Enhancing Your Bottom Line Through Better Project Management

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Enhancing Your Bottom Line By Investing In Better
Project Management
Increasing Throughput Rate
Achieving higher customer satisfaction
Strengthening the weakest link
Identifying the bottlenecks
Becoming the service provider of choice
Reducing the program delivery interval
Brad Poeckes, PMP info_at_project-solutionsinc.com
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Project Management Viewed From Various Levels
Can we take on this project? How long will it
take? What will it cost?
Is our project portfolio aligned with the
business needs?
Are we meeting our commitments?
Is there an opportunity to finish early? Does the
business unit know this?
What will be the impact if we miss our next
milestone?
What is the 1 project in the department?
What program do we do first?
What if Dave moves to another project?
If only we had more budget and resources to do
the work!
Do you experience these challenges?
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Agenda

• Measuring Key Competencies of Successful Project
  Managers
• Measuring Your Cultures Project Management
  Success
• Using the Project Management Office (PMO) to
  Enhance Successful Project Delivery

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Measuring Key Competencies for Successful Project
Managers

• Benefits???
• To ensure that the most skilled project managers
  are assigned to the most critical projects.
• To determine training needs by identifying gaps
  between job requirements and incumbent skill
  levels.
• To evaluate current project managers and screen
  prospective project managers.

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Key Competencies for Measuring Successful Project
Managers

• Leadership
• Motivating and inspiring people to keep the
  project moving toward successful completion.
• Customer Relations
• Managing the interactions between the customer
  and the rest of the project team resulting in
  both parties being enthusiastic about the
  relationship.
• Project Planning
• Developing and maintaining a workable scheme to
  accomplish the need that the project was approved
  to address.
• Performance Measurement
• Collecting and analyzing project information to
  determine where the project stands and predict
  future status and progress.

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Key Competencies for Measuring Successful Project
Managers (continued)

• Communicating
• Exchanging information in various dimensions
  where the sender must make the information clear
  and unambiguous and the receiver must make sure
  the information is complete and understood.
• Organization Effectiveness
• The ability to "get things done." Having an
  understanding of the formal and informal
  structures of all the organizations involved.
• Team Building
• Encouraging and enabling people to work together
  as a team to accomplish the project goals.
• Staff Development
• Encouraging personal and professional growth
  among the members of the project team.

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Key Competencies for Measuring Successful Project
Managers (continued)

• Perspective
• The ability to take a broader organizational view
  and understand how the project relates to a
  hierarchy of larger undertakings.
• Negotiating
• Work with others in order to reach an agreement
  where all parties are satisfied with the
  agreement.
• Risk Management
• Identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks
  over the life of the project.
• Minimizing the consequences of adverse events and
  maximizing the results of positive events.

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Key Competencies for Measuring Successful Project
Managers (continued)

• Problem Solving
• Is a combination of identifying the problem and
  determining/implementing a solution (technical,
  managerial, or interpersonal).
• Decision Making
• Making the best choice from many alternatives
  (whether received/made from the customer, team,
  or another managers)
• Making the best choice based on the timing of the
  event (the "best" alternative may not be the
  "right" decision if it is made too early or too
  late).

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Measuring Your Cultures Project Management
Success

• Management of the overall project(s) portfolio
• Management of Individual Projects
• Management of the Organizational Environment

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Measuring Your Cultures Project Management
Success (continued)

• Management of the Project Portfolio
• Defining Project Portfolio Management
• A process to collect and measure the delivery
  progress of all programs/projects within the
  organization or business unit.
• Usually managed through the PMO
• Includes all significant project initiatives -
  Large, Medium or Small that have been identified
  as mission critical.
• Governance board or executive leadership
  prioritizes and ranks work within portfolio to
  fit company strategic direction.

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Management of the Project Portfolio (continued)

• Operational Integration
• Development of a portfolio annual budget
• Development of a strategic plan supporting the
  portfolio objectives.
• Content of the portfolio is documented and
  appropriately distributed.
• Portfolio Development
• Project selection criteria supports the strategic
  plan.
• Project selection criteria is objective, and
  consistently applied.
• Portfolio Maintenance
• Ensuring priorities are consistent across the
  organization.
• Facilitating a portfolio change management
  process as needed.
• All changes to the portfolio are communicated
  broadly.
• Properly cancelled projects are viewed as
  successful projects.

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Management of Individual Projects

• Consistent, repeatable processes
• PM approach for identifying and managing the work
  
• Management approach is flexible to support
  different types of projects.
• Available, timely access to project information
• Project-related
• Corporate - salaries, rates, overtime policies,
  etc.
• Knowledgeable and skilled team members
• Project management skills
• General management skills
• Application area skills
• Project stakeholder commitment
• Project sponsor provides financial support and
  removes barriers as called
• Project manager and project team are committed to
  project success
• The project's customer displays a visible
  commitment to the project

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Management of the Organizational Environment

• Consistency of Project Management Terms
• Project management terms are defined, documented,
  communicated, and used consistently throughout
  the organization.
• Visible Management Commitment
• Believes in strong sponsorship for project
  success.
• Insists on development of a detailed, viable
  project plan.
• Makes it safe for the team to admit that a
  project is in trouble.
• Rewards prudent business decisions
• Supports continuous improvement, and lessons
  learned.
• Project and functional managers are partners.
• Corporate priorities are reflected in day-to-day
  decisions.

