PMBOK® Guide for the Trenches, Part 4: Risk
Categories:
Risk Management
Categories: Risk Management
| If PMI ever invites me to rewrite the risk section of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) I think there are two things I would change. The first deals with the inclusion of "upside risk," or opportunity, as part and parcel of risk management. I don't think it belongs. As my exhibit A, I cite the Oxford English Dictionary definition of risk: 1 a situation involving exposure to danger. 2 the possibility that something unpleasant will happen. 3 a person or thing causing a risk or regarded in relation to risk: a fire risk. As author Mark Twain said, "Beware the man who would win an argument at the expense of language." Beyond the semantics, though, let's consider the three most prevalent ways of analyzing risk and see if they apply in managing a proposal backlog (a listing of an organization's outstanding and upcoming job bids -- or opportunities). The simplest (and crudest) risk analysis technique is classification, in which you basically go through your work breakdown structure at whatever level and assign high-, medium- and low-risk classifications to the tasks. Associate each classification with a percent, e.g. high may mean 50 percent, medium 25 percent and low 5 percent. Multiply the percentages by the original budget/time estimate, and you've done a risk analysis (of sorts). Try this with the proposal backlog, and you'll inevitably look astonishingly inept. Then there's decision tree analysis. For each activity, assign alternative endings, with their impacts and odds of occurrence. Unfortunately for "opportunity" management, the only two possible outcomes of a submitted proposal are that you either win the work or you don't. Data on the gray middle is pretty useless when there's no gray middle. Finally, Monte Carlo analysis is essentially a decision tree on steroids, with lots of statistical chicanery thrown in. My second objection has to do with the use of risk management after the cost and schedule baselines have been set. I agree that prior to the finalization of the baselines, risk analysis is crucial to identifying and quantifying cost and schedule contingency amounts. The risk analysis can lead to informed decisions on how much and what type of insurance to buy, and what sort of alternative plans should be in place if a contingency event occurs. But once the baselines are final, persisting in risk management strikes me as institutional worrying expressed in mind-numbing statistical jargon. To what end? Unless the response to a contingency event (in-scope, uncosted) was to significantly change from how the project team would have reacted normally, what difference does it make if it was anticipated? I'm looking forward to the responses to this, and not necessarily from just the risk management aficionados. Update: Risk management experts and enthusiasts are encouraged to join PMI's new Project Risk Management Community of Practice. |
No Project Rework
Categories:
Information Technology
Categories: Information Technology
| Generally, an IT project schedule is divided into three phases: 30 percent requirements, 40 percent coding and 30 percent testing. But have you ever noticed that in the coding phase, 60 percent of the effort goes into unplanned bug fixing? I read somewhere that in the software industry, 90 percent of the tasks take 10 percent of the time, while the other 10 percent take 90 percent of the time due to rework. If as a project manager you can control this rework effort, I am sure that your project will be successful in terms of profit value, customer satisfaction and team motivation. The project I am currently working on is no different. We had the same rework problem. So based upon data analysis from the last 4 to 5 months, the team came up with a list of preventive actions that will help us in reducing rework. But I was still looking for something to keep them motivated to avoid rework. I prepared a logo and it was pasted on all desks. What do you say, is it going to help us? |
Hey Boss: The Conclusion
| The more than 40 comments on my last post Hey Boss, What About Work-Life Balance? provide an interesting mix of views. Here are my thoughts on how to work effectively and build a relationship with someone like "Sebastian." This input comes from a position of advantage since I knew the real person. The first key to building any effective relationship is to avoid stereotyping. Sebastian was a very effective, upwardly mobile manager with a focus on being promoted to the main board. Interestingly, most people liked him as well as respected him. It's just that he had a different life focus, which is not uncommon in successful senior executives. The second key is to recognize that in every relationship there is a power dimension. How a manager like Sebastian would use his power is to an extent a generational issue. Many younger managers would see nothing wrong in you setting reasonable boundaries and procedures, as long as they understand their purpose. Managers with more experience are used to operating in a command and control environment are likely to react negatively to a "junior" pushing rules upwards. The third key is mutuality. Team members need to understand what he or she needs from the relationship (support, resources, backing) but also what Sebastian needs from the relationship. Then, work to negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes that meet both sets of requirements. For the team member discussed in the post, the requirement was time-related; Sebastian's requirements were not defined in the original post. However, by defining what's important to Sebastian, then linking your requirements to the achievement of his requirements, you can start to achieve real communication inside an effective relationship. Finally if you wish to be taken seriously, you need to develop a reputation for credibility. Senior management needs to recognize that if you say something, it is backed up by facts, and if you commit to something, it is delivered. Credibility is earned by performance, but there is no harm in quietly making sure your performance is noticed in the right places. In the end, relationships all depend on the situation. But mutuality and credibility are the two keys to advising upwards. If you are seen as a serious contributor to the organization's success and can link your needs to the needs of senior management, there's a high probability of achieving your desired outcome and benefiting the organization at the same time. |
Project Manage Yourself
Categories:
Teams
Categories: Teams
| Getting team members committed to the project scope, budget and schedule is a matter of removing any roadblocks and helping resolve any conflicts. Sounds simple enough. It's what project managers were trained to do, more or less. But while the project manager has a lot to do with getting everyone aligned on the right approach, how team members manage themselves impacts the project outcome just as much. Here are some things project managers and team members should keep in mind to make sure the outcome is what everyone has planned: --Think twice before engaging extra team members. Be ready with a plan of what you need from the resources and whether they're in a position to provide it. --Treat external staff members that help out with the project as if you had to pay for every minute of their engagement from a mini budget that you will be held accountable for. --Make sure you're aware of how your role and your deliverable contribute to the final project result. And validate that role and deliverable with the rest of your project team to ensure you're only working on what's going to add the most value to what is required. --Be able to account for the work you've done and prove that it directly related to the scope and activities assigned to you. Be completely responsible for everything you commit to along the way -- as if you might be audited. --Create your own measure of success and communicate it to the team. Be ready to show the results of your work, whether you're asked for it or not. --Be aware of time wasters -- they eat away from the time you have available to deliver your assigned tasks. Make your own efficiency one of your accountabilities. When each individual manages his or her time and tasks with these basic rules, the entire team is better positioned to deliver on time, on budget and within scope. |
Show Your Team You Care--And Not Just About Deadlines
Categories:
Teams
Categories: Teams
| In the process of putting together a new course on Leadership and The Power of Acknowledgment, I've discovered some interesting information about employee engagement. A survey by The Gallup Organization over a 30 year period posed the following question to millions of employees: "Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?" Isn't that an interesting question? Most of us might not even think of it as a measure of how engaged we are in our work. But if the truth be told, doesn't the slightest personal attention -- even a small inquiry about an ailing parent -- make you feel like you're more than just a worker to your manager? I love the example cited by Stan Shimizu of Resourceful HR LLC in the podcast about reward and motivation that he and I recently did for PMI. Stan explained how the executive team at his former company made sure, in spite of the long hours everyone normally put it, that he left the office every day by 5 p.m. to tend to his wife who was having medical problems. The executives even sent meals to his home. These actions meant more to Stan than monetary compensation could have and made him feel tremendously valued as a person. He states that these simple, kind acts increased his dedication and loyalty by 1000 percent! Here's another wonderful example. Roberto Daniel, vice president of engineering at Invensys Controls South America, regularly spends one-on-one time with each of the people he manages. During this hour, the person is not "allowed" to talk about work at all -- just about personal interests, family, hobbies and the like. His people look forward to it, as does Roberto. He considers it an essential tool for getting to know his people and what they are about, and he says it makes a huge difference in the productivity and engagement of the team. Since 2006, he has had over 200 of these face-to-face meetings. Especially in this tough economy, we all have to work doubly hard to let our people know that they are valued and appreciated. Let's not let this simple pathway to productivity and well-being be overlooked! |
