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Different Project Managers for Different Projects

Written by Mike Lecky on . Posted in Articles. 9 Comments on Different Project Managers for Different Projects

The skills of the project manager need to match the project and the people involved.

It’s an important issue since the success of a project is dependent on the competency of the project manager. Every project is different and this presents a challenge.
So how do we minimize the risk of an inappropriate project management assignment?

One approach to treating this risk is to first build an understanding of the project environment, the work involved, the people participating and, last but not least, the customers’ expectations. Then use this understanding to assess the importance of some basic competencies common to most project managers. Your understanding of the environment, work and people will point you to the specific qualities – and to any unique competencies – key to the success of the project.

There are several sources that can be used to frame the ‘basic competencies common to most project managers’. The PMBOK suggests project managers should have domain knowledge in the application area of the project, general management skills, soft skills related to people management, project environment knowledge and understanding and experience in the nine management knowledge areas.

Another view is provided by Jennifer Krahn (from recent PMI Research Conference Proceedings Effective Project Leadership: A Combination of Project Manager Skills and Competencies in Context). From her work, the ten most important skills and competencies for project managers are: people skills, leadership, listening, integrity, trustworthy, verbal communications, team building, conflict resolution, critical thinking and priority balancing.

Yet another alternative is provided by William Lei and Martin Skitmore (from Project Manager Competencies: A Survey of Perspectives from Project Managers in South East Queensland). Lei and Skitmore frame abilities along slightly different lines: meeting project deliverables, making decisions, controlling costs, leading project teams, organization, planning, conflict resolution, problem solving, motivating, meeting project quality objectives, negotiating, delegating tasks, team building and managing legal issues.

To these lists I’d add visioning skills and the ability to manage expectations and conduct effective meetings. Clearly there is no comprehensive, ‘one-size-fits-all’ list for all situations.

When selecting the desired project manager competencies, you identify the characteristics of the project environment, project work and people involved. As an example for a large project high importance might be placed on finding someone with significant relevant prior experience and good team building skills. On the other hand a project with lots of uncertainty may place more importance on critical thinking, risk management and people skills.

We know that projects fail for numerous reasons. Selecting the ‘right’ project manager means selecting the project manager with the ‘right’ competencies. This is one way to reduce the likeliness of failure due to ineffective project management.

How Project Managers Communicate… Or Not!

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 5 Comments on How Project Managers Communicate… Or Not!

It truly is your responsibility as a PM to understand, ask, answer, interpret, filter, listen – communicate – and be effective while doing it.

True communication is a dialogue, not just a monologue.

Well, that certainly sounds easy enough…. Until you add people to the scenario and then it appears like a whole lot of Yakkity Yak happens due to the many styles of communications that PMs use.

And why does this occur? Non-verbal communication carries about 55% of the message you are sending. Paralingual communications are the tone and pitch of your voice which also affect how the message is received. And blocked communications most likely occur when conflict is present.

As Sir Winston Churchill so eloquently put it: “Responsibility is the key to greatness.” and it is your responsibility to communicate and be a great PM.

Styles of PM Communication

Tells All – Knows Nothing. If you don’t know the answer, it is perfectly acceptable to indicate that. You can’t and aren’t expected to know everything about everything. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming your reputation is the ‘Undisputed Authority and Knows-It-All’ PM (that’s why you have a team – all efforts and ideas are worthy and contributions respected). You will become notorious as the ‘Tells It Like I Think It Is’ PM, followed around by your trusty ‘What He Really Meant To Say’ Business Analyst. Don’t attempt to communicate what you don’t know.

Always Has The Last Word. That would make you a dictionary, not a communicator. Communication is about taking turns – talk, listen, talk, listen (there is a rhythm to this). You can complete the cycle by asking if everyone is clear on the information. But you don’t need to ensure that your infinite words of wisdom and commands are the last sound that everyone hears. Often a simple ‘thank-you’ is the most appreciated communication closer.

