Friday, November 30, 2012

Monavie Reveal Product Review - Is RVL Healthy Weight Loss Solution A Weight Management System?

In this article we are going to go behind the scenes and find out how the quest for Monavie Reveal got started. You are going to learn what motivated the company to pick weight loss as their next product line that will create more wealth for their distributors and set the company apart from any other company in the world.

Find out what the buzz is all about and what makes this different from the myriad of weight loss programs already he market. Is there really a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off? Does Monavie really have the answer the world has been waiting for? Is RVL healthy weight loss solution a weight management system?

Dr. Bernie Landis, President of the Scientific Advisory Board for Monavie was instrumental in creating the new weight management solution system, Reveal. The whole idea was to create the most innovative and effective system that ever has been brought to the marketplace to help the millions of obese people who are struggling to lose weight and/or eat healthier.

Monavie Reveal Product Review - Is RVL Healthy Weight Loss Solution A Weight Management System?

This will create another explosive wave for Monavie distributors. If you have a community already in place, you get an instant pay raise whenever a new product comes out, because most distributors are going to order the new product, as well as the ones they already order, because they love them and they work.

The company sent out a survey and asked what would be the distributors' preferences for a new product line. Survey says weight loss! Did you know over 77% of Americans are considered obese? That is a huge market share for Monavie distributors to go after.

How did the quest for Reveal get started?

The Monavie scientists scoured the earth in search of the best ingredients. They actually looked at every food, every food ingredient, concentrate, botanicals, and every compound that they thought could possibly play an important role in weight loss.

The goal was to create a system of products that will indeed provide the greatest amount of nutrients with the fewest amount of calories. Sounds like a winner to me. Even people who are not interested in losing weight are going to benefit by drinking this delicious shake or by eating a snack bar.

Instead of drinking sodium-laden canned food or processed lunch meats for lunch, you can treat yourself to a nutritious, delicious shake and/or snack bar. Why drink a can of Ensure, when you can drink something that is actually healthy for you and will taste great?

The System Has Three Components:

A Canister of Delicious Shake Mix

Convenient, Easy to use, mix with water, milk, throw some fruit in for variations

A Delicious Nutritious Snack Bar

A fruity, chewy bar with yogurt coating

A Dietary Supplement

Concentrated to provide greatest nutrient density

Ultra-concentration of the foods that were found to be the most beneficial in achieving and maintaining healthy weight long-term

Basically out of all the studies already done, they have confirmed long-term benefits from a healthy diet have been based on getting the greatest nutrient density with the least amount of calories associated with the products. With this system your body will be getting nutrients that it is not normally getting in your daily diet. There are more nutrients per calorie than any other food or product in the marketplace.

Monavie is in the business of making waves. This weight management system is going to put them in major competition with the big boys who already have a share of the weight loss market. Step aside, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and Nutrisystem! There is a new kid on the block.

They have even designed a personal weight management website where you can track your daily food intake, exercise, weight, and measurements. Everyone wants to have the benefit of good health. Not only is this going to taste great, it is good for you also.

You are going to have tastier meal replacements which will cost less than a fast food dinner, not to mention the over-priced diet food laden with sodium, chemicals and preservatives. Some of the bags of food are even lined with aluminum and taste like aluminum when you are eating them, or if you are smart, before throwing them away like we did.

So next time you decide to pull up to a drive-in window, keep your hard-earned money in your pocket and drive away. Instead of saying supersize, drink your shake mix and have a snack bar and you will feel better about yourself and you will not supersize your hips.

This weight management system will work if you eat properly and get some exercise. You should also get plenty of sleep, because your body rebuilds itself while you sleep.

I would also recommend drinking one of their healthy functional beverages twice a day to get the equivalent of 13 fruit servings in antioxidants:

Active - for joint support and mobility

Pulse - has resveratrol and aids in weight loss. Plant sterols may lower your cholesterol.

(M)Mun - designed to support your immune system

When you are working out drink EMV energy drink Or EMV lite, with half the calories. It will give you sustained healthy energy without a crash and burn and the jitters which are nasty side effects from the popular energy stimulants on the market.

