project failure - ZilicusPM Blog | Online Project Management Tool » ZilicusPM Blog

Project Management Lessons Learnt – By Nasa Executive

Posted by Dhan at 7:23 am Project Management, Project Planning, Risk Management No Responses »

Apr 292013

Project Management Advice From Nasa Project Director

I came across this article “128 Lessons Learned for Project Managers” written by ‘Jerry Madden’ - Goddard Space Flight Center (Retired) at Nasa; and it enlists quite a few project management ‘advice’ for project management professionals, senior management and project team members. Here are some of the quotes, I found quite useful and interesting

Every project is new - There is no such thing as previously flown hardware, i.e., for every new unit being built, there are hundreds of parameter that could have changed from previous one..
Getting involved, too much – You are required to know about project you manage however a manager gets involved like own systems engineer or financial manager is one who will probably try to do open heart surgery on himself.
Team is the winner – It is not project manager who does things to make them happen, it is largely get successful because of the strength and skill of their project team.
Do it right, at right time - Wrong decisions made early can be salvaged, but “right” decisions made late cannot.

I love this one

Lady luck can change things despite your track record - Not all successful managers are competent and not all failed managers are incompetent. Luck still plays a part in success or failure, but luck favors the competent, hard-working manager.

This one is really important

In case of a failure:
- Get every instance of timeline, fact sheet, data/theory, everything about it
- State data and don’t forge it to force-fit a situation
- Do not arrive at a conclusion too rapidly. Make sure any deviation from the norm is explained–remember the wrong conclusion is prologue to the next failure;
Constant vigilance is a project requirement
Communication is very crucial – It is always right thing to get across straight to the the right people to understand a personnel or technical problem. Not having conversation with right guys at right level can cause fatal problems.
Planning for failure – When failed projects are reviewed – it indicates that the failure were well planned to happen from the start.
Getting right people to do the job, makes the difference – There are rare instances where only specific man can get things right – typically these work areas are more art and skill than normal. Cherish these people and employ their services when necessary as soon as possible. Trying to get alternative people in such instances can delay the resolution miserably and the outcome is normally below standard.
And this one applies to project management software too - Not using modern techniques like computer systems is a great mistake, but forgetting the computer simulates thinking is still greater.

Source: 100 Lessons Learned for Project Managers

_____________________________________________________________________________

: ZilicusPM – Online Project Management Software

ZilicusPM is online project management software that offers an incredibly simple and collaborative way to manage projects. Try ZilicusPM a powerful tool to stay on top of things with aesthetic dashboard. ZilicusPM enables online project planning – WBS, online scheduling, resource assignment, Gantt chart, project tracking, issue management, online calendar, risk register and much more. Sign up for 30-days risk free trial.

This week in Project Management (04-11 March 2013)

Posted by Dhan at 9:08 am Project Management, project management software, Project Planning, Project Scope, SMB No Responses »

Mar 102013

1. The Dirty Little Secret of Project Management

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog – authors Joe Knight, Roger Thomas, and Brad Angus have succinctly outlined the uncertainty in project management deliverables as well as the difference between software project management and engineering/construction project management and the impact of the delay in deliverables of respective domain.

Project Management - Cost, Quality, Resource, Risks

They also highlight that *good* project management software (need not be expensive/fancy) can help these professionals to understand

Real state of project by tracking key variables,
Keep team members & stakeholders informed and
Judiciously inform when project is likely to be delivered/completed and with what additional cost (resources, actual cost, quality, etc).

Authors have also shared an example where the company has keep its customer informed about the delay in delivering project and how they accepted the delay. This post has really interesting statement, let me put it in authors’ own words

“If your customer doesn’t think you’re late, then you’re not late. If you need to change the schedule, do it as early as possible and give your customer an immediate heads-up so he can adjust his expectations.”

2. Industry seeks project managers who are certified

In this industry job analysis article, Rebecca Maitland has written about importance given to certified project managers in industry like Energy and Utility. As quoted in this article “Research shows that qualified and certified project managers are stronger performers and their projects are more likely to be successful. This translates into increased efficiency, improved organizational alignment and financial savings”, PMP® certifications are becoming mandatory job requirements and salaries also differ with reference certifications.

3. Capabilities of an Effective Project Manager

In this guest post at PMHut, the author Steve Hart has shared insights from his personal experience – how he judges a candidate as effective project manager while interviewing him/her. He also qualifies the successful project manager even if he/she lacks certain skillset by assessing their potential skillsets – using which they can contribute well if imparted with professional development or imparting additional experience.