Because I Said So. If you speak to a team member (or your entire team!) in the same manner that you speak to a small child, then you aren’t a successful communicator. Respect is the fundamental component here. Speak with authority, but do not belittle, insult, or patronize your colleagues or team. They are adults and professionals. If you treat them with respect, you will reap greater results. No one wants to work for the strict disciplinarian who commands and demands. Volume does not solve problems nor does it make others suddenly understand a concept. Raising your mighty voice does not create an enthusiastic team.

Hostage Negotiator. Have you thought about a career change? This style involves convincing people on a whole new level how to accomplish work in a worst-case scenario situation. I’ve known a few projects that might have benefited from this role, but not too many. However, since we are all in PM mode, let’s consider that approach. Patience is the crucial element. Negotiating is a skill. Set your objectives. Thoughtfully consider your responses. You may have to modify your techniques to have peaceful results unless you’re planning to have the people you are addressing in handcuffs at the end of the dialogue!

One More Time (with feeling!). And in your role as PM, regardless of how well you think you have explained, rephrased, clarified, illustrated, illuminated, used various hand gestures and facial expressions to have the team understand your topic, there may still be one person who really doesn’t get it. You observe the glazed eyes and blank stare. Our backgrounds, cultures, language, and skills provide a frame of reference. Be conscious of improper phrases that may not translate. Perhaps you can sustain some form of information flow with your teenager and their clichés and retro-phrases, but in a work environment, you may be misinterpreted and not as hip as you assume you are. And then sometimes, you’ll just need to go over it all again – one more time….!

Let’s Make a Deal. Game show host or seasoned PM? I doubt that you can offer a brand new Victory Red Solstice behind door #2 as an incentive for being a team member on your project. So, what is your deal and how will you communicate it? Work together, listen carefully, respect your differences and skills, show support, and celebrate successes. Strike up a cooperative environment with your team.

I Did It…. (cue music…) Myyyyy Wayyyyy! And then there is the communication plan which includes the verbal and narrative details associated with your project. It will indicate how the management and control of the what, why, who, when and how of communication is put into place. Throughout your PM career, you will need to communicate and be the recipient of communications. Develop your own professional style that will achieve results.

And when reading communications, beware of the fine print at the end.

And this is the fine print…. and …The End….

Donna M. Ulrich, PMP (member of PMI) has over 25 years of project management and consultant (owner of Cougar Management Consulting Corporation) experience within the education, nuclear, telecommunications, IT, service/utilities, financial and healthcare industries. When not managing projects or writing articles, Donna enjoys kayaking, reading, movies, camping and travelling. The highest priority on her list of non-project related work is being with her family (Roland, Samantha and Lewis). Donna can be reached at [email protected]

Can EPM Evolve Out of the Sum of the Parts?

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 7 Comments on Can EPM Evolve Out of the Sum of the Parts?

It’s all the rage these days to talk about creating an enterprise project management environment with a centralized, highly structured system. But there’s more than one path to an EPM system and it may be that you already have the means to a powerful
system at your fingertips.

Instead of thinking of a list of great features that are available in some of the more popular EPM packages, let’s think about what it is we want to do with the system.

First of all, it’s almost a guarantee that project management is already underway. Project management is hardly new. If you’re in an organization that delivers projects regardless of whether they’re internal or external, you almost certainly have some kind of project management going on. What do we need to do in a modern project management environment?

Scheduling

Well, one of the most obvious things is to create a schedule. A structured list of what you’ve got to accomplish broken down into measureable tasks is a huge step forward in our enterprise project management system. “But wait!” I hear you say. “How is that ‘enterprise’? You’re right, so let’s put enterprise access to our project schedules on our list of challenges we must meet.

Resource Management

Every project gets accomplished by people. So it would follow that it’s important to have some kind of resource management plan. For many organizations, resource capacity planning across all resources is one of the most powerful reasons to design, purchase and deploy an EPM package. So, let’s put that on our list of challenges we’d need to overcome with whatever solution we come up with.

Project Progress and Timesheets

Timesheets have become such a challenging area for project management environments that some kind of timesheet or task statusing functionality is now virtually always required in an EPM package. Let’s add this requirement into our list of things we’ll need in our EPM system.

