Engineering Project Management
Eng R. L. Nkumbwa™
www.nkumbwa.weebly.com
© 2010 Nkumbwa™. All Rights Reserved.
1
Outline
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PM in today’s environment
 rapid change
 BPR
The project plan
Management & communications
Organizational, people, political issues
Stakeholders
Tools & methodologies
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2
New Business Environment
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Change – at ever faster pace
Globalization/Internet
Intense Competition
BPR leading to
 Downsizing, flattening
 Team approach, empowerment
 E-Commerce, outsourcing
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3
Change
Business Change
Projects
Project Management (PM)
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4
Project Characteristics
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Defined goal
Primary sponsor or customer
Set of activities
 Unique, complex, sequenced
Start & finish
 Temporary, time frame for completion
Limited resources
 Dollars, people
Uncertainty, risk
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5
Ongoing Activities
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Have opposite characteristics to projects
 Similar, often identical products or services
 No defined end
 Staffing & management practices geared to above
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What is Project Management?
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PM is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to project activities in order to meet project
requirements. (PMI)
PM
 is an art.
 is a science.
 has a set of tools and methods.
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Three Disciplines
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Project Dynamics:
The Triple Constraints
Cost
Time
Scope
Quality
Resources
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Scope Creep (Wysocki)
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Scope creep
 any change not in original plan
 IT particularly prone to creep
 major challenge for PMs
Hope creep
 will catch up next week
Effort creep
 95-99% complete
Feature creep
 team member adds features
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10
Traditional Project Management
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PM practiced (not by name) for millennia
PERT/CPM tools developed in 1950s
Focus on time, budget, specs
 Gantt charts, Pert/CPM
 s-shaped budget curves
 resource matrices
Customers an afterthought
Project managers’ domain limited
 implementers
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11
New Project Management
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Need to enhance traditional PM to:
 become more customer focused
 utilize new tools & softer skills
 empower/select project managers
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decision making
profit-loss responsibilities
entrepreneurial approach
business know-how
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12
PMI PMBOK
Project management Body of Knowledge
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13
Effective Project Managers
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Lead by example
Visionaries
Technically competent
Decisive
Good communicators
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Good motivators
Stand up to execs when
necessary
Support team members
Encourage new ideas
Zimmerman & Yasin 1998
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Effective Project Managers
Alternate View
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Leaders (also managers, administrators)
Communicators
Goal oriented
Problem solvers
Innovators
Work well under pressure (able to laugh)
Technically competent, respected, aware
Know company & its business
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Project Manager Traits
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Systems approach
Analytical skills
Ability to zoom
 forest versus trees
 big picture versus details
Firm yet flexible
“Velvet covered brick”
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Project Life Cycle -- Phases
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Project Management Process Groups
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Project Life Cycle (Frame)
Concept
Planning
Execution
Closeout
Operation
Maintenance
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PM Life Cycle (Wysocki)
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Five Phases
1.
Scope project
2.
Develop project plan
3.
Launch plan
4.
Monitor/control project project
5.
Close out project
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20
Why Projects Succeed
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User involvement
Exec management support
 unequivocal sponsorship
Clear understanding & statement
of requirements
Effective planning
Realistic expectations
Standish Group survey of IT execs
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21
Building Bridges versus Software
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Why do bridge projects usually succeed?
Why do software projects usually fail?
 on time
 within budget
 meet expectations
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22
Successful Projects
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Depends on your point of view
Execs, users & project team view success differently
Is project successful if meets stated goals, schedule &
budget?
Does project result in tangible, cost effective business
improvement for users?
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Success as perceived by Execs
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Real business asset
Cost controlled (low)
Objectives achieved
Not oversold
Not over-committed
Well managed
 effective controls, milestones achieved
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Success as perceived by Project Team
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Execs & users happy with results
Management committed & supportive
Necessary resources available
 enough, adequate
Managed changes effectively
Schedule realistic
Gained experience
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Project Discipline
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Definition: act of encouraging desired pattern of behavior
the glue that holds it all together
project manager, team, organization
Implementing discipline
 set realistic goals
 obtain commitments
 track progress against plans
 enforce commitments
Whitten
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Key Concepts (Verzuh)
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PM – emerging career track
PM – art informed by science
Challenges of PM
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personnel, estimating, budgeting, authority, controls,
communication
PM is industry independent, project managers aren’t
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27
Key Concepts (Verzuh)
