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How to Map Out Your Projects More Effectively Using Mind Maps – Digital Project Manager

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Learn more about mind maps and why they are better for project managers than plain old word documents!

Tucker Sauer-Pivonka, Director of Product Management with many years of experience leading enterprise project teams, will also share his mind maps templates for pre-project planning as well as project plans.

Resources

Project Mind Maps Workshop Slides (.pdf).
Project Mind Maps Sample – Full (.pdf).
Project Mind Maps Sample – Simplified (.pdf).
Sample Outline for Project Mind Maps

Project Mind Maps Sample (.rtf).
Sample Project Mind Maps (.mindnode).
Project Mind Maps Sample (.md).

Host

Ferdinand
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AWS Brings ‘Intelligent’ Storage to Elastic File System Amazon Web Services (AWS) has added its “Intelligent-Tiering” feature to the Elastic File System service, letting users take better advantage of lower-priced storage classes in EFS. Intelligent-Tiering automates the transfer of items from a regular-priced storage level to a lower-priced tier if there is a change in the frequency that the item is accessed. Regular storage tiers are best for objects that are frequently accessed and used regularly. For objects that are not accessed often or infrequently, lower-priced storage tiers are preferred. Intelligent-Tiering automates the process of moving objects from one tier into another. According to a blog post written by Channy Yun (principal developer advocate at AWS), Intelligent-Tiering was made available to all EFS users on Thursday. He wrote that Amazon EFS Intelligent-Tiering is now available to all EFS users. It automatically optimizes storage costs when data access patterns change. This feature does not require any operational overhead. Intelligent-Tiering will allow objects to be moved across all four levels of EFS storage.
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Cyberwarfare: The Origins, Motivations, and What You Can Do In Response Abstract This cybersecurity whitepaper explores the motivations and origins of cyberwarfare and offers suggestions for actions that you can take to counter them. Cyberwarfare: Examples of elements These can be viewed as primarily offensive, but some may also serve a defensive purpose. For a nation to be able perform an act of cyber warfare, these weapons must be developed and maintained. Cyberwarfare tools can be used to attack any nation using many of the concepts that are commonly associated with hacking and penetration testing, such as scanning, system identification, vulnerability scanning, scanning, scanning, and scanning for vulnerabilities. These tools and techniques are used to aid the attacker in gaining greater knowledge about the target’s IT infrastructure. Once the target’s IT infrastructure is known, the next step is to exploit that vulnerability. This is commonly known as gaining access. However, it could also be used to cause damage or destruction rather than remote control or intrusion. Download
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What is a WBS? Bill asked a great question about a WBS and how it can be used to plan project scope. Josh, please clarify. I am only at chapter 7, so if you have any questions, please forgive me. So far, it seems like the WBS is different than the schedule. Is this a point you’re making? Or am I misunderstanding it? I thought the WBS was the basis of the schedule. RegardsBill Bill, you are correct. The WBS is separate from the schedule. You should be able to focus only on the deliverables when creating the WBS. This is true regardless of the time. (I hesitate to recommend phase-based deliverables in general but I recognize that some programs may use this structure) I also recommend that you do not use staff roles to organize your work breakdown structure. Next, you break down the deliverables into tasks. The tasks will be what you use to create your schedule. Your schedule will most likely be influenced at least partially by the WBS structure. But not always. My version of a WBS is called a Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) in the PRINCE2 world. When I speak of task decomposition in a Base of Estimate (BOE), they use the same terminology for what they call a WBS. Although we do the same thing, the terminology can be confusing if you try to translate across the pond. I recommend that you never open a scheduling tool without first completing the necessary steps.
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What is a WBS? Bill asked a great question about a WBS and how it can be used to plan project scope. Josh, please clarify. I am only at chapter 7, so if you have any questions, please forgive me. So far, it seems like the WBS is different than the schedule. Is this a point you’re making? Or am I misunderstanding it? I thought the WBS was the basis of the schedule. RegardsBill Bill, you are correct. The WBS is separate from the schedule. You should be able to focus only on the deliverables when creating the WBS. This is true regardless of the time. (I hesitate to recommend phase-based deliverables in general but I recognize that some programs may use this structure) I also recommend that you do not use staff roles to organize your work breakdown structure. Next, you break down the deliverables into tasks. The tasks will be what you use to create your schedule. Your schedule will most likely be influenced at least partially by the WBS structure. But not always. My version of a WBS is called a Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) in the PRINCE2 world. When I speak of task decomposition in a Base of Estimate (BOE), they use the same terminology for what they call a WBS. Although we do the same thing, the terminology can be confusing if you try to translate across the pond. I recommend that you never open a scheduling tool without first completing the necessary steps.
