Tag: Program Management

Strategic Project Selection

Written by Mark Romanelli on February 8, 2019. Posted in Articles. 17 Comments on Strategic Project Selection

As project management professionals, we spend a lot of time sharpening our PM tools and mastering the techniques needed to handle all types of projects.

That same level of structure and consideration can also be applied to selecting projects for organizations. Not every project is a good idea. In the best of cases, we might have several good projects to select from. By applying a structured approach to project selection, project managers can increase the chances of selecting potentially successful projects with the most positive organizational impacts.

The Need for Strategic Project Selection

All organizations operate under limitations. In an ideal situation, organizational leadership could initiate an unlimited number of projects in order to create a multitude of outcome benefits. Unfortunately, resources are limited. Time, financing, human resources, material, and skills are just a few of the top items on a long list of constrained organizational resources. The constraints of the organization force choices in all areas of operation, including project selection. There simply isn’t enough of what is needed to go around and undertake every potential project.

Because of these limitations, project selection needs to be approached in a structured, strategic way. The goal should be to select projects with the most benefit to the organization; the greatest efficiency for the resources used. Exactly what that means will be different for every organization. It may even change depending on a given situation. By having a number of different selection tools and techniques at our disposal, we will be in a better position to select the best projects to undertake.

Seven Techniques for Structured Project Selection

There are lots of ways to decide on which projects to select. Here are seven basic techniques for picking projects to undertake. All of the methods listed here can be used alone, or in combination with other techniques.

Financial Analysis

Sometimes, the decision on which project to select comes down to only one thing – money. When this is the case, projects should be selected based on which option creates the most financial benefit for the organization.

Fortunately, there are several various financial analysis tools that can be used to determine which project provides the most benefit. Two of the most common are Return on Investment (ROI) and Payback Period. ROI is a direct measure of the return of capital produced by a project relative to the amount of capital spent on or invested in a project. ROI is calculated with the following equation:

ROI = (Gain from Investment – Investment Cost) / Investment Cost

The higher the return on investment, the more desirable the project.

The payback period of a project examines how long a project will take in order to recover the amount of capital invested. It asks the question; how long will it take for a project to generate enough income to pay for itself? The simplest calculation for payback period is to divide the amount of capital invested in the project by the amount generated (or saved) by the project per period of time (months, years, etc.). Using payback period, the project with the shortest time to recover invested capital should be selected.

Additional examinations covering a wide range of complexities can be used to select among multiple project options. In the majority of cases, project selection comes down to the idea that projects selected have an opportunity cost. The capital invested in a project could also be invested in other projects. Deciding which opportunity to select, based on financial analysis alone, should provide the best possible outcome based on the specific financial needs and objectives of the organization.

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Strategic Alignment

Projects can be a powerful tool for achieving the strategic objectives of an organization. When an organization has clearly defined strategic objectives, projects should be selected to help further, or deepen, that strategy.

In doing so, projects should be selected based on their ability to support organizational strategy. For example, if an organization has stated their mission is to provide superior customer service, projects that enhance customer service should be designed and selected. If an organization is focused on innovation as a source of competitive advantage, research and development projects might be the best options to pick.

Problem Solving

There are instances in organizations where conditions can be improved or situations resolved through the implementation of particular projects. This is the concept of using projects to solve organizational problems. When this is the case, projects are selected to remove hindrance and impediments to smooth, efficient, organizational operations.

Taking Advantage of Opportunities

Smart managers are always on the lookout for new opportunities to take advantage of. Opportunities can be identified to further a number of different organizational goals, from increasing profits to entering new markets or developing new products and services. But identified opportunities rarely take advantage of themselves. In many cases, projects can be designed, selected, and implemented specifically to take advantage of opportunities identified by organizational leadership.

Fulfilling Requirements

In a dynamic business environment, the one constant is change. Industry, regulatory, and market conditions often create changing requirements. When this is the case, new organizational projects are sometimes the best way to go about fulfilling new requirements.

A recent example was the implementation of the European data protection laws (GDPR) that went into effect in 2018. In order to achieve compliance, organizations had to undertake projects of all types, such as enacting data security procedures and planning employee training sessions.

Time Frame

If deciding ‘what’ is a question of ‘when’, then the time frame for a project should be the main point of consideration in selection. This can be considered in two ways; time of implementation and total project life cycle time.

