Agile Next-Gen IT Project Managers

Latest research from Forrester notes that next-generation project managers have adapted to flexible, agile methods. ...

... "they need to be flexible and focused on business value; and they increasingly need to be familiar with Agile software development methodologies ... " ...

Via ITBusiness: Project manager skills

Valuing IT Assets

Researchers exploring ways to make the information technology asset life-cycle conversation more meaningful for business leaders. ...

... "Executive management and CEOs don't have the language, models and tools to have a business-oriented value conversation around their IT infrastructure, says Peppard. We're also trying to think about how an organisation might put a value on legacy [past IT] investments. " ...

Via The Irish Times: IT project value

Project Forecasting: More Lessons from Driving

A while ago, I entered a post about the importance of staying tuned in, drawing an analogy to driving. Well, another driving analogy had occured to me, this time about the need to focus on remaining time.

Let's put it this way. If you're driving from Philadelphia to New York City and you're at the entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike, what percent complete are you on your trip?

Some of you may guess certain percentages based on distance, but that's as foolish as basing project percent complete on the percent of budget or time that's been spent, without regard for work accomplished.

The quick answer is: Who cares what percent complete we are? What we really should be concerned with is how much time is left, assuming we care about what time we arrive to begin with.

But let's say that we DO care (i.e. schedule is a priority for us, as opposed to some other success factor). How can we measure whether we'll be there on time?

Simply using a percent complete tells us nothing. It's too subjective. What we need to know how much time is remaining. And that will depend on how fast you're going, how many miles are left, what barriers may arise (i.e. road closings, flat tires, etc.), how many stops you make, and a number of other variables. It's no different for projects.

For project schedule control, capturing percent complete is too theoretical, so that's not of much use to us. And capturing time spent tells us very little, except perhaps how long it took us to do prior work, which may not be an accurate indicator of future work. Besides, we can probably determine future work estimates more accurately through expert opinion and/or statistical sampling (combined with good planning).

Of course, there's no harm in entering time spent as long as people are disciplined to always include time remaining. Then a percent-complete can be calculated based on that. But the percent-complete itself is not a leading indicator, so is still of questionable value.

If we focus instead on time remaining at the task level, and combine that with barrier removal, risk planning, and regular reforecasts, we'd have much better control over whether we "arrive on time."

We can improve our ability to estimate in the future by capturing lessons learned, doing spot checks, and using the information to create project schedule templates and checklists, so future projects can avoid running over the same potholes.

Some may say, "Oh, we still need the percent-complete for Earned Value calculations."

Do we really? By putting a dollar amount to the time remaining, we can solve the same problem in a simpler fashion, answering the question: How much is it going to cost us to complete this project and what's our estimated time to arrival?

Just some food for thought. See my followup post on Project Forecasting and Uncertainty as well.

All About OPM3

PMI's Organization Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) is not without controversy, and things are heating up more than ever. Some tout it's ability to help organizations navigate a growth path and others claim it's too focused on academia and doesn't hit on real world issues facing project managers.

Here are a few recent articles that show the good and the bad ---- all you need to know to decide if OPM3 is for you.

First, this month, AllPM is highlighting articles on OPM3, including the following:

The Essence of OPM3

The Business Value of Maturity Assessment

OPM3 and your 'C' Level

Comparing CMMI and OPM3

For another perspective, there's a very insightful critique of OPM3 on Projects@Work:

Assessing OPM3

Of course, we need to keep in mind that it's the first iteration, and will evolve over time. I do know that there are major improvements in store for the next release. It'll be interesting to weigh in after the product matures. Meanwhile, it's a tool, and, like any other, can easily be misapplied or overused.

Project Management Imperatives: Ten Keys to Success

Someone recently asked me what I felt the critical success factors were for any project (i.e. what were the top "must do's"). Although I can think of many more, here were what I felt were the top ten:

1) Get the roles right. (Insure accountability; use a RACI chart or Responsibility Matrix so roles are clearly defined. Insuring people understand their commitments up front will avoid problems later.)

2) Get the goals right. (Make sure all the key stakeholders agree on the goals. I've seen more projects go wrong for this reason than any other. Time spent here will pay dividends later.)

3) Get the current scope right. (I say "current scope," because change should be expected. Projects by default contain change because they are unique in nature. It's not whether you'll experience change, it's how you analyze the potential impacts and manage the approval of the change that counts. Agreed-upon and approved scope changes are perfectly acceptable, with one caveat: It's often wise to set a limit to the number of times scope can be changed for the current product release, and defer some changes to a subsequent release, else value gets delayed.).

4) Obtain commitment from the business, customers, and other stakeholders as to their part in the success of the project. (Many projects derail because the customer doesn't live up to their side of the bargain, doesn't understand their side of the bargain, or some other necessary constituent isn't cooperating for various reasons. Obtain the right commitment up front, starting with senior management.)

5) Determine the critical success factors and risks. (Critical success factors and risks go hand in hand. Many people ignore this or sweep it under the rug, and accept any related risks as a given. The critical success factors will identify related risks and help set expectations).

6) Set expectations. (This is frequently overlooked and is a key cause of failure. The sponsor, customers, and anyone impacted by the project must be given realistic expectations for what is needed from them, how long the project will take, how much it will cost, what the uncertainty factor is, what the available resources are, and anything else necessary to avoid surprises and/or an under-equipped effort.)

7) Beware of conflicting directives. (I call this the "Robocop Syndrome." In the film, Robocop, the titular robotic policeman goes on full tilt when he encounters directives that conflict with his primary directive. I see this happen often in organizations where a project sponsor demands something that is in conflict with other key stakeholders' wishes and/or top organizational directives. This could be covered under "goals" or "expectations," but it's so important that it warrants its own point. The project manager must head this off at the pass before the project goes down a rat hole it won't recover from.)

8) Plan Collaboratively. (The act of planning is not an isolated exercise. It's a collaborative exercise and should be done with the project core team and subject matter experts via some sort of facilitated brainstorming session---possibly with sticky labels on a wall.)

9) Beware of unilateral and granular "one-size-fits-all" solutions. (This is often ineffective, both as a project management methodology and a process implementation policy. Look at the big picture, and the potential variations. Keeping a framework high-level can allow for greatest flexibility and adaptability. Aim for principles over rules wherever possible. Use rules when safety is involved, regulatory requirements exist, or exact accuracy is needed---per Marcus Buckingham's guidelines from "First Break All the Rules.")

10) Don't let rank set you off course. (Often, a senior manager pulls rank and makes requests that are either detrimental, unwise, or in direct conflict with organizational goals. When this happens, see rules 6 and 7. It is the project manager's responsibility to set the right expectations, warn of potential risks, and head off potential conflicting directives at the pass.)

There it is. My list of "must do's." Project management isn't rocket science. In fact it's not a science at all. It's more of an art. Hopefully, the guidelines above can serve as a useful palette.

Influencing People: The Project Manager's Secret Weapon

I recently attended a presentation on self-awareness and influence by Dr. Charles Dwyer, Academic Director of the Aresty Institute’s Leading and Managing People program in the Wharton School. I was so impressed with the presentation that I bought his book, The Shifting Sources of Power and Influence.

This book was a real eye-opener, and a jewel for anyone in project management. In the book, Dwyer states three major challenges we all face:

• Dissonant Value Systems (i.e. people’s conflicting value systems, made even more visible by the advent of the media, internet, etc.)
• Diffused Power (i.e. power being spread around in a matrix fashion, with more and more decentralization and special interest groups, etc.)
• Limited Resources (We all face a limited set of resources, made even more challenging by our lack of a mindset geared towards accepting tradeoffs, or a good mechanism to guide operational priorities)

Sound like any projects you know?

Dwyer goes on to caution that public statements, such as vision, mission, organizational values, etc. may be useful for articulating the values of the leadership or giving people a sense of structure, but do not in themselves change anyone’s value systems. Many leaders assume they can use these statements to change people’s value systems to match organizational values, but this is a myth.

What is needed instead is the ability to influence others by getting them to change their behavior to match your values. To do this, have a clear picture of what you want the unit to look like; set specific, measurable objectives; and insure that people have a way of achieving those objectives.

According to Dwyer, some tried and true methods include asking people for help, offering or implying something in return, or influencing indirectly (i.e. working through someone else who’s in a better position to influence).

Dwyer points out five guidelines for influencing people (I’ve paraphrased them):

1. Insure they have adequate capability (Do they know what to do, have the competence and self-confidence to carry it out?)
2. Address their perception of “Potential Value Satisfaction” (WIIFM or “what’s in it for me”)
3. Address their perception of the probability of value satisfaction (i.e. Do they trust you? You must build trust through visible examples.)
4. Address their perception of cost (Do this by giving them alternatives or a sense of options, and helping them understand the costs and implications.)
5. Address their perception of risk (Try to assume or distribute some of the risk. Don’t ignore it.)

These are the five things everyone weighs in their mind when someone attempts to influence them. In essence, the five elements (four of which are perceptions) make up an equation for behavior. We can influence people’s behavior by addressing this equation (I’ve paraphrased for simplicity):

Behavior=Capability + (Perceived Value * Trust factor) – (Perceived cost and risk)

These are just some of the gems of wisdom in Dwyer's book. He offers reams of memorable examples, often with a humorous style. With 90% of a project manager's job being communication (including influence), I highly recommend Dwyer’s book for project managers, or anyone in a leadership position for that matter.

Traditional vs. Agile Project Management: All You Need to Know

Here's the best article series I've seen to date comparing traditional "plan-driven" PMBOK practices to Agile "value-driven" approaches. It's a four-part series by Michele Sliger on StickyMinds.com.

Enjoy...

Column info : Relating PMBOK Practices to Agile Practices - Part 1 of 4

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.

IT Project Dashboard

Anecdote on IT project performance with mention of top 5 root causes. Chevron referenced for its management practices that focus attention on the highest value projects in its portfolio. ...

... "According to Accenture, the average IT project exceeds its projected cost and schedule by 56 percent and 84 percent, respectively. " ...

Via ITBusiness Edge: Link

Extreme Project Management: Reality Rules

I just finished reading Doug DeCarlo's book, Extreme Project Management. I met Doug at a recent PMI event we both presented at. Not only is his keynote presentation a crowd pleaser (hint: he plays the drums to illustrate the pace of a typical project and uses Noah's Ark as a sample project from the "ultimate Sponsor"), but his book is chock full of practical, immediately usable ideas.

I was amazed at how much his philosophy mirrors my own, with a focus on simplicity, value, results, and the understanding that change is inevitable. A key point of Extreme Project Management is that reality rules. Plans are nice, but then results must drive further planning instead of assuming reality will yield to the plan.

As an example of simplicity, consider what he calls "The Four Business Questions":

1) Who needs what and why?
2) What will it take to get it?
3) Can we get what it takes?
4) Is it worth it?

As another example, check out his "Three Sentence Project Skinny":

1) Who will do what for whom?
2) This project will be considered completed when: ___
3) Why? This project supports the organizations objective to: ___

The book also offers handy checklists (such as what to ask the sponsor during the first and secend meetings, etc..), the 4 Accelerators, the 10 Shared Values, the 7 Win Conditions, and more.

Although the book is the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it's extremely readable and has diagrams that bring together all the concepts in the book. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book grounded in reality as opposed to academic theory. Above all, this will help project managers succeed where the rubber meets the road---communicating and dealing with stakeholders.

Amazon.com: eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility: Books: Douglas DeCarlo

Quality vs. Quantity: Is it Really a Choice?

