The A-Z of Project Management Survival

We've all seen them, the guys that work all hours, they are always first in and last to leave, they seem to always be in the thick of it, people are always waiting for them to do something before they can move on, they're always on-call, if they're not still on-shift.

There's no doubt that out there there are some of these types, and they will be genuinely good, valuable people who do some really good stuff. Yay them, keep it up guys. You're keeping it all hanging together, thanks! Just be careful when you're crossing the road please.

However, there is another side to this genre though, and you'd be well advised in learning to spot them. These are the self-made heroes. They're not really heroes, they just play a clever game to make people think they are heroes. Really, they are manufacturing a need for themselves, they are making themselves indespensible because no-one eles could possibly do all the stuff they do, know all the things they know or sort all the problems they sort.

Watch out for them, they avoid passing on their knowledge, the learn new stuff and keep it to themselves and, best of all, the real pro's in this area will manufacture problems that only they can fix. Allowing the yet another opportunity to ride in on the big white charger and save the day.

Labels: H, Heroes

At the beginning of your project, when nothing's really happened and you have a vast pot of cash to spend, you can be excused for thinking that you've fallen into something Samuel Tayor Coleridge novel depiction of the opulence of Xanadu.

Just remember the money has to do you for the duration of the project, not just to buy toys for the project geeks to play with.

Also, this is a time to watch out for other projects, which are starting to feel cash-strapped, coming to you and asking you to fund something for them. You know, "I've been told I need to get some licenses, and we didn't include them in the budget, could you..", or, "We've got this resource, he's quite expensive, but he could do some work for you too, as long as you don't mind footing the bill.", etc.

It's time to double-check your sums and put away your slush-fund, because you're in this for the long-haul.

Labels: X, Xanadu

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of tools, templates, strategies, techniques, approaches and methodologies out there. There are lots of really good ones, in fact most of them probably are, or at least were great at what they were developed to do at the time they were developed to do it.

So, it can be a difficult time for you deciding what to use on your project.

Some things will be a given, taken for granted, others will need to be sourced and decided upon. You can seek opinion from your team, peers or even management about wwhat you should use or what approach you could take. But, as the person tasked with delivering the project, it should ultimately be your decision as to what you go with.

The main thing is to use the right tools for the job. If you're thinking of adopting a new methodology, it makes sense to read up on it first and then decide if it would be suitable for your project. It's a big internet out there, there's lots of people willing to share their experience or opinion about just about anything.

Just because it's new doesn't make it good. Similarly, just because it's been around for a while doesn't make it any less relevant today.

What you have to do is balance up the options of the team's experience in the tools/methods the changes in process, the risk of introducing something different.

Use the right thing for the right job, and your life will be significantly less complicated.

Labels: H, Horses for Courses

A firm favourite, the Yellow Stickies tend to get pulled out at workshops as a way of capturing opinion from the assembled workshopees.

While workshops, if they are run properly, are a good thing, the widespread use of the yelow sticky as a means for "getting all the issues out in the open" or "having a stab prioritising the workload" is often badly over/mis-used by people that don't know how to run a workshop properly.

How many times have you seen the "facilitator" scurrying away after the meeting, with a huge pile of flipchart sheets covered in stickies rolled under his arm. Odds-on that's the last you will see of them.

Yellow Stickies in a workshop is an example of a Horses for Courses item; if you cant use it effectively, then don't use it.

** You know what Yellow Stickies are. The A-Z isn't sponsored, so wouldn't want to fall foul of promoting a particular brand, like Post-It from 3M, do we now?

Labels: Y, Yellow Stickies

While you may find some interesting techniques in the A-Z that will help you navigate through the stormy waters of Software Delivery, be careful not to flounder on the rocks of the Island of Lame Excuses.

Always remember, first and foremost that you, as the Project Manager, are wholly responsible for the delivery of the project. It's up to you to mobilise the resources, plan accordingly and steer your project carefully to the Land of Success.

Never, ever resort to, "A big boy did it and ran away", or somesuch nonsense. Poeple will not react kindly to that kind of excuse and will almost certainly think less of you and your delivery ability.

If you have made a mistake, judgement of error, or otherwise hit upon a problem, then stand up and admit it. Take your kicking and move on; consider it an educational exercise, and make sure you put the necessary things in place to afoid falling over that particular problem in the future.

One thing though: Before you admit the problem and take your kicking, best to have the solution to the problem already implemented or, at least, up your sleeve. Otherwise you'll look a real idiot.

Labels: L, Lame Excuses

So, you're at the end of your project and it's finally gone live and, best of all, it's working! Well done you, it's a good feeling isn't it?

You'll probably have a bit of a euphoric feeling. Like some other analogies in this guide, it's a bit like winning a battle against all the odds, despite other people and projects. Yes, it is a victorious time; lap it up, the next one is undoubtedly just around the corner. Maybe, like the Red Baron, you can slap a little silhouette on the side of your metaphorical triplane; another one down, now who's next?

Ensure you remember it wasn't just you that made this a success. Make a point of thanking your people, your team, they need to know you are grateful for all the hard work they have undoubtedly put in. Take the time to thank them personally because then they know you appreciated their contribution and that you're not all taking the credit for the success yourself. It will also make it easier when the time comes to recruit a team for your next project; people who feel appreciated will want to work for you again.

This is also a good time to position yourself, with those who have influence, as the go-to guy/gal if you want your projects delivered successfully. that way, you should hopefully have more choice on your next assignment, or maybe just that they will listen more carefully when you make your demands at project start-up time.

