Cutting's Edge Project Management

October 21, 2010 – Communicating what Matters

2010-10-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Several of the brain dump entries from February center around “Communicating what Matters.” This shouldn’t be a surprise. Some have estimated that 80% of project management is communication. Others claim that 63% of all statistics are made up on the spur of the moment. The mark of an excellent project manager is communicating the right amount to the right people in the right format at the

February 5, 2010 - PM Value Brain Dump

2010-02-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here writing down all the words and phrases that come to my mind in relationship to real Project Management. Here is what I have so far. Communicating what MattersInformed DecisionsChange with PurposeMonitoring DirectionLeading, not just ReportingAnalysis of ActivityControlling the OutcomeRemoving Random FactorsRisk ManagementInvolved StakeholdersEnabling ManagementPlanning

January 24, 2010 – Driving me Crazy!

2010-01-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

Having a GPS in the car drives me crazy. I do not operate well with directions that come one step at a time. It may be the Project Manager in me, but I want to see the big picture and know where I’m heading. Besides, at 65 miles an hour, I can’t judge “300 yards before taking the next left.” I’m not even sure if “Miss Voice” means her left or mine.I realized this last week as I was traveling to a

January 13, 2010 – An “OH [INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE]!” Moment

2010-01-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

I bolted awake at 5:11 this morning…heart pounding, mind racing…to the sound of rain. Living in Southern California, it isn’t a sound I hear all that often, but it is one that strikes fear into my heart. Lest one think that I suffer from Ombrophobia, I actually enjoy a good rain storm. I miss the huge thunderstorms we had growing up south of Buffalo, NY. My true fear of rain rises from the list

April 6, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 6

2009-04-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

NOTE: On January 12, Computerworld published an article I wrote entitled Covert PMO. This series of entries is a fictional account based on the Project Manager in that article. Any resemblance to anyone from my past, present or future is purely coincidental. To start at the beginning, jump to January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1.Day 27, Tuesday – Management meetings have been switched to

March 2, 2009: Leadership requires Involvement

2009-03-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

"Every soldier deserves competent command. Air conditioned officer's quarters are no place for a leader whose troops are under fire. General Fred Franks once said, "You gotta get onto the fight. Commanders must be visible. They must be present in order to ignite the soldier's resolve. They must provide a bottomless supply of courage for soldiers to feed on when their own supply begins to dry

February 16, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 5

2009-02-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

NOTE: On January 12, Computerworld published an article I wrote entitled Covert PMO. This series of entries is a fictional account based on the Project Manager in that article. Any resemblance to anyone from my past, present or future is purely coincidental. To start at the beginning, jump to January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1.Day 21, Wednesday – Finally, a piece of good news: the designer

February 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 4

2009-02-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

NOTE: On January 12, Computerworld published an article I wrote entitled Covert PMO. This series of entries is a fictional account based on the Project Manager in that article. Any resemblance to anyone from my past, present or future is purely coincidental. To start at the beginning, jump to January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1.Day 16, Friday – Wow! It’s Friday already. Payday is always nice.

January 19, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 3

2009-01-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

NOTE: On January 12, Computerworld published an article I wrote entitled Covert PMO. This series of entries is a fictional account based on the Project Manager in that article. Any resemblance to anyone from my past, present or future is purely coincidental. To start at the beginning, jump to January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1.Day 14, Wednesday – Had lunch today with a couple of other Project

January 8, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 2

2009-01-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

NOTE: On January 12, Computerworld published an article I wrote entitled Covert PMO. This series of entries is a fictional account based on the Project Manager in that article. Any resemblance to anyone from my past, present or future is purely coincidental. To start at the beginning, jump to January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1.Day 12 – Monday. Take a deep breath….hold it…let it out slowly.

January 1, 2009 – Going Covert, Part 1

2009-01-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

Day 1 – It should have been an easy operation: go in, implement the update and get out. But it was anything but easy. It led to the Incident. Years from now I’m sure the Resource remaining with the Company may laugh about it, but this week the PMO was hit hard. The Head was chopped…gone. They pulled rank, brought her a box to go with the termination speech and brought in a Yes Man.It may have

December 15, 2008 - Killing False Confidence

2008-12-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

You leave for your flight well ahead of schedule. Traffic is light and you arrive, unhurried, at the airport. Strolling up to the counter you secretly laugh at the frantic people running toward the crowded ticket line or scanning the flickering departure screens in panic. Being the saint that you are, you even let a mother with a screaming child ahead of you in line, silently praying they are not

