Manage Risk through Reuse

Cadbury plans to leverage its enterprise architecture on IT projects by reusing components across independent lines of business. ...

... "Cadbury Schweppes said the aims of the strategy were to improve the way IT delivers projects to the business, to reduce the risks associated with large roll-outs, and to enable the business to adapt more easily and quickly to change. " ...

Via ComputerWeekly: Cadbury Schweppes

Project Penalty: Two Minutes For High-Sticking

Poor project performance and audit findings lead to changes, that may include project penalties. ...

... "The audit found numerous projects simply poured more money into projects that were delayed, rather than penalizing contractors for taking longer than expected. " ...

Via Wisconsin Radio Network: IT Project Fixes

HP Research Project: Semiconductor Chip Improvement Through Simulation ...

HP research uses hybrid of nano and conventional semiconductor technology to increase the density of transistors on a chip. This advancement is accomplished using modelling and simulation tools. The research will be proven through demonstration prototype. ...

... "The technology calls for a nanoscale crossbar switch structure to be layered on top of conventional CMOS (complementary metal oxide silicon), using an architecture HP Labs researchers have named field programmable nanowire interconnect (FPNI) – a variation on the well-established FPGA technology. " ...

Via HP: HP Presents Alternate Strategy for Chip Improvement

Managing from the Bottom Up

Yesterday I entered a post about Best Buy's new Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), and how allowing employees total freedom as to where and how they work, focusing instead on results, has shown a 35% productivity improvement. Granted, this may not apply in every environment, but the premise of focusing on results over rules is sound.

What I failed to mention is that this initiative didn't come from the top. In fact, CEO Brad Anderson didn't even know about it untill it was well under way and showing tangible benefits. And that's just the way he likes it.

Kudos to Anderson for allowing the flexibility in his organization for innovation from within, and the courage to try new things. That is what a learning organization is all about.

Anyone who ever brought about major transformation (think Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus), usually did it in a bottom-up approach, not by first convincing "management."

One other thing I failed to mention. While it's uncertain to what extent it played in encouraging this particular situation, a primary consultant to the Best Buy organization is Marcus Buckingham, the talent management guru and author of three of the most enlightening management books I've read (First Break All the Rules, Now Discover Your Strengths, and The One Thing You Need to Know). I'd venture to say that his influence has at least indirectly encouraged this people-focused mentality.

IT Governance: Steady Progression

IT governance is a journey and CIO realize they cannot implement the process overnight. A wise choice is to implement a few basic building blocks and then expand through cycle of learning and continuous improvement. ...

... "While expectations about the role of IT in growing the business and governance are expanding dramatically, CIOs are cautious about how quickly they can rise to the challenge. " ...

Via CFO: Link

Innovation: Necessary But Not Sufficient

Recent research illustrates that companies expect their growth to be enabled through innovation, however they see significant room for improvement in their innovation process. To address their shortcomings, the survey results show a strong investment in external spending on the front-end of innovation, including customer and market insights. Survey provides additional findings for improving innovation. ...

... "Furthermore, 50% of the companies reported that 10% to 25% of their revenues over the next 3 years would be driven by products and services that will be developed over the next 12 months. Less than 5% of these companies believe they have a highly effective innovation process and only a small number are using state of the art approaches to innovation like open networks and innovation based metrics." ...

Via ArchStone Consulting: Survey Reveals 50% of Companies Dissatisfied with Return on Innovation Investment (PDF) ...

Innovation Needs a Process Too

Gerald "Solutionman" Haman was recently interviewed on Innovation Tools about...well..his innovation tools. And he has quite a few. An impressive list of clients have used his KnowBrainer pocket tool to generate ideas that directly led to huge profits.

The tool makes use of his "Accelerated Innovation Process," which outlines four steps. According to Haman's site, "the four steps include: (1) Investigate Needs, (2) Create Ideas, (3) Evaluate Solutions, and(4) Activate Plans." Haman stresses the importance of "continuous innovation" as opposed to being a short-term or one-time activity.

When you think about it, these four steps are very much in line with Dr. Deming's classic "Plan-Do-Check-Act" model for continuous improvement. Not a bad framework for project management either.

Here's the full interview.

Interview with Gerald Haman, SolutionPeople - from InnovationTools.com

Project Management Winds Are Changing

There's an excellent article by Betsy Morris in the current issue of Fortune Magazine about how the Jack Welch way of winning is---dare we say---a thing of the past.

