Project Management Software

Browse our posts by category or by author. Subscribe to RSS feeds by author, category, or all posts. We love comments, so let us know what you think.

Scope Creep to Scope “Timber”

21 September 2011 - POSTED by Tyson Steele

Earlier this month I went to my cabin in the Uinta Mountains of Utah to do some maintenance. As I was clearing the nearby forest of debris, I decided to cut down some dead pines to make room for other smaller ones. I was not ready for what was coming.

When cutting trees in the past, I usually used a chainsaw. On this trip, however, I only had an axe, and without thinking, I chose to start with the pine having the biggest trunk. After about five grueling hours, I was on the same tree, ready to give up. Eventually, though, the tree snapped, and I felt pretty accomplished.

Timber

However, completely buried in the task of chopping, I didn’t realize that the tree would fall across the road – my only way back home. For all the work I did, I was going to have to do it three and four times over just to get back home.

Sometimes, for all the work invested in a project, success just ends up being a big problem in disguise. For me, it was due to neglecting a few fundamentals of project management.

First, I was not prepared. With any project, it is important from the beginning to identify as many project constraints as possible and plan accordingly. In my cutting down the tree, I had no plans whatsoever – no way of knowing that the work involved would be so strenuous, long, and come with such unpredictable results.

Second, I was not equipped with up-to-date tools. In project management, the team should have the tools they require to quickly and efficiently do the job. Project management software plays an especially significant role in eliminating time consuming management processes. It makes the difference between an axe and a chainsaw. In the time that I cut down one tree with an axe, I could have cut down thirty with a chainsaw.

Third, I applied no strategy. I did not make the proper cuts in order to direct the fall of the tree. In project management, when a poor methodology is applied, the amount of effort being put into a project doesn’t matter if it is going into the wrong place. Just because a project seems to be “cutting” well does not mean that it will “fall” well.

Any project with poor planning, old tools, and no methodology will obviously encounter problems. Like cutting down a tree, if you aren’t careful with a project, scope creep can come so suddenly that perhaps a more fitting term is scope “timber.” It just crashes and turns into another project, even bigger than the first.

1 Comment »

Does Anybody Still Use the Pony Express?

6 September 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

Utah's West Desert From April 3, 1860 to October of 1861 the Pony Express carried mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Before the telegraph, the Pony Express was the most direct means to send a message to points west. During the 18 months the the Pony Express operated, it reduced the time it took for mail to reach California from weeks or months to about ten days. It was state of the art for its day. However, I don’t think anyone uses the Pony Express anymore.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I spent a little time on the bike and one of my rides crossed the old Pony Express route. It is a pretty lonely road now, I can only imagine what it must have been like in 1861. I also thought about how communication technology has developed since the days of mounted couriers racing across the desert.

Needless to say, email, text messaging, and instant messaging (and don’t forget telecommunications) have changed the way we communicate with each other. Although I didn’t check, I’m sure when I was out on the old Pony Express route, I could have taken my cell phone out of my pocket and called home—what a difference 140 some odd years makes.

The big question for us now is, "What’s the best way to communicate and collaborate with our project teams?"

I wish I had the magic bullet answer.

If you’re like me, email is a very big part of your day. I probably spend about as much time in email as I do any other application on my computer. I also have a text messenger up all the time and my desk phone and cell phone are right next to my computer—not to mention the opportunity to walk over to the next desk and have a conversation. Needless to say, I am very connected (there are also a number of people I communicate with regularly through my project management software, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter). I have found that depending upon the type of communication, what I’m communicating about and who I’m communicating with, I tend to choose the most appropriate method for sending and receiving messages.

As project leaders, we have a lot of communication tools at our fingertips (we also have teams spread around the world). Choosing the right communication and collaboration methods to help our project teams get work done is critical to project success. How do you determine the best way to share information and collaborate with your team?

0 Comments »

Do You Remember?

3 August 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

the little people I think it was Geoff Crane (@papercutpm) who suggested a while back that you wouldn’t walk into the carpenter shop, lay down the power screwdriver on the bench and expect it to build a piece of furniture. It’s not the tool—it’s the carpenter.

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and she shared with me what I think is a pretty common workplace complaint. "My boss has forgotten what it’s like to actually do the work." Have you ever felt this way? I know I have.

I don’t think it matters if you’re a project leader or have any leadership responsibilities, if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to forget what it’s like to be the individual contributor at the team level. Although there are some project leaders who have never actually worked as a member of the project team prior to becoming a PM, I think most of us have. Do you remember what it was like?

It’s easy to forget that it doesn’t really matter what work management methods you use or what project management software you log into, the real linchpin to project success is your team. Do you spend enough time outside of your office working with the team? Do you have a complete understanding of the part they play in project success?

