Setting Personal Goals for 2006
Since the new year has begun, it is time to look at my goals from last year and make some changes. Last year's goals (listed in previous posting) have for the most part been carried over into this year, with some revisions. While goal setting is important, measuring progress towards achieving the goals is imperative. Some measures can only be gathered by asking others for feedback. I vow to solicit feedback from my peers and incorporate their comments into my behavior.
Be an effective listener
Plan each project with the end (deliverables) in mind
Conduct more face-to-face conversations
Lead by example
Evaluate criticism from others and use it to be a better project manager
Know that failures will occur and plan (or replan) accordingly
Be positive, enthusiastic, and supportive of others
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Project Management Strategies
We all need a strategy to succeed in life. In the project management world there are many different opinions regarding how to successfully manage a project. One of the most important things we need to do in project management is manage the expectations and relationships with our stakeholders. Some things to keep in mind to help us manage our stakeholders are:
Assess the culture (Is it supportive, what is the balance of power, what are the stakeholder attitudes)
Identify the goals of the stakeholders and sponsor (Are the goals realistic, attainable, communicated)
Assess our own capabilities and limitations (Are you politically savvy, respected, a good negotiator)
Define the problem (Define goals, risks, relationships)
Develop solutions (Create action plan, determine the right solution for the right time)
Test and refine the solutions (New learnings must be incorporated, replan, retool, rethink)
Assess the culture (Is it supportive, what is the balance of power, what are the stakeholder attitudes)
Identify the goals of the stakeholders and sponsor (Are the goals realistic, attainable, communicated)
Assess our own capabilities and limitations (Are you politically savvy, respected, a good negotiator)
Define the problem (Define goals, risks, relationships)
Develop solutions (Create action plan, determine the right solution for the right time)
Test and refine the solutions (New learnings must be incorporated, replan, retool, rethink)
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Final thoughts for 2005
As the year comes to a close, I thought it would be a good time to review my professinal goals for 2005, which I posted here at the beginning of the year. They were:
- Be a better listener
- Apply the principles of Earned Value to more of my projects
- Begin each project with the end (deliverables) in mind
- Rely less on e-mail and more on face-to-face conversations
- Be a better Project Leader
- Accept the fact that criticism from others is part of the project life cycle
- Be willing to accept failures and use them as learning experiences
- Believe that most people on your project team are doing the best they can do
- Be positive, enthusiastic, and supportive of others
I made good progress towards achieving some of the goals, but I need to work harder on some of the others. The only true measurement of my performance comes from my peers, management, and project stakeholders.
Looking back over 2005 I would sum up the year by saying it was at times frustrating, rewarding, confusing, challenging, but overall worth the time and effort. We probably all can agree that being a good project manager is difficult, however good is not enough. We must be great project managers is we are to be successful. The culture we work in will greatly impact just how good or great we will be, however we are ultimately the ones that determine our own success.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Dr. Kerzner's 16 Points to PM Maturity
Have you heard of Dr. Kerzner? If not, you must be new to project management. One of my Project Management books is written by Dr. Kerzner - Project Management - A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling. If you don't have this book in your library, get it. If you are new to project management you will find his book to be an invaluable reference. You can purchase a copy of his book from Amazon.com by clicking the link above.
One of the things I find valuable that Dr. Kerzner created is his "16 Points to Project Management Maturity". They are listed below and discussed in the book mentioned above.
1. Adopt a project management methodology and use it consistently
2. Implement a philosophy that drives the company toward project management maturity and communicate to everyone
3. Commit to developing effective plans at the beginning of each project
4. Minimize scope changes by committing to realistic objectives
5. Recognize that cost and schedule management are inseparable
6. Select the right person as project manager
7. Provide executives with project sponsor information, not project management information
8. Strenghten involvement and support of line management
9. Focus on deliverable rather than resources
10. Cultivate effective communication, cooperation, and trust to achieve rapid project management maturity
11. Share recognition for project success with the entire project team and line management
12. Eliminate non-productive meetings
13. Focus on identifying and solving problems early, quickly, and cost effectively
14. Measure progress periodically
15. Use project management software as a tool - not as a subsitute for effective planning or interpersonal skills
16. Institute an all-employee training program with periodic updates based upon documented lessons learned
Until next time...
