Projectsteps End of Year Tips, Hints, and Free Advice
Buy at least one share of Apple Computer stock (AAPL)
Tell somebody you care, and how much they really mean to you. Let them know how they have changed your life.
If you have children, encourage them with love, and let them know they are a blessing to you.
If you live to make more money, get a (new) life!
If you aren't having fun doing your job, move on to something new.
Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes - Tom Peters! (Are you listening BH?).
Embrace change and do all you can to expose unethical behavior.
Don't allow deadbeat managers and/or lazy executives to ruin your career or influence your project.
Gossiping is for children and old women. Don't be a part of the office gossip loop.
Great leaders with ethics and a solid morale center are rare. I have never met one; however I'm sure they exist. Seek them out with everything you have.
Executives have forgotten how to be leaders. Because of this, we have a 200 billion dollar trade deficit, stock option scandals, CEOs going to prison, massive layoffs, outsourcing to India, disloyal workers, and a plethora of corrupt politicians. Make sure before you go to work for an organization you know who is running the show.
Love the unlovable.
Be nutty at work. Somebody will appreciate the break in the monotony.
Find a manager in your company that is doing a bad job and ask them about the middle management shake up that is eminent. Walk away quickly before they can respond.
Look at yourself in the mirror closely for 60 seconds. Feel really bad that you look so old, then remember that life is precious and be thankful to God that tomorrow is a new day.
Challenge authority when it makes sense. Project managers can't be wimps.
Don't respect unrespectable people. Avoid them, workaround them, go through them. They are career killers.
If you like to solve problems and make a difference, work for a non-profit or charity.
Be a blessing to somebody.
Thanks for listening.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Stephen F. Seay, PMP
sfseay@yahoo.com
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Strategic Projects and Plans
We have a strategic plan where I work, however we don't have a strategic or portfolio planning office to manage the output of the strategic plan (the projects). A strategic plan is basically an outline for a list of strategic projects. Strategic projects are focused on mid and long term goals and are authorized by senior management. Without a strategic planning office there is not an effective strategic plan, and a strategic plan that isn't effective isn't worth the paper it is printed on.
According to some research, 50-80% of strategic plans never come to fruition. I would bet that most of these failed strategic plans were due to organizations not having a strategic planning office. As I mentioned, my organization has a strategic plan, and while well thought out, it doesn't appear to be very effective at consistently delivering measurable results. I say this because I don't see a project portfolio or list of strategic projects, and there is no organization to oversee these projects at the enterprise level. Also, the projects that do come out of our strategic plan aren't usually very S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resource Constrained/Relevant, Time-bound.
If your projects aren't S.M.A.R.T they aren't worth planning and executing.
Organizations, especially local governments, can tweak and refine their strategy over time. This can be due to the ever changing political winds, environmental factors, customer demands, changing priorities, resource constraints, a lack of political will, or executive apathy (laziness), but more often it is because of a lack of an enterprise project management focus. Whatever the case, a strategic planning office can help an organizations focus on what is important in regards to the management of strategic projects.
Also, remember the Strategic Planning Circle - Strategy ---> Ideas ---> Projects ---> Change
According to some research, 50-80% of strategic plans never come to fruition. I would bet that most of these failed strategic plans were due to organizations not having a strategic planning office. As I mentioned, my organization has a strategic plan, and while well thought out, it doesn't appear to be very effective at consistently delivering measurable results. I say this because I don't see a project portfolio or list of strategic projects, and there is no organization to oversee these projects at the enterprise level. Also, the projects that do come out of our strategic plan aren't usually very S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resource Constrained/Relevant, Time-bound.
If your projects aren't S.M.A.R.T they aren't worth planning and executing.
Organizations, especially local governments, can tweak and refine their strategy over time. This can be due to the ever changing political winds, environmental factors, customer demands, changing priorities, resource constraints, a lack of political will, or executive apathy (laziness), but more often it is because of a lack of an enterprise project management focus. Whatever the case, a strategic planning office can help an organizations focus on what is important in regards to the management of strategic projects.
When thinking about strategic projects think about the following:
- How the projects will be selected?
- How the projects will be funded?
- How the projects will be monitored and reported against?
- How will project audits be conducted?
- Who sponsors the projects?
Also, remember the Strategic Planning Circle - Strategy ---> Ideas ---> Projects ---> Change
Friday, November 17, 2006
A Communication Failure?
When project teams are surveyed at the end of failed projects, poor communications is always cited as being one of the major causes. Why does this keep happening? Why is project communications so poorly executed so often. My short answer is that many project managers are arrogant, inattentive, and oblivious to the feelings and needs of the project team.