There's an article in CIO magazine about how business leaders are beginning to choose quality over quantity (although the evidence seems to be to the contrary). The article refers to quantity as faster, more, cheaper, etc. But is it really a choice?

With adequate up-front research, phased deliverables, frequent communication, and good change management practices, we can achieve both. Phased deliverables provide earlier benefits (i.e. speed), fact-based learnings, less resistance, less rework (i.e. cheaper) and many other benefits. Change management practices insure that the rollout of any new feature or product won't break something (the level of change management needed must of course be appropriate to the type of product and industry).

And so what if it turns out through the early phases that requirements must change or more features are needed? As long as the change impact is managed and the change is agreed-upon, that's perfectly fine. These value-based course-corrections are another advantage of phased deliverables.

These precautions are the difference between speed and haste. As Patton said, "Haste is speed without planning." Indeed, we can achieve quantity and quality.

Here's the CIO article...

Getting Quality Over Quantity Better the First Time Around - Business Pulse - Leadership RC - CIO

Strategic Portfolio: High Value Differentiated ...

Chevron has created a governance framework for actively managing its high-value enterprise-level projects, differentiating from its volume of small projects. The high-value portfolio is also where most of the investment is aligned. ...

... "it's a strategic framework for the company's biggest and most important IT projects. It's intended to ensure that the projects with the biggest benefit to the company as a whole get the right funding at the right time, and that they get special management attention. " ...

Via Computerworld: Chevron: Where Size Is Opportunity

Technology Evolution: Call to Green Action ...

As computing density increases, power consumption is spiraling out of control. It is time for the Information Technology industry to do its part in energy conservation and management. ...

... "Chief information officers need to wake up to the issues of spiralling energy consumption and environmental legislation, and develop greener approaches to IT, according to Gartner. " ...

Via ITNews Australia: Gartner urges IT to go green ...

A green strategy can include server virtualization which increases asset utilization and lowers the energy footprint of the datacenter ...

IBM VIRTUALIZATION SERVES UP COOLER SYSTEMS FOR US OPEN TENNIS EVENT: "Virtualization technology, which IBM has been providing to clients since before Arthur Ashe won his first US Open title in 1968, allows many computing resources to act as one and, more commonly, one computer, storage device or server to divide its own workload and act as many different resources. By reducing the number of computers and servers in use, virtualization helps minimize the often strenuous and expensive power and cooling demands of datacenters and eliminate unnecessary maintenance expenses. "

IT Governance: Firing on All Cylinders ...

An IT Governance Practice Director offers some good insights on successful IT governance, which requires progressing your maturity across multiple dimensions of management: portfolio, project, resource ... leading to the end game of transforming IT into a powerhouse of value creation. ...

... "Successful IT Governance requires effective portfolio, project, process, financial, resource, risk, and communication management. It requires the IT organization to switch its mentality from that of a cost center - We're just here to keep the lights on - to that of a profit center ... " ...

Via ITworld: Getting Started With IT Governance

IT Project Management Book For the Ages

For those managing IT projects, an invaluable resource is Jolyon Hallows' comprehensive book, Information Systems Project Management. Be sure to get the 2nd edition (link is below). It's a bit expensive, but Amazon has it used as well for less money.

Even though I've been managing projects for years, I always like to check out various books to gain new perspectives. This one is exceptional. It offers practical advice with"what if" situations covering most political quandaries, handy checklists (there's a great one on scope considerations), and concise "real word" tips on using various methodologies.

If you're an IT project manager and only buy one book this year, this is it. Of course, if you buy two books, you can check mine out as well. :-)

Amazon.com: Information Systems Project Management With Infotrac: How To Deliver Function And Value In Information Technology Projects: Books: Jolyon Hallows

Project Risk Management

Oil production company, Venture Production PLC, uses risk management software to model project scenarios to select optimum schedule while balancing risks, costs, and time performance. This seems a worthwhile approach, when large investment is at stake and time to value is critical. ...

... "Using Pertmaster, Venture's project management team was able to add a risk dimension to plans built in its Primavera P3 scheduling solution. Venture then analysed the schedule-risk of multiple scenario options to look at the most probable outcomes of each, in terms of both timescales and costs. This enabled the best options to be highlighted when considered from both likelihood of risk occurrence and degree of impact and enabled management to take well-informed decisions. " ...

Pertmaster Helps Bring Venture's New Oil Field On Stream ...

Venture Operated Goosander Field On Stream: "Goosander has been developed as a sub-sea tieback to the Venture operated Kittiwake platform utilising two subsea flowline bundles totalling 12 kilometres in length. The bundles were manufactured and installed by Subsea7 from their construction site in Wick and have been designed and engineered to accommodate future production and water injection wells and the potential for re-use on future subsea tie-backs. "

PM Lessons from Einstein: Summary

Here's a summary our project management lessons from Einstein (with links to the original posts) ...

1) Goals Rule ("Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age.")

2) Think Flexible ("As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.")

3) Silence is Golden ("If A=Success, then the formula is A=X+Y+Z. X is work. Y is play. Z is keeping your mouth shut.")

4) Think Value ("Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.")

5) Imagination Counts ("To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.")

6) People Matter ("Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.")

7) Focus on Strengths ("Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.")

8) Think Simple ("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." BUT... ""Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.")

Einstein Project Management Tip #4: Think Value

And so we continue our series on project management tips from Albert Einstein. Here's another...

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

This sums up perfectly the problem with most projects today. They focus on "success" without fully defining what success means. Project managers and PMOs track schedule and budget metrics. Then, at the end of the project, some capture customer satisfaction, almost as an afterthought.

What really needs to happen is to insure value to the customer, and this usually goes way beyond being on time and on budget. We spoke about the need for clear goals. Surely that's part of it. We also need to deliver in small, frequent iterations to provide the quickest value and get more immediate customer feedback.

Customer satisfaction should be measured and tagged as an index throughout the life of a project, just as Earned Value uses indices to track cost and schedule performance. This allows course correction to be made in areas such as goal clarification, communication, and other areas needed to provide good value.

And when the product has been delivered, be sure that the customer can maximize the benefits of the product through proper training, tips & techniques, next steps, or any other items that will help them get the value expected.

These are the very items I've attempted to address with my Service-Oriented Project Management (SOPM) framework, with its four phases of Understand, Prepare, Iterate, and Transform (UP-IT).

More Einstein tips coming soon...

ITIL CMDB: Survey Insights ...

Evergreen shares insights on aligning data center projects with creation of a configuration management (CMDB) database, which is a core component of ITIL. Current state information is needed to jump-start the CMDB, but the data must be maintained through change management to sustain its value to the enterprise. ...

... "As companies are gathering this data, Evergreen suggests that they adopt a CMDB approach to 1) aid in the execution of the data center initiative itself and 2) ensure that this critical data is kept current and made available to the rest of the organization. Key benefits of capturing and maintaining this data in a CMDB include better capacity and resource planning, reducing risk associated with failed change (and a lack of configuration knowledge), and better IT operations in general due to more current, accurate, and useful data. As a core component of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a CMDB contains relevant information about IT Configuration Items (CI’s) as well as their dependencies on and relationships with each other. A CMDB can include data specific to IT hardware, software, applications, documentation, personnel, and business domains. " ...

Via Evergreen Sys: Evergreen Systems Suggests Organizations Utilize Data Center Initiatives to Drive CMDB Adoption ...

PPM / EPM Software Market: HP Acquires Mercury ...

HP acquires Mercury and creates a $2B software line of business. The software LOB seems like a complementary fit - infrastructure software and application management / EPM governance software. It was inevitable that Mercury would be acquired, given the consolidating EPM market. HP paid a sizable premium - a nice bonus for Mercury shareholders given delisting. Mercury customers should be delighted - some stability - and likely continuing investment in the application suite. ...

... "HP announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Mercury Interactive Corp., a leading IT management software and services company, through a cash tender offer for $52.00 per share, or an enterprise value of approximately $4.5 billion, which is net of existing cash and debt. " ...

PPM / EPM Software Market: HP Acquires Mercury: Via HP: HP To Acquire Mercury Interactive Corp.

Elusive IT Project Value: Book Tells How To Achieve It

I've just finished reading an excellent book on achieving value from IT projects, The Information Paradox: Realizing the Business Benefits of Information Technology, by John Thorp and the Fujitsu Consulting's Center for Strategic Leadership.

Thorp and company claim that today's IT projects are evolving more and more from simple automation efforts to complex "information" initiatives, and even further---to complete business transformation initiatives. This calls for a different approach and requires IT and Business collaboration.

As the book points out, the classic "let's buy a product and assume it comes with automatic benefits" approach doesn't work in today's more complex arena (and in fact it probably never did). In a complex business transformation initiative, trying to assume that an IT project in isolation will deliver value is wishful thinking.

The book also points out the four critical dimensions of complexity, which it says are blind spots in traditional thinking:

1) Linkage - to other related initiatives and to business strategy
2) Reach - those areas of organizational structure or supply chain processes that may be impacted by the change, or that need revisiting in order to bring about the benefits
3) People- those affected by the change and/or that need to be engaged (i.e. proactive change leadership and stakeholder analysis)
4) Time - the time it takes to manage the overall initiative, including the above dimensions, to fully realize the benefits (most companies grossly underestimate this)

Unfortunately, many IT projects just focus on on-time and on-budget delivery (resulting in a situation that the book describes as, "the operation was successful but the patient died"). Thorp and company refer to this as "investment myopia."

Instead, a committment to business value, ongoing process improvements, frequent iterations of delivery, and better project selection techniques are key. Most of all, we need to be aware of the blind spots mentioned above.

The book goes on to describe how a system of program management, portfolio management, and governance, with a focus on benefits realization, can bring about results. It also cautions about the dangers of treating selections as a one-time annual event, making selections in isolation (instead of in the context of investment programs), and not looking at all aspects of value (i.e. going beyond simple financial measures).

I highly recommend the book for those struggling with determining the value of IT, or trying to bring about collaborative change in their organizations. If you look at any major successful transformation, it was brought about by a marriage of technology, business process, and organizational change, and with full backing from senior management. This book can go a long way toward helping make this happen.

Earned Value Wikipedia: Your Chance to Contribute

Our friend Garry Booker of Project Frontier has revised the Wikipedia entry for Earned Value Management and is looking for feedback.

Feel free to check it out and update as needed. Also, here's Garry's introductory statements in the topic's discussion page.

His revisions have added some clarity, plus information on making EVM scalable to various size projects. There are some good diagrams and links as well.

Here's the link...

Earned value management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Change Management: IT Leads Insurgency ...

Robert Reich challenges IT leaders to embrace change and lead the insurgency brought about from the mega-trends confronting us. He highlights the importance of adding value and ignoring past models for success. ...

... "Organizations that will thrive in the global economy will be driven not by the short-term expectations of Wall Street, Reich suggested, but by his so-called change insurgents. These educator-executives can persuade managers to develop strategies that comprehend the structural economic change brought about by globalization, technology and the graying of the baby boomers. " ...

Via Search Oracle: Robert Reich tells CIOs: Rise up and adapt to global change ...

Earned Value EVM Adoption Growing?

Earned value management is seeing adoption outside of traditional user base, through mandates and associated success stories. ...

... "So EVM tells you — by planning and setting the milestones — whether you got the value for what you're paying for. I think people are starting to understand that. " ...

Earned Value EVM Adoption Growing?: Via FCW: Making EVM matter ...

