Managing Projects to Success

Management’s Seven Deadly Sins

Presented By Gopal K. Kapur, Founder

Center for Project Management® [email protected]

www.center4pm.com 916-221-9981

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.center4pm.com/

Presentation for about 40 minutes

Panel

– Claire Bailey, Director and Chief Technology Officer, State of Arkansas

– Craig Orgeron, Chief Information Officer and Executive Director, State of Mississippi

– Thomas Fruman, Director, Enterprise Governance and Planning, State of Georgia

Q&A for panelists and integrated responses

Organizations thrive, in fact survive,

by transforming management‟s vision

into services and products in a timely

and cost effective manner

3 Copyright 2013, Center for Project Management®

Management‟s Seven Deadly Sins

Successful Projects

=

Timely Completion of

Planned Objectives.

Project Performance

–52% Successful

• Objectives breach: ˂10%

–33% Challenged

• Objectives breach: ˃10% to ˂30%

–15% Failures

• Objectives breach: ˃30%



Large Organizations, Large Projects.


Challenged and Failed Projects:

–Not the right solution

–Not the right people

–Not the right detail

–Not the right time

–Not the right cost

Results:

– High “body count” PM


Please, let me live...

IT

Management

48% Of the Projects


1. Absence of a Project Process Architecture

2. Treating Half-Baked Ideas as Projects

3. Lack of Effective Sponsorship

4. Under-Skilled Project Managers

5. Not Tracking the Project Vital Signs

6. Not Conducting Timely Project Triage

7. Poor Project Portfolio Management


7

1. Absence of a

Project Process

Architecture

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins

Involving a number of steps that result

in a predictable outcome

Copyright 2013, Center for Project Management®

Plan Do

Act Check

Deming


A „Master‟ Recipe That Works.

8

Pre-Operation Patient Prep

Airline Pilot‟s Creed


It‟s the

other leg

stupid.

9


In God We

Trust,

Everything

Else We

Check.


Uniform Vocabulary

Scalable

Management Supported

Customer Accepted

Updated

A „Master‟ Recipe That Works.

10



Concept Initiating

Concept

Statement

Project

Charter

Project

Management

Plan

Executing Closing

Deliverables &

Performance

Data

Contract

Admin

Closure

Monitoring and Controlling

Planning

21 Steps

Scalable to Project Complexity

CA-Project Management Methodology


Slide 12

CA-PMM Policy: Budget Act 0502-001-9730 1

– Project Management Methodology

– Tailored to Project Complexity

– Status Reporting Using Vital Signs

– Training Requirements

Accessible to the Public http://www.cio.ca.gov/Government/IT_Policy/IT_Projects/index.html

Is Project Management Your Policy?


http://www.cio.ca.gov/Government/IT_Policy/IT_Projects/index.html




Q1. Are projects developed using a

uniform project process architecture?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely

13


2. Treating Half-Baked

Ideas as Projects.

14

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins


M A E T

Manager

PM

Deadline

Idea

Progressive Regression


EXEC

HBI?


If you say: Yes

–You are stuck

If you say: No

–You are history

SIHR

Begrudging Compliance

–We will teach you a lesson

Intelligent Disobedience

–Say No and live to talk about it




–A trait taught to guide dogs for the

blind that keeps the dogs from

putting their owners in harm‟s way

–Learn to say no to harmful acts




1. Which agency strategy is the project linked to?

2. How realistic are the objectives?

3. Who will sponsor the project?

4. What is the value-to-agency?

5. What is the value-to-customer?

6. Who will use the end product?

7. How will we know that it is a success?

8. Is there institutional memory?

9. What are the implications of doing nothing?

10.What are the project shut down conditions?



Q2. Do project teams use a well documented

process to filter out half-baked ideas

early?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely


20

3. Lack of Effective

Sponsorship.

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins


Misplaced Belief

–Being an executive automatically

qualifies one to be an effective

project sponsor

Effective sponsorship of mission-

critical projects is a rarity.



Sponsor Education and Training

– In-House Programs

Minimal to None

–Vendors/Service Providers

Minimal to None

–Colleges and Universities

Minimal to None

Center‟s Program

Harvard, UCB, CA


How do you

educate

your

sponsors?


Sponsor Education and Training

–They don‟t need it

–They don‟t have the time

–They won‟t attend

–They won‟t stay


Excuses


At the Center for Project Management®,

we have developed a list of 21 sponsor

responsibilities.