He has mentioned capabilities to be effective project manager –

How well he can facilitate or enable his team & other stakeholders to work?
Can he provide attention to details?
Does he/she carry credibility to deliver project with confidence?
Knack for cost management or financial prudence?
Tool savvy –Does he make use of tools to manage projects – project scheduling, documenting, collaborating, presenting tools?
Is he a constant learner, flexible and active listener?

_____________________________________________________________________________

: ZilicusPM – Online Project Management Software

Tips to control derailing project

Posted by Dhan at 2:03 pm Project Management No Responses »

Feb 202012

Are you realizing that your project is on the verge of getting declared as DELAYED; then you should deliberate seriously about following tips to control progress of the project before it falls into the trap of actually getting delayed.

Go back to the drawing room & work out potential but necessary arrangements that need to be done before discussing with vital project stakeholders.
Discuss & negotiate with stakeholders (project sponsors/ customers, steering committee members) about existing arrangements and possible extension of budget (resource/money) or delivery timelines
Internal working: Again, get back to the drawing room & rework the internal budget, perform near-reality/feasibility check for reworked & renegotiated timeline for internal arrangement
Project Scope: Think of tweaking/reducing project scope – As discussed earlier ensure if projectstakeholders would agree to
1. Reduce scope: Non-critical deliverables being removed from scope
2. Staged delivery: Including part of the project deliverables in next phase/maintenance work
Resize Resource Pool: Add more resources to the project. Figure out the cost-benefit analysis of meeting the timeline vs. cost of deploying more resources so as to speed up the delivery.
Inspire team members: Every project has Influential-Star team member(s), inspire & entice them to cover up for slippage & offer them incentives (tangible & intangible) and of course, you have to provide incentives to them.
Alternatives/ Replacements: If project deliverables depend on sub-contracted work or some other supplies; perform cost-benefit analysis if you have to opt for alternateive – replacement or substitutes
Get a buy in from higher management: Before your project gets into a fix, make your higher management aware of the progress, they may assist you with better interest of the organization in mind.
Unaffected customer: All of above points independently or collectively should ensure – project objectives are not getting compromised e.g. customer can continue to work without getting significantly affected; neither your organization’s objective should get compromised.
Retrospect & Review: Positively, once you come out of the firefighting situation; be sure to retrospect on the situation – reasons for it, remedial actions taken, what are the learning, what should be avoided – were we missing Collaboration, was planing in effective, how we realized the symptoms in later stage, etc. Make sure you carry these learning – how to make project planning effective, practice risk management, ensure team is being updated & uses project management software and collaboration tool.

And finally, it is imperative to mention that bad news will only gets worse if you try to hide it for longer; so be transparent & communicate frequently and clearly and you will no longer have to struggle about such bad news.

Featured Contents

Online Project Management Software ZilicusPM 6.3 Released With Enhanced Project Planning & Collaboration
The leading provider of online project management software – Zilicus, launched latest version ZilicusPM 6.3, introducing improved project planning, collaboration and portfolio management capabilities. Houston, TX, May, 14th 2013 – Zilicus, the provider of award winning project management software, announced release of its latest version ZilicusPM 6.3. “ZilicusPM 6.3, the latest version of project management software, delivers enhanced project planning [...]
Early Preview of Project Management Software – ZilicusPM 6.3
Zilicus, cloud based solution provider of award winning online project management software – ZilicusPM, will be releasing next version – ZilicusPM 6.3. I am happy to share preview of ZilicusPM 6.3 and latest enhancements. Here is a preview of ZilicusPM 6.3. In this minor version of ZilicusPM, we have introduced quite a few enhancements based on [...]
Project Management Lessons Learnt – By Nasa Executive
I came across this article “128 Lessons Learned for Project Managers” written by ‘Jerry Madden’ - Goddard Space Flight Center (Retired) at Nasa; and it enlists quite a few project management ‘advice’ for project management professionals, senior management and project team members. Here are some of the quotes, I found quite useful and interesting Every [...]
How do you deal with risk while making decision?
In the previous post - Decision Making – Group & Individual perspective (Part-I), we looked at academic models which attempts to explain how decision making takes place in an organization. In this post, lets see what are risk perspective when decision makers make decisions. Managing project involves lot of trade-offs thus instances of decision making. [...]
Project Management Discussion – a Case Study On Team Management (Part-II)
Previously we posted a case study about project team management. Let’s briefly revisit the case & look at case discussion and turn to what really happened. The case overview: As TeleMeck – the telecom IT services company saw phenomenal growth of its ‘Billing & Payments’ department. However, the department-head – John Gillon, recently started hearing [...]
Project Scope Management – (Part-III)
In the previous post of project scope management we looked at how project scope is defined. In this post, lets see importance of project scope verification and how to manage changes in project scope. Project scope verification Even though you may define project scope, it is critical to verify it. The objective of project scope is [...]