Chapter 11 ideas
Communication is the skill that never will be overemphasized.
1. It is critical for project manager making task assignments clear. Not only the team members need the clear direction but also the stakeholders will have a vision what they need to know and what kind of obstacles will be expected.
2. Communication with stakeholders is kind of an art. As indicated in the book, the communication should detail the strategy not only for informing these stakeholders, but for actively managing their expectations as well. To my understanding, it’s like a psychological war.
3. Changes are consistently involved in every project. By defining a change management process, the leader could manage the project more easily and accurately. Usually, there are eight basic components to change management process. I think the formal acceptance is the one that should be paid special attention; the acceptance should be recorded in the change log for future reference.
2010年8月17日星期二
Chapter 10 ideas
Chapter 10 ideas
In this chapter, the focus is much more on the people rather than the project. So bringing with the question “how to build and manage a high-performance project team”, I read this chapter thoroughly and deeply.
1. There are two central challenges that the novice project manager must face. First, project teams form to solve complex problems. Second, project teams are temporary and so they must learn to work. From my point of view, the temporary team is really a big issue. In order to achieve high-performance, the team should be work in harmony and productive, however, developing trust, cultivate and maintain positive relationships takes time.
2. The self motivation is important, though, in a project, it is better that project manager could tie each team member’s own success to the team’s goal. By doing so, we could not only create a powerful source of motivation but also a positive team environment.
3. Maintaining the Strategic Vision. While I was training in the business school in Arizona State University, one of our professors required us read Wall Street Journal every day. At that time we did not quite understand what this was for; it seemed neither related to our accounting principles nor fancy working skills. However, the professor said you have to learn to see the bigger pictures if you want to stand higher in the future. I think this also applies to the project management; a project manager should not stumble over peanuts. The project manager should maintain a focus on the whole picture.
In this chapter, the focus is much more on the people rather than the project. So bringing with the question “how to build and manage a high-performance project team”, I read this chapter thoroughly and deeply.
1. There are two central challenges that the novice project manager must face. First, project teams form to solve complex problems. Second, project teams are temporary and so they must learn to work. From my point of view, the temporary team is really a big issue. In order to achieve high-performance, the team should be work in harmony and productive, however, developing trust, cultivate and maintain positive relationships takes time.
2. The self motivation is important, though, in a project, it is better that project manager could tie each team member’s own success to the team’s goal. By doing so, we could not only create a powerful source of motivation but also a positive team environment.
3. Maintaining the Strategic Vision. While I was training in the business school in Arizona State University, one of our professors required us read Wall Street Journal every day. At that time we did not quite understand what this was for; it seemed neither related to our accounting principles nor fancy working skills. However, the professor said you have to learn to see the bigger pictures if you want to stand higher in the future. I think this also applies to the project management; a project manager should not stumble over peanuts. The project manager should maintain a focus on the whole picture.
2010年7月28日星期三
Chapter 7, 8 & 9 ideas
Chapter 7, 8 & 9 ideas
1. A realistic schedule is vital to make a project successful.
2. The accurate estimating is always good for most project stakeholders so that everyone has an idea about the future and the uncertainty of the project.
3. Trade off among cost, schedule and quality. You can only pick two of them. But the important thing for the project manager is how to balance. Balancing involves the whole process of the project, and especially important when the project is on the first stage because the stakeholders will have a clear view about what is possible and what isn’t, which helps to eliminate the further conflicts.
1. A realistic schedule is vital to make a project successful.
2. The accurate estimating is always good for most project stakeholders so that everyone has an idea about the future and the uncertainty of the project.
3. Trade off among cost, schedule and quality. You can only pick two of them. But the important thing for the project manager is how to balance. Balancing involves the whole process of the project, and especially important when the project is on the first stage because the stakeholders will have a clear view about what is possible and what isn’t, which helps to eliminate the further conflicts.
Chapter 5 & 6 Ideas
Chapter 5 ideas
1. All projects experience the unexpected, and all the projects are new. You have to know how to deal with the risks, especially for the potential ones.
2. Risk management is the primary job of a project manager. All project managers do are to reduce various kinds of risk to an acceptable level.
3. Among the five steps in the risk management framework, the last one: continuous risk management is often not given serious consideration. However, only through constant vigilance, the project manager could make the project success in the end.
Chapter 6 ideas
1. By understanding a project’s parts, you could have a better understanding of the whole project. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a powerful tool for breaking down a project into its component parts.
2. The work breakdown structure identifies all the tasks in a project so that make sure no part is lost. And also it is very helpful in building project teams. Every team member has clear work assignment and how his work should be done.
