Review Official PRINCE2 Foundation App

A companion learning tool to pass the PRINCE2 Foundation exam. It’s based on a simple 3-step approach: study, practise and mock exams. You can do a quick test by topic or a full mock exam. You can review answers provided with explanations and results will be tracked by topic.

It can be used as a reference tool with a comprehensive glossary with search function across the whole App. The App contains a case study to bring PRINCE2 to life and offers links to continue your PRINCE2 journey.

On the main menu you have to choose between study or practice. In the study part you will be able to read a case study (Axle Car Hire) about project management and study for your exam with Study Cards (in total 240 questions). The case study contains 5 topics:

• Introduction to PRINCE2: introducing the company, it’s vision, the project and the key employees
• Principles: remarks from the key stakeholders in line with the principles
• Themes: purpose and remarks from the key stakeholders in line with the themes business case, organization, quality and plans
• Themes 2: purpose and remarks from the key stakeholders in line with the themes risk, change and progress
• Processes: purpose and remarks from the key stakeholders in line with the processes starting up a project, directing a project (3 parts), initiating a project, managing a stage boundary, controlling a stage, managing product delivery and closing a project.

The study cards are in line with the five topics. When you give the right answer, you get an explanation why that’s the correct answer. If you give an incorrect answer you get an explanation why it’s incorrect.

In the practice part you can select a quick test or mock exam. The length of the quick test (min 10, max 30 minutes) and the number of questions (between 20 and 40) can be adjusted. The Mock exams are 60 questions in 60 minutes. The questions are the same as the study cards. 

Conclusion: In total 240 questions, which more than enough to prepare yourself for the foundation exam. The App could be of more value if the study cards are based on the case itself.

Some potential improvement points:

• Navigation: if you mark a topic as read you imediatly get the next topic and before you know you mark that one as read too.
• Navigation. Replace < on the top with HOME. If you use this as previous screen/previous question you have to start all over with the study cards. Or add a message in line with the mock exam.
• In the case there is a reference to PRINCE2 role: Sponsor (incorrect, see glossary).
• Some questions refer to the Commissioning organization (not in the glossary).

 

Recensie: Agile: Geschikt/Ongeschikt van KWD Resultaatmanagement

Dit weekend een volgend boekje van KWD Resultaatmanagement uit de KWDreeks via Luuk Ketel ontvangen. Een wederom vlot geschreven boekje met als titel  Agile: Geschikt/Ongeschikt. Je leest het snel uit, biedt je een aantal verassende inzichten om de discussie over agile aan te gaan en de toegevoegde waarde komt helemaal tot zijn recht als je de bijbehorende tests hebt uitgevoerd. Het boekje is geschreven door Prof. Dr. Ir. Fred Heemstra, Ing. Luuk Ketel en Ir. Erik van Daalen.

Het boekje omvat zeven hoofdstukken en de kern draait om vier thema’s:

• Is mijn organisatie Agileready?
• Is mijn project Agileready?
• Ben ik Agileready?
• Hoe succesvol sturen van een agile project?

Naast deze vier hoofdstukken begint het boekje met twee inleidende hoofdstukken over het waarom van agile en agile essentials.

Duidelijk wordt dat agile niet alleen maar hosanna is, kritische geluiden zijn ook steeds vaker te horen. Bij veel organisaties is het vaak nog ‘agile in name only’. Onderzoek laat zien dat de productowner in slechts in 22% van de bedrijven aan het stuur zit, in 32% voldoet het resultaat niet aan de gestelde eisen, 34% van de producten is niet stabiel en 28% wordt nog steeds te laat opgeleverd. Slecht in 19% zijn er nooit klachten van de opdrachtgever. Aan de andere kant tonen cijfers van de Standish Group, 2011 Chaos Report, dat agile projecten succesvoller zijn dan watervalaanpak projecten (nb. De Chaos reports van 2013 en 2015 geven weer andere gezichtspunten).

Het hoofdstuk m.b.t. agile essentials beschrijft de uitgangspunten van het ‘Agile Manifesto’ en de bijbehorende twaalf principes. Daarnaast krijg je een overzicht van een aantal gangbare agile termen en overeenkomstige begrippen uit de meer traditionelere wereld. Het hoofdstuk wordt afgesloten met een aantal veel voorkomende misverstanden over agile.