How is this relevant to the project management field? Well, for one, it means recognizing the winds of change in the industry, and how projects are selected, promoted, and managed. Above all, this impacts program and portfolio management. Particularly, note four trends in management thinking:

Innovation:

Let's take Welch's old rule of being number 1 or 2 in your market (or else fixing, selling, or closing the business). The new rule is to find a niche and create something new. The article uses CocaCola as an example of a company that was basking in their glory as number 1, but eventually realized (although it took a while) that energy drinks and bottled water were about to pass them. As the article points out, energy drinks "are now expected to outearn every other category of soft drink within three years." Parhaps marketing guru Harry Beckwith said it best in Selling the Invisible when he said that it's fine to do something 10% better until someone else comes along and does it 110% different.

Customer-Centric Management:

Welch started a whole movement of focus on the shareholder, which led many organizations to ignore the future amid pressure to appease shareholders and "make the numbers." Now, organizations realize that the customer is king. The article references several companies that have made this realization, and the trend is heading in that direction. After all, statistics show that even a minor improvement in customer retention leads to a major increase in profitability. The days of short-term thinking may be finally coming to an end.

Reinvention vs. Incremental Change:

Since it seemed Jack Welch could do no wrong, everyone imitated whatever Jack did---and Six Sigma was no exception. The problem is that, according to the article, of the 58 large companies that announced Six Sigma programs, 91% have trailed the S&P 500 since. As the article points out, that's mostly because Six Sigma is intended to "fix an existing process," whereas innovative companies that developed new and unique products (or reinvented their business) took the lead.

Stop Ranking Your Players; Inspire Passion:

Once of Welch's most controversial systems was to constantly rank his employees and regularly weed out the "C" players. But companies have had difficulty getting productivity and innovation out of "increasingly disenfranchised employees." In the article, Christopher Bartlett of Harvard Business School put it best:

"People don't come to work to be No. 1 or No. 2 or to get a 20% net return on assets. They want a sense of purpose. They come to work to get meaning from their lives."

Side editorial: For the "enlightened" approach of finding the hidden strength in everyone (something Peter Drucker always suggested), read Marcus Buckingham's Now Discover Your Strengths (or any of his books for that matter). Or read Dennis Littky's The Big Picture: Education is Everyone's Business. I assure you, you'll never be the same.

Meanwhile, I highly recommend the article (the link is below) for those looking for the latest trends in management thinking, and who want to remain one step ahead.

From a project management perspective, the handwriting is clearly on the wall. The traditional "execute to a set of deliverables" approach won't cut it. Today's project manager needs to be thinking about things like innovation, customer focus, business transformation, business acumen, change leadership, and team passion. Those focused on merely schedule, budget, and scope will soon be dinosaurs.

Fortune: The new rules - Jul. 11, 2006

ITIL Business Case ...

Evergreen offers whitepaper on the business value associated with ITIL implementation, with benefits seen in operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and risk minimization. ...

... "The white paper references a number of data points taken from current research and enterprise IT process improvement case studies consistently documenting a 20-40% reduction in the effort required for ongoing IT operations, powered by the implementation of ITIL process improvements. The same research clearly links ITIL with strategic gains in customer service quality, accuracy and efficiency and IT risk and compliance work. The development of an ITIL strategy is also discussed and an incremental approach is recommended, one which starts with small steps but shows measurable gains quickly. " ...

Evergreen Systems Releases White Paper on Building the Business Case for ITIL ...

ITIL Measurement: Upper Quintile Performance for Local Authority ...

Local authority recognized as a service management Center of Excellence ...

... "The UK Society of IT Management's recent benchmarking survey of more than 200 local authorities ranked Bridgend Council's IT Department in the top 20% of the authorities surveyed. The survey also confirmed a 23% improvement in Bridgend's user satisfaction since the equivalent survey two years before. " ...

ITIL Measurement: Upper Quintile Performance for Local Authority: Via SourceWire: Bridgend County Borough Council is first Datawatch Centre of Excellence and the only one in Wales

IT Project Missing Ingredient: Professionalism?

