Posts Tagged ‘software’

Free Conference Call ” CMMI vs. Six Sigma – What’s it all about?” (PM Best Prac.)

October 14th, 2009

(Important note: while participating on this call is free, non-VOIP dialers will no doubt incur toll charges to this Michigan (US) dial-in number).

This call should meet PMI’s PDU requirements under 2-SDL, PDUs for Self-Directed Learning Activities (2-SDL Self-directed learning activities are individualized learning events involving personally conducted research or study. Learning may include informal activities such as discussions; coaching/mentoring sessions with colleagues, coworkers, clients or consultants; It may include articles, books, instructional manuals, videos, CD-ROMs or other material resources.  A maximum 15 self-directed learning PDUs may be earned per 3-year CCR cycle.)

As always – if in doubt, I suggest you contact the PMI directly to verify.

PDUs for Self-Directed Learning Activities
2-SDL Self-directed learning activities are individualized learning
events involving personally conducted research or study.
Learning may include informal activities such as discussions
or coaching/mentoring sessions with colleagues, coworkers,
clients or consultants. It may include articles, books,
instructional manuals, videos, CD-ROMs or other material
resources.*
Maximum 15 self-directed learning
PDUs may be earned per 3-year
CCR cycle.
*Qualifying self-directed learning activities

PMLessons Learned is hosting a free Project Management Best Practices conference call on Thursday, October 15 at 9pm Eastern (GMT-6) about “CMMI vs. Lean Six Sigma – What’s it all about?”

The speakers will be:

  • Marilyn Ginsberg-Finner, Defense Systems, CMMI Support, Northrop Grumman Corporation
  • Douglas B. Smith, Defense Systems, Lean Six Sigma, Northrop Grumman Corporation

What: FREE PM Lessons Learned Conference Call

Topic: “CMMI vs. Lean Six Sigma – What’s it all about?”

Hosted by: Richard Kroh, ITIL

When: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 9pm Eastern time

Where: Conference Dial-in:  US phone number:  (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#

” CMMI vs. Lean Six Sigma – What’s it all about?”

Presentation: The presentation will appear prior to the call. The directions to obtain the presentation are at PMlessonsLearned.com – on the left hand side of the webpage follow the link titled “Files and Presentations” to see directions for obtaining the presentation.

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Abstract of the presentation:

CMMI vs. Lean Six Sigma – What’s it all about?
• Why’s and What’s of Lean Six Sigma
• NG L6σ Program
• What is 6σ?
• What is “Lean”?
• Differences between CMMI and 6σ

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About the Presenters:

Marilyn Ginsberg-Finner has worked in the telecommunications and defense industries, performing, managing, and consulting on process improvement, SQA, and other topics. She served on 6ó teams and led and contributed to successful CMMI appraisals. Marilyn is currently with Northrop Grumman, as a process consultant for US Army Software Engineering Center at Fort Monmouth. She is a Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), Senior member American Society for Quality (ASQ), member NJ SPIN, IEEE-CS, and has served as Program Chair Jersey SIGAda, and a member of the IEEE Software Engineering Standards Executive Committee and the ISO US Technical Advisory Group.

Doug Smith has been the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt responsible for Quality Improvement at Northrop Grumman’s IT Sector. In addition to teaching Lean Six Sigma and leading LSS teams, he provides engineering and management expertise to projects and proposals. For more than half of his 28 years in software development and project management, Doug has used continuous improvement techniques and the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Models, with emphasis on metrics, statistical process control, estimation, project management, peer reviews, and model-based assessments. He has led organizations to CMMI Level 5 certification in three different SCAMPI assessments. Doug’s software development background is in service-oriented, object-oriented, and web-based systems, primarily in C, C++, and Java. His functional areas of expertise include document imaging, computer graphics, command and control systems, and military manpower management. Doug has presented at conferences and published in journals on metrics, process improvement, computer graphics, and software engineering, including the 2008 John Wiley/IEEE Computer Society Press book, Practical Support for Lean Six Sigma Software Process Definition, and was a subject matter expert for development of the IEEE Computer Society’s “Certified Software Development Associate” (CSDA) Learning System. Doug has taught at military and civilian schools and colleges, and is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U S Marine Corps Reserve. Doug received a Master of Science in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He is ITIL v3 Foundation certified, and is a member of IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society.

