tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58702233334533138232024-03-08T20:27:11.298+00:00Be a Better SheepdogProject Management guidance to help you Improve your Project success #beabettersheepdogWillcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-69909582502351118932022-09-12T15:36:00.000+01:002022-09-12T15:36:25.366+01:0010 steps to achieve solid foundations for your project<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9);">In my early career I worked in Civil Engineering and a key construction success criteria, "the need for solid foundations", is actually applicable to any </span><a data-attribute-index="0" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=project&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6972450284081983488" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit !important; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#project</a><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9);">. So in this video I present ten steps for you to adopt to achieve really solid Project Foundations and so give your </span><a data-attribute-index="1" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=project&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6972450284081983488" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit !important; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#project</a><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9);"> the best opportunity of a successful outcome.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9);">The 10 steps are:</span></span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.901960784313726); font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Find your Project Owner</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Agree the Governance Structure</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Recite the poem 6 honest serving men</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Agree WHAT is to be achieved</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Write down WHY it is needed</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">A plan is essential covering WHEN, HOW and WHERE</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Understand WHO is involved</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Factoring in learnings from previous projects</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Consider RAIDs</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;">Finally agree this Project Definition with your Owner or Sponsor</span></span></li></ol><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="372" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/soeYlaEwrMM" width="523" youtube-src-id="soeYlaEwrMM"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: #a00031; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-4344079995855164302022-05-28T11:15:00.012+01:002022-05-28T12:20:39.014+01:00Simplified weekly Project Status report (easy but effective)<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">First things first, a Project Status Report issued to an agreed set of stakeholders with a weekly rhythm is, in my view, an essential part of the role of Project Manager. I justified the reasons why <a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">in a post many years ago</a> so won't repeat that here. Within your organisation, there may be an agreed format (hopefully with a set of guidelines) but if not, here is my suggested <u><b>simplified content</b></u> which I developed for an organisation where many projects were managed by people without Project Management as their primary skillset. It represents the <b><u>essence</u></b> of what you should report and hopefully it is simple to follow. Try and keep to a regular </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">rhythm (e.g. My preference is to issue a report before the end of day on Friday) else some stakeholder may ask you where it is as per this cartoon!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xqa71bWpBgY/Uw3ocRDgAZI/AAAAAAAAAyY/KpUWMxjbrlQ/s1600/PlanIT+StatusRpt+(small2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Status Report - You want a Status Report on the Status Report!" border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xqa71bWpBgY/Uw3ocRDgAZI/AAAAAAAAAyY/KpUWMxjbrlQ/s1600/PlanIT+StatusRpt+(small2).png" title="Project Status Report - You want a Status Report on the Status Report! (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>RAG Status - Quick view whether project is going well or not</u></h2><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">To give a quick view of the project status to the readers of the report, the traffic light system should be used (Red, Amber or Green) to indicate whether it is in good shape or not. To avoid this becoming a subjective judgement or be overly complex to determine, I like a simple approach as described below but first I need to step back to some Project Management fundamentals:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>What does success represent for the Project Team?</i></span></h3><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Every project needs an Owner, often called the Sponsor but I prefer the term "Owner" as they own the project understanding why it is needed and agreeing </span><a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">what success represents for the Project Team</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. If you are asked to run a project with no owner defined </span><a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">you may need to go hunting for your Owner/Sponsor</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Your absolute last resort is to use your line manager as a proxy for the Owner as they probably asked you to be the Project Manager for this project!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The classic definition of project success is "to Time, Cost and Quality" so let us delve into each dimension:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Time is typically represented by a key milestone (or sometimes several) such as "go live date".</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cost is an agreed budget to complete the project.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Quality is really two dimensions combined, Quality (ultimately whether the final deliverable is fit for purpose) and Scope (some definition of what the final deliverable contains). Both are somewhat difficult to easily measure during project execution so I normally drop this dimension for RAG status reporting purposes.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">When agreeing any targets for Project Team success, you also need to agree whether there is any wiggle room or tolerance as it is often referred to. So, for example, you might agree a target go live date of 2nd January 2023 or up to two weeks later and a budget of £100,000 plus 10%. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In an ideal world these success measures should be agreed after some robust <a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">planning and estimating</a> culminating in some sort of <a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a> document giving firm foundations for the project but even if the success targets are invented out of thin air, it really doesn't matter in terms of the RAG status reporting.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h3><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>How to determine RAG status?</i></span></h3></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I like to have a RAG status for each agreed dimension of success. Then you need to assign the appropriate colour based on your honest <u style="font-weight: bold;">forecast</u> of whether the team will achieve the particular success measures as follows:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Green - still on target for success.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Amber - off target for success but with some remedial actions, can still achieve the success target (with any tolerance).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Red - no longer believe that the target can be met (even with any tolerance).</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">If not Green there needs to be some commentary to augment the RAG status, in the case of Amber in particular, this should include specific actions (or maybe help requested) with the aim of returning to Green.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remember that when driving your car, traffic lights move from Green to Amber and then to Red so in the vast majority of circumstances I would expect a project status report to move to Amber before becoming Red. There are always exceptions to the rule such as this Roman Construction Project Manager reporting Red <i>"Mount Vesuvius has erupted destroying the Pompeii construction site". </i></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><h3><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>An example</i></span></h3></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn_WjtywvcRIXIiyA2rnRNczhV4qHwpfkhrMh7LNSVEMM68xr6HteS8-h_Y2iBL2n2e-mlZf6UOmRyR6LcG4WXRURBpY13XeYoXhmZzCPXFRAOZYA7xd0PFLGjBJdy3hNJErSwsFCXLGcTLKaBWH5i6DYxR75rTxomJNZvj1yO4A6I-7Sly9bm2SOPw/s732/Example%20RAG%20status.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Example Project Status Report RAG" border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="732" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn_WjtywvcRIXIiyA2rnRNczhV4qHwpfkhrMh7LNSVEMM68xr6HteS8-h_Y2iBL2n2e-mlZf6UOmRyR6LcG4WXRURBpY13XeYoXhmZzCPXFRAOZYA7xd0PFLGjBJdy3hNJErSwsFCXLGcTLKaBWH5i6DYxR75rTxomJNZvj1yO4A6I-7Sly9bm2SOPw/s16000/Example%20RAG%20status.jpg" title="Example Project Status Report RAG (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div><br />In this example there are two time success measures and one cost one. The "Full go live" measure remains Green as it is anticipated that the "Pilot starts" measure will return to Green within a month. Note that the RAG is shown for the current report and previous report and that there is space for a short commentary which in the case of Amber in particular should detail the recovery actions to return the RAG status to Green.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="clear: both;"><u>Main commentary</u></h2></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The next mandatory element of the status report is some free form commentary. I like to see up to 3 different elements in this commentary:</span></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">If necessary, an expansion on the project status (more than can be provided in the RAG status box).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">What has been undertaken / achieved this week.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is happening next week (or weeks).</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Point #3 is useful as a prompt for inexperienced Project Managers as it forces them to look ahead. Many project team members focus on the task in hand but it is essential that Project Managers look ahead in the plan (ideally a running 6 weeks minimum) as then you can guide / prompt the team appropriately e.g. "<i>have you scheduled that review workshop which is planned for 3 weeks time remembering that it is difficult to get time from all the reviewers?</i>".</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h2 style="clear: both;"><u>Other elements of the report in an ideal world</u></h2></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now I have covered the minimum I would expect in a simplified Project Status Report, let me cover some other elements I include in a template that are desirable. The more experienced the Project Manager, the more I expect in these sections.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h3><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Intermediate milestones</i></span></h3></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is good to provide a table of a few key milestones along the journey towards the success milestone in the RAG status. For each milestone, it is good to show:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">baseline date from the plan.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">forecast date if the milestone has yet to be reached.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">actual date if the milestone has been reached.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h3><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Top 3 Issues</i></span></h3></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stakeholders don't want to see every minor issue so I like to force the Project Manager to prioritise by insisting on only 3. I request inclusion of actions to resolve (maybe in italics). See <a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">this article</a> for more on Issue Management.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h3><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Top 3 Risks</i></span></h3></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Again, Stakeholders don't want to see every risk to project success </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">so I like to force the Project Manager to prioritise by insisting on only 3. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">I request inclusion of</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> the Risk Management response. See <a href="https://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" target="_blank">this article</a> for more on Risk Management.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><h2 style="clear: both;"><u>Conclusion</u></h2></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whether you are an experienced Project Manager or not, creation of a weekly Project Status Report is an important discipline to keep to. The key elements are a good objective (and honest) RAG status and some more detailed commentary on what has happened and what is due to happen. This can be augmented by a table of intermediate milestones and the inclusion of top 3 Issue and Risks. In terms of format, I particular like PowerPoint as it constrains the space available. Excel is also a reasonable tool. Good luck with your reporting!</span></div>Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5072178 -0.127586223.196983963821154 -35.2838362 79.817451636178845 35.0286638tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-89300778738237996632021-05-10T10:35:00.000+01:002021-05-10T10:35:01.594+01:00Practical Guide Book for Project Owners (i.e. Sponsors) available at Amazon<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Isn't it strange that while Project Managers normally receive training for their role, the same cannot be said for Project Sponsors or Project Owners as I prefer to call them as they need to be more than just figureheads who secure funding.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">To try and address this gap, I have produced a practical guide book aimed at Owners (Sponsors) addressing the practicalities of their role in owning a project from inception until the benefits have been realised. It is written in the same style as the book aimed at Project Managers and can be found on Amazon in paperback and kindle formats, search for "Be a Better Sheepdog" or #beabettersheepdog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The book is fully explained in the following video</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="403" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0B0sDEFxruk" width="485" youtube-src-id="0B0sDEFxruk"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">As well as Project Sponsors briefing themselves through this book, I have priced the book to allow Project Managers to gift this to their Sponsors.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In terms of chapters, the book first examines an important concept which is what success represents in a project before moving onto:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The partnership between Project Owner and Project Manager.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The need to “Do the right project” before “Do the project right” which involves production of a Business Case.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">A summary of Project Manager owned activities for awareness and to understand where you need to get involved.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">A simplified view of the 3 processes needed to execute a project and a checklist for Project Owners.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The key "project contract" document explained (this key definition document can have a number of different names depending on the methodology in use).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">A number of useful reference appendices including a glossary of terms you may hear.</span></li></ul><p></p>Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.127758323.197115015197578 -35.284010982209011 79.817586784802415 35.028494382209018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-72830933159517660612021-05-10T10:34:00.001+01:002021-05-10T10:34:54.828+01:00Practical Guide Book for Project Managers available at Amazon<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you are a budding Project Manager who has enjoyed some of the posts in this Blog, you may be interested to learn that there is now, published on Amazon, a Practical Guide to Project Management book (both paperback and kindle versions) which has been written in the style of the Blog in terms of practical steps written with use of humorous cartoons, proverbs and analogies. This is explained in the following video.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="401" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o7TIgoRkqCc" width="481" youtube-src-id="o7TIgoRkqCc"></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In a world of many books about Project Management, why should you pick this one?</span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">This book is a practical, focused guide on the skills and the simplified processes needed successfully to deliver projects.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">It has been written by an experienced consultant Project Manager with a good track record, who has honed these techniques in 100+ projects and programmes of varying scale in different types of organisational culture over 35 years of doing the job day in day out.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The style of the book is one, which has been used personally to mentor many budding PMs. It uses analogies and proverbs as well as over 70 hopefully humorous cartoons to help you remember the skills and techniques needed. There is scientific research, which backs up what the author has seen in practice about using this learning approach. Rather than learning by rote that Risk Management is really important to apply in your project, it is easier to remember the proverb "Attack the risks before the risks attack you!" especially when under pressure.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The author has priced the book competitively to cover costs of production, because rather than aiming to make money he is motivated by a desire to improve the performance of the next generation of Project Managers.