GogoTraining IT Training Podcasts

Is it important to plan? Of course it is. But how long is something expected to take? How do you guess? Yes, guess. And what is to say your guess is accurate? Looking at some of the current research in regards to planning, duration estimating, and time management, Neal L. Rowland, PMP overviews some of those theories and highlights what it can do for your projects.

Does it seem like 80% of the things that go wrong are due to 20% of the root causes? Or 20% of the group seems to be doing 80% of the work? In this GoGogh.com Radio Show, Neal L. Rowland, ITIL, PMP examines the Law of the Vital Few, or most commonly referred to as the Pareto Principle. Listen to how this principle can be applied to many areas of your work, life, and play. This is a principle often referred to in IT and project management, but is just as prevalent in Human Resources, Sociology, Economics, Quality, Agriculture, Sales and Marketing, and many others. The same principle that points out that 80% of your web traffic seems to originate from the same 20% of sources is the same principle that Wal-Mart uses to decide which CDs to place on their floors.

Please join Neal as he discusses how you can be influenced when creating your estimations. Play along with the Neal as he demonstrates how he can influence your estimation based on using an anchor.

Herzberg’s two factor theory is based on research in the workplace to determine the factors that are required for motivation. The first factor is the hygiene factor which includes status, job security, salary and fringe benefits. The second factor is motivators such as challenging work, responsibility, recognition, personal growth. Listen in as Neal discusses a more in-depth view of this theory and how they can be applied to your workplace.

Change is hard. Change is inevitable. There are many recognized best practices (this is Part 1 of a series based on the topic of Change Management). One theory at the core of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL v3) Continual Service Improvement (CSI) publication is the 8 Step Change Model of Dr. John Kotter. Introduced in his book, Leading Change, Kotter covers 8 steps of leading successful change. In this GoGogh Radio Show, Neal L. Rowland, ITIL, PMP overviews the 8 steps and how they are applied to IT organizations seeking to introduce change - large or small.

In order to take the PMP exam, you must start with your application. The application must be submitted and approved. The application process can take a bit time and you will want to be sure you have all the necessary requirements submitted so that you will become approved to take the exam. During this presentation, Neal will walk you through the steps and information required to make this process easy for you.

During this presentation, Neal will be discussing PRINCE 2 starting with the answer to the question: What is PRINCE 2? Neal will provide you information when PRINCE 2 started, where you can find PRINCE 2 methodologies utilize and the various certification requirements. He will provide you with the 8 methodologies and discusses the overall structure of PRINCE 2.

Join Neil Potter as he discusses using a 1- page standards and common error checklists to speed along the review process.

Join Neil Potter as he discusses three common questions about inspections: How to use Agile in inspections; whether we should have a paraphraser; and lastly, what results do teams usually get when starting out?

Join Neil Potter as he discusses how to use the Moderator Task List and Style sheet used during his course, including a very useful first page that provides a summary of the moderator tasks.

Join Neil Potter as he discusses how to use a spreadsheet and ways that you can use the spreadsheet for defect logging and keeping statistics during an Inspection Review.

Join Neil Potter as he discusses 6 potential ideas that can be used independently or mixed to help you find time to conduct inspections.

Those using Agile eXtreme Programming's test-first development often assume they've covered their testing bases.  In fact, while valuable, test-first development often impedes effective test design.  Proactive Testing™ Test Design can dramatically improve the number and adequacy of Agile's tests.

Most testing is reactive, which tends to limit its effectiveness and efficiency.  In contrast, the Proactive Testing™ methodology not only makes you a more effective and efficient tester, it also enables Development to deliver far better systems in the same or less time and effort.

Using a very familiar example, you'll see what a Test Design is and how to create one.  Once you see the Test Design, it will become extremely evident how it can b reused to save you enormous amounts of time.