An announcement about my new role.
Click HERE
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Governance White Paper
A new white paper from the Program Management Group plc discusses Governance in Programme and Project Management.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Latest Project and Program Management Events
If you have an RSS feed then use this feed to get the latest program and project management events to your desktop
http://www.pm-group.com/events/rss.php
http://www.pm-group.com/events/rss.php
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Making the difference with program management
Making the difference with program management
Free Seminar:
Join over 1500 people who have already attended this seminar
Geoff Reiss discusses how you can exploit the latest program and portfolio management technologies to improve your company’s ability to deliver its business strategy...
Wednesday 28th June - Birmingham
Tuesday 4th July - Prog Hall, Leeds
Tuesday 11th July - London City
Thursday 12th October - Reading
Thursday 2nd November - Commonwealth Club, London
To Register CLICK HERE
Events Information
Making the difference with program management.
Through the PMG seminar program, over 1500 people have explored the concepts, practice and results of program management.
Seminar Overview
Geoff Reiss, industry acclaimed speaker, discusses how you can exploit the latest program and portfolio management technologies and business practices to improve the performance of your organisation and your company's competitive position
Speaker
Reiss, founder of one of the first ever project management software systems, is author of industry leading titles, ‘Project Management Demystified’, ‘Programme Management Demystified’, ‘The Gower handbook of Programme Management’ and co author of ‘One project too many’. He is Chairman of the Specific Interest Group, ProgM and also chairs various government initiatives including Program Governance and Benefits Management. He is a subjectm matter expert on the Project Management Institute’s Project Portfolio Management Standard (PMI PPMS) and a Reviewer of Office of Government Commerce (OGC) - 'Managing Successful Programmes' and a Program Board Member - APM Program Management qualification initiative.
Benefits of attending
During this informative seminar, learn how to:
Increase the success rate and measurability of your projects
Assure alignment of your project investments with corporate strategy
Synchronise strategic planning, IT budgets and execution of IT projects
Define and manage the right mix of project investments
Monitor project milestones, risks and issues
Provide up-to-date and reliable information on the value of project investments
Obtain a comprehensive understanding of resource activity across project teams
Analyse performance and ensure lessons are fed back into corporate strategy reviews
Free Seminar:
Join over 1500 people who have already attended this seminar
Geoff Reiss discusses how you can exploit the latest program and portfolio management technologies to improve your company’s ability to deliver its business strategy...
Wednesday 28th June - Birmingham
Tuesday 4th July - Prog Hall, Leeds
Tuesday 11th July - London City
Thursday 12th October - Reading
Thursday 2nd November - Commonwealth Club, London
To Register CLICK HERE
Events Information
Making the difference with program management.
Through the PMG seminar program, over 1500 people have explored the concepts, practice and results of program management.
Seminar Overview
Geoff Reiss, industry acclaimed speaker, discusses how you can exploit the latest program and portfolio management technologies and business practices to improve the performance of your organisation and your company's competitive position
Speaker
Reiss, founder of one of the first ever project management software systems, is author of industry leading titles, ‘Project Management Demystified’, ‘Programme Management Demystified’, ‘The Gower handbook of Programme Management’ and co author of ‘One project too many’. He is Chairman of the Specific Interest Group, ProgM and also chairs various government initiatives including Program Governance and Benefits Management. He is a subjectm matter expert on the Project Management Institute’s Project Portfolio Management Standard (PMI PPMS) and a Reviewer of Office of Government Commerce (OGC) - 'Managing Successful Programmes' and a Program Board Member - APM Program Management qualification initiative.
Benefits of attending
During this informative seminar, learn how to:
Increase the success rate and measurability of your projects
Assure alignment of your project investments with corporate strategy
Synchronise strategic planning, IT budgets and execution of IT projects
Define and manage the right mix of project investments
Monitor project milestones, risks and issues
Provide up-to-date and reliable information on the value of project investments
Obtain a comprehensive understanding of resource activity across project teams
Analyse performance and ensure lessons are fed back into corporate strategy reviews
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Resource Centric Management - My View
Resource Centric Project Management
Problems with traditional Project Management Tools?
