Project Management Scratchpad

The Management Part of Project Management

Brandon has a project manager who assigns tasks he doesn’t fully understand, micromanages him, and discourages him from asking questions. Emily has a project manager who rarely checks in with her and only communicates with her about her mistakes. Is your project management style somewhere in the middle of those two examples?  Do you provide your team members with the necessary instruction and enough freedom to prove their mettle, while inserting a net underneath in case they fall?

Good managers maintain the right balance between micromanagement and too little management.  
They let the team members come to their own conclusions when something just doesn’t gel, whether it’s an idea, a blog entry, a sale or a teamwork issue. They don’t sweat mistakes as much as they could because they've built a team that gives an earnest, determined effort, and takes important lessons from mistakes. Good managers build teams that inspire and earn belief in them.  The manager and team also believes in the product, the service, the organization, and their own abilities.

There are plenty of people out there who will tell you how to be the best manager you can be, to provide the right tools to your team to get the job done. Some of it is easy – like choosing project management software that is compatible with your company’s goals and direction. And some of it is very hard – like putting trust in team members that you aren’t, for whatever reasons, entirely ready to trust.

I can’t help you with the managing part. I can encourage you to look to your own past or present situation and pick out people you worked for that made you feel smarter and more valuable than you did before. Think carefully about their management methods and styles, and see what you can take away to inspire your own change.  Then, start putting what you've learned into practice!

Possibilities and Results

At the beginning of your project, there is nothing except possibilities.  If you're good (and lucky), you'll have clearly defined objectives and deliverables.  Of course, the parts between the beginning and end of the project are the "make or break" for the project's success.  A lot of things must go well, but three things jump out as absolutely critical to the success of a project.

Planning.  So much has been written about the importance of planning, and yet . . . this is the phase where corners are often cut.  Plan everything you can.  Plan the work that will be done.  Plan for the things you know of that might go wrong.  Plan for the things you don't know of that might go wrong.  Imagine all of the scenarios that might be thrown at you, and think about how you'll adjust.

Vigilant Monitoring.  If you're not checking in with everyone at frequent intervals, small problems become big problems.  In a project, no news is not necessarily good news.  Use any and all communication methods at your disposal to check in with the team to discover the real status.  Good relationships are a critical success factor in this phase.

Response to Change.  Change happens.  Projects are dynamic, and even the best plans require adjustments.  Make sure that you have a sensible process and an open mind about change.

There are many words of wisdom in the book Kiss Theory Goodbye by Bob Prosen, but I can use these to make my point:

Realize that at the beginning of the day, it's all about possibilities; at the end of the day, it's all about results.

Replace the word "day" with "project" and we have:

Realize that at the beginning of the project, it's all about possibilities; at the end of the project, it's all about results.

With proper planning, unwavering vigilance, and an open mind toward change, your results just may fulfill the best of your possibilities.

Why a Change Order Isn’t the End of the World As We Know It

By Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

I have a friend who recently needed a change to a project made, and the Development department told her it would take them four days to make the change, even though she felt it should only take them two days. With a client breathing down her neck, this made her understandably frustrated. A simple change order could have resolved an issue that might have led to a possible loss of trust by one of her company’s largest clients.

Her company does not use a Microsoft Project Viewer software – to her detriment in this case. If she did use Steelray Project Viewer, this situation could have been more easily solved.  How?  Keep reading . . .

Change orders can be a real pain, but they are necessary. In Clarise Z. Doval Santos's post - The Importance of Scope Planning in Project Management – she states that, “[e]veryone affected by the project must understand that there is a process and even an associated cost for any scope change. The Scope Management Plan should be part of the Project Plan.”

We know this to be true, of course, but there are differing opinions on how detailed the scope change orders have to be.

“Any changes that are required during the life of the project must be formally planned and controlled to ensure that the impact of change stays within agreed parameters; there should be a documented change control procedure,” states  the UK’s Office of Government Commerce in Introduction to Project Management Processes - Change Control and Issue Management. “The cost, time and quality parameters associated with the project should be established before implementation and monitored throughout the life of the project. All proposed changes should be costed and their effect on the overall project established before they can be authorised to go ahead.”

Xiaoming Wang posted a blog entry stating change orders should be more “goal-driven and not too detailed so that the team can be more creative during the implementation.”

