Paul Pondering

Project Management | Project Diary

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:43:00 +0000

I have decided to do something different for the early part of this year with my blog. I am currently Project Managing an office move project which is due to be completed by around 14 March 2010. My posts on this blog are going to chronicle the processes, meetings and various other things that make up a project.

Why am I doing this, mainly because I think that for a lot of us who blog about Project Management we tend to focus on the theory and dont often show the practical side. I want to show how the processes work and how they are applied and how hopefully these translate into a successful project delivered on time and on budget.

So today is the first day back in the office and where do I stand. Firstly I have a fairly well fleshed out Objective Statement,detailing what project is,what the performance criteria are and my scope including inclusions and exclusions. My current deadlines are to have a fully funded and timed project plan ready for approval at the board meeting to be held on 30 January 2010 and to have the project successfully completed by 21 March 2010.

I had my first meeting with the sponsor of the project today to clear up a couple of issues with respect to responsibilities, budgets and team members. I have control over the makeup of the project team and have to make up a budget for the move. The IT services relocation will be the responsibility of our partner firm, but will be overseen by me and the project team on a time line that we provide.

So next steps are simple. Choose my project team, I already have a fair idea of who I am going to call on and what they roles will be and then have our first project meeting.

Project Management | 10 Rules for effective Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:57:00 +0000

A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the prowess to realize this vision. To keep pace with business and IT, project managers need to make their management practices more flexible.

1. Be Agile: Traditional project management methodologies

are proving to be too rigid, bureaucratic, and time consuming for today's dynamic business environment. In fact, these methodologies can work against IT departments. Today, you need to respond with agility to rising issues and changes. The formal documentation and processes involved in traditional project management can weigh you down.
2. Do Not Micromanage: The ideal project managers are leaders, not control freaks. Some project managers can be overly analytical and invest too much time in perfecting details, when they should really focus on achieving milestones and the completion of the project. Flexible project management requires a balance of both the left and right brain, hard and soft skills.
3. Keep Improving your Project Management Practice: Technology is always evolving to meet the changing needs of users. In the same way, your approach to project management should evolve alongside business and IT processes. Communicate with your team, client, and business partners, as to how you can improve your project management practices.
4. Ongoing Planning: The single most important activity of project managers is planning. Planning must be detailed, organized, and require team participation. And like the real world, plans always change and reprioritize with situations. For this, plan, re-plan, and plan.

5. Work with a Sense of Urgency: Wouldn’t it be great to work with an unlimited pool of time, money, and resources? Here on Earth, however, we have fixed 24 hours in a 7-day week, and we have been taught early on of the importance of spending within our means. Because projects are constricted with a set timeline, budget, and resources, it is of utmost importance that the project process is constantly being driven towards completion. Regular updates, meetings, and follow-ups are essential.

6. Visualize and Communicate all Project Deliverables and Activities: In short, the project manager and team must have a picture of the finished deliverables in the minds of everyone involved. This guides everyone in the same direction. Avoid vague descriptions at all costs—be specific, draw diagrams and pictures, and make certain everyone agrees with it.

7. Complete Deliverables Step-by-Step: The thought of climbing a mountain in one go can be crippling. But to see it as a succession of steps and peaks is less intimidating and more achievable. In the same way, you don’t want to jump in a project with the intent of building all project deliverables at once. Work on each item step by step, get process reviews and approvals, and always maintain a sense of direction.
8. Healthy Risk Management: Assign a risk officer who will be responsible for detecting potential project issues. You want someone who has a healthy dose of skepticism.
* All team members should not hesitate to report concerns or challenges.
* Maintain a live project risk database that tracks all issues and resolutions.
* Do not obsess. Assessing risks should not be your main priority. The last thing you want is to be wasting your time and resources on risk management, as it will prevent you from ever completing a project, let alone give you the courage to start it. Remember, you want a healthy dose of risk management—not a crippling one.
9. Open Communication: Communication is vital in all aspects of project management. Adhere to a policy of open communication, encouraging all members to voice opinions and concerns. This cuts through waiting games and significantly reduces the risk of mistakes, saving you time and money.

10. Never Lost Sight of the 3-Factors— Time, Budget, and Quality: While PM practices have changed to be more flexible and open, the foundation remains the same. Project success occurs when it is delivered on time, within budget, with a level of deliverables that are satisfactory to the client. The Project Manager’s main role is to keep all team members aware of these big 3s—Time, Budget, and Quality.

In Memory of Osiris

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:02:00 +0000

In Memory of Osiris

I rarely use this blog as a place to talk about the more personal things in my life, but readers please indulge me today.

Today we had to put our cat down. He was hit by a car last evening, through no fault of either his or the drivers. It was simply a sad coincidence that has taken him from us.

He was a wonderful friend and companion who we had for more than 8 years since he was 7 weeks old. It was my partners idea to get a cat to help me through a tough time I was having. Our youngest daughter chose him from the RSPCA when he jumped onto the wire of his cage. Her call of 'I want superkitty' made it impossible not to choose him.

Since that point he has been the best cat, best pet and best friend anyone could hope for. Barely a night has passed in the last 8 years without him sleeping somewhere on our bed. He was soft and beautiful, warm and loving. He worried about us when we were sick and kept my partner company when I was away.

He was my baby, the only other boy in the house and I shall miss him dearly.

Thank you Osiris for for comming into our lives.

