Life Coaching : contact me at dritter_2001@yahoo.com for a free Coaching session!

Preparing for the New Year – Welcome to 2009!

New Year’s is a time to reflect on the past year, look forward to the New Year and reflect on the changes you want to make. One of the most important things to remember is not to set you up for failure. Most people have a list of New Year’s resolutions. If you have too many resolutions, you will become overwhelmed by trying to do too many things at once. It takes 4-6 weeks for a person to integrate a new habit into their lives. A better solution is to pick your top 3-4 resolutions and plans. If you take them one at a time, you can get gratification for succeeding in implementing one before going on to the next.
The top 10 on most people’s list includes the following:
• Spend more time with your family: No one (if they think about it before it’s too late) would want people to remember them as the person who was always at work, the person who had the most toys, or the person who once they retired, could not figure out what to do with their time! Hello! I would love to be in a situation where I could relax, travel, spend time with friends and family whenever I wanted. This is the time to rethink your priorities. When was the last time you took the family out for a hike in the woods or out for dinner?
• Lose weight: This especially hits folks after gorging themselves during the holidays. Losing weight is a life style change and diets are the wrong approach to losing weight. The best thing to do is to eat small portions more frequently during the day to keep your blood sugar at a consistent level. Keep this up all throughout the year and you won’t need to add this to the list of resolutions next year!
• Exercise: Look at the parking lot of any gym in January. You’ll find they are very crowded. Everyone knows that they feel better if they are exercising, but most people go overboard and then get frustrated when they don’t keep up with their plans. Keeping fit can be done anywhere! You don’t need to join a gym. Walking is free and one of the best ways to exercise. To start, take short walks during breaks and at lunch. Build up to have a total of 30-35 minutes a day walking at a pace where you pass most people up but can still keep a conversation going without huffing and puffing. After you get to this point, add some weight training. You can buy 5-10 lb weights and use them in a light to medium workout 10-15 minutes a day for a total of 50-60 minutes a week. Do this slowly so it becomes an enjoyable break, not a chore. Play some music. And remember; stretch before and after any workout. This makes all the difference in the world. You don’t want to be laid up with a pulled muscle!
• Stop Smoking: I know how bad smoking is for you. I lost too many people to diseases caused by smoking, but since I’ve never smoked, I can’t say how hard this is from experience. I suggest consulting your doctor. It’s never too late to stop!
• Relax and smell the roses: This is something I have to constantly remember. Relaxing isn’t something that comes naturally to me. Life is too short to ignore this one though. One thing that helps me is to meditate.
• Stop drinking: This is something that you can’t do cold turkey. Taper off slowly or moderate your drinking.
• Get out of debt: The economy is on everyone’s mind these days. Start by keeping track of what you spend during the day. It’s amazing how much money you can go through and not be able to say where it went at the end of the month. Once you have control over your day to day spending, start looking for ways to cut your budget. There are a lot of great blogs around that help with finances. One of my favorites is http://getrichslowly.org/blog/. They have advice on everything about money.
• Learn something new: this is one I have no problems with. I love to learn. I read constantly. There are many avenues to treating yourself to a new learning experience. Look at your local community colleges. Lots of them have free or inexpensive classes on things from bird watching to photography.
• Give back to the community: There are so many people out there that are less fortunate than you. Find out what you can do. If you don’t have extra money hanging around, give your time. It’s so valuable and you will come away from it with a good feeling.
• Get organized: Go to the Container store or something similar and get those papers organized. You don’t have to keep receipts for years (unless it was a major purchase and you may need it for warranty or tax purposes). I keep my receipts in a folder with a section for each month. Same for bills. As you come to a month that is filled, empty the contents and throw them out. Scan receipts for major purchases and save them on your computer. You need to keep tax records for 7 years, but most of the paper we all save can be thrown out. Don’t let your magazines pile up. One of my problems is with books since I read so much. I heard a professional organizer say that if your bookshelf is full you can’t buy a new book unless you get rid of another book. Take them to Goodwill or to a used book store.
Have a Happy New Years!!

When I was a teenager, I confused true friendship with casual friends (mostly boys). The thing is the casual friends come and go and true friends never leave. This especially became apparent to me when as a senior in college my Father (who was a professor at the University I went to) had a heart attack on an airplane on the way home from giving a paper. I was completely astounded at how many of my “true” friends ignored me as if death was somehow catching. They avoided me like the plague. My true friends stuck with me through the crying, the remembering, the shock and the drunken nights at the local pub. I had gone to school the night after my Dad died, even though I was up all night, because my teacher had said no excuses could be made to make up a test. One very good friend walked in with me and explained the situation and she excused me. My Dad was my best friend, so I took it very hard. I felt as though God had taken him away when he was finally getting over the divorce with my mother and starting to live the life he deserved. It took me a good 20 years before I sought out God again (and thank God I did, He is a very big part of my life now).
During the Christmas season I get a little sentimental. We have had some great times together with many great friends. Good friends are very hard to come by and you should never let them go. I firmly believe (by my own experience) that people are sent by God to be with us when we need them most. I believe they may be angels (or at least God's messengers). I have some that I may not hear from for years, but when the need comes and I call them or they call me it’s like we never stopped talking. I hope you find someone like there to be one of those people who you can count on to always be there.

I believe this is one of the reasons God put us on earth - to cheer and hold up others who are in excruciating pain, or even the simple pains of life on this earth because we have all felt the same way at times and can relate. I tried to explain to my son that even though he was grateful that God gave His son to save him, he would never understand the gravity of that sacrifice. As a parent you realize that putting your child in danger that you can't save them from must be the greatest gift you could give someone (and also the hardest thing you could ever do). Don’t forget that the simplest thing you can do for someone may be exactly what they need. You may be their angel doing God’s work!

