Effective Communication | Project Management Guide
The importance and complexity of communication cannot be overemphasized. This blog post really digs in to the importance of effective team communication and the hidden costs of large teams.
Cultivating a Stronger IT–Business Partnership
CEO's need to understand how and why CIO's act they way they do in order to effectively navigate human behaviour and maximize their value from IT.
5 Steps to Attaining Project Control
Whoda thunkit? 5 Simple Steps to controlling your project:
1. Define what will be measured and/or tested and how often.
2. Monitor progress and evaluate deviations from the plan.
3. Report progress.
4. Analyze the report.
5. Take action where necessary.
Not rocket science at all. The only problem is that people just don't do it. So, do it.
Five Phases of Project Management (humorous)
THE FIVE PHASES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1. Initial enthusiasm
2. Inevitable problems
3. Search for someone to blame
4. Punishment of those who are innocent
5. Praise and reward for the non-participants
THE FIVE PHASES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management: 8 Steps to On-Time, On-Budget Delivery
Businesses embark on thousands of projects every year. Unfortunately, most projects are doomed to fail because the original success criteria were not met. The bottom line is that businesses talks a good game but they are not ready or willing to make the real investments necessary to deliver on time, on budget, and with high quality near 100 percent of the time. There are eight steps that, if followed as a single unit provide the roadmap to project management perfection.
In tight times, IT managers more likely to postpone than cancel a project
A common concept in fundamental macroeconomics -- the capital projects are still out there. The needs for infrastructure are still there. We're just going to wait until the market shows us that it's a good time to actually move forward with it.
What it takes to be a leader - Annotated
1. Be an innovative leader.
2. Be reliable.
3. Energize yourself.
4. Delegate.
5. Be precise, focused and communicate effectively.
6. Building a sustainable team.
7. Build a continuous improvement culture.
8. Stop procrastinating and start getting things done.
ERP Projects, while affordable, are plagued by scope and project mgmt issues
Surprise! Over-ambitious targets and poor project management, the bane of software development everywhere, haunt small to mid-sized companies in their search for business improvement, creating horror stories, which, some experts say, unfairly damage the credibility of the systems that should be their salvation.
Three Little Words Every Leader Needs to Learn
I thought it was WTF at first. Such as being inquisitive and demanding. "WTF were you thinking when you did that?" "WTF has happened to sales this quarter? Johnson! You're head of that! Tell me!" and so on.
But, I was wrong. It's something else.
Top 25 Project Management Blogs
Some great reading - The 25 Top Project Management Blogs
Five mistakes managers make most often - Annotated
Some of the most common management mistakes -
1. Not communicating with the team. - Almost always a problem.
2. Continually focusing on the negative.
3. Changing policy due to one person. - This is a BIGGIE.
4. Not understanding the needs and concerns of your team.
5. Never admitting you’re wrong or never taking responsibility.
What's the magic project size to require PM oversight/overhead?
It’s common to hear the all-purpose methodology nullifier from the client or salesperson, “But this is a small project!” The inside project manager hears this phrase when he tries to convince the project sponsor that a project plan, a materials list, and a written scope are necessary. The external IT service provider hears it from the salesperson when she tells him that the new engagement he’s selling should include an additional 15% estimate for project manager duties.
Project Management: Project Success vs. Fear of Leading
It takes more than management skills to lead an IT project to a successful conclusion. In fact, it takes courage -- plus the ability to influence others and a temperament that doesn't permit the option of giving up when the going gets tough. Project management without project leadership is likely to result in project failure.
Keep the three management roles in an IT project separate
Every IT effort requires that the service provider play three distinct roles: project manager, technical manager, and relationship manager. While many independent project managers and consultants attempt to play all three roles, they do so at the risk to themselves, the project, and the relationship.
How to create and use a Cause and Effect Diagram to perform root cause analysis or whatever else you had in mind. Few quality-related issues are easily resolved. More frequently, various causes intermix in unique and complicated ways to produce the final negative impact upon quality that you hope to fix. Using a cause-and-effect diagram allows you to get a grasp on these contributing factors.
A Project Manager's Survival Guide to Going Agile
Very nice white paper on Agile PM - When software development project teams move to methodologies, they often leave project managers behind. Traditionally trained project managers are confused as to what their new roles and responsibilities should be in an environment that no longer needs them to make stand-alone decisions. This paper focuses on re-defining the job of project manager to better fit the self-managed team environment, one of the core agile principles. Special emphasis is placed on the shift to servant leadership, with its focus on facilitation and collaboration. Mapping of PMBOK knowledge areas to agile practices is discussed at length. After reading this paper, project managers should have a better understanding of what changes they need to make professionally, and how to make these changes in order to survive the transition to an agile software development approach.
I was watching a police show on television recently and during the program, a lot of joking was made about organizing the structure for the police enquiry. An investigating officer was appointed and a team established. While this was a TV show, it depicted that all of the roles and responsibilities were clearly of importance, worthy of taking time to identify and develop.
This caused me to think about project management roles which people say are often unclear. They tell me this lack of clarity causes problems in decision-making, monitoring and control areas and obtaining the right resources at the right time among many other issues.
At project management training events I ask people to look at the role they play in projects. It is interesting that a lot of people find this activity difficult. Why? Because the person doing the training has not had their role clarified i.e. are they project manager, or a team member or something else?
It is even more interesting for those who think that project roles are clear. Some people have sat back and smiled saying all is well. That is, until I ask a series of innocent questions such as:
More often than not, I have to suggest that people go back and start to ask some questions about roles and do this quickly. I also point out that if this part of the project management process is not done or done right then it does not bode well for the project, regardless of how high-caliber your Gantt chart may be. It can also mean you have duplication of roles, something I have seen several times.
