Photography by Roger Butterfield.

What is a Theory of Change?

This post explores a concept from the philanthropic world used to create large scale societal changes. I've formulated some ways that this set of tools can be applied at the organizational and even personal levels. In brief, a Theory of Change starts with an ideal outcome. Creating a theory involves working backward from that outcome and taking into account many of the changes and unintended consequences that happen once a change process begins. It is also vital to include your core values when creating an action plan.

Prepare For a Facilitation in Three Steps

This post dates back to the very early days of my blog. I'm proud of it not because of the fabulous writing (it's actually kind of rough), but because it was my first attempt to provide valuable content in a series format. At the time I wrote the series I was taking a course on facilitation and I wrote the series as a way of reinforcing my learning, as well as to teach others.

What Is a Red Monkey? An Interview With Jef Staes

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Jef Staes, an international expert on innovation and organizational creativity. Jef provided a lot of great information about the need for organizations to allow and nurture what he calls Red Monkeys. A Red Monkey is basically an idea virus that presents an innovative idea to the organization. Unfortunately, many organizations kill their Red Monkeys and fail to innovate. I really like this interview and plan to review Jef's book in the near future.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Proud Postings: Never The Same River Twice

Photography by Alan Light.

Given the tremendous global growth in the profession of Project Management, there are ample opportunities to make your own mark. But before doing so, it might be a good idea to pause for a moment and ponder the following Project Management performance statistics:

• KPMG’s survey results which contrasted 2005 with 2003 revealed the following:
  • There was an 81% increase in the number of projects globally
  • There was an 88% increase in project complexity globally
  • There was an 79% increase in project budgets globally
• The Standish Group survey results for 2004 revealed that only 35% of Information Technology projects were deemed to be successful as measured by being within their original budget, on schedule, and delivering all user requirements satisfactorily
• Ernst & Young and numerous others state that there are three categories of Project Management issues:
  • People-related issues which on average represent 80%
  • Process-related issues which on average represent 10%
  • Technology-related issues which on average represent 10%
• O’Neill’s 1999 study results revealed that on average the typical Project Manager spends 70% of his time on Non-Value-Added project activities.

With statistics such as these, people who practice or those who seek to practice Project Management need to seriously consider their own ability to contribute to a successful project result. Then what about the many academic disciplines that need to be mastered in the performance of Project Management activities such as:

• Business and Strategic Management
• Financial and Cost Management, including Budgeting/Planning and Statistics
• Information Technology Management
• Project Management Process Methodologies and Phases
• Human Resource and Communications Management
• Procurement and Vendor Relations
• Time Management and Scheduling
• Scope Management
• Risk Management
• Quality Management
• Performance Management
• Project Leadership
• Professional and Social Responsibilities

To all of what has been stated above, one needs to recognize all of the personal stress and many long hours which come with the territory in the performance of Project Management work. Then don’t forget to take into account the often very challenging nature of dealing with new technologies and considering the many new ways of performing business processes. Also, what about dealing with the numerous cross-functional experts who often have never worked together and all of the required efforts in building them into a high performance team. Finally, there is the most difficult matter of all which is effectively dealing with people who are in a state of conflict regarding the many project decisions and alternative solutions to problems that arise throughout the duration of a project.

With all of this said, why would any sane individual subject oneself to this punishment?

I was actually asked this very question many years ago by a University student in my "Introduction to Project Management" class. The only answer I could come up with both then and now is this – it takes a certain kind of person who is completely willing to take on these many significant hurdles. I sincerely believe that Project Management work is not meant for everyone. While the field clearly needs a growing number of professionals to satisfy the ever increasing demand as was mentioned above, not everyone is up for all that is required. When you factor in the low project success rate to-date, this challenge looms even larger than it first appears. Despite all of this, it is possible to perform Project Management activities successfully. It takes a lot of hard work, self-discipline, full dedication, intense focus, and a good measure of luck thrown in. One must be able to preserve under very demanding circumstances and rise to the occasion.

