Seven Tips To Maximize The Performance And Effectiveness Of Your PMO

Here are seven tips for maximizing the performance and effectiveness of your PMO:

1.  Ensure all projects have a Project Dashboard, displaying a comprehensive and standard set of project metrics
-  This standard set should include at least Project Schedule Performance, Project Cost Performance, Client Satisfaction, Team Satisfaction and  Project Resourcing metrics.
-  These metrics should all be in the form of indices, to allow a better and more meaningful comparison between all projects.
-  Every Project Dashboard should be made visible to all (excluding any financial or other confidential information).

2.  Aggregate the above key Project Data and display as a PMO Dashboard
-  Each of the project metrics should be averaged across all projects and the results displayed on a monthly trending chart, to show improvement (or not) in the performance of projects in each area measured.
-  The PMO Dashboard should also be made visible to all.

3.  Ensure your projects are aligned with the strategic goals and objectives of your organization (and that of your clients, if in different organizations)

4.  Foster an organization culture that will facilitate the success of your PMO
-  Foster a supportive, collaborative and co-operative culture with project and PMO executive and client management, project managers and all other key stakeholders, to facilitate the successful achievement of project and PMO goals and objectives.

5.  Focus on project results, not project management methodologies and processes
-  With the project and PMO dashboards in place, and a focus on getting the best performance and results for each project, better decisions are going to be made regarding the appropriate project management methodologies, processes, tools and templates needed to achieve these results.  

6.  Facilitate the successful initiation and support of all projects.
-  Establish a core group of experienced project managers, made available as needed, to ensure the successful initiation of all projects.  (This group can be staffed within the PMO, or borrowed from project teams on a scheduled and prearranged basis, as appropriate).
-  Provide ongoing oversight and support through this group, as needed to maintain project success.

7.  Foster continuous improvement in project performance and results
-  Make the training and development of project managers and their project teams a committed and measurable objective.
-  Ensure skilled resources are provided as and when needed for each project.
-  Synthesize, disseminate and act on Lessons Learned from all projects.

Are there any other tips you would like to add?

If you would like to learn how these and many other useful tips and techniques can be applied to benefit your PMO, contact us to arrange a four hour PMO Workshop that can be held on-site or via our web conferencing facilities. 

Conflict Resolution - Is There An App For That?

Conflict is a common and natural event in any project environment.  Conflict can even be healthy to a certain degree, if it is the result of creativity and a diversity of views, but soon becomes unhealthy if left unresolved to fester and breed animosity and distrust between project team members.



Conflict can occur between all project stakeholders and during all project phases.  Sources of conflict typically vary during the project life cycle but can be caused, for example, by disputes and disagreements over priorities, processes, schedules, roles, budgets, resources - to name just a few.




Of course, the best way to resolve conflict is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. 

Two good approaches for preventing or reducing conflict are:
Focus On Goals (Not Particular Solutions).
By making project goals the focus, conflicts can often be easily resolved or avoided by asking a simple question: Which solution is going to get us to meet our project goals more quickly and effectively?  Quite often conflicts tend to arise over trying to implement a particular "pet solution", but when examined in the light of what is most expedient and practical to meet the project goals, the pet solution may be deemed less practical and the resolution becomes very clear.

Foster Trust And Teamwork On Your Project
To do this, the project manager needs to lead by example:
-  Listen to and trust your team.
-  Be open to all ideas and suggestions.
-  Foster a fun and collaborative work environment for your project teams (and yourself).
-  Praise and encourage more, criticize less. 
-  Collaborate with your project team to develop a Team Operating Agreement, to include their  suggestions for team values and team operating principles - and adhere to it.


To resolve any conflicts that do occur, the following are some approaches you should consider:

Mediate
This is the approach most often chosen by project managers, who feel they have no recourse but to jump in and make a judgement call to resolve the conflict, but it is my least recommended approach.  If the project manager happens to be not only the mediator, but also one of the parties involved in the conflict, then you can see how this might not be a satisfactory approach.  Even if the project manager is not one of the parties in the dispute, the "losing" party will inevitably feel that the project manager has unjustly favored the other party, and resentment (hidden or otherwise) will accrue. 
Depending on the type of conflict, external groups such as HR or external mediators and facilitators can be helpful in mediating and resolving some conflicts.

Delegate
A project manager can never delegate too much, and delegation is particularly beneficial if one of the parties in the dispute owns the responsibility for the task or solution under dispute.  In this case, the owner of the task or solution should be given the authority to proceed with his/her recommended approach. 

