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Risk Management – Is this really necessary?

August 31, 2011 By 14 Comments

Risk ManagementArticle Written by Gwen Miller, PMP 

Anyone who has been on a project team should be aware of what risk management is and why it is needed.  If we understand the intent for managing project risks, then why does it seem that risk management is the least practiced knowledge area in project management? 

Purpose of Risk Management 

Decreasing the likelihood and impact of negative events or increasing the likelihood and impact of positive events is the purpose for risk management processes.  But I find that many projects tend to focus on the negative characteristics of risk.  Could this be a clue leading us to the reason or reasons that risk management processes seem to be nonessential? 

Don’t Shoot the Messenger! 

Going to leadership and owning up to risk events occurring on the project could be confused with negativity because of the focus on negative events.  I have experienced, first hand, environments where the C-level executives would advise the project managers, that s/he only wanted to hear ‘good news’.  And they would emphasize the GOOD NEWS part. 

You get the drift.  The flip side of the coin, bring bad news and be prepared.  Shooting the messenger never solved the problem.  In this organization, the culture of ‘only good news’ deterred project team members from bringing impending risks to the attention of leadership. 

Differing Views of Risk Management 

Risk management processes are perceived to be extra work, additional cost to the project, and inhibit creativity.  Or that facilitating scheduled risk review meetings create a ‘negative vibe’ with those associated with the project because the focus is on reasons that the project might fail. 

As project managers, we need to demonstrate that effective risk management is the best tool, and when used can increase the likelihood of project success.  We need to provide the evidence that supports the claim.  Walk the talk. 

Risk Attitude Adjustment 

One way to garner buy-in and support for risk management from project sponsors, C-level executives or leadership is to clarify the benefits of integrating risk planning, analysis and response efforts into the project plan.  This will result in sufficient resources being assigned to deal with issues caused by risk events when, and if, they occur.  The results should be fewer surprises, the team feels prepared, and the project should be delivered within agreed upon parameters.  

The project should deliver the full ROI for which it was undertaken.  This is the benefit derived from delivering the project on time, on budget, and to specifications.  The proof that will show those who think that risk management only focuses on the ‘negative’ and is nothing more than a prediction of doom and gloom, can and does have a positive impact on project results. 

Does the leadership in your organization need a risk attitude adjustment?  Show them the benefits!! 

 

© 2011  Gwen Miller  All Rights Reserved.

Filed Under: Project Management Tagged With: , , ,

Stakeholder Management – Reality Check for Project Managers

August 28, 2011 By 20 Comments

Stakeholder Management Article Written by Gwen Miller, PMP 

Stakeholder Management is a valuable exercise that successful project managers use to make certain that their projects are delivered as expected where others fall short.  The Stakeholder Management process allows the project manager to pinpoint the project’s key stakeholders and gain their support.  Is this a reality check for project managers?

What is a Stakeholder?

A stakeholder is anyone that is affected by your project, or has an interest in the outcome of the project, or has some authority or control over your project.  Just by the definition alone, gives some indication as to why managing this group is key to the success of the project.  But is there a faction of this group that exerts more influence?

Let’s Analyze the Stakeholders

As an integral part of stakeholder management, the project manager should perform a stakeholder analysis.  This process identifies the key people that need to be won over.  Stakeholders can be both people and organizations.  When an organization is identified, the project manager will need to identify the right stakeholders within a stakeholder organization so the project manager knows with whom they will communicate.  How many different types of stakeholders could exist?

Stakeholder Categories

Most stakeholder analysis classifies stakeholders into the following three categories:

1.  Key Stakeholders – A subset of stakeholders who have the power to prevent the project from realizing its agreed upon objectives and possibly cause the project to be unsuccessful, or shape the opinion of the project’s eventual success.  Key stakeholders can also be in one of the two remaining categories.

2.  Primary Stakeholders – are those stakeholders most directly affected , either positively or negatively, by the outcome of a project.

3.  Secondary and/or Tertiary Stakeholders – Are those stakeholders who have an interest in the outcome of a project, although it is less significant and are “indirectly affected” by the outcome of the project.

Once you have completed the categorization of the stakeholders, the next step will be to identify their attitude toward the project.  You can use color coding to record your interpretation.  Advocates and supporters in green, opposers and critics in red and those who are neutral in yellow.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Analysis 

This analysis will pinpoint the highest priority stakeholders so the project manager can focus on those who are important to the success of the project.  Stakeholder analysis can be completed at scheduled intervals during the project to access changes in stakeholder attitudes.