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Continued
Managing Expectations (later session)
No damage
 can’t keep giving 120%
 order ulcer medication
Surviving organizational structure
 authority, communications, priority, focus, chain of
command
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Quotes from Verzuh
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Primary responsibility of project manager to lead
customers, management, vendors and encourage them
to work together during the project.
Success may demand every technique in this book
Project manager is catalyst
 Energy & attitude give the power
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Silver Bullets
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Organizations & their execs have problems
They look to projects to solve them
Too many have silver bullet expectations of projects
They fail to address the root causes of their problems
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Success or Failure?
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“BIG I”
Successful?
Well planned?
Clear accountability?
Did things go wrong?
Effective communications?
Carrot & stick?
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“BCMDC”
Fiasco?
Planned or happened?
Anyone accountable?
Anyone fired?
Frank’s plumbing?
One disaster after another?
Who cares?
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Overview
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Delighting customers
Needs to requirements
Organizational issues
Stakeholders
Politics (revisited)
Getting the project off the ground
Scope the Project
 Project Charter (Verzuh)
 Project Overview Statement (Wysocki)
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32
Delighting Customers
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Delight – not just satisfy
Knowing who they are, what they want, when they are right &
wrong
Obsession with customer satisfaction is part of the new project
management
Nothing obvious/trivial about identifying customers
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33
Delighting Customers (cont.)
“High-value organizations are in business of selling
solutions, not hardware, and customer
satisfaction achieved through partnering between
buyers & sellers”
(Frame)
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Meeting Customer Expectations
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Product/service usable
Promises kept
competent/gracious service
needs understood & addressed effectively
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Customers= Needs/Requirements
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Must work tirelessly to understand them
It’s a translation process twixt ill-defined languages
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Customers= Needs/Requirements
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Needs analyst traits:
 strong ability to deal with customers
 political skills
 technically competent
 open-minded & imaginative
 high tolerance for ambiguity
 articulate
Technicians tend to produce Mercedes not the Hyundai that=s
wanted
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Bridging Customer-Developer Gap
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Partner with customers (stakeholders)
Use “Joint” techniques:
 Joint Project Planning (JPP)
 Joint Application Development (JAD)
If fail to get needs/requirements right both sides at fault
Communications barriers
 cultural, vocabulary, medium, feedback
 Tips: be up front, cautious (Murphy’s Law), realistic, clear,
don’t jump to solutions, communicate/educate
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Improving Needs Definition
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Understand present system in full context
Identify multiple customers, prioritize their needs
Needs defining task force involving customers
Educate customers in rudiments of project management
 must realize it=s an exercise in compromise
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multiple customers, conflicting needs, budget & schedule
constraints
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Needs Analysis
Organizational
Key
Areas of
Analysis
Present
System
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Functional
Requirements
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Organizational Issues
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You are PM not CEO/COO
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Yet you need organization’s commitment, so:
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focus org. culture on customer value (culture change!)
unbridled change so organize into short, achievable
deliverables
improve processes for customer delight
strengthen project staff capabilities, e.g. business & nontechnical skills
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41
Changing Corporate Culture
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BPR (project oriented) not TQM (process oriented), so:
 Focus on value
 Encourage upside-down thinking
 Power sharing
 Long term view
 Total customer focus
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42
Business Reengineering & Quality Management
Business Quality
Improvement
Definition
Target
Potential
Payback
Risk
What Changes?
Primary
Enablers
Business
Reengineering
Incrementally Improving
Existing Processes
Radically Redesigning
Business Systems
Any Process
Strategic Business
Processes
10%-50% Improvements
10-Fold Improvements
Low
High
Same Jobs - More Efficient
Big Job Cuts; New Jobs;
Major Job Redesign
IT and Work Simplification
IT and Organizational
Redesign
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Organizational Commitment
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Organization committed to PM:
 organization has project management system defining
processes & practices
 system disseminated to employees via education &
training
 Management instills the discipline necessary to ensure
system followed
 system is living document not collecting dust
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Customers Dont Cooperate
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Common complaint from PMs:
 customers not behaving responsibly
 “customer” not monolith
 prime cause organizational politics
Educate customers, educate, educate
 emphasize contractual obligations
 meeting key milestones
 establish steering committee
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45
Stakeholder Concept
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In projects stakeholders are the movers & shakers
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Stakeholder roles
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Customers/users
Sponsor(s)
Line (functional) management
Project manager
Project team
Anyone/everyone else with a stake
Verzuh
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Stakeholders
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First identify all stakeholders