Any project manager will tell you that most task based project tools are pretty similar, you enter the tasks and dependencies and then when you are happy with the tasks you add the effort required and check the critical path. Making any adjustments necessary you then enter the resources you require to do the project.
At this time everything looks perfect but there are problems hiding in the detail and in the way that these tools are created that will lead to problems later. Not least of these are the issues caused when resources have been over booked, perhaps on other projects. It is not easily clear to the Project Manager that this has happened and it may not be clear until the point at which a particular critical task does not get completed on time. This leads to late surprises, missed schedules and project failure. Any changes in the organisation and any change in priorities need to be modelled, reviewed and the plan updated often by means of a number of wizards in the tool but more often through hard work and analysis by the project manager.
Features of Today’s Organisations
In the past projects were single, stand alone entities, resources were allocated to projects and available for known periods of time. Today, resources are involved in many projects in addition to having to undertake their day to day, business as usual activities. Keeping track of what each individual is doing can be a logistical nightmare involving timesheets, resource requests, virtual pools and resource managers are often pushed from one crisis to the next trying to allocate suitably skilled and available resources to different projects each with its own high priority.
Typically, project managers face other issues with resources including:
• Holiday bookings
• Training course
• Other commitments (meetings etc)
• Staff leaving
• Interference with business as usual activities
• Sharing resources between other projects and project managers
• Stolen and “do me a favour” missing resources.
Even in small to medium sized organisations these can prove to be difficult to manage so a tool that helps the organisation see this at both a strategic and detailed view must be considered as a positive answer to this perennial problem. This is where a resource centric approach will always beat a task based system as all resource activity is visible. Work cannot be undertaken if there are no resources available to do that work. Additionally by controlling how the resource is made available to the various calls on that resource’s time, there can be no double or over booking. Resources can be loaned to projects or assigned business as usual work on a % of their availability. If a project manager has 20% of a resource on his/her project then only 20% can be used, the software will not allow you to plan or book more than that available. Resources can be loaned between plans and operate within their own work pool as required and the software fully supports all business models including the matrix organisation. Anyone misusing resources can be easily seen through the timesheet feedback process, each resource having to book time to appropriate planned work. Unplanned work is noted and flagged for action.
Why should organisations adopt Resource Centric Management?
Too many surprises have rocked today’s organisations. Management must have full visibility of what their people are working on and how they are operating. Resource Centric project management allows Senior Executives to easily see how their organisation is performing. A clear view of the portfolio of projects together with the BAU work is available together with detailed reports and visual dashboard indicators. The ability to extract key MIS and the one touch drill down feature means that problems are easily identified, easily understood and appropriate action can be taken to solve these far earlier than under traditional methods as in the resource centric model data is current and realistic.
Using a Task Centric tool cannot provide the advanced indication of problems as (often) there is no full connection between the people doing the work and the people planning and overseeing it, indeed many organisations run stand alone versions of project plans and attempt to consolidate these monthly. The resource centric model automatically consolidates plans and provides key data including capacity and demand on the organisation’s resources. Administrative and reporting effort is massively reduced and errors are minimised because data is automatically consolidated within the tool available for export if required.
Another feature of today’s organisation is the need to change priorities quite often at little notice to suit market or legislative changes. In a task based environment this would mean a lot of work trying to change and compare plans. In the Resource Centric world, “what if” planning shows what happens to the portfolio of projects when one project becomes more important than another. The impact on the resources is shown immediately.
The ability to clearly see what is going on across the enterprise also benefits the organisation at all levels. Management are confident knowing that bad news is visible quickly, changes can be modelled and decisions can be tested to demonstrate the impact on the whole organisation prior to making that decision. Project managers can be confident that the resources allocated to them will perform on their projects and not be used elsewhere. The resources actually undertaking the work have a plan of work visible to them and can see their part in the overall project, they can submit their timesheets but, more importantly they can feedback the effort to complete their tasks thereby giving the project manager and the business an accurate view of work in progress.
