Voices on Project Management

Anthony Gaytor of HP on stage at PMI's PMO Symposium™ on Tuesday.

By Cyndee Miller 

Have you ever stood in the grocery store, staring at 18 different varieties of Greek yogurt, paralyzed by choice? I have. We live in a world of ever-growing choice and complexity — and it’s making me crave simplicity.

Now we’re talking about my measly US$1.50 purchase. So what does that mean for organizations dealing with a whole portfolio of projects?

Well, it seems they face a similar dilemma based on the lively conversations at PMO Symposium™. Much of that discussion centered on the 2015 PMI^® Thought Leadership Series: The Power of Project Portfolio Management, produced in partnership with Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Economist Intelligence Unit.

“We need to keep things simple,” said Chris Garibaldi of Deloitte. “It’s not about implementing all the capabilities of project portfolio management. You can have too many tools, too many processes.”

Even in these metrics-obsessed, data-drenched times, Garibaldi said a handful of KPIs and just one dashboard view of the project portfolio’s health can provide enough clarity for portfolio managers and the C-suite they support.

Process and technology are critical components of portfolio management, but, he said, “people first—always.”

And those people must go in armed with the courage to kill a project out of whack with strategy.

“We have to create a culture that makes it okay to stop projects and reinvest those resources somewhere else,” said Jennifer Bratton of BCG, who spoke at the symposium’s opening plenary session.

With the business environment changing so fast, organizations can’t afford to waste money and time on the wrong projects.

“You’ve got to invest in individuals that will call out failures because it’s right for the business,” Bratton said.

Anthony Gaytor has been living that at HP Enterprise, as the global organization worked to get its arms around a sprawling portfolio of internal IT projects.

“If you don’t have the strategy at the core of everything you’re doing, you may not be working on the right things,” Gaytor said in his keynote address. Without effective portfolio management, “you’re dead before you start.”

And to keep things moving, you’re going to need exec support — so learn to speak fluently in the language of the C-suite.  “If you talk IT speak or project language, they’re never going to listen to you.”

The strategic approached is clearly working for HP’s internal IT portfolio, which the company has sliced from 1,240 to 500 projects in just a few years. On-time delivery has increased by 20 percent and the portion of innovation (rather than support) projects has jumped from 30 percent to 80 percent.

Gaytor attributed those results in part to KISS: the old adage, “keep it simple, stupid.” Every project is now judged on just six KPIs.

Portfolio management is about always keeping an eye out for ways to trim the fat — so all that’s left is “doing the right thing at the right time with the right outcomes,” he said.

Sounds so very simple — and sensible. So why do so few organizations do it?

SAP CEO Bill McDermott at the 2015 PMO Symposium™.

By Cyndee Miller

Long hours at the office, getting pulled in a million directions, on the cusp of burning out. And the worst part is that you can’t remember what the point of it all is. It’s not pretty­.

“It’s exhausting when you’re working on the wrong strategy,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of enterprise application software giant SAP, as he kicked off PMO Symposium™ in Phoenix Arizona, USA.

From where he sits leading a US$18 billion company with 74,500 employees, leadership boils down to having the right vision.

“People make mistakes,” McDermott said. But “the one thing a leader will not be forgiven for is a bad vision or a bad strategy.”

And project portfolio leaders must never relinquish their own power to weigh in on flaws they see in the strategy, he said.

“Don’t be afraid to elevate the debate. Maybe it’s the wrong project or it’s ill-conceived and we need to rethink it.”

Killing off a project that no longer makes sense, or never did in the first place, comes with its rewards: “Just doing that might make you feel like you had a week’s worth of sleep.”

Easy for some uber successful CEO to say, right? But McDermott contends everyone can learn to develop their strategic powers.

“You can learn this,” he explained. “It’s a skill and it can be developed.”

True leaders, he noted, don’t dwell on the past or present. They understand the core of their organization and imagine a better future aligned with customers’ precise needs.

They also know how to inspire others to act. “Vision is not only what you see,” said. McDermott. “It’s what you feel and it’s what you make other people feel.”

That, of course, requires that leaders know what matters to their team members (yes, beyond the project) and be willing to invest in their project talent. Companies shouldn't sacrifice a commitment to education for quarterly results, McDermott said.

Not every CEO would be willing to make that kind of statement. It takes vision. 

By Wanda Curlee

I’m a big fan of PMI’s annual PMO symposiums. I presented at last year’s symposium in Miami, Florida, USA and I’ll be presenting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA next week at this year’s event.

Why do I make the trip each year? There are many reasons. Each symposium acts as a crossroads of sorts between general management and project management. Each gives me a chance to speak with senior leaders in a one-on-one environment. And copies of PMI’s latest installment of the Thought Leadership Series, which features in-depth original research and analysis, are given out to attendees.

This year’s series is on “The Power of Project Portfolio Management.” As a certified portfolio manager, I want to leverage that research to increase my ability to provide powerful portfolios for my current company and future clients.

Last year, the symposium focused on talent management, and PMI’s talent triangle was a focal point. That, coupled with the introduction of the portfolio management certification (PfMP), made for an exciting and fruitful experience.

