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Please enjoy this video from MIT, the first in a series on Lean Six Sigma. In this video:
Finishing projects on time is very important; but holding yourself accountable to a baseline is only as valid as the change management process you have in place. The definition of “on time” changes based on context and how expectations are managed.
Change happens on projects, and in my experience most of that change is not handled well. When scope increases on the project it only results in scope creep if there is no formal change management in place to update the baseline. As real changes are approved by a valid Configuration Control Board (CCB) and the process around those changes, impacts to scope, schedule, and cost need to be updated in the project baseline.
Here are two scenarios with the inevitable increase in scope as the project progresses:
As the project progresses, the customer discovers additional scope that they would like added to the project. The project manager accepts the new scope with the intention of “fitting it in” somewhere. Even if a log is kept that records this additional scope, the customer expectation for delivery date has not changed. They expected the product to be delivered on October 15th. Now when the due date starts getting near, the project is falling behind and either 1) misses the delivery date or 2) cuts corners in testing or other areas to make it on time.
As the project progresses, the customer discovers additional scope that they would like added to the project. The project manager and team work with the customer to fully understand what they are asking for. Additional scope WILL cost more. The customer should decide whether delivering on time is the most important factor (time-constrained project) or if the delivery date can be pushed out to accommodate the additional scope. If the project is time constrained, additional resources (or overtime cost) will be added to the project to finish more work in the same duration.
Working together, the project team and customer do an impact analysis to identify how much additional work is really required, how much longer it will take, and how much more it will cost. Whatever the outcome, the customer expectations have been updated to reflect the NEW baseline delivery date and cost. The CCB can choose to reject the change request and continue as planned, or approve the change request and update the baseline.
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In both of the scenarios above, the same scope was added. In Scenario 1, the project will be delivered late or with an unthoughtful decrease in quality or functionality. Because expectations were never updated, this project is late. In Scenario 2, the project may be delivered later than the ORIGINAL baseline, but because good change control and management of customer expectations is in place, the TRUE baseline has been updated to reflect customer choice and the reality of the project. This project is not late (at least not due to expectation problems).
When you work in aerospace as I do and are working towards a launch date, you must be on time. That is why on a time constrained project it is so important to have effective change management and customer expectations management in place.
2 Comments Continue readingI use techniques I learned as a project manager in my everyday life all the time. Do you?
If you are learning to become a project manager, have you started experimenting with these tools and techniques on your own, so that when you do start managing your own projects you will already be familiar with them?
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Going to an existing project team is a unique challenge.
Doing it twice in a few months makes you reflect on lessons learned.
There are a whole new set of stakeholders, and whole new team. Every individual has their own history, contributions, and incentives in relation to the project at hand.
I have said for a long time that the primary quality I respect in other project managers and try to develop in myself is empathy. My lessons learned of late are in accordance with this insight. Empathy is really about trying to fully understand where your stakeholders are coming from as human beings as well, not merely their “role” on the project.
Team Empathy
Some rights reserved by Patrick Hoesly
You may discover that Joe has experience with a type of work that Matt is doing, and Matt is really struggling with it. Joe was never asked and never volunteered this information, but now that you’ve spoken with him on a human level you understand this and can make positive changes as a result.
Customer Empathy
Whether it is one individual representative or a myriad of end users and managers, understanding how they feel about various aspects of the project is critical. Requirements can be interpreted many ways without this context, and there are usually design preferences that it will benefit you to understand.
In a complex project environment, you may have multiple key stakeholders as customers and their expectations from you as the project manager will vary widely. Some may expect meticulous reporting, some may not care. Preferred communication methods and styles vary from person to person. The list goes on and on.
Sponsor Empathy
Your sponsor will also be coming at this project with a unique set of goals for you and the project itself. If you have a relatively “hands off” sponsor they may give you lots of room to breathe. On the flip side, there can be a striking lack of autonomy or just a big chunk of your time taken up by a sponsor who wants to be constantly informed of every little detail or has you running on wild goose chases all the time.
It’s important to know where your stakeholders are coming from very early on so you can be proactive.
Build trust early by:
New project managers send me this question a lot, and I think some people struggle with this because they jump right to task definition with a leap directly over figuring out what to deliver first.
When you start a new project and need to break down the work into manageable pieces, how do you go about it and what are the things to watch out for?
In this video, I discuss the mindset I use when facilitating my teams through breaking down our work. If you want to learn more about my Work Breakdown Structure course, you find out more here.
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I stumbled across this great discussion today on the Parallel Project Training website and just had to share.
I suppose it depends on what your definition of social media is…people tend to think of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn among others (at the moment). I would also point people to this interview of Hal Macomber by Bas De Baar for more on this topic.
“Project Management is all about control”
This was a statement in the discussion. I come from a very Theory-Y perspective and so in my opinion, if my team can’t be trusted to talk to my customer, I may be thinking about replacing them. I wrote about this just a bit ago: Are You The Bottleneck?
I’d like to see what you think about this discussion. What do you agree with, and disagree with? What points would you have brought up that did not get addressed? Leave a comment and share this post to ask others for their opinion too!
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Bas De Baar (left), Hal Macomber (middle), Josh Nankivel (right) at the 2009 PMI NA Global Congress in Orlando, FL
I came across this video from Bas De Baar‘s Project Shrink Podcast and had to share.
This is Hal Macomber talking about how he has implemented blogging as a way for his project team to develop ideas, best practices, and many other benefits that come from being engaged in social media.
This is where I feel the true value of “social media” is for project management. Not so much (if at all) on projects themselves, but as a way to develop yourself and your team. Tools like Yammer could be classified as “social media” but I see it more as a collaboration/communication tool within a closed team or organization.
Have you experimented with any social media tools yourself? How has it benefited you, if at all?
7 Comments Continue readingA response to a question about what the PMBOK Guide says regarding who invoices a customer for project work.
2 Comments Continue readingI started to get curious about ITIL, especially in terms of what it might mean for new project managers. I’m also considering going for the ITIL certification myself.
So, I contacted Erika Flora who has written here before about ITIL and it’s applicability to project managers. Please enjoy this interview where Erika answers some of the pressing questions new project managers have about the ITIL certification.
If you have other questions, please leave them in the comments below. I’ll be sure to notify Erika of the comments.
Here are the websites Erika mentioned in the interview.
1 Comments Continue readingDo you know what IPMA and the asapm are all about?
If not, check out this interview with Bill Duncan.
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