In a profession that is ever evolving, companies are continuously looking to understand the latest trends in project management. The business environment is shifting towards project based work as a result of globalization, the information Age and the speed of change.
The skills required to fill project management positions are changing, therefore the role of the project manager is evolving. This can be seen in the Project Management Institute’s new Talent Triangle that reinforces the need for a balance of skills in leadership, strategic management as well as the traditional technical expertise.
A trend I’m particularly excited about, is the move to Digital Project Management. The Infographic below, supplied by Visualistan, explains why Digital Project Management is the new project management.
You can also find more infographics at Visualistan
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Recently I had to make a very big decision that would influence my life for years to come. I realised just how hard it is to make sure that the best decision is made and that one can have peace of mind after you have made the decision.
Since effective decision making is one of the many soft skills a project manager needs on a daily basis, I think it’s worth sharing some good practices and tips.
Guidelines
According to the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), effective decision making involves the ability to negotiate and influence the organisation and the project management team. Some guidelines for decision making include:
focus on the goals to be served
follow a decision-making process
study the environmental factors
analyse available information
stimulate team creativity
manage the risk
Styles for Decision Making
Let’s have a look at basic decision styles used by project managers.
Command is a more autocratic style that may be fit in many circumstances, but not so much in the project context, unless it’s a matter of safety.
It’s a good idea to consult with the team members while following a proper decision making process that will probably lead to the best outcome.
By the end of the decision making process, you would want consensus among team members and for people to agree that the best possible decision has been made.
In any situation there are four major factors that will affect the decision style you use:
Time constraints
Trust
Quality
Acceptance
Model for decision making
Next you will find a good decision making model or process to use with your project teams.
#1 Problem definition
When you are faced with having to make an important decision, it’s very important to fully explore, clarify and define the problem. Look at it from all angles, not just from your own viewpoint.
#2 Problem solution generation
Now comes the part where you brainstorm multiple solutions, not making a premature decision.
#3 Ideas to action
You need to define evaluation criteria. Then you rate the advantages and disadvantages (pros and cons) of the alternatives in order to select the best solution. There are many tools available to assist you with this.
#4 Solution action planning
After the decision has been made, it’s recommended to perform a post-implementation analysis, to evaluate the decisions made and to acknowledge the lessons that you learned.
#5 Evaluate the outcome
The last step in the process is to evaluate how well the problem was solved or project goals were achieved.
I trust the next time you need to make decisions on your projects, you will have a process to follow that will allow you time to look at alternatives, to evaluate and score them and ultimately to make the best decision under the circumstances.
It will help you grow critical project management competencies, learn how to overcome your biggest challenges on projects and increase your confidence.
This article is aimed at existing project managers who use a scheduling tool like MS Project, or similar to plan their projects and then to execute against the plan.
Use the validation template once the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is transferred to a scheduling tool. The purpose is to validate that the project schedule contains all the necessary WBS elements to complete a project successfully.
#1 Deliverables
Are the key deliverables shown at the highest level of the WBS? If you do all of the detail tasks, will you have completely accomplished the summary deliverable?
#2 Scope and breakdown
Does the WBS represent the entire scope of the project and is it set at the appropriate level for the size and type of project?
#3 Milestones
Are there enough milestones identified and checkpoints when moving from one phase to the next?
#4 Governance
Are governance tasks separated out into their own section? Is there sufficient project management time across entire project?
#5 Structure
Does the WBS map to a methodology and does it make sense within that context?
#6 Estimates
Did the person who is most familiar with the task estimate the task itself? Check the accuracy of the task after the work had been performed.
#7 Risk
Did you document any risks for the tasks?
#8 Dependencies
Are the task dependencies implemented with the correct logic? Does the overall sequence of phases/deliverables make sense?
#9 Resources
Have all the resources been identified in the resource sheet? Is there any duplication of resources? Are all resources named completely and consistently using a naming convention?
#10 Tasks, assignments, durations
Are there any assignments on summary tasks? Does each detail task have at least one human resource assigned?
Final validation
It is always a good practice to have your schedule reviewed by an independent party or a senior architect not part of the planning team.
