RNC Global Projects

WHY PROJECT MANAGEMENT ISN’T EASY ANYMORE

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I remember when project management was easy! Not easy to deliver the project – that has always been hard work, and will continue to be so – it was easy because the project was all you had to focus on. The project manager had inputs, deliverables, some time and a set of resources. Project management was about managing those elements to produce the desired result, or finding a solution if those resources were insufficient.

In short, in the old days we had:

•   Control over the resources on our projects
•   Projects that were locked-down early in the planning in order to facilitate clear deliverables
•   Projects that had the standing within the organisation to command resource allocation
•   Project sponsors with the power and the will to clear the path for the project
•   A clear organisational desire for the project to proceed

This model worked throughout the 1980s and 1990s and even into the early 2000s. Projects were envisaged, planned, resourced and operated outside business-as-usual activities. They were temporary organisations within the business and had clear, unambiguous interfaces with the rest of the organisation. Resources would be allocated to our projects and return back into the organisation when the project was completed.

As the projects neared completion a buzz would develop, delivery dates were anticipated, training began and the “new” thing would be introduced to the organisation and become the new business-as-usual.

Project management tools, processes and procedures – the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) as the Project Management Institute (PMI) calls it – developed against this background. From there, the PMI accreditation system evolved to demonstrate a candidate’s ability to operate in that sort of environment. Candidates would document inputs and outputs and record their hours operating an appropriate process to convert those inputs into outputs.

But times have changed.

During the last decade there has been a shift in the organisations we work for. I suspect this comes from the pressure on organisations to be leaner and to account more for every cent spent, meaning that there are no longer resources available to pull onto projects without impacting elsewhere. It also reflects the pace of technological change which requires the organisations to make more changes than ever before, and faster. This means that there are more projects running. They often have a wider scope than before – touching more of the organisation – and are not as clearly defined as they used to be, either because of fast-tracking (designing the deliverables as the project progresses) or ignorance about the technology making it difficult to properly scope the project because the project’s first deliverable is an understanding of the technology. The result is that organisations try to concurrently use the same resources to deliver business as usual and projects. People very often are working on two or more things at the same time.

So now, the people who used to be available to work on projects are already deployed. They have day jobs. And projects no longer stand-alone, but are tasks that must be achieved alongside business-as-usual and using the same resources.

Now, project managers:

• Do not have control over the resources for the project
• Need to negotiate for resources when they are required
• Must be able to estimate project time based on partial involvement of resources
• Understand that their resources are working on a number of different tasks at the same time
• Must manage a project knowing that it has the same, or lower, standing than other business activities
• Must work to a scope that is likely to change through the life of the project
• Are still expected to deliver clear, unambiguous certainty about outcomes and delivery
• Cannot rely on sponsors as they may not be empowered, may be ambivalent about their role and may have external reasons for wanting the project to under-perform – leading to them not fighting for the project manager

This means that the project manager has evolved from someone who manages a simple equation of inputs, deliverables, resources and time to an entrepreneurial politician who must negotiate with the organisation about each element of that equation.

This has been acknowledged by the PMBOK, which now includes a tenth area of knowledge called stakeholder management. I have also acknowledged it in my own practice by choosing to only work with project managers who have a very flexible approach to the tracking, recording and ordering role (scheduling, tracking, reporting, etc) and who are also skilled at the campaign side of project management – influencing across all levels of the organisation to get people to willingly, and at the right time, do what the project requires to move it towards success.

Unfortunately very few project managers are highly skilled at the campaign side of project management. This is due to a selection bias, in the past, favouring project managers who were good at tracking, recording and ordering; and training that has not yet evolved to teach the campaign side of project management.

I have some ideas about this which I will outline in my next post. Until then, please comment on what you have observed, or what you think the solution may be.

Projects and programs: we don’t mess around, we just make them happen.

2013 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF GLOBAL MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Hi,
I’ve been attending the 2013 International Conference of the AGMS at the University of California in Berkeley. Some really interesting ‘stuff’… And some really interesting people!  There was no shortage of Deans from business schools around the world - an impressive bunch from schools across the US, Europe and Asia, although I did notice that an Oz contingent was missing.

My presentation, “The Future of Project Management Education” was well received by the enthusiastic audience, with lots of follow-up questions and great feedback - always a good sign!… and it’s available below for you to view.

I’ll post an update on the conference soon.  In the meantime, please enjoy the presentation…

Regards,

Diane

Some people want it happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

POWER… INFLUENCE… GAUTREY

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‘Power’ and ‘Influence’ are two words you will constantly hear if you are seeking to find the path to successful corporate leadership. They’re not lightweight terms, as the timeline of human history has shown. So, learning how to properly use power and influence is most likely to be one of the keys to finding the right path to success.
I’ve been interested to read about the world recognised Colin Gautrey and The Gautrey Group via their website. With a huge portfolio and wide reaching expertise they aim to provide the appropriate skills and training to people in all levels of the corporate workplace to help them achieve optimum, yet balanced levels of influence and, hopefully, genuine success in their chosen field. And that’s an achievement nearly all of us in the corporate arena, at some point, has found to be a challenge, perhaps especially in recent times.

Click here to browse The Gautrey Group’s website…

Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

LEARN FROM YOUR FEEDBACK

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I love it when people send in feedback and yes, I am reading it all. The feedback I received below came from a client who was commenting on their PMO (not an RNC PMO).
Some of the things they observe and find frustrating:

• Making procedures which form a sort of unimaginative straight jacket within which tasks must be performed
• Interfering with the process instead of just looking at the results
• Thinking that only the way in which they want it done is the right way
• Not trusting that it will work out all right.  If they can’t leave the PM to do the job then either the PM or the PMO should go.

