Live Webinar March 4th, 2015 – 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm  EST
Duration: 1 hour webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category A – Free PDU
Sponsored by: PMI Requirements Management CoP (REP #S055)

Organizations are becoming increasingly aware that no matter how well they manage projects, they won’t succeed if they don’t get the requirements right.

But what does it mean to have good requirements?

Is it creating a mountain of unnecessary paperwork? Is it a rejection of techniques that have served requirements practitioners well over the years? Where is the business analysis industry going?

Specifically, this presentation:

• Describes seven trends in the field of business analysis and why some of these trends are replacing time-honored traditions while others are not
• Describes four competencies that are needed to take advantage of these trends
• Discusses what this means for practitioners who do or manage business analysis work

Attendees will be able to discuss:

•  The latest trends in business analysis
• Which trends are apt to last and which will fade
• What is needed to take advantage of these trends

This presentation addresses these hot topics in business analysis.

Presenter: Elizabeth Larson , (LinkedIn profile) PMP, CBAP CEO of Watermark Learning, Elizabeth has over 25 years of experience in business analysis, project management, training, and consulting. She is a frequent speaker at Business Analysis and Project Management conferences and co-author of the Practitioners’ Guide to Requirements Management, The Influencing Formula, and the  CBAP Certification Study Guide (2nd Edition). Elizabeth is on the team that is developing the PMI-PBA Practice Guide, was a lead contributor to the BABOK® Guide Version 2.0, Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring, PMBOK® Guide – Fourth Edition (Collect Requirements), and is the content lead for Scope Management for the PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition.  Elizabeth has been cited in CIO and PM Network and regularly contributes articles to BA times, Project Times, and Modern Analyst.

Note: You do have to be a PMI® member to register for this opportunity.

Click to register for What’s Hot and What’s Not: Trends in Business Analysis

Live Webinar February 26th, 2015 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
Webinar Duration: 1 Hour ea Credits: 1 Category B – Free PDUs
Presented by: Modern Analyst

NOTE: We have listed this as a Category B but the provider has stated that this session is ** Eligible for PDUs, CDUs. ** This most likely will be a category A presentation by Diversified Business Communications (Rep #1811 – parent company). More Information will be available will be available at the end of the session.

There was a time in the BA’s not so distant past when the source code also served as the documentation of what was actually implemented.

Quality assurance engineers could compare it with the BA’s requirement specifications relatively easily.

Those days are gone.

The sheer number of lines of code (LOC) has grown exponentially and continues to mushroom. A multimedia project can easily have 50 million lines and as BA’s you need the right tools and strategies to develop and link up supportive documentation with requirements specifications.

Nowadays, code is no longer a workable way to provide project documentation and ensure project integrity and consistency.

Furthermore, effective BAs have to be good translators.

They must be able to speak the language of the business, effectively interpret it for the analytical minds of the technical implementers, plus find the right vehicles to convey the information.

In order to achieve all this, you need the right tools and strategies to develop and link up supportive documentation with requirements specifications.

This webinar will provide you with practical tips and real life best practice recommendations for effectively managing requirements specifications and supportive documentation in the 21st century.

When you attend this event you will:

1. Learn how to balance what is written in the user story and how the projects specifications are updated
2. Unlock synergies across disparate development teams to empower all collaborators to resound faster to business requirements
3. Find out about mitigating and managing risk in your regulatory compliance documentation?

Who can benefit from this webinar?

• Business Analysts, System Analysts, Requirements Managers
• Project Managers, Quality Assurance Manage

Presenter: Jiri Walek, (LinkedIn profile) Vice President, Product Management, Polarion Software

Click to register for Requirements vs. System Documentation

Live Webinar February 27th, 2015 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
Duration: 1 hour webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category A – $20 USD PDU
Presented by: Solutions Cube Group (REP 2451)

This webinar is fourth in a 4 part series series on “Risk Management” by Solutions Cube. Although this module is a part of the series – each module in the series can be taken individually.

Successful project teams understand the importance
Of incorporating ongoing Risk Management and Monitoring activities
Through out the life of a project.

Treating risk management as a one time identification and assessment activity leaves the project effort exposed to many avoidable and manageable project risks.

Developing and utilizing a Risk Communication Plan further enhances the Project Manager’s ability to engage the right level of stakeholder involvement throughout the risk management effort.

The Risk Management Series of in depth webinars will introduce participants to techniques for defining a Risk Management Process and using this process to progressively build a Risk Register including: identifying risks using a Risk Meta-Language, Assessing Risks with quantitative techniques, understanding the 8 risk responses and selecting the appropriate Risk Response for the project risks and monitoring risks throughout the project.

Solutions Cube Group’s Monitoring and Managing the Successful Risk Plan webinar will help your project teams understand the characteristics that lead to effective project risk management.

They will learn how to evaluate the success of risk responses and what to do with Secondary Project Risks as they occur. The will learn the difference between managing risk and responding to problems and issues resulting from risks that occur.

