In This Issue:
From the Editor
Alan Koch on Incremental Delivery
Featured Templates:
Dot Your I's and Stop Your Pleas
Time's Up! Next!
Ready, Set, Sign Here Please
Keep the Goldfish Alive First, Then We'll Talk About a Puppy
You Mean "Value" Isn't the Price Tag?
Survival of the Fittest
Project Practitioners Blog:
Get More Done by Doing Less
Where's ProjectConnections?
This month: Maryland, Georgia
Next month: Philadelphia, Iowa, California, Amsterdam
Corporate Subscriptions
From the Editor
Last week we talked about organizational goals and strategies, and how your project is—or should be—aligned to support those goals. This week, we'd like to go beyond the principles and talk about the practicalities. How can you be sure you're building a strong case for your project, that the case really makes sense, and that your executive sponsor isn't just going to change directions next week? (Well, we can't promise anything on that last one, but we're big believers in the power of a signature to drive commitment.) Plus, columnist Alan Koch explains why a little at a time is better than everything at once, if you've got customers willing to work with you.
Featured Article
Incremental Delivery by Alan Koch
When developers claim that they are "Agile," how can you know that they're not just hacking? Their methods are unorthodox, even weird! Is there a way to see if they know what they are doing? The Essence of Agility consists of those sets of observable behaviors that distinguish a truly Agile team from a bunch of hackers claiming to be Agile.
Incremental development is not a new concept. People have been developing systems incrementally for decades. And although Agile projects build the product in smaller increments than we traditionally think of, the basic premise is the same. First, build a foundational framework, and then add functionality onto that framework a little at a time.
This approach to developing systems has withstood the test of time because it mitigates many of the risks of system development. It narrows the scope of each increment to a specific set of problems, making those problems more tractable. At the same time, it limits the integration issues, because only a limited collection of new components are being integrated at any one time. Continue reading »
Featured Templates
NEW – Dot Your I's and Stop Your Pleas – Business Case - SPECIALThis Premium resource is free to registered Members until May 1, 2009
Good projects shouldn't have to beg and plead for funding. Take a different approach by switching from "just trust me" to a case built on the numbers. This annotated business case outline by Sinikka Waugh, principal of Your Clear Next Step LLC, helps you make a consistent and compelling business case—including costs, expected returns, and reasonable alternatives. A good business case provides your sponsor a reality check about the risks (including the risk of inaction), and strengthens the case for funding approval. Plus, it shows the team what the world should look like when the project is complete. It's easier on your knees, too.
Time's Up! Next! – Mini-Case: How an ASIC Company Always Finishes On Time - MEMBER
If only it were that easy to switch from one project to the next. This integrated circuit company managed to make it almost that easy by changing their approach to project selection and customer management. After retooling their processes and relationship management, they promised themselves to take on only those projects–and customers–they were certain they could manage successfully. This mini case study discusses the changes that made critical differences in a competitive marketplace.
Ready, Set, Sign Here Please – Project Charter - PREMIUM
The impulse is to say Go! But if the project survived vetting and the execs are happy with the budget and scope, there shouldn't be any problem getting a signature, right? This charter template is a high-level document, but it does summarize all the important bits: the business justification, the scope and schedule, anticipated resource needs, and official selection of a sponsor and project manager. Oh, and the all-important signatures. Don't overlook them; even in this digital age, there's still a great deal of psychological power in actual ink. A signature says, "I believe in this project, and I support this project manager." You'll want that backing when issues start cropping up with staffing next week. And if they aren't willing to sign? Well, then maybe you've still got some negotiating to do.
Keep the Goldfish Alive First, Then We'll Talk About a Puppy – Opportunity Screening Worksheet – SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until May 1, 2009
Bright eyes and bright ideas have started more than their fair share of projects, and project failures. The Opportunity Screening Worksheet can help you evaluate whether a project is really worth enough to the company to make it worth pursuing. What results can you expect in the market? What resources will it take to produce it? Has someone else already beaten you to the punch? Don't use it as a simple go/no-go worksheet, though. If the initial version of the project looks too risky or not rewarding enough, use the analysis in the worksheet to find a smaller or less risky angle that provides the right payback for your efforts. (If you can't have the puppy, start with a goldfish.)
You Mean "Value" Isn't the Price Tag? – Project Value Model - PREMIUM
Any project has a certain value to your organization, which isn't necessarily what it is going to cost. It could be much more, or a whole lot less. To make a real determination you have to understand everything it brings to the table—good, bad, and please-make-it-stop. This technique brief discusses agile principles used to reach agreement on the project purpose, risks, constraints, assumptions, and more. Once your team has a firm grasp of these factors, you can use that information to decide which projects and features to develop, prioritize them, and keep the priorities consistent with changing circumstances, so you can be sure you're spending the right money on the right projects.
Survival of the Fittest – Bundle: Project Selection
Not every project deserves to exist. Unfortunately, less-deserving projects may be taking up valuable resources anyway. The cure is an organized approach to Project Selection. This bundle 9 provides templates and guidelines to explain the benefits of portfolio management, and provides tools for proposing project ideas with a business focus, evaluating ideas using different strategic criteria, and selecting the projects that really should make the cut.
This multi-user license bundle is available for purchase only, and includes a license agreement permitting use within your organization. It's a great way to start or supplement your portfolio management methodology, and the templates and guidelines provided will have you well on your way to ensuring that, as far as your project portfolio is concerned, only the valuable survive.
Project Practitioners Blog
Get More Done by Doing Less, by Kent McDonald
Focus is a word I have learned a great deal about in the past couple of years. For the past seven years I have been a consultant working at a variety of companies, writing for ProjectConnections, working on a variety of conferences, serving on the boards of a couple non profits, and even starting up a couple of different businesses. Not to mention writing a book, being a husband and father, and caring for a 15-acre "ranch" that includes several horses, dogs, and cats. Needless to say, I had a lot of irons in the fire.
The ironic thing is the more things that were on my plate, the more things I tended to add. While it seemed counterintuitive I was falling into the trap that many have fallen into—thinking that we are most effective when we are really busy. I was involved in a lot of things I enjoyed, but by having so many things going on, I was not paying enough attention to any of them. I was doing what I needed to get done, but I did not feel terribly satisfied with any of the results I was doing. Continue reading »
Where's ProjectConnections?
Carl Pritchard is in Frederick, Maryland for another PMP® Exam Prep course April 27-28. He'll be at PMI SeminarsWorld in Philadelphia May 11-14. Details and registration information for Carl's public courses are available on his website, www.carlpritchard.com. Information on PMI SeminarsWorld is available on the PMI website.Randy Englund is off to Atlanta for PMI SeminarsWorld this week. May 5-14 he'll be teaching the "Project Management Office" course at UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley (courses.ucsc-extension.edu), and in mid-May he'll be in Amsterdam to present at the PMI Global Congress there. (For more information on PMI SeminarsWorld or the Global Congress, visit the PMI website.)
Kent McDonald is BADD to the bone again this month, working up to the Central Iowa IIBA Business Analyst Development Day 2009 in Des Moines on May 1. For more information on BADD 2009, see http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=649589.
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