Project Management : Project Management Dwight Fischer, CIO
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, New Hampshire
Agenda : Agenda Elements of Successful (and Unsuccessful) Projects in Higher Education
Tools of the Trade
Project Charter
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Schedule
Project Budget
Managing the Project
Project Manager’s Role
Managing Change
Navigating the Politics of Change
Resources for the Project Manager
Presenter : Presenter CIO at Plymouth State University
Led major projects on three campuses of the University System of New Hampshire
Instructor for University of Phoenix online course in Project Management
Masters Degrees in Counseling and Executive MBA
Why Project Management? : Why Project Management? Today’s complex environments require ongoing implementations
Project management is a method and mindset…a disciplined approach to managing chaos
Project management provides a framework for working amidst persistent change
Themes Requested : Themes Requested Alignment of projects to organizational mission, goals and objectives
Resource conflicts; being spread too thin
Organization: traditional vs a matrix, and how to get things done when you are not in control
PM role; Supervisor of many, but manager of none.
Managing smaller projects and keeping track of them
Being organized when organization is not your greatest strength
Themes Requested : Themes Requested Establishment of PM Office?
Projects that initiate new work & responsibilities
Developing effective work teams with individuals who dislike one another
Getting realistic timeframes attached to project initiatives
Controlling changes to development
Themes Requested : Themes Requested How do we apply PM in higher education, a culture not known for application of business-like methods
Improved change management practices
Getting vendors to follow up on their end of the deal
Ideas around moving an operation to a new facility
Themes Requested : Themes Requested Project management as applied to an academic library setting
Project Management: Official Definition : Project Management: Official Definition A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. It implies
a specific timeframe
a budget
unique specifications
working across organizational boundaries
Project Management: Unofficial Definition : Project Management: Unofficial Definition Project management is about organization Project management is about
changing people’s behavior Project management is about
decision making Project management is about
creating an environment conducive to
getting critical projects done!
Why Projects Fail : Why Projects Fail Failure to align project with organizational objectives
Poor scope
Unrealistic expectations
Lack of executive sponsorship
Lack of project management
Inability to move beyond individual and personality conflicts
Politics
Why Projects Succeed! : Why Projects Succeed! Project Sponsorship at executive level
Good project charter
Strong project management
The right mix of team players
Good decision making structure
Good communication
Team members are working toward common goals
Why this matters to YOU : Why this matters to YOU Most of us get to where we are by some technical or specific set of skills
If you want to get things done, you need a good blend of
Business knowledge
People management
Knowledge of organizational politics
AND an area of technical expertise
Those are the people that make things happen!
Laws of Project Management : Laws of Project Management No major project is ever installed on time, within budget, or with the same staff that started it. Yours will not be the first.
Projects progress quickly until they become 90% complete, then they remain at 90% complete forever.
When things are going well, something will go wrong.
When things just cannot get any worse, they will. Project Planning and Implementation.
by Abraham Shtub, Jonathan F. Bard, and Shlomo Globerson Copyright © 1994 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Laws of Project Management : Laws of Project Management When things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something.
No system is ever completely debugged. Attempts to debug a system inevitably introduce new bugs that are even harder to find.
A carelessly planned project will take three times longer to complete than expected
A carefully planned project will take only twice as long.
Project teams detest progress reporting because it vividly manifests their lack of progress. Project Planning and Implementation.
by Abraham Shtub, Jonathan F. Bard, and Shlomo Globerson Copyright © 1994 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Core Project Management Tools : Core Project Management Tools Project Charter
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Project Schedule
Project Budget
Project Charter : Project Charter What must be done?
What are the required resources?
What are the constraints?
What are the short and long term implications?
Why do it?
When must it be done?
Where must it be done?
Who does what?
Who is behind the project?
Who is funding the project?
Who is performing the work of the project?
