0 MGT 598 – Summer 2014

Project management – Knowing when to dig in and when to step back

Posted on by michael598sum14

I just began my first ever project manager position a couple of weeks ago. So how is it going? Well, I really like it. It is somewhat what I thought it would be. It is either a great deal busier than what I initially thought, or I have to just learn a few things first in this new role in order to get better at time management.

Prioritization

In my last position I was not pushed to meet hard deadlines. Honestly, I just didn’t have them.  Awesome, right? Well this new job of mine is nothing like the old job. It is go, go, go; and I love it! However, I am learning to prioritize on the fly – almost every day since I have been given 2 projects to start off with. One is big and is very important to the whole organization, and the other is important but a lot smaller in comparison. I also have other ad-hoc tasks that I complete that take time from my projects. My problem with all of this so far is that I have been a very involved worker throughout my whole career. I want to know everything about everything. I also want to do everything since then I will know that I got it done and there is no risk with someone else doing it. Well that’s a problem when you are a project manager and you a ton of stuff to do all the time and you stay in the “dig in” mentality. Well this type of problem then led me to look around online and I found a great blog with some ideas:

Everything is not important important!

  • Sit down with the boss to have them set you straight or be prioritized directly from them
  • Listen to all stakeholders, including your family to find out what items you are responsible for are holding them up
  • Document all arrangements of work to be completed for people and from people. (CYA)
  • Look backwards from the process diagram to find out your backward times which will give you deadlines you have to meet.

Become Organized (If you are not already)

  • Don’t waste time trying to figure out what you should be doing, let a system deal with that while you actually do something.

Cost, Scope, Time

  • Work backwards from when your deadlines are and how long your tasks will take. Creating a list for this will automatically give you priorities on what should be done.
  • Spend money when necessary to help get you back up above water again in your project’s progress.
  • Communicate with your stakeholders if things just aren’t going to plan and be honest so that they will see that you are working with them to get them everything they need

Delegate as much as possible

  • There may be people who can help you finish a task

Do any of you struggle with some of these problems in your PM roles? Or do you know people who do?

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5877111/how-to-prioritize-when-everything-is-important

Does everything taste better with Agile?

Posted on by nikita598sum14

I was trying to understand what Agile is.  A friend of mine suggested a youtube video that helped me grasp the basic idea.  It is a legend of pig and chicken.  For those who are not familiar with the story, chicken came up with the solution to feed the hungry with bacon and eggs.  The pig did not feel that this solution was reasonable because in order for this to work chicken had to make a small contribution but for a pig this was a total commitment.  Same thing with Agile, in order for this approach to work the team must totally commit to the project and be responsible for the outcomes on daily basis.  One of the reasons Agile works is because it is flexible and all commitments are current and relevant.  If someone has not dedicated him/herself to the project it shows up right away and the whole project could suffer.  However, these problems can be seen immediately and mitigated in a timely fashion.

Will Agile work for everyone?  This methodology could be difficult to implement in a matrix organization.  The resources (people) are shared between departments, projects, and managers.  People are committed only as much as their other projects will allow them.  And if they had to run Agile on all of the projects they would spend all day in the scrum meetings.  This could also be a challenge for larger companies that utilize any other project management processes.  To convert everyone at the same time is impossible, and slow conversion might create tensions that could affect current project work.

Once I understood the idea of Agile, I started to wonder if I can implement that at my workplace.   Our projects for the most part have to be delivered in a very short period of time.  Majority of them are prototypes and sometimes we have to make changes on the fly.  We usually meet daily internally about every project to make sure no projects are stuck.  We communicate with customer on the progress of their orders.  Once the project is kicked off we are committed 100% and must deliver…  Wait a minute!  It seems we already doing Agile and don’t even know it! It means that with a little bit of tweaking we can get even better at this.  The question now what else are we doing that we don’t know we are doing?

Does your organization use Agile? And if it is how did you get there? Was it an easy change?

 

Here is the link to the video if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoBA18Q_3g

 

Risk… so what?

Posted on by milena598sum14

A central responsibility of any project manager is monitoring and controlling (to the extent possible) the outcomes of uncertainties and potential problems that will cross paths with your project.