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Management of the Organizational Environment
(continued)

• Human Resource Practices
• A criteria for project manager selection and
  promotion
• A recognition and reward systems
• Career opportunities
• For project management experts and functional
  experts.
• A project management governance model in place
• Roles are well-defined, understood, and accepted
• Corporate Systems
• Accounting, budgeting, performance evaluation,
  time reporting, etc. are available to accommodate
  project needs

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The Project Management Office (PMO) to Enhance
Successful Project Delivery

• A full-service solution provider for all of the
  organizations project management needs
• Center of Competency for Project Management
  excellence.
• A consistent systematic approach for managing
  projects effectively.
• First to learn of delivery opportunities and
  threats from project status reporting as it
  affects the overall organization project
  portfolio.
• The Best Friend for the Project Manager.

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Key Functions of the PMO

• Project Management Tools
• PMI or Company Specific PM Certification
• Just-in-time support to project needs
• Project Startup Assistance
• Proposal Support
• Risk Assessments
• Project Change Management Support
• Project Recoveries/Rescues
• Project Assessments

• Project Portfolio Management Support
• Prioritization and operations planning/forecasting
  
• Project Information Integrity
• Project Management Training and Mentoring
• Resource Management Gaps, Recruiting, Skills
  Competency
• Leadership - Key Projects
• Project Management Processes Methodology
• PM Metrics/Reporting

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A Typical PMO Model
Project Management Office
Mentoring Methodology
PM Tools
Quality Assurance
Metrics Reporting
Portfolio Management
Project Resource Fulfillment
Financial
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PMO Staffing Model/Example

• Key Roles
• PMO VP/Director/Manager
• PM Mentor/Consultants
• PM Assistant
• PA Assistant
• Other Roles
• HR/Project Resource Analyst
• Vendor/Contract Analyst
• Quality Assurance

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Continuous Cycle of Direction, Validation and
Adjustments To Accelerate Delivery
Direction
Governance Review Leadership
Governance Review Leadership
Enterprise Strategy
Feedback
Business Unit Strategy
Prioritization
PMO
Feedback
Feedback
Project Managers
Q/A
Project Status Reports, Time Sheets,
Project Schedules
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The PMO Managing the Total Portfolio
Business Strategy
Management
Management
Project Management Office
Plan and Execute
Validate and Adjust
Project Portfolio
Resource Portfolio
Application Portfolio
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The Benefits of the PMO for the Organization

• Providing the Management Team with current
  project information to measure to strategic
  initiatives.
• Identifying Bottlenecks for immediate
  corrective action.
• Identifying excess project capital budget that
  can be re-applied to other critical projects.
• Enhancing confidence and skill level of among
  fellow project managers throughout the
  organization!!! The Project Managers Best
  Friend!!!!!!
• Increasing customer confidence that we are
  serious on managing projects effectively.

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PMO Adding Value! - Example

• Assume your Project Portfolio is currently at 100
  projects in development and 20 awaiting startup.
• Assume your average Project Budget is 500K and
  the average duration is projected at 200 work
  days. Thus the Portfolio has a 50M tactical
  value.
• If the PMO could save you 10 (average) on budget
  and time per project, per fiscal year, how
  important would this be for you?
• 10 improvement would mean your Project Portfolio
  would save 5M over time and allow for 10
  additional projects to be started earlier than
  was expected provided resources are availablein
  the same fiscal year.

Increased productivity Increased profitability!!
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What to Consider When Establishing a PMO

• You should answer the following questions if you
  are serious about establishing a PMO
• What value would a PMO be to our organization?
• What will it cost to establish and run the PMO?
• What extent will the PMOs focus on establishing
  standards have on creativity flexibility of
  project staff in the working field? Will it
  create risks to existing customer relationships?
• How will we ensure the PMO serves the appropriate
  functions for the organization?
• How will the PMO be staffed?
• Where will the organization be situated both
  organizationally and physically (centralized vs.
  decentralized)?

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As Project Managers, What Have We Learned?

• Project Management value is about meeting or
  exceeding delivery expectations for every
  project.
• The appropriate project management skills
• The appropriate environment for projects to
  succeed
• Always keep a constant drive with your project
  team to identify project delivery acceleration
  opportunities and/or delivery threats.
• When in doubt, contact your PMO!!
• The Human Factor is so vital to project success!
  People are the only tool solution for
  delivering projects!
• If we treat every person as our customer to
  exceed project expectations, our value will
  always continue to grow in the eyes of our
  customers!!

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The Ideal Partnership for Enhancing Your Bottom
Line

• With a partnership where you have
• A successful project manager in a project
  supportive environment leading and mentoring
  people to identify and act on project delivery
  acceleration opportunities or delivery threats
• A PMO that enhances your project manager
  communitys confidence and their probability of
  delivering more projects on time or ahead of
  schedule
• Can provide results of
• Improving Customer Satisfaction and Trust!
• Securing more work with same planned budget
  resources. Time is !
• PM Culture Project Friendly Business Practices
  
• For the Portfolio, Individual Projects, and
  Organizational Environment

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Thank You For Your Time!

Brad Poeckes, PMPPresident Project Solutions,
Inc.[phone]info_at_project-solutionsinc.com
www.project-solutionsinc.com