When you are ready to get started, take a photo of yourself and put it on the fridge. Also cut out some pictures of bodies or swimsuits that you like and put them on the fridge as well. When you feel like cheating, look at the pics and decide which one you are going to look like.

Then when you lose weight, you will have a picture to show people. Seeing is believing and if you are losing weight and feeling great, you are going to be able to get some customers as well. If you love the product, sign up as a distributor and make some money helping others lose weight as well.

Monavie Reveal Product Review - Is RVL Healthy Weight Loss Solution A Weight Management System?
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Next, after reading about the Monavie Weight Loss Solution System, you can get more information on Monavie products or find out how you can become a preferred customer or a distributor, by visiting http://www.AvoidtheTrainwrecks.com. For information on a leadership development system, please visit http://www.GetOnTeam.com

Pam Eppinette has over 30 years of business, sales and marketing experience and is a successful internet business owner, wellness and weight management consultant and TEAM leadership, life and business coach. Pam believes success is possible for those who want work from home with the right mentor and proven training system.

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Monday, November 26, 2012

What is Project Management Approach?

Project management (PM) is a well planned approach for a process from start to end. It is concerned with the planning and guiding of the project from start to finish. Any process needs to be guide in usually five stages. They are initiation, planning, execution, controlling and closing. PM can be applied to almost all type of projects but especially it is applicable in software development projects to control the complex process. It is an organized effort and it is planned very carefully. To accomplish a specific project, PM is essential.

PM is handled by project manager to implement the project successfully towards its goal. For successful completion of any project it is necessary to have a proper PM. The main objective of the PM is to attain its goal successfully.

Numbers of approaches are there to manage the activities of the project. They are:

What is Project Management Approach?

The traditional approach-This approach aims towards the completion of the project in sequence or in traditional manner. For the completion of the project there are five stages in this approach. They are:

* The stage of initiation
* The stage of design or planning
* The stage of production or execution
* Monitoring and controlling systems
* The stage of completion

Extreme PM- To execute project task, the critical chain project management give more emphasis to human and physical resources. By this method of planning and managing projects all the constraints are exploited and priority is also given to it. In critical chain project management all the projects are planned and managed only when the resources are ready.

Extreme PM- Complex type of project is handled in extreme PM. In this PM experts always try to identify the different models which is 'light weight' such as Agile Project Management.

Scrum techniques and extreme programming for the development of software are used in this method. It is the combination of management of human interaction and process modeling.

Event chain methodology- The complement to the critical path method and the methodologies of critical chain project management is another method that is Event chain methodology. This PM deals with the model of uncertainty. The main focus of this management is towards identifying and managing the events or the chain of events which will affect the schedule of the project. Event chain methodology follows the following principles:

* Event chains
* Tracking with events
* Probabilistic moment of risk
* Tracking with events
* Event chain visualization

What is Project Management Approach?
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Copyright © Ryan Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Read information on ERP Project Management and Definition of ERP.

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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Three Easy Steps to Risk Management

"All project management is risk management"

(Eric Verzuh)

Risk management is an essential activity in any project or organisation. Risk is defined by M_o_R (Management of Risk, the OGC methodology) as uncertainty of outcome. A risk manager is concerned with managing the risks (uncertain issues and incidents) that, were they to occur, would affect the product or services that an organisation sets out to deliver.

Three Easy Steps to Risk Management

The M_o_R framework highlights three basic steps to effective risk management that can be applied within an organisational or project context:

o Identify

The first step is risk identification. This includes naming and describing any risk that might affect the achievement of objectives, to ensure that there is a common understanding of these risks among all appropriate individuals involved in the organisation or project activity.

