Delegation, is it an Art or a Science?

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by w13walney

More than often project managers are swamped with too much work and still refuse or procrastinate in delegating some of the work to one or more of the team members in the project team. This is not specific to project management and fear of delegation is known to be present in all sectors, professions and all positions within corporations and firms. Here below it is listed the most common reasons why project managers do not delegate, properly, timely or not at all and when they do, how should they go about it:

Barriers from the project manager

– Not enough time to properly explain the work to be performed and how

– Fear of losing control of the task delegated and that the result will be disastrous

– Fear of not getting credit for the quality and success of the delegated task

– Fear of losing tasks that are enjoyed and getting stuck with the unwanted tasks

– Fell that he/she can do it better and that the result will not be as perfect as it could

– Fear of delegating-self out of a job as the senior management sees others with competence

– Lack of confidence in team members with the fear that they will completely fail

Barriers from the team members

– Not enough time to understand and assimilate the task to be performed

– Not enough experience to execute such a task without asking too much and looking incompetent

– Fear of failure and that such a failure can have serious consequences

– Not their responsibility since tasks were not theirs in the first place

– Fear of being a scapegoat and that the PM is just setting one up for failure

– Reactions from other team members who may think you have some type of preference from the PM

Barriers from the situation

– Constrained resources, when money is the biggest concern in the organization and failure is not an option whatsoever

– Unclear hierarchy, when it is difficult to understand the lines of authority in the firm or corporation

Reasons not to delegate

– When there’s lack of clarity, if you cannot understand it yourself do not expect others to understand it either

– When you need the learning, so the delegation will prevent you from learning some core competence intrinsic to the task to be done

– When the project is too high stakes and it is best that you get it done yourself and are in control all the time

To whom should the PM delegate

– The experience, knowledge and skills of the individual

– The individual’s preferred work style

– The current workload of this person

How should the PM delegate

– Clearly articulate the desired outcome

– Clearly identify constraints and boundaries

– Where possible, include people in the delegation process

– Match the amount of responsibility with the amount of authority

– Delegate to the lowest possible organizational level

– Provide adequate support, and be available to answer questions

– Focus on results

– Avoid upward delegation

– Build motivation and commitment

– Establish and maintain control

Reference and sources:

http://spverma.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/why-you-should-delegate-more/

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_98.htm

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/parkprgrd/PSTrainingModules/delegating/del12frame.htm

http://hbr.org/tip/2011/01/12/three-reasons-not-to-delegate

Is Microsoft going the way of the Apple?

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by w13viv

Last Thursday, Microsoft announced that they would be dissolving their current structure and reorganizing. They currently have eight different product divisions, and plan to restructure with four new ones that will be organized around broader functional themes. The main reason for this is to allow for eliminating redundancy and waste, as well as to encourage their nearly 100,000 employees to work more closely with collaborative efforts to build future products. This will make Microsoft look more like its rivals (such as Apple and Google) as an organization – though on a much larger scale – and help it become more competitive in the product areas where it has been losing ground in recent years.

The organizational model used by Microsoft is one that was popularized by Apple (of course), and it focuses on software, hardware, and services rather than individual products or product groups as they had in the past. For example, one executive will be in charge of operating systems now, rather than separate teams developing products like Windows, phones, tablets, and Xbox. In the past, this sparked many rivalries between divisions, and project managers even went to great lengths to avoid dependency on other groups for software, so as to not be “at the mercy of someone else’s development schedule.” This resulted in things like software being developed for one product that had similar functions and features as another existing product. While this should lead to greater efficiencies in product development and can allow better integration among products, it does not address some of the more pressing challenges affecting Microsoft’s current and future revenue stream; for example, as personal computer sales continue to decrease, how does Microsoft plan to adapt its product line?

In my company, we have also begun to realign our departments and personnel around functional groups and are moving away from compartmentalizing each product group within its own line. Is it just coincidence that Microsoft has started doing the same? It certainly is, as Microsoft is the juggernaut of the tech industry and Invivo is a very small subsidiary of a sub-business unit of a division of Philips. In any case, one of the biggest moves came at the end of last week, when it was announced that our already small marketing department would be losing a few members, and everyone else was reorganizing into functional groups where everyone would cover the full product line as it fell under their area of responsibility. As some of our other departments and developers have also realigned similarly, I hope that it will do for us what Microsoft hopes it does for them – increase efficiency and effectiveness.