Please don't forget your friendships and know that people love you, even if you don't see each other as much as you’d like to. Take the time to call or send a note. Casual friends come and go but true friends never leave your heart. That's something teenagers need to learn through experience. I was taught very early that if a boyfriend wanted me to give up one of my girlfriends, he was very mistaken about my feelings towards life. I think losing my Dad at an early age helped me to realize that.

So, let's all try to get together with the ones we love more often and while we are not together please remember you are always in their hearts and they are in yours. Don’t wait until it’s too late to express your love. Life is very short (even though it seems like it goes on forever!).

No one cares about what they’ve accomplished in life when they are dying; they care about who they loved and who loved them back. Any act of kindness you show to someone is an act of kindness you show our Lord Jesus.

Merry Christmas to you all and God bless you, your family and your friends!

Love always, your angel Donna

I had always dreamed of walking down the aisle at graduation with my Dad in his Harvard robes. When I was a senior in college, He was coming back from giving a paper and had a heart attack on the airplane. Even though they emergency landed the plane in Atlanta, he died. That night I had double dated with my sister to see a “Yes” concert, but went home earlier than she did since I had an 8:00 am Calculus class.

I was a senior in college when my Mom called me up (after a very late night at a YES concert) and asked me to come over since my Dad was “sick”. I told her I needed to sleep and would be there after my class in the morning. My parents were divorced by then, so I thought it was a bit weird, but went back to sleep. Then she called back and told me I was dead. I rushed to her house at 3 in the morning n tears. My Dad was my best friend. My Mom wanted me to find my sister but I had no idea where she was and there were no cell phones back then. She gave me a stiff drink (which was the last thing I needed – but I took it anyway). We waited for my sister Barby to show up and when she did, we both broke down in tears again. My Mom asked me to go to my Dad’s apartment to look for a will (he was only 45) and she didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I was a basket case. Luckily my roommate was there to drive me.

Seeing my Dad’s most personal things was horrible to me. I found what I could and brought it back to my Mom.

I stayed there, but went to school because at the beginning of the semester, my professor had said there would be no exceptions to missing exams. I must have looked a mess, because one of my friends came up as I was waiting and said”what happened to you, did someone die or something”? When he heard my story, he walked into the classroom and explained my situation to the professor and she was so nice, and told me of course I could make it up. Maybe it helped that my Dad was the Dean of the Graduate School – but he led me out of school to the next door college bar. Now this was about 8:30 am. My best friend said “Let’s have a few beers and celebrate his life”. We did and we laughed and cried at the same time. One old drunk came over and asked us what was going on. When we told him, he cried too! We all started laughing which sounds weird, but it was what I needed most.

It was then that I found out who your real friends are. Some that I thought were my friends looked the other way when I was coming. Some sat with me and let me talk, cry and cried with me. It was like my Dad’s death was contagious and some of my so called friends didn’t want to catch the “germ”.  That’s when I learned the value of true friends. They are with you through the good and bad, the ugly, the horrible and the tragedy. Some of those people I can call today (and I’m 53) and it’s like we never stopped talking.

Then the next shoe hit the floor. My Mom wanted me to decide where my Dad should be buried! His Dad was on vacation, but I refused to make any decisions until I could talk to my Grandfather. No parent should survive their children. I had never had death touch me, and I couldn’t handle it. I was floored that my Mom couldn’t see that.

We ended up sending the police after my grandfather. Thank God he took care of everything. We all flew up to Massachusetts were my first Grandmother was buried. My Dad was cremated and buried next to her. My Grandfather sent me the pictures he developed that my Dad had taken on that trip; they were of the same place where he was buried. It was fall, so I’m sure he was taking pictures of the changing leaves – but is was still creepy. My sister and I didn’t have much money, but we went to a florist and bought roses to lie on his grave.

When we got home, the money he had was to be left to any minor children (of which I was not) but there was an insurance policy with me as the beneficiary. I felt said because he had always wanted a boat. I think you should always make sure you experience your dreams.

My Mom said she and Barby would take me to court to get that money – so I gave it to them. Not worth fighting for. I almost quit college at the suggestion of my Mom, but my Dad’s professor friends rallied around me and got me through it (thank goodness for those wonderful men).

I gave up the idea of graduate school and got a job in the computer industry where I have been for 30 years. My Mom and Scott moved up to New York before I graduated and no one I was related to came to the ceremony. Not even my sister.

My husband and I have an iron clad will so hopefully none of this business will happen. I grew up very fast during those years and still hear my Dad in my prayers. I made peace with my Mom before she died (at 72) and I am very glad I did. Family is what is most important and should never be taken for granted. Nor should goof friends – they are worth gold and they endure much longer than teenage crushes or small arguments. Nurture them with love and they will serve you for your whole life.

You never know when your time will be up so always tell your loved ones how much you love and appreciate them. Never go to bed with any anger in your heart. I have a sign over our bed that says “Never forget to kiss me Goodnight” so my husband and I remember how important it is. Forgive no matter what and live so you have no regrets on your deathbed. Older people will tell you that the only thing they worry about are regrets from a missed time to tell someone they loved them or a missed time to spend more time with their kids. Don’t let that happen to you. Life goes by in a blink! Live, Laugh and Love everyone! You never know when the last day will come – so no regrets!

I just finished a bible study by Beth Moore called “Living Beyond Yourself”. This is the poem at the end and I’d like to share it to you. It has spoken to me.

