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Scrum

Leadership in Learning

Posted on 08.25.16

learningI am huge believer in the strength of lifelong learning.  Learning allows us to connect with the new ideas born into the world on a daily basis and learning allows us to stretch our imaginations beyond any known boundary.  Without lifelong learning, our brains and bodies stagnate.  We will rot away in the muck of sameness and predictability.

Organizations need learning as much as do individuals.  There are new theories to test that may (or may not) improve productivity and efficiency.  Learning new ways to execute projects can save resources and motivate the workforce, for example.  Like individual learning, organizational learning must be a continuous passion.  However, organizational learning must be exemplified by leaders.

Leadership

Leaders are very different than managers.  Most of us are familiar with the old adage that “managers manage things and leaders lead people.”  Yes, that’s true.  Yet leadership is more than directing the people on a team.  Leadership involves inspiring others to achieve greatness.  It involves helping your team members to stretch beyond their capabilities to create bigger and better solutions to age-old problems.  Leadership demonstrates a vision and the pathway to reach faraway goals.

Leaders don’t just dream about a different future.  They also put in place mechanisms and tools to build that exact future.  A leader doesn’t have the technical solutions in his or her back pocket but he or she can encourage and motivate the team to find designs and to develop solutions that create a better world for all of us.  Leaders inspire, motivate, and encourage even when the chips are down.

Leading by Example

Leaders are just managers if they don’t have natural followers.  Often, leaders can be compared to managers by their actions.  A manager dictates work by command and control.  She will tell her team members what to do and check to see if it gets done.

Leaders, on the other hand, will stand beside the team member to learn the task and to identify a solution.  He is not afraid to get his hands dirty seeking a better way.  Leading by example is a fundamental characteristic of successful and inspiring leaders.

Leading by example includes lifelong learning.  Leaders that read and share new information, concepts, and theories demonstrate that learning is important.  Team members will follow that example and also read to share new information, concepts, and theories that they encounter.  Shared experiences are a key to successful team growth as the team members collectively find new solutions to project problems or technical challenges.

Learning Together

Leaders also demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning through continued professional development.  InLeadership today’s busy world, many careers demand that workers hit the ground running when they are hired for a new job.  Professional certifications like Project Management Professional (PMP®), New Product Development Professional (NPDP), Scrum Master (SCM™), and Professional Engineering Manager (PEM) also demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning.  Professional certification demonstrates education, experience, and subject matter knowledge exemplifying technical and market leadership.  Many jobs today require applicants to hold such professional credentials to validate their skills and capabilities as well as to demonstrate the candidate’s leadership competencies.

Teams can learn together to expand their skills in these fields.  PMP exam prep training and Scrum Master training are great classes for teams to take together to learn a common vocabulary and approach to problem-solving.  Simple-PDH.com offers a company discount for PMP Boot Camps, next scheduled for 26-30 September 2016 in Houston, Texas.  You’ll earn 35 professional development hours (PDH) in this course as well as be prepared to pass the PMP exam on the first try!

NPDP training is also well suited for innovation teams.  The course presents a common framework and best practices for teams engaged in radical innovation and applied R&D.  Our next NPDP face-to-face class is scheduled for 12 & 13 October 2016 in Houston, Texas.  You’ll earn 16 PDHs during this intense learning workshop.

Leadership in Learning

Leaders exemplify the behaviors they want their teams to demonstrate.  Lifelong learning is foundational to long-term organizational success.  Great leaders not only encourage and share learning with their teams, they also practice lifelong learning through professional development.  For more information on gaining and maintaining professional certifications, please contact us at [email protected] or by phone at +1-281-280-8717.

 

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Simple-PDH.com

by Global NP Solutions, LLC

What is Empirical Process Control in Scrum?

Posted on 08.18.16

Scrum is a project management framework involving a collaborative effort to create complex products, services, orScrum-Master-Product-Owner results.  The Scrum methodology focuses on delivering high-value increments to the customer or other stakeholders quickly.  In comparison to traditional waterfall project management methods, Scrum is lightweight and simple to understand.  Yet, implementing Scrum requires a paradigm shift for both management and project team members.

Principles of Scrum

Scrum is based on six key principles that form the foundation of the project management methodology.  These are:

  1. Empirical process control,
  2. Self-organization,
  3. Collaboration,
  4. Value-based prioritization,
  5. Time-boxing, and
  6. Iterative development.

Empirical Process Control

“Empirical” means “derived from or guided by experience” (dictionary.com).  Scrum processes are guided by the practical experience of the Scrum Master and the project team members as well as the product owner.  The Scrum Master is a facilitator working to ensure that the Scrum Team can complete the work in an efficient and productive manner.  The Scrum Team is essentially a working project team.

Unlike a traditional project manager who issues work orders and controls the team’s scope, schedule, and budget, a Scrum Master interfaces with external influencers to ensure that the Scrum Team works on the highest value priorities first.  A Scrum Master also removes roadblocks that could impeded the team’s accomplishments.  This may include limiting project deliverables during a given phase of work or adding necessary resources to accomplish required goals and objectives.

The Product Owner is another unique role in Scrum.  A Product Owner represents the voice of the customer by meeting with the client to fully understand their needs.  Moreover, the Product Owner provides the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team a prioritized list of features, deliverables, and requirements.  In this way, the project is able to deliver value at the earliest possible increment after the project has begun.