3. WBS is very important not just because it is a work list, but also it helps the project manager estimate, track process and communicate more effectively.
1. All projects experience the unexpected, and all the projects are new. You have to know how to deal with the risks, especially for the potential ones.
2. Risk management is the primary job of a project manager. All project managers do are to reduce various kinds of risk to an acceptable level.
3. Among the five steps in the risk management framework, the last one: continuous risk management is often not given serious consideration. However, only through constant vigilance, the project manager could make the project success in the end.
Chapter 6 ideas
1. By understanding a project’s parts, you could have a better understanding of the whole project. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a powerful tool for breaking down a project into its component parts.
2. The work breakdown structure identifies all the tasks in a project so that make sure no part is lost. And also it is very helpful in building project teams. Every team member has clear work assignment and how his work should be done.
3. WBS is very important not just because it is a work list, but also it helps the project manager estimate, track process and communicate more effectively.
2010年7月2日星期五
A Leader I Admire
A Leader I Admire
The leader I admire is Jack Ma, a business man in China. He is now the chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which is a holding company with five major subsidiaries-Alibaba.com, Taobao, Alipay, Alibba Cloud Computing and China Yahoo!
What he impressed me most are his confidence and motivation. I saw several speeches he did in pubic and on TV, I knew he started his own business with some peers, sometime it was so hard that he could not pay his employee, but his confidence and motivation make the employees wanted to stay with him to create a miracle without being paid. Of course, his vision and belief are also very important factors that made him success. But as a leader, his insistence of the right way and his motivation and persuasion are two very unique points that I think very important for the leaders.
The leader I admire is Jack Ma, a business man in China. He is now the chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which is a holding company with five major subsidiaries-Alibaba.com, Taobao, Alipay, Alibba Cloud Computing and China Yahoo!
What he impressed me most are his confidence and motivation. I saw several speeches he did in pubic and on TV, I knew he started his own business with some peers, sometime it was so hard that he could not pay his employee, but his confidence and motivation make the employees wanted to stay with him to create a miracle without being paid. Of course, his vision and belief are also very important factors that made him success. But as a leader, his insistence of the right way and his motivation and persuasion are two very unique points that I think very important for the leaders.
Chapter 4 Ideas (June 19-June 25)
Chapter 4 Ideas
1. Publish a project charter. Before reading this chapter, I never know the exact process of how to do a project. This chapter introduces why and what a project charter do? It contains the name and purpose of the project, the project manager’s name and a statement of support from the issuer. Also there are three methods of documenting the project rules: the statement of work, the responsibility matrix, and the communication plan.
2. The content of Statement of Work. They are purpose statement, scope statement, deliverable, cost and schedule estimates, objectives, stakeholders and chain of command. The scope statement is very impressive. The scope statement should describe the major activities of the project in such a way that it will be absolutely clear if extra work is added later on. I will implement this kind of method into my own project and hope it will make my project work better.
3. Communication Plan is a totally new thing for me. It is the written strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time. Now I understand, for a project, there must be so many things to communicate, and if there is no communication plan, it is very likely that some important communication are not made on time or not made to the right person, which will lead to very bad results of the project. Maybe the communication plan is not important for a small project but it is indeed very important for some big project s in the companies.
1. Publish a project charter. Before reading this chapter, I never know the exact process of how to do a project. This chapter introduces why and what a project charter do? It contains the name and purpose of the project, the project manager’s name and a statement of support from the issuer. Also there are three methods of documenting the project rules: the statement of work, the responsibility matrix, and the communication plan.
2. The content of Statement of Work. They are purpose statement, scope statement, deliverable, cost and schedule estimates, objectives, stakeholders and chain of command. The scope statement is very impressive. The scope statement should describe the major activities of the project in such a way that it will be absolutely clear if extra work is added later on. I will implement this kind of method into my own project and hope it will make my project work better.
3. Communication Plan is a totally new thing for me. It is the written strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time. Now I understand, for a project, there must be so many things to communicate, and if there is no communication plan, it is very likely that some important communication are not made on time or not made to the right person, which will lead to very bad results of the project. Maybe the communication plan is not important for a small project but it is indeed very important for some big project s in the companies.
Chapter 3 Ideas (June 19-June 25)
Chapter 3 Ideas
1. I never thought the stakeholders are so important in a project. In this chapter, the stakeholders are called the heart of a successful project. However, it is true that stakeholder almost decide whether a project will be successful. They establish agreement and goals, they construct the strategies and they approve the budget! Can you image when you need more resources but your company is now having a serious financial issue?
