Quick Update - May Seminar

I wanted to thank all those who came out earlier in May to the Seminar put on with BPE and Will Holmes.  Visit BPB's Homepage to download a copy of the presentation.  Stay tuned for more information sessions and the upcoming training series.

Frank

How to Kickstart a Business Analysis Career !

Hello,  This is a guest Blog from my associate Walidah Yaminah who has created a successful career in BA and this is how she did it!

Ever wonder what exactly a Business Analyst does? How can i get started down that career path to perform tasks that have a big impact across many industries!

If you research the phenomenon of growth in this field there is no one way someone has become a business analyst.

My path towards business analysis began with my inquisitive nature in how "stuff" works in information technology within the banking industry. I wanted to know how our Asset/Liability manager pulled stock information from Bloomberg terminal onto an excel spreadsheet to then determine what was a good mix of investments for the bank.

With just a click of a button, he would then push those figures to a database used for further executive level reporting.

I fearlessly asked why whenever I could to question if we were doing things because that's how they've always been done and was there a better more efficient way to complete a task.

I started as an Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer at the bank, then I jumped over to the Help Desk to really get into IT. From there I wanted to know all things technology related from how the applications we supported worked to the installation of desktops/servers/network printers etc.

While learning how software/hardware worked I also learned that the projects had to be approved and a plan had to be discussed with many departments before we could move forward. With learning project planning I learned there were many moving pieces that had to be scrutinized to be sure they make fiscal sense and the least amount of disruption to the company to be beneficial.

This is when I learned of the career path to Business Analysis. I learned how to perform cost/benefit analysis when selecting software for conversions or upgrades. I learned how to get buyin and executive sponsorship for a projects success.

I attended college and continued educating myself on the tools needed to move into this role. Learning the principles of project management through company sponsored training courses and reading up on PM book of knowledge best practices helped tremendously with moving into my next position as an Application Support Analyst and eventual promotion to Business Analyst at a large Asset/Wealth Management and brokerage firm.

Along the way I had great examples to follow of more experienced colleagues who made themselves available to help me with learning the skills to be a successful Business Analyst and offered the needed tools to help me build a body of knowledge to assist clients no matter the industry. I've supported small business owners with the knowledge I've gained from supporting large corporate firms.
The path to being a Business Analyst can begin wherever you are today. Start researching by googling job postings to get an idea of how your work experience may fall into step with what's required.
Also sites like ModernAnalyst.com can be a valuable resource on the latest trends and best practices for BA's.

Walidah Yaminah
akilahyaminah@yahoo.com

PM Web Resources

Here is a short list of some helpful web resources related to the PMP certification and PM information in general:

PMI

PMI about PMP

PMI about CAPM

PMI PDU

Baltimore PMI Chapter

General PMP Study tips

PM terms and definitions

More terms and definitions

PMP sample exam 1

sample exam 2

sample exam 3

PMP Discussion Forum

Free PM Podcasts for PDUs

MS Project Quick Reference

Trello

Link to my website

Project Management Certifications and Education

I was putting together an informational session that included a section on getting certified in Project Management. I thought I would post the relevant details here for reference. The information contained herein was mainly sourced from the Project Management Institute's website and that should be considered your source for the official details and requirements (www.pmi.org).

BPB LLC is now offering mentoring and tutoring for professionals interested in furthering their careers and skill sets. Contact us for more information.  

