Tag Archives: teams

ESA launch fuels global warming debate..

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The successful launch and deployment earlier today of the European Space Agency’s Cryosat-2 satellite represents a tremendous achievement for the organization. The satellite will measure and track ice thickness in the polar regions providing invaluable data for environmental scientists. Hopefully this data will prove , one way or the other, that global warming is indeed a fact and is caused by man’s activities and needs to be addressed politically in a united and effective manner.

The Scientific project has been ably led by Professor Duncan Wingham of the University College London who commented:-

“Today, it’s just a real pleasure; and I speak on behalf of all the scientists who will use the data to just thank all of those many people who contributed to this mission. Personally, it’s been a fabulous ride for me,” he told the assembled guests at the German centre.

Congratulations Professor Wingham & all at ESA for the successful launch of this incredible Scientific venture.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

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Are you a good project manager..?

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Training29According to the PMI definition :- ‘Project Manager – The person assigned by the performing organization to achieve the project objective’

So what makes a good project manager. According to PMI good project managers are:-

1) Task Focused

2) Able to manage deadlines

3) Politically aware

4) Able to compromise pragmatically

5) Good communicators

6) Able to inspire and motivate others.

We wouldn’t argue with any of the above but what do you think ?

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

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Project Managers don’t do the work – SHOCK!

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ProjectMgmntGirlProject Managers don’t do the work of the project; that is the function of the team members. That doesn’t mean that Project Managers don’t work !

The Project Managers role is to Manage and Deliver the Project. So why do we need Project Managers ?

Anyone who has ever tried to manage a project will understand that, whatever its nature, a project never delivers itself.

Without effective leadership, control and monitoring any project will tend to meander and stray off path. As Parkinson stated “the work will expand to fill the time available”

The most effective Project Management is often underappreciated if the Project is delivered on time, on cost and on quality as the assumption is made that this would have happened anyway regardless of the effectiveness of the Project Manager.

Most Project Managers are a modest bunch and take this in their stride; they get their satsfaction from a job well done.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

Dissapointing your customers…..

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projectsSometimes, despite best efforts at Risk Management, we drift off plan. In the worst case this means we won’t be able to meet our customer commitments.

So what do we do:-

a) Wait until the last minute, hoping for a miracle, then tell the customer they are going to be dissapointed – this is probably the worst thing you could do; no one likes to be let down at the last moment, particularly customers, it also offers them no options and could be extremely costly if they have prepared an expensive advertising campaign to launch their product.

b) Tell the customer as soon as you are aware of the problem – probably better than a) but this will still cause a lot of consternation to the customer and doesn’t offer them any solutions; in effect it puts the responsibility back on the customer which is what they are paying you for !

c) Explore all the possibilities to get the plan back on track; get the whole team involved and seek advice from Senior Mangement once you have explored all the possibilities.

Develop a contingency plan. Find out what you could deliver on time and what you could deliver at a later date. Come up with 3 or 4 alternatives.

Arrange a face to face meeting with the customer, apologise profusely and present them with the contingency plan.

You should have absolute confidence in your contingency as you want to make sure you do not let the customer down again.

Most customers are realistic and pragmatic and the contingency approach will generally maintain your reputation as an effective project manager.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

ap4

would you let your team visit the customer ?

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customersAs Project Manager you will have primary contact with the customer but should you take team members with you on customer visits ?

Here are some good reasons why you should:-

a) The customer will appreciate the opportunity to meet the team, especially if it allows technical experts from both sides to meet and discuss hot issues. It is often the case that engineers can take up polar positions with their customer counterparts and a face to face meeting is the very best way to minimize possibilities of stand offs regarding technical issues.

b) Your team members will really appreciate the opportunity to discuss issues direct with the customer making them feel valued and appreciated.

c) The PM will benefit from effectively delegating responsibility to the appropriate team member. The team member will take more ownership having being directly involved in the decision making process.

d) Involving team members in early customer visits will generate rapid agreement and clarification of project objectives and product specs.

If you can think of some more reasons for involving team members in customer visits, or even reasons against, we would like to hear them.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk






Are your objectives SMART ? ………….

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smartteamIt is essential, when starting a project, that the team fully understands what the Objective is. This might sound obvious but is also something which is often overlooked. Sometimes the team is formed and the project kicked off without any clear statement about the Objective of the project. Consequently different Team members have different views on what the Objective is and this inevitably leads to unnecessary conflict and wasted effort.

The time to set Objectives is during the Storming phase of Team formation. During this period the Objective may be “kicked around” and debated until a consensus is found. This will happen at the beginning of the Norming phase. The team leader provides a pivotal role in agreeing objectives by setting the scene and putting things in context.

Objectives should be S.M.A.R.T:-

Specific.

Objectives need to be specific. They need to stipulate what is required, why it is required, when is it required & by whom.
The more Specific you can be about the Objective the greater your chance of success.

Measurable.

Objectives have to be measurable so you can track progress towards your goal. Establish suitable charts which track progress in a clear way.

Aggresive

Objectives MUST be Aggresive; not in a violent way (of course) but in a challenging way. They should be set such that they stretch the capabilities of the team in terms of performance and timescales.

Realistic.

