Projects - Don’t we have any?

                    One of the most prevalent myth in the SME sector today is ‘Project Management – oh! That’s not for us. We don‘t do projects’.  This is a key factor which prevents an organization to move from a ‘good’ organization to a ‘great’ organization.

                    Organization exist because entrepreneurs wish to generate value. And to generate this value consistently year on year, organizations perform to defined Business Strategies. These business strategies generally stem from the Thought Leadership of the organization. Questions like ‘Do we want to grow?’, ‘Where do we want to grow?’, ‘Do we invest in technology?’, ‘Do we introduce new products or do we capitalize on existing range?’ are debated, discussed and idealized. These ideas give a direction to the business to expand and create value for its shareholders.

                     A crystallized business strategy paves the way for programs and projects. Let me give an example here.  Consider an Auto Company. A business strategy for this company is to generate growth by introducing vehicles which have lower associated running costs over its competitors. This Strategy would give rise to Portfolios, programs and ultimately Projects.

Portfolios are a combinations of Programs and Projects. In our above example there could be 2 portfolios.

                                       Commercial Vehicles    and  Consumer Vehicles

The Consumer vehicles Portfolio may have Programs under it like

                                      Green Vehicles         and      After Sales Service

Further the Green Vehicles program may have projects under it like

                                      Improve Engine mileage ;   Lighter metals for body     and   Alternative fuels.

This entire cycle may is depicted here

                    On introspection, it is evident that we at Shalina too follow this time tested methodology. Every year, there are Capital intensive Projects initiated and authorized. For the year 2013-14, SLPL has no less than 50 Capital Projects. As we have seen, these projects have been authorized only to support certain business strategies. Be it expansion into regulatory market, introduction of new products or any other strategic initiatives. WHO GMP approvals, ERP implementations and upgrades, Shalina Logistic Park I and II, installation of Flow wrap machine at Jejuri….   and innumerable others are examples of Projects, which have been undertaken or will be undertaken to ultimately generate value to the shareholders.

                   Only effective and efficient implementation of such projects will support the business strategy. We as a team have a great responsibility towards such implementations. Having said that, we distinctly lack the necessary skills in managing such projects. Project Management is distinct from Operations management and the approach toward implementation of projects is a science by itself.  Projects and Operations management are clearly distinguished under

Project Manager	Operations Manager
Role ends with the Project	Routine
Temporary Team	Stable Organization
Many different skills	Specialized Skills
Work not done before	Work repeatable
Time, Cost and Scope constraints	Annual planning cycle
Change Management	No Changes Management

The Indian Perspective

•          Government data suggest that a majority of projects—close to 60 per cent—are plagued by time and cost overruns. If current trends continue over the Eleventh and Twelfth Plan periods (2008 to 2017), McKinsey estimates suggest that India could suffer a GDP loss of US$ 200 billion (around 10 per cent of its GDP) in fiscal year 2017.

•          In the fiscal year of 2010–11, the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI) revealed some disturbing data on time and cost overruns in central sector projects. The MOSPI report showed that around 50 percent of projects could not complete on time and 33 percent of central sector projects could incur costs beyond the original budget. Inefficient management of projects threaten to stymie India’s dreams of becoming an economic powerhouse.

•          The infrastructure sector has highest contribution to GDP, however project management practices are yet to realize benefits in this sector. Infrastructure which is expected to grow to 9% of GDP attracts less than 10% of certified project managers while IT sector about 5% of GDP attracts nearly 50% of project management professionals. 

What can we do in Shalina?

            Shalina may consider setting up of an internal ‘Centre of Excellence for Projects’. Some of the existing and budding managers can be trained on Project Management and they can play significant role in this Centre over and above their defined roles. This Centre can support projects and project managers with templates, trainings, change management, resources, coordination and controls.

After all Projects are in existence all over Shalina and definitely need to be managed better, don’t they?

Critical Chain Project Management – A brief overview

                              The below article will also be available on the Simplilearn Website

Critical Chain Project Management was developed and publicized by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt in 1997. Followers of this methodology of Project Management claim it to be an alternative to the established standard of Project Management as advocated by PMBOK® and other Standards of Project Management.  This article attempts to provide a brief overview of the Principals of Critical Chain Project Management and its applicability to manage Projects across all organizations and verticals.

                The Critical Chain Method has its roots in another one of Dr. Goldratt’s inventions viz The Theory of Constraints (TOC). This Project Management Method comes into force after the initial Project Schedule is prepared, which includes establishment of the task dependencies.  The evolved Critical path is reworked based on the Critical Chain Method. To do so, the methodology suggests and assumes constraints related to each task. A few of them are elaborated as under.

