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PM Black Bag Tricks

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This document provides guidance on project management best practices from Terrance Knecht based on his experience. It discusses the importance of balancing project constraints like cost, time and quality. It emphasizes that the project manager's role is to organize the project effectively by establishing clear sponsorship, objectives, plans and resource allocation. Additional tips include owning issues, setting expectations, effective communication, and recognizing contributions to support future projects. The overall message is that success requires attention to both technical and people aspects to deliver projects on time and on budget.

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Terrance Knecht MBA, CISSP, PMP, CGEIT, COBIT, ITIL tlk@terranceknecht.com
Cost ($) Time Quality Scope 2
The trick of Project Management is To balance the 3 constraints 3
Time is a zero sum game Everything is interrelated All actions/decisions have an impact forever for the project 4
Everything is a project At Wells Fargo I established a Friday luncheon where each week a different person was responsible for the luncheons organization & execution each persons performance was the same in their luncheon as in their projects 5
Sponsor Project Charter Project Plan Resource Allocation Matrix 6
Moral lawBe in accord with the sponsor Heaven and earthKnow the environment CommanderDoes the PM have the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness? Method and disciplineOrganize the project 7
Absolute defense on what IT is working on and (more importantly) what IT is not working on 8
True record of reality The record of hours shows the true investment PBS: Business staff thought (deluded themselves) that IT was working on everything at once UIF: Business management felt that reporting requirements were only temporary 9
One Picture For One Idea PROGRAMMING HOURS EXPENDED ON AD HOC REPORTING PER YEAR 3000 2500 2004 2005 2000 2006 2007 2008 Projected 1500 1000 500 0 Annual Fund Blackbaud Telefund Foundation University Alumni Fixed Work Outputs Outputs Outputs Association Output 10
Pick a sponsor who wants to use the project as a vehicle to move their career forward PBS: The director of development (giving) was the sponsor of the new development system which we built. She glossed over the problems until they were solved If the obvious sponsor is unenthusiastic, follow the food chain PBS: Director of video sales did not support the new system, but the vice president of marketing did 11
Have the business side own the project Have 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 possible UIF: When the PM for the University of Michigan visited UIFhe was amazed to the extent that the business areas ran the fund raising project 12
Being the second project manager is often a very good situation Realism has set in for the users The bad feelings from the journey to reality are tied to the drowned first project manager Lexi International: I was the third CIO that year, so when I wanted to tear up the existing infrastructure got an OK 13
If 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 aligned Unresolved issues hinder the organization in reaching the project objectives UP&UP: The scope of Y2K was not resolved 14
Charter restrictions are very important and sometimes more important than the project UP&UP: The completion date for the new corporate HQ needed to be 90 days later for financial reasons 15
Training is NOT something outside the project Put training on the projects critical path If possible, configure training costs as a base cost for the obvious participants and an incremental cost for the less defensible Create an interesting chart for training progress 16
17
Get the priority resolvedespecially if the project is a whale. This will make resources available If 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 reasonable UIF: The president announced the fundraising software project was the most important project 18
Make individual tasks as discrete as possible to insure ownership UP&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 glamorous UIF: The tedious, pedantic step of coordinating all of the paperwork for each 13 design groups was called the Last Chance meeting 19
Couple tasks to create a feeling of dependency do not let your buddy down Crocker Bank: One person did the edit and one did the update program 20
Safest 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 way Be creative on how the pieces are put together, not in selecting the individual pieces PBS: I worked with Lucent and IBM to create a new call center. Then the business management went to Lucent to ask if it was a good idea 21
If you try to save a dollar and something goes wrong, no one will remember your savings. If it goes well, you will receive no thanks Lexi International: All of the new servers had to be replaced Make sure that what you see looks like the value you paid UP&UP: The computer room looked like a million dollars 22
Always look at the true cost of activities. More importantly, link what the true alternatives are to the true costs PBS: $125 per hour (1991) consultant working on an AS/400 in storage room with programmer's keyboard sitting on top of the AS/400 tower 23
Sometimes people are not needed to be around during the actual implementation UP&UP: The day that the organization cut over to the new corporate HQ, a VP took the President for golf 24
Recognition is great for the next project Blue Cross: After the successful disaster recovery test, I flew from one site to another just to hand out certificates the best I could find Recognition is not always what you think it will be UIF: During the flood of 2008, I wrote Essential Person letters which became highly prized artifacts 25
Reporting can be vehicle to elicit a demand for change DESIGN TEAM CURRENT STATUS CR Blackbaud to resolve 4 critical signoff issues Campaign Signed Off DRS Blackbaud to resolve 3 critical signoff issues PG UIF to set up Final meeting Athletics Signed Off AG Blackbaud to resolve 1 critical signoff issue CFR Signed off OLC Blackbaud to meet with UIAA on 2/19 E&V Mgt Blackbaud to resolve documentation Done Last Phase 26
Issues do not go away Confront issues directly and early Start early beating the drum if business management will have accept an inconvenient truth Blue Cross: 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 27
Be ready with a story for every occasion UIF: Flood (ACT) Remember, you are always working for the next project 28
PM Black Bag Tricks

