There have been over 2,600 comments on this blog since I’ve been keeping track (over 18,000 if you count all the spam!).  Please give these bloggers your attention over the next week and leave a comment too.  Even if it’s just to say “I agree!”.  Especially if you disagree!  I love the discussions that get started that way.

A few weeks ago I changed the comment moderation to make it even more open…so your comment will very likely be approved automatically and be immediately visible.  You’re just a few keyboard click-clacks and a mouse click away from being a part of the discussion.

A few random notes

Project Management for Beginners – I was interviewed by Buck for his new website, see the interview for some tidbits about me you might not have known and my take on lots of questions that are important to new project managers.

I’ve also been interviewed in the last month or so for projectmanagerplanet.com, PMI’s Career Hub, and PMP Passport publications on various topics.  I’m not sure when those will be coming out but I’ll let you know when they do.

Have a great week!

Related posts:

1. Exciting Guest Posts Coming This Week!!!
2. Interview preparation makes for great conversation
3. Project Manager Interview Questions

Be Honest

As the saying goes “Honesty is the Best Policy”.You have to be honest all the time in dealing with your customers. Tell them if their project is not feasible or if you don’t acquire all of the resource, cash and time involved to carry it out successfully from the start. Set their anticipations by saying to them what you will carry and by when. And if it eventuates that you can’t render on your promises, then state to them about it directly. By having an “open book” policy, you’ll have your client’s confidence. And if you involve them early enough, they will be a lot supportive to your cause.

Hand it over
Managers oftentimes fall into the trap of believing that they can manage things much efficiently than staff. Of course in a lot of cases they may be right, but the problem is that they don’t have the time to perform everything themselves. So a bright manager always tries to delegate as much as possible to staff. It presents them the time needed to supervise the project and support their team. It’s a delicate task, but even if you recognize you can do a job more expeditiously than others, delegate it anyway.

Become a leader
When you economize time by delegating your jobs, you have   time for  leading and motivating your group. Make this by regularly communicating the project  to your team, honoring them for progress and accrediting their accomplishments. Have their respect by showing them you care. Build Up team liveliness by bringing them to lunch on a daily basisand uttering about what they accomplished unitedly. Remember, there is no “i” in “team”.

Expect the unexpected
Always expect matters to change and be ready for it when it comes. People have ideas, your client may require changes, and the industry and technology change over time as well. It’s not the change that’s significant, it’s how you react to the transformation that weighs. Always handle change, but be suspicious of it. Question it, double-question it and only when you’re positive it’s for the greatest, apply it.

Work smart, not hard
Attempt not to begin from scratch. Give yourself a head-start wheresoever feasible by using tools like project management guides. These templates encourage the quality of your deliverables, while keeping you time and effort.

Jason Westland has been in the project management industry for the past 15 years and is the author of the book “A Project Life cycle”  if you would like to find out more information about Jason or his project management software you can visit projectmanager.com.

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1. Is it Possible to Successfully Deliver a Project without Really Good Project Management Resources?
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Unfortunately, there is no ONE best type of contract because the risk the vendor and customer share is determined by the contract type.  The best thing you can do is understand who bares the risks or benefits of each.  Being I don’t know if you are a vendor, a customer, or a project manager, this objective description of each contract type should help shed some light on the subject.

There are three categories of contracts: Fixed-Price, Cost-Reimbursable, and Time and Material (T&M).

Fixed-Price is a contract category involving setting a fixed total price for a defined scope of work to be provided.  Fixed-price may also incorporate financial incentives for achieving or exceeding selected project objectives, such as schedule delivery dates, cost and technical performance, or anything that can be quantified and subsequently measured.   Vendors under fixed-price contracts are legally obligated to complete these contracts, with possible financial damages if they do not.  Under the fixed-price arrangement, vendors must precisely specify the products or services being offered.  Changes in scope can be accommodated, but generally at an increase in contact price.  The three common types of fixed-price contracts are Firm Fixed Price Contracts (FFP), Fixed Price Incentive Fee Contracts (FPIF), and Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contracts (FP-EPA). [risk is on the vendor]

Cost-reimbursable is a contract category involving payments (cost reimbursements) to the vendor for all legitimate actual costs incurred for completed work, plus a fee representing vendor profit.  Cost-reimbursable contracts may also include financial incentive clauses whenever the seller exceeds, or falls below, defined objectives such as costs, schedule, or technical performance targets.  Why would anyone ever use this contract vehicle?  Assume the customer doesn’t know what they want.  By absolving the vendor of risk, they may actually get something delivered.  Three of the more common types of cost-reimbursable contracts in use are Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF), and Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF). [risk is on the customer]

Time and Materials (T&M) is a hybrid type of contractual arrangement that contains aspects of both fixed-price and cost-reimbursable contracts.  They are often used for staff changes, acquisition of experts, and any outside support when a precise statement of work cannot be quickly prescribed. [blended risk]

So there you have it, the three categories of contracts.  Some people make it their job to know these inside and out.  I wouldn’t recommend getting too far into the weeds unless this topic really interests you.  If there is one takeaway from this post, I would say remember which party is at risk and which party will benefit. It’s not fun being on the short end of that stick.