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About the Conference Call:
Conference call participation is free and questions are encouraged. Long distance charges may apply depending on your carrier – some cell phone companies allow free long distance after certain times in the evenings.

Conference Dial-in: (269) 320-8300 Access Code: 767 616#

PMlessonsLearned.com: Project Managers helping Project Managers to make a difference!

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The Upcoming Free PDU Webinars Calendar

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3 New, Free PDU Software Project Management Webinars

September 24th, 2009

For those Project Managers or Scrum Masters managing technical software development projects – learning via two free, on demand webcasts by Steve McConnell and Construx Software will be time well spent.

You may already be familiar with Steve McConnell’s books Code CompleteRapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules; Software Project Survival Guide; Professional Software Development; and Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art.

This year I was extremely fortunate to attend several Construx boot camps and seminars – and I highly recommend their course content and trainers.

And – Construx is a recognized provider registered with the PMI Registered Educational Provider Program (PMI R.E.P.); and seminar attendees will receive/can claim Professional Development Units (PDUs) for completing each PMI Registered course. :)

Construx Software currently offers 2 free webinars worth 1 PDU each:

WEBINAR – 10 DEADLY SINS OF SOFTWARE ESTIMATION

The average project overruns its planned budget and schedule by 50-80 percent. In practice, little work is done that could truly be called “estimation.” Many projects are scheduled using a combination of legitimate business targets and liberal doses of wishful thinking. In this talk, award-winning author Steve McConnell presents 10 of the worst ways estimates go wrong, and presents time-tested rules of thumb for dramatically improving estimation accuracy.

View OnDemand Webinar
WEBINAR – RIGHT SIZING AGILE DEVELOPMENT

Agile development has now been in use for almost a decade. Why use Agile methods? What are the strengths of Agile? What are some common failure modes? What other lessons has the software industry learned about Agile development? In this talk, Steve McConnell–author of Code Complete, Rapid Development, and other software industry classics and CEO of Construx Software–draws on Construx’s extensive consulting work to dissect Agile development. McConnell names the Agile practices that have worked well for Construx’s clients, describes the failure modes of Agile practices that have failed to live up to the hype, and explains how to right size Agile development for your organization.

View OnDemand Webinar

ALSO – Danube Technology just added a new free Scrum-focused Project Management webinar worth 1 PDU, which can only be viewed LIVE from 11 am – 12noon Pacific Standard Time, on Tuesday, November 24:

November 24, 2009 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Standard TIME Estimation: Story Sizes and Related Topics Register

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Many aspiring PMPs know Rita Mulcahy’s “PMP® Exam Prep” book as  a constant presence within the PMP exam prep world. I’ve recently become a fan of her Project Management Bookstore, which offers some very interesting Project Management titles for a discounted 40% off list price.  :-) The site also has an “Author Webinar Series,” …

Free PDU Options for Current PMPs.

All Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs)  know from their many hours of preparing for the PMP exam, one requirement to maintain your credential is to earn 20 PDUs each year. There are an abundance of PDU earning activities and training options – but much of the PDU training offered …

Upcoming Free PDU-Worthy Webcasts Options for Current PMPs

Those of us who are both Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professionals (PMP), and also Certified Scrum Masters (CSM), Danube Technologies, Inc. has several interesting Scrum/Agile focused webinars, all free, which meet the PMI’s requirements for PDU credit (under Category 4). IMPORTANT NOTE: Danube only offers these webinars as  special …

Scrum IS Fun.

I’m now a Certified Scrum Master (and certifiable ;) )  - and really look forward to implementing the Agile Development framework into my work and my daily life … more on that to follow after I finish designing and implementing my personal scrum based task board.  Stay tuned. In the mean …

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