Project Team Blog

By ExecutiveBrief -online resource on process management, project management, and process improvement.

Knowledge management professionals must keep in mind that KM’s explicit end-goal is profitability while its implicit purpose is to empower participants through intellectual platforms and processes that promote learning and practical knowledge.

Knowledge, without a doubt, plays an important role in the success of any organization. In fact, in order to maintain a competitive advantage, modern organizations incorporate knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge management into their business processes. The mere survival of many organizations hinges on the strength of their capabilities; moreover, companies form decisions based on their relevant knowledge of their business landscapes.

Thanks to developments in information and communication technologies, it is now easier to develop, store, and transfer knowledge. This capability is particularly true among organizations with global workforces. After all, international competition and globalization are the driving forces behind most technological innovations, and companies quickly take advantage of these developments when it comes to managing the creation and flow of information.

“Ultimately, leveraging relevant knowledge assets to improve organizational performance is what knowledge management is all about,” says Murray E. Jennex in his book, Knowledge Management in Modern Organizations (2007). However, in spite of the lightning-speed creation of new knowledge and the improvements in communication technologies, many organizations still find that their knowledge management practices are lacking. Specifically, within client-consultant relationships, knowledge transfer does not always translate into better performance by all project team members, nor does it always translate into the successful delivery of projects.

To be successful, knowledge management programs require more than simply conducting training sessions or transferring knowledge. Practitioners must always remember that KM’s explicit end-goal is profitability - while KM’s implicit purpose is to empower participants by providing them with the intellectual platforms and processes that promote learning and practical knowledge.

Here are a few factors that contribute to successful knowledge management initiatives:

• Linkage between knowledge and economic performance – Knowledge management exists because it enables the organization to reach its business goals. Otherwise, there is no point in putting together all the best practices, tacit knowledge, and skill sets in a cohesive system that is accessible by all parties - when and where they need it. As business increasingly becomes more global, the competition for greater market share depends on the capabilities of its players to a certain degree. KM practitioners must be able to identify the business value of knowledge management in their organizations - whether it is to manage projects, provide back-office operations services or to give ideas on how processes can be better optimized - among others. In most consulting relationships, knowledge is the currency by which all transactions are made.
• Setting and communicating clear objectives for specific organizational or project levels – Heather Kreech, the Director of Knowledge Communications of the International Institute for Sustainable Development has some specific ideas on this very subject. In her paper, Success Factors in Knowledge Management (2005), she states that knowledge-sharing works best when knowledge managers “gather and communicate knowledge at the project/activity/field level before [they] begin to aggregate up to corporate systems and general knowledge marketing strategies”. Having a specific organizational level or project group in mind, results in better designed knowledge management systems, training programs, and tools that can meet the specific needs of workers.
• Having the appropriate systems and infrastructure – Ideally, knowledge is created, processed, stored, and archived. Managing the process of creating knowledge, communicating this knowledge to participants, and making knowledge available to anyone in the organization, means that an organization must have the right communication systems and data storage facilities. However, it is not enough to simply store knowledge as this knowledge must be found whenever it is needed. Thus, the availability of internal search facilities and computer-based training programs is critical.
• Having the right champions – KM initiatives need project and process champions who can rally the support of everyone - from top management down to individual staff members. Having management support can result in the freeing up of resources - such as financial, expertise, and infrastructure - all of which are critical to the successful implementation of KM projects. Financial backing means that KM managers can implement training programs, hire both internal and external specialists - as well as acquire the required infrastructure to manage training programs. On the other hand, access to experts from either within or outside the organization, means better identification of knowledge gaps and training requirements, and more importantly, engineering training and communication programs that meet the said needs.

By ExecutiveBrief
Technology Management Resource for Business Leaders
http://www.executivebrief.com
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Scrum burndown charts, or project history charts, as they are called in Standard Time help managers see the time remaining for projects in a line chart.  An example is shown below.  As many know, Standard Time is more than a timesheet.  It contains many project management features like task linking, resource allocation, earned value analysis, utilization percentages and rates.  These can be pretty boring topics unless you need to know where your project is headed.  And then they become pretty valuable tools all of a sudden.  Let’s take a look at the scrum chart.

Notice the falling line chart.  We’ll explain that shortly.

Scrum Chart in Standard Time

The first step to creating this chart is to turn on project history.  Choose Tools, Projects and click a project to begin.  The project properties will display in the right-hand property panel.  Check the “Save task history” checkbox, as shown below.  This forces Standard Time to save time remaining for each project task when hours are entered into the timesheet.  Hours remaining are the raw ingredients for the scrum burndown chart above.

Save Task History in Standard Time
For Burn-down Chart

After turning on the “Save task history” option, now you’ll simply create project tasks and log time to them.  The image below shows a sample list of tasks.  Just remember that each task has a “Remaining” number of hours.  Those hours are plotted on a line graph in the scrum chart.  All tasks are combined to give a snapshot status of your project.  As you log daily time, those hours will fall, until they all reach zero.  Then the project is done!  You’ll see this gradual fall in the burndown chart.  Each week, you’ll notice trends developing.  Hopefully, going toward zero and completion.

