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Tag: Project Management
Delivering Excellence Even When You Dislike the Client
Ever had those times when you knew you were performing at your highest level and you just weren’t connecting with the project client? It is not easy, giving 100% to those who don’t seem to like you or don’t seem to appreciate the effort.
I’ve been there. I had one client who said they didn’t like me. My tech lead said, “You don’t even know Brad.” Their response? “We are paying $150 / hour (my company’s charge rate at the time for a PM on a project) and we have a limited budget.”
What did I do? I decreased the visibility of my role, cut my travel out of deliverables and onsite meetings and made them feel a whole lot more comfortable. I could still manage the project effectively and they saved money in the process. Then they loved me, and we finished the project under budget and with a nice high profit margin. Win-win.
So, I’m not so much looking at this from the angle of us not liking the client, but rather the relationship just not being A+. Perhaps they are very difficult, and you just don’t like them. Whatever the case… how do you go forward, manage the project, team and customer effectively and eventually deliver a winning project? Let’s look at some steps or ideas on how to get there…
Go through the motions. This sounds bad, but it’s true. In this scenario you basically put your head down and run-on auto pilot using the best practices knowledge you’ve gained through years of experience and keep your eye on the prize of a successful project delivery despite the adversity and consider it a huge win if you do. This doesn’t mean you don’t think and manage and be strategic. It means you go solo with your team as much as possible and involve the customer as little as possible. This goes against my overall feelings that customer participation is a huge part of the successful project equation. But if this gets you through it, it’s better than any project confrontation if it helps avoid it.
Suck it up and be responsive. In this scenario, you put a smile on your face and put aside every difference you might have and pretend that the customer smells like roses… or just always picture them in their underwear… in a non-pervasive way. Sort of like they told you how to get through those first big presentations in your personal or professional life without fainting or wetting yourself. Remember that first college speech or whatever? Use that… you can make it!
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Give some things away. You can take the high road, turn the other cheek, and kill them with niceness. You still will not like the customer, but they end up loving you and that’s half the battle. Give something or several things away for free knowing you probably end up winning in the end because of it. They (the customer) become more cooperative – if that was a problem – you get past some issues and get things accomplished. You do not have to give away a lot, but make sure it is known that it is being given away. There is nothing worse than suffering through a project – giving things away to make better things happen – only to keep the pain and suffering going because they don’t realize they are receiving a “gift.” The gift giver usually should not brag or boast or point this out – but in this case you need to in some not too subtle way, so you don’t keep pulling your hair out.
Never forget to rely on your support team. Finally, never forget to rely on your team. They are not the problem, and you must take the blinders off and managing the whole big picture, not just your frustrating situation with the client. Otherwise, you’ll end up taking it back to your wife and if she has to listen to it for too long she might kill you in your sleep! I’ve been there. Seriously, though… your team is assembled with pros who have felt this way themselves. If they say they haven’t ever – then they are probably lying. So, rely on them to keep you from getting too aggressive with the customer – let them step in when needed and take the lead so you don’t have to show frustration and can keep your game face on throughout the engagement. After all, the customer isn’t likely to feel too comfortable with a PM that basically wants to smack them every time they talk. You can think it, but do not let it show and hide behind your project team when necessary to make it through. They are your 10 step support group.
Summary / call for input
So there you have it. My opinions and steps and thoughts on how to make it work when you and the client – for whatever reason – are not really the best of friends. It can make for a long 3 months, or 6 months, or even 2 years depending on how long the engagement lasts… but just because you do not like each other doesn’t mean you can’t win on the project. If that were the case none of us would have very many Facebook friends from our high school days. And now some of those are the most fun Facebook friends to have, right? And now you get along!
Readers – what are your thoughts? Have you ever had those strained project relations that you have had to punch your way through and basically grin and bear it till the end no matter how the yucky customer treated you or no matter how much you didn’t like them? Life is not just always coming up roses and it can be hard. Managing projects is nearly always hard, not always fun, and sometimes it can be a nightmare. But there is usually a light at the end of the tunnel. Even a marathon ends after 26.2 miles even though you are sure you will fall dead first!
How to optimise resources in matrix organizations?
Matrix organizations have prevailed for decades, predominantly in multi-project environments.
Gallup states that 84% of organizations are matrixed to some extent. A resource pool allocated to cross-departmental projects is typical in a matrixed organization, which means employees have dual or multiple reporting managers.