Now here are some of the ingredients necessary for project success, including one’s own self-preservation:

• First, one must be willing to do what it takes to achieve a level of professional Project Management certification, which requires, at a minimum, mastering the nine knowledge areas and five traditional phases of a project as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Further, being dedicated to continuous Project Management learning is another serious requirement, aside from fulfilling the need for acquiring a certain amount of Professional Development Units (PDU’s) within a specified period of time.
• Secondly, one must learn how to deal with and manage people, along with their expectations, in a project situation. This is very different from managing people performing routine, repetitive, and ongoing work activities. A project is for a fixed duration of time, and is dedicated to producing some specific final product and/or service. Instead of working with a homogeneous group of people who typically share a similar skill or set of skills and background, projects usually require a vast array of functionally and technically skilled people who more often than not have never interacted with each other. Getting such a group of diverse people to march to the same drummer’s beat is neither easy, nor is it quick in coming. Also, a Project Manager only has limited authority over his people resources, which only complicates matters. The people involved not only include the members of the project team reporting to the Project Manager, but all of the stakeholders with an interest in the project’s progress and outcome. This then includes internal parties (e.g. business executive and middle managers); and external parties (e.g. consultants, suppliers, creditors, auditors, etc.).
• Thirdly, one must be willing to learn about and regularly apply “Best Practices” in terms of Business Process Management (BPM) and interpersonal relationships, most particularly Communications. While BPM is very important to the future of the business, Communications is even more significant since it impacts right now upon everyone involved in the project. Communications is a two-way process of both listening and speaking. Many people are rather good at talking, while they are not so good at listening. Active listening is a skill to be mastered and continually improved upon. In terms of Project Management, it can make the difference between gathering accurate and complete user requirements, avoiding as well as resolving conflicts, and understanding people’s project expectations. As for speaking, the most important thing to know is to send out a clear and consistent message. By not following this rule, one can most assuredly get oneself into a lot of unnecessary trouble.
• Fourthly, gathering sufficient amounts of good information about the organizational environment is another critical project success factor. This entails gaining an insight into any internal politics, a deep understanding of the industry and regulatory nature of the business, the status of current business processes and technology, and the organizational culture. More information is better than less when it comes to these important matters. The Project Manager can use this good information to aid the project in navigating through the various challenges that will surely come along throughout the project’s lifecycle. Being able to understand and apply the dynamics of what makes the business tick will definitely increase the chances for a successful project result.
• Fifthly, paying attention to the early warning signs of a project in distress is very important as well. These early warning signs include such discernable things as:
  • Significant amounts of project overtime hours and cost
  • Project resources being diverted elsewhere, or simply not operating on the project’s activities at a 100% level of effort
  • Project performance ratios are trending downward
  • Project milestones are not being achieved
  • Project scope is subject to too many changes that either increase or decrease the original project scope planned for.

  Then there are the less obvious early warning signs such as these:

  • People’s general lack of interest as expressed by poor meeting attendance and little meaningful communication at project meetings
  • A general lack of and/or rather poor project communications amongst stakeholders and project team members
  • Inadequate deliverables coming at infrequent intervals, or expressed another way – a lack of movement forward
  • All project news is only good news – there is an absence of any bad news being reported

  These early warning signs must be heeded by the Project Manager in order to avert more serious and unrecoverable circumstances from killing any chance for project success.

• Sixthly, recognizing that being a Project Manager entails demonstrating on a daily basis “Project Leadership”. This term does not just refer to the specific nature of the project activities and deliverables, but to the management of all the people, both internal and external, involved in the project. No one can be nor is expected to be an expert in everything, but a Project Manager is expected to:
  • Know when and how to delegate project work to people and take full advantage of their expertise
  • Help people resolve any stumbling blocks that come their way
  • Reward good project performance appropriately, and in a fair and consistently applied manner
  • Not ask anyone to do something they themselves would not be willing to do

