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Looking for Inspiration in 2008

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 6 Comments on Looking for Inspiration in 2008

Editor’s Comments

Isn’t it the way of the world that we’re always looking for inspiration, that unexpected thought that seems to come like a bolt from the blue. In 10 Ways to Inspire Your Team, Michelle LaBrosse says that Inspiration comes, not from vision and mission statements, but from example and gives some practical primers on how you can inspire your team.

At some time, you’ve probably asked yourself or been asked by others, “what is a project management office? And, depending on the organization, it could mean many different things. Ian Gittens knows that the PMO can have many different titles, with many different functions. In Creating a Successful Project Management Office, he examines the different roles and expectations that term project management office conjures up.

We have a new blogger this month, Ilya Bogorad, who joins David Barrett and Claude Emond with their views on many of the changing issues in our business. We hope you find their comments interesting and food for thought. Also, take a look at our Forums and add your comments to those we’ve received already.

Finally, it remains to wish everybody a successful, prosperous and happy 2008 and to say we hope that this issue of Project Times will inspire you to keep coming back.

Creating a Successful Project Management Office

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on Creating a Successful Project Management Office

What is a Project Management Office?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) states that a Project Office may operate on a continuum from providing support functions to project managers in the form of training, software, templates, etc., to actually being responsible for the results of projects. Project Management Office (PMO) is one name used for this business function. Other names include:

  • Project Office (PO), 
  • Project Control Office (PCO), 
  • Central Project Office (CPO), and 
  • Project Support Office (PSO).

Depending on the organization, the role of the PMO might be to provide an infrastructure for centralized status and budget reporting, providing training and mentoring in project management best practices, creation of methodology templates for use by project managers, and / or completion of projects from inception to benefits realization.

Creating a Successful PMO

ust like building a house, to create a successful PMO, a solid foundation is required. One of the key building blocks for establishing and maintaining a viable PMO is continued executive support. All the templates and methodology in the world will not help you if you can’t get the main sponsors to realize the benefits of a PMO. With this support in place, the PMO can begin to initiate change in the organization.

The next big hurdle is to communicate the PMO mandate beyond the executives. The ability to provide business value and having a clear mandate are two ways to ensure the organization at large understands the importance of the PMO objective. Once this is demonstrated business departments should understand and appreciate what the PMO brings to the table.

Another hurdle to overcome, is removing the control stigma from the PMO. People often associate a PMO with the gathering of status data and providing methodology templates. In some organizations the PMO fulfills an internal audit role for status and budget tracking, this is not an appropriate use of PMO resources. In order to provide the most benefits to the organization, the PMO should be providing the methodology used to measure project manager performance. The actual measurement should be conducted by the organization’s internal audit department, and should not be part of the PMO mandate.

To ensure your PMO is providing value to the organization and the business departments it services, it’s also important to complete projects from inception to benefits realization. Too many PMO departments are guilty of providing only administrative and support functions for project managers. When the budget belt needs to be tightened, if the PMO has demonstrated its value to the organization by completing strategic high- risk projects, it should withstand any organizational restructuring.

One of the PMO responsibilities is to develop the organization’s project methodology, including the project templates. The true measure of a good PMO is whether it can “eat its own cooking”, actually using the templates it creates in PMO managed projects. This way the PMO can get a first hand account of how useful its tools and methodologies are to the organization, and how they can be improved.

The measurement of the benefits realized per project, and how those benefits align to the organization’s strategic objectives, is an important contribution the PMO can make. The focus here is on portfolio management. Do the completed projects contribute to the bottom line? Project benefits should be aligned to the organization’s strategic goals. PMO portfolio management provides the mechanism for evaluation of the overall portfolio health. This will be a key input to executive project prioritization decision- making.

With this foundation in place, a successful PMO can be established and can play a key role in building a successful organization.

Ian Gittens, PMP, is a senior consultant with SPM Group Ltd. specializing in project fulfillment, methodology development, project portfolio management, business process reengineering, change enablement, and the development and implementation of project management infrastructure. Ian has 20 years’ experience in project management, business analysis, and application development, supporting multiple customers such as financial institutions, third party logistics providers, distribution organizations, high-tech manufacturers and retail organizations from APAC, EMEA and the Americas. His past responsibilities have included program management of regulatory and compliance initiatives and enterprise resource planning technology implementations for various business verticals. Ian can be reached at [email protected], or 416-485-1584 X 243

10 Ways to Inspire Your Team

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on 10 Ways to Inspire Your Team

Inspire. Just the word itself causes us to pause and think. We may remember our own personal heroes like Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa or a teacher or mentor who brought out the best in us and showed us the power of one person.