November 26, 2008 – Watery Lessons

2008-11-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of a "working vacation." Those are the ones you use to catch up on all the pieces that have been dropped over the last several weeks...or months. This blog was supposed to be one of those things. I had one topic started, but ran the concept by the Computerworld Project Management Editor. She likes it, so I will be developing an article on it...which means I needed another

October 27, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Communication – How

2008-10-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Once, in the midst of a long distance relationship I had the grand idea of sending a Western Union Telegram to my girlfriend. From my vast knowledge of telegrams, based solely on movies and TV, I knew that every time you put a period they say "STOP" to indicate the end of the sentence. I envisioned a hand delivered envelop with the words “Don’t STOP loving me and I won’t STOP loving you” on

October 13, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Communication – When

2008-10-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Rarely do you hear a project sponsor say, “There is way too much communication going on here.” Unfortunately a common complaint is the lack of communication. True, the loudest complainers are often those that opted out of the weekly status meetings and never responded to your emails. You are left wondering when it is appropriate to connect with them.When to Speak Up. This weekend I was listening

September 29, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Communication - What

2008-09-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

While waiting in line at Costco to buy my $1.50 hot dog and soda, I watched the manager collect money from the tills and seal it in plastic, oblong containers. He walked over to the wall and stuck them in a pneumatic tube. With a muted *phoomp* they shot up and out of sight.Long before email, the quickest form of interoffice communication was the dial switch message tube. Plastic cylinders were

September 15, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Competing Project Constraints

2008-09-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

Following last week’s edition, one of my project management co-conspirators dropped me a note informing me that the triple constraint (see The Troubling Triangle) is officially dead. The upcoming release of the PMBOK Guide 4th edition has killed it.In lieu of the binding, restricting, tri-legged barer of logic, PMI has opted for “Competing Project Constraints.” The new PMBOK includes Scope,

September 8, 2008 – Back to the Basic: The Troubling Triangle

2008-09-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

In our quest to return to the basic of project management we have already tackled the stakeholders. Next we take on the triple constraint in the form of a triangle. The concept of a triangle to represent the Scope, Schedule and Cost of a project is actually quite ingenious. Adding more scope dictates an increase in the schedule, cost or both. Reducing the cost or timeline for the project

September 1, 2008 – Back to the Basic: Stakeholders

2008-09-01T23:40:00.001-07:00

On July 17, 1999 I was sitting in an emergency room waiting for x-rays to confirm something obvious. My six year old daughter had broken her left arm just above the elbow. On the television a worse parental nightmare was unfolding for the Kennedy family. The night before, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane had crashed off Martha’s Vineyard, MA (USA) and the news was covering the ongoing search. It

August 18, 2008 - Stand up and act like a... PM?

2008-08-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

For the past few weekends I have been pulling together training material to cover Project Initiation, Tracking and Reporting for HP’s Project and Program Management tool (PPM). Not the most inventive of names but it seems to be a fairly robust system that integrates Financial and Project Management at the corporate level with add-ins for QA and other project pieces. For that reason all of my

August 4, 2008 - Failure to Manage

2008-08-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Our house recently went through some medium size renovations. It began with replacing the hot water heater with a tankless model. During the installation the plumber explained that our galvanized pipes were badly corroded. In some places the rusty build up was seeping through to the outside of the pipe and in other it was clogging the water flow.Scope change #1: add $5500 to re-pipe the house

July 20, 2008 - Random Thoughts

2008-07-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

While on vacation I am pulling together a chunk of my blog entries to publish in book format entitled Project Management RX: 101 Daily Doses. This hasn’t left me much time to sit down and write anything new, but I did have a couple of random thoughts to pass on to you.Red, Yellow, Green. The often used RYG symbols indicating project status risk levels have proven very useful. But what if you

July 14, 2008 - Postponed...

2008-07-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

Too busy this weekend with house renevations, family stuff and prep for vacation. Should be able to add an update later this week.Until then....

