Sample Videos: PfMP Live Lessons – Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back

 

This post is in continuation of the earlier post of PfMP Live Lessons: 

PfMP Live Lessons – Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back 

As noted in the previous post, it's a complete video with in-depth explanation so that you clear the PfMP with confidence. The content of the course has enabled many PMI-PfMPs.

Recently, there have been requests by aspiring PfMPs to check few sample videos, which will help them in finalizing. Earlier the access to sample videos was somewhat restricted and was provided on request basis.

In this post, there are 10 sample videos, which have been made public. The access to these videos is completely free and can be seen at the YouTube channel of Management Yogi.

The videos are from:

• Welcome (4 sample videos)
• Video 1 - Welcome
• Video 2 - Why PfMP Live Lessons
• Video 3 - Full Money-Back Guarantee
• Video 4 - How to Use the Course
• Lesson - 1: About the PfMP Exam (3 sample videos)
• Video - 1.2 The PMI-PfMP Credential
• Video - 1.4 PfMP Certification Pre-requisites
• Video - 1.6 PfMP Examination Process

• Lessons - 2: Introduction to Portfolio and Portfolio Management (3 sample videos)
• Video - 2.3 What is a Portfolio
• Video - 2.5 What is Portfolio Management
• Video - 2.19 Flow - Portfolio Goal to Project Activity

You can check these videos one by one.

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Videos: Welcome to PfMP Live Lessons

Video 1 - Welcome (3m:56s)

The welcome video for PfMP Live Lessons, Guaranteed Pass course. This informs on a quote about an aspirational life and the asipirationa goal of being a PfMP, the highest level certification offered by PMI.

Video 2 - Why PfMP Live Lessons (3m:23s)
The PfMP Live Lessons course comes with a number of benefits. It lists few of the key benefits. The benefits include full money-back guarantee, over 1,000 practice questions, full support for your PfMP application form fill-up, among others.

Video 3 - Full Money-Back Guarantee (3m:04s)
The video explains the full money-back guarantee for the course. There are no terms and conditions (T&Cs), except you giving the PfMP exam. This video explains.

Video 4 - How to Use the Course (2m:04s)
The Guaranteed PfMP pass (PfMP Live Lessons) course comes with a large number of videos, lesson end practice questions, Smart Card questions, ITTO video exercies, among others. This video informs how to use the course.  It's fundamentally a video course, where you can watch as many times as you want to master the topic at hand.

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Videos: Lesson - 1: About the PfMP Exam

Video 1.2 The PMI-PfMP Credential (3m:28s)
PfMP certification from PMI is one of the fastest growing certification. In last few years, it has seen very high growth. In year 2024, the growth is also very high. Being the highest-level certification from PMI, it holds a lot of value in your resume.

Video 1.4 PfMP Certification Pre-requisites  (4m:54s)
This video explains the needed pre-requisites (all mandatory) to appear for the PfMP exam. It includes educational experience, professional business experience and portfolio managemen experience. It also explains the the usual termonology by PfMP aspirants - 48:84 months.

Video 1.6 PfMP Examination Process (6m:31s)
Know the examinatin process, grpahically, with this video. Your PfMP application should be top-notch because it's the highest level certification. A set of simple 9 steps informs on the PfMP application process.

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Videos: Lessons - 2: Introduction to Portfolio and Portfolio Management

Video 2.3 What is a Portfolio (6m:00s)
Portfolio is completly different from projects and programs. In this video, you'll learn what actually a portfolio is. The mindset to manage portfolios is also completely different. It also explains on subportfolio.

Video 2.5 What is Portfolio Management (4m:15s)
Portfolio management is completely different from program management or project management. Portfolios management is about achieving organizational strategic objectives. Program and project management, on the other hand, fall on the execution side. This video explains more.

Video 2.19 Flow - Portfolio Goal to Project Activity (3m:41s)
The video clearly informs how portfolio goals finally result in activties at the level of a project. This is important to know as portfolio is on the strategic side, wheres portfolio components such as projects will be in the execution side.

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To know more about this course and what is Guaranteed PfMP or Your Money Back Program, 
please refer:

PfMP Live Lessons – Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back

Part 2 of this series with more sample will be available shortly.

If you require more information, please send a mail to: managementyogi@gmail.com.

You can also see the sample videos in a playlist or select one video from the playlist.

• PfMP Guaranteed Pass Sample Video Playlist 
• PfMP Guaranteed Pass - Select a Video

PfMP Success Stories and Reviews:

• PfMP Success Stories and Reviews by Certified PMI-PfMP

More on PfMP Live Lessons - Guaranteed Pass:

• PMP LIVE LESSONS: Guaranteed Pass or Your Money Back

PfMP Online Exam Prep - With Money-Back Guarantee:

• PfMP Online Exam Prep: With Full Money-Back Guarantee

Book  for PfMP exam:

• Book for PfMP Exam Prep: I Want To Be A PfMP

Why Scaled Scrum Projects Fail: 10 Mistakes to Avoid

  

There are many scaled Scrum projects that have been failures. Although Scrum, an Agile approach, is widely used at the team level, when it comes to scaling, it's a different ball game altogether.

