Construct Your World

Summer 2011 Independent Study

2011-06-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Change, and Innovation. This study will look at the psychological underpinnings of change and innovation in the knowledge/information economy.

Entrepreneur Project - Salinas Performing Arts Academy

2010-11-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Please review the shared document at this location:

https://docs.google.com/#all

thx

Education in America

2010-11-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

The history of education in America seems to have followed two courses. One, recently pointed out by a radio commentator, is that we generate the most educational research of any nation on earth, and use the least of its outcomes. The other is that we search the world over for the best approaches to education, import them, and screw them up!

Just this week, I was teaching in an English classroom for 7th graders. The approved curriculum, based on the California standards and the hideous no child left behind fantasy, has the teacher using a text that is essentially a script with pre-determined activities. As bad as that seems on the face of it, the activities consisted of drawing a circle around proper nouns, squares around pronouns, and underlining verbs. This is insane! 7th graders! These are activities for children in 2nd and 3rd grade!

Apart from being insulting to the students and demeaning to the teacher, there is the problem of instilling or reinforcing critical analysis and thought. Not once were the students challenged to evaluate the relative value of the idea in the text. Neither were the students asked to take a position and defend it with facts from the text. Given the lack of critical analysis inherent to activities and information on the web (where today's children spend much of their free time), the schools have an increased responsibility to demonstrate critical thought and to teach the skills involved in such thought.

By extending childhood in this way, we cripple those children who, for want of financial means or lack of pedigree, must contend with the public school system that was created and structured for an industrial world, and that has never been structurally questioned.

Data/facts/information are no longer the hallmarks of the educated - it is, rather, the skill set to find relevant facts and analyze their validity. Sitting in a classroom, lacking computer connectivity, drawing circles on paper with #2 pencils will, most certainly, not produce the world-shaking results we must have to maintain parity with the rest of the developed world.

If you have children in the public school system - act now! Demand more challenging curriculum and teaching approaches. Support your teachers, for they are the professionals that can deliver the goods for your children.

Week 5 Assignment 2 - Find definitions and other tools for QA

2010-10-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Quantitative Analysis

What Does Quantitative Analysis Mean?
A business or financial analysis technique that seeks to understand behavior by using complex mathematical and statistical modeling, measurement and research. By assigning a numerical value to variables, quantitative analysts try to replicate reality mathematically.

Quantitative analysis can be done for a number of reasons such as measurement, performance evaluation or valuation of a financial instrument. It can also be used to predict real world events such as changes in a share price.

Investopedia explains Quantitative Analysis
In broad terms, quantitative analysis is simply a way of measuring things. Examples of quantitative analysis include everything from simple financial ratios such as earnings per share, to something as complicated as discounted cash flow, or option pricing.

Although quantitative analysis is a powerful tool for evaluating investments, it rarely tells a complete story without the help of its opposite - qualitative analysis. In financial circles, quantitative analysts are affectionately referred to as "quants", "quant jockeys" or "rocket scientists".

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quantitativeanalysis.asp

This site contains an effective point-by-point discussion of the merits and cautions of quant analysis: http://www.investopedia.com/university/fundamentalanalysis/default.asp

Another perspective from the world of complexity research and science:

Quantitative analysis is a process in analytical chemistry that involvesmeasurement of results such as quantities of substances produced, not just the nature of the reactions that produce them. All quantitative analysis involves counting or measurement in some manner.

It is critical in quantitative analysis to get statistically reliable and generalizable results. Features are classified and counted, and statistical models may be constructed as the scientist attempts to explained mathematically what has occurred. In the end, a properly-done quantitative analysis will be generalizable to a larger population between whom direct comparisons can be made. This enables the scientist to determine genuine properties of a substance and the items which are anomalous.

A quantitative analysis does identify core truths, but it does not necessarily describe a substance in a rich manner. All data is recorded in quantitative analysis as hard data – either the substance is X or it is not. Qualitative analysis, the other major type of analysis, allows scientists to describe items which do not easily fit within a classification.