THE COMPANY I KEEP

Let me be known by the company I keep

By the One who determines each day that I greet

From the moment I wake til He rocks me to sleep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

When the valleys are low and the mountains are steep

By the One who holds fast when swift waters are deep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

By the One who implores me to sit at His feet

And quickens my soul to discern what is deep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

Eclipsed by your presence that I may decrease

Til all You have chosen this traveler to meet

No longer see me but the Company I keep.

—Beth

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal. 5:22-23).

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through processes, using project management knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques that receive inputs and generate outputs.

In order for a project to be successful, the project team must:

·         Select appropriate processes within the Project Management Process Groups (also known as Process Groups) that are required to meet the project objectives

·         Use a defined approach to adapt the product specifications and plans to meet project and product requirements

·         Comply with requirements to meet stakeholder needs, wants and expectations

·         Balance the competing demands of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, and risk to produce a quality product.

The PMBOK documents information needed to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close a single project, and identifies those project management processes that have been recognized as good practice on most projects most of the time. These processes apply globally and across industry groups. Good practice means there is general agreement that the application of those project management processes has been shown to enhance the chances of success over a wide range of projects.

A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities that are performed to achieve a pre-specified set of products, results, or services. The project processes are performed by the project team, and generally fall into one of two major categories:

·         The project management processes common to most projects most of the time are associated with each other by their performance for an integrated purpose. The purpose is to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close a project. These processes interact with each other in complex ways that cannot be completely explained in a document or with graphics The processes may also interact in relation to project scope, cost, schedule, etc., which are called Knowledge Areas

·         Product-oriented processes specify and create the project's product. Product oriented processes are typically defined by the project life cycle and vary by application area. Project management processes and product-oriented processes overlap and interact throughout the project. For example, the scope of the project cannot be defined in the absence of some basic understanding of how to create the specified product.

Project management is an integrative undertaking. Project management integration requires each project and product process to be appropriately aligned and connected with the other processes to facilitate their coordination. These process interactions often require tradeoffs among project requirements and objectives. A large and complex project may have some processes that will have to be iterated several times to define and meet stakeholder requirements and reach agreement on the processes outcome.

Failure to take action during one process will usually affect that process and other related processes. For example, a scope change will almost always affect project cost, but the scope change may or may not affect team morale or product quality. The specific performance tradeoffs will vary from project to project and organization to organization. Successful project management includes actively managing these interactions to successfully meet sponsor, customer and other stakeholder requirements.

The PMBOK describes the nature of project management processes in terms of the integration between the processes, the interactions within them, and the purposes they serve. These processes are aggregated into five groups, defined as the Project Management Process Groups:

·         Initiating Process Group

·         Planning Process Group

·         Executing Process Group

·         Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

·         Closing Process Group.

·         Always pay yourself first. Put as much money into savings as you can and leave it there until you have enough to live on for 6 months or so. You will never be sorry. Start your retirement fund early and don’t touch it. If you go to work for a company that matches your contributions, take advantage of it.

·         Be wary of credit cards. They are too easy to get and too hard to pay off. If you have to buy it on credit, you probably can’t afford it anyway and most likely don’t need it. If you use credit cards regularly, you will pay many times for the same item. Save buying on credit for two major purchases, a car and a house.

·         Invest your money in things that you understand. If you don’t understand it, then either educate yourself or find something you do understand. This understanding will help you decide when to invest, when to hold and when to sell.

·         Find a job doing something that you love to do. You spend most of your life at work; it helps to enjoy what you are doing. This may seem like a strange to say that while making a lot of money is great, doing something that you enjoy and are good at will bring you more satisfaction in the long run so try to find a balance between being a starving artist and overstressed CEO.

·         Keep an emergency savings account.  In a perfect world, this would be enough to support you for 6 months but it can be as little as $1000.  The emergency funds purpose is to pay for emergencies.  I know you are saying “duh, Mom” but you have to understand that emergencies happen all the time. It is for things like the car broke down and I can’t get to work without it.

·         Setting down. When you find that special person, make sure that they are someone who will support and respect you.  Hopefully, you will find someone with similar goals to yours, both financial and life goals.  I have found that while love is grand if the support, respect and common goals aren’t there, love loses out at worst and at best your life will be a struggle. I was so lucky to meet your Dad. We were best friends for a long time before we dated and it made all the difference in the world. When hard times come, and they will, you need your best friend to support you and hold you when you think you can’t go on.

·         Your career. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart.  You are smart enough to do anything you want to, you just have to make up your mind that you are going to do it.  Don’t let anyone beat you down.  Don’t settle for second best, you deserve the best of the best.

I went to my bible study today. I am taking a Beth Moore Study called “Living beyond yourself”. If any of you haven’t heard her speak you are missing out. This week’s study was “The Joy of the Lord is our Strength”. We have been learning about the fruits of the Spirit. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit.

She talked about having 2 kinds of joy – an objective joy, like you have when you know you are saved by the grace of God and a subjective joy that you feel physically making you want to dance. There are many times in our lives when that subjective joy can be crushed by grief, sadness or fear. But that objective joy we have never goes away. In the bible, Christ may have lost his subjective joy, but he retained his objective joy because he was going to the cross to save our souls!