Time Management | Paper vs Electronic Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:14:00 +0000

Time Management | Paper vs Electronic Diaries

A friend of mine a little while ago asked me to outline what I thought were the advantages of electronic over paper diaries. (Her organisation is deeply entrenched in the paper diary and she wanted to change that). So here goes:

What are the advantages of electronic calendars over paper diaries.

Greatly improved data and information integrity through backups etc (if you lose a paper diary it is all gone).

Ability to quickly and easily share and update information, meetings etc (with paper this has to be handled by a separate non integrated process).

Ease of notification of sick days, rdo's, leave, holidays etc (not possible with paper diary system need separate processes).

Easier co-ordination of meetings through ability to easily see participant schedules.

Better utilisation of resources.

Better transperancy and accountability.

Centralisation of scheduling and resource management.

Multiple user inputs.

If you are still stuck in a world of paper, if you are not at least attempting to utilise electronic systems like Outlook or Lotus notes or one of the mant other calendaring programs out there to manage your time and information, then it may well be time to rethink your practices in this area.

Project Management | Projects and organisational priorities.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:33:00 +0000

Project Management | Projects and organisational priorities.

One of the common complaints that I hear from project managers is about coming to the end of the project, having devoted substantial amounts of time and effort into the successful completion of the project only to hand it over and have no one really care. Shifting organisational priorities can spell the death knell for many a project both before and after the end of the project.

What can we as Project Managers do to make sure that our projects aren't derailed by the shifting sands of organisational change. It all starts with a fairly simple and obvious question; Why are we doing this project. This is a question that if more Project Managers asked, and got good answers to, would mean less projects being pushed to one side.

So why is this question so important. It connects your project with the priorities of you organisation. It provides you with the knowledge of what benefits your organisation hope to gain from it. Its these benefits that will keep your project linked to the organisations goals. It is not the minutae of the project, not the features of the product, but the big ticket benefits that will sell it, that will keep the organisation behind it.

One simpy question, 'why are we doing this project' and the conviction to get a good solid answer will go a long way making your projects far more valuable to your organisation than ever before.

Project Management | The Need to Challenge Ourselves

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:24:00 +0000

The Project Management course I ran last week really did bring home to me again just how vital a skill it is for a Project Manager to be able to communicate.
The problem I think of course for a lot of people is that because we talk to the same people over and over again both in projects and in life we become complacent. We forget how hard it can be to stand up in front of a group of people who we don't know or don't know well and talk to them. In my Project Training I always encourage the participants to stand up and present information to the group. What was really interesting was I was talking to one of the participants at morning tea and commented that I felt quite at ease with the idea of standing up on front of people. Her response was 'well you do it everyday and you know exactly what you are going to say.' Initially my response was related to the you do it everyday part of the comment, but once I thought about it it is the otherside that is far more interesting.
I am almost always the person in charge of the communication, I am the one that controls the conversation. This makes my comfort zone quite wide, but still able to be challenged and since then I have tried to push myself out of my comfort zone.
So how does this connect to project management; communication is one of the key skills of a project manager so we had better be good at it, even if this means putting ourselves in situations that challenge us.

Project Management | Using an Objective Statment

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:33:00 +0000

Project Management | Using an Objective Statment

Project Management | Using an Objective Statment

Various organisations use different arrpoached when it come to handling the intial phases of a project. There can be scope statement, charters, buisness cases and product information documents. One thing that can be very useful in the early stages of a project and throughout its life cycle is to develop an Objective Ststement.

An objective statement should clearly answer thr following questions:
1. What is wrong with the current situation.
2. What will be different when project is done.
3. What are the performance criteria.
4. What is the scope (inclusions and exclusions.
5. What assumptions are being made.
6. What are the constraints. (Time,cost,other)
7. What level of authority does PM have.
8. Who is the project msnsger
9. Who is the sponsor.
Remember, keep this document straoght forward. It is a summary document to aid us in ensurring we managent it as well as possible.

Public versus Private sector project management.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:14:00 +0000

Public versus Private sector project management.

I have had a number of discussions this week about the differences that exist between project management in the private sector and the public sector.
While having worked across and with both sectors, most of my own experience has been in the private sector. This week I encountered a group of people who had spent all of their project management lives in the public sector.
One of the areas where was a great divide between the two sectors was in the area of Sponsors. My public enterprise collegues all said that they always had difficulty in determining who their sponsor or that they were forced into situations where their sponsor was a committe. Both of these situations are of course untenable without having a sponsor or have a comittee as your are both receipes for disaster.

So my questions are; just how identifiable are your sponsord and have you ever had to deal with a comittee sponsor?

Project Management | Whose fault is it anyway

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:33:00 +0000

I often hear Project Managers complaining (and I have done it myself) about the fact that clients haven’t given us the right specifications for a project, they haven’t told as everything they need, or they say things like “oh i thought it would do/look like/have …….”

We complain about this but is it really the clients fault for not telling us, or is it our fault for not asking the right questions. After all we are supposed to the the specialists,we are supposed to be the people who know what they are doing. If we don’t ask the right questions and enough of them to satisfy ourselves and the client that we are both on the same page then I believe that it probably more our fault than theirs.

This is not to suggest that it is always the Project Managers fault in these kinds of cases of course there are times when the clients image or idea of what they were going to get is so far outside the box they we could never have conceived of it.These cases are in the minority though.

The other issue here is one of not checking with the client regularly to ensure that whatever is being produced does actually map onto the clients expectation. This is something that Agile does very well and a lesson that more traditional models of Project Management would do well to take onboard. The more you consult with the client during the project, the more you communicate the design and build, the more likely it will be that the end product will be what is desired by the client and will lead to a successful end to the project, hopefully on time and on budget. The idea of taking the clients specifications, building the product and then taking it back to the client without any consultation in between is one that is sure to lead to trouble.

