Do your project managers focus on process or delivery?

I’ve struggled in the past with using the term “project manager” to describe what I do. It almost immediately triggers the question of whether I am PMP certified, and focuses less on my experience delivering projects. Additionally, I think there are quite a few employment roles today that include some project management responsibility. Doing basic project management tasks like scheduling meetings, doing status reports and checking the schedule does not automatically mean that you are able to deliver a project to its completion.

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Rudy Gottschalk wrote a two-part series on shifting from “project management” to “delivery management.” He challenged all of us to look for a different approach, shifting the focus from project artifacts to project delivery.

“Too often project managers follow the rigors of a project management structure, but seem to have no sense of urgency in delivery or at times feel helpless to take control of the project delivery schedule.  They dutifully note progress, document issues and risks, and send minutes with the next meeting invitation. Since these activities fulfill the checklist of project management deliverables required by the organization, they usually give the illusion of progress, although little progress is actually occurring.”

I see this all too often in organizations. One manifestation is very large organizations, where a Project Manager from the PMO (project management office) AND a IT PM (AKA business analyst or delivery manager) get assigned to a project. In this scenario, both resources are expected to coordinate meetings, document decisions and communicate to stakeholders. The real distinction comes in their focus. The project manager tends to focus on following best practices and making sure every box is checked. Often, they are super cautious and tend to be more worried about creating the timelines, rather than the fluidity of project delivery. The delivery manager is primarily responsible for moving the project forward – removing obstacles, managing work assignments and facilitating ownership, driving towards a finish line. By not looking towards the endpoint, you sometimes end up in situations where there are incomplete lists of activities identified for project completion, incorrect timelines or lack of ownership and accountability.

Another manifestation of this problem can be seen in those roles with project management responsibilities. Often times, the immediacy of support tickets, status calls, status reports and the mechanics of the project “workflow” take precedence over delivering towards the end goal. Unfortunately, this can result in delays in getting to the value proposition. Ultimately, it also minimizes the importance of the critical analysis and seeing the overall picture.

If it is not obvious, I strong believe that project managers or those with any project management responsibilities need to be focused on delivery. This means focus on whatever the end result is, be it business value or a specific ROI. Without that target, it is easy to get lost in the logistics and workflow of managing a project, while not actually driving it towards a completion.

A Framework & Critical Decisions for Implementing a Data Integration Project

I have managed quite a few data integration projects. These are projects defined by the development of software and business projects that help organizations move data between systems and better understand the data they have. While each one is different in data sources, and project owners, overall my approach remains the same. I adapt the tools, timelines, and specific tasks depending on the organization and systems involved. Today, I’m reviewing the framework and critical decisions I rely on.

At it’s most basic level, data implementation projects have 4 core phases: Discovery & Requirements, Consensus/Sign Off, Development & Handoff.

  1. Discovery & Requirements – This first phase is most critical. It is at this point that you truly determine all that you need to know to design a solution.
    1. What business problem are you trying to solve? This lays the groundwork for everything else. Without knowing this information, it would be difficult to solve the right problem, or determine the right metrics by which to measure your success.
    2. Where is the data to solve the business problem? Now that you know what problem you are trying to solve, you need to understand where the data resides. This might be 1 source system or integrating 5 source systems. Are the systems internal or external to the organization? Does it only reside in someone’s head? Make sure to document the owners, stakeholders & gatekeepers. Your design could vary significantly based on what you find.
    3. What is the data format? This information and subsequent conversation should drive additional requirements around software, security, encryption and data transformations (AKA business rules).
    4. How is the data accessed? This should actually help you answer how should the data be accessed. Choose the best tool for the job based on the requirements documented in the prior conversations.
    5. What needs to happen to the data? Sometimes a project is as simple as making data sourced from one system available in part, or in entirety to another system. Often times, it doesn’t align exactly and business rules must be applied before it can be leveraged by other systems.
    6. How often is the data needed? And what triggers the transfer? Does one system push the data? Does the other system pull it? Is this an infrequent process? Or something needed real-time? or is there a triggering event?
    7. Which software is best? It’s finally time to start thinking about the tools, languages, & frameworks, etc. Also, make sure to include where the code resides & how security policies impact integration.
    8. How does feedback work? At a minimum, you need to consider how errors & exceptions are handled. In more complex implementations, data will flow both ways.
  2. Consensus/Sign Off – Document everything you learned and decided in the Discovery & Requirements phase. Everything from the high level problem to the detailed technical decisions that were made. Please, please get sign off from all the relevant stakeholders.
  3. Development – Development & validation go hand in hand.
    1. How will your results be measured? Write your test plans before you begin development. These are based on all the decisions & requirements documented in phase 1. You also want to do periodic data quality checks with the business stakeholders throughout the development process. There are ALWAYS things you find while engaging the business stakeholders, using real data, that you would not find on your own.
  4. Handoff – This is not simply a matter of flipping a switch and transferring ownership. This phase includes documentation, knowledge transfer during transition of ownership, and end-user training (if applicable). If not already, make sure the project artifacts are complete, compiled and made available to the organization. Often times, data integration projects require a period of hypercare where developers work closely with support people, and both the project implementation team and the support team work closely with the end-users, to make sure there are no gaps in knowledge.

Ultimately, the goal of data integration projects is information. There is some set of data in one system that could be made more useful or help derive better insights if connected with data from other systems.

