What is a Pareto Chart? Definition and Example.
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What is a Pareto Chart? Definition and Example.

It can be challenging for you to understand the main problems and their causes, instead, you spend your time on solving problems with the least influence on the project.

In such situations, the Pareto Chart can help solve problems. The Pareto Chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality management. The Pareto Diagram can help you segregate the defects and their causes. Once you get this info, you can focus on the cause that is generating the most issue.

This is an important tool in quality management and project managers use it to find problems with the highest influence.

Salience Model to Analyze Project Stakeholders

Salience Model to Analyze Project Stakeholders

Project management is about managing stakeholders’ expectations. If they are not happy, you cannot complete your project successfully.

Small projects have fewer stakeholders, so you can manage them easily. However, larger projects are difficult because of the huge number of stakeholders.

With limited resources and a stressful environment, it is difficult to treat every stakeholder equally. Every stakeholder has different requirements and expectations. So, identify and classify your project stakeholders, find these requirements and expectations, so you can manage them.

Validated Deliverables Versus Accepted Deliverables
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Validated Deliverables Versus Accepted Deliverables

This blog post was written based on the fourth edition of the PMBOK Guide. Since the arrival of the PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, this post is no longer valid. However, I am leaving it intact as part of organizational process assets. If you wish to review old definitions you can read them here.

Many PMP aspirants may confuse validated deliverables and accepted deliverables. They seem similar, but they are not.

Validated deliverables and accepted deliverables are important concepts in project management. You will see a few questions on these topics on your PMP exam.

Group Brainstorming: A Complete Guide

Group Brainstorming: A Complete Guide

Group brainstorming is a dynamic, collaborative, and interactive process whereby experts with diverse backgrounds provide creative, innovative ideas to solve problems and/or make decisions. You conduct group brainstorming to collect a comprehensive and innovative range of ideas. Group brainstorming provides better results than individual brainstorming. A study by the Journal of Applied Psychology states that…

Grade Vs Quality
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Grade Vs Quality

Grade and quality are two of the most commonly used terms in project management. Not just in this field either; you will use these terms on a daily basis. For example, people frequently say that this is a low-grade product, this is a high-grade product, this is a low-quality product, or this is a high-quality product.

What does that actually mean?

Does “low-grade” mean bad or undesirable and “high-grade” always mean good?

To put it simply, no. low-grade and high-grade are not necessarily right or wrong, and that is what we are going to discuss in this blog post.

Grade and quality are fascinating concepts; however, even professionals don’t understand their differences and mistakenly use them synonymously. They are not difficult terms to understand, we simply need to pay them a bit more attention.

Risk Vs Uncertainty in Project Management
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Risk Vs Uncertainty in Project Management

Risks are commonly assumed to be the same as uncertainty in the area of risk management. Although there is a big difference between risk and uncertainty, many professionals often think that they are the same.

Although this concept is not too important from a PMP or PMI-RMP exam point of view, you must understand the difference to avoid mixing them up.

Therefore, I’m writing this blog post to explain it and I hope after reading it, you won’t have any problems distinguishing between risk and uncertainty.

Contingency Reserve Vs Management Reserve
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Contingency Reserve Vs Management Reserve

Risks occur in every project and as a project manager, it is your responsibility to manage them as they occur. These risks can be identified or unidentified. If these risks are identified, you will implement the contingency plan; otherwise, you will manage them through a workaround.

To manage these risks, you will use the contingency reserve and management reserve. These reserves are defined during the risk management planning process. The contingency reserve and management reserve provide you with a cushion against the risks and are part of your project budget.

Many professionals assume these reserves are the same since they serve the same purpose. Generally, small and medium-sized organizations do not differentiate between them and take them as a percentage of the project cost to keep things simple. Therefore, professionals that have experience with these organizations may not know the difference between the contingency and management reserves.

Contingency Plan Vs Fallback Plan
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Contingency Plan Vs Fallback Plan

This is one of those concepts that makes professionals scratch their heads. I was a victim of it myself. During my initial days of PMP exam preparation, I had difficulty understanding the difference between the contingency plan and the fallback plan.

I used to think that the contingency plan was used to manage identified risks and the fallback plan was for unidentified risks. This was wrong. Contingency and fallback plans help manage identified risks.

However, since both plans are used to manage risks, you may wonder which you should follow if any identified risk occurs as both deal with identified risks?

Since I have passed the PMP and PMI-RMP exams and understand these concepts well, I am writing this blog post and hope after reading it you will be able to differentiate the contingency and fallback plan.

Enhance Risk Response Vs Exploit Risk Response Strategies

Enhance Risk Response Vs Exploit Risk Response Strategies

Risk management is a proactive process that helps you manage risks before they occur. In your project, you will encounter two types of risks: negative risks and positive risks. A negative risk could harm your objective and a positive risk can have some positive effects on your project.

Since these risks are different, the strategies to manage them are also different. You must manage both types of risks accordingly.

For positive risks, you will try to increase the likelihood of occurrence and for negative risks, you will try to decrease the probability of them occurring or reduce their impact if they do happen.