Must delight not just customers, but also stakeholders
This is tough!
Customers, management, project team must all agree on project
goals
Project manager must coordinate, guide, lead this diverse group
through the project stages
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47
Politics Revisited
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“Politics is the art of influence”
DON’T accept things at face value, be insensitive to politics, be
hyper-political
Action guide
 positive attitude to politics
 develop base of authority
 get a grasp of political environment
 action plan
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Politics Revisited
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Building authority
 formal (from position)
 technical/expert authority
 charisma
 purse string (rewards)
 bureaucracy
 old boy network . . . etc.
Support of “power players”
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49
Project Teams
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Traditional teams
 full time members
 co-located
 easy to develop esprit de corps
Today’s teams
 part-timers
 not assigned for duration
 virtual environment
 tough to build effective teams, demands ingenuity
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50
Getting Project off the Ground
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Remember project success demands
 goals agreed by all stakeholders
 control of scope
 management support
PROJECT CHARTER
 brief, high level document formally establishing project
 understood & signed by all key stakeholders
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Project Charter
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Establishes rules of game
What project includes, what it doesn’t (boundaries)
Goals, constraints, success criteria
Negotiate
Formally agree
Note Statement of Work (SOW)
 NOT usual usage of term
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Establish
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Initiate
Charter establishes project
Next must compete with other projects for scarce
resources
Prioritize – go or no go?
Go ahead
Begin Analysis Phase
needs
requirements
detailed SOW
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53
Wysocki: Scope the Project
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Wysocki’s equivalent of the Charter:
Project Overview Statement (POS)
About one page, but
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attachments: risk & financial analyses
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approval by project mgr & core team (?)
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Joint Project Planning (JPP) session
Project Definition Statement (PDS)
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next stage
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considerably more detail
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POS Components
1.
2.
Problem/opportunity
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factual statement
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accepted by organization
Goal (one goal)
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gives purpose & direction
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what will be done
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defines final deliverable/outcome
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SMART
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specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time frame
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POS Components
3.
4.
Objectives
1.
outcome
2.
time frame
3.
measure
4.
action
Success criteria
•
why do we want to do project?
•
measurable business value
•
sells project to execs
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56
POS Components
5.
Assumptions, risks, obstacles
•
what can go wrong?
•
alert management to factors that may
interfere/compromise
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specific, brief
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57
Politics
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Politics:
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control of outcomes via control of people.
Use political tools in conjunction with product-oriented tools
Use of political tools NOT inherently bad
Ignoring politics can result in unnecessary losing outcomes
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Politics vs Product
Product
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Ethics
product/service provided to customer
function-quality-service
Success if meets specs, on time,
under budget
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Politics
perception of what we provided
perception-expectation
success defined by positive surprises
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Perceptions & Expectations
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Customers have preconceived perceptions & expectations
Perhaps unrealistic, in hope of solving major problems
These perceptions/expectations are reality to them
If discrepancy, surprise will occur
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60
First Law of Politics
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Rule #1: surprise will always happen
Rule #2: managing surprises is key to customer satisfaction
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First Law
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Perception – Expectation = Surprise
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Perception: view of product/service actually observed
Expectation: view what should be able to do
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61
Reality is a Myth
Imagined
Map
Truth
. . what you believe
. . . . subjective
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Real
Territory
Fact
. . . . what is true
. . . objective reality
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Second Law of Politics
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Second Law:
Perception = Reality
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Doesn’t matter what you do, only what people think you do
As many truths (realities) as there are people; no-one better than
any other
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63
Third Law of Politics
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There are trade-offs twixt wants and needs
Also gap twixt wants/needs can create negative surprise later
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hence poor customer satisfaction
Third Law
Wants – Needs = Surprise
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64
Fourth Law of Politics
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Fourth Law
Perception
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today
= Expectation
tomorrow
This is law of political momentum
More effort required as time goes on to create positive surprises
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65
