K O N N E C T SUMMER EDITION 2017

Dear Members,

Season’s Greetings to all members, patrons andvolunteers of the Chapter. We would likehighlight that Chapter has made strategic moveto collaborate with NGOs and renowned socialorganization (e.g. Rotary Club etc.) to extendvolunteering services to the society. Its alsoenvisaged that success in these initiatives can beachieved with the volunteering support fromour elite and motivated member base. Needlessto mention that the Leadership Team of Chapterhas been successful to coach and mentor themembers to fulfill their aspiration for securingvolunteer role within the chapter and in turn thevolunteers had been able to prove theirexcellence while delivering the programs.Volunteers get an opportunity to learn fromvaried industry specialists and inculcate the bestof leadership skills in their professionalengagements reaping success. West BengalChapter has created an open platform tonurture and demonstrate individual leadershipcharisma for enlightening chapter glory.Volunteers have collaborated to provide amechanism for building a sustainable echosystem to strengthen chapter transformationaljourney ahead to ensure the Jewel in the crown.

Cheers,Editor’s Desk

Cover Story: Should PM be the first one to recommend project

cancellation?

You may have heard about the BCG`s Growth Share Matrix that characterises theproduct into four categories based on their growth rate and market share. Thecentre of this article are projects that are no longer aligned with company`sobjectives.Google Glass, Apple Lisa, Ford Edsel, Pepsi Crystal & New Coke are famousexamples of products (or projects developing them) that were shelved before thelaunch, or were unsuccessful when launched, and had to be shelved a while later.(Varner, 2014)

What went wrong with these projects? Was it possible for the project managers totimely spot the future failure and make an early recommendation to stop theproject, consequently, saving company the money and loss of reputation?

While doing so, if the project manager is putting at risk his reputation or his jobwith a recommendation to stop the very project that he/she has so dearly managedso far?

This article focuses on issues arising from poor conception of project outcomesrather than poor project management.

PM`s Dilemma: Whether to kill the project

Does the dilemma of recommending an early cancellation the project manifestitself into a principal agent problem?Consider a project manager (agent) hired to act in the best interest (manage theproject leading to the desired outcome) of project sponsor (principal), but projectmanager may not always act in the sponsor`s best interest as this may not be in hisown interest.

COVER STORY CONTD…

Example: Even though early cancellation of project may be in the best interest of the sponsor (as it is no longer destined to produce thepromised outcomes and continuing with the project would simply incur waste), the project manager may still not recommend stopping theproject, as• he/she may end up losing the job (or an assignment)• be deprived of successful completion bonus or highest ratings in performance reviews• carry a reputation of being associated with a failed project or even feel responsible for failure (in lesser mature organizations)

So, what should the Project Manager do?

Industry experts believe that earlier you stop the project that is no longer aligned with the promised outcomes, the better it is. Knowingwhen to say "I give up!" seems to be very important to the project manager. The earlier the decision is made to cancel a project, thequicker the resources can be assigned to other projects that have a greater opportunity for value creation and commercial success.(Kerzner, 2013)

"Stopping a project is not a failure," said Donny Shimamoto, CPA/CITP, CGMA, founder of consulting firm IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC inHonolulu. "Failing to stop a project when it should have been stopped: That's failure." (Amato, 2017)

In 2005 KPMG did a Global IT Management Survey. In it they discussed projects that had to be stopped, and one commentator said,“Cancelling a project unlikely to deliver expected benefits should not be seen as a failure — failing to cancel such a project should be.”(Cancelling a Project (Without Cancelling Your Career), 2013)

One Planview customer shared, “If we can kill a project just one gate earlier, we save over one million dollars.” With each gate, a mediocreidea passes through, it’s wasting time along with money and resources that could be working on those ideas with much greater potentialto shine and achieve your revenue targets. (Nauyalis, 2016)

Even PMI recommends that Project manager must make a recommendation to cancel a project if it cannot produce the desired outcome.

When does it make sense to cancel the project?

Classical literature and industry experts indicate several reasons such as change of business plans or strategy, competitor`soutperformance, lack of know-how, increased cost or risks, technological limitations or breakthrough, resource/time constraints, marketconditions and macroeconomic influences as key factors that influences the decision to stop the project. (Roberts, 2009)

COVER STORY CONTD…

Many experts propose dealing with such a decision via governance at the portfolio level or as part of project`s Go - No Go decision orthrough phase gates or establishing an early warning system from the beginning (Royer, 2003), the centre of it revolves aroundestablishment of management controls that enables the organization to make a timely informed decision about a running project`s future.