Both quantitative and qualitative analysis are important to analytical chemistry.

http://www.iscid.org/encyclopedia/Quantitative_Analysis

HERE'S A TOOL:

The Rise of R: A Tool for Quantitative AnalysisThe R programming language--- is an open source implementation of the S programming language, and is rich and well suited for data operations.

By David Wilson, Product Manager, Vhayu Technologies

http://www.r-project.org/

R is a statistical package first and foremost and contrasts with Matlab, a commercial and general analytical toolkit. R is an open source implementation of the S programming language, which is implemented in the commercial package S-Plus. It is freely available under the GNU General Public License on multiple platforms and can be downloaded at http://www.r-project.org. R is very similar in function to S-Plus (the syntax is nearly identical), contains built-in tools for time series, regression, etc., has graphing and visualization capabilities, and can be used as a programming environment.

Positioning Statement - Salinas Arts Academy

2010-10-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Salinas Arts Academy is envisioned as an after-school performing-visual arts - and academic support academy that will:

Serve the jr. & sr. high school students of Salinas who may need additional help with academic performance and who share an interest in performing arts (theatre; music) and visual arts. Unlike traditional study halls and tutors, the Salinas Arts Academy will accomplish its mission by integrating learning & student development across the full spectrum of learning styles and modalities, integrating academic skill development with arts activities and outcomes.

Ethics Assignment 2 - Issues in My Business

2010-09-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

The world of human resources, organizational development, and training provides ample opportunity for ethical challenges. The misuse of confidential information; the appropriation of another's ideas as one's own; and the manipulation of employee confidence for personal gain are just a few of the issues one may face in the human side of the organization.

As with any ethical issue, one must always go back to first principles - do no harm; act in the interests (long-term) of the organization; seek first to understand. The leadership of any organization, whether it is the CEO, Vice-President, Unit Manager, or team supervisor, has a responsibility to set the tone for ethical practice.

The specific ethical behaviors addressed by the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, executive oversight, audit procedures, and independent verification of results, provide a roadmap for all of us in business to develop policies, procedures, and best practice for delivering our services ethically.

Ethics & Accounting Assignment 1

2010-09-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

I am troubled by the author's clear bias against any serious discussion of ethical behavior. In the section, "The Social Responsibility of Business", he casually refers to the idea of social responsibility as "politically correct" behavior. He puts Milton Friedman forward as a competing point of view. Friedman seems to want businesses to have all the rights of a free society without any of the responsibilities. Clearly, the failures of many of the businesses noted in the opening chapters found comfort in Friedman's "letter of the law" approach to business.

Clearly, with the worldwide possibilities of cultural and societal norms, an analytical approach serves the manager well. Taking each case on its merits allows the manager to evaluate the situation based on his and his company's ethical stance. The starting point is to decide that ethics are worth discussing, and from there the conversation can develop to encompass the various individuals and philosophies at play.

The Stakeholder Framework (p. 67) provides a straightforward approach to laying out the issues.

Takeaways: 1. Include ethics as an element in any decision to embark on a new/different policy or project; 2. Adopt a standard approach to including stakeholders in the discussion; 3. Recognize the validity of differing points of view, and allow for the possibility that you may be wrong.

Avoid harm and look for "the middle path".
dh

Assignment 2 - Bus 600

2010-09-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Comparing competitors' point of view on marketing on their websites in the non-profit world doesn't reveal much about their approach to the most important 'customer' - funders. That info would have to come from their grant-writing and/or board.

In the world of Shakespeare and Theatre on the Central Coast, the clear leader is UCSC and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Pacific Repertory, the only professional theater in the area, presents a wide variety of high-quality theatre and offers an annual Shake-speare (their convention) festival. The intent of the Shakespeare Society of AMerica, with whom I am working, is less focused on performance and more focused on research and education (at least initially).

Reviewing the websites for Shakespeare SC and Pac Rep, one can clearly see the performance focus in the format and emphases on performance line up; audition opportunities; ticket sales; etc. That is not to say there are no educational or research activities. Each offers training in acting, directing, etc. It is more of a difference in focus.

At SSA, we intend our first year to be devoted exclusively to research, education, and fund-raising to support the building of the physical infrastructure necessary to sustain our programs.