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Project Management, Virtual Teams and alternative communication.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Project Management is a constantly changing disciple and one that seems more than willing to embrace alternative methods of team management and communication. The concept of virtual teams and tools like, MS Groove, twitter, facebook and the newly released Google Wave and changing the way in which Project Managers can organise and communicate with their teams.

We as Project Managers should be willing to embrace these new technologies because these offer us the ability to communicate with our teams in what amounts to real time without have to be able to get every into the same location. They allow us to simply and easily share information, files and data and to get feed back from other team members in ways that were not possible without these new technologies.

Both Twitter and Facebook give Project Managers the ability to be able to communicate with large groups spread across a disparate locations. They are also a great way to communicate with stakeholders and the wider community about the progress of the project, milestones, issues, and to garner support and create buzz about our projects.

Technologies' like Microsoft Groove, or the newly beta testing Google Wave allow us to even more closely link our teams across different locations. We can have meetings without our team members having to all be sitting around the same table and unlike traditional teleconferencing we can also share files, make changes and get feedback in realtime. This should allow us to spend less time in meetings and more time managing our Projects. We should be able to more quickly communicate changes to schedules and scope, gauge progress and identify and resolve problems more easily than before.

As Project Managers we should be willing to embrace these new technologies as a means of making our projects run more smoothly but we should also never forget the basics of good scope and good scheduling.

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Positive Communication and Influencing

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:50:00 +0000

The ability to communicate effectively and influence people, and to do so positively, is something that most of us could do better - and we would be all the better for it.

Generally, it is not something that has been encouraged in us. (Even professional influencers and communicators, such as salespeople, do not always do it positively.) Neither our informal education at home nor our formal education at school and work tends to put sufficient emphasis on it. Yet it is a skill that enables us to achieve more when working with other people and it boosts our personal credibility. So what is it? How can you benefit from it?

What are positive influencing skills?

They are non-manipulative, persuading behaviors. They enable you to achieve more with other people in such a way that they feel good about the interaction with you.

They are vital for modern organizations. After all, if managers have to rely less on their position in the hierarchy and more on their personal credibility, if specialists have to rely less on their technical knowledge and more on their personal credibility, if achieving results relies more on the active involvement of the workforce rather than on their passive acceptance of orders, everyone will need better face-to-face skills.

As managers are so central to many organizations, as they can determine how other people feel and think, let's take them as an example. If, in modern organizations, managers are spending less time giving orders, checking that procedures are being followed and controlling what their staff get up to - what are they doing? One would hope they are:

instilling the right values in people
agreeing targets with them
giving productive feedback
coaching people
helping people capitalize on learning opportunities
resolving differences of opinion
facilitating two-way communication.

All of these activities require skills that have little to do with the traditional view of motivating down the line; they have instead a lot to do with influencing other people.

Priority Management has a range of training programs to enhance teamwork, communication and leadership skills.

For information about better Priority Management, go to http://www.prioritymanagement.com.au or contact:

Michael Janz
Phone: +61411 420 918
Email: mjanz@prioritymanagement.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Janz

Taking control of your Tasks | Outlook, Lotus Notes and Groupwise

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:26:00 +0000

A guest post by Michael Janz, International Program director Priority Management.

The Task/To Do areas of tools like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise tend to be under utilized by most users. Learning how to "date activate" has turned the Task/To Do area into a highly effective part of these workload management tools. Here how:

Always consider the Start Date as a key field.

It is important to always enter the Start Date in each Task/To Do. Entering the Start Date will help to break your work and your task list into smaller potentially more manageable chunks. Highly productive people have also found value in entering the Due Date as the date they want it completed by has helped ensure the achievement of results in a timely manner.

Avoid entering any Task/To Do without a well considered starting point.

In addition to determining when to begin, each time you date activate something you need to do, ensure you assign a priority to it. This will help answer the question, "What do I do next?".

Here's how:

Outlook Users:

High must be accomplished today (commitments, promises, goals)
Normal items that could be done another day.
Low priority could be used to group calls etc you are expecting back from others.

GroupWise or Paper Diary users:

A must be accomplished today (commitments, promises, goals)
B items that could be done another day.

Lotus Notes Users:

High must be accomplished today (commitments, promises, goals)
Medium items that could be done another day.
Low priority could be used to group calls etc you are expecting back from others.

Michael Janz is Director of Training and Marketing for Priority Management. He is based in Brisbane Australia. Priority Management provides World Class training in time management. Offices are located world wide. Receive monthly productivity tips by signing up

Outlook 2010, tasks and the ToDo bar

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:47:00 +0000

Outlook 2010, tasks and the ToDo bar

Tasks, I have long believed, as regular readers of this blog will have noticed are one of the most useful elements of Outlook. This is most noticably the case when it comes to the management of email and work arrising from them. Wth Outlook 2010 some of the changes Microsoft have made have made them even more valuable abd eadier to use.

One of the key ways to use tasks as a method of managing email workload involved the ability to create a task from and email and drop the attachment inside it. This is very easy to achieve once you know how to do it, however finding out how to do it is quite difficult for most people.
Microsoft have changed that with Outlook 2010 and made the whole process much simpler. Now sitting on the ribbon right next to the fabulosly useful quick steps (which makes most things in outlook much quicker) is a button called 'move'. This button allows you to move an email to any folder in the folder list and most noticeably to tasks. It creates a task based around the email and inserts the email inside of it. A process that was incredibly useful, if you could find it and make it work has become simple and obvious without losing any functionality. In my opinion this is another win for microsoft and office 2010.

