SECTION 10
IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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10.1 Project Management Organizational Competence
10.2 Project Recovery for the Project Team
10.3 Project Recovery for the Challenged Project
10.5 Assessing Organizational Project Competence
10.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCE
10.1.1 Introduction
Competence in project management gives an organization the best opportunity to excel through the use of projects to implement the organizational strategic goals and objectives. Individual competence in the project management roles of the organization is a contributing factor on the organization’s competence and success with projects as building blocks to achieve the organization’s growth and profitability.
Individual competence in project management is defined as knowledge + skills + attitude/behavior = competence. See Sec. 1.3 for more discussion of individual competence.
Organizational project competence is defined as establishing and maintaining a project support system that facilitates the conduct of work through projects. This system ranges from strategic planning through the operational functions of daily work with a consistent focus on accomplishing work results by projects.
10.1.2 Strategic Considerations
A conscious effort is made in strategic planning to perform work in a project mode and the design of the strategic plan documents take into account both the type of work and the organization to support project efforts. Some considerations are:
• Strategic plans are written with projects being the primary building blocks for success.
• Portfolio management of projects is fundamental to the efficient and effective performance of work efforts.
• Programs are “large projects” with subprojects that are typically managed as a single entity.
• Organizational design may require adapting to accommodate project support.
• The organization must adopt a project management philosophy that is consistent with the organization’s mission or purpose.
• The strategic goals and objects are shared with the project manager to support alignment between strategy and project implementation.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of senior management and the board of directors with regard to project selection, review, and involvement.
Other elements may be required of an organization to ensure a rigorous top-down alignment of strategy and projects. Perhaps the most important consideration is senior management and board of directors’ support of projects.
10.1.3 Managing the Organization’s Projects
Managing projects is not a trivial task whereby a project manager is appointed and is left to plan and implement the work. It requires the organization’s full support. The support system entails the following elements:
• A project selection system that is based on objective criteria. These criteria match the organization’s mission, purpose, industry, and project types. The project manager typically does not perform the selection of projects.
• Establish policies and procedures in a project management system that encompasses all projects. This provides guidance for the planning, conduct, and support of projects.
• Establish and support a project priority (urgency of need) system so that project managers understand how the organization will allocate resources to a given project.
• Allocate resources to high-priority projects first and less urgent projects second.
• Assign and group small projects to a portfolio for implementation, when priorities are similar.
• Establish and schedule periodic reviews of projects by senior management to ensure progress is achieved according to the project plan.
The general areas of project support should be documented and supplemented by detailed instructions in the project plan. This project plan, with its variances from general policy, serves as the guide for the project manager to pursue the project’s goals and objectives.
10.1.4 Developing the Project Team
The competent organization can establish an effective team for a project based on evaluation and training to bridge shortcomings. First, one needs to evaluate the team players to identify gaps in knowledge and skills to schedule training. This evaluation should be based on the role and responsibility of the team members. The project manager, however, should have basic qualifications in leadership prior to appointment to the project.
There are two fundamental types of project teams—a core team and a full time team. The core team typically performs the business and technical management while the performing team members are often drawn from a matrix organization. The full time team has the business and technical managers as well as the individuals performing the work. The full time team takes on specialty skills for the time that a skill is needed, then the resource is let go from the team.
Team development for both types of teams is similar in that team performance is based on a few technical or business skills and attitude and behavioral traits. The technical and business skills can be easily learned while attitude and behavioral improvements take considerably longer. Behavioral traits make the difference in high-performing teams and those that are less effective.
It is anticipated that the organizational competence will be enhanced by developing project teams in a team environment. Competent team, developed through team exercises, should be more efficient and effective performers.
10.1.5 Developing Project Managers
Competent organizations have a means of developing project managers to lead the projects in an effective and efficient manner. Recognizing the situation is the first step in moving toward a cadre of project managers who can bring about the desired results for assigned projects.
Project managers are often appointed to lead a project without prior experience. This places many project managers in difficult and challenging roles, especially if they only have technical experience. Because leadership is learned, not from books, but through experience in a variety of leadership roles, many project managers find the situation to be overwhelming.
The project manager with leadership experience is most likely to succeed in guiding the project team than one without prior leadership roles. People perform the work and are influenced by the project leader—both positively and negatively—in meeting the project’s requirements.
Developing project managers in meeting their leadership responsibilities can only be accomplished through exposure to situations that require thinking as leaders. Some examples of roles and opportunities are as follows:
• Project manager is appointed to a project without human resources. In this situation the project manager and performer are one and the same. This allows the project manager to conduct the business and technical functions. No leadership experience is gained and this is not a good environment to develop a project manager for larger projects.
• Project manager is appointed to a small project with four individuals. The project manager performs part of the business function and, perhaps, part of the technical function. The opportunity for leadership is limited to assigning tasks to individuals and tracking progress. This environment develops some leadership, but focuses primarily on the business and technical functions.
• Project manager is appointed to a medium-size project with 18 individuals reporting directly to him/her. The project manager leads the team while conducting reviews and technical oversight of the project. The span of control makes it difficult to lead 18 individuals—and the opportunity for leadership experience is one of “fighting fires” rather than providing leadership.
• Project manager is appointed to a large project with eight individuals reporting directly to him/her. The project manager assigns tasks and tracks progress while directing the overall achievement of work toward the final resulting product. This environment takes a skilled person with leadership abilities to conduct the planning, organizing, motivating, directing, and controlling the activities. It is not a training ground for new project managers. However, one may work as an assistant or deputy to learn leadership skills under the guidance of a competent project manager.
Developing competent project managers for small, medium, and large projects calls for first the individuals having the right attitude and behavior toward the project environment. Changing attitudes and behaviors is challenging and requires extensive effort and often over a long period of time. Learning the technical aspects of project management can be accomplished through taking project management courses that focus on cost, schedule, and technical performance management knowledge and skills.
