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Links and info for project professionals and all who manage projects.

Project administration - better than root canal surgery by Kirin Bondale

Regardless of the PM methodology used for a given project, project administration exists. On the low end it may be as minimal as reporting which specific work items have been completed and effort remaining on incomplete work items. On the high end it may include time entry, issue, action, task and risk status updating.

Convincing project team members that these activities are a necessary part of their work on your project is a challenge, especially when you have no formal authority over these resources. As project managers, what can we do to alleviate this pain? One approach could be for the project manager to shoulder this burden on behalf of the team, but that is hardly a good solution. The PM will end up with little time to manage all but the smallest projects.

http://www.projecttimes.com/kiron-bondale/project-administration-sure-beats-root-canal-surgery.html

Overloaded project manager? 8 simple tips by Lisa Anderson

Do you sit in project meetings?  How about develop project plans?  Report out to executives or board members?  Track results?  I’d bet if I tracked the time of 10 managers on any day of the week, at least 8 of the 10 would have some sort of involvement in a project for at least part of the day.  For most of my clients, it would be 9 out of 10.  So, as an overloaded manager, why not think about a few tips to stand out from the crowd? 

http://www.projecttimes.com/lisa-anderson/overloaded-project-manager-here-are-8-simple-tips-to-help.html

How to manage the state of your Project

Excerpt on 'How to Manage the State of your Project' by Craig McQueen.

"Applying a scientific method permits an organization to acquire new knowledge and integrate and correct previous knowledge. In this way an organization can improve with how they deliver projects. It enables an organization to make fact-based decisions rather than relying on opinions."

http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/how-to-measure-the-state-of-your-project.html

Status Reporting, Clarity and Accountability' by George Pitagorsky

Excerpt from article titled 'Status Reporting, Clarity and Accountability' by George Pitagorsky. About the importance of status (performance) reporting to the success of your project.

"The content of a status report should be presented in levels of detail, mapped to the projects work breakdown structure, deliverables or activity list.  The report addresses scope, time and cost.  These three represent the traditional Performance Measurement Baseline.  Scope, time and cost are objective and quantifiable.  Their current state can be compared with a baseline.  The project plan is the baseline.  Regardless of the level of detail, report content must reflect the plan. "

Go to http://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/status-reporting-clarity-and-accountability.html

Universal Challenges for Project Professionals

There are many challenges experienced while managing projects that transcend business units, companies and even industries. They are common and sources of risk that until now are simply accepted along with lower quality project results. The industry, project scope, technology etc. change but the issues for project professionals and for those who manage projects, are consistently the same issues. 

Challenge: ‘Although I have a recurring scheduled meeting weekly, to go over the progress of my projects, booked into my teams’ calendars, the people I need to have in my meetings to move it forward don’t attend and when they do they aren’t prepared with the answers I need.’

Challenge: ‘Although I spend time pouring through the details of my project daily, I never seem to feel like I’m controlling my project. Instead, it feels like my projects are controlling me. I’m always playing catch up.’

Challenge: ‘I always feel like I have too many projects to manage and I have to cut corners on the amount of time I spend on the project plan maintenance just to stay on top of things that are in progress.’

Challenge: ‘I spend way too much time preparing and providing status updates on my projects. I just don’t have time to produce all of these status reports and effectively manage my projects.’

Challenge: ‘as a project professional, I know that I am only as good as my last project. I also know that it’s vital that I build and establish my brand. I can’t do it in such a busy environment, as I am forced to cut corners to get my job done. How do I increase the value of my brand without having to give up my workload (especially projects I really want to work on) to do it?’

A large chunk of a project professional’s day is buried in administrative work that requires a great deal of time, concentration, plan & progress analysis to determine the impacts of a project’s current progress. This then needs to be clearly communicated to the team in order for the plan to be executed effectively.

There are a lot of moving parts of a project that can help or hurt your project. If your analysis is done badly or not at all, many of the challenges above become the norm. If done well, the number of projects that can be managed by the same project professional reduces dramatically. There seems to be no solution to this, so sub-par quality is simply accepted. More project professionals are hired to compensate for this shortage.

At least 75% of a project professional’s job is focused on clear, concise and timely COMMUNICATION! The successes of your projects rely on your ability to communicate the right information to the right people at the right time. While this sounds simple, determining the right info, people & time is a challenge that requires solid preparation and plan analysis. 

While there are dozens of project planning & execution software solutions available there are no software solutions that support the project professional with the heavy administrative element of their jobs.

The administrative element of a project professional’s job directly impacts: the number of concurrent projects they can manage, the efficiency with which they manage their projects; the efficiency with which their team executes and the level and effectiveness of the involvement of the project sponsors and executives. Ultimately this leads to an increase in the amount of control you as a project professional and your sponsors and executives have over the projects.

No matter how well-crafted your plan is, if you aren't communicating the right info to the right people at the right time to produce the right results your project will struggle.

Most organizations either do not understand or see the value in hiring a project administrator. In many cases the kind of analysis that the PM needs done, needs to be done by the PM in order for the PM to gain a greater insight into the deliverables of their projects and the dynamics of their team.

If any of these challenges ring a bell or if there are challenges you've experienced I haven't mentioned here please reply by commenting on this blog. And thanks!!

 by Sean Best, PMP. Owner of exOrion LLC. His 20+ years of project management experience includes work in the banking, payment processing, telecommunication and software development industries. He can be reached at exorion.solutions@gmail.com