In light of the above, is your company more like old Microsoft or new Microsoft? If like “old”, do you find that project managers often butt heads with other departments on which they have dependence for aspects of their products or projects? If like “new” do you find that aligning by function rather than products yields better results?

Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/technology/microsoft-revamps-structure-and-management.html?src=mv&_r=0

Trimming the waste out of Project Management

Posted on July 14, 2013August 5, 2013 by ranjanis598

Have you experienced waste and inefficiencies when managing or participating on projects? If you have, you may have also wondered how to trim that project waste.

So, what’s the quickest way to shorten project duration, reduce quality defects and boost productivity levels? Go lean, says Lawrence Leach, PMP.

The founder of the Advanced Projects Institute, Boise, Idaho, USA, and the author of Lean Project Management: Eight Principles For Success [Booksurge Publishing, 2006], Mr. Leach has spent more than 30 years streamlining projects for both private and government entities. Taking a page from lean manufacturing – a strategy that eliminates waste and evens out workflow in production chains – lean project management helps projects run smoother by coordinating the human resources involved.

He says that many organizations start projects without considering whether they can actually complete them. With lean management, companies look at how they assign tasks, if they’re being clear about the priority of the tasks, and if they have everything they need to get the project done.

Lean Basics

For project managers looking to take the lean approach, Mr. Leach says the process begins by checking for the basics. Before talking lean at all, companies need to have a work breakdown structure that details each task and who’s doing it.

Teams also need a schedule that identifies all human and physical resources necessary for each task and when handoffs between groups should occur.

Lean project management emphasizes the importance of focusing schedules on hand-offs from one resource to another, rather than on dates for individual tasks. Mr. Leach adds that companies that focus on task dates create because people who finish the task early don’t pass it on.

After there’s a reasonable schedule, you can begin trimming waste, Mr. Leach says. Look at each worker contributing to the project and create a list of prioritized tasks that each person needs to accomplish.

And since many projects involve multiple workers contributing to different parts of the project at different times, Mr. Leach recommends using a computerized system to record the start and completion date of each task and to automatically generate a daily updated list of priorities.

Lean Managers

Once each worker knows what he or she is supposed to be doing, it’s up to management to clear out all other distractions, giving workers the focus they need to get the project completed on time. Convincing management to change their behavior, from multi-tasking on several projects to attacking one project at a time, will make lean project management successful, Mr. Leach notes.

“Sometimes managers argue that if workers have five tasks, they can be more efficient, but that’s a false efficiency,” Mr. Leach says. “Every time people move from one task to another, it causes errors and delays.”

Lean project management can be effective because it helps tighten up on those production delays by focusing workers on how they can most effectively contribute to completing a single project. When implemented correctly, Mr. Leach says that the lean method increases productivity on average 100 percent, reduces project duration an average of 30 percent, and reduces quality defects an average of 50 percent.

Despite the strategy’s dramatic results, Mr. Leach warns lean managers to expect flack from critics both inside and outside the organization who argue that focusing on one project at a time significantly slows the production chain. “About 10 percent to 30 percent of your workforce is only going to go along with it because they have no other choice,” he warns. “Part of being a successful lean manager is knowing how to deal with that.”

To quell the voice of dissent, Mr. Leach advises lean managers to focus on generating and promoting positive short-term results. The crowd will soon follow.

Thankfully, lean managers won’t have to wait long to get impressive results. Mr. Leach says to expect to see progress within a few months, sometimes weeks, of implementation.

I have seen the huge benefits that lean manufacturing brought to the factory floor, at my company. We are in the process of translating the lean management principles into the transactional and office space, including project management. I am excited to apply those principles and generate the benefits.

So, what do you think? Do you see the value in applying lean principles for project management?

How to know you’re doomed! (Not just for the nerds.)