Stephen F. Seay, PMP
One of the things I find valuable that Dr. Kerzner created is his "16 Points to Project Management Maturity". They are listed below and discussed in the book mentioned above.
1. Adopt a project management methodology and use it consistently
2. Implement a philosophy that drives the company toward project management maturity and communicate to everyone
3. Commit to developing effective plans at the beginning of each project
4. Minimize scope changes by committing to realistic objectives
5. Recognize that cost and schedule management are inseparable
6. Select the right person as project manager
7. Provide executives with project sponsor information, not project management information
8. Strenghten involvement and support of line management
9. Focus on deliverable rather than resources
10. Cultivate effective communication, cooperation, and trust to achieve rapid project management maturity
11. Share recognition for project success with the entire project team and line management
12. Eliminate non-productive meetings
13. Focus on identifying and solving problems early, quickly, and cost effectively
14. Measure progress periodically
15. Use project management software as a tool - not as a subsitute for effective planning or interpersonal skills
16. Institute an all-employee training program with periodic updates based upon documented lessons learned
Until next time...
Stephen F. Seay, PMP
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Paradoxes of Project Management
In Tom Peter's book "Liberation Management", (Peters, Tom. Liberation Management. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1992) he talks about the paradoxes of project management. In the book Tom outlines a few things we need to keep in mind when managing our projects.
Total Ego versus No Ego - On the one hand, project managers must be consumed by the project before them. On the other hand, they must have almost no ego. They deal with many outsiders and insiders whom they can hardly command. This means the project manager must take a smaller share of the credit for accomplishments and give a larger share of the credit to other participants.
Autocrat versus Delegator - When the chips are down, the project manager must issue orders fast. At the same time, the project managers must turn ownership over to the contributors.
Leader versus Manager - Effective project managers must match their passion for inspiring others with a passion for the grubby nuts and bolts of doing the job.
Oral versus Written Communication - Communicating orally and on the run comes easily to effective project managers. But, the must also be masters of the detailed plan and the daily checklist.
Complexity versus Simplicity - Nothing is more complex than dealing with a sophisticated, multi-organization project. The effective project manager must juggle, sometimes for years, hundreds of balls of differing and ever-changing shapes, sizes, and colors. On the other hand, the project manager must be adept at keeping it simple.
Big versus Small - Project managers must appreciate forests and trees equally. They must be able to see the relationship of the small to the big and the big to the small, and do so at every moment simultaneously.
Patience versus impatience - Smart, independent leaders spend lots of time on relationship building and networking. This is a s important as pushing project participants for action.
As long-time readers of this blog know, I value the insight of Tom Peters. I believe he hit the nail right on the head in regard to a Project Manager's behavior when managing projects.
Until next time...
Total Ego versus No Ego - On the one hand, project managers must be consumed by the project before them. On the other hand, they must have almost no ego. They deal with many outsiders and insiders whom they can hardly command. This means the project manager must take a smaller share of the credit for accomplishments and give a larger share of the credit to other participants.
Autocrat versus Delegator - When the chips are down, the project manager must issue orders fast. At the same time, the project managers must turn ownership over to the contributors.
Leader versus Manager - Effective project managers must match their passion for inspiring others with a passion for the grubby nuts and bolts of doing the job.
Oral versus Written Communication - Communicating orally and on the run comes easily to effective project managers. But, the must also be masters of the detailed plan and the daily checklist.
Complexity versus Simplicity - Nothing is more complex than dealing with a sophisticated, multi-organization project. The effective project manager must juggle, sometimes for years, hundreds of balls of differing and ever-changing shapes, sizes, and colors. On the other hand, the project manager must be adept at keeping it simple.