As one reviews all that is stated above, it is rather obvious that Process-related and Technically-related activities are mentioned in very short supply. This is not done to indicate that they do not count for any project or personal benefits, for they indeed do. Rather, I seek to demonstrate and emphasize what is most important in achieving successful project processes and outcomes. I personally, and most sincerely believe, having been a team member on some 30 projects over my entire career, and a Project Manager in at least half a dozen of these, that Process and Technical knowledge and experience will get you only so far. What will get you the rest of the way is using your People-related skills well. These skills too often are either neglected or given inadequate time and attention by too many Project Managers, but the statistics shown above very clearly reveal they are most critical. If only 30% of a Project Manager’s time is spent on Value-Added project activities, which are more likely to be centered around Process-related and Technically-related issues, then the substantial remainder must require very good People-related skills and a good deal of patience. If only 20% of all project issues are Process-related and Technically-related, the significant remainder are People-related requiring excellent interpersonal skills.

Finally, if the success rate for Information Technology projects is well below 50%, then it is not due to a lack of Process-related, nor Technically-related information. There are any number of Project Management methodologies and resources available to a Project Manager to use. In terms of Technology, there is certainly no shortage of tools and techniques available today. Clearly evaluating these many instruments takes time, and of course they cost money requiring management approvals, but the profession lacks not from any Process-related, nor Technically-related information resources. It is rather the human element and how best to mange it during all of the endeavors involved with performing project work that needs far greater attention and significant improvement by all who practice the profession of Project Management. If this happens, these project statistics will most likely begin to trend rather differently. There will be a shift to more Value-Added time being spent by Project Managers and more Process-related and Technical-related issues being addressed by Project Managers. Correspondingly, the percentages for Non-Value-Added time and People-related issues will decline. Finally, and above all else, the project success rate will likely increase and shift to becoming the norm instead of an infrequent result. This would be a most worthy professional accomplishment.

So, count me in. I want to be a Project Manager many more times before my career comes to an end upon retirement. Being a Project Manager is something I feel very passionate about. I have done it with some relative successes along with some disappointments, and I can only say that success is much more enjoyable. By constantly learning about all aspects of Project Management, including the critical Human Resource Management component, I expect to perform as a Project Manager much better going forward. Learning by being under fire as a Project Manager is one way, but by researching why projects fail and what to do about this fact is yet another way. The combination of the two should serve me well going forward, and I hope you all as well.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Who Wants To Be A Project Manager Anyway? Please Count Me In!

It's the sociology, telecommuters
Silos & Empires
The Emerging and Strange Alliance Between Boomers and Millennials
7 Reasons for the Rapid Growth of Project Management in IT
Engaging middle management in “Enterprise 2.0?
The Difference Difference Makes
Trading Places with Indian Outsourcers
Do We Learn From Our Mistakes?
Women In Management: Shirts or Skirts - Who's The Better Manager?
Middle-Management Crisis Escalates

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http://www.softwareprojects.org/reader

Read this for more information.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Project Shrink Links: June 2008

Dear Craig,

Of course, we do need more than training alone to improve Project Managers and everyone else involved in projects. From the top of my head: "discipline". You can train as much as you like, but if you drop everything you learned the moment things are getting a little tough, there is no use. Especially in PM, it is tempting to cut corners on documentation, taking minutes and communication in general, when the pressure is on. But we all know that the first things we drop, were supposed to avoid the bad situation in the first place. So, if you ask me what more is needed, that would be my first answer.

Photography by Ogwen.

I think the master-apprentice model you suggest offers a good solution. Project life is very suited for this concept. Lots of smaller Project Management tasks can be created to let the apprentices have a go at it. Supervised by the master of course. In my interpretation of this concept, the master works closely with the apprentice and supports him even with the nitty gritty of project details if needed. This is rather similar to the role of project strategist you are referring to. Although I imagine that the strategist is more likely a kind of senior coach to the PM and surrounding higher management. The essence being that these roles require a close and intense working relationship.

With a project shrink I was thinking more along the lines of relationship therapy. Without having all details, you can improve a situation by means of having guided counseling. "How did you experience this situation?" "What is your relationship with your mother like?" It can provide a needed "snap-out-of-it" moment for a PM (or BA). Reflection is not something that comes natural to all of us. We discussed earlier that cause-and-effect chains are getting complex, so someone to help you order your thoughts on any situation can be beneficial.