By having a resource centric approach, management will be able to closely check the accuracy of projects and the work that is undertaken on different business as usual work, project work etc. Using the data built up in the tool allows management to estimate future workloads and plan for the additional skills that may be required or re-training etc.
Typical Issues with Resource Centric Planning
Bad news arrives very quickly. Because the tool doesn’t allow over allocation it is easy to see where there are missing resources and skill sets.
Plans become extremely accurate and using the top to bottom and feedback approach of the tool, accuracy on estimates improves with tool usage. Initially it can be difficult to come to grips with the accuracy of the information available. Impacts in one project which affect another project or series of projects can be quickly seen and appropriate action can be taken.
The tool uses feedback to track the work done and (most importantly) the work to complete. This empowers the resources doing the work to continue to provide their estimate of remaining effort thereby making the tool extremely accurate and highlighting problems (such as underestimation) quickly.
Implementation
A resource centric tool does not need as much administration to make it work as a task based one. Because it accurately reflects the organisation it is being implemented into it takes less time to install, pilot and roll out. Using its skill based resource system it maps the skills of your organisation to the work that needs to be done and clearly shows shortfalls and over capacity.
Problems with traditional Project Management Tools?
Any project manager will tell you that most task based project tools are pretty similar, you enter the tasks and dependencies and then when you are happy with the tasks you add the effort required and check the critical path. Making any adjustments necessary you then enter the resources you require to do the project.
At this time everything looks perfect but there are problems hiding in the detail and in the way that these tools are created that will lead to problems later. Not least of these are the issues caused when resources have been over booked, perhaps on other projects. It is not easily clear to the Project Manager that this has happened and it may not be clear until the point at which a particular critical task does not get completed on time. This leads to late surprises, missed schedules and project failure. Any changes in the organisation and any change in priorities need to be modelled, reviewed and the plan updated often by means of a number of wizards in the tool but more often through hard work and analysis by the project manager.
Features of Today’s Organisations
In the past projects were single, stand alone entities, resources were allocated to projects and available for known periods of time. Today, resources are involved in many projects in addition to having to undertake their day to day, business as usual activities. Keeping track of what each individual is doing can be a logistical nightmare involving timesheets, resource requests, virtual pools and resource managers are often pushed from one crisis to the next trying to allocate suitably skilled and available resources to different projects each with its own high priority.
Typically, project managers face other issues with resources including:
• Holiday bookings
• Training course
• Other commitments (meetings etc)
• Staff leaving
• Interference with business as usual activities
• Sharing resources between other projects and project managers
• Stolen and “do me a favour” missing resources.
Even in small to medium sized organisations these can prove to be difficult to manage so a tool that helps the organisation see this at both a strategic and detailed view must be considered as a positive answer to this perennial problem. This is where a resource centric approach will always beat a task based system as all resource activity is visible. Work cannot be undertaken if there are no resources available to do that work. Additionally by controlling how the resource is made available to the various calls on that resource’s time, there can be no double or over booking. Resources can be loaned to projects or assigned business as usual work on a % of their availability. If a project manager has 20% of a resource on his/her project then only 20% can be used, the software will not allow you to plan or book more than that available. Resources can be loaned between plans and operate within their own work pool as required and the software fully supports all business models including the matrix organisation. Anyone misusing resources can be easily seen through the timesheet feedback process, each resource having to book time to appropriate planned work. Unplanned work is noted and flagged for action.
Why should organisations adopt Resource Centric Management?
