How to Publish Project Manager’s Daily Newspaper?

Have you dreamed about publishing your own newspaper? Here is quick way to publish one.

Some days ago I got a link on twitter to an online newspaper about social media content.  I was impressed and thought its lot of work put in by the author to compile so many sources and presenting in an attractive layout.

Last week I tried it and published my own daily e-paper for project managers.  Click here to see what I came up with http://paper.li/kulveervirk/projectgurus 

Isn’t it impressive?  This is quite easy to produce and took less than 2 minutes, thanks to www.paper.li for this services.

Most of us use either Twitter or Facebook (or both in many cases). This tool organizes links shared on Twitter into an easy to read newspaper-style format. Newspapers can be created for any Twitter user, list or #tag  to read and share. It assumes that you have account setup on either of the service.

This service can be used with Twitter or Facebook, since I use Twitter, I utilized my Twitter lists. All I did was setup an account, entered values to read stream of my Twitter account’s list that has many project management resources subscribed.

Step by Step:

1. Go to www.paper.li and sign in using your Twitter account.
2. Click on ‘create a newspaper’ link
3. Click on ‘create a custom newspaper’ button
4. Enter Title for your newspaper
5. Select the people on Twitter that can contribute to the paper, I used Twitter List @projectgurus that I have created. I also use #PMOT (hash-tag).
6. Click on ‘Publish Paper’ to complete and that’s it.
7. You can automate it to be sent each day on a set time.

How does it make your life easier as a project manager? 
This tool scan the Twitter list/hash-tag or user list each day based on your preferences and gives you a readable format newspaper – most relevant. 
Does it replace the following of your twitter feeds?
No, it provides selected content and mainly where links are embedded in tweets to the other websites.

If you need to find out more about it – here is link to FAQs (http://paper.li/faq.html)

Quotes for Project Managers

1. Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. – Aesop
2. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there is 90% probability you will get it wrong. – Andy Rooney
3. If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster. – Clint Eastwood
4. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. – Barry LePartner
5. Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out. – Robert Collier
6. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been. – Wayne Gretzky
7. Before anything else, preperation is the key to success. – Alexander Graham Bell
8. If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it. – Jonathan Winters

15 Ground Rules for Project Team Management

People with diverse professional experiences and background have totally unique perspective on any issue.  When a new team is assembled for any project, its vital for the success of that project that all team member are aware of  the ground-rules for the project; similar to any sport.  You may have to read it to team and give a copy for reference.

Here is an example list that I have used for a project to keep team aligned.    Such ground-rules certainly eliminate unnecessary confusion and your business customer and team members like it defined beforehand.  Make sure, you also follow it and implement it.

1. Project manager is the primary contact for any project related communication.
2. All team members maintain their contact info on the team contact list with contact preference.
3. All members attend required meetings and conference calls; if unable to attend, meeting organizer to be notified.  If key contributor is unable to attend, request to reschedule the meeting.
4. Any planned day off or vacation must be communicated in advance to project manager so that project plan can be updated and impact to work, if any, can be analyzed.
5. All project team members have access to project plan and  project logs (in a standard document format) and are aware of the assigned tasks and due dates.
6. All team members are to be consulted about the reasonableness of the plan prior to management approval.
7. All team members are required to validate their assignments and time allocated prior to the plan is baselined.
8. All project team members have the responsibility to proactively notify the project manager about tasks, duration or dependencies they believe are missing (or any other needed changes to the plan) and confront issues directly and promptly.
9. Project team members have the responsibility to notify any potential difficulties in meeting the schedule for any assigned tasks as soon as it is known by the team member.
10. Each project team member is responsible for ensuring anticipated workload conflicts with other assignments are brought to the attention of the project manager.  Team members should ask for help if feeling “stuck” or falling behind the schedule instead of waiting for miracle.
11. All team members are responsible to own, follow-up and provide updates on the assigned task (including but not limited to any identified risks, issues, changes, approvals, clarification from customer).  If any delay is observed, escalate to project manager.
12. All  meeting minutes, key decisions, assumptions and business rules must be documented and all action items must be followed up and assigned to a resource with expected completion date. These items are usually mentioned in casual conversation.
13. All project team members understand the scope of work.  Any work performed must be in the project plan and is in the project scope.  Anything that is absolutely needed but not part of the project plan, must be brought into project manager’s attention.
14. All project team members confront issues directly and promptly.
15. Only project manager submits all final deliverables to business customer for sign-off or approval.

