As a Mom, it is important to know exactly where everyone is at any given time, how long they are going to be there, and what they are doing while they are there. Other than that, it’s pretty simple.

As a Project Manager, it is important to know exactly what task each project resource is working on at any given time, how long they will be working on that task , what they are doing and why they are doing it. Other than that, it’s pretty simple.

Project management as a whole has paralleled somewhat the changes we have witnessed in photography. Project management also has been a skill for the few, with the barrier to entry being quite high. However, the barriers are being reduced and the chance for abandoning “point and shoot” project management is here!

Anita Wotiz is the guest blogger this week over at the UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley Project Management blog. She published great post titled “An unrepeatable success?” Read it here.

It was great to hear about the project, specifically the lessons learned and trying to relate them to my own experience.

I wouldn’t write the first set of factors off as things that can’t be duplicated. Sure, it’s easier in some cases because these things fall into your lap, but these can be influenced to some extent. Paraphrased:

1. Good team (competent, cooperative) –A PM can sometimes influence who works on their project, and ensure they are competent. Cooperation and team spirit is largely influenced by the PM, in my experience.
2. Exciting work –Not every project is glamorous on the face of it, but the PM can and should figure out how to position the product being created to the team by selling them on how much value it will add for the end users, and how their individual and team contributions make it possible.
3. Full access/utilization of previous work –Again, this usually doesn’t fall in your lap, but it’s amazing to me how many project managers don’t spend enough time during the planning phases trying find previous work that can be re-used. Many seem to want to re-invent the wheel with each project.

As for the other factors, paraphrased:

1. Don’t constrain the project to a preconceived solution –Three points; I see this so many times, where the sponsor and stakeholders have a preconceived notion of what the solution should look like before they even fully understand the problem! Granted, sometimes there are real constraints that are necessary. I think it’s human nature to start coming up with possible solutions very early in the process, and difficult to avoid. Personally though, I’ve found the best results come from forcing yourself to focus strictly on the need/problem during early planning, including the charter, preliminary scope statement, and initial requirements gathering processes.
2. Good WBS creation and decomposition, bottom-up estimating –Bingo! This agrees completely with my experience about what helps make a project successful. I’ve had a lot of luck in the past using a delphi-style method of estimating, where we go through each task in a room with the experts who will be performing them, and each person writes down an optimistic, likely, and pessimistic point estimate. I take all the estimate sheets afterwards and roll them together, ask about any outliers, and can usually come up with pretty good ranged estimates with a solid grasp on standard deviation and confidence levels.
3. Management cost/time buffers available –I agree that it’s critical for the sponsor/customer to realize that buffers are there for a reason…they are not just downtime or waste, they are crucial components of a good project that can handle the inevitable risks that will arise.
4. Collaboration –It sounds like Anita was able to get the whole team to collaborate on scheduling by using post-it notes on the wall. I think that is excellent, although alternative methods may work just as well to have the team collaborate on schedule and task dependencies.
5. Iterative Development –This is a benefit I’ve used and seen in my projects too. If you can push out iterative releases that are functional, you can start getting feedback from the customer and make subsequent development based off a real foundation, instead of a theoretical one. Writing code to specs is one thing, but if you can immediately test it against an initial release of the pieces it has to integrate with, you’re way ahead of the game.

Kimberly Wiefling had an article today on Projects@Work (www.projectsatwork.com) giving us a taste of some hard-learned lessons when dealing with project sponsors.

I’ve always loved Kimberly’s sense of humor and highly recommend just about anything she’s written. This is a great example of education a la entertainment. Check out her book too, you can buy it from the PMStudent book store by clicking on the image to the left.

In short, her exploits yield the following lessons learned with regards to project sponsors:

1. Don’t assume who has decision power. Be clear on who the real sponsor is.
2. Don’t assume your sponsor wanted this project. If their boss mandated them to sponsor the project, it’s going to be tough. In Kimberly’s example, ideas for projects were generated by executives, and the CEO made the decision of what to implement. The ideas for improving one division came from a different division, etc. That means the sponsors were put in charge of a project they didn’t come up with….can you say sabotage?
3. Don’t assume your sponsor knows what their role should be. Insist on coaching the sponsor and letting them know exactly what support the project will be asking from them.

Great article Kimberly!

The student syndrome is alive and well. I see it all around me, and I am no less guilty than any other.

Why do we put everything off until the last minute? Especially the important things?

I’ve recently read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, which has helped heighten my sensitivity to this phenomenon going on all around us.

Timothy explains in the book (and I agree) how many people fill their days up with “busy work” that takes real effort and activity, but delivers little value. Part of this is postponing those things that really add value. Usually these are the difficult tasks, which is why they are put off. It’s like subconsciously sticking our heads in the sand of minutia and busy work.

I have a renewed focus on my goal to increase productivity. I have become pretty good at being organized, which has helped. This new insight from Ferriss has helped me see the benefit of elimination, which means cutting out all the busy work that doesn’t really add much value. Instead, I plan to focus on the 20% of activities that deliver 80% of the potential value I can provide.

