Archive for the 'Project' Category

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10 Reasons You’re Not Ready

Published on August 28, 2005 in Project. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Wondering whether you have what it takes to be a project manager? Here are ten signs that you’re never going to make it to the top of the project hill.

I see it everyday — talented programmers, system technicians and project engineers being promoted to project manager. You may very well be a skillful, seasoned engineer, but parlaying that talent to project management is hard to do. And your first project is how you’ll be judged.

The most important step you can take toward becoming a project manager is to get your name on the list – or, more to the point, not to get your name crossed off the list. Speak to your boss, peers, and managers so the word gets out that you want to be a project manager. Besides my own experience, I’ve spoken with CEOs, executive recruiters, and other consultants, who consider the merits of prospective PM’s. You need to heed their advice and follow their tips in getting yourself ready for that first project.

Now to be honest, one black mark from this list – or even more – won’t necessarily ban you from the project manager position for life; all of these “ten sure signs” can be addressed, in time, if you’re willing to invest the effort. You might also argue that a number of my signs conflict with each other. Should you stand up to the boss, or should you tone down the ego? Should you get more involved with operations, or should you lighten up on the tech certifications? Finding the right mix of skills for your career is a lifelong pursuit; here’s a good milepost to see where you stand.

1. You Really are Still a Technician
There’s more to being a PM than getting the code right, configuring an operating system or designing a data center. IT technicians, however skillful, can’t rise to the top without practical management experience. Good project managers have always been strategists and goal-seekers, no matter the size of the project. Only a technician would fixate on the latest hardware and software while ignoring day-to-day PM issues like schedule, costs and team resources. Remember, from a business point of view, a technician is a necessary expense, not a vital asset.

2. You Can’t Handle Project Politics
When a company has many capable techies, one of the things that allow one to rise to the PM spot is the ability to manage the politics of the business and the project. A winning PM possesses the “executive presence” to juggle the concerns of project constituents – the stakeholders, company management, accounting departments, programming managers, infrastructure engineers, clients, vendors, subcontractors, and employees – without being skewed one way or another.

Executive management has to trust the numbers and the project manager. That means more than simply managing the project downward, a PM must also “manage upward,” presenting facts and ideas to company executives and boards of directors. On occasion this might mean standing up to a CEO. A project manager who decides to play it on the safe side, or is outmaneuvered because of a lack of political savvy, will likely find himself or herself in a weaker position the next time around. Too many managers pay homage to their bosses rather than engaging them. The PM needs to be able to argue a point with the stakeholders or executive management and not shrink away the next time they meet. They form a team bonded partly by respect and trust, and partly by chemistry and other intangibles.

(To be continued in a day or two)

Construction Management vs. IT PM

Published on December 6, 2004 in Project. 0 Comments Tags: .

I’ve managed projects in various industries, but most have been in either building construction or information technology. While not every construction project has been on time and on budget, the percentage that do come in closer to being on time and budget are more frequent in construction than in IT. Both, if not all, industries have to deal with unreasonable expectations, difficult customers, and personnel problems. But with these issues, the opportunity for project success in construction is greater than in IT. Why is this?

Well first of all, project management has been going on for many more years in construction than IT. There are many stories of massive IT projects going sour, mostly relative to their estimates. While much of the costs in a construction project are materials, ie., steel and concrete, IT software development cost is mostly people’s time.

And why is a construction estimate better? A construction project is designed prior to estimating the costs, much less actually building it. Sure there are changes in design, but estimating in construction, both materials and labor, are easier with design documents rather than “I want it to do this.” Not only do IT projects start before design, some even start before all functions and goals are known!

One of the bigger differences between the two is that a construction project is designed by engineers and architects who are contractually separate from the tradesmen and contractors that will do the actual building. The designers (architects & engineers) are obligated to be the owner’s agents and oversee that changes are not made to the original design, and if changes are required that they be well documented and completely analyzed and costed prior to implementing. Yes you have design-build firms now that combine the designers with the contractors, but I’ve seen some precarious litigation there.

