Extreme Project Management (XPM): When Under the Gun, It's the Only Way

I must confess I'm a big fan of Extreme Project Management, otherwise known as XPM or Agile Project Management, in the right circumstances.

This is not the antithesis to traditional PMI processes; it merely takes a more realistic approach to project situations where there is great uncertainty (like many IT projects) or a severe time constraint (like many IT projects).

The key to making it work is a heavy focus on stakeholders and constant communication. It is anything but a "wing it" approach, as I've written about on PMThink several times. As opposed to "mechanistic" processes, which is the focus of typical Business Process Modeling (BPM), it relies on human interaction management, which addresses "human-driven" processes.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on Extreme Project Management, for more info. Also, be sure to check out the link to Human Interaction Management for examples of human-driven processes.

Extreme project management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ideal Project Manager Doesn't Exist

Here's a great article from NASA's ASK (Academy Sharing Knowledge) site. Owen Gadeken from the Defense Acquisition University talks about his research project to find the ideal project manager.

After examining many project managers, including two seasoned brigadier generals that had nothing in common except a successful track record, he came to the conclusion that there's no such thing as an ideal project manager.

Project managers, like projects and organizations, come in many styles, and no one style stood out as "the correct way." The only two things that all successful project managers seemed to have in common were personal credibility and a results focus.

Here's the full article...

NASA - In Search of the Ideal Project Manager

Infrastructure Management: ITIL Comprehensive Procedures ...

Comprehensive ITIL processes, self-healing systems, and self-managing technology drives the future of infrastructure management. ...

Infrastructure Management: ITIL Comprehensive Procedures: Via Express Computer: Tackling the IM challenge ...

... "ITIL addresses the organisational structure and skill requirements of an IT organisation by laying down a comprehensive set of management procedures based on which an organisation can manage its IT operations. " ...

Earned Schedule instead of Earned Value?

This presentation from PMI conference in UK this year describes the problems with Earned Value Management. One is that Earned Value is useful only in the early stages of a project for providing schedule management information - the SPI will always be 1.00 at the end of the project. Another is that most people don't understand schedule in terms of budget - and the use of accounting practices in project management probably has a lot to do with that!
The proposed approach uses the same basic information as SPI but expresses a Schedule Variance in terms of time rather than money. The SV(t) is the difference in time between the the status date and the date for BCWS equal to the current value of BCWP.
Earned Schedule

Earned Value - why does it have to be so difficult?

This paper from the recent PMI-SAC conference describes how to apply a simple approach to Earned Value Management for IT Projects. It starts with the question 'why is EVM so little used?' and puts forward 4 of the more common reasons. The author goes on to describe what was originally used as a paper based method. It exploits the natural structure of IT projects, frequently formalised in some form of stage gate process. Industry norms for the relative breakdown of costs by stage and activity or phase within the stage are used to compare to actual costs.
This approach implies that you do not need a detailed bottom up cost and activity tracking in order to calculate the earned value. Of course, it would mean that you don't have much earned value information during phases and breaking the phases down into very small units may stretch the applicability of the statistics used at the outset.
Of course, the method still requires some work, project structure and some organisational discipline. This can be one of the most difficult of the original four reasons to address - Because sometimes management doesn't really want to know!
Earned Value Management for IT Projects

Project Management Innovations at Project Frontier; WBS "String Theory"

Our friend Garry Booker has been introducing some innovative ideas on his website. We've reported here about his Streamlined Earned Value Management (EVM), and reclassification of operational effort vs. LOE.

His latest innovation is the use of WBS Strings (not to be confused with the "String Theory" concepts in physics). The premise is that, instead of sequential numbering systems, a smart string of codes could be used, which allows for easier understanding when reporting (especially in organizations where the code itself is prominent in reporting).

This makes sense, and I can compare it to my old days as an IT manager, asking for intelligent naming conventions for files, data fields, and programs. This facilitated easier maintenance, better readibility, and quicker orientation for new employees, not to mention less errors due to having a wrong digit or a number out of sequence.

Check out the link below, which contains an interactive tutorial on WBS Strings, along with Garry's other innovations.

Welcome to Project Frontier

ServiceOriented Architecture SOA: Build Out or Over?

In the evolution to a service oriented architecture, most enterprises are likely to build out from their existing base. Should they build over and rearchitect for SOA? David Linthicum, respected authority in the technology space (remember Mercator), provides his insights on the service oriented architecture (SOA) space. ...