What are other key things that you have found useful and we can add to this list?

Thank you for your visit and have a great day!

Got 10 minute to speak with executive?

When you got 10 minutes or less to talk to your executive manager, you are well aware of the fact that you do not have enough time to give background of the issue or request and he/she isn’t interested in nitty-gritty detail.

Instead of giving your jargon loaded intellectual talk, paint the picture with words. Try to make it little striking with some recent example. Tell how it’s going to impact him, positively or negatively (again painting a picture with words), and what you need from him.

If you are telling about a problem, tell what solutions you propose.  Watch your gesture and prepare to answer the question with some facts; do not let it come to the point where you say ‘I will get back to you on this.”

Hope this helps and have a nice day ahead.

11 Principles of Leadership

 I came across 11 leadership principles of Marine Corps in Guide Book for Marines on the Internet and here is my interpretation of 11 principles.  I am interested in hearing from Marines about their leadership experience. 

1. Take responsibility – we need to seek and take responsibilities if we need to grow; never shy away, whatever seems challenging will help you expand your perspective.
2. Know yourself – reflect upon your strengths and weaknesses; seek improvement and understand that you can achieve only those goals that you set.
3. Set an example- conduct your business in a professional manner; do not loose temper – small minds are bothered by small problems; not only work in your job but also work on your job as well.  Be a brand that people want to associate with.
4. Develop your subordinates- consider this as part of your job; learn to delegate; as Zig Ziglar said “You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want“; give them opportunities to learn & grow;  guide them if they fit somewhere else.
5. Be available – in every respect; be available to listen to problems and challenges people are facing; to motivate, to lead and to show right direction; to hear criticism; to take decisions and to act on time.
6. Look after the welfare of your employees - the way you want your boss to look after your welfare; develop emotional intelligence; connect with people and find out what motivates them; do something that touches their lives; help them when they are in need.  Arrogance and ignorance will not take you to the top or won’t keep you there for long.
7. Keep everyone well informed  – right communication is the key; make sure that the tasks are understood, supervised and accomplished on time and tell why you need all this done; do no assume -  aks and tell.
8. Set goals that are achievable – always set the goals – people need to know what they are expected to deliver and by when; let people figure out how;  goals should motivate teams to act; measure the results and reward people.
9. Make sound and timely decisions- that are aligned with the core principles of your organization and with your job descriptions; there will always be more than one right answer – choose the one that benefits the most and not only you; take decisions like a servant leader.
10. Know your job – be technically and tactically proficient in your job; know your people; know the processes and challenges; know how can you add value to the organization or your department.
11. Build teamwork- not all people can perform equally but they should complement each other while working towards a common goal; promote team work and diversity; shield your team from external pressure; be flexible with team.

“Leadership is intangible, hard to measure, and difficult to describe. It’s quality would seem to stem from many factors. But certainly they must include a measure of inherent ability to control and direct, self-confidence based on expert knowledge, initiative, loyalty, pride and sense of responsibility. Inherent ability cannot be instilled, but that which is latent or dormant can be developed. Other ingredients can be acquired. They are not easily learned. But leaders can be and are made.” – General C. B. Cates, 19th Commandant of the Marine Corps

Thanks for reading and welcome your input.  Have a great day.