This separation of power, so to speak, is a plus for any project, and I believe gives construction the advantage. Now sure, not all construction projects are successful and not all IT projects are failures. I’m generalizing. But I think technology PMs can learn more from construction managers than the other way around.

Apprentice 2

Published on September 19, 2004 in Musings and Project. 0 Comments

Last year I noted several times in this forum on the happenings at The Apprentice, most notably the ratio of PM firings versus the “workers.” I’m following this season’s show also but now many of the other business blogs are commenting along the way so I thought I would just list some of the other avenues of information on this “business reality show.” Inc.com, the resource for growing companies, has detailed analysis of all the contestants and weekly updates. So does Small Business Information. Another site detailing each episode is MyOwnBusiness.org. So I guess there is some business relevence in this TV show? I’ll keep watching and reading to see.

Oh, let’s not forget the “official” site at NBC.

Time Management

Published on September 6, 2004 in Project. 1 Comment

All managers, especially project managers, need to manage their own time. If the PM is getting in late or staying even later, you’ve got to question the project as a whole.

Psychologists say that some people are chronic time abusers because of deep-seated needs for control or approval or fear of being evaluated. For others, the underlying psychological motive confounding good time management is tied to an uncertainty of trusting and acting on one’s own judgment.

An article in CIO magazine, It’s Never Too Late for Time Management provides a few guidelines on taming your time.

PM Linux 2K3

Published on August 9, 2004 in Project and Technology. 0 Comments

You IT guys can read that lingo. This summer has dunked me into several Windows 2003, Exchange 2003 and Office 2003 projects. Undertaking any IT project is fraught with risks and requires a combined understanding from both the technology as well as the business perspective. That’s where Value Management comes in.

One project combined all those technologies plus more. Although the work tasks are now in process, the planning started about 10 months ago. I first thought the greatest difficulty was going to be working around all the users. That’s right: NO downtime. But Microsoft had that figured out already with plenty of wizards to help anyone through an upgrade and migration. No the biggest issue we came up against was Linux.

You see all those old PCs and servers that could no longer run Windows, still have a lot of umph for Linux. And yes the latest round of software does work better together, but there’s plenty of potholes and dangerous curves ahead. My ugliest issue was booting Linux terminal machines using an IP address from Windows DHCP and pulling down a Linux kernel via Linux tftpboot. Sorry for all the lingo, but I’m putting together a whitepaper and am hoping to have it ready by the end of the project (some time in September.) That’s on the technical side.

Our greatest achievement though is on the business side. Boy did the client save money! The final figures aren’t in, but I estimate we achieved a 50% savings from a total Microsoft solution. The old hardware has at least another 3-4 years of life and everyone is getting their work done. Now there’s a reason for celebration.

Value Management

Published on August 1, 2004 in Project and Technology. 0 Comments Tags: , .

A “namesake” article in the latest issue of CIO magazine, about the value created by projects: Don’t Stop Thinking About the Value.

CIOs know that project implementation success rates are woefully low. So once a project comes in on time and under budget, CIOs think they’ve won the battle and can move on. Wrong. Here are some strategies for wresting value from systems long after they’ve gone live.

MM for PM

Published on July 28, 2004 in Process and Project. 0 Comments

I’ve been mentioning mind mapping (MM) more and more as noted in this blog at Part I and Part II. It’s a great tool! Chuck Frey at the Innovation Weblog has recently posted How to use mind mapping software for project management.

As you can see, mind mapping software is a powerful, flexible and highly productive way to manage your projects, goals and to do lists. They not only help you with initial project planning, but also status reporting and various aspects of project management.

He’s given me a few new ideas. Thanks Chuck!

The state of IT Project Management

Published on July 3, 2004 in Project and Technology. 0 Comments

An interesting study recently published in the United Kingdom — The state of IT Project Management in the UK – the definitive study. The objectives of the study were to:

  • Construct a comprehensive picture of IT project and program management in the UK today.
  • Develop performance benchmarks for IT projects and programs.
  • Identify key drivers of project performance.
  • Identify characteristics of successful project and program managers.
  • Identify best practices in enterprise-level management of project and program managers.
  • Anticipate emerging developments in project and program management.