Most people know that a race is half won when the athlete has a good start! For project managers, a good start is just as important to win the project ‘race’. You will be a successful project manager if you learn to define the project clearly from the outset.
Where to start
The following basic questions need to be answered when starting any project:
Why is the project being initiated?
Who is this work being done for?
Who are the project sponsor(s) and the key project stakeholders that might use the final product, service, or results?
How are we going to achieve the project’s goal and objectives?
What are we going to deliver? What work do we need to complete; what resources and funds do we need to produce these deliverables?
When will we produce the deliverables?
When will the project stakeholders review them?
When will the project sponsor approve and accept the final project outcome?
Where will the deliverables be used?
How will success be measured?
Solid foundation
A project manager needs to lay a solid foundation to start a project successfully. This would include the following:
Define and control the scope
Understand the client’s business drivers
Build strong relationships of trust
Support delivery on the project with appropriate tools, techniques and processes, but tailored to suit the size, culture and context of the organisation
Let’s take a closer look at the building blocks of a good foundation.
Project Definition
When you define the project, you need to begin with the end in mind. This means that you want to know the project vision, objective, high-level requirements, high-level risks and milestones. This is normally documented in the Project Charter.
Based on your understanding of what the project is set out to achieve, you will select the best execution approach.
Scope agreement
Define and agree what is in and out of scope. The components of a scope statement include:
Project justification
Product description
Project objectives
Project deliverables
It is a good practice to document the project scope in a document that is generically known as a Scope Statement. The document has different names depending on which methodology is used. This is to explain what is in and out of scope, a step-by-step process for managing changes in project scope, project deliverables, constraints and assumptions.
Work Breakdown Structure
Based on the agreed project scope, you can continue to create a work breakdown structure, known as the WBS. The WBS is a decomposition of the total scope of the work. A work package is work defined at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed. For more about the WBS, read Project Planning – Work Breakdown Structure.
When you’re new to project management, you may need clarification on project deliverables and milestones. We differentiate between them as follows.
A project milestone is referring to a significant point in time when something is complete. For example, the end of the planning phase could be a milestone. If you use MS Project as a scheduling tool, a milestone will have a zero duration.
A project deliverable is a tangible output of the project, for example, a completed document, a piece of code, or a documented list of requirements or product specifications.
Understand business requirements
Next, you will follow a process of collecting and analysing requirements. It is very important to understand the requirements by answering the questions above. You need to be clear on how you will measure each benefit that is realised.
Build strong relationships of trust
You will have to identify all stakeholders to the project. You also need to plan how you will effectively engage stakeholders throughout the project life cycle.
Support delivery
By now you should have a good understanding of the size, culture and context of the organisation in which project execution will take place.
If your organisation has a Project Management Office, you will have a standard project management methodology that is customised to the needs of the organisation. That will give you access to tools and processes that can be used to support the delivery of your project.
If not, you will need to select appropriate tools, techniques and processes, which will help you to execute your project. Consider using a standardised project management templates from Method 123 that will guide you through the project processes of Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure.
If you’re new to project management and would like to grow critical project management competencies fast, check this self-paced online training, called the Growth Program today.
With many organisations aiming to improve their project management maturity, there has been a big emphasis in the past few years on using professional project managers to execute their project portfolios. Project management is becoming more and more central to conducting all forms of business, hence the profession is experiencing rapid growth.
So, in this climate where the traditional corporate professional is not the only one interested in becoming PMP certified, there are options that exist to prepare the more non-traditional workers and their (potentially) non-traditional schedule for the PMP exam. One of these emerging options is Brain Sensei – e-learning with a punch!
A fun way to study
Brain Sensei offers learners an effective and fun way to study, while collecting the needed 35 contact hours at the same time. Founders John Estrella, PhD, CMC, PMP and Chris Stafford, MBA, PMP aimed to offer a service that they weren’t able to find when preparing for their own PMP exams – one that didn’t put them to sleep. Their solution to the problem was to create an e-learning program that pairs key knowledge points with fun animated videos to reinforce them and uses several types of interactive self-assessments to help learners gauge how they’re progressing. These features help users of Brain Sensei to stay engaged with the material, understand it more clearly, and remember key concepts when it counts: for example, during their PMP exam!