Worldly joy is fleeting. No matter how great it appears it leaves emptiness. It is lagged with a haunting awareness. But those who sow with tears will return with joy. God’s joy abides forever for those who believe in him and obey his commandments. Why would anyone turn their back on that? Even your loved ones at home hurt you, but He does not. Joy commeth! Joy commeth in the final days and I can’t wait to experience it. The colors we see are like we are looking through a smoky glass. There will be no tears, no illnesses, no fear, and no sin in Heaven. The streets will be paved with gold. There will be no darkness, only the natural light of God! I don’t know about you – but I want a part of that! I am ready as soon as it happens! In fact, sometimes I feel like it is almost upon us. The world is in such a mess. But Joy Commeth – thus say the Lord! I’m ready and waiting. In the mean time I stay planted in the word and I abide in Christ. He is waiting with baited breath for our arrival – we are his bride. Joy Commeth!

Our family is going through growing pains of sorts. Both of my children are over 18 years old and are biological having lived with us all of their lives.

I believe there are certain things that family members always should have and always should do. That is love each other unconditionally, respect each other, show each other courtesy and be honest with each other. They should also ask for forgiveness when necessary. The problem is our kids have reached young adult hood which has other expectations of instant freedom that sometimes can conflict while still being dependent on their parents if we aren’t careful.

What are the rules that should still exist? This is my position:

·         Love will never die and should rule any of our relationships. We should always talk to each other with respect and share what parts of our lives we want to.

·         We all have cell phones and can be reached at anytime, so we should at least make a pact to return calls from each other as soon as possible. Cell phones are a new concept for my husband and I – but one which my kids have lived with from the start.

·         We should respect and trust each other. This means we should talk to each other with kindness and honesty. Yes, the kids are old enough to live on their own, but since they are still living with the parents, I expect them to do things with us sometimes and let us know where they are at other times.

·         We need to treat each other with common courtesy. If you were staying at a friend’s house, and used their kitchen to make yourself food, you would clean it up. If you needed to use their washer or dryer, you would make sure you took care of the clothes they had in there already and get your clothes out of their dryer and fold them and put them away in your room. We all need to follow these rules.

·         If you are going to be late coming home, you should call and let the others know so they won’t worry.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or comments?

Well, Hurricane Ike was a bit more destructive than we thought. We lost power for almost 5 days, there was no gas or food to be had and we lost most of our fence including a tree that fell across our fence onto a neighbor’s garage.

We did have fun playing board games and cards by candlelight, but that gets very old after 2 days. Luckily the weather had cooled off somewhat, so we could sleep without air conditioner. It is amazing what creature comforts we take for granted!

When we said grace every night, we thanked God that we were so lucky. Some of the areas around here are very flooded. They won’t let residents back on to Galveston Island yet – they can go visit to see the damage, but have to be off by 6:00.

Maybe next time we should consider evacuating J.

Technical risk: technological changes that could impact the project or technologies that may not work as expected.

Technical requirements: state requirements in terms that the implementation team needs (i.e. system or software requirements).

Technology architecture: part of the enterprise architecture that shows how different technologies support the business.

Throw-away prototype: prototype used to answer specific questions as a basis for development but is not meant to be used in the final system.

Time Management: one of nine Knowledge Areas identified by the PMBOK® Guide; focuses on ensuring that the project is completed in a timely manner.

Traceability: information that shows stakeholders the relationships between individual requirements and their sources; allows a BA to manage scope creep and ensure all requirements have been met.

Traceability association: exist between requirements when more detailed requirements are associated with the higher level requirements (i.e. needs and features); can also exist between detailed requirements and design models/test cases.

Transference: one of four possible strategies for response planning with regard to an identified risk; indicates that the risk cannot be tolerated but the cost of elimination is too great, so ownership of risk response and impact are shifted to a third party.

Triple-constraints model: notes the relevant constraints of time, scope, and cost/resources that are shared by all projects; provides a basis for planning project controls.

Unstructured interview: has only a loose agenda, depending more on ad hoc interaction.

Use-case descriptions: usage modeling technique that identifies the specific steps that will happen in a particular transaction (or use case) along with entry and exit conditions and other relevant information; usually necessary to describe the use cases depicted in a use case diagram.

Use-case diagrams: usage modeling technique that captures all actors and use cases involved with a system or product.

User interface designs: usage-modeling technique that is similar to storyboards and screen flows, but used much earlier in the analysis process.

User profile: usage-modeling technique that lists the end users of a system, including relevant attributes of each.

User requirements: subset of business requirements that address the needs of specific users to do their jobs.

User story: usage-modeling technique that is similar to use case descriptions, but with much less detail.

Validation: checking requirements to be sure that they are correct, complete, and feasible.

Verification: checking requirements to ensure that they have been written and specified well; should be done before validation.

Vertical prototype: detailed view or functional model of a narrow area of a system; often used to test the feasibility.

WBS: Work Breakdown Schedule; deliverable-oriented, hierarchical decomposition of project elements that defines the total work scope of the project.

Wide-band Delphi: works just like normal Delphi, except that the successive estimating rounds focus on the inputs that PERT requires.

White box reverse engineering: examines the program code and other technical details to determine not just what it does, but why and how it does those things.

Work package: deliverable or project work component at the lowest level of each branch of the WBS.

Workflow models: dynamic modeling technique that diagrams the flow of activities among responsible parties.

Workshop: requirement elicitation method that involves a structured meeting with a group of people to generate many ideas in a short period.

Quality of Service (QoS) requirements: explain the way in which the system must provide the functional requirements (i.e. response times, security, usability, and maintainability); often called nonfunctional requirements.

Quality assurance: planned and systematic quality activities to ensure requirements are met.

Quality control: monitoring specific results for compliance with relevant quality standards.

Quality Management: one of nine Knowledge Areas identified by the PMBOK® Guide; focuses on ensuring that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.

Quality planning: phase of identifying relevant quality standards and how to satisfy them.