Om vast te stellen of jouw eigen organisatie, je project of jezelf agileready is heeft KWD Resultaatmanagement een drietal testen ontwikkeld. Deze testen zijn te vinden in de KWD Projectmanagement app waarin ook andere testen te vinden zijn, waaronder Projectpolitiek. Zie verder: KWD Projectmanagement app.

Zie ook de QRC waarin de essentie van de drie hoofdstukken en dus de drie te beantwoorden vragen aan bod komt. Downloaden QRC: Agileready (QRC, 151206) v1.0

Hoofdstuk 3 stelt de vraag “is onze organisatie agileready?” centraal en geeft kritieke succes- en faalfactoren voor succesvol gebruik van agile op organisatieniveau waarbij onderscheid gemaakt wordt naar cultuur, mensen en communicatie.

Zelf zou ik bij de toets of je organisatie agileready is i.p.v. de driedeling cultuur mensen en communicatie, een vierde aspect middelen toevoegen. Ik zie deze middelen als rand voorwaardelijk om een hogere graad van wendbaarheid te krijgen.

Middelen:

• Het testen is geautomatiseerd;
• Het in productie nemen (deployment) is geautomatiseerd;
• Infrastructuurcomponenten zijn commodities geworden en kunnen eenvoudig aan en afgeschakeld worden.

Het volgende hoofdstuk stelt de vraag “is mijn project agileready?” centraal. Hier krijgt men inzicht in verschillende Project Management Life Cycles (PMLC) en verschillen tussen de traditionele en de agile aanpak. Daarnaast laten de schrijvers zien dat niet ieder project zich leent voor een agile aanpak en onder welke omstandigheden agile wel of niet toepasbaar is. Ook worden er verschillende modellen gepresenteerd om vast te stellen wanneer welke aanpak het meest geschikt is.

Hoofdstuk 5 gaat over de vraag “ben ik agileready?”. Uitgaande van de rol die je vervult in een agile omgeving krijg je inzicht in de bijbehorende competenties.

Hoofdstuk 6 “Sturen op projectsucces” bouwt voort op de door KWD Resultaatmanagement al eerder ontwikkelde Project Balanced Scorecard. In de hier voorgestelde Agile Balanced Scorecard zien we de vier perspectieven (Businesswaarde, Product/Kwaliteit, Beheersing en Leren) uit de project Balanced Scorecard terug en is daar een vijfde Samenwerking aan toegevoegd. Per perspectief zijn een aantal agile specifieke Key Perfomance Indicators beschreven.

Het laatste hoofdstuk gaat in op een aantal best practices waarbij onderscheid wordt gemaakt tussen best practices voor het overgaan (transformeren naar) een agile omgeving en daarnaast best practices voor het gebruik van agile. Je krijgt zeven gouden regels voor de overstap naar agile en een op Kotter gebaseerd acht stappenplan. Bij het gebruik van agile wordt onderscheid gemaakt in de volgende categorieën: de mens, het project, de organisatie, de agile aanpak, het resultaat en de externe component. Bij de laatste component gaan de schrijvers in op verschillende dilemma’s die zich bij uitbesteden kunnen voordoen, en constateren de schrijvers een duidelijke afname van het gebruik van agile bij uitbestedingen. In de afgelopen vijf jaar is het gebruik van agile bij outsourcing ongeveer gehalveerd.

Conclusie

De schrijvers zijn er wat mij betreft prima in geslaagd om de problematiek wel/niet agile over de bühne te brengen. De gegeven drie vragen – is mijn organisatie, mijn project en ben ikzelf agileready – zijn een mooi uitgangspunt en vergelijkbaar met de door PRINCE2 Agile methode gehanteerde Agilometer.  De modellen om vast te stellen wanneer welke aanpak de meest geschikte is, was ik nog niet eerder tegengekomen en zie ik als heel bruikbaar. Voeg daar de verschillende via de app beschikbare testen aan toe en je gereedschapskist is weer aangevuld met een prima agile toetsinstrument. Het boekje is voor professionals gratis verkrijgbaar op de site van KWD Resultaatmanagement: www.kwdrm.com

 

 

App review: PRINCE2 terms by PROJstudy or PRINCE2 Datrix Terms

In previous blog posts I already reviewed several PRINCE2 apps. I just came across two new PRINCE2 apps, but they are the same so one review is enough.