PMO Success Story: A.G. Edwards Case Study

There's an excellent article in CIO Magazine this month showing how A.G. Edwards reinvented its PMO to bring their projects to an 88% success rate (from about 50% originally).

Some key lessons:

• They created a 25-step project management high-level framework of just the high level activities common to all projects. They didn't inflict a detailed application development methodology and left the "how" flexible, as long as the "what" was satisfied. At a more detailed level, they used Primavera for project tracking and dashboard metrics.
  
• They provided leadership training to boost the confidence of their PMs
  
• They moved the project managers from the PMO to the functional areas to encourage collaboration and better align the PMs with the business.
  
• They offered project planning services to assist the distributed project managers with using the new framework effectively (allowing them to use the planning tool of their choice, be it Excel, MS/Word, or a whiteboard). The 25 framework touchpoints, however, are common to all projects for cross-project comparison purposes (I assume enabled in Primavera).
  
• They redefined "success" as "projects that deliver business value." This gives customer satisfaction and business value even greater priority than being on-time and on-budget (note: they still improved their schedule and budget statistics anyway).
  
  This is the essence of the new model and bears repeating. The customer defines success. Under this model, it's quite possible to have a project that is late and over-budget and seen as a raving sucess.
  
• They tirelessly met with stakeholders in individual and group settings to offer the benefits and ask for their support. They used a subtle soft-sell approach with the "bad actors."
  
• They first involved the PMs receptive to new ideas as part of a pilot and them used them to "spread the gospel"
  
• They measured success rates and publicized them in quarterly reports to senior management.

These are all powerful and valid ways to make a PMO successful, and are philosophically aligned with the Service Oriented-Project Management (SOPM) model I've been developing. In this case, these changes collectively served to boost IT's credibility at A.G Edwards significantly.

Here's the full article. Don't miss the sidebar "8 Steps for Improving Project Management."

When Failure Is Not an Option - Editorial - CIO

Project Management Holy Grail; Keep Searching

With all the hoopla over the DaVinci Code, I figured I'd share this insightful article from Max Wideman on what many have considered the "Holy Grail" of project management---the ever elusive set of "best practices."

Wideman rightfully argues that any list of best practices is likely tainted, because who'd want to share anything so groundbreaking that it gives them a competitive edge---and if it was so groundbreaking, it would most likely get lost in the survey process that looks for frequently used practices.

So, instead of best practices, we end up with "common practices," which in many cases are extremely flawed.

Better to break new ground and look for unique approaches that fit what you are trying to accomplish, or look for the best examples of what some other organizations are doing. But beware of surveys that claim they show "best practices."

When it comes to project management, you'll just need to keep looking for the Holy Grail. Better yet, try to create one, as I'm attempting to do with my new Service-Oriented Project Management (SOPM)™ model, and others are doing, such as Garry Booker with his Streamlined Earned Value model and his other creations. But you won't see any of these on any "best practice" lists.

Here's the full article...

Max's Musings - The Fallacious Argument of Best Practice - Or the Holy Grail of Project Management

SOPM; A New Project Management Methodology

Service Oriented Project Management (SOPM) is taking shape as a methodology that fills the gaps in traditional project management, namely a RELENTLESS customer focus and the all-important analysis and benefits evaluation after the project has "completed."

As I fine tune the model, I'll post the iterations here, as a methodology in progress.

The four high-level steps in SOPM are as follows:

1) UNDERSTAND ... Develop an understanding of the problem being addressed, the goals, constraints, the internal environment, the external market, benchmarks, the people and subject matter involved, potential solutions, risks, benefits/justification, and any other knowledge necessary for success. Most of all, understand the customer.

2) ENABLE ... After helping the customer obtain approvals, prepare the project organization (resources, roles & responsibilities), operating principles, the infrastructure and tools needed to run the project, organizational alignment, preliminary training needed, communication, and anything else needed for a smooth road ahead.

3) ITERATE... Plan, design, build, test and pilot the solution before attempting a full scale implementation. Implement in phases to achieve quick wins, earlier benefits, and greater customer satisfaction. Consider iterative prototypes during the design phase. Don't forget additional training needed.

4) EVALUATE... After each project phase and at the end of the project, evaluate and document lessons learned, customer satisfaction, and benefits achieved (vs expected). This includes evaluating how the customer can achieve maximum results with the product of the project, and laying the groundwork for their continued success.

By using an UNDERSTAND, ENABLE, ITERATE, and EVALUATE process, with COMMUNICATE as an overarching activity that extends across all four steps, we adopt a much more holistic and customer-centered approach to project management.

A few key points... Customer satisfaction should be measured at milestones throughout the project, not just at the end. It's as important as monitoring cost and schedule (i.e. Earned Value performance).

Imagine seeing an S-Curve showing Planned Value, Earned Value, Actual Cost, and Customer Satisfaction. Maybe your project is on schedule and on budget, but the customer isn't satisfied with the results (or with the project communication, or a whole host of other issues).

A narrow focus on cost and schedule takes too much of an inward view. Besides, measuring customer satisfaction throughout a project allows for corrective action instead of managing in the rear view mirror.

More to come.

NOTE: I have since revised this model. See my updated entry.

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.

Earned Value Management Trends, Best Practices, and Pitfalls

A few weeks ago, I commented on Part 1 of a three-part series on Earned Value Management on Projects@Work.

While Part 1 set the stage and illustrated some of the challenges of EVM, Part 2 of this excellent series offers some excellent case studies and learnings.

For instance, the US government agency, OPM (Office of Personnel Management) cites the following critical success factors:

- Continuous executive sponsorship (not just up front)
- Committment to funding for adequate tools and training
- Adequate allocation of project managers' time to manage using this system
- Piloting EVM in a small group of projects to illustrate success and fine tune the details
- Not underestimating the culture change management required, involving employees, managers, and timekeepers. Regularly maintained training and job aids are critical.

Another organization, Inter-Coastal Electronics, cites having shallow, simple WBS templates in their ERP system as a key success factor. They claim that a WBS that's too granular becomes too difficult to manage. I couldn't agree more.

I highly recommend this series to anyone attempting to introduce Earned Value Management in their organizations.

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/230753.cfm

Study Shows No Consensus on PMOs

Having trouble getting consensus in your organization on the value and structure of your PMO? If so, you're not alone.

As reported in PMForum, the research team that has been studying how PMOs are used has released its interim findings.

The findings, based on the 500 companies studied, show that there is wide variation in the perceived value of PMOs, the structure of PMO's, and in the functions PMOs deliver.

In addition, there appears no be no pattern whatsoever in one industry or region versus another. At the least, it'll make it difficult to come up with any kind of "standard PMO design."

It only makes sense that a PMO's charter could vary based on the culture of the organization, the project management maturity of the employees, the committment of senior management, what the organization is trying to get out of the PMO, and a host of other variables.

Maybe the lack of agreement, and the resulting organizational maelstrom caused when many PMOs are launched, is the reason why two-thirds of PMOs fail. Studies have shown that the PMOs that begin by insuring the success of project teams and providing portfolio management services---and then progress to becoming a center of excellence---seem to have longer-lasting success than those that try to do too much too soon.

Meanwhile, it should be interesting seeing the final results of this particular study. The PMForum report is below...

PMFORUM, Connecting the World of Project Management PMFORUM Breaking News: REALITY OF PMO'S STUDY: INTERIM RESULTS RELEASED

Project Portfolio Risk Management ...

Intellilink shares method for calculating the overall risk on a project portfolio. It is critical to assess the risk of the project portfolio to understand trends and also to determine if additional risk is appropriate, as higher value opportunities are usually associated with greater risk. ...

... "Intellilink, a boutique consulting firm specializing in automating knowledge worker organizations, hosted a workshop outlining its innovative project portfolio risk calculation methodology at the 4th annual IT Financial Management Week 2006 conference at the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort, Miami Beach, Florida which ran from April 3 to April 6. The workshop, which was oversubscribed by nearly 40% of pre-conference registration, presented a simple and practical methodology for calculating the risk of an IT project portfolio. Titled IT Portfolio Risk Management: A Methodology for Calculating the Risk of Your IT Portfolio, the Intellilink workshop was jointly lead by Intellilink's CEO, Patrick Boylan, and Managing Director, Fumiko Kondo. The risk calculation methodology was developed in response to organizations expressing the need to improve their understanding of risk across the IT portfolio. " ...

Project Portfolio Risk Management: Via Intellilink: Intellilink Hosts Project Portfolio Risk Calculation Workshop at IT Financial Management Week 2006: The firm's innovative project portfolio risk calculation methodology was well received by a full house of senior IT financial executives ...

Project Management Book Giveaway

I donated two copies of Napoleon on Project Management to Cornelius Fichtner to give away on his Project Management Podcast series.

If you'd like an opportunity to win one of them, check out his April 8th episode (and while you're there, learn something about how to monitor your projects without the sophistication of Earned Value!!).

The contest will take place on the April 8th episode and the one after, with the two winners being announced in the third episode.

Not only will you have a chance to win a book by listening to a free podcast, but you'll be sure to learn something. Cornelius's podcasts are always enlightening. The link is below...

The Project Management Podcast

More Earned Value Woes for IT

I mentioned the other day that the IT industry has been struggling to adopt Earned Value Management. There's a three-part series on Projects@Work on Earned Value that illustrates the trials and tribulations thus far. This first part is based on a survey from Primavera that demonstrates just how far behind the IT industry is.

Ironically, this is especially so in the US government (the focus of the Primavera study), despite a mandate from the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) that any IT organization that wants to get their project approved must use Earned Value for tracking cost.

According to the article:

Respondents cite three big EVM challenges:

• 25 percent say they are unfamiliar with EVM;
• 24 percent say they lack personnel trained in EVM; and
• 21 percent say they lack senior management interest.

As the article points out, the latter is the most suprising, considering the OMB mandate. It just goes to show that these things must be driven from the top if they are to be effective.

I suspect part of the problem is that the concepts need to be made simpler for management to embrace it, or at least the focus should be directed at the ultimate EVM figures management would care about, such as "Estimate at Completion," as opposed to the more cryptic Cost Performance Indices (CPI) - although they're valuable as a project manager's tool.

If you really want to turn a senior manager off, just show them an Earned Value metrics chart. Better to sell them on the concepts first and give them the resulting target estimates and planned corrective actions rather than the nuts and bolts of EVM metrics.

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/230677.cfm

PMO Startups; Help from the Blogosphere

There's a new addition to the blogosphere, and it's a good one for anyone implementing a PMO.

All About Project Management Offices is a fairly new blog from Derry Simmel, who happens to be a PMO Director and is also on the board of PMI's PMO SIG.

Already there's some excellent content on there that should prove valuable to PMO Directors or anyone in the process of implementing a PMO. For instance, there are posts on selling your PMO, demonstrating value, building a PMO, recommended books on PMOs, and more.

Check it out...

All about Project Management Offices

IT Strategy: Infrastructure Services Outsourced ...

Asian insurance company outsources infrastructure services to IBM Asian operations and also procures strategic planning services from IBM. No company is immune from the possibility of outsourcing. ...

... "Under the terms of the 10-year agreement which has a total contract value of approximately 340 million US dollars, IBM will provide IT strategy consulting services to help develop and advance KYOBO's IT vision and strategy. IBM will also manage the company's servers, storage systems, network and desktop computers and operate its data and disaster recovery centers. Additionally, IBM will provide IT skills development and IT management training services, called IT University, for KYOBO's employees. " ...

IT Strategy: Infrastructure Services Outsourced: Via IBM: KYOBO Life Insurance Signs a 10-Year Outsourcing Contract With IBM ...