Whatever your take on how comprehensive these change notifications need to be, suppose you operate as my friend’s company does. Now visualize that your project manager (or the person operating in that capacity - see our blog entitled Why Purchase Project Management Software?) uses Microsoft Project and can supply Steelray Project Viewer to his or her team. The project manager doesn’t want the team members to modify the project file but does need updates on their tasks. The manager writes the mpp project file in Microsoft Project Viewer and gives it out to his team via Steelray Project Viewer. Team members are then assigned their tasks with three update choices.

One of those choices is that the status of the task is “in process.” During the processing phase, you can edit the task,and the team member could have notified my friend with an update saying it will take four days, and there is no way it can be done in two. The project manager can then investigate and make a more realistic change order.

There are many reasons to use a software applications like ours. When it affects the status of your client relationships, it’s a no-brainer.

Join the discussion at http://www.steelray.com/discuss/ and let us know what your issues have been, and how software such as Steelray's has helped you solve them, or how we can do it better. We’re always listening!

Easier Maintenance Renewal Is Possible!

By Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

When the time for maintenance renewal on your project management software crops up, do you ever wonder if you've made the right decision by sticking with the version you already have? If not, have you experienced the confusion of checking out website for product maintenance information and pricing?

If you are nearing your software renewal deadline, don’t look at products whose benefits aren’t immediately clear, and don’t consider companies that aren’t up front about cost. It is a given that quality plays a critical role in project management software, but how can you trust a company that isn’t transparent about pricing? What does that say about quality?

So what sets our Microsoft Project viewer license apart?  Project management software has some commonality. But how well do they work on a consistent basis? Can they support the number of users you have to supply? Are the account managers honest, trustworthy, and knowledgeable? Can you rely on the company's technical support staff? If you have experienced situations with your software vendors that lead you to answer “no” to even one of these questions, I advise you to take a look at Steelray Software.

Tom Barnes, a sales representative here at Steelray, draws a connection between cost and value. “When assessing software maintenance costs, you want transparency in pricing and stability in your ongoing costs. A quick search will show a wide array of pricing modes - free, licenses plus maintenance, annual subscriptions, monthly subscriptions, and then some. It can be hard to pick which one. I know what you are saying - you said free - I’ll take that one.”

But Barnes throws out a word of caution because he knows that with respect to quality, free software is like a free lunch – it does not exist. “What does free really get you? Support? No. New releases? Yes, but you are at the mercy of the development community.”

Barnes said that when he first came to Steelray, he wondered why the company charged for annual maintenance and support, but quickly learned why. “We have exceptional support,” he said. “You can contact us by e-mail, through our website and yes, you can even call. I was also surprised to learn how frequently we have new releases (at least once a quarter).”

He went on to say that he was even more surprised to learn that these releases contain new features, compatibility with new file formats and the occasional bug fix. “For $6.29 USD each a year, that is a lot of value. And by the way, that pricing hasn’t changed in years.”

For those who are already loyal customers of Steelray Software, Barnes reminded them to consider co-termination of their licenses. “It can make your renewal period more consistent. And if you discover that you need either more or less licenses than you currently have, our EasyLicense program is a favorite of many. “

But if you haven’t tried us out yet, and it’s time to renew your maintenance on project management software, you should download our free, 10-day trial key. When you do,  you will see how incredibly inexpensive it is, while at the same time, providing the kind of features you really want to use – ones that promote ease of use and integrate into a program that takes virtually no training to use.

Triple Constraint or Competing Project Constraints?

By Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

Project managers have always dealt with triple factors in the success of their projects – time, budget and scope. Known as the "triple constraints," these are the mainstays of planning. But I wonder: in focusing more on these three things, are project managers losing sight of other important constraints on their plans?

Thomas Cutting, in The PMBOK and the Competing Project Constraints, states that the three additional constraints of quality, resources and risk are equally important. The superiority of your resources and quality, and the lowest risk possible, are obviously what project managers want to create. Cutting also wrote that he has an issue with removing the triangle of the triple constraint. “My fear is that it opens the door for management to defy the simple logic that if they increase scope, schedule or budget, one or both of the other legs have to adjust,” he says.

In the fourth edition of the PMBOK Guide, the triangle is changing to a hexagonal model.  I went to Cindy Zingarello, a project manager at Steelray Software, for her take on this change.