A combination of project management courses and selection by the requisite attitude and behavioral traits is probably the best method of developing competent project manager candidates. Exposure to actual projects within one’s capability can build on the experience.
10.1.6 Organizational Checklist for Competence
A checklist that guides senior managers in evaluating organizational competence in project management can be helpful in identifying strengths and weakness in the conduct of projects. The checklist below identifies traditional problems and poses some probable causes.
• Schedule overrun
• Poor planning at project initiation (poor time estimates, overlooked work activities, unrealistic schedule dictated by management)
• Too many changes to project scope during implementation
• Low in priority for resources
• Weak project team
• Weak project manager
• Cost overrun
• Poor planning at project initiation (poor cost estimating, overlooked work activities, unrealistic budget dictated by management)
• Discovered additional work
• Too many “work arounds” that have to be corrected
• Lack of cost management discipline by project team
• Lack of attention to cost control by project manager
• Inflation of material and labor costs
• Technical performance shortfall
• Improper statement of specification
• Unstable requirement (changes during implementation)
• Wrong materials used
• Pushing state of the art for technology
• Improper work procedures
• Unskilled workers
• Overlooked features or functions
• Technology beyond capability of organization
10.1.7 Other Considerations for Competence
Many times projects are considered standalone work efforts under the control of a single project manager. This is true to a certain extent, but requires that important work not be left solely to the judgment of one person. Senior managers have a role to play to ensure projects are successful through oversight and involvement. Senior managers’ roles are often not identified and the projects are left alone until there is an indication of major problems.
Some roles for senior managers are described here for information and potential action. The senior manager roles are described by size of project for ease of viewing.
• Small project (less than 30 days)
• Review and approve project initiation document. Check for clear, simple statements of requirements and descriptions of products.
• Check to see whether the project fits within the strategic and operational plans.
• Review project resulting product.
• Compliment project team for good results.
• Identify areas for potential improvement.
• Medium project (30 to 180 days)
• Review and approve project charter.
• Review and approve project plan (includes all components such as schedule, budget, specification, statement of work, and risk plan). Check to see whether the project fits within the strategic and operational plans.
• Assess whether the project has excessive risk.
• Assess whether the resources are available for the project, both skills and quantity of resources.
• Assess whether the project will be profitable.
• Set milestones for reviews of project progress.
• Conduct regular reviews of project results.
• Compliment project team for good results.
• Identify areas for potential improvement.
• Large projects (181 days and more)
• Review and approve business case. Check to see whether the project fits within the strategic and operational plans.
• Review and approve management strategy—complex or non-complex.
• Review and approve project charter.
• Review and approve project plan (includes all components such as schedule, budget, specification, statement of work, and risk plan).
• Assess whether the project has excessive risk.
• Assess whether the human resources are available for the project, both skills and quantity of resources.
• Assess whether the project will be profitable.
• Set milestones for periodic reviews of project progress.
• Conduct regular reviews of project progress.
• Review project results.
• Compliment project team for good results.
• Identify areas for potential improvement.
The above list of actions for senior managers in not all inclusive, but needs to be tailored to the actual projects being conducted. Senior managers may need a checklist to ensure all areas are covered. These checklists would be specific for the type and size of projects within the organization.
10.1.8 Summary
Project management competence in organizations entails having good direction for projects that fit into the strategic and operational structure. It is fundamental to competence that the organization has a strategic plan with goals and objectives to serve as an umbrella for all projects. This umbrella ensures that the projects are supportive of the organization’s mission or purpose.
This section has listed some areas that indicate where an organization may need improvement to be considered fully project management competent. There are other considerations for senior management to view in light of their projects, organization, and project practices.
10.2 PROJECT RECOVERY FOR THE PROJECT TEAM
10.2.1 Introduction
Many projects become overwhelmed during implementation and it becomes obvious that the project is doomed to failure if it continues on the current course. There is an identified lack of convergence on the technical solution that denies benefits to the customer. Current plans are not working and the project is unstable.
This realization that the project is not fulfilling its promise of benefits for the customer seldom recognizes the toll taken on humans. The project leader is typically stressed and the team members have most often worked far in excess of the number of hours expected. The human resource is depleted of spirit and energy because of heroic efforts to do the impossible.
Senior managers focus on getting the technical effort back on track while the project team’s poor state is only recognized as an incapable group to perform the tasks. The project team leaders are often replaced because of a perceived ineffectiveness in completing the project. Perhaps this replacement of the project leader is to energize the team into a more effective group.
10.2.2 Challenged Project Environments
Many projects become difficult to manage because of weak planning or discovered new requirements. Unrealistic completion dates and inflexible scope requirements, while there is a lack of human resources for the work, also contribute to unfriendly project environments. New requirements cause the workflow to change and the project team members get changes to work assignments on a continuous basis. Changes upon changes materially reduce productivity and progress, often to the point that no progress is achieved from a significant expenditure of effort.
Team members become frustrated because each task seems to be a new start without recognition of the dedicated efforts made to advance the project. Progress is measured by senior management in terms of the number of hours expended. Realistic measures of progress are forgotten and the assumption is often taken that “given enough hours of effort on the project, it will meet the objectives.”
10.2.3 Degradation of Team Member Capability
Team members dedicated to the project will put forth extraordinary efforts. These efforts may or may not advance the project. Loyalty to the project team leader, the performing organization, and the customer will cause team members to make extra efforts to ensure project success. Dedication and loyalty have the following detrimental effects.
Figure 10.1 summarizes the factors that contribute to project team capability degradation.
Degradation factors and the causes are described below. Each factor is described as a single element, however; they all interact on the project team members. These are the major contributors to project team performance declines.