Earned Value Management; Important for IT

There's a nice little writeup in Computerworld about Earned Value Management and its increasing use in IT.

The article offers the basics of EVM, along with the challenges in getting it widely used IT industry, particularly since EVM assumes that there's some sort of disciplined project management approach to begin with---which many IT organizations are still behind on.

It rightly positions EVM as a valuable tool for predicting budget overruns early in the project.

The article is below (there are a few good sidebars on EVM as well) ...

Earned Value Management - Computerworld

Earned Value Management EVMS Convergence? ...

Feds prodded to standardized earned value management systems, EVMS, to enable supplier efficiency. ...

... "The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) recently urged acquisitions regulators for defense and civilian agencies to reconcile differing draft requirements for federal IT contractors to establish Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) for IT projects. " ...

Earned Value Management EVMS Convergence?: Via ITAA: Defense, Civilian EVMS Rules Heading Down Different Paths ...

Organizational Project Management; Why Should CEOs Care?

Paul Dinsmore and Pedro C. Ribeiro's article in Chief Project Officer talks about why CEOs should care about project management. He lists several areas where project management can directly impact the bottom line, including working capital, sales growth, and profit margins.

People are beginning to realize that project management is much more than managing individual initiatives; it's about transforming everything an organization does into a project-based approach.

In the article, Celina Antunes, CEO South America Region for Cushman & Wakefield Semco comments:

“For decades, project management has been a discipline in engineering, construction and other industries, where a key management skill has always been the ability to complete a job on time and on budget. Yet it's only been in recent years that the discipline has moved to its current status as one of the leading reasons for success in some of the world's best companies. When you need an outcome done right, on time, and within a budget, you definitely need project management to assure results”

Of course, to be truly effective, this requires a strong committment to becoming a "learning organization." Here's an excerpt from another quote, from Robert Cook, former CEO Latin America for Unisys Corporation:

“The importance of excellence in project management could not be over rated. I would guess that all of us as senior operations people have been involved in projects that have created shareholder value and those - that have reduced
shareholder value... We need to be in a continuous learning process. A well structured lessons learning process in project management is key to seamless execution and ensuring that the direction of the project is correct from the beginning of the effort”.

For the full article, read on...

Chief Project Officer: Why Should Project Management Matter to CEOs?

Recovering Troubled Projects; Seven Steps to Turn it Around

I just read a good case study about rescuing a troubled project, written by Jim Stewart on Chief Project Officer (which, incidentally, has a nice selection of articles).

Here are seven tips Stewart suggests:

1) Don't continue down a failed path. It's never too late to add controls.

2) Don't be afraid to cut your losses and terminate a project that's not generating value.

3) Be sure you have experienced, trained project managers. Keep the good, trainable ones. Reassign the others.

4) Be prepared to make tough decisions. Bypass groups that'll slow you down. Remove troublesome spots (or people).

5) Have adequate and appropriate resources. Allow project managers to focus on project management, not day-to-day technical details or deployment.

6) Don't hesistate to reconsider everyone's role. Avoid redundancy and joint-leadership situations.

7) Re-plan the project with team input. Avoid an unrealistic plan set by management. While management input is valid, only the team knows what's wrong with the project and how long everything should take. Getting team input insures a realistic schedule and garners team buy-in.

Here's the full case study with the lessons...

Chief Project Officer: Case Study: Recovering a Troubled High Tech Project

PMOs; Where's the Value?

A contributor to eProject's eLounge mentioned this excellent article from Chief Project Officer. It's written by Tom Westcott, founder of Project Solutions Group. Several years ago, I saw him speak on scheduling techniques at the PMI Delaware Valley Chapter's Annual Workshop, and was very impressed with his dynamic style and pragmatic approach.

In the article, Westcott talks about how PMOs must demonstrate value if they are to survive, and offers some good tips on how to do just that. Specifically, he says they must create strategic alignment, deliver real value, and communicate frequently.

Here's an excerpt on what he has to say about delivering value:

PMOs must deliver value to survive. Value is not templates, tools, methodology, processes, training; these are means to driving value. Value is gaining efficiencies, achieving cost savings, increasing customer satisfaction, reducing time-to-market, increasing revenue and profit, reducing deficits, or increasing competitive advantage. Too many PMOs wrap their whole mission and existence around the services they provide instead of their impact on the business. Executives buy value.

Too many PMO directors are former project managers who see their role as project management evangelists. This
leads to a myopic view, and often they are ill-prepared or unable to work strategically with executive management. PMO directors need to speak and think in business terms, financial and organizational. Nix the "project-management speak." How does this project benefit the organization and support our strategy? And how can we get it done as quickly and inexpensively as possible? That's what they care about.

For the full article, read on...

Chief Project Officer: PMO or Bust?

PLM Market Consolidation: Formation Systems, Now MatrixOne ...

Consolidation in the product lifecycle management PLM software market... Formation Systems. Now, MatrixOne. What's UGS' next move?

... "Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, and MatrixOne, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative PLM solutions for the value chain, jointly announced a merger agreement pursuant to which Dassault Systèmes would acquire MatrixOne for $7.25 per share in cash, representing a total transaction value of approximately $408 million. The proposed acquisition, which has been approved by both companies' Boards of Directors, is expected to be completed by the end of the 2006 second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals by MatrixOne's shareholders and regulatory authorities." ...

PLM Market Consolidation: Formation Systems, Now MatrixOne: Via MatrixOne: Dassault Systèmes to acquire MatrixOne ...

Business Value of the IT Application Portfolio ...

Under constant pressure to cut costs? Managing a portfolio of existing applications? Enhancing, upgrading, or sustaining these applications? Struggling to describe the value of applications that run-the-business? The Application Investment Management (AIM) framework looks interesting. Sheldon Monteiro, Sapient, discusses the AIM Framework which is used to understand, leverage and rationalize the existing information technology assets through understanding value of the application portfolio. The methodology looks for opportunities for reuse, imbalance in IT investments, and areas for strategic focus. It is compatible and complementary with other management frameworks, such as ITIL. ...

... " While ITIL places emphasis on understanding service costs, AIM builds on this foundation by exposing business benefits associated with applications, for an overall understanding of application portfolio value. " ...

Business Value of the IT Application Portfolio: Via IT Business Edge: Taking AIM at IT/Business Alignment ...

Maps for Apps: Via IT Business Edge: "Consulting firm Sapient Corp.'s Application Investment Management (AIM) framework differs from portfolio management in one key respect; AIM focuses on existing applications, rather than trying to evaluate future investments as portfolio management does. "

Maps for Apps: Via CFO: "AIM is best suited for large, complex, global organizations that spend tens of millions of dollars (or more) on IT; have gone through a fair amount of mergers and acquisitions; or rely on dozens of enterprise resource planning, human-resource, or E-mail systems. Such organizations usually have several dozen, hundreds, or even thousands of applications and complex business processes that span many product lines and geographies. "

I would have added references from Sapient's website, but, for an internet consultancy, it has the slowest website in this hemisphere ... ;-)

PMI Highlights Project Management Case Studies

In an effort to provide more value to project managers, PMI now includes project management case studies on their web site. Check it out...

PMI News Room - Case Studies

Agile Scrum Project Management; Applicable to All Projects?

I just finished reading Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber, and the case is most compelling.

As we've posted here, Scrum is all about daily communication and short 30-day iterations focused on business value. No doubt it's a change from traditional project management, but it takes a sensible, pragmatic approach. As the author points out, Scrum is about "the art of the possible" and especially shines when dealing with complex initiatives (which most IT projects are).

While the book is geared toward software development projects, I found myself asking if this approach would apply to other projects, such as implementing packaged software, or even non-IT projects. I think the answer is a definite "yes." However, the first round may take longer than 30 days, depending on the complexity of the configuration and a hundred other variables.

Suffice it to say that time-boxed iterations focused on delivering some level of pre-defined business value at each iteration is the right way to go for most projects, and certainly most IT projects. Phased deliverables offer earlier payback, quick wins, and allow the flexibility of changing course in future iterations. That sounds like a win-win to me!

Project Portfolio Management: IT Business Management Solution ...

Touchpaper introduces new project portfolio management (PPM) system that drives IT business alignment. ...

... "Touchpaper has launched a new product portfolio underlining the company’s IT Business Management (ITBM) strategy and its vision for an ITBM enabled organisation where the IT and customer service departments measure themselves against the strategic and operational goals of the business. Aimed at commercial and government organisations, the Touchpaper ITBM suite is available through the company’s direct sales channels and via its international network of Value Added Reseller (VAR) partners. Many customers have already committed to the new Touchpaper ITBM solution including Hachette Livre UK Books Group, London Borough of Hillingdon, London School of Economics and Political Science, Newport City Council and Sanimed.

Specifically, Touchpaper’s ITBM suite can help deliver projects that drive business growth and value; meet customer needs and pre-defined levels of service; achieve governance and regulatory compliance; link business and IT strategies, plans and relationships; demonstrate the business value of IT; apply metrics to IT; budget and manage IT spending; foster change in business processes and manage risk. " ...

Project Portfolio Management: IT Business Management Solution: Via Touchpaper: Touchpaper Launches New Solution for IT Business Management ...

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. "

Scrum Project Management - What it is NOT

What scrum is NOT...

• Scrum is NOT an acronym - it's just a name; however, the process includes a daily meeting that might be compared to a traditional rugby scrum
• Scrum does NOT employ a waterfall approach - it focuses on iterations
• Scrum is NOT the "big bang theory" - it focuses on delivering value early in the product lifecycle and then adding onto that basis in future deployments
• Scrum does NOT require large amounts of documents - it focuses on results
• Scrum is NOT new - it's been around since at least 1995
• Scrum is NOT only for use on smaller projects - "Scrum teams" allow Scrum to be used to manage large, enterprise-level projects as well

For more about what Scrum is and is NOT, check out: http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=18

Scheduling is Dead, Bring on Chaos; So Says A Foremost Scheduling Expert

Project scheduling has no future whatsoever, and this comes from no less than Murray Woolf, the Managing Director of the PMI College of Scheduling's Scheduling Excellence Initiative (SEI).

This article, posted at PMForum is one of the better ones I've seen in a while (possibly because it's aligned with my philosophies). The premise is that, in today's day and age, the industry is headed toward more of a "give the people objectives and let 'em work it out" philosophy, which is completely opposed to the old "build a detailed schedule and make 'em follow it" mentality.

This is completely aligned with a value system that I've long subscribed to (and had posted on here at PMThink), and that is: To foster passion and accountability, we need to provide:

- Autonomy and Trust
- General Guidance and Principles
- Support and Removal of Barriers

This, of course, must be supported by having clear objectives.

Through all this, we also need to send a message that results are more important than blindly following rules. This doesn't mean that we needn't have processes, as people need a system in order to achieve consistent results; merely that we should give project managers the freedom to bypass certain processes if it's necessary to achieve good results. "Good" is the operative word here. Just meeting a date is not "results."

I believe that Mr. Woolf's article endorses my approach, and acknowledges that the following is where the future of project management is:

More organized chaos than it is controlled components.
More project facilitation than it is project scheduling.

This doesn't mean that planning isn't important either; merely that the act of planning shouldn't be confused with rigidly following the plan/schedule. As Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Plans are nothing; Planning is everything."

As it is, and as Mr. Woolf rightly points out, project managers and "schedulers" are so bogged down in details and administrivia that they become more project reporters than managers. We need to observe where the future is headed and free project managers from the burdens of such fruitless details.