“I have not read the changes to the PMBOK Guide released in the Fourth Edition. But I have heard the chatter that PMI killed the iron triangle, also known as the triple constraint,” she said. “What project managers know is that each side of the triangle is dependent on the other, and quality has taken up residence in the middle.  It’s simple but true.”

Zingarello believes that this is a hard tool to give up, effectively illustrating to stakeholders why they can’t change one without affecting the others. 

“It can be argued that scope, quality, schedule, budget and resources, each given a side in the new polygon, are already covered under the constraints of time, scope and cost,” she opined. “As Tom Cutting states, all project managers would love the money-is-no-object approach, or to have every resource available to you when you need them, but it doesn’t happen. As with any constraint, you make adjustments to time, cost and scope as necessary."

Zingarello also stated that she is studying PMI’s rationale for the changes, and although she’s not entirely convinced the triple constraint will ever die, she does feel that PMI made a bold move.

On that note, we would like to turn the discussion over to you and ask what your thoughts are on this topic. Feel free to comment below and join the conversation.

Why That Urge to Scream is Totally Valid

By Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

People who know me well would consider me prominently a dominant person with a huge dash of an influencer thrown in for good measure. My child certainly considers me a dominant, as he is raised in a one-parent household. Someone has to be “the boss” of things and despite the terrible two’s, it isn’t him. When I pick him up from pre-school and see another child commit some form of misbehavior, I admonish him or her just like I would my own. That’s only partly a carry-over from my own days of teaching pre-school. I tend to treat adults I know well the same way. They’re so used to it they no longer complain.

It’s hard to keep that from seeping over into my professional life, where I am an influencer rather than a dominant team member. If you are social by nature, you are likely an influencer. You might think that an influencer is not something you’d want in one of your team members after you keep reading. You would be wrong, and I’ll get into that momentarily. So I wonder: if your team is comprised of all different types of people and it doesn’t gel, what is the real problem?

Picture it. You attend a meeting and in the midst of it, a colleague mentions a project you are jointly working on and gets a fairly crucial fact wrong. You correct him (nicely, you think) and the meeting continues. Ten minutes after it breaks, you’re at your desk when you receive an emotionally-charged e-mail from him, accusing you of trying to discredit him in front of the entire staff. You are completely taken aback, but this is someone who, at times, fires off epistles at others (including you) that seem out of left field. It takes days to get to the bottom of them and nine times out of ten the colleague misunderstood what was said or done and apologizes. You like him as a person, so you always let it slide. But lately, you are getting more and more tired of dealing with it. Maybe you ask to have someone else work with you on these projects, someone you get along with better who creates less “drama.”

You think that by keeping your mouth shut (even though you feel you have a genuine issue with this person that needs to be addressed) and “playing nice” that you’re doing the “right thing.” I was taught that no matter how angry you are, no matter how badly your feelings are hurt, you just tamp down that anger and frustration and let it go because it’s the “nice” thing to do. No wonder I have always failed so miserably at that – vindication at last! That is the direct opposite of what you should do.

There are several different types of people on your team - those who are domineering (no doubt who they are!) and influential (the life of the party - just about everyone likes them) and then there are those quieter people who are dependable or good at following and administering compliance.As an influencer at work, I dial down my dominance, afraid of offending people if I come across as abrasive or too harsh. So some of your team members have more than one trait here, but one is always apparent more so than any other.

Each person sees himself or herself one way under stress (which is pretty much all the time as both moderate – a normal work day – and extreme stress come with the territory) and everyone else sees that person in a different way.

For example, even under moderate or extreme stress, I see myself as enthusiastic, charming, persuasive, outgoing, inspiring and optimistic. I sound great, but these things aren’t always so good in the eyes of those around me, who might see me as self-promoting, overly optimistic, glib and unrealistic. Meaning, I don’t always take things seriously enough; I don’t always listen well to what’s important to others and my ideas or suggestions or goals seem impossible at times. Huh? How can others see me this way when I’m so wonderful? Because I see them differently from how they see themselves too. When you add that up, there is a big fat disconnect.

Wait a minute, you say, on my team there is only one person who sometimes causes trouble. Everyone else gets along fine. Are you sure? What about those people who never venture much at meetings because they're so busy formulating thoughts or ideas that by the time they’ve finally picked one, the meeting has been over for three days? Everyone knows how “nice” and “dependable” they are. As it turns out, their second-guessing ways have got to go because their idea could have made your company a lot of money or they could have come up with a great way to save a project but you’ll never know. You can bet that they have some resentment towards themselves and the team fostered in there somewhere.