Communication

These days, communication and collaboration are a huge aspect of successful project management. This can include everything from ensuring the team members are able to communicate with each other to ensuring that announcements, a calendar of events and other key information pieces are disseminated to all team members in a timely fashion. Let’s get communication and collaboration into our list too.

Document Management

This has become a significant point of leverage for making a project environment effective and to eliminate risks. In fact, while we’re at it, let’s add managing lists of issues, decisions, deadlines, risks as well as contract and design documents in here.

That’s quite a list of challenges and virtually all the brochures and marketing collateral of the EPM software vendors speak to these challenges directly. Any sane person would obviously run out to purchase one of these systems right away, wouldn’t you? While the answer for some organizations is certainly, yes, as I’ve often said, deploying a true EPM package requires a pretty significant management commitment, and a bunch of effort.

Well, instead of doing that, let’s see if we can make this vehicle out of the parts lying around the shop. Let’s take each of the challenges above and see what tools might be commonly available for us to use.

Scheduling. Tthe obviously solution is to ask what project management desktop tools are already in use in the organization. Microsoft says there are over 20 million copies of Microsoft Project sold and that’s a lot of Critical Path Methodology analysis available. Now our requirement above stated that we want to make the list of tasks available to others in the organization, but there are many ways to access Microsoft Project data. First of all, a print out of certain reports could be done to an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. This file could then be made available on the corporate Intranet as a report to be read or even printed out by anyone. In fact, with Microsoft Project 2007, we could also create a Visual report in Excel which could then be saved as an HTML web file. This could even be automated from within Project as a Macro. With a bit more work, the list of tasks could be saved from Excel into a SharePoint list and, using SharePoint, you could deliver automated email alerts for any changes in the schedule right to the Email Inbox of each resource.

Resource Management. Resource Management is a trickier conversation until you take a step back and look at what is driving resource constraints. In high-tech, white collar projects (like IT or R&D) typically we schedule resources right down to the named person. This is because the skills of each person in the organization are virtually unique. And yet, if we look at a resource pool of, say, 100 people, typically all the resource constraints can be narrowed down to a tiny group of key resources of perhaps four or five people. I’ve been doing this a long time and the number of key resources even in a very large pool rarely exceeds a dozen people. When you start looking at how projects work, all work revolves around the schedule of these key people. Take a look in your own organization and see if this is true. Are the bottlenecks within a small group? If this is so, here’s a radical idea: Just manage the key resources. Create a small project that has just the tasks of your four, five or six key people and manage that. Let the supervisors and everyone else work around that schedule and leave the scheduling of everyone else to team leads. This almost always works and it tends to work very, very, very quickly. Using this technique can bring relief to a constrained organization within a day or two in most cases. You can publish this project just like we described above and there’s very little analysis required. After all, resource leveling individuals doesn’t make much sense. They’re going to work 8 hours a day every day.

Project Progress and Timesheets. This one’s a little tougher. If you’re just looking to progress the tasks, your project managers can get a good read on this in regular weekly task updates. But, if you need to track the time for other purposes such as billing, R&D tax claims, payroll, activity based costing etc. then it’s possible you may need to go out to look for a commercial timesheet system. If you do, look for one of the several timesheets that link directly to desktop tools like Microsoft Project or Primavera or Open Plan or whatever desktop tool you’ve got already.

Communication. There is a plethora of freeware portal and collaboration tools out there but one of the most obvious is Windows SharePoint Services. It comes free with Windows Server 2003 or higher and has all kinds of core capacity for managing lists, calendars, alerts and more. In fact, the free portal software would be a great place to publish the schedules in PDF or Excel/HTML formats that we talked about earlier.
Once it’s up and running, maintenance of SharePoint is pretty reasonable.

