Know Your Warning Signs: 5 Areas Ripe for Project Risk
November 25, 2007
In Ask Cadence this week, a question came in from a project manager asking what to do when you discover that project scope is ill defined after project launch. In the course of the discussion with the team, the resolution was a recommendation to return to planning and sponsorship, and ensure the organization understands the role of the project in operations.
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this week for more.
Understanding what to do to resolve this issue is only half the solution — the second half. Project managers must also develop a sharp eye for project warning signs up front. Here are five key areas to consider when evaluating whether your project is on track for success.
- Personnel. Watch for the key warning signs: do you have all the critical skills covered for your project team? Even more importantly, are you relying on part-time staff supplying critical skills, or carrying responsibility for tasks on the critical path? From simply being stretched across project work, these team members may begin falling short on meeting task estimates. Make sure that the right people working on these critical activities are the same people owning responsibility for their delivery.
- Planning. At its root, make sure you have a detailed plan of work that includes WHO is doing the task, WHAT the completion criteria is for the task, WHEN the task will be completed, and HOW MANY hours will be required, at the task level. If this key data is missing, you may be working off an incomplete breakdown of work; make sure you have your deliverables broken down into their task level activities.
- Scope. From the start, make sure your project scope is in writing, avoids ambiguity, and is approved by your project sponsor and customer. Anything short of this level of visibility to your scope risks project launch without clear specifications, firm design, and organizational buy-in and support.
- Organization. Do you know who your sponsor is? Do you have multiple sponsors vying for ownership of your project? A variety of sponsor/project manager relationships may suit your organization, but they all have the same thing in common: the sponsor has a vested interest in support of your project succeeding. While it may be hard to quantify this relationship, you will know it when it begins to fail: no project justification, no clear lines of communication and responsibility to — and through — the project sponsor, the sponsor is from a different part of the organization than users and customers, or the sponsor’s organizational role has changed due to a reorganization.
- Technology. If you are working on a “bet your business” project, make sure you have authority and willpower to withstand using new, untested technology and support systems, or using packaged solutions that require radical modifications to adjust to your organization. Doing so introduces unnecessary risk to your project.
Risk in any of these areas alone may serve only as a warning or a shot across the bow. But beware: project problems in one area typically herald a cascade of problems across the others. A swift solution exists in a solid and committed sponsor/project manager relationship.
If you have experienced any of the above on your projects, take a moment to learn more about the Cadence Project Sponsorship seminar coming up November 8-9 in San Jose, CA. Invite your project sponsor and join us, along with the foremost experts in the field, and get control of your projects with confidence.
Project Problems: Think Impact!
November 6, 2007
If you work in project management, you work in a world of problems. Your problems have short-term impact on your work, your relationships on your team, and your potential outcomes on your projects. Your problems are also opportunities, if you know how to address them. This week: three key learnings to help you improve your project management problem solving.
What’s the Problem?
When problems arise, you will be communicating not just with your team, but with your sponsor, executive management, and your customers. To have a clear conversation on the problem, you will first have to define the problem well. State the problem in two or three sentences, covering the original plan along with the change which has moved into problem status.
As an example, imagine you are working on a project to relocate your central operations to a new facility in another city. A key supplier of new cubicle equipment has just declared bankruptcy, and given notice that they will not be able to fulfill your order of equipment to the new site on the original project schedule.
Where’s the Pain?
While some project problems can stop your project in its tracks, most will have a direct impact on Cost, Schedule, or Performance, but your project work could continue. Once you have your problem clearly identified, you will define the immediate impact on the project if the problem were to go unaddressed.
In our example, the supplier has indicated that they could deliver the promised equipment, though they will have to delay four months. If the problem goes unchecked, it will have a direct impact on schedule, a four-month delay. There will be an indirect impact in other areas of the project, likely costing more to the organization in delaying the move, and moving the final project completion date far beyond the original schedule.
Workarounds
If the initial impact of your project problem is not acceptable, what are your alternatives? Defining alternatives that mitigate the impact on the overall project will round out your platform for discussion with your executive sponsor.
In our example, Alternative 1 might include finding another vendor to fill the order on schedule. This will cost more, but may be cheaper than the cost of a four-month delay. Alternative 2 might consist of updating scope to include used office equipment instead of new, saving money but impacting performance by sacrificing the look of brand new cubicles in the new space.
