There is value to data. I am commonly called in to a project or program to make sense of the data that they currently have. This data comes from a variety of sources, sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not that good. But even data that is not so good has value.
Some organizations are very diligent in collecting data, but maybe the data they are collecting is not the right data to make the decision. On of my recent projects involved the analysis to by a machine. The organization created a report that they hoped would prove that purchasing the machine would decrease the labor necessary to construct buildings. The report was fraught with obvious issues.
Unfortunately, the organization did not see what was already in front of them because they became focused on proving the labor savings. The real efficiency came from transporting equipment and materials. I created a break-even analysis model showing transportation in the form of trucks and compared multiple construction methods. The break-even analysis showed a real savings and provided information for decision makers to make the decision.
Fortunately for the organization, they had collected the transportation data. Unfortunately they chose not to analyze the transportation data.
The lesson learned is that organizations need to collect the data that is needed by decision makers. I think that the secret is in the analysis of that data and not to be focused on the outcome that you think you want.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Scrum vs Waterfall
The other day there was a comment on LinkedIn regarding the death of project management in favor of agile. I could not disagree more. I am both Scrum Master Certified and a Project Management Professional. There are some elements of agile that I use in my current projects, even though I do not do software development. But even as agile is popular today, the principles in the project management framework work.
I believe that project managers should use the tools that they need to get the project done. There might be areas of a waterfall project that needs to have sprints or to develop an minimal viable product (MVP) or there may be elements within an agile development that need to use the planning tools of a waterfall style project. The project management framework is something that actually works.
Project managers should add agile to their toolbox. There are many ways to do it and it is a handy thing to know. As I am working on my projects, I am looking for areas to make the project and the end project better. After all a project is iterative, just like the MVP.
I believe that project managers should use the tools that they need to get the project done. There might be areas of a waterfall project that needs to have sprints or to develop an minimal viable product (MVP) or there may be elements within an agile development that need to use the planning tools of a waterfall style project. The project management framework is something that actually works.
Project managers should add agile to their toolbox. There are many ways to do it and it is a handy thing to know. As I am working on my projects, I am looking for areas to make the project and the end project better. After all a project is iterative, just like the MVP.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Schedule Variance
I have been thinking too much about schedule variance lately. I would like to say that it has all been good thoughts, but alas it hasn't. I am assisting a co-worker on creating some schedule variance reports for his project and it doesn't look good.
Schedule variance is an important metric if you believe that projects should be delivered on time. Since time is the most valuable resource, the one that you can't get back or buy, project executors must consider time when figuring the earned value of the project.
Very few project managers work in an environment where mandays burned equal mandays earned. Most of us have to enforce schedule discipline on our project teams.
Anyways, schedule variance in important in figuring out the earned value of the project. To be able to see if a project can get back on track and to figure out what the root cause of the variance is so it can be fixed. Many a good project manager has been laid to waste by not managing this aspect of the project, which will ultimately cause budget overruns and cause the project to fail.
This is one reason that the project schedule must be realistic and be complete with resources assigned. When a schedule is realistic or without resources assigned, it is easy to see the project slip because activities take longer or resources aren't available.
So this is a metric that the project manager must pay attention to and remedy before the situation gets out of hand.
Schedule variance is an important metric if you believe that projects should be delivered on time. Since time is the most valuable resource, the one that you can't get back or buy, project executors must consider time when figuring the earned value of the project.
Very few project managers work in an environment where mandays burned equal mandays earned. Most of us have to enforce schedule discipline on our project teams.
Anyways, schedule variance in important in figuring out the earned value of the project. To be able to see if a project can get back on track and to figure out what the root cause of the variance is so it can be fixed. Many a good project manager has been laid to waste by not managing this aspect of the project, which will ultimately cause budget overruns and cause the project to fail.
This is one reason that the project schedule must be realistic and be complete with resources assigned. When a schedule is realistic or without resources assigned, it is easy to see the project slip because activities take longer or resources aren't available.