What is a Project Coordinator? Scott was thinking about the role of Project Coordinator recently. He replied to one my Project Management Career Coaching questions with this: Josh, I am currently attending school for Project Management and have really enjoyed your daily emails. I am currently a Manufacturing Supervisor in a small company. After graduation, my goal is to be a full-fledged Project Manager. I was interested in your recent post about changing industries and how you were successful in landing a job as Project Coordinator. I have been looking for a company for some time, but I don’t have any way to get to know the workers. It is a different industry than mine and I don’t have any connections to the company. I discovered that they have two positions available for Project Coordinators. I am trying decide if it’s worth taking the risk and making the move now rather than after I graduate. It is difficult to gain experience in managing small projects in the position I am currently in. It’s a small company, so I have to accept the fact that I can’t advance in my career unless I leave or wait for someone else to retire. I am asking you this question: Do you think that a job as a Project Coordinator is a good starting place for an aspiring Project Manager. Or would you prefer to stay at the same place for another year and gain more experience in employee management? I know you are busy, so I appreciate any advice you can offer me. Scott, thank you for your email! What is the role of a Project Coordinator? Project coordinator roles are not the same in all organizations. This is why I don’t believe it fits into all strategic career paths. It depends on the industry and the organization, but as a general rule, a role in project coordination is a good way to get into project management. It indicates that the organization is mature in managing projects. It will also give you an opportunity to experience the ‘world of managing projects’ in that organization. If my experience is any indication, you’ll be right there. Building Relationships – I discuss how to get connected to people in the industry or company. If you approach it with respect and tact, you can use LinkedIn to reach out to these people. LinkedIn is a great networking tool that can bring you face-to-face connections and allow you to make friends and develop relationships over time. It’s not a quick process, but it’s possible to expect great results. It will take some time. It won’t take forever, but it won’t stop. It’s ongoing. Some people find themselves in small companies and want to go into a larger company. Once you have the experience and knowledge from a larger company, it is sometimes best to stay there. However, if you want to return to a smaller company, you can bring your expertise and help grow it. If I was you, I would interview for the position of Project Coordinator, even if it wasn’t something I wanted to do. This will give you valuable experience in interviewing and allow you to ask great questions about the company’s project management. It can make a huge difference in your chances of getting hired.
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What is a Project Coordinator? Scott was thinking about the role of Project Coordinator recently. He replied to one my Project Management Career Coaching questions with this: Josh, I am currently attending school for Project Management and have really enjoyed your daily emails. I am currently a Manufacturing Supervisor in a small company. After graduation, my goal is to be a full-fledged Project Manager. I was interested in your recent post about changing industries and how you were successful in landing a job as Project Coordinator. I have been looking for a company for some time, but I don’t have any way to get to know the workers. It is a different industry than mine and I don’t have any connections to the company. I discovered that they have two positions available for Project Coordinators. I am trying decide if it’s worth taking the risk and making the move now rather than after I graduate. It is difficult to gain experience in managing small projects in the position I am currently in. It’s a small company, so I have to accept the fact that I can’t advance in my career unless I leave or wait for someone else to retire. I am asking you this question: Do you think that a job as a Project Coordinator is a good starting place for an aspiring Project Manager. Or would you prefer to stay at the same place for another year and gain more experience in employee management? I know you are busy, so I appreciate any advice you can offer me. Scott, thank you for your email! What is the role of a Project Coordinator? Project coordinator roles are not the same in all organizations. This is why I don’t believe it fits into all strategic career paths. It depends on the industry and the organization, but as a general rule, a role in project coordination is a good way to get into project management. It indicates that the organization is mature in managing projects. It will also give you an opportunity to experience the ‘world of managing projects’ in that organization. If my experience is any indication, you’ll be right there. Building Relationships – I discuss how to get connected to people in the industry or company. If you approach it with respect and tact, you can use LinkedIn to reach out to these people. LinkedIn is a great networking tool that can bring you face-to-face connections and allow you to make friends and develop relationships over time. It’s not a quick process, but it’s possible to expect great results. It will take some time. It won’t take forever, but it won’t stop. It’s ongoing. Some people find themselves in small companies and want to go into a larger company. Once you have the experience and knowledge from a larger company, it is sometimes best to stay there. However, if you want to return to a smaller company, you can bring your expertise and help grow it. If I was you, I would interview for the position of Project Coordinator, even if it wasn’t something I wanted to do. This will give you valuable experience in interviewing and allow you to ask great questions about the company’s project management. It can make a huge difference in your chances of getting hired.
Project Failure: We are at It Again Serendipity happens. I replied to a student Inside pmStudent eLearning with what turned to be an article about project success and failure. Shim wrote, “Projects failure rates?” a few days later. The conventional wisdom is wrong! His blog is amazing. I began leaving comments, and it quickly became one of those comments that should be its own post. Chaos I mean the reports that various organizations have on project failure rates. Shim outlined the following in his post:
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Project Failure: We are at It Again Serendipity happens. I replied to a student Inside pmStudent eLearning with what turned to be an article about project success and failure. Shim wrote, “Projects failure rates?” a few days later. The conventional wisdom is wrong! His blog is amazing. I began leaving comments, and it quickly became one of those comments that should be its own post. Chaos I mean the reports that various organizations have on project failure rates. Shim outlined the following in his post:
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