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Strategic Project Portfolio Gives China a Competitive Edge
Categories:
Portfolio Management
Categories: Portfolio Management
| The Shanghai Expo 2010 isn't just about putting on a great show for 180 days. It embodies a large-scale program, especially in terms of the economic and political synergy it created for a developing country. Like the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the expo is a collection of projects whose collective purpose benefited the nation and fulfilled the government's strategic objectives. The expo and the Olympics were part of a national portfolio aimed at achieving countrywide political objectives for boosting the economy. Both were planned and executed with the intent to cultivate high-tech skills and knowledge aimed at ensuring growth and competitiveness in the future. For example, the Chinese government required every contractor carrying out individual projects to employ Chinese workers, including certified project managers. This has ensured that enough skilled workers necessary for national development have been trained. By the end of 2009, the number of PMI certified project managers in China was 29,414 -- the second-largest number in the world. The physical legacy these programs left is also notable. Unlike games or exhibitions hosted by developed countries, both the expo and the Olympics were accompanied by massive infrastructure developments -- and not just the renovation or improvement of existing facilities. The Shanghai Expo re-developed areas in decline, and brought infrastructure and facilities to previously undeveloped areas. Apart from the huge venues, China built airports, restaurants, hotels and 11 high-speed railways. Development plans also incorporated expanding and improving the service industry of Shanghai. These projects, combined with the outcome of other national programs and projects, help advance the government's goal of growing and developing the national economy. "Projects produce deliverables; programs output benefits so as to sustain, advance or achieve organizational objectives; while portfolios ensure the alignment of the diverse objectives and independence of programs and projects to organizational strategic objectives," according to page six of The Standard for Portfolio Management. And that's exactly what the Shanghai Expo 2010 did. |
Where Project Management Rigor Meets Flexibility
Categories:
Nontraditional Project Management
Categories: Nontraditional Project Management
| In my last post, I described the challenges of maintaining project management rigor in an environment where people are primarily in creative service roles. It appears I hit a chord. A few of you have commented and want to know how I've handled the situation. Well, first I will say that I believe we will never reach 100 percent compliance with the project management standards you'd expect to find at NASA or a construction site. Creative work is not an exact science and it requires some very non-linear thought and approaches. It can be very hard to pin down a repeatable formula for executing these kinds of projects. If there are specific tasks you cannot predict or that don't fit into a prescribed methodology, people tend to simply operate by intuition. The first thing you need to do is to look for the wins. Where in the process can you continue to provide rigor and discipline to help keep the project within boundaries, while avoiding the appearance of overly constraining your teams? We have done this by creating as flexible a methodology as we can. As a whole, it closely follows the tenets set forth in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). The software development life cycle serves as a foundation: planning, discovery, design, build, test, implement, support, rinse and repeat. The difference comes in our application. For any given project -- whether it's a marketing e-mail, interactive web banners, mobile applications or full site development -- we have fundamental requirements that don't change. All projects must have a timeline, for instance. And all projects must have a scope, a set of requirements approved and reviewed throughout to ensure we're on target. Beyond that, it's the diner's choice: Does a four-week e-mail project require a formal matrix of approvers? Probably not, though it would help to have a short list of final approvers. Does an interactive banner need a content matrix or a formal technical architecture? It all depends on what the team needs. How has your organization tailored its project management approach to account for the unique needs of its project teams? |
Should PMOs Come With an Expiration Date?
Categories:
PMO
Categories: PMO
| Projects and programs aren't for life. So as the home for project managers, projects and programs, should we not consider the project management office (PMO) in the same light? |
Unrealistic Detail Only Sets You Up for Failure
Categories:
Project Failure
Categories: Project Failure
| It's impossible to accurately predict the future. Yet, many project managers continue to try. They create schedules that implicitly state a task will be completed at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon, in four months. Or they predict that the total cost of their project will be precisely $10,986,547.55. Yet these pseudo-accurate estimates based on detailed calculations are no more accurate than estimates made in more general terms and covered with an appropriate range indicator. Achieving a detailed estimate for an $11 million-plus project to within -5 percent to +10 percent indicates a very careful estimating process in a stable, well-understood environment. Attaching a precise number calculated to the nearest cent only raises stakeholder expectations about the degree of accuracy possible. And that leads to perceived "failure" when the stakeholder's unrealistic expectations are not realized. Similar problems arise if a project is scheduled in hours, and the work extends for more than a few days. Planning a project over several months on an hourly basis produces a mass of inaccurate data once you get beyond the first few days. And again, when the project fails to achieve the degree of control over the future implied by the excessively detailed schedule, it will seem like it failed. Pragmatic estimating at an appropriate level of detail sets realistic expectations. But beware: Your stakeholders may already have unrealistic expectations of what is possible from previous projects that "failed." Dealing with this issue requires skills in managing upward -- a topic for a future post. |
I Wish I Had
Categories:
Career Development
Categories: Career Development
| It's embarrassing how easily we slip back into former (bad) habits and how quickly we lose sight of our firmest resolutions. Perhaps if I go public once again with my resolutions, I can shame myself into adhering to them a little more faithfully. Last March, I blogged about career success and mentioned some resolutions I had made after I had been laid off more than a year previously. I revealed having written a page of resolutions called, "I Wish I Had." Many people asked for a copy, so here it is, along with my renewed commitment to all it says. I Wish I Had I worked for my employer for exactly 24 years and 5 months when I was told that I was being laid off. My departure date was originally set for February 26. This was extended until June 30. On June 30, I left as planned, signing the papers at 5:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, a different division obtained the final approvals they needed to offer me a job. They made the offer the following morning. I accepted. From the time I was notified until the time when I actually departed, I had time to reflect. Often I thought, "I wish I had done some things differently." Well, now I have that opportunity. I've decided to put those things in writing and I have resolved to do them, now that I have been given another chance. Therefore, I resolve to (more or less in order of priority): 1. Schedule time for my wife and kids as a first priority, not something I do when I get a free moment. 2. Take better care of my health and fitness as a first priority. 3. Take greater advantage of employment benefits. 4. Create greater separation between work and personal life.
5. Go to my employer's local facility more regularly to keep up with colleagues here. 6. Back up my data frequently. 7. Be better prepared to leave if this ever happens again
8. Be more selective in what activities I agree to do outside of work. 9. Be more selective in what extracurricular assignments I take on at work. 10. Be more proactive in finding "my next job." 11. Have some real mentors who take a genuine interest in my career. 12. Have mentors outside of work. 13. Care a lot about work, but not too much. 14. Be very proactive in my employer's career development process. 15. Blog. |