Tag Archives: Techniques

Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Metrics and KPIs indicate how an operation or system is performing relative to trend or a defined goal. They may take the form of point values (ninety-five percent uptime for a manufacturing process), ranges (plus or minus one percent of … Continue reading

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Prioritization and Backlog Management

Prioritization and backlog management are two sides of the same coin. As described in the BABOK, an important difference is that backlog management is a more specific case within the broader topic of prioritization. The BABOK discusses prioritization in terms … Continue reading

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Interviews

An interview is a process of conducting a conversation with someone to determine what they do, what they need, or how they are reacting to something you’ve given them. The general term elicitation is often used in this context, although … Continue reading

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Decision Modeling

Many business processes require decisions to be made. Decision modeling is about the making and automating of repeatable decisions. Some decisions require unique human judgment. They may arise from unusual or entrepreneurial situations and involve factors, needs, and emotions that … Continue reading

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Decision Analysis

Some decisions are fairly straightforward to make. This is true when the number of factors is limited and when their contributions are well defined. Other decisions, by contrast, involve more factors which contributions are less clear. It is also possible … Continue reading

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Estimation

Estimation is used to try to predict future outcomes related the the iron triangle elements of time, money, and, to a lesser degree quality (or features or performance). The BABOK essentially only discusses the first two. Estimates can be made … Continue reading

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Item Tracking

Item tracking is how participants in an effort monitor what concerns, issues, and tasks are valid and need to be addressed, and who has responsibility. Items can arise in any phase of an engagement and be tracked through any other … Continue reading

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Benchmarking and Market Analysis

Benchmarking involves learning about activities and characteristics across industries, organizations, products, methodologies, and technologies to identify best practices, product options, and competitive requirements. Benchmarking may be performed by comparing the presence or absence of features (which video editing programs can … Continue reading

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Data Mining

Data mining is the processing of large quantities of data to glean useful insights and support decision-making. Descriptive techniques like generating graphical depictions or applying other methods allow users to identify patterns, trends, or clusters. Diagnostic techniques like decision trees … Continue reading

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State Modeling

What do we mean by state? We commonly think of the states of matter as solid, liquid, and gaseous, and we know that these are dependent on temperature. For water at — atmospheric pressure — we refer to these states … Continue reading

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