Niching

A shorthand definition of niche is how an organism makes a living. The ecological niche describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors. Is this paradigm applicable to project managment?

The niche concept was popularized by the zoologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson in 1957. Hutchinson wanted to know why there are so many different types of organisms in any one habitat [a project - bear with me, please].

The full range of environmental conditions (biological and physical) under which an organism can exist describes its fundamental niche. As a result of pressure from, and interactions with, other organisms (e.g. superior competitors), species are usually forced to occupy a niche that is narrower than this, and to which they are mostly highly adapted. This is termed the realized niche. The ecological niche has also been termed by G.E. Hutchinson a "hypervolume." This term defines the multidimensional space of resources (e.g., light, nutrients, structure, etc.) available to (and specifically used by) organisms. The term adaptive zone was coined by the paleontologist, George Gaylord Simpson, and refers to a set of ecological niches that may be occupied by a group of species that exploit the same resources in a similar manner.

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Ecology of a Project - Part 1 in a Series

Listen to this podcast on "Ecology of a Project", and while you are at it, if you have not yet passed your PMP Exam, get my exam simulator.

Ecology of a Project - Part 1

Project Management Consulting for a 1099

April 15th is bearing down on us. If you are a Project Management consultant who bills time gross as I do, then get a form 1099 from your client at year-end there are expense categories you should be tracking to make your business return easier to finally file. Here's the short list (I use an Excel spreadsheet with the same column headings):

Home Office - and associated mortgage interest, rent, utilities

Car mileage

Depreciation on computers and other office equipment or furniture

Supplies

Telecommunication services

Business Travel

Advertising

Legal and Professional Fees (*your Project Management Institute membership is expensed here)

Taxes and Licenses

Meals and Entertainment

Health Insurance

Commissions

Project Support Labor

Interest Payments

Rental Payments

Repairs and Maintenance

Utilities

Other Miscellaneous
*Aha, so you are a Project Manager who consults, but not yet a Project Management Professional? With experience, study of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK), and a Project Management Professional Exam simulator you can pass (and deduct your study costs, test fee, and then professional association fees. My PMP exam simulator is not an Internet web app, but a Windows software (all versions) rich client, that is diagnostic and revolutionary as an exam readiness tool (see the latest Star Trek remake and how Vulcans learn). You can use it on a train or plane, or when the staff meeting droning gets to you and the WI-FI is weak. As an additional benefit, the sim's content may inspire you with an idea for spicing up that dull project meeting or help get that wayward project back on track.

And oh, BTW, if you are a tax maven like me and my compatriots, we also offer, several other professional and technical exam sims that include one for the Enrolled Agent Exam.

War Room Paperhanging

As a consulting PM for an accounting/ERP system conversion, the artist/architect/engineer in me loves to diagram and hand print, then plaster walls of the "war room" with these neat sheets from a 34" x 27" easel pad that list and diagram the following:
-System Diagrams
-To Do Lists
-Highlights of Project Plan Changes
-Issues
-Objectives
-Important Notices and Developments

These project artifacts help me keep my users and stakeholders up to date and well informed with some 80s archival impact. I like a nice black wide tip marker and 32 point or so (approximate) font, hand printed, of course, with bright colors for emphasis of exceptional conditions or issues. I hang these sheets (like wallpaper) in a "war room", which in our project's case is a room of half a dozen workstations used for training and testing of the new system. My office also gets it's share of similar sheets. My client, project stakeholders and future system users can't help but notice and learn "the big picture".

If you are a project manager seeking the big picture for Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, get my PMP Exam Simulator for MS Windows rich client software to diagnose your readiness and progress as you study and practice over 1000 typical PMP Exam questions. But if you prefer some artistic hand-penned war room wallpaper study guides for the PMP exam or other certs, contact me and I will be glad to oblige for a reasonable fee.

Studying for Test Center Professional Exams

Be it a Project Management Professional(PMP), Enrolled Agent (EA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or some other hot professional certification exam - you sit for each one in a computerized, proctored, test center. The grueling hours you spend answering the hundreds of multiple choice questions during that crucial professional turning point should not have gone unrehearsed. Ask anyone who passed a certification exam on their first sitting. Did they practice questions? The answer will certainly be affirmative. The more questions you practice, particularly practice in a simulated test center environment - will greatly increase both your comfort level with the material and answering in the pressure of the test center. My PMP Exam Sim is a diagnostic, Windows rich client application that does not require Internet to get you up to speed answering over one thousand typical exam questions. Pass on your first sitting when you use my exam simulator.

Other exam simulators are available:

Certified Information Systems Security Professional - CISSP

Enrolled Agent - EA

PHP Zend Engineer

Java Developer

Business Objects/Crystal Reports

Oracle Developer/Admin

Network/IT Tech

The PMP Exam Tests Your Aptitude and Test Taking Skill

The PMP Exam tests project management professional aptitude. In other words, the PMP Exam tests acquired or learned or developed components of project management competency to do the work of project management according to the nature of the profession promulgated by the PMBoK 4th Edition.

To pass the Project Management Professional Exam, a candidate minimally needs to achieve three levels of ability:

-The requisite innate experience as a project manager.
-Thorough study of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (4th Edition).
-Skill answering questions on the tested material in a simulated test center environment.

The Peformance PMP Exam Simulator helps you reach the necessary Project Management Professional aptitude and skill leveraging your busy schedule to practice exam conditions so crucial for demonstrating your competence as a passing score on your first actual PMP exam sitting. Particularly if you only have a few weeks to prepare, a PMP exam simulator is the best way to study for the exam, because: 1) it diagnoses your experience level as a Project Management Professional, 2) it assesses your knowledge of the PMBoK 4th Edition while reviewing the material in answers, and 3) alleviates any test center stress by giving you the confidence that you have been there before, practicing pertinent PMP questions in a test center environment on your own MS Windows computer (all versions through Windows XP, Vista, and Win7).

PMPs Rate High as Accounting Software Consultants

I recently took on a consulting assignment where I plan to implement a systems conversion from some legacy accounting software to Sage Software MAS 90. I was pleased to find out that Sage's certification program for MAS 90 consultants holds Project Management Professional's (PMP) in enough regard to warrant that a PMP can opt out of the travel to on-ground training portion of their cert program. As a PMP who once sat for the Certified Public Accounting exam (CPA), I feel particularly proud that our professional designation has made inroads to accounting systems and the conversion thereof.

Not yet a PMP? If you are a PM, and want to study and pass the PMP Exam on the first sitting, there is no better way than simulating the test center where you will take the exam right on your own computer. Get my PMP Exam Simulator, a diagnostic program for Windows (all versions), with over 1,000 questions and answers on PMBoK 4th Edition material at: www.frugalpmp.com