Don’t believe everything you are told about a potential project’s benefits. Investigate for yourself and plan accordingly.
Don’t take on a project that doesn’t have a strong sponsor that is committed to seeing the project succeed.
Don't forget that most project assumptions should also be risks.
Don't set project expectations that are higher than reality can deliver.
Don't try to define reality too early in the project planning phase.
Don’t define solutions that do not address needs.
Don’t forget to manage customer expectations.
Don’t forget to thank your team members for the good job they are doing.
Don’t be a whiner. A leader never whines and a whiner never leads.
Don’t forget that leaders need to have credibility.
Don’t forget that credibility requires honesty, dedication, commitment, and capability.
Don’t forget that people are the number one reason for project failure.
Don’t forget that empowering teams is a management function.
Don’t allow others to influence your attitude. Be positive in the face of adversity.
Don’t forget to have fun while working on your projects.
Don’t forget that Project Management is mostly art and some science.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Four Project Principles - Don't believe the Hype!
As I was reminded recently, it is always good to go back to the basics of what you know when confronted with issues that seem overwhelming.
Here are four basic Project Principles and some of my ideas regarding what to watch out for when managing your projects. As always, I welcome your feedback.
E-mail me at sfseay@yahoo.com
(1) Projects are often constrained from the start (Initiation Phase) by a fixed, finite budget and defined timeline. In other words, many projects have budgets that have strictly defined constraints and a timeline with a set start and end date. This is obvious to all project managers, however what is not so obvious is many times these budget and timelines are not sufficient (or realistic) to accomplish the project’s objectives. From the start, ensure the project sponsor is aware that budget and timelines may need to be renegotiated as project planning progresses.
(2) Projects can have many complex and interrelated activities that need to be coordinated so that proper organizational resources can be applied at the proper time. The big thing to watch out for here is "proper organizational resources". While you may not have input on which resources you get for your project, you do have input on the project’s estimates and schedule. Do not allow others to dictate unrealistic schedules or estimates for resources that are unproven, unreliable or untested.
(3) Projects are directed toward the attainment of a clearly defined objective(s) and once they are achieved, the project is over. Yea, right! Not all projects have clearly defined objectives, and if they do, they are not always achievable given the budget, time, and organizational constraints. Not only that, your organization’s culture can be a huge impediment to successfully managing your project. Be very careful when accepting a new project to ensure you are not being setup to fail. Do not accept projects with unclear or unrealistic objectives.
(4) Projects are unique. Because they are unique, the risks are great and failure is always an option. Minimize the risks by informing your sponsor that until you are finished with your initial project planning activities you may not be able to provide realistic budget and time estimates. Once you have completed your initial project planning activities, (project planning is continuous) provide your sponsor with an estimated budget and time range, and remind him or her that as planning progresses these ranges will be adjusted to closer reflect reality.
Here are four basic Project Principles and some of my ideas regarding what to watch out for when managing your projects. As always, I welcome your feedback.
E-mail me at sfseay@yahoo.com
(1) Projects are often constrained from the start (Initiation Phase) by a fixed, finite budget and defined timeline. In other words, many projects have budgets that have strictly defined constraints and a timeline with a set start and end date. This is obvious to all project managers, however what is not so obvious is many times these budget and timelines are not sufficient (or realistic) to accomplish the project’s objectives. From the start, ensure the project sponsor is aware that budget and timelines may need to be renegotiated as project planning progresses.
(2) Projects can have many complex and interrelated activities that need to be coordinated so that proper organizational resources can be applied at the proper time. The big thing to watch out for here is "proper organizational resources". While you may not have input on which resources you get for your project, you do have input on the project’s estimates and schedule. Do not allow others to dictate unrealistic schedules or estimates for resources that are unproven, unreliable or untested.
(3) Projects are directed toward the attainment of a clearly defined objective(s) and once they are achieved, the project is over. Yea, right! Not all projects have clearly defined objectives, and if they do, they are not always achievable given the budget, time, and organizational constraints. Not only that, your organization’s culture can be a huge impediment to successfully managing your project. Be very careful when accepting a new project to ensure you are not being setup to fail. Do not accept projects with unclear or unrealistic objectives.
(4) Projects are unique. Because they are unique, the risks are great and failure is always an option. Minimize the risks by informing your sponsor that until you are finished with your initial project planning activities you may not be able to provide realistic budget and time estimates. Once you have completed your initial project planning activities, (project planning is continuous) provide your sponsor with an estimated budget and time range, and remind him or her that as planning progresses these ranges will be adjusted to closer reflect reality.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Strategic Planning and Other Myths
Are your completed projects adding value to the organization? Was an ROI calculated for the project during or prior to Project Initiation? Did the project benefits ever come to fruition?