RAM: Responsibility Assignment Matrix; structure that relates the project organizational breakdown structure to the WBS to ensure that each element of the scope of work is assigned.

Resource: includes skilled human resources (specific disciplines, either individually or in teams), equipment, services, supplies, commodities, materials, budgets, or funds.

Resource leveling: technique used to address resource overloads and ensure that resources are expected to perform realistically.

Resource load: total amount of assigned work within a timeframe.

Requirement: condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a problem or achieve an objective.

Requirements Analysis and Documentation: one of six knowledge areas identified in the BABOK; making sense of the information that is elicited, organizing it, and documenting it in appropriate forms (that is, words, tables, models, and prototypes); describes how business, functional, and nonfunctional requirements can be assessed, documented, and presented.

Requirements analysis: defines the methods, tools, and techniques used to structure the raw data collected during requirements elicitation; identifies gaps in the information and defines the capabilities of the solution.

Requirements attribute: characteristic of a requirement that captures additional information, such as priority or level of risk.

Requirements Communication: one of six knowledge areas identified in the BABOK; involves providing requirements information to those who need it, when they need it, in the form that they need.

Requirements communication plan: defines the communication activities during a project used to ensure that requirements information is available to all project members when it is needed, and in a usable form.

Requirements discovery session: a forum (like a JAD) where stakeholders and SMEs get together to provide information about the target system.

Requirements document: captures and communicates gathered requirements.

Requirements Elicitation: one of six knowledge areas identified by the BABOK; the collection of activities and approaches for capturing the requirements of a target system from requirements information from various sources and stakeholders.

Requirements package: all the items that comprise the requirements for a project; defined based on the stakeholders for whom they are built and their needs and preferences.

Requirements planning and management: one of six knowledge areas identified by the BABOK; includes producing a plan for determining requirements activities on a project, and keeping those activities on track; includes managing changes to individual requirements and project scope

Reverse engineering: analyzing an existing system to understand what it does and why.

Reverse engineering requirements: method of identifying requirements by interviewing developers, reading code, and testing applications.

RFP: Request For Proposal.

RFQ: Request For Quote.

Risk mitigation: risk response strategy that takes action to reduce the probability and/or impact of a risk.

ROI: Return On Investment.

Satir change model: system view of change including seven stages: Old Status Quo; Foreign Element (change); Chaos; Transforming Idea; Integration; Practice; New Status Quo.

Scope: sum of the products, services, and results to be provided as a project.

Scope creep: changes that occur during a project that are neither recognized, evaluated, nor approved.

Scope exclusions: specifically indicate what work falls outside of the project boundaries.

Scope inclusions: indicate what the project is about and what it will do.

Scope Management: one of nine Knowledge Areas identified by the PMBOK® Guide; focuses on ensuring that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to successfully complete the project.

SDLC: Software Development Life Cycle.

Security architecture: part of the enterprise architecture that shows the security needs and practices within the organization.

Sequence diagram: dynamic modeling technique that shows the exact steps for a specific scenario; shows objects participating in interactions and the messages exchanged.

Sign off: formal, written approval gained throughout the project management processes at the end of a phase.

Solution Assessment and Validation: one of six knowledge areas identified by the BABOK; focuses on collaborating with the technical and quality assurance teams to ensure that the solution built satisfies the requirements and collaborating with business users to plan acceptance and rollout of the solution.

Solution owner: major supplier of requirements information, and is often an approver of the requirements; also referred to as the customer.

Sponsor: person or group that provides the financial resources for the project.

Stakeholder: persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by execution or completion of the project, or who can exert influence in project decisions.

Start-to-finish precedence relationship: the predecessor activity that must begin in order for the successor to be completed; relatively rare.

Start-to-start precedence relationship: predecessor task that must be started before the successor task may be started.

State Machine Diagram: dynamic modeling technique that shows all the states the system can be in, and the possible transitions among those states.

States: exist in a system if the same input generates different responses in different situations; for example, a hotel has two states: “vacancy” and “no vacancy”, and a request for a room generates different results in those two states.

Storyboard/screen flows: usage modeling technique used to mock up a user interface, or the flow of screens or forms in a user interface; differs from a prototype in that these are not functional systems, rather they are often drawings.

Strategic planning: systematic and formalized effort to establish organizational purposes, objectives, and policies, and to develop plans to implement them.

Structured interview: has a detailed agenda and formal set of questions.

Subject Matter Expert (SME): a person who provides many important requirements, and in certain situations, may need to approve requirements.

Survey: requirement elicitation method that allows you to collect information from many people in a relatively short period of time.

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities. and Threats) Analysis: method of identifying project benefits.

Task: component of work performed during the course of a project, also called activity.

Technical constraints: limitations imposed on the solution related to business activities (i.e. architecture decisions that are made).

Communications planning: the process of determining what information will flow into and out of the project and who wants or needs that information.

Constraints: any limitations imposed on the project or solution; typically falls into the categories of time, cost and resources, scope, and quality.

Contingency plan: response plan formulated for identified risks if/when a risk is realized.

Cost/benefit analysis: technique focused on the identification of the associated costs and the related benefits.

Cost Management: one of nine Knowledge Areas identified in the PMBOK®Guide; focuses on planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project is successful.

Crashing: identifying schedule compression alternatives along the critical path and taking action to decrease the total project duration; typically accomplished by adding resources to the critical path tasks.

Critical path: the longest path through the project network; the sequence of activities that defines the minimum time required to complete the project.

CRUD matrix: static modeling technique that looks at how each data element is created, read, used, and deleted.

