Project monitoring in BRM 2/2

Yesterday I covered project monitoring, the documents needed and the tools that the project manager can use to achieve the correct output. Today I will try to give further explanation on why project monitoring is necessary. Imagine driving going to a wedding in a distance town where you have never been to before. You will definetly need a GPS and also ensure that you leave in good time. You don’t want to arrive late and walk in to the wedding ceremony, long after the bride and the groom are through with the wedding. This is similar to project monitoring, where you need the correct tools, GPS, to ensure that the project manager has a proper control on the pace of the project. It helps to dictate the pace and acts as an indicator on the status of the project. It is the pulse telling us how much alive the project is. Without project monitoring it won’t be possible to know the problems which rise during execution phase and may need better solutions for progression to be realized. Effective monitoring helps in knowing if the intended results are being achieved as planned, what actions are needed to achieve the intended results during the project execution, and whether these initiatives are creating a positive impact towards the project execution. In a nutshell, it can be said:

Assessment of project outcome: To know how the objectives are being met and the desired changes being met.

Process planning improvement: It helps in adapting to better contextual and risk factors which affect the research processes, like social and power dynamics.

Learning promotion: Gives insight on various approaches to participation which influences the outcomes.

Better understanding of stakeholders perspectives: Through direct participation in the process of monitoring and evaluation, the PM is able to learn about the people who are involved in the research project. This gives better understand of their values and views, as well as design methods to resolve conflicting views and interests.

Enhance accountability: To assess if the project has been effectively, appropriately and efficiently executed, so that they can be held accountable.

But how does the process actually work like?

3 Ways to Track and Re-Plan a Project

Rarely do projects flow as envisioned in the plan. There is always someone sick, a missing resource, dependency that is not available and so on. It is therefore important as a project manager to ensure that there is a fall back plan when needed. The following three approaches can be suitable in ensuring that in such times, the project management is not caught flat-footed.

1. Check and understand the progress of the project: Before starting to re-plan your project, you should be sure of the current state and status of the work. Setting up a meeting for the whole team together to get to know about the updates of the current work, upcoming tasks and issues will be beneficial. Also, recognize the important milestones in this meeting.
2. Search for and Manage Exceptions: Stay on a look-out for exceptions like risks, issues and change requests. Open issues will have to be resolved so that roadblocks can be removed, and a risk mitigation plan will have to be developed.
3. Re-plan the project: You have an idea of how to re-plan the project. The following steps will help you do so:

• Keep the important project documents updated, which includes the project charter.
• Share the new plan with the shareholders.
• As per the demand, re-assign the work. Communicate with the team members regarding the new assignments and send automated reminders to them.
• As required, make changes on the project site with the updates reports and dashboards.

In conclusion, project monitoring is important in making the project management plan work to meet the project objectives. It is a part of the project and project management, not an addition to it. Given the data about the team, the project and the prediction of overdue, project managers can customize the project plan and address issues before they happen. With project monitoring, you can identify the most efficient way to manage your resources and continually assess your project status, so you can ensure your project success.

Projects evaluation in portfolios

Before today, it never occurred to me, what makes companies invest in the projects they set to do and how they ensure that they are in the right direction. Well, thanks to project portfolio management, this can be done articulately and strategically, to increase chances of achieving strategic goals and objectives. How are these done within a BRM framework to realize the benefits and values for the business?

If an organization engages in effective project portfolio management then they become better placed to accomplish completion of projects which make significant contribution in achieving strategic goals. Of course there is also need to ensure that good decision making processes are put in place if these are to be achieved. Most organizations use guided factors to achieve their objectives and have also developed their own processes and tools. What is common though amongst these factors are: It should be possible to monitor the projects to ensure that the portfolio remains on track as well as being able to adjust the portfolio when changes in strategy or portfolio dictates so. Continous evaluation of the project portfolio not only ensures that the projects remain on track to achieve the objectives, but also helps subsidiary portfolios, programs and projects to work together towards a common goal to deliver value. It is therefore important to measure the performance of individual projects and consolidate them in a mathematically meaningful way which mirrors the strategic importance of the constituent projects.

