'A' for Analysis A cursory glance at PMBOK will quickly reveal
two things: One, the most common answer to certification
questions is “communication”; and two, a project manager will be
doing a lot of analysis throughout the management of projects.
The table of contents lists the same words over and over--
estimate, develop, plan, analysis, verify, define, etc. All of
these activities require the skill of analysis. Although there
are a myriad of skills that a project manager must possess (or
at the very least, hire for the team), analysis could possibly
be the most important skill of all (aside from communication, of
course). Put simply, analysis is the process of taking raw data
--or sometimes chaotic data--and turning it into something
useful. Many people might assume that analysis involves only
data and spreadsheets, but in fact analysis is the key that lets
us understand the data or any information in an uncollected
form. In the project management world, this could apply to
anything from risk management to s