Now the project manager knows more about the stakeholders and what they think about or how they might react to the project.  This information is instrumental when creating the communication plan and considering how to engage with all stakeholders to discover and manage their expectations before and during project execution, thereby avoiding an otherwise successful project being perceived as a failure.

The reality check, performing stakeholder management can be the difference between success and everything else.  What do you choose?

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Project Management Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Should Project Managers Lean Towards Process Orientation?

August 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

Project ManagersArticle Written by Gwen Miller, PMP 

Project managers and processes.  Hard to think of one without the other.  Most project managers have received some level of project management training.  In many project management training classes, there’s a lot of focus on the flow of processes in the project life cycle.  Because of this focus should project managers be process oriented? 

The Value of Process 

There’s something safe in following a proven, repeatable process.  That’s what most organizations hope to achieve with their project management methodology.  Most organizations conduct a retrospective or lessons learned as part of their methodology so if something isn’t working, it can be fixed.  This continual improvement of the methodology is a process of itself. 

Customers trust their project investment to an organization that can provide them with the process that will be used to manage, control and implement their project.  Company leadership look for a defined process to help them determine if their project will provide positive ROI for the funds invested.  Project Management Offices look to processes for metrics to measure PMO performance.  Is there a possibility that processes may actually be a burden, causing us to waste valuable resources? 

Process Burdening Agility 

Every process should have a goal or purpose or create a deliverable.  Why else would you do the process?  When you study the reasons for failed projects, one of the primary causes is that sound project management practices (i.e. processes) were not employed.  This could be the result of burdensome processes being abdicated for a ‘just do it’ approach.  This could be the sign of a power mad PMO that embraces a directive to comply with too many processes.  

This approach does not add value and does not provide a project management process that allows for flexibility.  This type of methodology ‘process for processes sake’, slows down project progress and impacts the morale of the project team.  In response, project managers may take their own approach and ‘just do it’!  This can negatively impact an already troubled project. 

So Just Do It Works 

It might work, providing the project manager knows what ‘IT’ is and is allowed to do ‘IT’ the right way.  How is ‘IT’ a repeatable process?  How does the rest of the team proceed?  The project manager would need to communicate each step to ensure ‘IT’ was done correctly.  And if ‘IT’ is not, who takes the heat?  This is very risky!! 

The ‘just do it’ approach may work when you have encountered a problem that has not arisen on any prior project.  The project team will need to be creative to create a workaround or a permanent solution.  Either way, they are ‘just doing it’ for that isolated incident and should get back on track once solution is implemented.   

The solution to the problem will be discussed during the project retrospective or lessons learned.  The processes will be adjusted as part of the continuous improvement process for the project methodology.  But ‘just do it’, or project management by the seat of your pants will never be the methodology of choice.  I am positive your company would not want to invest in any projects that were managed with that approach.

The Right Amount of Process

As each project is unique, so should the processes used to manage, control and implement the product of the project.  Negotiate which processes are necessary with your key stakeholders and document those that are deemed low value or non value work as out of scope.  Be able to measure the agreed upon processes so you can validate your performance.   

I think that project managers will need to have a process orientation to understand how to maneuver amongst the project processes and know how to use them to drive their project to success and provide metrics on performance and achieved value/benefit. 

Would you agree with that assessment? 

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

 

Filed Under: Project Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Can You Be A Successful Project Team Leader?

August 18, 2011 By 16 Comments

Project TeamArticle Written by Gwen Miller, PMP

 

When a project manager undertakes the responsibility for a project, you acknowledge the activity is undertaken to create a specific outcome.  Because the project is temporary in nature, and the resources assigned report into a functional manager, can you be a successful project team leader?

Getting the Right Team 

As the project manager, it’s up to you to ensure you have the right resources, the resources that can make or break your project.  If you have the right team, your likelihood of success greatly increases.  In many situations, you don’t have as much control over the resource assignments or the optimal resources for your project aren’t available.  This is a prime opportunity to put your leadership skills into action.

Leading your project team 

Team success is largely influenced by the quality and skill of the person who leads it. So what makes an effective project team leader?

We are well aware that management styles vary.  Managers can be task oriented where their main concern is getting the job done or they could be people oriented where they focus on making sure that people work well together.  To effectively manage a team, the project manager will need to balance between both task and people orientations.  Also, the project manager will have to understand team dynamics as it will play a role in the success of a team and its overall effectiveness (forming, storming, norming, performing).

