The trend I keep seeing in IT is to hire people in Project Management roles who are hands on technical gurus or know a lot about a particular product or package. This appalling practice will always ensures project failure. To start a project without PM skills and experience in place is like entering the PGA without having basic golf lessons or a proven handicap.
A project manager who is a doer as well as a manager has a conflict of interest, and is a contradiction in terms. Executive management may “think” they get a bargain by merging the roles; in reality they set themselves up for failure.
I hope one day the IT industry will recognize this and start producing some value.
Related stories: Paper PMP and Paper PMP Redux
The Apprentice has finally been chosen and overall I think business students and business practitioners had a lot to see over the last 3 months. There was much to observe on project management, group dynamics, personnel issues, and strategy. And yes, the one thing that I know Kwame has learned, employees can screw you.
If it wasn’t for Omarosa, I think Kwame would have won. But that’s 20/20 hindsight. Here’s some sites to give you interesting perspectives:
I started watching the show thinking it would be pretty stupid. But when Mr. Trump started talking about project managers and teams, I was caught up, watching each week and enjoying the show. We’ll see if the novelty wears off next fall for Apprentice 2. It will also be interesting to keep tabs on Bill Rancic over the next 12 months to see if his project management skills work on a $1 billion Trump Tower in Chicago!
It’s not over yet, but now that there are only 4 contestants remaining. we’re done with “project” work and looking for individual talent. So after 12 projects, 5 PM’s got the ax versus 7 team members. So I’ve learned that good project managers know how to deflect blame for project bungling. Review it all at the Apprentice recap site. I’ll ice the cake after the last show.
Remember a few weeks ago when I ranted about Paper PMP’s? Well I received in the mail today a 14-page advertisement that claims:
“You’re learning in a few hours what it took a successful project management professional over 38 years to learn!”
Yes that’s right. In a 15-hour home study course I could get a career’s worth of learning. Damn! Why did I waste all that schoolin’ time? But then again, a mere child could never pick up
“A thick, 4.5 pound, jam-packed, 415 page reference manual”
Makes your dreams and goals seem worthless since you can just look up what the next 40 years of your career is going to bring.
I haven’t seen nor read this manual, nor have I listened to the accompanying 16 CD’s. I’m sure it is comprehensive and provides plenty of information. For $1,100.00 it better! I guess I’m disheartened by the claims and the marketing effort. Do you really think reading a manual and listening to seminars will bring you up to par with someone who’s worked at it for 38 years? C’mon now, will I really
“discover how to increase my income, get the respect I deserve and control my destiny?”
Isn’t that laying it on a little thick? Even thicker than the manual itself? What you’re really paying for is
“Learn the secrets of how to pass the PMP exam with ease on your very first try. 94% of the students pass the very first time they take it!”
Here’s another claim that sounds hockey:
“This offer is going out to 4,842 people but only 64 copies of the course are available at this special price.”
Boy pity those 6% who failed. But, with a 365 day money-back guarantee, maybe they got their $1,100 back to pay for the $500 failed exam. 
Published on
March 17, 2004 in
Project.
Tags: PM.
I just finished giving a 2-day seminar on Project Management Methodologies for Service Organizations. It’s a customized presentation that I tailor to the client’s needs. The company wanted to get their engineers into a PM frame of mind. There were 6 systems engineers who were making the move into project management.
I enjoyed it because the engineers were active, interested and very inquisitive. When it was all said and done, one of the engineers asks, “So, can you summarize what I’m supposed to take away with me today?” We had gone through quite a lot of details, so I thought I’d cast a wide net and came up with a Top-5 list:
- First and foremost, if your strategy is correct, any number of tactical errors can be made and yet the project proves successful. No doubt about it, not everything runs smoothly or as planned. Be ready to change your tactics when striving for your goal.
- Second and third, communicate and communicate again. OK, so I cheated. This one takes up two spaces on my 5 item list because it is so important. Communication can take place many ways including face-to-face, by phone, fax, email, or meetings. It is important to know that 90% of a PM’s time is spent communicating!