Project Tasks in Standard Time

–newshirt

Bear with me…  Vicarious Goal Completion is a pretty obscure title, but there’s logic to it. 

Psychologists have observed a strange human peculiarity.  And it relates directly to project management.  It’s called Vicarious Goal Completion.  Researchers first encountered it while studying fast food menus.  Can I get you to bite?

When fast food menus contain a “Salad” choice or other healthy food items, people purchase the junk food instead! 

Here’s why: People who see healthy items on a menu feel good about their weight loss goals and give themselves permission to indulge a little.  So, they eat the burger and fries instead.  In other words, they remember eating good and believe they have already attained their goals, so that gives them permission to splurge.  The goals are completed vicariously through the menu itself.

Obviously, this is just a slick way of tricking oneself into dodging responsibility.  They used to call this laziness.  Any excuse to pig out.

I’ve notice the same behavior with software downloads and project tasks.  The ratio of downloads to form-completions is pitifully low.  In other words, people take the time to fill out a download form, but never actually install and test the software.  Vicarious Goal Completion!  The person believes they have finished the job, when in fact, they have only just begun.  Filling out the form gives them a warm fuzzy feeling about the goal of procuring software, and that warm feeling is enough to satisfy them.  They don’t actually care if they download, install, and test.  They have met their goals and that’s all that matters.

The same is true of project management.  Beware of employees who start tasks, but never complete them.  Once a task is started, good feelings arise.  Those good feelings give the employee permission of quit because they feel they have already finished, or full completion is within sight.  Vicarious Goal Completion!  Nobody likes to take their project tasks to the uttermost level of completion - unless forced to do so.

–ray

Bare-bones hardware and software, and all things virtual dictate the game of computing in a slow economy.

A recent advertisement by Microsoft caused a stir among the Mac-loving community of tech workers. The ad shows a flame-haired Lauren looking for a 17-inch laptop for under $1,000. The challenge is that if she finds one that meets her specifications, she gets to keep the laptop and the change from the $1,000. And so she first goes to a Mac store where the only thing that falls within her budget is a 13-inch Macbook. Slightly dejected, she drives off and along the way says the line that struck a raw nerve among Mac fans and probably Apple itself: “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.”

She enters another computer store where she finds two laptops that meet her needs on top of her 17-inch monitor requirement for only $699. The ad ends with the line, “I’m a PC and I got just what I needed.”

Ever since the TV spot came out, the Mac community has been up in arms, dismissing all things PC and the operating system that most of the time goes with it. However, pundits believe that no matter how “cool” Mac may be, the deciding factor for buying PC is price point. When things are tough and everyone is worrying about their finances, notwithstanding the availability of disposable income for some, people are conscious about the amount of money they spend on technology.

The same is true whether one is buying technology services, software, or hardware. As the world gets on with the current crisis, technology is responding at rapid speed to manage the needs of individual and enterprise tech buyers everywhere.

So what are the technologies that actually matter in this climate? Here are a few:

Virtualization - Video conferences, virtual meetings, and screen sharing are just a few of the ways the tech world is replacing bricks-and-mortar or traditional modes of conducting daily business. Virtualization makes it possible for workers to overlap work schedules across different time zones and collaborate on projects that are stored in different parts of the globe. Moreover, telecommuting becomes a trend even–or especially–among large enterprises who benefit from lower overhead costs and thankful workers who are happy to skip daily commutes and save on gas. Who needs to be physically present at the office when you can access your virtual desktop hosted by an outsourced data center?

Cloud Computing - Technology suppliers, from Microsoft to Sun to Amazon to startups, have embraced cloud computing as the next wave of business technology service. Buyers need applications and services that can be deployed as soon as possible and with as little maintenance required. Cloud computing also eliminates the need to build armies of engineers to create applications that can be “rented” anyway.

Enterprise Telecommunications - Businesses are getting savvier when it comes to enterprise communication, that any meeting, conference, or messaging that can be done via BlackBerry, VoIP, or company-supported IMs is welcome. Those that can invest in infrastructure requirements to put these technologies in place for two reasons: (1) to minimize the cost of or need for business travel and (2) to facilitate seamless communication among workers from different locations.

Open-Source - In early February, the British government released a policy that emphasized preference for open-source over proprietary software in order to cut down cost on technology spending. With proper due diligence, the move is surely to be copied by various industries everywhere in the quest to manage operating costs while remaining productive and responsive to customer demands.

Bare-Bones Hardware - The popularity of netbooks can be attributed to its portability, and a more so to a much friendlier price point. As software and file management move to the clouds and storage becomes cheaper, tech buyers, such as Lauren in the Microsoft commercial, realize that they only have to spend on what they need. Who cares about the cool factor when they have to spend their money wisely? In early March, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the company’s plans to deliver the “netbooks” of servers that sport features that meet minimal storage and network management needs of businesses.

By ExecutiveBrief

http://www.executivebrief.com�

Customer-driven project management uses the voice of the client as a guide at every turn of the project’s life cycle to achieve optimum quality.

Project teams that put the interest of their clients are assured of repeat businesses and long-term relationships. They know that at the end of the day, their processes and methodologies are established to meet clients’ expectations. And meeting clients’ expectations hopefully means satisfaction.