Matrix organizations have proven beneficial in terms of breaking traditional silos within the organization, enhancing collaboration, and helping in better decision making.
However, critics have adjudged that managerial conflicts and challenges in monitoring and controlling resources limit such organizations’ effectiveness. Moreover, in matrix organizations, several projects across departments and locations are on the boil. So, shifting priorities that skew resource utilization is quite common.
Optimizing resources against their availability and competencies is easier said than done.
To meet dynamic resource demands, resource managers end up over or under allocating resources, unintentionally.
So the question is: How can matrix organizations optimize their resources amid the changing demands of multiple projects?
Many project-intensive businesses are still relying on clunky spreadsheets and homegrown solutions to manage their resources. These legacy systems are cumbersome and fail to mitigate the resource optimization challenges within the modern business ecosystem. To optimally tap your resource pool, you need enterprise-level resource planning and scheduling software.
The following tips will ensure effective resource optimization in a matrix organization:
1) Enterprise-wide visibility: Matrix organizations have multiple dimensions, so enterprise visibility is a prerequisite for effective resource optimization. Matrix organizations can benefit from resource management software that provides 360-degree visibility of all your resources and work demands.
Also, complete visibility helps keep track of tasks, resource availability changes, and impact on project health and workforce capacity. Hence, appropriate resourcing treatments are applied to optimize resources in a multi-project environment.
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2) Set clear expectations: According to Gallup, matrixed employees are more engaged than their non-matrixed counterparts. But they lack clarity on expectations at work. Therefore, maintaining open communication, including actionable performance feedback, is necessary for role clarity. It helps keep employees and managers on the same page, but it also drives outcome-driven alliances and informed decision-making.
Mc Kinsey’s research on Organizational Health Index (OHI) reveals that role clarity improves accountability, a critical component of OHI. Role ambiguity is highly pervasive for matrix organizations. So, leaders must ensure setting clear expectations aligned with business objectives is a continuous process. So, instead of annual performance reviews, regular feedback on employee progress can improve overall engagement.
3) Prioritize projects before allocating resources: In a matrix organization, it is common to have multiple active projects demanding a common skilled worker. Ideally, the allocation of highly skilled members should be prioritized for high priority projects. However, the distribution of skilled workers across all the projects is essential, otherwise, one project will get all the focus.
The organization should also have an out rotation strategy to kick start new projects by pulling out the niche resource from ongoing projects. Accordingly, backfills can be trained and allocated to fill in the vacancies. This way, the current projects can continue their course, while new projects get off the ground on time.
4) Identify and allocate competencies: One of the crucial steps for resource optimization is competent resource allocation. Most resource planning and scheduling tools help identify and assign the right resource to the right job. Based on criteria like skills, experience, qualification, location, and cost rate, resource managers can make optimal use of the resource pool.
Besides, these tools’ self-serving model enables users to update their skill and training information, which undergoes verification before approval. So, the resource competencies are up to date in real-time. Subsequently, seamless resource requesting in matrix organizations takes place.
5) Measure capacity vs. demand: Matrix organizations can vastly benefit from a resource capacity planning tool. It can forecast capacity vs. demand from multiple perspectives like role, department, skills, location, team, etc. The scientific forecasting model helps in identifying excesses or shortages ahead of time.
Accordingly, resources can be hired, reskilled or upskilled, or juggled around project timelines to attain resource optimization. Besides, predicting resource demand for future or pipeline projects buys you time to have an optimally balanced and skilled resource pool. Having a judicious blend of full-time, part-time, casual, and contractual staff prevents last-minute hiring and firing costs.
6) Minimize bench time: In large organizations, especially in IT firms, unplanned ramp down on current projects are common. Additionally, if pipeline projects are absent, the bench strength increases. This adversely affects the bottom line and narrows project margins. Foresight into future project vacancies helps identify resources on the bench due to under allocation of work.
Proper capacity planning will minimize bench time by mobilizing resources from non-billable to billable work. In case benched resources lack the skills needed for a task, upskilling and reskilling them eliminates the hasty hiring process.
The Takeaway:
Efficient and effective resource optimization within matrix organizations is achievable using modern resource management software. This tool breaks traditional silos within multi-project intensive organizations and facilitates quick reshuffling of resources across departments and locations. As mentioned above, these tips will resolve utilization issues and optimize your resource pool for enhanced profitability.
Critical Chain Project Management: Everything You Should Know
Project managers need practical techniques and methods to plan and track project timelines and prevent delays.
