I currently work as a project coordinator in finance department of a software development company. What we call a project is basically any non-routine task with duration of 2-6 months (like, develop and implement a policy/process). Most of them have internal (i.e. from inside our department) customers but often there are also stakeholders from other departments (legal, HR). Therefore the main focus is on communications - my role boils down to maintaining the list of projects, updating status of each project within it, and reporting to all stakeholders if there are any issues potentially causing a delay.
The problems I see:
1. Tracking time spent on projects is seen as unnecessary burden, and as a result we don't know the total cost of projects, nor can we estimate the effort required for similar tasks with any degree of certainty. My manager, the CFO, supposedly is ok with it.
2. There's no formal risk management process, we do not even attempt to identify, measure or discuss risks. I can only assume that those responsible for final result somehow do manage their risks (as most projects finish... sooner or later), they just don't document it.
3. I don't have control over projects, and those who do - they almost never use PM best practices in their projects and don't see why they should. The manager is ultimately interested in getting things done, and as 80% of projects are more or less successful, although sometimes later than expected, he seems to be satisfied with status quo.
To sum up: I'm not quite sure to what extent project management methodology should be applied to internal projects in the company I work for and what additional value could be gained (if any). I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts, opinions and experience. Saving Changes...
I practice and profess project management disciplines and believe that they are the best thing since sliced bread. However, businesses cannot just pursue anything and everything that is good. They have to make choices among many good things. If your business is fully satisfied with the 80% success rate, then perhaps there is no need to change anything.
However, if you are like most businesses, you would at least consider what it would take to get to 85% next year, 90% the following year, and so on... For this, you would need to figure out your options, weigh the costs vs. benefits, and make the choices that are right for you... If you want to pursue some improvements, here are a couple of recommendations based on the information you provided:
1. Streamline your project tracking process to decrease the time required for this activity (for example, if you are receiving status emails from everyone and then entering that info into a spreadsheet etc., perhaps you can set up a spreadsheet on a shared drive that the 'PMs' can directly update... apologies if I am stating the obvious)
2. Provide general Project Management training. This should not be done with the intent of formalizing a methodology within the organization, but rather just to have people open their mind to PM concepts and principles, and see how they help solve the practical challenges of getting work done... So the type of training you choose will be very important. I think you should be looking for something like Project Management for non-Project Managers. (In our organization, we used Lou Russell’s customized training: http://www.lourussell.com/)
Anonymous, I want to congratulate you on taking the step to post this question. I can see the genuine concern you have for the betterment of your organization. I wish you the best on your PM Maturity journey.
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1 reply by anonymous
Apr 12, 2016 3:02 PM
anonymous
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Thank you Samuel for the input and your kind words. It's so exciting to have a second opinion from a real experienced practitioner, not just trying to figure it out on my own.
My issue is that I think it's quite difficult to track just how many hours on a given day were spent towards Project 1, or Project 2, Project N or just regular operations. Most of the team members have their routine work AND a handful of projects. I just see that some are wasting time on unproductive discussions or get too immersed in the routine or less important projects and as a result, top priority projects suffer. I know that, for example, auditors, consultants and external legal counsels track their time and prepare reports to calculate time spent on various projects, so that those hours could be billed. They can't do without it, otherwise they wouldn't know how much the customer must pay. In my case though, I'm not 100% sure myself that it's necessary, and how to do it in the least complicated way. I know it's valuable, I tried to do it myself. I also know it's quite time consuming and I'm afraid the team may perceive this as a lack of trust. Guess I was just hoping somebody would give me convincing reasons which I could use to argue my boss into this tracking thing.
Saving Changes...
PARAG KANDEKARVP Operations| SoftNice IncAllentown, Pa, United States
Hey,
I see big challenge is, you being Project Coordinator without authority and control. Either you should ask your Sponsor to provide it or assuming that its not happening then working on possible ways to improve the current condition towards using PM best practices.
For tracking purpose, effort estimation - I will suggest to having some stand-up meetings (formal and informal) to understand the inputs. If you show the visualization of the planned efforts vs actual and tracking mechanism to your CFO, I am sure you would see his support in implementing your best practices in the project. You would get authority and control. Here you need to do stakeholder identification and plan communication so that you would have all inputs required, showcase to CFO who is key stakeholder and gain more trust and his buy-in for implementing additional PM practices.