You might be surprised to know that a little over a year ago AtTask sponsored some very enlightening research conducted by the folks at Forrester regarding this topic. They asked knowledge workers if their managers completely understood their contribution and what they did. 40% said NO. It was even worse for the executives. 60% said NO.

I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what my project team is doing and I imagine that you probably feel that way too. Unfortunately, perception is reality, and this research suggests that our teams don’t see it that way.

So what do we do?

I think there are three things that will help move the needle:

Step away from the computer and spend time working on the project with the team. Take an active part in the project as an individual contributor if you can. At the very least, make sure you understand the limitations of the work environment so you can remove roadblocks and impediments to performance.
Keep your door open. Be accessible. It might feel like you’re making more work for yourself that way, but part of your role as project manager is to lead the people on your team, which means they need access to you.
Pay attention to team member accomplishment and acknowledge them appropriately. For the most part, people are proud of what they do, and a little recognition for accomplishing something difficult goes a long way. When appropriate, praise should be public and specific. Vague platitudes don’t work.

Like most things, these suggestions are not original to me. I’ve picked them up over the years from wise mentors or the school of hard knocks—but that doesn’t make them any less valuable. Simple as they sound, give them a try and see if your team doesn’t come to appreciate the fact that you understand what they do (and maybe they’ll even be willing to do a little more at those times when you need a little extra effort).

1 Comment »

Is Email the Best Way to Communicate and Collaborate?

14 July 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

email As many of you know from my last couple of posts, I’m spending the week in Japan meeting customers and preparing for a presentation at the PMI Japan conference to be held on Saturday. I’m having a great time (despite the record-breaking heat).

Over the last several months, I’ve had a couple of conversations about the effectiveness of email as a project-related communication medium. Today I had an interesting conversation with a very sharp Japanese project manager about her efforts to eliminate email and manage all their project communications through their project management software. Before I weigh in with my opinion, I’m interested to know if any of you have attempted or been successful at the same thing.

Tell us about your experiences and in the next day or two, I’ll share my opinion regarding email, collaboration and project communication. Is email an effective tool for sharing project information? Is there a better way? What are you doing to successfully promote communication and collaboration?

0 Comments »

Trust the Team to Get You There

13 July 2011 - POSTED by AtTask Newsletter

Japanese Imperial Palace I’ve spent the last couple of days in Japan preparing for a presentation at PMIJ this weekend. A little over thirty years ago I lived here, but a lot has changed (not to mention my ability, or rather lack of ability, to speak and read the language). As I’ve been bouncing around from place to place via the incredibly convenient mass transit system, I’ve had to trust the directions I’ve received as I’ve expressed where I want to go and have been given instructions on how to get there.

Since it’s been so long since I’ve lived here, I’m just not as savvy about the train system and reading kanji as I once was—and couldn’t help but relate this to how I rely on the members of my team to accomplish their objectives to subsequently accomplish ours.

In a city like Tokyo (where I have never lived), it would be silly for me to tell the people at the train station the route I want to take to see the Imperial Palace or other site of interest. They have a better idea on the way the system works and can tell me what train to board and where to board it. I trust them to get me to my destination (and they haven’t let me down yet).

We need to trust that those closest to the work have the best understanding of what needs to be done, how it should be done and how long it’s going to take. It doesn’t make sense for us as project leaders to micro-manage the process to the point where we minimalize our team member’s experience, in favor of what we may have forgotten or never even knew. And yes, doing so I would call silly.

If you don’t now, may I suggest that you give this a try. Before you commit your next project plan to the Gantt chart of project management software, involve the team in the planning. Share with them what the project is trying to accomplish, and why. You might be surprised at what they will commit to doing, if given the opportunity to contribute to a worthwhile objective.

0 Comments »

The Importance of a Good Foundation

12 July 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

Kokura Jo In Utah, if something is 100 to 150 years old we think it’s old. However, in other parts of the world, the foundations are old enough that they existed long before the Utah Pioneers settled the valley. I was reminded of that last month when I visited London and walked around the grand buildings that predate the formation of our country, and this week as I’ve had a couple of days to visit a couple of Japanese historical sites.

I don’t think it really matters what type of project we’re working on, before we can empower the team to really make a difference, we need to make sure that we have a good foundation of work management best practice. Otherwise, the project structure we build will never stand the test of time. Here are a few practices I have come to rely on as the solid foundation to a successful project:

Make sure the project has a strong sponsor. Every project needs a sponsor who will evangelize the value of the initiative throughout the life of the project.
Make sure the project is adequately funded. The temptation is to take whatever funding is offered, but without adequate funding—it’s usually the project manager who ends up in hot water when the project fails for lack of financial resources.
Pick the right team. Make sure the team includes all the skills that will be needed for success. Just because someone is available, doesn’t always mean they are the best to work on your project.
Plan. Planning is more than just preparing to deliver the final product. It should involve a continual process of evaluation and adjustment.
Know the end before you begin. Make sure you know what the outcome of a successful project is before you start. What does "done" mean? Financial experts call this an "exit plan."
Prepare for change. The very nature of projects create change. Whether it’s a new product or an improvement in process or technology. Makes sure to prepare for the change.