The same goes with my project work and writing activities. When I take a look at 50 project deliverables due, I can start to see how only about 10 of them add 80% of the value. Thus, I should focus on those top 10 and leave the ones that provide less value for later. If bottom 10-value item doesn’t get done, it will likely be much less severe than a top 10-value item. (Note that there is no necessary correlation between the value added for a deliverable and the actual cost of completing it! Interesting….)

Thanks Timothy, for showing us again that almost everything applies to project management, and project management applies to almost everything.

Cutting’s Edge is one of my favorite project management blogs. Thomas recently posted on the cost of project success. I enjoyed the examples of the construction of several wonders of the world as projects and their often overlooked consequences on the project teams that built them.

Thomas draws out a parallel to contemporary projects, and how in some or many cases project managers will actually plan on over-utilizing staff in their planning, or not see it as enough of a risk to take serious action.

His point is well taken, and I would like to add the pressure from the other side. I have worked with many team members who felt it is a status symbol to have been the one to work the most hours in a given week. It’s like keeping up with the Joneses. A good project manager has to be able to detect this. Signs include:

• Spends an inordinate amount of time socializing with co-workers
• Often points out explicitly or implicitly that they are working a lot of hours
• Often points out explicitly or implicitly that they were the first to arrive or last to leave for the day

Many people who work 10 to 12 hour days get the same or only slightly more than those who work 8. Productivity is a ratio of how much value was added over the time it took. Aim for more productive people, not people willing to sacrifice their personal lives by achieving less productivity over more time.

Sam Hahn drew a pretty picture the other day in comparing project management and the role of the project manager to an orchestra and its conductor. I do not have much of a musical background, but even I can see the perfect parallel between a conductor and project manager. I started thinking about how the sheet music represents the project plan and is different for the various elements, and how each team member brings their own unique flair and personality.

Is there already a book written using the orchestra conductor as a metaphor for the project manager? If there isn’t, Sam Hahn should write it!

Dave Garrett recently wrote on the concepts expressed by Aaron Shanhar in his book, Reinventing Project Management. The gist is that the common triple-constraint model of managing cost, schedule, and scope is not enough. As I like to put it and in Goldratt’s words, necessary but not sufficient.

I have not yet read Shanhar’s book, but have a few initial thoughts based on Garrett’s description.

The notion feels right. I have observed a few specific behaviors that may come about because of the framework of incentives set up by the traditional approach. First, quality assurance seems to be an afterthought or necessary evil in many projects, if it happens at all. I agree with the notion that the triple constraints are efficiency-focused. They set up incentives to meet the requirements, even if those are the bare minimum. Many times, scope is reduced as a result of cost cutting efforts, and they are looking for whatever will provide barely satisfactory results. Activities are dropped without a thorough analysis of what the impact on quality, team morale, etc. might be.

Second, I have known many project managers to define success as sticking to the requirements, even if they are very bad requirements. There’s no incentive to put a lot of effort into quality requirements if a project manager knows they will still have met scope, schedule, and budget. In other words, you can have a failed project which meets all three constraints. Interesting….doesn’t sound like success criteria.

I agree we need a better model with which to think about projects holistically. I look forward to reading Reinventing Project Management, and learning more.

I had a stimulating discussion today with Travis, a friend and colleague about communication styles. It reminded me about the importance of catching people doing things right. Many managers and co-workers miss opportunities to congratulate or thank people who go above and beyond, but rarely miss an opportunity to criticize when mistakes are made.

Here are some guidelines I try to live by, and am very thankful to have been reminded of so I can re-focus:

• Make a concerted effort to recognize when a colleague or employee went above and beyond to help you, or did an outstanding job on something
• Evaluate the situation
  • Was it a good example of excellence?
  • Is it appropriate for you to give feedback? Would it be welcome?
  • Do you know enough about it to describe exactly why they went above and beyond?
  • Are you sincerely impressed with the example?
• Give sincere feedback
  • Use the proper channel
    • Face to face is usually best
    • Sometimes an email to their manager may be appropriate
    • Other times just stopping by and expressing your sentiments is best
    • Public is usually best
      
  • Use the proper timing – immediate is usually best
• Give credit where credit is due
  • Acknowledge the efforts of individuals where possible when discussing an effort or result. Make a point to let everyone know who did great work, by name.

Sincerity is key. If you do this every day, or for mundane things, people will see right through your lack of sincerity. Only acknowledge people for going above and beyond when they actually and obviously went above and beyond.

How about this for an exercise? When you’re chatting with people at the water cooler or at lunch, instead of talking about how frustrated you are with John Doe, talk about how Jane Doe did an outstanding job on that presentation.

I recently read a new book by Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx, Inc. titled “All Your Money Won’t Another Minute Buy – Valuing Time as a Business Resource.” I have always been a student of time management, so I was delighted with the opportunity to interview Curt about the book. Please enjoy the interview.