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PM Black Bag Tricks

  • 1. Terrance Knecht MBA, CISSP, PMP, CGEIT, COBIT, ITIL tlk@terranceknecht.com
  • 2. Cost ($) Time Quality Scope 2
  • 3. The trick of Project Management is To balance the 3 constraints 3
  • 4. Time is a zero sum game Everything is interrelated All actions/decisions have an impact forever for the project 4
  • 5. Everything is a project At Wells Fargo I established a Friday luncheon where each week a different person was responsible for the luncheons organization & execution each persons performance was the same in their luncheon as in their projects 5
  • 6. Sponsor Project Charter Project Plan Resource Allocation Matrix 6
  • 7. Moral lawBe in accord with the sponsor Heaven and earthKnow the environment CommanderDoes the PM have the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness? Method and disciplineOrganize the project 7
  • 8. Absolute defense on what IT is working on and (more importantly) what IT is not working on 8
  • 9. True record of reality The record of hours shows the true investment PBS: Business staff thought (deluded themselves) that IT was working on everything at once UIF: Business management felt that reporting requirements were only temporary 9
  • 10. One Picture For One Idea PROGRAMMING HOURS EXPENDED ON AD HOC REPORTING PER YEAR 3000 2500 2004 2005 2000 2006 2007 2008 Projected 1500 1000 500 0 Annual Fund Blackbaud Telefund Foundation University Alumni Fixed Work Outputs Outputs Outputs Association Output 10
  • 11. Pick a sponsor who wants to use the project as a vehicle to move their career forward PBS: The director of development (giving) was the sponsor of the new development system which we built. She glossed over the problems until they were solved If the obvious sponsor is unenthusiastic, follow the food chain PBS: Director of video sales did not support the new system, but the vice president of marketing did 11
  • 12. Have the business side own the project Have 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 possible UIF: When the PM for the University of Michigan visited UIFhe was amazed to the extent that the business areas ran the fund raising project 12
  • 13. Being the second project manager is often a very good situation Realism has set in for the users The bad feelings from the journey to reality are tied to the drowned first project manager Lexi International: I was the third CIO that year, so when I wanted to tear up the existing infrastructure got an OK 13
  • 14. If 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 aligned Unresolved issues hinder the organization in reaching the project objectives UP&UP: The scope of Y2K was not resolved 14
  • 15. Charter restrictions are very important and sometimes more important than the project UP&UP: The completion date for the new corporate HQ needed to be 90 days later for financial reasons 15
  • 16. Training is NOT something outside the project Put training on the projects critical path If possible, configure training costs as a base cost for the obvious participants and an incremental cost for the less defensible Create an interesting chart for training progress 16
  • 17. 17
  • 18. Get the priority resolvedespecially if the project is a whale. This will make resources available If 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 reasonable UIF: The president announced the fundraising software project was the most important project 18
  • 19. Make individual tasks as discrete as possible to insure ownership UP&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 glamorous UIF: The tedious, pedantic step of coordinating all of the paperwork for each 13 design groups was called the Last Chance meeting 19
  • 20. Couple tasks to create a feeling of dependency do not let your buddy down Crocker Bank: One person did the edit and one did the update program 20
  • 21. Safest 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 way Be creative on how the pieces are put together, not in selecting the individual pieces PBS: I worked with Lucent and IBM to create a new call center. Then the business management went to Lucent to ask if it was a good idea 21
  • 22. If you try to save a dollar and something goes wrong, no one will remember your savings. If it goes well, you will receive no thanks Lexi International: All of the new servers had to be replaced Make sure that what you see looks like the value you paid UP&UP: The computer room looked like a million dollars 22
  • 23. Always look at the true cost of activities. More importantly, link what the true alternatives are to the true costs PBS: $125 per hour (1991) consultant working on an AS/400 in storage room with programmer's keyboard sitting on top of the AS/400 tower 23
  • 24. Sometimes people are not needed to be around during the actual implementation UP&UP: The day that the organization cut over to the new corporate HQ, a VP took the President for golf 24
  • 25. Recognition is great for the next project Blue Cross: After the successful disaster recovery test, I flew from one site to another just to hand out certificates the best I could find Recognition is not always what you think it will be UIF: During the flood of 2008, I wrote Essential Person letters which became highly prized artifacts 25
  • 26. Reporting can be vehicle to elicit a demand for change DESIGN TEAM CURRENT STATUS CR Blackbaud to resolve 4 critical signoff issues Campaign Signed Off DRS Blackbaud to resolve 3 critical signoff issues PG UIF to set up Final meeting Athletics Signed Off AG Blackbaud to resolve 1 critical signoff issue CFR Signed off OLC Blackbaud to meet with UIAA on 2/19 E&V Mgt Blackbaud to resolve documentation Done Last Phase 26
  • 27. Issues do not go away Confront issues directly and early Start early beating the drum if business management will have accept an inconvenient truth Blue Cross: 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 27
  • 28. Be ready with a story for every occasion UIF: Flood (ACT) Remember, you are always working for the next project 28