UK computing leader sees genuine professionalism as key ingredient for transforming IT project success rates. This is a good thing, if interpreted as developing our talent in the industry. Is industry accreditation the answer? It should not be a substitute for creating leadership in achievement in an enterprise, where an environment of continuous improvement supports learning from lessons, improving processes, and expanding the knowledge of project management practitioners. ...

... "It would make my day if somebody brought me a failed IT project that had failed for novel reasons. Of course, nobody ever did, because his contention is that we understand why IT projects fail, and we keep making the same mistakes. " ...

Why IT must get more professional: Via ZDNet Asia ...

Project Accomplishments Recognized: KC MO ...

Kansas City recognized for its accomplishments in project management methods and delivery. ...

... "The City was awarded a regional APWA Management Innovation Award for the development of the Capital Improvements Management Office. The office was created as a partnership with MWH Americas Inc. and Burns and McDonnell to re-engineer the City's delivery processes and reinvigorate its backlogged capital improvement project portfolio. CIMO has used inventive corrective strategies and industry best practices to create a centralized, more efficient approach to capital project delivery and accountability. Additionally, three of the division's capital improvement projects were named regional APWA Projects of the Year. These awards recognize projects that exemplify outstanding project execution through project management; timely execution; safety performance; community relations; and quality control, construction innovations, and time and/or money-saving techniques. " ...

Project Accomplishments Recognized: KC MO: Via Kansas City Mo: News from City Hall: City receives four regional public works awards ...

Service Oriented Project Management (SOPM); Bridging Three Worlds

With all this talk about Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and the latest industry focus on innovation, I've been piecing together a model that brings together the best of BPR, Innovation, and Project Management (and even borrows elements of ITIL). I call it Service Oriented Project Management or SOPM. I believe the term has been used, but not in this context, and not as a formal model. I think it's important enough that it needs to be formalized.

There are some that view these three disciplines as separate, or even mutually-exclusive, but they're not. In fact, to be successful, these disciplines need each other. It should go without saying that BPR needs innovation in order to break new ground (resulting in dramatic and radical change, as opposed to incremental change). And project management skills are needed to keep a team on track and manage risk.

Certainly, there are situations where incremental change is quite appropriate, and, for these cases, process "improvement" disciplines such as Six Sigma and TQM are fine. But especially when radical change is needed, we need a superstructure of good project management to lead all phases of a BPR initiative, from the as-is state exploration, through the to-be state development and validation, and to the actual implementation of the initiative.

Likewise, project management in general needs the strong customer focus that BPR brings (usually sorely lacking in most projects). Almost any project can benefit from a BPR-type approach of getting to the root of the customer's problem first-hand, and bringing about dramatic results through innovative thinking. This also takes project management beyond the realm of simple "execution and control".

Using a BPR lifecycle, innovative thinking, and an overall project management approach, we get a holistic methodology that uses the best of each. And, if this is driven by overarching principles from all three disciplines, we can boost our chances of success exponentially.

And finally, there's the customer. EVERYTHING in all of these disciplines must have a relentless focus on the customer. With any initiative, the glue that holds all of this together is a service owner--- someone who understands the customer's needs (and their business) and owns the initiative from cradle to grave (just like an ideal order fulfillment process should be, according to Michael Hammer, the inventor of BPR). Whether or not this should be the project manager is a whole subject in itself, but it should be someone.

If the project manager does assume this role, then they had better have a strong customer and business focus, and be relieved of any project administration duties that aren't adding value to the customer (which can be assigned to a project accountant). In many companies, the project managers may not have the right skills for this role, but that's not to say that shouldn't change.

More to come, as I flesh out and develop the model. Meanwhile, I'm open to your thoughts on this.

Business Process Mapping: Good Reference ...

Here is sage advice and good references on the topic of business process improvement, which includes mapping the current and future states of the process. Ben Graham and team highlight, in this article: The Key to Good Process Mapping (PDF), the importance of organizational alignment and involvement of the key stakeholders of the process: namely the folks operating it. ...

... "There are three essentials that must be handled well to assure good process mapping. ...
1. The operating people whose work is being mapped must supply information for the map and must understand and support the reasons for the mapping. 2. The map itself must be organized in a way that enables everyone involved to clearly understand the process. 3. The information that is assembled in the map must be valid. " ...

Business Process Mapping: Good Reference: Via The Ben Graham Corporation: The Key to Good Process Mapping ...

Process maps are as important as organization charts, according to this article. ...

