|
|
|
The EVM Newsletter™ from Management Technologies |
|
|
|
Management Technologies Services
>Third Party EVMS Certification |
|
Don't miss the next EVM Newsletter
You can opt out at any time. Your e-mail address will not be shared with anyone.
(Add www.mgmt-technologies.com to your white list.)
Past Newsletters
Back to top |
|
AACE Call for Papers
|
AACE has posted a Call for Papers for their 2014 Annual Meeting and their 2014 ITCM Conference.
Act quickly the deadline is 31 August.
The 2014 AACE International Annual Meeting is in New Orleans, LA, USA, June 15-18, 2014.
The 2014 International Total Cost Management Conference, is in Bangkok, Thailand, November 11-13, 2014.
If your abstract is accepted plan on writing a manuscript/paper that is due January 31, 2014.For other important requirements see their guidelines.
Back to top
| |
| Chill Out | |
| |
Operation IceBridge is a series of NASA conducted flights to record the polar regions and create the largest-ever airborne survey of our planet's polar ice.
Here is a four minute video to help you chill out.
 | | IceBridge Arctic '13 |
The project will yield "an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves, and sea ice," NASA said. IceBridge will fly twice a year to maintain a continuous series of observations in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
|
| Quotable Quote |  |
" "
"Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated."
Lou Holtz,
American football coach, sportscaster, author and speaker
|
|
Forward to a friend
Did you find this newsletter interesting?
Forward it to a friend!
Back to top |
|
AACE Approved Education Provider | |
PMI Registered Education Provider
Constant Contact All Star Award (3nd year)
(Less than 10% of Constant Contact customers are
All Stars.)
|
Six Sessions on
AGILE + EVM | |
|
Once again it is my honor to be the track coordinator for a six session track on applying AGILE+EVM. The track is part of the Integrated Program Management Conference in Bethesda, MD, in November,
Since EVM World 2012 the topic of Agile and EVM has gained increasing interest at College of Performance EVM conferences. Attendees' comments have helped improved the content with each conference.
This year's IPM conference Agile+EVM track is improved again. Included will be scenario based sessions to walk the audience through the planning and execution of agile projects. This will include establishing the baseline, reporting values for EV and PV, and handling the scope and schedule adjustments that are part of employing Agile.
The track will begin with a review of Agile concepts and terms, and end with a panel of the presenters who will address audience questions and comments
Back to Top
|
|
EVPrep Materials Statistically "Effective"
| |
|
People ask me; and I needed to know.
Does our EVPrep workshop and/or EVP Study Guide really help with the EVP exam?
For a year or so prepaid postcards have been given to workshop attendees and Study Guide purchasers so they can anonymously report on their exam outcome.
Using these data and data from AACE regarding yearly totals of EVP exams taken and exams passed we did some statistical analysis.
Yes, our EVPrep products are effective in increasing the likelihood of passing the EVP exam. Nice to know.
Back to top
|
|
Know Someone Special in the EVM Community?
| |
|
CPM Members...
CPM offers two leadership awards named in honor of strong leaders of our community.
Do you know someone who should join their ranks as deserving of this recognition?
Driessnack Distinguished Service Award
Gary Christle Leadership Excellence Award
2013 Nominations close on 30 September, 2013.
Download the forms.
Back to top
|
|
|
 |
|
Welcome to the August 2013 EVM Newsletter. 
There is a lot going on in the near future for the EVM community.
We'll try to bring you up to date. Hopefully we didn't miss anything. Here are the highlights of articles in this issue.
The College of Performance Management (CPM) has an election underway for various of their Governing Board positions. Also CPM is seeking nominees for their various awards for leadership and service to the EVM community. You have to be a CPM member to participate in either activity.
The Integrated Program Management Conference (IPMC) is coming up in November. A track on EVM and Agile is on the conference schedule.
Also, an EVPrep™ workshop will be held immediately following this event. Cant' make that one? Others are scheduled for 2013 in Reston and Austin. The Earned Value Experience workshop is scheduled in the DC area in September.
AACE has issued its call for papers for next year's major events: the Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, and their International Total Cost Management Conference in Bangkok.
As always there is an EVM Tidbit. This month is about what else to be looking when looking at EVM data.
