Skill in social networking sites such as Facebook could be an essential qualification for project managers of the future.
Research at the Saïd Business School indicates that the way people behave on these sites could affect the way they work and has to be taken into account when thinking about the future of project management.
The Facebook generation will bring social networking into the workplace - many people are already using it informally as a way of communicating at work. In the future, organisations will need to enable those working on a project to communicate in this way, sharing information and expertise, problem solving and enabling links.
The academic world has much to contribute to the future, providing an opportunity for awareness and reflection, looking at ways of in which the profession can change and what should be passed on from the general corpus of knowledge.
Next year the Saïd Business School will introduce an MSc in Major Programme Management, encouraging people to think critically about what is being done now and how it could change for the future.
Working on the premise that a project or programme is also an organisation with similar skills requirements, it is taking theoretical knowledge from the design of an organisation and imparting it into the current mindset of project and programme management, moving from a skills base to a more reflective model.
For further details on the course, visit www.sbs.ox.ac.uk
Is a project an organisation?
Yes 78%
Thursday, 30 October 2008
What do we mean by ‘complex’? Step back from chaos - Harvey Maylor, Stephen Carver
A lot of complexity is added, it needn’t be there. Researched what this meant; managerial response was to identify some broad factors that can introduce complexity:
• mission,
• organisation,
• delivery,
• stakeholders,
• team.
We identify two dimensions to complexity: structural and dynamic dimensions.
Example: flying – want a journey to be boring, uneventful.
How do pilots do it? They plan everything, but spend little time flying, done on autopilot – just like projects should be! They’re there to deal with unplanned events – low structural and low dynamic dimensions.
If we introduce Air Traffic Control (ATC) to maximise use of airspace complexity changes. ATC is more of an art than a science, but a lot of science is used – complexity becomes low dynamic, high structural.
Introduce fighter pilot – lots of planning, uncertain outcomes – low structural, high dynamic.
Introduce ATC for military need to know what’s going on and make decisions on how to deal with situation – lone pilot quickly a dead pilot - know where your projects (own and enemy) are – but they’re moving all the time, high structural, high dynamic.
Do you have SROs who can deal with this? Takeoffs easy, landings difficult – landing projects the same anyone can start one. A good landing is one you can walk away from, a very good one is when you can use the plane again.
On an organisational level, we’d probably like our projects to fall in the low/low category, but as project managers we’re more likely to prefer the high/high categories – more challenging, more enjoyable. There’s a balance to strike.
In future, should be aiming to identify, manage and reduce complexity as we go along.
• mission,
• organisation,
• delivery,
• stakeholders,
• team.
We identify two dimensions to complexity: structural and dynamic dimensions.
Example: flying – want a journey to be boring, uneventful.
How do pilots do it? They plan everything, but spend little time flying, done on autopilot – just like projects should be! They’re there to deal with unplanned events – low structural and low dynamic dimensions.
If we introduce Air Traffic Control (ATC) to maximise use of airspace complexity changes. ATC is more of an art than a science, but a lot of science is used – complexity becomes low dynamic, high structural.
Introduce fighter pilot – lots of planning, uncertain outcomes – low structural, high dynamic.
Introduce ATC for military need to know what’s going on and make decisions on how to deal with situation – lone pilot quickly a dead pilot - know where your projects (own and enemy) are – but they’re moving all the time, high structural, high dynamic.
Do you have SROs who can deal with this? Takeoffs easy, landings difficult – landing projects the same anyone can start one. A good landing is one you can walk away from, a very good one is when you can use the plane again.
On an organisational level, we’d probably like our projects to fall in the low/low category, but as project managers we’re more likely to prefer the high/high categories – more challenging, more enjoyable. There’s a balance to strike.
In future, should be aiming to identify, manage and reduce complexity as we go along.
Is sponsership and stakeholder management success? - Ruth Sacks
Involvement of key stakeholders from the outset is critical to project success, said Ruth Sacks, Turner & Townsend.
In her talk, 'How blank is the paper?', Ruth said the involvment process should start at the bidding stage and lead to questions being asked of why the project is being designed and what solutions are stakeholders/sponsors looking for.
"People in projects are all different. The key is to try and unpick who people are and develop relations to drive project through to success, " she said.