Apart from the CIPSA Framework, there are several frameworks available, such as SAFe, Scrum@Scale, DA, and LeSS, among others. Some of these are scaled frameworks but not exactly Agile. They hold value but may not succeed in the real world.

This article explains some of the reasons for these failures and the mistakes you can avoid.

Mistake # 1: You're at Scale in size. But are you really Agile (Scrum) at Scale?

At Scale, you'll have a number of teams and team members. While using the framework, you can do tests with respect to values and principles of Agile Manifesto. 

The values of Agile manifesto such as prioritizing individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration and responding to change. 

Are they being followed, with the 12 principles? If not, you are not at scale. Not all can scale, but they need right customization.

Mistake #2: Lack of practical, hands-on applicability. 

This is another key factor. The frameworks available are mostly theory, and more theory. While theory is necessary, it's practical implementation that actually matters. Apart from CIPSA, not a single scaled framework is practical or hands-on.

In large teams, you can't have physical whiteboards or Scrum boards. You need to use software tools that can manage multiple teams at scale.

It can be any software tool, but the framework should be such that it can be supported by any software tool. If you need 10 software tools to manage, that is another problem. 

Mistake #3: Communication paths (channels) go exponential and unmanaged. 

As any management professional would know, with an increase in the number of people, the number of communication paths increases. With 3 people, there are 6 communication paths or channels; with 30 people, you have 435! In other words, it grows exponentially with more team members.

With such an increase in the number of communication channels, communication can break down or may not happen at all. This is where again, the role of the right framework comes in.

Continuous communication should be maintained among the team members. The right kind of roles and ceremonies, at a minimum, are needed.

Mistake #4: Too many roles spread across layers of scaling, bringing bureaucracy. 

If the framework prescribes too many roles, then it's no longer a framework but a bureaucracy jamboree.

With too many roles, bureaucracy is inevitable. As we all know, high bureaucracy means failure.

In fact, I've seen terms being used in some scaled agile frameworks, such as "waterfall with red tape and two-week iterations!"

Mistake #5: There is no goal alignment for Scrum at Scale.

I've seen teams running in sprints without any goals. I ask them: What exactly are you running toward as you are sprinting? There is no answer.

It's a clear case of goal mismanagement and sometimes, no goals at all.

All the goals at the team level and at scale should be aligned.

Mistake #6: Too many artifacts considered or used, e.g., the backlogs.

Backlog management is the first and crucial step in Agile.

The product backlog should be one and continuously evolve, with the other backlogs kept minimal. Once done, those backlogs (other than the product backlog) should be discarded.

In some frameworks, there are multiple, separate backlogs and backlogs within backlogs. It not only adds more artifacts but also becomes difficult to manage.

Mistake #7: The framework followed is complex. Complexities don’t scale well. 

Simple things always scale very well, not the complex ones. When the framework is too complex, with layers of roles and artifacts, it becomes too difficult to manage first. Scaling comes later. High complexity means big nightmares.

The framework should be simple and easy to follow. 

Mistake #8: A lack of integration for Increments among individual Scrum teams.  

Individual Scrum teams have increments, but often they don't get integrated. At scale, it's only the integrated increment that matters. If integrated increments are not provided, Scrum at scale has no value. 

Mistake #9: Not having integration specialists in the Scaled Scrum team.

Scrum (and other Agile approaches) emphasizes neither generalists nor specialists but generalizing specialists. For integrations, one needs the role of specialist integrators, who are also generalists.

Mistake #10: Burnout of software engineers in a Large-Scale team.

While Agile promotes a sustainable pace, the reality on the ground is quite different. Sustainable pace is one of the 12 principles in the Agile Manifesto. But engineers are asked to work on multiple projects and work more than 12 to 14 hours a day.

At scale, such problems get magnified. At scale, dependencies are minimized by the Chief Scrum Master, but dependencies still remain. With cross-team dependencies, imagine a few engineers across teams falling sick or leaving the teams. 

Conclusion

As your organization grows, scaling becomes inevitable. When you undertake projects to build products or provide solutions and adopt scaling approaches, using a Scaled Scrum framework is essential. However, it should be a framework that is not complex, but simple.

If the framework is overly complex and not easily implementable in a practical, hands-on manner, it should be avoided.

As this article emphasizes, the framework should not have layers of bureaucracy that stifle progress. The roles, goals, and artifacts should be minimal, but the value they provide should be maximal. 

Get CIPSA certified – Not only Practical, but also Economical

The CIPSA Scrum framework is the simplest framework in the world. It’s practical, hands-on, and offers in-depth explanations of the artifacts, roles, goals, and other areas that are critical to its success.