Instead, their efforts should be spent on adequate preliminary research, communication, facilitation, risk awareness, and other traits necessary to effectively manage a project.

For the full article, which I highly suggest reading, see Mr. Woolf's paper below...

PMFORUM, Connecting the World of Project Management - Papers

Project Management Success Stories; Learning from the Past

There's nothing like learning from others who have "been there and done that" to expedite our attempts to try something new. It's sort of like asking for directions versus driving around for hours fruitlessly.

For example, for those considering implementing Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), here's a list of CCPM Success Stories from the Goldratt Institute.

And if it's Agile Project Management you're considering, here's a great Agile Project Management success story from Computerworld, which shows how Sabre Holdings Corp. spent $125 million on a failed project to overhaul their reservation system in the late 80's, and then tried another attempt more recently, this time with a more agile approach, and had tremendous success.

All too often, organizations attempt to undertake huge initiatives without learning from others' successes, and more importantly, their failures.

And the past doesn't have to only include the recent past. I've been writing about project management "lessons from history" for years now, and some of the successes and failures of such notables as Caesar, Augustus, Napoleon, and many others bring lessons that are directly applicable today. For instance, Napoleon was using Earned Value before it was "invented" 200 years later.

I am absolutely convinced that the search for the "next big thing" will undoubtedly bear its best fruit through closer examination of the past.

Project Portfolio Management: Monitor Investment Value ...

Patrick Durbin, Planview CEO, explores the integration of IT strategic planning and project portfolio management to drive the value from information technology investments. Alignment of IT with business strategy creates visibility to value opportunities. Portfolio-based investment analysis enables objective selection of the best mix of investments. And, active management of benefits increases the likelihood of realizing the targeted value. ...

... "Discretionary, strategic investments to grow the business or transform the business can take years, involve thousands of person hours and cost millions of dollars. Organizations must carefully choose which of these investments to pursue and then regularly monitor them on a periodic basis to ensure that the business value is still relevant. " ...

Project Portfolio Management: Monitor Investment Value: Via DMReview: Chart Your Course to Strategically Align Business and Technology

Earned Value Management Deadline Looms for U.S. IT Projects

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has given government agencies until December 31, 2005 to develop a a plan for implementing Earned Value Management (EVM) for all of its IT projects. The IT industry in general has been slow to adopt EVM, and this is especially true in government agencies.

To assist with this, the CIO Council released a framework earlier this month for organizations to use for implementing EVM.

As reported on Government Computer News, "The guidance comes after a recent report by EVM software developer Primavera Systems Inc. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., found that many agencies will struggle to meet the upcoming milestone because many agency senior managers have not embraced the concept. "

I think that's true for many senior managers in general, not just in the government. With the deadline a day away, let's hope the template has been of assistance. Meanwhile, check out the information below about the CIO Council's framework for implementing EVM.

CIO Council releases guidance on EVM plans

The value of Project Management

One of the regular discussion points during consulting engagements is the value of project management. The engagement sponsor usually gets it - otherwise the consultants would not be there at all. However it is common to find other staff who, for a variety of reasons, argue that 'we don't need project management here'. We are faced with the old dilemma - 'for a believer, no evidence is needed; for a non-believer, no evidence is sufficient'. But there are many people who can be convinced by good evidence and this particularly includes managers with some responsibility for performance and the bottom line. The survey statistics in this paper relating to benefits realised in IT organisations make impressive reading.
Value of Project Management in IT Organisations

Leadership Tips From Jack Welch

I don't think I've seen a better list of tips anywhere than this list of 25 tips from Jack Welch.

Also, as an added bonus, here's a list of values, from Jack Welch's book, Winning. These same values can work on an organizational scale or when rolling out project management processes and methodologies (more on that later).

• Leaner is better
• Eliminate bureaucracy
• Cut waste relentlessly
• Operations should be fast and simple
• Value each other's time
• Invest in infrastructure
• We should know our business best. We don't need consultants to tell us what to do.

Very inspiring. In the project management world, waste can include any processes or forms that don't bring real value. As for infrastructure, that can be broadened to include any tools that will support our efforts to get where we need to get, including EPM (Enterprise Program/Portfolio Management) tools.

Now that we've seen his core values, here's the full list of Jack Welch's 25 tips for successful leadership ...

25 LESSONS from JACK WELCH - Business Leadership and New Management Secrets

Agile Project Management Ecosystem: New Partners ...

Rally works to develop an agile project management ecosystem by adding new partners. ...

... "Rally actively partners with industry-leading companies to help customers acquire the development and project management skills needed to succeed with Agile, one of the world's fastest growing technology trends. Rally's Development and Coaching partners provide a comprehensive network of expert resources that offer a wide range of business, process and technology services related to planning, building and delivering software in small batches that provide immediate business value. " ...

Agile Project Management Ecosystem: New Partners: Via Rally Software: Rally Software Development Adds New Agile Partners ...

Based in Boulder, Colo., Rally Software Development offers the only on-demand, software development management solution that helps software organizations scale Agile development practices across the enterprise and around the globe. The company’s customers include leading software vendors, Internet companies and corporate development teams who are committed to responding faster to new opportunities and changing customer demands. With Rally, larger or distributed teams are able to define, develop and deliver high-value software in rapid iterations. Rally’s world-renown coaches and expert partners complement its on-demand tooling with training, mentoring and consulting services for creating the Agile organization.

Earned Value: Government EVMS Progress, Targets Raised ...

OMB provides status update for agency progress against electronic government targets. Metrics show modest progress in adoption of earned value management system, EVMS. 2006 targets raise the bar to drive further adoption. ...

... "As of September 30, 2005, 28% of agencies have fully implemented EVMS (7 out of 25) and on average are achieving at least 90% of their cost, schedule, and performance goals. Another 52% of agencies are using some level of EVMS (13 out of 25) to track the cost and schedule status of their major investments and do not have cost overruns or schedule delays exceeding 30%. Those agencies are taking the appropriate actions, including developing comprehensive agency policies and incorporating requirements into contracts for using EVMS, to bring the management of all of their major IT development efforts into full compliance with the industry standard for EVMS. Together these two groups of agencies account for over 75% of Federal agencies being able to measure progress toward milestones in an independently verifiable basis, in terms of cost, capability of the investment to meet specified requirements, timeliness, and quality. The remaining six agencies have a plan of action and milestones to incorporate the use of earned value management into their Capital Planning and Investment Control Process.

For FY 06, the goal is for at least 50% of the agencies managing their IT portfolio in accordance with the standard and averaging 10% of cost, schedule and performance. " ...

Earned Value: Government EVMS Progress, Targets Raised: Via OMB: Expanding E-Government: Improved Service Delivery for the American People Using Information Technology ...

Project Work Packages; The Importance of Delegation

I read this story on Stephen Covey's website about his inspiring interview with a well-respected Naval captain. They key success factors for this captain were his ability to delegate, and his trust in his subordinates. This trust and delegation truly inspired passion and accountability in his people (something we've promoted here at PMThink as well).

It reminded me again of the importance of Work Packages in project management, where we assign deliverable (or group of deliverables) to a work package owner, and give them full accountability of managing the details to "make it so" (as Captain Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation would say).

Here's Stephen Covey's account of this interview:

I was training U.S. Navy officers in leadership during the dot.com era, when someone told me about an exemplary leader named Captain David Marquet, Captain of the U.S.S. Santa Fe, who never lost anyone, in spite of the hellish conditions submarine personnel are required to endure. An opportunity arose, which I jumped at.

I was invited to board Captain Marquet’s sub and interview him. Never before had I observed such empowerment. We stood on the bridge of this multibillion-dollar nuclear submarine with a football field of vessel in front of and behind us. A young officer approached the Captain and said, "Sir, I intend to take this ship down 400 feet." Captain Marquet asked about the sonar and sounding and then instructed this young man to give us another twenty minutes on the bridge before carrying out his intention.

Throughout the day, people approached the captain intending to do this or do that. The Captain would sometimes ask a question or two, but then say, "Very well." He reserved only the top decisions for his own confirmation and empowered others to make the rest. He said he wanted to empower his people as far as he possibly could within the Navy’s confines. He felt if he required them to own the problem and the solution to it, they would begin to view themselves as a vitally important link in the chain of command. He created a culture where those sailors had a real sense of adding value.

Months after my sub ride, Captain Marquet wrote to inform me that the U.S.S. Santa Fe was awarded the Arleigh Burke Trophy for most improved submarine, ship, or aviation squadron in the Pacific.

All in all, a very inspiring reminder to us that we don't need to be managing every last detail of our projects, and instead must have faith in our most valuable asset---our team. This "distributed accountability" approach is a surefire way to encourage and exploit team synergy. Just pick the right people, give them guidelines, and get out of the way.

Information Technology Profession: Understand the Skill Shifts

IT leaders value business, functional, and project management skills, but are not investing in the entry level programming skills in the U.S., where early talent is developed. Christopher Koch, CIO, challenges the recent data that the IT workforce has regained its Y2K size and everything is just peachy. Further review of the data shows major structural shifts in skills and jobs have occurred. ...

... "In a survey of 82 companies that began earlier this year and is continuing, the Society of Information Management's team of academic researchers asked which skills IT leaders thought were most important to keep in house today. The top skills were all related to business process or project management. " ...

Information Technology Profession: Understand the Skill Shifts: The Structural Shift in IT - Koch's IT Strategy - Blog - CIO

ITGovernance: Software Quality Assurance ...

Paul Krill reports on the next wave of software capabilities planned by Compuware and NextWave. ...

ITGovernance: Software Quality Assurance: Via Computerworld: Ajax, app quality enhancements are readied ...

... "CARS 5.1 has been integrated with the Compuware Changepoint IT governance solution. A subset of Changepoint capabilities for request management, knowledge management, and reporting are featured in CARS 5.1. " ...

Compuware introduces IT governance solution that provides metrics for software development: a quality index. ...

Via Compuware: CARS 5.0 Provides Maximum Business Value to QA Organizations Through the Implementation of Effective Governance Models to Deliver Reliable Business Applications ...

... "One of the major challenges facing CIOs today is maximizing the business value of IT investments. CIOs know that business value means shareholder value, and increased shareholder value means revenue growth and/or improved operating margins. Previously, these types of goals were left up to the business managers to accomplish through business initiatives. Now business is increasingly looking towards IT to not only be linked with these initiatives, but also to be an enabler to accomplish these goals. With CARS 5.0, Quality Governance™ enables IT organizations to deliver the processes, systems and metrics to accurately assess the value, cost, risk and performance of the services they provide. By integrating with Compuware IT Governance by Changepoint, project portfolios that contain development projects will benefit from new metrics that communicate a software quality index. This integration not only increases the accuracy of tracking and evaluating a project’s health and risk, it also reduces the administrative burden of collecting and entering data into multiple systems for reporting. CARS provides CIOs with more detailed metrics about the quality of the application portfolio. This improves decision-making, and allows for better alignment with the business. " ...

Low Intensity Project Management

It's interesting how ideas resurface from time to time. Here's one that was coined a couple of years ago and came back during a discussion of project management maturity assessment recently. Low Intesity Project Management describes an approach to Project Management in circumstances where there is little appetite for a formal methodology. It involves an experimental approach to introducing low profile, low effort project management activities in the expectation that some of them will stick. To one steeped in traditional project management, this might also appear to be a low value approach that would, at best, get an organisation to level 2 (planned) maturity. In any case, it's interesting to re-read the article and identify some of the classic environmental characteristics that make project management such a tough sell.
Low Intensity Project Management

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; " ...