Project Management Certifications and Education
a.    Project Management Professional Certification (PMP)
A professional certification issued by the Project Management Institute after passing an examination and related requirements
The test is based on the principles and concepts contained in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK)
b.    First step is to get and study the PMBOK
c.    Requirements to sit for the PMP Exam:

•    Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree or global equivalent)

•    Minimum five years/60 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience during which at least 7,500 hours were spent leading and directing the project

•    35 contact hours of formal education

OR

•    Four-year degree (bachelor's degree or global equivalent)

•    Minimum three years/36 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience during which at least 4,500 hours were spent leading and directing the project

•    35 contact hours of formal education

d.    Requirements for Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM):

•    A secondary degree (high school diploma or the global equivalent)

And

•    At least 1,500 hours of project experience

OR

•    23 hours of project management education by the time you sit for the exam

 
e.    Further certifications available from the PMI

• PgMP Program Management
• PfMP Portfolio Management
• PMI-ACP Agile
• PMI-PBA Business Analysis
• PMI-RMP Risk Management
• PMI-SP Schedule Management

 
f. Professional Development Units or PDUs required to keep your certification 
"Maintain Your PMP Certification
As part of PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements program, a PMP credential holder will need to earn 60 PDUs per three-year cycle. To learn more about the program, what are PDUs, how to earn and claim them, as well as step-by-step instructions on how to renew your certification, watch the CCR video. You can also reference the latest PMP Handbook found on PMI.org"

Using Trello as a Project Management Tool

If you attended or downloaded my informational presentation What is Project Management and how can it help my business you know I have been using Trello. Trello is a collaborative task management tool. It's free, online, and easy to use. Basically it is Project Management tool that allows you to track tasks and share with your entire team. Taking it back to formal project management, it can be helpful for the Planning, Execution and Monitoring phases of projects. As far as knowledge areas Trello effects directly are Scope, HR, and Communications Management. Trello is great for Scope management during the Execution phase of projects, in that you can document tasks needed to accomplish the deliverables and track what is completed.

 
Here are the nuts and bolts of Trello:
Signing in to your account by using Google (Hey if you don't have a Gmail account by now you should…)
Once signed, in Trello is broken down as follows:

1. Board - is a set of lists, you can have multiple boards per account
   
2. Lists - are a group of cards, see the headings To Do, In Process, Done, etc. these are up to you
   
3. Members – Are assigned to the cards, they get email alerts on each card change, so they know when they have actions or something has affected them, they can add content and edit their cards (I call these resources)
   
4. Cards – Are tasks, activities, open and add checklists and due dates, also tracks activity on the card
   
5. Activity - shows all the actions that took place on the board
   

 If you look closely you will see that I added some card associated with a bathroom renovation. Each task has been assigned to a member (mostly myself since I'm doing the work). The detail of the card shows I have set a due date for that task.

The next picture shows updated status of a couple of cards (assigned to new lists). I like to name my Lists: To do, In Process, and Done. I am sure you can think of more categories or decide to organize the cards in lists by the responsible person (just a suggestion choose what makes sense for you). I moved the Design the bathroom to the done list and a couple other cards to the In process, because the work has started. Now the card, in the picture, shows an example of what sort of attachments can be put on cards. Here the drawing of the bathroom design was shared with me from the person I assigned the task to. You can use the attachments (like the drawing) to deliver the documents to and from team members.




 
Here is a quick 5 step process to use Trello:


 
In summary, Trello is an easy way organize your projects and adds value and efficiency to your process.

If you need help with Project Management at your company or organization visit my website: www.bpbllc.com or email me: Frank@BPBLLC.COM


Note: There are summaries or Reports are available as apps from 3rd party vendors (e.g. reportsfortrello.com)

 



 

First BPB LLC Blog Post

The intention of this blog is simple.  It is a conduit for me to continue to take the mission of BPB LLC forward to as many people as possible.  I won't reinvent the wheel by copying all the content of WWW.BPBLLC.COM, but I will repeat the most important part of the mission statement:
"Our vision is to leverage our customer's strengths and improve their weaknesses.  Our goal is to put our customers in the best position to be successful!"
Customer's strengths are so important to me, because each customer has some things they do very well.  In fact they wouldn't be in business if they didn't. On the weakness side, no matter if they are struggling or excelling there are things they could do better.  Some businesses just have more things to improve than others.  Minimizing the weaknesses and accentuating the strengths through effective Project Management I see as BPB's job.