Techniques for identifying risks will differ according to the size and structure of the organisation, the nature of the activity or project and the experience of the risk management team. For example, risk management within a small software organisation may involve brain-storming and discussing potential risks to the project, based on the expertise of the developers involved. A large government body, on the other hand, might draw on the experience of experts who have dealt with risks across a range of similar organisations. Project managers responsible for risks to a technical activity might call on the authority of experts to highlight the relevant risks.

o Assess

Evaluation is critical to success. Without critical analysis of the risks identified in step one, the risk manager may fatally underestimate the potential impact of one particular risk, or (also fatally) attempt to combat each and every risk, without considering how likely it is that a risk will occur.

The two factors that must be considered in risk analysis are:

- probability
- potential impact

Individuals responsible for managing risks must also be aware of the organisational context of the risks. For example: Risk A may have a greater impact on Output 1 than the effect of Risk B on Output 2. However, if Output 2 is more important than Output 1 to the overall objectives, then Risk B may be considered more important than Risk A.

Ranking risks according to immediacy, impact and organisational context enables the risk manager to prioritise and plan how individual risks will be controlled.

o Control

The risk manager needs to identify the appropriate response to a risk and assign a risk owner, who ensures that the risk response is carried out, monitored and controlled.

Three Easy Steps to Risk Management
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Simon Buehring is a project manager, consultant and trainer and has extensive experience within the IT industry in the UK and in Asia. He works for KnowledgeTrain which provides project management training in the UK. He can be contacted via the KnowledgeTrain project management training website.

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Monday, November 19, 2012

Management By Objectives - A New Way Of Management

In 1965, George S. Odiorne completed a textbook titled, Management by Objective. The fact that the term "Management by Objective" has now become common nomenclature to company executives around the country attests to the success of Odiorne's literary efforts.

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a practical application of the reasoning behind the notion of goal-setting theory. MBO is a process in which employees participate with management in the setting of goals or objectives. An essential feature of an MBO program is that it involves a one-on-one negotiation session between a supervisor and subordinate in order to set concrete, objective goals for the employee's performance. During the session a deadline is set for the measurement of accomplishment, and the paths to the desired goals and the removal of possible obstacles are discussed. After an established period of time has elapsed (typically six months or year), the supervisor and subordinate meet again to review the subordinate's performance using the agreed-upon goals as a measuring stick.

Odiorne's concept of management by objective is based on an underlying premise that any system of management is better than no system at all. A secondary premise states that to be workable, any management system must bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical.

Management By Objectives - A New Way Of Management

Research at such organizations as Black and Decker, Wells Fargo, and General Electric has shown that, on the whole, MBO programs can succeed. Because MBO relies on the established principles of goal setting, it has great potential for improving performance. Real-world constrain however, can sometimes reduce the positive impact of a goal-setting system.

The notion that management activity should be directed towards the accomplishment of pre-established goals has considerable intuitive appeal. None of the conditions are at variance with acceptable manager conduct from either a social, legal, or common sense standpoint.

Odiorne's concept of management by objective is based on an underlying premise that any system of management is better than no system at all. A secondary premise states that to be workable, any management system must bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical. A third important premise establishes that the appraisal of managerial performance is not an activity autonomous from other activities of the firm. In other words, it regards the appraisal process as only one of several sub-systems operating within the confines of a goal-oriented management system.

Before proceeding into a discussion of the basic elements of the management-by-objective system several "statements of condition" seem warranted. Each of the following statements relates to the environmental conditions with which managers are confronted and establishes the setting for later determining the practical relevance of the management-by-objective system:

A. Because the economic environment within which business firms operate has changed so drastically in recent years, a whole new set of requirements has been placed on companies and their managers.

B. The preliminary step in the management-by-objective system dictates that managers identify, in some manner, organizational goals designed to meet the new requirements noted in A, above.

C. Immediately following the identification of company goals, management must have available to it an orderly procedure for distributing or allocating responsibilities which are directed toward achieving those goals.

D. In the practical world of business management, managerial behavior must become predominant over managerial personality. Furthermore, in the final analysis, results of the behavior (measured against established goals) become the basic criteria for good performance evaluation.

E. Total management staff participation in goal-setting and decision-making is recognized for its social and political value even though its impact on production levels may be negligible.

