Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
I'm part of committee and our objective is to analyze Status Reports to understand what pain points are and create recommendations on how Status Reports creation and distribution processes can be improved.
Our committee has surveyed PMs for their pain points and our next task is to survey our IT Mgmt, PMO, Business Management and Project team members.
Please provide some questions you think we should ask our stakeholders.
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The pain points are not about your PMs. The pain points are about your stakeholders. Take a look to "Solution Selling" (or SPIN selling) selling method.
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1 reply by Lea Bongiovanni
Aug 02, 2016 8:09 AM
Lea Bongiovanni
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While I do not disagree that the stakeholders have pain points, the PMs have pain points too and it is important to understand what those pain points as we were appointed as a committee by the PMs.
Saving Changes...
Scott SaleProgram Manager| KindredLouisville, Ky, United States
@Lea B. Questions to a stakeholder audience for pain points could be the following.
- What should the frequency be of the status reports?
- Where should the status reports come from?
- What format should the status report be presented?
- Is it email? with PPT? or xls?
- Is it a web report
- What data would like the stakeholders want to see in the report?
- Percentage complete?
- Red, yellow, green status
- PV vs. EV
- Variance
- etc
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1 reply by Lea Bongiovanni
Aug 02, 2016 8:11 AM
Lea Bongiovanni
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Scott, Thank you so much for responding to my request for some questions that the committee can ask stakeholders. Also, thanks for reading my question and responding to my ask. I really appreciate it.
This should be driven from your stakeholder analysis into your communication management plan. As Sergio alludes to, each stakeholder has different expectations for status reports. Will you try to provide different reports or force them (train them?) to accept one comprehensive report. The former makes it easier on the stakeholder while the latter makes it easier on the PMO or project manager.
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1 reply by Lea Bongiovanni
Aug 02, 2016 8:12 AM
Lea Bongiovanni
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Thank you for responding back. Good thoughts. However, I was really asking for some questions I could stakeholders to better understand what their pain points are.
Saving Changes...
Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Aug 01, 2016 1:36 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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The pain points are not about your PMs. The pain points are about your stakeholders. Take a look to "Solution Selling" (or SPIN selling) selling method.
While I do not disagree that the stakeholders have pain points, the PMs have pain points too and it is important to understand what those pain points as we were appointed as a committee by the PMs.
...
1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Aug 03, 2016 3:21 PM
Sergio Luis Conte
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There is not a pain point for a PM except the client pain point. As my professor Mr. Alan Davis said: "client is paying to assure that all your objectives will be achieved thanks the project you are leading. they are not painying because the product or the process to create the product". All your work related to reporting (this will be part of Project Communication) must be focused on your stakeholder needs, not in PMs needs. And when I talk about all the work I am talking about elicitacion-analysis-construction-validation about all related to reporting as part of Project Communication.
Saving Changes...
Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Aug 01, 2016 3:59 PM
Replying to Scott Sale
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@Lea B. Questions to a stakeholder audience for pain points could be the following.
- What should the frequency be of the status reports?
- Where should the status reports come from?
- What format should the status report be presented?
- Is it email? with PPT? or xls?
- Is it a web report
- What data would like the stakeholders want to see in the report?
- Percentage complete?
- Red, yellow, green status
- PV vs. EV
- Variance
- etc
Scott, Thank you so much for responding to my request for some questions that the committee can ask stakeholders. Also, thanks for reading my question and responding to my ask. I really appreciate it. Saving Changes...
Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
This should be driven from your stakeholder analysis into your communication management plan. As Sergio alludes to, each stakeholder has different expectations for status reports. Will you try to provide different reports or force them (train them?) to accept one comprehensive report. The former makes it easier on the stakeholder while the latter makes it easier on the PMO or project manager.
Thank you for responding back. Good thoughts. However, I was really asking for some questions I could stakeholders to better understand what their pain points are. Saving Changes...
What is the data collection method? What are issues in data collection? What is the frequency of data collection? What are the issues in data analysis? How long does it take to complete the analysis? Is it taking too much time, how to improve. Is there any tool or resource required? Is there any problem in accessing historical data? Is there any security related issues?
(If not mentioned in contract or requirements) Is there any preferred date/week to send/receive reports? What should be the content and format? Saving Changes...
Lea BongiovanniProject Manager| ConfidentialPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Thank you so much, Visswanathan! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post. The questions you provided will great assist me and the committee I'm working with.
Thanks! Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Aug 02, 2016 8:09 AM
Replying to Lea Bongiovanni
...
While I do not disagree that the stakeholders have pain points, the PMs have pain points too and it is important to understand what those pain points as we were appointed as a committee by the PMs.
There is not a pain point for a PM except the client pain point. As my professor Mr. Alan Davis said: "client is paying to assure that all your objectives will be achieved thanks the project you are leading. they are not painying because the product or the process to create the product". All your work related to reporting (this will be part of Project Communication) must be focused on your stakeholder needs, not in PMs needs. And when I talk about all the work I am talking about elicitacion-analysis-construction-validation about all related to reporting as part of Project Communication. Saving Changes...
Joel SparksProcess Excellence Black Belt| Baptist Health System of KYLouisville, Ky, United States
I have found that one of the most effective and important questions I can ask my key stakeholders is a simple one.
"What decisions do you need to make with this information?"
This will open the door to everything else I need to ask - like how often do you need the info, what should be included, etc. Frequently the stakeholders won't have the detail I need to actually create an effective status report, but knowing how they intend to use the information helps me find the answers. Saving Changes...