• Sleep loss through extra work either before normal work hours or staying late to complete work. The sleep loss is typically from working extra hours each day, and sometime around the clock to meet artificial deadlines. Team members are not trained to work 12 to 18 hours a day, six and seven days a week.
FIGURE 10.1 Degradation of team capability.
• Fatigue from continuous work without a rest break. When work weeks become 60 to 80 hours over several weeks, an individual’s efficiency declines severely and the productivity equates to perhaps only 40 hours or less of true effort. The stamina for individuals working overtime typically diminishes significantly in six to eight weeks.
• Stress induced by family members can significantly reduce the productivity level of an individual. Extra time spent away from home and excessive fatigue when the team member is home can generate an undesirable family situation.
• Lack of exercise contributes to reduced capacity to think and the physical stamina required to work many hours without rest. Many tasks on projects require individuals to sit at desks or attend meetings where the limited opportunity to obtain even the minimum exercise inhibits both mental and physical capacity.
• Poor diet from food purchased from vending machines or fast-food restaurants will affect the stamina of individuals. Over a long term, a diet of high-calorie, low-nutrition food will affect the body functions and result in diminished capacity to perform at even moderate levels of efficiency.
This list of major contributors to reduced efficiency and effectiveness can also generate health problems. Team members may experience more frequent colds and respiratory problems. Headaches, chest pains, aches in joints, and difficulty breathing can be symptoms of the fatigue and generally reduced state of health.
Long periods of work without proper rest can also lead to safety issues as well as mistakes in work. Safety issues can include bodily injury from inattention to work around equipment, driving while fatigued in heavy traffic or reduced visibility weather, and general inattention to routine safety procedures because of the inability to recognize potential hazards. Mistakes in work increase with fatigue and reduced mental alertness. Mistakes result from both physical and mental fatigue.
10.2.4 Project Team Leader Responsibilities
The project team leader is responsible for the health and welfare of the individuals on the team. When the health and welfare of the team declines, the team leader will be unable to effectively complete the project. It takes a delicate balance between keeping the team focused on performing the work and placing the health and welfare of the team in jeopardy. Unfortunately, the team leader often believes and acts as though the individual team members will not damage their health for the sake of the project.
Team leaders need to be aware of the signs of fatigue or adverse changes to individuals. These signs can often be detected before there is a major decline in a person’s ability to function. First, team leaders must know the individuals on the teams and understand how they function in a usual situation. Deviations from the usual behavior give indication of reduced capacity. Some indicators are:
• Lethargic or unusually slow performance that would indicate fatigue or poor health
• Slurred speech or a poor pronunciation of words that would indicate slow mental responses to situations
• Staggering or inability to move about in a controlled fashion that would indicate an inability to physically perform routine activities
• Laughing or loud talking when the individual is usually quiet and reserved
• Quiet and withdrawn from the team when the individual is usually outgoing and gregarious
• Change in wearing apparel from conservative to extravagant or the reverse
• Any radical change in mood, motivation, or initiative that would indicate a mental shift
• Bickering or arguing over trivial matters
The number of hours that a team member works is the responsibility of the team leader. Excessive hours can deplete the energy of the team members and reduce their effectiveness. Individuals will respond differently, but some areas that show the adverse effects of too many hours without sleep are:
• Studies show that individuals deprived of sleep tend to fall asleep more frequently between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. Their capacity for reasoning and problem solving is diminished to a low point. Alertness is diminished to minimum levels.
• Individuals functioning with four to five hours of sleep each night will decline in alertness and performance after five to seven days. The alertness and performance degradation may be difficult to identify if the individuals are not under continuous observation.
• Individuals become totally ineffective after 48 to 72 hours of sleep deprivation. The recovery time for individuals depends upon the physical and mental health of each person. Recovery is not on a linear basis, but may require 12 hours sleep to recover to some marginally effective state.
10.2.5 Project Personnel Recovery
Prevention is the best method of avoiding recovery situations for stressed, fatigued project team members. First, the project team leader must ensure that he/she is capable of thinking through the recovery process. A project team leader who has exceeded the capability to continue to function at an adequate level of effectiveness may be the wrong person to direct rehabilitation for the team.
Effective project leaders can assess the situation to determine whether the entire team requires a period of recovery or whether there are only selected individuals. Following the assessment and identification of stress and fatigue in individuals, the team leader should use a combination of items, as suggested in Fig. 10.2, that would cause recovery over time.
• Sleep deprivation—have team member sleep 10 to 12 hours and perform light exercises upon waking. A hot shower and fresh clothes will make the individual feel better about himself/herself. Eating light meals and social contact will speed recovery. Note that an initial period of sleep may only provide some immediate relief and that additional sleep may be required over several days.
• Fatigue from working excessive number of hours—have team members perform light exercise, such as walking or climbing stairs. A hot shower and fresh clothes will change the individual’s feeling about himself or herself. Eating light meals and social contact that does not discuss work is also helpful. It may also be necessary to change the individual’s tasks to ensure a sense of something new and different to achieve a fresh mental outlook.
FIGURE 10.2 Project personnel recovery.
• Stress—identify the causes of stress and eliminate them to the maximum extent. If the stress is caused, in whole or part by personal problems, one may seek counseling by a healthcare professional. If the project is causing the stress, it may be best to transfer the individual to another project or job area.
• Inability to perform tasks—individual performance issues can be caused by sleep deprivation, fatigue, or stress. Team leaders should also determine whether the individual has the skills and knowledge to perform the tasks. Often, individuals are assigned to high-pressure projects without the requisite capability to perform. They will not admit to not having the skills and knowledge to perform the tasks. It is either training or reassignment as the alternatives for these individuals.
Other factors may be identified that affect individual performance and will need to be addressed. Some items may require assistance from individuals external to the project. Project leaders should always seek assistance from senior management, human resource department, and healthcare professionals at every opportunity.