Spotting a risk is not difficult for most people – especially if you’re a realist or pessimist. The challenge comes in getting the right stakeholders to take action to address the risk. To achieve this, we need to communicate with key stakeholders to first explain the risk, and second, to convince them that it is real enough to act on right now.

But, how do you effectively communicate risk in a way that is convincing? Isn’t it enough just to share all the information we, as a project manager, have and let our listeners gage all the potential issues that can derail the project? No, it’s not enough, and effective risk communication is difficult to master but essential if you ever want to get the necessary leadership support on your project.

A recent PM Network article (attached), discusses a few specific pointers in getting your risk message out effectively and in a way that leads to results.

  • Understand your stakeholders and their preferences – do they prefer written or verbal communication?
  • Censor yourself – be picky about the risks you choose to communicate vs. not (for example, choose risks that are clear, immediate, and can be acted on now)
  • Build credibility – utilize experts in the room to help validate the facts you are sharing
  • Be clear – in your communication, crisply communicate only the information that is critical for making a judgment call
  • Make risks relevant – use anecdotes and stories to explain why the risk is real and relevant to the stakeholder
  • Meet early – be proactive and communicate with stakeholders early and often; do not wait until it’s nearly too late to act

What are some effective actions you have you taken at your company to get leaders to listen and taken action when sharing a risk?

When is the last time you identified and communicated a risk, and what was the outcome of this? Was the risk addressed effectively, and if not, why not?

Risk Article – PM Network Magazine

Starting at Red

Posted on by michele598sum14

In class we talked about how project managers often use the red/amber/green method to signify if a project is running on track.  My company uses the thius same approach to track project work as well as many of our monthly KPI’s.

Most if not all projects typically start with a green indicator and will remain that way as long as the project completes on-time.  I read in interesting article called “Starting at Red” that suggests all projects should start with the color red.  The reasons cited in the article are as follows:

  1. When a project begins, the team is as far from delivering anything as it will ever be. Sounds pretty much like a “Red” scenario to me. What if the project remained at “Red” until the PM could justify downgrading it to “Amber” – based on progress achieved, and then eventually (hopefully) “Green”?
  2. Green at the beginning doesn’t work because we have no idea if we’re going to achieve our goals so saying the project is “Green” really means “we haven’t yet found a reason why we won’t deliver”.
  3. If a project starts at “Green” and remains “Green” all the way through, at what point does it go from being “we haven’t yet found a reason why we won’t deliver” to “we will definitely deliver”? At some point it will have changed, but this is not recorded by a change of project status.  Seems like an important distinction to make.
  4. “Green” is a problem because reality doesn’t work like a textbook. It is usually very hard for the PM to change the project’s status.
  5. Starting at “Red”, there is no need to worry because a “Red” status is the norm. This clarifies that “Green” only means “we will deliver”, and no project can go to “Green” until it is clear that the progress made justifies the change of status.
  6. The PM will naturally be keen to find reasons to change the status to “Amber” and then “Green”, but this will require delivering good news, and justify the change – which is much easier than delivering the bad news required to go from “Green” to “Amber” to “Red”.

The article summarizes by saying that starting at “Red” makes it easier to focus the team on the critical activities required to go to “Green”. Everything else is secondary. This is the kind of project environment that is usually only created when there is a serious problem. Why wait until then? Start with the attitude that the project is going to fail unless you take immediate action – because it is!

The challenge posed at the end of the article is for all PM’s to try this on their next project as see how it works.  Would you be willing to give it a try?

http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/starting-at-red.html

The Wisdom of Project Management Maxims and the Importance of Balance

Posted on by robert598sum14

In reading the project management maxims from Chapter 10, I was reminded of the importance of finding balance when serving as a project manager.

Maxim One: You can’t do it all and get it all done – projects usually involve a vast web of relationships.