ServiceOriented Architecture SOA: Build Out or Over?: Via InfoWorld: So, are you going SOA New School, or SOA Old School? ...

... "However, I can say that the new school products have more applicability for the SOA space since they are specifically designed for that purpose. The old school products just seem like quick reinventions ... " ...

Project Managers: Give Thanks ...

Happy Thanksgiving, Project Managers! ...

Innovation: Warn Your CoWorkers ...

Create an innovation warning label using this tool. ...

Via The Daily Innovator: Create your own warning label! ...

... "And I've created a warning label for all you daily innovators out there! " ...

Innovation Metric: The UnBalanced Scorecard ...

Balanced scorecards enable an enterprise to measure performance against its strategy. With innovation on the mind of most companies today, what metrics can support and sustain innovation? Geoffrey Moore shares insightful comments on shifting the balance of emphasis to clear areas of differentiation to create an imbalance in the marketplace and sustain that imbalance for competitive advantage. ...

Innovation Metric: The UnBalanced Scorecard: Via Dealing_with_Darwin: Unbalanced Scorecards, Please ...

... "I think they should call for an unbalanced scorecard, not a balanced one. Our work in innovation makes clear that unless companies differentiate beyond the norms of the competitive set in which they participate, they cannot get paid a differential return. " ...

Leadership Vision: Interactive Model: Lead Follow Implement Innovate ...

Here is an interactive leadership model that relates the values: lead and follow, implement and innovate. You will see a tetrahedron - A tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces (wikipedia) ...

Leadership Vision: Interactive Model: Lead Follow Implement Innovate: The Vision of Leadership Tetrahedron ...

PMO Team Building: Olympic Events

With the holidays closing in on us, some project management office teams may need to do team building. Here are instructional videos to build your PMO team morale and heart rates. ...

PMO Team Building: Olympic Events: Via Office Olympics: Humor Office Videos: Trash Can Videos ...

... "Video #1 of the first season of office olympics, two office olympians make long jumps over rounded up office trash cans. " ...

Engineering Project Water Bridge ...

Great photo of excellent engineering project ...

Via Urban Legends Reference Pages: Photo Gallery (Water Bridge)

... "channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. " ...

SarbanesOxley SOX Project: Sustainable Process ...

Sarbanes-Oxley SOX compliance is transitioning from a project management effort to an embedded sustainable process. Nancy Beacham, PWC, offers her perspective on the evolution of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in year two. ...

SarbanesOxley SOX Project: Sustainable Process: Via IT Business Edge: From Project to Process ...

... "Companies have since realized that they can't do Sarbanes-Oxley compliance under a project mode, so they are moving it into a process that is embedded within the organization. " ...

Project Management Practices During Periods of Turnover ...

Project management best practices can be leveraged to manage through periods of turnover. Jim Rogers, Primavera Systems, offers his insights on turnover, especially in offshoring / outsourcing situations, a common experience these days. ...

Project Management Practices During Periods of Turnover: Via IT Business Edge: Dealing with the Realities of Turnover ...

... "Accurately tracking project results can help you accurately measure the impact of turnover, and decide if it is a major issue and whether the level of risk needs to be re-evaluated. " ...

Project Status: Traffic Light Dashboard ...

Dashboards provide line-of-sight to executives and enable the ability to understand and respond to problems in near-real-time, if built on an accurate set of timely data. David Crain, Camp Inc., provides insights on the development and use of executive dashboards, including common visualization techniques, such as the project management status traffic light. ...

Project Status: Traffic Light Dashboard: Via Crain's Cleveland Business: An eye on the dashboard ...

... "The Red / Yellow / Green traffic light approach is one used commonly in project management as it is a color theme everyone is familiar with. " ...

The New ISO 27001 Security Standard; Get Prepared! Listen to Alan Calder's Podcast

As I've mentioned before, the perfect storm is headed our way. As more companies move toward hosted solutions and the threat of a pandemic computer virus looms, organizations worldwide could be crippled.

Enter the new ISO 27001 Security Standard.

Alan Calder, the leading IT Governance and Security expert and CEO of IT Governance, Ltd., issued a podcast last week talking about ISO 27001 and its impacts. Best of all, Calder offers several eBooks for all levels of audiences, as well as an ISO 27001 toolkit, which allows organizations to become ISO 27001-compliant without expensive consultants.