So this is a metric that the project manager must pay attention to and remedy before the situation gets out of hand.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Lead From Where You Are
Project managers and leaders have a lot in common. I would argue that being a project manager is a tough leadership challenge, even for seasoned leaders. Many times the project manager must influence stakeholders in the organization or they may not have direct reports assigned to the project and have to work with the managers of other departments.
Another area that the project manager may face is when they are not in charge and have to manage the project through a subordinate role. I have found myself in the situation several times in my career and it does make getting things done hard. I do know how to handle it though.
Leaders lead from where they are. Leaders know that where ever their position there is an opportunity to lead. A simple definition of leadership is the art of influencing people to complete a mission. A leader or project manager in a subordinate role must use their influence to get the job done. This sometimes creates obstacles. Sure it is easy to get things done when you are in charge, but it is a real art to get things done when you are not in charge.
I view these roles as a chance to spread my leadership wings and to learn a new skill. It is tough, but it is a lesson in dealing with people that is not soon forgotten.
Another area that the project manager may face is when they are not in charge and have to manage the project through a subordinate role. I have found myself in the situation several times in my career and it does make getting things done hard. I do know how to handle it though.
Leaders lead from where they are. Leaders know that where ever their position there is an opportunity to lead. A simple definition of leadership is the art of influencing people to complete a mission. A leader or project manager in a subordinate role must use their influence to get the job done. This sometimes creates obstacles. Sure it is easy to get things done when you are in charge, but it is a real art to get things done when you are not in charge.
I view these roles as a chance to spread my leadership wings and to learn a new skill. It is tough, but it is a lesson in dealing with people that is not soon forgotten.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
They Might Be Leaders
From my experience, everyone can be a leader. There are leaders all over an organization. They lead by influence or by position. Some of them do great things and some do not so good things with their influence within the organization.
Organizations need to look to these leaders that are doing good things by trying to figure out how to replicate those good things across the organization. Replicating the best practices across the organization seems to be an easy task, but generally it is not that easy.
At the same time, the organization needs to find these leaders who are not doing those great things or even doing things that are counter to the needs of the organization and stop those practices. Many of this practices may actually be obstacles to getting work done or serve the customer.
One thing that organizational leaders and managers need to do is to get all the employees on the same page and thinking like a leader. In theory, this should put all employees pulling in the same direction that the management in pushing.
What does this have to do with project management? Well two things. The first is that those same employee leaders will be members of the project team. Some will do good things and some will not. They will use their leadership powers for good or evil. So project managers need to identify this dynamic and get everyone moving toward the project completion. Second, this dynamic across the organization creates multiple projects for the project manager to pursue. Identifying these areas to create efficiency will assist the project manager in showing the business impact of their projects.
One thing that project managers need to always understand is that a project must solve a business problem and have an impact to the organization.
Organizations need to look to these leaders that are doing good things by trying to figure out how to replicate those good things across the organization. Replicating the best practices across the organization seems to be an easy task, but generally it is not that easy.
At the same time, the organization needs to find these leaders who are not doing those great things or even doing things that are counter to the needs of the organization and stop those practices. Many of this practices may actually be obstacles to getting work done or serve the customer.
One thing that organizational leaders and managers need to do is to get all the employees on the same page and thinking like a leader. In theory, this should put all employees pulling in the same direction that the management in pushing.
What does this have to do with project management? Well two things. The first is that those same employee leaders will be members of the project team. Some will do good things and some will not. They will use their leadership powers for good or evil. So project managers need to identify this dynamic and get everyone moving toward the project completion. Second, this dynamic across the organization creates multiple projects for the project manager to pursue. Identifying these areas to create efficiency will assist the project manager in showing the business impact of their projects.
One thing that project managers need to always understand is that a project must solve a business problem and have an impact to the organization.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
A Problem with Scheduling
I am commonly called to audit projects as part of job as a program manager. In my capacity, I manage several projects within the portfolio. These project audits prove one thing to me over and over; people have a problem with scheduling.