Project managers get busy. Many times they don't make time to manage project communications properly. Also, the project manager may think they are doing a good job communicating, but that may not be the case.
Project managers must remember that the project team is made up of individuals. Each person on the team has a preference for the types of communication they like to receive, and each person processes communications differently.
Some things to monitor that may point to poor project communications are:
Trust - Does the team trust you (the project manager)? How do you know? Everybody will not trust you all the time. Team members that don't trust the project manager will not be open in their communications. They will tend to either shut down or challenge the project manager at every turn.
De-motivated - Where are we going? Are we going where we said we were going when we started? Did we clearly state where we were going before we started?
Whining - Despair and anxiety take over the team or key team members. Infighting is prevalent and people are starting to talk openly about the project being a failure.
Incompetence - Team isn't sharing information and learning. Perhaps the team has had little to no training, or the training received was of poor quality.
All the above can be overcome, however it requires that the project manager is listening and changing strategy when necessary to get the team back on track. Just because you are a project manager doesn't make you a good communicator, however ignoring problems like the ones mentioned above will make you a bad project manager.
My two cents are, be a leader. Lead through your communication and your ability to motivate your team to get the job done. Be on the lookout for the above warning signs. When you see signs of the warning signs act quickly, follow-up, then continue to monitor.
Poor project team synergy is the fault of the project manager. There are a lot of incompetent project managers that are hurting our profession because they either refuse to alter their communication styles or are too arrogant to change. My advice to them is to change their ways or leave the project management profession.
Project managers get busy. Many times they don't make time to manage project communications properly. Also, the project manager may think they are doing a good job communicating, but that may not be the case.
Project managers must remember that the project team is made up of individuals. Each person on the team has a preference for the types of communication they like to receive, and each person processes communications differently.
Some things to monitor that may point to poor project communications are:
Trust - Does the team trust you (the project manager)? How do you know? Everybody will not trust you all the time. Team members that don't trust the project manager will not be open in their communications. They will tend to either shut down or challenge the project manager at every turn.
De-motivated - Where are we going? Are we going where we said we were going when we started? Did we clearly state where we were going before we started?
Whining - Despair and anxiety take over the team or key team members. Infighting is prevalent and people are starting to talk openly about the project being a failure.
Incompetence - Team isn't sharing information and learning. Perhaps the team has had little to no training, or the training received was of poor quality.
All the above can be overcome, however it requires that the project manager is listening and changing strategy when necessary to get the team back on track. Just because you are a project manager doesn't make you a good communicator, however ignoring problems like the ones mentioned above will make you a bad project manager.
My two cents are, be a leader. Lead through your communication and your ability to motivate your team to get the job done. Be on the lookout for the above warning signs. When you see signs of the warning signs act quickly, follow-up, then continue to monitor.
Poor project team synergy is the fault of the project manager. There are a lot of incompetent project managers that are hurting our profession because they either refuse to alter their communication styles or are too arrogant to change. My advice to them is to change their ways or leave the project management profession.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Project Management Maturity and You
The subject of Project Management Maturity has been given a lot of press lately. At this year's PMI Global Conference there were lots of vendors selling all kinds of products to help organizations and project managers increase their project management maturity level. As project managers, we need training and tools to help us perform to at our best. Over the years I have evaluated several products to help me manage my projects more effectively. I like two products in particular because they are reasonably priced, and have free templates and processes available on their websites that you can put to use right away.
The products I'm speaking of are:
TenStep's Project Management Process and
PMOStep - Project Management Office process also available from TenStep
I also use a great collection of templates and forms called the Project Management Kit from Method123.
As I said, I own, use, and highly recommend products from both of these vendors. They are the only sites I advertise on this blog because I use them both and can say that they are a great deal for the money.
Now, lets talk about Project Management Maturity.
It is widely agreed that there are five levels of Project Management Maturity.
They are (my definition):
LEVEL 1 - INITIAL- No consistency in the organization's approach to project management
LEVEL 2 - REPEATABLE - There are some project management processes being utilized. There are some procedures developed for managing projects. There are some measures in place to help measure project management performance.
LEVEL 3 - DEFINED - Formal integrated processes are in place and they are agreed upon. There are project management coaches in the organization, and project management training is emphasized and provided to all project managers. Project management procedures are integrated around project scope, quality, time, cost, etc.
LEVEL 4 - MANAGED - Project reviews and benchmarking are formal. Project results are and procedures are benchmarked and used as a basis for improvement.
LEVEL 5 - OPTIMIZED - Continuous improvement is the driver behind project management excellence. Data is used to make decisions. Errors and anomalies are analyzed and patched to support continuous improvement. Project management success is visible to all. Project management skills and a project centric culture is embedded in the organization. Performance and innovation drive the organization towards excellence.