- Fourth, don’t wait until the end of the project to review the lessons learned. While every project will have a “post mortem” analysis, a great PM will review and learn from every tactical move performed during the project. The lessons learned will then be used in the next task.
- And finally, keep a cool head. Missed deadlines, out-of-control budgets, employee turnover and stakeholder scrutiny; It can be difficult to get the feelings of “impending doom” out of your head. It’s natural with the PM’s level of exposure to feel like your nerves are being tested; to wonder how you’re going to handle your own anxieties. Remember the project’s goal and continue to work towards that goal.
I’m keeping track of how many project managers get fired versus team members. The score after 10 weeks: 4 PM’s vs. 6 team members. With only 6 potential Trump executives left, I believe we are seeing the influence of personalities play a much larger role in who gets fired. Check my previous comments and the official Apprentice recap site.
Open casting calls for The Apprentice 2 begin this week around the country. For northeast Ohio they are holding interviews at the Cleveland NBC affiliate, WKYC-TV3, on Saturday, March 27th at 9AM. Here’s the application rules and requirements. You won’t have to go through a physical and psychoanalysis until you are a semi-finalist.
So you’ve got all your numbers together, a plan written, schedule laid out and it’s time to begin the project. Before you start, you need to make sure you can answer 10 questions:
- How will you know you are done?
- What activities and deliverables are NOT included?
- What assumptions are you making about the project team?
- What assumptions are you making about the actions of others?
- How did you derive the total effort?
- How did you derive the total schedule?
- How did you determine the correct allocation of effort and time between tasks?
- What would be the cost impact of accelerating the schedule by 25%?
- What are the risk factors that would cause the schedule to slip or the costs to overrun?
- What metrics will we use to quantify and track progress?
Make sure you can answer all the questions before starting implementation. Successful projects are not successful because they did not run into problems, but because they anticipated the problems and overcame them.
Published on
March 13, 2004 in
Project.
Tags: PM.
Ninety percent of a PMs job is communicating — with stakeholders, designers, vendors, team members, press, accountants — about the project. So why are so many surprised when they first hear of a schedule slipping? Often communications protocol with a client takes a hiatus because the PM does not want to upset the client, nor strain the relationship.
In an article on StickyMinds.com called Bread Crumbs, Peter Clark explains a strategy of leaving a trail of communications so as not to increase risks of the project for your customer, as well as to CYA.
A common project problem is customer/stakeholder unresponsiveness. Meetings are missed, specifications are not reviewed, and drawings are not approved. This traps the project in the fuzzy front end, and leads to schedule pressure. If the initial project milestones take longer than planned, there will be even less time for future milestones, which has a direct impact on the project’s cost and schedule.
Published on
February 29, 2004 in
Project.
Being a management consultant, I get to work on interesting projects with interesting people formulating interesting solutions. And when I’m finished, the problem, department or company is better than when we started. I get to say what I think –most people appreciate it– and get paid for it.
It seems, recently, a lot of people with little or no experience have been made responsible for projects that will determine their own, as well as their company’s future. Maybe you think you’re going to save money, or maybe you think since someone was a great technician they’ll be a great PM. If you’ve got the time and money go ahead and try the trial and error process. But, I recommend you hire a consultant or interim manager to help you through the change process. Sure I’d like you to hire my company, but if not, hire someone, either full or part time, to mentor and watch over what these new managers or project leaders are doing.
The focus is on IT, but Computerworld has issued their Project Management Special Report. Some interesting articles, information and ideas. There’s even a short quiz so that you can Evaluate your PMO.
These are challenging times for IT project managers. The business wants new systems built yesterday to meet customer demands. IT projects have to be run through the ROI gauntlet and get intense scrutiny from all corners of the company. Business conditions change midproject.
But taking shortcuts can lead to project failure, which isn’t good for the business or IT credibility. So IT projects are caught between the need for speed and flexibility on one hand, and the need to follow a disciplined, successful methodology on the other.