PMP Exam Prep Course
The Complete PMP Exam Prep Course is $399. It is composed of six online modules (also available for individual purchase) that cover the 5 Project Management process groups, as well as over 900 practice exam questions.
Each module follows the story of a female samurai in Feudal Japan as she overcomes adversity. The modules come equipped with summaries of key concepts, self-assessment quizzes, and contact hours. The Complete PMP Exam Prep Course and individual modules are available to users for a period of 6 months after purchase, so that learners can work at their own pace, and easily review material before their exam.
Mobile access
Students are not limited to using their computer to complete Brain Sensei courses, but can also use their tablet or smartphone to access the material, wherever they are.
Becoming PMP certified is a career move that brings with it many benefits – better opportunities, higher pay and increased job stability. With features designed to engage users and cater to multiple learning styles, Brain Sensei is a fresh take on e-learning that makes getting your PMP certification not only achievable, but also fun.
About Brain Sensei
Brain Sensei is a Registered Education Provider (REP) with the Project Management Institute and an eLearning company that offers online courses to help people prepare for the Project Management Professional exam. Their mission is to provide simple and innovative courses by using an animated story to reinforce key project management concepts and to make it easier for you to absorb information. Also visit them on Facebook, Twitter for pearls of Project Management Wisdom.
Recently I gave a talk at the PMO Forum (Western Cape, South Africa) making a case for Lessons Learned, the challenge we still have around retaining the knowledge and experience, how the PMO can promote learning and act as a knowledge broker, as well as examples of a story-based approach to lessons learned.
The purpose of this article to share plenty of insights based on some interesting discussions.
Knowledge Management
Often people, especially project managers, don’t want to learn from other people, they prefer to learn from their own hard-earned experience.
Some project managers don’t like to share things, it may show if they have messed up; this is true if they are achievement focussed. However, in a culture that supports people being open and honest, it creates the environment for a culture of learning. Organisations need to create an environment that is safe to share.
In many cases, there is too much emphasis on systems and codifying the knowledge. PMOs are well positioned to act as Knowledge Brokers within their organisations. PMO’s should play a bigger role to put a focus on processes and organisational learning.
When we talk about tacit knowledge, it’s more about the transfer of knowledge from project manager to project manager, with the PMO being the facilitator to allow sharing naturally.
For organisational learning to take place, health checks are good mechanisms to use the learning from various projects across different sponsors. Sponsors need to ask the hard question: “What does organisations do about learning from key projects?”
Another good idea for sharing lessons learned, came from the ‘pmoflashmob.org’ website. It is called the “Call 3” pack. Before you can get a new project approved, you must have a 30-minute phone call or meeting with each of three people identified by the PMO for having done similar projects in the past. They may not be project managers, but they will have war stories to share.
In case the project managers are not available a year or two after projects have been completed, you can also request PM’s to create a “call 3 pack” at the end of a project. They need to think about and imagine it is a year down the line and they are sharing with a new PM starting a similar project. What would they say? What advice would they impart? This is perhaps a better approach to keep the emotion and passion intact, rather than documenting it all in a sanitised or filtered report.
Audience feedback
Based on feedback from the PMO representatives in the audience, it was evident that less than 25% of organisations have a formal process in place for transferring project management knowledge from one part of the organisation to the next. Interestingly enough, more than 50% of attendees indicated that their organisations use lessons learnt from past projects during the induction of new project managers or get them to look at lessons from similar projects in the past.
It was found that the top 3 contributors to their organisation’s success/failure to effective knowledge transfer were:
Lack of communication
The right level of story-telling
A blaming corporate culture
Key insights
Feedback from the audience indicated that some of the key insights from attendees included:
Sharing is essential
The importance of knowledge sharing
PM’s not willing to share and learn
Peer Reviews
At start of a project confirming my own “feeling” about lessons learnt
How to change is dependent on organisation & people within.