Customer: person or organization that will use the project’s product, service, or result.

Database Analyst: a person who reviews requirements for feasibility and completeness, and uses them as a guide in developing the system’s database.

Data dictionary: static modeling technique that provides a detailed description of each data element, including its source (for primary elements) or how it is derived or computed (for composite elements).

Data-flow diagram: dynamic modeling technique that shows how data is shared among the various activities and entities in a system.

Data transformation/mapping: static modeling technique that shows the changes data elements go through.

Decision package: provides information that the decision makers need to make a decision about the proposed project; almost always includes both a document and a presentation.

Decision tree technique: provides a structure within which you can identify options and investigate the potential outcome of following these various options.

Decision tree: decision support tool that uses a graph or model of decisions and their possible consequences, including chance event outcomes, resource costs, and utility.

Decomposition: process of breaking something down into smaller constituent pieces; most effectively accomplished through the use of a work breakdown structure (WBS).

Deliverable: any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that must be produced to complete a process, phase, or project; the solution due to the customer at the end of a project.

Delphi: consensus-based estimating technique using anonymous inputs from the team working on the project.

Dependency: logical relationship between two schedule activities.

Developer: a person who reviews requirements for feasibility and ensures understanding; responsible for creating a product that satisfies the requirements.

Document analysis: requirement elicitation method that studies available documentation to leverage existing material; can be time-consuming and often information may be out of date.

Duration: actual amount of time to complete the activity or the actual time on task; measured as elapsed work time, includes resources

Earliest completion date: first date the project can be finished by; determined by adding the time to complete all of the activities on the critical path.

Effort: amount of actual work in an activity; measured in hours or staff days.

EFT: Early Finish Time; earliest point in time in a project network an activity can finish.

Eight-Stage model: leadership-based model of change including: Urgency; Guiding Coalition; Vision and Strategy; Communication; Empowerment; Short-Term Wins; Consolidation and Production; and Anchor New Approaches.

Elicitation: techniques used to extract requirements information from people, as well as from other sources.

Enterprise Analysis: one of six knowledge areas identified by the BABOK; analyzing needs and opportunities from the overall organizational perspective and recommending projects to improve specific business processes and systems.

ERD: Entity Relationship Diagram; static modeling technique that looks at the data entities in a system and how they relate to each other.

EST: Early Start Time; earliest point in time in a project network an activity can begin

Event identification: dynamic modeling technique that shows the events the system must respond to, and what its response should be to each.

Evolutionary prototype: used with an incremental development life cycle to discover precisely what should be built, rather than trying to specify it in full detail before development begins.

Executive sponsor: ultimate authority on the project.

Expectation gap: results from clients, sponsors, and the team, each holding different views of the project.

External dependencies: dependencies that exist between schedule activities and factors outside of the project, like the output from another project or goods and services provided by vendors.

Fast tracking: attempts to reduce the overall project schedule by overlapping activities that would normally be done in sequence; requires an increase in planning and coordination between the overlapped tasks.

Feature: service the system/solution provides to fulfill one or more stakeholder needs; typically high-level abstractions of a solution that turn into functional or non-functional requirements; allow for early priority and scope management and for getting a high-level sense of the stakeholders view of the solution.

Financial risk: unexpected project costs; costs of implementing or operating the proposed process.

Finish-to-finish precedence relationship: similar to start-to-start relationships, except that the point of relationship is at the end of the activity; predecessor activity must be completed in order for the successor activity to be completed.

Finish-to-start precedence relationship: most common; the predecessor must be 100-percent completed before the successor can begin.

Float: amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the project end date.

Focus group: requirement elicitation method that involves an interactive session with a carefully selected group of people; can be an effective way to capitalize on the synergy of a group if all participants feel free to interact.

Forced-field analysis: relatively simple but powerful means of comparing the forces that favor and oppose a given decision; provides a basis for weighing the importance of the forces affecting the decision; provides a range of options for carrying out decisions.

Forward pass: in a network diagram, allows you to calculate the EST and EFT for each activity.

Free float: the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting successor activities.

Functional design: observable behaviors of the solution; as opposed to technical design.

Functional requirements: define what the system must be able to do; describe both the systems behavior in detail and the information the system will manage.

Horizontal prototype: mockup of a broad area of a system that has little or no actual capability to do work; often used to review user interfaces or work flows.

Well, Hurricane Ike was a bit more destructive than we thought. We lost power for almost 5 days, there was no gas or food to be had and we lost most of our fence including a tree that fell across our fence onto a neighbor’s garage.

We did have fun playing board games and cards by candlelight, but that gets very old after 2 days. Luckily the weather had cooled off somewhat, so we could sleep without air conditioner. It is amazing what creature comforts we take for granted!

When we said grace every night, we thanked God that we were so lucky. Some of the areas around here are very flooded. They won’t let residents back on to Galveston Island yet – they can go visit to see the damage, but have to be off by 6:00.

Maybe next time we should consider evacuating

Hurricane Ike is hitting Houston. Buzzy and I grew up in New Orleans and weathered many hurricanes. We often were evacuated to other parts of the city – but never out of the city. During Hurricane Betsy we had to stay at a friend’s house and my parent’s house was flooded with 4 feet of water.

We had moved by the time of Katrina – a monster storm. My best friend was rescued by a helicopter from the room of her house. Last year she killed herself out of sadness. We always heard a monster hurricane would kill the city but didn’t listen.

Rita hit Houston after Katrina and lots of people evacuated Houston only to stay stuck in traffic and die of thirst and hunger. We stayed and only lost electricity for 30 minutes!