At the same time, they need to consider limited resource availability and task dependencies without overworking their employees.
These methods help prevent projects from deviating from their original plans. The Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) method is one of the most reliable techniques for managing project timelines and resources.
In this article, you’ll learn the basics of CCPM, which will help you decide if this method is appropriate for your company.
The Origins of CCPM
In 1997, Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt developed and published Critical Chain Project Management as an outgrowth of one of his other innovations, namely the Theory of Constraints (TOC).
To improve production capability and the degree of efficiency, TOC focuses on distinguishing and adjusting bottlenecks, as does the critical chain method.
What Is CCPM?
Critical chain project management is a project planning method that focuses on task resources. These resources include people, money, equipment, and physical space, among other things.
CCPM creates an environment where people can quickly identify and monitor dependencies between tasks and resources. It also lets project managers handle uncertainty and unforeseen situations by:
- Bringing task duration estimates to an average
- Planning a schedule backward starting from the due date to make sure tasks are done when needed
- Protecting the project by putting buffers in the plan
- Controlling the plan and getting feedback by monitoring the buffers
Unlike the critical path method (CPM), this one doesn’t aim to find the absolute best schedule. Instead, it tries to find a good enough solution.
CCPM uses the concept of buffers to make sure that resources are available when they’re required for the completion of a task. Four types of buffers are the following:
- Project Buffers are inserted between the last task and the completion date and make sure the date doesn’t change.
- Feeding Buffer is set at the end of non-critical chains to prevent any delay from the critical chain.
- Resource Buffer is inserted at the beginning of the critical chain and ensures it has the essential resources.
- Capacity Buffer provides on-call resources in case unforeseen budget issues arise.
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Why Use CCPM
Traditional project management tools usually suffer from budget and time overruns of up to 50–200 percent. Project managers base their plans on predictable tools and experience, but eventually, something’s bound to get out of control. Traditional project management processes are geared to manage uncertainty and reduce risks by:
- Increasing task durations and taking worst-case scenarios into account.
- Starting work early to avoid delays.
- Starting multiple tasks at once.
- Concentrating on start and finish points.
Chain management offers several benefits:
- It allows a team to monitor the whole project’s life cycle and how their efforts move the tasks along.
- It increases team productivity and capability by letting everyone concentrate on their tasks.
- It reduces student syndrome, which is when people put off work until the last minute.
- It allows you to experience a more timely project completion by considering the minimal time needed and not focusing on safety margins.
- Significantly decreases the critical requirements.
- Reduces the effects of Murphy’s law and Parkinson’s law.
Steps You Need to Take to Be a Pro at CCPM
1. Define the Critical Chain
Identify the most important tasks as well as ones that are the most time-consuming. These tasks will make up your critical path. You should begin your work with the most important tasks and then organize others in descending order.
2. Design 50/50 Timelines
Each task’s duration represents an estimation of how long it’ll take to complete. However, such estimations typically include excessive safety time. By cutting the duration in half, you will create a sense of urgency in your team and push them towards a more productive and efficient timeline.
3. Identify Resource Constraints
Your resources are your time, budget, employees, office, equipment, etc. By identifying and eliminating the resource constraints before you start, nothing will catch you off guard in the middle of the project and delay your tasks. Thus, you will be able to plan everything accordingly.
4. Design A Detailed Model for Your Project
It’s best if you create a detailed CCPM model that includes task descriptions, available resources, a time table, time buffers, and the due date. You should definitely share it with your team and let them know what others are doing and how the project is progressing.
5. Implement Buffers
Buffers are important to project management tools used for unexpected changes and uncertainties. They will help your team finish the job faster because they act as shock absorbers and control the process. This way, you’ll have all the information you need to take recovery actions.
6. Abolish Multi-Tasking and Limit The Focus
Make sure your team members have just enough on their plates to keep them focused on individual tasks, but not so much that it will force them to multi-task, which will reduce productivity and stretch the timeline.
Bottom Line
Critical chain management can be helpful for many projects, as it allows them to be completed on time, without compromises and waste, and within budget. It can help you lead your team to better productivity, efficiency, and speed.
The Benefits of Mapping Benefits
It is generally accepted that projects should deliver benefits – it’s a projects raison d’etre.
Yet projects often focus on the delivery of products, losing the link between project activities and business benefits. As a business analyst working in the public sector, I find this frustrating – projects should focus on the delivery of benefits.