Project Charter : Project Charter Who
What
Where
Why
When Handout
Project Charter : Project Charter Project Goal & Objective
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Timeline
Resources required
Deliverables Decision making
Assumptions
Risks
Business process changes
Project manager
Project team
Budget
Signatures Handout
Assumptions : Assumptions Opportunity to put it all out there
Challenges facing the project
Implications
Organizational history
Political implications
Impact to traditional power
Requirements of decision-making
Write down what cannot be said
Keep it objective
Case Study : Case Study Mojo College Handout
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure Identify the major task categories
Identify sub-tasks, and sub-sub-tasks
Use verb-noun to imply action to something
Example: Getting up in the morning
Hit snooze button
Hit snooze button again
Get outa bed
Avoid dog
Go to bathroom…
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure Handout
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure Handout
Work Breakdown Structure : Work Breakdown Structure Requires structured brainstorming
Project Schedule Tools : Project Schedule Tools Many tools available
Microsoft Project
Many more specialized software
www.dotproject.net
Excel
Most important
Monitor tasks
Gantt views of project
one page views for executives
rollout and more complex views for work teams
Critical Paths
Inputs from multiple teams that roll up to project manager
Dependencies
Resources assigned to tasks
Project Schedule : Project Schedule Handout
Project Schedule : Project Schedule Handout
Critical Paths : Critical Paths Milestones that impact downstream milestones and the overall timeline of project
If you miss a Critical Path, the entire project is delayed, or
You have to make up ground on downstream critical paths
Project Budget : Project Budget Direct Costs
Indirect Costs
Ongoing costs
Project Budget : Project Budget Direct Costs
Hardware
Software
Contractor fees
Estimated hours
Hourly Rates per contractor
Various contractor rates
Training
Fanfare
Other
TOTALS Indirect Costs
Your people’s time and effort
Estimated time on project
Estimated cost based on hourly rate
Other’s time and effort
Opportunity cost
What projects or tasks are NOT going to get done in order to get this project done?
Managing the Project : Managing the Project Triple Constraint
Five Stages
Project Manager Role
Decision Making Structure
Communication Plan
Meeting Management
Team Development
Navigating Organizational Politics
Triple Constraint : Triple Constraint Time Resources Scope/quality Risk?
Five Stages of Project Management : Five Stages of Project Management Project Management (in our industry) is divided into five parts:
Project charter development
RFP Development and Process
Planning & Design
Project team creation
Project kick-off
Planning (WBS, schedule)
Budget
Implementation/construction
Project termination, hand-off to operations mgt.
Controlling Change Procedures : Controlling Change Procedures Your Needs Assessment is your baseline document
Establish process early for managing change orders
Original scoping should be thorough as possible
Any subsequent changes must be thoroughly vetted, a form should be completed and members and executives must sign off
Slide 40 : Managing Change
Project Manager’s Role : Project Manager’s Role Lead Define Plan Monitor Complete
Project Manager’s Role : Project Manager’s Role Leadership
Organization
Communication
Finance
Technical savvy
Politicking
Team building
Praising
Punishing
Traditional Organization : Traditional Organization
Matrix Organization : Matrix Organization
People Problems : People Problems 2/3 of project problems are people related
You will find many operational leaders demonstrate a “just do-it” mentality. While that may be effective in some environments, this is NOT effective in managing change.
There will always be conflict over goals and scope, resources and between departments
You are likely to find a lack of understanding basic project management methods
Some people will never get along
So you want to be a Project Manager : So you want to be a Project Manager You used to be good friends with your co-workers
Project manager sandwich: pressure between co-workers and stakeholders
The skills that brought you to this role are no longer as vital; now you need new skills
You used to be really good at your work From ESI International:Top Ten Reminders for New Project Managers www.esi-intl.com/public/publications/html/20050801HorizonsArticle2.asp
Project Manager’s Key Strength : Project Manager’s Key Strength Be the eye of the hurricane
Slide 48 : Strategies for Managing Change
Team Development : Team Development Select the right players
Complementary skillsets
Blend of technical and business
Align with WBS
Stages of Team Development
Formin’
Stormin’
Normin’
Performin’
Formin’ Stormin…in theory : Formin’ Stormin…in theory Formin’ Stormin’ Normin’ PERFORMIN!’
Formin’ Stormin…in reality : Formin’ Stormin…in reality Formin’ Stormin!’ Normin’ Performin’
Formin’ Stormin…in reality : Formin’ Stormin…in reality Formin’ Stormin!’ Normin’ Performin’
Consultants : Consultants Objective, skilled consultants can provide a team foundation
Consultants can address dicey organizational issues
For large projects, this approach is vital.
Meeting Management : Meeting Management Develop Ground Rules early
Assign facilitator
Assign reporter and reporting structure
Start and end times, frequency of meetings
Frequency of meetings
Focus of meetings
Information sharing?
Agenda building
Issues for substantive discussion
Suggested Ground Rules for Meetings : Suggested Ground Rules for Meetings Start/end times are real
Agree to debate issues, not people
Civility required
Confidentiality?