The shrink wouldn't be closely involved with the project. He can stay within generalizations and is merely there to facilitate the mental juggling of the project people. Because of the generalization and relative distance between the project shrink and the project stakeholders, I think this could work perfectly in combination with Web 2.0 tools. Heck, this blog is my own personal reflection tool, so yeah, it can definitely work.

What do you think? What are your sentiments on this matter? (See, it works.)

Bas and Craig have a weekly conversation, back and forth on their respective blogs, Project Shrink and Better Projects. With blog titles like that, you don't have to guess what the topic will be. Feel free to join in.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Dear Craig - The Shrink In Me

Photography by Elvire R.

People Operating In A Group

Whatever your take is on projects, at the end of the day it is just a bunch of people working together to achieve a certain goal. During this endeavor to laugh, cry, pull pranks, play dirty tricks and have all other kind of behavior towards each other. If you are lucky they even work to reach the final goal. If you take everything away, and put people in the center of what a “project” is, you will see a group of stakeholders interacting with each other, just like any other group of people would do.

Just to make things easier on our lives, we call the result of all this behavior “the project”. In this sense it is nothing more than an abstraction. If we say “the project is late”, this doesn’t mean that some creature or entity from outer space showed up later than expected; it is the result of the project people working together that wasn’t finished on the time we predicted.

Social Interactions

If we look at the interactions between the stakeholders, some categories may come in handy to divide up the beast we are trying to concur; it is always easier to cut a complex issue into smaller parts when trying to make some sense of it. For this purpose I will use the notion from Ancona and Caldwell who use three dimensions for interactions in teams: the power structure, the task structure and the information structure (source: Constantine, 2001).

The power structure can best be viewed as the hierarchy that exists, it is, if you want, a vertical dimension. The task structure is the structure that consists to perform the actual work; these are interactions that are needed to finish or start a certain task. If the previous dimension is vertical, you can think of this one as horizontal. And the last structure concerning information, are the interactions based upon the exchange of information. This dimension goes from left to right, from top to bottom, so in fact, going all over the place.

The power structure will contain subjects like hierarchical control and planning, the way people are instructed and how the boss is treated back. Concepts like authorization and responsibilities are handled within this dimension. The task structure can be viewed as the actual production chain, it contains all needed interaction to perform task and to create the products. And finally the information structure, subject within this dimension is how, what and when information is provided when the project people are communicating.

Resilience To Cope With Change

In this view a project is a human system working towards a desired goal. However, the project is running within an environment that is changing continuously. The project needs ways to deal with these changes and still keep performing its function, that is, reaching the desired goal. The project needs "resilience".

"Resilience is… the ability to absorb disturbances, to be changed and then to re-organize and still have the same identity (retain the same basic structure and ways of functioning). It includes the ability to learn from the disturbance. A resilient system is forgiving of external shocks. As resilience declines the magnitude of a shock from which it cannot recover gets smaller and smaller. Resilience shifts attention from purely growth and efficiency to needed recovery and flexibility." (source)

Resilience can be found in the individual members of the group, and within the interactions between the members. For the individual adaption is created by having an open and flexible mind, and having the proper social network.

Role Of The Project Manager

A project has a desired goal. It also has borders within it has to operate: constraints. Staying within budget, schedule, quality norms and the like. To be able to do this, the PM monitors the way the project is going and performs interventions if needed. For interventions he has three main tools:

• Strategy: What are the steps taken in the project, and what are the sequence and time frame?
• Organization: How is your project organization constructed?
• Feedback: How is the feedback to the stakeholders on the status and content of products and processes organized?

These areas relate to the three types of interaction: task, power and information. Every intervention has effect on other requirements and constraints. The job of the Project Manager is to facilitate the decision making surrounding those tradeoffs.

And finally, but most importantly, the PM depends on other people to do his job. He needs input from people to know how the project is doing, he needs other people to perform the actual work. It is essential that a PM has good soft skills.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Updated Model Of Projects And Project Management

Photography by Jef Poskanzer.

