Certification Insider

According to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”. Being that each project is unique it is important to also understand that an organization's project management processes will likely need to be tailored in order to ensure project success. Project tailoring takes into consideration that project management processes are not "one size fits all", meaning there will be many times when processes need to be adjusted (added, removed, or revised) in order to ensure project success.

Tailoring in project management can happen at any time and for any process being applied to a project. Organizations often have a project methodology in place and may realize that this methodology needs to allow for adjustments to best manage a variety of projects. As a project manager you cannot blindly follow a methodology, you need to know how to assess a project to determine what processes will need to be adjusted in order to achieve a successful outcome for your project. Here we are going to look at a very high level method for process tailoring. This four step method includes: evaluating existing processes, assessing the project, documenting the tailoring process, and re-evaluating.

Evaluate Existing Project Management Processes

Before you can even consider tailoring processes to meet the needs of your project you need to fully understand the project management methodology and processes utilized by your organization. Some organizations implement the philosophy of setting a base list of processes that must be utilized for each project and allowing for adding processes as long as the base requirements are met. Some organizations identify all possible processes that may be utilized for a project and allow for the removal of some if not most of the processes depending upon the project needs. Others may employ a strict method that must be adhered to and may not be altered without prior approval. Prior to doing any project tailoring it is best to fully understand the processes and know your organization's stance on making adjustments in order to best tailor those processes for your project.

Assess the Project Tailoring Needs

Assessing the project tailoring needs can be completed by asking questions in regards to each of the project management knowledge areas to determine which processes are required for project success and which may need to be adjusted. Below is a small list of example questions a project manager may want to ask when tailoring their project. Each project is unique, so you should develop a list of questions to best fit your project.

Project Integration Management:

• Is this a phased project and if so, how many phases will this project have?
• What is the size / complexity of the project and how will it impact the project management plan?

Project Scope Management:

• Will we use Agile or Waterfall?
• Are the project requirements clearly or loosely defined?

Project Time Management:

• How is time spent on the project logged by everyone?
• Does the project need to be fast tracked?

Project Cost Management:

• What tools will be utilized to track actual spending?
• Is the project team managing finances or do we need to involve the finance department?

Project Quality Management:

• Does the organizational quality policy affect this project?
• Are there any regulatory quality requirements that impact this project?

Project Human Resources Management:

• Are required skills available in-house to complete this project or will resources need to be hired?
• Will the project team be co-located or virtual? 
• Have they worked together previously?

Project Communications Management:

• Will project team members be allowed to directly communicate with stakeholders or will all communication need to go through the project manager?
• What are the preferred communication methods of the project team and stakeholders?

Project Risk Management:

•  What would be the impact to the organization if the project were to fail?
• How much risk management is “right” for the project?

Project Procurement Management:

• Will the project management team have the authority to sign contracts or will this be done by a procurement or legal department?
• What level of approval will the project team have for purchases ($100, $1,000, $10,000, etc.)?

Project Stakeholder Management:

• Are the Stakeholders physically located near the project?
• What is the anticipated involvement of the stakeholders?

Document the Project Tailoring Process

As part of the project you need to document the tailoring process approach in the project management plan. As the processes are tailored you also need to document how each process was tailored and why it was added, removed, or revised. This serves two functions. One is to document all of the adjustments made as part of the tailoring process to have a good record of the project for close out purposes. The second is to show which tailored processes worked well, and which ones may need further adjustment for future projects. By documenting the tailored processes, process tailoring guidelines and project tailoring checklists can be developed (or improved upon if already existing) to improve the process of tailoring for future projects within the organization.

Re-Evaluate Project Management Processes

Just as with many project management processes, you can't just tailor a process and walk away. As the project progresses, it is vital to re-evaluate the processes being used to determine if the tailoring is working as planned and if additional adjustments are necessary. This can be completed formally at the start of a new phase if this is a phased project or even informally as part of the project status meetings. No matter the method you chose to re-evaluate, document the approach and the results both as part of your project documentation. Project process tailoring is a good project management practice that helps ensure a successful project outcome. A project manager should not blindly apply a methodology, but instead should evaluate the existing processes, assess the project to be completed, document any process tailoring completed, and re-evaluate the tailoring process as the project proceeds. Here we have provided a high level project process tailoring method that you can apply to your projects.