PMO Lessons From Toyota; Support Project Managers First!

More great lessons from Toyota. This report from F.R. Parth of Project Auditors shows how Toyota Financial Services learned from previous false starts at Toyota in creating a PMO and finally figured out the right way to do it. Some key lessons are:

1) A PMO must begin by supporting project managers first, and management second (this is consistent with the philosophy of my colleague on the PMI Program and Portfolio Management Standards leadership team, Claude Emond, who has made the same statement quite often).

2) Like anything of lasting value, a PMO is not created overnight. Full maturity can take up to 3 years, and full benefits can take up to 5.

3) Organizational resistance can be expected to be high. First solve project managers' pain points and develop basic project management processes (with their input). Gain support and credibility at the operational levels, and then evolve to auditing projects and supporting executives with strategic portfolio management and metrics.

By starting with a traffic cop or cost control mentality, you might as well pack it up now because the PMO won't get past the initial resistance.

Here's the full report, which not only outlines how this PMO is achieving success, but also shows why the earlier ones failed...

Frank Parth Publications / project management articles / white paper

Project Portfolio Management: Business Intelligence Enables Visualization ...

Project Portfolio Management PPM vendors are increasingly bundling business intelligence components in their offerings, such as Business Engine's collaboration with Cognos. ...

Project Portfolio Management: Business Intelligence Enables Visualization: Via Business Engine: Business Engine Teams with Cognos to Deliver Business Intelligence Tailored to IT and Engineering Organizations: Global 2000 Companies Gain Greater Insight into Project-based Portfolios with Advanced Metrics, Dashboards and Reporting ...

... "BEN Business Intelligence embeds industry-leading business intelligence technology from Cognos, including Cognos ReportNet and Cognos PowerPlay, to provide IT and business users with powerful reporting and OLAP analysis through easy access to timely and accurate information. Business Engine recognizes the strategic importance of business intelligence and corporate performance management in helping enterprises gain greater value from their IT investments, align business goals and ultimately deliver solid results, said Ted Jandl, Area Vice President of Strategic Partners at Cognos. Coupling Cognos with Business Engine's leading Project Portfolio Management solution gives savvy corporate leaders the ability to make informed decisions about their business and technology investment portfolio while helping to drive enterprise agility in the face of a shifting economic landscape. " ...

Project Management Graphical Innovations

I've posted in the past about the limitations of current project management reporting (are Gantt charts really the best we can do in the 21st century?).

PCF has some intriguing reporting alternatives on their site for project schedule, resource, and earned value tracking, as well as high level program performance.

Check it out...

PCF Ltd - Giving You Complete Control

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

PMO Dilemma: Two-Thirds of PMOs Fail! Here's Why

Although this article is from several years ago, recent studies show that the figures haven't changed. The sad fact is that two-thirds of IT PMOs fail.

And the key reason, according to this article, is that most of them start out as a controlling/tracking organization and not a services/support organization. I've seen this happen quite a few times myself. It's like the Chinese finger-trap, the harder you pull, the tighter the trap gets. Better to start lightly by gaining credibility and showing value. And for a PMO, that needs to begin with offering assistance to the needy.

Typically, that is done by offering processes, tools, and services---not all at once---but little by little, to the rest of the IT organization. If a PMO starts out assuming it can be the hero, taking on all projects, whipping project managers into submission, and policing work in the organization, it's fighting an uphill battle for acceptance. Better to start by providing services and removing barriers (instead of creating them), and then evolve to becoming a project management center of excellence.

For more on this, read on...

ITworld.com - Opinion: There's a reason IT PMOs fail

Also, here's a white paper from Premis Consulting that provides even more evidence and comes to the same conclusions. It offers 2 key bits of advice:

An effective PMO should work for the project teams first and management second if they want to achieve any real results.

Effective PMOs provide the project team with the right tools and practices to hit the ground running, making a difference right away.

Earned Value Breakthrough; Operational Effort vs. LOE Effort - Project Frontier Weighs In

There's been much discussion recently about the fact that LOE (Level of Effort) tasks can cloud Earned Value figures and should therefore be treated separately. Garry Booker at Project Frontier proposes replacing LOE work with a new category called Operational Effort.

This also allows an organization to use Earned Value at an organizational level to achieve "management by projects," a model that aligns closely with what Tom Peters has suggested in recent books.

Explore the interactive tutorial below from Project Frontier, which clearly describes the issues and terminology involved.

Operational Effort

Government Projects: Higher Spending and Delays ...

Government project culture needs an infusion. ...

Government Projects: Higher Spending and Delays: Via Business Standard: Economy & Policy: Govt spends 42% more on project delays ...

... "Even in the information technology sector, only a third of all projects are completed on time and within budgets, and give the originally anticipated value, says Gregory Balestrero, global CEO of Project Management Institute (PMI). " ...

Earned Value Management: The Performance Baseline ...

NASA provides nice tutorial on the earned value program management technique, EVM. It emphasizes establishing the performance measurement baseline which becomes the reference to which progress is tracked. ...

Earned Value Management: The Performance Baseline: Via NASA: EVM Tutorial - EVM: Earned Value Management

... "Earned value provides an objective measurement of how much work has been accomplished on a project. Using the earned value process, the management team can readily compare how much work has actually been completed against the amount of work planned to be accomplished. All work is planned, budgeted, and scheduled in time-phased planned value increments constituting a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB). " ...

Earned Value Management EVM Principles ...

The Earned Value Management methodology enables visibility into cost, schedule, and technical progress on projects to measure and manage performance. ...

Earned Value Management EVM Principles: Via DOE: EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT APPLICATION GUIDE ...

... "Principles of Earned Value Management (EVM): All work is planned to completion; The work is broken down into finite product-oriented components that can be assigned to a responsible organization; The scope, schedule and cost objectives are integrated into a plan by which progress can be measured; Actual costs are recorded; Performance is objectively measured; Variances and deviations are analyzed, impacts are forecasted and estimates at completion are based on the actual performance to date; Changes to the performance measurement baseline are controlled; " ...

EVMS Earned Value Management: Federal Agencies Lag Behind

Primavera studies the adoption and implementation of earned value management processes and systems (EVMS) in federal information technology organizations. Current assessment shows that agencies lag behind on implementation versus their EVMS targets. ...

EVMS Earned Value Management: Federal Agencies Lag Behind: Via Primavera: Study Reveals Disconnect Between Perceived Merits of Earned Value Management and Federal Agencies Readiness to Implement ...

... "Specifically, the study indicates that the federal IT community agrees with OMB that EVM delivers improved project outcomes, with 60.6 percent of respondents reporting that EVM is very or somewhat important to achieving their capital investment goals. Despite this value perception, results do not demonstrate agencies movement from belief to action, with only 37 percent currently utilizing EVM and even fewer prepared to train or hire personnel skilled in EVM within the next 12 months. Respondents cited their top challenges to EVM implementation as unfamiliarity with EVM and lack of trained personnel. These findings indicate that agencies will not only have difficulty developing EVM implementation plans in time for the December 31 OMB deadline, but also will face challenges implementing documented plans. EVM processes, systems, and software enable the continuous assessment of project performance and status - providing a methodology that can help agencies effectively measure project alignment with resources and goals by comparing status to original plans and end goals. EVM can help agencies achieve green marks on the President's Management Agenda scorecard. To achieve and maintain this high score, agency projects must stay within a 10 percent variance from their cost, schedule, and performance goals. Further, OMB issued a memorandum in August 2005 requiring agencies to utilize EVM Systems (EVMS) on all new major IT projects. The memorandum requires development of written policies outlining agency-specific plans for EVM implementation by December 31, 2005. Agencies must also evaluate exiting, cost, schedule, and performance of ongoing IT projects and take any necessary corrective actions by March 31, 2006 and before devoting any FY06 funds to associated projects. In support of this effort, OMB is working with the Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council to develop a model agency EVMS policy for IT projects ... " ...

Earned Value Management System: Risk Perspective ...

ASC will identify, manage and mitigate risks on its military projects using Welcom's software, which complements its existing use of the earned value management capabilities. ...

Earned Value Management System: Risk Perspective: Via Welcom: Australian Submarine Builder ASC Pty Ltd Chooses WelcomRisk ...

... "ASC has been using our Cobra project cost and earned value management system since 2002, and we see the selection of WelcomRisk as a further endorsement of WST Pacific and Welcom's project portfolio management solutions, said Steve Cook, president of Welcom. " ...

WelcomRisk is a formalized risk management tool for the proactive identification and mitigation of business risk, both threats and opportunities. WelcomRisk combines a user-friendly interface with a higher level of flexibility and granularity than other products. Its flexible integration capabilities and tight security provide companies with a better solution across the enterprise. WelcomRisk is part of WelcomSuite™, a comprehensive solution that supports portfolio analysis, project collaboration, planning and scheduling, and cost and earned value reporting.

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. " ...

PMI Delaware Valley Tools Conference

An interesting morning on Saturday at Valley Forge for the Delaware Valley Chapter 2nd annual tools conference. Apart from chatting to a number of interesting people with a variety of project management tales to tell, there were the presentations.
Ken Barnhart gave the keynote address. His opening story about planning and executing an attack through a minefield against vastly superior numbers and with a number of strategic constraints during the first Gulf War gave a real world perspective to the phrase 'mission critical'.
One of his views that really resonated was dislike of the need for heroics. When the heroes are doing their stuff - commandeering resources, breaking rules, ignoring risk management - the rest of the organisation has to suffer all the disruption and clean up afterwards. The overall theme was 'Value Recovery' with a strong emphasis on doing the work that adds the most value.
And then there was the closing quote 'the man who says he can - and the man who says he can't - they're both right'. Deeep!
For the tools presentations, one could choose three out of seven presentations. The Planisware, Primavera and Microsoft Project (by Ken Barnhart) sessions were all interesting and well presented. Eventually one was left with a sense of deja vu.

Project Management Certification: Global Recognition ...

Project manager certifications are gaining global interest. Ho Siew Yee explores the project management certification strategy at Kompakar, where a major investment in its project managers is expected to increase brand value, name recognition, and global status. ...

Project Management Certification: Global Recognition: Via Business Times: Kompakar raises spending to certify project managers ...

... "By year-end, all Kompakar project managers being deployed will be internationally-recognised project management professionals who will undertake large-scale overseas projects. " ...

Happy Project Management Day: November 3, 2005

Happy Project Management Day !

International Project Management Day November 3, 2005 ...

... "Project Objective: Increase the awareness of the value of project management within the large business, government, small business, and social communities and promote project management as a true profession and key business strategy. This includes, but is not limited to: construction, information technology, entertainment, government, aeronautics, health care, ecology, social, disaster recovery, community improvement, and quality of life projects. " ...

Enterprise Architecture: SEC Future State: Troux Metis ...

Troux and ISI partner to drive the enterprise architecture transformation at the SEC over the next few years. ...

Enterprise Architecture: SEC Future State: Troux Metis: Via Troux: SEC Taps Troux Technologies and ISI for Multi-Year Enterprise Architecture Program

... "Troux Technologies, the global leader in IT Governance and Enterprise Architecture (EA) solutions, and Integrated Systems, Inc., a foremost 8(a)-certified systems integrator, announced they have jointly won a multi-year contract from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to implement the SEC's Enterprise Architecture and increase its business value. Under the agreement, Troux and ISI will collaborate to provide the SEC's Office of Information and Technology with consulting expertise in documenting the SEC's current state architecture, and in developing and maintaining future state target architectures. ... Troux's Metis Enterprise is an Enterprise Architecture and planning solution that provides the basis for the transformation from an organization's current state to an optimized future state. It is designed with a highly scalable database that accommodates the volume of enterprise-wide data required for successful organizational transformation. Additionally, Troux's Metis offers a unique analysis capability, leveraging both the current and future EA states. The automated data collection in Metis, from disparate sources across the organization, keeps information timely and relevant. " ...

