Power of Appreciation

When was the last time you say “thank you” to your team members? Did you remember the most recent occurrence where you acknowledge a team member’s effort? Did you acknowledge the effort personally or publicly?

In the midst of meeting deadlines and managing crisis, we tend to forget to show our appreciation to the team members who are doing the job to get things done. And these things influence our next report to the major stakeholders. We tend to overlook the fact that our team members are also our stakeholders and they need to be kept happy too.

When a job is well done or when a team member makes an effort to go the extra mile, remember to show that we recognise the result and the effort. Even if the result is not up to expectation, praise the effort when it’s due. In developing a great functional project team, even the PMBOK suggests to recognise and reward desirable behaviour. Reward does not necessarily mean monetary, it could just be a highlight in a project team meeting. Just remember the following:

1. Be timely – Do not delay in showing the appreciation; make it as immediate as possible
2. Be precise – Mention the exact behaviour that is notable for the recognition
3. Be public – If possible, make it known to the rest of the project team
4. Motivate – While recognising one team member, remember to motivate the rest of the team to create positive reinforcement
5. Provide opportunity – Where possible, explain the possibility of growth to the team member for example an advance training in public speaking, or next level technical training, etc.

In rewarding, it is also good to remember the team ground rules and cultural background to give a more positive impact as a whole. When deserving recognition is given, team members feel more appreciated and these actions can further enhance the morale of the team which will eventually result in better overall performance.

And what project manager does not want a high performing team, right?

What do you do to recognise team members’ effort in the absence of monetary options?

Constrained by the Constraints

Although the famous triangle only includes three constraints, the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition lists three others (and not limited to):

• Scope
• Quality
• Schedule
• Budget
• Resources, and
• Risk

Constraints exist in all projects. The severity of each should be acknowledged in the beginning as to ensure it can be managed correctly throughout the project lifecycle.

Constraints are inter-related. A change in one area will affect another area. For example, a limited time to perform an activity will require more resources to complete it and this will incur more cost, thus the budget will be affected. Should the required number of resources are not met to ensure the budget is not affected, it might give a negative impact on the quality of the result, thus risking stakeholders’ displeasure.

While managing a project is about meeting client’s requirement, it is absolutely necessary to monitor the impact of the constraints against stakeholders’ expectations. Therefore, constraints should be identified at high level during creation of project charter and through progressive elaboration, it is further describe as more information become available.

Always communicate back new findings to the stakeholders to ensure the expectations remain parallel with the project outcome.

Loving Your Curves?

In project management, your curves are very important; to you and to your stakeholders. Everyone is interested to know about your S-curve.

What does an S-curve show? It shows where you are from what you have planned. It it shows how much have you spent at a point of time during the life of your project. It shows the performance of your project.

Let me show you a very nice picture of the curves that you might have.

For today, let us get to know the specific areas of the curve (Refer to PMBOK Guide 4th Edition pg.181).

Plan – Planned Value; PV, is what has been planned in the beginning: the authorized budget for the scheduled work to be accomplished. It is also known as Budgeted Cost Work Scheduled; BCWS. In short, the amount that has been planned to pay for the work scheduled.

Earned Value – EV, is the value of work performed based on the budgeted cost for the particular work. It is also known as Budgeted Cost Work Performed; BCWP. In short; the amount that has been planned to pay for the work that has been performed.

Actuals – Actual Cost; AC, is the actual spending on the actual work that has been completed. It is also known as Actual Cost Work Performed. In short, the actual amount incurred for actual work being done.

Cost Variance – CV, a measure of cost performance for the project. Based on the value, we will know whether the project is under budget or over budget.

Schedule Variance – SV, a measure of schedule performance for the project. Based on the value, we will know whether the project is behind or ahead of schedule. 

 

For both variances;

CV > 0 == Under budget

PV > 0 == Ahead of schedule

You could also derive measure of efficiency from these values:

Cost Performance Index – CPI, is the measure of efficiency of the value of work done and how well monies are spent.

Schedule Performance Index – SPI, is the measure of efficiency of time scheduled; it is a measure of progressed achieved compared to progress planned.

The S-curve is a popular representation of Earned Value Management. It is a performance measurement technique that is comparing actual collected values against the baselines that was set at the beginning of the project. It integrates cost, scope and schedule measures in one presentation.

At a point of time, the data for EV, PV and AC is collected for reporting. From the value, the project team will be able to assess the project performance so far. A cumulative data collection will enable the plotting of the S-curve to present the project performance in a graphic view. Note: Include this in your status report to the stakeholders and senior management.

So, if you plot your S-curve for this month, how does it look like?

And you thought when I talked about curves in the beginning, it has nothing to do with project management. Hah!

NOTE: Earned Value Management is the tools and techniques for the Process Group: Control Costs

[S-Curve graph is modified from NASA EVM Tutorial: http://evm.nasa.gov/analysis.html] 

Change. What happens when it happens.

Changes will occur anytime during project execution.

A change that happens can be related to resources, schedule and/or scope of the project. Every time a change happens, it has to be managed across the famous triple constraint. These constraints are usually depicted as a triangle.