Quotes for Managers

 

Here are 6 quotes for I.T. managers from Norman R. Augustine

1. Hardware works best when it matters the least.
2. A revised schedule is to business what a new season is to an athlete or a new canvas to an artist.
3. One of the most feared expressions in modern times is ”The computer is down”.
4. It has been wisely said that the world is not interested in the storms you encountered but in whether you brought the ship in safely.
5. If a sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance.
6. The last 10 percent of performance generates one-third of the cost and two-thirds of the problems.

Thank you for visiting and have a great day.

Changepoint and PPM

Last week I completed Compuware Changepoint training. I had read earlier that Changepoint is in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant (leaders) for PPM tools.

Changepoint is a web based tool for project and portfolio management.  The tool enables leadership make right decisions based on dynamic metrics of various initiatives and what value these initiatives add; and realignment of IT efforts with business strategy and vision.  Tool is very intuitive and scalable. 

In Project and Portfolio management, complexity is the key factor that makes changes difficult and time consuming. Just imagine multiple projects going on in  your organization with resources scattered around the teams (or Globe) and you are tracking the progress and reporting the metrics to the upper management.  Management wants to see  report on  status of all the projects underway, return on investment for each project, supply and demand, resource utilization, change management, issues and risks to the projects, etc. to make informed decision on project priorities, strategic planning and funding.

Changepoint makes all the aspect of program management easier by effectively managing your projects and applications, resources and client relationships.  You can find out more at Compuware website.

Disclaimer – I am a Compuware employee and opinions expressed here are my own.

3-Rs for Leaders

1. Read more
2. Reflect more
3. Risk more

Leaders ought to read a lot to stay ahead.  Each day is blessed with new discoveries and useful information.  Using the 80/20 rule, find out what is out there that you need to know.  Co-relate how changes in the world going to shape your world. Read more = Plan

Leaders take tough decisions all the time, they are the face of the organization.  Leaders chalk out the course of action in the midst of challenges.  Reflecting on the decesions taken and the one you are about to take is going to determine if you are an authentic leader - who knows where his True North is.  Reflect more = Check

Taking new risks, coming up with new ideas and having the drive to materialize them, thinking out of the box, leading organization into a totally new direction are the key qualities leader has.  Listen more and observe more.  Taking calculated and smart risk is also creativity. Risk more= Do and Act.

These 3 Rs fit into Deming’s Plan > Do > Check > Act; a continous improvement loop.  Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.

Project Management – Useful Links

We learn a lot from the Internet these days and rely on up-to-date information.  Personally, I’ve learned a lot from my fellow bloggers and other websites on Project Management to stay ahead of the curve. 

There are many other on-line resources but  I would like to share following list of blogs/websites that I frequently visit and would like to thank for their time and energy for sharing knowledge and doing the great service to on-line community.  Thank you and keep up the good job!

1. http://www.betterprojects.net
2. http://www.pmhut.com
3.  http://www.thepmpodcast.com  
4. http://herdingcats.typepad.com
5. http://www.ravensbrain.com
6. http://pmcrunch.com
7. http://www.allpm.com
8. http://www.amakar.com
9.  http://leadinganswers.typepad.com

I hope you will also bookmark these sites and learn about the profession. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Capture Planning Assumptions

Your boss approaches you and tells that workplan is very good but customer wants to know how can we deliver the project sooner than promised?  Now you have to come up with a new workplan or make some adjustments based on new findings.  You put your thoughts together and go on to make changes/update and deliver the final document with required changes. 

And then your boss asks, why this task is due this particular day and why are we taking this long to complete, etc., etc…

You might have answers for most of the questions your boss has asked but it is of prime importance that you document all the assumptions you made while planning, does not matter how small or evident those assumptions are.

I would capture following -

• why are you making these changes or what is the objective and if these objectives are aligned with customer expectations;
• what are high-level or global assumptions for the plan being put in place (standardized assumptions);
• why making change to time/scope/cost;
• what are risks that can derail the work;
• what are the opportunities that you are counting on;
• who are the critical resources you have based your work on;
• what exceptions from standard process did you make;
• what compromises are built into the plan;
• what is the impact on existing process (if any);
• for budget tail of it : dollars spent per month; and
• what are the key milestones.

