledge
(PMBOK®Guide) and its
Construction Extension
published by the Project
Management
Institute (PMI) in the
USA. It has been
adapted to the South
African built environment
and takes
the learner through the
entire project life cycle
phases: Initial Briefing,
Concept, Design,
Procurement,
2
the well known and
respected Project
Management Body of
Knowledge
(PMBOK) standard into a
comprehensive
methodology.
Project managers can now
use ProjectPro's
ProjectFlow®
methodology to effectively
navigate their way to a
successful project
outcome, instead of
working through the
daunting 490 pages of
the PMBOK 4th edition.
The ProjectFlow®
methodology guides users
in a step-by-step fashion
to initiate, plan, execute,
monitor & control and
close each phase of their
projects. Each step is
hyperlinked to explanatory
text and/or templates.
Unlike many other
methodologoes, the
ProjectFlow® uses a
flexible descriptive, rather
than a prescriptive
approach.
The ProjectFlow® uses a
life-cycle approach to
managing a project, which
enables you to apply the
PMBOK processes and
knowledge areas to the
project life cycle of any
project, big or small,
comprising of any number
of phases. The
ProjectFlow® can be
used on any project
discipline from engineering
& construction,
information &
communication
technology, to event
management and research
& development. A range of
templates is provided in
the ProjectFlow® library
which can be adopted and
adapted, or the templates
can be customised for a
particular organisation or
project.
The ProjectFlow®
structure is well suited to
training project team
members in the processes,
tools and techniques of
project management. With
this in mind, ProjectPro
offers a 4-day
– project management.
On the strength of this success Terry went full-time into publishing
ProjectPro magazine, and supplemented the magazine’s income by doing
project management consulting (read more). It soon became apparent
that there was a big demand for project management training, so
ProjectPro launched their highly successful 4-day experiential ProjectFlow
course. It was unique, in that the delegates would actually draw up a
project management plan to build rafts and execute a search and
recovery exercise for a chest of “gold” bars on a local lake or river. The
project was implemented on the morning of the final day of the course
with progress being tracked using Earned Value Management on laptop
computers. A close-out session with evaluations and lessons learned is
held on the afternoon of the final day (read more)
In 2001 ProjectPro made a strategic decision that the future of publishing
was digital, so they upgraded their website to convert the printed
magazine into an online eZine (a pull approach) combined with a monthly
email eNewsletter (push approach). The 100th edition of ProjectPro eNews
was published in August 2010.
In line with ProjectPro’s confidence in the future of cyberspace an online
Project Management Professional exam preparation eLearning course will
be launched in mid-2011. For more details contact [email protected]
ProjectPro’s spectrum of courses offered in 2011 presently stands at 21.
Visit www.projectpro.co.za for details. ProjectPro training is not only in
demand locally, but also internationally in Botswana, Kenya, Zambia,
Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The ProjectPro team would like to take this opportunity to thank all our
clients, delegates, learners, readers, advertisers, and contributors for
their support over the past two decades. We look forward to serving you
in future.
Back to top
Resignations and Litigation Hit Services Seta
Construction and
Close-out.
The ECPM course is
validated by the South
African Institute of Civil
Engineers
(SAICEproj10/00756/13)
and contributes 3 credits
towards Continuing
Professional
Development
Who should attend?
Engineers, Construction
Project Managers,
Consulting and Design
Engineers, Engineers-in-
Training, Functional
Managers, Project
Sponsors, Architects,
Quantity Surveyors, etc.
will find this course
invaluable.
ProjectPro Management
Services is an accredited
training provider with
SAQA / Services Seta
(No. 097), PMSA,
SAACE, and ASAQS.
ProjectPro also consults
and runs in-house
courses, customised to
your specific needs
throughout Southern
Africa. Visit our website
at www.projectpro.co.za
for details of other
courses, fees, training
dates and to register
online.