Political Definition of Success
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Notes:
 Success exists in minds of customers
 Success varies over time
 Our task is to control surprises
 This takes precedence over product/services
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66
Equation for Success
Success = Sum of surprises as perceived by all customers over time
i=n
Success = ( ∑ S i )
t
i=1
n = # of customers
t = time
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Equation for Success II
i=n
Success = (∑ s i w i )
t
i=1
w = weight associated with each
customer
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Political Credibility
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Every person/organizational component has a stack of political
“chips”
There is “price” when we try to control an outcome
If we don’t have enough chips at the time we fail to control
So vital to maintain sufficient pile of chips
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69
Political Credibility
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Chips go away when
 we spend in political process
 we create negative surprises
 & they evaporate over time
We gain chips when
 we create positive surprises
 we “join”
 & via our business/technical abilities
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Attaining Political Credibility
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Establish mission
 what products/services we provide
Identify customers
 functional (direct)
 political (indirect)
Survey customers
 what expectations/perceptions exist?
 criteria for measuring them?
 triggers for them?
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Attainment (continued)
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Survey customers (cont.)
 customer wants/needs?
 contradictions twixt them?
 wall erected?
Establish vehicles
 “For each customer, what vehicle exists to control
expectations/perceptions in the criteria for that user?”
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Leverage Techniques
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Leverage
 to be effective must apply political credibility at right
point
 this is principle of leverage
 target chips toward specific “owners” (we may be
credible with one person not another)
 not enough to have chips, we must have them in right
place at right time
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Leverage Techniques
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Leverage principles
 target chips to be where & when needed
 Identify winners/losers; winners work for you; losers
against
 Use someone else’s chips; get one of winners to attempt
control
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Persuasion
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Common mistake among technicians
 assume sufficient evidence/logical argument will convince
people
 that reason & logic rule the day
But best idea backed by credible evidence won’t fly unless those
controlling outcome agree to it
We must sway the decision/outcome
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Persuasion Process
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Define decision we want
List every major player who can affect decision
 people, groups, organizations
 i.e. the stakeholders
Assess
 position of each player -- for or against
 power of each player
 priority each player places on outcome
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Persuasion Process (cont.)
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What can we do to cause the power, position,
priority of each player to change so the outcome
we want will occur?
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77
Persuasion (cont.)
Person Power Position Priority Score
A
B
C
4
2
1
4
-5
0
1
5
2
16
-50
0
(assign value, 1-5, 5 high)
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Summary
Technical Competence is Insufficient
Embrace Politics
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Remember Verzuh’s
Five Essential Success Factors
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Agreement on Goals
Plan clearly indicating what and who
Constant, effective Communication
Controlled Scope
Management support
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Overview
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Selecting Projects
Risk Management
Work Breakdown Structure
Realistic Estimating
Scheduling Methods
 Gantt, CPM, PERT
Time Boxes & Critical Chain
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81
Selecting Projects
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In most organizations projects must
compete for priority, dollars, resources
Financial Models
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detailed financial analysis
cost–benefit ratios
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82
Selecting Projects (cont.)
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Martin Buss “How to Select Projects”
 Harvard Business Review 1983
 Small project selection team
 grids with criteria, high-medium-low
 criteria generally financial, technical, enhancing core
competencies, organizational fit against costs
 review proposals, then quick collective judgment
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83
Buss’s Grid Approach
Grid A
Low
Medium
High
High
Medium
Financial Benefits
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Low
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Risk – Risk – Risk
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Life is full of uncertainty, i.e. Risk
Projects are inherently & especially risk prone
Insurance companies are risk managers
Re projects: Murphy was an optimist
 if it can go wrong, it will
As project managers:
 We must apply systematic risk management techniques
throughout project
 They are part of our toolkit (PMBOK)
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85
Risk Management
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Software Engineering Institute (SEI) perspective:
 URLs
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/programs/sepm/risk/risk.mgmt.overview.html
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/programs/sepm/risk/principles.html
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Risk management must be continuous thru life of project
Risk & opportunity go hand in hand
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SEI on Risk
"Risk in itself is not bad; risk is essential to progress, and
failure is often a key part of learning. But we must learn to
balance the possible negative consequences of risk against
the potential benefits of its associated opportunity."
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Sources of Project Risk
General sources
 environmental (largely uncontrollable)
 external, e.g. government regulations
 internal, e.g. new division VP
 technical
 market
 financial
 people
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Sources of Project Risk (cont.)



