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There’s a lot of talk and excitement generated when a new project is on the horizon. Enthusiasm is at a high and all parties work together, plotting the most effective paths to take and hoping to achieve the conceived successful outcome. That’s what happens in an ideal world, and yes, the vision becomes reality if everything is aligned just right! But it doesn’t always happen, and it’s definitely not the same picture we’ve observed when we’ve been brought in to rescue a project that’s gone awry.

You could well be familiar with the tell-tale signs, and all project managers should know that you simply can’t just pull a rabbit out of your PM hat. Knowing what to do next will be your secret to success. Here’s a presentation which illustrates how to recognise promptly when a project is veering off track and importantly, the steps to take to bring the focus back onto the right outcome for everyone.

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Nothing!… if they are any good. The distinction came about because of frustration by business that project managers delivering projects with IT components were not willing, or able, to understand that the project was supposed to deliver a business benefit and deliver the project to achieve the business need.   But how do you tell?

Ask the PM what they are delivering.  If they say, for example, “getting commercial product to market sooner”, they can deliver a business project (even if the whole project is IT,  such as documentation management system).  If you ask the same question about the same project and the answer is ” implementing a document management system”, you can be pretty certain they aren’t focused on the business and would call themselves an IT PM.

There is ongoing debate about whether there is any such thing as an IT project and I am in the camp of thinking not.  I was told emphatically last week that the NBN is an IT project…… but in my view it’s providing better access to the community.  One person says it is rolling out the biggest infrastructure in Australia’s history and another says they are opening up the world for Australians – I know which one I’d want leading the project.

And that brings me to another point.  From my perspective, the PM is the person responsible for driving and delivering the outcome, rather than just keeping all the forms, reports and plans up to date. That responsibility, in my opinion, is a project admin role.

A couple of years ago I visited NASA and was amazed and delighted that no matter who I spoke to (and there were hundreds of PMs in attendance at an internal conference), every single response, in answer to the question, “what project are you working on?”,  referred to which overall outcome they were on. Truly, not a single person said, for example, that they were increasing the capacity of the ventilation system….. 
Clearly, they were heading for Mars!

Hope it helps,
Diane

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A few years ago, a meticulous research study of 860 Project Managers (whittled down from 5,258 PMs) and 4,398 of their stakeholders was undertaken.  Called ‘The Alpha Study’, and led by Georgia-based Project Manager and author Andy Crowe, one of the aims of this landmark study was to try to define the qualities that made an ‘Alpha’ Project Manager more effective than any other. Crowe published the findings in his book, ‘Alpha Project Managers (what the top 2% know that everyone else doesn’t)’, which challenged many of the assumptions in the profession of project management today.

Essentially, the assumptions of the PMs were tested against those of their stakeholders, and perhaps not surprisingly, it turned out that most of us are making incorrect assumptions about what our stakeholders want and how we should relate to them.  Interesting too was that only 18 (2%) of the study group were identified as Alphas – 6 female and 12 male, a close approximation of the gender split across the whole study group. 

Crowe discovered that Alpha PMs were the ones who consistently delivered projects that met the project goals, managed stakeholder expectation, and kept the customer, the team and the organisation in harmony.  And whilst it might appear obvious that naturally, an elite PM would be achieving results like these, the reality is that most PMs find it simply impossible.

‘Alpha Project Managers’ is interesting, and has attracted discussion from all sides.  But importantly, it encourages you to think about how you manage your own projects. I’ve extracted some quotes for you to read, but if you’d like to read more, it’s available from Amazon in either hard copy or ebook format.

EXTRACTS FROM ‘ALPHA PROJECT MANAGERS – (What The Top 2% Know That Everyone Else Doesn’t)’  by Andy Crowe

“Today, the project management world is awash in solutions ranging from software to maturity models. to methodologies, to training courses. This would be fine if we all agreed upon and understood the problem.”

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Recently, I had the pleasure of attending an excellent presentation at the Sydney Chapter of the Project Management Institute.  Michael Knapp, an IT professional and PM specialist, presented an inspiring paper discussing the difference between management and governance of projects.*

This crystallised my thinking about how we might excel at delivering projects for our customers.  To me, it’s all about focus rather than activity.  Knapp went into much empirical data, research backed and supported information that demonstrated how doing the “right project” will always deliver greater results than doing “projects right”.