July 7, 2008 – Making the Time Tracking Switch

2008-07-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

Over the next several months, our company will be upgrading the project management system and adjusting our processes to take advantage of new features. One of the features getting a significant amount of interest is resource management. The ability to plan resource availability in advance will allow us to understand our project capacity and identify bottlenecks in time to adjust.The key to

June 30, 2008 – Muskrats in Your Levee

2008-06-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Last week the Mississippi River broke through the levees holding it back despite the efforts of hundreds of people fortifying it with sandbags. What caused the problem? Muskrats. Their burrows in the grounds along the river weakened it to the point that a breach was formed, flooding miles of farm land.As managers we strive to make sure the project stays within the course set by the river banks

June 23, 2008 - 10 Ways to Avoid Falkirk

2008-06-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

The Falkirk battle scene in the movie Braveheart has William Wallace engaging the English army. At a crucial point in the fight, the Scottish nobles that were supposed to be his allies betrayed him and withdrew from the field, leaving him to be defeated. Knowing who your allies are is important. Knowing you can trust them is vital.This goes both ways. You need to know your team is behind you

June 16, 2008 - Along for the Ride

2008-06-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

For Father’s Day yesterday, we went to Knott’s Berry Farm, technically the oldest theme park in the United States. Father’s Day has to be the best day to go to an amusement park because there were no lines. While we were waiting to board one of the roller coasters I snapped a picture of the warning sign: “Many rides at Knott’s Berry Farm are dynamic and thrilling. There are inherent risks in

June 9, 2008 – Project Success…at What Cost?

2008-06-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

Great things can be accomplished if Scope, Budget and Duration are no object. Here are some historical examples:Hoover DamScope: Stop a river and produce 2080 megawatts of power. Budget: $49M US cost (under budget)Duration: < 5 years (2 years ahead of schedule)Added Expense: 112 DeathsEgyptian PyramidScope: Started as a grave. Scope creep resulted in one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient

June 2, 2008 - Under Construction

2008-06-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of multiple construction projects. Last week it was the guest bathroom. A trip to IKEA netted a new vanity, sink, faucet, medicine cabinet and wall shelves. For good measure I purchased a new light. Because nothing is ever simple, I had to drywall part of the hole where the old medicine cabinet was and add a layer of paint to that wall. All things considered it turned out

May26, 2008 - Memorial Day

2008-05-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Take the time you would have spent reading this blog to honor those who have protected the innocent, preserved freedom and provided peace.

May 19, 2008 – Purpose Driven Projects

2008-05-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking at PMI-San Diego’s annual Project Management conference. There was a great turnout and several excellent key note speakers. Friday’s lunch time speaker was Karen McBride, NASA Mars Program Executive, speaking about the upcoming Mars landing of the Phoenix project (5/25/08). She recapped how they managed the risks of attempting to land an expensive and

May 12, 2008 – Stop Wasting My Time

2008-05-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law, Paul, tells a story about a boy, Theo, who wass afraid of clowns. The tale follows Theo’s life from childhood to teenager to young man through to his old age. At different stages in his life he attempts to survive a circus performance but always ends up fleeing, screaming hysterically, at the sight of the clown. He tries therapy, hypnosis and other extreme means to cure

May 5, 2008 – Keeping Junk and Throwing Valuables

2008-05-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Value. It is a word that has come up several times over the last few weeks. My wife recently snagged me two Eisenhower dollar coins (1974 and 1978) she saw someone spending. We were also speaking to a realtor about possibly selling our house. Neither the coins nor my house were worth as much as I had hoped, but without knowing their value I might have given away something for nothing.This can

April 28, 2008 – Them’s Fightin’ Words!

2008-04-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

Choosing the wrong words can start a fight. I vividly remember conducting a PMO status meeting with upper management in which I nearly started a brawl without meaning to. While reporting the results of a recent project audit, I made the observation that very few resources were completing their weekly status reports. I surmised that management was setting a poor example by not producing their

Volunteering: Good for Credibility, Bad for Blogging

2008-04-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Volunteering has been on my mind lately. This is partly because I am now a member of the Board of Directors for the Orange County Chapter of the Project Management Institute (www.PMI-OC.com). Volunteering is a great way to:Get involvedMeet people who share similar interestsEstablish credibilityNetworkHave fun while doing it.It is also the reason I didn't get around to writing a entry this week.

April 14, 2008 – Surviving the Project Review Firing Squad

2008-04-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Companies have this crazy idea that they want their projects to be successful. To ensure this they modernized the firing squad and changed the name to “Project Review Meeting.” A recurring meeting is scheduled where the project managers stand up and give an account of their progress. Guns loaded, management fires questions at them, trying to find holes in their stories.Here are 5 ways to help

April 7, 2008 – Scope Creep in Tent City

2008-04-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

The city of Ontario, California had a problem: a large number of homeless people. To address this, the council decided to create “Tent City” using the land around the airport. They supplied tents, water and toilets. Government agencies supplied other goods and services. Everyone felt good about themselves and life was looking grand.Unfortunately, this solution just created a bigger problem:

March 31, 2008 – Estimating Lessons Learned – Communicating the Results

2008-03-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Back in December my 1997 Plymouth Neon was totaled when someone rear-ended me, forcing my car into the next one. It is an odd feeling to look into your rearview mirror and know that the car behind you isn’t stopping. The insurance company sent me a check for a whopping $2,545. To quantify that massive amount, they compiled an 18 page document comparing my car to similar vehicles using mileage

March 24, 2008 – Estimating Lessons Learned – Estimate Creation

2008-03-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

No matter which estimating type you use, there are common steps to creating one.Lesson 6 - Include your Team. Don’t estimate in a vacuum. Using the team sets you up for success on two fronts. First, the estimate will be more accurate. They know the details of what needs to be done, without which you are just pulling a number out of your hat. Second, it builds buy in and commitment. If they are

March 18, 2008 - Estimating Lessons Learned - Agile Methods

2008-03-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

One of the most pathetic looking sights on the highway is a man walking, head down, with a gas can. He represents the ultimate in poor estimating practices. It is bad enough that he ran out of fuel, but he was probably already late or he would have stopped to get gas. Having the embarrassment of trekking back to the car only adds to his dilemmas.One of the misperceptions of Agile development is

March 10, 2008 – Estimating Lessons Learned - Traditional

2008-03-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

Estimating is probably the hardest part of any project. My wife will attest that my ability to estimate when I will leave work is inversely proportional to the importance of me getting home at a specific time. The plan will be for me to only work until noon the day we leave for vacation. At 2:00 I will still need to finish my status report, change my voice message and set my out-of-office email.

March 3, 2008 – Estimating Lessons Learned – Side Track

2008-03-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

After last week’s blog entitled “Estimating Lessons Learned” I received the following comment:“On the contrary-publishing an estimate of 1,433 hours may be entirely appropriate, unless there's a general disclaimer and/or policy noting that all estimated in a named range are rounded up to the "developer day" (five or six hours) or to a calendar week.Generally I avoid spontaneous schedule

February 26, 2008 – Estimating Lessons Learned - Intro

2008-02-25T00:02:00.000-08:00

“How long to add text messages to the data transfer communication link?” the director asked.The project manager was obviously hesitant to give an answer. “We haven’t really considered it yet. Why do you ask?”“I’m heading to a meeting and the question may come up.”“I would need more time to think it through completely but just for discussion purpose, I would ball park the figure at roughly $50,000

February 19, 2008 – Welcome Aboard!

2008-02-19T23:25:00.000-08:00

"Welcome aboard!" is, unfortunately, the only orientation some Newbies ever receive when starting a new job. If they are lucky someone shows them where the restrooms are...and how to find their way back. I can’t say how or why it happened, but I recently heard that a new project manager, on his first day, excused himself to use the facilities...and never came back. If you want to retain resources

February 11, 2008 – Did You Get What You Wanted?

2008-02-11T00:19:00.000-08:00

It was the perfect gift. Our daughter’s CD / Cassette player stopped functioning in time to add it to the Christmas list. We found just the right one on line for about $60. Unfortunately by mid-January it quit. It didn’t start skipping or playing songs backward, it simply refused to turn on. We contacted the company and sent it back: $19 shipping and $6 handling fee. Within two weeks a new one

February 4, 2008 – When the Plan Fails

2008-02-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

In an on-shore / off-shore set up you need to expect the unexpected. Half you your team is in a foreign country, half way around the world. You’re never quite sure what time it is where you live, let alone where ever they are. Languages, especially English, can lead to confusion. Names are redundant (there are four Toms where I now work). I’m not sure how you could possibly have seen the

January 28, 2008 – Practical Authority

2008-01-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

Over the last several weeks we have been looking at Authority: how to gain it from scratch and how to get it back when you loose it. Once you get it, though, how do you use it effectively? With the four types of Authority (Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty, Expert) as the basis, lets look at some practical suggestions.Positional. Having your name on the org chart above mine doesn’t mean you

January 21, 2008 – Grabbing Authority – Regaining Lost Ground

2008-01-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Authority is slippery. The more you try to grab it and hold on, the quicker it slips away. As a consultant I learned that positions are temporary and titles are only names. You can reach for the next rung on the ladder as high as you want but in the end you need to have a light grip and your eyes open. One project officer I worked with failed to recognize the signs when he lost his authority. In

January 14, 2008 – Grabbing Authority – Building from Scratch

2008-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

Responsibility without authority is useless. Just because you are given a job to accomplish doesn’t mean everyone is going to fall in line behind your leadership. Whether you are a brand new project manager or starting over in a new place, there are steps you can take to build you authority.The last entry discussed the different types of authority: Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty and Expert.