Time of implementation looks at when significant portions of the project are to be implemented. For example, are the organizational resources required for a project available when the project is planned for. Feasibility is another consideration; a local sports organization in Austria would be better off implementing a project to plan a triathlon to take place in summer, rather than in winter.

Total project life cycle time considers the total time of the project from selection and initiation to final closing and shut-down. This type of time frame is considered if there is a limited period of time available for the undertaking of a project.

Weighted Scoring Model (Decision Matrix)

Weighted scoring models are useful when the decision on project selection comes down to not one, but several factors. In this case, a weighted scoring model (AKA Decision Matrix) can be the best tool to examine, rate, and select among multiple options.

A weighted scoring model is developed by determining which factors are important to an organization in project selection. Those factors are then assigned a relative level of importance or value (weight). Then, the factors are examined and rated for each available project option under consideration, with the rating multiplied by the relative weight of the factor. The project with the highest total score is the one selected. The illustration below provides an example.

As project managers, it’s not always the case that we are able to select our own projects to work on. But when we can, either in the capacity of project managers or business leaders, the strategic selection of projects can be an important tool to further the success of all types of organizations. This is especially true as the trend continues in the direction of projectized models of organizational operations.

No list of selection methods can be complete or all-inclusive; not even a single best method exists. Still, the seven methods listed here provide a good start. Even when conditions and demands are different for various organizations, project selection should be done with the same level of consideration that goes into managing them.

Top 5 Myths in Project Management

Written by Bola Adesope on December 20, 2017. Posted in Articles. 11 Comments on Top 5 Myths in Project Management

You don’t know what you don’t know”. I have often heard many people ranging from top executives, business managers to the guy at the lowest cadre say different things about project management.

Some of the times, I have been at the center of those discussions. There are two major reasons for these submissions. Either ignorance or wickedness, with huge data supporting the former. To this end, I have compiled, in my opinion, the top 5 Myths in Project Management

Myth no 1: ANYBODY, JUST ANYBODY, CAN MANAGE PROJECTS

There is a disturbing statistic that underscores this myth. You often find managers and top executives arbitrarily assign the role of a Project Manager to just anybody in an organization. The belief is, there is really nothing technical in Project Management. To disprove this myth, let us first look at what Project Management is. According to PMI, arguably the most respected and universally accepted authority is the field, as documented in the PMBoK Guide, Project Management is the application of Skills, knowledge, tools, techniques to project activities to deliver the objective of the project or meet the project requirements. Putting that in perspective, to be able to manage projects, an underlining requirement is that one must possess the skills, knowledge, tools, and techniques for managing projects, and a second requirement is the application of those skills, knowledge, tools, and techniques. Remember a fool with a tool is still a FOOL. If you are not trained in project management, if you do not have the knowledge, skills, if you can’t use the tools and techniques, you have no business managing projects. In fact, the word Project Manager is the most abused lately

Myth #2: A PROJECT MANAGER MUST BE A TECHNICAL PERSON or an SME

Very few topics stir argument every time I facilitate training or Speak at conferences on Project Management. One constant trigger is when I say “A Project Manager is not expected to be a Technical Person”. I understand that it does help a great deal if the Project Manager has some knowledge of the technical space in which the project falls into, but this is not a requirement at all. This is why there are SMEs on projects and the project manager constantly meets with and seeks advice from them. Remember the technique called “Expert Judgement?”
Matter of fact, there is the tendency to become too granular in the technicality of a Project if the Project Manager has detailed technical knowledge of the project. Effective Project Management thrives on communication, documentation and interpersonal skills, and these skills are not the forte of technical people.

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Myth ‘#3: DOCUMENTATION IS NOT NECESSARY, OR CAN BE DONE LATER

Unfortunately, this myth comes not only from executives and business managers but also team members. When this category of people fails at the first argument, they tend to shift ground and say Documentation can be done later, but the truth is “LATER NEVER HAPPENS”. Once the final product is approved by the client and signed off, the team is immediately reassigned to another project. The Agile Manifesto, which some have used as the main excuse, never said Documentation is not important. It simply says “working software over comprehensive documentation” and at the end, Agile Manifesto says “while there is value in Comprehensive documentation, we value working software more”. Two points I would like to stress in the manifesto. 1: The manifesto never said documentation, it only says comprehensive documentation and that it very correct. Depending on the nature, size, complexity or the environment of the project, some projects do not require comprehensive documentation but rather minimal documentation. But there must be documentation. 2: The manifesto never said there is no value in comprehensive documentation, it only says there is more value in getting the product out.

