Clarify INTERESTS & CONCERNS, not POSITIONS

- Be persistent and patient in asking about interests - often a question about a party's interests will only get them to restate their position
- When estimating their interests and concerns, try to see the situation from their shoes

~ Negotiation tips from Common Outlook

negotiation - summary

negotiation - influence or persuade someone to get an agreement/outcome that are satisfactory to both parties

create value in negotiation by expanding the pie

work as partners to solve the problem

1. process - be fair
2. best alternative to a negotiated agreement - not a bottom line (walk away)
3. interests & concerns - not position, looking for differing and non-conflicting interests
4. options - be creative
5. benchmarks - not manipulable by any party
6. commitment - clear and operational, checking assumptions
7. communication - two-way, clear protocal
8. relationship - trust, respect, goodwill

Silence is gold

- Stop advocating after you have made your point
- Slow the pace and talk less when you feel nervous

News:Googling for ATM Master Passwords

Lessons Learned - always change the defualt password.

Blog: The U.S. Government's $12 Billion Sinkhole

Here's a fun little item, outrageous to both good project managers and U.S. taxpayers alike. The federal government has about
$12 billion in information technology projects "either poorly planned or going poorly," the General Accountability Office says.

News: Malware Money Tough to Trace

News: Credit Card Rules Reflect Industry Changes

Pebble Beach, California

Interview Question - Quick Sort

Cyber-Thieves Steal $700K Via ATM Hacking

Leasons Learned: GUI Test

When conducting the GUI test, one should also monitor the error logs of application server as well as the database server. Sometimes even the GUI does give you any error, the backend pieces might have issues.

Tips: Creating custom view in MS project

Step 1: create a new table
1.1 View -> Table -> More Tables
1.2 New or Copy

Step 2: create a new view using the new table
2.1 View -> More Views
2.2 New or Copy

Step 3: save to local global
3.1 Tools -> Organizer
3.2 Views and Tables tab
3.3 Copy

OSI Seven Layer Model of TCP/IP

Level 7 - Application
Level 6 - Presentation
Level 5 - Session
Level 4 - Transport
Level 3 - Network
Level 2 - Data Link
Level 1 - Physical

Database principles - ACID

Atomicity - all or nothing

Consistency - only valid data will be written to the database

Isolation - transactions will not interfere with each other

Durability - any transaction committed to the database will not be lost

XML Web Services

XML web services - the buildling blocks of distributed computing on the Internet
- exposing the functionality on the web through SOAP
- describing the interfaces in a WSDL document
- registered in UDDI

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
- SOAP is a specification that defines the XML format for messages
- SOAP spec also describes how to represent program data as XML and how to use SOAP to do Remote Procedure Calls. These optional parts of the spec are used to implement RPC-style applications where a SOAP message containing a callable function, and the parameters to pass to the function, is sent from the client, and the server returns a message with the results of the executed function.
- SOAP also supports document style applications where the SOAP message is just a wrapper around an XML document.
- The last optional part of the SOAP spec defines what an HTTP message that contains a SOAP message looks like. This HTTP binding is important because HTTP is supported by almost all current OS's.

WSDL (Web Services Description Language)
- WSDL file is an XML document that describes a set of SOAP messages and how the messages are exchanged.
- WSDL specifies what a request message must contain and what the response message will look like in unambiguous notation.
- WSDL also defines where the service is available and what communications protocol is used to talk to the service.

UDDL (Universal Discovery Description and Integration)
- UDDL is the yellow pages of Web services.
- A UDDI directory entry is an XML file that describes a business and the services it offers.
- There are three parts to an entry in the UDDI directory:
-- The "white pages" describe the company offering the service: name, address, contacts, etc.
-- The "yellow pages" include industrial categories based on standard taxonomies such as the North American Industry Classification System and the Standard Industrial Classification.
-- The "green pages" describe the interface to the service in enough detail for someone to write an application to use the Web service.

-- Microsoft

UML

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard language to specify, visualize, and document the artifacts of software systems.

Use Case Diagram
- A use case is a set of scenarios that describe the interaction between a actor (user or another system) and the system being modeled.
- A use case diagram displays the relationship among actors and use cases.

Class Diagram
- A Class is composed of a name, a set of attributes, and a set of operations.
- Class diagrams model class structure and contents at three different levels - classes, packages and objects.
- Class diagrams have three different perspectives - conceptual, specification, and implementation.
- Class diagrams display relationships such as containment, inheritance, associations and others.