When managing a project, equally important as the question of what has to get done is the question of who is going to do it. Project managers who focus on the list of tasks at the expense of the resources needed to complete those tasks often find themselves behind schedule and over budget. Without the cooperation of all stakeholders, projects are likely to fail. Even if a resource is assigned to a project, you will not likely get their best effort unless relationships are established centered on common goals. I have seen project managers attempt to use position power rather than influence to disastrous effect.  Recognizing you cannot do it alone will help you focus on balancing the “what” along with the “who” of a project, leading to better project results.  Establishing clear expectations of how a project will be managed will help maintain balance. In the article “10 Best Practices for Successful Project Management”, Tom Mochal notes the importance of ensuring “the project team and all stakeholders have a common understanding of how the project will be managed”.

Maxim Two: Hands-on work is not the same as leading – more pressure and involvement can reduce your effectiveness as a leader.

This too is a matter of finding balance. Project managers who simply direct from on high are less effective than those who know enough about the project and the work being done to speak from a position of credibility. Making requests without understanding the impact of the request on those expected to do the work leads to resistance amongst the project team.   On the other hand, if project managers become daily contributors, they lose the vantage point necessary to enable them to effectively manage the project. Project managers who are willing to contribute at critical moments in a project earn the respect of the team and help ensure the success of a project. Going beyond that makes a project manager one of the team and not a leader, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the position.

What’s important to you likely isn’t as important to someone else – different groups have different stakes (responsibilities, agendas, and priorities) in the outcome of a project.

You have to balance the needs of all stakeholders; those you report to regarding the project, those who will benefit from the project, and those you need to get the work done.  I have seen project managers focus the majority of their attention on their project sponsor while ignoring the other stakeholders.  In the short run, their close relationship with the sponsor is viewed as positive. However, as other stakeholders became disconnected and the quality of effort and work product suffers, the attention paid to the project sponsor did not outweigh the lack of project results.  Communicating with all stakeholders at each stage of the project helps ensure all stakeholders’ needs are recognized and leads to engagement in project outcomes.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-best-practices-for-successful-project-management/

Organizational silo’s effect on projects

Posted on by maks598sum14

Recently, I just started my position as a Strategic Analyst with a focus on process improvement at a major pharmaceutical company.  Prior to the new role, I had worked as a Consultant for various clients across all industries.   Project acceptance is much more difficult in the consulting world since the client is unfamiliar with your experiences and expertise.  Once accepted, I believe the consulting project is much easier to manage since you have a key client sponsor at the executive level that aligns all the parties.  Working in industry now, I have noticed that it is much more difficult to align key decision makers at my current company.  A multitude of projects is conceived throughout the group and cutting through the political tape to get individuals to participate can be difficult.  Currently, I am working on a project that will create more accurate and reliable inventory reporting across all 200+ affiliates and plants.  My current project team is composed of IT, supply chain individuals, plant and affiliate personnel, and myself.  It is over 20+ people that are involved in the project.  One of the major roadblocks right now is the functional silos that have been created throughout the organization.  For example, each plant does not want to share too much information because they feel it will put them at risk with another plant and/or questions will surface.   They do not think in terms of “one company for all”.  Each has their own respective KPI’s that must be met in order to drive business performance.  This makes them very protective of their domain and reluctant to new process developments.  My first encounter with this silo mentality was when I had visited a plant and was immediately asked the purpose of my visit.  It became very apparent to me that affecting their silo mentality would be the biggest obstacle to my project success.   Immediately, I brought the concerns to my manager to get more senior level support in driving this project forward.  As a consultant, I only faced some resistance to change from client staff but we always had the right client sponsor support to break down some organizational barriers.  Within a week I had the necessary director level sponsorship that allowed me access to more information from the plants.  However, I did not want to be known as the “corporate guy” to these plants and affiliates so I took the initiative to build relations with them by providing them with information on project intentions and new developments to put them at ease.  By letting them know that I was trying to improve processes to drive the business forward in the right direction I was able to gain some allegiance.  Working closely with them and having the necessary sponsorship has sped up the progress of my project.  Project improvements involve organizational change and the proper steps must be taken to complete deliverables on time especially when silos exist.

Organizational silo’s effect on projects

Posted on by maks598sum14

Recently, I just started my position as a Strategic Analyst with a focus on process improvement at a major pharmaceutical company.  Prior to the new role, I had worked as a Consultant for various clients across all industries.   Project acceptance is much more difficult in the consulting world since the client is unfamiliar with your experiences and expertise.  Once accepted, I believe the consulting project is much easier to manage since you have a key client sponsor at the executive level that aligns all the parties.  Working in industry now, I have noticed that it is much more difficult to align key decision makers at my current company.  A multitude of projects is conceived throughout the group and cutting through the political tape to get individuals to participate can be difficult.  Currently, I am working on a project that will create more accurate and reliable inventory reporting across all 200+ affiliates and plants.  My current project team is composed of IT, supply chain individuals, plant and affiliate personnel, and myself.  It is over 20+ people that are involved in the project.  One of the major roadblocks right now is the functional silos that have been created throughout the organization.  For example, each plant does not want to share too much information because they feel it will put them at risk with another plant and/or questions will surface.   They do not think in terms of “one company for all”.  Each has their own respective KPI’s that must be met in order to drive business performance.  This makes them very protective of their domain and reluctant to new process developments.  My first encounter with this silo mentality was when I had visited a plant and was immediately asked the purpose of my visit.  It became very apparent to me that affecting their silo mentality would be the biggest obstacle to my project success.   Immediately, I brought the concerns to my manager to get more senior level support in driving this project forward.  As a consultant, I only faced some resistance to change from client staff but we always had the right client sponsor support to break down some organizational barriers.  Within a week I had the necessary director level sponsorship that allowed me access to more information from the plants.  However, I did not want to be known as the “corporate guy” to these plants and affiliates so I took the initiative to build relations with them by providing them with information on project intentions and new developments to put them at ease.  By letting them know that I was trying to improve processes to drive the business forward in the right direction I was able to gain some allegiance.  Working closely with them and having the necessary sponsorship has sped up the progress of my project.  Project improvements involve organizational change and the proper steps must be taken to complete deliverables on time especially when silos exist.

Getting Caught in Project Management Quicksand

Posted on by ryan598sum14

I typically manage field projects which consist of having personnel working outside in the elements, along pipelines across the country.  When you introduce outdoor elements to a project, things become a little more dicey than managing employees within an office space.  Very recently, I was managing a lengthy field project where nothing seemed to go right.  It didn’t matter how hard I fought or what decision I made, the hits just kept on coming.  The battles consisted of bad weather, flooding, equipment failures, experienced personnel leaving the company, data errors, vehicle accidents, personnel errors, etc.  It felt like I was stuck in quicksand, I just kept on fighting and fighting, but was seeing no positive gains or progress.  Motivation deteriorated, schedules were reduced to garbage, the client started questioning our work, and so forth.  As the project has ended, I am looking back to see if I could figure out how I could have been more successful in what seemed like a doomed project.

I decided that project planning, proper project kick-off/training, and improving our risk management plan would have undoubtedly helped.  I feel like project planning can always be improved, especially when you find the project not going so well.  With a rushed project, I should have took more time to set out a more detailed project plan and properly communicated this project plan to the field crew.  Before the project started, I should have conducted a longer and more detailed project kick-off meeting with my team to help prepare them more for what was to come.  The risk management plan should have been expanded to include more.  Also, a constant communication stream should have occurred with the field crew, reassuring and providing motivation to keep them focused on a goal that may seem impossible to them.

But sometimes, no matter how hard you plan or mitigate risk, things go wrong.  Its how you deal with it, communicate with your employees during it, learn from it, and strive to improve the next time.  You always have to stay positive with yourself and your employees.  That is what will make you a better manager.  Having endured such an experience and learning from it, makes me feel like an improved and better manager.

Who here has experienced “quicksand” in project management?  What did you learn from your experience and what would you do differently?

Can project management software save your company money?

Posted on by eugene598sum14

In the last post I talked about trends in project management and mentioned the most up and coming trend being project management software. I wanted to expand on this topic and show how project management software is not only a trend in project management, but also an important tool in saving money within the project itself as well as a way to save your company money. In a sense, project management software puts business owners in the driver’s seat of the company’s profitability. It also helps businesses organize, promotes collaboration and provide the business with the ability to track and plan everything related to any project they may have actively running. Project management software allows the company to track the success of multiple projects occurring simultaneously, individually and collectively. For these many reasons and more project management software can be a great and successful tool in saving a company money.