Documentation is boring, it is tiring, it is difficult. But just like insurance, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

So, to correct this myth, understand the documentation requirement of the project and give it the required amount

Myth #4: AGILE METHODOLOGY IS THE BEST.

Often, people ask me which is better between agile and the traditional waterfall. My response has always been, both methodologies have their own strength and weakness. The normal practice has historically been that the client explains what he or she wants and magically disappears till deliverable due date simply because he has other commitment and has employed you as a Project Manager to take care of the attention and other details. Yet this same client wants you to adopt Agile. Interaction and Collaboration between the team and the user community (client) are the backbones of Agile Methodology. Understanding the requirement of the project will determine which methodology to adopt. There is no bad or good methodology. Instead, we have an appropriate and inappropriate methodology.

Myth #5: THE HALLO THEORY

Edwin Thorndike defined Hallo Effect as the cognitive in which an observer’s overall impression of a person, company, brand, or product influences the observer’s feelings and thoughts about that entity’s character or properties. While this has been somewhat valuable to Marketing, adopting such in Project Management, where someone who has done very well in their technical field is assigned to be Project Manager, has been constantly discouraged. This is very common in corporate organizations.

These are the Myths I could come up with. Constant education will help address these myths and correct them.

In your opinion, what are the top myths in Project Management

Worldwide Advice from Successful Project Managers

Written by Asya Karapetyan on April 24, 2017. Posted in Articles. 10 Comments on Worldwide Advice from Successful Project Managers

Project Managers are responsible for the implementation of project tasks within the prescribed terms, and using existing resources.

The project manager builds a development plan, organizes a team, establishes the processes of working on a project which control the quality and delivery of products in time, and more. Several world class project managers shared their recommendations* for the sake of novices in this field. In this article, you will find useful rules and approaches that successful project managers apply in their work.

Always Be Composed

Remember that nobody will respect a flustered team leader. Try to always remain calm and collected in any situation. Plan your work and follow it. During the execution always work on your most complex pieces of work or sites first. If you do this, you will have a sufficient time for recovery, if required. Make use of task managers, world time clock, and programs for better productivity.
– Julie Craig, Melbourne, Australia

Build Trust

When you communicate with your team, listen to them attentively, making sure that their understanding and expectations are clear and precise. Build trust, support your team and respect their points of view, even if you fundamentally disagree with them. If you do not have faith in your team members’ skills, you cannot fully rely on them, and vice versa. If you plan to implement many successful projects, you need to learn how to build an open relationship of trust.

Think thoroughly, seek input, make decisions and act. Be flexible – don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but be ready to correct and change them.

– Hammad Khan, San Francisco Bay Area, USA

Discuss the Risks and Challenges

No surprises. Make sure that key stakeholders are told about issues and risks before they are raised at meetings. Tell them what the possible options are for resolving or mitigating them and what you recommend. However, make it clear that it is their call. In this case, they will have time to reflect and decide – often choosing the option that you have suggested.
Proper planning. You should have a proper plan with milestones, dependencies, durations, resources to do your job successfully. You will need appropriate information as you move up the stakeholder chain. Usually Chief Executives want a detailed picture on one page with key milestones and indicative dates – not the whole plan, but they must have it if it is needed.
Governance. Successful project management is impossible without a fully constituted, regular and well-attended Steering Committee, which makes decisions and supports you. A proper project hierarchy includes having all the key roles identified and filled with agreed job descriptions. Also, there should be an internal project meeting structure with weekly or daily one-to-one sessions as appropriate and an up-to-date Escalation Matrix so that everyone knows who to contact when things go wrong.

– Chris Clegg, Kempshott, United Kingdom

Ask Questions Constantly

Keep digging and asking why. You need to know all about your project – planning features, objectives and results of the tasks as well as a monitoring plan, which identifies key performance indicators and tools. Organize your work clearly; keep a tracker of all activities and tasks. Keep all Stakeholders and Team members engaged in the work and make sure the tasks that are being monitored are regularly updated.

– Anonymous Author

Keep Detailed Project Documentation

You should monitor the status of completed tasks and never stop communicating with the team. Keep detailed documentation of the project and constantly keep all the team members posted of the latest news of the project.

– Pietro Cordier, Zurich Area, Switzerland

First, Determine the Objectives

Define the project scope well and avoid assumptions as much as possible. Clear the definition of the project terms and concentrate on the stated goals.

