In This Issue:
From the Editor
Site Highlights:
- Poof! You're a PM
- Beware the Ninja
- (Pirates, Too)
- Is It Soup Yet?
- Yelling for Help
- Really, Is It Soup Yet?
- On Time, Next Time
- What Matters Most?
Carl Pritchard on the perfect project role model in challenging times
Blog Highlights:
Matt Glei: Does iteration work?
Nova Rose: Cold-footed sponsors
Niel Nickolaisen: His username is what?
Margaret de Haan: Killing bad projects
Sinikka Waugh: Breakdown or meltdown.
Where's ProjectConnections?
Today only: Des Moines, Iowa
From the Editor
Making it all happen. How do you get all these grand plans accomplished? Executing to the plan requires more than faith and willpower. (Though ample qualities of both never hurt.) This week, we're focusing on resources designed to help you pull off the nuts and bolts of project execution. The trick: know what you're doing and why, and check yourself frequently to be sure you're still doing the right thing.
The most exciting of our highlighted resources this week—at least to us, since we've been working on it so hard—are the first of our newly updated Burning Questions, designed to provide practical, reality-driven answers to the kinds of questions we all struggle with on projects, like "Should executives be at my team meetings?" and "What is this scope creep everyone talks about?" and "Is it over yet?" Plus, our blog this week are overflowing with advice for keeping up with the changes, avoiding project meltdowns, and possibly the most bizarre corporate IT war story your editor has ever read.
Site Highlights
NEW - Poof! You're a Project Manager! – The NEW New Project Manager Fast Track - PREMIUMSome of us clamored and campaigned for the appointment, only to have a sudden case of the careful-what-you-wish-fors. Some of us may have begged not to get the prize, and still find ourselves holding a pile of project, wondering what to do next. And there are plenty of people who don't fit in either category but still have questions, need coaching and guidance, and just need help over the latest hurdle to get one more thing done. We assembled this new Fast Track for new PMs for you. Much more than a collection of links, it's a deep and growing coaching resource designed to help you get up to speed quickly, understand the job's activities step by step, and get answers to burning questions and common but uncomfortable problems.
This page provides a number of open access items to get any new project manager started, with the entire collection of templates and answers open to Premium subscribers. Come take a look—all the steps, links, and questions (and some of the answers) are open access, to allow you to peruse freely. If you like what you see and need those answers, just use our 15-day trial to dive right in! Check it out »
Beware the Ninja Project – Business Requirements Document - SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until May 13, 2009
Unchartered stealth projects are a frequent menace in the corporate world: they fly below the radar, without a clear destination, and before you know it, they've landed on some unsuspecting development team that never saw it coming. "Why isn't this critical requirement finished?!" "What requirement? I don't even know where this project came from!" They're like ninja, but a whole lot more painful. Fight the ninja project by insisting that every effort start with a clear understanding of customer and stakeholder requirements. This detailed, annotated outline provides a solid foundation for expressing the true requirements of the project—as well as the business case and context. Get the customer representative or business analyst to fill it out early and discuss it with all the stakeholders to get agreement, and then broadcast it to everyone working on the project so they all know what's coming. Your development team knows what to go code before they start, and they can do it without looking over their shoulders. (Not that it would help much—you know how ninjas are.) Look out behind you »
The Only Thing Worse than Ninjas ... Pirates! – Development Project Plan - PREMIUM
Who's got time for caution and discipline when there's a glittering pile of treasure just beyond the horizon? Avast! But of course it rarely ends well for the pirates, for a reason. A little planning discipline goes a long way, and a black-and-white reminder of why that discipline matters can help a lot when the sabers start rattling. One major purpose of this development plan outline is to document the rationale for including major project activities (and excluding others) that are sometimes neglected during planning, such as prototype builds, compliance testing, technical publications, and service strategy. Then, in later stages of the project's execution, when the heat is on and the temptation to cut corners is great, the plan will help you stay disciplined enough to not raise project risk by cutting out activities that you really felt you should do during those calmer planning moments. We can't promise smooth skies and clear sailing, but it does make it harder to plunder your own project. Guard yer loot, matey »
Is it Soup Yet? – Deliverables Definition Form - SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until May 13, 2009
Well-defined deliverables can make your projects go much more smoothly. Has yours simmered long enough? This form provides an outline for defining the content of a completed deliverable—in this context, the information your team needs to record and communicate to others on or outside the team. They could be minutes from the design review meeting (which communicate decisions about project features), plans for testing or manufacturing (documenting work that needs to happen), or a software requirements document (which sets boundaries and expectations for the work). To be effective, all of these documents need to communicate the right information to the right people on the team at the right time. This template can help you make sure the right information is included, the right audience defined, and the right delivery time understood. What good is a beta test plan if the field people who will have to interface with beta customers don't see it, or if it's written so close to the beta start time that there's no time to get the necessary equipment? Define your deliverables well enough ahead of time, so you don't end up with half-baked documentation that fits the requirements, but not the project needs. Try a little thyme »