The essence of project to organisation learning
Interview/story telling approach to lessons learnt
Agile and Waterfall are two very different project management methods. They both have clear pros and cons. Some people argue that you can mix the two but others say: “you can’t be half Agile” and I have a lot of sympathy for this view.
Waterfall projects cascade through a series of phases with a requirements phase very near the start. Developers then take this ‘statement of requirements’ and go through design and development. Waterfall projects are usually delivered in a ‘big-bang’ way.
Agile does not attempt to define requirements in one go. Instead, Agile produces the deliverable on an incremental basis and confirms the detail of the requirements around each increment.
Agile encourages many practices that are really useful on projects, like:
face-to-face communication
constant involvement of users in the project
close co-operation between developers and users
Some of these things could potentially be used on virtually any project but not every project can produce the end-product incrementally.
To read the full article that expands on these statements and provides a detailed explanation of the most important pros and cons, read the Comparison of Agile versus Waterfall methods.
This article will focus specifically on Project Governance that determines the effectiveness of the project manager (PM). You will find an explanation of what Project Governance is, why you need it, who is responsible for it and how to use it, with principles and examples to make it clear.
What is Project Governance?
Project Governance is an oversight function that is aligned with an organisation’s governance model and that encompasses the project life cycle.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK) definition is:
“The alignment of project objectives with the strategy of the larger organisation by the project sponsor and project team. A project’s governance is defined by and required to fit within the larger context of the program or organisation sponsoring it, but is separate from organisational governance.”
Projects are undertaken to achieve strategic business outcomes. Many organisations adopt formal organisational governance processes and procedures. Organisational governance criteria can impose constraints on projects especially if projects are for new products or services.
A project manager needs to be knowledgeable about corporate governance policies and procedures pertaining to the product/services in question; this tends to be very industry related.
Why Project Governance?
A project governance framework provides the project manager and team with structured processes, decision-making models and tools for managing the project while supporting and controlling the project for successful delivery. Governance is critical for any project, especially on complex and risky projects.
The governance framework provides a comprehensive, consistent method of controlling the projects. Governance will ensure success by defining, documenting and communicating reliable and repeatable project practices.
Governance provides important deliverable acceptance criteria and success measures to measure the benefits and success of your projects.
Who is responsible for Project Governance?
In many organisations a Project Management Office (PMO) exists. The PMO is responsible for defining and owning the project governance framework.
The PMO also plays a decisive role for project governance that involves:
Documented policies, procedures and standards
Health Checks – Are we doing right things? Are we using right process? Do we conform to standards?
Stakeholders
Where to document Project Governance
The project governance approach should be described in the project management plan, which is the planning document compiled by the PM to describe how a project will be executed, monitored and controlled.
The PM is responsible and accountable for setting realistic and achievable boundaries for the project and to accomplish the project within the approved baselines.
How to use Project Governance
Use project governance to ensure that Project Portfolios are aligned to corporate goals. It will then form the basis to see that projects are delivered efficiently and that the interests of project staff and other stakeholders are aligned.
Governance will also ensure that the Project Board/Steering Committee and major stakeholders are provided with timely, relevant, and accurate information.
Principles of Project Governance
Here are a few key principles for project governance:
Projects should be clearly linked to key business objectives.
There should be clear senior management ownership of projects.
There should be effective engagement with Stakeholders.
Projects should be driven by long-term value, rather than short-term costs.
Projects should be broken down into manageable steps.
Examples of Project Governance Framework elements
Here are examples of elements included in a project governance framework:
Guidelines for aligning project governance and organisational strategy
A process to identify, escalate, resolve issues that arise during the project
Relationship among project teams, organisational groups and external stakeholders
Project organisational chart that identifies project roles
Processes and procedures for communication of information
Project decision-making processes
Project life-cycle approach including the transfer to Operations and readiness of business
Process for stage gate or phase reviews – Authorise to proceed. Approval of process/documents.
Process for review and approval for changes to budget, scope, quality, schedule which are beyond the authority of the PM
Operate within the Project Governance Framework
You can see that Project Governance is an oversight function that is applicable throughout the life cycle of a project.