Random THoughts on Marketing presentation video

2010-09-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

Customer Value Proposition – right product; right price (for customer);right cost; profit.

What is the value proposition for a non-profit organization? It is the customer/client’s emotional response to the organization or its mission. For example, seeing value in providing homes to the homeless and so they participate or donate to “Habitat for Humanity”; or taking satisfaction in the delivery of financial literacy workshops and seeing participants taking steps to improve their financial situation.

What is the payoff or profit to the organization for the marketing and sales activities? Again, it must be connected to the satisfaction of seeing an improvement in the conditions of those seeking service, coupled with the successful application of sound financial and operational practices to solicit and maintain an adequate operating budget and a reasonable reserve to maintain the delivery of the services.

Marketing – What is a market. "The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary" Drucker.

Marketing is customer focused; sales is product focused. Marketing causes the phone to ring; sales is what happens once you’ve picked up the phone.

Marketing mix: product; price; place; promotion

New Semester

2010-09-11T22:43:00.001-07:00

Hello all! We have a large group starting this semester. I look forward to working with you all and sharing challenging ideas.

Ch. 15 & 17 Observations

2010-09-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Portfolio Project Management seems to be one of those ideas that, once recognized, appears so obvious on its face. Clearly, having a central, coordinated grasp of projects and their impact on the business will help the PM. Inasmuch as every project has an ultimate deliverable, each can be seen as an asset, with corresponding liabilities in the forms of time, resources, and quality. Balancing those pieces and demonstrating the coordinated impact of various projects on the strategy would certainly position the PM to make her case when needed.

As with almost all the discussion around PM, it is critical to establish the outcome. Absent an understanding of the end-game, it is difficult to prioritize actions and projects. Understanding the strategy, then becomes key when figuring out what the project hopes to accomplish, if you intend it to positively impact the bottom line. Once identified, and fit into the portfolio, the project can be subjected to some of the ideas of LEAN.

In the projects I have undertaken (mostly org development and/or training events/programs), I have found success with the idea of parallel operations and standard work, as described in the chapter. As an example, when constructing the participant workbook (template is used to provide consistency and ease of formatting), the leader's guide is, essentially, embedded in the flow of the workbook. One version contains the directions and activities for the content, and while the content is written, I am 'seeing and hearing' the activities unfold.

All of this presumes adequate research on the content and identifying the needs of the client. In any discussions leading up to the development and delivery of a workshop, much time is used to verify that training/learning is the right solution. If there is a structural impediment to getting the work done, perhaps the requesting manager's better choice is to fix the structure.

The development and planning process for training events becomes iterative and the time-to-delivery can be shortened almost to only the time needed to research the content.

Chapter 12 &13 Commentary

2010-08-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

CHapter 12 presents complex and challenging approaches to project measurement and control. I found the info daunting, particularly from an HR/Org development perspective. Several key points emerged.

First, the need to communicate bad news early, and to address its consequences is critically important. As someone once said, "Communicate good news early and often; communicate bad news even faster" (although usually best in private). Making this happen requires that the PM be on top of expected outcomes, pace of completion, and communication channels. The "0-50-100 Rule" helps with this process, as does defining the completion criteria.

Second, and related, focus on outcomes/output, not input. Energy and time on task is lovely and certainly contributes to completing work. The job of the PM, however, is to assure progress toward completion, as observed by production (output).

Third, the Earned Value process and related measurement processes certainly allow for a more data-driven discussion with sponsors, customers, and/or team members. The process only means something, however, when the team defines and agrees on the outcomes, completion and quality criteria, and budget realities.

In chapter 13, the recurrent theme of effective communication appears again. Also, the solutions to the list of common project problems feels like "agile PM" by another name. Perhaps both approaches are really only separated by the assumptions at the beginning. Agile takes as an article of faith that change will happen, and it is usually unknowable at the outset. Working through quick cycles and re-assessing routinely allows for quick response to those changes. More traditional approach seems to take the path of figuring out as many potential problems in advance (based on experience or expertise) and then planning contingencies to manage them.