Maybe If You Just Gave Us a Little Push – New System RFP Outline - PREMIUM
There's only so much more you can do with so much less, and sometimes you simply have to throw your hands up in the air and scream for help. Whether you're short-handed or you just need something done that has never been part of your usual workflow, a good Request for Proposal (RFP) will help you find the best vendor to work with. This template provides an annotated outline for an RFP or RFQ (Request for Quote) seeking new system development. It provides guidelines and sections primarily geared to purchasing or developing a system upgrade, but could be modified to develop an RFP for a completely new solution such as a project management tool or SAP system, or even to find a co-development partner. Go ahead, yell for help. The right organization is out there just waiting to help you. Semi-frantic arm-waving starts here »
No, Really, Is it Soup Yet? – End of Execution Phase Checklist - PREMIUM
You know your process deliverables are ready, now how about the project deliverables you've been stewing over? If you ever want to let go of this project and send it on to delivery with a clear conscience (and a clear calendar), you need and end-of-phase management review to be sure it's really ready. This is more than checking boxes for fun. It's about being sure you've done enough of the right work that you can move into the next project phase without risking too much. In this case, it's about being sure you've truly met the business and customer requirements (remember that Business Requirements Document?), that you've held to the business case, and that you've laid enough groundwork for Approval and Delivery that it won't come back to haunt you again ... and again ... and again .... Take the time to be sure you're sure. Really, really sure »
It Will Be Ready Right On Time, Next Time – Introduction to Software Release Trains - MEMBER
There's a reason the nearly universal it metaphor about "keeping the trains running on time" inspires a sense of comfort. In a chaotic world, it's nice to think that at least one thing is reliable. A mirage, perhaps, but in some situations a regular, predictable development schedule is a better choice than waiting until all the bugs are fixed and features finished. This guideline provides key requirements and suggestions for successfully implementing release trains—software releases on regular or cyclic time period like the last day of every quarter, or every 9 weeks. The author also includes observations and indicators to help you decide if release trains are right for your organization. If your project customers know they can set their clock by your release dates, you may find them a more willing to wait for the next train (some of the time, anyway). All aboard! »
NEW - When It's Time to Plan and Schedule a Project, What Matters Most? - GUEST
"There is much more to planning a project than the mechanics of defining the work and how long it will take to get it done. The project manager's most important tasks are the coordination and management of the people assigned to the project, and leading that collective group to achieve the project objectives. Tasks on a page provide a great roadmap, but a written plan can never embody everything it will take to get the project done. New project managers can get tripped up if they've been introduced to the role with a big focus on the mechanics of project planning and scheduling, without adequate attention to dealing with people, risk, and other real world effects.
"Here's some advice and guidance on what's most important in planning a project—what we think matters most, and what you need to know how to do in leading the team to project success."
Learn what to take into account when planning, how to engage people who don't seem to care, and how to keep your plan based in reality—or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. Read more »
Featured Article
The Case of the Perfect Project Post: Perry Mason – Project Management Hero?, by Carl Pritchard
Congratulations! You are living in heroic times. Really! Time and time again, we see project managers, team members, and even entire organizations being asked to do significantly more with significantly less. And (for the most part) we rise to that challenge. We make ourselves capable of what might otherwise seem impossible. And still, management asks for more.
At a time when it might seem like a lesson in frustration and fruitlessness to continue to contribute more and more to the cause, we have the opportunity to genuinely shine with some classic approaches, novel attitudes, and a spirit of thanksgiving. And who should we look to for guidance on attitude and spirit? My partner and I are turning to Perry Mason.
Sleuthing for the best approaches to a challenging job in challenging times, Carl Prichard finds inspiration from an all-star jurist. Read more »
Want to hear from Carl in person? He'll be at PMI SeminarsWorld in Philadelphia May 11-14. Details and registration information are available on the PMI website. To keep track of Carl's public courses elsewhere, check out the calendar on his website, www.carlpritchard.com.
Project Practitioners Blog
Matt Glei explains how iterative planning can fit in the toolkit of a project manager when the design can't be thoroughly understood before development begins. But he's not just sharing advice. He's looking for opinions, and wants to hear about good and bad experiences with iteration or rolling wave planning techniques. See Project Management Survival Tools – Part C (Planning Iterations).Nova Rose recalls vividly the nightmare of last-minute cold feet from her project sponsor, and considers how she could have avoided it.
Niel Nickolaisen relates a stranger than fiction tale about IT obscurity, and possibly one of the most bizarre CYA episodes in management history.
Margaret de Haan gleans three suggestions for avoiding impending project disaster from "Why Bad Projects Are So Hard to Kill."
Sinikka Waugh explains the power of using lists to rescue an overwhelmed team and prevent a meltdown.
Where's ProjectConnections?
Kent McDonald is in Des Moines, Iowa this month for the Central Iowa IIBA Business Analyst Development Day 2009. For more information on BADD 2009, see the official website.Corporate Subscriptions and Licensing
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