Julia TrabertPMO Lead| Reasoning MindDenver, Co, United States
Context:
I understand thanks to the experienced and knowledgeable folks at the recent Seattle conference that software tools should come last, not first.. However, I have a dilemma! My organization currently has developed project management methods organically without realizing it while at the same time increasing the amount and complexity of projects over time - as a result, a lot of our projects fail on many counts! I am trying to figure out how the PMO can add value to the organization, but I can't develop a vision for change that doesn't include a software tool given our current reality. Help!
Question:
Is there a tool out there which may be able to address the following goals? We need to provide visibility at all levels of leadership while still allowing different teams to manage projects in a way that makes sense in their context.
1. Our biggest ongoing projects involve developing products (specifically online learning products) - these are big and complex initiatives with team members all over the world. Many of the product team members have to use JIRA and Agile methodology for work planning, but everyone else just does their own thing to plan and complete work. It is impossible to manage these projects without some sort of system or tool, so different PMs use different tools they found in their own unique ways. All of our other projects are managed ad hoc using no tool, but they are not complex or technical enough to require a complex PM tool or JIRA for work management.
2. Leadership wants visibility in to current projects so they are empowered to manage the portfolio (add and cut projects rather than approve all ideas!), but there is no standard for what information should be shared about projects and everyone uses their own PM tools of choice (Trello, Microsoft Project, Wrike, etc.). We tried centralizing project info in a central tool that isn't made for managing projects, but no one used it because it required them to double up on work to keep it updated. Saving Changes...
I've used SharePoint, and is very easy to manage in all company levels, from C management to manufacturing plant workers. Saving Changes...
Julia TrabertPMO Lead| Reasoning MindDenver, Co, United States
Interesting! Thanks for your responses!
We are getting access to SharePoint within the next year so that may be an option for us. Do either of you guys use SharePoint along with JIRA or other applications that software teams typically use? Since there is no integration between SharePoint and JIRA I wonder how we can effectively manage projects in which work is primarily organized in JIRA.
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1 reply by Kathleen Mittleider
Jul 28, 2016 6:37 PM
Kathleen Mittleider
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SharePoint/Online Project have task management capabilities that CAN connect with JIRA via an API.
I use JIRA, though not well. It works much better for technical projects, however there are ways to adjust for use. Creating "Epics" that are you Milestones, and then creating tasks un each epic (WBS) can we a way of adjusting for non-tech use. The only issue I have with this is that I can't see my project lifecycle (in a pretty gantt chart).
We are getting access to SharePoint within the next year so that may be an option for us. Do either of you guys use SharePoint along with JIRA or other applications that software teams typically use? Since there is no integration between SharePoint and JIRA I wonder how we can effectively manage projects in which work is primarily organized in JIRA.
SharePoint/Online Project have task management capabilities that CAN connect with JIRA via an API.
I use JIRA, though not well. It works much better for technical projects, however there are ways to adjust for use. Creating "Epics" that are you Milestones, and then creating tasks un each epic (WBS) can we a way of adjusting for non-tech use. The only issue I have with this is that I can't see my project lifecycle (in a pretty gantt chart).
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1 reply by Julia Trabert
Jul 28, 2016 7:01 PM
Julia Trabert
...
Thanks for the input Kathleen! I will definitely look into the API to connect JIRA and SharePoint. We don't have a SharePoint administrator or really anyone who know anything about it on our team.. so time to learn!
Re: JIRA - this is what I am hearing from our product development team. JIRA has to be forced to work only kind of well for non-technical projects. May need to funnel projects from JIRA and another tool into a portfolio management tool elsewhere if we end up using JIRA for technical projects.
Saving Changes...
Julia TrabertPMO Lead| Reasoning MindDenver, Co, United States
Jul 28, 2016 6:37 PM
Replying to Kathleen Mittleider
...
SharePoint/Online Project have task management capabilities that CAN connect with JIRA via an API.
I use JIRA, though not well. It works much better for technical projects, however there are ways to adjust for use. Creating "Epics" that are you Milestones, and then creating tasks un each epic (WBS) can we a way of adjusting for non-tech use. The only issue I have with this is that I can't see my project lifecycle (in a pretty gantt chart).
Thanks for the input Kathleen! I will definitely look into the API to connect JIRA and SharePoint. We don't have a SharePoint administrator or really anyone who know anything about it on our team.. so time to learn!
Re: JIRA - this is what I am hearing from our product development team. JIRA has to be forced to work only kind of well for non-technical projects. May need to funnel projects from JIRA and another tool into a portfolio management tool elsewhere if we end up using JIRA for technical projects. Saving Changes...
Scott SaleProgram Manager| KindredLouisville, Ky, United States
In effort to keep my response short :) I will say there is alot going on with the question and situation posted.
Without knowing the size of your organization keep the following in mind 'Rome was NOT built in a day".
One of the first things is knowing your type of PMO. Is it a controlling, directing or supporting PMO? There is a solid webinar by a fellow PM member Mario Trentim that explains this a little more in detail and it is well worth the hour.
Having been in your situation and utilizing the exact same suite of tools here is how we broke down the use from a PMO to Program to Project.
- Since there is a methodology in place the PMs should all be clear on the methodology. - The PMs need to standardize on a single tool set. There should be no "one off" project management tool. The bad side of this there is no one tool that is one size fits all so not everyone will be happy. - Once you have standards in place and the tools this will allow you to report all projects, standard metrics and you will have a full view of the project workload.
