When Opportunity Knocks; And Nobody Listens

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about a new book titled Strategic Intuition, by William Duggan. It's one I'll have to buy. The article alone is interesting.

The premise is that, while we're busy marching to fixed-goal projects, opportunities pass us by at amazing speeds. Many of the greatest achievements in history were a result of leveraging opportunities, as opposed to long-planned goals or carefully thought-out strategies.

I thought it interesting that Duggan references the genius of Napoleon as an example of opportunistic successes. Napoleon was an anomaly in that he knew the value of planning, yet he wasn't subservient to it. If opportunity knocked, he was all over it. Therein lied his military genius. The French call it Coup D'Oeil. Duggan calls it strategic intuition. We might also call it situational awareness.

Whatever we call it, there are lessons in this for PMOs and project management process bigots. In our efforts to strive for clear goals and planned activities, we must also leave room for experimental efforts where rules are relaxed, and we must know when to let opportunity reign over conservatism. Sometimes the benefits are so great, that we must bear the risks.

Often, PMOs and quality groups can get so caught up in seeking perfection and magnifying risks that they minimize or ignore the benefits. If decisions are made jointly with the customer (who might have a better sense of the opportunities), we can get a more balanced view. No doubt, we need to find more ways to recognize and leverage opportunity.

Here's the article....

Surprised by Opportunity - WSJ.com: "ia"

Project Manager Course on Balance

Upcoming project management course ...

... "Project Management: Maintaining the Balance, will be held Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30, Oct. 11 through Nov. 13. This course, great for IT project managers, helps organizations develop, continue, or complete large projects. " ...

Via iBerkshires: Project Management Course

Finding the Central-Local-Equilibrium for IT Services

Insights on DHL's model for balancing central services with local business needs. The role of local IT in a shared services organization model is discussed. ...

... "A key element of this is that each country has a demand manager who sets out the required level of service and type of applications that are needed and then works closely with the local IT manager to ensure that they are delivered. " ...

Via SiliconRepublic: DHL Ireland

Challenge IT Talent Poaching With Development Strategy

The battle for IT talent rages and is particularly acute in Asia. Consider exciting training programs, career path tracks, and other soft incentives, such as telecommuting to provide some work-life balance. The enterprise that masters talent development is sure to succeed in the future and have fun doing it. ...

... "To provide a continuous supply of IT staff and retain existing IT talent, the company started to establish various initiatives on staff development. " ...

Via MIS: The Asia IT Talent Challenge

Vendor Management: Balanced Feedback Necessary for Healthy Relationship

Drive a vendor relationship through honest feedback with balanced perspective - the good and the bad. ...

... "the generic response is a public, we are very happy and content, or that was great followed by private discussions on just what a disaster the product, event, or meeting actually was. " ...

Via DataMation: Relationship Management

Management Truths: Can You Handle It?

Jack says you can't handle the truth. But if you're ready, I highly recommend Stephen Robbins' excellent book, The Truth About Managing People... And Nothing But the Truth.

Robbins has sold over 2 million copies, and I can see why. In plain, simple language, Robbins outlines 63 truths, supported by evidence, stories, and examples. Each truth is only a few pages, so you can open the book up at almost any page and find a gem. The whole book is under 200 pages in a small paperpack format.

The 63 common-sense truths span the areas of hiring, motivation, leadership, communication, team building, conflict management, job design, performance evaluation, coping with change, and managing behavior.

A few good lessons (paraphrased):

1) Productivity usually breeds satisfaction, rather than the other way around.

2) When interviewing, don't go on traits. Instead probe about past behaviors (i.e. "Tell me about a time when you ....")

3) Put people in jobs that match their personalities.

4) Out of all the traits people have, conscientiousness is the most frequent predictor of success.

5) Specific stretch goals produce higher output than generalized goals like "do your best."

6) Not everyone wants to participate in setting their goals. It depends on their nature, ability, time available, and other factors.

7) Judge behaviors, not people.

8) There's something to be said for "looking the part of the leader."

9) Expect the best and people will deliver. Expect the worst, and people won't dissapoint.