Benefits mapping is useful analysis technique for understanding the links between project activities and benefits. Benefits maps provide a visual representation of the links between project activities and the delivery of benefits. As such, they can be used to foster a benefits-focused approach to project delivery.
What is a Benefits Map?
A benefits map (or benefits dependency network) is a useful technique for understanding how a project will deliver business benefits. According to the BCS, a benefits map is “A diagrammatic representation of what needs to be done on a project/program in order to achieve its expected benefit”. The idea is simple – link project activities to the benefits they directly impact.
There is no clear ‘standard’ for producing benefits maps. There are numerous variations, many of which are relevant to specific types of project of business initiative. However, the following elements generally apply to all projects and/or change initiatives:
- Enabling Changes – project deliverables/activities that support the delivery of a larger business change/deliverable
- Business Changes – the changes that project/initiative will implement
- Business Benefit – a measurable benefit that will be delivered as a result of a Business Change
- Objective – the project and/or business objectives supported by the project
- Strategic Goal / Business Driver (optional) – the overall goal, vision or threat that is driving the delivery of the project
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Project deliverables and activities (or ‘Enabling Changes’) are mapped to Business Change deliverables, which in turn are mapped to the overall Benefits of the change. Benefit maps can then be extended to link Business Benefits to Project Objectives, which in turn should be linked to a Strategic Goal or Business Driver. As the example below shows, the result is a visual representation that clearly demonstrates the connection between project activities and an organisation’s strategic intent.
The relationship between changes, benefits and objectives is not always a one-to-one relationship. Below is a benefits map for a fictitious project to build and move a family into a new house. Although it sounds rather simplistic, further analysis of the changes, benefits and objectives shows the relationships between them are not clear cut.
Of course, this is my benefits map for my project to build a family home. My objectives and benefits may be different to someone else who is undertaking a similar project to build a house. Thus, while some of the project activities and changes may be the same, the benefits and objectives are likely to be different. The same logic applies to different organisations undertaking similar projects – you are unlikely to ever come across two benefits maps that are the same.
To get the most out of a benefits map, it should be produced early in a project/initiative, updated regularly, and reference throughout the project to keep the focus on benefits delivery.
Why Map Benefits
There are several reasons to map benefits. The most obvious is to assist in benefits planning and realisation – understanding what, how and when business changes are expected to deliver business benefits provides a basis for benefits planning and realisation activities. However, benefits maps can be used as a project management analysis technique to create a common understanding across several areas of a project.
Communication: Understand Why
Benefits maps are a useful technique for understanding and communicating the impact of a project from different stakeholder perspectives. Large projects/programs can consist of many moving parts, making it difficult for individual staff to see why certain activities or deliverables are considered important. It can also be difficult for business stakeholders to understand why they may need to change, and for managers to understand why certain activities are important. Benefits maps can support understanding across stakeholder perspective by allowing:
- project delivery staff to clearly see how the activities they undertake impact the delivery of benefits and, thus, contribute to the overall success of the project
- stakeholders to understand the benefits of change
- managers to understand the link between project activities and strategic objectives.
Risks: Assess Impact
Benefits maps can be used as a tool for quantifying project risks. By creating a clear link between project activities and benefits, benefit maps allow for risks associated with the delivery of project activities to be quantified in terms of the benefits they impact. Benefits maps are also useful in assessing the impact of a change to a projects budget, scope or timeline, supporting the assessment of any project change in terms of the benefits delivered.
Plans: Deliver Benefits
Benefits maps can be a useful tool for planning project activities. In much the same way as a Product Breakdown Structure is used to deconstruct project deliverables, benefits maps can be used to deconstruct what needs to be done in order to achieve a business benefit. The main difference between a Product Breakdown Structure and a benefits map is that the focus is on the business change and the benefits, rather than the deliverable.
As a business analyst involved in the project feasibility and initiation, I find benefits maps a much more powerful technique compared with product breakdown structures. Linking project activities to business benefits is a good way to justify project work and cost estimates. Benefits maps can also assist in constructing a business case narrative that describes how a project links with an organisations strategic objectives.
Conclusion
Benefit maps are a powerful analysis technique for supporting project management. Benefits can provide a common reference point when prioritising project activities, quantifying project risk, and communicating with stakeholders. To get maximum benefit from a benefit map, the benefits should be mapped early and referenced often to ensure a project stays focused on the delivery of benefits.