Ø  There is a certain amount of uncertainty in each task

Ø  The task Durations are overestimated by the Team Members or Task Owners. This is typically done to add a safety margin to the task so as to be certain of its completion in the decided duration.

Ø  In most cases, the tasks should not take the time estimated, which includes the safety margin, and should be completed earlier.

Ø  If the Safety Margin assumed is not needed, it is actually wasted. If the task completes earlier, it may not necessarily mean that the successor task can start earlier as the resources required for the successor task are not available until their schedule time. Hence the saved time cannot be passed on to finish the Project early. On the other hand, if there are delays over and above the estimated schedules, these delays will most definitely get passed on, and in most of the cases, will exponentially increase the Project Schedule.

With the above assumptions, the Critical Path Methodology of Project Management recommends pooling of the task buffers and adding them at the end of the Critical path.

              

            The Critical Path Project Management defines 3 types of Buffers

1.       Project Buffer -         The total pooled buffer shown above(Fig 1.1) is referred to as the Project Buffer

2.       Feeding Buffer -       In a Project Network there are path/s which feed into the Critical path. The pooled buffer on each such path represents the Feeding Buffer to the Critical Path(Fig1.2) resulting in providing some slack to the critical Path.

3.       Resource Buffer-     This is a virtual task inserted just prior to critical chain tasks that require critical resources. This acts as a trigger point for the resource indicating when the critical path is about to start.

              

           As the Progress of the Project is reported the Critical Chain is recalculated. In fact, monitoring and controlling of the Project primarily focusses on utilization of the Buffers. Hence the Critical Chain Method, takes in the basic Critical Path based Project Network and Schedule and derives a completely new Schedule.

The Critical Path Project Management Methodology proves to be very effective in organizations, which do not have evolved Project Management Practices. Also, it is seen that the methodology does not advocate multi-tasking and hence in Projects with complex Schedule Networks, the results of implementing the Critical path Methodology have proven to be deterrent to the overall Project Schedule. Additionally, there is no standard method which has evolved for calculating and optimizing the Project Buffers. The Critical Path Project Management Methodology has had a fair amount of success in Manufacturing domains though it has not achieved any noteworthy success in IT Sector.

                Similar in lines with the principals of Critical Chain Methodology, the Event Chain Methodology of Project Management focusses on determining the uncertain events and the chain Reactions they propagate. It is a method of modelling uncertainties and is based on Monte Carlo Analysis, Bayesian Believe Network and other established simulation methodologies. Events when occurred can cause other events triggering an Even Chain, which will effectively alter the course of the Project. Events and Event Chains are identified and a Quantitative Analysis is performed to determine the extent of the uncertainty and the probable impact of the same on the Project. From this exercise, Critical Event Chains are evolved which have the potential to cause the most impact on the Project. Event Chain diagrams are visual representation of the Event and Event Chains and their impact.

It is clear that the neither the Critical Path Project Management Methodology nor the Event Chain Methodology can be considered as alternatives to the standard Methodology for project Management as advocated by PMBOK®. While the Critical Path Project Management Methodology can be at best used as a tool for deriving Project Schedule networks, the Event Chain Methodology for Project Management can be used as a tool for Quantitative Risk Analysis.

Yogeeta Deshmukh   BE, ITIL, PMP 

Scheduling Projects - Critical Path Method

The below article will also be available on the Simplilearn Website

One of the most critical aspects in Project Management is for the Project Managers to arrive at a Project Schedule.  This Project Schedule has to be based on highly accurate estimates and often requires a visual Network Diagram to depict the Schedules. Of the various tools and techniques available to Develop the Project Schedule, Critical Path Method remains the favourite across Project Managers.

The Critical Path Method was developed in the early 1950s by DuPont.  This simplistic design was initially used by various industries for scheduling their Plant and Machinery Maintenance Projects.  Over the years the Critical path Method has been adapted by Project Managers to arrive at their Project Schedules in almost all verticals. The popularity of the Critical Path Method stems from its design which allows Project Managers to

a.       Estimate the minimum Project Duration

b.      Identify critical activities in the Project; where any delay will cause a Delay for the Project.

c.       Calculate Early Start and Early Finish Dates for each activity

d.      Calculate the late Start and Late Finish Date for each activity without compromising on the overall Schedule

e.      Calculate the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network path of the Project Schedule

f.        Provide a graphical view of the Project.

Analysis of the Critical Path Method, thus allows the Project Manager to focus on critical path activities. Eg. If resources are to be added to a Project with a view to shorten the Schedule, it makes more sense to add the resources on the critical activities rather than the non-critical activities.