</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In terms of chapters, the book first examines an important concept which is what success represents in a project before moving onto the key behaviours, softer and harder skills needed by a Project Manager. It finishes with the 3 processes I believe are needed to run a project, Define, Do and Close. The actual chapter names are:</span></div><p></p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two dimensions of project success</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Your behaviours, it’s all up to you!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Always remember the human side</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do the right project BEFORE Do the project right (Business Case)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Forget Stakeholder Management at your peril</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Planning & Estimating, the Bonnie & Clyde partnership of Project Management</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Attack the risks before the risks attack you! (Risk and Assumption management)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Manage External Dependencies or face the risk of a dropped baton in the relay race (Dependency Management)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Money makes the project go round (Financial Management)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Quality is generally transparent when present, but easily recognised in its absence</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Configuration Management - boring to some but an important piece of the project jigsaw</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">A pilot doesn't try and fly a plane without instruments, neither should a Project Manager (Monitoring and Control)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">A problem shared is a problem halved (Issue Management)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Ancient Greeks called it correctly - Everything changes and nothing stands still (Change Management)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Process – Define a project</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Process – Do a project</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Process – Close a project</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">To find the book, search your local Amazon store for "Be a Better Sheepdog" or the hashtag #beabettersheepdog.</span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p>Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-21246256229900335952021-03-02T09:20:00.004+00:002021-03-02T09:26:58.257+00:00Video tutorials of key skills, techniques and processes needed as a Project Manager<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you are interested in becoming a Project Manager or improving your performance as a PM then you should be interested in a series of </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">8 short YouTube video tutorials which cover the key skills, techniques and processes needed as a Project Manager. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">These complement the content in this blog and are aligned to the chapters of the Be a Better Sheepdog Practical Project Management Guide which can be found on your local Amazon site.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Search on YouTube using the hashtag #beabettersheepdog and subscribe to the channel to be informed of future video tutorials. The series of videos called "Recap to Remember" is introduced in the video below.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="407" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B8bk1Q8u1zI" width="489" youtube-src-id="B8bk1Q8u1zI"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p>Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.127758323.197115015197578 -35.284010982209011 79.817586784802415 35.028494382209018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-28741564395450944252019-07-19T16:38:00.001+01:002020-12-08T19:52:35.713+00:00Can't achieve document signoff, what are my options as Project Manager?<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Projects typically have a myriad of documents which need to go through a quality process to achieve signoff to assure that these documents are "fit for purpose". I have covered the whole topic of managing the document quality process <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">in a previous post</a> which you may want to read first but in this post I want to tackle the topic of Project Management options if you can't achieve this signoff process within a reasonable planned timescale? </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This can be a significant problem if you are running the Project using a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model" target="_blank">Waterfall lifecycle model</a> and different lifecycles should be considered, if possible, in Projects where there are difficulties in establishing good quality early lifecycle documents. So for example, in the IT system development world, an Agile lifecycle can be used to tease out requirements and functional design from business users, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/05/agile-checklist.html" target="_blank">I discuss</a></span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/05/agile-checklist.html" target="_blank"> Agile here</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Yg4BX_3O_U/XTG1YF2KEZI/AAAAAAAALgA/QI_kV-jFJW4OgpzRyH3hj5BqFD3mD33RQCLcBGAs/s1600/PlanIT%2BNo%2BProject%2BDocument%2BSignoff.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Manager can't achieve document signoff - what options?" border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="424" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Yg4BX_3O_U/XTG1YF2KEZI/AAAAAAAALgA/QI_kV-jFJW4OgpzRyH3hj5BqFD3mD33RQCLcBGAs/s640/PlanIT%2BNo%2BProject%2BDocument%2BSignoff.png" title="Project Manager can't achieve document signoff - what options? (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="564" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The basic points checklist</u></h3>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">I hope you planned sufficient time between issuing a good quality first draft of the document and expecting signoff. "<i>Sufficient</i>" is an open term depending on the size and complexity of your document and the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">quality review technique</a> being used but a quick rule of thumb I use is a minimum of 10 working days from the production and issue of the good quality first draft</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Have you managed the quality review process, it is unlikely to happen by magic, especially if you are adopting the <i>Review by circulation</i> approach. I have given some tips on optimising the <i>Review by circulation</i> approach <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/09/quality-circulation.html" target="_blank">here</a> but remember that walkthrough reviews normally achieve a better quality document and faster too!</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Have you chased the approvers for their signoff ideally picking up the phone because you can ask the direct question, why can't you signoff the document? This can achieve signoff or some corrective actions needed to the document and/or the forward plan to achieve signoff in the near future</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">If you can't achieve a short term plan which has a high confidence of signoff and it is impacting your overall plan by increasing Risk (that the document will change before signoff and you need to start work on a subsequent deliverable to meet the overall plan in line with your <i><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/08/Product-Planning.html" target="_blank">Product Flow Diagram</a></i>) then you should formally raise a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">Project Issue</a> and make the (non) approver(s) aware that this has happened</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">In terms of managing this Issue, your Sponsor or other Project Board members may be approached for assistance as they are senior stakeholders that are interested in the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">success of the Project delivery</a> as they "own" the Project. It is a little more tricky when it is a member of the Project Board that hasn't signed off the document!!</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The "Nuclear Option" - Baseline the Document without approval</u></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Assuming that you have worked through the basic points above, you can make an executive decision to <b>Baseline</b> a document without it being <b>Approved</b> as "fit for purpose". This doesn't mean that you should stop the process to achieve signoff but the primary benefit is that any baselined document should only be changed through your <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">Project Change Management process</a>. So:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">the document can be used for any subsequent work with a known baseline (e.g. in an IT waterfall model, build can commence from a functional design)</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">if and when you establish that changes are required to the document to achieve signoff, you impact assess the effect of the rework to achieve these changes on your Project (i.e. Time, Cost and Quality of the ultimate deliverable and Risk profile) and the Project Board needs to either accept or reject the change</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you want to invoke such an option I would always discuss the option with Project Board members / Sponsor. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A variation on the theme is to tell the approver(s) that you will invoke this option should they fail to approve the document by date x in a few days time. This may focus minds sufficiently to gain the review and agreement of the document and is in line with the concept I always like to pursue,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> if possible, which is </span><i><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/project-punch.html" target="_blank">to telegraph my punches</a>.</i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Good luck :)</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-86148734321855155422019-07-08T07:25:00.000+01:002019-12-30T20:52:14.427+00:00Should a Project Manager have any Red Lines?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have heard from a number of fellow Project Manager readers of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Be a Better Sheepdog</a> comments such as "my organisation claims to follow a good Project Management standard but never in practice". I have worked with many client organisations and I can concur that I have never seen a standard or methodology implemented 100% and many fall way below that percentage! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So this begs the question, should the Project Manager <i>go with the flow</i> or should he/she try and impose some <b>Red Lines</b> in how the Project is run? Red lines are common in negotiation and are points of no compromise. I argue for and practice a number of Red Lines which I describe in this article but also reveal where I am happy to compromise. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I also explore some negotiation techniques which may be used.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To those that say "this is impossible in my organisation", I have a cartoon to repeat from <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/08/PM-behaviours.html" target="_blank">an article on Project Manager Behaviours</a>. </span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_NEGVlRZ6g/U00X_iErenI/AAAAAAAAA6U/B_pDQLTjH_s/s1600/PlanIT+Stand+(small).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Manager - If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_NEGVlRZ6g/U00X_iErenI/AAAAAAAAA6U/B_pDQLTjH_s/s1600/PlanIT+Stand+(small).png" title="Project Manager - If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>My 3 Project Management Red Lines</u></span></h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>1 - Have a real Sponsor or a proxy</u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is not the job of a Project Manager to own the project, it is the job of the Project Manager to help shape the project and then run the project day to day <b>on behalf of the Owner</b>. My Sheepdog analogy is that the dog is working on behalf of the Shepherd to direct the sheep! </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So if not already defined, my Red line is to establish an owner I can talk with, work for and report to and will confirm things such as the Project Definition. Ideally I would like to find the <b>real Sponsor</b> (that is the person who ultimately owns the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/10/Business-Case.html" target="_blank">Business Case</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/06/benefit-realisation.html" target="_blank">realising the benefits</a> of the project) and depending on the scale of the Project I may recommend the formation of a Project Board in line with good PRINCE2 principles.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But if this can't be achieved, I am willing to compromise with a suitable proxy for the real Sponsor. This needs to be a senior stakeholder within the organisation that engaged me. So in IT Projects where I practice, the real Sponsor is likely to be someone within the business organisation but I will typically be engaged by a senior stakeholder within the IT organisation. See <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">this post</a> on seeking out a Sponsor and potentially forming a Project Board. </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>2 - Have some sort of Project Definition agreed by the Sponsor</u></span></h4>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are having some work done on your house, you are the owner and you engage a builder. Almost certainly there will be a <b>contract</b> between the owner and the builder. The same applies to a Project. So I will always produce a Project Definition of some form or other and seek the signoff of the Sponsor. This confirms that I have understood the Brief correctly and that the Sponsor understands the implications of the plan and budget I have proposed including agreement on <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">what Success represents</a> for the Project team. <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Remember the Kipling Poem</a> when producing your Project Definition.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I will scale this document to the scale of the project and the organisational culture. The form of the document is not a Red line for me. So while in one UK Government client I worked for I produced copious Word documents (PID, Stage Plan etc etc), there is no point in this approach if the culture of the organisation means that these will not get read properly. I am more interested in real review and agreeing key points. I often use PowerPoint for my Project Definition but have used email for small projects.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, any contract needs to be signed off and this needs to be done in some auditable form, not verbally - remember what isn't written hasn't been said :)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RWxt6IWiM9E/UzwAMggbh9I/AAAAAAAAA44/7Dn4oYhz03c/s1600/PlanIT+Written+(small).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Projects - What isn't written hasn't been said" border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RWxt6IWiM9E/UzwAMggbh9I/AAAAAAAAA44/7Dn4oYhz03c/s1600/PlanIT+Written+(small).png" title="Projects - What isn't written hasn't been said (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Before signoff I will ensure that Sponsor understands the concepts of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">Change Management</a>. As always, I find analogies can be useful in explanation "if you sign your contract with your builder and then part way through building works you change your mind, the builder will need to work out the additional costs and a new date for completion"</span></div>