Broadly, there are three key aspects below covers most factors for cancelling the project.

Alignment with Organizational Goals: How well is your project positioned to support the realization of the organizational goals? Does theproject outcome (products or services or operating model, new tool or ways of working) supports the organization, directly or indirectly, inrealization of their strategic and/or operational goals?Examples• The project's objectives cannot be met and continuation of the project will not necessarily create intellectual property• The project can be completed but it will not create any sustainable value for the company• There has been a significant change in the company's interest and strategy.• The project`s outcome, despite meeting all the requirements may still not necessarily help the organization as its benefit conception was

inherently flawed.

Environmental Development: Does the micro & macro environment development impacts the attractiveness of undertaking the project.Does the project itself or its outcomes makes sense in the given internal or external environmental context? Has there been a change inexternal environment such as law, taxation, governmental policies or internal environment such as company culture, policies, strategiesetc.?Examples• The project's assumptions have changed and it may not be the “right” project to work on.• Market conditions have changed such that the ROI or sales expectations will not be met, or the competition is expected to introduce a

more advanced product.• The final product may become obsolete earlier than expected, or the company may not be able to provide customer support for the

product to meet customer expectations.• Key resources have left the project or resigned from the company.• The company is experiencing a significant cash flow problem.

COVER STORY CONTD…

Achievability: Is it possible to achieve the project goals within a reasonable time, money & human resource investment? Is the project goalspecific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound?

Examples• There are technical difficulties beyond the capabilities of company personnel• The problem is too complex for the company to manage• Costs have risen on the project and the schedule has slipped significantly

While there are some high performing organizations that employ specific considerations to help them make the difficult decisions onprojects future, the project management practice itself has not yet evolved to the level of maturity to have “self-destruct” feature built in. A“self-destruct” feature that continues to monitor & assess the lucrativeness of continuing with the project. A self-destruct feature thatscreams aloud when it's the time to stop the project.

What would it take to have such a “self-critique” feature built into the project management methodology?

Projects in today's world operative in a very dynamic environment where everything is fast changing, be it the external market conditions orinternal company environment, team composition or stakeholders, strategies or risks and the approach to acclimatizeto constant changes.This means that is a strong need to periodically revisit business case and re-evaluate the conditions that made undertaking the projectlucrative. This activity is usually performed at the portfolio level but suffers from oversight into critical details and d lack of timelyinformation for decision making. On the other hand I think the project manager and his team are best located in the delivery chain to makethat assessment.Often the project team members can sense the signals of critical issues impacting project`s future, that are sometime clear and at timeshidden. I think project manager has a professional ethical responsibility to proactively look for such signals and trigger risk response. At thesame time a simple periodic assessment of developments in project against business case could give useful early insights to prevalentfactors for project cancellation.

If at all a project must be cancelled, project manager should be the first one to make such a recommendation supported by a strongbusiness case appraisal. Project manager in such scenarios must strongly advocate sensitivity in communication to avoid it being seen as areflection on team`s performance.

So, let’s not just cancel the project but bury it with a reflective epitome in the organization`s lessons learned repository.

This article is contributed by Ameeq Mohammad - Project & Portfolio Management Consultant at a Swiss consultancy firm Arcondis Ag in Basel Switzerland ; PMP & MOPF professional

Rotary Club RenaissancePMI West Bengal Chapter was invited by Mr.. Chirabrata Majumder, President of Rotary Club Renaissance in one of the Board Meeting at Deshapriya Park on 17th June.Chapter showcased its capabilities in Education and Training along with engagements in Social Sector.Chapter's Initiative for hosting regional conference was also highlighted .It was well appreciated by the BODs followed by the felicitations from the Senior Rotarian.

Learn & Earn- Consulting for Project Managers

Beating the hot afternoon sun on Saturday 20th May, more than 20 projectmanagement professionals attended the Learn & Earn Session organized by PMIWest Bengal chapter on “Consulting for Project Managers" at IBM office at DLF II,Newtown. The speaker Mr.. Anindya from IBM shared his vast professionalexperience and provided insights on how a project manager will enhance theconsulting skill, how and in what scenario’s a project manager will become aconsultant to the customer. Mr.. Anindya also provided tips & techniques ondeveloping and delivering a winning presentation. It was quite an interactive andinformative session. The day ended with light snacks and tea.