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING: A CONSOLIDATED METHODOLOGY (Subramanian Muthu, Larry Whitman, and S. Hossein Cheraghi, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University): "Talking about the importance of processes just as companies have organization charts, they should also have what are called process maps to give a picture of how work flows through the company. Process mapping provides tools and a proven methodology for identifying your current As-Is business processes and can be used to provide a To-Be roadmap for reengineering your product and service business enterprise functions. "

Business Process Reengineering Project: Assessment Guide Reference ...

Here are sample screening criteria from GAO guide, when considering whether a business process reengineering project should be undertaken. ...

... "Is the process of strategic importance to the agency's mission? Does the process urgently need dramatic improvement in order to meet the agency's own performance goals?

Is there a high level of customer and/or stakeholder dissatisfaction with the process (quality, timeliness, cost)? Does the process have a long cycle time with many sequential activities, multiple hand offs, checkpoints, and significant waiting time between work steps (e.g., processing a benefits claim)?

Did benchmarking show that other organizations can do the same (or analogous) process much better? Is the process highly dependent on information, so that information technology might be used to speed the work flow, collapse work steps, and improve real-time decision-making? " ...

Business Process Reengineering: Assessment Guide Reference: Via GOA: Framework Part A

Microsoft Vista Project Management: Scope or Schedule Management ...

Microsoft struggles with Vista project management. Working the triple constraint, Microsoft adjusts scope and schedule - and, likely, costs are increasing as well. Article explores options for improvement, including ruthless schedule management, better requirements management, etc. ...

... "With Vista, Microsoft originally hoped to make major changes to the underlying code, adding in a new file storage mechanism called WinFS, along with all-new graphics and communications methods. It eventually had to pull out WinFS entirely and scale back several other architectural changes in order to make the project more manageable. " ...

Microsoft Vista Project Management: Scope or Schedule Management : Clouds over Redmond: Via ZDNet Australia ...

CIO Role: Innovate or Perish ...

Much of the information technology (IT) organization is becoming a commodity, and, like many in the IT profession, CIO's know that they must innovate or perish in the capabilities and services that they as leaders deliver to an enterprise. The CIO role is evolving and there is a trend underway to expand the role into shared services leadership, chief process improvement officer, and other job variants. United Airlines CIO expands his horizons and, hopefully, the career paths of the IT organization. ...

... "Garry Kelly, who is currently serving as United's chief information officer, will assume additional responsibilities. Kelly will assume oversight for enterprise-wide strategic sourcing and continuous improvement, in addition to his information technology responsibilities. He oversees all aspects of information technology functions at United, including corporate IT strategy, applications development, technical operations, information security and infrastructure planning. In addition, he is also responsible for industrial/process engineering and the operations research functions at United. Kelly will report directly to Glenn Tilton, United's president, chairman and chief executive officer. He is replacing Rick Poulton, who has elected to leave the company. " ...

CIO Role: Innovate or Perish: Via United Airlines: United Airlines Expands Chief Information Officer Garry Kelly's Role ...

Project Team Morale Makeover

Does your workplace and/or project team suffer from morale issues?
You may need a morale makeover. This article suggests the following:
1) Become clear on what you can control - you can control your attitude and set an example, when and how you communicate, etc.
2) Love the ones your with - appreciation is the #1 motivator (remember my blog on making a big deal out of being 50% complete - find a reason, any reason, to say thanks and good job and please make sure you are sincere or don't bother)
3) Communicate - listen up! Try saying, "tell me more". Listen to ideas for improvement. You might be surprised.
4) Create meaning, purpose and passion. Einstein observed we are the happiest when we are doing something exciting and meaningful. Happy people = productive team members. Make sure people know why their hard work matters.

Thanks to the Childcare Business for the great article, Morale Makeover and to http://schwendt.com/html/einstein.html for the photo!

Want Project Results? Use Plenty of Praise

We've talked quite a bit on PMThink about the dangers of criticism and the negative impact it can have. The flip side of that is the wonderful results that repeated praise and positive reinforcement can have.

A few years ago, Tom Rath and Donald Clifton drew upon their years of research with the Gallup organization to develop a groundbreaking book called How Full is Your Bucket?, a New York Times #1 bestseller. In the book, they show indisputable evidence that when people are criticized, they end up producing the same as if they were totally ignored, yet when they are praised, productivity goes up dramatically.