<h4>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">3 - Establish ongoing communications with the Sponsor e.g. Issue a regular status report</u></h4>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm afraid the challenges of Projects don't stop when the Definition has been agreed so I will want to ensure some ongoing communication channels to the Sponsor as <b>Owner</b> of the project and will want to establish this at the time of signoff of the Definition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Firstly, I will always issue a regular <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">status report</a> to the Sponsor and other <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">Stakeholders</a>, typically weekly but it could be a different frequency depending on the circumstances. This is both good practice but helps in the process of ensuring ongoing engagement from the Sponsor. It is a formal way of calling for assistance or flagging concerns, remember some Issues are not solvable by the Project Manager alone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, if there are Issues I need help with or I am going to flag the Project as Red (not forecasting to meet agreed Success criteria), I will always contact the Sponsor with a verbal update such as a telephone call.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lastly I will request a regular schedule of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/06/PB-preparation.html" target="_blank">Project progress catchups</a>, typically at least monthly. Again this maintains engagement with the Sponsor / Board and is a forum for raising points where assistance or guidance is needed before it becomes critical to progress.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Stakeholder understanding and Negotiation tactics</u></span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Always remember that the senior Stakeholders in your organisation may not have received suitable training and so may not understand <b>why</b> such points above are important. So the negotiation on your Red Lines should always start with reasoning and justification. See <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/07/help-sponsor.html" target="_blank">this article</a> on helping your Sponsor understand good Project processes. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ultimately in any negotiation you should be prepared to walk away if your Red Lines aren't met. I still remember starting to walk out of a shop in Egypt because my Red Line on price was way off being met. Ultimately I ended up buying the item at an acceptable price because the owner knew I was serious. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to the Project environment, I must admit to having an advantage as I am an external Consultant; it is far more difficult, maybe even impossible, for a permanent member of staff to "walk away". But I have always been prepared to agree to exit my contract should I feel that I am not in the position to really help my client deliver the Project. Interestingly, that situation has never ultimately materialised.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So good luck in trying to negotiate your Red Lines, it is better to have the painful conversations early and build from there :)</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-47179870442354057022019-07-05T20:04:00.000+01:002019-12-28T20:17:25.757+00:00Project Success Triangle - are all points really constrained?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">Success for a Project Team</a> is usually defined using the 3 points of the Project Success triangle i.e. Time, Cost and Quality/Scope. However, if, when establishing the Project Brief, it becomes clear from discussions with the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">Sponsor</a> that he/she wants to constrain all three points before any <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">Planning</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">Estimating</a> has taken place, it could be time to find a way to exit the Project as per the cartoon :)</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujt-xfrpRvc/XR-c_e8RP_I/AAAAAAAALIs/WYSc4j5gjz4bY4ccb4NzuqGe4urPQxN7QCLcBGAs/s1600/PlanIT%2BProject%2BTriangle%2BConstraints.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Success Triangle points constrained" border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="424" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujt-xfrpRvc/XR-c_e8RP_I/AAAAAAAALIs/WYSc4j5gjz4bY4ccb4NzuqGe4urPQxN7QCLcBGAs/s640/PlanIT%2BProject%2BTriangle%2BConstraints.png" title="Project Success Triangle points constrained (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="564" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1967736354"></span><span id="goog_1967736355"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Joking aside, in such a circumstance (and in fact in all Projects) I ask the Sponsor the following questions, "Which is the most important point of constraint, which is second priority and which is the least important?". This might take a bit of probing with examples to illustrate but ultimately I have found that all Sponsors will give you this steer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let me illustrate using the IT Product development example of the cartoon. After some discussions, it becomes clear that the Sponsor needs to get the Product into the market fast because of concerns of a competitor thinking about a similar product (Time top priority). Funds are tight but if there was some positive market feedback, more funds would become available (Cost second priority). So Quality/Scope is the least important constraint. So I might probe, "when we go live initially, could we possibly get the top 3 functions out and limit the user base to a 100 users or so?". If the Sponsor agrees to this as a possible approach we have teased out a much more useful Project Brief which will guide the Project Manager during Planning and Estimating which might lead to a Minimum Viable Product launch to a constrained user base with further releases and increased infrastructure to support more users (with additional funding) in future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is far better, ultimately, for the Sponsor, if you challenge the constraints and other Project Brief elements in early discussions rather than go away for 3 weeks and come back and tell him/her that the Project as requested can't be delivered or even worse, start the Project hoping for the best and fail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So in summary I would say the main points I would recommend to Project Managers are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the Project Sponsor isn't clear, find one - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">see this article</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Establish the Project Brief with the Sponsor to guide the Project Manager in <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">Planning</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">Estimating</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Part of this Brief should be the order of priority of each of the 3 points of the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">Project success triangle</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Always look to have a discussion with the Sponsor even if you have been handed a solid written Brief (unlikely!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Be prepared to challenge the Sponsor and probe as necessary, the first answer isn't always the correct one</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As your "contract" with the Sponsor, is the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a>, all this information should be put into that document and signed off by the Sponsor or Project Board</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If time is tight you may need to start work in parallel to agreeing the Project Definition and even scale your deliverables appropriately (I have agreed Project Briefs over email for example). As long as you make it clear any risks you are taking on behalf of the Sponsor this is fine in my view.</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-10607733704690333082018-11-18T16:19:00.000+00:002019-12-28T20:18:23.110+00:00For Non-Project Managers, how to run a Project?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am increasingly seeing that Projects need to be run by individuals without Project Management as their core skill set. So I thought it worthwhile writing a summary of what I believe they need to focus on when taking on such a role with some links for more information if they want it.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Introduction - 3 steps for you to get right</b></u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are 3 steps to running a Project remembering that it is a temporary venture.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">DEFINE your project else you may head in the wrong direction!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Only then DO IT!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally CLOSE it so everyone knows it is finished</span></li>
</ol>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Define</i></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am keen on analogies and proverbs as a means of getting a message across and the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Be a Better Sheepdog site</a> is full of them, so let me explain why a <b>Sheepdog</b> is an analogy for a <b>Project Manager</b> and relate this to the 3 step process.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hqdxAPJub20/V62WuJsmGXI/AAAAAAAACOs/Rg9whi5Wl3ok2FZmsFdFWNhTLl5aLn98gCLcB/s1600/PlanIT%2B3%2BStep%2BProject%2BProcess.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Be a Better Sheepdog 3 step process for running a Project" border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hqdxAPJub20/V62WuJsmGXI/AAAAAAAACOs/Rg9whi5Wl3ok2FZmsFdFWNhTLl5aLn98gCLcB/s640/PlanIT%2B3%2BStep%2BProject%2BProcess.png" title="Be a Better Sheepdog 3 step process for running a Project (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sheepdog brings order to the "<i>team</i>" of sheep and ensures they are heading in the right direction. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the Sheepdog doesn't make up his/her own mind where to head, the owner decides that and communicates with the Sheepdog. Projects are exactly the same. So always determine who your Project Owner is; we call this role the <i>Project Sponsor</i>. Often a project is started when the owner isn't clear. So your first task is to <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">find your Sponsor!</a>, this person should have the most to gain from the project or we say owns obtaining benefits from the project.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once you have found your Sponsor you can agree what the objectives, scope and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">success criteria</a> is? </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Great, write this down, agree it with your Sponsor and you have completed step 1</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Do it! - Plan</i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now you can assemble the team and go DO!! But make sure you have <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">created some form of Plan</a>, remember a number of Proverbs such as</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you fail to plan you are planning to fail</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Project Performance</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to the Sheepdog analogy, to achieve the objective the dog may need to head off behind the sheep and drive them in the right direction; in real projects you should involve your team in your planning, a little breakdown in the analogy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is a lot to the topic of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">Planning</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">Estimating</a> but however you come up with a plan I would suggest that you record a number of intermediate milestones in date order along the journey which you can use to track your progress including the key one (or several) which represent the measure of success you agreed in step 1:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Date - achieve x</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Date - achieve y</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Date - GO LIVE</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Do it! - Monitor</i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once you have a plan you have something to monitor progress against. However, often when I see non-project managers running projects they have another role within the project team. The danger is that you just focus on this "doing role" and forget the Project Management. So I recommend that you block out a couple of hours towards the end of the week say on a Friday morning, please put </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a reoccurring</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> meeting </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in your calendar to stop others arranging a meeting and to give yourself a nudge "this is my Project Management time".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this weekly review session, take a step back from the doing and consider the overall progress</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ask team mates about progress if you aren't up to date</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">are we are on track for our next milestones?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">look ahead to up coming activities, is there anything we need to do early next week to prepare?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Make some notes and I suggest that you always have your team meeting on a Monday morning where you can have a discussion about progress but you are prepared to talk about what needs to happen in the forward week from the review you had back on the Friday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Going back to the Friday 2 hour review slot, this is a good time to write and send out a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">status report</a> and keep your Sponsor and any other stakeholders informed, try and be honest with yourself and if you think you are slipping against the milestones you have established say so. I would also organise a regular schedule of meetings with your Sponsor, a minimum of once a month but sometimes more often (agree with your Sponsor).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hopefully you will achieve your milestones and deliver the Project. </span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Close</i></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Project doesn't last for ever, it just seems like it sometimes! So eventually it is time to close the project down. I would always have a review session with the team looking back, what went well, what could we have done better? We call this <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/09/lessons.html" target="_blank">Lessons Learnt</a>. You should also reflect on what you have done as a Project Manager, things to repeat next time and maybe things to do differently? The chances are that you will have another opportunity so best that you look to improve your performance and that applies whether that was your first project or your 100th! Hopefully the Sponsor has enough money for the team to have a celebration as well especially if the project is deemed an ultimate success.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Anything else to consider?</u></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Even if you read no further, I think you have a framework above to be a Project Manager. There is actually a lot more to consider to get the best results in projects, I wrote a post on <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2016/02/Project-Manager-Where-Spend-Time.html" target="_blank">where to spend your time</a> which you might want to take a look at but there are topics such as Risk Management (<a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" target="_blank">Attack the risks before the risks attack you!</a>), <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">Issue Management</a>, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">Change Management</a> - lots to manage! You should never forget that Projects are delivered by a team working together successfully so <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/2015/05/human-side.html" target="_blank">always remember the human side</a> when working with the team.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Want to progress further?</span></u></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If I have inspired you to improve your performance as a Project Manager you can always type a topic in the search box at the top of each page on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Be a Better Sheepdog site</a>. Or of you prefer a more structured approach I have <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.com/p/project-management-training-m1-overview.html" target="_blank">built a training package around the site</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT :-)</span></div>
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Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-36423623244688926422017-03-03T18:10:00.000+00:002019-12-28T20:19:01.563+00:00Project Management Manual in Proverb Cartoons<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Project Management manuals can be somewhat dry reading. Even the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog</a> site has many many paragraphs! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For those that like things really simple but visual, this is a <b>manual for Project Management in Proverb Cartoons </b>with only a few words of comment to augment the cartoons but the possibility to link to the full article and Proverb details. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remember that <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/memory.html" target="_blank">Pictures, Humour and Proverbs can also aid memory retention</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are broadly broken down by the 3 Main <i>Better Sheepdog</i> Project Management Processes with a page for other aspects:</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EmP5jKTjCAY/WK_tT-6cuuI/AAAAAAAACn0/BVo9GmP5sGgrvjkOnzVl6Q5WIIRv5dRIgCLcB/s1600/PlanIT%2B3%2BStep%2BProject%2BProcess%2B300p.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="3 Step Better Sheepdog process for running a project" border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EmP5jKTjCAY/WK_tT-6cuuI/AAAAAAAACn0/BVo9GmP5sGgrvjkOnzVl6Q5WIIRv5dRIgCLcB/s320/PlanIT%2B3%2BStep%2BProject%2BProcess%2B300p.png" title="3 Step Better Sheepdog process for running a project" width="283" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/project-management-cartoons-define.html" target="_blank">DEFINE process</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/project-management-cartoons-do.html" target="_blank">DO Process</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/project-management-cartoons-close.html" target="_blank">CLOSE Process</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/project-management-cartoons-other.html" target="_blank">Other e.g. PM Behaviours</a></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you prefer more traditional Project Management training you can find it <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/project-management-training-m1-overview.html" target="_blank">here</a></span><br />
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Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-11522472045582228862016-05-23T16:31:00.003+01:002016-05-23T16:43:13.958+01:00Better Sheepdog Book of Knowledge (BSBOK) Examination<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To prove that you have studied the Better Sheepdog Book of Knowledge (BSBOK) requires an Examination which is in the form of a crossword puzzle as Project Managers need to be able to solve puzzles to deliver their Project!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyone emailing successful answers to bettersheepdog@gmail.com will go into the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/hall-of-fame.html" target="_blank">Hall of Fame</a>. Please supply your name and your personal Project Management slogan / comment.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTEY5DeR7m4/VW1hFyQlubI/AAAAAAAABrA/FEj-OVtZ8yk/s1600/PlanIT%2BBetterSheepdog%2BCrossword.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Better Sheepdog Crossword Puzzle" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTEY5DeR7m4/VW1hFyQlubI/AAAAAAAABrA/FEj-OVtZ8yk/s1600/PlanIT%2BBetterSheepdog%2BCrossword.png" title="Better Sheepdog Crossword Puzzle (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can print the crossword puzzle <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1S-yWUT4eWEZXRqQnRuc2JrdXc/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">via this PDF</a></span><br />
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<table style="background-color: white;"><tbody>
