PMP Lifestyle Blog

Project Schedule Planning and Client Expectations

By Michael N. Erickson (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsMarian Haus of PMI notes ten common pitfalls which can befall a project when performing schedule planning. Here are a couple that caught my eye.

4. Overly ambitious schedule: Everyone wants to please the customer, but an aggressive schedule can have the opposite effect if unrealistic deadlines are continually missed. Instead, aim to exceed expectations by delivering the project in a realistic timeframe, with solid execution. If you inherit an overly ambitious schedule, you could “fast-track” (i.e., make work parallel) or “crash” the schedule by assigning more resources to reduce task duration.

It’s important to set realistic expectations of the schedule for a project at the outset. This can be difficult when your sales personnel won the deal by promising what turns out to be an overly ambitious schedule without consulting those who will be managing the project or doing the actual work itself.

The flip side is when a client is sold on a project without the proper expectation of the resources they will have to devote in order get the project completed. In Healthcare, projects are often a huge collaboration between us and the client. The client has to devote adequate technical and non-technical resources in order to pull off a project’s objectives. Even when the client’s project leadership teams understand the scope of the work and the effort needed to accomplish the project’s objectives according to the schedule, they must work internally to get those resources sufficiently freed up to do the work.

7. Confusing tasks efforts with schedule time: Don’t just ask team members: “When can you complete this task?” Instead, ask for the estimated effort to complete the task in labor hours or days. Then, transform the effort into work periods (the work days the team member can carry out the task) and map this to the project calendar (considering business days, holidays and vacation periods).

Given the collaborative nature of Healthcare projects, this applies both ways. You may have a strong client project management counterpart or you may not. Yes, you need to be able to get accurate estimates of your team members’ tasks. But you will need to understand the task and dependencies that the client needs to complete in order for your team members to go about their business.

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By admin | September 2, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Boosting Your Worth at Work

By Rion (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

As a PMP, you know you’re already doing important work. You manage projects from start to finish. You wrangle resources. You (try to) make deadlines and work within budgetary constraints. Hopefully your organization sees your value and rewards you for it. But let’s face it – everyone can be under-appreciated at work, most of all your friendly neighborhood Project Management Professional.

But it never helps to think critically about how to make sure that your organization understands you’re as indispensable as you know you are. As detailed at Lifehacker.com:

Work on Projects with high visibility

Ask your boss if there are any big projects you can work on. [Emphasis mine] It may come off like you’re sucking up, but the key is to keep the conversation focused on your desire to work on something with impact and something that your skills would be a good match for. The key is to maintain “continuous visible productivity,” as former recruiter Dominic Connor explains to The Register. The people who survive a round of layoffs are the ones that managers can’t see themselves progressing on important projects without.

Make sure your priorities are you boss’s (or your department’s priorities)

If you’re not sure what your department’s priorities are, ask! You boss or manager should be able to tell you which projects are the ones that are most important to them or to your team’s success. Worst case, pay attention at your next department or company meeting. If you look between the buzzwords, you should be able to tell which projects or initiatives are the ones that are most important. Then look for ways to work on those priorities first.

Jump in to new projects and new products. With your skills as a PMP, you should be able to handle the political and logistical issues that crop up with these new challenges. Ask about global opportunities if that’s applicable to your organization.

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By admin | August 30, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Fashion and the PMP Lifestyle

Many years ago, I spent a summer as a Teaching Assistant for a Business Communications class at a university in Bangladesh. The students were bright, young (though some older than yours truly) and eager to learn. Although respectful, you could tell they possessed the arrogance and callowness of youth. So much for communications skills, eh?

The boys (and yes I use the term boys not men) were especially proud of showing off that they owned multiple, plain frumpy blue dress shirts with ill-fitting khakis or badly-hemmed grey pants. Blue dress shirts, the oft-ridiculed staple of the business world. These poor sods saw it as a badge of honor to dress in the most, nondescript manner available to them. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love the blue dress shirt but take it out for a walk once in aw hile.

It’s all very well and good to fit in. It’s quite another to peacock. But there’s a middle ground to dressing professionally, to dressing with style and a little bit of flair without becoming a peacock or a character in a Dilbert cartoon.

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By admin | August 29, 2013 | PMP Lifehacking | No Comments |

Navigating the Choppy Waters of Major Programs

I’ve worked on a couple large scale, international projects in my time. The coordination and management efforts needed to successfully execute these projects can be staggering. Even just resource allocation can be one of the biggest headaches, especially for first-time global PM’s. But because of so many factors related to their very nature – multiple time zones, cross-culutral exchange, differing regulatory environments, they do require a huge level of flexibility and understanding.