Senior leaders from many organizations discussed the value of the talent triangle and how portfolios, programs and projects help drive the talent in their respective organizations. Hearing executives discuss and present the practical side of what the project management discipline has done for their organizations was invaluable.

But the bit that I found most fascinating had to do with corporate citizenship. When running a portfolio, trust should be established so that program and project managers are willing to give back funds in excess of actual projects and programs.

It’s an odd concept, but when followed on a quarterly basis, it builds the understanding that more projects and programs can be funded and—most important—there are funds on hand if you find your project or program is in trouble. There’s no concept of shoot the messenger.

This year’s PMO symposium, held from November 8^th to the 11^th, will once again draw senior leaders from an impressive array of organizations. The networking opportunities will be vast.

If you’ll be in Phoenix, stop by my educational session on why a portfolio manager should be the CEO’s best friend. Yes, I truly believe that portfolio management can drive better management of corporate resources and increase the bottom line for all companies. Resources are finite at every company—and portfolio managers work to allocate them efficiently.

If you don’t agree with something I say, speak up—I’m there to learn, too.

By Dave Wakeman

I spend a lot of time focusing on value and ROI. For a project manager, it's often a challenge to understand how to communicate your role in terms of value or ROI. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

The fact is that without strong project management and project principles in place, most projects wouldn’t come close to realizing any ROI or creating value for their organizations.

So how can project managers begin thinking and expressing their success and impact in terms of value? Here are a few ways:

1. It isn’t about actions, it’s about outcomes.

It can be tough to think in terms of outcomes with all of the various requirements built into your project’s plan. Or with a sponsor sitting over your shoulder asking about every minute detail.

But your goal is to produce a project that creates value for your organization and client. You don’t do that with a list of activities you have completed. You do that with the outcomes those activities produce as a whole.

To begin to turn your thinking around, instead of stating the tasks you’ve completed, start stating your accomplishments like this:

“Based on our objective to create a new drilling platform that has the following functions, we have successfully created the framework for the platform and have integrated these three features into the framework. We are on schedule to finish the remaining features within our predicted timeframe.”

2. Ask questions based on intended impact.

Too many project managers find themselves in environments where their input isn’t desired, their thoughts aren’t respected, and they feel reluctant to ask questions.

That’s a terrible situation. And, if it’s a common experience, I’d advise you to put down this article and go find a new job, because you deserve better than that.

If you’re merely failing to ask good questions, you need to get over that right away. Questions empower you as a leader. 

The questions you ask should be directed toward the intended impact of the project on the stakeholders, the sponsor and the organization. So ask strong questions like:

• “What will this project mean to the stakeholders?”
• “Why is this project being prioritized right now?”
• “What should we be on the lookout for as possible challenges to the project’s success?

These kinds of questions will empower you with two things: knowledge to make better decisions within your project and the context to explain and communicate those decisions to your team and key stakeholders.

3. Measure your work in a meaningful way.

In so many businesses, we hear about data and measurements.

What does much of it mean? Not really a lot, in too many instances.

To refocus your project management efforts and maximize your ability to talk in terms of the value of your projects and your leadership, you have to measure the outcomes in a meaningful way.

Here are some examples:

• Because of these improvements in processes and decision-making, we saved 5 percent on costs and came in 3 percent earlier than expected.
• By making the decision to fast-track this part of the project, we were able to free up these resources, and that enabled us to realize a 10-percent gain in productivity.

The key here is to make sure you focus on making things meaningful and measurable. Being fast or cheap is one thing, but being better, faster and cheaper is what counts. 

By the way, I write a weekly newsletter that focuses on strategy, value, and performance. If you enjoyed this piece, you will really enjoy the weekly newsletter. Make sure you never miss it! Sign up here or send me an email at [email protected]! 

“Creative” is rarely a word used to describe project managers. Typically, they’re called “organized,” “good communicators,” etc.

A colleague of mine inspired me when he said that a good project manager is a creative one. I was confused at first, but his explanation made sense. To be able to take advantage of great opportunities as they present themselves, a good project manager needs to be creative with the scope and the budget as the project evolves.

In other words, project managers shouldn’t automatically respond: “No, we can’t, it’s out of scope or budget.” Instead, they should say: “How can we make it work?” Genius!

Every project manager is guilty of refusing a great idea when the team comes up with something out of scope or budget. It’s easy to say “no,” but it’s a lot more rewarding for you, the team and the project to find a way. That’s where you get creative!

The first solution that generally comes to mind is upselling the idea to stakeholders and asking for more funds. This could be denied, or it might not even be an option if the budget is fixed.

Another solution is to reduce another part of the scope or even remove it completely to accommodate this new idea. There are often “nice to haves” on projects, and they can be traded for better ideas. That’s where the new idea needs to be sold as more efficient than what’s being removed.

Other solutions can be outsourcing to reduce some costs, or even pulling some strings if needed. And you know what? You don’t have to do this thinking alone—give your team the chance to contribute ideas. You might find out that if some features are slightly different, you can save effort here and there, and then you are able to transfer some budget somewhere else.

The key point here is leaving “no” as a last resort, and asking yourself and the team: “How can we make it work?”

How are you creative with your projects?