Viewing Posts by Saira Karim
Best Practices Improve Customer Experiences
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Best Practices
Categories: Best Practices
| In order to survive, project-driven organizations must compete on many levels. Delivering on time, to cost and with quality is always important -- but so is the interaction and customer experience they provide during the project. Project-driven organizations must consider customer satisfaction as a critical success factor. Organizations that deliver projects that disregard customer needs create negative experiences and ultimately cause huge problems for the organization. Typically, project teams that fail to capture what the customer actually needs or wants end up getting the product or service wrong. This can happen because:
In my experience, organizations with project management practices that deliver positive experiences are customer-focused and have proactive, sound processes in place. They also have dedicated, responsive teams who are flexible and able to satisfy customer needs. I believe the following practices can help deliver a positive customer experience:
See more posts from Saira Karim. See Taralyn R. Frasqueri-Molina's post on The Benefits of a Change Control Board. |
Networking Practices for Project Results
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Best Practices
Categories: Best Practices
| Last week I attended my first formal networking how-to event. I was curious to learn about the differences and similarities between general networking and networking for project success. What interested me the most was a slide detailing three types of networks: operational, personal and strategic. In the project environment, networking for operational, personal and strategic goals is a core competency for project managers and team members. In all my training sessions, I always repeat the statement "90 percent of a project management job is communication." In fact, I go as far as to say networking is a skill that can lead to project success. For example, networking comes in handy in the following areas: With stakeholders: On projects we talk to all our internal and external stakeholders on a regular basis. Therefore, we have to network. We network to acquire and manage resources, vendors and contractors, and also to ascertain and explore risks, strengths and opportunities for the project. Our personal objectives can be met because well managed, informed and engaged stakeholders equals a happier project manager. In project communications planning: Project objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound). Similarly, project-networking activities should be smart too. Networking activities should:
Project managers must have networking skills to successfully engage, lead and build the team. These skills will enable the project manager to be a mentor and leader of the team. Project managers should network with their teams to delegate, collaborate, motivate and ensure they work together. With interpersonal skills: Networking can help project managers build self-confidence, and devote time and strategy to build and reciprocate through meaningful networks. Plus, meeting others and finding common ground and mutual areas of benefit and collaboration is always helpful to a project manager. I can confidently assume that since the history of projects, good project managers have been networking out of necessity or risk project failure. Certainly in my own case, I have been naturally 'networking' without really knowing that I was doing it. The difference now is that I am more aware. What do you think is a networking best practice? Is project success dependent on a project manager's networking abilities? What benefits has networking brought to your projects? What role has networking played in your projects? |
Can PMOs and Centers of Excellence Coexist?
| Project Management Centers of Excellence (PMCOE) are becoming increasingly popular as a solution for organizations to streamline their processes while increasing efficiency, profit and competitiveness. Generally, a Center Of Excellence (COE) is a business unit that has organization-wide authority. It coordinates continuous improvement initiatives, ensures that value is achieved in all areas, and fulfils the role of organizational thought-leader or consultant. COEs are also created to capture an organization's best practices, standards and industry benchmarks. The COE facilitates the approval, transfer and integration of these best practices across the organization. For example, in a global manufacturing company, the COE may identify a best practice used in its European plant, tweak it, and implement the practice in its Saudi plant, too. There seems to be confusion between the roles of a Project Management Office (PMO) and a PMCOE. Some argue that the PMO sufficiently leads the organization to project management excellence. So, why would an organization with a well-structured PMO need a PMCOE? In his book, Advanced Project Management: Best Practices on Implementation, Second Edition, project management expert Dr. Harold Kerzner states: "The definition of project management excellence must extend well beyond experience and success ... Success is measured by having achieved performance that is in the best interest of the whole company, as well as having completed a specific project." PMOs and COEs are only successful when they achieve the objectives for which they are created. Leaders in the profession note that the number of projects or years an organization has been delivering projects can't define project management excellence. Neither can the methodology it follows. Larger, complex organizations may need a PMO and a PMCOE -- but their roles should be clearly defined. A PMO is an important central hub with a mandate to coordinate and deliver all project activities as determined by the organization's needs. PMCOE executives would operate as part of the business decision-making process. These individuals would report on the organization's project portfolio as a whole and provide the organization with project consultancy. The PMCOE also supports the PMO through research, innovation and leadership initiatives and bridges the gap between PMO teams and business units within the organization. What do you think? Are PMO's and COE's the same? Is a PMCOE just a glorified PMO? Have you come across a PMO and PMCOE in the same organization? Is there clear role differentiation? |
Use Project Management Tools in the Right Context
| Recently I came across an ad for a project management technology application. It was a picture of seven robots in a group, which symbolized humans. The slogan read, "If your team looked like this, any PPM solution would work." It made me wonder how many organizations actually believe that technology applications do the work and produce results -- not humans. How many organizations and project managers sufficiently analyze their project needs and the compatibility of new technology to their organizations' existing set-up and processes? Companies often buy expensive project management applications and then force teams to conform and adapt to the application rather than customize the application to the needs of the people and project. But buying applications because other organizations use them does not by default mean you, too, will become a leader. Like with best practices, experience has taught me that technology and tools are valuable -- but only if they fill gaps and needs effectively. Technology is important and can increase efficiency, but in the correct setting and context. Projects are planned and executed by people -- therefore technology must complement and be understood by the humans who use it. Before investing in new project management applications, you must consider things like training, costs and your team members' willingness to use the tools. Otherwise it could amount to an expensive burden. What experiences can you share of failing to engage stakeholders before investing in technology? What factors should be considered before investing in new applications? |
Best Practices in Project Management -- or Better Practice?
Categories:
Best Practices
Categories: Best Practices
| Best practices in project management are tried and tested processes collected from experiences and lessons learned. They've been repeated and improved to produce consistent outcomes. They are documented as examples, baselines and measures. Project managers who favor best practices and processes believe it's unnecessary to "reinvent the wheel." They believe using best practices in projects has many advantages:
Best practices for projects from 10 to 20 years ago are outdated as technology and real time communications continue to evolve, for instance. More customers are aware of project management, resulting in changed expectations. And definitions of acceptability, constraints and assumptions may differ from the environment where these best practices originated. I agree that we shouldn't reinvent the wheel. However, I do stress that the wheel should fit properly in order to fulfill its purpose. Best practices are excellent if there is cooperation and consistency in an organization from top to bottom. Rigidly imposed processes that are unwanted and misunderstood cause problems and restrict new thinking. Project managers should use best practices but they should build, fine-tune and improve them to fit an organization. Should best practices become better practices or best-fit practices so they become molded, enhanced and understood by the organization and the people who will benefit from them? How do you enhance best practices for your projects? Do you think best practices are near perfect? Do you agree or disagree that extra effort should be applied to mold best practices? |