<tr><th colspan="2"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Across</span></th></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">3.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">This is one of the 4 leadership styles suggested by Better Sheepdog? (8)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">6.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Kipling recommends six honest men help with Project definition according to Better Sheepdog. What is the longest name of one of the men? (5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">7.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Better Sheepdog says that Newton's first law of motion can be applied to change management, fill in the missing word -People tend to continue travelling in the same direction.....unless acted on by an external xxxxx? (5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">8.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Better Sheepdog says there are two dimensions to success in a Project. One dimension is for the Project Team, who owns the second dimension? (7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">14.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Complete the Proverb, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to xxxxxxx xx"? (6,2)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">16.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">According to Better Sheepdog, what is the special risk to consider on an IT Implementation regarding people spotting "problems" which already existed? (4,5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">18.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In the six "thinking hats" approach to meetings, what coloured hat does a person wear when expressing traits such as optimism, positive, opportunities, benefits? (6)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">19.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A RAID log covers 4 key aspects to be managed and it is an acronym. What does the letter "A" represent (plural)? (11)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">20.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this phrase? Good estimators aren't modest, if it is xxxx, they say so! (4)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">21.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">To ensure that your project documents are fit for purpose, Better Sheepdog suggests that you need to produce a planning document named? (7,4)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">23.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">According to Better Sheepdog, Resource Planning could be better described as “Establishing your what” (7,4)?</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">25.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What is the name for the storage structure used for organising project documents? (7,4)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">27.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A standard risk assessment to be carried out for all resources is “How will the project cope if the person is suddenly unavailable for an extended period”. Better Sheepdog calls this assessment what? (4,5,1,3)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">28.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">From your planning, anything which needs to be delivered but isn't part of your Project scope is called an External what? (10)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">31.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What skill does Better Sheepdog suggest that an effective Project Manager has to obtain information and support from various sources, sometimes on an informal basis? (10)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">32.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What does Better Sheepdog recommend be confirmed about the Board members in the first Project Board? (16)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">34.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this Better Sheepdog phrase? xxxxxxxxxx kill IT Projects! (12)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">36.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What does Better Sheepdog suggest that each Planning Assumption represents to your project? (4)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">37.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this phrase from the Ancient Greeks? Everything xxxxxxx and nothing stands still (7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">38.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What is the Better Sheepdog name for the often used but least good approach for assuring the quality of documents produced by the Project - Review by what? (11)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">39.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Name the person (role) who owns the Project and especially the Benefits? (7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">40.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What type of meeting does Better Sheepdog suggest that you hold before starting a critical Project Phase? (5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">41.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">When running a meeting what does Better Sheepdog suggest the meeting organiser does to set the scene and objectives? (4,2)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td valign="top">1.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Honest communication is an important behaviour to look for in a Project Manager. Complete the Proverb "The most valuable and least used phrase in a Project Manager's vocabulary is x xxxx xxxx (1,4,4)"?</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">2.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What planning should go on with regard to the Benefits of the project? (11)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">4.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The Better Sheepdog way of remembering key Project Management prompts is Humour, Pictures and what? (8)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">5.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">When you have a list of project stakeholders, how does Better Sheepdog describe how you put them into different buckets for ongoing management? (7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">9.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Complete the Better Sheepdog Proverb? "Nothing is xxxxxxxxx for the person who doesn't have to do it!" (10)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">10.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this phrase? Estimators do it in group, top down and xxxxxx up (6)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">11.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Planning is important but should be balanced with what according to the Better Sheepdog Proverb "Planning without xxxxxx is futile, xxxxxx without planning is fatal"? (6)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">12.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What does Better Sheepdog suggest that you should you do with Risks before the Risks do the same to your Project? (6)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">13.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Before embarking fully on Project execution what document should be used to confirm that organisation funds and resources are being used on the correct Project (8,4)?</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">15.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The Better Sheepdog approach to producing a Budget during Initiation is a spreadsheet with a calendar broken down by what? (5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">17.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">You need to escalate to your Sponsor as the Project is forecast to be outside agreed targets. What is the wrong method to raise this escalation? (5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">22.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What very useful PRINCE2 document (one per Product) to help ensure a good quality product does Better Sheepdog suggest need NOT be created in some circumstances where the principles are handled elsewhere? (7,11)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">23.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What does Better Sheepdog suggest that you may have to throw in regard to say a difficult stakeholder or team member (7,5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">24.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">When producing a schedule, who shouldn't be on the critical path as a resource undertaking a task? (7,7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">26.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The accuracy and quality of plans often degrades over time from today. Better Sheepdog calls this what? (8,5)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">29.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What is the Better Sheepdog partner to Planning as Clyde was the partner to Bonnie? (10)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">30.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Complete the missing word in the Better Sheepdog proverb - What is not xxxxxxx has not been said! (7)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">33.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this phrase? If Project Scope is allowed to change freely the rate of change will exceed the rate of xxxxxxx! (8)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">35.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What is suggested to manage stress in the Proverb "A xxxxx a day keeps the stress away!"?</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">38.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">What type of report does the Project Manager produce near the end of the Project? (6)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">39.</td><td><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Fill in the missing word in this phrase? Q-How do Projects xxxx? A-one day at a time (4)</span></td></tr>
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Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-25275573411499121052016-05-23T16:31:00.002+01:002016-05-23T16:42:42.379+01:00A Rival to the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK)?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The two year project to brain dump my thoughts on improving Project Success is near a close with some hopefully informative posts accompanied by cartoons and proverbs to occasionally amuse you. I therefore want to commend this Blog to you as a reference site to use in future as you manage your Projects especially if you are fairly new to the role. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a rival to the PMBOK I will call it the BSBOK which truly appeals to my sense of humour :-) [</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Better Sheepdog Book of Knowledge of course!]</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NehoNzt4gSY/VRUU9P9Rf-I/AAAAAAAABkM/WEuTzEr_LKg/s1600/PlanIT%2BBSBOK.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Better Sheepdog Book of Knowledge" border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NehoNzt4gSY/VRUU9P9Rf-I/AAAAAAAABkM/WEuTzEr_LKg/s1600/PlanIT%2BBSBOK.png" title="Better Sheepdog Book of Knowledge (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>How to use Blog as a reference site</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/p/how-to-use-blog.html" target="_blank">covered in more detail here</a> but in brief you can click on the Tags button in the right hand margin and select a topic label or I find Search at the top of each page works well. So if you are doing some planning and want to look at guidance, either look for the topic label or enter the word </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"planning" </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in search.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>BSBOK Examination</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like any good Project Management approach, there needs to be an Examination. I think any good Project Manager needs to be able to solve puzzles such as:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">how am I going to get the plan back on track?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">how am I going to address this difficult stakeholder?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Therefore the Examination will be in the form of a Crossword puzzle and can be found <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/BSBOK-examination.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyone who emails bettersheepdog@gmail.com with the correct answers will go on the site honour board, good luck!</span><br />
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">and finally Thanks...</u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lastly, I want to thank my colleague Manoj for encouraging me to commence this Blog back in 2014 and to all of my followers for reading & commenting on the posts during the last two years. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
</div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-21568715400760159042016-05-13T13:08:00.000+01:002019-12-28T20:19:29.060+00:00Why Projects Fail and how to address?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The objective of the <i><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Be a Better Sheepdog</a></i> Blog is to help you improve the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">success of your Projects</a>. So I thought it was a good time to take you through some well publicised reasons for Project failure and point you back to previous posts where I have given some guidance on addressing to give you the best chance of not suffering such a fate and having to employ the strategies suggested in the cartoon :-)</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwCZOcePVLo/VCqiOKNlyLI/AAAAAAAABQc/LLjTZw3RKXU/s1600/PlanIT%2BProject%2BFailure.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Failure - Strategies for handling" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwCZOcePVLo/VCqiOKNlyLI/AAAAAAAABQc/LLjTZw3RKXU/s1600/PlanIT%2BProject%2BFailure.png" title="Project Failure - Strategies for handling (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No Business Benefits from the Project</u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Business benefits of a Project are defined as a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">key success criteria</a> for the Project Sponsor. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This failure point can be addressed by:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Business-Case.html" target="_blank">Ensuring the organisation undertakes the right projects</a> which should deliver sufficient benefits and return on the investment made</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ensure there is a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Business-Case.html" target="_blank">good business case</a> produced for the project during Initiation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Keeping the business case under review during the project life-cycle - see more <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">in this post</a> on PRINCE2 principle </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Business Justification</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Producing a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/benefit-realisation.html" target="_blank">Benefits Realisation Plan</a> during the project execution phase to ensure the detail on the benefits in understood, when they will be measured and who is accountable</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If changes to operational business processes, team structures and responsibilities are involved in achieving the benefits, plan this carefully considering the human resistance to change as described in <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/Newton1stLaw.html" target="_blank">Newton's first law of motion</a></span></li>
</ol>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Confusion during execution on what the Project should deliver</u></span></h3>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project needs to have <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">clear ownership via a Project Sponsor and augmented by other roles to form a Project Board</a> Using the analogy of a ship, the target port (objective) for the captain and crew (project manager and team) should be set by the ship owners and the route (plan) should be confirmed when proposed by the Captain (project manager)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By the end of Initiation the </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Project should be properly defined</a> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with the outcomes, acceptance and success criteria clearly understood and agreed by both Owner and Team</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As you progress through the project life-cycle, lower level detail will be defined with agreement on a set of detailed requirements. Don't forget that you need to have <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">performed a good Stakeholder analysis</a> to consult the right people when developing these requirements and always consider the risk of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/Communication.html" target="_blank">communication problems</a> leading to mis-understanding </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Should anything change with regard to the project scope and deliverables, the Project needs to have a good <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">Change Management process</a> to ensure the change is assessed and impacts understood including project viability</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Project takes more time and cost than expected</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The failure reason could have multiple causes. However some basics which can trip up the Project and thus should be a focus to get right are:</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Solid <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">planning </a>and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">estimating</a> considering that you may need to <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/plan-droop.html" target="_blank">break the plan into Stages due to Planner's Droop</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Continued <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Control.html" target="_blank">monitoring and control of progress against plan</a> with <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/measures.html" target="_blank">appropriate metrics</a> taking remedial actions as necessary</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" target="_blank">Analyse the Risks and ensure suitable mitigations / contingencies are in place</a> Keep these under review.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remember that any <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/assumptions.html" target="_blank">Assumption you make in planning is a Risk</a> so look to confirm these as soon as possible during Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">Issues</a> are likely to occur even in a well run Project so have a good process to manage them</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project can be derailed up by elements which are NOT delivered by the Project team but are essential for success. These are called <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/ex-dependency.html" target="_blank">External Dependencies</a> and need careful management</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Always consider the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/human-side.html" target="_blank">human side of your Project Team</a>. Do you have the elements in place to achieve a high performing <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/team.html" target="_blank">project team</a>?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project can be derailed by uncontrolled change. Ensure that there is a clear definition of scope first and then instigate a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">good change control process</a> to ensure that the impacts of a change are understood and agreed before it is accepted. Ultimately the owners need to understand that a constantly changing Project isn't going to get anywhere as illustrated by this cartoon</span></li>
