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From Good to Bloody Excellent

Written by Ilya Bogorad on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on From Good to Bloody Excellent

In the last month’s piece, I outlined my vision for a highly successful PMO. The question that no doubt has arisen in the mind of many a PMO leader is: “This is all very nice, but how does one get there?”

Fair comment! As a consultant, I deal with this question often. My clients expect me to not only develop a vision and a strategy, but also to translate them into tangible, actionable items. So, this is what they get.

As a rule, transitioning of a PMO requires executive sponsorship, for at least five reasons:

  • Changes to the PMO model often have structural implications, meaning that people may be hired or let go, reporting lines may change and job responsibilities altered.
  • There are often financial (budgetary) implications.
  • Change management should include communication at appropriate levels. The message often needs to come from upstairs.
  • Left to their own devices, organizations naturally resist change. Executive support is usually necessary to provide for requisite impetus. (There are other ways in which a change may occur. See, for example, Warren Bennis’s Why Leaders Cannot Lead).
  • A successful transition, while providing significant value to the organization, would go unrewarded if it flies below the executive radar.

As a reminder, my vision contained five key factors:

  • Appropriate PMO model
  • Competency
  • Business acumen and business alignment
  • Presence
  • Innovation

Of the five factors, choice of the appropriate PMO model is the one where a generic can potentially be extremely harmful. A careful yet swift analysis is appropriate to determine the most relevant configuration. Usually, there is a choice of options. The confines of this posting do not allow expanding on this topic to the extent it deserves, but a couple of thoughts need to be shared.

First of all, the culture of the organization, its strategy, typical projects and reporting relationships need to be considered. For example, organizations with a high degree of initiative, engaged workforce and a culture of innovation may be good candidates for a decentralized PMO. By that I mean an entity which promotes project management practices across the enterprise, provides portfolio management support and enables project managers through provisioning of tools, techniques, coaching and mentoring.

Second, there is nothing sacrilegious in adopting a multiple PMO model in organizations consisting of business units with unique needs, disparate risk tolerances and unique cultures.

The good news is the rest of the factors in my vision are dependant on development of the business acumen and achieving of business alignment. It drives the development of the core competencies within the PMO in the direction dictated by the needs of the business. It develops the sense of presence by instilling the trust towards the PMO. In turn, trust develops when PMO staff is heard and seen speaking and acting with full understanding and in the best interests of the business. The last point, innovation, flourishes and becomes much more relevant to the business because it is guided by the framework of business needs.

So, how can a PMO leader advance the business acumen of the organization? This must be an expensive proposition!

Here are a few steps that come at no or little cost and help achieve dramatic positive change.

  1. Develop communication skills and promote cross-learning through frequent staff presentations to peers on best practices.
  2. Frequently discuss business environment, priorities, the company’s strategy, recent events and other business topics with your staff. Don’t assume they’re familiar with terms and concepts. Educate, share, and ask for their opinions.
  3. Promote the culture of openness and transparency, and encourage questions about business decisions. In the absence of such culture, people tend to develop their own, often incorrect, interpretation, or just declare the decision “stupid.”
  4. Invite heads or senior staff of other departments to come and speak to PMO staff about their respective functions, the work they are engaged in, current priorities and concerns. Such sessions are very effective in promoting mutual understanding and awareness.
  5. Hire a coach who will work with you and your staff (athletes have them, and so do successful organizations). For a modest investment, you’ll be able to dramatically improve your learning process.
  6. Hold “open door” events and invite the rest of organization to see the PMO from inside. This will promote trust, appreciation, and understanding.
  7. Invite guest experts to speak on a variety of business topics, from how to read financial statements to what marketing is all about. Invite other departments and split the expense.
  8. Adopt the “train the trainer” model: send one person on a course and have him or her teach this same subject internally.
  9. Read good business press relevant to your location and industry, forward to your staff, and instigate insightful discussion.

There is no excuse for not doing this today.

Hug a Business Analyst Today!

Written by Mike Morton on . Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on Hug a Business Analyst Today!

As I sit on this flight from Sydney, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand I am thinking about the Business Analysts I met in Sydney and Melbourne and that I am about to meet in Wellington at two day symposiums I am running for BAs in each city.

