Bill Raymond at ProjectNation.net has created a wonderful 20-minute video on the History of Project Management. His site has several other videos on Microsoft Project and SharePoint. Enjoy and learn 
Tag Archive for 'PM'
An organization, be it a business, a school, a government agency, is a collection of processes. These processes are the natural activities you perform that produce value, serve customers and generate income. Managing these processes is the key to the success of your organization.
Unfortunately, most organizations are not set up to manage processes. Instead they manage tasks. Think about it. Isn’t your company organized around functions. . .the accounting department, the engineering department, the sales department, the customer service department?
As a result, people tend to focus on “local” concerns instead of the “global” needs of process customers. Sub-processes evolve within departments without consideration of other functional areas. Layers of communication and management are created to ensure desired outcomes, thereby adding to costs and lengthening cycle and customer response times.
Inefficiency and waste become part of the system. They rob your organization of profits, productivity and its competitive advantage. But, there is a way out.
Process mapping is a simple yet powerful method of looking beyond functional activities and rediscovering your core processes. Process maps enable you to peel away the complexity of your organizational structure (and internal politics) and focus on the processes that are truly the heart of your business. Armed with a thorough understanding of the inputs, outputs and interrelationships of each process, you and your organization can:
- Understand how processes interact in a system
- Locate process flaws that are creating systemic problems
- Evaluate which activities add value for the customer
- Mobilize teams to streamline and improve processes
- Identify processes that need to be reengineered
Properly used, process maps can change your entire approach to process improvement and business management. . .and greatly reduce the cost of your operations by eliminating as much as 50% of the steps in most processes as well as the root causes of systemic quality problems.
Do you, as a project manager, add value to your project? Do you add value to your company? If you’re a PM, I’m sure the answer is a resounding “YES!” Okay, now prove it.
So you say, “My last project came in on time and under budget.” How do you know it would not have been the same without you? Or maybe even more under budget since your salary would not have been there. How do you know the project would not have been completed sooner without all those meetings? So, unless you can undertake identical projects with and without a PM, you cannot come up with quantitative financial data defining a PM’s value….after the fact.
Here’s a report on the Value of PM from the Center of Business Practices. The only comment I’d make is that the survey is based on 100 responses from PM practitioners, of which 59% were project managers. That’s like asking Congress if politics is a good thing.
If you are in a company without project management initiatives, you may want to measure your financial, productivity, customer, and process metrics for a period of time before implementing PM procedures and processes. Then you may have some comparative data. Otherwise you may only have those “touchy-feely” kind of data, such as personal testimonials, anecdotes and “I just know it’s good.”
Thanks all for your thoughts and comments about this subject. If you would like a printable version, here is a PDF of 10 Reasons You’re Not Ready.
Let’s finish this up. . . . .
7. You’re the “Quiet One”
If you can’t step up in front of a large group and speak about your project’s finances, schedules and goals, you won’t make a good PM. Eloquence may not be essential, but you’ve got to be good on your feet. Regardless of deft negotiating and public speaking skills, a PM should have the confidence and expertise to weather any crowd. Join Toastmasters to learn some of these skills.
8. You’re Not a Leader
Without the intangible ability to lead – the mortar that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts – an aspiring PM will fall short of the mark. On a strategic level, PM’s excel in the areas you might expect, skillful negotiator, competent communicator, talent assessor, leader, team builder, and planner. I look for PM candidates who are results-driven, not process-driven. PM’s who are too inflexible about their procedures and reporting structures often allow those processes to turn into an end in themselves. That inflexibility not only stunts the project, but also shuts the door on the manager’s ability to rise to the next level. Successful PM’s see beyond the processes to prevent tomorrow’s problems.
9. You Don’t Know When to Stop
You can’t be afraid to stop a project if the original reasons for the project are no longer sound. What if you lose your sponsor or other important stakeholders? What if the ROI no longer merits this work? It is far better to terminate a project early than to push through to the end with a product that satisfies no one and has exceeded budgets dearly. If it is not going to work, stop it.
10. You’ve Stopped Learning
Although you may have a great deal of “book-learning,” project managers are forced to learn the hard way what causes project failure. Project managers need to be able to admit their errors, correct them, and avoid repeating them. Your education does not stop with your degree or certification – it’s only the beginning.
Achieving project success is more than simply enacting a methodology standard or carrying out a set of template-driven exercises. Success is achieved through the intelligent application of sound principles guided by experience. If this sounds like common sense, it is.
Knowing the rules won’t guarantee that you’ll rise to the top, but at least you won’t set up roadblocks for yourself along the way. Corporate politics is a game, first and foremost. Failure to play by the rules will almost always result in your being sidelined, no matter how good you are at your work. Prospective PM’s who don’t see it that way may simply not be ready.
Let’s continue on our trek. . . . .
3. You’ve got a Swelled Head
Dealing with stakeholders and corporate management requires self-assurance, but all too often, bright managers are cocky, strong-willed, and overconfident. Project managers with big egos tend to overlook little things, or things they deem insignificant. Swelled heads can lead to missed opportunities, when information about those “little things” ceases to flow through the project team.
Even well-intentioned managers can be hurt by their egos. The worst kind of arrogance is the type that covers up insecurities. Why? Managers with this particular failing, squirrel away information as a power play, releasing only half-truths or partial facts so they remain in control of their team – but again, leading to missed opportunities for the project and the company. And even worse, they have a hard time accepting blame or admitting errors.
4. You’ve got No “Heart”
Cowardly lions need not apply. Most executives have their fair share of basic integrity, but a project manager needs enough “heart” to stay the course under pressure.
To some extent, a PM’s job is to reign in their star performers. This fortitude to expose potential problems takes “managerial courage”; in other words, having the mettle to “do the right thing.” It’s more than just speaking up; it’s having the confidence to fix things, too.
5. You’re Too Content with the Status Quo
Letting things brew and dealing with them later is an approach best confined to a Starbuck’s Mocha Latte; it’s certainly not the mark of a successful project manager. Sometimes taking the initiative with a problem means stepping out of the manager’s role to become, for example, an estimator, a scheduler or WBS creator.
6. You Don’t Care Enough about Company Operations
Project managers have to understand what’s behind the numbers. They need to become counselors and advisors. Worthy PM candidates don’t view management as an isolated function, they see past the numbers to explore how a project can help usher in business improvements.
A prospective PM needs to dig into the lessons-learned from previous projects. If the manager is still learning about business, the learning curve is already too long. A PM candidate hoping to join the club should be more of a teacher than a student.
(I’ll finish up in a day or two)
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)
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.
Computerworld has an article, How to Pick a Project Team, which ties in with what was mentioned here a couple of days ago in the entry: PM Conflicts.
A great project team requires more than technical skills. It takes the right mix of “soft” skills, personalities and attitudes to gel and achieve results.
The sidebar, The ‘Whole Brain’ Team, describes individual workstyles that should be represented on your project team. Makes sense.
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. 