What about that employee who always seems so sensitive to any criticism you put forward, no matter how slight and kindly put? She may seem like a real team player most of the time, but every now and then she fires off those emotionally-charged e-mails that riles everyone up. Nobody can figure it out. Maybe nobody says anything to you, but you can bet they’re talking to each other and they don’t like it.

The very things that my friends love about me – my ability to deeply feel and articulate their emotions (because I am so emotional), my introspection of the past (making it difficult, sometimes, to catch up to the future and present), my knee-jerk extreme loyalty (rather than giving the other person a chance at an explanation that could be totally rational and valid) – are the very things that can cause problems for me at work.

The point is that because your teams are made up of different types of people who see themselves one way while others see them in entirely different (and sometimes negative) ways, the problem is likely not so much who you have on your team but how they all interact.

And that can be changed.

Why Purchase Project Management Software?

By Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

I was reading an article by Ed Hoffman about “multidisciplinary project leadership” and how project managers work in all industries, whether they're called project managers or not. Hoffman’s example was a general contractor in the construction industry – otherwise known as a project manager. So I wondered: if every industry has project managers, can project management software like ours help all of them?

I accept Hoffman's argument - there are project managers in every business in the world. Project management can be extremely complicated. The size of the job depends on the size of the project, of course, but every business – from an ice-cream parlor to a national government – needs someone in the role of a project manager. As Hoffman pointed out, they don’t always go by that name.

According to Hoffman, the following are some of the responsibilities of a project manager:

“managing cost and schedule, communicating to promote coordination and integration of team members from different disciplines, knowing enough about the technical details to ask the right questions, and ensuring that the finished product meets all requirements and performs as expected.”

Sound familiar?

The problem with this is that some of you who are fulfilling these obligations are not familiar with project management best practices, and learning them isn’t easy.  After reading books on project management and checking out project management blogs (like as this one) or articles, those of you fulfilling these duties without the Project Manager title will better understand how complex your roles actually are.

If you’re having trouble making it all fit – a time constraint would be one indication of this – it should help you to know that excellent project management software can save hours of labor with the right software.  Not only will good software save time – it will save you money, both in user expense and during the project, because proper planning tools can help you save money. Saving money and time are wonderful things, but if the software isn’t easy to use, it might not matter.

You need to do your job well. You need the right software to do so. Your focus is on serving your customer. We understand that – we feel the same way about all of you. You can keep your customers happy if you deliver what you promised on time and on budget. The right software can help you do that.

Importance of the Work Definition Phase

Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

What are the potential pitfalls of a project, especially especially a project where there are numerous tasks? I wonder: even if you have a productive team and a strategic planner for a project manager - if you go back to basics, can you head off these issues at the pass?

In “The Project Life Cycle,” Jonathan Carr wrote about a productive statement of work that leads to an accurate work breakdown structure and how they are critical to a practical, logical budget and schedule. Carr believes that [“one of the primary reasons that projects fail is because they start badly at the work definition stage.”] This is good news, however; if you carefully plan your SOW and WBS your project will run more smoothly.

The SOW and WBS are conceived during the conception of the project, but project managers know  the entire planning phase is just as important regarding the success of the project. These days, project managers may be working with less staff than usual, translating into a greater time pressures. It’s tempting to bypass planning steps, but that will backfire over the life of the project when it’s over budget.  In the latter phases, fixing mistakes is even more costly because the time to have predicted them is long past.

Search on this topic and you will find a lot of posts or articles dedicated to this theme. What does that tell us? It tells us that this is a common mistake; it tells us that avoiding this mistake may take extra time on the front end, but it is obviously time well-spent.

The team needs to fully commit to the project plan as well. This does not mean that they would have handled every decision the way the project manager chooses to; this means that regardless of what they think, they were consulted on the tasks assigned to them (their thoughts and ideas were genuinely heard) and they have a critical level of trust with their project managers, so that they buy into the project even if they don’t fully agree with all aspects of its plan.

Project managers will never be able to receive 100% consensus from their teams. They can, however, receive the necessary commitment if they treat their teams respectfully and do not automatically reject their thoughts and ideas as unnecessary. Even if project managers do not vocalize that sentiment, team members may be able to feel it, and that is a surefire way to derail commitment.