I hope these are the basic questions that we should be able to answer from a Project Management perspective when talking about assumptions.  Let me know what your thoughts are and what else could be added to the list?

Thanks for reading it, appreaciate your feedback.

Choosing Team Lead

“People acting together as a group can accomplish things that no individual acting alone could ever hope  to bring about.” – FD Roosevelt

Each team members has unique work style, personal goals, skills, background and experience.  Each team member’s unique qualities and different attributes make a team complex unit where conflict, confusion, criticism will grow and finally bring the project to failure  if team is not led the proper way. 

In many I.T. projects,  Project Manager (PM) has a team leader who assists him or her in coordination of work, driving the team effort, listening and resolving team issues, guiding in making the appropriate tactical decisions, and above all providing expert advice on subject matter, among others.  Synergy and cooperation among team members are the key things for success of the project and for that,  a good team lead should be in place.  If you got a weak team leader, team will not perform and you will be spending all of energy in team issue management.  As a PM, you need to understand that your team leader should -

1. understand the whole project along with project objectives and goals;
2. be expert of the overall process who can guide team members;
3. be able to handle pressure and conflict situations;
4. understands the team dynamics and works to promote productive working conditions;
5.  be a good team player and can get status of work from team members;
6. be capable of resolving minor issues without your involvement;
7. be able to negotiate and communicate with technical as well non-technical people involved;
8. be proactive with qualities of a mentor and a coach and
9. able to provide realistic and accurate feedback on time.

Hope this helps in making you decide whom to choose to lead your team.  Let me know what else can be added to the list.  Thanks for reading and have a good day.

Life is bigger than that!

2008 is nearing the completion of business work days and it was one of the eventful year.  We have seen all from US election to Canadian elections, Wall-street meltdown to Automotive bailout, Saturday Night Live comedy to economic worries.  All the stuff, never thought of. 

But when it comes to our professional life, one needs to make sure there are no unexpected surprises.  I have mentored and provided guidance to few people over the year and have also asked for advice from my peers.  Some people either make small issues into big problems or do not even have clue what is wrong.  Here are some of the points to consider-

1. Get feedback from your boss; have 1 on 1 regularly (weekly or monthly) to align objectives.
2. Grow your professional network by volunteering at work, in community or join any organization.
3. Understand that everyone is different; workplaces are diverse.
4. Totally messed up? If you are honest, you’ll get another chance.   Life is bigger than that!
5. Do not just focus on getting credit of everything you do or say.  Give credit where deserved.
6. Be careful about sarcastic sense of humor.  It may be wise to stay quiet.
7. If you do extraordinary job you get promotion as a result. Its not the other way.
8. Help others grow and learn.  Don’t be afraid that someone will steal your idea.
9. Take vacation or take time out.  Its must to revitalize your energies and focus.
10. Try to listen.  Pay attention to your superiors and peers.
11. Dress according to your job profile, at least.
12. Do not make ‘difference of opinions’ at work your personal issue.

I firmly believe if we are serious to improve ourselves, we can start afresh anytime.  Its never too late and Life is bigger than that! 

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Communication Skills for Managers – Learning From Barak Obama

I was looking into posts on Mr. Barak Obama’s communication style and how it contributed towards Obama’s victory.  Did Obama address people in all 4 categories of DiSC Model?  These categories are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. 

Each person in his/her category wants to hear in a specific manner.  Some people need direct answer while others need some encouragement and hope and so on.  Please see the table at the end of the post and read more about DiSC Model. 

While doing so, I found very interesting Wall Street Journal video on the topic titled  ”Learning From Obama’s Effective Communication Skills“.
 