Document Management. SharePoint also includes document management capabilities, and if we look at the list of things we also wanted to manage here, issues are a list, risks are a list, deadlines are a list of events. It’s true that Microsoft Office Project Server includes these lists already formatted within SharePoint but for a bit of work you can create these lists yourself. If you need a little more in the area of document management, you can always look at one of the document management packages on the market or you could enhance your Windows SharePoint Services to include some basic workflow.

This approach of creating your EPM system out of the parts available to you isn’t appropriate for everyone. You’ll need to balance the benefits of having little change in the tools people use against the benefits that would come from a complete overhaul of the project management process and tools, and the enhanced capacity of working with a large centralized tool. But that being said, you’ve also got to balance the reduced cost of using tools that are already in use within the organization against the challenge of changing a corporate culture, and the user resistance that can result, when a large centralized tool is deployed.

So, can you make a car out of parts? Of course you can. They do it in Detroit every day.

Chris Vandersluis is the founder and president of HMS Software based in Montreal, Canada. He has an economics degree from Montreal’s McGill University and over 22 years experience in the automation of project control systems. He is a long-standing member of both the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and is the founder of the Montreal Chapter of the Microsoft Project Association. Mr. Vandersluis has been published in numerous publications including Fortune Magazine, Heavy Construction News, the Ivey Business Journal, PMI’s PMNetwork and Computing Canada. Mr. Vandersluis has been part of the Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Partner Advisory Council since 2003. He teaches Advanced Project Management at McGill University’s Executive Institute. He can be reached at chrisv@hmssoftware.

A First Look under the Hood of the BA/PM Position Family

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on A First Look under the Hood of the BA/PM Position Family

In the previous article I defined the BA/PM Landscape. That set forth the high-level model of the six positions in the BA/PM Position Family. In this article I’ll set forth the high-level definition of each of those six positions. This will lay a foundation for a more detailed definition of the six positions, a discussion of the skills profile of all six positions and then the details of a BA/PM Professional Development Program. As was the case with the previous article this is my opinion and has not been discussed with any of my business analyst or project manager colleagues.

The responses to the first four articles have been overwhelming. They have been both positive and negative. Being a change management advocate I am pleased with your reactions. My hope is that we can continue the exchange. As always, I welcome opposing positions and the opportunity to engage in public discussions. Your substantive comments are valuable. Criticism is fine and is expected but in the spirit of agile project management so are suggestions for improvement.

I realize that I have taken a controversial position and I do so intentionally. At least I have your attention whether you agree with my position or not.

Professional Development of the BA/PM

In the previous article I offered a first pass at defining the BA/PM position family. Figure1, below, displays the career path for the BA/PM generic position titles. At the Staff Level there are two positions: Team Member followed by Task Manager. Once the staff person has acquired the experience and skills that qualifies them as a professional, they move into the Professional Level as an Associate Manager followed by Senior Manager. At this point there are two separate paths to the Executive Level. The Program Manager position is much like a consultant to the Professional Level positions. The Director position is a people management position. This is a look from a different perspective at the information that was presented in Figure1 of the previous article. With the career path defined, it makes sense to now define the positions themselves.

UnderHood1.png

Figure 1: The BA/PM Position Family

Position Descriptions

First let me clarify my use of the word project. I use it in a very general sense. It refers to business analysis efforts as well as projects not encompassing business analysis activities. At this level the position descriptions need to simultaneously embrace both the project manager and the business analyst. That has put some strain on the choice of language and I beg your patience with that. In time and with the help of BA Times and Project Times readers and others we will converge on the solution.  

Team Member

This is an entry level position into either a project management or business analysis effort.

Key Indicators

  • Relevant two or four year specialized education at entry.
  • May have relevant but limited part time, cooperative education or internship experience. 
  • May have previous experience in a trainee level position outside the BA/PM position family. 
  • Limited experience (12-18 months) in a related position.

Essential Characteristics 

  • Operates within a structured and routinely supervised environment. 
  • After initial training, uses methods, procedures and standards applicable to assigned tasks with less frequent need for direct supervision. 
  • Demonstrates rational and organized approach to tasks. 
  • Has developed sufficient oral and written communication skills for effective dialogue with colleagues and superiors. 
  • Is able to absorb and apply new technical information rapidly when it is systematically presented. 
  • Within a short time horizon, is able to plan, schedule and monitor own work.