In either case, quick response to issues and the willingness to hear contrary opinions is a significant part of the solution.

Perhaps the over-arching lesson is that projects succeed or fail mostly due to human, not technical issues.

Finance posting

2010-08-24T20:07:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8uu_9lmg6k

See it here.

I still don't know how to get a video into my blog.!!!

Final presentations

2010-08-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hello All....for anyone interested, follow the link below for a look and listen to my presentations. You will download from Google Docs two ppt presentations w/narrative.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2qY5Li8MxJNYzUyOTBmMzAtZWUyYi00YmE4LTgzNmYtMDkwYzZmZmJlMmY3&hl=en

PM Final presentation

2010-08-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

file:///Users/dennishungridge/Desktop/Calmat%20PM%20Final%20Presentation1.pptxfile:///Users/dennishungridge/Desktop/Calmat%20PM%20Final%20Presentation1.mov

PM Presentation

2010-08-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

file:///Users/dennishungridge/Desktop/Calmat%20PM%20Final%20Presentation1.pptx

Project Management Ch. 10 & 11 thoughts

2010-08-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Positive team environment, like leadership, is a challenge to define, and even more challenging to create. "Everyone's life walks into the room" is a phrase I often use to set the stage for a quick discussion with participants who don't know each other well at the beginning of a class or project. This shorthand phrase give folks the permission to own their past and their foibles so we can open up to each other. Once the conversation starts, we can begin to "storm" around the "who,what,where, when, and why" of our project.

I found it interesting to consider the need to create a common metaphor when thinking about team identity. Metaphors can provide team members with an emotional location to attach their hard work to when times get rough (as they inevitably will).

Another aspect I found particularly useful is the idea of "Maintaining the Strategic Vision". Folks benefit, in my experience, from feelings of attachment to something larger than just the work they do. In that connection, the project manager can enhance the growth of a high performance team by providing a "line of sight" between the individual and the strategy. Regular demonstrations of the connection between the work - the project - the outcomes - and the larger organization. this is not the same as saying "I know your work is hard, but it's for the good of the company.", but rather making explicit connections between an individual's work and the performance of the organization. If the team member is o.k. with it, make the connection public.

Announce Good news quickly and publicly.

Confront bad news even quicker and in private.

Nothing is gained by humiliating someone in front of her peers. The project manager who bullies, intimidates, and rants is just a bully - an emotionally immature individual who has never learned self-control.

Throughout the project, communication is king!

Meetings, ah meetings. The last meeting I attended started as an all-management team meeting. The assistant to the VP routinely produced agendas with errors (time, place, date) and the meetings usually began with a short "de-brief" of the AVP's mtg with the VP. Very often, this took the form of minor complaining about the nature of the organization and the relative powerlessness of our unit within the organization. Some of the recommendations from the text appeared as part of the meeting, yet by the end, I was no longer a very active participant. I began to take the role of the contrarian, asking the group to move on if we were not going to make a public opposition to the topic at hand. I have now taken a different tack.

If I am in a meeting where nothing is going on, or there is no agenda with intended outcomes, I ask the meeting leader to spell out why we're here and what we hope to accomplish. If s/he cannot or will not, I make a motion to adjourn the meeting until those points are cleared up.

I am less willing to provide humor in meetings now and I expect folks to come prepared. If not, again I will ask for adjournment.

Meetings can certainly be effective if participants can/will focus on the outcomes and processes.

Org Behavior Ch. 11-12 Thoughts

2010-08-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Which came first, the structure or the culture? As with so many questions re: org behavior, the answer may be hard to decipher. It may also be unnecessary. The critical question is, "How do you function within the structure/culture?" Here again, the answer depends on your position and history with the organization, and where you want the organization to go.

Certainly in the high-tech and information world, a more flexible structure fits the "wild west" culture that seems to have grown up around the computer world. That said, many of these organizations have now become massive, bureaucratic organizations subject to all of the ills of the GMs of the world. As with Agile PM, agile org structure may be the way forward.