Elaborate descriptions of the various terms used in the Critical Path Method are as under

Critical Path        -              The Critical Path is that path in the Network Schedule Diagram, where the total duration of all the activities lying in the path is longer than that of any other path of the network.    

Critical Activity   -              All activities lying on the Critical Path are Critical Activities.

Float or Slack      -              Float on an activity is the amount of time it can slip without causing any delay in the overall Project Schedule. Hence, by definition, float for any activity on the critical path will be zero.

Early Time          -              This is the earliest time the activity can start.

Early Finish        -              This is the earliest time the activity can finish.

Late Start            -              This is the latest time the activity can start without affecting the Schedule

Late Finish          -              This is the latest time the activity can finish without affecting the Schedule

The steps for calculating the Critical Path are as under

1.       Put the activity diagram in place

a.       Organize a table of activities, their dependencies and their durations as depicted in the figure below.

b.      Translate the inputs from the table created into a Network Diagram. A network diagram derived from the above table is illustrated below.

c.       Calculate the durations for each path. 

Path1.   Start – A – D – E – F – Finish        =             10

Path2.   Start – A – B – C – Finish              =             18

Path3.   Start – A – B – J – Finish                =            13

Path4.   Start – G – H – I – J – Finish          =             11

2.       Locate the critical path

By definition of the critical Path, the Path with the highest sum total duration is the Critical Path. In the above illustration, Path2 viz Start – A – B – C – Finish becomes the Critical Path and all the activities A, B and C become critical activities.

3.       Estimate the Early Start and Finish days

For calculating Early Start (ES) and Finish (EF) days in the critical Path method, we go through a Forward Pass of the Schedule Network Diagram.  The Early Start and Finish Days for the above example are depicted below.

The ES for the first Activity in the Path is always 1.

The EF for any activity is calculated as EF = ES + duration of the activity -1.

The ES for all other activities (not the first activity) is calculated as ES = EF of predecessor activity +1

For activities which have more than 1 predecessor, the greatest EF among the predecessors is used for calculating ES. Refer Activity J in Fig 3.1. The ES for J = EF of B (10) + 1 = 11.

4.       Estimate the Late Start and Finish days

For calculating Late Start (LS) and Late Finish (LF) days in the Critical Path Method, we go through a backward Pass of the Schedule Network Diagram. The Late Start and Finish Days for the same example are depicted below.

                       

We start at the end of the path. All activities at the end will have LF =18, which is the duration of the Schedule (Refer Step 1, Critical Path Duration is 18). Hence activities F, C and J have LF = 18.

The LS for the activities = LF-duration+1.

The LF for all other activities (not the last activity) = LS of the successor activity -1.

For activities having more than 1 successor, the least LF among the successors is used to calculate LF. Refer activity B in fig 4.1.  The LF for B = LS of C -1 = 10.

5.       Calculate float on each activity.

Float is the flexibility you have in the Project schedule. All activities in the critical path have a float of 0. Hence, for activities A, B and C the float is 0.

We then proceed to the next longest path in the Network. In the illustrated example as calculate in Step1, the Path3 is the next longest path.

Float for activities is = Critical Path duration – Current path duration. In this case it is 18-13 = 5. Hence for activities on this path (except for A and B where Float is already calculated) i.e  J float is 5

We next proceed to the next longest path i.e Path 4. In this case Float = 18-11 = 7. Hence activities G, H and I have a float of 7.

We then proceed on the last path i.e Path 1. In this case Float = 18-10 = 8. Hence activities D,E and F have a Float of 8.

Float can also be calculated as LS – ES OR LF – EF.

Another of the advantages of the Critical Path Method is that algorithms can easily be devised to derive Critical Path using Computer Applications.  Hence deriving the Critical Path is no more an elaborate manual effort but most of the Project Management Information Systems like MS Project etc, provide Project Managers with a facility of calculating Critical Paths. 

As is evident from the above, the Critical Path Method for working out Project Schedules will give best results when estimated activity durations have minimal variations. In situations where the activity durations are highly uncertain, within complex Schedule Network Models, the Critical Path Method may come up with incorrect Schedules.

Yogeeta Deshmukh   BE, ITIL, PMP

Interpersonal Skills – Project Manager: A Demigod? - Part II

The article below also appears on the Simplilearn website.