Ignore
Ignoring a conflict is a good approach if both the conflict and consequences are minor, or not directly related to the project.  In this situation, the project manager getting involved could only make the conflict bigger.   However, ignoring a serious conflict will also be more difficult to solve as positions get entrenched over time and project delays and impacts increase.  

Toss A Coin
Don't laugh.  Here's a true story:
Many years ago, I was Director of one of the two large Data Centers for my company in Toronto.  The company had an identical Data Center building in Montreal, but over the years differing computing facilities and operating procedures had been implemented.  My counterpart for the Montreal Data Center and I made the strategic decision that we would move towards achieving equivalent computing facilities and operating procedures, so that in the event of a disaster, one Data Center could serve as the backup for the other. 

Every now and then we would be approached by one of our managers, indicating that they wanted to use a particular solution or software tool, but that the other Data Center wanted to use something else, and they of course assumed we would side with them and try and convince the other Data Center to use our solution.  So the other Director and I agreed that when this situation arose we would "toss a coin" to pick the solution. The main point, of course, was that the particular solution was less important than the goal, and since both solutions would work, pick one and let's move on.

Well we only had to do this once, and were never approached again.  The managers realized that they could toss the coin themselves, or better still, make their case to each other, give and take appropriately and resolve it amicably.  A few years later, when we did have a major fire in one Data Center and had to recover our applications in the other, having a good working relationship and identical operating procedures was "priceless".

Is There An App For That?
Of course!  Tossing a coin is so last century.  And what do you do when you are confronted with three or more choices, all of which can work?  Just push the green button (or spin the wheel) and let the magic of technology decide.  Your managers will be impressed (or not), and will be less likely to come to you to make these decisions, when they can make the decisions themselves, using the same technology (or not).

There are a variety of "Decision Maker" apps that you can customize for yourself, but I used the Decide Now! app, available for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (sometimes free, but currently $0.99).




What techniques have you used to resolve conflicts on your project?

How Late Can Your Project Be Before You Push The Panic Button?

In my previous post, I discussed this formula for success:

Success = Motivation + Knowledge + Commitment + Perseverance * Action.

Let's assume we are strongly motivated to bring in our project within budget and on schedule. The easiest way to achieve both goals is to just focus on bringing the project in on schedule.  If we can do that, then we will also come in within budget.

Make the commitment with your project team that your project is going to finish on schedule and then take the actions that will facilitate achieving that goal.

This raises a question - how late can a project be before you need to push the "panic button" and take dramatic and remedial action?  Let's say your project is one year in duration, and after the first month the project is a few days behind schedule.  Surely you can catch up.

As we know from experience, work on projects (like climbing mountains) never gets easier with time, only harder.  If you are a few days behind early in the project, then you are going to be weeks or even months late by the end of the project.

So my answer to the question is that your project should be "Not A Day Late".  As the sun sets each day, your project should be on schedule.

How can we possibly achieve this?  Here's one way.

Set the goal with your project team that every activity on the critical path of your project has to come in on schedule and if they find that they are going to miss a target, they need to notify you as early as possible, but no later than 3 pm of the day that the activity will be late.

At that point, this is what I recommend you do.  Immediately call an emergency meeting of the whole team and work out an action plan using all the resources and experience of your team to get that activity back on schedule by the end of the next day.

This may sound dramatic, and it is, but you will only need to do this two or three times, before the objective and importance of coming in on schedule will be very clear to your team and you will find the occurrence of missed targets becomes few and far between.   No-one wants to stay behind, whether for their late activity or for others, so you will find more attention is paid to anticipating issues and addressing them earlier, before they cause activities to be late.

Try this approach out on your project, and let us know how well it worked towards bringing the project in on schedule.

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If you are interested in learning some good project management best practices and techniques for keeping your project on schedule and within budget, sign up for our recorded APM03 webinar "How To Keep Your Project On Schedule And Within Budget" at www.alphapm.com/webinars.  Our next AlphaPM Project Management Webinar Program starts Tuesday September 4, so this webinar will also be available live at 12 noon EST on Tuesday September 18, 2012.

The Formula For Success Is Really Easy - Except For That Pesky Little Bit At The End

The formula for success is indeed really easy - at least easy to understand and remember:

          Success = Motivation + Knowledge + Commitment + Perseverance * Action.

Let's apply this formula in the context of the goal of getting our project in on schedule and within budget.

Motivation
In my previous post, I discussed how success starts with motivation.  The probability of success is directly proportional to how badly we need or want to achieve a goal.  We must strongly want to bring in our project on schedule and be confident that we can and will achieve that goal.