It has always been the goal of project teams to complete projects on time within cost and fulfill quality criteria, but it has often been the case that when projects are implemented, project teams focus on their tasks more and lose sight of their relationships with clients. Now, thanks to the current dynamics of an increasingly demanding business environment, the management concept of too much organizational and process control that on many occasions resulted in alienating customers is slowly giving way to a marriage of disciplined process implementation and customer satisfaction. And by satisfaction, it means giving more than what is required.

Customer-driven project management uses the voice of the client as a guide at every turn of the project’s implementation process to achieve optimum quality. According to Bruce T. Barkley and James H. Saylor in their book Customer-Driven Project Management (2001), this management approach involves the following items, which we expand to meet the more complex needs of today’s client-supplier relationships:

Customer-driven project management does not veer far from many project management approaches. However, client leadership and continuous improvement through the team’s feelings of ownership of the project spell the difference between just finishing tasks and pleasing the customer. 

By ExecutiveBrief
Technology Management Resource for Business Leaders
http://www.executivebrief.com

Forward-looking project managers realize that to avoid failure, they should build the business case for their projects by getting intimately knowledgeable about the reasons why sponsors approved their projects.

Too many projects get the axe because of the lack of business cases that justify their existence. When project sponsors begin to see projects only in terms of costs instead of potential rewards, there are higher chances that the projects would be canceled.

It is not the job of the project manager to build the business case. Ideally, project stakeholders and sponsors evaluate the business value and possible ROI from a project. If the project is seen in terms of generating income or reducing cost, the project will have the green light. This is the situation in the ideal world, but this scenario happens a lot less than one would like to believe.

Forward-looking project managers realize that to avoid failure, they should build the business case for their projects by getting intimately knowledgeable about the reasons why sponsors approved their projects. A project manager should work closely with clients, sponsors and other stakeholders, and ask the following questions:

What problems should the project address?

By interviewing project sponsors, the project manager can determine their goals and discuss the issues that the project would solve. In addition to project sponsors, the ones who are dealing with the issues at the workplace, perhaps on a daily basis, are a good source of ideas about the extent and many facets of the problem. Looking at day-to-day challenges from end-users’ point of view enables the project manager to get a better handle of the requirements of the project in terms of design and technical upgrades, as well as in terms of how it will solve end-user problems.

What are the strategic goals of the project?

Is it an easier system? Increased productivity? Better networking? Conversion to a marketable product? No matter what it the goals are, they must also come from and supported by the end-users.  At the end of the day, it will all boil down to the business value of the project. And by business value, it means cost reduction, better productivity, and the possibility of selling the product or service to the wider public.  Make sure that the goals are clear and the project’s objectives must reflect these goals.

What are the project’s basic requirements and what can end-users live without?

Aside from building the requirements based on the needs of its users, the project manager should also build the projects’ technical and design requirements and ask what bells and whistles it should have. The project may have a lot of feature that do not have business justifications, resulting in features that took too long to build.  Separating needs from fluff allows the project manager to formulate requirements, identify scope, and allocate resources that are important in creating a working version of the project. The quicker the iteration, the better the chances are of project survival.

What is the project’s ROI?

Even at the early stage of the project, it is possible to envision ballpark ROI figures. Because all projects incur costs, a project manager should have a fair idea of when investments will be recovered and generate positive cash flow.

By ExecutiveBrief
Technology Management Resource for Business Leaders
www.executivebrief.com

I’m taking the first day back from vacation to survey my open projects.  I’ve got a video script to write.  And then the video recording, and producing.  The voice-over will occur later.  There’s a product update that includes nothing but maintenance bug fixes.  And a few web site updates.  That’s about all…

Things are really slow.  Reeeeeeeaaaly slow.  I’m guessing it’s that way everywhere.  Our corporate web site gets only half the visitors and one-third the downloads.  Good time to write a short blog.

But think about it…  This really is the best time to launch into some big architectural projects.  After all, nobody’s knocking the door down for product updates.  We have time to rethink things, and retool.  But who feels like doing that?  When nobody cares?

My point?  Economic slowdown has a debilitating effect on product development and project management.  Human beings are motivated by interactions with others, not pure technology.  Product purchases, evaluations, customer demands…  All those intangible things are wrapped up in our management choices.  They are what move us.

–newshirt

Studies show that most successful projects were those that followed agile principles, proving that model-driven methods are not always the best when it came to managing changes, fast-paced project implementation, or even meeting market demands.

The concept of agile development is not new. However, many technologists still stick to the age-old notion that software development can be easily designed and the outputs predicted without giving much thought to the more dynamic factors of projects, such as communication lines, people, and change.

Project managers eventually realized that a lot of projects failed because of rigid requirements, faulty design, and the inability of project teams to adapt to change. For the most part, clients or end-users’ requirements changed through the course of development lifecycles, that by the time applications were ready for deployment, the end products were a good degree different from what was initially planned. This would have been alright, except that towards the end of the development lifecycle, time and financial resources have overshot initial estimates by a good measure.

Instead of pointing their fingers at development teams or clients, project managers learned to allow adjustments in their methodologies. In fact, many studies have shown that the most successful projects were those that followed agile principles, proving that model-driven methods are not always the best when it came to managing changes, fast-paced project implementation, or even meeting market demands.