January 7, 2008 – Grabbing Authority - Introduction

2008-01-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

Authority is weird. You can be granted it and have it stripped from you. You can wield it like a club or wear it like a mantle. You can build on it or let it slip away. Typically the fact that a Project Manager is assigned to a project gives her some level of authority. Unfortunately the authority granted by the Charter (assuming you got it approved) doesn’t stretch very far when all the other

January 6, 2008 – Same Old Same Old?

2008-01-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

I know. I’m a little late on the "welcome to the new year" thing. But as I sat down to write my blog tonight it struck me that we have a full new year in front of us. I’m not one to create huge goals or make great predictions, but think of the possibilities. If you have been waiting to get certified, this may be the year to do it. Sick of your old job? Find a new one. Stuck in a rut? Climb

January 2, 2008 - Back from vacation...

2008-01-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year.We took a trip to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas over New Years Eve weekend with my parents. The Grand Canyon was by far the best of the three.The great part about the trip was having my parents with us. It reminded me of all the trips we took growing up.Those trips were the basis for my December 3 Computerworld article. Check it out at

December 24, 2007 - Twas the Night before Christmas

2007-12-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Technically it is the extremely early hours at the beginning of the day before Christmas. I've just spent the last several hours wrapping presents with my wife and listening to music. Rather than making a half hearted attempt at writing something intelligent I will simply wish you a Merry Christmas."And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at

December 17, 2007 - Use Case Diagrams: A PM's View

2007-12-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

Last week I attended a class on managing requirements with Use Cases. It was aimed at training business analysts and programmers to use Unified Modeling Language (UML) to understand and communicate business requirements . As a project manager I found it both enlightening and encouraging. Enlightenment. Bottom line, modeling requirements is the quickest way to work with the end users and agree

December 10, 2007 - Burnt by Hiring a Newbie

2007-12-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

As an account manager for various clients, I have had to hire project managers to fill open slots. The hard part is separating the bad from the good. One agency I worked with promised me a solid project manager as a replacement for one that left. When he arrived I sat him down and started laying out my expectations for scheduling, status reporting and other normal activities. It was met with a

December 3, 2007 – Lacking Commitment

2007-12-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

They stripped a month off my project. Okay, technically I misunderstood them when they said go-live was September. What they meant was there would be a month long parallel run in production before they turned off the old system in September. Either way there were four less weeks of development time.After sketching out the timeline, System Testing was scheduled for July 18. The four weeks to

November 26, 2007 – How to survive an Audit

2007-11-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

Truth in reporting is vital to building trust and successfully managing people and projects, but sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut. Too much information can lead to problems. One of my former co-worker never had the filter between his thoughts and his lips installed. Case in point: Needing to take Friday off, he asked his manager for the time off. That part was great. However, when

November 19, 2007 – Automotive Sponsor Problems

2007-11-18T21:47:00.000-08:00

It is never good when your mechanic calls and asks, "How attached are you to this vehicle?" Friday was not one of my better days from that perspective. I drive a ten-year old Plymouth Neon and normally it gets me where I need to be. Sure it leaks oil and steering fluid but the AM radio still works and three of the four door locks are still automatic. But Friday it decided to die on the way to

November 11, 2007 – Humility Helps

2007-11-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

One of the ugliest things to hear about yourself is, "he thinks more highly of himself than he ought to." I heard someone once ask, "Aren’t you as impressed with him as he is with himself?" Brutal. I once worked with a guy that really thought he was something. When he finally left he let everyone know how lucky the new company was going to be to get him. We felt luckier ourselves.I’ve been

November 5, 2007 – Dealing with a Newbie, Part 2

2007-11-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Last week we looked at how to deal with a pretty standard newbie just trying to fit in, establish himself and be productive. But what happens when you get a problem newbie? Some are just killing time while collecting a pay check but others may actually be gunning for you and your job. Either one is a pain to deal with. Here are some suggestions for training your newbie to get his act together and

October 29, 2007 – Dealing with a Newbie, Part 1

2007-10-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Starting at a new place can be very daunting. It represents a clean slate. Few, if any, people know who you are, what your past is or what your capabilities are. Whether you are looking to clean up your act or just re-establish yourself in a different environment, it can be intimidating.As a manager adding new people to your project or organization you need to be aware of the newbies in your

October 22, 2007 – Relationship vs. Task Oriented Management

2007-10-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Within project management there are two main types of personalities: Relationship oriented and Task oriented. It is fairly easy to tell the two apart. Aside from having a detailed project schedule, the Task oriented manager has a separate list of things they need to accomplish today and they feel great when all of them are checked off. The Relationship oriented manager’s schedule is really a

October 15, 2007 – How am I doing?