Knowledge
The next ingredient in the formula is Knowledge.  What does it take to achieve the goal?  In our project environment, we usually know the processes and best practices that should be followed (e.g. Change Management, Risk Management, Quality Management etc.), even if we don't always follow them, so knowledge is not usually the factor that limits our success.

Commitment
We now need to make a commitment with our team, that we will work together to achieve that goal.  Achieving the goal should be seen as a team responsibility and success will be a team success.

Perseverance * Action
Now this is the hard part - actually taking the actions necessary and persevering with or modifying those actions until the goal is achieved.

Here's an example of how difficult this is.  Many of us decide at the beginning of every year that we are going to lose weight, strongly motivated for reasons of health and/or appearance.  The knowledge of what we need to do is well known.  If we do even just one of three things (eat healthier foods, exercise more or eat less) and keep the others constant, we will lose weight.

We typically make our  commitment to lose weight through a documented New Years resolution, followed by signing up for health clubs or some daily regimen of exercise and dieting all supported by diaries and charts to track our expected progress.  But the follow up actions (persevering in actually eating less, eating healthier foods and/or exercising more) is where we tend to come apart.  It is easier to put off the actions for another day - what difference is one day going to make?

So if we are to be successful, we need to address and maximize every part of the formula, but particularly focus on persevering with the actions and project management best practices that will facilitate our success.

We usually know what these actions and best practices are, or can easily learn them.  We just have to do them.

What are some of the special things you do on your projects that help them to be successful?

If you are interested in learning about the project management best practices and techniques that will help you keep your project on track, sign up for our recorded webinar APM03  "How To Keep Your Project On Schedule And Within Budget" at www.alphapm.com/webinars.  Our next AlphaPM Project Management Webinar Program starts Tuesday September 4, so this webinar will also be available live at 12 noon EST on Tuesday September 18, 2012.

Never Underestimate The Power Of A Project Dashboard

In 2003, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) introduced a web based Dashboard for their construction projects. 

This Dashboard became a powerful tool for VDOT Executive and Project Managers, showing instantly whether projects were on track, falling behind schedule or going over budget.



The Dashboard was soon made public, and citizens were invited to view the Dashboard online and share their comments.  The performance improvement achieved by all VDOT projects was dramatic.

Prior to the introduction of the Dashboard in 2003, less than 20% of all projects were on time. By 2005, this number had improved to 75% and currently, as you can see from the VDOT Dashboard above, 97% of all projects are on time - an outstanding improvement in a very complex and challenging construction project environment.  Similar improvements were achieved in the other areas measured by the Dashboard.

As you can see from the VDOT example, a Project Dashboard can indeed be a very powerful and effective project management tool.

To be effective, a Project Dashboard should follow these following eight principles:

• Use a standard dashboard format across all projects - in this way, the performance for all projects can be fairly and effectively compared.
  Information displayed should include the Project Schedule, Project Budget, Client Satisfaction Index, Project Resourcing Index and Project Health Check Index metrics.  A summary of the key Project Milestones and Project Risks and Issues should also be displayed.  (See the sample AlphaPM Project Dashboard tool layout above)
• Ensure the dashboard is easy to understand - it should be easy to determine the performance of the project by using Green/Yellow/Red icons to show the performance of the project through the various key metrics.  Avoid clutter, and keep metrics and information displayed to the minimum useful set.
• Ensure the dashboard is easy to complete - the metrics on the dashboard should be easy to measure, collect and present
• Provide background information through a "drill down" capability - detailed information (such as the project schedule, risk register, project health check detailed results, project repository, status reports and change requests) should be linked to the dashboard, so that they can be referenced as needed. 
• Make sure all information is timely and updated at least weekly - if it is not, it will be ignored.
• Provide maximum visibility of the dashboard to all stakeholders - this will motivate the project team to keep on track and also ensure that the Executive and all other project stakeholders know if a project is in trouble, so that they can promptly assist in addressing problem areas. 
• Show the project's business goals and objectives -  add a short section with a few bullets on the business goals and objectives for the project.  This helps to reinforce the importance and value of the project and keep all stakeholders focused on meeting the project's business goals. 
• The organization must have a supportive culture
  Now here's the most challenging part of ensuring that Project Dashboards are indeed successful.  The organization culture (starting with your Executive and Client Management) must be proactive and constructive in their support of projects who show red or yellow metrics on the dashboard.
  
  For example, say your Executive meets you in the hallway and has noticed that your project has some red metrics on your Project Dashboard.
  Bad:  Executive says to you "Why is your project in such a mess and when are you going to have it fixed?"
  Good:  Executive says to you "I see you are having some challenges on your project.  Is there anything I or my management team can do to help you get back on track?"
  
