Author Archive for Ron

Let’s bring back the real meaning of “deadline” in projects…

Published
by
Ron
on August 12, 2010
in milestones, project management training and project reporting
. 1 Comment

Do you know the real meaning of the word deadline? Its origins go back a long way. Dictionary.com suggests it is:

“a boundary around a military prison beyond which a prisoner could not venture without risk of being shot by the guards.”

I have spoken to many people who complain that the person “did not deliver against the deadline”. Issues such as the “figures did not arrive before the deadline,” or “the report missed the deadline.”

It is the main responsibility of the project manager to check that whatever is due actually gets delivered. From evidence given to me and Project Agency (www.projectagency.co.uk) colleagues it seems that more rigorous systems are needed to ensure delivery takes place on the correct date it should and that the quality of the product is what is required by the client.

What could be included in such a process? Here are some possible examples:

• a variation form  - this is a simple form that shows which activity will not be delivered by the due date or budget. However, before everyone starts developing a variation form see next few points
• hold review meetings. At the start of every project the project manager should engender the honest reporting code. It is exactly that, honestly reporting where an activity is, against the plan at the meeting. You may want to use some of the project management templates we have

• ensure people adopt the Margaret Thatcher approach when she said of Lord Young “He brings me solutions, not problems”.
• I had a boss who held what we called ‘production meetings.’ These were every 2 weeks and we had to bring along proof of where we were against the plan. He explained that he simply wanted to ensure that we were on course and wanted proof of it!
• ensure project team members receive project management training - this includes project sponsor training
• leadership - you could adopt the situational leadership approach - this is an excellent tool where the project manager uses a range of styles to bring about project success:

 directing
 supporting
 coaching
 delegating

This approach suggests that the project manager uses different style for different people against different tasks

So, let’s go back to the definition of the word deadline. When someone says that they have not delivered, suggest you are bringing back the real meaning of the word deadline (”a boundary around a military prison beyond which a prisoner could not venture without risk of being shot by the guards.”) That should ensure delivery on time, on budget and with the right results.

Where’s my whistle?

Published
by
Ron
on August 10, 2010
in governance, project, project management and project risks
. 0 Comments

I was talking to my good friend Mike Clayton today talking about holidays and suddenly said; “hold it, where’s my whistle?” Of course, Mike could not answer, it was my whistle?

Why do I need a whistle? Mike and I were talking about management of risks and I suddenly realised that my risk analysis for our forthcoming holiday was suspect! You see, my wife Sue and I are going walking along the coastal path from Penzance around past Lands End, Porthcurno and back to Penzance. The bags are (almost) packed and the discussion with Mike reminded me that we did not have a whistle….just in case we get lost, fall or befall some ‘other problem.’

There are many instances where “where’s my whistle questions” would have been very useful. Why? I suggested to Mike that companies do not appear to be as systematic as they ought to be in identifying and managing risks in projects.

During project management training courses we have had people giving real examples of risks that have failed to be identified. The result, huge amounts of time and hard cash to rectify the risk once it has struck or in a few cases the project languishing and ultimately dying.

So, where is your whistle? Have you got a systematic company project risk process? Do you really identify all of the risks in your projects and if so, are they being effectively managed?

I thought I had been very thorough with my risk analysis. No formal project management training course for me! But I was wrong.

I’m away walking along the coastal path from Wednesday. I did my risk analysis and realised it could be better. What about yours?

You can follow my progress on Twitter @ronrosenhead (if the phone signal permits!)

We’re only brought in at the project planning stage

Published
by
Ron
on August 4, 2010
in project, project management, project managers and projects
. 0 Comments

That was the plaintiff cry from some of a group on a recent project management course  

Those who made the comment suggested that looking at aspects such as developing a business case or identifying and managing stakeholders and risks was not relevant to them. As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir; from other course members and especially from me! 

I asked the 4 people who said this to try and look at things slightly differently. I suggested that even though they were only brought in to put together the project plan, they should know about the whole of the project management lifecycle. After a brief discussion, they reluctantly agreed! 