Project Management | The Advantages of a Matrix Structural Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:19:00 +0000

In the 1960s and earlier, frequently big corporations were logically arranged into silos, in which divisions of employees reported to a line or functional manager. The attempt to restructure the organization to develop workable project management teams is referred to as a matrix organization.

For example, look closely at an IT company. Software programmers can be found in the development silo, in individual groups of customer service representatives, and in the finance department. Each of these different departments has a need for the skills of experienced programmers at one time or another.

In the 1970s, companies started to improve organizational operations, resulting in the development of an organizational structure to become known as "Matrix".

Consider the information technology company discussed earlier. Note that all computer programmers are organized together into a single department and are supervised by a single manager. In this way, the manager supervises all the programming functions in an organization functioning as a single point of contact. In this type of organizational hierarchy, line managers are called functional managers because they supervise individuals who perform the same functions. This is a great example of a matrix organization.

In this kind of organization, workers are categorized according to their skill sets and grouped in silos. This can be compared to the columnar organization of a matrix. A dedicated manager heads each silo and the workers in his group report to him and are answerable to him. The responsibilities of this manager include promoting his or her workers, departmental budgeting, and administrative oversight of the silo.

So far, the only difference between a traditional business organization and that of a matrix is the classification of employees by job duties. However, an additional dissimilarity is that matrix organizations also have rows that cut across the various columns of traditional organizational charts.

Traditional organizations may have worked sufficiently, but they were very inefficient. Within the company many people would have the same skills. Project management situations revealed their greatest weakness, however. Instead of working directly for the project manager each team member worked under a different supervisor, in a different functional area. This was clearly the road to confusion and, ultimately, failure.

Consider, then, a matrix with several columns of workers who perform similar functions and are each supervised by a functional manager. Think of rows stretching across the column, with each row supervised by a project manager (this person can be visualized as being at the far left side of the page and leading a single row). Each row, then, intersects each column of workers. This allows each row to manifest as a group of workers that function differently and are led by one project manager.

With this type of structure, there is bound to be a great deal of tension created between functional managers and project managers. Because they share the same workers but have different jobs to do the stage is set for a conflict of interests.

Several different categories of matrix organizations exist. In each, the goal is to create a balance of power between each manager's particular functional needs.

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Project Management | Creating Realistic Timelines

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:55:00 +0000

The project timeline is a cornerstone of project management. But as most system integrators and computer/software programmers know, developing and sticking to a timeline can be easier said than done. From technical issues to personnel problems, unexpected complications can arise at any time, throwing an project team off-schedule.

Even so, a project timeline is critical to time management planning and is a necessary project management tool for keeping your client informed and your project on track and on budget. Whether your consulting project involves system integration or computer/software programming, a detailed timeline enables an project manager to:

• Give your client immediate, accurate, on-demand status reports on what’s done, due or behind schedule;

• Always know where you are in each project, and whether you’re ahead of the game or losing money;

• Identify potential delays and resolve glitches before they set your project back;

• Alert customers earlier to potential delays or scope changes, before you find out you’ve gone over your estimate;

• Bill your client as project milestones are achieved; and

• Keep track of how long all aspects of the project actually take, so that you can better estimate future projects and develop future timelines.

Developing timelines

At first, you may find developing accurate timelines a difficult challenge. After all, who hasn’t started a consulting project with clear expectations of how long it will take, only to encounter hidden factors that push the project behind schedule?

Even if your timeline starts out as a rough estimate, it’s still a useful tool for time management planning and keeping your client informed. It also demonstrates that you are organized and willing to commit in writing to achieving specific project milestones.

First, talk to the client about major project milestones you both expect to accomplish during the course of the project. Use those as the building blocks of your project timeline. Then, consider the sequential steps that must take place to get from milestone A to milestone B, C, D and beyond.

When estimating time to accomplish each step, think about who will need to be involved and the amount of time each person can commit to the project. Be sure to clearly define any project components for which the client is responsible, and set deadlines for accomplishing those tasks. Involve the stakeholders in setting these dates, and ask for a confidence level that these commitments can be met.

The more you use timelines to track your projects, the easier it will be to create future project timelines. As you continually track your progress against your timelines, you are developing historical project management data you can later use to estimate actual required time when planning future system integration or custom programming projects.

Sticking to Timelines

It may make sense for project managers to set internal target delivery dates that are more optimistic than the delivery dates you commit to in the timeline you share with your client. This project management method helps compensate for less-than-perfect estimates and unexpected events.

Another project management technique is to pad your timeline with a contingency buffer to protect against erroneous assumptions, estimation errors, potential risks and scope creep. Even if your committed delivery dates are farther out than your client would like, a realistic project timeline means you’re more likely to fulfill your commitments and shows your clients they can count on you.

Stay flexible

It’s important to remember that even when you have the best of intentions, sometimes a timeline might need to change, this can happen when:

• Requirements turn out to be technically impossible or especially challenging;

• Customers change the requirements mid-project; or

• Requirements your clients say they need turn out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

In these cases, project stakeholders must alter their expectations and commitments. As the project manager, you will need to adapt your timeline and inform all participants promptly. See the free downloads below for helpful project management tools you can use to evaluate and address potential project scope changes.

By creating and carefully monitoring your project timeline as part of your overall IT project management strategy, you can keep your programming or system integration project on-time and on-budget – or at least keep customers informed when there’s a reason you can’t. And that makes for a more satisfied customer who values and recommends your services.