</ol>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKqlCsrypi0/UxXYI2WSU6I/AAAAAAAAA10/jyj6lNCLcUU/s1600/PlanIT+Scope+creep+(small).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If Project scope is allowed to change freely - the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress" border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKqlCsrypi0/UxXYI2WSU6I/AAAAAAAAA10/jyj6lNCLcUU/s1600/PlanIT+Scope+creep+(small).png" title="If Project scope is allowed to change freely - the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Delivery of Products which are not fit for purpose</u></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the Project spends a lot of time, effort and money to produce Products which are unusable, this is a clear failure. Consider:</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a> should include the clear end deliverable with acceptance / quality criteria</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need to have a plan with regard to ensuring the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">quality of each product produced by the project</a>. Consider whether you need to produce <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/product-description.html" target="_blank">Product Descriptions</a> for each product, this may or may not be required but should be a justified decision</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ensure that you have a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/config-management.html" target="_blank">good configuration management strategy</a> for the project products </span></li>
</ol>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Conclusion</u></span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are many reasons why Projects fail and there are essentials you need to get in place as a Project Manager. Of course, I haven't mentioned you much in this post and you are the linchpin for success. If you aren't doing your job correctly the Project has a high probability of failing. As well as good technical skills you need to have appropriate <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/PM-behaviours.html" target="_blank">behaviour traits</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/Project-Manager-Where-Spend-Time.html" target="_blank">spend your time on the right activities</a>. With all these elements in place there is a good chance of success but never assume and keep monitoring, monitoring, monitoring!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-46658531749095677482016-05-01T08:13:00.000+01:002016-05-01T08:13:44.099+01:00Famous Quotes and relevance for Project Managers<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do famous quotes have relevance for Project Managers and Project Teams? Can they can be an inspiration in certain situations? Yes, is my answer! Here is a selection I have picked with their relevance described.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oXRAQXDl-QA/VWYUlabqCcI/AAAAAAAABpo/dIDh5pbNFBI/s1600/Quotes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Famous Quotes for Project Managers" border="0" height="468" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oXRAQXDl-QA/VWYUlabqCcI/AAAAAAAABpo/dIDh5pbNFBI/s640/Quotes.JPG" title="Famous Quotes for Project Managers (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Risk Management - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Winston Churchill</span></u></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Churchill meant this in terms of Political Risk but it could apply to Project Risk. The way I have previously described it is </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Attack the Risks before the Risks Attack you!</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YpB3dg8fHGE/Uxr21IqOKOI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/U7HvXnM7Lyw/s1600/PlanIT+Risk+Attack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Projects - Attack the Risks before the Risks Attack You " border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YpB3dg8fHGE/Uxr21IqOKOI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/U7HvXnM7Lyw/s1600/PlanIT+Risk+Attack.png" title="Projects - Attack the Risks before the Risks Attack You (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alternatively, the Churchill quote reminds me of an important behavioural characteristic for </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Project Managers</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. As a PM you need to be prepared to stand your ground and not duck issues. I covered this and a number of other characteristics <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/PM-behaviours.html" target="_blank">in this post</a>.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_NEGVlRZ6g/U00X_iErenI/AAAAAAAAA6U/B_pDQLTjH_s/s1600/PlanIT+Stand+(small).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Manager - If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_NEGVlRZ6g/U00X_iErenI/AAAAAAAAA6U/B_pDQLTjH_s/s1600/PlanIT+Stand+(small).png" title="Project Manager - If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Issue Management - Charles F Kettering</u></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Problem well stated is a problem half solved</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kettering puts it very succinctly. Define your problem statement when you have an Issue and it helps focus the mind on the potential solutions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dale Carnegie put it in a more descriptive manner:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Get the facts! Let's not even attempt to solve our problems without first collecting all the facts in an impartial manner</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have a look at my post on <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">Issue Management</a></span><br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Human Aspects of Project Teams - various</span></u></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Benjamin Disraeli</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the hardest things in this world to do is to admit you are wrong. And nothing is more helpful in resolving a situation than its frank admission</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Benjamin Franklin</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Arguing is a game that two can play at. But it is a strange game that neither opponent ever wins</span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is worth keeping these quotations in mind when in the heat of arguments within the Project team or with other <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">stakeholders</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dale Carnegie is worth considering with regard to team spirit and the importance of wanted to achieve as a team</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can't get anywhere in this world without <i>wanting</i> to do something</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When things get difficult within a Project and you are faced with the choice of a more risky approach versus holding back, remember this </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lloyd Jones quotation:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have a look at my post on </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/human-side.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Human side of Projects</a><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Self-Motivation - Abraham Lincoln</u></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already ..... Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a Project Manager you need good self-motivation and always have in sight the ultimate goal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Read this post for other <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/PM-behaviours.html" target="_blank">behavioural traits of a good Project Manager</a>.</span><br />
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Coping with stress - Reinhold Niebuhr</u></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">God grant me the serenity t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">o accept the things I cannot change, t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he courage to change the things I can a</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nd the wisdom to know the difference</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a Project Manager you need to cope with stressful situations at times and this quote is useful to remember. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Read this post for more on <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/handle-stress.html" target="_blank">coping with stress and worry</a>.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Good Time Management - Henry Ford</u></span></h3>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a Project Manager you need good time management skills. I always start the day by working out the key things to achieve in the day. I try and address the things of most importance to the Project(s), not the easy things to tick off or the activities I prefer.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Personal and Project Lessons Learnt - Dale Carnegie</u></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The difference between a successful person and a failure often lies in the fact that the successful man will profit by his mistakes and try again in a different way</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Plutarch put it another way</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have found Organisations mixed in their approach to learning lessons from previous Projects. However, on a personal level, there is no excuse and I always make a point of considering what has gone well with Project execution, what less well and what I should aim to do differently next time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have a look at my post on <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/lessons.html" target="_blank">Lessons Learnt</a> where you will see another quote from </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">philosopher </span><a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Santayana" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">George Santayana</a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYFQjIq-OkQ/U1ZTk8LDWtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/Eh9nyEe7JII/s1600/PlanIT+Remember+Past+%2528small%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Projects - Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYFQjIq-OkQ/U1ZTk8LDWtI/AAAAAAAAA7E/Eh9nyEe7JII/s1600/PlanIT+Remember+Past+%2528small%2529.png" title="Projects - Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
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<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Conclusions</u></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am always keen on "hooks" to remember key Project Management tips and techniques. I must admit to preferring proverbs and humour as my means of achieving this (<a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/why-use-humour-and-proverbs-in-projects.html" target="_blank">see this post</a>) but if are inspired by famous quotes then this could be best approach for you - as long as you remember to apply the tip or technique :-)</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-13626835052760670192016-04-20T10:22:00.000+01:002019-12-30T20:52:34.330+00:00Why use Humour and Proverbs in your Projects?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I like to use humour and proverbs within my Projects for a number of reasons which I will expand on in this post but include:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to relieve tension</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to show you are human</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to act as a memory jogger</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to aid communication</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will also mention the risks to be aware of when using humour which I have tried to convey in this cartoon.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nD9QU4CrFXs/U4jJ3H892FI/AAAAAAAABCc/Q6Lk6U-UDXI/s1600/PlanIT+Humour+Memory+T.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Humour, Proverbs and Visual Images aid Project Manager Memory" border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nD9QU4CrFXs/U4jJ3H892FI/AAAAAAAABCc/Q6Lk6U-UDXI/s1600/PlanIT+Humour+Memory+T.png" title="Humour, Proverbs and Visual Images aid Project Manager Memory (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Relieve tension?</u></span></h3>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Projects and Programmes are serious places, there is pressure to deliver within aggressive time-scales to achieve often important business cases within a temporary organisation thrust together for a number of months. Individuals can feel the pressure in different ways and sometimes this can boil over in heated words.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I find a bit of humour (even some of my poor efforts) can relieve tension whether in meetings with the team or within the pressure cooker of Project Board meetings.</span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Shows you are human?</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As Project teams are normally built on a temporary basis you find yourself working with “strangers” and with the pressures, people can get certain perceptions of individuals. A joke or two shows that you are human and unless you offend (see risks below) can help build a better team spirit.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Acts as a memory jogger?</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a Project Manager you need to be able to think on your feet within meetings and discussions. There is reasonable scientific evidence that the use of humour, pictures and strap lines (proverbs) aids memory retention so that you can recall a key Project Management tip quickly.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Aids communication?</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are more than a few Projects where I have used proverbs to make a point and found them drip feed into team usage. So a strap line can aid communication I feel. For example on one Project, when I heard team mates using the phrase “what isn't written hasn't been said”, I knew my message was getting across!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rlb5eLIyyh4/Uw3m5aNLhcI/AAAAAAAAAyI/cxwxz1JjmmI/s1600/PlanIT+Written+(small).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Projects - What isn't written hasn't been said" border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rlb5eLIyyh4/Uw3m5aNLhcI/AAAAAAAAAyI/cxwxz1JjmmI/s1600/PlanIT+Written+(small).png" title="Projects - What isn't written hasn't been said (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Risks</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Project teams are often multinational these days and humour doesn't always translate well and there can be religious difficulties. So try and bear this in mind although I probably have made a few mistakes here so would like to apologise to current and former team mates, my intention is never to offend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the message I am trying to convey in the main cartoon, you can use the humour to remember a key Project Management tip but you may decide not to use it in explanation!!</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Conclusions</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I believe there are many benefits to a bit of humour and proverbs within the cut and thrust of Project life and it probably doesn't do your health any harm either. But try and think before you open your mouth! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, if you want to see a little more on the scientific background to my memory retention claim or see a Project manual made entirely of my cartoons, have a look <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/memory.html" target="_blank">at this post</a>.</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-78393830358790827482016-04-08T09:31:00.000+01:002019-12-28T20:20:55.977+00:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Tailor to suit the environment (7)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me finish with Principle 7 - <span style="font-family: "verdana";">Tailor to suit the environment</span>.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Principle 7 - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Tailor to suit the environment</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need to realise that PRINCE2 was written for the UK Government. With deference to my colleagues working in government, sometimes they focus too much on the elegance of the process to the detriment of the outcome :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So my advice is always to look to tailor the methodology in line with this principle such as: </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">cutting out some of the excessive process elements</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">adapting to the scale of project and the culture of the organisation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">possibly changing some of the terminology?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Using an analogy, think of PRINCE2 as a tool-box for Project Managers in a similar vein to, say, a plumber has a tool-box. You wouldn't expect a plumber to use every tool in his/her box just because they are there, there is a level of adapting to the job at hand even though there are tools which are used on every job - the monkey wrench and especially the invoicing tool :-)</span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Excessive process points?</b></u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are some examples of PRINCE2 processes that I have tailored as they seem a bit "over the top" to me:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Change Management - I never log an Issue first before then logging the Request for Change. I have a much simpler approach </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">which I detailed in this post</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">99 times out of 100 the "Starting up" and "Initiation" processes become one process - Initiation!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While some of the Management Products proposed are good in the principles behind them (and it is worth agreeing the subject matter as necessary), I have rarely produced a lot of them. Let me walk through these one by one:</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<ol><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<li>Acceptance Criteria - not a separate Product, include within the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a></li>