F. There exist no one best system of management. Moreover, since managerial activity is dependent, to a large degree, on each manager's view of specific goals and the total economic system, his actions must be discriminatory.

In its briefest form, Odiorne's decision making system of management by objective contains the following basic elements: (1) Establish an objective before you begin; (2) Collect and organize all of the pertinent facts; (3) Identify the problem and its causes; (4) Work out a solution and some options; (5) Screen options through some decision criteria; (6) Establish some security actions to enhance the probable success of the solution; (7) Gain acceptance of the decision; (8) Implement the decision; and (9) Measure the results. Each of the nine elements shall now be considered in more detail.

A positive feature of an MBO system lies in its emphasis on establishing specific measurable goals. In fact, a goal is un-acceptable or inadmissible in an MBO system unless in is measurable You may think that this is impossible for all goals, especially those for those of top-level executives. Although it is difficult to set measurable goals at the higher levels of an organization, it is nonetheless possible. For example, one such quantifiable goal might be that an institutional will be ranked in the top ten by an annual polling of executives in the same industry. 0r the head coach of a college football team may set a goal of making the top 20 in the Associated Press's coaches' poll within the next five years. Some more typical goals would be to increase market share from 45 to 55 percent by the end of the next fiscal year, to increase annual production by 10 percent, or to increase profits after taxes by 3 percent. Some goals can be measured in simple yes or no fashion. For example, the goal of establishing a training program for sales personnel or completing a feasibility study by a certain date can he judged in a simple success or failure fashion when the deadline arises. Either such a project has been completed or it has not.

Advocates of MBO believe that everyone in an organization could and should be involved in goal setting This includes all personnel, from the chief executive officer (who may set goals in consultation with the board of directors) to the newest member of the clean-up crew. In practice, however, middle level managers and first line supervisors are more commonly involved in such goal-setting systems.

Proponents of MBO systems also believe that supervisors must play a special role in the goal-setting process. Supervisors should view themselves as coaches or counselors whose role is to aid their subordinates in goal attainment. This role of coach/counselor extends beyond merely helping to identify and remove obstacles to goal attainment (for example, using personal influence to expedite shipments from another department). It also implies that supervisor will serve as a mentor-someone to whom subordinates can go with their work-related problems and assume that they will be treated with respect and support.

One major obstacle to the success of an MBO program can be lack of support from top-level executives. If key people in the organization, especially the president and vice presidents, do not fully endorse MBO, their lack of support will likely he felt and responded to at lower levels. The net effect will be a decided lack of enthusiasm for the program.

Problems may also arise if managers are not interested in having subordinate to participate in the goal-setting process. Some managers prefer to retain an evaluative and superior posture and are uncomfortable with the notion of being a coach or counselor to their subordinates.

Personality conflicts between superiors and subordinates are another potential problem for goal-setting systems, as is competitiveness. A superior who feels threatened by talented subordinates may do little to help them be more successful and, consequently, more visible, In addition, subordinates may hesitate to set challenging goals for fear of failure and its consequences.

MBO systems also tend to emphasize the quantifiable aspects of performance while ignoring the more qualitative aspects. This is an understandable tendency, since participants in MBO systems are encouraged to focus on such dimensions of performance.

Qualitative aspects of performance, which are often more difficult to identify and measure, are likely to be overlooked or de-emphasized. For example, how can the quality of service that an organization provides or an organization's image in the local community be defined and measured? Because the success of an MBO system rests heavily on the quality of the relationship between supervisor and subordinates, the degree of trust and supportiveness that exists in a work unit is a central concern.

For an MBO system to be highly successful, these elements are critical prerequisites, The absence of trust and supportiveness severely restricts the system's effectiveness. Despite these many potential obstacles, the track record of MB0 has been fairly good, In a recent review of the research literature devoted to MBO, Robert Rodgers and John E. Hunter examined 70 reports that included quantitative evaluations of MBO programs. Their findings showed productive gains in 65 of 70 evaluation studies. The average productivity increase was 47 percent, while cost data showed an average savings of 26 percent. Employee attendance was also shown to improve by 24 percent. Follow-up surveys of the level of top-management support for the programs revealed that productivity increased by 57 percent when top-management commitment was high, 33 percent when commitment was average, and only 6 percent when commitment was low.