  Without a supportive and collaborative executive and organization culture, project managers will resent having visible dashboards, and start to fudge metrics and cover up issues and problems, thus making them even more difficult to eventually solve.

Let us know your experiences and best practices with Project Dashboards.


Webinar:  APM13 Project Dashboards
If you are interested in learning more about Project Dashboards, and would like the AlphaPM Excel based Project Dashboard tool, sign up for our one hour APM13 "Project Dashboards" webinar at www.alphapm.com/webinars


For further information on Client Satisfaction metrics and Project Dashboards, please see these previous posts:
-  Client Satisfaction Surveys the Easy Way
-  Six Best Practices For Managing Multiple Projects

What Makes A Project Successful?

After working many years in a wide variety of organizations in several different countries, I one day asked myself - why are some projects successful, but many others are not, even within the same organization. 

Certainly a lot of effort has by now been placed on providing sound project management  methodologies and training in most organizations. And project managers are typically very smart and capable.

Yet, according to Standish CHAOS and other studies, more projects fail (or are over budget and/or behind schedule) than succeed.

Why is this?  After much reflection from my own experience on what makes some projects (and project managers) succeed and others fail, I came to the conclusion that there are five key factors at work here - and every single factor is critical to project success.

These five factors are Goals, Processes, Skills, Attitude and Culture.

Now whilst most organizations have good processes and methodologies and training, and some have also done a good job on developing project management skills, the other factors are mostly happenstance. Some project managers happen to have a great mindset and attitude for managing projects, and a few organizations have a positive and supportive culture.

So let's examine each of these factors and see how each can greatly influence a project's success.

Goals
In my second post on this blog, I have already noted my belief that a passion for and commitment to attaining project goals is indeed the most important thing for a project manager to possess to achieve those goals.

Goals should cover meeting project business objectives, schedule and budget commitments while ensuring the complete satisfaction of the client and other key stakeholders with the project.  These goals should be the lens through which every project activity is planned, every project decision is made and every project issue is addressed. 

Processes
Sound project management processes and methodologies are important, as they reflect best practices that should enable project managers to deliver projects faster and more successfully.  However, most organizations seem to fall into one of two camps - they either have minimal or poor methodologies, or they have advanced to the other extreme and have a slew of methodologies all of which are expected to be carried out on all projects.

The ideal situation is to have a different methodology set that is tuned to each type of  project being undertaken, with flexibility being given to the project manager to scale and adapt the methodology, tools and templates as they see fit.  In this case, the focus is on achieving results, not completing the methodology which should be there as "a tool, not a weapon".  Methodology training is of course essential, so that all project team members understand the methodology, and the motivation, value and importance of the best practices implicit in the methodology.

Skills
There are three sets of skills that a project manager should have, if they are to be successful:
-  Management skills
Depending on the size and complexity of the project, a wide variety of management skills are needed, such as leadership, communication, negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
-  Business skills
It is essential for a project manager to have a strong working knowledge of the project's business environment and the business needs being addressed, if they are to succeed.
-  Technical skills
As well as strong project management skills, the project manager should also have a good understanding of the project's technical environment.  Relying only on technical staff to make some decisions invariably leads to solutions that are in the best interests of the technologies being deployed, not the project.

Attitude
The attitude and mindset that a project manager brings to the project is an extremely significant, yet often under appreciated success factor.  Project managers who are excited about their project and have a constantly positive, pro active, "can do" attitude are more likely to inspire and motivate their team to overcome obstacles and not be overcome by them.

Culture
Finally, and even more under appreciated is the importance of the culture of the organization as a factor in project success.  Just look around and you can see the positive impact of a creative and innovative culture in organizations such as Google and Apple.  Some organizations on the other hand are political, risk averse and bureaucratic, making it even more challenging and difficult for a project to succeed.

Once you recognize the importance of each of these factors to your project, you can make an assessment of how you can enhance those areas that need strengthening, and mitigate against others (such as a bureaucratic organization culture) that might be beyond your control.

I look forward to your comments and feedback on any other factors you feel are critical to project success.


Webinar:  APM10 GoPSAC Project Success Factors
If you are interested in learning more about all five Project Success Factors, and would like links to best practice project management methodologies, tools and templates that you may reference or use for all your projects, sign up for the recorded webinar APM10 "Go-PSAC Project Success Factors" at www.alphapm.com/webinars.

The Yin and Yang of Project Management and Leadership

Successful project managers not only have to be good managers, but also strong leaders.

Now the dilemma here, is that the skills and attributes of strong leaders are quite different from those of good managers.

It is very important to recognize these differences and maintain an appropriate  balance between the "yin" of good project management and the "yang" of strong leadership.