Objectives MUST be Realistic. The setting of Objectives beyond the technical competence of the team or outside of its political remit will only lead to disappointment & poor morale. Also Objectives should not be too lax otherwise the Team will not be motivated and the outcome may not be favourable with external competitors.

Targets

Performance Objectives should be published & measured against targets.

SMART Objectives lead to SMART Performance !

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

So what’s the plan..?………….

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project-management-team

Once the Project Objectives are defined the next stage is Project Planning.

The effort which is put into the project planning stage will determine how smoothly and effectively the project runs and the better the chance of the Objectives being delivered on time.

The project manager normally uses a tool such as Microsoft Project Manager and the most common form of layout is the Gannt chart. Take a look at this for a detailed explanation:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannt_Chart

The project is broken down into a Work Breakdown Structure which lists the main elements of the project. Each element is then broken down into a number of tasks and sub-tasks. Some of these are interdependent and need to be linked i.e one task cannot be started until the other is completed.

Any tasks which can be done in parallel to others are arranged as such and the idea is that the overall project timescale is minimized taking into account the resource available. This takes a lot of effort and it is likely that a number of iterations will be required. It is vital that each person responsible for a particular task is aware of the plan and has “bought in to it” i.e they agree with the timescales and with their responsibility to deliver a particular task. All of this relies on the PM’s negotiating skills. The plan should be reviewed by peers and management to ensure that it is as representative as possible. It should also have a sponsor who is a senior manager in the organization in case of any resource conflicts.

The overall length of the project is determined by the CRITICAL PATH – the tasks which have to follow on from each other from the start of the project to the end. If any one of these interdependent tasks takes longer than planned the project will overrun. If any can be shortened the overall project timescales may be shortened or another parallel task may then become part of the CRITICAL PATH. This will be easier understood by using a tool such as Microsoft Project and altering the duration of some of the key tasks on the critical path.

Some Common mistakes when constructing project plans:-

• In an effort to get the project moving not enough effort is put into planning – proper planning will save a lot of wasted effort later on.

• Resource is allocated without agreement of the nominee or their manager – people need to “buy in” to the project timescales.

• Under commercial pressure timescales are agreed which are not viable – the project manager needs to be resilient and highlight the risks, escalating to senior management if necessary.

• Tasks are poorly defined and ambiguous – they need to be broken down into manageable chunks and to be specific.

• The project progresses but the plan is not updated on a regular basis leading to unpleasant shocks when delays are highlighted – the project plan must be updated regularly (at least weekly) and published widely.

A well defined and structured project plan will identify resource and timescales enabling tasks to be completed on time and the project objectives delivered to expectations.

Best laid plans of mice and men aft gan agley – Robert Burns.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

www.projectsguru.co.uk

Want performing ?…… you need storming…..

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argumentEver noticed that, in teams, there are always arguments & some individuals always seem to disagree with everyone else ?
This is perfectly normal and studies have shown that Teams go through a number of key phases. In fact, in order to operate effectively, successful teams MUST go through these key phases before they can function effectively. Bruce Tuckman described this phenomenon in 1965.

Forming – this is where the team is chosen and first comes together, there is little consensus and the Leader must set direction.

Storming – this phase may be very disconcerting to the leader if she is not aware of the Psychology at play. During this stage team members vie for positions, opinions will be strongly expressed, leadership may be challenged – expect a rocky ride. It is however ESSENTIAL that this phase of the process is negotiated and all views aired. The Team Leader MUST seek the opinion of less vocal members of the group who may have important points to raise but may find it less easy to come forward and express their view. This is when all the dirty linen is washed in public.

Norming – this phase is a successor to the first two. This is where a consensus is agreed. Everyone has had their say, got it off their chest and at this point OBJECTIVES should be set for the whole team. I will devote a separate topic to objective setting but they must be clearly expressed, written down and concise. The objectives will be born from the Storming process.

Performing – with a clear set of objectives in place around which the whole team agrees then real progress can be made. This is the performing stage for the team. This doesn’t mean that no one should disagree with anyone else but the whole team should have bought into the agreed objectives and should be heading in the same direction.

If the Storming phase is not allowed to run its course and all views aired then discontent will rumble on into the following phases & factions will form affecting the overall performance of the team.

Recognition of the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing stages of Team performance allows the leader to control and direct the final outcome leading to a successful and productive team.

If you want Performing you’ve got to have Storming !!!!

chris@projectsguru.co.uk
www.projectsguru.co.uk

#pmot – You need to be a team player…..

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project-management-teamProject Team members carry out tasks specified by the Project Manager with agreed deliverables and timescales.

Team members take responsibility for their own tasks, keep the project manager informed of progress and exercise initiative when they become aware of issues outside their immediate responsibiities.

PMI says – ‘Project Team Members – the persons who report either directly or indirectly to the project manager and who are responsible for performing project work as a regular part of their assigned duties’  – PMBOK guide.

Ideal team members have the following attributes:-

1) They are willing and enthusiastic members.

2) They are Technical experts in their field.

3) They are honest and open.

4) They feel able to express their opinion.

5) Their contribution is valued.

A successful team has members who contribute value and take responsibility for their tasks. This scenario is enabled by a project manager who listens to his team and creates an enabling atmosphere.

ref: The Definitive Guide to Project Management – S.Nokes, S.Kelly FT