10) Experience isn't always a good indicator of success.

11) There's no ideal leadership style. Directive or supportive styles can work in different situations.

12) Teams often create negative synergy. Beware of loafers. Be sure to identify and measure individual efforts as well as team efforts.

13) Honor the work-life balance. Give flexibility and options.

14) Beware of the quick fix. What works for one company or problem doesn't always work for another.

For many more, and further explanations and examples, read the book!

Job Satisfaction: Google Tops

Google tops the Fortune list of best places to work, driven by soft factors, such as employee job satisfaction. ...

... "Two-thirds of a company's score was based on what employees said about attitudes toward management, job satisfaction and camaraderie, and the balance came from company responses regarding demographic makeup, pay and benefits, management philosophy, communications, opportunities, diversity programs and the like. " ...

Via Reuters: Best Places to Work

IT Innovation: Optimistic?

I'm optimistic about the ability of information technologists to transform the capabilities of business. McKinsey discusses how differnetiation is needed to remain competitive. Techniques that balance scale and speed involve segmenting the approach to governance. ...

... "But this time around, IT is increasingly redefining fundamental business models - not just single processes - in ways not even imagined a decade or two ago. " ...

Via TechWeb: McKinsey on IT Innovation

Managing the Grey Areas: Lessons from the Leadership Quadrant Seminar

On November 15th and 16th, I conducted a seminar with productivity consultant Jerome Jewell called The Leadership Quadrant: 4 Ps for Organizational Excellence. The 4 Ps are Principles, People, Productivity, and Process. It was held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and we incorporated the museum’s rousing multi-media show, Freedom Rising, into the seminar.

The seminar participants came from the healthcare, criminal intelligence, and manufacturing sectors, which led to some fascinating discussion and dynamics. With any seminar, the value to all in attendance is magnified by the contributions of the participants, and this was no exception.

In the seminar, which included sections on principles, emotional intelligence, systemic thinking, talent management, innovation, project management, and more, the collective group highlighted a number of “grey areas” that a manager must frequently weigh when making decisions.

Some questions arose, such as:

"What if someone no longer likes a role they excel at and prefers a role they're poor at?"

"Do people always need to see the big picture?"

"Should one person be expected to serve the role of a manager, leader, and administrator? A strategist and tactician? A generalist?"

"How do you strike a balance between effective time management and remaining available to your staff?"

"Are recurring meetings effective or are they time wasters?"

In line with these questions, below are some of the factors that managers must consider:

• People’s individual needs vs. organizational goals
• Big picture inclusiveness vs. security (or the desire to give people narrow focus)
• Using generalists vs. specialists (and where the specialty should focus – on a functional area or on a particular skill)
• Effective time management vs. flexibility and being available to your staff’s needs
• Recurring meetings vs. consideration for people’s time
• Informing vs. influencing (for deciding whether to email or meet; even then, the decision is not always straightforward)
• Innovation vs. execution (knowing when to move from ideation to “getting things done”)
• Systemic (whole view) thinking vs. systematic thinking (routine, repeatable process)
• Vigilance vs. delegation (how much is safe to delegate, and to whom?)
• Firm principles vs. ethical dilemmas (should a firm principle ever be bypassed?)

In all of these cases, the group determined that the answer isn’t always black and white, and that each situation requires weighing these items. The trick is to observe, orient, decide and act quickly (referencing Colonel John Boyd’s OODA principle).

On the item of firm principles vs. ethical dilemmas, the group applied lessons from various cases throughout history where the US Constitution was challenged. It was obvious that there was no “one size fits all” answer.

With more recent events, consider OJ Simpson’s book. If you manage a bookstore with a principle of defending freedom of speech, do you carry O.J. Simpson’s new book, even though it is "ethically challenged," to say the least? Most large-chain bookstores creatively tried to satisfy both sides of the equation by donating all of the proceeds to the victims’ families. Of course, in the end, the book was canceled, but for a while, this was a real challenge to bookstores.

All of this reaffirms that management is abstract, not concrete. Managers cannot have all the answers; but they can and must insure that the right questions are considered, and they must have the courage to make decisions.