Let's examine some of these differences and the challenges that a project manager will face in trying to be both a good project manager and effective leader, at the same time.

Create the Plan/Share the Vision
A project manager needs to create a plan for their project and manage to that plan.  To also exercise project leadership, the project manager needs to share a broad and bold business oriented vision for the project.  For example, your project may be to provide an e-commerce capability for your organization, and as a manager, you need to develop and implement a plan for the project.  As a leader, you must  share the project vision at every opportunity, emphasizing (for example) how the project is an important component of your organization's strategy to transform its business model, increase revenue and enable further business opportunities.  

Control Change/Embrace Change
As a Project Manager it is important to control and manage change.  However, as a leader, you recognize that change is not only inevitable, but also desirable, as it generally reflects a more appropriate or more current need from your client.  So as well as controlling change with your "project manager hat", with your "leader" hat, you need to welcome and embrace change.

Be Rational/Be Passionate
Project Managers tend to be analytical and rational, which are excellent attributes for managing projects.  However, as a leader, you need to inspire and encourage your team, be very excited and passionate about your project and its business goals and constantly share your enthusiasm for the project with your project team.  Steve Jobs was famous for his "reality distortion field" whereby he refused to accept that something was not feasible, and in the process significantly raised the bar on what Apple was able to achieve.

Avoid Risks/Take Risks
As Project Managers, it is (or should be) in your DNA to anticipate and avoid or mitigate risks that could adversely affect your project.  However, as a leader you will also have to accept that great goals are  usually also accompanied by great risks, and will need to work with your team to conquer those risks with the same level of teamwork, skill and preparation that you would use, say, to climb a very high mountain.

Focus on Processes/Focus on Goals
As Project Managers, we are also trained to apply good processes and best practices in the planning and execution of our projects.  With a focus on processes, we can get mired in technical issues and debates and sometimes lose sight of the original project goals.  We need to quickly put back on our leader hat, and re-focus on the project's business goals.  This can lead us to explore alternate solutions that can often be a better path to those business goals.   

Skills and Knowledge/Values and Attitudes
In an interesting post on 10 Leadership Lessons from the IBM Executive School on Forbes.com a few months ago, the author described how when IBM were establishing an Executive School in the mid 50's, they hired a company to research and determine the skills common to executives so that they could in turn groom and train their managers for executive management.

It was discovered that unlike lower level managers, the executives they examined did not seem to share any common skills and knowledge.  What they shared were certain values and attitudes.

Whilst the project management skills and knowledge you need are fairly common (hello PMI PMBOK® Guide), the leadership values and attitudes you hold can vary quite widely, so look around and see what works for other leaders and embrace and develop those that you feel will be most effective for you.

What are some of the values and attitudes that you feel have helped you in leading your projects?

The One Most Important Thing

I always start to laugh when I see questions like “What is the one most important thing that a project manager should do to be successful?” posted on sites such as LinkedIn. 

There are hundreds of things that a project manager needs to do on a project, and all can be very important at a particular point in time, depending on the project size, complexity and phase.  So trying to pin down one as the most important thing is surely futile.

However, upon further reflection, I think there is indeed “one most important thing” that a project manager should do, for all projects and at all times, and that is to maintain a strong passion for, focus on and commitment to project goals.

All goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based). 

 

Perhaps the best and most concise example ever of a SMART goal, was the goal set by President Kennedy on May 25, 1961:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”.

In spite of the many financial, logistical and technological obstacles encountered, this most ambitious goal was spectacularly and completely achieved with the Apollo 11 mission landing on the moon on July 20 followed by the safe  splashdown of the astronauts on July 24, 1969.

A SMART project goal could be:
“The goal of our (name project) is to deliver the committed functionality by (cutover date) within budget ($$$), so that we may meet (specify the key project objectives) to the complete satisfaction of all our stakeholders.”

Now here’s the scary part. According to studies by The Standish Group, only about one third of all projects are completed successfully.  This tells me that in spite of the generally high levels of expertise, methodologies, tools and technologies applied to projects, we still have a long way to go before we can consistently meet what should be readily  attainable project goals - goals which are usually set by us in the first place.

On any project of significant size today, there are many financial, technological and other obstacles and challenges that impede or prevent project goals from being achieved.  Without a high level of passion, motivation and commitment to project goals by the project manager, it is highly improbable that the project will succeed, no matter what resources, methodologies, tools and techniques are brought to bear on the project. 

 

The project managers who are most likely to achieve the project goals are those who ensure the goals are highly visible in every facet of their project, are passionate and excited about the goals and are highly committed and motivated to achieve them.

Your thoughts?