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Last year at the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Global Congress 2016 in San Diego, California I recorded an all time high of 14 interviews. They have all been published over the past few months and you’ve probably heard some or all of them. But what you don’t know is what happened once each interview was complete.

I pressed the recording button one more time and asked each of my guests the following question: Which is the interpersonal skill that you attribute the most of our success in your career to? In other words, what skill has helped you most on your projects when you interact with others?

And today you are going to get all the answers. In one nice mashup. Here are all the presenters in the order you will hear their answers

• Jay Payette
• Kristy Tan Neckowicz
• Nk Shrivastava
• David Hillson
• Denise McRoberts
• Joy Beatty
• Kristine Hayes Munson
• Andrew Burns
• Kim Wasson
• Wanda Curlee
• Beth Spriggs
• Cyndi Snyder Dionisio
• Connie Inman

Oh, and spoiler alert... the answer that I received most often was "Relationships".

(This interview was originally published on The Project Management Podcast.)

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Projects are the tool businesses use to take a strategy and turn it into reality. So your project better be aligned with your long term business plan. All of them!

This interview about strategic alignment with Jay Payette was recorded at the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Global Congress 2016 in San Diego, California. We discuss his presentation and white paper Making it Happen - How Project Managers Can Drive Strategic Alignment and Strategy Execution. Here is the abstract:

Good strategy can be critical to organizational success, however in order for strategy to transform from ideas into results it must be successfully executed. In order for organizations to successfully formulate and execute strategy they must achieve sufficient strategic alignment.

Project managers and project team members can make a critical contribution to their organization’s strategic alignment. This paper examines strategic alignment through the frame of three strategic functions: formulate, align, and execute and how they interact with each other.

Additionally, three strategic alignment frameworks are presented and recommendations are made as to how they may be used by project managers to contribute to organizational strategic alignment at the project-level.

(This interview was originally published on The Project Management Podcast.)

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Every project manager needs to master situational awareness. That is because no two projects are perfectly alike. What worked last time may have to be tweaked next time. Even worse, what may have worked just yesterday may have to be tweaked today!

This interview about situational awareness with Wanda Curlee was recorded at the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Global Congress 2016 in San Diego, California. It was co-written and co-presented with Marie Sterling. Wanda and I discuss their presentation and white paper Situational Awareness. Do you have the Emotional Intelligence for it?. Here is the abstract:

This paper explores the relationship of situational awareness and emotional intelligence of portfolio, program, and project leadership. Included in the paper is an introduction to situational awareness, emotional intelligence, SAGAT, recommendations and details about the workshop exercise. Situational awareness plays a critical role in effective decision making, and more so in complex and challenging portfolio, program and project management environments. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the study of how in tune a person is with his or her own emotions and the ability to understand emotions of those around himself or herself. Through the use of a live training simulation, an individual’s level of situational awareness and their emotional intelligence will be determined.

(This interview was originally published on The Project Management Podcast.)

(Click to download MP3...)

At some point in their career, every project manager has to deal with troubled projects.

This interview about project recovery with Kristy Tan Neckowicz and Connie Inman was recorded at the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Global Congress 2016 in San Diego, California. We discuss their presentation and white paper Recognize Warning Signs and Rescue Your Troubled Projects. Here are the abstract and summary:

Abstract: Come to this session to hear real stories of troubled projects and recovery journeys from two seasoned project management professionals. You will learn to recognize common warning signs of troubled projects, approaches to right-sizing your project management processes, and applications of stakeholder management lessons for project success.

Summary: The common theme across the case studies is a focused spirit of continuous improvement to rescue troubled projects. Although projects are temporary in nature, project management processes are always evolving.

It is tempting to move on to the next project when a troubled project has been placed safely back on track. However, you will have more assurance of the project manager’s future success by conducting a lessons learned evaluation focused on the practice of project management before claiming victory.

By sharing the warning signs, right-sizing approach, and lessons learned from these case studies, we hope you will leverage our experience to keep your next project “on track” to successful delivery.

(This interview was originally published on The Project Management Podcast.)