Scheduling is an art and a science. It takes effort to create a realistic schedule. A realistic schedule is based on some basis of estimate. The project manager or the schedule must create the basis of estimate, prior to creating the schedule. One trick that I use is to use subject matter experts in creating this basis of estimate. As part of this basis of estimate, the scheduler must outline the assumptions that are made by the planner for the project.
Scheduling is not an easy task. But it is essential for the proper control of the project. To maintain this control, the schedule must be updated with the work completed. This work completed is assigned to the tasks in order to the determine a percentage complete per task. In my experience when the project is not updated in a timely manner and project managers do not know the percentage complete of each task, that is when projects start to go off-track.
Scheduling is an art and a science. It takes effort to create a realistic schedule. A realistic schedule is based on some basis of estimate. The project manager or the schedule must create the basis of estimate, prior to creating the schedule. One trick that I use is to use subject matter experts in creating this basis of estimate. As part of this basis of estimate, the scheduler must outline the assumptions that are made by the planner for the project.
Scheduling is not an easy task. But it is essential for the proper control of the project. To maintain this control, the schedule must be updated with the work completed. This work completed is assigned to the tasks in order to the determine a percentage complete per task. In my experience when the project is not updated in a timely manner and project managers do not know the percentage complete of each task, that is when projects start to go off-track.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Project Managers Communicate
Communication is very important for the project manager. A project manager must master the art of communication in order to ensure project success. Being able to communicate in person, verbally and in written form is imperative. Successful project managers are constantly communicating. There is really no such thing as over communication.
One type of communication that often doe not live up to the hype is email. In my experience, most project communication via email is not effective. I have received hastily compiled email status reports that have obvious mistakes or are a rehash of a previous status report. I would have rather gotten a text or a tweet than this disaster of an email. Another area is when people become too casual in the use of email and forget important details. Commonly I find that people report of subjects that they believe the reader already knows and leave out crucial details.
One practice that I commonly do is to call first and have a conversation. I will follow-up with a email detailing the discussion.
Another issue is that email communication does not provide feedback to the sender. Feedback is important so that the sender knows that the receiver understands the message. Lastly, there is too much noise. I commonly receive a couple hundred emails a day, there is no way I can possibly answer every one. My project managers know to mark the emails so I will pay attention to them.
Communication is important for project managers. It is just as important to know the method of communication to ensure the message is received and understood. In my opinion, email is not the preferred method for communication unless it is to clarify or document previous discussions.
One type of communication that often doe not live up to the hype is email. In my experience, most project communication via email is not effective. I have received hastily compiled email status reports that have obvious mistakes or are a rehash of a previous status report. I would have rather gotten a text or a tweet than this disaster of an email. Another area is when people become too casual in the use of email and forget important details. Commonly I find that people report of subjects that they believe the reader already knows and leave out crucial details.
One practice that I commonly do is to call first and have a conversation. I will follow-up with a email detailing the discussion.
Another issue is that email communication does not provide feedback to the sender. Feedback is important so that the sender knows that the receiver understands the message. Lastly, there is too much noise. I commonly receive a couple hundred emails a day, there is no way I can possibly answer every one. My project managers know to mark the emails so I will pay attention to them.
Communication is important for project managers. It is just as important to know the method of communication to ensure the message is received and understood. In my opinion, email is not the preferred method for communication unless it is to clarify or document previous discussions.
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Why Most Meetings are a Waste of Time
Most meetings are a waste of time because they are unproductive. I have sat in meetings and heard all kinds of conversation, none of which pertain to the topic on hand. I have the unique perspective to have been a participant in many productive meetings. Most of the time meetings become the a waste of time when the participants are unprepared, the topic is not relevant, and the meeting leader just simply loses control.
Don't get me wrong, I find meetings a useful tool in communicating with project team members and stakeholders. I also find that many meetings spiral out of control because the participants are unprepared. A good practice is for the meeting leader to send out an agenda with the topics of the meeting so that participants can get there thoughts together before the meeting. Nothing stops a project meeting like having to explain the purpose of the project to someone again. Apparently this person didn't read the agenda or even the read-ahead materials.
