David CookDirector New Generation| Jamaica Public Service Co. LtdKingston, Jamaica
How do we make our project reporting more meaningful in project development and still keep senior executives satisfied. There are many tools available, but what do we consider the most essential and how do we ensure accurate information is communicated. Saving Changes...
Meade RubensteinPM III| IT Project GuideSparta, Nj, United States
This is the million $ PM question......tools only provide the delivery, but accurate meaningful information is determined by the PM and the PM's interaction with the team. If the team doesn't know the truth of where they are (which often happens) or is unwilling to report the truth (based on not wanting to report bad news OR report to positive news) - then the base information will be off by some magnitude. The PM needs to understand their team, how they report, what level of accuracy they report with and then focus on what the Sr Managers want to see and ensure that any actionable items are properly communicated in a way to 'push' them to make a decision. Saving Changes...
We need to put our BA hats on and really analyze the needs (the why) underlying the information (the what) requested by our stakeholders. Otherwise, we can give them what they asked for, but not what they really need to support decision making.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Agree with Kiron. It's not about the tools, it's about what execs want to know and what they need to know. Once you've understood that, it's easy to make the reporting more meaningful. The only way to go about this, in my view, is to ask them, and then apply some common sense to what they also need to know beyond that. Saving Changes...
David CookDirector New Generation| Jamaica Public Service Co. LtdKingston, Jamaica
Thanks PMs, I do agree we need to understand what executives want, but truely half the time they do not know what they want and we have to intreprete what we need to share. And so often the tools are so complicated they dont bother to read them. We do need simple way of telling how a project is doing and what are the simple measures of indicators of sickness. much like quick phiciacl and then a blood test. Too often time and cost looks good for the first 3/4 of the project.What in your experience is those key variables that tell you the real picture? And I know is varies.
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1 reply by Mary Jane Monsivais
Jul 06, 2018 8:52 AM
Mary Jane Monsivais
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If available, reviewing Corporate Strategic Goals, Organizational Objectives, and other Project measures/KPIs for similar Projects that are tracked & utilized by management may be insightful.
Open-door sessions with the next level of leadership may also provide answers. The intent of the open-door is to understand leadership communication preferences & needs. This will benefit not only the Project, but management's ability to communicate the project's success or needs with their leadership.
Use that part of the brain that has to adapt the story other than the way you would usually communicate it. For example, when we tell/teach our children something, we communicate is such a way for them to maximize their understanding. Senior executives are no different. That is Part A which is getting your message across in a way they can understand. Part B is knowing what they want to hear, to what level of detail, and more importantly what they don't want to hear. This can be done though your knowledge of the stakeholders and knowing their communication needs. Saving Changes...
David CookDirector New Generation| Jamaica Public Service Co. LtdKingston, Jamaica
Thnaks Sante, Great thoughts Saving Changes...
RAJESH K LProject Manager, PMP| Bharat Electronics, Bengaluru, IndiaBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Agree Sante.
In my view a standard format including details required and frequency to be decided in consultation with Senior/top management. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Is as @Kiron stated above. Remember that a report is the "translation" of data into information. If what the report contains is information of not depends on the receiver (Theory of Information, Claude Shannon). So, in my personal opion, to generate information is an art because project stakeholder analysis must be done to understand what is information for each ones and to understand that the same data must be presented into different formats to deliver information instead of data. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Sometimes it's simply a process of inspect & adapt. As long as we are capturing the important metrics, its just about the presentation at that point. At a high-level the goal is to provide an at-a-glance view of the project overall; from a budget, schedule, scope, and delivery perspective, and finding the right balance of information to allow for understanding and formulating questions if need be. Based on feedback, make adjustments for next time.
I just went through this exercise. Actually, I will find out today how well I interpreted their feedback :)
In my last position, I used SharePoint to expose all this information. This reduced the need for sending status PPT's or Excel files. With a click of a URL, all information was readily available; any day. Saving Changes...
Vithal ParabAssociate Consultant| Tata Consultancy ServicesMumbai, Maharashtra, India
As we all know, reporting is essential. Also different level of stakeholders looking for their relevant information from the reports. So whatever tools been use, it should communicate right information to the stakeholders. Saving Changes...
