Method123

Q: Which templates do I use to create a scope statement for a project? A: Within the MPMM Project Management Life Cycle , the scope statement is created during the Initiation phase. The scope is discussed in the Business Case template, but it is in the “Terms of Reference” template that the scope statement is fully realized. To scope your project, you need to create a complete list of all of the activities and deliverables your project will produce. This complete list forms the total scope for your project. The MPMM Support Team

Creating a Quality Plan through Project Management Templates Most Project Managers are aware that delivering projects within “time, cost and quality” is critical to success. However the term quality can be elusive and is often not clearly defined. In this issue, we describe what it really means to deliver quality within a project and we will help you to understand the: 4 critical steps to creating a Quality Plan So what does the term “quality” mean? Method123 defines quality as producing deliverables which meet the requirements of the customer. To ensure that your deliverables meet your customers requirements, you need to create a Quality Management Plan, by taking these 4 steps: Step 1: Define the Quality Targets During quality planning, we all know that its pretty impossible to meet your customers expectations unless you draw a line in the sand before you start. By asking your customer to state upfront exactly what it is that they require, you will greatly improve your chances of s...

Q: Which currency is the project software priced in? A: All prices are quoted in US$. The reason is that the US is our primary target market, with more than 80% of customers currently purchasing from the USA. We do have customers in more than 200 countries, all using our project management process . These customers have bought the project software in US$ as well. Our payment gateway “Worldpay” manages currency conversions for us when you purchase. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Does your project methodology have process maps for managing projects? A: Yes there is an entire suite of project management processes included in MPMM. It contains a suite of project management processes for time management, cost management, quality management and risk management as well as others. The project management processes included describe how to monitor and control your projects more efficiently than before. Detailed procedures are provided for each process included. The MPMM Support Team

Q: We have a firewall and it seems to prevent us from downloading your project software . What changes can we make to enable us to download your software successfully? A: To download our project management software, you will need to take either of two actions. You can either change your firewall settings so that it allows you to download file attachments, zip files and executables. Or you can try and download the software from your PC at home. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Do you have any live demos or conference calls for a presentation of this software? A: At the moment, we do not provide live demos, due to the volume of clients we have accessing our website. We also believe that the free project management software trial is self-explanatory and that users will get a good feel for the product by downloading and using it for two weeks. If you are a corporate customer and you have specific questions that you need answered before considering purchasing your multiple user license, then let us know and we will arrange a conference call with a person from our project management support team to talk you through our project processes .

Title Downloading this Project Software Description For high speed internet connections our project software can be downloaded in a few minutes. Slower connections can take up to 60 mins. Keywords project software download speed Q: Can you please tell me how long it takes to download this project management software ? A: The answer depends totally on your location and internet speed. If you are based in the USA for instance, then you will most likely be on a high speed internet connection and will therefore be able to download the free project software trial within just a few minutes. However if you are based in a more remote country like South Africa or New Zealand and are on a slower internet connection, then it could take you up to 60 minutes to download this project software. If you have a very slow download speed, then we recommend that you download overnight when internet bandwidth is usually at its fastest.

How to Create a Project Management Tools Communications Plan If you manage projects, then you will know that to succeed, you need to communicate clearly with all of your project stakeholders. Otherwise your staff will lack clear direction, team morale will be low and your project may deliver over schedule and exceed its budget. To make sure that your projects communicate effectively, we have described here... How to Create a Communications Plan Using the latest communications planning online project management tools released today, we have described how to create a bullet-proof Communications Plan for projects. We have provided a snapshot of this template here by listing the 10 steps you need to take to create a Communications Plan for your project. Step 1: Situation Analysis The first step to take when creating a Communications Plan is to perform a Situation Analysis. This is a fancy term for researching your existing communications environment. Review the performance of all communi...

Q: Will your project management software integrate with Microsoft Sharepoint? A: In the future we are planning on building systems integration with Microsoft Sharepoint. Immediately after we release the server version, we will make sure that this enterpsie edition integrates nicely with Sharepoint so that you can access our project management documentation within our project management software tool, or Sharepoint, as you wish. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Do you provide a plug-in for software projects? A: We are currently working on such a plug-in and will release it within the next 6 months. We have already designed the plug-in and are currently working away at creating all of the 1000 content pages, templates, forms and life cycle activities. This plug-in will provide you with a complete software tool set for software project management .  The phases will closely match industry best practices. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Can I extend my free project management software trial if I wish? A: Yes with the latest version, you can now download and trial this free project management software edition for 14 days.  If you need more time, you will automatically be able to select a 14 day trial extension, giving you 28 days in total.  During this time, you will be able to access all of the project management life cycle content, project management processes and templates to help you make your purchase decision. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Will your project management software work for real estate projects? A: Yes this project software provides a generic project management process that applies to all types and sizes of projects, in any industry. As it provides tools and templates that are generic by nature, you can use them in any project management environment. Of course, real estate projects are just like any other type of project to manage. You need to initiate the project by setting out the project vision and scope, you then need to plan the project in detail. Afterwards, you need to monitor and control the project to ensure it produces the required results on time. The MPMM Support Team