I am listening to my son and husband moving what could be flying projectiles so we will be safe.

The waters are already flooding Galveston and Ike hasn’t hit yet. It is more dangerous to leave than stay. We have water, canned goods and will tape up the windows.

All I want is to know where my kids are tonight when it hits. God will protect us all!

Impossible is Just a Word.

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. How many times have you dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happier with your relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. What’s the result? They end up with broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As soon as any of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you go through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

The technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities. 

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

The world we live in is extremely busy. Every morning, I have over a hundred emails in my inbox. If I were to carefully go through all of that email the first thing in the morning, I’d end up being bushed before the day began! Something I learned early on in my career was that I needed to stay focused on the most important tasks and screen my time working on non-essential things. This includes a lot of the email that most of us receive. I also learned to value my work life balance. I have a family to spend time with and being a workaholic was not on my priority list!

I put several practices into place to ensure that my life stays balanced. First was to establish clear working hours and stick to them! Another was to clear my desk every afternoon and write down my most important tasks for the next day before I left. That way when I came in the next morning I had a starting point for the day that followed.

Some of the habits I had to change were saying “yes” to every request. I classified requests for my time as vital, important or normal. I also let everyone I worked with know that I had 2 scheduled times to respond to email and phone calls – and that I’d be screening the requests. If it was an emergency, they needed to let me know that. If not, I classified the request in one of the 3 buckets I just mentioned.

Another thing I needed to do was delegate things to others who were more than capable of completing the request. I had to let go of my desire to “do” everything myself. I have always made sure to talk to anyone I worked for to find out what were the most important things to them and to let them know how that they could get my immediate attention if need be.

I also gave up on the idea of multi-tasking being a great solution. Although I thought I did it well, in reality it scattered my thoughts and increased the length of my work day. I gave up on being a perfectionist. They amount of time I spent polishing something was not always productive.

An important part of staying focused is to keep track of your time in your daily schedule to see how much time plan to spend on each task. Then next to each task, write an ROI value. When you look over this list of tasks you can fine tune your ability to prioritize your work to make sure you are putting your time towards the most valuable tasks.

When I put these practices in place for myself, I found is that I was more relaxed, got more things done and left work at a reasonable hour.

Here is a story from someone I know. See if any of the things she worries about ring true for you. I have met so many people in the same place (or similar) that are having difficulty figuring out what the last part of their life is all about.

How did I get here? I am in my 50’s, have had a successful 30 year career and now my health is failing and I can no longer commute far to work – yet all the jobs are at least 25-30 miles from my house and the traffic is horrible. What do I do now?

Well, let me look around and see where I am. I am in my bedroom, my sanctuary where even though there is chaos and mess that I constantly try to straighten up, it is my mess. I am looking at pictures I've collected that need to be cataloged.  I have a myriad of books that stimulate my mind into learning more about who I really am and in relation to that - who I am to God. He has become more and more important in my life. I read the bible every day, have several bible studies going and am so proud of my son who is in Young Life. He will be going on a mission trip at the end of July.

I am looking at my dear friendly cat who at times drives me nuts, but who always forgives me for throwing him off my bed.

I am looking at a collection of books and magazines. I want to read them all but have the realization that they will be lost as I continue in my busy schedule.

I am looking at memories of my 20 year old daughter - my baby woman who I am convinced does not love me or respect me. For my sanity, I have stopped trying to help her through college and stopped talking to her unless she talks first. It breaks my heart.

I am looking at the bed I share with the best man I've ever known, even though we are so different. Maybe that's why we get along. I am looking at a room crying out to me to do so many things, learn so much, read & write what is in my heart. I am looking at my computers and various journals. I am trying to transcribe the writings into a journal. It reminds me of the John Prine sound "It took me years to get those souvenirs' and I don't know how they slipped away from me".

I'm thinking of having a great Easter, but missing my daughter since she has to work. I'm thinking of all of the garden work to be done and that I need to start in the fall to replace dead bushes. It is so hot now. I love the colors and smells of the garden and the feelings of warn soil in my hands. Once my ruptured discs started giving me so much pain, I've missed some of that. I even like being splashed by the sprinkler when I move it since it cools me off. I am thinking that my son plays his video game too much - but on the other hand he got a great score on his first practice SAT test. I am so grateful that he lets me help him with his college preparations. He will be gone too soon. I feel so lonely and useless.

So I decide to take a different career and get my passion back. I trained for this career – but starting a new business in your 50’s isn’t easy. It’s just right for me, but I need some money to get the business off the ground. I do volunteer work for the church coaching young mothers and people who have lost their jobs. It’s rewarding and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wonder how many other people are going through the same thing I am.”

This is a typical person who could use Life Coaching services. If she came to me, I’d listen to her story, grieve with her about her problems, but draw out the wonderful abilities she has and the fantastic life she has already led. I would tell her this is her beginning. I would work with her on some assessments to pin point her talents. I would work with her on her desires, passions and beliefs to understand what goals would be appropriate for her to work on. I would enable her to work on a plan to get to the place she wants to be. I would encourage her and celebrate her wins. I would remind her that there are no failures – only learning opportunities. I would suggest some books and exercises. I would hold her accountable to what she agreed to accomplish each week and be there for her whenever she needed me. There are so many people who let the past rule their lives while all we really have is the present. I would help her to live in the present and discover her authentic self.

My message to you is gratitude. If it weren’t for my journal, friends, mentor coaches and family I would take hard things as more than bumps in the road. Yesterday I had a microwave epidural shot in my spine to hopefully help cure my herniated discs. Looking back on all the wonderful things that have happened in my life helped me to see that pain as trivial.