But before adopting agile practices, project sponsors and managers should ask how agile methods could impact their products, internal operations, and people.

Impact on people and their roles

A key agile principle, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools,” emphasizes communication and collaboration of project team members. Instead of defining the roles of team members, more importance is given to how well they can perform tasks as a team and create a working version of software. Teamwork cannot be overstated in agile processes, as each member can play the part of the end-user, leader, and engineer. To be truly successful, project managers should allow team members to wear cross-functional hats, communicate freely, and focus on team goals instead of individual—or role-based—functions.

While it has been initially believed that agile method worked best with co-located teams, experiences of outsourcing service providers proved that this also worked—and perhaps better—with the offshore outsourcing development models. In the first place, collaboration and free-flowing communication is the norm, and not the physical set-up of the workplace.

Impact on process

Processes take secondary priority in agile methods. Instead of going through particular stages of the development lifecycle, rapid and short iterations move the project forward, allowing for flexibility in changing the course of the project. Moreover, instead of drowning in documentation as dictated by requirements and design, most documentation is in the form of information exchange among project members. Design and actual product are often inconsistent until the deployment stage.

Impact on product and quality

Instead of delivering software that has all the knots and bolts in place according to its original design, the highest priority is satisfying the need of the customer with a simple but working version. The adage, “in perpetual beta” also applies to agile method; software improves with every iteration until all the “nice to have” features are in place. Simplicity allows for more flexibility in change requests, especially because end-users and sponsors or clients eventually discover new requirements along the way.

By ExecutiveBrief
Technology Management Resource for Business Leaders
www.executivebrief.com

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I talked with an IT professional over the weekend.  This person lamented over their constantly late projects.  I told them about Standard Time®, and how it tracks project time.  They loved the idea!  But continued the lament, claiming they would never use such a product.

I just stood there stunned.  Why not?  I didn’t ask, but assumed it had something to do with the economy, frozen purchases, and what not…

But I just kept thinking…  Wouldn’t Standard Time pay for itself?  Late projects, especially persistently late ones costs companies money.  Lots of it.  A few thousand dollars for software would tighten up those schedules and force the company into compliance.  The ROI would be 3X or more.  So, why not use it?

I suspect it’s unfamiliarity.  People simply don’t know how to use time tracking and project management products.  No training.  No familiarity.  Nobody’s firing them for late projects, so they keep doing what comes naturally.  Oh well… 

–newshirt

Some time ago I created a list of different styles of project management (I should have added “don’t try that at home” disclaimer there). Anyway, recently I witnessed yet another flavor, which I’ll call: “we’ll make it project management.” Luckily I view the “stunning” details from a safe distance.

The recipe is simple: no matter what happens we’ll make it. We’ve just cut a schedule in half and added a bunch of new features? But we’ll make it. One third of developers have just left? No problem, we’ll make it. Our engineers barely deal with everyday maintenance leaving aside new implementations? Dude, we’ll make it. We’ve just moved every developer from the project to do firefighting in other deals? We’ll make it, we’ll make it. A meteorite is heading right for our headquarters? You already know: We’ll make it.

The strategy is simple – verbally repeat the “we’ll make it” mantra and do nothing to prepare for incoming failure. The great thing about this project management technique is you don’t stress at all. And you have an easy answer to each question from the project team. Yes, you guessed correctly: “we’ll make it.”

A prerequisite to employ this technique is an overgrown ego. A success story from the distant past also helps. It doesn’t really matter that your project was a hundred times easier to complete and that you were a decade younger and it wasn’t really a glowing triumph at all.  Small details.

So, if you’re a part of a project team where we’ll make it project management is used, well, I can only help with that famous quotation: “Run Forrest, Run!” I should have another story documenting usage of the technique shortly. I’ll share it with you for sure. After all it should be a nice story to read.

Author: Pawel Brodzinski

The following text is an interview with Warren Peacock of Scoutwest, Inc.  They are the developers of Standard Time® and Standard Issue® – two leading project management products.  Project Team Blog wanted to hear from an authority regarding the status quo of enterprise project tracking and management, and learn what consulting and manufacturing companies face when attempting detailed time tracking.  We’re talking full-blown project schedules, timesheets to track task status, resource allocation, employee status, detailed reporting services – the whole enchilada.  Are most companies using these tools?  Or, do they attempt to roll their own with little in-house apps and spreadsheets?  Does the economy have a bearing on these choices?  One thing is certain; Warren Peacock has heard it all.  Let’s see what he has to say.

Q: Warren, would you say most organizations are doing an excellent, poor, or fair job of tracking project status?
A: Based on my experience I would say they are doing a poor-to-fair job, though well intended.

Q: What tools are they using now?
A: Some are using actual time tracking tools like Standard Time.  However, most companies are using Excel, shareware, or shabby little in-house programs.

Q: Where do you see room for improvement?
A: One word…Efficiency.   Time is our most valuable commodity and success starts with improving our use of it, regardless of the industry.