What goes wrong with projects in your environment?
Standish top five success factors
 user involvement, management support, requirements
greed/understood, planning, realistic expectations
Verzuh top five
 agreed goals, planning, communication, controlled scope,
management support
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Verzuh on Risk Management



Selecting right project is business risk; managing uncertainty
is project risk
Identifying risks – involve stakeholders
Risk Profiles: questionnaire addressing expected project risk areas
 Guidelines:
 industry & organization specific
 address both product & mgt risks
 gauge magnitude of risk – high/medium/low
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Verzuh (cont.)

Dealing with risk (make a decision)





Accept – understanding risks, consequences, probabilities,
react if happens
Avoid – change scope to avoid, accept “low risk– low
return”
Monitor – contingency plans ready, e.g. at DIA back-up
baggage handling
Transfer – contract, outsource, insure (but remember win—
win)
Mitigate – work hard to reduce risk
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Top 10 Risk Item Tracking



Tool for maintaining awareness of risk throughout life of a
project
Establish periodic review of the 10 project risk items
List current/previous ranking, number of times the risk
appears on list over time, summary of progress made in
resolving each risk item
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Top 10 Risk Item Tracking Example
Monthly Ranking
Risk Item
This
Last
Month
Month
Inadequate
planning
1
2
4
Working on revising the
entire project plan
Poor definition
of scope
2
3
3
Holding meetings with
project customer and
sponsor to clarify scope
Absence of
leadership
3
1
2
Just assigned a new
project manager to lead
the project after old one
quit
Poor cost
estimates
4
4
3
Revising cost estimates
Poor time
estimates
5
5
3
Revising schedule
estimates
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Number
Risk Resolution
of Months Progress
93
Expert Judgment


Many organizations rely on intuitive feelings & past
experience of experts to help identify potential project risks
Experts categorize risks as high, medium, low with or
without more sophisticated techniques
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Results of Effective Project
Risk Management




Unlike crisis management, good project risk management often
goes unnoticed
Well-run projects appear almost effortless, but a lot of work goes
into running a project well
Project managers should strive to make their jobs look easy to
reflect the results of well-run projects
Duck on water – smooth on top, but underneath paddling like hell
to keep afloat
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Estimating


“Project best understood by breaking it down into its parts”
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
 powerful tool for doing this (not just a task list)
 defines the total scope of the project
 fundamental to much of project planning & tracking
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WBS





Start at top, progressively break work down (tree structure)
into work packages
Roll up the packages for bottom up estimating
Packages give clear work assignments
For chart form of a WBS see Verzuh page 103
For outline (list) form see Verzuh page 104
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Realistic Estimating



Lots of reasons for poor estimates
 inexperience, technical problems, changes optimists, lowballing, politics
Bottom-up cost estimating
 rollup the WBS packages
Top-down or Parametric estimating
 from experience to complex models
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Realistic Estimating (cont.)