Building a process around dealing with project problems will help frame this key discussion with your sponsor, executives, and customers. Visit Cadencemc.com and download our free Problem Solving Worksheet to customize and align with your project management process. And don’t forget! The Cadence Public Project Management seminar is the only place to get your teams aligned on process, and to deliver results now. Bring your team and your toughest project problem to class and prepare for success today!
Ask Cadence: Ep 05 – Communication
November 5, 2007
This week, our Cadence graduate writes, “communication is a key problem on our projects.” In that simple statement, she sums up the baggage that comes with all projects in some form or another. Without a proper framework, inexperienced teams can become mired in process, and cause the project to suffer. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lisset walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of communication tightly, while addressing the needs of the team. Listen to this week’s Ask Cadence for more on getting your teams talking, and thanks to those who have written in with this challenge!
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Build a Plan that Ensures Executive Support
November 1, 2007
In project planning, there is a tangible difference between what is appropriate and what is a tendency. It is appropriate to catalog deliverables which outline specific and tangible outcomes of the project, to incorporate specific and data-supported measures which detail how the deliverables will operate, and to highlight specific exclusions which protect the project from sliding into no-where-land, over-promising that which was never intended.
It is tendency, however, to plan at 50,000 feet. That’s where this week’s project tip comes into play. This week, batten down the hatches: build a plan that will ensure you secure — and maintain — sponsor approval.
Whether your project is in the capable hands of 2-3 of your closest team mates, or driven by a core team and expanded teams beyond them, you will need to have the right pieces in place to ensure you have executive and sponsor buy-in, and maintain it for the duration of your project.
The Wisdom of the Crowd
You have a team for a reason. They bring the expertise of their representative fields. Use that expertise and have the team define the breakdown of work; resist the urge to do so yourself. At the end of the process, the team will back you when you submit a project plan with the confidence that all necessary work is documented, and you will have more credibility in scope discussions with your sponsor as a result.
Time is On Your Side
You may have been handed your latest project in emergency status, but you must still take the time to plan. In fact, in emergencies, it is even more important to have a plan to fall back on when all else seems to be crashing down around you. Two to three days of focused planning up front will help you build your plan, and provide context of your project within the organization. Your sponsor will be more likely to support your efforts knowing where the project is going from the start.
The Devil in the Details
Best practices in project management dictate the components you should have in your project plan based on the size of the project you are managing. In general, the bigger your project, the more detail is required in the plan. To be safe, always error to the conservative. For example, while a full Work Breakdown Structure may not be recommended for all but medium projects and larger, the visual layout of deliverables and tasks on a small project may help your team make connections about the nature of the work they had not considered previously.
Status: Go
The number one habit you can build into your routine as a project manager is to love and live by your status reports. You build political support and good will by keeping your sponsor informed of your activities on the project. As a result, you will have a team member in your corner as a lobbyist, a driver for you and your team’s success to complete your project on time, on budget, and on scope.
For more, visit cadencemc.com and download the Cadence Responsibility Matrix and Schedule in PDF. They are both key tools in defining work, fighting tendency, and getting your project started right.
Do you know your Sponsor? Join Cadence in San Jose, California for the two-day Project Sponsorship seminar, taught by the experts: Randall Englund and Alfonso Bucero, co-authors of the book, “Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success.” For more, visit cadencemc.com.
Ask Cadence: Ep 04 – Scope Creep
October 29, 2007
Keeping a keen eye on scope is a key responsibility of every project manager. The ability to address any element that affects project performance risks triggering a cascade of changes to cost and schedule, that can have dangerous consequences to the project as a whole. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lisset walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of scope tightly, while still listening to the core customer. Listen to this week’s Ask Cadence for more on getting your projects started right, and thanks to those who have written in with this challenge!
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Ask Cadence: Ep 02 – Define scope right from the start
October 22, 2007
A universal understanding of project scope is critical to overcoming confusion in project start-up. This week’s problem comes from a project manager dealing with just that; multiple sponsors and members of leadership competing for input into project scope. Experts Jay Christensen and Scott Lisset walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics and listening to your project customers. Listen to this week’s Ask Cadence for more on getting your projects started right!
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Ask Cadence: PMI Portland Special – Randall Englund on Project Sponsorship
October 17, 2007
PMI Portland dinner meeting attendees were treated to this rousing speech by Randall Englund, author of the book “Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success”. Englund is introduced here by Cadence COO Connie Plowman. Englund will be joined by co-author Alfonso Bucero teaching their first seminar with Cadence, Project Sponsorship, in early November. Visit cadencemc.com for more information on that seminar.
