Archive for the 'projects' Category

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? 

Legal case suggests don’t promise what you cannot deliver.

Published
by
Ron
on February 12, 2010
in Uncategorized, contracting, legal issues and project management and projects
. 0 Comments

According to an article in the Computer Weekly, legal ruling could push up prices of IT contracts in the future.

The Technology and Construction Court found in favour of BSkyB following a five-year battle with EDS over a failed customer relationship management system. The case is the most expensive legal dispute in the history of the IT industry, costing both sides an estimated £40m each.

Commenting in Computer Weekly, Rob McCallough, a Partner at Pinsent Masons, says, “It is rare for an IT supplier to be accused of fraudulent misrepresentation. It is even rarer for a supplier to be found guilty of it. It is a landmark decision which could give rise to suppliers reviewing sales techniques, contractual arrangements, and what is presented to customers in terms of their capabilities, services and products.”

He went on to say:

“The consequences for suppliers of getting projects wrong are too great for them to take chances. They will have to be more careful in assessments of risk, more careful in what they bid for, and will face increased bidding costs because of extra preparatory work”

Coukld this possibly mean that suppliers could face increased insurance premiums - assuming that they and their employees can get cover for liability for IT project failures - pushing up bid prices?

EDS has been ordered to pay interim damages of £200 million to BSkyB - several times more than the cost of the original system.

EDS was taken over by HP and they are seeking permission to appeal against the judgment.

It is worth reading the documentation in Computer Weekly and in the national press Guardian and The Register

Will this impact on us all in the future? I guess time will tell but knowledge of this case is important for contractors and companies alike.

Project briefing - sponsors must do better!

Published
by
Ron
on January 26, 2010
in project briefing, project management skills, project management workshops and projects
. 6 Comments

That was the response from participants on a project management workshop.

How did this come about? We have an activity where I give them a brief. By brief I mean some background information about a project. This led to a an interesting debate with a substantial proportion voicing concerns that the briefings they had from senior mangers were vague and did not help them very much.

This reminded me of a client we had some years ago. They requested we design a briefing exercise to help senior managers develop skills in this area. We broke the project management course into 3 groups with 3 people being briefed.

The most telling comment from the 3 people being briefed was that they did not understand the project and felt they had loads of questions they wanted to ask but did not feel the person briefing them wanted to hear them. This, from a peer - someone on or about the same level in the business!

So, what are the lessons for all of us?

1. If you are a project manager you must somehow find a way to ask questions or get answers to questions about the project. The method(s) you will need to use will vary depending on who the senior manager is alongside where they are geographically and in the company hierarchy

2. If you are a sponsor you need to create mechanisms to ensure questions can be asked and you can answer them or refer them to people who can. A common complaint on project management training courses is that it is so hard to get questions answered

3. Briefing skills need to improve. Evidence presented to me on our project management courses and with colleagues points to poor skills in this area

4. Project management workshops for senior managers should include activities to develop their briefing skills

5. Time needs to be spent on briefing - self evident from all the information above. If time is not given to briefings then risk levels for the project could will increase

So, project managers, next time you are receiving a briefing that is not quite up to the mark, what will you do? Senior manager; what actions are you going to take to ensure that your briefings are well received. 

Strategic Project Management - A Competitive Advantage

Published
by
Ron
on December 2, 2009
in Uncategorized, competitive advantage, project advantage, project management and projects
. 1 Comment

Is project management in your company driving competitive advantage?

I have long argued that once the overall company strategy has been agreed, you have a group of projects that drive activity. This has been supported in an excellent article

Prof. Sebastian Green, Dean of Faculty of Commerce and Professor of Management & Marketing at University College Cork, was interviewed by Ed Naughton, Director General of the Institute of Project Management and current IPMA Vice President.

Green suggests that companies are missing a trick by not using project management to support delivery of strategy.

When asked “Do we need to sell to senior executives and chief executives that it will deliver competitive advantage to them?”

Prof. Green replied, “No, I think that we need to show them how it does it. We need to go in there and actually show them how they can use it, not just in terms of delivering projects on time and within cost. We need to demonstrate to them how they can use it to overcome organisational resistance to change, how they can use it to enhance capabilities and activities that lead to competitive advantage, how they can use it to enhance the tacit knowledge in the organisation. There is a whole range of ways in which they can use it. They need to see the proof of the outcome is better than the way they are currently doing it.

This article is well worth a read and wider circulation among the executive community.

You can read the article here 

Organisational issues that get in the way of effective project delivery

Published
by
Ron
on November 3, 2009
in project management skills, project management training and projects
. 12 Comments

I was doing some diary planning with our company’s Administration Manager, Alison Smith. We cantered through November and December and suddenly we were into 2010; where did the year go?

Finishing diary planning I started to reflect on the year so far. After a few quiet moments one aspect that came through was the obstacles companies put in the way of successful delivery of projects. They may not realise it but they are obstacles. I started to make a list:

  1. There is no project management system to speak of and people can ‘do their own thing’…and no one does
  2. Having overly-complex decision making processes which slows down delivery of  projects
  3. Large project boards - one I came across had a startlingly large 25 people on it
  4. Ill-trained or no training at all for project sponsors and project board members
  5. No ownership of project management by either a senior manger or a function in the business leading to lack of buy in for project management generally
  6. Several risk management processes within the business leaving the project manager to choose which one should be used
  7. Project managers having no authority, needing to defer everything upwards - slowing down decision making (see point 1)
  8. Training those who are not engaged in project work, while those who are cannot get on to a training course
  9. Senior managers who fire off delivery dates and budgets, without any thought as to whether the project can be delivered or is part of the overall agenda. Nor do they give any thought to resources and budgets required

This list is too long and the implications for project delivery serious. Have you any suggestions to add?