Q: I am an independent contractor who does Project Management and Business Analysis for customers outside of my business. I have read the License Agreement and I need to know if there are any other fees required to use your templates for producing documentation for my business customers? A: Other than the initial license fee for the product, there are no other fees involved in using MPMM. Many resellers use this project management software tool to upload all of their existing project management process and procedural documents, to create their own project management methodologies. The MPMM Support Team

Project Management Templates for Risk Management Being a Project Manager is not an easy job. Having to manage time, cost, quality, suppliers, customers and staff can be enough to keep anyone awake at nights! It’s no surprise that a high percentage of Projects (quoted by the Standish Group as over 70%) fail to deliver the expected business benefits. To ensure your project delivers successfully, you need to create a comprehensive Risk Management Plan using your Project Management Templates for your project. By reading this newsletter, you will learn the: 4 critical steps to creating a Risk Management Plan So what is a Risk Plan? It’s a document through project management templates that identifies all of the foreseeable project risks and the actions needed to prevent each risk from occurring. To gain the best results, you need to create a Risk Plan for your project as early in the Project Lifecycle as possible, ideally soon after the Project Plan has been created. Take these 4 criti...

Q: You have a great student product. I am preparing the the PMP Certification. In my opinion, if you offered a version that mirrored the PMI standards for the PMP you could have an excellent optional version. This would be in great demand for PMP Certified professionals. A: Thank you for your compliments on the project management training and educational version of MPMM. In the future, we do in fact intend to release a version that allows you to navigate the PMI materials so that you can use it to gain your PMI certification. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Can I get a free trial version of the project management templates included in MPMM? A: You can download the free project management software trial to your PC for 14 days. It will enable you to view all of the templates included, with the only restriction that you cannot export them into Microsoft Office. The reason for this is that if we allowed you to export the project management forms, tools and templates then you would have no reason to buy it from us. In this way, you can gain a sufficient preview before you make your purchase. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Is your project management tool available on a CD? A: At the moment, the only way to get MPMM is to download it from our website. The reason we have opted for this model is that it enables users to obtain the project management process immediately for use. In the future, we may create a CD version so that users in far away countries with slow internet speeds, can download and use it more easily. For the USA, UK and Europe, internet speeds are sufficient to be able to download and install it quickly and easily. For instance, in the USA you can usually download the project management Professional version within just 4 minutes. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Do you have branches that are selling your products in South Africa?  If so then would you kindly e-mail the contact details? A: We have more than 200 resellers in 50 countries around the world. Our project management resellers are able to visit your premises and identify your project management process requirements. They will then make a proposal for a suite of software licenses to help you to improve your project success. We do have more than 10 resellers based in South Africa, so we can help you to select a reseller close to you to help you with your needs. The MPMM Support Team

Title Multiple Project Software Installs Description A single user license allows installation of the project software on only one PC. To install on multiple PCs multiple licenses must be purchased. Keywords project software installation on multiple PCs Q: I bought a single license last year and this year I have tried to install it on another PC so that I can use it on one PC at home and the other at work. How can I do this? A: If you need to install MPMM on more than one PC, then you will need to purchase more than a single user license. Of course, you can install a free project management software trial on the 2 nd PC, but you can’t actually license it until you buy a second license. This project software cleverly identifies the hardware configuration of your PC so it knows when you have installed it on the same PC or another PC a second time. The MPMM Support Team

How to complete a Supplier Contract in Project Management Life Cycle In this article, you will learn how to complete a Supplier Contract and you will also be given the opportunity to enter our free prize draw! How to complete a Supplier Contract in your Project Management life Cycle ... Almost every Project Manager at some point in their career seek the assistance of external suppliers to help them to undertake a project. To ensure that those suppliers provide the project team with the right deliverables, at the right time and to the right level of quality—you need to create a Supplier Contract. This contract is: “An agreement between the Project and Supplier for the acquisition of a defined set of deliverables to meet the requirements of the Project”. The contract specifically defines the deliverables to be produced, the responsibilities of both the Supplier and Project, the performance criteria to be met by the Supplier and any terms and conditions applicable. Documenting a comprehen...