2007-10-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today is the real test of how well I am doing at my new job. It is payday #2. If I don’t get a paycheck it might be a good indication that I am failing. Since they are unlikely to just drop me from the payroll, I guess I need to find a better way to check on my progress.Which reminds me of a story I have heard a couple of times. A teenager knocks on his neighbor’s door and asks to use the

October 8, 2007 – MS Project Resource Baseline Fix

2007-10-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

Creating a baseline for your project is the starting point for tracking your progress. It is your line in the sand against which you measure your success. It may show that the first deliverable is over budget/schedule compared to the baseline but the next one is under. Evaluating the variances and trends allows you to make adjustments throughout the life of the project.The baseline should

October 1, 2007 – Mediocrity: Caring Enough to Give Your 2nd Best

2007-09-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful powered airplane flight. It was quite an amazing accomplishment, but I don’t believe it would have been possible if they were working in today’s business world. The problem would have been the drive for perfection. It would have started something like this…Orville: “Yes, sir, this is the design. The scope statement says

Sept 24, 2007 – Starting Over

2007-09-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

I survived the first week at my new job. Starting over can be exciting and a bit scary. Having survived nearly 15 years in the consulting industry, I am no stranger to rebooting my work experience. Actually, I even wrote an article for Computerworld about the topic (The New Guy's Guide to Building Trust). Upon reviewing the list of 10 steps in the article, I think I’m off to a good start. I

Sept 17, 2007 – Project Management Warnings Part 3

2007-09-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Alright, we get it. Project management is dangerous work and should be handled with caution. But sometimes it isn’t the project that is the problem, it’s the people. Some stakeholders and resources can cause more problems than any technical issues you will ever encounter. For that reason I suggest that they should be required to wear their own signs. Here are some you might need to hand out

Sept 10, 2007 – Project Management Warnings Part 2

2007-09-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

Last week we established that project management should come with big yellow caution signs. The work place is a dangerous road trip and we need to look out for each other. Here is another batch of signs to keep us moving in the right direction. Toxic Fumes. Status reports can be deadly if inhaled carelessly. First, never take at face value your team members’ status reports. You should

September 3, 2007 – Project Management Warnings Part 1

2007-09-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

From where I was sitting by the pool in Palm Springs, California last week I could see the warning sign posted above the hot tub. As I read the words of caution I substituted the words “project management” for “spa.” Surprisingly, some of them actually made a lot of sense. Take the following two examples:“For health and safety reasons, no children under the age of fourteen (14) years shall be

August 27, 2007 – Balancing Your Budget by Taking a Vacation

2007-08-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

A word to the wise…do not go tent camping at Perris Lake, CA in August. You know you are in the wrong place when the locals say you are lucky the temperature dropped…to 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius). As soon as the sun rises over the hills it immediately jumps to 85F (29C). As you can imagine, ground baked at those temperatures for extended periods of time tend to be hard. Not the best of

August 13, 2007 – Fortune Cookie Management

2007-08-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Not far from work is a Chinese buffet that we frequent to celebrate birthdays and any other excuse we can fine. It is called the World Buffet and in order to maintain truth in advertising they throw in French fries, pizza and Hawaiian chicken to give it a more global menu. You can still tell it is a Chinese restaurant, though, because they hand out fortune cookies with the bill.While listening

August 6, 2007 – Time to take it Easy

2007-08-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here in the sunny southern California my daughters have passed the mid point of their summer holidays. July and August seem to fly by faster than any other months of the year. Last summer I missed most of that time because I was working out of town, flying back and forth just to spend the weekend at home. That summer window of opportunity of spontaneous fun freedom slipped by with me out of

July 31, 2007 – Cultivating a healthy Project Schedule

2007-07-31T07:48:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my wife and I went out and purchased some plants, dug up one of the flower beds and replanted it. All the weeds and crabgrass were pulled and all the dead or dying plants removed. We followed the directions and placed the plants the recommended distance apart. We even added topsoil! The results were favorable. The new flowers filled in nicely.When I walked by it this morning I

July 23, 2007 – Random Quotes, Sayings and Definitions

2007-07-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

I’ve started collecting sayings and words of wisdom having to do with project management. Some of them may eventually become entries on their own, but most of them are just a little too random. So today I’m going to pull a bunch of them together and run with it.Getting it in writing is a key concept in project management. Here are a few sayings about the importance of the written word.· Verbal