10.2.6 Prevention Measures
Prevention of degradation of the human resources assigned to the project is perhaps the best method of project recovery for the project team. Identifying and addressing issues early on is the best recovery approach. Early identification limits the scope of the problem and allows repair of the situation before major problems are encountered.
FIGURE 10.3 Burnout prevention actions.
There are several preventive actions that the project team leader may use to avoid team member “burnout” during intense efforts on projects. Figure 10.3 summarizes activities that prevent project team member burnout.
The summarized items are explained in the following paragraphs with some limited detail. Prevention is always better than recovery, especially when the recovery period is dictated by the states of nature.
• Trust and confidence. Team members must have trust and confidence in the team leader. Consistent, fair treatment of team members will build on this trust and confidence. Trust is on loan to the project leader until he/she proves that the trust is warranted. Trust is built based on “a promise made and a promise kept.” Broken promises and intentional untruths destroy the trust in leadership.
• Show concern. Project leaders must show genuine concern for the individual as well as the team. Project leaders must understand the issues that face team members, collectively and individually, to identify opportunities to improve the environment. A project leader who has only his/her interests in mind and demonstrates this through actions will find that the individuals have no alternative but to serve their individual interests.
• Buddy system. When new members are assigned to the project team, it is helpful to have a person team up to support their orientation. It also serves to be a support system between two colleagues, where one can help the other. This buddy system works well when one person identifies the induction of stress, fatigue, or sleep deprivation during intense periods.
• Communication. Communicate frequently and on a personal level about the need for pacing one’s self and asking for help when needed. Brief team members on signs of fatigue, stress, and sleep deprivation that are early indicators of reduced capacity. Discuss the need for proper sleep and diet with breaks from intense activity. Inform team members that their personal well-being is important to the success of the project and the team’s ability to meet challenges.
• Planning. If planning is weak or the project is unstable, the team leader must take action to prevent switching priorities or making changes to the work. Stabilize the work and avoid doing work because it “shows progress.” The team members must know that all work being done is important or they will not be concerned with the quality of work.
• Rewards. Do not reward team members for working extra hours. Reward achievement. Working numerous hours and being rewarded for not accomplishing the work sets expectations that only time on the job is important. Talk to individuals working more than the usual schedule and determine why they are taking so much time on the job. Do not penalize team members for the dedication and loyalty that they are demonstrating, just change the criteria for rewards to achievement rather than time expended.
• Work environment. Ensure the work environment is conducive to the type of work being performed. Temperatures that vary frequently, temperatures extremes, and temperatures that are different from those previously encountered by the project team have debilitating effects on performance. Project leaders need to consider all factors of the work environment to make it conducive to a well-functioning team.
It is the responsibility of the project team leader to care for the needs of team members to reduce fatigue, avoid illness, reduce stress and avoid sleep deprivation. A team that is “maintained” by the team leader should perform in a superior way to one whose needs are ignored. Using expert judgment in dealing with the issues of individual and team performance degradation is a major responsibility of the team leader.
10.2.7 Summary
Project recovery requires project leaders and senior managers to consider the rejuvenation of the project team. A challenged project typically has team leader and team member burnout. This burnout comes from intensive efforts that often result from sleep deprivation, stress, and fatigue. The project work environment often contributes to the depletion of energy and motivation of team members.
Project leaders are responsible for the team member capability through preventive and recovery actions. Prevention is the most effective because it does not allow the human resource to become severely degraded before corrective actions. Recovery actions take time and effort that may be required for project technical recovery. Both preventive and recovery actions are needed for challenged projects.
10.3 PROJECT RECOVERY FOR THE CHALLENGED PROJECT
10.3.1 Introduction
Projects often become unstable and indications are that the promised benefits will not be delivered to meet expectations of the customer. Convergence on the technical solution is frustrated by numerous problems. Current plans, if any, are clearly not providing the guidance to the project leader or project team to successfully move ahead on project work. Progress is either at a standstill or there is loss of progress.
Senior management realizes that something must be done to deliver the benefits of the project to the customer. Typically, the first action is to place more resources on the project. This addition of resources assumes that more is better and that more people doing the same thing will find the solution. Next, there is a realization that more is not better and the process must be flawed. The second action will often be the relief of the project team leader.
Senior managers tend to focus on the desired results without attempting to understand the reason for project failures. Senior managers look to the project team leader as the single source of information—often a person is so overwhelmed with recovery issues that he or she does not have time to fix process problems. The project team leader may also be severely fatigued from working extra hours.
10.3.2 Challenged Project Environments
Projects typically get into trouble because of weak or incomplete planning. New requirements may indicate that the scope of the project was not fully understood prior to implementation. Continual changes to the product definition are a sign of project instability. Weak or incomplete planning is evident when there is only the most basic of schedules for a project plan. This combination of poor scoping and poor planning is a signpost on the road to failure.
Signs of challenged projects are shown in Table 10.1.
TABLE 10.1 Signs of a Challenged Project
• Lack of clear understanding of the work to be accomplished to complete the project. |
• Reports that assume a higher productivity rate for the future than is really being accomplished now. |
• Overly complex plans that cannot be understood by the entire project team. |
• Overly simple plans that do not give adequate guidance to meeting the project’s objectives and delivering the benefits of the project. |
• High rate of change requests with low rate of closure on changes. |
• Excessive rework being performed and little actual progress on planned work. |
• Surprises with new work that indicates scope is expanding or is not understood. |
• Project team members are uncertain as to their work to be performed in the future. |
• Project team members waiting for instructions on what to do next. |
• Project team members stressed and fatigued from working an excessive number of hours. |
10.3.3 Recovery Actions
Recovery from a failing project requires smart thinking. The situation must be assessed to determine the real reasons that there is a failure happening. Both the project team leader and senior managers are reluctant to stop the project activity, regardless of the ineffectiveness of current work, to assess the project’s process. There must be a “snapshot” of the project in time and activities to make an informed decision on corrective actions.