The job of a Project Manager is to guide a project towards the desired goal respecting those borders. The difficulty lies in the fact that this is always a trade off. If more has to be created, you either need more time or more money. Both increase the cost. Or if we paint the wall blue this week, the same people cannot spent their time on fixing the sink. Project Management is a profession of trade offs and decisions.

Tom Gilb and Mark Maier present in their paper "Managing Priorities: A Key To Systematic Decision Making" a solid foundation on how this could be done.

In their view every requirement to product or process of the project can be expressed within some kind of metric. As a value on a natural or constructed scale.

"All the requirement types can be specified simultaneously as target levels (levels we aim to get to) and constraint levels (levels we are warned to avoid). As a simple analogy, consider room temperature: we aim for just right, and avoid too hot or too cold."

"A constraint is a specification that should be met, otherwise certain definable negative consequences will follow. Constraints cannot be absolute, because the cost of respecting the constraint can exceed the negative consequence in the overall value schemes of the authoritative stakeholders."

By placing all requirements in the same league, priorities can be assigned to all aspects without getting the idea of comparing lemons and oranges.

"Priority is relative right of a requirement to the utilization of limited (or scarce) resources."

It will guide the Project Manager and the authorized stakeholders in making decisions how to allocate to resources. A desired goal is needed for a project to ultimately judge trade offs against.

The paper provides a clear linkage between requirements, constraints, priorities and the allocation of scarce resources.

What more does a PM want?

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

There Is No Iron Triangle In Project Management

Photography by Reyes.

Concocting a Project Potion consists of the following steps:

• You analyze the stakeholders and their interests and expectations (Stakeholder Analysis).
• You analyze the products (technical stuff) you have to create.
• You determine the potential risks that might exist (Risk Management).
• You create a project approach that reduces those risks, and for this you have three main tools:
  • Strategy: What are the steps taken in the project, and what are the sequence and time frame?
  • Organization: How is your project organization constructed?
  • Feedback: How is the feedback to the stakeholders on the status and content of products and processes organized?

When performing Project Potion you will feel like an alchemist that throws all kinds of liquids into a jar, mixing it up, stirring it, and creating the perfect blend, a kind of secret potion. At one time, you may need Project Potion No. 4, and on another occasion you may find yourself completely happy drinking Project Potion No. 1.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Project Potion: The Recipe

What is the best advice you can give to project managers supervising offshore development projects?

Please place a comment with your tip on managing offshore development. It might be the importance of communication; it might be the need for bridging cultural differences. Don't hold back.

As a little incentive I will give an ebook version of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager" to the most original entry (so make sure you include your email address in the comment box - closing of entries is July 1st). Sorry, closed.

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

How To Supervise Offshore Development?

"The idea about preplanning is to equip yourself in such a way that you can adapt to circumstances. That you create an start situation that is as good as you possibly can. If you go to the arctic, you take warm cloths, if you go to the tropics you pack T-shirts. If you don’t know, you pack several shirts you can wear over each other, depending on the temperature."

Although I like this description, I need a stronger image. I need to bring across the fact that you have "preplanning" and "preplanning".

You have The A-Team Way of preplanning. Every episode Hannibal was creating his cunning plan. It always involved welding metal plates onto a car of truck. They could handle every situation. A family in distress? The A-Team looked around in their hideout, and made use of whatever welding gear and car they happened to find.

But then again, you also have The MacGyver Way of preplanning. MacGyver just had his Swiss army knife. His solutions were not sophisticated as those of the A-Team. But they worked.

Wouldn't that be great: A-Team against MacGyver? Try to imagine who would adapt to more diverse situations.

I wonder if people still know A-Team and MacGyver.

Do you?

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Effective Preplanning: A-Team against MacGyver

In the meantime I want to put your attention to a new category of postings I have created: Lenses. Gateway articles that each cover a certain topic from my blog and form an index to related articles.

Project Management: We Need Gumby!
Introducing The Fish Pond
On Why Project Sociology
Projects As Social Interactions

Download here the first part of my book "Surprise! Now You're A Software Project Manager"

Went To London And Created Lenses