<li>Business Case - yes, plan to produce this - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Business-Case.html" target="_blank">see this post</a> and Principle 1</li>
<li>Checkpoint Report - replace with Team meetings or "One to One" meetings with key team leads in the majority of cases. It may be useful for third parties or where a piece of work has been defined as a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/work-package.html" target="_blank">Work Package</a></li>
<li>Communications Plan - yes and no! It isn't a separate Product but the spirit is included in a Stakeholder Map you should produce - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Configuration Item Record - most of the content proposed goes into a Product I produced called a Quality Plan, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Configuration Management Plan - rarely documented unless something new is being defined - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/config-management.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Daily Log - I walk everywhere with my A4 ring bound pad titled my "Day Book". I use it for time management and logging meetings and thoughts</li>
<li>End Project Report - yes, this is your exit route to say the Project is complete although I normally call it the Project Closure Report - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/closure.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>End Stage Report - I have rarely produced (I remember doing so for a Government client!). This information I tend to share with the Project Board & Sponsor through a Project Board Pack - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/PB-preparation.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Exception Report - I hope this isn't needed! But if you hit problems, communicate early and not via a report or email!! You may then to produce a revised plan, I prefer to call it a Recovery Plan than Exception Report, again making PRINCE2 a little more understandable to the non expert</li>
<li>Follow-on Action Recommendations - I have never produced a separate Product although the detail should be covered in the Project Closure Report, see above</li>
<li>Highlight Report - yes, this is one to produce, I suggest weekly. Again I tend to call it a Status Report - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Issue Log - yes, although normally part of a combined RAID Log - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Lessons Learnt Log - I have never created such a Log but I do have a simple text file on my desktop which I can jot thoughts</li>
<li>Lessons Learnt Report - yes, either separately or as a section in your Project Closure Report - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/lessons.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Off Specification - I have never produced as part of Issue Management. Each Product should go through a quality assurance process and then be baselined. That doesn't mean that there aren't residual problems but these should be minimised.</li>
<li>Post Project Review Plan - The spirit of this Product is what I call the Benefit Realisation Plan (again I prefer my title, it says more about the purpose) - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/benefit-realisation.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Product Breakdown Structure - I have rarely produced this although it could be useful in some circumstances and the principle of Product based planning (see Principle 6) is an excellent one - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/Product-Planning.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Product Check-list - I like to produce this in Excel with a few other columns to form what I call a Product Quality Plan - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Product Description - a good idea but in 80% of cases you can achieve the aims in a better way I feel. For 20% of cases it may be worth doing as described by PRINCE2 - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/product-description.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Product Flow Diagram - this can be useful sometimes when you haven't "been there & done the Project execution before" - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/Product-Planning.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Project Approach - this should form part of the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a></li>
<li>Project Brief - the only time I have seen as a separate Product is in Government clients. I include the content in the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a></li>
<li>Project Initiation Document - yes, very useful, the contract between the Project Owner and the Project Team. But I call it the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a></li>
<li>Project Mandate - I can never recall being handed one of these! I've afraid, life is not normally that straight forward and sometimes you need to go and seek the all important Owner of the Project, who I call the Sponsor - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Project Plan - quite useful, we will have one of those! - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Project Quality Plan - a section in the Project Initiation Document above</li>
<li>Quality Log - I can't say I have ever had one of these although as I have said I am very keen on a Product Quality Plan - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Request for Change - in most Projects I will accept an RFC by an email to me explaining sufficient detail. On some Projects it is worth having a form to make the requester think a bit - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/ChangeMgmnt.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Risk Log - yes, although normally part of a combined RAID Log - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
<li>Stage Plan - in rare occasions I have produced a separate Stage Plan, often I choose to have as a section in the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a> which is refreshed when moving from one Stage to another</li>
<li>Work Package - this can be useful, especially when dealing with off site third parties - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/work-package.html" target="_blank">see this post</a></li>
</span></ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Adapting to the scale of project and organisational culture</b></u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The management of the Project using PRINCE2 is a necessary evil but should be scaled to the size of the Project. If the technical effort of the project is 100 man days you don't really want to be spending 300 days effort on the management!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some organisations love reams of paperwork, some seem to use little documentation. One of the key documents it is always worth having is the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a> (PID). In some organisations these are sizeable Word documents but for smaller projects or "anti-document" organisations, I have a PowerPoint template with the "essence of the definition" and nothing more. This is quicker to produce and more easily digested by stakeholders.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In terms of ownership, for a major project with a big investment or critical outcomes, a good well formed Project Board with various participants is useful to govern ensuring good stakeholder representation. But for many organisations or smaller projects, a single Sponsor is quite sufficient.</span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Changes of terminology</b></u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It may seem strange for me to suggest changes of terminology as one of the benefits of a methodology is a standard set of terms. However, in my experience, many of the people involved in Projects aren't steeped in PRINCE2 terminology and so there are a few examples of where I change things to (I hope) aid understanding:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the Owner of the Project in PRINCE2 is called the Project Executive. I prefer to use the term Sponsor as I feel it better reflects the role and is easier to understand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the key "contract" between the Sponsor and the Project team which defines the Project is called the Project Initiation Document by PRINCE2. I prefer the term Project Definition as once again I believe it better describes the Product</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">some of the other PRINCE2 Management Products I give different names, see above</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Beware of too much terminology and always be prepared to explain concepts to people rather than just quote PRINCE2 terms all the time. I went into this further in a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/help-sponsor.html" target="_blank">post about helping the Sponsor in particular</a>.</span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Tailor to suit the environment - this one!</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-78530309639950909222016-04-02T08:47:00.000+01:002019-12-28T20:21:13.315+00:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Focus on Products (6)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me continue with Principle 6 - Focus on Products.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Principle 6 - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Focus on Products</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This key principle implores that before looking at what activities are required to deliver the Project, the focus should be on Products i.e. Artifacts:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The most important Product is the final one(s) delivered by the Project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To achieve the final Product there are various intermediate Products that need to be produced - both Technical and Management</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Technical Products will be different for differing types of Project types and Project life-cyles and are concerned with the real journey to the final Product. So if the Project is producing something, you may need some intermediate Products defining the Requirements, the Design, any Testing etc</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Management Products are concerned with the running of the Project itself. PRINCE2 defines many of these such as the Project Initiation Document, Stage Plan, Business Case etc</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So in English grammar a Product is a noun not a verb. Put more simply you should be able to touch most Products!</span></div>
<h4>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Planning</u></h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So PRINCE2 recommends that you commence your planning by considering the Products to be delivered. It suggests a number of techniques to adopt including a Product Breakdown Diagram (not Work Breakdown!) and Product Flow Diagram. For more detail, have a read of the </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/Product-Planning.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">post on Product Based Planning</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Is the Product properly understood?</u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PRINCE2 also suggests you spend effort defining in some detail, the characteristics of each Product. While this is a powerful technique, I look to short cut in a number of ways which I cover in the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/product-description.html" target="_blank">post on Product Descriptions</a>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This should also cover how we assure that the Product is of "fit for purpose" quality. For intermediate Products I prefer to address this via a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">Quality Plan which I covered in this post</a>. For the final Product(s), this is so important that the Quality acceptance criteria should be covered in the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">Project Definition</a>.</span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Don't forget Management Products!</u></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PRINCE2 is quite "heavy" in terms of the Management Products it recommends and this is an area where some tailoring can be useful, see Principle 7</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Focus on Products - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-86381354961824001292016-03-28T09:08:00.000+01:002019-12-28T20:22:27.226+00:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Manage by Exception (5)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me continue with Principle 5 - Manage by Exception.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Principle 5 - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Manage by Exception</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although PRINCE2 really promotes the role of Project Owner (see Principle 3), it recognises that a Project Board made up of senior stakeholders probably don't have time for day to day involvement. So this principle is about setting the framework in terms of a "contract" between the Owner and the Project Manager who has freedom to operate within the terms and tolerances defined. The contract is what I call I like to call the Project Definition (PRINCE2 calls it the Project Initiation Document) or indeed the Stage Plan which sits under this to manage a particular Stage. Have a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/PID.html" target="_blank">read of my post on Project Definition</a> which speaks of a Kipling poem <i>"I keep seven honest serving men...."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project Board members can therefore reasonably assume, within the framework of the relevant agreed plan that <i>No news is (broadly) good news</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Despite this principle I always look to keep the Project Board up to date on execution status (including hot issues, risks, change requests, spend against budget etc) by:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Drafting a weekly status report and issuing this to the Project Board members. This is a one way communication but the Sponsor / Board members can come back if they read and have queries. Have a read of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">this post on Status Reporting</a> for more details.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having a Project Board meeting around once a month. This forces the Board members to keep in touch with execution status as well as being a forum for discussion of points the Project Manager wishes to raise requesting guidance. Have a read of </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/PB-preparation.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">this post on Project Board meeting preparation</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> for more details.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, if you a forecasting to be outside the tolerances set in Project Definition or Stage Plan you need to escalate to your owning Board. Other reasons to escalate include a high impact Issue which you cannot resolve within the Project team. Have a read of </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/escalate.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">this post on why, when and how to escalate</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> for more details.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, sometimes a Project Manager can adopt the principle to reduce day to day involvement in some task areas. This is when a piece of work is packaged up carefully into a Work Package and given to a third party or internal team manager. When defining the Work Package you define the tolerances and reporting requirements so this principle comes into play. Have a read of <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/work-package.html" target="_blank">this post on Work Package principles.</a></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Manage by Exception - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-78439028091434331712016-03-23T06:34:00.000+00:002019-12-28T20:22:44.550+00:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Manage by Stages (4)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me continue with Principle 4 - Manage by Stages.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a><br />
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</div>
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Principle 4 - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Manage by Stages</span></u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a powerful principle of PRINCE2. The first part of the principle is that <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Planning.html" target="_blank">Planning</a>, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Estimating.html" target="_blank">Estimating</a> and thus <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/budget.html" target="_blank">Budgeting</a> for a whole Project is difficult to a reasonable degree of accuracy. As I put it in a <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/plan-droop.html" target="_blank">post, you are likely to suffer from <i>Planner's droop!</i></a> as the accuracy of plans often drops with time. So PRINCE2 offers the concept of the Stage. So you have a firm plan and budget for the current stage and a more outline plan and budget for the remainder of the project.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The second part of the principle is that the end of a Stage forces a formal checkpoint or preferably a Gate where the firm plan and budget for the next Stage is presented and ideally the Business Case is reassessed and also presented. In the best organisations this assessment is done with participation from outside the Project owners to ensure impartiality. The approach forces one or several check(s) part way through on the Project viability in line with PRINCE2 Principle 1. <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/entry-meet.html" target="_blank">Have a read of my post on Gated reviews</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Where to select the Stage boundary? Look for a point in the project life-cycle where more certainty on estimates can be provided and before any big commitment to costs or rapid increase in burn rate. In an IT Project utilising a waterfall style approach, a Stage covering Analysis and Design is a good choice so a Stage gated review happens before the commencement of Build / Construction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lastly, don't forget that PRINCE2 mandates a special Stage called Initiation where the brief is fully understood, Business Case is extended or created, plans (including use of Stages), estimates, budgets etc are established. I wrote <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/initiation.html" target="_blank">a post covering a check-list for Initiation</a> which is worth a read.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Manage by Stages - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-58097948152400615242016-03-15T19:35:00.001+00:002021-09-21T15:42:14.015+01:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Defined Roles and Responsibilities (3)<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me continue with Principle 3 - Defined Roles and Responsibilities.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Principle 3 - Defined Roles and Responsibilities</u></h3>
