Stop Wasting Money on Bad Project Management

In these times of transition we are astounded at how many organizations continue to waste money on badly managed projects. In the past several months we have been asked to do some preliminary investigation on multi-million dollar projects. In each case they are considerably over-budget (in one case it is now $40 million USD). Our recommended action is to undergo an in-depth project health check/audit. Usually completed in several weeks, they deliver powerful recommendations based on the root causes of the problems. They include an implementation plan on how to immediately the recommendations to get the project back on track. In our experience, within a couple of months, the losses will stop and the projects will be moving in the right direction.

Here's the dilemma. The project leaders, directors and even some CEOs are concerned that this project health check/audit will be;
•A witch hunt
•Looking for blame and excuses
•Looking for scapegoats or victims
•An intrusion by the Project Management Office
•A mechanism for punishing the project manager and other resources for not following quality project management processes
•A way to strike fear into the heart of the project manager

So they often choose to hire a technical expert. For example, an engineer or network specialist, etc. in the hopes that throwing more money at the projects will turn them around. Then we do another quick analysis and the project's are usually worse than before. Our recommendation remains the same as before. We don't know what to do unless we can conduct a health check/audit in order to identify the problems.

On one recent project I asked the CEO: "If the project is over-budget by about 40 million, are you willing to invest less than 0.25% of this to do a health check that will probably save you millions?"

The response was depressing. They agreed but have still deferred their decision. In conversations with other members of the executive it became clear that there was concern on the part of the CEO that we might find something that will lead directly to him. Although we can never be certain whether or not this will be true, the intent of an audit is not to look for blame or excuses. Rather, it is designed to identify the root causes of the problems which have led to the current situation and to provide recommendations on how to get the project moving back in the right direction.

Don't make the same mistakes. Project health checks/audits will provide you with great benefits. Get rid of the fear and move toward the opportunities.

All the best,
Michael

Refocus Your PMO - Part V

3.Manage the resourcing across all projects

The resourcing of projects continues to be a top priority of management and a significant barrier for PMOs in achieving their mandate. Management are not “on board” because they are uncertain what the resources are doing and why. They often perceive that work on projects is an intrusion to their employee’s daily work requirements.

An important role of the PMO is to ensure that all project managers know how to develop a detailed project plan which clearly identifies all of the tasks to be done and the name(s) of the resources that will be responsible for doing them. These project plans should be input into project management software and reports generated regularly.

If this is completed consistently across all projects the PMO then works with management to analyze the consolidated resource reports and help them deal with over-allocation issues including some guidance on help them find solutions. These might include assigning a different resource to complete a specific series of project tasks, identifying that some tasks may be delayed or that the resource assigned is not actually completing the task and rather, they are responsible to oversee its completion and therefore are not as time constrained as the report indicates.

It is beneficial to discuss resource over-allocation issues with the functional managers of the project resources. Discussing the issue with functional managers will help to identify opportunities for alternative resources or changing functional work priorities. As well, calling this issue to the attention of senior management will identify if projects can be re-prioritized. The prioritization of projects may be changed owing to a lack of resources to complete one or more of the projects or the senior management may provide larger budgets to some of the projects so that external resources can be hired.

The PMO needs to develop a plan to oversee the management of all resources across all projects on a continuous (at least monthly) basis. The resource plan will link all projects to organizational commitments for resources on a continuous basis and will anticipate potential resource issues.

Refocus Your PMO - Part IV

2.Ensure only strategically aligned projects are managed – all others should be dropped

Developing a systematic approach to prioritizing all projects in the organization makes sense but how many PMOs don’t do it or do it consistently. Too often, projects will get initiated without much consideration other than, “it seems like a great idea.” This lack of strategic alignment is a major reason for project failure. Project prioritization includes identifying how each project within each department is aligned with corporate strategy.

One way to establish a systematic approach to prioritizing projects is to develop an inventory of all projects, regardless of size or scope, that are currently being implemented by all departments and within the whole organization. This research phase is interesting. You will find many projects that staff are working on but that management is unaware. During this research many organizations will identify, for example, that they thought they had about 50 projects of various sizes being managed but when the inventory is completed they find out that there are over 100. It is no wonder resources are over-allocated and feeling stressed.

The next step in the prioritization process is to identify the overall goal, strategic alignment and key deliverables for each project. Then list these projects on a spreadsheet, referred to as a Project Prioritization Worksheet.