MBO has passed through several phases since its introduction in the l95Os. Initially, MBO was greeted with much enthusiasm by managers and management scholars, During the late 1960s and early 1970s, MBO appeared, so be "sweeping the nation." Presently, MBO is viewed more objectively by scholars and practitioners as a tool that can be most effective under specific favorable conditions. It is now becoming passé even to invoke the initials MBO. In fact, the principles and philosophies of MBO have become so emotion-laden in the minds of managers than an organization will often introduce an MBO system under a different label. For example, an organization may establish a program called START (an acronym for Set Targets and Review Them) or GAP (Goal Acceptance Program). The mechanics of such programs are likely to borrow heavily, if not totally, from the MBO approach. In short, the trend is toward putting old wine into new bottles, with recognition that mutual goal setting is not a panacea for all organizational problems under all possible circumstances.

This theory is helping in several ways.
Its capability for multiple management levels to set, assign, approve, comment, modify, deny or just view MBO metrics and scores. Its collaboration of performance metric settings between employees and managers. Its visibility of MBO status progressing through workflow steps. It configurable workflows to conform to internal business rules and processes. It automatically estimates bonus payouts based on objective scores. It is a simplified process to approve scores and manage updates.

Management By Objectives - A New Way Of Management
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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Span of Management

Also known as span of control, is a very important concept of organizing function of management. It refers to the number of subordinates that can be handled effectively by a superior in an organization. It signifies how the relations are planned between superior and subordinates in an organization.

Span of management is generally categorized under two heads- Narrow span and Wide span. Narrow Span of management means a single manager or supervisor oversees few subordinates. This gives rise to a tall organizational structure. While, a wide span of management means a single manager or supervisor oversees a large number of subordinates. This gives rise to a flat organizational structure.There is an inverse relation between the span of management and the number of hierarchical levels in an organization, i.e., narrow the span of management , greater the number of levels in an organization.

Narrow span of management is more costly compared to wide span of management as there are larger number of superiors/ managers and thus there is greater communication issues too between various management levels. The less geographically scattered the subordinates are, the better it is to have a wide span of management as it would be feasible for managers to be in touch with the subordinates and to explain them how to efficiently perform the tasks. In case of narrow span of management, there are comparatively more growth opportunities for a subordinate as the number of levels is more.

Span of Management

The more efficient and organized the managers are in performing their tasks, the better it is to have wide span of management for such organization. The less capable, motivated and confident the employees are, the better it is to have a narrow span of management so that the managers can spend time with them and supervise them well. The more standardized is the nature of tasks ,i.e., if same task can be performed using same inputs, the better it is to have a wide span of management as more number of subordinates can be supervised by a single superior. There is more flexibility, quick decision making, effective communication between top level and low level management,and improved customer interaction in case of wide span of management. Technological advancement such as mobile phones, mails, etc. makes it feasible for superiors to widen their span of management as there is more effective communication.

An optimal/ideal span of control according to the modern authors is fifteen to twenty subordinates per manager, while according to the traditional authors the ideal number is six subordinates per manager. But actually, an ideal span of control depends upon the nature of an organization, skills and capabilities of manager, the employees skills and abilities, the nature of job, the degree of interaction required between superior and subordinates.

Span of Management
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Author is the writer of www.managementstudyguide.com/organizing_function.htm which explains in detail about the organizing function of management and its important concepts.

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Monday, November 12, 2012

Asparagus and Kidney Stones

Asparagus and kidney stones seem to be a subject that is up in the air. Asparagus has been noted as beneficial to kidney stones and it has also been noted as being something to avoid if you have kidney stones. This controversy seems mainly due to the simple fact that there is more than one kind of kidney stones. It seems that if you have a certain type of kidney stone that you will want to go out of your way to avoid asparagus, as it will only worsen your condition. If you eat asparagus with the wrong type of kidney stones you may be setting yourself up for a surgical procedure when it could have been avoided. This is the most important detail when approaching the subject of asparagus and kidney stones.

