Bookmarx 04/30/2009

• Cause and Effect Diagram

  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.

  tags: RootCause, RCA, ProjectManagement, PM

• 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.

  tags: Agile, ProjectManagement, PM

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Hellotxt

I'm trying some new stuff with Social Media this week.

Right now, I'm testing hellotxt - let's see if this is better than FriendFeed (Maybe it will cause an infinite feedback loop) -- Buckle up!

Hellotxt seems to cause one stray duplicate Tweet between itself and FriendFeed. Hmm... how to fix... I guess I won't post to Twitter from HelloTxt directly. But FriendFeed always seems to include a URL at the tail of the tweet.

Oh, what is a project manager to do to take advantage of all this technology when it's so terribly complicated?

Project Management Roles – Getting them Right

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.

Examining the Roles of Project Participants

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:

• Do the named individuals know that the role you have given them is theirs for the project?
• What do they actually do in the project compared to what they should be doing?
• Do they carry out the role (of say project manager) effectively?
• What authority do these project participants have within the project?

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

Which Type of PMO is Right for You?

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:

1. Supportive Project Management Office

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.

2. Controlling Project Management Office

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.

3. Directive Project Management Office

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:

1. Develop consistent methodologies
2. Use standard terminologies throughout the organization
3. Implement project management methods that are effective and replicable
4. Offer common tools for support
5. The ultimate goal is to increase the success rate for all projects within the organization.

Understanding these objectives assists both you and your business to better achieve them.