• ProjStudy from projstudy.org
• PRINCE2 Datrix from datrixtraining.com

These apps are for free and have the following four functions:

• search for a PRINCE2 term
• view all PRINCE2 terms
• Random challenge
• must know PRINCE2 terms

Both apps give you 124 PRINCE2 terms and their definitions (+ reference to the related chapter in the PRINCE2 manual). You could search or use the random challenge to test your own knowledge. Based on a definition you have to choose the right term, or the other way around, based on a term you must select the right definition. For foundation candidates a quick test to see if you understand all terms. The must know terms are a subset from all terms (90 in total).

See my other posts for the other PRINCE2 apps or select the app tag on my blog or look at the attached PRINCE2 app overview.  PRINCE2 (App overview, 131222) v1.0

App review: PRINCE2 e-trainer by NIMO / Learning Ideas

In previous blog posts I already reviewed several PRINCE2 apps. I just came across a new PRINCE2 app.

This PRINCE2 e-Trainer app contains more than 450 questions. The first 38 questions are related to the PRINCE2 Overview and Principles, and are for free. To get the other questions related to all themes and process groups (in line with the exam) will cost you 7,99 Euro.The app gives you the opportunity to practice questions or to perform a mock up exam. If you chose for the practice mode you can select at question level to check immediately or check later. Immediate check will give you a brief feedback if your answer is correct or wrong. You could also check afterwards. At that moment you will get a complete rationale why an answer is correct or wrong including a reference to the official PRINCE2 manual.

Looking at the other PRINCE2 apps, this App will not bring new functionality. You get 450 questions and the rationale behind all answers.

See my other posts for the other PRINCE2 apps or select the app tag on my blog or look at the attached PRINCE2 app overview. PRINCE2 (App overview, 130416) v1

App review: PRINCE2 Foundation Exam prep by Zihi Jia

New PRINCE2 apps are still being developed and added to the app store.

See my other posts for the other PRINCE2 apps or select the app tag on my blog. This PRINCE2 Exam app contains a set of 100 questions, and costs 2,69 Euro.

You can start a test or use the study mode. In the study mode you get, after answering the question, tips explaining which question is the correct answer or you directly ask for the answer. You can navigate back and fort hand stop whenever you like. If you stop you get an overview with total number of answered questions, and total number of questions answered correctly. If you want you get review the incorrect questions. If you take the test you can set question and time restraints and you can bookmark specific questions for later review.

Looking at the other PRINCE2 apps, I doubt if this app will bring something new. It’s just a small database with 100 questions.

App review: Prince2Video from Rajiv Khanna

I just came across Prince2Video, a new PRINCE2 related app available in the App Store from Rajiv Khanna. See also www.rkassociatesltd.co.uk

See my other posts for the other PRINCE2 apps or select the app tag on my blog. The costs for this app are 8,99 Euro.

The app gives you seven videos, explaining:

• PRINCE2 overview 1 (definitions and principles)
• PRINCE2 overview 2 (processes)
• The management products addressed in Starting up a Project
• The management products addressed in Initiating a Project
• The management products addressed in Controlling a Stage and Managing product delivery
• The management products addressed in Managing a Stage Boundary
• The management products addressed in Closing a Project

In total around 1,5 hour presentation. The first video is a welcome presentation from Rajiv Khanna, the others gives you a set of slides and the verbal explanation and comments by Rajiv. Every video ends with a written summary. In the videos Rajiv makes use of a reference card. He shows which and when management products are created, reviewed or updated in the specific process. Also the link between the management product and theme is highlighted. This simple QRC can be downloaded separately and gives you an overview of Principles, themes, processes and management products. See my other post about QRC’s.

I found the quality of the showed slides rather low and sometimes difficult to read. I also had problems with some videos. I managed to see the intro once and I couldn’t manage to see the processes video at all (‘Server is not responding now, please try later). No clue why you need the server?