Image courtesy of: Shutterstock

No related posts.

by Aoife city womanchile via Flickr

Guest post by Laura Brandenburg of Bridging the Gap.

In an ideal world, the business analyst and project manager work seamlessly together to help the business achieve the most valuable solution. The Business Analyst owning the scope of the solution and the Project Manager owning the scope of the implementation.   The ideal world is dependent on your organization having standard roles, clear project sponsorship, and every individual understanding their role and being perfectly qualified to fulfill that role.

The ideal world rarely happens.

I know within the Business Analyst profession, we often find professionals with a varied background that may or may not have had the opportunity to learn about how to do the role. We come from the ranks of SMEs, QA, and sometimes even PM. We find our way into business analysis because we are good communicators and learn the techniques of business analysis as we go. On the other side of the fence are formally trained BAs (and PMs) who know how everything should work and nearly nothing about how things happen in real organizational life.

To top things off we Business Analysts are a fairly idealistic bunch. We have some great ideas and a passion for our products but we can also wreak havoc on a nice little project with a specific estimate and a set-in-stone target date.

What follows are a few frustrations I’ve heard about business analysts from my project manager cohorts and a few ideas for how you can help the Business Analyst in these situations. No choking allowed. Work your PM magic.

No estimates

My BA has no idea how long the requirements will take!

We are hard-pressed to provide an estimate, or provide estimates for such a broad range with so many assumptions that they do little to help you plan the project.

How you can help

Recognize that we often start a project from an ambiguous hole of muck. “Defining scope” and “gathering requirements” sound simple but in reality are mucky processes. Some stakeholders know exactly what they want, others are difficult to work with and eliciting the requirements is like finding a needle in the haystack. Others are unavailable for our meetings, cancel at the last minute, or send someone in their stead who knows nothing about the project.

When you ask “how long will it take to gather requirements”, first we get frustrated because you said “gather” instead of “elicit” and then our mind goes into a tailspin trying to think of all the factors and tasks we need to do and all the things we do not yet know because we haven’t had the time to ask. We want to provide you with a number that we can deliver on. And very often the factors are complex and the details to hang out to scarce.

Instead of looking for a hard number at the outset, agree to talk through the factors, list out reasonable assumptions that you’re willing to help us realize, securing commitments from stakeholders, and giving us an appropriate amount of time to dig into the project before coming up with a detailed plan and meaningful estimate.  This is often the starting point of a new project and a great time to start with a collaborative effort. After all, we’ll be in this together for quite awhile…

Analysis takes a seemingly long time

“We are still discussing it.”

We go off into a hole to “analyze” for weeks on end, producing nothing that fits into your WBS charts and generating a lot of meetings and discussion.

How you can help

First off, did you ask us for a plan before you set us off to do requirements? Were we given full license in our discovery process or did you explain the project constraints so we could help you manage them?

If the answer is yes, and you did not get an answer, recognize that you are probably not working with a senior Business Analyst. Help them set milestones, break down the work they need to do, and track toward some intermediary goals.

If the answer is “no” then what were you doing while we were off analyzing? We are probably just as frustrated with you for not starting a plan and providing input on project boundaries. In fact, we probably think we’re doing part of your job while you are “waiting for the requirements”.

Dig in and start the conversation. A senior Business Analyst should be able to give you a plan for what they are doing in this analysis phase. The plan will probably have a lot of “if/thens” meaning that as we go through discovery and make preliminary decisions, the plan takes different paths. A senior BA will appreciate your help in aligning the rest of the team at the appropriate touch points and helping drive the key decisions that will keep the analysis moving.

We like perfect solutions

“No, you can’t cut scope. We absolutely have to do….”

We tend to be perfectionists. We spend a lot of time understanding what the business wants and we can get invested in our ideas about the solution. We can gold plate the requirements.

How you can help

Trust that we are committed to delivering value. Expect that we’ve already done some work to separate out the truly low priority requirements (if not, again a sign your working with a junior analyst that may need a mentor). Given that we’re working from a defined set, tell us what it will take to achieve our requirements. Help us help the business make informed decisions about priorities at a more granular level by providing some idea of the cost of implementation. (Like it or not, it’s really difficult to prioritize a list of “must haves” without having a general idea of the cost of implementation.)

Just three ideas. I’m sure there is more.  I’d like be interested to hear your comments or additional frustrations…

Related posts:

1. What Are Requirements?
2. Help in starting a career in Project Management
3. Business Task Management System

This layout has worked well for over a year now, but it’s time for some changes.

A few of the key enhancements in design and functionality I’m looking towards are:

• Improved ability to see what’s relevant to you immediately when visiting the home page.
• Enhanced discussion capabilities, including thing like the ability to edit your own comments within a specified time frame, etc.
• Enhance navigation through topics of interest to you.

Anything else you’d like to see?  I’ve already opened the commenting capability even wider, so it should be easy for you to leave a comment and have it published immediately below.

by David Reece via Flickr

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