Posted on July 14, 2013 by w13lewis

Computerworld published a list: “11 signs your IT project is doomed”. Linked here. Interestingly, all 11 apply to normal-world projects as well. I may be biased because I have had my fair share of IT projects. My experience has been that most of them fail because of “Red Flag #4: Users have had little/no early involvement”. Around my parts, our IT department tries to solve problems we don’t have with solutions we don’t need. Lately I have spent hours in meetings sorting out the misdirection and miscommunication months after implementation has gone awry! In a parallel world, I have also been in a lot of meetings with Customers and Sales folks sorting out project details. My exact words in many of these meetings, “Guys, we cannot deliver it in the time-frame you are asking. Why did you sell that without asking me first, I need another 2 months before we even started.”

How many of these sound familiar to you Project Managers? Has your project…

Started without Sr. Management approval?
Started without a detailed project plan
Had Project Meetings scheduled without the key players involved (ignoring scheduling conflicts)
Had End Users not involved in project definition
Used minimum specifications as the project requirements
Tested as an afterthought
Never put a recovery (risk) plan is in place
Taken expert input and simplified/tweaked without understanding outcome
Committed to a Go-live/deliverable date that is on is on a holiday / vacation day / unrealistic time-frame

If you can say that one or more of these look familiar, there is a good chance that your project is going to struggle if it hasn’t already. But why?

I really want to answer ‘why’ with a simplified summary… but I don’t think that I can. Project Management has been the most difficult and yet most rewarding task that I have ever faced in my career. There is an incredible amount of complexity involve in any given project, with thousands of unknowns and an infinite number of outcomes. There is not one solution, there is no single answer. Project Management (IT or otherwise) is as complex as it is fluid. As a result there is no simple summary of what to do right.

That said; there are solutions and there are proven ways to work through the complex problems. There are best practices that each of us can apply to our field, there are take-aways and lessons learned. In my world, we have Lean/Six-Sigma. It’s not the end-all-be-all solution, but it could address many of the ‘red flags’ that the Computerworld article lists out. The five steps below are the standard steps which address many of the above issues:

Define
Measure
Analyze
Implement
Control

Following a rigid process blindly is a waste of time, but following a broad and robust process intelligently can save time, money and headache. What do you think of these ‘red-flags’? Do they sound familiar? How have you addressed or avoided them in your experience?

Cheers!

Article Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238943/11_signs_your_IT_project_is_doomed?taxonomyId=73&pageNumber=4

Image Source: http://rindkaro.hubpages.com/hub/funny-videos-of-people-falling

Process Flow and the use of Project Management at AOL Advertising

Posted on July 14, 2013August 5, 2013 by emmyr598

AOL Advertising is a service-based organization offering various types of online advertising campaigns. Advertising campaigns offer clients customized audiences, brands and platforms that help advertisers reach their digital marketing goals. Whether the goal is to maximize brand exposure, increase online ROI or recruit a certain number of online registrations, AOL has a number of tools to help clients reach their online targets and goals.

Project Management is incredibly important to the bottom line of how all departments function at AOL. The digital online environment requires employees to manage multiple simultaneous processes that must all work together to create the end result: an online advertising campaign. Every advertising campaign experiences an assembly line of departments start to finish. First, a Sales representative pitches or responds to a request for proposal (RFP). Then an Account Manager plans the business with internal AOL systems, determining if there is enough inventory at the right price to meet a customer’s needs. From there it moves to the Launch & Traffic Department to begin the implementation phase. Launch & Traffic members receive an advertiser’s physical ad and sets up the campaign parameters (how and where it will run) through AOL’s back end data systems. After the Launch & Traffic team sets the campaign live, the post-launch process begins. Post-launch the campaign is reviewed by the Business Analyst team, who monitor the campaign’s performance to ensure that the campaign is running and performing as intended. Then Account Management works with the Billing department to bill for and finalize the campaign. Overall, each piece of the process has a number of key operational procedures that together allow AOL to successfully pitch, sell and execute multiple online ad campaigns simultaneously.

All of the departments listed above (Sales, Account Management, Launch & Trafficking, Business Analysts and Billing) engage in project management techniques and procedures on a daily basis. How does your organization execute project management through its operational processes and procedures?

How to decrease chances of a project failure?

Posted on July 14, 2013 by anetat598

There is nothing more rewarding for a project manager than a successful completion of a project. There are many factors that contribute to such an outcome. Successful projects need to be well planed, managed and executed and each of those phases has to be carefully prepared, implemented, and performed. If everything goes according to your plans, great… mission accomplished, but what if things turn up side down?

As a project manager you may encounter situations when some of the projects you were involved or led did not return the outcome you had expected. Sometimes, although you think that every aspect of the project has been thoroughly analyzed and prepared, the overall project outcome is a failure. You start to think where the mistake has happened? What was missing or omitted?

http://pmtips.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/project-failure1.jpg

One of the most common reasons for the project failure is actually inexperienced project manager(s). In many situations, managers work under stress. Do they know how to handle it? Can they well understand and make right financial decisions? Can they run appropriate negotiations, solve unexpected issues, communicate required information to appropriate project group? Although it may sound ease, some especially young projects managers, may have problems with stress management and poorly perform under such situation. In critical moments, they may loose the objectivity and start to use false assumptions or just start to force things through.

Another common reason for a project failure may be lack of resources. To successfully complete any project the appropriate resources such as personnel, equipment, tools, etc. need to be provided. Project resources are key to achieve the project’s goal. What is going to happen when we promise the project delivery on certain time with limited or inadequate (skillset) resources? How that goal can be achieved? Without required resources, the project delivery will be delayed, poorly completed, or completely fail. Often, to save money on the project, managers try to deliver the product on the minimum resources involved. In many occasions that saving turn out to bring more expense at the end than expected.

Poorly defined requirements are very well known reason for the project failure too. It is very important to clearly document what are customer’s expects and needs. It is crucial for any project to make sure that both sides of the contract understand the requirements. Additionally we need to make sure that those requirements are agreed to and signed off by the client before the project implementation phase. What would happen, if there were a situation in which the customer expects something different than what we believe they want? What would happen if we started to implement the project, which was never approved and consigned by our customer?

Have you ever experienced a project failure? What was the cause of it? If not, what in your opinion are other reasons for the project failure?

http://www.project-skills.com/the-first-6-things-i-do-when-starting-a-project.html

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_58.htm

Every Project Manager wants the “best” resource – Resource Planning Issues

Posted on July 13, 2013 by sheels598

In many organizations, its very rare for an employee to be dedicated to only one project. Many times, resources are stretched across several projects demanding their time. And when a new project comes along that is requesting a specific resource who may already be fully allocated, conflict may arise. Often times, project managers of the conflicting projects have project plans with a resource allocation on their individual computers, where no other managers in the organization can view the allocation. Or even worse, the project manager may have never done a resource planning exercise on the project.

In the first article listed below, author Donna Fitzgerald suggests the concept of a centralized project resource allocation system. Not having the centralized scheduling system to show the allocation of all resources potentially puts the projects the current resource is working on as well as future projects requesting his time at risk. By having the system in place, the project manager simply would need to go to the system to determine whether or not a resource could be allocated to the project. If a project manager really wants a specific employee on a project but that resource is overallocated, the manager has two options: either find another resource (either through another team member or consultant), or push the project start date to another date.

Having a centralized system also requires buy-in from all portions of an organization, which potentially could be a difficult task. However, I feel if an organization were to implement such a solution, it would eliminate a lot of headaches at the resource planning phase of the project. Another potential solution to this type of problem would be to prioritize projects, either at the organizational level, or departmental level, or even at the resource level.

M - Project Manager? — M – Project Manager? Who knew!

In the second article, author Daniel Chou uses the James Bond movie “Casino Royale” and Dame Judi Dench’s character M to illustrate the allocation of various resources (e.g. James Bond) on various projects. In the movie, she manages from the top down, in that she is able to add/remove resources from tasks if a project is getting out of control or if it’s going well. Based on the various risks associated with a project, a manager can accommodate for those risks (hopefully seen in advance through the use of a risk management plan) by adding additional or removing resources at that time.