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Cadence Booth Plays Host to PM Celebrities in Atlanta
October 17, 2007
Atlanta, GA — Cadence Management Corporation offered a chance to meet some of the great minds in the project management field this week, hosting signings with PM experts Claudia Baca, Randall Englund, and Alfonso Bucero.
Englund and Bucero have come to prominence in the field through their work bringing focus and sophistication to project sponsorship. Their book, “Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success”, is a seminal work in the field, helping project organizations fill a key gap in understanding between organizational leadership and project managers. Both Englund and Bucero will be bringing their work to Cadence in the upcoming Project Sponsorship seminar, November 8-9, 2007 in San Jose, CA.
Baca’s entry, “Project Management for Mere Mortals,” includes more than seven hours of video instruction on how to navigate the sometimes-tricky waters of project management. Baca is also known for her works on change management, as well as her rigorous Project Management Professional certification materials, all available from the PMP bookstore, and Amazon.com. Baca is a nationally-renown seminar leader for Cadence based in Oregon.
About Cadence Management Corporation
For over 25 years, Portland, Oregon-based Cadence Management Corporation has delivered formal project management training, consulting services, and supporting project tools to leading companies and project managers around the world. Today, organizations count on Cadence to provide structure and discipline to projects, to help them deliver more with less. From Locomotives to PCs, financial services to medical equipment, spacecraft to coffee, Cadence is in the products and services that touch the world every day. Cadence Management Corporation: Connecting people worldwide and transforming businesses through project management.
Media Contact:
fifth+main
Peter Wright
503-922-1567
media@fifthandmain.com
www.cadencemc.com
Cadence Seminar Leader Presents on Kids and Project Management at PMI Global Congress, Atlanta
October 16, 2007
Atlanta, GA — Cadence Seminar Leader Kimberly Liegel presented her paper, “Empowering Kids Through Project Skills”, this week at the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress in Atlanta, GA.
“Tomorrow’s project managers are in the classroom today, yet there is no set curriculum for teaching them how to do projects,” says Leigle in her conference note. “Practitioners and chapters are uniquely positioned to teach youth and educators these fundamental skills.”
Of the session, Cadence president John Patton says this is going to be a significant area of development.
“It’s wonderful to see such interest in this topic from PMI and the project management community,” says Patton. “There is great opportunity to shape the future of the field.”
About Cadence Management Corporation
For over 25 years, Portland, Oregon-based Cadence Management Corporation has delivered formal project management training, consulting services, and supporting project tools to leading companies and project managers around the world. Today, organizations count on Cadence to provide structure and discipline to projects, to help them deliver more with less. From Locomotives to PCs, financial services to medical equipment, spacecraft to coffee, Cadence is in the products and services that touch the world every day. Cadence Management Corporation: Connecting people worldwide and transforming businesses through project management.
Media Contact:
fifth+main
Peter Wright
503-922-1567
media@fifthandmain.com
www.cadencemc.com
Cadence President John Patton Joins Project Management Research Program Working Session at PMI Atlanta
October 16, 2007
Atlanta, GA — Cadence president and CEO John Patton joined the panel of research experts this week at the Project Management Institute’s North American Congress in Atlanta, GA. The “Complexity in Project Management and the Management of Complex Projects” panel marked the second part of PMI’s Research Program Working Session, and capstone to a year-long collaboration between the PMI research department and industry. The panel provided a launchpad for future discussions on the topic next year.
“Research in the project management field is a true passion for me, and I am thrilled and honored to join this distinguished panel,” says Patton. “We’re in the era of radically increasing complexity in projects around the world. The results are great, but the risks are even greater. This is our opportunity to add to the robust body of knowledge on the subject.”
The Atlanta panel is the first in a series of four on the subject of project complexity, the remaining sessions to be held at PMI Congresses in Asia, Europe, and Latin America throughout 2008.
The Atlanta panel is the first in a series of four on the subject of project complexity, the remaining sessions to be held at PMI Congresses in Asia, Europe, and Latin America throughout 2008.
About Cadence Management Corporation
For over 25 years, Portland, Oregon-based Cadence Management Corporation has delivered formal project management training, consulting services, and supporting project tools to leading companies and project managers around the world. Today, organizations count on Cadence to provide structure and discipline to projects, to help them deliver more with less. From Locomotives to PCs, financial services to medical equipment, spacecraft to coffee, Cadence is in the products and services that touch the world every day. Cadence Management Corporation: Connecting people worldwide and transforming businesses through project management.
Media Contact:
fifth+main
Peter Wright
503-922-1567
media@fifthandmain.com
www.cadencemc.com