ProjectPro Management
Services P O Box 25430,
Monument Park, 0105
Tel: 012 346 6674 or 082 557 3119
Fax: 012 346 6675 E-mail:
ProjectPro Training Calendar – Gauteng
3
ProjectFlow® course
which uses the
methodology as an
integral part of the
training. Each delegate
receives a CD containing
the methodology which
they can use on their
actual projects after the
course.
Public courses are held in
Gauteng, South Africa, but
in-house courses can be
arranged anywhere in the
world. The next public
course is from 3 – 6 May
2011 in Centurion,
Gauteng. ProjectPro has a
special introductory offer
of 15% discount on our
normal fee, which means
you get 4 days of training,
a CD containing the
ProjectFlow® Basic
methodology, a PMBOK 4th
edition, comprehensive
course manual, ProjectPro
t-shirt, membership access
to ProjectPro’s e-Library
and e-News all for R 9 995
incl. VAT. Beat the 2011
price increase by
registering now.
Please contact Terry
Deacon of ProjectPro on
+27 (0)12 346 6674 or
+27 (0)82 557 3119 or
visit our website
www.projectpro.co.za
PROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPRO
Program
Management
Professional (PgMP)
Two-day workshop. 12 – 13 May 2011
Midrand
Program managers can
now obtain a prestigious
credential that recognizes
their knowledge,
experience and skills with
the Project Management
Institute’s (PMI) Program
Management Professional
(PgMP).
On 26 April 2011 providers were advised by Vernon
Naidoo, Chief Financial Officer of the Services SETA
(Sector Education and Training Authority), that the
SETA had been placed under administration by the
Department of Higher Education (DHET) in terms of
Government Gazette No.34245. Consequently all
transactional banking was stopped by DHET.
The Services Seta looks after the skills development
interests of about 180 000 firms in 37 separate industries ranging from
project management, labour recruitment, marketing, property and
general business, to beauty and funeral services. It derives an income of
about R750 million a year from skills development levies paid by member
companies.
The Seta, already heading for a court showdown with Higher Education
and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, has been hit by a spate of
resignations from top management. Among those who have resigned are
suspended chief executive Ivor Blumenthal and two of his three deputy
chief executives, Treaty Moshoeshoe (Operations) and Vernon Naidoo
(CFO).
Others who submitted their resignations are secretary Prelini Bennideen,
human resources manager Bonita Brider, learnerships and grants
manager Sydney Moonsamy, trade and disability manager Isobel Byleveld
and Blumenthal’s personal assistant Zelda le Roux.
All eight leave the Services Seta at the end of April. The only deputy chief
executive still on the job is Devan Naicker, who was last week appointed
to the post of acting chief executive after Blumenthal was suspended and
Naidoo and Moshoeshoe refused offers to take his place.
Naidoo and Moshoeshoe declined the position, saying they did not
recognise the legitimacy of Blumenthal’s suspension by Nzimande-
appointed independent Seta board chairperson Sihle Moon.
The Labour Court hearing of the urgent application brought by the
Services Seta, Blumenthal and six others against Nzimande to declare the
minister’s decision to gazette a new Seta board and constitution as
beyond his legislated authority will continue, despite the resignations. The
application also seeks Blumenthal’s reinstatement. Blumenthal said this
was “a matter of principle rather than practicality, since I will anyway be
leaving by the end of the month”. Blumenthal resigned in January in
order to respect the Department of Higher Education and Training’s
transformation wishes. He became Services Seta chief executive when
the authority opened its doors in 2000.
Back to top
ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management - Is it a PMBOK Clone?
The International Standards
Organisation (ISO) is developing a new
standard entitled ISO 21500 Guidance
on Project Management. The Draft
International Standard (DIS) was
issued to members of the South African
Bureau of Standards (SABS) Technical
Committee (TC) 236 on 15 April 2011
for comment. ProjectPro’s Terry
Deacon, a TC member, reports on the
progress made so far and the contents
of the draft document.