Interaction Diagrams
- Interaction diagrams model the behavior of use cases by describing the way groups of objects interact to complete the task. The two kinds of interaction diagrams are sequence and collaboration diagrams.
- Sequence diagrams demonstrate the behavior of objects in a use case by describing the objects and the messages they pass.
- Collaboration diagrms show the relationship between objects and the order of messages passed between them.

State Diagrams
- State diagrams describe all of the possible states of an object as events occur.
- Each diagram usually represents objects of a single class and track the different states of its objects through the system.

Activity Diagrams
- Activity diagrams describe the workflow behavior of a system.
- The diagrams describe the state of activities by showing the sequence of activities performed. - Activity diagrams can show activities that are conditional or parallel.

Physical Diagrams
- There are two types of physical diagrams: deployment diagrams and component diagrams.
- Deployment diagrams show the physical relationship between hardware and software in a system.
- Component diagrams show the software components of a system and how they are related to each other. These relationships are called dependencies.
- Many times the deployment and component diagrams are combined into one physical diagram.

-- Kennesaw State University

Negotiation Framework

Process
- how to interact and make decisions
- efficient & FAIR
- how much time to allocate
- what order to address items in
- how many meetings and purpose of each
- who should & should not participate in the negotiation
- use of a facilitator, mediator, etc
- where to meet
- how to open & close discussions
- what information to gather and share
- agree on a process before negotiating the substance

Alternatives
- how to meet interests & concerns if no agreement reached
- not the bottom line
- improve my walk-away alternatives
- reality-test or worsen their alternatives
- in general, leave out of discussion
- disclose your alternatives when it's better than they think and their offer in inferior
- disclose it as a warning, not a threat
- emphasize your preference to reach agreement
- leave the door open if choose to walk away
- discuss their alternatives when they mention it or overestimate/overstate it
- acknowledge it as a choice and ask openly how it would meet their interests better than your proposal

Interests & Concerns
- needs, wants, fears, objectives, motivations, goals
- not the positions
- common, DIFFERING or conflicting
- consider & prioritize all parties's interests
- SHARE interests before inventing options
- share your understanding of their interests & ask what's missing

Options
- possible solutions
- create value for ALL parties
- not alternatives
- trade options based on differing interests
- use benchmarks to handle conflicting interests
- negotiate a "no commitment" ground rule
- separate inventing from evaluating options
- use tentative commitments on options until you know the WHOLE package

Benchmarks
- precedents, market practices, customs, laws, professional guidelines, usual procedures, comparables
- negotiate the benchmarks
- use criteria cannot be influenced or manipulated by either party
- use it as a "sword" and a "shield"

Commitment
- oral/written agreement of what you will and will not do
- clear & OPERATIONAL
- roles, responsibilities, timelines
- what to do if things go wrong
- level of authority to make decisions
- commit on process early, substance late
- know all pieces of the deal before committing
- revisit alternatives before committing
- check for MUTUAL understanding of intentions behind deal terms
- ensure operational details are in the agreement

Communication
- verbal & non-verbal signals
- clear and two-way
- what assumptions should we test
- how to manage communication problems
- check your understanding of what you heard
- consider the medium - IN PERSON, phone, email, etc

Relationship
- maintain or improve quality of the interpersonal dynamics (trust, respect, goodwill)
- if gap exists, what are possible causes
- address relationship concerns before addressing substance
- build TRUST to help build value in the deal
- don't make inappropriate concessions on the substance to "buy" a good relationship
- don't reward "bad" behavior with concessions

--- Common Outlook Consulting Inc.

Model for the negotiator

Assumptions
- pie can be expanded
- this is not a battle
- this is a puzzle to solve together

Goal
- maximize total benefits available

Strategy
- creat value and claim fairly

Actions
- hard on problem, respectful of people
- look for joint gains

Results
- high value outcome

--- Common Outlook Consulting Inc

San Diego Office

Fair Isaac InterACT 06

CEO Tom Grudnowski
Bill Fair and Earl Isaac started the company in 1956 in San Francisco

1. Architecture for Enterprise Fraud Management, its vision of a fraud clearinghouse and its research into click fraud.
2. ScoreNet® network, the first "Decision Services Provider" network. This growing network gives businesses access to hosted versions of Fair Isaac solutions, as well as more than 2,000 service providers and 70 third-party databases.
3. Blaze Advisor(TM) business rules management system, the only such system powered by the Rete III algorithm. With Rete III, Blaze Advisor can run complex business rulesets up to 100 times faster than other rules engines.
4. The next phase in the company's EDM architecture for financial services, which will give banks a common platform for their decision management across the customer lifecycle, and connectivity between point solutions for different decision areas.
5. A new approach to customer-centricity called "CustomerHD," which uses leading-edge analytics to give marketers a high-definition view of customers and potential customers.
6. New insights into customer credit issues, including consumer sensitivity to debt load, U.S. and global regulatory issues in financial services, and the implications of HELOCs and debt consolidation for card issuers.