To summarize, what project manager can do -

1. giving good positive message
2. clear and compelling tone
3. giving substance along with style
4. speaking with confidence and authority
5. not in hurry to speak- patience
6. pause between sentences: at least 3-4 seconds
7. stress the right words
8. relate to people and places
9. make it simple to comprehend
10. identify what is not right with other approach

Here is the table what people mainly like to hear/communicate around- 

Major Category	Like to hear words and actions around
Dominance	challenge, power, direct answer, authority, assertive, active
Influence	empathetic, people focused, receptiveness, accepting
Steadiness	stability, methodical, calm response, careful approach, thoughtful
Conscientiousness	logic focused, skeptical, clarity and quality, questioning

What are your findings?  What did you learn? Lets share.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.

Elected – Board Member @ PMIGLC

When  I checked my inbox this morning, I found an official email from PMIGLC election committee congratulating me that I have been elected as Vice President – Communications for the 2009-2010 term.

Some of you might know that I volunteer at  Great Lakes Chapter of PMI (Project Management Institute) in Detroit. I started volunteering as ‘Director of Webservices’ almost over 2 years ago. 

It is very unique and enriching experience when you are leading a team of volunteers for an organization that is non-profit; and I hope I will be learning much more next year when my term begins as Vice President.

I am delighted that I will have the opportunity to work with highly accomplished professionals at the board-of-directors and to contribute to the project management community. 

Thank you!

Scheduling & Three Types of Tasks : MS Project

If you are new Project Manager or new to using MS Project,  when putting workplan together one of the question you may ask is – what type of task should I choose?

MS Project has 3 options -

1. Fixed Duration;
2. Fixed Units;
3. Fixed Work. 

The choice will decide how MS Project schedules the work, in other words, which one of three remains fixed and other two change.  To make things easier to remember, Duration is in days, Work is in hours and Units are resources.  And formula to keep in mind is ‘wud’ i.e.   w(ork) = u(nit) * d(uration).

Summary table – Left green column is task type in MS Project; top red column is what we change; blue colums are rescheduled by MS project.

	Change Duration	Change Unit	Change Work
Fixed Duration		Reschedules Work	Reschedules Units
Fixed Units	Reschedules Work		Reschedules Duration
Fixed Work	Reschedules Units	Reschedules Duration

Basically, 1day duration has 8 hrs of work with 1 unit or resource working 100%.

Fast, Cheap AND Good

Can’t pick any two? You also need all three – fast, cheap and good? 

It has been very commonly used set of options in I.T. when offering an alternative or usually when dealing with issues from outsourced service.  Someone will come and say – “Pick any two!” 

Sometime ago I was involved in a project where we had to pick any two options and it was very hard to leave out the third one.  Many times we had to leave ‘cheap’ and other times ‘fast’,  for us ’good’ was essential and paid the price accordingly.  We had to compensate for third left out option through continuous improvement.  I kind of thought that this is the  dilemma every one will be facing.  But it is not the case as I am finding out.  Things are getting better.

The 7 Habits For Managers

Stephen R Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is classic and most of us have read and learned from it. 

 This week, I listened to his another audio book The 7 Habits for Managers: Managing Yourself, Leading Others, Unleashing Potential. Its based on ‘classic 7 habits’ and with focus on management. 

I would recommend to listen to this audio book to refresh 7 habits and learn how managers can apply these habits.  If this is new to you,  here are classic 7 habits and start with reading ’The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’

Habit 1 – Be proactive
Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind
Habit 3 – Put first things first
Habit 4 – Think win-win
Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Habit 6 – Synergize
Habit 7 – Sharpen the saw

These habits are to be used as pointers for our actions.  We got to make sure that our employees understand the value of these habits and learn from these. 

Thanks.

DiSC model – Management Styles

I completed DiSC (stands for Dominance, influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness) training last week and fount it interesting.   DiSC confirms one thing, different strokes for different folks.

DiSC is a system to help you find out similar and unique characteristics among people.  It also shows person’s behavioural preferences and helps to identify different management styles that can lead to obtain better results through interaction. 

According to the DiSC model, there are four management styles – by Dominance, by influence, by Steadiness, and by Conscientiousness.

Series of questions lead to a specific DiSC profile, that tells you what is your score and what is you dominant style of management and what are your supportive styles. 