Which technique is better?
 ideally use both
 early on don’t have WBS so must use top-down
 accuracy of top-down depends on availability/quality
of historical data
 building complete WBS can be expensive
 but guesses can be even more costly
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Developing Project Schedule


Base documents
 Project charter – start/end dates, budget
 Scope statement & WBS -- what will be done
Activity definitions
 develop more detailed WBS
 plus supporting explanations to understand all work to
be done
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Scheduling Tools & Methods





Gantt Charts
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
Time Boxes
Critical Chain (Theory of Constraints)
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Activity Sequencing


Review activities; determine dependencies
 Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work;
hard logic
 Discretionary: defined by the project team; soft logic
 External: involve relationships between project and external
activities
Must determine dependencies to use critical path analysis
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Gantt Charts




Created 1800
Standard format for displaying project schedules
 activities, durations, start/end finish dates displayed in
calendar format
Advantages
 enforces planning
 easy to create & understand
 preferred for summary/exec-level information
Bar chart: simplified version
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Sample Project Gantt Chart
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Sample Tracking Gantt Chart
white diamond: slipped milestone
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two bars: planned and actual times
105
Critical Path Method (CPM)




Developed 1957
CPM diagram shows:
 activities, durations, start/end dates & sequence in which
they must be completed
Critical path for project:
 series of activities that determines earliest time by which
project can be completed
Critical path is longest path through network diagram
 has least (zero) slack or float
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CPM (cont.)


Critical path helps you make schedule trade-offs
Slack or float :
 amount of time activity can be delayed without delaying
early start of dependent activities
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Simple Example of Determining
Critical Path


consider following network diagram
assume all times in days
C=2
start
1
A=2
2
B=5
4
E=1
3
6
D=7
5
finish
F=2
a. How many paths are on this network diagram?
b. How long is each path?
c. Which is the critical path?
d. What is the shortest amount of time needed to
complete this project?
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PERT




Developed 1959 for Polaris project
Similar to CPM but addresses uncertainties in task
durations
Uses probabilistic time estimates – optimistic, most likely,
pessimistic estimates of activity durations
Hence reduces Risks associated with estimating
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PERT Formula and Example

PERT weighted average formula:
optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time
6
Example:
PERT weighted average =

8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays
6
= 12 days
where 8 = optimistic time, 10 = most likely time, and 24 = pessimistic time
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Selecting Scheduling Approach




Consider project size, risk and complexity
Gantt
 senior management
 smaller, less complex projects
CPM
 medium size/complexity/risk
PERT
 high risk projects
 medium to high complexity
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111
Time Box Scheduling





Deals with delivering in short time frames
Focuses on prioritization
Facilitator brings stakeholders together to agree on
priorities
It’s customer–developer partnering
 win-win
Compromise on scope to achieve early delivery
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Critical Chain Scheduling





Addresses challenge of meeting or beating project finish dates
Application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC)
Developed by Eliyahu Goldratt in his books The Goal & Critical Chain
Method of scheduling that takes limited resources into account
when creating project schedule & includes buffers to protect
completion date
Assumes resources do not multitask as it often delays task
completions & increases total durations
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113
Critical Chain (cont.)



Simple view:
 in critical situation, don’t try to strengthen all of the
links in the chain
 focus on the weakest link
Some organizations view as best thing since sliced bread
But does it sound like common sense?
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114
Break then Case Discussion

Risk Management case

Guest Diane Luther (Ventana Group)
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115
Embracing & Managing Change



Change will happen
Are we prepared to deal with it?
 blurred visions
 rubber baselines
 fluctuating priorities
All contribute to:
 Scope creep
 schedule slippages
 cost overruns
 customer dissatisfaction
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116
Sources of Change






Changing players
Folks change their minds
Budget instability
Technology keeps changing
Changing competitive environment
The economy
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Change Management Strategies

Develop pro-change mind-set
 only 16 % Promethean
 “If it ain=t broke, don=t fix it@
in revolutionary times, traditionalists crushed beneath
tidal wave of change
 innovation often comes from outside
Learn how/when to Ago with the flow@



And when to resist change
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Developing Pro-Change
Mindset