It’s easy in business to get cynical when we’re surrounded by what I like to call “faux inspiration.” I’m talking about the corporate posters with motivational sayings that are easy to spoof when the actions of management don’t reflect the glossy images and quotations.

In my experience, inspiration comes from example. As Albert Einstein said: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” So, that means we all have the power to inspire others by our actions. As project managers, you’re in a prime position to inspire your team. Here are 10 ways to get you started.

  1. Have a clear goal with a reasonable approach to achieve it

    Shooting for stars may work for you when you’re developing your personal goals, but when you’re inspiring a team, people need to be able to clearly see how they are going to get from point A to point B – and believe that it’s possible.
  2. Be enthusiastic about each person’s contributions

    Remember how good it felt when a teacher recognized your contribution? You glowed all day and nearly flew home. It costs nothing to tell people how they’re doing. Recognizing what they’re doing well, and also giving ideas on how they can work even better, goes a long way.
  3. Wear your blue hat and leave the black hat at home

    You may have played the game where you wear different hats to assume different roles. The black hat starts with the negatives and tells you everything that’s going wrong. This is the person who can kill idea generation in any meeting. When you’re inspiring a team, wear the blue hat. See the possibility and opportunity in every challenge. Begin with what is working and then build on it.

  4. Focus on the strengths of each person

    One of the biggest myths in business is to focus on weaknesses instead of building strengths. It’s a backward way to approach problem solving – like fitting the proverbial square peg into the round hole. It’s faster and more effective to focus on the strengths of your team members and develop them. Not only will you see results faster, you’ll also have a happier team because people are doing what they’re good at and contributing at their highest level.
  5. Clear hurdles like a Super Hero

    How do you get your team to feel like rock stars? Think like Superman and clear any hurdles that are in their way. When you remove obstacles, you show your team that you’ve got their back.

  6. Get the slackers off the team

    Nothing brings down a team like slackers. When people aren’t pulling their weight, it lowers the standards of everyone and makes it seem like quality doesn’t matter. When you remove people who aren’t performing, it improves morale because it shows your team that you’re serious about the best results.
  7. Roll up your sleeves

    When you work with the team in the areas where you can contribute, you send a strong message because your actions show that you are part of the team.

  8. Acknowledge people’s contributions every week

    Many managers make the mistake of recognizing people once a year. Recognition isn’t a holiday. It should be a regular part of your team dynamic. Take the time every week to tell people how they’ve contributed to the team.
  9. Be the model of accountability you want to drive through your team

    If you’re telling people to be accountable while not meeting your own deadlines, it doesn’t take too long for the eyes to roll. Keep your team inspired by keeping your commitments to them and meeting every milestone.

  10. Show and communicate your progress

    Don’t make the mistake of doing project updates only at milestones. Communicate the progress of the project every week to make sure you’re on track.

And inside every one of these steps, add one key ingredient: Fun! Whether it’s a quick team-building exercise during a milestone meeting or an inside joke that has come to define your team, give people every reason to laugh out loud and let the sound of laughter inspire your team to be the best they can be.

Michelle LaBrosse is the founder of Cheetah Learning. An international expert on accelerated learning and project management, she has grown Cheetah Learning into the market leader for project management training and professional development. In 2006, The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, selected Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world, and only one of two women selected from the training and education industry. Michelle is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner & President Management program for entrepreneurs, and is the author of Cheetah Project Management and Cheetah Negotiations.

If Perceptions Are Everything

Written by Mike Lecky on . Posted in Articles. 8 Comments on If Perceptions Are Everything

Mike Lecky’s Monthly Blog

When an artist paints a picture of a pond, we can look at it and see reflections of the shore on the water. If we can’t see the actual shore, then our only view of it is in the reflections. As a result, our perception of the shoreline may differ from what is actually there. A smooth, polished surface reflects true details, whereas rough waters prevent important detail from shining through.

I think you get where I’m going with this.

Recently I’ve done some work linking project risk management to information security risk assessments and enterprise risk management. An article in the November issue of PM Network magazine caught my attention. In her article entitled “It’s a Fine Line” Susan Ladika takes on the issue of how perceptions can affect project success.

