Harold Kerzner: Project Managers Must Understand Business
| Project managers are in for some big changes. Coming in on schedule and within budget is all well and good--but it's not enough. That's been the running mantra for a while now, but it seems to be gaining even more traction as Harold Kerzner, PhD, explained in the first-ever closing session at a PMI global congress in North America. "Time and cost used to drive all decisions," said Dr. Kerzner, senior executive director, project management at the International Institute for Learning Inc. "Now we're saying, 'Wait a minute, are we providing value?'" Without that, the project will be axed. "If management doesn't see how a project will deliver a value, that project will be canceled even if it's meeting time and budget constraints," he said. Not all constraints have equal value, Dr. Kerzner said. That's quite a mind shift for project managers--and it's going to take a whole new skill set. Indeed, Dr. Kerzner boldly predicted earned value management will be "obsolete very shortly," upstaged by value measurement methodologies that consider intangibles such as goodwill or reputation. And while a mastery of technical knowledge use to suffice, that's now considered "old school." "Project managers must understand business," he told the crowd. They will also need an understanding of politics, culture/religion, stakeholders and people. And Dr. Kerzner predicted a new wave of certifications in complex projects, virtual teams, cultural differences and morality and ethics. Project managers who go in armed with those skills will find a receptive audience in the executive crowd. "The biggest change in the last several years has been in senior management support of project management," he said. "Senior management no longer views project management as a career path. It is now viewed as a strategic competence necessary for survival of the company." Do you agree with Dr. Kerzner? Are you seeing increased demand for business understanding--or should project managers stick to what they do best? |
Taking on Project Management Myths, Part 3
Categories:
Communications Management
Categories: Communications Management
| In my last post challenging project management myths, one responder noted that I was unclear about what part described the myth and what part described the challenge statement. Here are numbers 5 and 6 on the hit parade, with the parts a bit better defined. Myth 6: Complete and detailed procedures are an essential part of a successful project control system implementation. Truth: Writing procedures are generally a waste of time and they don't help advance project management maturity. Think about it, is there anything in the universe easier to ignore than a document? But the myth persists that procedures by themselves can advance an organization's project management capability. Usually these procedures are signed by a high-ranking member of the organization, who is attempting to compel obedience or participation in the project control system. But unless the organization has authorized someone to actually fire or demote others for failure to comply with the document--which happens rarely if ever--then the procedures themselves won't help. Myth 5: If a schedule based on the critical path method isn't available, a good interim step to manage a project's schedule is to create a list of milestones or action items and meet to review them on a regular basis. Truth: Action item lists and milestone databases are essentially polls and have no place in legitimate management information systems. I once worked on a major program in which participants entered project data into a milestone database and provided monthly updates to those milestones. At the beginning of the year, all of the milestones were scored "green," meaning the milestone would be met on time. Byabout the ninth month, a few "yellows" would show up in the status column, indicating a possible delay. More yellows would show up in month 10, followed by even more in month 11 along with a few "reds," indicating the milestone would be missed for that fiscal year. By the last month, easily half of the milestones were either red or yellow. Lots of scolding and badgering would then ensue, followed by a new "baseline" for the next fiscal year, and-- shazaam!--all the milestones would be green again. Asking participants what they think of their performance is not a performance management system -- it's a poll. And polls are not substitute for real management information systems. I look forward to your responses because I know a whole bunch of people are going to disagree with these two. |
Ignore Stakeholders at Your Own Risk
| I've been discussing stakeholders and communication for some time now without focusing on the key question: Why do stakeholders matter? Well, on most projects, stakeholders equate to risks. There are a few risks that don't involve people--inclement weather, for example--but 90 percent of the risks on most projects are caused by one or more people: • Quality risks almost always occur because people do not follow or not understand processes. • Design risks are usually the result of people not communicating. • Time and cost risks typically tie back to the performance of people doing the work. • Even inclement weather is influenced by people's perceptions--what's deemed "too wet to work" in a temperate climate may be seen as okay in a tropical monsoon climate. People also determine if a risk is acceptable or not. Whether a risk is perceived as acceptable or not is 100 percent inside a person's mind. As project managers, our job is to reduce risks to a level that gives the project the best overall chance of success. Yet extreme risk aversion will kill a project more effectively than a gung-ho attitude. Of course, what constitutes a sensible level of risk is totally dependent on the perceptions and risk attitude of your key stakeholders. That's why a central part of effective stakeholder management is ascertaining the risk attitude of your stakeholders. And then you must either adapt the project to fit within these parameters or provide the necessary information to help the stakeholder change his or her perceptions of what is acceptable. The more that people feel they understand a situation, the more willing they are to accept risks. Similarly, if you have a trusting relationship with someone, you're more likely to rely on their capability to safely manage risks on your behalf. The most useful risk management strategy you can use on your project is effective stakeholder management supported by good communication. What has your experience been? |
Are You Ready for Your Next Status Report?
Categories:
Leadership
Categories: Leadership
| Reporting project status can be exciting--or can be one of those things you'd do anything to avoid. By conducting frequent, but relevant and appropriate status reviews, including the stakeholders in the process and presenting fact-based information, you will help to avoid any unpleasant project surprises. To make the reporting process run smoother, project managers should consider these elements when preparing their reports: Timeliness: This is all about the reporting cycle, the aspects of "when" and "how often" you report. Pick times that will most benefit the stakeholders. Fact-Based Information: Validate information before it's reported to the stakeholders and produce trustworthy reports that others can base critical decisions on. These steps help gain stakeholder confidence and contributes to the overall success of the project. Relevance: Know whom you are reporting to and what information is relevant to that stakeholder. Appropriateness: Be aware of any sensitive information that should be presented only to specific individuals. Presentation: Spend a little time identifying the medium - such as handouts, e-mail, verbal, telephone -- as well as the method -- free form, discussion-based or single-person, etc -- for the report. Knowledge: When you don't have the full details on information to be presented, invite a direct resource that produced the result to the presentation. Audience: Focusing on specific individuals or groups allows you to provide relevant and appropriate information. By considering all of these elements, you can present a clear picture of the project's status to the necessary attendees. |
Who is a Stakeholder?
Categories:
Communications Management
Categories: Communications Management
| Everyone is talking about stakeholders these days. Surprisingly, this has not always been the case. The modern concept of stakeholders seems to have emerged from the work of the Tavistock Institute in London, England in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Forty years later, the concept of stakeholder has expanded to include all of the people and organizations that have a real or perceived '"stake" in the project or its outcomes. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) breaks down a stakeholder as a person or organization that: • Is actively involved in the project • Has interests that may be positively or negatively affected by the performance or completion of the project • May exert influence over the project, its deliverables or its team members In my work on mapping and managing stakeholders, I have found it important to expand on this basic definition to understand the "stake" of the stakeholder. This helps determine the best way to engage with them. Here are some of the different stakes a person or organization may have (most have more than one): Interest: To be affected by a decision related to the work or its outcomes Rights: To be treated in a certain way or to have a particular right (including legal or moral) protected Ownership: To have a legal title to an asset or a property Knowledge: To possess specialist or organizational knowledge needed for the work Impact or influence: To be impacted by the work or its outcomes, or have the ability to impact (or influence) the execution of work or its outcomes Contribution: Relating to the support or assets including the supply of resources, the allocation of funding, or providing advocacy for the objectives of the project Once you understand the stake the stakeholder is seeking to protect, profit from or enhance, you can structure your communications to let the person know you understand their hopes or concerns. From this starting point, you're in a much better position to manage the relationship to the benefit of both the project and the stakeholder. |