There is part two of our series on what GAO found in auditing US agencies' cost estimating, scheduling, and EVM. As always, audit results are a source of items you might want to visit within your own organization.
Lastly, there is a four minute video to help you "chill out".
You can help make this newsletter interesting by contributing news about your activities in EVM, your company, product announcements, or your projects. Each month starts with a blank sheet, we don't make this stuff up! Send news to me at
evinfo@mgmt-technologies.com
Ray Stratton, PMP, EVP
Editor
|
 | US GAO Comments of the State of Scheduling |
Karen Richey from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) office presented "Best Practices and Recent Audit Findings" at  EVM World 2013.
Last month we listed the first of three sets of findings on cost estimating, scheduling, and EVM. Here is the second set: scheduling.
Could this be your organization?
- Does not set a schedule baseline or track against one
- Does not properly sequence activities using correct logic to ensure the schedule is dynamically networked (e.g., missing relationships and dangling activities)
- Overuses constraints and lags to force activities to occur on predetermined dates and fails to document their justification
- Includes high duration activities that are difficult to objectively status and manage
- Appreciates the concept of a critical path but does not appreciate the consequences of unrealistic float
- Does not perform schedule risk analysis
- Assumes unlimited resources by failing to resource load their schedules
- Does not consistently status the schedule and record a status/data date
- Schedules are missing a distinct Start and / or Finish Milestone
Next month we will list the third set: EVM.
|
| Tidbit # 47, Keeping an Eye on the Critical Path | |
Everyone wants to be on schedule, maybe even ahead of schedule. So when there is zero schedule variance (SV) or a positive SV we  get excited. Should we be excited?
In virtually all EVM implementations EV is just EV. Any task that is started, progresses, or completes adds to the total EV. Sounds good.
But what if the EV is obtained from doing the wrong work?
While there should not be any "wrong work" in a project schedule, the work could be done at the wrong time! A "wrong time" would be doing the work before the completion of necessary predecessor tasks. If the schedule network is created correctly ALL predecessor tasks are necessary before starting a successor. (Assume finish to start).
When we do tasks out of sequence we add risk. What might we learn in completing the predecessor task that we don't know if we start the successor prematurely? Would this knowledge allow us to complete the successor task more quickly, correctly, or at less cost?
If the predecessor is not allowed to complete before starting the successor we are operating with imperfect knowledge or partial products, potentially causing rework or delays.
Starting work prematurely (early) usually means finishing late and spending more.
To avoid this outcome we need to look at the critical path. Is our EV a result of work on the critical path? Are we doing work out of sequence and not on the critical path? Are we just accumulating EV for EV sake? Yes, we can still have a positive SV and be behind schedule if the wrong work is being done.
With some effort one can get EVM data from just the critical path baseline as a subset of the project's baseline. With this data we can know how we are doing in getting the critical path work done. Of course, sooner or later all the project work must be completed.
Earned schedule analysis gives us an "effective date" based upon the work done. Look at that time-line on your schedule. All the EV accumulated should be from work planned and done up to the earned schedule date. Any work that contributed to the EV from the right of, or past, the earned schedule date was done prematurely. It might be OK to do so, but it deserves some examination.
Image courtesy of the family of Marty Feldman (1934-1982)
Back to top
|
| EVPrep™ and EVM Workshops | |
The following workshops are planned for one or more of the following locations:
- Reston
- Austin
- Phoenix
- Bethesda (following IPMC)
Earned Value Experience (CAM) Workshop (14 PDUs)
You'll experience creating an earned value management baseline, determining earned value from project status, calculating earned value management indices, and estimating final cost and completion date. This workshop is perfect for team leads, control account managers, financial and schedule control staff, project and program managers, and chief project officers.
Excel EzEVM™Templates may be retained by attendees to implement earned value management in their organization.
Locations and Dates
View the Earned Value Experience workshop outline and get the registration form.
Interested in an on-site workshop? Send an e-mail with your your address and the number of attendees to receive a quote.
EVPrep Exam Prep Workshop (14 PDUs)
The workshop covers all the topics likely covered in the exam and provides exam-like questions and workshop discussion about each question and the possible answers. This workshop also includes an EVM analysis question to help prepare you for the three page written essay in Part II (was part IV).
Take this workshop and save $150 on the exam. Attendees are given a temporary limited membership in AACE that allows you to take the exam at AACE member rates.
