In This Issue:
From the Editor
Kent McDonald on Business Owner DVDs
Career Corner: Where's Your Box?
Site Highlights:
New BA Fast Track
Don't Ask, Don't Get
Raise Barns Not Roofs
Should I Dot This I, Sir?
Execs in the Portfolio
Where's the Manual?
Something's Missing ...
Project Practitioner Blog
You're not as think as you smart you are.
Where's ProjectConnections?
This month: Chicago and Cleveland
Next month: Tokyo, Pittsburgh, and California
From the Editor
So you know you need a "business owner" to keep the project on track, but do you know what they're responsible for? Does the business owner? How about the portfolio manager, and the executives they work with? And what exactly does a "business analyst" do anyway?
We're launching our new Business Analyst Fast Track this week, so it seemed like a good time to discuss some other project roles you may not be entirely familiar with. But even the old standbys can hold new opportunities—boxes you didn't know you were in, and new ways of making yourself heard when it counts. Read on ...
Career Corner
Are You Thinking Outside the Box? – An Executive View of Career- and Success-Limiting Boxes, by Cinda VoegtliThe strongest, most successful project teams are those that have absorbed, at a molecular level, the cost, customer, and timeline targets for the project, and take them into consideration when making decisions. These are teams that involve their team members in the right business discussions. They understand how technical or feature decisions impact the customer, the organization, and the project's bottom line. They know who is depending on their work to complete their own deliverables, and they take that into account when making decisions and creating schedules. Above all, they remember that a successful project with an unhappy customer is not a success at all. Team members and project managers who make decisions or take actions based only on their narrow scope of job function are operating inside a box that will severely limit their success, as well as the success of the projects they work on.
Cinda's stories in this paint a vivid picture of people stuck in the box and those who've stretched to keep the whole project in mind, and offers suggestions for changing perspectives. Get your team involved in the right conversations, looking at the right angles, deciding based on the right factors, and get outside the box where the action is. Read more »
Featured Article
The DVD's of Business Ownership, by Kent McDonald
An organization I worked at wanted to improve the project results we delivered. While we revised our project management techniques and training, we realized that another critical factor is the people that initiate projects and serve as the primary stakeholder of the project, referred to as business owners. We decided that these people—who do not work on projects as their entire job, but were key members of the project teams on which they participated—needed to learn more about the role of business owner and its responsibilities.
Even though there shouldn't be such a thing as a Business Owner title, the role is so critical that the organization I described above did not allow a project to proceed without a specifically identified business owner. This requirement sometimes resulted in naming someone for the sake of keeping the project going. These projects invariably ran into one difficulty or another, usually related to unclear definition of the project, an unclear idea of the value provided by the project, or poor decision-making. So we established a mnemonic to help business owners remember their key responsibilities on a project and help prevent those kinds of issues. Read more »
Want to hear from Kent in person? He'll be at Agile 2009 in Chicago next week, August 24-28. He has a session on "Barely Sufficient Portfolio Management" with Todd Little (one of the co-authors of Stand Back and Deliver) and one on "Feature Injection" with Chris Matts.
Site Highlights
NEW – Analyze This – Business Analyst Fast Track – PREMIUMThe idea of dedicating resources to business analysis is gaining a lot of traction these days. It's not that this work hasn't been done before, of course. But there's growing support for the concept as a dedicated profession. Larger organizations probably already have titled analysts. If you're in a smaller organization, you've probably at least heard about the role, and the functions of a BA may be assigned as someone's second (or third) hat. Either way, there's value to be had in this important business function. But what does a business analyst do? What does a day in the life of an analyst look like?