Does anyone in their current employment situation have a centralized location that shows the allocation of potential project resources? If not, how do you go about ensuring a potential project resource is not overallocated?

Sources:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-keys-to-resource-allocation/5031746

http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/2011/01/tips-on-project-portfolio-reso.html

Wanted: Competant Project Managers

Posted on July 13, 2013August 5, 2013 by seanv598

Over the past few years there has been a significant push, especially in the United States on the importance of math and science education for the young. There has been an understanding that emerging nations like India and China have passed the United States in graduating engineers and scientists from the university. The math and science shortage has been felt in places like the UK, U.S. , and even Australia. The latest stories have spotlighted the skills shortage overall in the Project Management field.

The shortage in very good, and competent project managers has significant implications for large scale projects moving forward. The downside of having issues with project management is the reality that project overruns and extending time estimates on projects have negative effects for progress in building and other projects. Scope creep is an effect that starts to affect large scale projects.

The article spotlights some findings that they studied in India with the help of PMI India and KPMG. India is in a building phase in their country life cycle. Lots of new infrastructure is needed to handle the more than 1 billion people that inhabit their country. People will start to expect certain amenities as people start to gain a little bit of wealth and move towards the middle class.

There is an expected 1 trillion dollars in infrastructure that will be spent in the next four years. 80% of the developers of the different projects are unable to find good project managers to execute this increased infrastructure build. The study that KMPG facilitated found that “some projects are delayed by external factors such as land acquisition or regulatory approvals which are beyond the control of the executing agency, a majority of projects are delayed by factors that can be controlled at the project level through proper planning and project management.”

While this article focuses on India, it seems to me that this is a world wide problem. Just like there is an aversion to math and science all over the world, project managers have become something that has been very hard to find. Project managers have a lot of responsibility on different projects. They are forced to be “experts” in statistical analysis, manufacturing, operations, and forecasting among other things. They need to be able to multi-task on many different jobs to be successful.

The long term effect of a shortage of math and science and project management could be catastrophic. China is ahead of the curve by having 106 universities that focus on project management and their skills. All countries need to focus its efforts on these skills in order to keep up with proper infrastructure. We are getting to a point in America where we need new bridges and roads, and if every project we have continues to have scope creep, we will put our economy into a further tailspin.

Do you think that having a skills shortage for project managers is a problem? What are the long term implications? How do you fix this problem?

Main Article:

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-07-08/news/40443485_1_land-acquisition-projects-lakh-crore

Supporting Docs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18957712

http://www.math.vcu.edu/g1/journal/Journal7/Part%20I/Sterling.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/remedying-our-skills-shortage/story-e6frg71x-1226267136876

Google and Yet Another Privacy Concern

Posted on July 13, 2013August 13, 2013 by w13trista

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-11/google-social-search/52506216/1

Summary:

These days one can learn about anything simply by “Googling” it. Suppose, for example, at lunch one day, a colleague references “critical paths”. A quick Google search will tell you that a critical path is the optimal sequence of project activities.

But what if a Google search for “critical path” yielded links to posts by members of your Google+ network? Would you be surprised if one of your Google+ contact’s rant about how confused he (not mentioning names!) was reading about critical paths for his upcoming MBA project management class on Saturday was one of the top hits on your search?

Earlier this year Google launched a personalized search feature that includes photos, comments and news posted by a user’s Google+ contacts. Google claims that it is trying to “make searches deeper and more personalized” for its users. However, the search changes have not come without controversy. As one might suspect, privacy concerns are at the height of the uproar.