If you are not clear about your role in a project how likely is it that the project will be delivered on time and to budget with the right results? Spend time up front identifying the role you play, make life easier for those trying to deliver projects and if you are one of those who is faced with not knowing what your role is then I suggest you raise your head above the parapet and ask some tough questions, and keep on asking until roles are clear AND documented. If you are some senior who "gives out" projects then I suggest you obtain some clarity of the role quickly, otherwise the gaps will show up at sometime in the project.
by: Ron Rosenhead
There are three main categories of Project Management Offices. They vary in the degree of control, as well as the influence, they impose over the projects in the company. Determining which kind of PMO is required is essential to a successful implementation of a project office.
These three kinds are:
This type of PMO typically offers support when needed. Some types of offered expertise include information access, best practice advice, useful Gannt chart templates, and other project advice. This style can be effective when used in organizations that permit workers to accomplish projects successfully with a large amount of freedom in the design process. In addition, if the object requires some manner of information clearinghouse that can be freely accessed throughout the organization, this is the right style to use.
This style is best used when there is a need for more control over project activities, procedures, or documentation. Such tasks would be to lend the talents of a project manager to create Gantt Charts, Pert Charts, or whatnot. The organization offers support, and also demands that this support be utilized. Some possible requirements are using specific methods to achieve results, or using certain forms or templates. Other requirements might include adherence to authoritative structures or the use of other rules applied by the organization.
Furthermore, the project offices may be required to pass regular inspections by the organization, which may entail risk to the project. This method only works if two conditions are met. First, compliance with PMO offerings must effect organizational improvements and project execution. Secondly, the Project Manager must be able and willing to enforce the controls placed by this organization.
This style not only controls, but totally implements the projects of the host organization. This is accomplished by providing the project with both management experience and those resources that are necessary to manage it. Expert project managers from a directive organizational format receive project assignments when the company begins the project. This results in a high level of professional expertise. In addition, since all managers report directly to the organization, practice in all of the projects undertaken by the organization is very consistent, and all of the Gantt charts across the entire company follow a certain template created by the directive PMI. This type can be most useful in big companies that use supportive networks in many areas. The business culture must also be amenable to such a style.
The most useful type is determined primarily by the culture and structure of the organization, as well as the company's prior history of success or failure with each style. Overall, however, the objectives of a Project Management Office include:
Understanding these objectives assists both you and your business to better achieve them.
There are three general kinds of Project Management Offices. These kinds of PMOs exert different levels of control over a company's various ongoing work, and it is vital for a project office to determine which one is best suited for the company's needs. A description of each sort of PMO follows.
This leadership style offers support to employees when help is needed. Theory X Management may offer this support in the areas of project advice, information access, and useful templates or job aids. It is important to realize that this is an effective style for organizations which allow employees to work independently while accomplishing their projects. A supportive environment allows workers to have freedom in project design while providing employee motivation. It would be a good match for offices that have effective systems to communicate and access information. You may find this most successful in a matrix organizational structure.
This approach is most effective where there is an increased need for closer supervision of project progress, procedures or documentation. This approach offers resources to provide support, but also has requirements about standards that must be met. Such a program may dictate requirements and methods, including supplying forms or templates that must be used, or the utilization of a PMIS or other project management software. They may dictate authorization structures or other rules the organization must obey.
The organization may conduct regular inspections of project offices to see if there is a problem or anything that may harm the organization itself. There are two conditions to help the procedure to take effect. First, meeting the requirements regarding PMO offerings must bear good results such as carrying out of the projects for the improvements of the organization itself. Lastly, rules and regulations must be enforceable by Project Manager as mandated by the organization.
Under this, the project is supplied with the necessary resources as well as relevant management experience to execute the project successfully. So, implementation as well as control are taken care of. At the outset, the project is handed over to seasoned project managers who are used to a directive organizational format. The managers report directly to the organization and there is uniformity in the treatment of all the projects that the organization has going. Big companies using supportive networks in most areas benefit the most from this. There would be a problem, however, if the underlying culture of the organization clashes with this style.
The most beneficial one will be determined by the organization's culture and structure, as well as company history of previous successes and failures in connection with each style. However, the overall objectives connected with a Project Management Office include:
The better you assimilate these objectives, the easier it is for you and your organization to work towards them and succeed.
In the 1960s and earlier, frequently big corporations were logically arranged into silos, in which divisions of employees reported to a line or functional manager with a Master’s degree. The attempt to restructure the organization to develop workable project management teams is referred to as a matrix organization.
There are a wide variety of matrix organizations that possible. The goal for each of them being that they struggle to balance the power between each leader's functional needs. Primary types of matrix's can vary from: The Weak Matrix, Strong Matrix, and Balanced Matrix which all possess an organizational structure. This article in cover the in-depth benefits and drawbacks of the Strong Matrix organizational structure in particular.
You can argue whether or not absolute power breeds absolute corruption but, in the business world, absolute power can cause havoc and decreased productivity. Each department or group has their own function to contribute to a project. Balance, harmony, and cooperation between the different groups are key to a successful project. If one group supersedes another group, the focus shifts from attaining goals to dissension and power struggles. The ideal of teamwork breaks down into every group and individual being out for themselves.
Guidelines need to be in place to solve any problems that might arise due to conflicts with organizational boundaries. These guidelines should clearly state when each manager is in control of a particular worker. For example, make a rule stating that a worker may only be managed by the functional manager for projects lasting less than a week. For projects expected to take longer than one week's time, the rule could be that the project manager will control that employee. Another rule to consider is that one person may not be employed for two consecutive projects by the project manager.
A variety of possible rules and structures may be imposed to achieve the goal of balancing power between project and functional managers so that a win/lose condition is avoided. Obviously, the balanced matrix takes its name from the balance of power that results in this structural format.