Project Management Texas Style ...

The plan is made. The team is resourced. The baseline is set. ... Help the team have fun and focus. ... Project management inspiration from a great coach.

... "The game planning is over and I don't need to motivate this team. My job now is to settle them down so they can relax, have fun and focus when we need to focus. They can laugh and dance in the locker room but to win we need to balance being confident and focused. " ...

Via Every Game Counts: Texas Coach Mack Brown Blogs about the 3 Things that will Determine a Longhorns Win against the Buckeyes ...

Einstein Project Management Tip #8: Think Simple

This is the last of our month long series on project management lessons from Albert Einstein. A summary will follow.

Einstein once said:

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius---and a lot of courage---to move in the opposite direction."

This applies not only to our project plans, but to our communications, our dealings with stakeholders, the products we develop, our designs, and pretty much anything we do.

BUT... Einstein also cautioned, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

In our efforts to keep things simple, let's not forget that they also need to be clear and effective. The art is in finding the right balance.

Soldiers and Heroes: The Right Mix is Key

Derry Simmel, who runs a compelling blog site called About PMOs (and is on the board of PMI's PMO SIG), has an interesting post about heroes and soldiers.

Soldiers, Simmel says, color within the lines and can be expected to be reliable, dedicated, and even anal at times. Heroes break the rules and tend to go their own way---they're about getting it done and getting it done fast. Damn the torpedoes.

But, as Simmell points out, an organization needs both to thrive. True, a team of all heroes can be chaotic, but a team of all soldiers will probably not bring about dramatic change.

It's all about synergy, and putting the right people in the right roles. It's also about the fine balance between exactitude, speed and flexibility (ironically three of Napoleon's six winning principles).

Building a team that capitalizes on the complementary personalities and skills of heroes and soldiers is a good recipe for success.

Here's the blog post...

All about Project Management Offices: Soldiers

Project Management Lessons from Mars

Brian Muirhead, the project manager for the Mars Pathfinder program, had some good tips to share with Projects@Work this week.

Some key learnings, extrapolated from the interview:

• Innovation and bold ideas are often necessary to meet what often seems like an impossible challenge. The trick is to balance the cost and time savings with the risks.
• A diverse team is key. It's better to have people that are different, with complementary skills, than have a bunch of people who think and act the same way.
• A small core team that can share issues, problems, and resolutions, with one person at the helm, is an effective way to run a project.
• Trust, honesty, and personal committment are traits that need to be prevalent throughout the team.
• Test, test, and then test again. Don't rely on luck. If you can't test using the exact situation, then simulate it as best you can, testing as much as is possible.
• A team is only as good as it's weakest link. It's up to the project leader to identify those people that aren't up to the task and remove them or find an area that suits them better.
• Ensure team members have opportunities to make personal connections and grow.
• A project manager must simultaneously provide the glue (keeping the team cohesive and focused) and the grease (removing barriers).
  
  Here's the full interview...
  
  http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/232113.cfm

April Podcast from Jerry Manas

In this month's podcast, I discuss the importance of speed, and how to balance it with adequate planning.

Learn what can happen with even the slightest delays, as well as how to reduce resistance, increase urgency, and focus your resources.

Speed is the second of Napoleon's Six Winning Principles that I cover in Napoleon on Project Management. Last month, the topic was Exactitude.

Project Risk Control vs Innovation

Winston Churchill once said, "The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity."

As project managers, we are taught to focus on reducing or avoiding risk, but all too often we forget that a good risk management plan should include opportunities as well. Sometimes those opportunities will carry additional risks, but if the benefits are worth it, we need to exploit those opportunities. Certainly we can---and should---try to mitigate the risks, but the point is that in focusing on the dangers, let's not overlook the opportunities.

When framing a project, it's important to see for ourselves what the customer's situation is, and get engaged an an "opportunity assessment." As Tom Kelley of IDEO pointed out in The Ten Faces of Innovation, Henry Ford said that if he'd merely asked customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

Of course, not every opportunity will make it into the scope of the initial project, but at least there can be a plan to exploit it.