Q: Aside from acquiring better tools for project  tracking, what are the other ongoing costs of tracking projects and employee status?
A: Lost billable hours, unfortunately this is very common.  Also, which employees are most productive?  Standard Time has one simple report that gives you that type of data.  If you need to streamline costs where do you start, what do you cut?  Again, the right tools can give you that detail.  They will show you where you spend time as an organization.  What areas are over, or under allocated.  All of this is just a glimpse of improving efficiencies with project management and associated costs.

Q: And the return on investment for these tools?  How do you get there?
A: That sounds complicated, yet is very simple.  Most consultants and business owners I speak with estimate they are losing anywhere from 3%-10% of their billable hours.  Without question a conservative estimate is 1-3 hours per week, per employee.  Multiply that times their billing rate and you quickly realize how fast a time tracking tool like Standard Time pays for itself.  Not to mention the loads of reports and other information available to help guide any number of key decisions, regarding customers, projects and employees.  We don’t think twice about spending money on an employee’s phone, computer and any number of other items.  Time tracking is just as important.

Q: Let’s talk low-hanging fruit…  What can a company do to get started cheaply?  Spreadsheets?  Paper time cards?  Smoke signals?
A: Spreadsheets work to a certain point, but again the time spent managing, compiling and crafting reports will eat an employee’s productivity and provide very basic information at best.  Standard Time is less than $150 per user and easy to use.  You can place it on your own computers or we can host it for you.  No installation necessary.  Employees can be shown the basics in 5 minutes, no down time, no compiling spreadsheets and less user error!  Instantly you have more accurate information that will help propel and streamline any organization.

When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed closure plan serves as an outline of required tasks that must be carried out appropriately in order to result in successful project delivery, and adequate preparation is one significant element when it comes to ensuring a smooth transition to implementation. The closure plan must be considered at the outset of the project, as the client outlines their specific software requirements. With a detailed description of the desired end result communicated and understood, the expected capabilities and deliverables of the software are established. But as you enter the final stages of a software development project, what can be done in order to ensure that the program is completely suitable and fully primed for implementation?

Key Components
According to Joe Coley, independent software developer and member of Northeast Dataflex Consortium, “Projects that I’ve been involved with…have been very much subject to additional needs and desires of the user community.” In effect, this means that the end deliverable becomes the focus of the closure plan — that is, to ensure a high level of end user satisfaction with the software requested and therefore created. Coley has 20 years of experience in the information technology industry and offers much insight on the subject. When it comes to key components for successful closure plans, he highlights three main aspects to consider:

• Assess the project requirements. In order to determine the best course of action throughout the cycle of a project, it is necessary to first consider the scope of the project. Establishing a clear outlook and complete understanding as to the required deliverables will greatly improve the ability to adequately determine exactly what tasks must be carried out in order to meet these deliverables in an efficient and timely manner.

• Communication. While communication is always essential throughout the cycle of any project or initiative, it is imperative to establish a specific plan for obtaining end-user input, as needed and where feasible. Therefore, a key component to a successful close is establishing and maintaining open lines of communication with the appropriate groups. The end users comprise the group of those who will be utilizing the software in real-time business applications; they have the critical business knowledge as to ways in which the software can be created or functionality that can be incorporated so that the result will be a valuable tool with the capability to enhance their business functions.

• Offer continuing support. When it comes to considering a focus on the continuing support needs of the end-user community, Coley cites a specific reason to do so, “There is always an expectation of continuing support in the form of application tweaks, bug fixes, and enhancements.” By extending continuing support to the end users, they have more confidence in the software program as well as in their chosen developer.

Full text of the interview with Joe Coley is available here: http://www.executivebrief.com/article/the-beginning-of-the-end-defining-project-closure/.

While SaaS has been gaining popularity recently, it is remarkably noticeable that its popularity is still limited mostly to small and medium-size businesses. Larger enterprises are still reluctant to embrace hosted application for their IT needs.

According to a recent Forrester Research paper, “The Truth about Software as a Service,” which is a result of a late 2007 survey of IT decision-makers from North America and Europe, only 16 percent of respondents are using SaaS applications. On the other hand, 80 percent are still reluctant to adopt SaaS. Of the 80 percent, only 47 percent expressed interest, while 37 percent were “not interested at all.”

If SaaS has been gaining popularity recently, the gap between big-business IT decision-makers who were interested in it and those who were either partially interested or totally uninterested is too wide.  As if to counter the SaaS advantages that were cited in the previous blog, researchers and tech workers in big enterprises cite various reasons why it is not being widely adopted outside the realm of SMBs. 

One of the top reasons why big businesses are reluctant to adopt SaaS is business continuity. Put simply, the market’s atmosphere is fraught with uncertainty that SaaS vendors could just shut their doors easily. When it happens, where do the hosted data go? What alternatives are immediately available to end-users?

Next to business continuity, data security, vendor lock-in, and accountability are some of the issues that clients — both large and small or medium-size businesses — raise most of the time. Because many large enterprises are sensitive about their company data, they are reluctant to hand company information to third parties. In terms of accountability, there have been complaints about vendors’ dishonesty about real downtime rates and the speed with which they address it. If a service is suddenly cut off, IT departments ask how long it takes for the service to be available again and what kind of assurances are provided to address such issues.

SaaS are typically fit-for-all, so customization is another nagging issue. Maybe small businesses’ IT needs are not complex, that is why they are more willing to sign up with SaaS vendors. On the other hand, enterprises that provide more than one type of service, sell more than one product, are present in different locations, and employ thousands of employees have IT needs that are as complex as their multinational presence and multiple businesses. That most vendors do not offer customizable services to match big businesses’ needs is one of the signs that it is still in its infancy.

Related to downtimes is the issue of scalability. Can a hosted service support thousands of users who access the application simultaneously? If it cannot, can a business enlist the help of another vendor? This is where the issue of interoperability and portability also come in. In most cases, transferring data from one SaaS provider to another takes time and considerable effort.

That SaaS became popular among SMBs means it is promising. However, this promise does not translate well in big business so far.

By ExecutiveBrief
www.executivebrief.com

Yes, there’s actually a “day” for project managers: November 6th, 2008.  See the link below for more information.  Here’s a little teaser quote from the web site.

http://www.internationalpmday.org/

The international project management day is intended to encourage project based organizations worldwide or organizations who utilize project management methodologies to schedule some type of recognition event within their organizations or coordinated locally with others to truly demonstrate appreciation for the achievements of project managers and their teams.

My job is more than just project management.  I oversee operations and projects.  I perform project planning, and do lots of project management.  I even write a little code from time to time.  My gut feeling is that most folks wear several hats these days.  Project management is only one of many.  But those many things can lead to distraction and bad projects.

An organization like this pulls us back into the discipline.  Back into the bedrock rules that make all successful projects work.  That’s a good thing.  If you haven’t registered for allPM’s webinar, here’s a link to do it!  http://www.iil.com/ipmday2008/webcast.asp

–newshirt

Why SaaS may be the next wave in enterprise computing.

Much has been said lately about Software as a Service (SaaS), which is often interchangeably referred to as “cloud computing”. While pundits may disagree on whether SaaS is cloud computing, its primary feature is application provided as a service to customers via the internet.  Because applications are hosted, this eliminates the need for installation and running of applications on clients’ computers, or even servers, as well as maintenance and support. Moreover, SaaS reduces the need to purchase and maintain hardware.

But before getting into the much-praised or marketed trend, it is worth considering first why SaaS is such a hot commodity nowadays.  According to experts, security, maintenance, and cost are among the top reasons why SaaS is being embraced by enterprises.

Moreover, due to the challenges that face companies regarding outsourcing, such as communication gaps and security, SaaS either supplements the need of businesses to outsource parts of their IT requirements. This is especially helpful for small and medium-size businesses that do not have large IT departments, or those that can only afford to pay general IT workers instead of specialists. Because staffing has become problematic due to reduced budgets that affect tech spending, SaaS offers a way to meet their technology requirements without spending more on overhead.

Whereas the application service provider (ASP) business did not make as much mark as it should have in providing enterprise computing, SaaS is being touted as the trend that will replace and even overcome ASP.  Scaling was ASP’s main challenge, which required “separate execution environment” or different server environments for hosting different applications.  SaaS replaces multiple resources to run applications with shared computing resources, such as the same software version that runs on the same platform. This proves cheaper for end-clients.

SaaS providers offer flexible contracts that have targeted costs for specific services. Many tech projects run for only a few months, so services that provide exactly what businesses need in terms of scope and time, with corresponding costs, are advantages that SaaS vendors are only too happy to explore.

SaaS provide specialized software that increasingly meet clients’ needs. As vendors gain more knowledge about what businesses want, these insights are incorporated into version upgrades, which means better software and, just as important, more responsive service.

It is common knowledge in any industry that freeing up the need to manage back-office processes, including technology services, allows companies to concentrate on bigger, more important business areas. Perhaps at the IT level itself, this is also true. Freeing up the upkeep of some technology processes allows IT departments to focus on the services that they can provide in-house.  In effect, SaaS vendors upgrade the quality of both hosted applications and, indirectly, the quality of services of in-house IT departments.

By ExecutiveBrief
www.executivebrief.com

Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organization and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectations or meeting organizational goals?  If so, the solution to a smooth and effective development program may be as easy as staffing a well-qualified project manager and adopting a proven development process.

Developing a Practical Approach: The Role of the Project Manager

When undertaking a software development project, the first element to consider is the establishment of a comprehensive yet practical approach to the initiative that ultimately will lead to a successful end result.

The in-house project manager has a key role in ensuring each phase of the project is carried out as planned. The project manager is responsible for considering the potential risks involved with the project and how to avoid and resolve them, establishing and maintaining momentum throughout the project, ensuring individual project team member tasks are assigned appropriately and carried out according to specifications, and successfully addressing and resolving any conflicts that may arise during the length of the development project.

A well-qualified project manager is able to address what may seem to be an overwhelmingly complex process by developing an organized approach where the process is broken down into manageable individual tasks and understanding how to keep those involved in the project dedicated to the ultimate goal of meeting and even exceeding the expected end result.

Embarking on the Initiative: Key Steps to Consider

With a comprehensive approach and a competent project manager in place to guide the new software development initiative, there is another important element your organization may find helpful as you embark on the project: establishing specific steps that can be followed to project completion that are based on proven industry experience in such a project environment.