There are striking similarities between
the ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management to be published by ISO
in 2012, and the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK Guide)TM 4th Edition which is published by the Project
Management Institute (PMI) based in the USA.
Courses are SAQA/Services
Seta/ PMSA/ECSA
accredited/recorded
Engineering and Construction
Project Management
13 – 15 June 2011, Gauteng
Project Management Demystified
20 – 21 June 2011, Gauteng
ProjectFlow
7 – 10 June 2011, Gauteng
Project Management Professional / CAPM
23 – 25 May 2011, Gauteng
27 – 29 July 2011, Gauteng
PMP/CAPM Saturday mornings Workshops
20 Augudt – 15 October 2011, Gauteng
Advanced: Program
Management Professional (PgMP) Workshop
12 – 13 May 2011, Gauteng
Microsoft Project 2010 Scheduling - Introductory
26 – 27 May 2011, Gauteng
19 – 20 July 2011, Gauteng
Microsoft Project 2010 Scheduling - Advanced
30 – 31 May 2011, Gauteng
21 – 22 July 2011, Gauteng
PMI-Project Scheduling Professional
1 – 2 June 2011, Gauteng
25 – 26 July 2011, Gauteng
PMI-Risk Management Professional
9 – 10 May 2011, Gauteng
4
The PgMP credential
recognizes those
practitioners who are
responsible for the
coordinated
management of
multiple, related
projects that advance
organizational
objectives and strategic
goals.
Who should attend?
* candidates wishing
to prepare and apply
for the PgMP® exam
* for executives,
project sponsors,
project directors,
program managers,
portfolio managers,
Project Management
Office (PMO) heads,
quantity surveyors
wishing to know
more about the
processes and
benefits of the
program
management
approach in
supporting
organisational
strategy.
* holders of the
Project Management
Professional (PMP®)
credential who can
earn 15 Professional
Development Units
(PDU) for re-
certification
purposes.
The PgMP uses
three evaluations that
include:
* An application
review by a panel of program managers,
* A multiple-choice
examination and
* A Multi-rater
Assessment (MRA) in
which a team of
raters that the
candidate selects
ISO 21500 DIS presently has 39 project management processes while the
PMBOK has 42. Of these, 32 are the same processes, while some of the
ISO 21500 processes incorporate two of the PMBOK processes into one.
For example the ISO 21500 process Administer Contracts includes two
PMBOK processes: Administer Procurements and Close Procurements.
Another similarity is the knowledge areas or subject groups. PMBOK has 9
knowledge areas, while ISO 21500 has 10 subject groups namely:
Integration, Stakeholder, Scope, Resource, Time, Cost, Risk, Quality,
Procurement and Communication. The PMBOK includes stakeholders
under its Communication area.
PMI has for a long time claimed that their PMBOK is the de facto global
project management standard. ISO 21500 will undoubtedly be recognised
as a global standard when it is finally published at the end of 2012,
because it involved international teams of subject matter experts from
34 countries that contributed towards developing and approving its
content, namely Argentina, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belarus,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg,
Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russian
Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United
States of America. Observer countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hong
Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Ironically, the USA TC representatives voted against the adoption of the
committee draft (CD) version notwithstanding that it mirrored the PMBOK
very closely. On the one hand this is confirmation that the PMBOK is an
excellent standard. On the other hand the PMI may be concerned that the
ISO 21500 could supplant the PMBOK as the de facto global standard.
ISO 21500 is intended to be a high-level international project
management standard which gives guidance on the terminology,
processes and subject groups of project management. It will then be up
to each country to supplement ISO 21500 with an implementation guide
to provide more detail to apply it effectively taking cognisance of the local
environment and culture.