Steps that need to be taken to assess the project prior to initiating recovery actions are shown in Fig. 10.4. These top level activities provide the direction for improving the project.
FIGURE 10.4 Steps to assess project.
Within the steps for assessing the challenged project, there are detailed checkpoints. These detailed checkpoints provide a sharp focus on the project and may include other areas for consideration, including:
• Review the project plan for adequacy.
• Level of detail in plan.
• Number of assumptions in plan.
• Number of issues in plan that have not been resolved.
• Comprehensiveness of plan.
• Completeness of plan.
• Understandability of plan.
• Use of plan by those performing the work.
• Review the status and progress of the project’s work.
• Progress and status on schedule.
• Productivity compared to planned progress.
• Actual expenditures versus budgeted expenditures.
• Percent of product complete as compare to the plan.
• Total number of changes initiated for the project or product.
• Number of changes in process
• Number of changes completed
• Degree of difficulty to make the changes
• Determine whether the plan is adequate to support the project’s work.
• Plan is adequate to guide project to successful completion.
• Plan and work are similar for completed work.
• Plan contains description of work to be completed.
• Determine whether the right resources are assigned to the project.
• Compare the plan to actual resources to identify differences.
• Compare assigned personnel to requirements to determine fit of skills.
• Assess whether resources are knowledgeable of the project’s work and whether they understand their role in the project.
• Assess the methodology, techniques, standards, and tools being used.
• Is the methodology capable of providing a product?
• Is the methodology being followed by the project team?
• Are best practices being employed?
• Are project management standards being employed?
• Are the tools being used adequate for the project?
10.3.4 Areas for Capability Assessments
Recovery from any of the listed flaws is difficult to perform. If the process is flawed, then the probability of attaining the technical solution is low. One needs to assess the capability of the project leader, project team, and project’s process to determine if the project has a high or low probability of completion. Table 10.2 is a matrix that gives an approximation of six combinations of capabilities.
The range of capabilities can vary within elements. However, it is the balance between areas that makes the difference. All elements need at least a partial capability if the project is to be successful. This matrix may serve as a guide in assessing failing projects to determine where the emphasis should be placed.
The most important element is the project’s process. If the process is flawed, neither leadership nor hard work will bring the right solution. The process must be fully capable to achieve high performance on projects. The process includes the planning and the implementation of the plan. Flawed processes typically are overcome by brute force and deviation from plans to give a less capable product.
Note: While it is recognized that the capability of the project leader, project team, and process may be rated in increments between fully capable and incapable, this simple solution demonstrates the need for assessing the different areas. Further, it tends to weight the capabilities as being more important for the process, then the project team, and last by the project leader.
A project leader needs both the business aspects, i.e., project management capabilities, as well as an understanding of the technology. The fully qualified project leader has demonstrated the capability to deliver the products of the project to customers in a manner that meets their expectations. These deliveries are made with a capable process and capable project team.
Project team members should possess the skills and knowledge associated with their responsibilities. This match may not always be perfect, but it should approximate the requirements. Mismatched skill and knowledge requirements will typically result in flawed outcomes for the product.
TABLE 10.2 Capability Assessment Matrix
10.3.5 Project Recovery
Identification and ranking of the important aspects of the project provides the solution to recovery. The recovery solution should range from delivery of a fully capable product to the customer to cancellation of the project. Any solution must result in satisfying the cutomer’s requirements, either the original or negotiated additional requirements.
Some project recovery methods have been identified as general approaches. The following list of actions is a start and may be supplemented by innovative methods. The only caution is that solutions should be simple and easy to implement.
• Correct flaws in the process to ensure a capability to complete the project. These corrective actions may result in a modified process with more or fewer steps. Major changes to the process may result in a complete new start for the project. Thus, only the changes necessary to complete the project should be attempted during recovery. Future projects, however, will benefit from an improved process capability.
• Revise the project plan to reflect what can be done within the constraints identified. If the challenge is technical, address the technical solution first and fit the time and cost around the solution. If there is no feasible project plan, prepare one that guides the project team to the right solution.
• Replace a project leader who is either incapable of performing the work or who is stressed through fatigue. Retain the project leader as a source of information if a new one is assigned to the project.
• Add resources to the project team only after assessing the need for new resources. More resources may have a detrimental effect on the project if there is work being performed and the new resources must learn the work. New resources should be fully informed on the new solution to completing the project as compared to just placing them on the project.
• Resolve issues and limit assumptions in the project plan to simplify the recovery solution. If major assumptions must be used, then assess the risk associated with each assumption not coming true. Avoid high-risk areas where possible and have contingency plans for those that must be taken.
• After the recovery solutions are formulated into a new plan, assemble all the project team and brief them on the new guidance. Existing members of the project team will have individual solutions while new members may have new solutions. The team must function as one and have alignment on the recovery plan. During this critical stage, all team members must follow the plan.
10.3.6 Prevention Measures
Prevention and early detection of unstable or challenged projects gives the best chance for recovery. Prevention is often the result of knowing when the project starts to vary from a good plan. Measuring the key indicators gives warning and allows senior management to assert influence on the projects direction.
Unstable projects can result from taking too many opportunities to improve the project’s product or through “discovered requirements” that must be included in the work. Unstable projects can be prevented through better planning prior to starting work. New opportunities inject instability into projects because it is assumed that the change is either required for a complete product or there is an enhancement to the product.
The best prevention is to plan the project and follow that plan until it is complete, making only minor modifications as required. A plan that reflects the work to be accomplished and provides a clear picture to the delivery of a technically qualified product is best. Uncertainty injected in the plan through many assumptions and open issues creates the foundation for failure.