Getting close to key stakeholders is one way of holding the project together. But also pays to be aware of different tensions between organistations and needs of other stakeholders.
This requires a firm understanding of inside/outside influences and things like previous experience, budgetary constraints, exisiting consultants and experience of pm.
Feedback from delegates highlighted a lack of understanding by key stakeholders and sponsors, which ultimatley threatened the ability to deliver a project successfully. In answer to the issue, it was suggested that key players should be mentored and educated in order to fill the "vacuum below sponsor level".
In her talk, 'How blank is the paper?', Ruth said the involvment process should start at the bidding stage and lead to questions being asked of why the project is being designed and what solutions are stakeholders/sponsors looking for.
"People in projects are all different. The key is to try and unpick who people are and develop relations to drive project through to success, " she said.
Getting close to key stakeholders is one way of holding the project together. But also pays to be aware of different tensions between organistations and needs of other stakeholders.
This requires a firm understanding of inside/outside influences and things like previous experience, budgetary constraints, exisiting consultants and experience of pm.
Feedback from delegates highlighted a lack of understanding by key stakeholders and sponsors, which ultimatley threatened the ability to deliver a project successfully. In answer to the issue, it was suggested that key players should be mentored and educated in order to fill the "vacuum below sponsor level".
What do we mean by ‘complex’? Delivering complex projects; it’s not just about the project manager. Simon Henley
Programmes and projects are becoming more complex, sometimes spanning the lifetimes of several technologies, perhaps also with a dynamic project path. Through-life basis on which some projects are undertaken changes our attitude to completion – becomes full life management. Often can’t produce full work breakdown structure at outset.
Projects must be reduced to certainty wherever possible to allow management as we know it and use tried and tested PM techniques as introduced at MoD via their PPM specialism.
When is a project complex, not complicated? Characterised by uncertainty, dynamic interfaces and significant political or external influences.
Complex project strategies require:
• agreed definitions of desired outcomes
• critical success factors/measures
• planning for change
• appropriate tools and techniques
• incremental delivery of projects approaches.
Lead projects as systems:
• establish where certainty exists – manage it with traditional PM skills to deliver the known
• establish where uncertainty exists and establish strategies to manage
• cope with changing strategic needs while delivering coherent tactical solutions.
Programmes aren’t always analysed routinely for their uncertainty.
Appropriate governance requires:
• measure progress towards desired outcomes,
• organisational ability to make decisions with uncertain outcomes,
• appropriate approval/decision timelines,
• budget for incremental delivery,
• culture needed to make the above possible – dealing with uncertainty.
ICCPM (International College of Complex Project Management) seeks to provide international leadership to drive excellence in the management of complex projects.
Complex projects feature uncertainty, rapid rates of change and developing technologies among others– we need to find better ways of managing more of them.
Projects must be reduced to certainty wherever possible to allow management as we know it and use tried and tested PM techniques as introduced at MoD via their PPM specialism.
When is a project complex, not complicated? Characterised by uncertainty, dynamic interfaces and significant political or external influences.
Complex project strategies require:
• agreed definitions of desired outcomes
• critical success factors/measures
• planning for change
• appropriate tools and techniques
• incremental delivery of projects approaches.
Lead projects as systems:
• establish where certainty exists – manage it with traditional PM skills to deliver the known
• establish where uncertainty exists and establish strategies to manage
• cope with changing strategic needs while delivering coherent tactical solutions.
Programmes aren’t always analysed routinely for their uncertainty.
Appropriate governance requires:
• measure progress towards desired outcomes,
• organisational ability to make decisions with uncertain outcomes,
• appropriate approval/decision timelines,
• budget for incremental delivery,
• culture needed to make the above possible – dealing with uncertainty.
ICCPM (International College of Complex Project Management) seeks to provide international leadership to drive excellence in the management of complex projects.
Complex projects feature uncertainty, rapid rates of change and developing technologies among others– we need to find better ways of managing more of them.
Have we got the right people doing the right projects? Bob Assirati, Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
Addressing the shortfall in project management capability at the OGC will lead to greater success in delivering major projects.
The OGC has a big capability gap, which means it has to bring in costly interim and external project managers. Now it is making a collective effort to build a sustainable community with the right skills through tackling the issue at organisational level.