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Project Management | The challenges of Project Management

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:25:00 +0000

A project can be defined as a venture to create or overhaul a process, product or service. It should have a clearly defined plan with timelines, budgets and measurable deliverables that are necessary to accomplish the project's objective. But, in order to attain this success, the correct combination of people, processes and tools must be put in place to recognize the source of both common and unique project challenges. Examples of these challenges include:

Communicating with stakeholders
Tracking and monitoring the on-going project status
Maintaining a unified goal at all levels of the organization
Assigning employee responsibilities, accountabilities, deadlines and performance evaluations
Managing and defusing present issues, while identifying and preventing potential problems
Properly allocating resources and employee availability
Managing employee stress and project pressure
Minimizing scope creep

When a project is poorly managed, a great opportunity exists for these challenges to prevent your organization from achieving its goals or for the entire project to become derailed, as seen with the FBI. So how can your organization protect its investments and make sure that projects are completed with optimal results?

Keys to Project Success

"A classic problem...you find yourself at the "end" of a project, 90% done, but you will have already spent 100% of the budget. And it's going to take the second 100% of the budget to get that last 10% completed because, the truth is, you're not really know where you are." - Don Shafer, Author & CTO

A successful project achieves its goals within the timeline, budget and resources allocated. But, in order to ensure the optimum level of success, a number of key factors must be considered managed. The first of which is effective project planning.

It is imperative that all your projects be developed with an accurate and full understanding of the current and desired state of your business. A detailed business analysis of the problem or issue to be addressed is required to understand and determine the necessary steps towards your desired outcome. This analysis will determine the project objective, focus and the approach for resolution. Without a clearly defined objective established through this analysis, your project can easily go off course, fall behind schedule, exceed the budget, or ultimately fail.

Another key factor impacting the success of a project is the project plan itself. The project plan should include an overall estimate of the time to complete the project and a detailed evaluation of the resources required. Included in the project plan should be resource responsibilities, accountabilities, deliverables and timelines. Additionally, it should outline related project risks that need to be assessed, monitored, minimized and mitigated.

And, although a unified goal may be established in the minds of the project team, a major key to success is the project manager. An experienced, people-oriented project manager will be able to manage all aspects of the project effectively. The project manager must have a clear understanding of the day-to-day tasks and resources needed to achieve the desired goals and must do an effective job of delegating responsibilities and keeping staff on track. Utilizing the right project management tools can help manage these tasks in an efficient manner while providing accurate methods to quantify and measure the project's success in terms of its business value.

Project Managers are Band Leaders

"Project managers function as bandleaders who pull together their players, each a specialist with an individual score and internal rhythm. Under the leader's direction, they all respond to the same beat." - L.R. Sayles

A project manager ensures that the individuals involved with the project have a clear understanding of their tasks and responsibilities, and that they have access to the resources and time required to execute their tasks efficiently. Project managers must also communicate the needs and progress of the project to the stakeholders, and be aware of potential problems and risks that may occur during the project's progress. Successful project managers must have:

Broad perspective and understanding of the organization in which they are working
People management skills
Organizational planning capabilities
Communication skills
Cross functional team leadership skills
Problem solving skills
Presentation skills

The implications of not having an effective project manager are endless. Without clear guidance, employees may be stressed, confused, frustrated or working inefficiently. This can cause a project to quickly fall off schedule or exceed its budget. Project managers are vital in preventing these issues from occurring because they are not only drivers and enablers, but also controllers. Effective project managers also need to be able to think ahead and be able to adjust a project plan to mitigate risks and potential problems that may occur along the way.

Summary

Successful project management requires a very specific set of skills. Challenges and issues will always arise; but when you combine effective planning, analysis and objective building with detail oriented project managers maintaining effective team oversight you can ensure that all of your projects will be delivered successfully.

"The single best payoff in terms of project success comes from having good project definition early." - Rand Corp.

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Project Management | 7 Best Practice Processes

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:53:00 +0000

Scope defines the boundary of the project. Is the organisation of transport to take staff to the blood bank within scope? Or, should staff make their own way there? Deciding what's in or out of scope will determine the amount of work which needs performing.

Understand who the stakeholders are, what they expect to be delivered and enlist their support. Once you've defined the scope and objectives, get the stakeholders to review and agree to them.

Define the deliverables

You must define what will be delivered by the project. If your project is an advertising campaign for a new chocolate bar, then one deliverable might be the artwork for an advertisement. So, decide what tangible things will be delivered and document them in enough detail to enable someone else to produce them correctly and effectively.

Key stakeholders must review the definition of deliverables and must agree they accurately reflect what must be delivered.

Project planning

Planning requires that the project manager decides which people, resources and budget are required to complete the project.

You must define what activities are required to produce the deliverables using techniques such as Work Breakdown Structures. You must estimate the time and effort required for each activity, dependencies between activities and decide a realistic schedule to complete them. Involve the project team in estimating how long activities will take. Set milestones which indicate critical dates during the project. Write this into the project plan. Get the key stakeholders to review and agree to the plan.

Communication

Project plans are useless unless they've been communicated effectively to the project team. Every team member needs to know their responsibilities. I once worked on a project where the project manager sat in his office surrounded by huge paper schedules. The problem was, nobody on his team knew what the tasks and milestones were because he hadn't shared the plan with them. The project hit all kinds of problems with people doing activities which they deemed important rather than doing the activities assigned by the project manager.