– Serge Nalivayko, Las Vegas, USA

Develop Communication Skills

The most important quality of an effective project manager is communication skills. Communication with the team members allows us to promptly identify any inconsistencies. Interacting with customers makes it possible to quickly identify any changes in the requirements for the project.

Build motivated teams and trust them to do the job. The success or failure of your project depends on each member. Therefore, in addition to knowledge and skills, you will need the ability to effectively motivate and manage people.

Plans are alive, so always reiterate them. Collate the task’s progress with the plan. For effective risk management, you should be able to adapt quickly to any fluctuations and make changes if they needed.

– Islam Kotb Ismail, Munich Area, Germany

Adhere to Triangle of Cost, Time and Deliverables

While planning, and implementing the tasks, adhere to the Triangle: Cost, Time and Deliverables. Ensure that the stakeholders have the same frameworks.

Eliminate or Reduce Risks and Resolve Risks. To develop an effective strategy and to implement the project within the stated terms, it is necessary to constantly monitor the risks that may arise during the project, and to have at hand a plan to reduce risks.

Work hard and persevere with every task. You cannot know everything but take every opportunity to acquire new knowledge.

– Christo Farmer, Cape Town Area, South Africa

Honesty, Flexibility, Consistency

Consistency in the team is the key to success. Keep trustful and honest relations with clients and colleagues. Promise less than you can, but do more than promised. Regularly develop new skills and be flexible in the choice of methods used in project management.

– Andrew Soswa, Greater Chicago Area, USA

Prioritize the Project’s Tasks

Communication is never over. Communicate to quickly identify any changes and issues.

Have daily planning, assessment, and prioritization. Coordinate your priorities, distribute power and responsibilities among the project participants and achieve project implementation.

Get as much knowledgeable experience and expertise as possible. Experience is the most valuable resource of effective project managers, which comes only with years of hard work, mistakes and the invaluable advice of mentors.

– Robert Hunt, Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area, USA

Impugn the Ideas to Make Them Better

Your task is to manage projects effectively. Your team’s task is to provide the necessary knowledge and experience. Therefore, it is often useful to ask for clarification of what you are told. If you don’t have the necessary technical knowledge base, ask the technical experts to explain their proposed solutions to ensure their validity and effectiveness.

– Scott Larnet, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Be Creative

The key quality of a successful project manager is the ability to interact, troubleshoot problems and make decisions. Think innovatively and outside the template, but keep in mind the strategic picture of the whole project.

– Melanie Williams, London, England

Keep Team Proposals and Ideas on Track

During the meeting, it is important to stay focused and direct the discussion back on track. Note the ideas, requirements, comments and problems of the participants; try to divide them into categories for practical implementation. Thus, you will be able to focus the participants’ attention on specific agenda items, and assign responsibilities effectively.

– Michael Hammud, Greater Chicago Area, USA

Want to Share Your Tips?

Share with us your suggestions and ideas in the comments below. Tell us your rules for successful project management and the software you use in your work.

Editor’s Note: Some quotes and statements were edited from their original form for readability.

4 Reasons to Dump Excel for Planning Projects

Written by Stephanie Ray on January 25, 2017. Posted in Articles. 13 Comments on 4 Reasons to Dump Excel for Planning Projects

Excel is a go-to tool many people use to manage projects. It can almost be fun adding tasks and to-do items row-by-row when you are starting out a project. Almost.

There are many good uses for Excel in managing a project, but Excel can quickly become a problem as the project progresses. Time is wasted. Data is lost. What started out as simple is suddenly overly complex. Right when you need to focus on executing the project.

Let’s look at some of the reasons you might want to ditch Excel and discuss how you can find alternative solutions that are easier than you might think.

1. It’s All About Bob

So you have that one Excel genius on your team. Let’s call him Bob. Bob is your go-to project data expert. He cranks out the pivot tables on demand. He updates the project tasks and spits out beautiful reports.

However, one thing every project team needs to ask themselves: should your whole project rest on the shoulders of one person? What if they leave or are out sick? What if Bob’s laptop gets stolen at the local Starbucks and Bob did not back up to the cloud?

This is called a “single point of failure.” When one person is the sole keeper of vital project data, the business is at risk.

Moreover, it is not a problem exclusive to the Excel whiz. If you are the project manager whose job it is to go around to each team member and ask them for their task status so you can compile all the data into a report each week, what happens when you go on vacation? Alternatively, are you tasked with starting up a new project?