These folks are really struggling – for recognition, for job security, for a well defined career path and for a recognized set of defined core competencies.

Most of their organizations are just now figuring out what a BA is and can do but unfortunately this recognition is limited to a few departments or individuals. Most of their peers have not got a clue what they do.

If you are a project manager working on construction, engineering or any other large capital project, it’s not a problem. You have your architects, you appreciate them and you support them. Thank you.

But all other PMs reading this – it is time to wake up and realize how valuable a BA can be to you. I am declaring this to be ‘Hug a Business Analyst Day’ – actually let’s make it ‘Hug a Business Analyst Month”!

If you want good, solid, detailed specs for your project, find a BA. If you want to work on a project that has complete customer sign-off before you even get on the scene, find a BA. If you want to walk into an environment that all stakeholders have defined, consulted and stroked, find a BA. If you want a ‘partner’ on your project to help you when everything changes in mid stream, find a BA!

Business analysts are out there, and every IT and non-IT business project needs one. Not every project will get one – but they need one! BAs are being educated; they have conferences to go to; they have their own association(s) to belong to; a body of knowledge or two, and a few certification programs to aspire to.

For years you have been complaining about lousy customer specifications, weak links to the stakeholders and no blueprints whatsoever. Well, here’s your answer. They are called Business Analysts (BA), Business Systems Analysts (BSA), Requirements Managers, Systems Analysts and many, many more titles – but they all mean roughly the same thing. They will tell you exactly what you are to build. Nice!

And by the way, if you can’t afford a BA, maybe you should take a few BA courses to be able to help yourself.

Enterprise Project Management In Volatile Economic Times

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 5 Comments on Enterprise Project Management In Volatile Economic Times

Editor’s Comments

Here we are already with the second Summer ProjectTimes and, as usual, we have some articles and blogs that we feel sure will give you food for thought and plenty to discuss with colleagues.


 


  • What is Your Rate? In his monthly blog, Andrew Miller is concerned that a PM’s hourly rates are viewed as being more important than skills and ability and he’s worried that this focus will affect project outcomes.
  • The Right Amount of Documentation in our Projects. Our other blogger, Mike Lecky, discusses the balance between properly documenting activities of the project and delivering on time, on budget, and on scope.
  • Project Management is Free! Wayne Brantley takes a whimsical look at projects. Then he does the math and, taking everything into account, maybe the idea isn’t quite as whimsical as it at first seems.
  • EPM in a Foreclosure Economy. Chris Vandersluis muses about how the project management industry responds in a recession vs. a boom economy. He’s been through a few booms and busts and he considers the outcomes in this issue
  • An Examination of BA and PM Skills Profiles. In this article we continue with Bob Wysocki’s thoughtful series about the roles of the PM and BA and how they interlink. These articles first appeared in BusinessAnalystTimes.

We hope you enjoy this new batch of articles and blogs, and that you’ll also take time to listen in to some of our podcasts. As always, please give us your input so we can do better in the future.

An Examination of BA and PM Skills Profiles

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 9 Comments on An Examination of BA and PM Skills Profiles

In the previous article I set the stage for additional comments on the inevitability of the morphing of the business analyst (BA) and project manager (PM) into a single professional that I labeled the ”BA/PM” for lack of an appropriate position title. Requirements gathering and management was the thread in that article that inextricably links the BA and the PM in the Agile Project World.

In this article I want to look under the hood of this new professional that I am calling a BA/PM. Using the PMI PMBOK and the IIBA BABOK I will list the skill and knowledge profiles of the BA and the PM. A comparison of those two profiles will show remarkable similarity between the two. This should come as no surprise to anyone and will further support the creation of the BA/PM professional, at least in the agile project space if not the entire project space..

My hope is that I will have captured your interest and attention enough for you to share your thoughts and ideas whether you agree with me or not. I welcome opposing positions and the opportunity to engage in public discussions.

BA and PM Skills and Competencies
The following table presents a high-level comparison of the skills and knowledge of the BA and the PM as derived from the BABOK and the PMBOK.

Is it any surprise that the two lists are nearly similar? From the perspective of the BA all of their work is done as part of a project and so they must have all the skills of a PM to match the complexity of the projects they manage. From the perspective of the PM, not all of their projects will have a BA component but they must have at least a working knowledge of the BA skills.