Regardless of the particular work management methodology you choose, or even the project management software you use, if you are able to encourage some foundational project management behaviors that have proven to produce successful projects, I can’t promise that your project will last for hundreds of years, but you’ll likely become skilled at leading successful project teams.

Are there any other foundational practices we should add to the list?

0 Comments »

Where Are We Going?

27 June 2011 - POSTED by AtTask Newsletter

Baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ’cause you might not get there."

Last week at the Gartner PPM Summit in San Diego, it was suggested in Tuesday’s keynote presentation that being on time, on scope and within the budget only amounted to 43 percent of project success. Furthermore, it was also suggested that project alignment to strategic vision was the most important factor to whether or not a project was successful.

This makes a lot of sense to me. If the team doesn’t know where they’re going, we shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t get there. I’ve mentioned before that I once worked for an organization that didn’t make their corporate goals for the year public to employees until November. As Yogi said, "If you don’t set goals, you can’t regret not reaching them." Organizationally, I’m not sure what’s worse, not setting goals or not sharing what they are with the people actually responsible for making them happen.

I once worked in an organization where the companies goals for the month were made public at the beginning of every month. As a result, we all knew what we needed to do to contribute to those goals. We didn’t receive any extra compensation, but we all worked to make sure that we were doing everything we could to ensure that we met our monthly goals. Of course I can’t speak for all of my colleagues, but I took a lot of personal pride in my efforts to successfully achieve our goals.

The French political thinker and historian wrote, "Chance does nothing that has not been prepared beforehand."

I believe part of that preparation includes making sure that organizational goals are transparent to everyone. I once spoke with the director of a PMO who made sure that the objectives of every project were articulated on every form and every task of his project management software. This type of transparency empowers team members to contribute at a higher level. What’s more, it tells everyone on the project team that we value their contribution as something more than simply showing up and doing what they’re told.

Mark Langley, President and CEO of the PMI (in the previously mentioned keynote address) asserted, "We’re all in the business." I think he’s suggesting that everyone has a stake in corporate strategy and goals; and because we all play a role in the business, we all need to be focused on creating value and meeting customer needs. I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

What are you doing to encourage transparency within your project teams?

0 Comments »

Democratizing Work: Empowering Teams and Maximizing Value

17 June 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

Gartner Presentation After a long travel day yesterday, I’m home from a wonderful visit to London. It was a great experience presenting at the Gartner event about the value of democratizing the way we manage work.

After attending the conference, one thing is very clear: the workplace is changing, and that includes the workforce. The way we lead project teams needs to change along with it. Most of the methodologies we have chosen for managing work are 50 to 100 years old. Next to accounting software, project management software is the oldest software product (and unfortunately, most of it feels that way).

It’s time to take a fresh look at what we do and how we do it. We need to fully engage individual team members in the process (I think that’s our greatest challenge). We have the most technically savvy and empowered generation to ever join the workforce. I think we should be asking ourselves, "How do organizations work with the Facebook generation?" Taking a strong handed command-and-control approach isn’t going to work.

In my opinion, there are two keys to engaging the individuals on a project team:

Empower them to do something more than simply show up. Give them the opportunity to do something truly great. Give them a voice in what they do, how they do it and when they’re going to have it done. You might be surprised at the result.
Acknowledge what they do. When asked (in a survey sponsored by AtTask and conducted by Forrester), 40 percent of knowledge workers say their manager doesn’t understand what they do. The number swells to 60 percent when asked about their executives. So, even if you feel like you have a handle on what’s going on within your project team, the truth is that you team doesn’t think so. Have you ever felt that way?

Presentation I can’t help but come away from these types of events excited for the future. Sure, the times are changing and the way we do our jobs is changing, but isn’t that great? Isn’t that exciting? For those of us able to make the transition to the needs of the coming years, there will be energized and exciting careers full or challenges and rewards. Those who can’t or won’t, will find themselves becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Embrace the new paradigm. Re-evaluate how you lead your project teams. Empower them to do something great and recognize that greatness when it happens. You might just be surprised at how well they do and how smart you’ll look in the end.

0 Comments »

The Art of Simplicity

15 June 2011 - POSTED by Russ Drury

Dilbert Recently I have been working with 2 large customers to implement their project management software and both of the implementations have moved at different paces. Of course there are many factors which contribute to the speed at which we are able to work but the one factor that stands out to me the most is the position each has taken on the complexity of their configuration.