We exist as project managers to help our organization improve project performance. In order to help ourselves and our organization's projects succeed, we need to:
Continuously improve our project management processes and procedures
Conduct post project reviews
Benchmark our project results internally and externally
Be continuous learners
Use tools that are relevant to our jobs
The products I'm speaking of are:
TenStep's Project Management Process and
PMOStep - Project Management Office process also available from TenStep
I also use a great collection of templates and forms called the Project Management Kit from Method123.
As I said, I own, use, and highly recommend products from both of these vendors. They are the only sites I advertise on this blog because I use them both and can say that they are a great deal for the money.
Now, lets talk about Project Management Maturity.
It is widely agreed that there are five levels of Project Management Maturity.
They are (my definition):
LEVEL 1 - INITIAL- No consistency in the organization's approach to project management
LEVEL 2 - REPEATABLE - There are some project management processes being utilized. There are some procedures developed for managing projects. There are some measures in place to help measure project management performance.
LEVEL 3 - DEFINED - Formal integrated processes are in place and they are agreed upon. There are project management coaches in the organization, and project management training is emphasized and provided to all project managers. Project management procedures are integrated around project scope, quality, time, cost, etc.
LEVEL 4 - MANAGED - Project reviews and benchmarking are formal. Project results are and procedures are benchmarked and used as a basis for improvement.
LEVEL 5 - OPTIMIZED - Continuous improvement is the driver behind project management excellence. Data is used to make decisions. Errors and anomalies are analyzed and patched to support continuous improvement. Project management success is visible to all. Project management skills and a project centric culture is embedded in the organization. Performance and innovation drive the organization towards excellence.
We exist as project managers to help our organization improve project performance. In order to help ourselves and our organization's projects succeed, we need to:
Continuously improve our project management processes and procedures
Conduct post project reviews
Benchmark our project results internally and externally
Be continuous learners
Use tools that are relevant to our jobs
Monday, October 30, 2006
Project Change Management
I have returned from Seattle, and PMI put on another great global congress. I'm reenergized about my profession and the opportunities available for Project Managers. If you haven't attended a PMI Global Conference I would strongly suggest you try to attend the next one in 2007 in Atlanta, GA.
One of the things I'm trying to focus on this year is doing a better job of managing project change. Remember, project management is really about controlling change. As project managers we need to control change in order to control our project's scope. If we don't do a good job of controlling change our project will get off track quickly.
Develop a good change management process during project initiation, and utilize it throughout your project.
Some other change management tips:
Capture all requests for change in writing
Have a common process for approving or rejecting change requests
Understand what the change(s) will impact
Understand how the change will impact your costs, schedule, scope, and quality
Make sure you have the right people review the change
If changes are approved, ensure you update any baselines that are impacted by the change
Changes in your project are inevitable, but controlling change is the responsibility of the project manager. Are you in control of your project's change?
One of the things I'm trying to focus on this year is doing a better job of managing project change. Remember, project management is really about controlling change. As project managers we need to control change in order to control our project's scope. If we don't do a good job of controlling change our project will get off track quickly.
Develop a good change management process during project initiation, and utilize it throughout your project.
Some other change management tips:
Capture all requests for change in writing
Have a common process for approving or rejecting change requests
Understand what the change(s) will impact
Understand how the change will impact your costs, schedule, scope, and quality
Make sure you have the right people review the change
If changes are approved, ensure you update any baselines that are impacted by the change
Changes in your project are inevitable, but controlling change is the responsibility of the project manager. Are you in control of your project's change?
Friday, October 20, 2006
PMI Global Congress - Seattle
I'm headed to Seattle for the annual PMI Global Congress. I always enjoy this conference because I'm able to see the latest products the vendors have, and always learn a lot from the various presentations.
I have really been busy this week. I'm in the final stages of implementing an Asset/Work Management system for our IT group and the challenges have been a bit overwhelming at times. I long for the days when I had a strong sponsor and some level of commitment from all stakeholders. I work in a very challenging environment where Earned Value and IT Project Management aren't always highly valued.
I have learned in my current environment that results aren't always as important as managing perceptions.
I have always believed as Project Managers we should be judged equally on what I call the PCA Triangle. At the top of the triangle is a "P" for Process. On the bottom right is "C" for Communication, and at the bottom left is "R" for Results. Remember I said we "should" be measured equally in regards to our overall performance.
Some organizations focus mainly on results when evaluating projects and project managers. This is a big mistake. If I manage a project and make everyone mad, don't communicate up, down, and across the organization, but deliver the project on time and on budget did I succeed? What if the scope wasn't properly captured due to poor communications and lack of process? Will people really embrace the project's deliverables? Will they project even be accepted?