The types of stones that can be dealt with using asparagus are known as uric acid stones. These stones form in urine that is simply too acidic. So, if you are prone to these sorts of stones you will want to steer clear of foods like spinach, rhubarb, sorrel, beet greens, chocolate, and even green tea. All of these foods are rich in oxalic acid which leads to the formation of uric acid stones. If you do happen to eat any of these foods, avoid eating these with foods that are high in calcium simultaneously.

If you do find that you have developed this type of kidney stone, this is the time to utilize the asparagus. At this time, other good foods to ingest are cherries, strawberries, apples and apple juice. These foods will help bring your urine to a more acceptable and less troublesome alkaline level. There is no particular recipe for preparing the asparagus when ingesting it for relief of this health problem. It can be eaten raw or prepared a number of ways. The only way of preparing this food that should be avoided is by steaming. Steaming is bad for any vegetable, as it steams the nutrients and other important dietary compounds right out of the vegetable.

Asparagus and Kidney Stones

Now, on the other hand, if you are being affected by stones that were formed by eating too many alkaline types of food, avoid asparagus! In this scenario, asparagus will irritate and worsen the problem rather than be of any help. Any foods like asparagus, cucumber, radish, tomato, spinach, rhubarb, or any other vegetables with strong aromas are a bad idea on this end of the spectrum.

If you are unsure about which stones you suffer from, save yourself some trouble and get to the doctor. Home remedies are great as long as you know exactly what you are dealing with. However, if you are being affected by kidney stones for the first time, you will want to get yourself tested to pin point the problem. It is much better to be safe than sorry in this situation. When you run the risk of potentially making your symptoms and condition worse, proceed with extreme caution for your own safety.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project

Creating a Killer Work Breakdown Structure with Microsoft Project

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project objectives into deliverable-oriented tasks that are executed by the project team to accomplish the overall project goals. The WBS forms the backbone of all the project planning activities. The WBS divides the scope of the project work into smaller, manageable work packages for maintaining better control of the project activities. As you move from the higher levels of the WBS to the lower levels, the definition of the project works gets more detailed with the upper levels representing the major phases of the project. It is imperative to remember that the WBS represents 100% of all the work defined in the project scope. Anything that is not included in the WBS is considered out of scope for the project.

Uses of the WBS

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project

The WBS addresses the following requirements of the project:

· Defining the project scope in terms of deliverables and components

· Providing the framework on which the project status and progress reports are based

· Facilitating communication regarding the project scope, schedule, risk, performance, cost etc with the stakeholders throughout the project life cycle

· Providing inputs for other project management processes like estimation, scheduling, risk assessment etc

While creating the WBS, it is important to ensure that the WBS format is standardized across an entire portfolio of projects. This will ensure that data from a specific project can be easily retrieved and a repository comprising project data can be formed for future reference over a period of time.

Components of the Work Breakdown Structure

The essential components of a WBS are detailed below:

· WBS Levels: All the work to be done on the project is categorized into hierarchical levels with the upper levels depicting the major deliverables for the project and the lower levels depicting the granular level activities needed to be performed towards achieving the deliverable. The number and complexity of the WBS levels is dependent on the size and nature of the project.

· WBS Dictionary: The WBS dictionary is an important part of the WBS and it further details the activities of each element of the WBS. It provides detailed information about the work to be done, activities, and milestones, cost estimates, resources required, and contract information for each element of the WBS. The basic purpose of the WBS dictionary is to remove any ambiguity regarding the scope of work.

· WBS Code numbers: The WBS code number is a unique identifier for each element of the WBS and should be such that it can be easily expanded to accommodate any future revisions to the WBS.