In the business world time is money and getting employees up to speed on projects ultimately can cost a company a lot of money. If a new employee takes over an existing project or joins a project team, the time it takes to train him is money spent that can otherwise be avoided with project management software. PM software can save a company money by providing a quick and simple way for employee to gather the information they need on a project and have a time-line provided for them of what has already occurred with the project and what still needs to be done.

PM software  also saves companies money by creating an Icloud based filing system. Rather than a company wasting time and money searching for notes, files and documentation, everything exists within Icloud storage system for the PM software making it easily accessible for all that may want to look anything up at any time. This type of filling system makes it much more more comprehensive than a standard filling system and allows for less error and more money savings in the physical filling.

PM software can also serve as a training tool for the business as it is self-contained. This process can save a company a lot of money as well that would otherwise be spent on trainers or on salaries of existing employees to train new employees or staff. The software has the ability to teach employees on how the company manages projects and the tasks that go into completing each and every project.

The final value savings can be found in correcting PM mistakes and making sure they are not costly ones. Mistakes can cause a company to not only loose profits but also customers which in turn causes a future loss of income to the business. Mistakes also require a company  to spend time correcting the mistake that could have been spent working on new tasks or finalizing the project. PM software can help prevent all of these issues and ultimately saving the company money.

As pointed out in these many cases, project management software is not only crucial in managing a project easier and with less confusion, but it is also a key component in cost savings which is on every companies agenda now a days.

http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2012/12/26/three-ways-online-project-management-can-save-time/

http://www.jobnimbus.com/blog/2012/09/21/leveraging-project-management-software-to-earn-more/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/can-project-management-software-save-business-money-1074.html

http://www.tasktrakz.com/blog/whentimetouseprojectmanagementsoftware

 

Sticky Notes – so much more helpful than I thought!

Posted on by alisha598sum14

As I mentioned in my last post, we have a difficult time finding software that works well for our jobs – and is within our budget.  Event Management isn’t always viewed as Project Management and this affects the tools we have at our disposal.  This class has gotten me thinking about a few different, and low cost, ways to organize our work.

I am not a sticky notes person.  I am a clean desk, organized folders, constantly creating and editing my To Do list person.  Sticky notes are cluttered and unorganized.  However, as we talked about using sticky notes for managing work flow, I saw how many ways it could be helpful.  Right now, we are planning the closing event for our successful $300 Million campaign, Many Dreams, One Mission, The Campaign for DePaul University.  It is hard to keep all of the pieces top of mind, and remember who is responsible for what.  Sticky notes help so much with this.  We can move tasks around as one person gets too busy, or we find a better way to do something.  It allows us to see patterns and to fit together work pieces that otherwise do not seem correlated.

We can also use Sticky Notes to place items in the program.  We are frequently talking over who is speaking when, for how long, and in between what other elements in the event.  Being able to put times on the notes, move them around, and adjust other elements really helps us be able to see how our decisions affect timing and over-all event flow.  Also, it does not require us to create 15 versions of the event plan for everyone to look at and compare.  This saves a lot of time on our end.

I was really surprised to find something like Sticky Notes, which I really don’t like in my normal activities, to be such a help to us.

In trying to find other options such as this – low cost but helpful, I did a little research.  I found Scrumy!  http://scrumy.com/  It is an online version of Sticky Notes!  Yay.  Now, I don’t have to have a cluttered up wall, but I can arrange and change my order of things just as easily.  It is a cleaned up version for people like me!

I also found a ton of other uses for post it notes: http://www.projecttimes.com/kiron-bondale/post-it-notes-just-might-be-a-project-managers-best-tool.html  and post it notes with a fancy name: http://leankit.com/kanban/why-use-kanban-boards/

I have to say, I really didn’t see myself find a use for post it notes, beyond the occasional one stuck to my phone with a number I can’t forget, or a message I attach to my computer as I am running out the door.  I might have to put this on my next Staples order though.  Post It Notes – you are going to revolutionize my life.  Thank you 3M.