Here's what Calder's company, IT Governance Ltd. has to say about the new standard:

• ISO 17799:2005 and BS 7799 are the international best practice information security management standards, defining and guiding Information Security Management System (ISMS) development.
• BS7799 is the basis for the new international standard ISO 27001, which was introduced in October 2005. Internationalisation will create a global upsurge in demand for ISMS certification.
• ISO 27001 will become the international touchstone for effective, secure information management practices that protect organisations and ensure their compliance with data protection, privacy and computer misuse regulations.
• As with ISO 9000, the new standard will become a prerequisite for many businesses wishing to secure new customers and contracts. It is therefore as much a business issue as an IT issue.
  
  To learn more, check out Alan Calder's podcast below...
  
  Alan Calder on IT Governance, information security and ISO 27001 (BS7799): Talking ISO 27001

Project Management Professional Certifications

There are several well-respected Project Management Professional Certifications to note:
1. Association for Project Management (APM)
2. Australian Institute of Project Management
3. IPMA Validated Four-Level Certification Programme
4. Project Management Institute (PMI)

1. Association for Project Management (APM)

APM has a progressive structure of qualifications from the Introductory Certificate in Project Management through to Certificated Project Manager. Your level of experience will give you an indication of which level is appropriate for you; Introductory Certificate is for those with no project management experience. APMP is for professionals with more than two years, Practitioner Qualification is for project managers with at least 3 years experience and Certificated Project Manager is for senior professionals with extensive experience. There are also two Risk Management qualifications.

For more info see: http://www.apm.org.uk/

2. Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM)

This certification system is available in Australia currently, and will shortly be available everywhere else. The AIPM certification is available at three levels - project team member, project manager and program manager.

For more info see: http://www.aipm.com.au

3. International Project Management Association (IPMA) Validated Four-Level Certification Programme

IPMA has been in existence for forty years and is based in the Netherlands. The four certification levels are:
A. Certified Projects Director
B. Certified Senior Project Manager
C. Certified Project Manager
D. Certified Project Management Associate

For more information see: http://www.ipma.ch/
The USA Affiliate of the International Project Management Association is the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm). See http://www.asapm.org for more.

4. Project Management Institute (PMI)

Here at PMThink! we reference PMI a lot. Some of us are Project Management Professionals (PMP)’s, the highest level certification offered by PMI. There is also the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).

For more about both the PMP and CAPM certifications see: http://www.pmi.org/

Are there others that you believe are well-respected? Tell us!

Project Team: The Ideal Collaborative Team Members ...

Recent survey favors project team members with an open mind and natural curiosity over familiarity and reputation. ...

Project Team: The Ideal Collaborative Team Members ...: Via How to Save the World: A New Survey Suggests that Attitude is More Important than Experience in Collaborative Work ...

... "Two criteria, enthusiasm for the subject of the collaboration, and open-mindedness and curiosity, are rated as the most important criteria by virtually all segments of respondents. " ...

Business Process Matters, But Does IT?

First time that I agreed with Nicholas Carr on something - business process matters... Does IT? I still believe that most major business processes in today's enterprise benefit from IT, and when done right (people adoption, simple process, and cost-effective technology), competitive advantage can be gained. ...

Business Process Matters, But Does IT?: Via Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Process matters ...

... "In fact, meticulously defined and managed processes continue to be a powerful source of competitive advantage for many companies. Look at Toyota, for instance. Its highly engineered manufacturing processes not only give it superior productivity but also provide a platform for constant learning and improvement. " ...

Is Business Process Focus Limiting Enterprise Success?

Ross posts about the end of process as we know it. Is a focus on business process limiting the success of your enterprise? I am not ready to abandon the concept of process yet. There is tremendous opportunity to reduce defects (the exceptions) in process to the appropriate sigma level (six?) and share the benefits with customers. Those companies that harness business process quality for the customer's sake can gain a competitive advantage. ...

Is Business Process Focus Limiting Enterprise Success?: Via Ross Mayfield's Weblog: The End of Process ...

... "John Seely Brown and John Hagel point out that while 95% of IT investment goes to support business process (to drive down costs), most employee time isn't spent on process -- but exceptions to process. Further, competitive advantage comes from how we innovate in handling exceptions. " ...

Project Implementation; Software Rollout Approaches

When analyzing alternate approaches for rolling out a new software product, consider information density versus percent of population.