So, using Winston Churchill's axiom, should project managers be optimists or pessimists? I'd venture to say we need to be a little of both, and the right balance is the art of project management. For more on how innovation and project management can and should coexist, stay tuned for my upcoming post on the relevance of Tom Kelley's book to project managers.

Process vs. Freedom; Finding the Right Balance

There's a great article in Computerworld about finding the balance between having well-defined, repeatable processes and allowing businesses (and project managers) the freedom to innovate. A flexible approach is key.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Studies have shown that the consistent use of processes increases repeatability, productivity and quality while decreasing project delivery time. But these same processes can appear as a wall to the business people who are pressured to get
their ideas to market. The project team ends up on the battle line between the program management office (PMO) enforcing the procedures and the business people seeking to retain their freedom.

The article goes on to suggest ways to minimize conflict and satisfy both audiences. Read on...

Surviving Process Without Going Berserk - Computerworld

Results vs. Process - Revisited

The other day, I posted a blog on results vs process. The conclusion I came to was that for projects (which are by nature of limited duration), it was more important to do what it took to assure good results than to blindly follow process.

Of course, the definition of "good results" must be agreed upon. I also added the caveat that this does not apply to processes that must be observed to assure adequate results.

While I still fully believe this approach is true as a guiding principle for project managers, I've come across two good arguments in defense of process in general:

1) Results are often uncontrollable, while processes (if maintained) can at least assure more consistent results over the long haul. Uncertainty is a given, and good processes will allow for that and plan for that.

2) Conflict should always be expected, and should be used to improve processes rather than be seen as an impediment to results. Conflict is a good thing. Unresolved conflict is not.

My clarification of "results over process" is this:

• When defining processes, don't make the processes so heavy and bureaucratic that they impede results.
• Introduce processes slowly. Don't expect overnight results; Follow a maturity model and strive for continuous improvement.
• Relentlessly search for less invasive ways of accomplishing control.
• For each potential new process, use the"Five Why's" (asking "why" five times until you determine if the process in question is really needed). If in doubt, don't add it.
• Allow room for people to make decisions. If a principle will work just fine to help keep people on course, then don't institute an unnecessary process. Not everything can or should be "process-ized." Generally, aim for principles over processes wherever possible.

I do think Toyota has it right. By focusing on long-term results (i.e. continuous improvement) over short term results, continued success is more assured. By we don't want to unnecessarily impede short term results either. We can walk this balance by keeping our processes lean and giving project managers the freedom and confidence to do what is right to successfully deliver a project. People are ultimately our best asset.

Sustaining Innovation: Growth Through Creativity ...

Creativity fuels the innovation engine. How can we increase creativity to accelerate innovation? What are leadership principles necessary to drive growth through the creative organization? Here are some great insights ... Marc Babej provides excellent summary of Peter Georgescu, Young & Rubicam, on sustainable innovation from the Fortune Innovation Forum. Peter emphasizes three points on innovation: Embrace creativity, emphasize human values, and support active involvement in investing in future generations through education. Creativity is seen as a core enterprise competency that requires a special type of leadership to cultivate and sustain. ...

Via Being Reasonable: Peter Georgescu on Sustaining Innovation ...

... "First, embrace creativity as the most vital enterprise resource. The only leverageable asset on a company's balance sheet. Creativity is the cure for lack of differentiation, and in turn it begets profits. It's an inexhasutible resource, but also fragile. Creative output requires a new type of leader, one who refuses to manipulate or manage through fear. " ...

David Tanner, Tanner & Associates, Inc., discusses harnessing and increasing the creative capability in a research and development environment. These techniques should apply to most innovation scenarios. ...

Via Winston Brill: Creativity and Innovation in R&D ...

... "It's vital to set aside quality time specifically for people to learn the techniques of creative thinking. This first step satisfies an essential criterion for cultural shift - that is, it gives status to the effort. What resources can you use to focus on this subject? In-house seminars, books and articles on creativity, and outside creativity experts. " ...

Ben Simonton expands on the leadership techniques necessary to increasing the enterprise creativity competency ...