Tips: How to interact with client

Don't Say "No" - Why not let your client carry things to their own logical conclusion? Tell them what you need. If you say "no", tell them what you can do for them within their budgetary or time constraints. Be the person with solutions, not the one who always tells them "no."

Document Verbal Requirements - write down what client is asking for and ask a lot of questions. When you have all the information you need, send a document to the client reiterating in detail what they are asking for. Follow up with them to make sure that your document encompassed everything they need.

Listen to the Complaints - We are in the business of solutions and, like a doctor, if you can find out where the hurt is you can often provide the remedy. Your client's complaints can become some of you most successful innovative ideas.

Stop By Every Day - Try to stop by client's office everyday unless you are expressly asked not to. Keep the conversation light. As you are about to leave their office you can give them a quick update of important projects and what you are going to be working on that day or the next.

Regular Highlights - send out weekly highlights explaining what you are working on and the progress you are making. Also combine all the completed projects into a quarterly highlights document.

~ from "Overcoming Cultural Boundaries - A Necessary Skill of the Management Report Writer" by Joseph Faillace

News: Debit Card Compromise Spreads to Massachusetts

News: Debit Card Fraud Tied to OfficeMax Breach

Link: 10 Questions to Dazzle Would-be Employers

Wow them in your next interview with some thoughtful questions that let you shine!

IT Project Management

Responsible for the IT component of the project which includes managing the IT project scope, schedule, budget, quality, artefacts, project team, communication, issues and risks.

Key Activities
Create and execute project plan
Resolve conflicting priorities
Manage relationship between various stakeholders
Identify and negotiate project resources
Coach, lead and motivate project team members
Evaluate and report on project status
Create, monitor and track control documents
Create IT project artefacts
Manage issues, risks and assumptions
Execute communication plan
Take corrective action as required
Transition to maintenance support team
Initiate project completion survey

Link: www.itpub.net

Link: MyPM.net

CMM

5 levels:

Initial - Processes are ad-hoc, chaotic, or actually few processes are defined

Repeatable - Basic processes are established and there is a level of discipline to stick to these processes

Defined - All processes are defined, documented, standardized and integrated into each other

Managed - Processes are measured by collecting detailed data on the processes and their quality

Optimizing - Continuous process improvement is adopted and in place by quantitative feedback and from piloting new ideas and technologies

Link: Six Sigma

Operational Risk - Why China's Banking Sector Isn't as Weak as It Looks

Jeffrey R. Williams, president of Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB)

Link: Columbia University - Project Management Resource Center

MS Project: Task Types

1. Fixed Units: Units = Work / Duration
Adding/removing resources will
a) decrease/increase the duration
b) increase/decrease the work

2. Fixed Duration: Duration = Work / Units
Adding/removing resources will
a) increase/decrease the units (%) of each resource
b) increase/decrease the work

3. Fixed Work: Work = Units * Duration
Adding/removing resources will always decrease/increase the duration

* Set on-going PM tasks to non-effort driven fixed duration type of task.

job aid: Creating a new MIS Costing Project

1. PM <-> Project Request Form <-> Planning Manager
2. Planning Manager -> Project Request Form -> Finance
3. Finance -> funding -> "Project Initiation"
4. "Project Initiation" -> "Schedule Manager" -> "Project Schedule" -> "Project Server"
5. "Project Number and Details" => Project Manager, Finance, Planning Manager

News: Debit Card Fraud Tied to OfficeMax Breach

News: Citibank Confirms Fraud in Canada, UK, Russia Linked to Breach

Why AML is like CRM?

Know Your Customer

Lessons Learned

Don't let a business analyst draft the interfacing file format as it requires too much more technical knowledge than she/he usually has.

job aid: work month

1WM = $12,950

Automation Versus The Human Factor: Which Anti-Money Laundering Defence Mechanism Works Best?

Automated cross-checking customer names against black-list databases is only part of the solution. the human factor has always been the most effective weapon against money launderers.

Recognition of outstanding project team members

Take 5 minutes out of the weekly project status meeting to recognize the people who made a difference to the project.

Enterprise Scorecard (Heatmap)

Strategic Goals
-> Measurement Areas
----> Metrics (relevant, timely, actionable, objective)

Effort vs Duration

When asking for estimate of project tasks from project team members, must clarify the difference between the effort and duration.