Through education & training
Upside-down thinking, in order to thrive in turbulent times
Think multiple customers & stakeholders, not just one
Use crises to change traditional attitudes & focus on new
ways of doing things
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Configuration Management (CM)


Resist change via bureaucracy
Change control via CM
 Rigorously screen changes





formal process for assessing merit
major or minor impact?
if major goes to Change Control Board (CCB)
document changes
update baseline
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Written change
proposal
Change Control Process
Rework
proposal
CCB Review
Accepted for impact study
Rework
Rejected
stop
proposal deigned,
documented,
implementation
schedule
Rework
Rework
proposal
CCB reviews
Accepted in product
Rejected
stop
Proposal
implemented
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Change Management (Harris)



*
Accept all written change proposals
Project team assesses impact
 cost, staff, schedule
Change team* reviews
 value, importance (politically weighted)
 triage
 add to scope, phase II, phase III
Key stakeholders, project manager
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Project Communication



Failure to communicate effectively often greatest threat to project
success
Communication is oil that keeps project running smoothly
Stakeholders
 who needs to know what, when (how often) & how?
 constant, effective communication among everyone involved in
project
 formal, informal, written, verbal
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Communications (cont.)



Need formal communications plan
 plus informal supplementation as required
Integrated with overall project plan
Conflict is endemic to project, need skills to manage
 confrontation (aka problem solving mode)*
 compromise
 smoothing
 forcing
 withdrawal (least desirable in projects)
* project management is all about solving problems quickly &
effectively
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Communications (cont.)




Make assignments crystal clear
Running meetings effectively is key skill
Individual status meetings
 spend regular, quality time with each team member
Kick-off meeting (see Verzuh)
 need clear, decisive start
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Effective Meetings (Verzuh)

Five rules
 agenda in advance


begin/end on time




pass on information
come to decision
stay on track
Draw people out


avoid long meetings (one hour if practical)
for each agenda item


everyone should come prepared
silence not necessarily consent
Record decisions & action assignments

keep on top of resulting action list
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Project Progress



Monitoring, Tracking, Controlling, Managing
How does a project get to be six months late?
Control versus Risk
 control – track progress, detect variances in plan, take
corrective action
 Balance risk & control
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Monitor & Control

Progress reports
 current period, cumulative, exception, variance
 Level of detail





activity manager – detailed, granular
project manager – all open activities
senior management – graphical, exception, milestones
use WBS charts
Graphical reports – Gantt, milestone charts
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Problem Tracking & Management



Daily – project manager tracks progress against schedule &
problems
Successful problem management
 identify before happen or at least at first symptoms
 put recovery plans in place – don’t delay
Problem management process
 identify & determine criticality (80-20)*
 assign an owner
 document recovery plan
 Monitor progress, daily if critical
* prioritize
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Measuring Work Performance




PM “jokes”
 last 10% of project takes 50% of the work
 projects stuck at 90% for months
Problem not sudden insurmountable obstacles – it’s inaccurate
measurement
Percentage of work completed too open to subjectivity
Cost & schedule are 2/3 of cost, schedule, quality equilibrium,
so we measure them
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Integrated Cost & Schedule Control




Graphical approach
Compare actual against planned /projected costs ($)
Problems
 but $ spent don’t indicate actual work completed
 Accounting information often lags
Hence Earned Value approach
 determine value of work completed
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131
Earned Value Chart for Project
(After Five Months)
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Earned Value Approach





Developed in 1960s for large defense projects; now used in smaller
projects
50-50 rule assumes task 50% complete when started, 100% when
completed
Compare earned value to planned costs
Collecting data
 large projects employ cost account managers
 for
smaller projects, use 50-50 rule, take advantage of
milestones, or can guess using experience
Limitations of earned value
 availability of accurate, timely data
 educational; need organizational understanding
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Outsourcing




Control costs
Focus on core work
Expand resources
Underlying rationale economic
 bigger no long better
 replaced by lean and mean
 focus on core activities
 with outside resources to cover auxiliary
goods/services
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134
Outsourcing (cont)