2. Email is Not Your Friend

When your project data lives in email, tucked away in sent folders and in epic threads that need to be unpacked before you find that one time you wrote that one thing… Well, you probably have once or twice wished for a better system than that.

A recent McKinsey study found that people spend up to 2.5 hours a day looking for information at work. That means digging for the Excel file in an email, chasing up people for updates, searching different drives for relevant documents and trying to pull together information from different sources into one place.

When Excel hosts your project data, it requires a lot of extra time spent on activities to find or replace information. What if you had that time for actual project work?

3. Checked Out for Eternity

Bob has sent you the latest project updates in his Excel doc. You love his pivot tables, but the spreadsheet has been checked out for the past 4 hours. No one else on the team can update their tasks! You have to IM, Call, or email your colleagues to see who has it checked out and remind them to close it. The next time you have a critical issue to address you to walk away from your desk forgetting to check in the spreadsheet.

4. All the way in Column J.

You hate scrolling over to column J. Data gets lost in columns and become stale and useless quickly. The spreadsheet is too wide with too many columns.

Imagine an alternative scenario. Your project data is online, so your whole team can update their tasks without being asked. The guys in the field add videos of their progress as attachments directly on the task rows, which means everyone is working together to keep all the project data in one central place.

Reports are always fresh, up-to-date with all the data in the system.

Collaboration is possible with the right tools and team leaders who open up the project plan for the team to share in.

So if not Excel, then what?

We happen to know a thing or two about online project tools. In addition to all of our free project management training content and resources, we produce online project management software. So we are a little biased. However, we also know a lot about how online tools work and can help you make smart choices that can work for you and your organization.

So, first let’s discuss what online project management can do, and then some tips for you to choose the right tool for you. Core benefits of online project management tools:

Always up-to-date
Can be accessed by anyone, via web or mobile
Online project file storage
Automatic email alerts

In short, avoiding the single point of failure problem is easy when you run projects online. The cloud is always backed up. Moreover, your team can update tasks themselves. You do not need to have Bob taken away from his other duties to create reports for everyone else. The reports are auto-generated based on the task updates from the team. Anyone can get the reports at any time.

Tips for selecting an online tool

Every team has unique needs, depending on the nature of the project. But there are a few must-haves that you need to make replacing Excel a worthwhile investment:

Easy Excel importing – make sure you can easily import existing project files
Interactive Gantt – You don’t need to replace Excel with just an online version of Excel. You want to take advantage of the online automation, such as a Gantt chart, which allows you to adjust tasks dates and milestones easily and automatically updates your team’s tasks lists in the process.
Timesheets – Why track time in a separate tool when you can track time right with the project tasks as they’re being performed?
Real-time dashboards – Dashboards are just a collection of reports, like pivot tables. But you don’t need Bob to make them if they’re integrated with the online tool and in real-time.
Collaboration – You want to improve your productivity, but to do that you need to increase opportunities for collaboration. Look for features that enable file sharing, file storage, chat features and mobile tools.
Easy to rollout to teams – Not every online tool requires a lot of time or training or implementation costs.

Of course, cost is a factor every team must consider. There are, as you would imagine, enterprise-grade tools and then there are simple task tools, and then there are some that are in between. Ask your teams to identify some key features they would find helpful and do your research with that in mind. And be sure to take advantage of companies that offer free training webinars to show you the tool’s features.

But, who has time for implementing a new tool?

Excel can be very valuable for a lot of project functions, like data analysis and advanced calculations. It can be a good place to start that task list. And it can appear to be a cheap tool, something already in place in an organization. But it has to be seen in the context of the time it takes away from the team, when productivity can be radically increased. Think about 2.5 hours a day times 5 per employee! That’s a lot of looking for information that could be better spent.

Even if that’s a super high estimate, it’s not hard to imagine spending 30 minutes every day here and there searching for that email or file. And that’s just you. So your 2.5 hours per week times your whole team… how do you not have time to put in place a tool that can save you from the single point of failure and increase productivity?

When you’re looking for a new tool, ask the customer service teams of the companies you’re vetting whether they’re there to help with onboarding your team. Check review sites to compare customer service reports. When you make a new investment, there will be some hiccups, as change is hard in an organization.

But you can find a tool that doesn’t require dev time to implement or costly training programs with your team.