<div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The third principles is that everybody concerned in the Project should understand their role(s) & responsibilities and how they relate to each other.</span></div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For me, the key words to expand on this principle are <b>Ownership, Accountability, Management and Organisation.</b></span></div><div><b><br /></b>
<h4>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Owning Roles</b></u></h4>
</div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Every Project needs <u>ownership</u> and the owner isn't the Project Manager (PM), the PM just runs the project day to day on behalf of the owner. Committees where every person has a vote which are counted, are not efficient organisations (sorry Parliaments everywhere) so there needs to be one <u>accountable</u> person. PRINCE2 calls this person the <b>Project Executive</b>, I prefer the term <b>Project Owner</b> (which I believe better describes the role) and in practice many organisations name this person, the <b>Project Sponsor</b>. PRINCE2 recognises there are key <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">Stakeholder groups</a> and suggests key representatives to help the Owner/Sponsor make his/her decisions. The Owner/Sponsor and these stakeholder representatives are called the Project Board. <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">Have a read of my post on these roles</a>.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<h4>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Project Team Roles</b></u></h4>
</div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A good organisational structure and understood roles & responsibilities for your Project Team is also important. If everyone on the team knows what they need to contribute and what other team members are responsible for, you have a solid foundation for success. Project teams often cross traditional line management structures which adds added complexity - matrix management!</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Have a read of three posts - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/team.html" target="_blank">one on Project Teams structures</a>, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/human-side.html" target="_blank">one on human factors</a> and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/PM-behaviours.html" target="_blank">one on the behaviour characteristics</a> of an important role in the Project team - the Project Manager.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Defined Roles and Responsibilities - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-37281577200998429352016-03-11T06:46:00.000+00:002019-12-28T20:24:59.522+00:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Learn from Experience (2)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me continue with Principle 2 - Learn from Experience.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Principle 2 - Learn from Experience</u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The second principle is that Project execution is improved by previous Project learnings. I remember this through a Proverb from philosopher George Santayana who stated "<i>Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it</i>".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is broken into 3 parts in my mind:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project Manager (PM) should bring his / her personal learnings to bear in Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project Manager should seek organisational learnings from previous Project executions at the organisation in question</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project Manager should deliver lessons learnt from the current Project for the benefit of future Projects.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For #1, I encourage all PMs to always take learnings out of every Project they run. Many organisations, if recruiting externally, like to look for a PM with a track record in the particular project domain for this reason. #2 is a bold aim but I haven't personally seen organisations succeeding by achieving a usable database for other PMs to find key lessons to apply. However, I have got some benefit from speaking with individuals previously involved in the domain area. Lastly, you don't get #1 and #2 without #3 so please plan for this. <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/lessons.html" target="_blank">Have a read of my post on lessons learnt.</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My final point to make about lessons is that often the focus is on the negatives, things that didn't go too well. You should also look for positive lessons i.e. best practices which may apply to your organisation or project domain.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Business-Justification.html" target="_blank">Business Justification</a> - continuously throughout the Project execution</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Learn from Experience - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
</div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-42707382534244292202016-03-04T18:13:00.003+00:002021-08-23T12:23:27.063+01:00A tour of PRINCE2 Principles - Business Justification (1)<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like Snow White, the PRINCE2 Project Management methodology is built around 7 helpers :-) There are 7 guiding Principles, 7 Project Management Themes leading to 7 Processes. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In a series of posts, I want to take you through the 7 PRINCE2 Principles, my views on them aiding Project success and relate these to other posts on the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Better Sheepdog site</a>. Let me start with Principle 1 - Business Justification.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s1600/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRINCE2 Principles" border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KdDhkF0B3QI/VpppZsab3PI/AAAAAAAACI4/V6ToU4HzGMs/s640/PlanIT%2BPRINCE2%2BPrinciples.png" title="PRINCE2 Principles (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Principle 1 - Business Justification</u></h3>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This principle, which is an excellent one in my view, is all about there being a viable Business Case under review throughout the Project life cycle.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Firstly, an outline Business Case should be used to determine whether to actually start a particular Project as most organisations are constrained by available funds and/or in-house resources and so should choose the Project(s) which provide the maximum benefits or align to the organisational Business Plan. As I stated in a post on the subject of the Business Case, <i><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Business-Case.html" target="_blank">Do the Right Project before Do the Project Right</a></i></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At this point, I want to be clear on what constitutes a successful Project. For me, there are two dimensions. One for the Project Team to own is about <i>Do the Project (Delivery) Right.</i> The other one for the Project Owner is about <i>delivery of the stated benefits </i>of the Project. <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/success.html" target="_blank">I detailed this in a post on Project success</a>.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So in an ideal world, the Project Manager when first engaged:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">is handed an outline Business Case</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">is told who the Owner of the Project is - I prefer to call this role the Sponsor (PRINCE2 calls it the Executive) - an example of me tailoring the method - see Principle 7 :-)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sadly, we don't often live in an ideal world! </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If no Sponsor has been defined, you need to find one. Remember Shakespeare and the quote <i>O Sponsor, Sponsor! wherefore art thou Sponsor?</i> <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/Find-Sponsor.html" target="_blank">as per my post on the subject.</a></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If no Business Case has been produced, this should be a focus during Project Initiation. Even if you, as PM, have been handed an outline Business Case, this should be refreshed during Initiation as the accuracy of the <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/budget.html" target="_blank">Project costs</a> should be improved by the planning and estimating that takes place. The benefits side of the Business Case will need discussion and agreement by the Sponsor as, even though the PM may assist the Sponsor in production of the document and supporting models, accountability for benefits lies with the Sponsor.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The key point about this principle is that having established the Business Case and thus agreed that the Project is viable to commence, the Business Case should NOT be thrown in a cupboard never to be seen again. It should be kept under review during the Project execution to see whether:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the Business Case is no longer valid (so should the Project be stopped?)</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the Business Case is enhanced or </span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">that the Business Case has stayed broadly the same</span></li>
</ul>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Many Business Cases can be impacted by things external to the organisation so if this is the case, someone (Sponsor?) should be keeping their eye on the external environment in which the Project will end up delivering. For example, around 2009, did someone in the Nokia organisation assess the impact of the market rise of the Smart Phone on the Business Case for the latest Nokia phone being developed?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The problem with this lofty goal is that there is usually something "more important" to do with regard to project execution than periodically review the Business Case. But PRINCE2 suggests an answer - Principle 4 recommends management by Stages and formal Gate reviews between Stages. I have seen this approach forced by a few organisations that I have worked with. In one such organisation, at least two stages had to be built into plans and firm funding was only provided for the current stage. At the Stage Gate review, the Project had to refresh and represent the Project Business Case as part of securing the funds for the next Stage. This forced the periodic focus on Business Case in line with this principle. Have a read of PRINCE2 Principle 4 post for links to related Better Sheepdog posts.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lastly I aim, if possible, to go one step further with regard to this principle and look to plan for creation of a product / artefact called a Benefit Realisation Plan which details far more about the benefits than is traditionally seen in a Business Case such as:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">each low level benefit clearly articulated including levels expected over time etc?</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">who is accountable for delivery of each low level benefit?</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">how it will be measured?</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">who will undertake the measurement</span></li>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">who will police the benefit measurement - an organisational PMO is quite useful in this regard as it lives past the close-down of individual projects</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/benefit-realisation.html" target="_blank">Have a read of my post on Benefit Realisation</a> for more details.</span></div>
</div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">
</span></div>
<h3>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><u>Other PRINCE2 Principles</u></span></h3>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The PRINCE2 Principles are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Business Justification - this one!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Learn-Experience.html" target="_blank">Learn from Experience</a> - from previous Projects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Roles-Responsibilities.html" target="_blank">Defined Roles and Responsibilities</a> - so there is clear understanding of who is responsible for what</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Stages.html" target="_blank">Manage by Stages</a> - breaking down the Project execution into manageable chunks with gate reviews to move from one to the next</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/PRINCE2-Principles-Manage-Exception.html" target="_blank">Manage by Exception</a> - once plans are in place with the owner, no news is good news</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Product-Focus.html" target="_blank">Focus on Products</a> - a focus on what is being produced rather than activities is beneficial</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/PRINCE2-Principles-Tailor-Environment.html" target="_blank">Tailor to suit the environment</a> - the methodology should be tailored to the environment, organisational culture, size, complexity and risks</span></li>
</ol>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-53482640659384723292016-02-20T09:00:00.000+00:002019-12-28T20:25:56.513+00:00Earned Value - a simplified approach for Product Based Planners<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Earned Value Management (EVM) is a technique for objective measurement of Project progress and performance. However, it is a technique which has divided views within some in the Project Management community. Some people I have met believe it is an essential measure to be implemented within all Projects. Others suggest that the effort and rigour necessary to measure properly can outweigh the benefit depending on the scale of the Project or Programme. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, if you utilise the Product Based Planning approach suggested by PRINCE2, I believe there is an opportunity to produce some simplified Earned Value measurements with a little extra effort which can be helpful for Monitoring and Control in most projects. Let me take you through a step by step approach which I have tried in a couple of Projects.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wnggwd2EnCM/VrIe9djyNBI/AAAAAAAACLE/tFL7Tc6Cwow/s1600/PlanIT%2BEarned%2BValue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Earned Value" border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wnggwd2EnCM/VrIe9djyNBI/AAAAAAAACLE/tFL7Tc6Cwow/s640/PlanIT%2BEarned%2BValue.png" title="Project Earned Value (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Earned Value concepts recap (simplified)</u></h3>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Earned Value allows a combined measurement of Scope, Time and Cost, key elements that a Project Manager should be <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Control.html" target="_blank">Monitoring and Controlling</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The two key measures are:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Planned Value (PV) - a valuation of work planned. It is also known by EV purists as Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Earned Value (EV) - a valuation of work which has taken place. It is also known as Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You plan PV in line with your baseline project plans and budgets and then monitor EV against the PV baseline during the execution life-cycle. The full technique shows the progress of a project taking into account the work complete, the time taken and the costs incurred to complete that work</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The simplified approach detailed in this post doesn't directly consider costs but uses an intuitive relative value based on the importance of particular Products.</span></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Product Based Planning recap</u></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Product Based Planning is a useful PRINCE2 planning concept where you focus on the artefacts to be delivered rather than the activities - I covered the approach <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/Product-Planning.html" target="_blank">in this post</a>. The Products should be listed in a "Product inventory" spreadsheet as part of your quality planning as I covered <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/quality-docs.html" target="_blank">in this post</a>.</span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Step 1 - Produce your Product Quality Plan Inventory</u></span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is standard planning and Estimating around the Product Based Planning technique:</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Identify the Products</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Produce Product Flow Diagram if necessary</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Estimate the effort to produce and quality assure</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Build your plan & schedule</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Produce your Project Quality Plan Inventory. Key points: </span></li>
</ol>
<ul><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<li>Don't forget non Document based Products</li>
<li>For documents you record the planned date for production of a good draft version and the date you plan to be baselining the document following the quality process and any modifications</li>
<li>For non document Products you need to do a similar process, with the "draft" date and "fully quality assured" date captured</li>
</span></ul>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Step 2 - Add 3 columns PV, EV% and EV</u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now add 3 columns to the spreadsheet and populate as follow:</span></span><br />