10.3.7 Summary
Projects become challenged and indicators of failure emerge in the early stages of implementation. These indicators are usually not recognized until a significant incident or event clearly shows the project is deviating from the desired results. Often the deviation requires a major effort to align the work to produce the desired results.
The causes of the impending failure must be identified and assessed as to each one’s impact on the project. Process flaws probably have the greatest impact on the project, which is closely followed by weak or inadequate planning.
Prevention of errors in projects is the simplest and least costly form of corrective action. However, when there is a project that has all the indicators of becoming a failure, the corrrective action follows a set plan to fix those items which have the greatest impact on project completion. These corrective actions range from minor revisions to the plan to a complete replanning effort.
10.4 PROJECT STABILITY
10.4.1 Introduction
Stability of projects is often directly related to the planning phase when items that resolve uncertainty and define the project’s outcome are either omitted or not recognized. Project stability is directly related to the level and detail of the planning as well as the availability of valid information at the time of planning. Project instability is the result of either unknown future states of the process or the lack of measures to adequately plan the project.
Planning is a weak area for many projects. In the face of uncertainty, there is optimism that the project will be executed with clarity. Critical items are left to chance and issues are not resolved prior to execution. Planning may often be incomplete.
The project leader and project team are typically technically qualified within their fields and disciplines, but have little training or experience in planning concepts. Highly technical people may ignore planning and consider it an unimportant part of the project. Planning requires a person to envision the future and commit to that course of action. Many people have difficulty with this.
10.4.2 Project Stability by Elements
Planning elements often give advanced warning of the degree of uncertainty and probable instability in the project. It takes experience in identifying the planning elements and how much detail is needed. One must also have the ability to determine when and where critical information is missing.
There is a balance between the degree of project planning and the stability of a project. Figure 10.5 depicts that balance. More project planning weight pushes the project’s stability up.
Major elements for consideration during planning are described below. These elements are first tier and different organizations will add to this list for their respective project planning.
FIGURE 10.5 Project planning—project stability balance.
• Project goals are broad in that they only indicate the end result of the desired outcome. However, this end result may be interpreted differently by several people. The only real way is to have measures of success that describe the components of the end result. For example, if the goal is to build a transportation system, the end result may be described in technical detail as the combination of a bus and train system that moves people over a given geographic area. Time and cost goals are much easier if the scope of the project is defined. Time is a date or several dates. Cost is a price for the project, either a lump sum or a phased expenditure.
Use measures of success to focus efforts on the end product or the outcome for a process. Each goal should have one or more measures of success.
• Constraints are often listed as a part of the project planning. Constraints are negative statements of limitations on the project, but do not tell the positive side of the project. The missing element is the positive side of the planning. This would be more accurately described as facts. Facts can address both the positive and negative sides to set a foundation for planning.
Identify constraints under the category of facts. Insufficient fact at the start of a project is an indication of instability in the planning. Address both the positive and negative aspects of the facts.
• Assumptions must always be positive future states in a project. Assumptions can never be negative because if one assumes a negative situation, then there must be action to correct this assumed outcome. Negative assumptions take on the characteristics of risk events.
Assumptions supplement facts. When there are facts available, then there is no need for an assumption. Too many assumptions indicate instability in the project. A rule of thumb is that if there are three times as many assumptions as facts, one should review the project for stability.
A second rule of thumb is that there is more than one assumption for each week of project duration, the project stability should be reviewed.
• Risk events are adverse activities that may happen to disrupt the project. A risk event may vary in the degree to which it disrupts the project from some minor cost or delay in the project to total failure of the project.
Risks need to be addressed early in the project’s life cycle. All major risks need to be mitigated or a contingency plan in place. Minor risks should be reviewed for mitigation or acceptance of the risk.
• Product description and completeness of the technical or functional description should be assessed. Unclear requirements will most likely lead to the wrong solution. The customer’s definition of the requirement and the one assumed by technical people may vary significantly. This variance or unspecified requirement by the customer may lead to different solutions for the project.
Product descriptions should always be reviewed with the customer early in the planning cycle. There is a need to have complete agreement as to the product prior to starting work. Only research projects or projects that are iterative to develop a project may have a “soft” product description.
10.4.3 Indications of Project Instability
During execution, projects will have indicators of problems. Single indicators may be symptoms of poor information. Multiple indicators probably suggest a downward spiral of the project.
Signs of unstable project execution are listed below. Recognizing the warning signs early is important for recovery.
• Project leader lacks a clear understanding of the work remaining to complete the project. This indicates an unclear plan for completing the work, and may also indicate that there is uncertainty as to the work actually completed.
• Project leader renders reports that assume a higher productivity rate for the future than is being accomplished now. While there is usually a learning curve on projects, it is highly improbable that significant increases in productivity will be achieved in a short period of time. Optimistic increases in productivity rates need to be explained.
• Overly complex plans that cannot be understood by the entire project team. Complex plans typically are not developed for the performing team. These plans are for show or to conceal the true course of action. Plans need to be simple and easy to understand.
• Overly simple plans that do not give adequate guidance to meeting the project’s objectives and delivering the benefits of the project. Plans that do not address all areas and include assumptions that “everyone knows that” should be rejected. All work must be planned and the performing individual(s) agree to the work.
• High rate of change requests with low rate of closure on changes. Many change requests and few closures indicate the project is becoming more unstable with each new change. Typically, changes will be compounded and overlaid on one another. Changes to the project need to be tightly controlled or the project halted until a new baseline is established.
• Excessive rework being performed and little actual progress on planned work. Rework is waste in labor and money. Rework also demonstrates the fact that there is inadequate planning or too much uncertainty. Replanning and aligning the project with its goals is required.