Integrated Systems, Inc. is dedicated to the development and implementation of high quality technology- and process-based solutions for government and commercial clients. Founded by Indrani Seetharam in 2000, ISI is a Minority Woman-Owned 8(a)-Certified small business, currently providing sophisticated technical solutions to the U.S. Treasury, the Departments of Homeland Security (US VISIT Program), Transportation (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), Energy, Agriculture and Education; the National Archive and Records Administration; the State of Delaware; and the US Navy Space Warfare Center (SPAWAR). ISI's focus areas include Enterprise Architecture, Information Assurance, Information Security, Certification and Accreditation, Independent Validation and Verification and Life-cycle Management. ISI develops practical, affordable, and deliverable solutions of significant value to its clients, on or ahead of schedule.

Troux Technologies (pronounced "true") is a global provider of IT Governance software that accelerates IT and business transformation. Troux's IT Governance solutions enable organizations to strategically plan the enterprise, capture and analyze critical IT and business data and deliver actionable decisions to transform the business. Troux's breakthrough technology provides the enterprise-class information, policies, and analytics critical for IT excellence. With Troux, organizations succeed in breaking the traditional IT silos and effectively aligning IT with core business goals. Based in Austin, Texas, Troux Technologies serves the Global 1000 and government marketplaces.

Earned Value Major Event November 7-9

It's not too late to register for the 17th Annual International Integrated Program Management Conference, scheduled for November 7-9 in Virginia.

Earned Value enthusiasts rejoice! The topic of this year's seminar is: EVM is Everywhere - "Let's do it!"

Presenters will discuss EVM best practices and tools. Here's the info...

PMI College of Performance Management

IT Governance: New Initiatives Executive Alignment

IT Governance still requires a degree of executive alignment before significant investments can be approved. Any delay can seem bureaucratic, however it is necessary to build an executive support network, or coalition, to align behind a major multi-year investment program. Lawrence M Walsh explores the challenges vendors face when they must align their sales cycles with public sector governance processes.

IT Governance: New Initiatives Executive Alignment: Via CRN: VARs Must Play Politics To Expedite Government Sales

... "Even with centralized IT governance, such as Takai's in Michigan, in which the CIO has budget and oversight of all IT deployments, it still takes time to build consensus for new initiatives. " ...

PMThink references on IT governance:

• CA Niku ITGovernance Growth Engine?


• Centralized IT Governance: Enterprise Architecture Modeling Tool


• COBIT Course: IT Governance Controls Framework ...


• Discussion on Distributed IT: Governance ...


• Does Architecture Visualization Enable ITGovernance?


• EPM Software IT Governance Market Growth ...


• From CIO Magazine - A Cry for Full-Cyle Governance


• Governance Alignment: Project Portfolio Management (PPM)


• Governance Software: OMB A123 Compliance


• IT Governance Common Themes ...


• IT Governance Integrated Application Development: Software Solution


• IT Governance Repeatable Processes ...


• IT Governance Road Map ...


• IT Governance Role: Architecture


• IT Governance Solution: Maturity Acceleration ...


• IT Governance Transformation: New York State CIO


• IT Governance: Application Services Flexibility or Efficiency?


• IT Governance: Board-Level Visibility ...


• IT Governance: Board of Directors ...


• IT Governance: SAP ESA Strategy


• IT Governance: Services Transformation ...


• IT Governance: Service Portfolio Management Applications ...


• IT Governance: Shift Investment to Business Value Opportunities


• IT Governance: The Board ...


• IT Governance: Value and Cost Measurement ...


• IT Governance; Where the Value of IT is Hiding


• IT Savvy: Governance Best Practices: Peter Weill


• Leadership and IT Governance


• Microsoft IT Governance Woes ...


• Process Governance Tool Upcoming ...


• Process Models: ITIL ITGovernance ...


• Project Management and Governance


• ProjectManagement ITGovernanceSoftware Linux Capable ...


• SOA and IT Governance ...


• SOA Governance: Best Practice Strategies Webinar ...


• SOA IT Governance


• Software Supports ITGovernance CorporateGovernance

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. " ...

Earned Value Metrics Tainted by LOE; Project Frontier Studies Solutions

As covered in the latest addition of Earned Value Project Management, by Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman, Earned Value metrics are tainted by the inclusion of tasks that are defined as "LOE."

Examples are Project Administration, Meetings, supporting operational activities, or any general category that is just marked by the passage of time instead of being completed against a deliverable. As Fleming and Koppelman report, these items can cloud Earned Value statistics and should be segregated from normal Earned Value charts.

However, should they be handled as LOE at all, or some other operational category?

Garry Booker is writing a report, along with a FranklinCovey instructor, on how best to deal with this issue. As he reports on Project Frontier, he's looking for interested parties to provide a critical review of his paper. Please check out the link below for more...

Welcome to Project Frontier

Microsoft Project Management Webcast: Upcoming ...

Microsoft Project Management Webcast: Upcoming: Via Microsoft: Microsoft Webcast: Getting the Most from Your People, Processes, and Projects with Effective Resource Management ...

... "Microsoft Webcast: Projects are the lifeblood of your business. Are your resources allocated appropriately? Do you have a sufficient understanding of costs and interdependencies between projects? In short, do you have the visibility you need? This webcast shows you how the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management solution helps you get the most value from your resources. Learn how to forecast resource usage in a multi-project environment; understand resource utilization, costs, and interdependencies across multiple projects ...

Start Time: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 9:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) " ...

Project Management: Making It Happen

Been engaged in recent discussions about how project managers can add more value, and change perception of over-focusing on keeping books straight. Keeping books straight is only valued when projects get in trouble, otherwise it's perceived as a necessary, or often unnecessary, evil. The concept of "making it happen" resonated with me as we progress our thinking on the value-added aspects of project management ...

Project Management: Making It Happen: Via Herding Cats: Three Kinds of PMs

... "Project Managers that make management a verb have a fighting chance of making it happen. Keeping the books straight on the project is not management. " ...

Project Management Maturity; Easy Does It

So many organizations decide to institute disciplined project management processes, often as part of a PMO implementation, and try to go from zero to 60 in a few weeks. The fact is project management maturity doesn't happen overnight.

The best place to start is with a good set of principles, possibly in combination with a light set of processes (i.e. defining a good scope statement, a simple change control process, an issues and milestones list, etc.). Then---and only then---after the project managers have begun to grasp the principles, it's OK to begin introducing new disciplines, such as Earned Value Reporting, Project Accounting, Resource Leveling, etc.

The key is to introduce each item gradually and measure its use and effectiveness.Otherwise, the project managers can get so overwhelmed with details that it distracts them from the real issues of the project. And issue tracking, risk awareness, leadership and communication are the real value-add items that a project manager brings. The rest can be processized and learned over time.

Service Portfolio Management; Planview Takes Portfolio Management to a New Level

Looks like we'll all have a new acronym to learn. SPM or "Service Portfolio Management" is fast becoming the latest trend in IT Portfolio Management.

In essence, it bridges the gap between IT services and business value, for the first time showing the full value of IT services. This includes tying those services to applications, assets, and other organizational elements.

Some organizations are using this to eliminate redundant or low-value applications and to show businesses where their IT dollars are being spent. Most importantly, SPM allows organizations to run IT like a business.

We reported yesterday that newScale (the market leader) and Troux are offering SPM solutions. Planview has also joined the mix. Here's info on Planview's SPM module, which, along with their resource-centric project and portfolio management solutions, allows for a full integrated suite. Very compelling. Whether they can catch up to newScale in this space or whether organizations are better off with a combination of the two remains to be seen. They each have their own strengths.

PlanView Portfolio Management Software - Service Portfolio Management

IT Service Delivery Management: Excellence Model

Ah!, the sweet taste of ITSM IT services management ... Hershey's adopt Sun Micro's service excellence model to improve the delivery of business value. Sun has developed a portfolio of aligned IT services, called SunTone. ...

IT Service Delivery Management: Excellence Model: Via Sun Microsystems: The Hershey Company Continues To Use Sun Microsystems' SunTone Service Excellence Model to Improve IT Service Delivery Management ...

... "Sun Tone is part of Sun's integrated portfolio of aligned services that provide IT infrastructure planning, assessments, and resolution services for customer business issues. SunTone helps enterprises derive greater business value from IT, transforming IT from a support function to a provider of business-led services that create competitive advantage. SunTone Service Excellence Model provides guidance and a measurement system for Sun Tone users. The new SunTone Service Excellence Model 3.0 brings advancements in industry standard and regulatory compliance, major enhancements in security, greater manageability, and requirements for financial management.

By adopting the SunTone Service Excellence Model and consistently operating enterprise data center services in accordance with SunTone certification requirements, Hershey was able to improve service availability and operational efficiency. Hershey was also able to reduce the time and effort required to meet requirements for IT governance. Hershey's experience is representative of a current global market trend to adopt IT service management (ITSM) principles to improve IT governance, compliance, drive operational efficiencies and derive greater business value from IT. The SunTone Service Excellence Model covers all the elements involved in delivering IT services -- system architecture, operational processes, and human skills. " ...

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading snack food company and the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products. With revenues of over $4 billion and more than 13,000 employees worldwide, The Hershey Company markets such well-known brands as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Kit Kat, Almond Joy, Mounds, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and Mauna Loa, as well as innovative new products such as Take 5 and Hershey's Cookies.

IT Governance: Service Portfolio Management Applications ...

It's raining, it's pouring ... EPM software vendors are accelerating their delivery of new service portfolio management applications in support of IT governance processes. Troux delivers IT Governance software to the marketplace, with a service portfolio management module. ...

IT Governance: Service Portfolio Management Applications: Via Troux: Troux Announces IT Governance Applications ...

... "Services Portfolio Management offers a centralized repository for digital service cataloging, built-in workflow and automated SLA compliance analysis. The application allows IT managers to accelerate IT services planning, delivery and management to better demonstrate the value to the business. " ...

Troux Technologies (pronounced "true") is a global provider of IT Governance software that accelerates IT and business transformation. Troux's IT Governance solutions enable organizations to strategically plan the enterprise, capture and analyze critical IT and business data and deliver actionable decisions to transform the business. Troux's breakthrough technology provides the enterprise-class information, policies, and analytics critical for IT excellence. With Troux, organizations succeed in breaking the traditional IT silos and effectively aligning IT with core business goals. Based in Austin, Texas, Troux Technologies serves the Global 1000 and government marketplaces.

ITIL: IT Service Catalog: Alignment Focal Point ...

The IT service catalog is the focal point of alignment between IT service delivery groups and the business customers. Implementation of ITIL service management processes and a robust, business-oriented service catalog are the foundation of an IT services transformation. Service management vendors, such as newScale, continue to invest in new levels of functional capability to enable best practice digitized service processes.

ITIL: IT Service Catalog: Alignment Focal Point: Via newScale: newScale Expands IT Service Portfolio Management Solutions with newScale AlignmentCenter 2005: New Product Offering Focused on ITIL Business Perspective ...