Task Manager

This is the upper level staff position for those who are familiar with the scope of their tasks. Task managers do not have responsibility for projects. Their responsibility extends to tasks within a project. They may have team members assigned to these tasks and may receive guidance and supervision from the task manager. It is distinguished from the team member position by the depth and complexity of the technical knowledge base covered, and the extent to which supervision is required. This position implies a high degree of accountability for self-controlled work. It may include a guidance role for the less experienced team members assigned to their task.

Key Indicators 

  • Fully trained Team Member. 
  • Relevant experience in a related position (2-4 years).

Essential Characteristics 

  • Depending on the scope and complexity of the work, operates within a largely unsupervised environment but within a clear accountability framework. 
  • Is familiar with, uses effectively, and can select appropriately from applicable methods, procedures and standards. 
  • Is able to function effectively and productively, and meet time and quality targets across tasks within scope, using available tools, methodologies and/or equipment with reference to others only by exception. 
  • Can assume team leader responsibilities for the work of less skilled professionals. 
  • Demonstrates both formal and informal communications ability; orally and in writing, when dealing with all colleagues and clients. 
  • Is able to rapidly absorb new technical information as required. 
  • Demonstrates a systematic, disciplined and analytical approach to problem solving. 
  • Has a good appreciation of the wider field outside his/her own specialization and has developed a good broad understanding of computer systems and techniques. 
  • Understands how the specific role relates to the relevant are of employment, to its clients and to the employing business as a whole.

Associate Manager

This is the lower of two levels in the professional category. It will normally be achieved after clear evidence is available of full competence in a specialized role. At this level, full technical accountability for work done and decisions made is expected. The ability to give technical or team leadership will have been demonstrated as well as a high degree of technical versatility and broad industry knowledge. Will often manage major parts of projects and be responsible to the project manager or have project management responsibility for simple projects.

Key Indicators 

  • 12-18 months experience as a task manager. 
  • Recognized as a professional by their peers. 
  • Is capable of successfully managing simple projects.
  • Does not have direct management responsibility for staff.

Essential Characteristics 

  • Takes responsibility either for substantial technical decision-making or for teams of staff. If the latter, demonstrates the basic qualities associated with team leadership and project management. 
  • Is thoroughly familiar with the available tools, methods, procedures and/or equipment associated with specialization. Possesses adequate technical depth to make correct choices from alternatives in all areas. 
  • Is able to apply selected tools and techniques in such a way as to meet set targets of cost, time, quality and performance. 
  • Is able to communicate effectively, both formally and informally, with all those with whom working interfaces arise, whether they are colleagues, clients or customers. 
  • Shows initiative and makes time available to ensure general competencies are up to date and in line with the development of the individual. 
  • Possesses a clear understanding of the relationship of any specialized role to the context in which the work is carried out. More generally, this understanding applies to the employer’s business and the needs of those who will use the end product.

Senior Manager

This is the upper of two levels in the professional category. It will normally be achieved after 2-4 years experience as an associate manager and clear evidence is available of full competence in a specialized role. At this level, full technical accountability for work done and decisions made is expected. The ability to give technical or team leadership will have been demonstrated, as well as a high degree of technical versatility and broad industry knowledge. Will manage complex projects and often be responsible for managing the activities of associate managers who function as sub-project managers.

Key Indicators

  • 2-4 years experience in an associate manager position. 
  • Recognized as a professional by their peers. 
  • Is capable of successfully managing complex projects. 
  • Will often have direct management responsibility for project staff.