In the Monitoring and Managing the Successful Risk Plan webinar, participants learn:

• How to recognize the organization’s Risk Maturity level and use this knowledge to manage risk appropriately on projects.
• How to develop a Risk Communication Plan that identifies the unique needs of each project stakeholder
• How to engage the right stakeholders in risk management activities
• Which Critical Success Factor has the most impact on successful risk management actions
• How to identify and respond to Secondary Risks as they occur throughout the project

Click to purchase Monitoring & Managing the Successful Risk Plan: Risk Series 4 of 4

Live Webinar February 20th, 2015 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
Duration: 1 hour webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category A – $20 USD PDU
Presented by: Solutions Cube Group (REP 2451)

This webinar is the fourth in a 4 part series series on RFP’s by Solutions Cube.  Although this module is a part of the series – each module in the series can be taken individually.

Selecting a vendor through a Request For Proposal (RFP) process doesn’t always guarantee that the solution the vendor proposed, and the project team selected, really meets the project’s needs and stakeholder’s expectations.

Once the short list of vendors has been determined, the project team needs to look more closely at how well the proposed solutions meet the stated project requirements.

This is the critical time to gain alignment on the gaps that exist and the appropriate adjustments required by the vendor to close the gaps. This will help minimize the padding vendors typically incorporate to address project unknowns.

Learn how to engage the vendor and the project team, in collaborative meetings, to ensure the selected solution will be able to deliver the expected outcome.

In this 1 hour in-depth webinar participants learn about:

• Conducting a preliminary and secondary evaluation of vendors to create your “short” list
• How to conduct detailed evaluations of vendors on the short list
• Techniques for collaboratively performing a Gap Analysis of the proposed solution with the project team and the vendor

EARN 1 PDU after viewing this webinar

Click to purchase Evaluating Vendor Responses: RFP Series 4 of 4

Live Webinar Feb 20th 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
Duration: 1 hour Credits: 1 PDU Category A – $20 USD PDU
Presented by: Solutions Cube Group (REP 2451)

This webinar is the third in a 4 part series series on Risk Management by Solutions Cube.  Although this module is a part of the series – each module in the series can be taken individually.

Many project teams describe their Risk Management effort as a Risk Mitigation activity to overcome negative project risks.

Risk Mitigation is only one of the 8 different responses considered by project teams who are successful in their risk management effort. Teams who consider all 8 risk responses when creating their risk register are more effective in exploiting risk opportunities as well as minimizing or preventing risk threats.

The Risk Management Series of in depth webinars will introduce participants to techniques for defining a Risk Management Process and using this process to progressively build a Risk Register including: identifying risks using a Risk Meta-Language, Assessing Risks with quantitative techniques, understanding the 8 risk responses and selecting the appropriate Risk Response for the project risks and monitoring risks throughout the project.

Solutions Cube Group’s Selecting the Appropriate Risk Responses webinar will help your project teams understand the differences between the 8 risk response types and when it is appropriate to use each response. They will learn how to increase the likelihood of positive risk opportunities occurring and how to reduce or avoid the impact of negative project risks.

This session will help you Select the Appropriate Risk responses.

In this 1 hour in-depth webinar participants learn:

• How to complete the risk register with appropriate risk responses
• Why relying on risk mitigation as the only response to risk creates more risk exposure
• How to differentiate between the Risk Response types available for managing project risk
• Techniques for creating contingency plans as part of the response effort
• When to use each response type when planning the risk management effort

EARN 1 PDU after viewing this webinar

Click to purchase Selecting the Appropriate Risk Responses

Live Webinar February 18th, 2015 – 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
Duration: 1 hour webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category A – Free PDU
Sponsored by: PMI Government CoP (REP #S007)

Government Leaders Face Enormous Pressure!

Let’s face it:
Failing to manage pressure is a significant reason why projects fail.

This webinar will explore how the brain functions under pressure and will explore ground breaking research on how Project Managers can excel under pressure and drive engagement, innovation, growth and deliver success in their projects!

Session Learning Points:

• How to better manage pressure to gain a competitive advantage
• Research on what the top 10% did to excel under pressure
• 3 pressure insights that will help you avoid the negative effects of pressure
• How pressure affects your brain and strategies you can use to perform under pressure
• Stories of government leaders and organizations who have managed pressure effectively to succeed

Note: The content and research for this program is based on an upcoming book “Performing Under Pressure: The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most” that IHHP is launching with Crown Publishing (Feb 24th, 2015).

Note: You do have to be a PMI® member to register for this opportunity.

Presenter: Bill Benjamin (LinkedIn profile) Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP) Bill has a rare perspective – he has advanced degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science and has 25 years of real world business experience as a senior leader. Bill leverages his experience to take a practical and scientific approach to helping people understand how the brain responds under pressure and how that can help increase leadership and performance.

I particularly enjoyed Bill Benjamin’s article “Emotional Intelligence for Truck Drivers.” Explaining the abstract concepts of Emotional Intelligence in real-world terms is a valuable skill for project managers and their communications with project stakeholders.

Click to register for Performing Under Pressure