Too many surprises have rocked today’s organisations. Management must have full visibility of what their people are working on and how they are operating. Resource Centric project management allows Senior Executives to easily see how their organisation is performing. A clear view of the portfolio of projects together with the BAU work is available together with detailed reports and visual dashboard indicators. The ability to extract key MIS and the one touch drill down feature means that problems are easily identified, easily understood and appropriate action can be taken to solve these far earlier than under traditional methods as in the resource centric model data is current and realistic.
Using a Task Centric tool cannot provide the advanced indication of problems as (often) there is no full connection between the people doing the work and the people planning and overseeing it, indeed many organisations run stand alone versions of project plans and attempt to consolidate these monthly. The resource centric model automatically consolidates plans and provides key data including capacity and demand on the organisation’s resources. Administrative and reporting effort is massively reduced and errors are minimised because data is automatically consolidated within the tool available for export if required.
Another feature of today’s organisation is the need to change priorities quite often at little notice to suit market or legislative changes. In a task based environment this would mean a lot of work trying to change and compare plans. In the Resource Centric world, “what if” planning shows what happens to the portfolio of projects when one project becomes more important than another. The impact on the resources is shown immediately.
The ability to clearly see what is going on across the enterprise also benefits the organisation at all levels. Management are confident knowing that bad news is visible quickly, changes can be modelled and decisions can be tested to demonstrate the impact on the whole organisation prior to making that decision. Project managers can be confident that the resources allocated to them will perform on their projects and not be used elsewhere. The resources actually undertaking the work have a plan of work visible to them and can see their part in the overall project, they can submit their timesheets but, more importantly they can feedback the effort to complete their tasks thereby giving the project manager and the business an accurate view of work in progress.
By having a resource centric approach, management will be able to closely check the accuracy of projects and the work that is undertaken on different business as usual work, project work etc. Using the data built up in the tool allows management to estimate future workloads and plan for the additional skills that may be required or re-training etc.
Typical Issues with Resource Centric Planning
Bad news arrives very quickly. Because the tool doesn’t allow over allocation it is easy to see where there are missing resources and skill sets.
Plans become extremely accurate and using the top to bottom and feedback approach of the tool, accuracy on estimates improves with tool usage. Initially it can be difficult to come to grips with the accuracy of the information available. Impacts in one project which affect another project or series of projects can be quickly seen and appropriate action can be taken.
The tool uses feedback to track the work done and (most importantly) the work to complete. This empowers the resources doing the work to continue to provide their estimate of remaining effort thereby making the tool extremely accurate and highlighting problems (such as underestimation) quickly.
Implementation
A resource centric tool does not need as much administration to make it work as a task based one. Because it accurately reflects the organisation it is being implemented into it takes less time to install, pilot and roll out. Using its skill based resource system it maps the skills of your organisation to the work that needs to be done and clearly shows shortfalls and over capacity.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Resource Centric Project Management
Traditional Project Management tools understand the need to allocate resources to tasks and that there is a finite amount of resource to be used. There is a problem however with these tools and that is that they are task based in the first place. The Task is the cirtical path through the plans and not the resource that has to do it.
The Program Management Group have worked froma resource centric approach to the problem and to today's realities that often resources are not just assigned to one project or to work on one department's projects. Hydra has a clever way of truly representing that arrangement.
A White Paper from the Chairman and Founder of the Program Management Group plc Geoff Reiss on Project Management --->> CLICK HERE <<---
The Program Management Group have worked froma resource centric approach to the problem and to today's realities that often resources are not just assigned to one project or to work on one department's projects. Hydra has a clever way of truly representing that arrangement.
A White Paper from the Chairman and Founder of the Program Management Group plc Geoff Reiss on Project Management --->> CLICK HERE <<---
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Another Good PM Blog Site
I think that if you are into Project or Program Management in any way you will ejoy this BLOG.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Program Management Group plc
I will be joining the Program Management Group on the 22nd May.