D – Dominant : these people are active and questioning; these are direct and competitive in nature.  These people want to ‘get it done’.

i - Influence : these people are active and accepting; motivated, enthusiastic, sociable and lively. 

S - Steadiness : these people are thoughtful and accepting; patient and even tempered, accommodating. 

C- Conscientiousness : these people are thoughtful and questioning; kind of private with analytical abilities and task oriented.  Main objective is to ‘get it right’.

As we know everyone is unique and all have different ways of interacting.  Imagine, I interact with a person who has dominant  style of ‘Conscientiousness‘ (private and task oriented).  I pretend to be of ‘influence‘ (sociable and enthusiastic) dominant style; my interaction with that person can not be productive as I may not be providing the specific instructions that other person needs. 

Why is that?  Because people with dominant ‘infulence’ style mix personal talk with business discussions, becoming informal and emotionally expressive leaving the ‘Conscientiousness’ style person unclear or confuse as Max requires specific task oriented info and does not express himself emotionally.

How it will help me?  It lists what are key strengths, what things are overused, what could be the limitations and what changes should be made in management style that make one more effective.

Have you ever taken DiSC and Meyers-Briggs assessment?  What are your thoughts? Did you benefit from it?  Please share your thoughts.  Thank you for reading. 

More info -

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment 
2. One of the best books on the application of DiSC is by Keith Ayers titled “Engagement is Not Enough.”

Intro to Earned Value Analysis – Part 1

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We got to measure the progress of the project and report it to upper management along with controlling it.  Project might seem progressing well, tasks completing on time and we are spending money for that.  Earned Value Analysis (EVA) gives us an integrated view of cost and schedule performance.  Lets go over some basic definitions in this post.

There are three basic things that we need from project plan - Earned Value (EV), Planned Value (PV) and Actual Cost (AC).

EV  - Budgeted value (in $ or hours) of work performed a.k.a.  BCWP
AC- Actual value (in $ or hours)  of work performed a.k.a. ACWP
PV- Budgeted value (in $ or hours) of work scheduled or planned a.k.a. BCWS

These three key values enable us to calculate Cost Variance (CV) and Schedule Variance (SV).  This variance gives us info on if we are on track.

Cost Variance CV = EV-AC
(i.e. budgeted cost of work performed minus actual cost of work performed).
Positive variance means we are below budget and Negative variance means over budget.

Schedule Variance SV = EV-PV
(i.e. budgeted cost of work performed minus actual cost of work scheduled).
Positive variance means we are ahead of schedule and Negative variance means behind schedule.

Positive variance (in $ or hours) is usually considered good.  But when we have to compare progress of multiple projects, CV or SV of one project won’t make any sense when compared with other projects because they could be of different size in terms of budget and schedule.  To overcome this issue of comparing different projects regardless of their sizes, indexes are used.   Instead of subtracting, we divide the same numbers.

Cost Performance Index  CPI = EV / AC

Schedule Performance Index SPI = EV / PV

If CPI  is 1.0, we can say we are on track with respect ot cost; if CPI > 1, we can say we are under budget plus better cost performance.  If CPI<1.0, we are over budget and need attention.

If SPI  is 1.0, we can say we are on track with respect ot schedule; if SPI > 1, we can say we are ahead of schedule plus better schedule performance.  If SPI<1.0, we are behind schedule and need attention.

If CV or SV is negative or CPI or SPI is less than 1.0, I would monitor the trend of CV and SV for over couple of weeks to see the trend and then take some action.  If CPI or SPI is greater than 1.5, we still need to evaluate why is it so?

We use EVA by plotting project schedule on x-axis and cumulative (weekly or monthly) budgeted spend plan according to base-lined data from project plan. 

We need to remember one thing, Garbage in, garbage out.  If project is poorly planned, EVA can not come to aid.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think, any suggestions for improvements and corrections are truly welcome. 