Back to top
Richard Branson Takes the Plunge
Adventurer
Sir Richard
Branson
plans to take
a single-
person
submarine
to the
deepest
points in
each of the
world's five
oceans, the
first time
such a feat
has ever
been
attempted. Branson's Virgin Oceanic submarine aims to make five dives
over a two-year period and set up to 30 Guinness World Records. It plans
to venture to the bottom of Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean), Puerto Rico
Trench (Atlantic Ocean), South Sandwich Trench (Southern Ocean), the
Diamantina Trench (Indian Ocean) and the Molloy Deep (Arctic Ocean).
Unlike Branson's other projects, the public will not be able to purchase a
seat on one of the deep diving subs. The explorations are a part of an
initiative to learn more about our planet's oceans. Branson believes it is
Earned Value Management Workshop
To be schedulled
Time Management –
Seize the Day!Seize the Day!Seize the Day!Seize the Day!
16 May 2011, Gauteng
NB: Prices and dates are
subject to change, so please
check with ProjectPro upon registration.
Other dates and venues can be arranged if sufficient demand.
To Register
Quick Links
Home
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5
review the
candidate’s abilities
to perform tasks that
are relevant to
program management.
Completing the three
evaluations not only
allows program
managers to assess
their knowledge and
skills against industry
standards but also
provides them with
feedback through the
MRA process that they
can use for professional
development
Because the
evaluations are
progressed in an online
environment, a panel of
program managers
from across the globe
are able to assess the
candidate’s professional
experience in the first
evaluation.
Candidates also can
select MRA raters from
anywhere in the world
to participate in the
third evaluation.
Candidates may be
eligible for the PgMP
credential with a
minimum of four years
of professional project
management
experience and four
years of professional
program management
experience.
Like the Project
Management
Professional (PMP®)
credential holders,
PgMP credential holders
participate in the
Continuing Certification
Requirements (CCR)
program to maintain
the credential and to
continue their
education and
professional
development in the
field.
ironic that a planet like Earth which is inhabited by 'intelligent' beings
has, in the 21st century, physically explored zero percent of its deepest
points and mapped only three percent of its oceans by unmanned craft,
when 70 percent of that planet's surface was made up of water. Only 10
percent of the life forms inhabiting that unknown world are known to
those on the surface.
Fellow explorer Chris Welsh is set to make the first dive later in 2011 into
the Mariana Trench using one of Branson's vehicles, which is a whopping
11 000 m deep – a depth that has yet to be reached by mankind. The
craft, which will cruise at a max of 3 knots and can dive 100 m per
minute, is expected to take a total of five hours to go to the bottom of
Mariana trench and back.
At these depths, each individual part of the submarine must be able to
withstand enormous pressures – about 1,500 times that of an airplane.
Full pressure testing of the submarines will be conducted over the next
three months. The other four dives will be scheduled over the next 24
months. Branson plans to pilot the second exploration, which will go into
the Puerto Rico trench (8 500 m deep).
Virgin Oceanic is working with various scientific institutions to collate data
and catalogue life forms that will never have been seen and are unknown
to science. In addition, the expedition will also be partnering with Google
Earth, where the dives will be recorded and publicly viewed on the site.
Back to top
Report on Gulf of Mexico Oil-spill Disaster
One year ago an explosion aboard BP’s
Deepwater Horizon oil-rig triggered the worst
oil spill in history. The presidentially-
appointed Oil Spill Commission has released
its final report on the causes and
consequences of the Macondo well blow-out.
It proposed comprehensive reforms of both
government and industry practices to
overhaul the U.S. approach to drilling safety
and reduce the chances of a similar disaster in the future.
The Commission found that the Deepwater Horizon disaster was
foreseeable and preventable. Errors and bad judgments by three
major companies—BP, Halliburton, and Transocean—played key roles in
the disaster. Government regulation was ineffective, and failed to keep
pace with technology advancements in offshore drilling.
The following key findings were made:
1. The Macondo well blowout was the product of human
error, engineering mistakes, and the following
management failures:
• to evaluate and manage risk in late-stage well-design
decisions.