Labels: V, Victory

Sometimes you are stuck with people on your project that you could, quite frankly, do without. They may just not be up to the job, or there may be something else they bring to the party that detracts from the team's ability to deliver.

This can happen for a number of different reasons; Perhaps you inherited them when you took over the project. Perhaps they have been foisted on you as a result of a management decision. Perhaps they were sold to you as a guru, or the best person for the job.

The assumption here is that you cannot simply remove them from the project, because you would have by now and you wouldn't have a problem. So you need another way out. One option is to minimise the effect of these people, but sometimes Vapourisation is the only way.

One thing to bear in mind is that whining about your resources is never a good thing. People will think you're just making early excuses for your future lack of delivery, or label you as a whiney project manager. But, more importantly, always remember that it's your team that will deliver the project, under your excellent guidance of course, so it's probably best not to alienate them. So removal by stealth is the key.

One approach is to give them responsibility for the delivery of something, ideally not too critical, and let them prove their obsession with their chosen speciality subject gets in the way of delivering, effectively letting them fall on their over zealous sword. Now, you've proved they're no good, they should be ripe for removal...

Labels: V, Vapourisation

Sometimes you get people on your project that are a danger to themselves, let alone anyone else or your project. On occasion, they are actually OK in terms of their knowledge of the subject matter, but you wouldn't trust them to deliver newspapers.

If this is the case, you may wish to assing them an 'advisory' or 'consulting' role without any real delivery responsibility. They could maybe coach some of the more junior people in your team in their area of expertise. If you sell it correctly, there's a good chance they will be happy in the respect you have in their knowledge.

That way you get the benefit of their knowledge without the associated failure to deliver; just make sure you give them some boundaries and keep a close eye on them.

Labels: M, Marginalisation

Sometimes, when all seems lost, and you think you are in PM Hell, turn to the words of Mr Kipling. No, not the 'exceedingly good cakes' one...

"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

...

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!"

It's worth reading the whole thing, if you haven't already.
Now, we're not saying you should run your project with this in mind, but it may make you feel better when the fan is up to full speed and the shovels are fully loaded.

Taken from 'If' by Rudyard Kipling

Labels: H, Hell

Labels: V, Value For Money

So, you've just been told about your shiny new project, and everything is all exciting and ready for you to stamp your authority on it and tell everyone how it's going to be done. It's great when it happens like that, isn't it? I'm sure you've got loads of time to deliver too...

Well, you'd better get your finger out and start pulling a budget together. You'll be wanting to get all your requirements and estimates sorted out, and your team, and your kit, and your licenses, and desks, and... What are you waiting for? You'd better hurry up, the clock is ticking you know.

Assuming all of that has gone swimmingly and your project is well underway. What happens when something unexpected comes up, like a change in the design means you need a new batch of licenses, or a misunderstanding of a requirement means one of your estimates is woefully light, one of the team takes a lot longer to complete their tasks?

Maybe you have an understanding boss, or a customer with deep pockets and an understanding nature. If so, then you can stop reading this one now and have another sip of ambrosia, provided your at-the-desk masseuse is finished.

If you're still here, then this is when the Slush Fund comes into play. When your budget was compiled, was there contingency included in estimates for tasks that are now complete, are there any things that are no longer required, are there things that could be descoped from the project or deferred to a separately funded phase? Gather all those little pockets of cash together and see if that can be released to make up for your omission/issue. If so, you've probably avoided a bullet, for now.

Note: Some people may surreptitiously include extra dosh in some tasks or over-egg their estimates to include some slush when the budget is originally compiled. Of course, while the A-Z would never condone such a practice, it recognises it is a reality.

Labels: S, Slush Fund

There is a school of thought that is rife amongst the more timid of the lesser spotted Project Manager, and that is that if you ignore something for long enough, it will go away.

While this may be true for such things as his acne and his girlfriend, it is generally never true about software projects. If you ignore a small thing long enough, it will become a big thing and when it becomes a big thing, you are more likely to feel the pain.

Of course, if you know what you're doing you will be aware of even the small things on your project and will make a conscious decision on whether you should do something about it sharpish or you can safely let it ride for a while.

What you do about it will, of course, depend on the issue and your own personal style but be sure you do something and don't just defer the decision till tomorrow. Tomorrow will have enough challenges of its own.

Labels: P, People, Procrastination

This term will likely be familiar to anyone that's been on an IT project, it describes the point of sudden realisation that there is a problem on the project and a scapegoat is required.

Really it shouldn't work that way, people should undoubtedly be focussing on solving the problem and delivering the project, but these days it seems that there always has to be a post-mortem and a, consequently, a culprit found.

The meeting may take a number of different forms, or have a number of different titles, like "Process Improvement Workshop", or "Post Implementation Review", but in essence it will turn out to be a drains up blame-fest. You can usually gauge how much of a kicking is going to be dealt out by the seniority of the attendees. There may be even a series of blamestorming meetings to get the story straight before the upper management get told the story.

As you attend more of these meetings, you will witness people who have never moved quickly in their lives suddenly acquire the speed and adaptiveness of gazelles being pursued by a cheetah and reknowned trouble-makers will become strangely slippery, as if lubricated with some kind of advanced silicone compound.

Best go prepared to these kind of meetings, because the black spot will need to be finding a home, and you'd be advised to make sure it doesn't unfairly land on your lapel. Of course, if you are a Good Guy and have followed the advice in this guide, you will already be well equipped and have nothing to fear.

At the meetings, watch out for the phrases, "This isn't intended to be a witch-hunt", and, "We're not looking for a scape-goat here".
It is, and they are.

Labels: B, Blamestorming