Creating Trust

Teams are made up of individuals.  Each of them must share in the team’s common objectives and commit to the goal of delivering the project.  But each team member may have their own personal objectives.  As the project manager, you need to be aware of these personal objectives.  As long as the personal objectives won’t cause issues or delays on the project, you should work with the team members to achieve their goals in tandem with the deliverables they’re responsible for creating for the project.

This will create a level of trust between you and the team.  They will perform their tasks and keep an eye out for any issues that may impact the success of ‘their’ project.  There may come a time when circumstances have impacted the delivery of the project.  Because you have created a trusting relationship with the team, they will provide the necessary support until the work is complete.  They are taking responsibility along with you, the project manager, for the success of the team and the project.

At other times, a team member may need special support and attention or the needs of the group as a whole need to be addressed as they drive to deliver the project.  The team is aware that you will be there to sustain them when required.  To sum it up, having a good grip on the core of the project, being a good communicator and being a people person are very critical to being a successful project team leader.

Can you see yourself being a successful project team leader?

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

 

Filed Under: Project Management Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Using Project Management Interns

August 16, 2011 By 14 Comments

PM InternWritten by Gwen Miller, PMP 

I recently saw a question on one of my LinkedIn Groups.  The question asked ‘Have you ever been a Project Management Intern and if you would use an Intern into your Project Management shop?’

I had never been a Project Management Intern.  When I first started out in Project Management, you were lucky to be recognized in the role of Project Manager.  Never mind an organization considering an internship for that role.  In other organizations where I worked, there always seemed to be interns.  And of course, one area where interns are very popular is in medicine.

Opportunities to teach and learn 

I think it’s an excellent opportunity for any project management organization to utilize interns.  Whether it’s a paid or unpaid internship is up to the company.  I used to ensure funds were set aside in the budget so our PMO could hire an intern, twice a year, for a 16 week period, 20 hours per week.  The PMO team would work together to come up with a work plan.  In doing so you can focus the efforts of the intern and make sure that they get exposure to many different aspects of working in a PMO and the variety of projects assigned to the project managers.

While the interns are paired up with the project managers or the project coordinators, I observed the interactions on many occasions.  If only the PM’s could see themselves, how involved they would be in explaining the nuances of project management.  This was such a good exercise that gave the PM’s the opportunity to coach and mentor, practicing and expanding their skills.

But the interns were also ‘teaching’.  Teaching the PM’s some techniques that they were taught in school but never able to practice until now.  The PM’s would challenge the viability and the interns would explain the application further.  There were a few techniques that we adapted to our methodology and the intern understood that sometimes the theory does not translate in practice.  It was a win-win for all.

Finding Internship Candidates 

I worked closely with a local university that has a MSc, Project Management program.  As part of their program, the students had to be exposed to the practical aspect of project management.  They could not graduate without completing this component.

This relationship fostered other internship opportunities between the company and the university.  Another win- win situation.

An unexpected benefit 

Now you’re wondering, what unexpected benefit could you get from having an intern?  The interns we had were full of energy and enthusiasm and had such a positive attitude it became infectious.  Not only do they provide additional project support, but an intangible benefit in rejuvenating PM’s that have been in the trenches for a long time.

I have had such great experiences having interns on my team.  Tell me about your experiences with interns.  We can compare notes.

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

 

Filed Under: Project Management Tagged With: , , ,

Can You Ensure Success When Introducing Process Change?

August 13, 2011 By 24 Comments

Change ManagementWritten by Gwen Miller, PMP 

The company executive have decided to implement System XYZ, and ‘You’ have been chosen as the project manager.  This project will change the way in which many of the company’s  processes are done today.  If the project is complex enough you may have budget to engage a change manager or business transition consultant.  If not, Can you ensure success when introducing process change?

Where to start 

Part of your project management process should include a stakeholder analysis.  Stakeholder analysis identifies the individuals or groups that are likely to affect or be affected by the changes, and arrange them based on their impact on the action or the impact the action will have on them. This information is utilized to evaluate how the changes for the impacted stakeholders should be addressed.

Now what

The impacts to various stakeholders or stakeholder group(s) have been identified.  It is time to engage those stakeholders and openly discuss what the changes will be and the how their current processes will be impacted.  Get feedback from the stakeholders on ways to implement the changes that will provide the most benefit.  This is extremely important.  Changing the way someone does their work can be upsetting.  We think that people dislike change.  What the real issue is that change causes fear.  Fear of the unknown.