Project governance determines the effectiveness of the project manager, because governance gives a framework for making project decisions, defines roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for the success of the project.
It’s important that you as project managers, understand project governance, that you document it on your projects, that you apply it as a consistent method of controlling your projects, and by doing this you will hugely improve your chances for successful project delivery.
Every successful project you complete, will bring you closer to being recognised as a competent, efficient and professional project manager who can be followed as a leader and entrusted with strategic projects and programmes.
How can I use this information as a Project Manager or PMO?
I’ve created a free Project Governance Framework Reference Guide to remind you of the What, Why, Who, When and How of Project Governance.
Click below to download the Free Reference Guide today!
Governance is one of the 6 pillars of the Growth Framework that I have developed to help you remember the essential elements of running projects successfully. Visit Project Manager Growth to subscribe for more information and a free Growth Framework Infographic.
Within the fast paced world we live in today, staying on top of things is one of the most important and most difficult goals we give ourselves. Whether it is in our personal or our professional lives, we often find it challenging to keep up with the latest information, understand the whole picture and to make the right decisions fast. The good news is – we have tools like Eylean Board, to help us stay on track and see our projects to completion with ease.
Like many other great products, the story of Eylean Board starts with a small group of people struggling to find a tool that would fit their needs and like many others before them, deciding to create one of their own. Five years later, the small group of people is known as the team of Eylean, the tool is called Eylean Board and it is used by teams all over the globe.
You may wonder what is it that makes Eylean Board so great? Amongst multiple layers of projects, tasks and subtasks, time tracking, reports and integrations, there are three key benefits that put this software on top.
#1 Visual boards to represent every important detail
One of the most important things in project management is being able to see both the big picture and the important small details. However, analyzing the details takes time and thus we are left to rely on our team to give us the information. Needless to say, many things get lost in translation this way and we end up struggling to make the right decisions.
With Eylean Board however, the important small details are right there in the big picture. You can see who is working on which tasks, how much time they have taken, what problems they are facing and monitor the due dates represented in color-coded notifications on the board. And if you want to know more – simply expand the task details to see descriptions, commentary, attachments and more.
#2 A tool that is easy to use
Being able to understand and use the software immediately is another big problem companies are facing today. Introducing a new tool to your team usually means hours of training, followed by weeks of confusion and the wait for actual results that may never come.
The beauty of Eylean Board is that the whole user interface is based on intuition. Tasks can be moved, assigned and tracked all with a simple drag and drop. The software is self-explanatory and the ability to modify the board gives you an opportunity to duplicate your previous solution in order to have a smooth transition period for all. Contrary to some other tools, Eylean Board can be used by developers, sales, marketing, finance and any other department in a company at the same time.
#3 Latest project management methods at your fingertips
Lastly, you need an innovative tool to keep up with project management practices that are moving forward. Eylean Boards is just that – you will find templates for Scrum, Kanban and Scrumban boards or will be able to create your own templates modifying and improving the Agile methods to be just right for you. Furthermore, the Eylean team is fully emerged in following the latest Agile trends and can help guide your Agile journey.
Eylean Board is an intuitive and easy to use project management software that allows your team to realize their potential.
About the author: Dovile is the marketing manager at Eylean. She has been actively immersed in the Agile project management field for two years by working within the methodology and writing articles about the newest trends and shifts in the industry.
Recently PMI has conducted their 8th global project management survey and published the results in the PMI’s Pulse of the Profession 2016 Report, called: “The High Cost of Low Performance”.
While expecting to see improvement from previous years, the results showed a decline in projects meeting their goals. The aim of this research is to strengthen conversations about the benefits project management delivers to organisations.
Here are a few highlights of the report, and click here for Pulse of the Profession 2016 (PMI members only).
In line with the PMI Talent Triangle that embodies a skill set combination of technical, leadership, and strategic and business management expertise, 40% more projects will meet their goals and original intent if they are managed by PM’s with these skills.
Organisations that align their EPMO with strategy report 27% more projects deliver successfully, and 42% fewer projects with scope creep.