Tracking and reporting project progress

Once your project is underway you must monitor and compare the actual progress with the planned progress. You will need progress reports from project team members. You should record variations between the actual and planned cost, schedule and scope. You should report variations to your manager and key stakeholders and take corrective actions if variations get too large.

You can adjust the plan in many ways to get the project back on track but you will always end up juggling cost, scope and schedule. If the project manager changes one of these, then one or both of the other elements will inevitably need changing. It is juggling these three elements - known as the project triangle - that typically causes a project manager the most headaches!

Change management

Stakeholders often change their mind about what must be delivered. Sometimes the business environment changes after the project starts, so assumptions made at the beginning of the project may no longer be valid. This often means the scope or deliverables of the project need changing. If a project manager accepted all changes into the project, the project would inevitably go over budget, be late and might never be completed.

By managing changes, the project manager can make decisions about whether or not to incorporate the changes immediately or in the future, or to reject them. This increases the chances of project success because the project manager controls how the changes are incorporated, can allocate resources accordingly and can plan when and how the changes are made. Not managing changes effectively is often a reason why projects fail.

Risk management

Risks are events which can adversely affect the successful outcome of the project. I've worked on projects where risks have included: staff lacking the technical skills to perform the work, hardware not being delivered on time, the control room at risk of flooding and many others. Risks will vary for each project but the main risks to a project must be identified as soon as possible. Plans must be made to avoid the risk, or, if the risk cannot be avoided, to mitigate the risk to lessen its impact if it occurs. This is known as risk management.

You don't manage all risks because there could be too many and not all risks have the same impact. So, identify all risks, estimate the likelihood of each risk occurring (1 = not likely, 2 = maybe likely, 3 = very likely). Estimate its impact on the project (1 - low, 2 - medium, 3 - high), then multiply the two numbers together to give the risk factor. High risk factors indicate the severest risks. Manage the ten with the highest risk factors. Constantly review risks and lookout for new ones since they have a habit of occurring at any moment.

Not managing risks effectively is a common reason why projects fail.

Summary

Following these best practices cannot guarantee a successful project but they will provide a better chance of success. Disregarding these best practices will almost certainly lead to project failure.

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Project Management | Creating A Successful Project Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Although sometimes it seems that projects take on a life of their own, the simple fact is that projects don't manage themselves. It takes the energy and commitment of a number of people to take a project from the initial idea through inception. As more companies embrace the concept of self-directed work-teams that work on specific projects, project management, will become a more vital element of the workplace. The following checklist will help you create a successful project management office:
- Formulate and outline the project
- Break up the project into manageable tasks
- Keep the project on target and complete it on time
Getting Started
The best way to guarantee a project's success is to start with a strong foundation. Among the questions you should ask when putting together a project kick start:
- Is this something we have done before? If so, what did we learn from the last project?
- Do we have the time and resources to do this project effectively?
- How many people will we need? What sort of expertise should they have?
- Will we need to use outside sources?
- Does top management support the project?
- How long will the project take?
- Once you've put together a workable project plan, you need to put an action plan together so:
- Decide how many people will be assigned to the project. Assign people on the basis of their experience and expertise.
Make sure you have a commitment from upper management regarding adequate resources (funding, staff, time, etc.). Make sure, too, that you know exactly what upper management expects in the way of a given project. Communicate your interpretation of their instructions to your supervisors, and make sure you clear up any questions or confusion before the project begins.
Set up a communication network to ensure that everyone is talking with one another; don't allow people to work in a vacuum.
Create a schedule with specific dates by which different elements of the project will be completed. Build-in a few days to allow for unforeseen problems.
Assign someone the task of keeping records of ongoing progress during the project. This information should be shared with everyone who is working on the project.
If no one from your division has ever worked on this sort of project, consult with people from other departments, or even from other companies (when possible) to get an idea about what to expect.
The Course of the Project
Once the project is under way, there's a strong tendency to put it on automatic pilot. This makes it harder to fend off potential difficulties, and it cuts off any creative ideas that could enhance the project. Here are some ways to keep things moving effectively through the project's duration:
Hold regular meetings. These don't have to be formal three-hour progress sessions - but they should give project members the opportunity to share ideas, voice concerns and ask questions of one another. Some of these meetings should include brainstorming sessions, which promote free flow of creative ideas.
Keep written records of meetings. These make people take the sessions more seriously, and they give anyone who's unable to attend a point of reference from which to work.
Have individual workers provide you with progress reports. These should not be one-sided conversations. Share your ideas, and offer to address the individuals' concerns and answer questions as well.
Make sure deadlines are being met. Make it clear that anyone who anticipates missing a deadline should let you know ASAP; this way, you can adjust schedules, or provide people with additional support staff or other resources.
Keep track of what is being spent on the project. Individuals should provide you with information on how much they spend. Let them know how much money they have to work with so they don't go over budget.
If you're working with outside contractors or people from other departments, make sure you keep them posted on the progress of the project. You should invite them to at least some of the meetings and brainstorming sessions, and be sure to solicit their opinions.
Solicit the opinions of people in the company who aren't involved with the project. Sometimes a fresh perspective can provide the best ideas.
Keep upper management apprised of the progress you're making. This way, you can be alerted to any potential red flags (no manager likes surprises).
The Difference Between Success and Failure
A key factor in the success of the team is its leader. The qualities of a successful project leader include:
- Conscientiousness
- Technical and organizational knowledge
- Honestly/trustworthiness
- Consistency/predictability
- Resourcefulness
When the Project Is Completed
As the project draws to a close, it's important to remember that a completed project is not a project that is over. Here are some guidelines for dealing with the project's completion:
Just before the project is complete, meet with the project team as a whole (and one-on-one) to make sure all the loose ends are tied before the project is submitted. Make sure everyone is given credit for contributions.
Remember you don't have to have a glitzy presentation with video and fancy hand-outs - but your presentation should be professional. Make sure you provide neat, complete copies of your work to upper management, and make certain your presentation is well-planned and professional. A typed copy sent to the supervisor in an interoffice envelope is not enough.
Be sure to give proper recognition to team members when you present the completed project to upper management. It's important to recognize workers in front of their peers, but they deserve recognition "upstairs" as well.
After the project is over and handed in, gather everyone who worked on it and conduct a postmortem: What were the best aspects of the project? The worst? What mistakes were made, and how can you learn from them? Did you budget, enough time and resources? Too much? Not enough? Do you need more of less outside help for the next project? Who has demonstrated expertise that had previously been ignored? How can the entire process be streamlined? Include your outside contractors and consultants in the postmortem and be sure to get their insights.