Let me know if you think I’m missing any critical decisions in the process.

A infographic of this methodology is available in the case studies section of the Digital Ambit site.

5 Ways Managing Projects is like Creating the Family Meal Plan

I am a very food focused individual. I am a pretty good cook and I love to eat. In order to facilitate our weekly family meals, I do a large grocery shopping trip to stock the freezer and pantry with staples. I also visit the grocery store several times a week, if not every day, to pick up any additional items I need once I have been inspired to cook specific things. While I was dwelling on what we had already eaten this week, and what we had already in the fridge, freezer and pantry, I had the thought that this planning was really no different than the project management I do on a daily basis.

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I’m blending interests to and telling you about the five characteristics I look to create in both.

  1. Inventory – Before you go grocery shopping, you need to determine what ingredients you need. When you first get involved with a project, you need to do an inventory as well. In this case, the inventory allows you to assess what you have and what you need in order to make the project successful. At a minimum, your project inventory should include answering the following questions:
    1. What is the business goal?
    2. What product or solution was sold to the customer?
    3. Does an existing solution meet the need?
    4. What was the committed timeframe?
    5. Who is on the project team?
    6. What tools do you have? need?
    7. What is the budget?
    8. What are the risks?
    9. What are the success criteria?
  2. Variety – I believe in variety in food. This week alone we’ve eaten meals inspired by Italy, Latin America and the United States. In the project context, variety comes most often in the form of the project team. Ideally, my project team is very well rounded. It should include customer stakeholders who understand the business, as well as customer stakeholders than have the technical expertise to help validate and work through technical issues. Additionally, my project implementation team has a variety of skills, whether it be backend and fronted developers, or a data integration/developer and analytics resource. It also helps to have someone to bridge the gap between the technical solutions we are implementing and the customer’s business. Hopefully this me, but sometimes I have to leverage the subject matter experts.
  3. Balance – I’m a bit of stickler for offering a balance dinner plate. I try to always have at least one protein, starch and vegetable option at dinner. Sometimes, I succeed in getting more, and others it doesn’t happen at all. It’s important to create balance in your projects. Most often this refers to the balance established between the budget, scope and schedule. It’s the job of the project manager to set expectations and deliver a solution that meets the business goals.
  4. Budget – This one is probably the most obvious. It is a really good idea both in meal planning and in project management to know your budget. Sometimes, it’s small so you have take shortcuts and make different choices than you would if your budget was large. In the end, it really doesn’t matter what the number is. You need to make sure you know what it is, and drive the conversation around making the choices needed to stay within it (or increase it if you are so lucky.)
  5. Value – It makes me happy when my family and friends enjoy the meals I cook. Every new recipe gets evaluated based on a simple scale of 1) do again, 2) never do again or 3) make some changes and we’ll try it again, but reserve the right to scratch it off the list. A project must have a mechanism for determining completion and value. If there is no defined finish, you risk the never-ending project. And if the project never ends, how do you know if it has created value for the customer. Make sure you have established the success criteria you need to delivery the value you promised.

I hope you enjoyed my blending of my interests. It’s time now to go manage some client projects before heading into the kitchen to cook dinner.

Walking a fine a line

ayn-rand-quoteI write a fair amount about communication being critical in effective project management, but it is equally (if not more) important to be credible and confident. Being credible and confident allows you to more easily deliver hard news while still retaining the trust from the project stakeholders.

Given my track record of execution, I will often be brought into projects to implement a software solution but then hand off to a long-term customer relationship manager (or whatever you choose to call that role). Often times these long-term customer managers are not as technical as I am. As a result, it is much more difficult to be credible and confident in communication. I’ve been in numerous conversations where the less technical customer manager delivers information to the customer and it is not received well. Some of this occurs because the customer starts asking questions and the customer manager doesn’t have the knowledge, skill or confidence to answer. When I step in and deliver the same message or information, the customer reaction is much more amenable. This occurs because the customer trusts what I say (credibility) and believes that I have the knowledge and expertise to know what I’m talking about (confidence).

Credibility and confidence become even more important if you are pushing back on the customer. Without the effective delivery that credibility and confidence allows you, push back or hard news can be very difficult for a customer to absorb. The end result tends to be a battle of wills that takes you further from a resolution.

An example of this might be when the customer is reporting a series of issues, and voices concern about the overall adoption and effectiveness of the implementation. In reviewing the issues, you find that several of them are training issues that had been covered during the formal training sessions, but seemed to have been forgotten now.

  • One method of communication might be to address each issue separately, answering the symptoms but not the broader issues.
  • Another method is to clearly state that the issue is a training issue and users need to be reminded of x, y and z.

I do lean towards a very direct form of communication, that isn’t everyone’s preference, but it does lead to customers who truly trust me and believe that I’m working on their behalf. In the scenario above, I am more likely to tell the client that we need some refresher trainings since some of the critical basics seem to have been forgotten. Ultimately though I have built the relationship so that this is taken for what it is…a direct approach to delivering based on all my experience. If I fail to establish this relationship and still choose the very direct communication method, I risk alienating the customer.

Communication and relationships are complicated in managing projects. I find that project managers need to walk fine line between being direct and navigating the personalities, needs, and desired outcomes of the project. Establishing the credibility and confidence for whatever system or software your delivering will make your customer interactions easier and will smooth away some of the inherent caution associated with new projects, vendors, systems, etc.