PMI Membership Benefits

I volunteer at my PMI (Project Management Institute) local chapter called Great Lakes Chapter (www.pmiglc.org).  I enjoy the benefits of PMI membership in form of monthly magazine called PM Network and accompanied paper called PMI Today.  Both are informative and I have gained a lot by reading both publications. 

Many people join organizations enthusiastically and then with very little involvement and different priorities, fail to renew annual membership and later claim that they did find not much benefit of membership.  Becoming member in your professional organization and participating actively gives you opportunity to network with best people in your trade and increase your domain knowledge.

I found couple of interesting benefits while reading PMI Today paper and thought of sharing it with you. Here are the benefits-

1. Attend PMI meetings/events at discounted price;
2. Networking opportunities with professionals in management;
3. Read PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge);
4. Read business books on-line;
5. Download a global standard;
6. View the results of PM research projects;
7. See articles from PMI publications for the last 7 years;
8. Search for jobs, consult with a career coach and have your resume critiqued;
9. Request a custom research;
10. Order books and other materials at a discounted price;
11. Use a career framework to help guide your career; and
12. Get PM Network and PMI Today publications.

I would suggest that if you are in project management, get involved with www.PMI.org, join your local chapter and participate in making project management indispensable for business results.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!

Referenced – PMI Today – April 2008

Issue or Risk?

Budget, Scope and Schedule are three constraints a project manager has to deal with to produce deliverable.  Any one of these three is changed, remaining are also affected.

Risks and issues in a project are documented and monitored.  During the documentation phase, it becomes cofnusing when we have to classify it into either risk or issue category.  Here is the basic info on difference between risk and issue -

Risk is a future event that may have an impact on triple constraint.  It may happen or it may not.  We can plan for risk based on its probability and impact on deliverable – risks can be avoided completely, or can be minimized, or can be transferred to other party, or we can meet head on.

An issue is present problem or concern influencing triple constraints.  In other words, an issue is raised when something has gone wrong and will impact triple constraint.

A risk can become an issue, but issue is not risk – it has already happened.

Hope this helps.  Thank you for reading the post.

27-Oct-2010 : More details added in other post http://virk.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/project-risk-management-101/

Leading Creative Employees

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There are always some special people in teams who are very much techie, creative and loaded with specific knowledge.  Lets call these employees creative people in this post.

These creative people provide tremendous value to organization through application of their knowledge and expertise.  These really smart and creative people need nurturing environment and motivation. When leading these creative people, keep in mind that they may-

1. think they know more than anyone (or know everything);
2. do not want to be led (know what, how and why);
3. do not want to follow the process (think its bureaucracy);
4. want to discuss the solution with higher authority (by-pass chain of command);
5. expect people to come and ask for help (until then they keep quiet);
6. show their exceptional knowledge in group meetings;
7. become poor listeners and jump to solution (feel they know problem already);
8. dislike to say thank you for any assistance;
9. feel attached to the solution they offered (won’t accept alternate);
10. stop contributing if ignored;
11. want praise and recognition (not always care about position);
12. want challenges and new things to work on.

Leading creative people require smart leadership.  Smart leaders will help these creative employee contribute by creating environment where they feel valuable while making sure that other employees also flourish. 

Smart leaders demonstrate their expertise and authority over creative employees quietly by not pushing them or by not showing them who is the boss.  Smart leader also makes sure that they know what organization’s strategic goals and objectives are; but does not dictate how to achieve.  These creative people can contribute beyond expectations when their leader becomes their coach-cum-mentor-cum-guardian.

Not all the points may apply in any given situation and there might be other examples as well.  I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.  Please leave comments.  Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!