• to redesign cement slurry in response to tests that
repeatedly demonstrated problems with the slurry design.
• to recognize that the critical “negative pressure test”—a
key test used to determine the integrity of the cement job
that seals off the well—signalled that the cement at the
well-bottom had failed to seal off hydrocarbons.
• to recognize that the temporary well-abandonment
procedures, which BP changed repeatedly in the days
leading up to the blowout, unnecessarily increased the
6
Information on
eligibility requirements,
credential policies and
the CCR program can
be found online in the
PgMP credential
handbook at
www.pmi.org
Holding a PMP
certification is not a
pre-requisite for PgMP.
Candidates interested
in joining the PgMP
workshops on the 12 –
13 May 2011 at the
Saint George Hotel,
Midrand, should contact
ProjectPro’s Terry
Deacon on 082 557
3119
Email [email protected] or telephone (012) 436
6674 for more information.
risk of a well blowout.
• to recognize and respond to early warning signals of the
hydrocarbon influx (or “kick”) that eventually became the
blowout.
• to respond appropriately to the blowout once it began,
including but not limited to the failure of the rig’s blowout
preventer to shut in the well.
2. These errors, mistakes, and management failures were not
the product of a single, rogue company, but instead reveal
both failures and inadequate safety procedures by three
key industry players that have a large presence in offshore
oil and gas drilling throughout the world.
3. Government oversight failed to reduce the risks of such a
well blowout.
Oversight was compromised by co-mingling two distinct missions
within one agency:
• responsibility for promoting the rapid expansion of offshore leasing and dirilling
• responsibility for ensuring its safety
Regulation failed to keep pace with the dramatic transformation
of the offshore drilling industry and the move to deepwater
drilling. Neither inspectors on the front lines nor senior Interior
Department officials in charge of the Minerals Management
Service (MMS) had the experience or training to oversee
deepwater offshore drilling.
The Department of the Interior lacked sufficient in-house
expertise to enforce existing regulations, and was unable to
impose more stringent safety regulations due in large part to
industry resistance.
4. The Minerals Management Service did not receive
predictable and adequate funding needed to effectively
oversee offshore drilling.
Over the past twenty years, the MMS budget for leasing,
environmental protection, and regulatory oversight decreased or
remained relatively static while deepwater drilling in the Gulf of
Mexico expanded dramatically.
5. Both industry and government were unprepared to contain
a deepwater well blowout.
At the time of the Macondo well blowout on 20 April 2010, the
federal government was unprepared to oversee a deepwater well-
containment effort. At the time of the blowout, BP—and industry
more generally—had no proven options for rapid containment in
deepwater other than attempting to close the blowout preventer.
The underestimates of the amount of oil spilling from the
Macondo well appear to have impeded planning for and analysis
of well-containment efforts and contributed to a loss of confidence
on the part of the public in the competence of the federal
government.
The Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer lacked key diagnostic
tools that would have assisted in the containment effort.
6. Both industry and government were unprepared to
respond to a massive deepwater oil spill, even though
such a spill was foreseeable.
7
Companies did not possess the response capabilities they
claimed. Since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, neither industry
nor the government has made significant investments in spill-
response research and development, so the clean-up technology
used following the Deepwater Horizon spill was largely
unchanged.
7. The environmental damage of the spill to the Gulf will take
decades to fully assess.
The government estimates that more than 170 million gallons of
oil spilled into the Gulf, with some portion remaining in the ocean
and possibly settling to the sea floor. The disaster placed further
stress on coastal resources already degraded over many decades
by a variety of economic and development activities, including
energy production.
8. As bad as the Deepwater Horizon disaster was, it could
have been much worse.
At one point, industry experts feared that a significant portion of
the 4.6 billion gallon oil and gas reservoir beneath the sea floor
could be released into the Gulf.