Via Corante: What Drives Innovation?. IdeaFlow: Discussion about innovation and creativity -- new products, strategy, open innovation, commercialization of technologies, patents, idea generation, customer input in the NPD process, more.

... "The brain controls creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment. I will attempt to explain a superior leadership strategy which turns on brains to the maximum extent and thus greatly enhances innovation. ... A superior leadership strategy inspires people to do more, dream more and learn more. We all know that people are our most important asset and that the best ones are self-motivated self-starters. Unfortunately, only 5% or so are naturally that way. A superior leadership strategy is capable of making the vast majority of employees self-motivated self-starters who are highly committed and highly productive, up to 300% more so than if poorly motivated. So what is this strategy? " ...

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. " ...

Top 3 Qualities of a Successful Project Manager

Although there are many qualities that a good project managers should have, it has occurred to me from recent observations that there are really 3 key ones. If nothing else, a project manager needs to be:

• Organized
• Assertive (not to be confused with aggressive)
• Empathetic

They need to be organized in order to keep up with all the events and details going on during the project; including issues, schedule monitoring, communications, status reports, risk monitoring, and a whole host of other things.

They need to be assertive when dealing with resistant stakeholders, overbearing managers, and lackadaisical team members.

And they need to be empathetic to the needs of customers, stakeholders, team members and all sorts of constituents. To be overly assertive or too soft is equally ineffective, so both are needed in balance.

The rest, as they say, is details

IT Governance: Shift Investment to Business Value Opportunities

Latest research report indicates low information technology investment in driving business value opportunities. There is a role for IT governance to assert itself and shift the balance to the real business drivers. ...

IT Governance: Shift Investment to Business Value Opportunities: Via Research and Markets: Measuring IT Costs and Value - Maximising the Effectiveness of IT Investment ...

... "The role of IT management is shifting away from being the guardians of technology to focusing more on aspects such as investment planning, budgeting, governance, service quality, and risk management. Understanding value is crucial to all of these activities, making this a Report that should be of interest to a wide range of readers. Key Findings: Research indicates that in many organisations less than 8% of the IT budget is actually spent on initiatives that bring value to the enterprise; It is not a question of how much is invested in computer systems but the effectiveness of the spending; Focusing IT investment on an organisation's value drivers will improve competitiveness. " ...

Planning for Scarce Resources

One of the concerns that comes frequently from clients is that their people work on lots of different kinds of stuff so planning their time for projects is difficult. And it's true. A common circumstance in IT shops, in R&D labs and in many other situations, is for someone who developed something originally to get pulled into responding to questions and supporting it for eternity. This is the support dilemma. It worries project resource managers because the work load for the support people can be unpredictable. The support call cannot be planned or scheduled.
So the temptation is to throw up one's hands and say because this group of activities cannot be planned, it's pointless trying to plan anything for that resource. This extreme is unnecessary. You will have to live with a bit of uncertainty but there are good statistical approaches to dealing with uncertainty.
The first, essential step is just to list the different kinds of stuff that a resource might work on. Then estimate the rough order of magnitude of effort for each kind. Support tasks will be an average over time - not necessarily constant (more urgent support calls during year-end, product launch, etc.). That will give a base of committed time for that resource - leaving a known amount for other (project) work. Support work is typically treated as high priority.
Historical data may give some clue about the level of variability in the level of support work - an average of 2 hours per day may in fact be fairly predictably 1.5-2.5 hours every day - or 1 day in 4 completely taken up with support. This pattern is important because it affects the confidence in the ability of the resource of being able to work to a project timetable.
One simple approach is to schedule only a part of a scarce resource's time for high priority projects. The balance, the float, is provided by assignments to low priority projects. If it's important to have someone dedicated to a single high priority (please, not to 5 high priority projects!), then you cannot afford to have them dragged off to provide support.
This paper includes some interesting references to resource planning and a description of the rolling wave approach - which has been mentioned in other posts on PMThink!
Managing Project Performance: A Proposed Model (Part 1 of 3)

Project Management: Connect Team With Big Picture

Post explores the challenge of project and program management to balance the natural tensions between the individuals and the larger transformation of an organization. Good tips for the project management office, PMO.