Assessing Proficiency Levels
Once a BA/PM position family is in place, the BABOK and PMBOK columns will be replaced with the position family, and the column check marks will be replaced by the minimum proficiency levels as defined by Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is shown below:

Level 0:
Level 1:
1
2
Level 2:
1
2
3
Level 3:
4
5
6
7
Level 4:
8
9
10
11
12
13
Level 5:
14
15
16
17
18
Level 6:
19
20
21
22
23

I never heard of it.
I can define it.
Familiar with the terminology
Understands the basic concepts
I understand what it can do.
Knows how it is used
Can explain key issues and benefits
Understands organizational relevance
I have limited hands-on experience.
Has a working knowledge of basic features and functions
Aware of relevant standards, policies and practices
Requires assistance and supervision
Can apply it in a limited (homogeneous) environment
I have extensive hands-on experience.
Knowledge of operational issues and considerations
Understanding of benefits and drawbacks
Working knowledge of relationships and integration
In-depth knowledge of major features, functions and facilities
Awareness of usage in other environments
Can work without assistance or supervision
I can adapt it to a variety of situations.
Theoretical background and understanding
Expertise in all major features, functions and facilities
Experience in multiple environments (heterogeneous)
Knowledge of and contribution to “best practices”
Ability to consult and coach others
I am recognized as an expert by my peers.
Extensive experience in multiple/complex environments
Industry and marketplace perspective
Historical and future perspective
Influencing wide or high-impact decisions and initiatives
Leadership on architecture, policies, strategy and “best practices”

In order to be proficient at say, level 4, there must be visible evidence that the 10th through 15th behavioral characteristics are present in the person’s work habits. Neither the BABOK nor the PMBOK offer enough detail to assign a minimum proficiency level to each skill. Until there is a standard BA/PM position family, the need for a skill is just noted without a proficiency level assigned. In constructing this table, I started with the PM skills profile I developed, beginning with PMBOK and factoring in client contact for the past 20 years, and supplemented it with added skills and knowledge as noted in BABOK.

Professional Development of the BA/PM
With the need for the BA/PM professional firmly established let’s take a quick look at the BA/PM professional development program. The first piece of this puzzle is to define the BA/PM position family. Neither BABOK nor PMBOK has anything to contribute to defining the BA or PM position family. Here is my first take on that definition.

  • BA/PM Team Member
  • BA/PM Task Manager
  • BA/PM Associate Manager
  • BA/PM Senior Manager
  • BA/PM Program Manager
  • BA/PM Director

I intend to define these more precisely in a subsequent article and to suggest a professional development program structure for consideration.

Putting It All Together
I would certainly like to hear your thoughts on the BA/PM professional. 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.

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,3nd 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.

EPM in a Foreclosure Economy

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on EPM in a Foreclosure Economy

“How are you doing?” I asked one of my American colleagues from the IT industry recently. I hadn’t seen her in a year.

“We’re working in a ‘foreclosure economy’,” she replied.

She was talking about the challenging economic times that have hit much of the US and how difficult it can make technology sales. It made me think about how the project management industry responds in a recession vs. a boom economy. I’ve been in the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) software business now since the early 80s, so I’ve seen a couple of boom and bust cycles come and go. It’s very interesting to see how EPM can sell in both good times and bad times.

In good times, EPM is attractive to companies that are enjoying rapid growth. We can look back to the very first large scale project management systems during the cold war and see how different countries’ defense departments’ multi-billion dollar budgets fueled the desire to innovate and manufacture faster in the defense sector. In the 70s during the last “oil crisis” we’d have typically thought of the economy as being in a terrible state. Yet, project management at the enterprise level flourished with the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Artemis, one of the first project management tools made for a mini-computer owed a lot of its growth to companies drilling for, delivering and refining oil.

The challenging economy of the early 80s saw the explosion of use of PC-based project tools. Suddenly, tools that had only been available at tremendously high cost were being adopted by organizations trying to be the most efficient possible.

The tech boom of the late 90s saw project management tools used at a corporate level to try to overcome a tremendous shortage in the tech world, and to organize the billions being spent by venture capital firms for whom time-to-market was the critical success factor. In the “tech-bust” of the first half of this decade, project management sales continued to grow at a furious pace as technical organizations tried to survive by being the most efficient possible.