Analysis:

Are there any privacy issues that arise from this type of enhancement? The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington, D. C. believes so. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research center that works to protect privacy, the First Amendment and other constitutional values¹, has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. In the letter, the EPIC writes “Google’s business practices raise concerns related to both competition and the implementation of the Commission’s consent order”². This is a reference to the March 2011 settlement between the FTC and Google that required Google to “implement a comprehensive privacy program, and calls for regular, independent privacy audits for the next 20 years”.³

Is this yet another example of Google getting right up to the creepy line but not crossing it?⁴A quick “Bing” search yields several hits on examples in which Google has invaded individuals’ privacy. Take, for example, the 2010 instance where it was discovered that Google field analysts were gathering personal and commercial data while accessing individuals’ and businesses’ unprotected Wi-Fi networks.⁵ Initially Google said that it was obtaining Wi-Fi location information for Google Map’s “My Location” cell phone feature. But later it was discovered that Google had obtained some 600 million gigabytes of personal and commercial data. Google faced international backlash when a federal agency in Germany insisted that Google begin to disclose such practices as well as disclose the information that it has obtained. And Ireland requested that all information that Google obtained in its country be destroyed (which Google obliged to). The US, on the contrary, does not have a federal agency that regulates Internet privacy.

However, what expectations of privacy can one expect on the Internet? The rate at which technology rapidly and exponentially progresses is difficult for the law and regulators to keep up with. I believe that having an account with a social network comes with certain responsibilities. As an individual, I am accountable for the photos and comments that I post, and I am accountable for maintaining the privacy settings of my account (given they are offered). However, if the social network owns a search engine, I have the expectation that my information will not pop up as a search result. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I do not expect any Internet company to obtain information about me by accessing my home or work Wi-Fi network. Yes, Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, I find that in this instance, and in many others too numerous to name, Google has crossed the creepy line. What do you think?

References:

World Cup 2014: A good or bad idea for Brazil?

Posted on July 13, 2013October 16, 2015 by brianr598

The 2014 World Cup will be hosted by Brazil and faces heavy criticism in regards to event logistics and preparation. The risks associated with hosting this event are great, especially given Brazil’s fragile economic, social and political situations. Stadium construction has experienced delays, there have been numerous funding questions raised even after the project was well under way and safety issues for visitors have become more prominent as a result of protests and violence in Brazil. All these issues surrounding the event leads me to ask the question: why are these issues being addressed now as opposed to when the project was in its conception stage? Is the fact that Brazil is the most successful soccer nation in the world enough of a reason to ignore all the logistical shortcomings the country faces?

The political, social and economic climate of Brazil has not changed much since Brazil was awarded the rights to host the event back in 2006. Given all the issues surrounding Brazil’s candidacy, why was a such a great risk taken by FIFA? Why not award the event to more infra-structurally solid country so as ti minimize risk? For example, Brazil boasts no public transportation system and an entirely new transit system needs to be conceived in order to accommodate the influx of fans. What if the system is not completed on time? What if it not capable of meeting demand? World Cups in recent times have been hosted by countries (Italy in 1990, USA in 1994, France in 1998, South Korea/Japan in 2002 and Germany in 2006) who have reliable existing systems in place: major stadiums to host matches, solid transportation systems and relatively stronger economies to deal with project funding . On paper the worthiness of Brazil hosting the event is fair. Realistically, a project like this poses major risks as the prospects for problems arising is great, especially with the level of uncertainty facing Brazil internally.

South Africa in 2010 was a unique situation as it was both a economically/socially developing country as well as a soccer developing country. Though awarding the tournament to South Africa had good intentions and was successful, the post-tournament fallout was great. South Africa’s debt was large and many of the stadiums were completely dismantled/significantly downgraded. Further, the spike in economic activity local businesses realized subsided and the impact the tournament had on promoting and developing soccer in the country was lackluster. I would think most projects of this stature would consider the long-term as an essential component of its risk assessment plan, especially given the amount of time and money spent coupled with the country’s internal problems. Since soccer is huge in Brazil, developing the game there is not a purpose of the event like it was in previously in South Africa, Korea/Japan and the United States. I would argue the benefits of hosting the World Cup did not outweigh the costs as the long-term effects of the project were ignored. In turn, Brazil could face many of the same struggles next summer.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2013/06/12/can-brazil-really-handle-the-2014-fifa-world-cup/2/

Operations and Project Management in Today's Competitive Environment

Extending our classroom to the world!

0 MGT598 – Summer 2013