Have you ever been in a position of helping someone, or having empathy     towards someone, where you felt really centered, very powerful, and in your own element?  That was probably a coaching moment!  You were getting the most from yourself and the other person, and good things were being created.  Reflect on what those moments were like.  How was the other person changed?  How were you changed?  Could you bring more "coaching moments" to yourself, in your own life?  What would that look like? I find that serving others is so rewarding that I try to do it whenever I can.

Gratitude has helped me through so many situations. Whenever I do something for someone else I get a nice warm feeling. It’s better than making money or having things. I wish I could teach my teenagers that. My son came close after returning from a mission trip in Mexico. They would build buildings at an orphanage and in the afternoon when it got too hot to work, they would go to a park and praise the Lord and read Bible passages to the kids. Can you imagine if you were in a park in the USA and some teenagers started acting like that? People would thing they were nuts! But they attracted people and were accepted. The younger kids just loved it, but even the older teens thirsted for more.

What are your passions and interests?  What really moves you in life?    What lights your fire?

Making a positive difference in someone’s life that will help them in the long run.

 How might other people benefit from being exposed to these passions?

          By coaching 1/1 or working with a coach doing a team build session.

How can you start bringing more of these passions into your own life, today?

          Walk the talk, keep a gratitude journal and read it on a cloudy day

Do you know what your direction is in your life right now? Not the day to day family/career things; but your life’s purpose – what gives you passion. What makes you excited about the day and ready to do it again the next day? What do you dream of doing with your life? What do you want to be remembered for? Does your career give you this fulfillment or do you drag yourself to work each day.

Life Coaching is a personal and powerful relationship focused on knowing, having, doing and being what you want in life. These things are within you and we help to dig them out. A life coach provides a simple, yet effective structure of support to assist you in moving forward in significant areas of your life: career, health, romance, personal growth, education, spirituality, fun and recreation, physical environment, and friends and family. A life-coach will help you—

• Design a life that fits who you are
• Create compelling goals
• Clear obstacles from your past
• Break through stuck thinking and stuck places
• Develop and implement action plans that move you forward
• Hold you accountable week to week for your actions

Life Coaching works! Here's why:

1. Some of us don't know where we're going, what our lives are about, and what our values and goals are. Life Coaching helps us clarify our purpose, values, and goals.
2. We may know where we're going and what we need to do, but we forget or get stuck in our limiting belief systems, ineffective habits, or inability to focus. A life-coach gets us back on track by helping us identify limiting beliefs and ineffective habits and find more effective ways of being.
3. Many times we resist change because it's easier and more comfortable to stay the way we are. Any change we make causes resistance and backlash within ourselves as well as from other people in our lives. A life-coach helps us move beyond that resistance —with greater ease and flow. In the coaching relationship you may decide to work on all areas of your life at once or just focus on one. Life Coaching clients typically report :

• More clarity, focus and direction
• Enhanced and satisfying relationships
• Less procrastination and fewer stops
• A more balanced and fulfilling life
• Faster and bigger results
• Increase earnings and productivity
• A new sense of passion, energy and enthusiasm

Dreams are magical and can show you what is going on in you subconscious. Try keeping a Dream Journal by your bed and right your dream before you get up or you will forget it. Try this for 30 days and you will get better and better at it. You will find your writing to be scribbles but that’s ok. Dreams are one of our best gifts for finding our true selves.

Here is an example of a dream from a journal:

“Dreams, the gateway to worlds which bring forth pending mysteries. To go back to lost tomorrows and forgotten yesterdays, to find untold legends of unknown heroes, to live that which is only tangible in the misty night, to soar to lofty depths ad explore infinite worlds. To Dream”.

My dreams tend to be of flying and visions of heaven.

Impossible is Just a Word.

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. How many times have you dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happier with your relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As soon as any of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you go through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

The technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities. 

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

Minimum Expectations for Project Management

The purpose of any project methodology is to define a repeatable process that increases the probability of meeting or exceeding customer expectations of project scope, time, cost & quality.

Since all projects are different to some degree, the methodology should be flexible to meet projects of different size and complexity.  A “flexible” toolkit is needed with both required and optional tools that can be tailored as needed to deliver project results.

Regardless of the size and complexity, all projects should be managed to some minimum expectations.  The level of effort and document detail will vary, but the basic management expectations are consistent.

Leadership has agreed on the following minimum project management expectations:

1. Define the scope of work, business requirements and project deliverables.
2. Identify work required to achieve project deliverables.
3. Prepare project timeline of project milestones and deliverables.
4. Identify resources required to achieve project deliverables.
5. Track project progress.
6. Report project status.
7. Plan and manage project resources.
8. Plan and manage stakeholder communications.
9. Plan and manage project risks and issues.
10. Plan and manage project quality.
11. Plan and manage changes to project scope, timeline and resources.
12. Ensure project deliverables are transitioned.
13. Close the project.

The level of effort and the documentation detail required for each of these expectations should be agreed upon between the Project Manager and the Project Sponsor at the outset of the project.  Multiple versions of some tools are included in the “flexible” toolkit to help the project manager adjust to project size and complexity.

The Sponsor is accountable for ensuring these minimum expectations are being met through a “health check” process.  Frequency and level of detail of the “health check” will depend on the size and complexity of the project, but at a minimum will occur at the end of each project.

Management and Leadership is accountable for encouraging the use of the methodology and auditing its use through ad hoc project reviews.

The Project Management Group is accountable for day-to-day support, mentoring and training.  The Project Management Group will also provide performance metrics based on project “health checks”.