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Project Management | Introducing the Players. Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:50:00 +0000

Users Representative

Beginning with the design, represents and communicates back to the team the concerns of all those affected by the project, and communicates back to those affected the projects status.

Instrumental in determining the performance criteria by which the deliverables will be measured.

Responsible for the process by which the deliverables are accepted.

Project Administrator

Compiles reports, documentation, revises plans, communicates updated schedules and other related duties.

Implementer

Responsible to the project Manager to build, implement, install, transform or otherwise deliver the deliverables.

There are also a range of other roles, like project Champion and wider stakeholders, that i will discuss in later posts.

Project Management | Introducing the Players

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:03:00 +0000

How many of us have a cleat understanding of all of the roles involved in a project. Over the next few days I will be outlining the various roles involved in a project and their responsibilities.

Sponsor

Accepts responsibility for approving the project concept
Makes go/no-go decisions on the Project
Ensures Resources are available
Controls the money

Feasibility Analyst

Provides objective advice to the Sponsor
assess cost/benefit returns on the project
Not just about the money – may be a PR person

Project Manager

Responsible for the successful completion of the project
communicates with the sponsor and other team members, through out the project to ensure everyone understands roles and changes
Responsible for creating a project schedule or plan
Manages the Project Team and is responsible for its performance

Designer

Creates both the general and detailed design
Assures the various deliverables meet their overall intention
May be assigned by the Project Manager to develop performance criteria
May have complete control over the project during the design phase.

So there are the first four roles, i will outline some more tomorrow.

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Project Management | The Value of a Project Administrator

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:14:00 +0000

Project Managers often were a large number of hats in terms of the projects they run. This occurs particularly on smaller projects or with small project teams. One role the Project Manager should never take on however is that of project administrator.

The role of Project Administrator is often that is overlooked in project teams or handled by the Project Manager by default. This is however a dangerous practice. The role of a project manager is to manage the project to its successful conclusion to add administrative tasks on top of this, means less time is being devoted to ensuring successful completion.

The Project Administrator is there to ensure that the project documentation is controlled, collated and distributed in a proper and timely manner. Having this role separate from that of the Project Manager not only removes some of the pressures from the role of project manager, but also puts some distance between the PM and the administrative tasks. This allows for a second level of checking, not of the detail of the project, but more along the lines of ‘Is this the right version of that document didn’t we send version 3.2 out last Tuesday’ kind of thing. Also having them be the person responsible for transferring the project managers changes to plans and schedules into instructions and schedules for those who have to do the work, can actually again help to highlight any issues there may be.

Having a person dedicated to the role of Project Administration can have an incredible effect on the smooth running of your project.

Project Management |Project planning and mind mapping

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Project Planning is an inevitable process for handling any project, be it small or big. Successful and timely execution of a project is vital to any project. Hence proper Project Planning is indispensable.

The elements of Project Planning will involve estimating time for different segments of work, time planning for various layers of tasks, monitoring and supervising, separating the most important from the less important ones, meeting the deadline, being ready for any unexpected situations or contingencies, taking remedial action so the situation does not get out of hand and effectively managing people. All these calls for a minute and intricate mapping of details, so you don’t miss any, as the price you have to pay for any wrong move will be rather heavy.

In such a vast range of work that covers a whole gamut of services, Mind Mapping can help you greatly. It can be a highly useful tool for plotting your way to the minutest details of work and execution. You can use Mind Maps to record the different scales of job involved. You can start from the basic to the final stages of Project Planning by letting your thoughts have a free rein on the main project.

Breaking them into different units, you can do a Mind Map analysis for each of the work unit involved. Once you have identified different elements of Project Planning, you can work out the team that will be executing each element of the Project. Brainstorming on the work to be undertaken with the team members, will help in eliciting different viewpoints and suggestions. This will also help in evoking complete participation of the team, their suggestions and ideas, assigning time and appointing a team leader for overall execution of a job. Since everyone is actively involved in the conception and execution of the project, it builds a sense of purpose and team spirit.

There could also be individual brainstorming on the main task objectives for each segment of the work team. Then the issues that each individual provides can be compared and co-related with the team brainstorming output. In this manner, from the most mundane and simple tasks to the highly complex, every aspect of the work can be imaginatively and creatively assessed using the Mind Map tool.

Since Mind Map is a simple but powerful device that uses the parallel processing capabilities of our brain, each stages of task execution can be approached in the most imaginative and yet effective manner. As Mind Map uses associations and links, it will be possible to gain new perspectives and unknown dimensions.