Q: Which license would allow us to use MPMM on Citrix? A: Currently, we do not have a server based license structure, however that is changing rapidly. Within the next 4-6 months, we will have built a server version, a project management tool for Citrix. This will allow a user to install MPMM in a Citrix environment. In this way, you can install multiple users in a single commonly shared environment. Otherwise known as client server, this environment will allow you to create and manage your own project management methodologies for projects. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Do you currently offer a formal certification for project management? A: At the moment, we do not have a formal certification for project management.  However we are considering creating one.  The two most common project management certifications worldwide are PMP and Prince2.  Both certifications have an excellent brand in the market, which is why we have aligned the project management process included in MPMM to these two worldwide standards for project management.  If you want to sit a project management course and gain a certification immediately, then either of these two certifications are excellent. The MPMM Support Team

Q: My computer hard drive has died and I had to purchase a new computer. I have asked an external company to copy off the data we can recover. The hard drive is beyond repair. Now I’m trying to load your software onto my new machine.  Can you please advise me how to do this? A:  You cannot simply move licenses from one PC to another.  If you were able to do this people would be able to use their single user license on as many PCs as they wished. So you need to contact our support department who will help you to deactivate your current PC and then reinstall and reactivate the new license on your new PC. We have created customized project management software to help you do this automatically. The MPMM Support Team Project Management Tools Project Management Methodology Project Management Process Project Management Software Project Management Portal

Q: I have just started with my certificate in project management and I want to know which book to buy to compliment your project management software? A: There are a large number of project management books available in the market. Our book is titled “The Project Management Life Cycle” and was written by the CEO of the company Jason Westland. The book steps you through the entire project management process, explaining every step in the project life cycle. If you need a book to get acquainted with the project management life cycle, then this book provides an excellent explanation. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Your web page says "empowering managers to succeed".  Do you intend to encompass other areas of management in the future, e.g. HR, Finance etc? I have my own consultancy business in Business / Quality Management and invariably get asked for assistance in other areas of Management that although I have a fair amount of experience in I do not profess to be 'expert' in.  To this end I sometimes need information that I can recommend and/or supply to my clients. I do like your style of presentation regarding project management and recommend to clients to use your products. A: Although we do not intend in the short term to create project management software , processes or templates in other fields, it is something that we would like to do long term. The MPMM Support Team

Phase Review Project Management Templates Welcome to our newsletter for Project Managers Seeking Excellence. In this edition, you will learn how to review the project at each Phase and you will be given the opportunity to enter our June prize draw. How to perform a Phase Review ... I’ve heard of the term ‘Phase Review’. What exactly is it? A Phase Review is a checkpoint at the end of each phase in a project to ensure that the project has achieved its objectives and deliverables as planned. To ensure that the project is ready to proceed to the next phase, a Phase Review is performed. The review involves documenting the current status of the project and issuing a request to the Project Sponsor to proceed with the next phase of the project. Phase Reviews are completed at the end of the following project phases: Project Initiation, Project Planning and Project Execution. It is not necessary to complete a Phase Review Form at the end of the Project Closure phase, as approval to close the pr...

Q: I recently downloaded your 14 day trial package. I haven't had time to look at it all, but maybe you can answer a quick question. I realize that the templates are copyrighted at the bottom of each page. If we bought the package, would we have to leave that on? If it becomes an internal document we would like to customize each document to reflect our company logo etc. A: Since you can easily export the project management processes , templates and content out of MPMM, we have taken a few actions to make sure that the intellectual property we have created is protected. If we allowed you to replace our copyright notices with yours, then we would in effect be handing over the ownership of the intellectual property to yourself. For this reason, we have said in the project management license terms and conditions that you need to retain all copyright notices for content which originates from the product you have bought. However if you customize this content or add new content of your ...

Q: Can you please provide a project management tool which would allow a tree view on the left hand side, so that I can collapse and expand the relevant groups of pages? A: Yes this is a good idea. We have added it to our development plan and we plan to complete the requested project management software feature over the coming two months. In this way, you will be able to add new page folders, new pages and new page content, all from the new left hand side tree view. This project management tool will be avaliable in the near future.