· Visual representation format: A WBS can be represented in a number of ways, depending on the ease of use for the project team and the organization. Typical formats for representing a WBS structure are:

o Outline view: In this format, the WBS is depicted using different levels of indentation, with an accompanying WBS code number for each element.

o Tabular view: In this format, the hierarchical structure of the WBS is represented with the help of the columns of a table.

o Tree structure view: In this format, the WBS is depicted using a tree structure with each child element connected to the parent element through a line. The parent depicts a higher level which is decomposed into the child element.

· WBS Element: Each component of the WBS and its attributes comprise a WBS element.

· Work Package: The lowest level WBS component for each branch of the WBS is known as the work package. The work package also includes the schedule activities and milestones to be accomplished to complete the work package deliverable. One of the main problems that project managers face while creating a WBS is deciding on the correct size for a work package. A work package that is too big would imply loose control on the activities. Similarly, if the work package is too small, it would consume a lot of effort in managing. The 8/80 rule commonly followed by project managers, propagates that the size of the work package should not be less than 1 hour and not greater than 80 hours.

Creating a WBS in MS Project using the Top- down Methodology

A WBS can be created by using a number of tools and methodologies. One of the commonly used methodologies for creating a WBS is the top-down methodology. The steps followed in the top-down approach are listed below:

1. Identify the final objective of the project. This involves a detailed analysis of the project scope document. In MS Project, type the name of the final objective in the Task Name field.

2. Evaluate the final deliverables that need to be created to achieve the objectives identified in step 1. Enter the list of final deliverables in the Task Name field. Indent all the sub-deliverables by using the forward arrow key in MS Project. Now, you will have the final deliverable comprising the sub-deliverables in MS Project.

3. Decompose the final deliverables into activities and continue this exercise till a level is reached (work package) where you can control and monitor the individual tasks. You should be careful to ensure that each work package contains only one deliverable. In MS Project, for each sub-deliverable, type the list of activities. Repeat this process till you reach the work package level. Make sure that you keep indenting each level. Indentation creates relationships between the deliverables and its component sub-deliverables. MS Project automatically creates the WBS codes in the Outline Number field, based on the outline structure of each task/activity. These outline numbers change when you move the task to a different level or location.

4. Re-evaluate the entire WBS after a thorough brainstorming session with the project team and key stakeholders. The objective should be to achieve a consensus on the feasibility of the success of the project planning exercise which in turn will ensure the success of your project.

The top-down method for creating the WBS is typically used when both the project manager and the project team have inadequate experience in creating the WBS or the project requirements are not thoroughly understood. This method enables the project manager and the team to progressively elaborate on the WBS after several meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Integration of the WBS in the Project Schedule

The WBS forms the backbone for a number of project management activities. It provides a valuable input for cost estimation, scheduling, and evaluating the progress of the project.

To integrate the WBS in the project schedule using MS Project, you need to add more information to the indented tree-structure of the WBS that you have already created. The important information that you need to add includes:

· Duration: The total time required to complete each task needs to be specified in the WBS.

· Task Dependencies: The relationship between tasks is specified. You can establish the dependency by using the network diagram analysis done in the scheduling phase.

· Constraints: You need to specify the constraints or limitations (if any) for each task. The constraints are also established in the schedule analysis phase.

· Task Start date and Task Finish date: When you specify the duration for each task, MS Project automatically calculates the Task Start and Finish Dates.

· Resource Names: You can specify the resources by clicking the Assign Resources button.

While integrating the WBS in the project plan, it is imperative to add the WBS dictionary. The WBS dictionary helps in integrating other project management processes with the project scope and serves as a useful tool for clarifying the exact project requirements in terms of the scope of work, cost, milestones etc.

A well-defined WBS can be a major contributing factor in ensuring the success of your project. It serves as the key integrating factor between different the project management processes and is considered to be the foundation stone for the project.