Project portfolio management process and its integration within an organization’s strategic planning process should be tailored to the company’s needs and processes. The most common approach to choosing projects within a portfolio always follow this path; identification, evaluation, selection, monitoring and controlling of projects. I have to add that these should not be religiously followed but as PMBOK suggests, they are good to be used as guidelines to increase the chances of realizing the strategic goals. Decision making models are routinely used in this process, with a set of preferred alternatives and defined criteria to choose the right projects. Several executive managers whom I have interacted with, noted that this is usually an intense process and may take several iterativly planned cycles as well as flexibility to adapt to factors affecting organizational objectives. Most important during this phase, is the prioritization of goals in strategic planning which is fundamental for effective portfolio decisions. In some cases, companies hire decision analysts and decision makers who work alongside the company’s business analysts, to help the company refine the project portfolio and help the portfolio manager to have a better overview of the projects. This is necessary when taken into consideration that organizational objectives do not have the same strategic importance and therefore need a different approach in prioritization.

In the next post, I will go deeper into the different selection techniques and see how these are done and what PMI recommends.

Portfolio management in strategy alignment (Part 2/3)

In this second post of the 3 part series, I will continue to highlight the importance of portfolio management in strategy alignment in the context of an organization. If you did not read my first post, please go back and read it for a better understanding of how this works.

Previously, I discussed the main points that make mature organizations with a culture of strong portfolio management better performers. I was able to show how an enabling culture with strong processes makes these companies stand out. I also explained the presence of leadership in championing portfolio management within the company BRM framework.

A rider to these is that there is need for a stronger commitment from the executive to recognize this opportunity and optimize it’s outcome. According to PMI, less than 25% of companies rate their organizations as portfolio mature. This sample is representative of a research that was made by PMI in conjunction with 466 portfolio management practiotioners in 2015. So, how does this affect these companies? After all, they are still in business and there is no cause for alarm. Or so, it may be reasoned. But this is not true as we will see shortly.

First and foremost, every organization in business understands the importance of realizing their goals. These organizations are most likely not experiencing a positive tangible impact in the company’s successes, compared to their high maturity compatriots. They may barely make it to the target or fall short of it but will rarely reach their target with satisfying and convincing results. Such organizations are highly prone to economic changes or changes in market trends. The leadership in these companies may acknowledge that they realize the importance of portfolio management and it’s competitive advangatages but still fail to implement it.

Secondly, these organizations may have problems achieving project completion with a high success rate and within the given budget. When unforseen market conditions arise or competitive situations arise, they do not demonstrate agility and thereby struggle to adapt to new changes. Quite often, the rising costs may spiral out of control, spelling doom for the company. In mature companies, the project portfolio managers are better placed to forsee such risks and uncertainties, and stopping them as soon as it is realized that they no longer serve the benefits they are planned for. A good example was the prouction of Windows Vista, which performed dismally in comparison to it’s predecessor, Windows XP. The primary objective was to realize better and improved state of securityin the QWindows operating system. The downside to this is that the product face d new criticism in it’s operability. Microsoft quickly realized the blunder and saw the customers dissatisfaction. This was quickly resolved when they realeased a more stable version in 2009, Windows 7, to rectify the blunder. Again, it is through a srong portfolio management which made it possible for Microsoft to identify business needs in the defined planned benefits.

The correlation between project portfolio management and strategy implementation are worth highlighting; The ability to complete the organizations’ projects within the defined time, on budget, and, most importantly, delivering the expected outcome in full—continously over time within a broader change portfolio—helps organizations execute their strategy more effectively. This in turn, builds a competitive edge to take on even more ambitious change. It is these small changes over time that makes a product adapt to market changes and customer needs, making it withstand time. The other advantage of such a stronger portfolio management, is that newer competencies are developed and decision-making within the organization becomes better. This is blended into the company culture where it is viewed as an asset and is nurtured and invested in, to make improvements. These improvements are felt at the management level, employee level and even the other stakeholders soon acknowledge this.

To sum today’s post, I have always wondered how many portfolio managers/executives really know whether and how the business objectives are effected in their organizations. I like watching “Undercover Boss”, where managers from different industries get shocked to know that organizational policies are not effected and go against the companie’s planned benefits. ould this have been avoided if there was better portfolio management? Catch the third post of this series tommorrow.

What drives values in an organization?

In my last week’s series of “Benefits and value realization, why do many companies struggle?” (I encourage you to go and read that first), we delved into how BRM can help organizations achieve value. In this post, we will be focusing on the same side of the coin but from another perspective. Executives work hard to achieve values and realize startegic goals and objectives. But rarely they miss to recognize the bits that drives values in the organization. However, this can be done in futility if the strategic goals are not integrated in the organization culture. It is not surprising to find companies with employees who have worked for many years, but don’t understand the values the company stands for. It simply means that they have no idea which direction on the compass, the company is taking.