In one example, students were given tests over a period of five days. One group was praised in front of their peers for what they did right. Another group was criticized in front of their peers for what they did wrong. A third group was put in a different room and given no feedback. The improvement results after 5 days were:

Praised - 75%
Criticized - 19%
Ignored - 5%

Additional studies showed that positive emotions improved overall health, transformed people, built more resiliency during difficult times, and produced optimal functioning both individually and as a group.

Most importantly, the book talks about the power of individualizing praise; recognizing what is meaningful to the specific individual, since each person has different motivators.

The book goes on to show how the same results hold true whether at home or in the office, with relationships with a spouse, children, or colleagues. So, next time you're leading people, remember the old adage, "Catch 'em doing something right."

Project Stage-Gates: NASA Improvement Opportunity ...

NASA receives recommendation to improve project management quality through stage-gate approach (knowledge points) to the project lifecycle and solution maturity. ...

... "A report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that additional decision reviews are needed to ensure that NASA's projects meet their performance, cost, and schedule goals. ...

GAO’s recommendations include requiring that NASA projects demonstrate: that key technologies have reached a high maturity level before approving the projects for transition from the formulation to the implementation phase, that the design is stable before approving the projects for transition from the design phase to the fabrication, assembly, and test phase; and that the design can be manufactured within cost and schedule and meet quality targets prior to any decision to enter into production. " ...

Project Stage-Gates: NASA Improvement Opportunity: Via Democratic Caucus, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Reps: Gordon, Udall Urge NASA to Heed GAO's Project Management Recommendations ...

Keeping Projects Positive; Watch Out for Those Seagulls

From the Wall Street Journal Executive Career site comes some good advice for managers leading organizations (or project managers leading projects) through dark times. And dark times are the norm these days, with offshore outsourcing, cutbacks, and short-term focus an epidemic in America.

Three bits of advice are:

1) Avoid Seagull Management: Don't focus on the negative by swooping down, crapping all over everything, making a lot of noise, and then flying off. Avoid negative judgment and try to "catch people doing something right" Positive reinforcement is key.

2) Embrace Conflict: Conflict isn't a bad thing if it's managed. On the contrary, it can lead to true progress. If everyone agrees all the time, things can get stagnant. The main thing is to encourage a collaborative atmosphere and work to solve the problem instead of assigning blame.

3) Good Comes Out of Bad: Look to make lemonade out of lemons. If there are problems or issues, look at it as an oppportunity for improvement.

I would say that these rules should apply in any circumstance, whether amid economic strife or not. They're also very much aligned with Peter Senge's "learning organization" approach. For more, read on...

CareerJournal Management -- Career Advice for Managers

Scrum: Microsoft Adopts For Project Speed ...

In keeping with our scrum theme, this method focuses on delivering value early in the product lifecycle. Simon Avery reports on Scrum software development method employed by Microsoft to accelerate new product cycle time to market. ...

... "To get its classified system to market as fast as possible, Microsoft is relying on what it calls the scrum method of software development, which involves a very small team of engineers. For the on-line classified product, code named Fremont, there are just six developers. " ...

Via The Globe and Mail: Executive Decision: Classifieds force sluggish Microsoft to scrum

Additional resources on Microsoft and scrum ...

Via Microsoft: Download details: Project 2003 Tool: Scrum Solution Starter: "Scrum is an Agile project management practice that employs short iterations and continuous improvement. The Scrum solution starter extends Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 or Project Standard 2003 and enables project managers to perform basic Scrum work. "

Via Chris Flaat's WebLog : People are not fungible resources: "We are currently using both Scrum and more traditional project management on several efforts going on within our product unit, and I thought I'd share some learnings. Something we're running into is that getting people dedicated to one effort can be hard, depending on the management style of the relevant managers. "

Software Tools and Methods: "This presentation started with a brief context-setting look at why Agile approaches are gaining in popularity. It then discussed the fundamental principles that are common to most Agile methods, and used the Scrum approach to give a more detailed view by example on how Agile projects work. "

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.

Results vs. Process; Which is More Important?

In the project management world, we've all been hearing about "process" for years, and of course most of us have been indoctrinated in PMI principles. And process is important, because it gives us a roadmap to follow and allows for continuous improvement (provided we learn from mistakes and tweak our processes accordingly).