In Part 1 of this article, I elaborated on Leadership, Team Building and Motivation. In this concluding part, we take a closer look at

•       Communication
•       Influencing
•       Decision Making
•       Political and Cultural Awareness
•       Negotiation

COMMUNICATION

The PMBOK® states that a Project Manager spends 90% of his time in communicating.  This reiterates the importance of this must have Skill. Recent studies and surveys in Communication models show us that in a successful transfer of Communication, words only account for 7%, body language 55% and tone of voice 38%. Project Managers across the globe are now increasingly working with Virtual Team and inherently face challenges in Communication. It is clear that for effective Communications, Project Managers should work on honing their

a.         Nonverbal Communication – This includes your facial expressions, body language and even physical appearance.

b.        Para lingual Communication – This is the tone and pitch of your voice when communicating with people. Believe me; if you are rewarding someone with a sarcastic tone, then the Team Member will be demotivated instead of being motivated.

          Feedback -          It is a good practice to confirm what you have understood and provide feedback. You        can summarize the points discussed, ask questions for clarifications etc.

INFLUENCING

Influencing -       Influencing is using your relationships with your team members to get them to cooperate into making the right decisions for the Project. Leading by Example or Walk the talk acts as a great influencer and consequently motivator.  Collaboration is the key to being a great Influencer. A Project Manager needs to adjust his style depending on the Team Member personality.

DECISION MAKING

 Decision Making- A Project Manager needs to make decisions  throughout the Project. The decision making process itself should be transparent so as to influence and convince the Team to follow through the Decision. There are 4 basic styles of Decision Making practiced by Project Managers.

           a.  Command – The Project Manager arrives at a decision and the decision is binding on the Team Members.

           b.  Consultation – The Project Manager Consults his Team Members and independently arrives at the decision.

      c.   Consensus – The Project Manager allows the Team Members’ inputs and the whole team collectively arrives at a decision.

d.    Coin – Flip – As the name suggests this style of decision making is completely random. Depending on      the situation the Project Manager decides on the style to be followed.

For any style of decision making the following steps may be followed.

a.       Define the problem fully

b.      Generate different solutions to the problem. Various brainstorming or group decision making techniques may be followed.

c.       Define evaluation criteria for selecting the right solution.

d.      Involve key stakeholders to gain acceptance of the solution

e.      Evaluate the decision making process and document the learning.

POLITICAL AND CULTURAL AWARENESS

Political and Cultural Awareness-    Being aware of your Team Members background and culture, goes a long way in managing the team better. Respecting differences as well as similarities helps create win-win scenarios.  Duconring Project implementation, especially when dealing with vendors and other stakeholders from different background and locations, awareness and respect for their local customs and traditions, creates a stronger bond.  When Project Managers are working with Virtual Teams, this skill is a must to be developed Skill.  Ignoring the cultural and regional practices will always result in conflicts.

NEGOTIATION

Negotiation-      Project Managers negotiate to come to an agreement when parties have often opposing or sometimes similar viewpoints. Good Listening and Communication skills help reach an agreement with the least discord. While negotiating, Managers should focus on interests and issues and not positions. A negotiation should always be steered to win-win proposition.

Conclusion-        The Project Manager is expected to have a Know-it-All and Be-it-All persona. While this is a really Tall Order, almost taking a mere mortal to a demigod position, it is not that difficult to achieve.  Using time tested tenets of Management Theory, improvising through self-development, keeping abreast about the trends and happenings in your own field of expertise will help Project Managers hone their Inter-Personal skills.  As mentioned in the earlier part of the article, the 3 tenets: Knowledge, Performance and Personal Skills are the 3 legs of a tri-pod on which successful projects are shaped.

Yogeeta Deshmukh   BE, ITIL, PMP

References

PMBOK® 4th edition

Head First PMP, 2^nd Edition – by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman

http://pmworldjournal.net/article/challenges-of-managing-a-virtual-team-with-an-ocean-in-between/

Interpersonal Skills – Project Manager: A Demigod? - Part 1

This Article has been originally published at
http://blog.simplilearn.com/project-management/interpersonal-skills-project-manager-a-demigod-part-1

“Effective Project Management requires that a Project Manager should possess the following competencies and characteristics

Knowledge – This implies the Knowledge about Project Management, its standards and processes.

Performance – Refers to what the Project Manager is able to achieve when applying the Project Management Knowledge to a Project.

Personal – This refers to how the Project Manager behaves when performing activities in the Project. It covers the Project Manager’s attitude, core personality characteristics and leadership-the ability to guide the project team while achieving project objectives and balancing the project constraints.”

        The above is as suggested in the PMBOK® 4^th edition.  The guide has more than successfully elaborated on what activities to do (Perform) and how to do the same (Knowledge) for achieving Project Goals. But, if we study successful and not so successful projects across the globe in different industry verticals, we find more often than not, that the Personal Skills of the Project Manager are responsible for the outcome of the Project.

