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Project Management PMI Presentation 2009
- 1. BLACK BAG TRICKS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENTApril 14, 2009The University of Iowa FoundationTerrance Knecht MBA, CISSP, PMP, CGEITAssistant Vice President, Chief Information Officer The University of Iowa Foundation terry-knecht@uiowa.edu
- 2. Three Cardinal RulesTime is a zero sum gameEverything is interrelatedAll actions/decisions have an impact forever
- 3. Five Constant Factors of Sun TzuMoral lawBe in accord with the sponsorHeaven and earthKnow the environmentCommanderDoes the PM have the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness?Method and disciplineOrganize the project
- 4. Project Tracking/PortfolioManagement IAbsolute defense on what IT is working on and (more importantly) what IT is not working on
- 5. Project Tracking/Portfolio Management IITrue record of realityThe record of hours shows the true investmentPBS: Business staff thought (deluded themselves) that IT was working on everything at onceUIF: Business management felt that reporting requirements were only temporary
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- 7. Project SponsorPick a sponsor who wants to use the project as a vehicle to move their career forwardPBS: The director of development (giving) was the sponsor of the new development system which we built. She glossed over the problems until they were solvedIf the obvious sponsor is unenthusiastic, follow the food chainPBS: Director of video sales did not support the new system, but the vice president of marketing did
- 8. Project OwnershipHave the business side own the projectHave the business side make the decisions (or at least think they are)Structure the project so that the business side does as much of the project as possibleUIF: When the PM for the University of Michigan visited UIFhe was amazed to the extent that the business areas ran the fund raising project
- 9. Project ManagerBeing the second project manager is often a very good situationRealism has set in for the usersThe bad feelings from the journey to reality are tied to the drowned first project managerLexi International: I was the third CIO that year, so when I wanted to tear up the existing infrastructure got an OK
- 10. Project Charter IIf the project charter does not flow easily from the sponsor to the written word, then resolve the key issues before going onthey will not resolve themselves If the project manager is very lucky, everything will be alignedUnresolved issues hinder the organization in reaching the project objectives UP&UP: The scope of Y2K was not resolved
- 11. Project Charter IICharter restrictions are very important and sometimes more important than the projectUP&UP: The completion date for the new corporate HQ needed to be 90 days later for financial reasons
- 12. TrainingTraining is NOT something outside the projectPut training on the projects critical pathIf possible, configure training costs as a base cost for the obvious participants and an incremental cost for the less defensibleCreate an interesting chart for training progress
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- 14. Planning I Get the priority resolvedespecially if the project is a whale. This will make resources availableIf the organizational commitment is of the highest order, it is more difficult for forces outside the project to siphon off resources and ask individuals to do more than reasonableUIF: The president announced the fundraising software project was the most important project
- 15. Planning IIMake individual tasks as discrete as possible to insure ownershipUP&UP: Each program was assigned to an individual for Y2K (1 million lines of code)Brand key steps - especially if they are critical or not glamorousUIF: The tedious, pedantic step of coordinating all of the paperwork for each 13 design groups was called the Last Chance meeting
- 16. Planning IIICouple tasks to create a feeling of dependency do not let your buddy downCrocker Bank: One person did the edit and one did the update program
- 17. Planning IIIISafest path is the one that if an outside consultant was called in they would say either that is the way I would do it or I would do it differently, but many others would do it this wayBe creative on how the pieces are put together, not in selecting the individual piecesPBS: I worked with Lucent to create the new call center. Then the business management went to Lucent to ask if it was a good idea
- 18. Execution IIf you try to save a dollar and something goes wrong, no one will remember your savings. If it goes well, you will receive no thanksLexi International: All of the new servers had to be replacedMake sure that what you see looks like the value you paidUP&UP: The computer room looked like a million dollars
- 19. Execution IIAlways look at the true cost of activities. More importantly, link what the true alternatives arePBS: $125 per hour (1991) consultant working on an AS/400 in storage room
- 20. Execution IIISometimes people are not needed to be around during the actual implementationUP&UP: The day that the organization cut over to the new corporate HQ, a VP took the President for golf
- 21. Execution IIIIRecognition is great for the next projectBlue Cross: After the successful disaster recovery test, I flew from one site to another just to hand out certificates the best I could findRecognition is not always what you think it will beUIF: During the flood of 2008, I wrote Essential Person letters which became highly prized artifacts
- 22. Monitoring & Controlling IProject can be vehicle to elicit a demand for change
- 23. Monitoring & Controlling IIIssues do not go awayConfront issues directly and earlyStart early beating the drum if business management will have accept an inconvenient truthBlue Cross: The fixing security was something they did not want to understand. Used EDS and the legal department to finally succeed. This also allowed me not to be the one carrying the final message
- 24. ConclusionBe ready with a story for every occasion UIF: Flood (ACT)Remember, you are always working for the next project