Our newest Fast Track covers the bases of this rapidly growing profession, from the daily responsibilities to the detailed nuances. There are many open access questions and answers to get new BAs started, and the entire collection of templates and answers is open to Premium subscribers. The first three steps are online now, and there's much more to come in the next few weeks. Get on track »
If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get – Speaking Up: How to Make Your Case – PREMIUM
Speaking up is a key leadership skill, whether or not you're officially the team leader. This guideline can help you make your case more effectively when you see ways your team could improve the project or work together better. Use the advice and model presented in this guideline to coach yourself and your team to speak up when they have an idea, a change recommendation, a potential risk, or a new feature. Sometimes the answer is still no, but if you don't speak up it will never be yes. Speak up »
NEW – Raise the Barn, Not Just the Roof – Recommendation Template – SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until September 2, 2009
It's one thing to point out that the neighbors need a barn to keep their homestead going. But when you offer the lumber and ask the rest of the town to show up with hammers and nails or you'll lose the only blacksmith within 40 miles, things start to happen. Speaking up is great, but it's even better if we've figured out what exactly we want people to do. This template structures your analysis of the options, the choices, and the possible effects on the organization or project, all within the context of what's important to the audience. In short, it helps you (or your team) figure out exactly what you want, and how to ask for it. Be a problem solver, not just a problem pointer-outer. Get the template »
Should I Dot This I? How About This One? – The Role of Executives in Portfolio Management – MEMBER
Are your executives involved in portfolio management at your company? Perhaps a little too involved? This presentation by K.C. Yelin frames the relationship in a new light, staging the portfolio manager as a financial adviser, with executives playing the client. Using this model, the executives communicate goals, and perhaps even target allocations, but they don't choose every individual investment. It's a model that can help execs and portfolio managers maintain an even keel for the business, while streamlining the management process. Get the presentation »
So What Am I Not In Charge Of? – Portfolio Manager Job Description – PREMIUM
As companies or divisions take on multiple projects, the process for deciding which projects to execute, and when, and what resources to assign to each project, becomes critical to whether the company meets its business objectives. The portfolio manager becomes a key role in facilitating project prioritization, resource allocation, and project approval decision-making. Yes, it's a big job, but not quite that big. It only feels like it some days. Get oriented to the role fast (or consider qualities and requirements for the portfolio manager you're about to create or hire) with our sample of a typical job description. Read more »
What Do You Mean There's No Manual? – Team Organization and Assignment Checklist – SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until September 2, 2009
Oops, we forgot someone! When you're putting together a team, it's all too easy to overlook important roles that won't have immediate deliverables. A project schedule can be knocked totally for a loop with the sudden realization that you forgot to include anyone from QA or Testing. This checklist, and the accompanying form, will help you ensure you've included everyone who should be involved. It includes guidance on assembling core and extended project teams, setting up sub-teams, and making sure you've got the commitments you need for a successful project. Get the checklist »
Does a form like this seem a little too obvious? Sinikka Waugh points out the danger of not spelling these things out in Don't Assume Quietly.
Stakeholders will often be able to express that something isn't measuring up to the project or business objectives, while struggling to express exactly what they want. Use the techniques in this guideline to help them figure out what's missing and conduct a dispassionate, goals-based analysis of what it will take to fill in those gaps. Do you need more or different people, processes, or technology? A methodical analysis will create a firm foundation for project recommendations and change requests, and help stakeholders articulate those nagging concerns (and sleep better at night). Get the guideline »
Project Practitioners Blog
Think you're just as smart as your team members? Brandon Carlson isn't buying.
Alfonso Bucero encourages project managers to approach our jobs in a positive light, even in this climate.
Kent McDonald offers three good strategies for putting a stop to testing whack-a-mole.
Niel Nickolaisen warns against basing projects on projected benefits that aren't necessarily real.
Margaret de Haan offers practical, detailed advice on how to change your decision making process.
Where's ProjectConnections?
Kimberly Wiefling is at the Case University Science and Technology Entrepreneur Program this week. She returns to Tokyo in September for more Leadership programs, including a public Global Leadership and Management Program on September 8. She's also taking reservations for her next workshop on Creating a Vision For Your Future, scheduled for September 19 in Redwood City, California.
Niel Nickolaisen, co-author of Stand Back and Deliver, also has a session at Agile 2009 with Chris Matts, charmingly titled "First, Kill All the Metrics." In October, he'll be in Athens, Greece, to address Pragmatic IT and Alignment. (Details forthcoming.)
Carl Pritchard will be teaching Project Management Essentials in Pittsburgh, PA September 16-17. More details and registration information are available on Carl's website.
Corporate Subscriptions and Licensing
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