For example, you can start with low information density (less functionality, fewer features, etc.) in a large percent of the population (or for everyone), and then roll out more features over time.

Or you can start with high information density (heavy or full functionality) for a small percent of the population (i.e. a pilot group), and then roll it out to wider audiences over time.

Neither approach is wrong. It all depends on the situation, the nature of the product, and where the risks lie.

For example, if the audience for the software can be isolated easily and there are no major issues with rolling out to wider audiences piecemeal, then it may pay to start with high information density in a pilot group.

But if there are major risks to rolling it out piecemeal (such as a need to maintain multiple systems, etc.) and basic features will do for phase 1, then the alternate approach might be a better choice.

One thing's for sure. To begin with high information density in a large or total percent of the population is usually a mistake (unless the full information density is necessary for the product to work, in which case the schedule needs to include time for full rollout and extra testing).

Just some things to think about when planning your next software rollout.

EPM Tip; Processes and Tools are Equally Important

Process and tools must be integrated.

I'll say it again.

Processes and tools must be integrated.

I just love when people talk about rolling out an EPM Tool and not expecting to have to revisit, reinvent, or recreate their project and portfolio management processes.

I also love when people take the opposite approach and try to define all their processes (i.e. "the what") in isolation from how they'll be implemented, and expect that any tools will fit nicely on top.

It's fine (and even beneficial) to define processes up front, but don't expect that they won't need to be changed a bit when an EPM tool is rolled out. Ideally, the "what" should be defined with the "how" in mind, as opposed to defining processes in isolation.

In fact, processes should include the "how" as part of the design, from a high level anyway. That's why IDEF (the de facto standard for process design, originally developed by the US Air Force and now maintained by Knowledge Based Systems, Inc.) stands for Integrated Definition.

The operative word is "integrated."

In fact, IDEF integrates Inputs, Outputs, Controls, and Mechanisms. If one of these is missing, it's not a complete process design.

Incidentally, this is also one of my beefs with the latest PMBOK (Third Edition), which lists the "tools and techniques" in the Knowledge Area section, totally separate from the "standard," which only contains inputs and outputs.

Let me repeat it one more time... Processes and tools must be integrated.

IDEF0 Overview

Project Management e-Learning; Praxis Announces Virtual Campus

Praxis Learning Networks recently announced the Praxis Virtual Campus for project management, an online catalog of e-Learning solutions for PMP study, general project management topics, and MS/Project-specific activities.

Prices range from $20 to $845, so it's a cost-effective way to learn. Best of all, if you have a PMO certification, you can earn PDUs.

Welcome to Praxis Learning Networks' e-Learning Campus

Project Portfolio Management: Improve Resource Planning: Ericsson Recognized ...

Ericsson recognized by Primavera for its improved resource planning capabilities. ...

Project Portfolio Management: Improve Resource Planning: Ericsson Recognized: Via Primavera: Primavera Recognizes Six World-Class Customers With 2005 Excellence Awards at Annual Conference ...

... "Ericsson was chosen as the winner of the Primavera Excellence Award for Hi-Tech/Telecom/ Services. Using Primavera, Ericsson was able to improve resource planning, allocation and forecasting through expanded visibility into opportunities and resources. " ...

Leadership Tip of the Day: How to Inspire Passion and Accountability

Wanna really make people miserable and make them dependent on you to get anything done? Just micromanage them.

But if you want to inspire passion and accountability in people, just give them general guidelines and full support, removing any barriers that stand in their way. This is what true leadership is all about.

Allowing people to own their deliverables, make their own decisions, and be responsible for their results gives them true accountability for their work, and inspires an entrepreneurial spirit as well. Micromanagement on the other hand destroys this spirit, as does second-guessing, manipulating, and finger-pointing.

Passion and accountability are critical for any organization to thrive, and the key to motivating employees. Let's get beyond this pervasive culture of hierarchy, silo-thinking, and micromanagement. Central administration is fine, but let's aim for decentralized decision-making. Spread the word!

How to Implement a Project Management Office

"Why do only half of all IT Project Management Office (PMO) implementations improve project success rates? A primary reason PMO implementations fail is that they are not planned and managed like a project...

...Depending on the organization and their business goals, the definition of PMO success can vary. There isn't a common recipe or a one-size-fits-all approach to implementing a successful PMO. In order for a PMO to be successful, it must be planned, managed and implemented like a project, or initiative, by experienced professionals."

I couldn't agree more.

For more insight http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/164