A bit about PMG here and no doubt more as time goes on:
Program Management Group plc (PMG) is a privately owned software company that exclusively focuses its resources on developing, selling and supporting Project Portfolio Management and Collaborative Management solutions through its consultancy and software divisions. The solution, Hydra, is designed specifically to address today's complex web of business issues: managing people, knowledge, projects, programs and performance, across locations, in unity. Hydra is suitable for companies of all sizes, from complex mid-sized organisations to large multinationals. PMG supports over 50,000 users with customers including, Newcastle Building Society, Barclays Bank Africa, Chelsea Building Society, Home Loan Management, Skipton Building Society, Norcal Mutual, Fortis Bank, Experian and many more.
A bit about PMG here and no doubt more as time goes on:
Program Management Group plc (PMG) is a privately owned software company that exclusively focuses its resources on developing, selling and supporting Project Portfolio Management and Collaborative Management solutions through its consultancy and software divisions. The solution, Hydra, is designed specifically to address today's complex web of business issues: managing people, knowledge, projects, programs and performance, across locations, in unity. Hydra is suitable for companies of all sizes, from complex mid-sized organisations to large multinationals. PMG supports over 50,000 users with customers including, Newcastle Building Society, Barclays Bank Africa, Chelsea Building Society, Home Loan Management, Skipton Building Society, Norcal Mutual, Fortis Bank, Experian and many more.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Verification versus Validation
These are from my revision notes:
Verification - Are we building the product right?
Validation - Are we building the right product?
Verification - Are we building the product right?
Validation - Are we building the right product?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The Mechanics of Configuration Management
Configuration Identification
Uniquely identifies all the items within a configuration
Configuration Control
The system through which changes can be made to configuration items
Configuration Status Accounting
Records & reports current status & the history of changes to the configuration. A complete Audit of what has happened to the configuration.
Configuration Auditing
Is the audits performed to ensure conformity of the items in the configuration and their specifications. Audits ensure a match between what is delivered and requested also consistency throughout all documentation.
Uniquely identifies all the items within a configuration
Configuration Control
The system through which changes can be made to configuration items
Configuration Status Accounting
Records & reports current status & the history of changes to the configuration. A complete Audit of what has happened to the configuration.
Configuration Auditing
Is the audits performed to ensure conformity of the items in the configuration and their specifications. Audits ensure a match between what is delivered and requested also consistency throughout all documentation.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Must be getting old and senile!`
Previous post said I must publish 60 reasons for a closed mind.
DOH!! One of the first things I did on this blog Catch it HERE.
DOH!! One of the first things I did on this blog Catch it HERE.
Too Busy for Time Management
Years ago, realising that some of my team needed some Time Managment training I remember asking why one of them hadn't gone with the rest of the team downstairs to attend?
"I'm too busy" he said
I won't tell you how I made him attend, no doubt it has already found its way onto the Office TV show...
He went and it did do him some good too.
Reminds me to post 60 reasons for a closed mind if I can find it in all my stuff!
"I'm too busy" he said
I won't tell you how I made him attend, no doubt it has already found its way onto the Office TV show...
He went and it did do him some good too.
Reminds me to post 60 reasons for a closed mind if I can find it in all my stuff!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Don't know your WORM from your Elbow - TLA Problems?
If you have as much trouble as I do tracking down what on earth some of your Techies or customers are talking about then try this.
Internet Webopedia
Internet Webopedia
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Time Management and Problem Solving
A young woman was in the kitchen. A pan of water simmering on the stove. She was having boiled eggs for breakfast.
He walked in. Their eyes met. "Make love to me here, now," she said.
They made love on the kitchen table.
"Couldn't resist me, huh?" he said.
"The egg timer is broken," she replied.
This came in on an e-mail - I like it!
He walked in. Their eyes met. "Make love to me here, now," she said.
They made love on the kitchen table.
"Couldn't resist me, huh?" he said.
"The egg timer is broken," she replied.
This came in on an e-mail - I like it!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Consultant - A Definition
Someone told me this years ago:
Definition of a Consultant...
Anyone 30 miles from home with a briefcase
Definition of a Consultant...