Big versus Small - Project managers must appreciate forests and trees equally. They must be able to see the relationship of the small to the big and the big to the small, and do so at every moment simultaneously.
Patience versus impatience - Smart, independent leaders spend lots of time on relationship building and networking. This is a s important as pushing project participants for action.
As long-time readers of this blog know, I value the insight of Tom Peters. I believe he hit the nail right on the head in regard to a Project Manager's behavior when managing projects.
Until next time...
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Lessons Learned?
Capturing lessons learned at the end of a project is important. My problem has always been how do I archive the learnings for use in the future? Post implementation meetings are good for capturing lessons learned, but outside of the team members that attend the meeting where does this knowledge go? How can it be used in the future? Where and how should it be stored?
One idea I read about related to how Boeing maintains diaries of lessons learned from each airplane project. I wonder how these diaries are accessed and utilized on future projects? Are they searchable, indexed by topic, etc...
If anybody reading this has ideas, let me know and I will publish them here.
Until next time...
Monday, November 14, 2005
Quality Revisited
Quality Revisited
Most of you know that this blog deals with the basics of Project Management. For this week’s blog we will talk a little about Quality in Project Management. Quality is a heavily tested knowledge area on the PMP exam and as such we should all be familiar with the subject.
According to Philip B. Crosby, Quality is “conformance to requirements”. He goes on to state the Four Absolutes of Quality as:
Another Quality Guru is Joseph Juran. He states that “Quality is fitness for use”. He also defines something called the Quality Trilogy. It is:
Juran also goes on to define the “Ten Steps in the Quality Improvement Process”. They are:
Lastly, we look at what Dr. W. Edwards Deming says about Quality. According to Dr. Deming, Quality is “continuous improvement through reduced variation”. His five principles are:
Do the above statements reflect the situation in your work environment? Is your management engaged in Quality? Are they hands-on, hands-off, or asleep at the switch?
Quality is everyone’s job; however Quality cannot be managed with out the participation of management. I would even be so bold to say that “poor quality equals poor management”.
Most of you know that this blog deals with the basics of Project Management. For this week’s blog we will talk a little about Quality in Project Management. Quality is a heavily tested knowledge area on the PMP exam and as such we should all be familiar with the subject.
According to Philip B. Crosby, Quality is “conformance to requirements”. He goes on to state the Four Absolutes of Quality as:
- The definition of quality is conformance to requirements
- The system of quality is prevention
- The performance standard is zero defects
- The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance.
Another Quality Guru is Joseph Juran. He states that “Quality is fitness for use”. He also defines something called the Quality Trilogy. It is:
- Quality Improvement
- Quality Planning
- Quality Control
Juran also goes on to define the “Ten Steps in the Quality Improvement Process”. They are:
- Build awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement
- Set goals for improvement
- Organize to reach the goals
- Provide training throughout the organization
- Carry out the projects to solve problems
- Report progress
- Give recognition
- Communicate results
- Keep score
- Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the regular systems and processes of the company.
Lastly, we look at what Dr. W. Edwards Deming says about Quality. According to Dr. Deming, Quality is “continuous improvement through reduced variation”. His five principles are:
- The central problem in lack of quality is the failure of management to understand variation.
- It is management’s responsibility to know whether the problems are in the system or behavior of people.
- Teamwork should be based upon knowledge, design, and redesign. Constant improvement is management’s responsibility. Most causes of low quality and productivity belong to the system.
- Train people until they are achieving as much as they can (within the limits of the system).
- It is management’s responsibility to give detailed specifications.
Do the above statements reflect the situation in your work environment? Is your management engaged in Quality? Are they hands-on, hands-off, or asleep at the switch?
Quality is everyone’s job; however Quality cannot be managed with out the participation of management. I would even be so bold to say that “poor quality equals poor management”.