July 19, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – in a Projectized Organization

2007-07-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is the last in a series looking at authority. To wrap up we will focus on the projectized organization and give some practical tips for leading in this environment. Control is but an illusion.Projectized Organization.In a projectized environment teams are formed of resources that, if not hired directly for the project, are assigned almost 100% to it. You, as the project manager,

July 16, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – In a Matrix Organizational

2007-07-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

This is the seventh in a series looking at authority. Focusing our attention on the matrix organization we’ll look at some practical tips for surviving in this environment. You have officially lost control….Matrix Organization.A matrix environment can be a difficult place to manage. As we have seen, it is that fuzzy area between Functional and Projectized organizations. Project

July 12, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – Organizational Types Matter

2007-07-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is the sixth in a series looking at authority. Here we switch to practical uses of the four authority types within an organizational. This session will describe the difference between Functional, Projectized and Matrix environments. Understanding your organization puts the fun back in DysFUNctionalA Functional organization is divided by areas of specialization or

July 9, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – Expert Authority

2007-07-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth in a series looking at Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty and Expert types of authority, their use, abuse and challenges. It’s not what you know… It’s who knows you know it.Expert Authority.Expert Authority is based on the respect gained for your abilities. If you can earn the respect of your team and management you have the highest level of achievable

July 5, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – Reward/Penalty Authority

2007-07-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth in a series looking at Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty and Expert types of authority, their use, abuse and challenges. The beatings will continue until morale increases. Reward/Penalty Authority.Reward/Penalty authority is the use of both positive reinforcement and punishment to motivate people. Balance is the key. Too much reward and it becomes an

July 2, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – Referent Authority

2007-07-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is the third in a series looking at Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty and Expert types of authority, their use, abuse and challenges.Character matters.Referent Authority.Referent Authority is the ability to influence others through your charisma, personality and charm. People are drawn to personalities. They like working for good natured, caring managers that take an interest in them for

June 28, 2007 – Authorized to Manage – Positional Authority

2007-06-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

This is the second in a series looking at Positional, Referent, Reward/Penalty and Expert types of authority, their use, abuse and challenges. Authority extends only as far as those under you allow it and only as long as those over you support it. Positional Authority.Positional Authority is based on where you sit in the organizational chart. Also known as Formal Authority, it

June 27, 2007 – Authorized to Manage - Introduction

2007-06-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

My first experience with management responsibilities was as an account manager for the consulting company where I was working. For my group of consultants this meant making sure their timesheets were in on time and compiling their annual review documents. In the grand scheme of management it was pretty low level. What was interesting, though, was the way some people treated me when they found out

June 25, 2007 – Just Another Day at the Beach

2007-06-25T12:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the beach. Living 20 miles from the sunny shores of southern California you would expect us to go there more often than we do. After yesterday it may be a while before I go back. We were there with our Church to baptize* my youngest daughter. We jumped waves, body surfed, swallowed a bunch of salt water and ate hotdogs.I came home extremely tired and chilled…with

June 19, 2007 - Where's the Finish Line?

2007-06-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

One summer at camp we had a big foot race. It went from the archery range down to the beach and up a steep trail before ending on the main lawn. Knowing the finish was at the top of the hill I sprinted and was in first place coming off the trail. Having reached the summit I fell to the ground, glad to be done. Looking up I saw the finish line another 50 feet in front of me. Needless to say, I

June 12, 2007 - Project Gamble: Hold or Fold?

2007-06-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

One of my co-workers is an avid Blackjack player…and he is good at it. On any given evening he can make several hundred dollars playing. The casinos he visits have started changing decks and dealers more often when he is in the house. One of his secrets is to know when to stop. He tells me about other players that start to loose and then start up their bets in an attempt to make it back.

June 4, 2007 – Under New Management

2007-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

In the restaurant business the sign “Under New Management” is like a clean slate. It is as if they are saying, “All those bad meals and lousy service you had before are a thing of the past.” When you are part of the staff it leaves a lot of questions. “What kind of manager will this new guy be? Will he keep all of us old timers or replace us with younger and cheaper waitresses? How can I

May 29, 2007 – How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Team

2007-05-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

One rotten apple can spoil the whole bushel. Imagine the speed with which it can happen if that apple is the project manager? It doesn’t take long before the rot starts to spread and any chance of success dwindles. So how do you keep from ruining your perfectly good team? Here are 5 sure fire ways to accomplish it.Demotivate Them. I remember a specific meeting in which I got shot down and how