Anyone 30 miles from home with a briefcase
Thursday, April 13, 2006
A Favourite Saying
An old favourite saying came to mind tonight whilst I was explaining the actions of a certain technical type who has used his "own initiative" and turned off one of my e-mail accounts without letting me know......
This is the polite version. Another that sprang to mind was from a list of personnel review phrases that could be used when reviewing your team:
"Not the sharpest tool in the box!"
This is the polite version. Another that sprang to mind was from a list of personnel review phrases that could be used when reviewing your team:
"His men would follow him anywhere.......
Out of curiosity!"
Multi-Project Scheduling & Management
Multi-Project Scheduling & Management sounds big and clever and complicated but it isn't.
Clicking HERE will take you to the full story.
Enjoy
Clicking HERE will take you to the full story.
Enjoy
Programme Management
An excellent starting point to understand what Programme Management is (and is not) is the e-programme or The Programme Management Web Site.
There are some real gems in here including the PMMM which is a fantastic toolkit and free to members.
Click HERE to go to the site and enjoy!
There are some real gems in here including the PMMM which is a fantastic toolkit and free to members.
Click HERE to go to the site and enjoy!
Monday, April 10, 2006
Effort and Duration - What is the Difference
Effort is the number of hours work it is estimated are needed to complete a task. Duration is the period over which this will be spread.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Change Management
Some would say that Projects and Programs are all about change.
The Change Manager is therefore a key player in that change:
The Change Manager represents the Programme Executives’ interests in the final outcome, and is the guardian of the business case for funding the Functional Programme. ‘Change’ is the change in the way in which the organisation will function by the time it reaches the end point defined in the strategy. This can be a change to business processes, organisation structure, capabilities, location and premises, products, market, channels to market, etc.
The Change Manager is responsible for the management of change activities, and must ensure that other managers, staff, stakeholders are all informed and involved throughout the life of the programmes. The strategy may require considerable change in the business. This may cause fear and uncertainty. Some people make create barriers and obstacles, which prevent proper progress on the strategic programme. The Change Manager must work with such people, helping and influencing them to overcome such barriers and obstacles. See also: The Strategy Team’s overall responsibilities
The Change Manager must ensure the approach taken to managing risks is appropriate.
The Change Manager ensures that the organisation is able to realise the benefits from the new capabilities. There is a fundamental difference between the delivery of the new capability and actually realising benefits as a result of implementing that capability. This difference is reflected in the complementary roles of Programme Manager and Change Manager.
The Change Manager is therefore a key player in that change:
The Change Manager represents the Programme Executives’ interests in the final outcome, and is the guardian of the business case for funding the Functional Programme. ‘Change’ is the change in the way in which the organisation will function by the time it reaches the end point defined in the strategy. This can be a change to business processes, organisation structure, capabilities, location and premises, products, market, channels to market, etc.
The Change Manager is responsible for the management of change activities, and must ensure that other managers, staff, stakeholders are all informed and involved throughout the life of the programmes. The strategy may require considerable change in the business. This may cause fear and uncertainty. Some people make create barriers and obstacles, which prevent proper progress on the strategic programme. The Change Manager must work with such people, helping and influencing them to overcome such barriers and obstacles. See also: The Strategy Team’s overall responsibilities
The Change Manager must ensure the approach taken to managing risks is appropriate.
The Change Manager ensures that the organisation is able to realise the benefits from the new capabilities. There is a fundamental difference between the delivery of the new capability and actually realising benefits as a result of implementing that capability. This difference is reflected in the complementary roles of Programme Manager and Change Manager.
Networking Web Sites
You can see my profile on a number of Networking Web Sites:
LinkedIn Profile
Ecademy Profile
Ryze Profile
Soflow Profile
OpenBC Profile
Please feel free to connect to me on any of these.
What is Program or Programme Management
Following the link will bring up a PDF document by the Program Management Group on he definition of Programme Management.
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