I really do not like meetings. For the most part, I find my time would be better spent doing other things. As project managers, we will be involved in meetings. When we call a meeting we need to ensure that the meeting has an agenda and that meeting minutes are taken.
I find that one of the things that is usually missing from larger meetings is a good facilitator. As a project manager that has called a meeting it is usually best if you have a person (other than yourself) designated as a meeting facilitator.
A Facilitator is: one who brings organization and process to the meeting so attendees are able to interact effectively and make sound business decisions. They enable good meeting habits and support the group to achieve exceptional outcomes.
A Facilitator provides leadership without taking control. They get others to assume responsibility and help them to participate and lead effectively.
Facilitators should:
Assist the group to identify goals and objectives around the meeting topic
Help identify attendee needs
Guide discussions to keep them focused on the agenda
Ensure assumptions are brought out and discussed
Guide the group to consensus on issues by ensuring all attendees are heard
Use tools and processes to ensure the meeting is run efficiently and good decisions are made
Lead brainstorming sessions
Help attendees to assess their skills and assist them in building new skills to support the meeting's objectives
A good facilitator can bring clarity and focus to a meeting. There are many resources on the internet, and there are many good books on the subject. Effective meetings help to build effective outcomes. Ineffective meetings can be seen as time-wasters and can alienate some of the people you need the most.
Make sure your meetings are efficient and effective. One way to do this is to survey meeting attendees to gather feedback.
Until next time…
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
Strategic MRO and Asset Management
I just returned from a conference entitled MRO-World. The purpose of the conference was to enhance learning around activities that support Asset Management and the Maintenance, Repair, and Operation (MRO) of those assets. How does this fit in with Project Management? As we all know, Operational activities are focused on maintaining, while Project activities are focused on change. Having said that, Operations activities still have change that needs to be managed.
Strategic MRO is composed of business processes, and is not meant to be an activity management mechanism. Strategic MRO is focused on managing change and continuous improvement in regards to a company's assets. Where I work, we have Strategic Assets that must work nearly 100% of the time. Our systems consist of Water Distribution, Waste Water Treatment, Storm Water Management, Land Fill Operations, Roads, Traffic Control, IT Systems, etc. How these assets are maintained, repaired, and operated can have a huge impact on the bottom line.
In my opinion Project Management can help in the implementation of software to manage assets, in helping scheduling the work to support the MRO of the assets (preventative maintenance for example) , and additionally through communicating the status of critical work and changes to assets going on in the Enterprise.
Part of any organization's responsibilities is to manage their assets to maximize their value. To do this they must:
Define the current state of the asset
Determine the future asset state objectives
Perform a gap analysis between the current and future states
Develop a prioritized task list of what needs to be done to close the gaps
This sounds a lot like project management to me. As I said, I will be doing more research in this area and will report my findings here. As always I welcome your feedback.
Strategic MRO is composed of business processes, and is not meant to be an activity management mechanism. Strategic MRO is focused on managing change and continuous improvement in regards to a company's assets. Where I work, we have Strategic Assets that must work nearly 100% of the time. Our systems consist of Water Distribution, Waste Water Treatment, Storm Water Management, Land Fill Operations, Roads, Traffic Control, IT Systems, etc. How these assets are maintained, repaired, and operated can have a huge impact on the bottom line.
In my opinion Project Management can help in the implementation of software to manage assets, in helping scheduling the work to support the MRO of the assets (preventative maintenance for example) , and additionally through communicating the status of critical work and changes to assets going on in the Enterprise.
Part of any organization's responsibilities is to manage their assets to maximize their value. To do this they must:
Define the current state of the asset
Determine the future asset state objectives
Perform a gap analysis between the current and future states
Develop a prioritized task list of what needs to be done to close the gaps
This sounds a lot like project management to me. As I said, I will be doing more research in this area and will report my findings here. As always I welcome your feedback.
Monday, July 11, 2005
What is a Project?
As the readers of this blog know, I try to cover the basics of Project Management. As project managers, we get in trouble when we try to complicate things. In my career, I have worked for many different types and sizes of organizations. Some have embraced Project Management and others have made excuses so as not to be constrained by what they believe is a process that slows things down (adds cost and overhead). I have preached the same message for years. Project Management is designed to help reduce or eliminate rework and surprises at the end of a project.
So why don’t some organizations see the value of Project Management? Usually it is because they do not understand the benefits of Project Management, they do not trust the Project Managers they currently have, or the ones they have encountered in the past. OK, we can accept that, however, what we should never accept is the idea that Project Management just adds cost and overhead.
We need to educate those around us about the difference between projects and other organizational work. Senior management needs to realize the fact that work is basically broken down into two areas: Operations (focused on Maintaining) and Projects (focused on Change). Most organizations do an adequate job of managing their operations; however, my experience (limited as it is) has shown that projects and the support of project management vary greatly.
Every organization has projects; sometimes they are just too busy to realize it. As project managers, we need to keep fighting the good fight of educating the influencers in our organizations about the benefits of Project Management. In addition, we need to realize that the benefits of Project Management are demonstrated in the successful implementation of projects. Do not preach the benefits of Project Management; demonstrate them by walking the walk and talking the talk.
Therefore, to answer our central question and wrap this up, a project is:
A temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service
Unique
Constrained by a finite budget
Constrained by a finite timeline (defined start and end date)
Composed of interrelated activities
Focused on attaining one or more clearly defined objectives
The last point needs to be stressed. Without clearly defined and agreed upon objectives your project is doomed to fail from the start. I would also add that your project does not have a chance for success unless you have an engaged, influential, and respected executive in the role of project sponsor.
So why don’t some organizations see the value of Project Management? Usually it is because they do not understand the benefits of Project Management, they do not trust the Project Managers they currently have, or the ones they have encountered in the past. OK, we can accept that, however, what we should never accept is the idea that Project Management just adds cost and overhead.
We need to educate those around us about the difference between projects and other organizational work. Senior management needs to realize the fact that work is basically broken down into two areas: Operations (focused on Maintaining) and Projects (focused on Change). Most organizations do an adequate job of managing their operations; however, my experience (limited as it is) has shown that projects and the support of project management vary greatly.
Every organization has projects; sometimes they are just too busy to realize it. As project managers, we need to keep fighting the good fight of educating the influencers in our organizations about the benefits of Project Management. In addition, we need to realize that the benefits of Project Management are demonstrated in the successful implementation of projects. Do not preach the benefits of Project Management; demonstrate them by walking the walk and talking the talk.
Therefore, to answer our central question and wrap this up, a project is:
A temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service
Unique
Constrained by a finite budget
Constrained by a finite timeline (defined start and end date)
Composed of interrelated activities
Focused on attaining one or more clearly defined objectives
The last point needs to be stressed. Without clearly defined and agreed upon objectives your project is doomed to fail from the start. I would also add that your project does not have a chance for success unless you have an engaged, influential, and respected executive in the role of project sponsor.