May 21, 2007 – How to Meet Expectations

2007-05-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Some things are predictable. Love stories always end with the couple getting together. Tragedies end with someone dying. If you are watching a horror movie you know the phone won’t work and the lights will go out. You also know that instead of staying together where it is safe the characters will venture off on their own and become victims. Predictability is so ingrained in us that when

May 14, 2007 – Less Obvious ROI

2007-05-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

When I was working with a system support group we had to scramble each month to determine the Return on Investment (ROI) for the system enhancements. Changes ranged from new reports to added functionality with other odd things in between. Needless to say, determining the ROI for adding a product color field to a report lacks a certain excitement and requires a lot of creativity. Technically it

May 7, 2007 – Confrontational Conversations

2007-05-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

It was a rough game. During the week I spend my life as a mild mannered project manager, but on the weekends I turn into an AYSO Soccer Referee. Unfortunately this time there was trouble. The blue coach was the one that started pushing my buttons. It probably started right at the beginning when I informed him that his spectator’s dog had to leave the field. From then on he questioned

April 30, 2007 – So What?

2007-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has teenagers or has had to deal with them will inevitably run into one with a bad attitude. Even their body language says “SO WHAT?” As project managers we deal with a lot of issues, risks, problems and people. Some times it makes you want to throw your hands up and say, “So what?!?!” Actually, that might not be a bad idea. How would that look for issues, risks, budget or

April 16, 2007 – A Question of Ethics

2007-04-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ethics has been the topic of several separate conversations I have had recently. One friend expressed near outrage about a discussion she overheard between two of her managers. It ended with one saying, “Well, your ethics aren’t necessarily mine!” Another friend found it amusing that he was able to avoid the company ethics meeting by lying about already attending.It is odd to think that we

April 19, 2007 – From Education to PM without Experience?

2007-04-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Tomas from the Czech Republic sent an email in regard to the “How can I become a PM?” podcast. He asked how to break in to the project management role coming from the academic world. He finished studies in Economics and Management and had a Software Engineering degree. He now has a lot of theoretical knowledge in IT and Economics but doesn’t want to be a programmer and lacks the experience to

April 16, 2007 – Audit Failures

2007-04-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who used to work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a tax collector for the United States. When this agent performed an audit he expected you to be honest and work with him to determine what was owed. He had the authority to make your life miserable if you chose to mess around. After trying unsuccessfully on one case to work through issues with an individual the agent

April 9 – Avoiding Hindsight Management

2007-04-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

This article was originally published at http://projectmanagementlearningcenter.com/.Growing up in rural western New York we had cold, long winters. Natural gas wasn’t cheap even then. With 4 sons and a chain saw, my dad would cut enough firewood to heat a big, four-bedroom, 2-story home from October to April.Cutting firewood has its dangers, though. Those large oak and beech trees don’t fall

April 5, 2007 – It’s in the Game – Information Overload Part 2

2007-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

An overload of information is like adding Olympic Games traffic to major city rush hour. No one ends up going anywhere. Yesterday we looked at how to reasonably limit the Project Schedule. Today we will look at meeting minutes and messages.Meeting Minutes. Minutes are extremely important. I recall one project that I transitioned to another project manager where the client immediately started

April 4, 2007 – It’s in the Game – Information Overload Part

2007-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

One of the advertising campaigns for EA Sports is “It’s in the Game,” referring to the fact that the games are technically accurate as well as fun to play. Actual statistics are included to make their games as realistic as possible. While I was managing a project for Electronic Arts I began playing more of their games. Depending on your perspective the level of detail included can either be

April 2 – 7 Steps to Overcome Misperceptions

2007-04-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

People living in the LA area are big on perception. Billy Crystal used to say, “It is better to look marvelous than to feel marvelous.” Sometimes this works to your advantage. When I was in my early 20s my hair started turning grey around the temples. This gave me the appearance of being older and wiser and others took my ideas seriously as a result. Other times, however, it can work against

March 23 – Testing Done Right

2007-03-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

My team recently had a small part to play in a huge implementation. There were something like 23 interfaces with other departments and outside organizations, thousands of modules and the actual implementation took nearly 48 hours. To give you an idea of the size, our small part included the removal of nearly 200 jobs and over a million lines of code. Even with all the activity, all systems were

March 26 – Budget Management Checkbook Style

2007-03-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

This article was originally published at http://projectmanagementlearningcenter.com. I have really messed up my checkbook. It started around Christmas time. When I tried to balance it in January I failed miserably. Since I can balance the budget for a multi-million dollar project I should be able to handle a checkbook that borders on empty every month. Even with a new Quicken file in February