Risk management - its important and i am sure you can use brainstorming approach to make the team aware of importance of the team. For this you do require collaborative efforts from the team and how to engage the team would be challenge. Here you should use informal and formal communication approach to make it happen.
I believe you can put all best PM practices but one by one. You need to manage your stakeholders in such way where you will see more trust building and involvement of them actively.
Wish you best in your exercise, I am sure you would have success.
I would be happy to discuss more in case you want to take few challenges one by one. Saving Changes...
PARAG KANDEKARVP Operations| SoftNice IncAllentown, Pa, United States
I came across something interesting - How to Influence Numerous Stakeholders
I practice and profess project management disciplines and believe that they are the best thing since sliced bread. However, businesses cannot just pursue anything and everything that is good. They have to make choices among many good things. If your business is fully satisfied with the 80% success rate, then perhaps there is no need to change anything.
However, if you are like most businesses, you would at least consider what it would take to get to 85% next year, 90% the following year, and so on... For this, you would need to figure out your options, weigh the costs vs. benefits, and make the choices that are right for you... If you want to pursue some improvements, here are a couple of recommendations based on the information you provided:
1. Streamline your project tracking process to decrease the time required for this activity (for example, if you are receiving status emails from everyone and then entering that info into a spreadsheet etc., perhaps you can set up a spreadsheet on a shared drive that the 'PMs' can directly update... apologies if I am stating the obvious)
2. Provide general Project Management training. This should not be done with the intent of formalizing a methodology within the organization, but rather just to have people open their mind to PM concepts and principles, and see how they help solve the practical challenges of getting work done... So the type of training you choose will be very important. I think you should be looking for something like Project Management for non-Project Managers. (In our organization, we used Lou Russell’s customized training: http://www.lourussell.com/)
Anonymous, I want to congratulate you on taking the step to post this question. I can see the genuine concern you have for the betterment of your organization. I wish you the best on your PM Maturity journey.
Thank you Samuel for the input and your kind words. It's so exciting to have a second opinion from a real experienced practitioner, not just trying to figure it out on my own.
My issue is that I think it's quite difficult to track just how many hours on a given day were spent towards Project 1, or Project 2, Project N or just regular operations. Most of the team members have their routine work AND a handful of projects. I just see that some are wasting time on unproductive discussions or get too immersed in the routine or less important projects and as a result, top priority projects suffer. I know that, for example, auditors, consultants and external legal counsels track their time and prepare reports to calculate time spent on various projects, so that those hours could be billed. They can't do without it, otherwise they wouldn't know how much the customer must pay. In my case though, I'm not 100% sure myself that it's necessary, and how to do it in the least complicated way. I know it's valuable, I tried to do it myself. I also know it's quite time consuming and I'm afraid the team may perceive this as a lack of trust. Guess I was just hoping somebody would give me convincing reasons which I could use to argue my boss into this tracking thing. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
No pain, no gain. Is there any reason for somebody to use project management discipline? No, unless the organization is facing some problems related to not use project management. To use or not to use it is an strategic decision. And no matter the project is internal or external. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I tend to agree with Sergio, however, Risk Management is important to be done. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Fully agree with Rami. I have an statement that could sound controversial (but I can support): if you do not perform risk management then you are not performing project management. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I totally agree with your statement Sergio ... It is a core part of managing projects and plays pivotal role in projects success. Saving Changes...
saurabh mahajanPMP, ITIL, PRINCE2| vodafonePune, Maharashtra, India
I wonder if 80% projects are successful and even out of that 50% are completed well before time then surely somehow,somewhere they must be applying PM methodology (unknowingly that are using PM methodology).
BUT the bigger problem seems to be total ignorance from senior management towards PM. But as rightly said above, applying it or not is organizational decision. However to succeed again and again, to have better vision in project health, to be successful in long run .... USE PM METHODOLOGY. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
It seems that your manager has no idea of the term "Operational Excellence"
From what you describe, I assume that you work in a small sized company with a CEO who tends to micromanage and limited management skills. My recommendation would be to show him the benefits of using a professional PM approach using an existing or past example in the company.
I once had a boss that told me "Paralysis by analysis", meaning that he didn't want to spend time documenting stuff, carrying out a project management plan, tracking budget/risks/time, etc. I left. His business is now going down the drain. Couldn't be happier. What a scumbag he was. Saving Changes...
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