Project Management: Connect Team With Big Picture: Via Brave New World of Project Management: A Philosophy of Whole Systems

... "The best project managers are those who can relate and keep both their team's needs and the larger management team's needs met. Otherwise the project becomes the task without purpose, which in turn will end up undermining team's morale. " ...

ITPortfolio: Markowitz Efficient Frontier Application

There are a variety of applications of Markowitz's efficient frontier to information technology IT portfolio management. Some EPM software packages incorporate the Markowitz technique to be used to visualize the various information technology portfolio combinations in a frontier graph. The jury is still out, though, on its suitability to IT portfolios as compared to traditional financial portfolios. ...

Via Chief Project Officer: The Efficient Frontier Technique for Analyzing Project Portfolio Management

... "The Efficient Frontier simplifies a complex Portfolio Management problem to highlight and clarify some basic questions: scarcity, efficiency, tradeoffs, opportunity cost and the value of breaking the constraints. " ...

Additional resources on the efficient frontier approach to project portfolio management:

Markowitz efficient frontier definition: Via Forbes Financial Glossary: The graphical depiction of the Markowitz efficient set of portfolios representing the boundary of the set of feasible portfolios that have the maximum return for a given level of risk.

Modern Portfolio Theory: Driving project portfolio management with investment techniques: Via IBM Rational: The closer a portfolio is to the Efficient Frontier the closer it is to being efficient, which means: For its level of return, there is no other portfolio with less risk, or for its level of risk, there is no other portfolio with more value.

IT portfolio management – A banker’s perspective on IT: Via Department of Mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit: However, there is a precondition attached to Markowitz’s theory that presents problems when the theory is applied to IT portfolios: the marketability of stocks and shares. MPT concentrates on finding the right balance between risk and return. Theoretically, in MPT there is a curve – the efficient frontier – of optimal expected return for a given risk.

ITTraining Education: Balance Business and Technical Perspectives ...

IT Training Education: Balance Business and Technical Perspectives: Via Computerworld: Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader: Peter Presland-Byrne ...

Sage advice about curriculum choices for aspiring information technology (IT) professionals, such as balancing business training, in project management, with technical training, in programming languages. Peter Presland-Byrne, SVP, Countrywide Financial Corp. provides his perspectives in a question and answer format ...

... "Based on the high-level topics of database and project management, I would suspect that Perl programming would be the one to substitute. I remember learning the virtues of BBC Model B Basic, and I can honestly say I've never had to write a single business application using it. " ...

Project Stress: Work Balance

Project Stress: Work Balance: Via Conquer Stress: When are you coming home? Five practical tips to realizing

Lonnie Pacelli comments here about stress, project work, and work life balance remind me of a recent lunch conversation about: when work equates to play. I wonder, when the passion for work/play is so strong, if a good balance has been achieved ? ...

... "Consciously (and honestly) decide what is really important - Saying that work/life balance is important is one thing; truly meaning it is a different game altogether. You may want to believe you place other things above work, but wanting to believe it simply doesn't mean it's so. Make a conscious, realistic declaration on where your priorities lie, then examine your behaviors or ask a friend, relative, significant other, or spouse. Taking the first step toward the quest for work/life balance means eliminating the gap between what you desire and what you do. " ...

Make Quicker Project Management Decisions with OODA Loops

Colonel John Boyd, one of the most brilliant military strategists known to man, created a warfare strategy known as OODA loops (OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act). Used in air-to-air combat, his method would be to complete the OODA process faster than the enemy, thus throwing the enemy off balance.

It certainly worked for him, as he never lost a dogfight. Toyota used OODA loops with great success, shortening their cycle time considerably. For project managers, this approach can lead to quicker decisions, and in some cases bold innovations. Best of all, it can foster greater situational awareness.

For a great essay on OODA loops and how they really apply to business, see Robert Paterson's Radio Weblog.

Also, see MindSim.com's site for Boyd's original briefing slides, and, for a brief overview of Boyd and his principles, see ValueBased Management's site.