I realize the above statements are very much an oversimplification as there is A LOT in involved.
The last item is the tool set. The approach we took was the following. - Jira is used for tracking the requirements, it is the product backlog. It is the development tracking systems and this is where you managed the details. The key was consistency in updating jira tickets (how to update, what to update, when to update).
- Smartsheet was used to tie all projects and programs together. We created different Workspaces for the different groups. This had the projects tied together with a Master sheet that linked the project together for the Workspace to get an understanding of status. Additionally, This was tied to a Portfolio Workspace in which we could look at all project across the board.
- SharePoint. SharePoint is a rock star. However, This takes time, patience and money. The PMO mentioned above this was used as a document repository, team sites(sub sites) for communications and general information.
Last but small point...Smartsheet now has a direct link to jira. It works really well.
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1 reply by Julia Trabert
Aug 02, 2016 10:47 AM
Julia Trabert
...
Thanks so much for your detailed response Scott! This is really helpful. Will definitely watch that webinar as we are currently deciding the PMO structure.
I definitely need to keep in mind that the methodologies must be clearly defined before we even look at tools (can't let the cart go before the horse!). Glad to hear that Smartsheet was able to bring projects and program together and provide a portfolio level view though. If the JIRA integration works well then I think is a real contender, depending on the methodologies we align on of course. Mavenlink seems like a similar and strong option given the JIRA integration, but haven't heard anyone mention it yet..
I feel we won't have the manpower to wrangle SharePoint, but since we will be getting access for free it might be worth advocating for hiring a SharePoint admin. We will definitely need to investigate the JIRA integration with SharePoint to compare to Smartsheet.
Saving Changes...
Julia TrabertPMO Lead| Reasoning MindDenver, Co, United States
Thanks so much for your detailed response Scott! This is really helpful. Will definitely watch that webinar as we are currently deciding the PMO structure.
I definitely need to keep in mind that the methodologies must be clearly defined before we even look at tools (can't let the cart go before the horse!). Glad to hear that Smartsheet was able to bring projects and program together and provide a portfolio level view though. If the JIRA integration works well then I think is a real contender, depending on the methodologies we align on of course. Mavenlink seems like a similar and strong option given the JIRA integration, but haven't heard anyone mention it yet..
I feel we won't have the manpower to wrangle SharePoint, but since we will be getting access for free it might be worth advocating for hiring a SharePoint admin. We will definitely need to investigate the JIRA integration with SharePoint to compare to Smartsheet. Saving Changes...
Julia TrabertPMO Lead| Reasoning MindDenver, Co, United States
Aug 02, 2016 9:49 AM
Replying to Scott Sale
...
In effort to keep my response short :) I will say there is alot going on with the question and situation posted.
Without knowing the size of your organization keep the following in mind 'Rome was NOT built in a day".
One of the first things is knowing your type of PMO. Is it a controlling, directing or supporting PMO? There is a solid webinar by a fellow PM member Mario Trentim that explains this a little more in detail and it is well worth the hour.
Having been in your situation and utilizing the exact same suite of tools here is how we broke down the use from a PMO to Program to Project.
- Since there is a methodology in place the PMs should all be clear on the methodology. - The PMs need to standardize on a single tool set. There should be no "one off" project management tool. The bad side of this there is no one tool that is one size fits all so not everyone will be happy. - Once you have standards in place and the tools this will allow you to report all projects, standard metrics and you will have a full view of the project workload.
I realize the above statements are very much an oversimplification as there is A LOT in involved.
The last item is the tool set. The approach we took was the following. - Jira is used for tracking the requirements, it is the product backlog. It is the development tracking systems and this is where you managed the details. The key was consistency in updating jira tickets (how to update, what to update, when to update).
- Smartsheet was used to tie all projects and programs together. We created different Workspaces for the different groups. This had the projects tied together with a Master sheet that linked the project together for the Workspace to get an understanding of status. Additionally, This was tied to a Portfolio Workspace in which we could look at all project across the board.
- SharePoint. SharePoint is a rock star. However, This takes time, patience and money. The PMO mentioned above this was used as a document repository, team sites(sub sites) for communications and general information.
Last but small point...Smartsheet now has a direct link to jira. It works really well.
Thanks so much for your detailed response Scott! This is really helpful. Will definitely watch that webinar as we are currently deciding the PMO structure.
I definitely need to keep in mind that the methodologies must be clearly defined before we even look at tools (can't let the cart go before the horse!). Glad to hear that Smartsheet was able to bring projects and program together and provide a portfolio level view though. If the JIRA integration works well then I think is a real contender, depending on the methodologies we align on of course. Mavenlink seems like a similar and strong option given the JIRA integration, but haven't heard anyone mention it yet..
I feel we won't have the manpower to wrangle SharePoint, but since we will be getting access for free it might be worth advocating for hiring a SharePoint admin. We will definitely need to investigate the JIRA integration with SharePoint to compare to Smartsheet. Saving Changes...
The leadership members whom I've worked with have never liked diving deep into the details. I usually have to create a summary update for them with Power Point. As for keeping track of the different parts of projects or portfolios, I like Mindjet MindManager even though it is lacking some features. Then again, there isn't a tool out there that has everything on my wish list.
It allows you to create more visual project plans. You can choose to collapse/expand different "branches" of a project to drill down to specific details. You can also convert into an interactive PDF so that people you share the document with can collapse/expand different parts without having to download the application. I also like to use it work workshop activities/brainstorming sessions.
I believe you can get a free 30-day trial from their website. Saving Changes...