Changing the structure may be, however, the least of your worries. If you try to change the culture, you may find hidden resistance you never suspected. Most people don't like change. Change is scary and difficult. Some years ago, Motel 6 was acquired by Accor. Motel 6 had been essentially a cash-machine for the financial company that had bought it from the original owners and founders. Accor is a world-class hotel and hospitality organization with products like The Orient Express (really - train, route, name), Sofitel, and others. Following the transition, both were in for a rude awakening. The management at Motel 6 suddenly found they were in the hospitality business -guest experience, service, clean rooms - and Accor found they had bought, in many cases, properties that were on the way to nowhere (essentially residence motels). Needless to say, things changed.

Properties were discharged (along with lots of managers); a professional training program was instituted to bring managers into the culture of the organization; properties were upgraded. Throughout, expectations were re-evaluated. Ultimately, success was achieved, but not without more than a little stress.

Culture means something. Changing the boxes on an org chart won't help your organization if you don't pay attention to the history, stories, language, and metaphors of the organization. Employees attach emotions to any place that consumes 40-50 hours of each week of their lives.

Thoughts on Org Behavior Ch. 9-10

2010-08-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Stress and communication are topics that influence each other in profound ways. Each of us in our lives must deal with some levels of stress, and each of us is likely to respond differently. As with most issues in the human relations world, recognizing and accepting the conditions in which one finds oneself are the first steps to taking action in improving the circumstance or your response to the circumstance.

The physiological and psychological effects of stress are related to a much older system - that of "fight or flight". When threatened, all animals (including humans) have a fundamental choice to make : stay or run. In either situation, the body begins to accelerate all its systems in preparation for survival. In our industrial world, the choices are different, but the reactions are the same. More adrenaline; faster heart beat; tenser muscles. But the release of those tendencies is not as immediate - you can't always knock down your co-worker to prove your point or run away and climb a tree to safety. So what can you do?

First, recognize that you are faced with a stressful situation and accept the idea that you can do something about your reactions. Stand up. Walk around. Ask for a few minutes to respond, reply, etc. The important idea here is to take action - physical action. You don't need to become hostile or angry - just move. The physical release will begin to reduce the impact of the additional adrenaline created by the perception of a threat.

Second, get more information. No matter what the issue, ask questions. Who, what, where, when, how, why. This action will do a couple of things for you - one, you'll gain some time while the other person is talking; two, you will gain information and a better understanding of the situation.

Three - take action. Once you have gathered yourself and calmed yourself, decide on a course of action and follow it. This requires that you have the info and have checked your assumptions and the facts as you know them. Make a plan to correct the situation; change your mind about the situation; change the structure of the situation; remove yourself from the situation; and/or accept the situation - whichever is appropriate and/or possible.

Do not sit and stew over the situation. Action is the key. Your body and several million years of evolutionary development demand action.

Finally, communicate, communicate, communicate. Effectively communicating your position and seeking to understand the other person's position will help. Effective communication takes practice. Language is a behavior like any other and will improve with practice. In times of crisis or change, more communication is always better than less communication - even if you don't have the final answer, keep asking questions and giving information (as long as it is accurate information). You don't help yourself by shutting yourself off from the rest of the team or the boss.

In this process, take the time to figure out your communication and conflict response strengths and weaknesses. The more you know about yourself and how you respond to circumstances, the better able you will be to manage difficult conversations and situations.

Remember, rarely is anything so critical that a life depends on the outcome (unless you work in hospitals).

Strengthen Others

2010-08-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

1. Think of a time when, as a direct result of something a leader said or did, you felt personally powerful and capable. Write down the actions the leader took that contributed to your feeling powerful, strong, capable, and effective - the master of your own experience. Be as specific as you can.

While interviewing for a position as a training manager, the Regional VP, looking over my cover letter and statement of purpose, opened with the question, "Did you really write this?" His tone was not one of disbelief but rather mild admiration. The rest of the interview proceeded exceptionally well and I got the position. His implicit approval of the work I had submitted made all the difference in my comfort and confidence as we talked through the issues around adult learning; training; and org. development.

2. Now think of a time when you felt powerless, weak, and insignificant as a result of something a leader said or did. What specifically did he or she do?