Projects need to be translated into people, and their roles and their competencies, moving away from the traditional profile of a civil servant and looking to recruit, develop and retain project professionals.
Transfer of knowledge across the organisation is being improved while consultants are encouraged through their contract to share their knowledge with OGC staff.
A 10-step plan to introduce a proper, professional career structure is being developed with the vision of ‘a recognised profession that attracts and retains the best people and is valued for its contribution to effective delivery’.
This skills agenda includes an agreed standard approach to best practice, defining roles, qualifications and training, improving the attractiveness of project management as a career and managing talent.
Do you believe Government project management offers an attractive career as opposed to the private sector?
No 74%
The OGC has a big capability gap, which means it has to bring in costly interim and external project managers. Now it is making a collective effort to build a sustainable community with the right skills through tackling the issue at organisational level.
Projects need to be translated into people, and their roles and their competencies, moving away from the traditional profile of a civil servant and looking to recruit, develop and retain project professionals.
Transfer of knowledge across the organisation is being improved while consultants are encouraged through their contract to share their knowledge with OGC staff.
A 10-step plan to introduce a proper, professional career structure is being developed with the vision of ‘a recognised profession that attracts and retains the best people and is valued for its contribution to effective delivery’.
This skills agenda includes an agreed standard approach to best practice, defining roles, qualifications and training, improving the attractiveness of project management as a career and managing talent.
Do you believe Government project management offers an attractive career as opposed to the private sector?
No 74%
Is sponsorship and stakeholder management success? - Graham Kennedy
Managing key stakeholders and sponsors is critical to project success. Based on premise that 80% of changes fail to deliver planned benefits, Graham Kennedy, ICT Managed Services, divided reasons for failure into three distinct categories.
First: executive ownership. He said that this can be ineffective if business rationale/direction not clear. Result can be a "project solution looking for a problem" or "riding a dead horse" and knowing when to get off. Sponsor needs to be expert pulling things together otherwise project will esculate out of control.
Second: misalignment. A lack of relevance to the organsiation creates gap between current performance and what it's trying to achieve. Projects exist to solve or bridge the gap. To do this need to be clear what achieve at strategic level. Alignment between issues and objectives brings measurable benefits to organisation.
Third: stakeholder management. "A reformer has enemies who all profit from the old order" - Machiavelli. Apt quote for managing stakholders. Need to identify enemies and potential defenders. Analyse motivation and idenfity "tools and levers to encourage stakeholder support".
Is executive sponsor support critical to project success? Yes 100%.
Is project alignment with organisation's strategy critical to success? Yes 100%.
Is stakeholder management critical to project success? Yes 100%.
First: executive ownership. He said that this can be ineffective if business rationale/direction not clear. Result can be a "project solution looking for a problem" or "riding a dead horse" and knowing when to get off. Sponsor needs to be expert pulling things together otherwise project will esculate out of control.
Second: misalignment. A lack of relevance to the organsiation creates gap between current performance and what it's trying to achieve. Projects exist to solve or bridge the gap. To do this need to be clear what achieve at strategic level. Alignment between issues and objectives brings measurable benefits to organisation.
Third: stakeholder management. "A reformer has enemies who all profit from the old order" - Machiavelli. Apt quote for managing stakholders. Need to identify enemies and potential defenders. Analyse motivation and idenfity "tools and levers to encourage stakeholder support".
Is executive sponsor support critical to project success? Yes 100%.
Is project alignment with organisation's strategy critical to success? Yes 100%.
Is stakeholder management critical to project success? Yes 100%.
Disparate projects disparate sustainability opportunities – Adrian Pyne
Issues of sustainability need to be tackled at a programme level if they are to have a realistic impact on the global environment. However, the sustainability argument has to be justified in more ways than it simply being a ‘good thing’.
Eklington (1994) introduced the concept of the ‘triple bottom line’ – success measured by their social, economic and social impact. This introduces complexity – which is where programme management has a role to play.
Programme management was designed to address this kind of change and delivering this complex level of benefit.
Eklington (1994) introduced the concept of the ‘triple bottom line’ – success measured by their social, economic and social impact. This introduces complexity – which is where programme management has a role to play.
Programme management was designed to address this kind of change and delivering this complex level of benefit.
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