Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
We all have favorite tools we use to manage and accelerate our process improvement projects. What has worked for you? How do you blend hi-tech and lo-tech tools for best results? What do you wish you had? Everybody now, let's talk tools. Saving Changes...
My favorite tool for planning any project is a deck of ruled index cards and a large table. You can move things around more easily than you can in any software tool, and you can have a small group look on and collaborate. I've heard some people advocate sticky notes, but index cards are sturdier, and don't collect hair or dust! Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Martin, I love it. Low tech is still alive and well. Have you used yarn or string to connect the cards like a pert chart?
Can you share the complexity of projects you have used this technique on? What about status reporting?
Michael -- Again, read what Martin has written. The index cards are for planning. I don't think he's suggesting that he's managing or collecting status with them.
Index cards or post-its are my favored route as well.
Keep in mind, I don't concern myself with traditional WBS approaches, but rather fill in the cards/post-its based on discussions of dependency. It also helps you avoid getting too detailed. I've used this on a hardware/software projects that have ranged from 700 lines in the final project tracking tool (including feeding and project buffers.)
Status reporting on CC-manged projects are usally daily emails by resources (sometimes weekly from-filling by resource managers) on estimated time-to-complete for the current tasks.
(Again, keep in mind the focused simplicity of a CC-based environment where resources are guided to work on only one carefully defined task at a time.)
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Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Frank, I have no issue with using any technique that works. Hi tech, low tech makes no difference. I love simple. Simple is almost always better. I use Excel to manage my projects. Find I can manage 3,000 to 5,000 task project just fine with a spreadsheet. Have used the formal tracking tools and find they can be more trouble than they are worth. I am sure others swear by them. What ever floats the old boat. Saving Changes...
I'm curious about using Excel to manage projects opf the magnitude that Michael mentions. Perhaps the question is "what is being managed?" Through the various phases of a project, what is "managed" changes. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Frank, Let me see if I can help satisfy your curiosity. I have managed a variety of projects with simple tools like Excel. The most complex being the implementation of a complete MIS environment for a very large casino. This included the recruiting and staffing, all applications, all vendor management, all infra-structure work and all FF&E. I used Excel for the tracking, Word for status reporting and Manage-pro for day to day event management. Was one of the most successful MIS implementations in casino history. It is not the tool so much as it is the plan, the people and the approach that counts. Could have used any number of tools. Hope that helps. Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
I usually do not endorse a specific tool. But there is one that has impressed me and it is called ManagePro. ManagePro can be used to manage people, goals and tasks. It is extremely flexible and easy to use. It provides a wonderful mix of structure and text. The entry screens can be tailored to your specific needs and it even has templates for various types of environments. One of my favorites. You can learn more at http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/managepro.htm Saving Changes...
I agree that tools are not important -- unless they get in the way. I should emphasize that my index card technique was developed out of frustration with the ability of MS-Project and office-based tools to handle the sponginess of early-stage project planning. But once I get through a few sessions of carding around (including moving, tearing up, and building a heirarchy of cards/tasks), I enter the result into a traditional WBS. I designed a Word-based template for building WBS outline which does have some nifty features for moving tasks around within the heirarchy, but Word is not really a brainstorming tool. We do status reporting via a web-based Virtual Project Office site we designed inhouse. This puts the status report out there for all to see, plus it "pushes" the reports out to key project players and stakeholders via email. Email alone has a problem of the splitting threads -- I email five people, two respond to all, one responds to me, pretty soon nobody knows what anybody is talking about anymore. The gestalt for online discussions (like this one, for instance) is not there in my organization, so the web-based/push hybrid is a good solution for now. Saving Changes...
Martin mentions using MS Word for developing a WBS, but goes on to complain that Word is not really a good tool to support brainstorming.
This comment raises the following question, at least for me . . .
What does brainstorming have to do with developing a WBS?
This may be considered a provocative question, but in my world, in which a WBS is developed coincident with developing a network of dependencies leading to project objectives, there is very little brainstorming involved.
Not sure if I am missing the point, or just using a word in a different way. When I refer to "brainstorming" I do not mean it in the way of developing a new kind of ketchup or an ad campaign for singing fish. Instead, I mean the fleshing out of the details that get from here (pre-implementation) to there (go-live and beyond). To me, that is a creative process that includes weighing options before making decisions, considering and allowing for external inputs, etc. So, for me, it needs to be a flexible process.
This form of brainstorming is not, in my experience, a process conducive to the use of software tools. Someone will probably reply that there is some cool "winstorm" app that helps them free associate, define links, etc., and come up with brilliant new ideas. That's fine for them. For me, I will use the cards until the tasks begin to gel, then put them into the word-based WBS. Saving Changes...
"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