Felicitation of Members for earning PMI credentialsFour members of the chapter were given a token of appreciationfor completing their respective PMI credentials on 24th June 2017• Rajarshi Arun - PgMP in May , 17• Snigdha Ghosh - PgMP in Nov, 16• Subhajit Ghosh PMI-ACP in June, 17• Arijeet Bose - PgMP in May, 17

Learn & Earn - “Stress Relief through Meditation and PranicHealing”

On 24th June, 2017, PMI West Bengal Chapter conducted aunique and one of its own kind of session of Stress relief throughmeditation and pranic healing.Stress management has become part and parcel of our life whichcan really help us to maintain a work-life balance. The memberswere guided on various simple yet effective ways to reduce stress.The speaker/instructor covered practical meditation andapplication of Pranic healing to improve different facets of ourlife: health, relationships, prosperity and spirituality.There was a satisfactory response from most of the participantsfor this session and they shared their joyous experience. TheInstructor of the sessions namely Dr. Debasree RoyChowdhury, Mr.Sanjay Agarwal and Mr. K K Chakraborty werehanded over the Memento for conducting the session.

President meet – 24 JuneThere was President meet for all Indian based chapters todiscuss strategic initiatives to sustain and take chapters tonext level. Engaging Students and Faculty for the growthand development of management community is theprime focus. PMI CXO meet would be conducted inKolkata in Dec 2017

Strategic Meet – CSM Technologies Bhubaneshwar

On 24th June, 2017, Chapter President Mr. Sumit K Sinhahad visited CSM Technologies Bhubaneshwar for strategicdiscussion with CEO and Mr. Prabhu. The focus was toconduct regular Learn and earn sessions, seminars etc. forBhubaneshwar and around the cities. Also there would beawareness session conducted on PMI.

The first Learn and Earn event for Bhubaneshwar would beconducted by the chapter in July 2017.

This was indeed a privilege and honor for the chapter toextend its support beyond West Bengal and support nearby regions to spread the PMI flagship

Share your thoughts and suggestions topmiwbc.communication@pmiwbc.org

PMI West Bengal Chapter Visit Chapter Website http://www.pmiwbc.org/

Chapter welcomes our new membersA warm welcome and hearty wishes for a successful career in project management.

@PMI_WB

Etc that matters

Block your calendar for India's most awaited Project Management event of year!The event theme of #PMNC17 is Project Management - Powering India's GlobalLeadership is pertinent in the current socio-economic scenario.

http://www.pmi.org.in/events/pmnc17/

India's premier project management conference is here

Demand over the next 10 years for project managers is growing faster than demand for workers in other occupations.Organizations, however, face risks from this talent gaphttp://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/job-growth

Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017-2027

PMI West Bengal Chapter

Volunteer of the Quarter

Special Appreciation as“Volunteer of Quarter ,Summer 2017” goes toProsenjit Roy

Chapter recognizes and appreciates the effort andsupport of volunteers for their contribution. Thisprestigious award of the chapter is in recognitionof your leadership to take forward PMI WestBengal Chapter initiatives in the regionsuccessfully aligned with its vision

Congrats Prosenjit!!!

“Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something”;

Abhijit ChakladarPartha ChakrabortyAniket ChatterjeeSuman ChattopadhyaySankha Subhra ChaudhurySudipto ChowdhuryTanumay DasPradyut Mohan DashParthasakha DePrasanta Kumar Mohanty

Debashree DuttaSaurabh GhoshPralay Chand GhoshRamachandraiah GoduguluriAmit JainM Hassan KhanMohammad Tauqeer KhanChirabrata MajumderAbhishek Singh RathoreGunjan Surana

Susmita MishraChitravanu MukherjeeSumit NandySauradipta PalKoushil PaulDeepak RaiArijit SahaAmit SenAmitabh Sen

Chapter Congratulates PMP pass outs of last 2 quarters.Well done! Your good results will open new doors of opportunities. Make the motto of your life, to never settle for anything but the best. 1. Ms.. Tabitha Paulraj (TCS) on 29-Dec-2016.2. Mr. Pushpak Nandi (IBM) on 12-Jan-20173. Mr. Sarup Patghak (Voltas) on 27-Feb-20174. Mr. Bikas Debnath (TCS) on (29-Mar-2017)5. Ms. Tanushree Ghosh (IBM) on 03-Apr-2017 (PMIWBC Feb 2017 batch)6. Mr. Mainak Mitra (Bridge & Roof) on 20-Apr-2017 (PMIWBC Feb 2017 batch)Above participants had attended PMP trainingconducted by the chapter