Reporting out
What is going to be reported
What isn’t
Agree to bring all issues to the table
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Tank: a person who dominates a discussion or issue by brute force of personality. When they present, they speak as an authority. When dealing with a project and defining new solutions, these types of people can be destructive to the process of open discussion and consideration of alternatives.
Solution: thank them for their opinion, then ask if there are some other perspectives from other team members.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Grenade: The conversation will be going along fine and all of the sudden, a team member lobs out a discussion-ending comment.
Solution: Address the comment head on and suggest that the grenade thrower refrain from comments that will upend conversation of alternatives.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Think-they-know-it-all: Much like the tank.
Solution: Same as Grenade.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Maybe Person: This is the person who cannot commit to any position or issue. They take refuge in ambiguity.
Solution: On a project team, you need to help them commit. Give them simple alternatives and ask them to decide.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The No Person: This is your general naysayer. Nothing will work, no matter what.
Solution: Help to see that no is not an option. Define the alternatives.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Sniper: This is a destructive force in a team. The Sniper tenders up negative comments within the team that negate or attack ideas.
Solution: address the behavior immediately and let them know that comments like that are unacceptable based on team norms.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Yes Person: While less negative, this person is so agreeable that they negate their influence through a lack of objective analysis. They are more eager to please than they are to offer objective alternatives.
Solution: Point out that you appreciate their positive outlook, but they need to explore options more thoroughly if they want to gain credibility with the group.
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The Traitor: Team member speaks very little in meetings, or sometimes disagrees, and spends times out of meetings lobbying for alternative positions or arguing decisions made by the team
Solution: Establish team rules early that state that issues are dealt with in team meetings and this behavior is not acceptable. When it is uncovered, PM addresses it in the meeting or, if necessary, in private
Destructive Team Member Profiles : Destructive Team Member Profiles The End Arounder: Team member who goes around team and PM to another supervisor or administrator and complains, lobbies or takes alternative positions to team.
Solution: Identify the behavior in team development and make it known it is not acceptable. Get all administrators and supervisors to suppress the behavior if it occurs. PM should call it when it’s seen and the Project Sponsor should nip it in bud.
Providing Feedback to Team Members : Providing Feedback to Team Members Praise in public
Punish in private
Case Study : Case Study
Decision Making Structure : Decision Making Structure Define Layers
Executive
Project Manager
Project Team
Sub Teams
Documentation Levels of responsibility should be spelled out for each group.
Examples
Execs will make all decisions on scope, schedule, personnel changes and budget
Project Mgt. team will make all decisions on team assignments, work allocations and management of vendors.
Training team will make decisions about training requirements and schedules of sessions.
Decision Making : Decision Making Avoid consensus abuse
Consensus may be desired, but is not required
Lack of consensus does not mean no decision
Projects force decisions by leaders
Clarify who makes what decisions
Establish structure for rapid decision making
Communicate decisions
Log/track decisions for future reference
While everyone may not agree with all decisions, it’s important that team members agree to support the decisions
Get buy-in from sponsor and administrators preventing ‘end arounds.’
Communication Plan : Communication Plan Define stakeholders
Develop communication plan
Identify
talents for communication
means of communication
frequency of communication
Navigating the Politics of Change : Navigating the Politics of Change Know the environment
What are the overarching issues of your organization?
What are the pressing issues of the hour?
What will be the pressing issues of tomorrow?
How do you help others satisfy their needs?
What is the stake of others in your project?
Identify a mentor
Project Management is Change : Project Management is Change Project methodology is really about managing change
Change in current practices
Developing new practices
Getting people to change their behaviors
How they do their work
How they work together
How they get the work of the project done
Avoidance of paving the cowpaths
PM is a mindset, a discipline, that can help your organization increase effectiveness and put order to chaos
Limitations of Project Management : Limitations of Project Management PM works when there is buy-in for the methods and process
It does not work when
buy-in is lacking or there is not support for the methods by executives
‘end arounds’ are tolerated
influential players operate project business outside the project
decisions made by project teams are not supported
charters, schedules and other work products of the team are not supported
Project Portfolio Management : Project Portfolio Management More common in disciplined IT organizations
Manages projects that are
Proposed
Approved
In progress
Requires organizational buy-in
Additional Project Resources : Additional Project Resources ESI Horizons www.esi-horizons.com
Project Management Institute. www.pmi.org
On Becoming a Technical Leader. by Gerald Weinberg
On Becoming a Leader. by Warren Bennis
Getting Past No. by William Ury
Decision Traps. by Edward Russo