As I listened, my mind began to process the impact of Knapp’s research and how we, as project professionals, could do better.  Resource agencies will usually provide project managers to broadly fill a manpower need;  project managers who can complete time sheets and “tick boxes” on project gantt charts.

For many organisations, this is a desired outcome that delivers a pay cheque, some accolades and possibly some expected results, but key benefits of a successful or important strategic imperative are often missed.

You’ve won the battle, but unfortunately lost the war.

Governance rather than management poses key questions that should be considered and answered when scoping project or program resources including:

• What does project success look like?
• Is the project outcome strategically aligned with the company’s vision? and
• Will the business case metrics that originally funded the project actually be met?

Knapp also explored an often ignored aspect of “company maturity”, an interesting take on an organisation’s capability to deal with an experienced, long range perspective on projects and programs.  He ventured that the more mature an organisation is, the better able they are to realise long term goals, aspirations and also display the flexibility and intelligence to deal with project adversity and unforeseen circumstances.

So, are we doing the right projects as well as doing projects right??  Let’s talk some more.

 Author:  Ray Trevisan, Client Services, RNC Global Projects

*  Acknowledgement to Michael Knapp, Presentation “Optimising Project Success: The Missing Piece” – 17 August 2011, PMI Sydney www.pmisydney.org

 Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

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Which one would YOU buy?

 OR …

When considering a PM, clients look to see what we’ve done to improve ourselves over the years and what we’ve done to keep up.  Are we up to date with the latest thinking (even if we think it’s rubbish)?  Have we delivered the same project over and over, or are we fresh in our approach and broadening our thinking and value?  Are we doing what worked years ago and trying to make today fit into yesterday ? Basically, can we deliver in the reality of today’s corporate environment?

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Peter Reefman loves his job – and he loves a challenge. He’s been a Project Manager for over ten years, and says that it’s precisely the satisfaction gained from overcoming challenges that makes being a PM such a great career.

Challenges such as resistance to change… Or being expected to manage a project with no control of finances nor any management of the vendor… Technology issues that could not be adequately addressed by a vendor but being told to use it anyway… Or even trying to deliver an effective solution when the solution had been picked before the requirements had been defined… Do these sound familiar to you?

Meeting such challenges and resolving conflicts have gained Peter many accolades from happy, indeed grateful customers. Part of the key to success is in achieving the right equilibrium between senior management and their vision, and the team members and their efficiencies, and Peter’s experiences in the world of PM have enabled him to shed new light on the often debated ‘Top Down v Bottom Up’ approaches.

Recently, Peter’s article, “Project Management – Top Down or Bottom Up” appeared in AIPM’s Project Manager magazine. In it, Peter presented some thoughts on these approaches to planning from a Project Manager’s perspective, and provided ideas and strategies that have helped create a better balance for all those involved.

Read a plain text PDF version of Peter’s article.

Click here to read the PDF version of the original article as it appeared in ‘Project Manager’  (The article was first published in the December/January 2011 issue of Project Manager, magazine of the AIPM (www.aipm.com.au).

In the meantime, Peter continues to love his job.

And his advice to others?

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Hi,
Sometimes it’s necessary to think about where you, and those around you, sit in relation to being “with” the project. It helps to understand the complex landscape of people and personalities, but it’s not always that easy, so here’s a simple guide which breaks down those complexities into four basic quadrants of “Project People”:

 Who’s Who In and Around Your Project Peoplescape

 Talk soon, D

Change. Yes, it’s time to discuss this frequently used term that can cause grown PMs to run for cover.   I prepared a presentation for a client to use with their management team (and yes, I slipped a couple of slides in there about RNC) to help explain and support the need to do things differently.  Their challenge is that they continue with group training, team building exercises, culture surveys, etc, and yet projects and business, as usual, struggle…  and change is stymied.  

The presentation clarified why the old approach doesn’t work and that you can’t cause change unless the individual feels okay about it.  It was a resounding success and we are now all focussing on the key building block of the organisation – the individual.

  View my CHANGE presentation here.

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Hi, I recently rediscovered this article which I wrote nearly a decade ago, in 2002.  It seems like yesterday, but of course, life and times were very different.  We were on the cusp of a number of major political, financial, technological and environmental shifts.  What were the challenges facing PMs in 2002? And today?  Has the PM environment moved with the times?  Let me know your thoughts too….

92% Of All Corporate Projects Are Successful!

Now that’s what I call good news.  I’ve been thinking about it for some time and have concluded that all the statistics and reports are wrong.  Just look at them.