Results are important, but the process you use to get the results and the way you communicate along the way are just as important.
Hope to see some of you in Seattle. E-mail me using the following address if you are in Seattle next week and we can meet for coffee - sseay(at)scgov.net
Until next week!
Stephen F. Seay, PMP
Monday, October 09, 2006
Projects, Leaders, and Discipline
One of the things that hurt project teams most is the lack of an enterprise (executive) focus and oversight regarding the management of projects. It takes discipline to manage projects, and enterprise project discipline is lacking when executives are disinterested or disengaged. Great organizations (not project managers) manage projects well, and in doing so they have employees with higher morale, they get better project results, and implement projects faster with higher quality.
So why don't more organizations keep closer tabs on their projects at the enterprise level? Some would say the executives are too busy strategizing, and the projects are running just fine without their oversight. I think people that say this are fooling themselves and have little to no project management discipline. The data is clear that projects are delivered faster, cheaper, and with higher quality when projects results are reviewed by the enterprise (executives).
Before we go further, we need to ensure we have a clear understanding of the word discipline. Discipline is the act of encouraging a desired pattern of behavior. George Washington said: "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all". In other words, discipline is the glue that holds organizations together.
We can't have agile and effective project methodologies or organizational processes without discipline. In short, effective discipline requires effective organizational oversight. Finally, discipline begins at the top and works its way down. Organizations with poor discipline have weak, ineffective leaders at the top. Weak, unengaged, ineffective leaders kill organizations. Can you say Enron?
The lack of project discipline is the fault of all project team members, but the cause of a lack of discipline lies at the top of the organization.
Disconnected, disinterested, and unengaged leadership is unacceptable in any organization. Undisciplined organizations have high turnover, low employee morale, and poor project results. These organizations cheat their investors and customers by not providing the highest level of service possible. Highly disciplined organizations make and keep commitments, manage to clearly stated and measurable goals, and have executives that are engaged and visibly participate in the oversight of projects and day-to-day operations. If you aren't visible, your aren't relevant. If you aren't relevant, you aren't needed.
In closing, dysfunctional organizations believe that the workers are solely responsible for managing projects and other day-to-day work. These organizations believe that the executives should spend the majority of their time strategizing and making policy. This is a failed approach (see General Motors, Ford, K-Mart, etc), and ensures the work, including projects, will take longer than planned and cost more than what was budgeted.
Executive leadership and oversight of projects has been proven to motivate project teams to be accountable, results driven, and focused on achieving a common goal. Good executive leadership provides the glue that keeps teams working together, provides inspiration, exhibits integrity, sets an example for others to follow, and is accountable.
Leadership is action, not position - Donald H. McGannon.
So why don't more organizations keep closer tabs on their projects at the enterprise level? Some would say the executives are too busy strategizing, and the projects are running just fine without their oversight. I think people that say this are fooling themselves and have little to no project management discipline. The data is clear that projects are delivered faster, cheaper, and with higher quality when projects results are reviewed by the enterprise (executives).
Before we go further, we need to ensure we have a clear understanding of the word discipline. Discipline is the act of encouraging a desired pattern of behavior. George Washington said: "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all". In other words, discipline is the glue that holds organizations together.
We can't have agile and effective project methodologies or organizational processes without discipline. In short, effective discipline requires effective organizational oversight. Finally, discipline begins at the top and works its way down. Organizations with poor discipline have weak, ineffective leaders at the top. Weak, unengaged, ineffective leaders kill organizations. Can you say Enron?
The lack of project discipline is the fault of all project team members, but the cause of a lack of discipline lies at the top of the organization.
Disconnected, disinterested, and unengaged leadership is unacceptable in any organization. Undisciplined organizations have high turnover, low employee morale, and poor project results. These organizations cheat their investors and customers by not providing the highest level of service possible. Highly disciplined organizations make and keep commitments, manage to clearly stated and measurable goals, and have executives that are engaged and visibly participate in the oversight of projects and day-to-day operations. If you aren't visible, your aren't relevant. If you aren't relevant, you aren't needed.
In closing, dysfunctional organizations believe that the workers are solely responsible for managing projects and other day-to-day work. These organizations believe that the executives should spend the majority of their time strategizing and making policy. This is a failed approach (see General Motors, Ford, K-Mart, etc), and ensures the work, including projects, will take longer than planned and cost more than what was budgeted.
Executive leadership and oversight of projects has been proven to motivate project teams to be accountable, results driven, and focused on achieving a common goal. Good executive leadership provides the glue that keeps teams working together, provides inspiration, exhibits integrity, sets an example for others to follow, and is accountable.
Leadership is action, not position - Donald H. McGannon.