• Surprises with new work that indicates the scope is expanding. Unanticipated new work is a sign of inadequate planning or agreement with the customer. New work is discovered work because the product description is weak or there was not a good understanding with the customer as to the end product.
• Project team members are uncertain as to their work to be performed in the future. Uncertainty among project team members indicates either the project leader is not keeping them informed or the planning is weak. The plan may not give adequate details. If the project leader is not meeting his/her commitments to communicate the project plan, then corrective action is needed. If the plan is weak, replanning is required.
• Project team members waiting for instructions on what to do next. Project team members should be provided work instructions for future tasks so they may, to the extent possible, perform in a continuous flow. This situation is indicative of a poorly motivated project team and reflects on the project leader. Corrective action is required to ensure team members are performing at their highest level of efficiency.
• Project team members stressed and fatigued from working an excessive number of hours. The project leader should be controlling the number of hours worked over long periods of time. Surge efforts may be required for short durations, but excessive overtime will diminish the team’s ability to perform at the quality and efficiency levels expected.
10.4.4 Prevention Measures
The best prevention is to have well thought through plans that remove as much risk and uncertainty as possible in the time available for planning. Knowledgeable and skilled planners can support completeness and thoroughness of planning. However, senior managers and the project manager must be supportive of the planning efforts.
Prevention and early detection of unstable projects give the best chance for recovery. Recognizing the indicators of a project that lack stability may be done at any project review or during execution.
Prevention is often the result of knowing when the project starts to vary from a good plan. Measuring the key indicators gives warning and allows senior management to assert influence on the project’s direction.
Unstable projects can result from taking too many opportunities to improve the project’s product or through “discovered requirements” that must be included in the work. New opportunities inject instability into projects because it is assumed that the chance is either required for a complete product or it is an enhancement to the product.
The best prevention is to plan the project and follow that plan until it is complete, making only minor modifications as required. A plan that reflects the work to be accomplished and provides a clear picture to the delivery of a technically qualified product is best. Uncertainty injected in the plan through many assumptions and open issues creates the foundation for failure.
10.4.5 Summary
Projects may be unstable from the start with poor planning through insufficient information or excessive assumptions. Project instability may also result from an excessive number of changes during implementation that causes new planning, rework, lost productivity, and impacts on the project team.
Proper planning is the best prevention of project instability. Instability indicators can be helpful in early recognition of problems and allows corrective measures to be initiated. Stabilizing an unstable project and bringing corrective actions to bear is the best method of ensuring project success.
10.5 ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL PROJECT COMPETENCE
10.5.1 Introduction
Assessing competence in projects for an organization determines whether the organization is best equipped to use projects as its strategy to doing business. Whereas many organizations have adopted project management as one of its core competences, the organizations have not been tailored to get the most benefits from the use of projects as building blocks for success.
The project manager’s competence can best be exhibited in an organization that has considered and adopted changes to accommodate projects. A project manager, struggling to achieve project success in an organization that has continued to do “business as usual,” will sometime fail for lack of senior management support. Both the project manager and the organization suffer from shortfalls in organizational project competence.
Organizational project competence is defined as establishing and maintaining a project support system that facilitates the conduct of work through projects. This system ranges from strategic planning through the operational functions of daily work with a consistent focus on accomplishing work results by projects.
10.5.2 Performance-Based Competence
Organizational project competence is measured by the ability of an enterprise to efficiently and effectively conduct projects in a manner that brings benefits to itself and its customers. The organization must implement policies and procedures that support projects from initiation through closeout and product delivery. The policies and procedures are the guides to performance and performance results are the measure of organizational competence.
Project performance is measured based on the results of projects, both during and upon completion of implementation. The efficient resourcing of a project in the proper amount at the proper time, following the procedures and practices, should give the optimum results. Successful projects determine whether an organization has the competence to employ a project strategy in an effective manner.
10.5.3 Determining the Degree of Organizational Project Competence
Organizational project competence may be determined through an organizational audit that specifically focuses on essential elements supporting project conduct. An audit can be conducted to assess the degree of compliance with best practices that lead to successful projects. Considerations are outlined in the following paragraphs. Auditing techniques are addressed in Sec. 7.6.
10.5.3.1 Strategic Plan. Organizations must have a strategic plan that outlines the strategy by which projects will be selected and implemented. This plan must provide the broad guidance for the organization in the type of projects and the organizational structure that will support projects implementation. Some considerations are as follows:
• Does the organization have a strategic plan that addresses what type work will be accomplished by projects?
• Does the organization have a structure that facilitates project work?
• Is the strategic guidance of the plan elaborated in project plans?
• Is the strategic guidance followed in practice by senior and project managers?
• Does the organization have documented project selection criteria?
10.5.3.2 Senior Management Leadership. Senior managers must demonstrate leadership and set the example for project managers. They must be proactive in the project selection process and maintaining visibility over project performance without usurping the project manager’s prerogatives. Some considerations are as follows:
• Does senior management become involved in the project selection process?
• Does senior management review and approve project plans?
• Does senior management periodically review progress on projects?
• Does senior management direct restructure or redirection of challenged projects?
• Does senior management direct termination of failing projects?
• Is senior management available to consult with the project manager on major issues?
• Does senior management review the results of completed projects?
• Does senior management reward good performance of project teams?
10.5.3.3 Resources for Projects. Project resources range from human resources to material resources to funding resources. A shortage in any area will negatively impact the project and lessen its chances for success. It is incumbent upon the organization to see that these needs are met. Some areas for consideration are as follows:
• Does the organization properly staff projects based on project priority and schedule objectives?
• Does the organization staff projects with the correct skills to accomplish the work?
• Does the organization have available the right mix of skills for the type of work being accomplished in projects?
• Does the organization adequately fund approved projects?
• Does the organization’s functional departments actively support projects?
• Does the organization contract out project work that is beyond the skill level of the project staff?