Conclusion. If you just followed a PRINCE2 training class and if you want to get a complete overview you can use these 7 videos. If you are looking for a PRINCE2 reference app or mockup exam questions you have to look for another app, this app only gives you the videos.

App review: PRINCE2 Exam from Hin Wang Shiu

This app is, at this moment, the last PRINCE2 related app available in the App Store. See my other posts for the other PRINCE2 apps or select the app tag on my blog. This PRINCE2 Exam app contains 4 simulated tests, and costs 2,39 Euro.

The questions in the four mock examinations come with the answers. The questions format and testing trends are from the real exam. In total you will get 75 questions. The app is not much more than a text document you can scroll. The answer is directly given below the question, and it’s almost impossible to read the question and the four possible answers without looking at the answer itself. The front page of the app shows PRICE2! Explanations are missing too.

I don’t think this app gives you value for money. There are several app’s for free, offering the same information but in a much more user friendly way.

App review: ILX PRINCE2® Snakes & Ladders Exam Prep Game

The ILX PRINCE2® Snakes & Ladders App was launched in March 2010 with the primary aim to help reinforce core elements of PRINCE2® Foundation and prepare candidates ahead of exams. The game, which can be played individually or connected via Bluetooth with up to four people, aims to reinforce key elements of the PRINCE2® Foundation course by testing the users with prompted questions within a familiar gaming environment. This app costs 0,79 Euro.

Snakes and Ladders (or Chutes and Ladders) is an ancient Indian board game regarded today as a worldwide classic. It is played between two or more players on a gameboard having numbered, gridded squares. A number of “ladders” and “snakes” (or “chutes”) are pictured on the board, each connecting two specific board squares. The object of the game is to navigate one’s game piece from the start (bottom square) to the finish (top square), helped or hindered by ladders and snakes, respectively. Every time when you throw a dice, you first have to correctly answer a PRINCE2 foundation question, before your game piece can be moved (by the number of squares indicated by the dice roll). The app contains 75 questions and can be upgraded with an additional 75 questions.

This game is a highly engaging mobile learning product and provides learners with the opportunity to test their PRINCE2 level knowledge in a fun and entertaining environment. To make it even more beneficial to the learner I would suggest adding an explanation to each question that can be reviewed after answering the question.

App review: iStudy P2 and Pass PRINCE2 from Panacea Solutions Limited

These apps will help you to determine your readiness for the PRINCE2 foundation exam. iStudy gives you 220 questions and costs 15,99 Euro and Pass PRINCE2 contains 70 questions and is for free.

 

Both apps have the same structure. You can select the following modes:

• Study: randomized questions with no time limit
• Exam: simulates the actual exam
• Stress Test: create your own exam. Set the number of questions and the amount of time allowed for each question
• Knowledge Area: test yourself on specific categories with no time limit
• Results: results for taken exams

Both apps offer you the possibility to buy additional questions (3,99 Euro for a set of 50 questions). At this moment 200 additional questions can be bought (350 for the Pass PRINCE2 app).

So the key question will be: what are the extras you will get for the 15,99 Euro? Three sets of additional questions (worth 12 Euro) and for each question thorough explanations and a page reference to the official textbook for further reading. Also commercial ads are not shown.

App review: PRINCE2 from etpsolutions ltd

This app provides you a simplified view of PRINCE2. It will cost you 0,79 euro. It starts with a sort of self-developed process flow showing hyperlinks towards the 7 processes and a hyperlink to the themes. The process picture is a little bit confusing. Controlling project stages and Product delivery are presented as a wheel (representing iterations) which is fine but the Managing a Stage Boundary process is positioned between Controlling project stages and Product delivery and that’s confusing. See the picture on the left side.

For every process you will get one or two pages of text explaining the main tasks, skills required and outputs (template outlines). Tailoring is explained too.

In the app store it’s explained that the focus of the application is to help Project Managers to manage their project and not to prepare them for the PRINCE2 exams. I fully agree. Some PRINCE2 language has been changed and that will be confusing for examination candidates. I also miss the explanation of the seven principles.

Conclusion: if you need a PRINCE2 quick reference card this is not the right app, if you are familiar with PRINCE2 and need an overview of template outlines and when to use them this app can be helpful.