How to Have Project Kick-off Meeting

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Kick-off meeting is the first meeting of the project where you give all the team members good news that project is ‘go ahead’ from the sponsors and also set the tone of your project – is it going to be a success or a failure.  Many hours and days have gone into preparation before you have kick-off meeting. You have worked very hard and now have project charter and project plan is in your hands.Primarily kick-off meeting has following goals-

1. energize the project team
2. communicate project goals and expectations
3. introduce team members and stake-holders
4. highlight opportunities plus challenges and reiterate importance of project for organization
5. provide information of processes, methodology, project plan, key milestones, etc.
6. handout team’s contact phone numbers and email addresses
7. present communication plan
8. give time to attendees to ask questions and express views

I would do following extra things to make sure kick-off meeting sets positive tone -

1. print the hand-out material a day before, also check for meeting room projector etc.
2. have some project related posters and famous positive quotes posted on the wall
3. invite one or two senior managment  people to talk about project’s importance
4. have kick-off meeting around 9 AM (start of the day is better)
5. block enough time for this meeting (time for refreshments, presentations, questions and answers)
6. set date of kick-off  meeting and notify all members at-least a week ago
7. offer light refreshments at the beginning of the kick-off meeting
8. do not sit and just talk, look and feel energetic
9. have your project plan and other documents (that you plan to hand out) reviewed well in advance by subject matter experts for accuracy
10. make sure meeting conveys the message and people walk out with motivation

Are there other key things? I will be interested to hear.  Hope this helps and good luck with your kick-off meeting. 

Keeping in touch with direct reports?

Workplaces have transformed a lot in last few years from people working in same office building to team members scattered over different continents.  This poses some benefits and challenges.  As we all know that we are all connected via communication and our communication skills and capabilities play a major role in our success.

Keeping the communication channel open and alive is the responsibility of the manager.  As a manager you just can not assume that if no one is complaining, all is well.  There are some employees who get chance to meet and talk to boss on performance review day.  I know there might be some employees who always say “everything is good” and prefer least interference as all the routine work is being done on time.

Does not matter what kind of work you are in, keeping in touch with your direct reports does the following -

  1.  Boosts the employee morale (you value the employee by calling or listening).

  2.  Employee feels connected with the organization/department.

  3.  Employee is encouraged to give and receive suggestion/feedback.

  4.  You can coach employee in the right direction as per his objectives.

  5.  Your objectives and expectations are clearly communicated and aligned.

  6.  You, employee and organization, all benefit from this interaction.

  7.  You make the real difference by managing talent.

Employee is a talent.  We know that when we are managing talent in this innovation age, we got to ensure that talent thrives and stays innovative. 

Thank you for reading and have a great day.

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Conflict Matters!

Managers face many situations where he has to sort out two opposing actions or ideas. Situation may be very tense as people with conflicting ideas become very much involved and passionate about their stand. 

 As a manager, a positive and constructive conflict between team members may be a good thing (such as some team members in favor of Microsoft based technology and others for Linux based), but how you handle it matters the most. Conflict can be between individuals, teams, groups or organizations.  How you approach the situation tells who you really are.  Does it make you uncomfortable when you face such situation and just pretend it does not exist? Do you just avoid completely being in any conflict and do not share your insights/thoughts?  

I think conflict pushes oneself to test own mental and physical boundaries.  Some people get agitated and quickly loose control over thought process when someone is in conflict and try to trump the other in any way; some may feel nervous and just shut up and opt to get out; while other may listen to opposing views with cool head and try to work out some solution.

When managing a general conflict situation, try following (there might be situations where professional help is needed) -

1. Stay calm; listen to other views with open mind.  Both sides may be right from own perspective.
2. Find the real reason of conflict, not the one that is perceived. Observe.
3. Believe that positive solution will come out at the end.
4. Acknowledge the concerns and fears.  Find out what are the choices.
5. Think win-win solution.  Attack the issue not the people.
6. Make it known what is expected out of situation resolution.  Stay on the issue.
7. Select the best solution and implement it.

Any other suggestions?  Have a good day!

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10 Steps of Project Success

Whenever IT project failure is talked, people refer Denver Airport project that failed big time and costed a lot.  I have also seen project that failed or cancelled or shrunk.  Why is it happening when so many intelligent people are working and we know all the ingredients of project success. 

Here are some commonly known factors needed for project success -