<ol><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<li>Weighted Planned Value (PV) - this needs a bit of thought and I suggest a relative "weighted" value with 1.0 as a default, lower values for less important Products (e.g. maybe some Management products are less valuable than some Technical products?) and higher values for particularly important Products (e.g. in IT Projects, a Requirements catalogue, Design document etc might be deemed higher value than a Training plan?)</li>
<li>Earned Value % (EV%) - Percentage of the total value earned. So 100% would be the particular Product having gone through all quality assurance processes and deemed fit for purpose and baselined. I give further guidance in the next step.</li>
<li>Earned Value (EV) - This is simply PV * EV% at the individual Product level - so when EV% is 100% the earnt value of the Product in question will be the weighted Planned Value</li>
</span></ol>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Step 3 - logic to calculate EV% from Product Status</u></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add some logic (VLOOKUPs) to calculate EV% from the Product status such as the following which work for Documents but need some thought for non Document Products:</span></div>
<div>
<ul><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<li>Not Started = 0%</li>
<li>Being drafted = 20%</li>
<li>Draft Issued into Quality review process = 50%</li>
<li>Partially approved = 70% (i.e. at least one of the designated approvers has signed off the document but not all of them in line with the Quality Plan)</li>
<li>Fully approved = 100%</li>
</span></ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As per the picture taken from a real Project example, the PV sum (for all Products in the Inventory) is the target final Earned Value state at the end of the Project while the EV sum (for all Products in the Inventory) is the actual total at the point in time. So for the example, the final Earned Value for the Project is 33.9 while the current Earned Value for the point in time is 11.4. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These are somewhat meaningless relative values so in the next step I suggest we move to a percentage of total value over time view e.g. 100% of Project value is when we achieve the absolute value of 33.9</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33ljtk7DQJg/VrHDqnkvCdI/AAAAAAAACKI/N_1Rn1gpgpI/s1600/Product%2BInventory%2BEarned%2BValue%2Bx.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Product Inventory" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33ljtk7DQJg/VrHDqnkvCdI/AAAAAAAACKI/N_1Rn1gpgpI/s1600/Product%2BInventory%2BEarned%2BValue%2Bx.png" title="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Product Inventory (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Step 4 - Create the plan of total Earned Value against time</u></h3>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need to create the plan of how you </span><u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">expect</u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> the Earned Value to accumulate over time which I do in a separate</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> sheet within the same workbook. This uses the baseline Draft Issued and Fully Approved dates as follows:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Get all products, baseline date for draft and amount of PV introduced</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Get all products, baseline date for fully approved and amount of <b><u>extra</u></b> PV added (don't forget you have accounted for the draft value)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sort by ascending date</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add a cumulative column</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remove duplicates dates if they exist</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add column PV% to represent the relative values as % of total Planned Value progressing over time (divide by 33.9 in the example)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add columns to periodically enter the current "total EV" as you update your Product Inventory (see Step 5) and the representation of this as a %</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is an example from a real Project where I tested the approach</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAXYYo1QSMM/VrHRFfrpoYI/AAAAAAAACKk/0U-3bn0ZJRc/s1600/Earned%2BValue%2BPlan%2Band%2BTracking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Table of PV and EV" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAXYYo1QSMM/VrHRFfrpoYI/AAAAAAAACKk/0U-3bn0ZJRc/s1600/Earned%2BValue%2BPlan%2Band%2BTracking.png" title="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Table of PV and EV (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Step 5 - Periodically update the current Total EV</u></h3>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In your Monitoring and Control phase, as you update your Project inventory with the status of each Product, the current Total EV is shown (at the top of the EV column in the example). At (or near) a date in the Earned Value against time plan, read off the current Total EV from the inventory and enter it into the separate sheet as per the example above.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Step 6 - Graphically show Total EV versus Total PV</u></span></h3>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These results can be shown graphically and included in <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/PB-preparation.html" target="_blank">Project Board packs</a> etc. Here is the same real life example from the project in 2012</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HMqjmetV8yE/VrHbZXI2m5I/AAAAAAAACK0/wJpQth3F25I/s1600/Earned%2BValue%2BPlan%2Band%2BTracking%2BGraph%2Bx.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Graph of EV versus PV" border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HMqjmetV8yE/VrHbZXI2m5I/AAAAAAAACK0/wJpQth3F25I/s1600/Earned%2BValue%2BPlan%2Band%2BTracking%2BGraph%2Bx.png" title="Project Earned Value from Product Planning - Graph of EV versus PV (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com1London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-12532732199823068532016-02-06T08:51:00.000+00:002019-12-30T20:52:46.944+00:00How should a Project Manager spend his/her time?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Where should a Project Manager spend his/her time? First and foremost you need to be good at self time management as, despite what the team may think, you can normally fill your day a number of times over. This post cover my thoughts on where you should spend your time.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DLq3soEP5yU/U_nRVs7kHOI/AAAAAAAABNw/gxDDRsDpiTY/s1600/PlanIT%2BPM%2BWhere%2BSpend%2BTime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DLq3soEP5yU/U_nRVs7kHOI/AAAAAAAABNw/gxDDRsDpiTY/s1600/PlanIT%2BPM%2BWhere%2BSpend%2BTime.png" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">"Technical" work within the plan</u></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let us start with what <u><b>isn't your priority</b></u> - that is doing "technical" work within the plan. By all means lend a land if you can offer some help on technical activities but this should be ancillary to your main role as Project Manager. There is an old saying that if the plan has the Project Manager scheduled on the critical path, it is going to slip (or quality will suffer) as ensuring other activities are on track will suffer.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Monitoring and making things happen plus consider RAIDs</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once you have <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/initiation.html" target="_blank">initiated the project</a> and it is up and running <b><u>your primary focus</u> </b>is making things happen as planned and ensuring that RAIDs (Risks, Issues, Assumptions, Dependencies) don't trip you up. So...</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Control.html" target="_blank">monitoring and controlling</a> should take up a large part of your day. This may result in the need to chase things down and sometimes you may need to apply the PM size 9 boots! There are formal ways and informal ways of monitoring, see next section</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">there are likely to be <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/issues.html" target="_blank">issues</a> or conflicts to resolve and you will need to spend part of your day here. But don't become a consistent ambulance chaser and want to have the "excitement" of helping resolve every problem! Get a handle on it and delegate where possible. Use your strategic thinking to "press the right buttons" where necessary with <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">stakeholders</a> and team alike</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">keep a watchful eye on Risk Management activities and the status of Risks because people can easily ignore this and as I always say, <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/AttackRisk.html" target="_blank">Attack the Risks before the Risks Attack you!</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">don't forget <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/ex-dependency.html" target="_blank">Dependency management checks</a> and closing down any <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/assumptions.html" target="_blank">Assumptions</a> that may have been made during Initiation</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monitoring - Management by walking about (MBWA)</u></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I recommend getting out of your seat and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around" target="_blank">doing a bit of wandering and chatting</a> (or have a chat when you bump into folk). Showing your face to the team is good, showing interest in people is good and it is amazing what you find out by such an approach. Hopefully you can mix work and pleasure a little - learning a bit more about your team mates in an informal way can aid bonding as a team (<a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/human-side.html" target="_blank">read this post</a> for more on the human side of teams). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course MBWA is somewhat tricky when you have teams spread geographically. In such circumstances, you have to work particularly hard when you are face to face so that you can continue to dialogue (informally as well as formally) when remote.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So MBWA is useful but you will still need your formal update meetings with team leads etc which enable a structured approach to updates from the team to you and from you to the team. Get these scheduled as regular meetings in the calendar. Have a read of various <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/Control.html" target="_blank">posts on Monitoring & Control such as this one</a>.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Reviewing the plan / looking ahead</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need to spend some time each week looking ahead on the plan (and then reminding the team as necessary). Due to </span><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/plan-droop.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Planner's Droop</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> there is likely to detailed planning to be undertaken from time to time and you need to ensure that there no blockers which might cause a delay moving into the next key part of the plan. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Note that many of the team won't be looking ahead much more than the current week, some may struggle to look ahead other than the task that is currently occupying them, maybe the next few hours ;-)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whereas I have been suggesting getting close to your team for monitoring and control, this is a time where it is ideal to be away from the team and interruptions - see <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/PM-where.html" target="_blank">my post on comparisons to military generals</a></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Other things which are still important but take less of your day</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other things which need to be considered across your weekly time planning</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/Communication.html" target="_blank">Communication</a> in general and <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/StatusRpt.html" target="_blank">reporting in particular</a>. You may be copied on lots of emails so you need to control what you read and what you don't - see <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Email.html" target="_blank">my post of email practices</a> which can help reducing the negative impact of emails on your time and other team members too</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/team.html" target="_blank">Resource management </a>and more importantly People Management - <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/human-side.html" target="_blank">don't forget the human side</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Financial cost management - hopefully a minimal amount of weekly work with a major focus on a monthly basis (<a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/Cost-Tracking.html" target="_blank">see this post</a>) in line with your governance / <a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/PB-preparation.html" target="_blank">Project Board updates</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/Stakeholders.html" target="_blank">Stakeholder Management</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have you checked the RAIDs log - visit at least once a week</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Things getting tight? - use of "daily prayers" meetings</u></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Daily Prayers meetings are useful for focusing team members on what needs to be achieved in the particular day. These can be useful at any stage in the project lifecycle but I will certainly use them if things are tight and you need special focus to get across the line.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The form of the meeting is a short session with a team (maybe people standing to focus on short communication) where you go round everyone briefly discussing if necessary but more importantly, gaining commitment for what each team member will achieve in that day. If someone raises a blocker then you may need to discuss briefly or take offline to keep the meeting crisp, ideally 15 minutes maximum.</span></div>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<u>Conclusion</u></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a Project Manager you will have pressures on your time and need good time management skills to ensure that you cover a number of key activities within each week of the Project. So stop and think about what you have spent time so far in the week and what you still need to achieve in the remainder and react accordingly. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If I was to leave you with one thought it is to spend your time on things which have the highest probability of tripping up the plan, not on things that you like doing or find easy!!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5870223333453313823.post-89374146785088832972016-01-25T07:07:00.000+00:002019-12-30T20:53:06.322+00:00Is Project Manager Authority - Earned or Given?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Project Manager requires enough authority to control the project but is this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">authority EARNED or GIVEN? I believe a bit of both is the answer but the ability to earn it is ultimately more important. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjGeCsdo5DY/U-3_b_biPqI/AAAAAAAABLM/9GMVmFsxbuM/s1600/PlanIT%2BPM%2BAuthority.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Project Manager Authority" border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjGeCsdo5DY/U-3_b_biPqI/AAAAAAAABLM/9GMVmFsxbuM/s1600/PlanIT%2BPM%2BAuthority.png" title="Project Manager Authority (bettersheepdog.blogspot.co.uk)" width="566" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firstly, what authority is required?</u></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Project Manager (PM) can't control the project without some authority. This authority may be to form the team but if the team is a given at least it should be to direct and control the allocation of tasks within the team. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other authority which I always will argue for is control of the allocated Project budget. I remember my old boss at AXA many moons ago saying <i>"this is your money to spend as you see fit - as long as you deliver the project within the Time, Cost and Quality targets!!".</i> I typically have never seen such total freedom since but within some bounds, budget control is important.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sometimes while you don't have direct authority as per the cartoon but you should have strong influence and if you don't, the team don't need to know this ;-)</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Authority you are GIVEN</u></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Examples of Authority you are GIVEN are:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">your job description</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">control over project funds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">status within the organisation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">control over information flow to the team</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Authority you EARN</u></span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Example of Authority you EARN are:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">skills you demonstrate whether these be technical or management</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">track record (e.g. as demonstrated on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ability to negotiate</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ability to resolve conflict</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">doing what you say you are going to do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">building alliances</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">building a good rapport with your Stakeholder community for the Project</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Conclusion</u></span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need sufficient authority to effectively manage and control the Project. Some of the this authority you can be <b>given</b> but much of it you need to <b>earn </b>especially if you come as an external consultant.</span></div>
Willcox 4 Project Managementhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02595203354514336639noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777