In addition to the experience of the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Scrum Team, empirical process control focuses on three concepts:  transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Transparency

scrum pillarsScrum processes in project management are viewable by all.  This ensures transparency.  Transparency includes a common understanding of the project work requirements by clients, stakeholders, Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Scrum Team.  Often the Scrum tools used to advance project work share additional commonalities so that anyone involved in any project using similar resources can quickly assess the project status.

The concept of transparency extends to the flow of information throughout the organization.  An open work environment is also a hallmark of Scrum.  Scrum Team members practice transparency in a Daily Stand-Up Meeting in which they share work progress, work plans, and any challenges they face in completing agreed-upon work items.

Inspection

The second concept of empirical process control is the idea of inspection.  Inspection means that project deliverables are continually monitored to ensure appropriate value is delivered to the customer or client.  Inspection involves frequent monitoring of project progress as well as demonstration of completed work items.

Scrum projects are executed in short sprints, typically lasting from one to six weeks.  Scrum Team members work on a few, specific, prioritized features or deliverables during each sprint.  Scrum project documentation and artifacts, like the Scrumboard, illustrate the progress of the team toward completion of tasks in the current sprint.  Final inspection validates the goals of the sprint for customer acceptance.

Adaptation

A pivotal difference between traditional project management and Scrum is flexibility and continuous learning.  Whereas a conventional waterfall process lays out the definition of all goals, objectives, and deliverables when a project starts, Scrum projects utilize teams and inspection to quickly experiment and adapt to changing project requirements.  It is often challenging for a client or customer to define specific product features or attributes prior to project initiation.  Adaptation also means that the Product Owner is responsible for continuous verification of business value throughout the life cycle of the project.  In traditional, waterfall product development processes, features are locked in and often a company finds itself committed to a losing prospect after incurring significant resource and development expenses.  Scrum, on the other hand, forces flexibility and continued risk assessment through the short, iterative design cycles.

Empirical Process Control in Scrum

Scrum focuses on three concepts to take advantage of project team member experience.  These are transparency, inspection, and adaptation.  In contrast to traditional project management, Scrum uses short, iterative development cycles in which the Product Owner, representing the voice of the customer, continually evaluates the value delivery of the project.  Scrum Teams are facilitated by a Scrum Master who removes roadblocks and obstacles so the Scrum Team can accomplish its work.  Project work is highly visible (transparency), checked against goals frequently (inspection), and continually assessed for risk and value (adaptation).

To learn more about Scrum, please join us in a free webinar.  Or contact me at [email protected] to join a Scrum Fundamentals or Scrum Master course.

 

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

© Simple-PDH.com

A division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Welcome to Simple-PDH

Posted on 01.07.16

logo-3Welcome to Simple-PDH. Our mission is simple – we want to help you maintain your professional credentials with on-line learning.

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Lifelong learning is the keystone for any successful professional. In today’s competitive job market, certifications are what differentiates standout candidates from the rest of the crowd. Professional certifications – like New Product Development Professional (NPDP), Project Management Professional (PMP®), and Professional Engineering Manager (PEM) – demonstrate mastery of skills, practice, and theory. Further separating these valuable credentials are the requirements for continued learning in one’s chosen field. Many of these programs require up to 60 hours of continuing professional development every three (3) years.

That’s where Simple-PDH comes in. It’s difficult to get away from our busy day-to-day jobs to attend expensive conferences. Internal corporate training often focuses on regulatory requirements with no time for technical education and growth. Simple-PDH offers affordable on-line courses so you can earn your required professional development hours (PDH) and continuing education units (CEU) quickly and easily.

Study

Simple-PDH offers learning materials in a variety of formats to make maintaining your professional credentials easy. Courses include an assortment of study methods to best fit your needs: reading, audio downloads, video, and practice exercises. You can download or print study materials for later reference as well.

You can study the course materials as much as you like during the course registration period. Depending on the course content and number of PDHs, courses are available for 30-, 60-, and 90-days. Members may choose to bundle several courses for a discount or subscribe to annual access to all courses. Members will be the first to know about new courses, too!

With Simple-PDH offering a variety of learning packages, you can study, learn and earn continuing education units simply and easily.

Learn

The goal of the professional credentialing bodies (like PDMA, PMI®, and ASEM) is to maintain elite candidates growing the body of knowledge in their respective fields. Continuous learning enhances our professional careers as we continue to accomplish new skills and applications.

Simple-PDH recognizes the special qualifications of professional associations and offers specific course content to validate subject matter expertise. For instance, the Project Management Institute (PMI) has recently released Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) to meet the elements of the Talent Triangle™. Our courses are designed to meet these expectations for continued education in Strategic and Business Management, Technical Project Management, and Leadership. Simply search on the class categories to find related courses.

Earn

In addition to study materials, every course at Simple-PDH includes a practice exam and a final exam. You can take these exams as many times as you want throughout the duration of the course. Upon completion of the course with a passing score (usually 70%) on the final exam, you can simply download and print your completion certificate verifying your PDH or CEU credits.

Normally, a one-hour course will have a 10-question exam and longer courses may have a 20-question exam. Don’t worry, though. We keep it simple and after reviewing the study materials and practice exams, the final exam should be a cinch!

Simple-PDH

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple. It really is that easy. Our affordable on-line courses make maintaining professional certifications quick and easy. For more information, please contact us at [email protected] or by phone at 281-280-8717.

 

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

© Simple-PDH.com

A division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

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