Virtually all projects - unless mandated by law or born out of technical or business necessity - should either reduce costs or increase efficiency. One way to ensure the organization will be working on the right projects at the right time is to involve the executives up front in aligning, prioritizing, and ranking proposed projects, and then ensuring they link to the Strategic Plan. If the proposed projects do not align to your organizations strategic goals then they should not be undertaken.
If your organization is good at Strategic Planning, you can avoid many of the traps that plague most organizations.
Poor Strategic Planning Traits:
There is no formal document that links the organization's projects to the organization’s strategic goals and plan.
Senior Management is not engaged in strategic planning, which leads to complaining later about how long it takes to get projects completed and frustration over why certain projects were cancelled or not started.
Projects are started without enough resources or have poorly qualified resources assigned to them.
Many projects that are completed do not achieve any improvements and actually end up costing the organization more money than if they had not undertaken the project.
Project priorities continually change, and resources are always in flux or in conflict with competing organizational needs
Project Managers have low morale and are pessimistic about achieving their project objectives
Executives have set measures that relate to their silos, which can conflict with what is best for the organization
Business plans ignore systems that are broken or in need or repair/replacement
Poor strategic planning almost always leads to undertaking wasteful projects. Even a good strategic plan will not be successful if the organization does not have the right people, tools, and data in place to support the organization's goals.
Virtually all projects - unless mandated by law or born out of technical or business necessity - should either reduce costs or increase efficiency. One way to ensure the organization will be working on the right projects at the right time is to involve the executives up front in aligning, prioritizing, and ranking proposed projects, and then ensuring they link to the Strategic Plan. If the proposed projects do not align to your organizations strategic goals then they should not be undertaken.
If your organization is good at Strategic Planning, you can avoid many of the traps that plague most organizations.
Poor Strategic Planning Traits:
There is no formal document that links the organization's projects to the organization’s strategic goals and plan.
Senior Management is not engaged in strategic planning, which leads to complaining later about how long it takes to get projects completed and frustration over why certain projects were cancelled or not started.
Projects are started without enough resources or have poorly qualified resources assigned to them.
Many projects that are completed do not achieve any improvements and actually end up costing the organization more money than if they had not undertaken the project.
Project priorities continually change, and resources are always in flux or in conflict with competing organizational needs
Project Managers have low morale and are pessimistic about achieving their project objectives
Executives have set measures that relate to their silos, which can conflict with what is best for the organization
Business plans ignore systems that are broken or in need or repair/replacement
Poor strategic planning almost always leads to undertaking wasteful projects. Even a good strategic plan will not be successful if the organization does not have the right people, tools, and data in place to support the organization's goals.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Project Management Websites
Today's posting includes some hyperlinks to a few Project Management websites. I use these sites on occasion and they all have something of value for the Project Manager. On a side note, some of the sites are government related, technology related, or process oriented.
In many cases you may need to do a search on "Project Management" to find what you are looking for.
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Minnesota Office of Technology
PM Boulevard
GanttHead
TenStep Project Management Process
American Society for the Advancement of Project Management
Florida State Technology Office
Tech Republic
Software Program Manager's Network
In many cases you may need to do a search on "Project Management" to find what you are looking for.
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Minnesota Office of Technology
PM Boulevard
GanttHead
TenStep Project Management Process
American Society for the Advancement of Project Management
Florida State Technology Office
Tech Republic
Software Program Manager's Network
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Good, Short Article on Project Failure
Click here for a good article on Project Failure. I would also add that your Project Management Processes, if poorly designed, can be a contributing factor in project failure.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Stupid Things Project Managers (and others) Say!
Quality Planning is only concerned about the number of bugs/problems in the final product.
The delivery date is going to slip because we have learned about new requirements.
Projects are always late and over budget. We shouldn't worry.
We can't predict our final costs because the requirements are changing.
The estimate is in line with management expectations.
Our schedule is good because we used a project-scheduling tool.
We can always add people to meet the deadline.
We are behind schedule because the customer can't make up their minds.
We can cut our testing time to make the delivery date.
Good people make up for bad processes.
Our process is good because it is repeatable.
If they quit we can quickly hire someone to take their place.
We don't involve the people doing the work in estimating because that will increase costs. Besides, they will just inflate/pad their estimates.
Using a Tool is not a Risk.
The sooner we begin coding the more successful we will be.
We will save more by reusing code, not architecture.
We will worry about the cost of maintenance later. There is no time now.
If it doesn't work we will fix it when we have time.
We don't need to document because we put comments in our code.