• Does the organization have a resource manager who allocates human resources equitably to projects?
10.5.3.4 Competent Project Personnel. Project personnel often require training to improve competence and meet the requirements of project work. Whereas not everyone in the project needs to possess the competence of the project manager, there are specific needs and specialty skills that support project success. Some areas for consideration are as follows:
• Does the organization have the requisite project competences for the type of project work being conducted?
• Is the organization actively measuring project competence and conducting training in the right skills and knowledge areas?
• Does the organization have a training program that is designed to enhance the competences of project managers?
• Does the organization have a training program for personnel frequently assigned to projects who need some fundamental project management skills?
• Does the organization have an information briefing for senior managers that sets forth the policies, procedures, and practices for projects?
10.5.3.5 Project Methodology. Organizations must adopt a single project methodology that easily facilitates the conduct of projects and that leads to a high success rate. This methodology should include the overall guidance for projects as well as the practices to be used. It should have a range from project selection through project closeout procedures. Some considerations are as follows:
• Does the organization have a published project methodology?
• Does the organization’s staff adhere to the methodology during the conduct of project work?
• Does the methodology clearly state the requirements for initiating projects and all actions through closeout?
• Is the methodology periodically reviewed for improvement in view of project lessons learned?
• Are the techniques specified in the methodology supported by adequate tools?
• Does the methodology specify the most efficient and effective practices for managing projects from initial selection through closeout actions?
10.5.3.6 Best Project Practices. Projects are unique and experiences in them reveal better methods of conducting the projects of the future. These best practices often give an organization a competitive edge over other organizations. The edge may be a reduction in cost, a shorter project duration, or a better product grade for the same cost. Some considerations are as follows:
• Does the organization collect and document best practices from each project?
• Are best practices reviewed prior to project start for adoption and use?
• Are best practices updated with new practices periodically?
• Are project managers informed of best practices and do they use them?
• Do project managers report best practices throughout the life cycle of the projects?
• Do senior managers report best practices for project selection?
• Do senior managers report best practices during oversight of projects?
10.5.4 Assessing an Organization’s Project Management Competence
Assessing an organization’s project competence should follow a process of examination from top to bottom. A plan is needed to assure touching on vital aspects of the organization contributing to the success of projects. The plan could follow a sequence such as:
• Ask senior managers whether the project performance is adequate to establish a baseline of the perception before any information is collected. This perception will be used subsequently to show where actual practice varies by exceeding or falling short of expectations. It is anticipated that different senior managers will have different perceptions.
• Review the strategic plan to determine whether the project guidance is adequate. If the plan does not address projects or is weak in specifying project policies, procedures, or practices, this should be noted. Any weakness in the strategic plan is an opportunity for improvement.
• Review the organizational design to see whether it aligns with the strategic plan for project work. Further, note whether the projects are recognized as building blocks for organizational success.
• Review the business plan and organizational policies and procedures related to projects for adequate guidance to project planners. Particular attention should be paid to project selection processes whereby projects are screened into the organization’s business.
• Review past and ongoing project plans to determine whether they provide adequate guidance in the prosecution of projects. Of particular interest are the variances between planned and actual performance on projects. Where possible, identify the cause of variances.
• Survey project managers and project staff to identify strengths and weaknesses in the system. Look at procedures, practices, tools, and types of projects to identify misalignment. Also, identify the knowledge and skills that they possess as well as types of training that has been conducted. Have the project managers and staff describe alignment challenges with the project methodology.
• Analyze information collected to compare the results with a “model” organization that is competent in the use of projects. Identify strengths and weaknesses that contribute to the health of the organization with specific findings that are actionable by the organization.
• Report the results of the assessment to senior managers with recommendations for improvements. Recommendations may be prioritized to permit the organizations to fix those weaknesses that have the greatest impact—as compared to those weaknesses that are easiest to fix.
10.5.5 Who Conducts the Assessment?
There are two typical types of assessments based on who is the action agent. The self-assessment is one type that is conducted by an internal organizational group that knows the organization with many of its challenges. Secondly, there is the independent, external assessment conducted by a group outside the organization with a fresh look at the system as well as some experience in conducting assessments.
The advantages of the self-assessment are that the background information, such as organizational structure and organizational policies, may be known and the use of internal individuals ensures confidentiality. Disadvantages are many in that individuals may have a bias toward some practices, they probably have little experience in conducting assessments, and the assessment takes them away from their primary job. Other disadvantages may also prevail such as reinforcing erroneous practices and perhaps having a resistance to change.
The advantages of an independent, external assessment are a fresh look at current practices and comparison of those practices with others from outside the organization. The external assessment team should have no preconceived bias toward any given policy, procedure, or practice. This assessment team should be able to identify critical aspects that need change or fixing to improve organizational project competence. Disadvantages include finding the assessment team that is experienced in all aspects of surveying an organization from a project perspective, cost of an external team, and scheduling the team into the organization’s work environment.
The independent, external assessment team should render a better report of results than an internal team. The external team should also have the best balance of skills and knowledge to conduct and report on the assessment. The decision to use an internal versus an external assessment team, however, depends on whether senior management believes there are a few problems to fix or major problems to fix.
10.5.6 Summary
Assessing an organization for project competence is a major step in the direction of improving project successes through less rework, better delivery schedules, less cost per project, and improved work conditions for project staff. When projects are the primary means for developing and delivering products, it behooves an organization to exhibit competence in how these projects are conducted.
This section has addressed in summary fashion some of the critical aspects of organizational project competence with suggested areas to examine for alignment with an overall capability. It suggests a general procedure for conducting an assessment and areas that can provide information useful to the assessment.
This section is an adaptation from the asapm Performance Rated Organization Standard for Assessing Organizational Project Management Performance, 2009. For details, see www.asapm.org. Used with permission of asapm.