The person to whom I was reporting had hired me to manage aspects of the HR function. In addressing some of the structural and personality-driven hiccups in the systems, I took the approach of speaking bluntly and within the parameters of the larger organizational system to managers who used our services but did not choose to 'play by the rules'. Several managers registered complaints with my supervisor who assured them she would take care of the issue. In some cases, this meant allowing the manager to pursue his process, leaving my staff to clean up a mess. In the meantime, my reputation as 'hard to work with' grew. She did not send the complaining managers to see me nor did she bring me into the discussion. When I was informed of the issue, it was informational only, as the problem had been solved by her. The impact to me was immediate and not positive.

I surmised from her actions that my expertise was unnecessary, and that I was apparently unable to resolve problems on my own. My view shrank to making sure my staff completed their work accurately and on time, and that our processes were up to snuff.

I left the organization shortly thereafter.

2010-07-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Chapters 5 – 9

Chapter 5 – Risk Management

In a sense, all of project management is the management of risk. The steps and tools of managing that risk include the schedules, analyses, and plans in each of the categories of identified risk.

Perhaps ‘risk’ is a less helpful work to describe the inherent uncertainties involved with any project. Contingencies; constraints; conditions of the project are all useful descriptors of issues the Project manager will manage.

As with so much in life, recognition and acceptance are the critical elements in success or failure. The project manager will want to realistically look at the nature of the project; investigate and analyze with her team the various contingencies; and explore as many viable responses as possible – all of this within the context of recognizing the possibility that other events will intervene to upset the initial assumptions.

Above all of these considerations, the project manager has the responsibility to gain the trust and support of the sponsor, along with the good-faith efforts of her team. She does this by honestly presenting the facts as they develop – good and bad – so the sponsor and the team members can make reasonable and rational decisions about the work product, and ultimately, the continuation of the project.

Chapter 6 – Work Breakdown Structure

The WBS represents the project infrastructure, and it is crucial that the team develops this in conjunction with the Project Manager. The WBS provides the opportunity to look at the project in a detailed way and forces the team to answer the 5-Wh questions.

Project Management shares aspects with exploration in that someone (sponsor; PM) identifies an outcome and generates enthusiasm and support for the project; the team is assembled; needs and obstacles are identified; plans and contingencies are considered and put in place; action is taken; and adjustments made until success is achieved.

In some sense, project management is the process of answering: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Who will help? How will we do it? How will we know we are done?

Chapter 7 & 8 – Realistic Scheduling & Accurate Estimating

Here we have the convergence of the art & science of project management. Scheduling involves the detailed aligning of activities to ensure the smooth flow and timely completion of the project. Estimating involves the, sometimes, experience-based ‘informed guesswork’ of the project manager and his team to time and align work units.

Tools like the GANTT and PERT charts, processes like resource leveling and critical path evaluation are vital to visualize the pieces of the project. At the end of the day, these are all just tools. The project manager must ‘keep her eye on the ball’ and involve and encourage the team members to actively participate in keeping the project on time and under budget.

The whole process benefits when the team looks at the project from a Total Quality Management (TQM) approach similar to Agile project management. The review cycles have to make sense for the pace, scope, and delivery-time of the project and/or its components.

Chapter 9 – Balancing the Trade-off – cost; schedule; quality

If the previous chapters described the ‘art-and-science’ of project management, then this chapter describes the ‘alchemy’ of project management. “Time-Money-Quality – You can have any two”. This well-worn phrase describes the challenge for the project manager who seeks to please all the constituents involved in a project.

Critical in this discussion is to honestly discuss up-front what the 3 pieces mean to folks – financially; emotionally; professionally; and chronologically. Some folks will have their reputations tied to the successful completion of the project and be willing to spend whatever it takes to come in on time. Some will only be concerned with the cost to the enterprise. Some will want the most elegant deliverable possible. Whatever the circumstance, you the project manager will manage more effectively if you dig out this information early in the process, and keep an eye on the possibility that folks may change their minds along the way.

Recognition is the key. Then, you must act. Those who succeed often follow this advice: “Today, not tomorrow”.