Refocus your PMO - part III

1. Critical Importance of Project Health Checks and Audits
The recession has increased the need for project audits more than ever. As organizations continue to look for immediate ways in which to save money and time, a project audit becomes a significant strategy for a PMO to quickly get to the source of project delays and other problems. Project audits always creates future opportunities and savings by helping to identify the root cause of problems and getting badly projects back on track. They have a direct, bottom-line impact for both public and private organizations.

Organizations that are considering employee lay-offs need to make sure that the projects in their pipeline are implemented on time and on budget despite staff reductions. A Project Health Check or Project Audit ensures that these projects are kept on track because any potential problems are quickly identified. Organizations that are scrambling to get new products to market want to accelerate their new product development life cycle and here too, project audits can be their saviour because they can quickly identify ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of projects.

If your organization is facing any of these challenges below, Project Audits are required• Projects are not aligned with the strategic imperatives and are therefore wasting resources, time and budget.
•Organizations are not seeing a positive impact on their bottom-line and/or customers from projects.
•Projects are over-time, over-schedule and/or under-resourced.
•Innovations are failing owing to the poor management of projects.
•There are many projects of various sizes within the organization and each department but it is unclear how each one aligns with overall corporate strategy. This leads to resource over-allocation on non-priority projects.
•Resources are stretched and not sure where to spend their time.
•The organization is clear on the expected outcomes from Strategic Initiatives but aren’t sure which ones will help them reach these.
•There is no strategic vision for the management of projects, though the organization may have an overall corporate strategic vision.
•There is no culture which supports the consistent management of all projects.
•Projects are in crisis and there is lots of fire-fighting.
•There is blame and excuses for poor project management.

Refocus your PMO - part II

Here are the three most important things you can do to ensure your survival;

1.Understand the Critical Importance of Project Health Checks and Audits
2.Ensure only strategically aligned projects are managed – all others should be dropped
3.Manage the resourcing across all projects

In our research of Project Management Offices we have found that the most focus on the technical and tactical side of their responsibility. This includes the development of project management processes, tools and templates. They collect data and present reports. These PMOs are doomed if they don’t refocus their efforts, park all of this job responsibility and think more strategically. The imperative today is to quickly demonstrate how the PMO can have an immediate impact on the continued success of their organization.

My next Blogs will detail how to do each of these things you need to do in order to survive.

Refocus your Project Management Office to Ensure it Positively Impacts Your Organization

Refocusing your Project Management Office or Enterprise Project Management Office is critical to ensure it continues to meet the strategic imperatives of your organization in today’s economic climate. There is a huge opportunity to ensure it not only survives any budget cuts but is seen as a source of opportunity for renewed organizational success.

PMOs can provide significant cost savings and other benefits when they align with the delivery of the organization’s strategic plan and are well-managed. Those that fail to do so do not survive. As organizations continue their search for non-revenue generating departments to eliminate, the PMO is starting to see their continued survival at risk.

I will use my upcoming blogs to provide you with some insights into creating and/or sustaining a PMO or ePMO that the organization will want to survive. Why? Because it will make a huge, measurable, impact on the organization.

Thanks for listening,
Michael

Organizational Change That Sticks

I am finalizing a keynote presentation for an upcoming conference hosted by the American Society for Quality. There is so much doom and gloom research and studies out there that it is really difficult to find something intriguing to tell them and get them motivated to use the chagne process. However, I did find something.

This has only just been released and is very positive. The Ontario Government in Canada commissioned a report to identify the future of the province. Where should it be spending its money? The report was radical – but I think very positive. It really is a vision for North America – not just Ontario. It was researched and written by Richard Florida and Roger Martin, who is the dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

They say that the future depends on nurturing creativity and intelligence rather than protecting the past by bailing out struggling manufacturers. They call for a sweeping transformation of the manufacturing sector. (talk about change) “Our time is seeing the rise of a whole new economic system that is based more on brain than brawn, more on ideas than capital, more on human creativity than natural resources and brute strength”. They acknowledge that the transformation will be painful. But they say those regions that can extend the creative economy to the production of goods, services and resources will gain significant advantage. The current economic crisis opens opportunities for the province to use its full creative talents to expand the businesses and industries of the future. “In crises like these; nations, regions, provinces and states can rapidly change ground; they can improve or lose position, depending on the actions they take.”

I will give my keynote in 2 weeks. I hope this helps enlighten them to the possibilities that they can realize through a Strategic Change Process. I know that I have seen it in organizations with whom we work and I'm certain they will too.

Let me know how your own change efforts are progressing. All the best,
Michael