Key issues covered by the research include:

  • The performance of projects and project managers.
  • The characteristics of project managers.
  • How organizations support project managers.
  • The changing nature of project management.

We found that project performance is better than has been previously thought. While the number of projects hitting all their targets remains low at 16%, the variance is much less than commonly supposed. Average overrun on budget is 18%; average overrun on schedule is 23%; average under achievement on scope/functionality is 7%. These figures suggest significant improvements are occurring.

The 82-page report is available for download at the site link above. A similar survey and analysis of US projects is expected to be completed in 2005.

Lessons Learned Review

Published on May 23, 2004 in Project. 0 Comments

Last week I participated in the completion of a client project. My role was PM coach, that is the client had an in-house employee as project manager who needed some mentoring and training with procedures and processes. Overall the project was a success, but there were some rocky moments. It was a planned 30 week project that was completed in 33 weeks. The problems were mainly weather related procurement delays. Costs were over by about 10 percent, mostly payroll and a few expedited shipping fees.

Whether you call it a close-out, a lessons-learned review, or a post-mortem, what you do after completing a project is the first step in the success of all future projects. It should bring together people from all parts of the organization — those who worked directly on the project to those responsible for budgets to transient personnel, vendors and contractors.

Many of the participants said the meeting would be a waste of time because the project was so successful, nothing to talk about. But it is a misconception thinking that lessons-learned reviews are only needed when something goes wrong. Actually the close-out process really starts at the beginning of the project when goals are established. If the goals are met, the post-mortem sets out to prove it; if the goals aren’t met, then it tries to discover what went wrong.

All said and done, I think my client learned about some issues with their procurement process and addressed corrective actions; finance people learned to look at some budget issues — and the budget of future projects; and the PM learned to continuously review the project — successful or not.

Our primary mode of learning is experience — making mistakes and learning from them. The close-out meeting must not only be based on acknowledging mistakes and correcting them, but acknowledging successes and rewarding them. Pizza and beer were consumed by all. On Monday each team member starts on a new project.

Do You Mind Map?

Published on May 19, 2004 in Process and Project. 1 Comment Tags: .

It’s great to visualize your ideas and one way is by drawing a map of all your thoughts. Mind mapping uses pictures, keywords and phrases to organize and develop thoughts in a non-linear fashion. It helps me “see” a problem and its solution. I use mind mapping when brainstorming, planning a project, organizing information or ideas, and preparing presentations and seminars.
Mind mapping can also be used to develop a product or process, solve a problem, and develop strategy. The key to its effective use in generating ideas and solving problems is to not necessarily think logically. That’s why mind mapping and brainstorming go hand in hand. If one idea triggers another, don’t try and analyze it, just mark it down on the mind map – the crazier the association, the better! That’s how the truly innovative solutions come.

While mind mapping can be done with a large piece of paper, a roll of paper actually, and many colored writing utensils, the computer has really made mapping much much easier. Ideas can be easily moved, colors changed, and images added quickly. I’ve worked with several versions of mind mapping software including Inspiration and MindMapper, and there are many more. But the one I find the easiest and most powerful is MindManager.

While I’m working with a project management client, I use mind mapping to plan projects and create a work breakdown structure. The biggest ROI I get from MindManager is time-savings. I can plan projects very quickly in a map view, export all the information into Project Kickstart or Microsoft Project, and I’m ready to go. I can also interface with PowerPoint, Word and Outlook.

Making connections that aren’t obvious or linear is the secret to how the minds of the world’s most creative people work. But it can be the hardest thing for most people to do – we tend to impose a “logical association” upon the ideas we connect. But this hinders innovation. It is a visual way of thinking that keeps the entire scope of what you’re thinking about in front of you. It also gives you a concise, effective way to communicate your ideas to others.