I then suggested that as managers in the business they should be managing projects rather than simply putting together the project plan. A similar discussion and another agreement reached. I then said that they would not know enough about the project to put the plan together without the business case, risks and stakeholders and of courser the project initiation document (PID). 

This discussion took slightly longer! They finally agreed. 

The interesting issue is that senior managers who commissioned the course definitely saw the target group running projects - all the way from idea to delivery. But not the group on the course! 

As a tutor on project management courses I often have to challenge people - sometimes like this I can convince them. However, it does not bode well for projects. Why not? If senior managers cannot brief people sufficiently well about attendance on courses then how well will they brief them on projects? 

IT suppliers - reduce your costs or your out!

Published
by
Ron
on July 30, 2010
in IT projects, Uncategorized, change and government projects
. 3 Comments

The above headline seems to be the message in an article in the latest edition of Computer Weekly.: “The article, called “How will suppliers be able to cut IT costs?” starts with the words: “The government has told IT suppliers it wants them to reduce the cost of contracts with government departments.” The paragraph ends with: “But it could be the government that has to change the most.”

Nineteen IT suppliers met the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude to start the process of reducing the cost of contracts.

The article goes on to suggest that ‘red tape’ needs to be addressed and the government must overcome a lack of trust if suppliers are to meet targets without just cutting costs to the bone or stripping service levels.

“The government wants immediate reductions in costs and ongoing cuts” says the article.

Francis Maude said he was challenging major government suppliers to take costs out of contracts. “Some of this will come from margins, but we will invite ideas on how we can structure things differently to reduce complexity and cost.”

There will no doubt be more articles like this as time progresses and for sure, this will impact on many people - anyone involved in IT, project management or procurement plus of course shareholders.

If you are based in the US you also have some ‘issues.’ Shortly before completing this article I came across the headline: “White House to Review High Risk Projects”. This can be found here.

An extract of the Computer Weekly article can be found here.

Why so few project courses for such a key group?

Published
by
Ron
on July 18, 2010
in project managers, project sponsor, project sponsorship and sponsor
. 6 Comments

Last week I ran a workshop specifically for project sponsors. Every person in the room was a senior manager, they sponsored projects and yes, managed them as well. 

On my travels to the training venue, I sent a Tweet that read: 

Running project sponsor workshop today. Why are so few courses run for such a key group? Any suggestions? 

Not surprisingly, I had no takers. 

So, why so few development opportunities (courses and workshops) for this important group? 

In February this year, Arras People published a report called Arras People Project Management Report 2010.   In their report, they found that senior managers lack of support contributed to project failure. 

Scouring the internet as I frequently do and looking at back copies of magazines shows there are articles about  this topic - not enough - but sufficient to give you a feeling that the training and development of senior managers is an untapped area. 

In my 16 years as Director of Project Agency we have run  courses for sponsors (see http://bit.ly/dcOXjX ) but, very few compared to courses for project managers. This is not for the want of trying. Much energy and effort has been put into convincing and influencing senior managers of the need for this type of training. 

So, what can be done to try and develop such an important group? I clearly do not have all of the answers however here are a few suggestions: 

  1. Pressure from project managers - on a couple of occasions a few project managers have returned from a training course and debated the topic with senior managers with a workshop for them resulting 
  2. There are many competency frameworks in use and maybe there is a link to one for sponsors. Clearly the performance appraisal process will need to identify development needs based on the framework 
  3. Critical incidence - projects do go wrong! However, how many companies really examine what went right and what went wrong? If the Arras survey is to be believed then some of the errors will be down to a lack of senior managers’ engagement. This would need to be rectified by some training and development activity 
  4. Conferences - I speak at a variety of conferences and this is one way of attracting attention of senior managers to the need for training in this area 

I believe the project management industry has not made the progress that it should have done. So, what suggestions do you have for engaging and influencing and ultimately developing this group of staff?