9. The economic impact on Gulf residents was severe.
Especially hard hit were the seafood and tourism
industries.
Health-related impacts, both physical and mental, have been
evident and are still being examined.
10. The Arctic is an important area for future oil and gas
development, based on projections of significant resources
and industry interest.
In order to assure good decisions are made regarding where,
when, and how to develop those resources safely and reduce risk
in frontier areas, additional comprehensive scientific, technical,
and oil spill response research is needed.
11. Offshore drilling in nations adjacent to the U.S. is likely to
accelerate.
The U.S. and other countries, in partnership with multinational
energy companies, need to ensure that the highest standards for
drilling safety and environmental performance are adopted
worldwide. This is increasingly urgent both in the Arctic and in the
Gulf, where Mexico and Cuba plan to pursue deepwater drilling in
the near future.
In conclusion, the exhaustive investigation finds that none of the major
aspects of offshore drilling safety—not the regulatory oversight, not the
industry safety standards, nor the spill response practices—kept pace
with the push into deepwater. In effect, the nation was entirely
unprepared for an inevitable disaster. Perhaps the only greater tragedy
would be not implementing the reforms recommended based on this
disaster, thus allowing another, similar disaster to occur.
Back to top
Demand Is Growing for Agile Practices in Project Management
8
In last month’s ProjectPro eNews we looked at the history and principles
of the Scrum or Agile project management approach. This month we look
at the new Project Management Institute (PMI) Agile certification
programme as well as details of the Scrum role-players.
Organizations who use Agile techniques in managing projects have
documented the value they obtain from its use:
• Early and continuous customer feedback— as the customer is
involved throughout development, they will end up with an end-
product that they need and will use.
• High visibility and influence over the project progress leading to
early indications of problems.
• Early measurable return on investment—this allows for defined
deliverables at the end of each iteration and early in the process.
One of the practices that PMI has monitored over the several years is the
continuing growth and usage of Agile practices in project
management. Many practitioners have added Agile to their “Project
Management Toolbox” and use it as one of many techniques in managing
successful projects.
As a result, more organizations and project management offices are
asking their project managers to apply Agile techniques. In fact, PMI
research revealed that 68% of the organizations using Agile practices
would find value in an Agile certification for project management
practitioners. In addition, 63% of hiring managers would encourage their
project managers to pursue an Agile certification.
By earning the Agile certification, practitioners can:
• Demonstrate to employers their level of professionalism in Agile
practices of project management
• Increase their professional versatility in both project management
tools and techniques
• Show they have the capacity to lead basic Agile project teams by
holding a certification that is more credible than existing training-
only or exam-only based offerings
PMI serves the project management profession by providing practitioners
with a toolbox of select tools and techniques—and Agile is one of those
tools. For example, those who have the PMP® and are working in an
organization that is using Agile techniques, the Agile Certification
provides an applicable knowledge base of Agile principles and concepts.
Key dates for the Agile Certification launch are:
9
• May 2011 – Candidates for the Agile certification will be able to
submit an application for the pilot.
• August 2011 – Pilot testing is scheduled to begin.
Contact [email protected] for more details.
Agile/Scrum Roleplayers
The core roles in Agile or Scrum teams are those committed to the
project in the Scrum process—they are the ones producing the product
(objective of the project).
Product Owner. The Product Owner represents the voice of the
customer and is accountable for ensuring that the Team delivers value to
the business. The Product Owner writes customer-centric items (typically
user stories), prioritizes them, and adds them to the product backlog.
Scrum teams should have one Product Owner, and while they may also
be a member of the Development Team, it is recommended that this role
not be combined with that of Scrum Master.
Team. The Team is responsible for delivering the product. A Team is
typically made up of 5–9 people with cross-functional skills who do the
actual work (analyse, design, develop, test, technical communication,
document, etc.). It is recommended that the Team be self-organizing and
self-led, but often work with some form of project or team management.