Company A has several processes involving large numbers of gates, approvals, forms, reports, inputs and people. Company A has matured its processes over time and have developed a very admirable methodology and approach to delivering projects, so I’m not disputing the necessity. Due to the nature of their work some would argue that they need this maturity in order to get the work done.

Company B on the other hand has slightly fewer processes, but of those processes each one requires fewer steps, sign-offs, stakeholders and documentation. Again it is fitting for the nature of the work that they are doing nevertheless it is simpler.

In working with both companies I have observed that it is Company B who has been able to realise some of the benefits of using an on-demand project management tool much faster. I would like to highlight three areas where ‘keeping things simple’ has enabled us to create an advantage in implementing the software and getting good adoption. Dilbert

Project Plans. How much detail do you really need in a project plan? If you’re project lasts 6 months do you need 400 tasks? Probably not, you can probably plan out the same project with less than a quarter the number of tasks. Think about the value each of those tasks in your plan adds, if its low then cut them out. If you’re designing a template for repetitive projects to be based on then think about what is necessary, not only for the project manager to have to maintain but also for the purposes of reporting. If it takes as long for you to update and report on all of the tasks as it would for you to actually complete the task then your project plan is too complex!

Processes. I’ve seen some unwieldy project processes in my time. I think sometimes people can get a little carried away once they’ve learned how to use Microsoft Visio and so end up producing page after page of process flows. Remember that when you are designing a process it has to be followed by the rest of your user group. Not only that but they will inevitably have had just a fraction of the training and introduction to the process. Complex processes get in the way of actually getting work done, they slow down the execution of work which may otherwise be relatively straightforward. I understand the need for guidance and structure but sometimes the end user is a good judge of what works well and what doesn’t. Consult them.

Configuration. Back to the subject of configuring project management software, keeping the setup simple to begin with will enable users to pick it up faster and start do the things that will get you results sooner. Yes the software can probably do complex things but every person has their own learning process. We’ve all heard of the saying ‘learn to walk before you run’ and the same can be applied here too. Start with the things that you know will be adopted quickest and easiest and once the user group matures a little then you can introduce the more complex stuff.

Simplicity is underrated whilst complexity is overstated. In the words of Albert Einstein… “any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction”.

3 Comments »

The Influence of Social Media on Project Management

7 June 2011 - POSTED by Ty Kiisel

Facebook generation Last week, Dave Garrett wrote an interesting post on social media and project management, Can Project Management Software be as Engaging as Facebook?. There were many great points brought up in the article and interview with Vantage Software’s founder Alex Leblanc.

I believe there is a lot we can learn from social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. The millennial generation has been collaborating on teams since elementary school and they have spent the lion’s share of their young adult lives collaborating with friends and family within social media. In my opinion, it just makes sense to leverage this knowledge into a project management solution that utilizies the familiar metaphor. What’s more, it’s not just the millennials that are jumping into social media with both feet. Many in my generation are turning to social media to reconnect with old friends, keep track of family or business colleagues spread around the world or follow their hobbies and other interests. Addressing the collaboration and business needs of the "Facebook Generation" with something that works and feels like Facebook just makes sense.

With that being said, in any discussion about the merits of social media within the project management context I think we need to identify and address the elephant in the room. No CEO is going to spend any money on a tool that simply incorporates a Twitter or Facebook feed into its project management solution. Business leaders don’t want to fund an employee’s ability to waste time talking about what they are going to eat for lunch or where they might be spending their weekend holiday. The conversations need to be about the work and projects that team members have in common, it’s the Facebook metaphor that’s important, not Facebook. Twitter-like but not Twitter.

Additionally, it’s not the tool or the methodology or whether or not it utilizes the strengths of social media that will ultimately make a difference. It will be our approach to how we manage "process" and lead "people" that will make the difference. Without a doubt, process is important. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be writing about it. However, if we continue to rely on tired and arcane notions of command-and-control to jam tasks and assignments down the throats of our project teams, we will fail regardless of the project management tools we use.

Top-down management methods fail. They produce information we can’t trust for making decisions, they create a work environment people dislike and ultimately cause projects and project teams to struggle and fail.

Steve Denning, in a recent article for Forbes wrote, "The mode of coordinating work must shift from bureaucratic control to dynamic linking." In other words, our job is to facilitate and help project teams collaborate with each other to develop and execute on solutions rather than build unwieldy project plans and make task assignments. "Communication must shift from top-down command to adult-to-adult conversation, thus avoiding the dispiriting effect of top-down commands."

When we achieve that attitude within our organizations, applying the social media metaphor to the work management process works. Until then, it will fail—much like our current approach to managing projects.

4 Comments »