On a smaller domestic project, a PM can be tempted into strong-arming their way through a project’s timelines and deliverables. Sometimes that works. But it’s frequently not going to be effective on a large-scale major program.

Here are 11 things leaders in Major Programs should know.  (It’s from a British Blog, hence the difference in spelling).

  1. Major Programmes are Everywhere.
  2. The 30% Rule of Thumb
    • Be mindful of historical performance – the past is the best indicator of performance in major programmes.
  3. Benefits Rarely Materialise.
    • Major programmes are usually launched with an array of ‘benefits’ trumpeted by those in charge.
  4. It’s Not the Programme but What the Programme Can Deliver for the Future that Matters
    • Champion the benefits from the start, setting them at the heart of the programme and work tirelessly to ensure their realisation.
  5. Think Details but Think Holistically
    • Capture both depth and breadth.
  6. Risk, Risk and More Risk
    • While risk is mentioned explicitly here, with open eyes it is clear that risk is the underlying point in all of the other 10 lessons, and connects each of them to the others.
  7. Lack of Repeatability – Don’t Assume Experience
    • [P]ast experience of repeatable elements counts but you can’t assume every programme will be a repeat of the past and therefore straightforward. It won’t be.
  8. A Fool’s Errand in Project Management Thinking
    • Leading a major programme is NOT managing a scaled up project.
  9. CEO of a Temporary Organisation
    • The leadership of a major programme should be framed as one of being the “CEO of a temporary organisation”.
  10. Transformational Outcomes
    • They have the power to transform lives for the better and for the worse, if they don’t deliver on their promises.
  11. Sail Towards the Storm
    • [That] drive seems to exist within major programmes managers, deliberately steering to where the transformational opportunities lie.
By NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Cyclone Gonu in the North Indian Ocean, 2007.

By admin | August 28, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Portfolio Management

PortfolioThere’s a bit of confusion regarding the difference betwixt Portfolio Managers and Program Managers & Project Managers. The roles do interact to some degree but they are certainly different.

First off, let’s define a Portfolio. It is a group of Programs to achieve a specific strategic business goal.  They may not be related other than the fact they are helping to achieve a strategic goal. From PMI’s Voices on Project Management Blog:

Portfolio Management
What they focus on: What they don’t focus on:
  • Strategic alignment
  • Processes
  • Resource allocation
  • Continuous monitoring
  • Performance
  • Ensuring communications and stakeholder engagement, especially at an executive level
  • Risks
  • Organizational change management
  • Ongoing operations of the portfolio
  • Managing project/program managers
  • Managing the execution of programs or projects
  • Managing triple constraints. [Not scope, time or budget]
  • Managing the PMO

 

I have to say that Portfolio Management sounds like a fascinating endeavor. I haven’t work in any organizations, nor really known any personally, that have formalized Portfolio Management. They may have been big enough to make use of Portfolio Management but I have a feeling that many organizations, even if they have formalized Project Methodologies and employ certified PMP’s, don’t go the full bore into the upper echelons of Portfolio Management. That takes a level of specialization and organization that most organizations don’t have. That’s not to say they couldn’t benefit from the practice but that they simply lack the willpower or even knowledge of the benefits of Portfolio Management. For many, it’s enough of a miracle that they might even have a formalized PMO.

By admin | August 27, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Project Managers Don’t Know It All (really!)

teamworkThere’s a temptation when you’re a Project Manager to want to know it all, to do it all. Even when we know that’s not possible. You’re in charge of the success of the project so you’re tempted to get your hands into everything.

PMP Training teaches us that the true Project Management Professional doesn’t get involved in every single detail of the project. But even so, we generally want to know everything and when we’re faced with situations in which we don’t know the details, it’s tough to let go. But as Lynda Bourne notes, there are benefits to not knowing.

The power of “not knowing” will also open up two-way communication within the team and generate all sorts of efficiencies. Here are a couple of examples on how to put the power of not knowing to work:

  • Delegating. Some tasks are simply better delegated to an expert who knows how to do the job well and quickly. I’m sure everyone could learn to use pivot tables in Excel. But is it worth several hours of struggle when a knowledgeable expert — even if it’s the most junior team member — can solve the issue in a few minutes?
  • Engaging team members. Ask a team member to talk you through a challenge he or she is working on. You’ll get the lowdown on the task at hand, and good insights into how he or she works.