Technical people don't like to write documentation and we shouldn't insist that they do. Besides, they are terrible writers.
You can't blame the Project Manager. How were they supposed to know?
All of the problems we have been having our's fault.
Trust me; we will deliver everything you want on time and at or under budget.
I think you get the idea. As Project Managers, we were hired to tell the truth and include the good, the bad, and the ugly in our status reports. Sugar coating project issues and problems for management will only get us in trouble later. Don't make excuses. Use status reports, e-mail, voice mail, and most importantly face-to-face meetings to relay project status. Don't be afraid to deliver bad news. Just make sure when you present management with issues and problems with your project you have a plan to get it back on track.
Be Responsible, take Ownership, and most importantly, be Trustworthy.
The delivery date is going to slip because we have learned about new requirements.
Projects are always late and over budget. We shouldn't worry.
We can't predict our final costs because the requirements are changing.
The estimate is in line with management expectations.
Our schedule is good because we used a project-scheduling tool.
We can always add people to meet the deadline.
We are behind schedule because the customer can't make up their minds.
We can cut our testing time to make the delivery date.
Good people make up for bad processes.
Our process is good because it is repeatable.
If they quit we can quickly hire someone to take their place.
We don't involve the people doing the work in estimating because that will increase costs. Besides, they will just inflate/pad their estimates.
Using a Tool is not a Risk.
The sooner we begin coding the more successful we will be.
We will save more by reusing code, not architecture.
We will worry about the cost of maintenance later. There is no time now.
If it doesn't work we will fix it when we have time.
We don't need to document because we put comments in our code.
Technical people don't like to write documentation and we shouldn't insist that they do. Besides, they are terrible writers.
You can't blame the Project Manager. How were they supposed to know?
All of the problems we have been having our
Trust me; we will deliver everything you want on time and at or under budget.
I think you get the idea. As Project Managers, we were hired to tell the truth and include the good, the bad, and the ugly in our status reports. Sugar coating project issues and problems for management will only get us in trouble later. Don't make excuses. Use status reports, e-mail, voice mail, and most importantly face-to-face meetings to relay project status. Don't be afraid to deliver bad news. Just make sure when you present management with issues and problems with your project you have a plan to get it back on track.
Be Responsible, take Ownership, and most importantly, be Trustworthy.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Constructive Behavior
Many of us deal with difficult people using the age-old adage of an "eye for an eye". If we are snubbed, we ignore the other person. If we are disrespected, we in turn show disrespect. If someone cheats us, we cheat them. This mentality is not only self-destructive, but is damaging to the career of a project manager.
When we reciprocate with bad behavior against another, nothing is resolved. By reverting to negative behavior we have fallen into a lose/lose relationship where nobody wins, and we do as much damage to ourselves as we perceive we do to others. What can we do when we feel bombarded by the negative attacks? There are several things we can do to avoid the trap of reciprocating rudeness with rudeness.
I suggest that you read a couple of books I have found to be enlightening. The first is Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and the other is "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders. Both books offer powerful insight into the human condition and more importantly offer critical advice you can use everyday in all of your relationships.
Some things to be aware of when dealing with others:
Be aware of the Perceptions others hold about you
Keep a balance between your Emotions and your Actions
Seek first to Understand, then be Understood (Stephen Covey Habit)
Be an Active Listener
Diagnose before prescribing
Consult with others you trust before making important decisions
Be Trustworthy
Don't Coerce, but Persuade
Accept the fact that some people will just be Unreasonable
Be the Solution, not the Problem
The best times in life and the worst times are usually tied to our relationships. Do not be a victim of your relationships, but an example of how others should act.
When we reciprocate with bad behavior against another, nothing is resolved. By reverting to negative behavior we have fallen into a lose/lose relationship where nobody wins, and we do as much damage to ourselves as we perceive we do to others. What can we do when we feel bombarded by the negative attacks? There are several things we can do to avoid the trap of reciprocating rudeness with rudeness.
I suggest that you read a couple of books I have found to be enlightening. The first is Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and the other is "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders. Both books offer powerful insight into the human condition and more importantly offer critical advice you can use everyday in all of your relationships.
Some things to be aware of when dealing with others:
Be aware of the Perceptions others hold about you
Keep a balance between your Emotions and your Actions
Seek first to Understand, then be Understood (Stephen Covey Habit)
Be an Active Listener
Diagnose before prescribing
Consult with others you trust before making important decisions
Be Trustworthy
Don't Coerce, but Persuade
Accept the fact that some people will just be Unreasonable
Be the Solution, not the Problem
The best times in life and the worst times are usually tied to our relationships. Do not be a victim of your relationships, but an example of how others should act.