Ch. 5 & 6 thoughts

2010-07-14T11:38:00.001-07:00

The risk management discussion and reading is particularly helpful in its discussion of how to determine the relative importance of any individual risk. the "expected value" computation and the risk profile discussion help to quantify the sometimes vague nature of some risk.

Condition and consequence are also useful categories to apply when considering risk.

But perhaps the two most important ideas in Ch. 5 are:

*Project management is risk management

*Cast a wide net for potential risks - ask a lot of questions of a lot of people.

Ch. 6

Most of my work with WBS has been in developing training and learning programs. I often use 'functional' categories (logistics; materials; schedule; audience; etc) at the beginning of the planning to brainstorm tasks and work packages.

For the overall quality marker, I start with the outcomes - behavioral and/or competency changes that can be observed and/or tested. My interest is always how well folks can apply ideas and skills following exposure to the content or ideas. Those behaviors then form the targets against which the content/activities/etc. can be evaluated.

Aspects of Project Management

2010-06-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone on this site

The first 4 chapters consistently reinforce ideas that I'm sure many of us in the program have seen or experienced. There is little to disagree with in these chapters. In my experience, the most important ideas, however, are found on pages 29-30, Surviving your Org Culture.

These 5 issues, Authority; communication; priority; focus; chain of command, describe for me the critical elements of a successful project. Certainly, on technical projects where the PM is also a technical participant, tech skills are necessary. Once the PM steps up to manage the project, the 5 aforementioned attributes become the overriding factors in success or failure.

Absent the expressed authority to run the project and a clear chain of command, political interests and petty personal dissatisfactions will arise. The art of the PM is to craft his/her message concerning the authority and chain in such a way as to demonstrate that the project outcomes are the central focus of the project. This message can/must be done with tact and grace if s/he expects folks to get on board with his leadership.

Communication is tied with authority and COC for its ability to bring success (or failure if absent). It is critical to establish a solid communication plan and protocols (including change management process) early in the planning process. As one is establishing the stakeholders, one can also begin to determine communication tools, protocols, levels of "need to know", etc. In my experience, projects more often fail for lack of communication than for mistakes in technical skills.

Priority and focus are certainly crucial. Both will/should develop out of the initial discussions that generate the charter and statement of work. Clear, measurable outcomes are very important since, as they say, "If you don't know where you're going, any road is o.k." In this connection, it may be useful to follow the edict, "Start with the end in mind".

To be a successful PM, one must develop a keen sense of people issues, while at the same time clarifying the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the charter.

dh

Random Thoughts

2010-06-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today is the third day of my blog and I am still wondering how best to use it. As I progress through my MBA program, I hope to strengthen the financial aspects of my skill set, and to discover ways to market my consultancy, Workplace Learning Designs.

Please take some time to add comments. I am interested in ideas around adult learning, training & development, human resources, theater, film, psychology, and history.

Project description

2010-06-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

My project will involve establishing the HR function at Calmat, as follows:

The goal of this project is to establish a functional, accountable, and compliant Human Resources function (both strategic and operational) by the end of the Fall Semester, 2010/2011. The components of the goal are:

1. Functional - all processes, procedures, and policies for recruiting, hiring, classifying, compensating, developing, managing, and releasing employees will be in place and published to our website by Jan. 28, 2011.

2. Accountable - Internal controls will be in place to monitor the significant HR metrics (cost-to-recruit; time-to-fill; compa ratios; benefits loads, etc.) to allow the executive team to manage and improve HR capital performance.

3. Compliant - Policies, procedures, and processes will comply with all state and federal guidelines, including, but not limited to, I-9 employment verification; FLSA regulations; EEO regulations and laws; and state labor laws.

Much of this work will be narrative and qualitative in nature, so it will be vital to define quantifiable metrics early in the process. Connecting the HR actions and functions to the strategy of Calmat and its financial performance will be a cornerstone of this project.

The stakeholders include the executive team; the founding shareholders; current employees; and by extension, those who would be recruited to work for Calmat, whether they are faculty or staff.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments.