Project Team Blog

Free Slack: The amount of time that can be spared in a task before it begins to affect other tasks.

Some tasks don’t really need to be completed by the time you’ve set for them.  In other words, there’s a little slack available before they need to be finished.  That’s Free Slack.

Microsoft Project calculates free slack in tasks when they are linked to other tasks.  If a task is not linked to another, the free slack is the amount of time from the finish date until the end of the project.  Here’s a quote from MSP:

The Free Slack field contains the amount of time that a task can be delayed without delaying any successor (successor: A task that cannot start or finish until another task starts or finishes.) tasks. If the task has no successors, free slack is the amount of time that a task can be delayed without delaying the entire project’s finish date.

So, how is this valuable to you?  This only applies when a successor task is not linked directly to its predicessor.  In other words, there is some slack time between them, even though they are technically linked.  This can be valuable to offer some spare time for the resource to finish the task, or to do other things.

–ray

eWeek published a little piece in the Application Development department regarding Web 2.0 collaboration.  (See a link to the article by Darryl H. Taft below.)  The upshot is that developers have been using Web 2.0 collaboration for years.  It’s the rest of the world that’s just catching up.  How about you?  What Web 2.0 technologies do you use?

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Developer-20-GungHo-or-Ho-Hum/

I use the following resources pretty regularly.

1. codeproject.com
2. codeguru.com
3. msdn.microsoft.com
4. projectteamblog.com
5. projectteamwisdom.com

Honestly, I’m not a big web surfer.  I don’t spend a lot of time subscribing to RRS feeds and plugging into the forums - with the exception of projecteamblog.  I don’t even have special ringtones.  Web 2.0 is not that exciting to me.  I’m not much of a social networker.

Tell me why I’m wrong!  What am I missing that could help in the areas of project management, application development, and team management.  technorati.com says there’s 11 million blogs out there, plus or minus 500 million that come and go every month.  I must be missing something!  I’d like to hear your comments…

–newshirt

This post discusses how to use Microsoft Project resource pools.  First, let me say that you are going to find this a little kludgey.  Standard Time® has a better solution for resource pools, so you might find it a bit easier to assign users to project tasks.  But, this will discuss resource pools in MS Project.

What is a resource pool?  It is just a common set of employees or resources that will be used to assign to project tasks.  Standard Time® has all resources and projects available in one database, so the “pool” is always available.  Microsoft Project uses the technique below to meet this requirement.

To create a resource pool:

1. Create a new Microsoft Project MPP file
2. Choose View, Resource Sheet
3. Enter the names of resources you will assign to tasks in your projects
4. Save the file with a catchy name like RezPool.mpp
5. Consider creating resource pools for each workgroup in your company
6. Keep the file open for use in the next step

To associate the resource pool with your project:

1. Create a new MPP file (a new project)
2. While in the new project, choose Tools, Resource Sharing, Share Resources
3. Choose the “Use Resources” option
4. Choose RezPool.mpp from the dropdown list
5. Click OK
6. Save the new project file

To use the resource pool in task assignments:

1. Make sure both your project file and resource file are open in Microsoft Project
2. Click in the Resources column next to a task
3. You should see the list of resources from the pool
4. Choose one

This technique should allow you to share a common set of resources, which you will frequently assign to task.  As we said earlier, you should consider creating multiple resource pools representing each workgroup in your company.  But, consider using Standard Time®, where resources are always available for all projects.

–ray

What percentage of your organizational time is spent on business-driven projects?  In other words, how much time is spent working for customers?

Even a one-man operation must worry about this number - this percentage of customer-driven time.  Every organization has projects they do for customers, and projects for in-house development.  The balance between them is what I’m talking about.  Do you know your percentage?  Do you track your project time?

I’d like to think that 90-95% should be customer-related.  Any lower, and you’re probably spending too much time fiddling with non-marketable work.

I once worked for a company that wrote all their own software development tools.  At the time, Microsoft was selling full-featured compilers for $300.  Yet this company wrote all their own.  In their case, I would guess their customer-drive project time was less than 80%.  That’s too much time fooling around with internal tools.

A company with that much time on their hands won’t do well.  What say you?

–ray

I know a person (who will remain unnamed) who uses a little trick to work on projects.  When starting a new job, she does just a little bit the day before.  When she comes in the next day to begin the project, she’s happy to see that there’s some done already!  And then, she can continue where she left off.

Nobody likes to start a new project with a blank page.  Yuck, where do I begin?  That small hurdle is sometimes enough to make you procrastinate a whole other day.  Yes, I do it too!  I have hundreds of small projects I’m responsible for, and sometimes I can’t bring myself to start another one.  To avoid a new one, I’ll putter around on secondary tasks, avoiding the real work.  But, if my project is already started, I have no trouble picking up where I left off.  It’s the starting that bugs me.

I think I’ll try this little trick next time!

– newshirt

Six Sigma: A project management methodology used to ensure quality and lowest possible costs.

The more I look into Six Sigma, the more I like it.  Like all project management methodologies, it does have some heavy-handed aspects.  But, the basic philosophy is sound.

Here’s a link and a quote from Microsoft’s web site (article by John Knutsen):

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/HA011233361033.aspx

The “hidden office” (from Microsoft’s web site)
The difference between 99.99966% efficiency (Six Sigma) and 99% efficiency can be thought of as the “hidden office.” The hidden office represents all activity that results in defects (not meeting customer expectations) or not doing things right at the first attempt. Customers don’t pay for the hidden office.

For example, say a company bills 8 million customers on a monthly basis. If the process were performing at a 99% success rate, 80,000 customers would be incorrectly billed each month. The hidden office represents the costs and resources required to find and fix incorrect billings, and to address customer dissatisfaction.

The basic philosophy of Six Sigma is that poor quality costs your company money.  Doing things wrong the first time costs money.  The best way to lower costs is to reduce defects.  In other words, do things right the first time.  That’s the driving force behind Six Sigma.

–ray

The trouble with tracking project time is that most people don’t know how quickly it passes.  Unless you are a geek who studies where project time is spent, you probably have little idea how quickly it rushes by.

Does that sound a little absurd to you?  After all, everyone from the day they are born, is conscious of time.  We live under its shadow every day.  So of course we all know how long things take to complete, right?

No… we don’t…  It’s like we’re willingly ignorant.  Nobody really wants to know how long a finished project will take.  I suppose this stems from impatience and aversion to hard work.  But there’s also a feeling that “the future” is infinite.  We really can’t see past the next few weeks, and a month (in project terms) is an eternity.

I always laugh when people say, “we’ll have that finished by [September].”  Supply your own month.  They don’t really have a clue, and don’t care either.  September is so far off, they can’t imagine it taking any longer.  The decision is purely emotional.  They can’t imagine is the key element in this scenario.  It’s not based on experience or logic, but rather the feeling that “future time” is next to infinite.  In other words, September will never come.

I’d like to know how you plan your projects…  Feeling or past experience?  Drop me a comment…

–ray

This post discusses how to assign percentages to resource assignments.  Or in English, how to set how much each resource will work on a task.  By default, people in Microsoft Project are set to work 100% of their time on tasks.  But we know that’s not always practical.  People multitask their work, and may work on four tasks at once.  This post discuses how to multitask in MS Project.

Follow these steps to set assignment units in MS Project:

1. Create a new task in MS Project
2. Right-click before the “Start” column an choose Insert Column
3. Insert the Work Column
4. You should now have the Duration and Work columns next to each other
5. Enter 16 hours into both Duration and Work
6. Enter your Name into the Resource column

At this point, you should have a single 16-hour task that is assigned to you.  By default, it is assumed that you will work 100% of your time on this task.  But as we stated earlier, we wish to work on multiple tasks, spreading our time across them.  The steps below will do that.

1. Right-click on your task
2. Choose Task Information
3. The Task Information dialog is displayed
4. Click the Resources tab
5. You should see your name and 100% at the right
6. Enter 50% into the Units column and press OK
7. Notice that the text [50%] has been added next to your name in the resource column
8. Also notice that the duration column changed to 32 hours
9. The finish date has also been extended to accommodate the extra time

 These steps demonstrate that the Duration column is affected by the assignment units.  Duration = Work * Units.  In other words, if you are only working half the time on a task, it will take you twice as long.  The following steps show what happens when another resource is added to the task.

1. Right-click on your task and choose Task Information again
2. Click the Resources tab
3. Add another resource under your name
4. Set the units for this new resource to 50% also
5. Click OK
6. Notice that the Duration went back to 16 hours because you have help
7. Notice that the Finish date also went back to two days

We just learned that adding a new resource to a task can help it get done quicker.  Each person is working only half their time, but there are two of you, so the task is finished sooner.  You can use this technique to spread yourself around to many tasks.  But beware, this can become a little difficult to manage.

–ray

OK, here it is springtime and my wife is pleading for a deck in the backyard.  So I’m thinking, why not?  We’ll have lots of barbecues, birthday party’s and plenty of friends and family to enjoy the summer with.  That got me a little interested, if not a bit eager!

Ah, the manly endeavor of building a deck!  Then reality hit.  This is a project, it takes planning and it takes work.  This is almost like being in the office!!  I mean, where do I start?

I know, I’ll check out the different types of material, bad idea.  Now I have to decide between a litany of composite materials which are more expensive, and regular lumber that is less costly but harder to maintain!  Oh, it gets better.

I have a deck designer program.  I spent a few hours one evening creating the perfect deck.  Only to find out it was exactly what my wife had in mind.  Back to the drawing board with her vision and ideas, a few hours later…bam!  The deck of her dreams right there in full color.  But now I’m back to the office part of the whole deal.  I need to look into permits, draw up the plans, get a cut list, choose the material and most important of all….STAY UNDER BUDGET.

If over 50% of project plans get blown over budget in the world of project experts…what chance does a novice deck builder have?  This is only the beginning, but at least there are only two people having to buy into the final design.  At the very least we should be able to overcome indecision.  I think I have a fighting chance.  How about you?

–Warren

There is one trait of poor management that really irritates me.  Indecision.  I like a fast moving organization that makes decisions.  A long time ago, I read that AOL was like that.  Their managers made snap decisions and deals without any deliberation.  Too fast for the tastes of some.  Of course AOL/Time Warner didn’t turn out so well…

But lots of the companies I work with are paralyzed with indecision.  Here’s the kind of management I deal with all the time.

No… we couldn’t add the new Whiz Bang feature to the product because we needed Dan’s approval.  He was out on vacation until the end of the month, and had 10,000 spams to deal with when he returned.  Of course, we also needed Pam, Jim, and Joe’s input, but we couldn’t get them all scheduled for a meeting at the same time.  Joe was busy with Mary’s project, Pam needed to review the specs again, and I don’t think Jim likes me.  I’m not sure what the status is now…

Is it any wonder things don’t get done?  I don’t see any negative consequenses to indecision.  “Oh, you didn’t get the project done?  Oh, that’s okay…”  With a tightening economy, this don’t work.

My advice: if you are the manager of a project team, give your people the lattitude to make quick decisions - for good or for bad.  The cost of indecision is higher than the cost of mistakes - IMHO.

–ray

I really wish I’d thought of this one…  :)  (See the link below for PMI’s PM Network Magazine.)  Two project management auditors gang up on Wyatt Earp, demanding to know why he’s failed so miserably at the O.K. Corral.  They examine his project management methods and results, siting all kinds of iregularities.  Poor Earp has failed miserably in his famous gun battle, and he doesn’t even know why.

 Article by Michael Hatfield:

http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/This-Month-in-PM-Network.aspx

The point Hatfield is making is this: sometimes you just have to go out with guns blazing.  Some projects just need to get done, regardless of what the experts say.  I’ve done enough all-nighter’s, 24-hour weekends, and three-day coding summits to know what he is saying.  The big showdown is sometimes what it takes to get the job done, and honestly, you feel like a gunfighter when the dust finally settles!

So, the next time your manager asks how you finished your project so quickly, tell him you went “Wyatt Earp” on it!

–ray

What is a project stakeholder?  Any person who has something to lose if the project fails.

This normally includes higher-level people in the organization.  People who would personally fail if the project fails.  This can include customers, shareholders, executives, vice presidents, and even high-level managers.

A complete or partial project failure would cost these individuals something.  It may cost them money, time, or position.

Every project has stakeholders, even small ones.  It is important to identify these people.  Who stands to lose something if the project goes over budget, is late, or is never completed?  Those people will natually want to control the effort, and have the right to do so.  They hold the purse strings, and they go down with the project.

Does that mean a project stakeholder controls every aspect?  No.  They must trust those who execute it.  In other words, there will be engineers, technicians, and other creative people who actually do the work.  Much of the ground-level control is in their hands.  They report to the project stakeholders who direct their overall efforts.

–ray

This post will help you understand the Resource Graph in Microsoft Project.  The Resource Graph shows a graphical view of when your employees are scheduled to work.  You should also take a look at the Resource Allocation window in Standard Time.  It has additional options to help view scheduled employee hours.

Steps to use the Resource Graph:

1. Create a new task in a blank Microsoft Project file
2. Enter 4 hours into the duration column and assign the task to your name
3. Choose View, Resource Graph
4. Right-click in the graph, and choose Work from the menu
5. Notice the blue bar representing the hours you entered (it stops at the “4h” line)
6. Choose View, Gantt Chart to go back to the task view
7. Create a second task, enter 5 hours, and assign it to you
8. Choose View, Resource Graph to see the effect
9. Notice that the blue bar has a red bar on top (this is the over allocated portion)

The previous steps demonstrate two simple principles: a graphical representation shows when employees are scheduled to work, and over-allocated hours are shown in red.  Standard Time takes this a step farther and shows under-allocated time in yellow.

Steps to add another resource:

1. Choose View, Gantt Chart to see your tasks
2. Add another task, enter some hours, and assign it to another resource
3. Choose View, Resource Graph to return to the bar graph
4. Right-click in the legend, and choose Next Resource
5. Notice that the bar chart changes to show the hours for your second employee

Standard Time allows you to see groups of employees stacked on top of each other.  This lets you see allocated hours for the entire workgroup.

Steps to change working hours for a resource:

1. Right-click on the legend, and choose Resource Information
2. Click the Working Time tab
3. Click in the calendar to select a day
4. Drag the mouse to select multiple days
5. Change the working hours at the right side (you are overriding the defaults)
6. Click OK to return to the Resource Graph
7. Notice that the bars change to reflect your new working hours

Normally, you’ll leave the working hours at 40, and change the start dates of tasks to reschedule them.

We hope this has helped.  Feel free to post comments on additional usage techniques!

–ray

Yeah, I said it. Cut T.O. (Terrell Owens) from the Cowboys; give a pink slip to one of the best receivers ever. This guy argues with coaches, yells at his quarterback, and then complains to anyone who will listen. He acts like a punk. Imagine dealing with that on your project team! We’ve all been there, because project team dynamics are not much different. All it takes is one bad apple to bring the whole process down.

We look for individuals at the top of their game to help us win. The dichotomy is that sometimes these “all stars” bring a lot of baggage and pull teams down instead of taking them to the next level. Much of the time, people are misunderstood and their frustration builds, causing true problems. Remember the old adage, “perception becomes reality when left unchecked”?

What to do…the first thing I recommend is patience and a little communication. We aren’t babysitters, but we are dealing with people, not robots. A little attention goes a long way. The new coach of the Cowboys, Wade Phillips, is known as a “players” coach.  He takes time to learn about them individually and does not ride them too hard.  I thought Wade was soft and T.O. would run him over. Guess I was wrong. With Wade Phillips as coach, T.O. had one of his best years ever. The Cowboys started winning and have a team capable of going all the way. T.O. toned down his complaining and even won some praise from his teammates. Is it because Wade Phillips handled him like a China doll?  Who knows? I bet if they win a Super bowl no one will care!

As you can tell, I don’t like T.O. But right now my team, the Denver Broncos, could sure use his help!

–Warren

If you’ve ever read a project management book, you’ve run across the statistic that 50 - 70% of all projects are over budget.  Seen that, right?

What’s up with that?  More times than not, I would guess that is a tactic to hook you into something.  Maybe, it’s to buy a book.  Or, a take a webinar, or buy consulting services.  Look closely at the context the next time you see that.  I will too.  Now I’ve gotten myself curious. 

But I wonder how they know.  First off, only organizations that track their projects (time tracking, resource tracking, etc) know if they are over budget.  And most people don’t do that.  Instead, they fly by the seat of their pants, relying on hunches.

Secondly, so what?  When your project is finished, you’ve probably happy about that, and don’t care to look back - unless you’ve taken a real black eye.  It’s usually the fit-and-finish that takes three times longer than anticipated, but you’re always proud of the final product.  So why worry about a little extra moolah.

How’s your project coming?  Is it over budget yet?

–ray

How long does it take you to launch a new product? Doesn’t it always seem to take 2-3 times longer than anticipated? I’ve been involved in the launch of over fifty new products, and it’s always the same routine.

We have a great idea, which seems so simple. If we take our existing product and just tweak it a little here and there, we can introduce something new. Simple enough, right? Wrong.

Products take an incredible amount of time to mature. A few tweeks suddenly turns into a handful, and then more. Current products need attention, drawing your resources away from the new one. Excitement wains when people realize the instant payoff won’t be there. This is turning into work… We never expected this!

I’d like to hear your project team experiences with new products, and new revisions. How smooth is it for you?

–ray

Have you heard of the “Optimizing Organizational Performance” webinar PMI is hosting?  It’s free, and the blurb looks good.  I’ve already registered.  Here’s the link below.

 http://www.amanet.org/events/optimizing-organizational-performance/

Here’s why you should attend:

AstroWix quote: Each year, an estimated $10 trillion is spent on projects around the world and almost 50% of them fail.

I’d like to hear your opinions, after the webinar.  What did you learn?  Was it over your head?  Beneath you?  Feel free to submit your comments here - that is, if you remember this blog posting after April 30th.

I personally don’t like heavyhanded project methodologies.  Anything heavier than a project plan, timesheet, and regular meetings bothers me.  I understand the need for process overhead, but sometimes people get carried away.  Of course, the simple approach assumes a top-down buy-in from upper management, something I always have.  Other organizations don’t have it so good.  So, let’s see how this PMI webinar works!

–ray

When I develop products, I like them foundational.  In other words, simple.  Every release of our products is simple.  They are almost never a week away from release.  That affords a few good luxuries.

First, the products are (almost) alway stable.  There are never any huge releases that introduce a dozen bugs into the system.  Every release has at least a few small bug fixes and polish.  We keep up on that, along with adding new functionality.

Second, we’re nimble.  If a customer asks for a new feature, it’s less than a week from delivery.  Customers love that, I can assure you.

Lastly, project management is simpler.  There are no huge project plans to deal with.  Just small to-do lists we can check off rapidly.  Does it always work?  Yes.  Well, maybe not always…  Okay, about half the time.  But that’s better than deep-dives and unstable products.  Wouldn’t you say?