By encouraging your team to ask questions, it reduces errors, frees up communication and enhances the information flow in a positive way. It seems obvious, but it won’t happen without a push in the right direction.

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By admin | August 21, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

PM Toastmasters’ Club Community Gala

I received a tweet the other day from the PM Toastmaster’s Club about a Community Gala they’re holding on September 28th so I thought I’d pass it along if you’re in the Toronto area. Here’s the info:

Speaker Highlights

  • Frank P. Saladis, Founder of International Project Management Day
  • Dena Coward, VP, Project Management and Games Planning, Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games Organizing Committee
  • Elton Brown, DTM, Toastmasters District 60 on Governance & Stakeholder Engagement
  • Jim Pagiamtzis, Author & Speaker, on Networking Strategies
  • Speakers from PMTMC, Charity and other community organizations

Join various groups in a fun evening of networking and learning about project management practices in the community and how PMTMC helps individuals enhance their communication and leadership competencies. Whether you’re a seasoned project management practitioner, just starting out or interested in the profession, or a business professional, this unique event is an opportunity to learn, share, build networks, engage with Toronto communities, showcase yourself, socialize with peers and make contacts.

Tickets: $50 each. To purchase tickets online, register at https://pmtmc.ticketbud.com/communitygala

(PMP Lifestyle on Twitter – @pmplifestyle)

By admin | August 20, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Global Project Management Tips

PMI’s Voice on Project Management blog had an interesting article on Tips for First-Time Global Project Managers.

1. Requirements: On global projects, it is common to encounter both global (such as quarterly financial reporting) and country (such as provincial tax) requirements…

2. Estimation: A global project typically features added complexity and costs not found with a co-located project. This calls for estimation to include additional effort to manage the previously mentioned requirements, as well as cross-geography coordination. The latter can include things such as team member travel time and global communications…

3. Scheduling: Scheduling milestones, effort and resources on global projects is one of the greatest challenges for a project manager. The first thing to remember is to include country-specific scheduling considerations, such as regional holidays and vacations. In addition, always leave room in the schedule for project risks that can arise from unstable governments, new regulations and labor disputes. Finally, be prepared for unexpected surprises from nature, such as snowstorms, floods, volcanic eruptions and other disruptions.

Benjamin D. Esham [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsPart and parcel of all three elements is managing resource constraints. It’s not just about managing travel time, though that’s certainly important. Resource availability is also important. In my experience, the mentors/managers necessary for assisting in setting up shop in the new country weren’t always available at the same time. Sometimes alternatives had to be found, visit schedules readjusted in order to accommodate as others were obviously working on other projects when asked to contribute to setting up the new office.

I do agree that global PM’ing was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever undertaken. I remember being on a flight overseas, sweating bullets wondering if I would really make the grade.

The best advice I would give is to just jump in. Don’t hesitate. Yes, we all try to plan and scope everything as best as possible. Plan the work, then work the plan, right? But you can’t account for every.single.variable. Trust in your training. Trust in your skills. Invariably, there will be mistakes but if you’re bold but not rash, you will be able to move your projects forward.

TrackBack URL to PMI: http://blogs.pmi.org/mt-tb.cgi/817

By admin | August 18, 2013 | PM News and Advice | No Comments |

Stay at a Business Hotel for Leisure

Lifehacker.com is one of my favorite websites. Sometimes it’s a bit of overload because they publish so many articles but it’s still worth perusing everyday to see what sort of tips and tricks they find for making life a little smoother or a little more productive.

Today, via the NYT, Lifehacker published a piece of advise that will be familiar to any PMP or Consultant who’s traveled for a living.

Joe Sharkey on the New York Times offers a workaround to this insanity: head to a hotel that caters to business travelers:

Across the industry, midlevel hotels with strong bases in business travel provide a range of services without any extra charge — from free Internet and business-center access to free breakfasts and in some cases even a free evening cocktail hour with snacks. I will enthusiastically stay when it’s feasible at one of these brands, whether a Hampton Inn or Garden Inn, a Country Inns and Suites, a Marriott Residence — to name just a few in that market niche.

I’ve spent so much time in my life staying at places like Hampton or Marriott that I rarely even think of them as a business hotels. Marriott is just one of the best options, period.

Does the Mirage in Vegas count as a business hotel?

Does the Mirage in Las Vegas count as a business hotel?

By admin | August 15, 2013 | PMP Lifehacking | No Comments |