What’s in it for me

That is why you need to communicate openly how the change will affect them.  It is vital to highlight the benefits.  When the stakeholders understand what is in it for them, they start the journey to acceptance.  When the group understands that they had a say in how the changes would be structured and implemented, they feel they have been represented and heard.  It is necessary to have some champions within the stakeholder group to continue to enforce the positive message and demonstrate their acceptance of the change.  Various forms of communication, such as a newsletter or a project website, should be used to update the stakeholders on the progress of the project.

And in the end 

As the system implementation is getting down to go live, training for the stakeholders will take place.  Now they will simulate what their new work environment will be like.  If all has gone well, they will be able identify the benefits for them from the process change.  Now the majority of the stakeholders will be the biggest supporters.  I say the majority, as there will always be ‘naysayers’.  But sooner or later they also become supporters and in the end, the change was introduced successfully.

Secret to success, engage the stakeholders.  Gain their insights.  Use that to power the change effort.  Show them the benefits.

Will this approach work for you?

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

 

Filed Under: Project Management Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Top Priorities in Project Management

August 8, 2011 By 3 Comments

Top Project Management PrioritiesArticle Written by Gwen Miller, PMP

 

In my many years of practicing project management, from implementing ERP software systems at Fortune 500 companies, Public Sector and Higher Ed organizations, to setting up and directing two Project Management Offices, I observed one common project management challenge in a sea of differences.  What was the common challenge?

Too many priorities, too little time!! 

Understanding what is important to the company or organization has a strong influence on how we should prioritize, especially the projects being undertaken.  Projects are very seldom completed in a silo, and are typically cross functional in nature.  Projects are also strategic business investments undertaken to increase profitability, through better cash flow management, product enhancement, marketing initiative, or operational cost reductions.  Since we are not capable to do ‘everything’, we need to choose what is most important right now, what is the current priority.

Project Management Priorities 

Once the business has provided guidance on the organization’s priorities, the project manager can begin his project management processes.  In my experience, the top three priorities for a project manager are:  1.  Define the project, 2.  Plan the project, and,  3.  Execute the project.

Define the Project 

First things first.  Build the project charter.  The project charter is basically a condensed overview of the project. It provides a preliminary outline of the project’s scope and objectives, identifies the project’s stakeholders, and defines their roles and responsibilities.  The project charter helps to ensure that all the project stakeholders are on the same page and minimizes the emergence and impact of miscommunication, role confusion, and conflicting stakeholders interests.  Further details for the project will be developed during project planning.

Plan the Project 

This step is very important and a priority if you want to create a good foundation for your project.  I would recommend this be a project team function to expedite the completion of the project plan and get input and approval for the objectives and scope of the project.  It will minimize scope creep as the project is executed.

The project plan should include the project objective statement, flexibility matrix, success criteria, project deliverables (scope), resource requirements, assumption, constraints, risks and issues, estimated project schedule, and estimated project budget.  Without this information, or an incomplete project plan, the likelihood that the project will be delivered successfully is severely impacted.  Take the time to plan and you will have a roadmap by which you can execute the project.

Execute the Project 

Plan the work, and work the plan.  Now is the time to get the deliverables completed and accepted by the stakeholders, but you look at the pages and pages of tasks listed on your MS project plan and your eyes begin to cross.  A little secret to take away the anxiety, focus 70-80% on the critical items, the critical path or critical resource(s), instead of every task.  This simple concentration keeps the attention on those areas that have the most impact to the success of the project.

Also, keep a step ahead.  Look at the next critical step to ensure the resources are available and dependencies have been resolved so you can smoothly transition when it is time for that task to be executed.  And make sure that you have all communication channels working.  Communicating with your team can uncover  issues, undocumented risks or roadblocks that may impact the project.  You will then have the information to communicate to the stakeholders for informational purposes or for resolution to roadblocks, or items of concern.  Communicate early and often to keep the project moving forward to completion.

Projects come in all shapes and sizes.  They can have a profound effect on your organization.  Once the organization has chosen their priorities and what projects they will undertake to achieve those business goals, it is the project manager’s turn to implement their top project management priorities and  deliver business value.
© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Project Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Improve Odds of Successful Project Delivery by Enhancing Soft Skills

August 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

Soft SkillsWritten by Gwen Miller, PMP

Executives are always looking for ways to improve the odds of successful project delivery.  In an effort to determine how best to equip their project managers, company leaders look to skill assessments.  The HR department compares the assessments to the defined skill set for the project manager role.  The gap, if any, provides the areas to focus on for project management development. 