Two renowned experts, Dr. Gordon Scott Gehrs and Dr. Dorota Huizinga, single out nine key steps to consider as you embark on a software development project:

Step #1: Conduct Feasibility Analysis

Full article, presenting in detail these key practical guidelines to approach a software development project, is available at: http://www.executivebrief.com/article/9-steps-to-a-hassle-free-and-effective-software-development-project/

By ExecutiveBrief: http://www.executivebrief.com

Last night I attended a party at an old friend’s house.  After small-talking my way around the deck, I hooked up with some old acquaintances, with whom I had participated in a software project.  The gig we shared had taken place back in 1999, in Atlanta.  It was one of those 90’s love-fest dot-com jobs.

While sipping cokes and gobbling slices of homemade pie, we discussed the project’s failings.  “What went wrong?” I asked my colleagues.

“I think it was the fault of the CEO,” one said.  “He just had no experience, and wasted all the money.”

“No, the development organization was all messed up,” the second said.  “The lead engineer kept jumping in and changing everything I did.”

“Well, I think they spent all their money on marketing before they even had a product to sell,” I put in.  “You have to make some sales and get customer feedback before you can spend millions on marketing.  Don’t you think?”

The discussion heated up for the better part of an hour, and I realized that none of us, even ten years later, knew exactly where the faults were.  Who had messed up?  What had gone wrong?  Why hadn’t we succeeded in shipping a product and engaged the sales channel.  None of us knew for certain, yet we all saw some pretty gross mistakes.

That really got me thinking…  Sometimes project failures are not as easy to diagnose as one might think.  Even by salty old dogs like us.  And everybody has their own opinions.  Think about that the next time your project bites the dust.  Or before it does.

–ray

Some of the most common reasons why change requests are made.

Change requests alter the course of a project and working within the constraints of time, budget and quality more challenging. If change requests are not handled properly, the project will overshoot its schedule and accumulate costs that are beyond the original plan.

Realize that change requests are not made because people in your team, the project sponsors, or clients cannot make up their minds. Instead, most requests for changes are made in order to improve the project and, in some cases, the process of implementing the project.

Changes are inevitable during the course of the development lifecycle, and there are various reasons why changes occur. Some of these reasons are technical, some are procedural, some are financial, and still some are political or people-related.  Whether a project manager supports the adjustments or not, it is important to think over why changes are requested and their possible impact on the integrity of the project, as well a the delivery process. Let us look at the most common reasons why changes occur.

Incomplete requirements

Scope changes –or creeping functionality–are the results of ineffective management of requirements.  These are also the results of a project manger’s inability to get approval from project sponsors. When requirements kept going through changes during the course of a development lifecycle, new features and functionalities are often added, resulting in a product that overshoots the allocated time and resources, but fails to meet an acceptable level of quality.

Organizational restructuring

If the client’s organizational structure changes midway through the project lifecycle, it is inevitable for the delivery team to expect either a closer scrutiny of the project or change requests to be submitted. Financial considerations, corporate policies, and new sets of end users are some of the factors to consider as change agents when organization restructurings happen. Some requirements are too rigid, while some requirements need more room for discrepancy in specifications.  When alpha releases prove to be too limited to one set of target users alone, then expect change requests from auxiliary end-users.

External factors, such as new vendors, technologies, or methodologies

External factors, such as the involvement of another vendor or a representative end-user, can cause diversion from the original project execution plan. This issue is often as technical as it is financial (or political). Ideas that are tied to the new vendor’s methodologies and technologies can affect the execution of the project plan halfway through the lifecycle.  Sometimes, clients can be finicky about what they want out of the project that agreed-upon requirements kept getting changed. The more a finicky client gets in contact with vendors who want to take on the project, the more ideas they get about “improving” the product and cutting the cost of development. In such a scenario, be prepared.

By ExecutiveBrief: www.executivebrief.com

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It is not enough to manage projects virtually, but to properly apply e-project management processes that result in less development time but with improved quality. This is about value and not just cutting costs, after all.

Advancements in telecommunication are among the key movers of offshore outsourcing. Without it, back-office operations and application development outsourcing will not be as successful as they are today.  Better infrastructure has allowed for richer applications and cheaper communication that enable businesses and their outsourcing partners to manage people and projects efficiently from different time zones.

Adopting virtualization in managing project offers great competitive advantage to companies and offshore project teams. However, with the increasingly virtualized tech industry, it is not enough to manage projects virtually, but to properly apply e-project management processes that result in less development time but with improved quality. Remember that this is about value and not just cutting costs, after all.

To make a successful adoption of virtualization, a few key elements are involved.

Infrastructure – Both client and vendor must set up the infrastructure that can support virtualization efforts, particularly when the project at hand involves sensitive information.  Both parties need the hardware and software to host VoIP calls, and in many cases, virtual private networks (VPN).  At the start of the project, prioritize the acquisition of hardware, software, and bandwidth to support collaborative and communication efforts.