The importance of values was once captured by Edward de Bono, a famous author and inventor, “Effectiveness without values is a tool without a purpose.” The same is true today for organizations whose management don’t seek to improve and nurture the core factors that drive the organization. It is true that businesses vary in nature, culture and attitude but all have a common focal point in working towards some defined goals to be relized within a given time frame. The question is what drives these values in an organization, and align them to the organizations’ strategic goals, making the management and employees share a common platform?

In agreement with Abdollahyan, F. (2012) in his conference paper, values should be understood to be an inseperable relationship between benefits, costs, and risks which are incurred in running a business. I would therefore say that the company culture and the mindset that has been developed comes first and foremost as a value-driving factor. A clueless management that does not instill this in their culture, no matter how well they may wish to run their projects, will repetitively succumb to hurdles and only manage subtle values despite their best efforts. In my view, a company culture drives values by guiding the whole organization on what the target is. It is like a magnet sticker on the fridge that anyone on the family knows the text on it. For instance, Apple is well known for producing high sleek phones with prices soaring above their competitors. However, one of the cultures that the company has embraced is peer-vetting, to uphold their name. They value quality and brand image and have made extra strides at ensuring that these are met. Of course this has seen their revenues driven up, since they came to the market and are today big players in the technology domain. By having a value driven culture, the employees begin to feel a sense of ownership and passion to deliver outstanding results.

Another aspect of driving values in a company can be realized by being innovative. Organizations that not only strengthen the market brand of their products/services but also seek new ways of doing things end up staying ahead of their competitors. It gives them an advantage in the competitive market, expands their customer base and drives value realization helping them achieve their strategic objectives. Often, it involves spending a fortune before introducing new ideas in the marketplace but then it is better to be innovative than imitative. Value realization may take time, but then being a trend setter gives room for discovery. Employees will also have the thrill of being the first of the first and as they seek to be dynamic, new innovative ideas responding to the market needs eventually translate to emergent benefits. It is not surprising that according to Forbes, organizations that are trend setters have a higher tendency of enjoying value-realization, increased consumer-confidence and thriving revenues more than their counterparts.

Respect!! Either it exists or not. There is no in between. Organizations where employees feel respected for who they are and what they believe in, feel more appreciated and are more committed and productive. Team work becomes interesting as they learn from each other and freely challenge ideas, which makes them achieve professional growth and quality outputs. Organizations have responsibilities of promoting respect if they are to ensure a low employee turnover, dedication and a healthy workplace environment. Committed employees work hand in hand with the management to achieve growth and profitability. It boosts emloyee confidence and morale as they management focuses on a higher level of achieving the values and the employees feel confident and at times even indespensable. This drives them to perfrom even better. It is not uncommon to hear organizations firing their employees who have publicly shown disrespect or misconducted themselves. Whether it is done to suit public expectations or not, the bottom line is that companies treasure values and should not compromise it for an employee’s misconduct, whether be it management or employee level.

Ethics and integrity are also key to achieving values. When employees are honest and do their jobs correctly in a honest, fair and responsible way, then it becomes natural that trust is built. This gets extended to the customers and the other stakeholders, building a good product reputation and customer confidence on the products/services. This in turn leads to value realization in an organization.

It is not hard to see the importance of these key factors that drive values in an organization but whether they are practiced or not will ultimately lead to value-realization or not. Some other factors that will definitely be important include being team focused, client focused, professionalism etc. Of course, best practices at observing these factors alone will not guarantee success, but they play a bigger role in casting an organization in the right direction towards value-organization.

References: Abdollahyan, F. (2012). Management of value as PPM driver. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012—EMEA, Marsailles, France. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute

Ice breaking in an unfamiliar ground…

There begins the journey…. I am on a persuit of PM skills and will be striving hard to stay focused on this journey. There are challenges ahead but there are equally unlimited resources that just have to be tapped and a willing heart to learn. 

This is a wide field with multiple disciplines and ever-evolving technologies, tools, applications, and frameworks. It is this path that am so eager to dive into and give it my best shot. Surely, PM undoubtedly does make a big positive impact when applied correctly on a project. It is this smart, seamless way of managing projects and people that I seek to learn.

Some of the wider subjects will be covered as series of posts to make them in-depth but still easier to understand on the surface level. So hang tight. Det bliver en spændende tur…. 🙂