A change could be either a corrective action, a preventive action, a defect repair or an update. Whatever the change reasons are, they must be documented and go through the Change Control Board. This action belongs to the Perform Integrated Change Control process under the Monitoring and Control Process Group.

 

From PMBOK Guide 4th Edition (page 98): A change control board is responsible for meeting (Change Control Meeting) and reviewing the change requests and approving or rejecting those change requests.

Whether the decision by the board is to accept or reject the change, it has to be documented and communicated to the stakeholders. This is to ensure information is distributed and subsequently actions, if needed be, could be taken.

All approved change requests will be implemented under the Direct & Manage Project Execution Group.

Approved changed requests will make impact on one or more of the following:

• new or revised cost estimates
• change in activity sequences
• schedule changes
• resource requirements
• revised manpower
• additional risks; which will require new analysis and response alternatives

Any changes will result in updates to project documents and project management plan.

From your experience, what other things will be impacted when a change happens?

Continuous Learning for Sustainability

How do one project manager remains valid in the sea of more experienced project managers?

According to Wikipedia; sustainability is the capacity to endure [LINK].

There will always be projects to be managed. There will always be project managers or project leaders to manage those projects. The question is, how can one project manager be the chosen one?

In my opinion, continuous learning is vital to ensure one’s sustainability in the field of one’s choosing. To be a project manager, you do not need to be the subject matter expert, but you need to know and be familiar with the industry you choose to be involved in.  This remains important especially when one considers to switch to different industry segments.

There are a lot of resources available everywhere, especially online. Some you have to pay, some is for free. You have to know where to look and be diligent in getting the information that you want. While looking for new information, one must also take into consideration the validity and value of the information collected. What I mean here is, you should be able to verify the authenticity of the information; like it or not, there are some funny people out there with funny intentions. Beware that the information collected is still relevant and correct.

When you have passion in what you do, you will find ways to sustain in the field of your choosing. Read an article, pick up a book, join a online forum, attend a seminar, view a webinar, make notes, spark up discussion with colleagues and maybe managers. Do what you have to do, to be visible and to sustain; to endure.

 

[Image from Google]

Webinar Review: Leadership and Communication Skills for Project Managers

Webinar Date: 8/6/2011 (11:00 PM – 12:00 AM GMT+8)
Provider: Corporate Education Group (Website: http://www.butrain.com/)
Speaker: Star Dargin from Star Leadership LLC
(Website: http://www.starleadershipllc.com)
Cost: Complimentary
PDU Count: 1 unit

SUMMARY

• Leadership: involves changes and new directions.
• Leaders: influence people.
• Projects require change; therefore, projects need leadership.
• New areas require leadership.
• Thus, project managers need to have leadership skills.
• There are certain characteristics that differentiate a leader from a manager.

• Leadership attributes change as project progresses.

• A leader must be; amongst others: hones, forward-looking, competent and inspiring.
• A leader must be able to identify cultural characteristics and identify to it so that response can be tailored accordingly.
• To be informed on organisation’s style, check what books, for example, that the CEO reads. Find out who are their role models.
• Different types of leadership:
  • Character – respond to their conscience
  • Analysis – respond to ideas
  • Accomplishment – respond to problem
  • Interaction – respond to people
• Know your strength, know your blindside, know what the project needs
• Emotional intelligence plays an important role to a leader:
  • Self awareness
  • Self regulation
  • Motivation
  • Empathy
  • Social Skills

PMBOK Guide 4th Edition on leadership (pg: 240):

“Successful projects require strong leadership skills. Leadership is important through all phases of the project life cycle. It is especially important to communicate the vision and inspire the project team to achieve high performance.”

 

COMMENT:

The webinar explained a lot of leadership qualities and ways to achieve it. However, it lacked the in depth explanation when it comes to communication skills; referring to the webinar main topic. All in all, it was a great experience and new knowledge gathering session for me.

Project Baselines

There are three important baselines that we need to know about. They are:

• Scope Baseline
• Cost Baseline
• Schedule Baseline

All three baselines are recognised as the Performance Measurement Baseline.
These three baselines are determined early in the project lifecycle. They are defined during the initiation of the project and described (or recorded) in the Project Charter.
As the project goes into execution, monitoring is being done to see if the project is;

• within the scope?
• within budget?
• within schedule

These questions are answered by comparing the current status of the project against the three baselines. The result derived from the raw data collected from these three aspects will determine the performance of the project. They will provide the information whether the project is

• meeting the stakeholders’ expectations?
• spending the right amount of money?
• completing in the allocated time?

Integration Management – Develop Project Management Plan

Develop Project Management Plan is the second process under Project Integration Management knowledge area. The Project Management Plan is the master plan for all the other planning processes. Think of it as a folder which contains all the subsidiary plans.

Project Management Plan needs the Project Charter as the input. Reason? The Charter contains the baselines for scope, cost and schedule, as well as other high level requirements for risks, limitations and assumptions, business cases, etc. (Refer to Develop Project Charter).