... "As prescribed in the latest ITIL publication, Business Perspective: The IS View on Delivering Services to the Business, the IT Service Catalog is the focal point for communication between IT and the business. newScale AlignmentCenter 2005 enables IT organizations to rapidly deliver a business-oriented, ITIL-compliant Service Catalog in support of the ITIL service level management and business relationship management processes. With newScale AlignmentCenter 2005, IT executives and IT relationship managers can use the Service Catalog to define service offerings, manage agreements, and communicate the value delivered by IT to internal business customers. Driving IT-Business Alignment: newScale developed newScale AlignmentCenter 2005 to help IT executives improve alignment between IT services and business needs by giving business unit executives greater visibility and control of the IT portfolio of services, including agreements, service tiers, consumption, cost, and quality. " ...

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.

OMB EVM Rules: Software Supports Capital Project Oversight ...

Software enables compliance with OMB earned value management EVM rules, which supports better oversight of capital projects ....

OMB EVM Rules: Software Supports Capital Project Oversight: Via xpdoffice - A Division of SSSI - Offering Web-Based Timesheet and Project Management Software

... "xpdient, Inc., a division of Scientific Systems and Software International (SSSI), announced the release of a new module of its successful xpdoffice solution to address new Earned Value Management (EVM) rules propagated by the federal government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) via circular A-11, Part 7, titled Planning, Budgeting, Acquisition, and Management of Capital Assets. The release occurs as OMB officials are becoming increasingly persistent in urging agencies and agency contractors to adopt EVM oversight of major capital projects.

Becoming effective in the near future, rule changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations will standardize EVM execution and use for all major federal government acquisitions, including information technology services. Widely used in commercial markets, earned value management is a standard way to measure a project's progress, forecast its completion date and final cost, and provide schedule and budget variances along the way. By integrating these capabilities, xpdoffice provides consistent indicators enabling project evaluation and comparison. " ...

xpdoffice is a web based Business Automation Software (BAS) solution that streamlines enterprise management and delivers improved project financial reporting. xpdoffice modules include HR, Contracts Administration, Time Management, Document Management, Knowledge Management, Purchase and Inventory, Project Management, and Expense Management.

Earned Value Project Management Third Edition Released

The third edition of Earned Value Project Management by Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman (the godfathers of Earned Value), has been released.

Garry Booker offers some comments on the new edition, along with some relevant quotes, at Project Frontier. At any rate, it looks like the book is well worth purchasing and offers some updates on the thinking of previous versions.

Project Risk-Based Cost Management; Is RACM The Next Big Thing?

The Defense industry brought us Earned Value and proved that Critical Chain could work. Now the DoD commissioned the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) to test a new cost control theory called RACM (Risk Analysis and Cost Management).

The results of the study showed that RACM can offer significant reduction in project costs and excellent cost performance management. RACM offers a method to determine and manage an appropriate risk reserve level (much like Critical Chain focuses on buffer management for schedule control). It also uses a risk multiplier (called Ps or "Probability of Success") for costs at the WBS element level.

But RACM is not being positioned as a replacement for Earned Value Management. Instead, it can be used to complement EVM.

For more info, see the website for RACM, Inc. They also offer a 60-day Evaluation Beta Model.

RACM Home Page

Public Sector Project Management: EVMS Strengths ...

Public Sector Project Management: EVMS Strengths: Primavera Launches Public Sector Group And New Project Management Software Solution For Government: Via Primavera

Primavera focuses on public sector vertical with project management solutions and services, highlighted by strength in EVMS, earned value management system ...

: "The formation of Primavera's public sector group builds on the company's long-history of success working with the public sector and underscores the company's understanding of and commitment to the government market. The public sector team is dedicated to working with agency customers to successfully deploy solutions that help agencies develop, manage, and execute successful programs that meet performance objectives and federal mandates. Further, the group is committed to working with systems integrators to deliver project management solutions that enable successful delivery of government projects. The public sector division offers agencies and systems integrators a true partner in implementation of Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS), drawing on the deep experience and expertise of Joel Koppelman. " ...

CIO Value Measurement: European Market Alliance ...

CIO Value Measurement: European Market Alliance: Alinean and Birchman Group Form Joint IT Value Measurement Venture for CIOs: Expands Alinean’s European Presence ...

Alliance in European market will drive CIO value measurement services ...

... "The Birchman Group’s proven service offering, supported by Alinean, allows the company to deliver large and tangible benefits to its clients by quickly and accurately aligning IT with business objectives, often a time-consuming and painstaking task. The Alinean ROI Analyst Enterprise has significantly improved the quality of The Birchman Group’s analysis and the time-to-delivery. The Birchman Group assists customers in gaining maximum benefit from technology investments through strategy development, business case development, program management, benefits tracking, process improvement, change management and other IT Value Management services. " ...

From business strategy to successful IT solutions, The Birchman Group provides completely independent expertise in planning, executing and deriving business value from IT programs. Pioneering the IT Value Management approach in Europe and South America, The Birchman Group can assure that corporate IT spending is balanced between support and innovation, is aligned with business goals, is formulated with reference to corporate peers, is comprehensively program-managed and delivers according to fully risk assessed plans. The outcome ensures that the IT department becomes a stable and consistent business value generator. With global reach The Birchman Group has enabled blue chip organizations to realize strategic intent by building complimentary and cost effect IT strategies; comprehensively assess, plan and manage a suitable and significant portfolio of Return On Investment (ROI) and Total Cost Ownership (TCO) justified programs measured by business outcomes; and deliver these programs utilizing the highest caliber Birchman program and project expertise. Established in 2003, The Birchman Group has grown rapidly to more than a 100 employees in five countries, which reflects the success of IT Value Management as a service offering and the demand from organizations for The Birchman Group’s unique set of services and resources.

Alinean develops software tools to prove and improve the value of IT investments. The company’s founding team pioneered the concept of interactive ROI and TCO software in 1994, developing award-winning solutions for leading IT vendors and consultants. Its research methodologies and software tools are used by analyst firms, vendors and enterprises, and have helped justify billions of dollars in IT spending and derived value.

Transformational Change IT Projects; Transformation or Emulation?

For IT projects that introduce a major cultural change, it's important to drive the new paradigm. After all, are you transforming the organization or merely emulating the prior processes in a new toolset (which brings little value, if any)?

Here's a great list of free change tools from Being First. Being First is the web site for Dean Anderson and Linda Ackerman-Anderson, whose books Beyond Change Management and The Change Leader's Roadmap offer, as Deloitte and Touche put it, "the most comprehensive change methodology available anywhere."

Change Resources - Free Change Tools for Change Leaders, Project Managers, and Change Consultants

Project Resource Planning; Is there a Gap in the PMBOK?

According to the PMBOK and traditional project management practices, project initiation begins with the project charter. Never mind that the real value-add is in the preparation needed to tie the project to organizational strategy (which arguably links to the portfolio management process) and to select the right project approach (which would end up on the charter). Ideally, the project manager should be more involved in up this up-front options analysis, which would also require solicitation of specialized resources very early in the game.

In addition, the subsequent planning processes include WBS and schedule development (both of which are best done as a group effort with stakeholders, as the PMBOK points out), yet there is no mention beforehand of soliciting resources for that work. These stakeholders are not often readily available, so this appears to be a gap.

Although the PMBOK rightfully suggests engaging stakeholders in the initiating and planning processes, the first time resource planning is mentioned in the PMBOK is following the schedule development. Could it be that the PMBOK doesn't consider stakeholders resources?

Yes and no. As it turns out, the PMBOK assumes these resources are readily available, as part of what it calls "Enterprise Environmental Factors." This might relate to the fact that many organizations (and remember, the PMBOK exists to document common practice, hence the name "standard") do not track resources during initiation and planning, but only begin doing so during execution.

Ultimately, the initiation and planning phases drag out because stakeholders aren't available and/or nobody is tracking progress during these phases. Some organizations are starting to realize the benefits of planning and tracking the "initiation and planning" activities (instead of planning to infinite capacity), so by the time the next PMBOK rolls around this might be common practice.

So, maybe this isn't a gap in the PMBOK after all, but instead, a gap in common practice.

Project Management Gridlock; With Cost Focus, Throughput and Value Suffer.

For some reason, despite numerous case studies indicating the astonishing results of those who have implemented Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), organizations are still resisting it. Perhaps they're not ready for speed, and are still stuck in their lumbering bureacracy. Perhaps they don't believe that psychology can play a role in getting people to focus on throughput. Perhaps they're so focused on cost-cutting and cost-monitoring, that they don't realize that improving throughput can give them the cost results they're chasing.

Or perhaps they don't realize that traditional waterfall approaches and bureacratic methodologies could be standing in the way of throughput and thus value (after all, time is money).

An organization either follows a throughput model or a cost model, and never the twain shall meet. The statistics are all in favor of the throughput model. For information on how Critical Chain Project Management can improve throughput and deliver true customer value, see this report from the Cutter Consortium. Be sure to click on the PDF link at the top for best readibility.

Critical Chain Project Management: Coming to a Radar Screen Near You!

Project Management: Accelerate New Product Design in Semicon Industry ...

Project Management: Accelerate New Product Design in Semicon Industry: Via MatrixOne: MatrixOne and Leading Analyst Firm to Discuss How to Accelerate Chip Design Through Better Project Management ...

MatrixOne and AMR Research join forces in webcast to explore acceleration of project management for designing and delivering new products to the marketplace in the semicon industry. Eric Karofsky has published recent research on accelerating innovation ("Reach Innovation Utopia With Project Management Tools") ...

... "MatrixOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: MONEE), a leading provider of collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions for the value chain , announced that it will present a webcast aimed at helping project managers in semiconductor companies learn how they can use better project planning, execution and tracking solutions to better meet today's chip design challenges and deliver new products faster. The webcast will feature a presentation by Eric Karofsky, senior research analyst for AMR Research, who will discuss the latest industry trends and best practices for speeding product development. The live webcast will take place on Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 1:00 pm ET. " ...

AMR Research provides world class research and actionable advice for executives tasked with delivering enhanced business process performance and cost savings with the aid of technology. Five thousand leaders in the Global 1000 put their trust in AMR Research's integrity, depth of industry expertise, and passion for customer service to support their most critical business initiatives, including supply chain transformation; new product introduction, customer profitability, compliance and governance, and IT benefit realization.

MatrixOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: MONEE), a leading global provider of collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, enables companies to accelerate product innovation to achieve top line revenue growth and improve bottom line profitability. With world-class PLM solutions and a commitment to customer success, MatrixOne is focused on helping companies across the automotive, aerospace & defense, consumer, machinery, medical device, semiconductor and high-tech industries solve their most challenging new product development and introduction problems. More than 800 companies use MatrixOne's solutions to drive business value and gain a competitive advantage, including industry leaders such as BAE Systems, Bosch, Comau, General Electric, Honda, Johnson Controls, Linde AG, NCR, Nokia, Philips, Porsche, Procter & Gamble, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics and Toshiba. MatrixOne is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, with locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Project Management: Oil Industry Room For Improvement ...

Project Management: Oil Industry Room For Improvement: Via Financial Times: Project delays drive up price of oil

Carola Hoyos reports on research by Sanford Bernstein that identifies gaps in the project management performance of the oil industry, which results in less capacity and higher prices in this supply-constrained environment. So, conserve. And, watch those earned value indexes on the oil industry capacity-expansion projects ...

... "The industry is truly dreadful at project management, or at least at predicting the timing of project start-ups. The amount of production growth that has been lost to projects being delayed over the past few years is stunning, over 2m b/d 2.3 per cent of expected global production in 2007 ... " ...