Outsourcing is part of project manager’s toolkit
 contracting skills essential
 motivating staff who don=t work directly for you
strongest motivator is opportunity for self growth
Outsource all or major part of project
“Don’t underestimate risks of outsourcing”



© 2010 Nkumbwa™. All Rights Reserved.
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Outsourcing (cont)

Contracts
 Fixed-price
contracts,
OK
for
routine
implementations, not for high risk development
 Cost-plus contracts, contractor paid costs plus a fee
(profit), variations to reduce excessive expenditure
 Cost-plus-fixed-fee,
fee independent of costs,
attractive to contractors in high risk projects
 cost-plus-incentive-fee, carrot and stick, incentive to
keep down costs
 cost-plus-award-fee, award pool & level of award by
committee
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136
Contracting Process



Source selection, competitive bid, sole source, informal selection
RFP provides bidders with format for proposal
 for
software projects usual to include comprehensive
Statement of Work (SOW)
 RFP for major project can be project in & of itself
Evaluating bids
 establish evaluation criteria, (cost only one factor)
 best & final offer from short-listed bidders
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Contracting Process (cont)



Contract negotiations
 rights, penalties, payment schedule, fee structure, schedule of
deliveries
Post-award
 monitoring, regular say monthly reviews, attention to cost &
schedules variances, milestones, need change control process
Acceptance & handover
 customer determines if terms & conditions of contract met
 differences rooted in interpretation
 problems often due to parties not having resolved different
perspectives, others to dynamic nature of projects
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Joint Project Planning (JJP)




Variety of joint planning processes
JPP (Wysocki chapter 11)
Structured session
 facilitator essential
 key stakeholder involved
Objective clear & simple
 develop project plan; negotiated between requestors &
providers
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139
PM Policies & Practices


Consistent policies & practices throughout organization
SEI:
 consistent approach to managing project 75% cost
reduction over different practices for each project
 consistent management practices essential
 development practices can vary
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140
PM Policies & Practices


One policy does not fit all projects
Different practices for different types of projects, e.g.
 small, medium, large
 small, internal, external
 practices for above should become progressively
more rigorous
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Project Support Office





Support is operative word
Develops, documents, promotes PM policies & practices
Admin support (paperwork)
Consulting, mentoring on planning etc.
Organizational PM awareness, training
Verzuh
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Project Support Office (cont.)

Support unit to project managers
 PM standards
 Manage communications
 Admin support
 Provide training
 Mentoring role
 Facilitate deployment (of PM staff)
Wysocki
© 2010 Nkumbwa™. All Rights Reserved.
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Organization Wide




Today many project-based enterprises
PM policies & practices not just for active project participants
Increase PM competencies throughout organization
 management, employees, contractors
Spectrum of PM training
 Everyone should comprehend fundamentals
© 2010 Nkumbwa™. All Rights Reserved.
144
Cultural Change





Process change relies cultural change
Not an easy task due to people issues
Takes years rather than months
Project support office staff should be evangelists
Boeing:
 Experiment, learn from users what adds value & what
does not . . .
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145
Project Closure
“Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana
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146
Project Closure
Too often avoidance rather than effective closure; recall
Six Phases of a Project
1) Enthusiasm
2) Disillusionment
3)
PANIC
4) Search for Guilty
5) Punishment of Innocent
6) Praise & Honors for Non-Participants

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Effective Closure




Ensure all deliverables installed
 including documentation
Stakeholder acceptance of deliverables
Post-implementation review/audit
Celebrate success
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148
Document The Project


Project review & evaluation
Final Deliverable – evaluation document
 Summary of project history
 project successes
 Failures/problems
 Compare estimates to actual


reasons/observations on differences
What should we learn?

Do and not do next project
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149
Post-Implementation Audit


Evaluate project’s achievements against plan

budget, deadlines, specifications, quality of
deliverables, client satisfaction
Six questions:
1.
Project goal achieved?
2.
On time, within budget & per specs?
3.
Client (stakeholder) satisfied?
4.
Business value realized?
5.
PM lessons learned?
6.
What worked, what didn’t?
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