–newshirt

Have you seen the FedEx commercial with the half-pipe?  It’s halarious! As employees crash all over the place, the big boss discusses how much time FedEx is saving them, but then asks, “So why aren’t we getting more done”. One of the managers says, “Maybe we should get rid of the half pipe?” The boss ponders for a moment and says, “No, the half pipe stays.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5qwxqm683c

This kind of environment exploded during the tech boom. The feeling was that all of the dot com’s were going to make millions and competition was not a problem.  In order to recruit young talent, companies offered more than the standard benefits, i.e. health insurance, company car, etc. They offered a work environment that became a place where individualism rules. This is where today’s job market and yesterday’s collide.

When my father entered the work place I can picture an old-timer standing at the front of the office cracking a whip. Nobody likes that. Today we have moved to the opposite extreme. We get free massages and our choice of gourmet coffee. There are ping pong and foosball tables and the most distracting item of all…the internet! It’s easy to spend hours on the web planning vacations, reading articles and checking out American Idol results.

In my opinion Ramiele can sing. I think she was robbed. They should’ve sent Kristy Lee Cook home!  But that just makes my point. I am guilty like the rest. I could be more focused, after all what’s more important: the survival of my job, or playing on a half-pipe? But secretly… I hope Carly Smithson wins. What do you think?

–Warren

Do you use project planning software like Microsoft Project to develop project plans?  How’s that working for you?  I have a problem with it, and I’d like to find an elegant solution.

What’s the problem?  Well, building project plans is no trouble.  I can lay down the phases and breakdowns, add tasks, and assign them to employees just fine.  That’s the easy part.  I can even track time to tasks.  The problem I have is managing them later.

Let’s face it, project plans go obsolete the first week you create them.  Something’s bound to change, and managing all those changes is hard.  Yes, I know that’s what the PMO office does.  But keeping project schedules current rubs me like a cheese grater.  It’s an unnecessary overhead, and almost never gets done right.  Tasks move, change scope, go away, get added, etc, etc, etc.  You know what a headache it is…

Anybody have a better way?

–ray

There’s almost nothing good you can say about a plant closing.  Especially with potentially 9,000 people losing their jobs.  (See: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Dell-Closing-Austin-PC-Plant-in-Cost-Cutting-Drive/ )

The PC vendor announced March 31 that it would begin cutting costs and improving its efficiency in the second half of 2009 fiscal year. Besides announcing the closing of the Austin plant, Dell reaffirmed that it plans to eliminate nearly 9,000 positions as part of the cost cutting.

 The only thing I’d like to say is, “fight for it!”  I remember working for a huge company, where the average workday (in our engineering department) was five hours.  Of course, this was a 8-hour shift, but nobody worked it.  We got our coffee in the morning, caught up on the previous night’s adventures, and then did a little work before lunch.  After lunch, a little more work, and then water cooler discussions of the evening’s plans.

Needless to say, that company cut 40,000 jobs in the late 80’s.  I don’t remember ever fighting for the company’s survival, or even for competitive positioning.  The culture simply wasn’t there.

I’m sure this is not the case with Dell.  They are highly competitive.  Sometimes things like this are out of our control.  But let’s fight for our positions anyway!

–ray

Thank you for visiting projectteamblog.com!  This is our inaugural post, and we’re happy you’ve joined us.

This blog is dedicated to project teams.  We work with teams every day, developing project management products for them, and supporting them.  We work with executives, project managers, engineers, and all types of employees.

Our specialties are project plans, managing resources, and tracking projects.  Companies use projects to bill clients, develop products, build in-house tools, service customers, implement software, and plenty of other reasons.  Sometimes project costs are most important, sometimes completion time, and sometimes employee allocation.  Everyone uses projects for different reasons.  We recognize that, and will try to address our readers interests.  Please feel free to suggest topics you are interested in.

We know you’re busy, so we’ll try to keep our posts brief.  Feel free to drop by any time.  And good luck in your business!

–ray