Each month Mindavation will offer a template from our Project Templates CD free of charge. Don't miss out on this opportunity!

This month's download is the Requirements Analysis Progression Chart. As discussed in this month's article, astute project managers apply what has worked in the past, with appropriate edits to accommodate each project's particular challenges. The Requirements Analysis Progression Chart provides a step by step guide to creating complete and verified requirements for your projects. It can be modified from project to project, allowing the project manager to adopt to each project's need for diligence in the requirements collection process. Keep in mind however, MANY project fail due to a lack of appropriate requirements! Following the steps outlined in this chart can help assure that your requirements are complete and verified.

CAPM® Exam Practice Questions and Solutions by Aileen Ellis, PMP

What makes CAPM® Exam Practice Questions and Solutions different from other sample question books? The AME Group has designed the book with the goal of helping students pass the CAPM® exam with a high margin. As a student, you can focus your time studying what is on the CAPM® exam, not the PMP exam.

Other books tell you the right answer, but they don’t really explain why the wrong answer is wrong. In this book, Ellis provides a detailed description of why the right answer is right, but also why the three wrong answers are wrong. You will get four times the learning from each question. How many times have you understood that the right answer is good, but still not fully understood why your answer was wrong? In this book, there is as much focus on the wrong answers as on the right answers to set the record straight.

Additionally, Ellis provides references, most to the PMBOK® Guide 3rd Edition, for each correct answer. Students can easily read more about the topics and questions that they are having difficulty with, increasing the reader’s overall learning ability, not just preparing them for this specific exam.

CAPM® Exam Practice Questions and Solutions is available at
www.amegroupinc.com, www.pmi.org or www.amazon.com.

November 9-10, 2006 Colorado Springs, Colorado "Requirements Collection and Analysis"

December 14-15, 2006 Denver, Colorado "Critical Judgment"

Looking for a class to attend? Would you like to meet us face to face? If we are in your area, feel free to contact us to schedule a meeting.

By Rick Griffin and Conrad Imel

Whether you thought Taylor Hicks was the rightful winner this year or that Katherine McPhee was the better performer, the phenomenon of American Idol provides an opportunity to look at what it takes to be a winner. The concept is very simple: Bring unknown talent to the television stage and give someone a chance at stardom. Underneath that simple concept are a number of tactics that contribute to the success of the show. Let’s take those lessons from American Idol and apply them to our favorite vocation as we once again publish a project management top ten list.

1) Know what works and stick with it

There is a proven framework to American Idol. The season begins with auditions around the country, where the judges see the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some will move on to Hollywood where the contestants are pared down and the audience has the opportunity to vote for their favorites and crown the American Idol. This framework produces the ratings that producers like; the framework will not change. A project manager needs to know and apply the same concept. What has worked in the past? How can those concepts be applied to my current project? While the specifics will change from project to project, you as a project manager know from experience the types of approaches and tactics that work. You need to maintain those practices regardless of what each individual project demands from you.

Mindavation offers 30 customizable project templates and tools to make your life easier! The CD includes full project lifecycle templates and tools.

Documents are in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Project 2000 (and Adobe). Modify each template to suit YOUR business and project needs.

Price (including shipping & handling): $100