One comment in the article resonates with me. It is that project managers need to “figure out what stakeholders perceive as success – and find a way to make the project live up to those expectations”.

This couldn’t be truer. If there is one thing a project manager is entrusted with it is the success of the project. We have wonderful processes, tools and best practices at our disposal. We’re full of knowledge on how to deliver on time, on budget and on scope. But no matter how closely we track to plan or deliver according to documented objectives, it’s what the stakeholders think that counts.

It’s the same with a company’s customers. Their perceptions are important. We’re all aware of how security breaches at major corporations have resulted in leaks of customers’ personal information. At the corporate governance level, this is dealt with by enterprise risk management programs. After all, what company, breached or not, would want its customers thinking their personal information was not safe? It’s like in the early part of the last century when people incorrectly thought their money might not be secure at the bank. A rumor would fester and, true or not, there’d be a run on the bank. Everyone would run to withdraw their cash and the bank would go under, whether it was in trouble or not. It’s a clear example of how perceptions, not factual information, can drive a failure.

Is taking a risk-based approach to managing perceptions starting to sound like a good idea?

When we analyze and assess risks, we develop a clearer understanding of the vulnerabilities of the project and the potential impacts of threats. We do this so we can make informed decisions on what to do about it. If an incorrect perception threatens the success of any part of the project, it behooves us to investigate and take action before it festers. Likewise, if negative perceptions already exist, why is this so? Perhaps there really is a problem.

Project managers need to test the pond water for smoothness and ensure the right perceptions are given off. Managing perceptions as a risk category is worth considering.

 

Mike Lecky is a consultant at The Manta Group, a management consulting company specializing in IT governance, Project and Portfolio Management, Service Management, Risk and Compliance. Mike has degrees from the University of Waterloo (BScEng), The University of Western Ontario (MBA) and the University of Liverpool (MScIT). He worked for 12 years in aerospace electronics and as a Project Engineer managed several general aviation and US Military contracts. He teaches project management online with the School of Applied Technology at Humber College. Now, with over 25 years experience, he is a PMP and an information security professional (CISSP) and has a broad range of program and technology implementation experiences in the high tech and service sectors. Mike can be reached at [email protected].

How to Describe a Great Steering Committee in One Word: Accountability

Written by Andrew Miller on . Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on How to Describe a Great Steering Committee in One Word: Accountability

Andrew Miller’s Monthly Blog

I am sure that we have all been on projects that have reported to Steering Committees, probably most of us on more than one project like that. So what makes a good steering committee? Firstly, we need to remember the purpose of a steering committee. It is not to provide operational support; it is not to provide daily advice. It is to provide strategic direction for the project and the organization, and to act as an escalation point for decision-making.

Of course, the make-up of the steering committee is important. You want a solid mix of Finance, HR and Operations, complementary personalities, and a strong chair. It is also important to ensure that there is an even make-up of representatives, if the project encompasses multiple organizations. It is even important that the steering committee meet regularly. However, it is most important that the steering committee has accountability for the success of the project. This does not mean that they are responsible for tracking the daily progress of the project, but it does mean that they will do whatever they can to support and ensure its success.

How can we ensure steering committee accountability? Firstly, we need to ensure that the steering committee has a direct line to the project team, so that information is passed accurately back and forth. I think it is imperative that your project manager be a member of the steering committee in order to hear the discussions and decision-making process, and to take that back to the daily management of the project. It will make it that much easier for the PM to make the steering committee’s vision come true. Secondly, steering committee members should have something for which they are responsible. That can be in the form of a particular area of the project (finance, operations, HR, etc.) or it can be a particular phase of the project. This responsibility ensures two things: that most of the major project ideas are reviewed by a steering committee member before being presented to the other members; and that the Steering Committee member update his or her peers, giving the ideas and the updates immediate credibility.

I realize that this adds workload onto people who are already busy enough, but it is a sure way to increase the likelihood of success on a project.

 

Andrew Miller is President of ACM Consulting Inc. (www.acmconsulting.ca), a company that provides supply chain and project management solutions. Andrew is PMP certified and has led a variety of clients through complex systems implementations and organizational changes. He is an Instructor of the Procurement and Contracting course, part of the Masters Certificate in Project Management program through the Schulich School of Business Executive Education Centre (SEEC) in Toronto. Andrew has an International MBA from the Schulich School of Business with majors in Logistics and Marketing. He can be reached at [email protected].