When more than 80 percent of projects have an actively engaged executive sponsor, 65 percent more projects are successful. Yet, on average, only three in five projects have engaged executive sponsors.
Many challenges remain, like the fact that only 6 out of 10 organisations use standardised project management practices and benefits realisation remains low on 17%.
The demand for skilled and experienced project/program managers are on the rise.
Recommendations are made to address the situation including the following:
Invest in ongoing project manager training
Offer defined career path to those engaged in project or programme management
Establish formal processes to develop project management competencies
Transfer knowledge
Many benefits of formal project management are given, but the most important message is to keep spreading discussion around the strategic value of project management by following proven practices like aligning the PMO with organisational strategy, and more as explained in the Report.
In response to the challenges that exist and following recommendations made by the PMI, I have developed a Fast-track Growth Program to assist business professionals who are new to the project manager role, to help them become competent, confident and efficient. The online education teaches critical project management competencies like technical skills you need for the role, soft skills you use daily, the importance of governance, how to overcome common challenges and avoid typical pitfalls. It also addresses career options and helps to define a career path. Project managers will walk away with a personalised growth and development plan to take action immediately.
This accelerated Growth Program is available to all new or accidental project managers, as well as PMO Managers who want to improve skills of new project managers at their organisations. Please visit today and help to improve the project management maturity that will lead to more success!
The story is about a project in the Retail Sector with the objective of enabling the ability to do clearance sales and promotions in more than one price zone at different times. The Retailer had expanded its operations into multiple countries and, as a result, needed to track clearance sales in each of the countries at different times to the clearance sale in the original country.
To achieve this, the Retail Management System needed to cater for multiple price zones (one zone per country). The complexity of the project was that multiple systems would be affected, requiring a huge testing effort across many functional teams and systems. In addition to that, there were only two periods within the trading calendar that allowed the implementation of such an intrusive project in either June or September.
Although the project was originally planned to take 6 months and it took 9 months, it was considered a success due to the fact that the re-negotiated time and budget was achieved and the business benefit could be immediately realised. The business was able to run clearance sales in more than one zone at different times and they could copy the original clearance to another zone.
Project Structure and Frequent Communications
The project manager, Jeremy Powdrell, ensured that the project structure was setup properly with all key stakeholders identified upfront. Due to the sheer number of stakeholders and to ensure clear project communications that would align all involved, a monthly meeting was arranged in the company’s 200 seat auditorium. At the monthly meetings various sponsors and other key stakeholders presented aspects of the project, this assisted in alignment and raised the profile of the project.
During the Test Phase, the project manager scheduled daily meetings, especially during the final weeks of testing in order to deal with defects and issues quickly.
Performance feedback was intentional by engaging with both the project resources and their managers to discuss performance. This helped to ensure that Managers could properly recognise and reward the team members through the normal channels.
The Business analysis was also done very well. Training was prepared in advance and the training contributed to the fact that people were better prepared for the change.
Scope Changes and Planning Constraints
As a result of changes in senior management, the project sponsor had changed. The new sponsor then introduced scope changes to the existing project. The subsequent change control meant that the time required to implement the solution had to be extended.
The release of the new solution had to be carefully planned. Continue reading…
Most existing project managers would know that Gantt Charts are popular tools to use for a visual presentation of a project schedule. Although numerous software tools make provision for Gantt Charts, the most widely used tool remains Microsoft Project.
For new or aspiring project managers, it’s important to understand that Gantt Charts come about as a result of the Time Management activities in the Planning process on a project.
Schedule Creation
When creating a project schedule, the order of the planning activities is important as explained below:
Define activities by identifying all the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables
Sequence activities by identifying the relationships among project activities.
Estimate activity resources by identifying the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment etc to perform each activity.
Estimate activity durations by analysing the work effort needed to complete each activity with the estimated resources.
Develop the schedule – this is where activities are documented in a schedule (gantt chart) in the right sequence, with durations, resource assignments and constraints
History of the Gantt Chart
Wrike has created an interesting Infographic to display the origins or timeline of the Gantt Chart, the anatomy and how it’s used, as well as the benefits of using Gantt Charts on projects.
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