The second input is all the outputs from the planning processes.  Besides all the management plans, other project documents should also be included in the master plan.

Again, enterprise environmental factors (EEF) and organisation process assets (OPA) serve as inputs into this second integration process. This is because, you will need the format for the plan which is already being used by the organisation as reference, previous project data as well as reporting format and reporting hierarchy amongst others.

The Tools and Techniques that is being used here is Expert Judgment.

The outcome of this process is the Project Management Plan.

Do not worry so much about the inputs and outputs of the processes. You might feel a bit overwhelmed as you go on, however, the moment you concentrate on the concept and objective of the process, the inputs and outputs will come easily to you. Focus on understanding why the process is created and how the objective can be achieved.

Remember, you know all these answers already. All you need to do is put on your PMI hat, and answer from PMI-world’s perspective.

There are 42 processes altogether under PMBOK 4th Edition. In applying PMI best practices as suggested, you might not be using all the forty-two processes described. You should tailor your project according to the feasibility and needs of your stakeholders and environment.

As a conclusion; The Project Management Plan needs inputs from the Project Charter and all the outputs from other planning processes based on Expert Judgment from respective subject matter experts and/or department according to the organisation’s OPA and EEF.

Popular Terms and Techniques in Time Management

Today is the first installment for external article. Today’s PMP® Exam Tip is the courtesy of PM Podcast. Visit their website for more information on PMP® Exam preparation.

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The terms leads and lags are used to identify and control the timing of various activities within the project. It is important to accurately document leads and lags.

Lead Time: Let's assume a project has two pieces that need to be completed at the same time. Work package A will take 4 weeks to complete, but work package B only takes one week. B would show in the project plan as a finish to start (FS) with a one week lead.  This means the B work package component should start one week before A is scheduled to be completed.

Lag Time: Lag time can best be described as a planned or forced delay.  A great example of this is a construction project that involves pouring concrete. The project plan must include a lag time of 2 days for the concrete to dry before the next phase can begin.

Hammock Activity: Hammock activity is also frequently referred to as summary activity. These are activities that are roughly related and are reported as a single activity. Some times the relationship between the activities is clear, other times they may only be related because their completion leads to the same result. On a Gantt chart a hammock activity is usually displayed as a thick black bar above a grouping of lower level activities.

Crashing and fast tracking are techniques used in schedule compression.  Schedule compression is used when the desired result is to create output faster than indicated in the original project, without having to change the project scope.  This is particularly beneficial if a competitor is working on the same type of project and you need to finish first. It may also be a company decision to complete a project more quickly than originally scheduled based on various factors.

The two techniques used for this process are referred to as crashing or fast tracking.

Crashing: When the crashing approach is used, any additional costs associated with rushing the project are reviewed against the possible benefits of completing the project on a faster timeline.  Additional items to consider when using the crashing approach include adding more resources for the project, allowing additional overtime, paying extra to receive delivery of critical components more quickly, etc. Crashing only works, when adding more resources will lead to a faster completion of a project. For instance crashing will not work by adding more resources to "the concrete in the foundation has to dry for 3 days".

Fast Tracking: Fast tracking is applied by re-scheduling various activities within the project to be worked on simultaneously instead of waiting for each piece to be completed separately.  This method is best used when activities can be overlapped. The risk involved is that problems can occur if parallel aspects of the project include dependencies. So if you work on design and production at the same time your risk is that you need to rework production if the design is change half way through the process.

[image source: Google]

News Flash 06/06/2011

Starting from June 2011, this month, I will also include articles and tips from external authors. These articles might be published every fortnightly or once a month. All articles will be related to Project Management or PMP exam. There will also be articles on leadership and management skills.

I am expanding the value of this blog from a mere PMP exam concentrated notes to more exciting topics (I hope!). I sincerely hope this blog will become a venue where ideas are shared and exchanged. I would love to see knowledge being passed on to others. I wish anyone who has interest in Project Management, regardless whether they are thinking of sitting for PMP exam or not, will find the posts in here valuable to them.

Come back often to get new or old information. As knowledge cannot end, it could only serve us lifelong, be it old news, or new.

By the way, if you have any ideas on how to make this blog better, drop a comment or email me directly. I will see what I can do. If you wish to contribute articles, you can also email me directly.

Let’s share!

Contact Hours and PDUs

Contact Hours – These are the hours required as pre-requisite to sit for PMP exam. PMI requires 35 contact hours of Project Management education. These hours can be obtained from attending PMP prep classes; either physically or online. But you have to check that the course you are taking is approved by PMI. Remember, Contact Hours are gained before you sit for your PMP exam. You need to report these hours in your exam application to PMI.

PDUs – Professional Development Units. For every PMP, we are required to report 60 PDUs for every 3-year cycle of our credential. We are required to report this as part of Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program. Failure to do so, will cause our credential to be suspended. At the end of suspension period, if we still fail to report the required amount, our credential will be expired. Once expired, we need to sit for PMP exam again. PDUs are reported after you have acquired your PMP status.