Last week I learned that PA Consulting’s research indicates that across all industry sectors 35% of revenue is being delivered through projects (we all know that some industries have a much higher percentage than that!).  Now add that to the folklore and renowned statistics of 92% failure rate for corporate projects (for those who care to check I am quoting Gartner and Standish) and it means that only 8% of the 35% is actually being delivered successfully. Or a very small percentage of the total revenue.

This is why it must be a lie.  Can you imagine a circumstance where company directors would allow such a dismal reality to continue?  If 35% of revenue were truly at risk to the tune of 92% there would be significant change. 

Gone would be project hopeagement (where everyone really knows it won’t work but hopes it will).

However, project hopeagement is alive and well, projects continue to cost more than planned, take longer than planned and deliver less than planned (or something else entirely).

Therefore, it is my considered opinion that over budget, over time and reduced outcome are the hallmarks of success rather than failure.

Otherwise it would be different.  Wouldn’t it?

Diane

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Doltone House, located on the Darling Harbour Wharf in Sydney, was the venue for the PMAA’s NSW Chapter Day Forum 2010. The forum focused on the future – the year 2020 to be precise.  

I was delighted to take part, and as one of the afternoon’s key speakers, my presentation was entitled, “Dinosaurs Or Nanotechnology – Which One Will We Be In 2020?”.  Of course the future is naturally difficult to predict, but it was interesting to be given the opportunity to present my thoughts on what direction our industry might be heading in, based on our industry’s track record in general.  

My key topics were:

• Does extinction loom or are we part of the very fabric of the future?
• There is no question that projects are part of the future but what of those of us who ply the trade?
• Will we adapt and thrive or be taken over by better adapted technology and people?

In other words – How we see ourselves, How others see us, Our value, and Our path to criticality of the future.

Below is a summary of some of my main topic points, which you might find thought provoking. 

We Have Confused Our Brand

• And as anyone with a brand or working in the field of brand management will tell you confusing your brand is bad.
• We think and say we are one thing, people who pay for us think and say we are something else
• Accepted reality is that what we say, and what we do are not aligned.

 We are perceived as not adding real value

• We have taken ourselves off the critical path to success
• We are often seen in the same category as accounts (not finance), procurement, HR
• Interesting and required but not on the front line
• Projects are the very definition of front line – we are doing things that make a difference to tomorrow in organisations.
• We have allowed a significant disconnect between what we do and are proud of and what the people who pay for our services want.
• And trust me, another round of telling people how good and important we are will not work – we have to demonstrate it.

Nature abhors a vacuum

• In the vacuum we left, sponsors and business owners have taken up the space.  (increasingly full time)
• While we are focussing on structure, models, tools, artefacts and methods – they are owning delivery, they are doing our jobs.
• Organisations haven’t seen the benefits and have replaced us – we just didn’t notice
• Sponsors and business owners are now doing the work that used to be our domain  – and we are doing more admin.
• But there is an opportunity arising – some researchers have concluded that only 16% of what we now call projects actually fit the definition of being unique – the rest could be undertaken by changes in BAU.

So we have a choice

• Continue on the path and proudly own our passive reporting, planning and scheduling space – with the inevitable slide in perceived value and amounts people are willing to pay for our services  – mention conference a few years ago – $60K PA
• Or take stock and own the active elements of delivery
• Or a hybrid.

If we want passive

• We don’t have to do anything
• We can settle back and there will be work – lower level work, we won’t be in steering committees, our salaries will be lower (its ok but we won’t be part of the front line team – we’ll be the support crew)
• There will always be a role, just not one I want.

If we want active

• We need to distinguish projects not US.
• Major, minor, etc  (what we call ourselves does not matter now)
• We each need to decide what types of projects WE do.  Not every one of us can deliver every size of project.
• We need to get other people to do our paperwork – it isn’t going away but surgeons aren’t counting the instruments and sterilizing the rooms while they are conducting surgery.
• We need to study what is working  – report it and replicate it
• Stop doing paper based health checks – success isn’t an accident!! Look for what went right!
• Spread the stories of success….speak highly of each other!
• Seek and recruit heavy duty PMs. The people who can deliver the hardest, gnarliest projects regardless of domain – they probably won’t have accreditation until we come up with something meaningful (meaning can be relied on for a base line of capability)
•  And most importantly?    FOCUS ON OUTCOMES!!

For more information about the AIPM’s chapter events check out their website: www.aipm.com.au