The PMBOK® lists the desired Interpersonal Skills for a Project Manager as below

•    Leadership
•   Team Building
•   Motivation
•  Communication
•   Influencing
•   Decision Making
•    Political and Cultural Awareness
•    Negotiation

           Quite an exhaustive list, isn’t it? Can one mere mortal possess all the above skills that too at a level to always deliver successful Projects? In real world, unless you are the President of the United States, you don’t really have all those skills. But, what Project Managers need to understand are the basic theories around the desired competencies. This article attempts to give an overview of these same theories.  

Leadership -       Peter Drucker famously stated that "management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." Leadership involves focussing the Team towards a common goal and helping them see the value in the work they do. The influence of a leader over his followers is often referred to as Power. A Project Manager can use any of the 5 kinds of Power elaborated below, as appropriate, to influence and Lead his team.

            Formal Power

Legitimate Power – The Project Charter Authorizes the Project Manager to a Project. This gives the Project Manager Legitimate Power. A Project Manager uses Legitimate Power when she or he assigns work to a team member.

Reward Power – This type of Power is conveyed when you reward a team member with bonus, increments, promotion, extra time off etc. Care should be taken to ensure that the Rewards are fair and that they are tied to specific goals. The Rewards should be designed so that everyone has an equal chance to achieve them.

Coercive or Punishment Power – This is exactly what is sounds like.  This is the Power you use to inflict Punishment for non-performance or poor behaviour.  Any reprimands should be in a closed door meeting.

            Personal Power

Expert Power – This comes from the Project Manager’s Skills, Experience and Knowledge. Having and demonstrating this Power goes a long way in positively influencing Team Members. Team Members respect you for your competencies and skills are more likely to follow your lead.

Referent Power – This kind of Power comes from being trusted and respected. Often a Project Manager wields Referent Power as he is seen to be trusted and admired by people in authority.

            A Project Manager demonstrating Personal Power over Formal Power has a greater probability of effectively influencing Team Members in achieving Project Goals.

Team Building-                  Team Building is much more than taking your team members for a night out. It involves helping your team members bond with each other resulting in an environment of mutual trust and commitment. Team Building requires definition of a common purpose supported by open communication, timely conflict management, motivation and leadership. Good Teams can be built by setting up ground rules and being open in decision making.  The Project Manager should focus on eliminating difficulties and obstacles which interfere with the team’s ability to perform.

Motivation-        Motivating your team is all about helping your team members be satisfied with the job they are doing, recognizing them for their efforts and keeping them challenged. Awareness of motivational theories can help Project Managers to maximize team performance.

a.       Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

All human needs are structured in a hierarchy and only when the lower needs have been fully met, will a member be motivated by the opportunity of having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied. A Project Manager should therefore offer different incentives to team members in order to help them fulfill each need in turn and progress up the hierarchy (see below). Managers should recognise that all members are not motivated in the same way and do not all move up the hierarchy at the same pace. They may therefore have to offer a slightly different set of incentives from member to member.

b.      Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

According to this Herzberg’s theory, there are  factors that would de-motivate a team member if not present but would not in themselves actually motivate her/him to work harder, also known as the Hygiene factors eg Paycheck.  There are also other factors, which a Manager can introduce which can directly motivate the members eg. Interesting work, opportunity for growth, extra responsibility, empowerment etc.

c.       McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

According to Mc Gregor, theory X managers are those who assume that Team Members are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. As a result of this, this kind of manager believes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed.

Theory Y managers assume that team members may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation in itself.

d.      Expectancy Theory

The theory proposes that a member will decide to behave or act in a certain way because she / he is motivated to select a specific behaviour over other behaviours due to what she / he expects the result of that selected behaviour will be. The Project Manager needs to give people an expectation of a reward, which is achievable.

e.      McClelland’s Achievement theory

This theory states that human behaviour is affected by three needs - Need for Power, Achievement and Affiliation. Power is having an influence or control. Achievement is the urge to excel and to achieve success. Affiliation is being part of a group and having sociable inter personal skills.

Conclusion-        We elaborated on 3 areas of Inter Personal skills required for a Project Manager to deliver Successful Projects. In the concluding part, published separately, I will be talking the readers through some more Personal Skills.

Yogeeta Deshmukh   BE, ITIL, PMP

References

PMBOK® 4th edition

Head First PMP, 2^nd Edition – by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman

http://pmworldjournal.net/article/challenges-of-managing-a-virtual-team-with-an-ocean-in-between/