2. The three management stakeholders that every project needs are: sponsorship, resources and decision authority. The one impressed me most is the role of sponsor. Actually, a sponsor has two sides. At one side he must supervise the project and ultimately responsible for the project, and the other side he must help the project team be successful. So as the project manager, you must learn how to identify and communicate with the sponsor so that the project can get more help and more successful. The sponsor will not only give the project team the basic instructions, but also assist the project manager in overcoming some obstacles, which are very hard to do for the manager.
3. Not to mention, the customer is always an important stakeholder. Customers establish requirements. They are called GOD, they are always right. Maybe it is a little exaggerated, but it is true that they judge the ultimate success. But one thing I learned from this chapter about customer is that the project manager must distinguish between the people with final authority over product requirements and those who simply need to be informed what the requirements are. Not all the customer know what they exactly need.
1. I never thought the stakeholders are so important in a project. In this chapter, the stakeholders are called the heart of a successful project. However, it is true that stakeholder almost decide whether a project will be successful. They establish agreement and goals, they construct the strategies and they approve the budget! Can you image when you need more resources but your company is now having a serious financial issue?
2. The three management stakeholders that every project needs are: sponsorship, resources and decision authority. The one impressed me most is the role of sponsor. Actually, a sponsor has two sides. At one side he must supervise the project and ultimately responsible for the project, and the other side he must help the project team be successful. So as the project manager, you must learn how to identify and communicate with the sponsor so that the project can get more help and more successful. The sponsor will not only give the project team the basic instructions, but also assist the project manager in overcoming some obstacles, which are very hard to do for the manager.
3. Not to mention, the customer is always an important stakeholder. Customers establish requirements. They are called GOD, they are always right. Maybe it is a little exaggerated, but it is true that they judge the ultimate success. But one thing I learned from this chapter about customer is that the project manager must distinguish between the people with final authority over product requirements and those who simply need to be informed what the requirements are. Not all the customer know what they exactly need.
Chapter 1& 2 Ideas (June 12- June 18)
Sorry for the late. I just received the book I ordered this week.
Chapter 1&2 Ideas
1. It is said that project management is both an art and a science. There is no doubt that the best project manager is a great leader. I think besides the intangible leadership qualities, which vary from different person, the certain five common characters consistently found on successful projects indicated in the book are also very important. They are agreement upon, a plan, effective communication, a controlled scope and the management support.
2. A project has a beginning and an end, and should produce a unique product. In other words, a project is temporary and unique, so it requires very good management. And some important challenges that handled by the project managers are personnel, estimating, authority and controls.
3. Talking about the independence of the project, I agree with the book that project manager is not independent. Project managers are involved in the business management skills, including negotiating, finance, communication, and motivation. It will make a project go smoothly if the manager could combine the project management, business management and technical very well.
4. Another important point is the project life cycle. A standard project life cycle includes define, plan, execute, and close out. And the first two stages: define and plan cannot be overemphasized. According to the book, although these two phases only represent 1o percent or less of the total effort, they are essential in preparing the team for efficient performance during the execution phase.
Chapter 1&2 Ideas
1. It is said that project management is both an art and a science. There is no doubt that the best project manager is a great leader. I think besides the intangible leadership qualities, which vary from different person, the certain five common characters consistently found on successful projects indicated in the book are also very important. They are agreement upon, a plan, effective communication, a controlled scope and the management support.
2. A project has a beginning and an end, and should produce a unique product. In other words, a project is temporary and unique, so it requires very good management. And some important challenges that handled by the project managers are personnel, estimating, authority and controls.
3. Talking about the independence of the project, I agree with the book that project manager is not independent. Project managers are involved in the business management skills, including negotiating, finance, communication, and motivation. It will make a project go smoothly if the manager could combine the project management, business management and technical very well.
4. Another important point is the project life cycle. A standard project life cycle includes define, plan, execute, and close out. And the first two stages: define and plan cannot be overemphasized. According to the book, although these two phases only represent 1o percent or less of the total effort, they are essential in preparing the team for efficient performance during the execution phase.
2010年6月18日星期五
SMART Goal Evaluation_Assisgnment C (June 5-June 11)
My goal for the "Project" is: Improve my Excel skills to the advanced level by learning Excel 2007 Bible in two months.
SMART Evaluation
Specific: Simply to say my goal is to learn a book, it is well defined and clear enough for everyone to understand.
Measurable: It is easy to measure because there is a book and also a timeline.
Agreed Upon: This project only invovles myself. So the agreement is not an issue.
Realistic: I have bought the book last week and also I am confident about my computer skills and learning ability. This goal is achievable and approachable.