Sponsor Responsibilities

2. Encourage intelligent disobedience

7. Commit personal political capital

10.Ensure sustained buy-in at all levels

12.Review project vital signs

13.Keep the team out of political minefields

18.Resolve major policy issues promptly

19.Conduct timely project triage

21.Ensure that promised benefits are realized


Sponsorship is not a spectator sport.


Q3. Is there effective sponsorship of

mission critical projects?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely


27

4. Under-Skilled

Project Managers.

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins


Scum of the Earth

Managers

Team

PM

SOE

CIO

Senior Executives

Ground Level




Education

Training

Responsibility

Practice

Accountability

Discipline

Performance

Certification


Mounting afterburners on a mule.

–Acquire project management software

Powerful tools


Under-skilled project managers


Mounting Afterburners On a Mule

Waste of afterburners

It irritates the mule

PM


Q4. Do project managers receive effective

education and training?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely


5. Not Tracking the

Project Vital Signs.

33

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins


% Complete = Fantasy

Lie

5. Not Tracking Project the Vital Signs

Percent complete is the most often

used metric to track project progress

Percent complete is an ineffective

metric to track project progress


Strategy

– Why the project?

Tactics

– Schedule and Cost?

Environment

–Holistic or Toxic?

Performance

– How well did we do?

Conventional project tracking

focuses on the tactics.




1. Strategy Alignment

2. Customer Buy-In

3. Technology Viability

4. Sponsor Commitment

5. Value-To-Business

6. Vendor Viability

7. Regulatory Compliance

8. Critical Path Status

9. Cross-Project Dependencies

10. Milestone Hit Rate

11. Deliverables Hit Rate

12. Unresolved Issues

13. Cost-To-Date Breach

14. Actual vs. Planned Resources

15. Project Risks

17. Value-To-Business

18. Operational Performance

Most project managers overlook the Strategy,

Environment, and Performance.

16. Team Disposition

3

2

4

1

1 2 3 4

High

Low High

13 to18

Vital

Signs

9 to12

Vital

Signs

5 to 8

Vital

Signs

2 to 4

Vital

Signs

Business Complexity

Technical

Complexity

37



Typical Reporting Process

– It was a dark and stormy night

–Create distractions

–Build empathy

–Quick exit

Majority of the sponsors interviewed did not

know the latest status of their projects.



The Punch Line

Dad, I am OK; the bull is dead

Current Status

Car is damaged, but operable

Next Step

You don‟t need to rush

Explanation

I will explain when I see you

Bull Sheet



Q5. Do your project managers use a well defined set of vital signs?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely


6. Not Conducting

Timely Project Triage.

41

Management‟s

Seven Deadly Sins


Failure is not an option

No project cancellations on my watch

We didn‟t see it coming

Vendor won‟t like it

Who is going to bell the cat?


How to Kill a Troubled Project, Gopal K. Kapur http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,16486,00.asp

http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,16486,00.asp


Project Exit Conditions

–Runaway

• 30% breach

–Shutdown

• 50% breach

84% of Project Charters do not specify

project runaway/exit conditions.



Management Action

–Define project „run away‟ and „shut

down‟ conditions

–Monitor project „run away‟ and

„shut down‟ conditions

–Take prompt action

ProjectHALT™ Methodology A Process to Identify and Cancel Troubled Projects

http://www.center4pm.com/ProjectHALTt.pdf





Q6. Does your organization identify and

cancel troubled projects in a timely

manner?

1. No

2. Sometimes

3. Often

4. Routinely



Your Action Plan

1. Deploy a project process architecture

2. Filter out half-baked ideas early

3. Ensure effective sponsorship

4. Develop skilled project managers

5. Track project vital signs

6. Conduct timely project triage

7. Deploy a robust project portfolio

Thank You.


Project Management for Information,

Technology, Business and Certification – Author: Gopal K. Kapur

– Publisher: Prentice Hall

– ISBN: 0-13-112335-1

– Available at Amazon, major retailers and Prentice Hall

web site

References

I'm OK; The Bull Is Dead Gopal K. Kapur, Computerworld, June 21, 2004 http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,93903,00.html

Intelligent Disobedience Gopal K. Kapur, Computerworld, August 30, 2004 http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=95504&pageNumber=2

Project Portfolio Management/Leadership Gopal K. Kapur, UC Berkeley, July 19 and 26, 2013 http://extension.berkeley.edu/catalog/course2227.html

http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,93903,00.html

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=95504&pageNumber=2



http://extension.berkeley.edu/catalog/course2227.html

http://extension.berkeley.edu/catalog/course2227.html

Documents

Managing Projects to Success