Essential Characteristics 

  • Has demonstrated a basic understanding of the consulting role and has acted in such capacity as requested. 
  • Demonstrates mastery of the qualities associated with team leadership and project management. 
  • Is thoroughly familiar with the available tools, methods, procedures and/or equipment associated with specialization. Possesses adequate technical depth to make correct choices from alternatives in all these areas. 
  • Is able to apply selected tools and techniques in such a way as to meet set targets of cost, time, quality and performance. 
  • Is able to communicate effectively both formally and informally with all those with whom working interfaces arise whether they are colleagues, clients or customers. 
  • Shows initiative and makes time available to ensure general competencies are up to date and in line with the development of the individual. 
  • Possesses a clear understanding of the relationship of any specialized role to the context in which the work is carried out. More generally, this understanding applies to the employer’s business and the needs of those who will use the end product.

Program Manager

This position represents the level associated with the mature, relevantly experienced and fully capable professional. Such a person is fully accountable for work quality as a technical specialist. He/she possesses the background knowledge and experience to make informed and responsible decisions, which are both technically sound and take the needs of the organization fully into account. They will be expected to advise and coach professional level staff and are respected for their ability to do that.

Key Indicators 

  • No or very limited consulting experience at entry. 
  • Has previous experience offering informal advice and support to less qualified professionals. 
  • Has some peer recognition in a defined area of expertise. 
  • Usually works under the direction of a more senior consultant.

Essential Characteristics 

  • Has defined responsibility for all technical decision-making within the scope of specialization. In so doing is expected to recognize and take appropriate action with respect to any safety-related applications within scope. 
  • Shows mature qualities of leadership in meeting targets of time, cost, quality and performance within projects of substantial value to his/her employer. 
  • Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with subordinates, colleagues, clients and customers at all levels of seniority. 
  • Shows mature understanding of the relationship of his/her specialization and/or project responsibilities to the undertaking as a whole. Is able to propose solutions within the scope of his/her expertise. 
  • Shows initiative and makes time available to ensure general competencies are kept up to date in line with industry developments.

Director

This is the most senior management level position in the BA/PM Position Family It is the level occupied by the most senior manager of a business function or unit in organizations where operating effectiveness (and possibly survival) is heavily dependent on the function or unit and where large numbers of practitioners are deployed. A wide and deep practical knowledge base is called for, accompanied by mature management qualities.

Key Indicators 

  • Director of a critical business unit or function in a large organization. 
  • Frequently will have visibility and direct contact at the board level. 
  • Advises and leads the organization in strategic initiatives within their area of responsibility.

Essential Characteristics 

  • Has defined responsibility and authority for decision-making or an advisory function having a direct bearing on the work of a business unit or major function. In carrying out these responsibilities, recognizes and ensures that all appropriate actions are taken with respect to any safety-related applications within scope. 
  • Has a technical background of sufficient depth and breadth to be able to recognize and successfully exploit opportunities for effective development or usage of their area of expertise, and lead and manage fully experienced reporting managers. 
  • Demonstrates a high level of presentation skills applicable to all levels of audience. 
  • Plays a senior role in formulating strategy and policy. 
  • Has specific management responsibility for a specialized activity, which normally includes full budgetary and policy implementation authority for a significant overall function, or a significant segment of a larger unit.

Putting It All Together

Obviously this is a work in progress. I have participated in the development of similar structures for the IT professional but not for the BA/PM professional (or PM/BA if you prefer). Much remains to be done. I welcome a partner from the BA side to work with me in this challenging and valuable pursuit. It is my hope that I have launched this effort in a direction that ultimately will make sense across the entire BA and PM professional landscape. I would certainly like to hear your thoughts on the BA/PM professional or PM/BA professional, if you prefer. I’m sure we could have a lively discussion. I promise to respond personally to every email and to incorporate your thoughts in succeeding articles. You may reach me directly at [email protected].

Robert K. Wysocki, Ph.D., has over 40 years experience as a project management consultant and trainer, information systems manager, systems and management consultant, author, training developer and provider. He has written fourteen books on project management and information systems management. One of his books, Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme,3rd Edition, has been a best seller and is recommended by the Project Management Institute for the library of every project manager. He has over 30 publications in professional and trade journals and has made more than 100 presentations at professional and trade conferences and meetings. He has developed more than 20 project management courses and trained over 10,000 project managers.