Time-Framed: This project will last two months, which I think is reasonable based on plenty of my previous study experience.
SMART Evaluation
Specific: Simply to say my goal is to learn a book, it is well defined and clear enough for everyone to understand.
Measurable: It is easy to measure because there is a book and also a timeline.
Agreed Upon: This project only invovles myself. So the agreement is not an issue.
Realistic: I have bought the book last week and also I am confident about my computer skills and learning ability. This goal is achievable and approachable.
Time-Framed: This project will last two months, which I think is reasonable based on plenty of my previous study experience.
Excel Project_Assisgnment B (June 5-June 11)
My project is called "Advanced Excel Project".
Goal
Improve my Excel skills to the advanced level by learning Excel 2007 Bible written by John Walkenback in two months.
Description
This is a real study project I set for myself in order to enhance my professional skills as well as to accommodate myself to today's business enviornment which has a dramaticlly increased reliability on the Excel.
To accomplish this project successfully, I think there are several key points.
1. Make a study plan
I have two months, which means 8 weeks and this book consists of six parts and 866 pages totally. So I decide to study one part one week, and the fourth and eighth week are the review weeks to recatch the previous parts and do some more pratices.
2. Be persistent
It is well known that study is not a easy and happy process, not to mention all these boring numbers and plenty of formulas. Even worse, all of my friends hang out on Friday night and I have to face the computer to study the "EXCEL". So I fully understand what I will encounter in the next two months, maybe frustration, depression and loneliness. However, I should keep remind myself that be persistent to my goal and do not give up halfway.
3. Practice as much as possible
To have a good command of any software, besides the basic operating knowledge, I think another important aspect is the practice. The more you pratice, the more you learn.
I will keep practicing while studing the material of this book. For example, using Excel to do some finanical budget for my friends or for a fictitious entity, etc.
Goal
Improve my Excel skills to the advanced level by learning Excel 2007 Bible written by John Walkenback in two months.
Description
This is a real study project I set for myself in order to enhance my professional skills as well as to accommodate myself to today's business enviornment which has a dramaticlly increased reliability on the Excel.
To accomplish this project successfully, I think there are several key points.
1. Make a study plan
I have two months, which means 8 weeks and this book consists of six parts and 866 pages totally. So I decide to study one part one week, and the fourth and eighth week are the review weeks to recatch the previous parts and do some more pratices.
2. Be persistent
It is well known that study is not a easy and happy process, not to mention all these boring numbers and plenty of formulas. Even worse, all of my friends hang out on Friday night and I have to face the computer to study the "EXCEL". So I fully understand what I will encounter in the next two months, maybe frustration, depression and loneliness. However, I should keep remind myself that be persistent to my goal and do not give up halfway.
3. Practice as much as possible
To have a good command of any software, besides the basic operating knowledge, I think another important aspect is the practice. The more you pratice, the more you learn.
I will keep practicing while studing the material of this book. For example, using Excel to do some finanical budget for my friends or for a fictitious entity, etc.
2010年6月11日星期五
Introduction and Expectation_Assignment A (June 5- June 11)
Hello, everyone:
My name is Hong Li. I got my Master degree of Accountancy from Arizona State University, and after that I pursued the CPA exams and passed all of them with impressive scores. Right now I am actively seeking for an accounting/tax related job that I could contribute my professional knowledge and skills.
Well, you maybe confused why an accountant is so interested in techinical things like project management. As we all know, today people are more desireable with combination skills of techonology and business. Those who can manage the development and deployment of technology and also can leverage technology to improve core business performance will become more and more popular and valuable.
In order to create a competitive advantage in today’s technical business world, I decide to pursue a certificate of global technology management in CSUMB. Project management is a required class in this program. Since, I am totally a greenhand and know nothing about the project management, I hope after this class I could get a basic idea of how to plan, organize and manage resources to bring the successful completion of projects.
My name is Hong Li. I got my Master degree of Accountancy from Arizona State University, and after that I pursued the CPA exams and passed all of them with impressive scores. Right now I am actively seeking for an accounting/tax related job that I could contribute my professional knowledge and skills.
Well, you maybe confused why an accountant is so interested in techinical things like project management. As we all know, today people are more desireable with combination skills of techonology and business. Those who can manage the development and deployment of technology and also can leverage technology to improve core business performance will become more and more popular and valuable.
In order to create a competitive advantage in today’s technical business world, I decide to pursue a certificate of global technology management in CSUMB. Project management is a required class in this program. Since, I am totally a greenhand and know nothing about the project management, I hope after this class I could get a basic idea of how to plan, organize and manage resources to bring the successful completion of projects.
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