Risk Is Not An Opportunity
Categories:
Risk Management
Categories: Risk Management
| In my continuing series on commonly held but, in my opinion, highly suspect project management practices, I want to ask the question: Exactly what do the risk analysts do that improves a project's ability to come in on-time, on-budget? Now, as the firestorm I've just ignited races to engulf me, let me be crystal clear about what I'm asserting. I am not saying that risk management is without value. What I am saying is, once the contingency budget and/or schedule have been baselined, the value of the information produced from risk-analysis techniques drops off dramatically. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that once you're on the battlefield, all plans were out the window. And, while (most) projects don't approach the level of chaos and mayhem associated with a battlefield, I think his ideas are highly applicable in our works. That's what project managers do; they respond to the changes in circumstances, resources, demands, and hundreds of other parameters, every single working day. The notion that project management decisions can be quantified and reduced to formulaic responses in most circumstances is absurd, and furthering that approach using excessive statistical jargon does not automatically make it legitimate. As for the assertion that risk management includes an "upside risk" component--a.k.a. opportunity management--I would like to point to the Unabridged Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition. Its definition of "risk" reads, in part, "Hazard; danger; peril; exposure to loss, injury, disadvantage or destruction." Indeed, nowhere in the definition will you find any reference to any possibility of a positive outcome or environ, much less opportunity. And yet, you see people make the comparison risk management equals opportunity management. I know the risk management aficionados have had a lot of success re-defining the verbiage associated with their area of expertise in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) space, but isn't there another way of furthering risk management notions without pounding away at the lexicon? |
Hierarchy of Team Needs
Categories:
Teams
Categories: Teams
| In Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the lowest level consists of basic needs we all have, like air, food and sleep. Once those are met, we begin to move up the hierarchy to higher-level needs, such as safety and esteem. The same hierarchy applies to the project teams, which are comprised of people with various levels of needs. We often assume everyone is at a level comparable to ours and our remarks or comments will simply be understood the same way we would understand them. This is not to say the age or experience of project team members is directly related to these needs, as even most experienced members of the team may have gaps in fulfilling their needs. Whether it's the need of a job or of recognition, all of these needs influence behavior and it's important to be attentive to them. They can influence various project activities and their outcomes, such as meetings, conversations, use of resources, vendor relations, compliance, ethics and fraud. When organizations recruit project talent, they look at skills and experience as well as personality and cultural fit. But attention should also be paid to team member needs, including those of the project manager, director and sponsor. Doing so can contribute to better understanding of the project environment and the elements that will require special attention. |
Scrutinizing Project Conventions
| Within the realm of project management--or any other complex system, for that matter--accurately identifying failure is difficult to the extreme. There are simply too many parameters to isolate, which makes writing about management a precarious proposition. Oh, there are certainly those cases where a project manager insists that no cost or schedule management systems be used, and it doesn't take long to drive that project into the ground. But in most other areas the link between act and consequence is not nearly so stark. Renowned psychologist, B.F. Skinner, wrote that a variable rate of reinforcement virtually guarantees a behavior will continue. If that is so--and I believe it to be--then it follows that a practitioner who has experienced success using a particular technical approach may be inclined employ that approach over and over--even when it fails over half the time. That same practitioner might also be inclined to join with like-minded project managers to advance a new model or structure for success. Their assertions may be correct and insightful universally, in some specific environs, or completely off base. I entitled this post "Part 1" because I intend to take a close look at some conventions that may have been adapted in that spirit and without the scrutiny of an iconoclastic wise guy such as me. Next up: Does risk management really help bring in projects faster, cheaper or with higher quality? See relevant research from Project Management Journal® as reported in PMI Community Post: Avoiding Project Failure by Managing Organizational Culture |
Optimizing Project Delivery Strategy
Categories:
Agile
Categories: Agile
| One element missing in much of the discussion around project management is a focus on the key early decisions that determine the project delivery strategy. At the project level, strategic decision-making focuses on optimizing the way the project will be structured and managed. Choosing between using Agile or Waterfall, pre-fabrication or on-site assembly, won't change the required project deliverables but will have a major influence on how the project is delivered and its likely success. One size does not fit all; simply following previous choices ignores opportunities to enhance the overall probability of the project meeting or exceeding its stakeholders expectations. Some of the key steps in designing a strategy for success include: • Familiarization with the overall requirements of the project and its stakeholders The problem with implementing this critical stage of the overall project delivery lifecycle is that it crosses between the project initiators and the project delivery team. Both parties need to be involved in developing a project delivery strategy that optimizes the opportunity for a successful outcome. Unfortunately, the opportunities to engage in discussion and planning for project delivery are difficult to arrange. Frequently contract documents effectively prescribe a delivery process, and/or the client and senior management don't know they need to be engaged at this stage of the project lifecycle. I suggest that project managers and project management offices start focusing more on the project delivery strategy during critical early stages of a project. What has worked or not worked on your projects? |
Symbols of Great Teams
Categories:
Teams
Categories: Teams
| Jim Collins (author of How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In) had a famous line: "Good is the enemy of great." Those six words neatly sum up the need for a passion for excellence required for any team or organization to reach world-class standards. However, this is an abstract concept and difficult to keep front and center on a day-to-day basis. Symbolism can be an important part of this motivation as is constant positive reinforcement. University of Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz put up a sign that each team member touches before entering the field. It simply reads: "Play like a champion today." With its appearance, team performance "magically" improved--and the sign is now a legendary icon of the university. Easy implementation: Copy the sign and put it in your stairwells--maybe it is truly magical. Tougher implementation: Come up with your own symbolism. |