Prioritising projects

Portfolio management is really taking off as a concept. Methods vary. The degree of integration with corporate strategy, appetite for risk, balance between different lines of business all appear as evaluation criteria in assessing project candidates as part of a portfolio. This article includes an intersting example of a scoring mechanism for rating projects. To anyone who has used the Kempner-Tregoe method for selecting between candidates when doing package evaluation, the approach will be familiar. The success of the method depends on the evaluation criteria and the weighting factors and frequently the real value is that it prompts discussion of the candidates.
Applying scores based on a method like this gives a satisfying feeling of being to rank all the candidate projects. But dynamic portfolio management needs the scores to be reassessed frequently and a method for including evaluation of projects that are already under way.
Just Too Much To Do

PMO: Setting Balance

PMO: Setting Balance: Via 48 Ideas: Projects, Leadership, Communication: urgent balance

Balanced thoughts on the delicate PMO balancing act. Well put ...

... "I believe that the PMO should set the balance point between chaos and control. That's a hard balance to set since most PMO's were born of management's exasperation at a stream of failed projects, wasted resources and missed opportunities. " ...

Project Estimating; Major Causes of Underestimating

Another gem from Conrad Weisert of Information Disciplines. An oldie but goodie (the article, not Mr. Weisert).

This article is a call to project managers to stand up for realistic estimates. Of course, there are always those times when a project must come in on a certain date or else the project just isn't worth doing or won't have the impact it needs.

But even then, you need to ask yourself how risky it is trying to meet that date, and what are the consequences if you do not succeed. If both the impact and probability of failure are high, then it's imperitive to ground the estimate in reality.

Sometimes additional resources can help. Sometimes it adds more risk. It all depends on the situation. In the end, the triple constraint still holds true. The scope, time, and cost must balance.

Read on for more info...

Burden of Proof in Project Estimating

NASA - Warning: Projects May Be Closer Than They Appear

Here's a great case study of software projects from NASA's ASK (Academy Sharing Knowledge). It explores the fine balance between software experimentation and needing to meet the targets of a project. Some key lessons, according to the case study are:

• When tailoring a COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) software product, you
  should recruit developers who have an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of the product.
• Establishing open communication with your customer is not only intended to
  understand customer requirements but also to convey challenges you face on the project.

Both valuable lessons indeed.

The first would seem obvious, but many people attempt to customize or integrate purchased software without having experts who have "been there and done that" with that particular piece of software and know where the mine fields are. This can be a dangerous oversight.

Likewise, many talk about the importance of communicating with the customer to understand requirements and share "good news," but it's equally critical to engage the customer in meeting challenges and risks.

In addition to the above lessons, the case study also points out three key points:

• Be sure to articulate the business need to software developers
• Understand people, not just processes and technology -- all three must be present. For intance, we must get developers to apprciate the need to schedule and budget, and we must get customers to understand risks and constraints.
• Stay out of the weeds and delegate more - otherwise you can't see the whole field. If you find yourself getting so bogged down that you can't manage the project - consider what can be delegated (perhaps including project administration).
• Given a tight target date and unknown territory, go for phased milestones.

For the full case study, read on...

NASA - Warning: Projects May Be Closer Than They Appear

PMO Best Practices - Research Results

Although it's from 2003, I suspect that this CIO research report on PMO best practices is still valid today.

As an example, the study reports that key PMO challenges reported were as follows:

52% Unreasonable workloads
43% Lack of PMO authority to carry out objectives
42% Support from business unit management
34% Conflicts over project management ownership
30% Support from senior executives
18% Temporary nature of PMO undermining its effectiveness

The high listing for "unreasonable workloads" suggests that development of demand management and governance processes should be a key initiative for PMO startups. It also suggests that a Critical Chain approach should be considered, as it has been proven to increase project throughput while recognizing constrained resources.

An alternative that some organizations are considering is staff augmentation for project management, as the demand reaches certain peaks. Just be sure it's only for peaks and not the norm. The bottom line is that the key is finding the right balance between supply and demand, just like any organization.

For the full report, check out the link below:

Best Practices for Project Management Offices - Research Reports - CIO - Research - CIO