But as the saying goes, the map is not the territory. Ultimately, in order to achieve results on a project, we need to know when to streamline certain processes, or even break the rules entirely, especially when faced with day-to-day challenges.

Companies like Toyota live by processes (even over short-term results), and do very well. But that is organizational strategy -- and a good one at that. The idea is that if processes are monitored and improved over time, then long term results will ultimately be realized. With project management, on any given project we cannot afford to wait years to see the fruit of our process improvement labors pay off. We're on a limited timeline, and must show results.

Granted, we still must conduct lessons-learned sessions and regularly revise gaps in our project management process (constantly looking to streamline), but from a tactical project management standpoint, results must come first.

This is why I conclude that, when it comes to managing a project, results are more important than process.

But there's something even more important than results, and that's people.

Ah, but that's the subject of another blog (to paraphrase the ending of the film, "The Jungle Book" -- the Sabu version, not the Disney cartoon).

Project Management Continuous Improvement ...

Project management offices (PMO) perform, at a minimum, an assessment or debriefing of projects during close-out. Those lessons-learned need to be incorporated into a continuous improvement program to drive project management maturity and quality higher. Recent government report demonstrates that lessons-learned from government IT projects are not really learned from until root causes are identified and/or process defects are eliminated. ...

Via IT Week: Project breakdowns avoidable, says MPs report ...

... "Major government IT project failures over the past decade could have been avoided by learning from past mistakes, according to MPs. " ...

Via Committee of Public Accounts, UK Parliament: SEVENTEENTH REPORT: ACHIEVING VALUE FOR MONEY IN THE DELIVERY OF PUBLIC SERVICES ...

... "The Committee has identified seven key areas which departments need to focus on if improvements in the delivery of public services and their efficiency are to be achieved: planning carefully prior to implementation; strengthening project management; " ...

Phased Approach Critical to World Class IT Governance; Nice 'n Easy

Fred Gattelaro from Pacific Edge has an excellent article in Computerworld on the importance of introducing IT Governance in phases, not as a big-bang approach.

I can say with certainty that this is sound advice.

He suggests focusing on each of the following three phases, one at a time:

• Creating Visibility -- First Understand What Exists
• Improving Execution -- Integrating New Processes
• Optimizing Results and Continuous Improvement

Just as with introducing any new fundamental change, the organization needs to progress through a maturity model. And, for IT Governance, this one's as good as any.

Too many organizations try to do it all at once, and it becomes a real credibility problem. Read on...

Charting a Course to Achieving World-class IT Governance, One Step at a Time - Computerworld

Communications Newsletter for Project Managers

Since we all know from PMI that communication is 90% of a project manager's job, why don't more project managers focus most of their self-improvement efforts in that area?

Several months ago, I subscribed to an excellent communicatons newsletter from Ragan Management Resources. It's an 8-page newsletter chock full of tips, anecdotes, and ideas for anyone who needs to communicate in their jobs--and that certainly applies to project managers.

I've found it invaluable, and among all the project management publications I read, this is where I get most of my ideas from.

The website is below. You can view a sample issue and test out a trial subscription. The full subscription is $109, but well worth it. And no, this is not a paid advertisement.

Communication Solutions

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. " ...

Innovation is Everyone's Business ...

Business innovation does not come naturally in large organizations and is a key ingredient companies are searching for to create and sustain growth in their markets. Fred Smith, CEO Fedex, offers insights on business innovation and the responsibility of the workforce. This responsibility must be nurtured until it become a norm or core value of the enterprise. ...

Innovation is Everyone's Business: Via Business Innovation 2005: Interview with Frederick W. Smith: Innovation and business excellence at FedEx ...

... "Frederick W. Smith: Everyone in the company is responsible for innovation, though executive management must encourage innovation, reward it and measure it to determine success. We strive to have a culture where each member of the team feels free to advance good ideas for improvement. " ...

ITIL Incident Management PostMortem ...

Continuous improvement in ITIL service management can be enabled through a strong post-mortem process. Brian Corrington, Codesic, explores the importance of using post-mortems to improve IT service levels. ...

ITIL Incident Management PostMortem: Via CIOUpdate: Anatomy of a Major Incident Postmortem

... "A well designed postmortem process can be used to develop comprehensive IT action plans and serve as a powerful building block in launching an overall service improvement program, which may also involve implementation of a best practice framework such as ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). " ...