"Ray, your course is excellent preparation for the EVP Certification test. Your questions were comprehensive like the test and somewhat harder (more complex) than the real test. Your preparation course especially helped with the memo."
Jeff Kottmyer
NASA
Locations and Dates
This is twelve hours of mock EVP exam and discussions of correct and incorrect answers.
Do you have an EVP FAQ?
View the EVPrep workshop outline and get the registration form.
Interested in an on-site workshop? Send an e-mail with your address and the number of attendees to receive a quote.
|
|
| Upcoming EVM and PM Conferences | |
PM Oz 2013
WHEN: 17-18 September 2013
WHERE: Melborne, Victoria, Australia
IPMA World Congress
WHEN: 30 September - 3 October 2013
WHERE: Dubrovnik, Croatia
MORE INFO: IPMC World Congress
Integrated Program Management Conference
REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW
WHEN: 18-20 November 2013
WHERE: Bethesda, MD
MORE INFO: CPM
EVM Europe 2013
WHEN: 3-4 December 2013 (Changed)
WHERE: University of Ghent, Belgium
MORE INFO: EVM Europe
AACE International Annual Meeting
WHEN: 15-18 June 2014
WHERE: New Orleans, LA, USA
MORE INFO: AACE
9th ICEC World Congress
When: 20-22 October 2014
Where: Milano Italy
More Info, TBD
AACE International Conference
WHEN: 12-13 November 2014 (Yes 2014)
WHERE: Bangkok Thailand
MORE INFO: AACE
|
|
Are You a Gmail.com Person?
| |
If you read your Gmail via the their webmail site you have or will  see some changes to the inbox. This new inbox separates email into five tabs:
- Primary - Person-to-person conversations and messages that don't appear in other tabs.
- Social - Messages from social networks, media-sharing sites, online dating services, and other social websites.
- Promotions - Deals, offers, and other marketing emails.
- Updates - Personal, auto-generated updates including confirmations, receipts, bills, and statements.
- Forums - Messages from online groups you belong to, discussion groups, etc.
You can pick and choose which tabs you want to use (by default, Primary, Social, and Promotions will be checked) or you can un-check all of the tabs if you aren't interested and go back to the Gmail inbox that you are used to.
Gmail will automatically categorize your email for you, but it will also learn as you move emails around and sort messages on your own (just drag and drop messages into the different tabs).
From what I know so far The EVM Newsletter will show up in the promotions tab. While this means that there is now an extra step for you to see and read your Newsletter. Gmail users with the new inbox should move The EVM Newsletter into the Primary tab by simply dragging and dropping the email into the Primary tab or by "starring" the email.
Gmail should learn to put the Newsletter into the Primary tab if you move it there.
(If you didn't see your EVM Newsletter in your newly formatted inbox you probably didn't read this article anyway. Catch 22.)
Back to Top
|
|
CPM Members - V O T E!
| |
The College of Performance Management board elections are underway but close September 15, 2013 at 5:00 pm (EST in US). If you are a CPM member s you should have received an email ballot. If not, contact the CPM office.
Here are the positions and candidates.
Candidates for these positions are as follows:
Executive Vice-President:
- Wayne Abba
- Nick Pisano
- Ray Stratton
Vice-President Finance:
- Yelena Andrianova
- Buddy Everage
- Jay Patterson
Vice-President Research & Standards:
- Victor omo Agege
- Dale Gilliam
Vice-President Global Outreach:
- Marco Buijnsters
- Raf Dua
- Paul D. Giammalvo
- Kym Henderson
- Bill Mathis
- Fernando Roque
- Greg Smith
|
|
Do you have news to share? Send your news item and we'll review it for posting in a future EVM Newsletter.
Sincerely,
Ray Stratton, PMP, EVP
Management Technologies |
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2013, Management Technologies
The EVM Newsletter, EVPrep, The Earned Value Management Maturity Model, EVM3, EzEVM,
The CAM^Exam, and The Earned Value Experience are trademarks of Management Technologies.
The Earned Value Professional, EVP, and the AEP logo
are marks of the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering, International. (AACEŽ).
The PMP, PMBOK, PMI, and R.E.P. , and the Registered Education Provider logo are
registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
EVM World is a
registered trademark of the College of Performance Management, Inc.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