Scrum Master. Scrum is facilitated by a Scrum Master, who is
accountable for removing impediments to the ability of the team to
deliver the sprint goal/deliverables. The Scrum Master is not the team
leader but acts as a buffer between the team and any distracting
influences. The Scrum Master ensures that the Scrum process is used as
intended. The Scrum Master is the enforcer of rules. A key part of the
Scrum Master’s role is to protect the team and keep them focused on the
tasks in hand. The role has also been referred to as servant-leader to
reinforce these dual perspectives.
There are ancillary roles in Scrum teams, those with no formal role and
infrequent involvement in the Scrum process, but must nonetheless be
taken into account.
Stakeholders (customers, vendors). These are the people who enable
the project and for whom the project will produce the agreed-upon
benefit(s), which justify its production. They are only directly involved in
the process during the sprint reviews.
Managers (including Project Managers). People who will set up the
environment for product development.
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Air France Wreck Found After 22 Months
10
After a
frustrating
672-day
search
project,
the illusive
wreck of
the ill-
fated flight
Air France
flight AF
447 has
been found
4km below
the surface
of the
Atlantic
Ocean.
Few clues as to the destruction of flight AF447 are evident from initial
photographs of the wreckage, but discovery of the wreckage may provide
reasons for the crash which killed all 228 people on board.
While the precise location has not been disclosed, the wreck lies on a
mid-Atlantic abyssal plain just north of the last confirmed position
transmitted by the Airbus A330-200 before it disappeared en route to
Paris on 1 June 2009.
AF447's debris was located about nine days after the specialised vessel
Alucia arrived on 25 March 2011 to begin comprehensively mapping the
ocean floor at depths exceeding 3 500m - the fourth dedicated
mobilisation of resources aimed at finding the missing aircraft. Initial data
suggests the three previous searches only narrowly missed the crash site.
The latest search focused on systematically scanning every unchecked
region, beginning with a full sweep inside a 37km circle centred on the
aircraft’s last known position.
France's investigation agency has identified structures including the wing,
main landing-gear, and the General Electric CF6 engines.
There was no indication that the search had located the rear fuselage.
The flight recorders, or so-called “Black Boxes”, crucial to understanding
the accident sequence, are installed behind the rear pressure bulkhead.
Airbus and Air France co-funded the latest search project and
confirmation of the recorders' location will result in a fifth phase being
launched to recover them.
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Minamata "Disease" - World’s 9th Worst Environmental Disaster
Time Magazine has listed what they consider to be the top 10 worst
environmental disasters in the world. In the next issue of ProjectPro
eNews we will be describing the final disaster.
1. Chernobyl
2. Bhopal
3. Kuwaiti Oil Fires
4. Love Canal
5. The Exxon Valdez
6. Tokaimura Nuclear Plant
7. The Aral Sea
8. Seveso Dioxin Cloud
9. Minamata Disease
10. Three Mile Island
11
Minamata "Disease"
For
years
,
resid
ents
of
Mina
mata,
a
town
locate
d on
Kyus
hu
(Japa
n's
most
south
westerly island), had observed odd behaviour among animals, particularly
household cats. The felines would suddenly convulse and sometimes leap
into the sea to their deaths — townspeople referred to the behavior as
"cat dancing disease." In 1956, the first human patient of what soon
became known as Minamata disease was identified.
Symptoms included convulsions, slurred speech, loss of motor functions
and uncontrollable limb movements. Three years later, an investigation
concluded that the affliction was a result of industrial poisoning of
Minamata Bay by the Chisso Corp., which had long been one of the port
town's biggest employers.
As a result of wastewater pollution by the plastic manufacturer, large
amounts of mercury and other heavy metals found their way into the fish
and shellfish that comprised a large part of the local diet. Thousands of
residents have slowly suffered over the decades and died from the
disease. It has taken as long for some to receive their due compensation
from the corporation.
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