Certification costs for Scaled Agile frameworks can often be prohibitively high, running into thousands of dollars.

However, the CIPSA certification is not only practical but also very economical.

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To find out more about the CIPSA Framework, you can download the CIPSA Framework Guide. It’s free to download. For in-depth understanding, consider becoming a CIPSA professional.

Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA)

• Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA) Course - Practical and Economical

Scrum at Scale with CIPSA: Multiple Teams and Synchronized Scaled Sprints with MS Project Agile (Part - 2)

In the previous post, we learned about:

• Synchronized Sprints in CIPSA
• Stock-Trading System's Product Backlog (single one)
• Planning and Addition of Sprints
• Seggregation of Individual Scrum Teams

In this post, we learn how to combine them and manage Scrum at Scale. It's the concluding part. 

The contents are from ManagementYogi's Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA) Course. You can download and read the CIPSA framework guide for free here.

This series [Part - 1]

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Add the Individual Scrum Teams

In this step, we will associate the work items with the respective Scrum teams. This will be decided in the CIPSA Sprint Planning meeting, where the “what” part is decided. Do not confuse this meeting with an individual Team Sprint Planning meeting, which happens later. It’s the CIPSA Sprint Planning, during which the planning is taking place at scale.

To have the work items associated, add a new column into Sprint Planning Sheet view and associate with respective Scrum teams. Next, choose the team from the drop-down list and associate it with respective work items. 

Associate the Sprints the Scrum Teams

Our next step is to associate the planned Sprints with the individual Scrum Teams.

To associate the teams with Sprints, select the Sprint column available in the Sprint Planning Sheet view and select the Sprint number from the drop-down list. This is shown in the below figure. While we have planned for five Sprints, our upcoming Sprint is Sprint 1 and each team will Sprint on its own with this Sprint number – Sprint 1. 

In the above figure, again, did you notice that all teams will be sprinting on the same Sprint, i.e., Sprint 1?

This is a significant point to understand. There are no separate Sprints for separate teams. Rather the Sprint Planning is happening at the Global Level for all the teams and then we are associating the Sprints with the teams.

An alternative and relatively familiar view for many of you will be the Gantt Chart view. This is depicted in the below figure. 

In the above figure, I’ve added three new columns:

• Built-in field of “Sprint” informing the Sprint number.
• Built-in field of “Sprint Start” and “Sprint Finish” which shows that the features across the teams are to be completed within the Sprint duration.
• The custom field of “Team” shows the feature distribution across Scrum teams.

As explained earlier in the first video, the CIPSA Sprint Planning will be succeeded by the individual Team Sprint Planning event and tasks will be further decomposed. When the respective sub-tasks are added, the CIPSA Sprint Backlog will be the sum of all individual Team Sprint Backlogs. This is shown in the below figure. 

The above highlighted areas in the figure is the CIPSA Sprint Backlog, consisting of individual Team Sprint Backlogs. This backlog will get progressively built-up with CIPSA Frameworks’ meta events and other events.

Again, the key points to note here are these:

• All Scrum Teams are sprinting on the same Sprint – Sprint 1. But they are executing the work items separately.
• All Scrum Teams are sprinting towards the same CIPSA Sprint Goal, which is in sync with the Product Goal.
• Individual Scrum Teams will have individual Team Sprint Goals, but these goals must be in sync with the CIPSA Sprint Goal.

Demonstration: Scrum at Scale using CIPSA Framework

Let’s have a demonstration of what we have learned so far with our practical scaled approach using Scrum to deliver a product. The below video [duration: 7m:19s] demonstrates such scaling with MS Project Agile. Again, plug-in your headphones to understand with more clarity.  

Conclusion *** UPDATED ***

Scaling is complex, but the framework need not be complex. Scaling involves complex cross-team dependency management, collaboration, multi-Sprint management, multi-team tracking, board management, integration of individual team increments and above all, delivering value to the customer or end user. However, with the right practical scaled agile framework – in this case CIPSA, right software tool, much of the heavy lifting can be done.

A big misconception in Agile practitioners’ circles is that MS Project is not at all suitable for Agile at Scale, not just Agile! As we just reviewed in this article, MS Project Agile can effectively be used to scale multiple Scrum Teams with multiple synchronized Sprints and deliver complex products.

The series is concluded. 

I welcome your thoughts, comments, and feedback in the comments section below.

This series [Part - 1]

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This article was first published by MPUG.com on September 4, 2024. This is an updated version.

References

[1] NEW Scaled Agile Certification Course: Certified In Practical Scaled Agile (CIPSA)

[2] New Practical Scaled Agile Framework – The CIPSA Framework Guide

[3] Understanding the CIPSA Scrum Framework – Practical, Hands-on Scrum at Scale

[4] Understanding the CIPSA Kanban Framework – Practical, Hands-on Kanban at Scale

[5] The CIPSA Framework Clock - A Unique Way