So, how does a ‘foreclosure economy’, affect the EPM industry?

First of all, we have to think about what happens in a challenged economy. There are a couple of things to think about.

First, it’s common that if one part of the economy is challenged, another is booming. I’m in Houston, Texas as I write this article and the economy here is heavily oriented around the oil industry. Needless to say, with $150/barrel oil, the economy is doing rather nicely overall in Texas. In Canada, we see some hard-hit sectors in the manufacturing sector, yet the Alberta oil patch is seeing record income. So, one of the ways the EPM and the EPM systems industry can react to this economy is to follow the money, and it does. There are many deployments of project management tools in the oil industry and its offshoots right now and a growth business at the moment is to be able to offer a turnkey project management environment for organizations which cannot afford the time to train themselves in the methodology or the tools, yet want the benefits. That’s low-hanging fruit for the EPM and EPM software industry.

Next, where the economy is doing poorly, organizations will attempt a couple of things to survive. Profit is a simple algorithm: revenue – costs = profit and companies need to look at both sides of the equation to see where they can get the best situation possible for themselves. Ultimately it’s about being the most efficient possible.

Cutting Costs

The first and most obvious place a company can improve profits is by cutting costs. Project management systems can play a huge part in this. Our own TimeControl timesheet business here at HMS has seen a number of companies implementing enterprise timesheets for activity-based-costing as a way to identify what employees are working on. There are a number of questions an enterprise timesheet system can answer:

  • Are employees spending too much time in unproductive meetings?
  • Are they spending too much time on corporate reports?
  • What is the ratio of project-productive vs. non-project-unproductive time?
  • Where can we use our own employees instead of contractors for work?
  • What projects are the most costly?

Some organizations can realize huge savings by redirecting their staff to more productive work.

Increasing Revenue through Better Competition

It’s an often-said truism that ‘no company ever cost-cut its way to growth.’ If a company wants to improve its bottom line, it needs to work not only on the cost side but also the revenue side. But, in a challenged economy isn’t there often less revenue to go around? Indeed. So, if you can’t grow the size of the pie, the only way to grow your revenue is to have a bigger slice. That means being measurably more competitive. EPM is often used to help companies become more competitive. With good project management practices and the systems that support them, an organization can improve on its estimates or bids through a reiterative planning process. It can bid lower by having more efficient processes and it can deliver more projects by optimizing its throughput. Project management is, in the end, about being more efficient and in a challenged economy, the most efficient survives, the least efficient does not.

Getting Benefits
There are often benefits which are government sponsored and only available if you are applying good business practices like using an enterprise timesheet system or enterprise project management. Research and Development Tax Credits are a good example. These programs insist that the companies who apply have a managed project plan, that hours are tracked against the plan and that accounting balances the payroll, the project plan, the timesheets and the tax return to all match. That takes enterprise systems for project management and project-based timesheets.

Improving Portfolio Selection
I remember being at a large aerospace manufacturer years ago and asking why their commitment to EPM was so low. “We are the only source for this product,” said one arrogant staff member. “The clients will darned well wait until we’re ready to deliver no matter how long that takes.” In an economy that’s booming so hard you don’t need to be efficient, an organization will feel comfortable accepting all kinds of business even if it is disruptive to other clients, if it is marginally profitable or if it is outside their core competency. That’s just not the case in a challenged economy. In a challenged economy, it’s critical to make sure you’re taking on the projects you can be most successful with. That means putting in the effort to identify the business drivers that make the business successful, creating metrics to measure the association of prospective projects against those drivers, and deploying a process that ensures that project selection results in a mix of projects that are best for the organization. That’s portfolio selection in a nutshell and it’s perhaps no surprise that PPM or Project Portfolio Management and selection are one of the hottest concepts in our industry today. If you can choose the right projects, then the organization’s ability to deliver on projects more effectively is assured.

“It’s the economy stupid” was the phrase that Bill Clinton coined during his first successful presidential campaign. It’s no accident that this campaign slogan was revived just this week in American politics. In a challenging economy, those of us in the EPM business can be just as successful as during a boom economy if we keep our focus on making organizations as effective as possible.

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.