Even the best teams and project managers can’t succeed without the proper software.  In developing our Microsoft Project viewer, we learned that you need to be able to quickly access project information. A powerful, integrated search engine is a must. Customizing your views allows you to avoid wasting time viewing reports with information you don’t need.

Our software is easy to use; otherwise, we would be costing you time, and it's time that you desperately need and cannot get back.

Project Managers and Accountability

Laura Bamberg – Global Sales Administrator

All project managers know accountability must be factored into a successful project. I was reading an article from Leading on the Edge – a “rant” in the author’s own words - about how the accountability of project managers has disappeared, replaced by a desperate urge to avoid error by avoiding risk. And I wonder: what is the solution for project managers who are uncomfortable with liability, in a time when staff is reduced due to budget cuts, and therefore resources are scarcer?

Another article I recently read determined the difference between being responsible for a project and being accountable for its completion. Tasks are given to a person, who is therefore responsible for them, but that person may not feel liable for the completion or total follow-through of those tasks, and therefore is not accountable for them. Baseball fans know about Barry Bonds and his current trial and tribulations, which now include alleged perjury counts; obviously, accountability affects us all. Even famous athletes have to worry about that.

To begin with, look at the people involved. These days, there are likely less of those than there were a year ago. Project managers have zero control over this. Right now, downsizing can detrimentally affect your team if you don’t change within it.

Last week, Steelray Software held a companywide two-day conference that focused on how to build an even stronger team. I can tell you that some of the ideas we came up with will not be easy to implement, and that it will take time before we’ll realize many of their benefits.   The benefits are quite real and make the work worth doing.

We have not been affected by downsizing and may not have the same issues as frazzled project managers and their teams, but this approach – teamwork and trust - can cure a multitude of small, moderate or severe ills. Motivation is the number-one key for your team to produce better results, and right now they are probably frightened of the future and their standing in the company, and positive (even non-compensatory) motivation is a great tool to use to that end.

Fear of change will not work well in this regard. We at Steelray consider reinvention as part of the process. This is helping us build innovative software. Change from within your team can help you consistently achieve better results.

Every project has tools that are the most beneficial.  Are they the best suited for your needs? If not, it’s time to reassess what you are looking for, what you want, and what you need.

For example, can members of your team send you status updates on the completion of their tasks? Do you have a viewer that allows you search within the project for information at you request? If not, it may be time to reconsider this tool. Can you analyze a project based on customized criteria specific to your needs? Can you do so consistently? If not, re-examine this tool.

We believe that with the right tools – in this case, the right software – you can head off some of the “people” problems at the pass. Steelray Software’s products ensure accountability as a standard, and that is something you can’t afford to do without.

Make Room For Innovation

Is there room for innovation in your project?

As a project manager, your primary concern is the success of the project - delivering what was promised by the date it was promised and within the budget.  The odds are usually stacked against you because most projects fall short on at least one of these three, if they finish at all.  You're always trying to think ahead, figuring out which risks will become real problems and which obstacles will present themselves and jeopardize the schedule.

Question the Current Methods

If you and your organization keep good records, you know what's worked in the past to help projects succeed or recover when a project falls behind. By all means, do your homework and learn from past lessons, but make sure you don't overlook one of the most important techniques - innovation. In every phase of the project, question the existing ways and look for new ideas, new tools, new techniques, etc. to help you bring the project to completion faster, cheaper, and with higher quality.

Borrow ideas from other industries. Encourage suggestions. Look for ways to streamline. If you find them in the planning phase, great. Once you're executing, though, don't close the door on innovation.  Be open to new ideas.

After all, you may need them to hit your dates!

An Innovative Idea

How many of the people who own licenses to Microsoft Project are actually creating or modifying the project schedule?  If you can identify any people that fall in this group, I'll offer an innovative idea:  replace their copy of Microsoft Project with our Microsoft Project viewer. 

First, since they don't "own" the project schedule, you don't want them to have the ability to modify the file anyway. 

Second, you'll save money in annual subscription renewals. We're talking thousands, not hundreds. 

Third, our viewer (Steelray Project Viewer) adds innovative features that make it much easier to use than Microsoft Project. Think about it:  Microsoft Project is difficult to use.  Our competitors try to clone Project in every way.  Why clone a product that's hard to use?  We build in ease-of-use into every feature, every view.

If you're open to innovation, we just handed you a no-brainer way to trim your software budget and put the right tool in the hands of your project team.