Two types of skill sets 

Skills assessments evaluate two types of skills sets. Hard skills are very easy to identify, observe, and quantify.  They refer to the technical competencies of the project management role.  The project manager’s proficiency using MS Project, project planning, creating a budget and using a computer are all examples of hard skills.  They are also easy to teach someone, either through informal on the job training or formal classroom instruction.

Soft Skills are behavioral competencies better known as interpersonal or people skills.  They include competencies such as communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, team building, influencing skills and selling skills, to name a few.  Soft skills compliment hard skills and are often what separate individual contributors from managers and business leaders.

Why enhance soft skills

There has been a noticeable improvement, that when Project Managers enhance their soft skills, better relationships are built between Project Management (if not aligned to IT), IT and the business units within the enterprise, fostering alignment.  A key skill to building these relationships is the Project Manager’s ability to communicate, suggesting that communication is a measurable and improvable skill. 

Communication is the tool used in performing some of the other soft skills such as negotiating, influencing, conflict resolution, and team building.  Good communication skills are very important to the success of a project because of the human factor.

Projects are people centric.  And no two people are the same.  Understanding how to motivate individual team members will depend on how you communicate with them.  Building a trusting relationship with internal and external stakeholders again hinges on how the project manager communicates project statuses, issues, risks and concerns.

Excellent communication has a positive impact on the project delivery.  Poor communication can derail a project very quickly.  This one soft skill is so important to the success of a project that soft skills should be equally evaluated with hard skills.  I see many job descriptions that detail out hard skills the project manager should possess but focus minimally on those intangibles, those soft skills.

For a project manager to be a truly great project leader, an equal balance of skills will not suffice.  A higher proficiency of soft skills will increase the probability of delivering projects on time, on budget, with quality and customer satisfaction.

Evaluate your soft skills the next time you are assigned a project, especially your communication skills, and strive to increase your proficiency.  The odds of successful project delivery will increase in return.

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Project Management Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Event Management vs Project Management – Are the skills transferable?

August 1, 2011 By 14 Comments

Article written by Gwen Miller, PMP

If you had an opening on your project management team, would you consider a colleague that spent the past few years working in a project support role and had several years experience as an event manager?  Event Management vs Project Management – are the skills used in performing event management processes similar enough to transfer to project management?  Let’s break it down.

Comparison – Event Management vs Project Management

An event manager focuses on achieving the goal of the event.  (Key objectives and outcomes) A project manager focuses on achieving the goal of the project. (Key objectives and outcomes)
Event Planning Project Planning
Budget Creation and Management Budget Creation and Management
Scope of the Event Scope of the Project
Management of Personnel Management of Project Team
Time Management Time Management
Problem Solving Problem Solving
Able to negotiate Able to negotiate
Excellent communication skills – both oral and written Excellent communication skills – both oral and written
Able to communicate with all levels of Management Able to communicate with all levels of Management
Good multi- tasking skills Good multi-tasking skills
Works well in pressure situations Works well in pressure situations
Team player and self starter Team player and self starter

The list is simplified but I think you begin to see the similarities in the needed skills to fulfill either role.  There are many event planners that use MS Project to document the details of the event and are proficient with using MS Office applications like Word, Excel, and Power Point.

Of course, there are skills like knowledge of the catering industry or logistics and transportation but you never know, they may come in handy depending on the project.

Are the two professions enough alike? 

People could argue otherwise but when you distill both roles down to basics, there is very little difference. Events meet the description of a project, they are unique initiatives to deliver a product or service at some future date. You need to understand the objective of the event (project objective statement), what the constraints are (flexibility matrix), create a deliverables based work breakdown structure to further define scope (to deliver on the project objective statement), define risks and create risk management plans, define the necessary communications, vendor management, time management, resource planning, budget management, scope management, and so on. The skills defined for a PM and the areas of responsibility for the PM role appear to be duplicated in the event planner role.

Conclusion 

Remember the question at the beginning, would you hire someone who had been an event planner as an entry level project manager?  I think ‘Yes’.  The individual would easily adapt to the project management processes and naming conventions.  A skills gap analysis would pin point the areas where training is needed.  And who knows, their perspective may provide some innovative ideas for process improvements.  Sounds like a win-win to me.

What are your thoughts?  Let me know.

 

© 2011 Gwen Miller.  All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Project Management Tips Tagged With: , ,