Communication Plans – Much of the success of adopting virtualization in depends heavily on communication.  On-shore project members do not have the advantages of following up colleagues whenever they want or in person. Delivery teams, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of clarifying project details immediately. In this regard, it is best to set up communication plans that define identify proper channels and approaches. Are there available people on the other end of the communication line? When should the team use virtual meetings? Is e-mail enough to update one another about the project status? Who will project members ask about issues—specific persons or entire teams? Experts agree that it is better to err on the side of over-communication.

Control and Evaluation – On top of delivering results at a time when they are expected to, offshore project teams should report plans for manpower allocations and utilization, risks and issues, and milestones.  By having these details, project teams—no matter where they are in the world—can evaluate project status and control risks. This also involves a single control system that allows for an easy generation and consolidation of data.  At the end of every period—typically weekly or monthly—such data can be measured to evaluate the success of the project in terms of quality of work, manpower and financial investment, and the lessons learned from the venture.

Collaboration Tools – A repository accessible to every member of the delivery team should be put in place. Do not rely merely on multiple copies of outputs stored in individual folders. Versioning and project management software, such as SharePoint or Perforce, allow project team members to work on single source copies of outputs, as well as archiving, checking out and backtracking of works.

By ExecutiveBrief: http://www.executivebrief.com

Call me crazy, but it seems that when summer rolls around work and projects slow down.  So, I say, do nothing. Well, that does not go well with the boss so what is the alternative? There are key people on vacation every other week. Then others are taking off early on Friday to make a three day weekend. Before you know it key decision makers are consistantly out of the loop and major milestones are delayed. So, you dump more work on the “active” members of the project and it slows their work down, or seriously inhibits their quality of work. Either way, it is not pretty. Most managers will tell you to build in a cushion for these types of issues and delays. I say take the summer off.  How about you, any suggestions?

-Warren

Hello,

I’m a project manager for Hewlett-Packard and enjoy my profession.  A power nap doesn’t apply to all, as there’s some people who can’t get to sleep for awhile … maybe to tense or tight … then there are some of us … who work from home … didn’t sleep so well the night prior and sometime during the day are tapped … so I recommend - “The Power Nap” … which for me these days is about 10 - 15 minutes and then I’m good for another 2 hours at least … one can set the alarm on your cell phone {make sure it’s on the standard setting, not vibrate} and enjoy … I find I’m totally refreshed and can really be productive on the next challenge, as opposed to trying to push my way through and aren’t as effective as a moment will provide … and for those working in an office … I guess there’s always the jaunt out to the car for that quiet moment …

I used to drink coffee to muscle through those moments but 15 - 20 cups a day makes me jittery by the end of the day. 

Hope this helps and … may your journey as a PM be an enjoyable one.

God bless.

Cheers,

Bill

 Effort driven scheduling: Calculating project task duration based on assigned resources.

When you assign resources to a project task in Microsoft Project, it recomputes the ‘Duration’ field.  The screenshots below illustrate this.  We’ll begin with plain tasks with no resource assignments.  After creating the tasks, we’ll assign the first resource, and then all the rest.  We’ll show that the ‘Duration’ column is changed when more resources are assigned.

Tasks with no resources assigned

Why does Microsoft Project recalculate the ‘Duration’ field when new resources are assigned?  The ‘Duration’ column indicates the calendar time that will elapse as the task is being completed.  That may be different than the ‘Work’.  If more resources are added, the calendar duration will go down.  That is effort-driven scheduling - based on employee effort.

One resource assigned

A magical thing happens when we assign multiple resources to tasks.  Notice that the ‘Duration’ column is reduced to reflect the extra effort applied to the tasks.  Since the tasks are effort-driven, they require less calendar time to complete.

Effort-driven task scheduling

–ray

Many banks offer overdraft protection for their customer’s checking accounts. It could be for an attached savings account, a small line of credit, or another mechanism designed to cover any over-runs on your checking account. After all, mistakes happen. This is a little insurance policy you may never use, but it is better than paying large overdraft fees.

So, why on earth are we talking about this in a project management blog?

Well, it is simple. Do you have any protection against project budget over-runs?  Any last line of defense?

A main part of a Project Managers’ job is to successfully finish a project on time and under budget. With all of the variables involved, that is a tough proposition! For help with cost over-runs you may consider a tool like Standard Time®. Standard Time contains an automated feature that sends warning e-mails when a task or project is nearing the intended limit. In addition to the warnings, a Project Manager can set a “no pass” limit that will prevent an overrun or an allowance, but only if the Project Manager/Administrator allows it.

Task Warnings in Standard Time®

Nothing is fail safe. However, Standard Time is one tool that identifies impending problems and may be the extra nuance that keeps your projects on track.

–Warren

 Resource Allocation: The assignment of project tasks to employees over a specified time frame.

The chart below (taken from Standard Time®) shows an example of tasks allocated to one employee over three months.  The blue bars are correctly allocated time.  Yellow means there are not enough tasks, and red means there are too many.

So what does ‘correctly allocated time’ mean?  It means that a project manager has lined up project tasks for an employee to work on, but has not given too many or too few.  There are ‘just enough’ for the employee to complete in a given time.  The 63 hour week below is as unworkable as the 10 hour week.  Anything within 10% of a 40-hour week works.

Resource Allocation Chart

–ray