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project
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Mark Piscopo is the founder of FastProjectPlans.com, a website dedicated to advancing project management through the distribution of free project management tools, templates and educational material. Mr. Piscopo is a highly accomplished professional offering 20+ years of documented achievements in; Strategic Business Planning; Project & Program Management; Project Management Office (PMO); Team Building & Leadership; Change Management; Process Improvement; Cost Reduction; Risk Management; Partner & Customer Relationship Management; and Technology Advancements. Mr. Piscopo is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Visit www.FastProjectPlans.com to download free PMBOK based project management templates, tools and educational articles.

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Monday, November 5, 2012

Risk Management

What is Risk Management?

Without referring to the millions of websites and documents knocking about that talk about Risk Management, I want to try and give a simple view from the perspective of someone who has to manage risk day to day across major projects. This is real risk management, hands on.

Of course, "Risk" and "Risk Management" will have variations of the same general meaning depending on the circumstances or context to which it is applied, but in principle, all risk management will follow more or less the same process.

Risk Management

So, what is a Risk? A risk can be any influence on an expected or planned outcome that changes that outcome. In child-talk, it's anything that could stop you getting what you want or expect.

Here's an important note: Risk hasn't happened yet. If the outcome has already changed as a result of a risk "happening" then it's no longer a Risk, it's an Issue and has to be managed differently.

So basically - A risk is something, anything, that could happen that will impact or change a desired or planned outcome. There are so many different ways to state this that, as simple as the concept is, it can easily get confusing. Let me give you an example;

"If it rains today then the field trip has to be cancelled" - the risk is that it may rain. The impact is that the planned trip will have to be cancelled. Risk Management is recognizing the risk potential analyzing the probability and impact and either mitigating it or preparing alternative options that will allow the original plan to succeed.

Risk Management 101

On some of my projects in Asia I've had to seriously consider the impact of rain on project outcomes. I was on one job in Korea, Seoul, where we had a limited time to move a banks' trading office from an old building that had been sold off, to a new building. The old building owner declared bankruptcy and sold off the office block. The new owner, the government, kicked everyone out on short notice. We had 3 months to find a new building, fit it out and move 200 staff including 120 trading positions.

This really tested my teams Risk Management ability. This was a working business, the only window to move the 200 staff was over a weekend - after trading stopped on Friday evening and before it started on Monday Morning. Guess what, we had a Typhoon heading in, and for those that don't know how things work in Asia - Typhoons are given warning signals as they approach by the local authorities.

Each signal indicates a level of "threat" and or probability of a direct strike. As the signal rises in strength the threat (and danger to life and property) becomes imminent and public services shut down. People are told to go home or stay off the streets and, for several hours to several days, everything grinds to a halt.

I had a stressful time managing risk by the hour. The decision to roll back the move to the old office or proceed and hope we got everything in before the typhoon hit was a 15 minute review, every 15 minutes for the first half of the weekend. That was Risk Management like I never had to manage before. Risk Management is critically important to project work.

What is Risk Management?

So, the meaning of "What is a Risk" should, I hope, be graphically clear now..? Risk Management is the process of managing risk as it relates to specific circumstances. The techniques, tools and processes used to manage risk are quite pragmatic and common-sense. But we all know that there's no such thing as "Common Sense" so the best way to get a consistent framework around managing risk is to learn some best practices based on industry proven templates and methodologies.

I'm not here to push one methodology or best practice against another. I have my personal preferences based on my industry and experience but I know and have seen many other project managers use varying techniques and tools in Risk Management, all valid and most of them effective at doing the job.

In a follow up article I will talk more specifically about Project Risk Management. I'll share some templates and examples and hopefully stir up some discussions too. There's no one right way to do Risk Management but there is a consistent framework that should be followed and there are some very good industry standards in Risk Management space.

Risk Management
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If you would like to read more on Project Management and some of the Challenges Project Managers face, please go to IT Project Management Singapore for more great information. Here you will also find links to key resources and organisations that can provide first class Project Management services to any business, small or large, local or international. We have a range of professional services partners that have a great track record of services delivery across Asia.
If you'd like to read more articles on key Project Challenges or just learn more, click here for further reading Risk Assessment Matrix.
Best Regards,
Pete

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