You may or (hopefully) may not recognise some of these characteristics. At any rate, this type of feedback serve as a handy wake up call… perhaps it should encourage all of us to remember to look constantly for better ways to work with our clients. What are your thoughts?

Enjoy your day, Diane

Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

98% OF OUR CLIENTS GET A CAREER LIFT

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Hi,
Of all the projects and programs we have delivered (and remediated), 98% of the people we worked for ended up with a promotion, or bigger job.

How do I know this? We’ve kept very good records of our clients and kept in touch so we know where they’ve gone and when. In looking over the past 13 (and a bit) years we can track the effect of successful projects and programs.

Perhaps even more interesting is that for the people originally responsible for delivering a project we later remediated over 80% have gone backwards. Ouch.

And even more interesting again, people responsible for two projects/programs needing remediation are no longer in roles (or employment) where they are in charge of projects and programs (in other words they’ve gone to the wilderness).
Just thought I’d share this information – makes me feel good to realise that we are career boosters!

Enjoy your day, Diane

Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

RNC AT FICAP’S WHO WANTS TO BE A ROCKSTAR

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We had such a good time at this year’s FICAP “Who Wants to Be A Rockstar”. The positive support from the audience to the Rockstar wannabes on stage ensured the night was a great success, with much needed funds raised for youth charities.

You can check out the recently released video (including sponsor interviews and rockstar clips) and photos from the night at http://www.fsitv.com/pages/sub_program/151

We thought we’d share some photos from our own RNC photo gallery with you as well. And thanks once again to everyone who came to lend their support…

Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

“WHO WANTS TO BE A ROCKSTAR”… THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

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There’s just over a week to go to FICAP’s 2012 charity event, “Who Wants To Be A RockStar”. This year, RNC is proud to be a platinum sponsor and we’d love to see you there! Financial services professionals by day take to the stage to become Rockstar wannabes for the night for this unique industry event. It’s going to be a fantastic night, but more importantly, everyone on stage and off will be helping to raise funds for two worthwhile organisations – YWCA NSW and Open Family Australia.

So don’t forget…
Wednesday March 21st, from 6pm, at The Metro Theatre, 624 George Street, Sydney

And we’ll see you there!

Click here to read more about “Who Wants To Be A RockStar” in Rachel Davis’s article.
And go to the FICAP website to read all about their incredible work in raising funds for charities that benefit young people - www.ficap.com.au/ or click here.

WHAT CLIENTS LIKE

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One of the most rewarding aspects of running a business is knowing that your clients are satisfied with your services, comfortable to be entrusting you with their projects and programs. In other words, they like you!  I was truly gratified recently when three RNC clients acknowledged their appreciation in words… and pictures.  

One client re-worked the RNC logo to express their sentiments:

Another told us that “hiring RNC was the best thing we did last year”.  
And that’s not all… yet another said that their RNC PM “is the best in the organisation”.

I gathered all this positive feedback together in my mind to figure out where the points of difference were. That is, the difference between a PM… and our RNC PMs.  Well I’ve now distilled it into a few common denominators:

Clients like the RNC person because they:

• Get the job done
• Are a low emotional overhead i.e. not precious, not needy and don’t play negative politics
• Just get on and do the job
• Focus on the job requested, not the job they want to do or think the business should want
• Are friendly and accommodating (no sharp edges)
• Know what they are doing and other people respect them
• Have a way of getting people to do what they want without being too pushy
• Seem to have an ability to read the organisation and work within and across it to get the job done;
• Don’t seem like a contractor, and they have our best interests at heart.

Knowing this certainly helps to make every day worthwhile.

By the way, conversely, I wanted to find out what is was that non-RNC PMs were doing that brought about negative feedback.

I received some interesting comments too… so stay tuned. Enjoy your day, and thank you!

Diane

 Portfolios Programs Projects – simply making them happen

MANAGING STAKEHOLDERS USING THE RACI MODEL

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The following guide to using the RACI model was prepared by John Elsworth, a project manager with many years experience delivering in Finance and Banking, Biomedical and transport industries.   It took RNC 5 years to convince him to join us and we are very glad that he has worked with us now for 5 years….  

Managing stakeholders is vital to the success of a project and one of the most challenging aspects of project management.  Have you ever been looking for a single project tool that would help with stakeholder management; the communications plan; developing peoples’ roles and responsibilities; and, creating project delegation authorities?

The RACI model can be a valuable input to these elements of planning particularly in the early stage of the project when you are writing your initial version of the PMP.  This stage of a project can be very confusing when you are juggling so many stakeholders & project members. In our line of work as contract PMs we are typically just getting to know everyone too.

Of course, like all elements of planning, the RACI should be an interactive process and updated as appropriate to the project needs.

People who participate in creating/updating the RACI model enjoy it as they get a lot out of it and it can be fun & thought-provoking.

The RACI is an effective communications tool because stakeholders and team members find it intuitive and easy to digest.

So, how does a RACI work? read more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RNC!

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Good morning,
13 years ago today I got dressed and headed in to work to talk to my boss about coming back after a period of sick leave. You’ve probably heard me talk about the two meetings that took place that day. I walked away, came home and started RNC.

13 years. Wow, it seems both so recent and so long ago. read more