Once different segments of work are outlined clearly and each task segment is explored in full, the various elements of the Project Plan execution can be integrated into a single Mind Map. So at a glance, you will gain a comprehensive picture of the whole Project for execution as well as have a control over every level of task execution. Such a process will not be possible in a formal listing kind of work to be covered. They are an end in themselves and do not facilitate the process of association or connection between the different elements.

A Mind Map therefore can be an excellent tool for capturing the intricate particulars involved in every stage of Project Planning and reworking them at will, while providing the big picture of synchronization among the various elements.

Technorati Tags: Project Management,priority Management,mindmapping

Project Management | who is your sponsor.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:50:00 +0000

Project Management | who is your sponsor.

Project Management is a team sport and every member of the team has a role to play, but often there is one position that we don't think about as much as we should. Who is the sponsor is a question that we need to be able to answer for each and every project we are involved in.
So why is knowing who your sponsor so important and why is it so important that the role is clearly understood. The role of the project sponsor is a vital one. The project sponsor is the person who is in charge of the money. They are the person who makes the final Go/No Go decisions about the project.
All sponsors are not created equal however. In particular there is one type of sponsor that can have devastating effects on a project. Having a comittee as the sponsor of your project can derail it quicker than you can imagine. Sponsorship by comittee is particularly prevelant in government and large corpoations, but what is often forgotten is that without a single person in charge, a single point of reference the decision making process is comprmised as is effective access to necessary finance.
If you do have a comittee as a sponsor on your projects then it is vital that as early on in the project as possible you establish a point of contact. This is the person who from your perspective will be your project. They will be the person whom you as project manager will deal with. They are the person through all your requests will be routed. They are also the person who will deal with the comittee and transfer information back from the comittee to you the project manager.
Remember that well defined processes and ensuring that everyone in the team knows their roles and responsibility will put you on the path to project success.

Technology-Based Interruptions Eroding Workplace Productivity

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:23:00 +0000

By Michael Janz

Tips on how workers can manage technology, and not let it manage them. Workplace productivity is being eroded by constant technology-based interruptions because people don't know how to manage it properly.

Office workers' attention is being diverted every three minutes by answering the phone, being alerted to an incoming email, responding to an alert on their BlackBerry, reacting to an instant message, or clicking on internet-based distractions such as YouTube or Facebook. These distractions consume much as 28% of an average knowledge workers' day (Basex research).

As we receive more and more e-mail messages and other technology-based interruptions, it can feel like being hit by a digital deluge Without the skills to manage e-mail and other devices effectively, many people are wasting time just trying to keep up instead of gaining productivity through technology.

These tactics for distraction management can significantly increase your productivity:

1. Turn off the alarm or visual alerts You wouldn't let the postman empty a mailbag on your desk 50 times a day and you certainly wouldn't let them ring a bell with each delivery. That's exactly what you are doing if you check each e-mail when it arrives. Turn off the alarm or visual alert and take control of your e-mail and your time.

2. Learn how to turn off or manage alerts on mobile devices As more and more people synchronize their phones and mobile devices they are being distracted by email alerts, meeting reminders at all sorts of inconvenient times. These alerts can ensure you are being distracted at home as well as work!

3. Treat e-mail like regular mail Try to check your e-mail at regular times in the day, i.e. early morning, mid-day and late afternoon. Even if you receive a high volume of e-mails, you shouldn't check more than four times a day. Checking email regularly can give you a very busy feeling but it is deceptive as it is unlikely you are focusing on your key priorities.

4. Take control of your in-box Subscribe to e-mail services selectively. Ask friends or colleagues who frequently send jokes or huge files to stop. Get a separate e-mail address for personal communication or one that you give just to key contacts, similar to an unlisted phone number. Set up rules to automatically delete or file low priority emails.

5. Focus on your priorities Commit 10 -15 minutes each day to plan for the next day. Ensure as part of this process you make "appointments with yourself" to focus on key priorities and projects.

E-mail, mobile devices, instant messaging and the like can save businesses considerable time and money, but managing these tools is a skill that's just as important to acquire as other essential management skills such as communication, planning and prioritizing.

For information about Priority Management, go to http://www.prioritymanagement.com.au.

or contact:

Michael Janz

Phone: +61411 420 918

Email: mjanz@prioritymanagement.com.au

Project Management| Problem solving in Project management.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Rasmussen) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Define the Problem First.
It seems obvious, but how many times have we gone to a problem-solving meeting and the discussion started with either whose fault was it or an assertion about the proper solution?

Instead, explain what the problem is-what went wrong, what the symptoms are, what the impact on your business and your customer's business is. These are the things that someone knows at this point in the problem solving process. If the someone is not you, and you're leading the problem-solving effort, you need to do some research to find out. No guesses or assumptions allowed: the problem description must give the facts clearly and accurately.

Write it down. Writing the problem down forces you to describe it carefully, completely and unambiguously. The statement is a valuable tool to help focus your team on the real problem and avoid wasting time on extraneous issues. Everyone who reads it should understand what the problem is and why it's important. No jumping ahead, either: you don't know yet what caused the problem much less what you will do to fix it.

The written statement can also be used as a "sales tool" to explain what problem you're solving and why it's important. Use it to make sure you have the support you'll need from management, your customer and any other key players. This is especially important if the significance of the problem is not universally understood or accepted.

The problem is defined when everybody who reads your problem statement, including you, understands what will be different when the problem is solved and your team agrees that it describes the correct problem.