Meeting are sometimes held because they have always been held. The topic is not relevant to the participants and the conversation starts to wonder to sports scores or weekend plan. My take is that there should not have been a meeting on the topic and if there was maybe less people. I believe that this type of meeting waste time, many standing meetings should be evaluated to determine if they are relevant to the participants.
When the meeting leader loses control. It is time to just stop the meeting and regroup. No reason to keep everyone together for an hour, because that is how long the room is reserved. If the meeting leader cannot regain control and steer the meeting to a productive end, then it should be stopped, have the leader regroup and reschedule the meeting for another time.
Meeting should not be a waste of time. They can be productive, but it is imperative that the meeting leader provide participants with material including at least an agenda, make sure the topic is relevant to the group, and maintain some control.
Don't get me wrong, I find meetings a useful tool in communicating with project team members and stakeholders. I also find that many meetings spiral out of control because the participants are unprepared. A good practice is for the meeting leader to send out an agenda with the topics of the meeting so that participants can get there thoughts together before the meeting. Nothing stops a project meeting like having to explain the purpose of the project to someone again. Apparently this person didn't read the agenda or even the read-ahead materials.
Meeting are sometimes held because they have always been held. The topic is not relevant to the participants and the conversation starts to wonder to sports scores or weekend plan. My take is that there should not have been a meeting on the topic and if there was maybe less people. I believe that this type of meeting waste time, many standing meetings should be evaluated to determine if they are relevant to the participants.
When the meeting leader loses control. It is time to just stop the meeting and regroup. No reason to keep everyone together for an hour, because that is how long the room is reserved. If the meeting leader cannot regain control and steer the meeting to a productive end, then it should be stopped, have the leader regroup and reschedule the meeting for another time.
Meeting should not be a waste of time. They can be productive, but it is imperative that the meeting leader provide participants with material including at least an agenda, make sure the topic is relevant to the group, and maintain some control.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
When Projects Fail
Most organizations do not take on projects unless there is a business imperative that makes the success of the project critical. Unfortunately most projects fail. They fail for a variety of reasons.
One of the reasons that projects fail is that the project does not really have the support of senior management. Anther reason is that the organization does not have the skills to actually do the project or that the organization will not dedicate the resources to project success.
Regardless of the reason, when projects start to go bad, the project manager will ultimately take the blame. When they go bad, then the organization brings in a new project manager, but if the root cause isn't addressed then the project will continue in the downward spiral.
I have taken over many a failing projects over the years. It isn't a pleasant thing to take over a failing project. Sometimes you have to let people go, fire a sub-contractor, convince management to properly resource a project, or anything or everything to get the project done. It isn't pleasant to sit in a project status meeting getting beat up because the project is over budget, behind schedule, or looks like no product will be delivered. As they say, "success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." I just know that by making this project a success, people are going to be mad or upset or feel threatened. I will forge ahead, people are destined to feel the way they feel.
Some projects can't be saved due to the structural issues outlined above or nobody wanted the project in the first place. It is gratifying when the project succeeds in the end. It takes a fighter to fight through all the opposition and pull that project out of the jaws of failure.
One of the reasons that projects fail is that the project does not really have the support of senior management. Anther reason is that the organization does not have the skills to actually do the project or that the organization will not dedicate the resources to project success.
Regardless of the reason, when projects start to go bad, the project manager will ultimately take the blame. When they go bad, then the organization brings in a new project manager, but if the root cause isn't addressed then the project will continue in the downward spiral.
I have taken over many a failing projects over the years. It isn't a pleasant thing to take over a failing project. Sometimes you have to let people go, fire a sub-contractor, convince management to properly resource a project, or anything or everything to get the project done. It isn't pleasant to sit in a project status meeting getting beat up because the project is over budget, behind schedule, or looks like no product will be delivered. As they say, "success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." I just know that by making this project a success, people are going to be mad or upset or feel threatened. I will forge ahead, people are destined to feel the way they feel.
Some projects can't be saved due to the structural issues outlined above or nobody wanted the project in the first place. It is gratifying when the project succeeds in the end. It takes a fighter to fight through all the opposition and pull that project out of the jaws of failure.
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