My PDU Plan

To maintain my PMP qualifications, I need to ensure that I continue to maintain consistent learning with regard to Project Management.  I like the idea that people cannot pass the PMI exams and then forget about keeping up to date with learning and modern practices.

Project Time

Time is part of the Project Management Golden Triangle.  I have blogged about the Golden Triangle before, but the concept is that you have Time, Scope and Quality, as three sides to a triangle and they all impact each other.  If you extend one side of the triangle, one or both of the other two sides will be impacted.

Time is an important aspect of Project Management.  People who understand scheduling will understand how simple and how complicated time planning can be.  On larger projects, the project plan will be controlling many different work streams in parallel and the Project Manager needs to understand the impact of time on each of the work streams and resources. 

Agile Methodology

As I mentioned in a post last week, I have consulting at a client site that uses an Agile Project Management Methodology.  As a Project Manager, I had thought that I have not used Agile before, however, I now understand that as a Project Manager / Developer for many years, I have previously been using an Agile methodology.

In my very first job, after leaving university, I was coding a 4GL, and our Project Management Methodology was DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Methodology).  I went on a course and actually became a DSDM Practitioner.  This was back in 1997.

Can two Project Managers work on the same project?

I think they can, as long as the relationship is clear and the roles and responsibilities are defined from day one.  Management above the project must buy-in to the concept of having two project managers and must agree to the defined R&R.

I am working on a large project.  Within 6 months, working on the initial concepts, designs and plans in the initiation stage of the project, I realized that there was too much coordination, communication, vendor management, internal team management, user management and reporting required for a single Project Manager.  I needed help and I was not afraid to ask. 

We now have two Project Managers on the project and it is working really well.  I am an easy person to build a relationship with.  I will trust and accept any person, until they cross me or my team.  The new Project Manager has a wealth of experience and is a great asset to the Project.

People within the Project Management Department often comment that there are two Project Managers working on the single project, but I see no issue with it.  Slowly, the colperets are coming around to understanding that the Project has a requirement for two Project Managers to work in tandem together to be able to achieve the final delivery in the manner that the corporation requires. 

Usually a Programme will have many Project Managers, but usually a project will only have one, however, due to the size and structure of the project, this project warrants the use of two project managers.

Defining the roles and responsibilities between us was an important "first day" task.  Over the past year, I had built relationships with vendors, internal technical team, management and the business.  The one part (and important part) of the Project Management I failed to keep on top of was the reporting.  My direction as a Project Manager is to "get the job done", so I did.  I covered all bases, ensuring that we had the best options, decided on the best solutions, worked with the best people and built relationships to ensure we obtained the best deals for the company I am working for.  This was all to the detriment of the reporting side and the management of the stakeholders.  A bad mistake.

The other Project Manager will take care of all of the governance and the management reporting side of the project, leaving me to run with the vendor engagement and the management of the technical teams to deliver the product.  I am a Project Manager that focuses on the delivery rather than the Project status updates and the "Project Management" side.

Have you ever worked on a single project, with another project manager? What was your experience, what worked and what didn't?

Project Update - Feb 2013

Wow - it is already the middle of February.  2013 seems to be going as fast as 2012 flew by.  Before we know it, it will be Easter holiday time.

This month has been a short month for me.  I worked through Christmas, into the New Year and then took a week of holiday with my family to Centre Parcs.  I have been back at work for three weeks and have not made time to write a blog.  I have two poor excuses.  The first is that I am trying to study for the PMI Risk Management exam.  The second is that I am tracing my family tree.  Both of these tasks have eaten away my free time in one way or another.

As for the family tree, I had previously gone way back along both my Wife's and my own family tree, but I had branched out in all directions.  I decided that I needed to start over and concentrate on the male side of the lines, following the 4 grand fathers that we have.  I will create a blog post next month with a short summary, but I warn anyone looking to start their own tree that the process is time sapping and very addictive.  I find it very therapeutic, which is a welcome break after studying and working hard.

The Risk Management study is not going as well as planned.  I am already behind on my simple study project plan, due to a slight lack of enthusiasm in the early part of the year.  I had planned to read the PMBoK Risk Management chapter during my family holiday, but this was not achieved, as I decided that I needed a complete break from work for a week to relax and recuperate.

Study is now going well and the plan to read the chapter from the PMBoK will be completed this weekend.  I have a set of 30+ questions on Risk Management, so I will ensure that these are completed on Sunday morning, before I have some guests for dinner.  The most important task is to book my exam.  I have already been accepted and have passed all of the prerequisites, but I must book the exam to ensure I have the correct focus.

I have been very busy this month on my project at work.  I have written a separate blog post to update you all on what has been going on there.

January 2013 - Project Update

As you may know, I am working for a Japanese Corporation as a Project Manager to migrate all of our users from Lotus Domino email to Exchange.  This sounds quite a simple project, and it would be, if there were not so many dependencies on a corporate email infrastructure.

For almost a year, we have been working hard to understand the dependencies, understand all of the risks, complete the design to ensure the most robust, reliable and fault tolerant system we can. 

I am from a Lotus Domino background and have more than 13 years consulting experience and I am working with a Technical Architect who has been an Exchange consultant for roughly the same period of time.  This relationship has a chemistry which is very useful to the project as we are able to compare best practises and techniques for email on a global level.  We have considerable banter regarding our own technology expertise, which is useful when discussing design issues and infrastructure considerations.

People have the misunderstanding of the size of the project, as they think it is a simple case of changing the Lotus Notes client to the Outlook client.  This is far from the facts.  Imagine that you have a Ford car and just need to change the steering wheel to a model from a Ferrari, then imagine all of the configuration, the systems it integrates with, such as the telephone, radio, windscreen wipers, onboard computer, air bag, indicators.... the list goes on and on.  Now think of your email system and the links to other systems it has, such as Mobile messaging, Blackberry, Backup, Monitoring, Anti-virus, Archiving, storage options ... and the list goes on....

Within December, the budget was completed and contains approximately 200 line items, which covers all of the manpower, hardware, software and services that we require to implement our new infrastructure.  This shopping list took more than a month to collate, speaking with various suppliers, technical teams and the stakeholders.  An approximate budget was set, so reworking the design and streamlining options had to be presented, for example, "If you want to save cost X, then you either remove Y from the architecture, or you run the risk of Z".  These decisions were then put to management for final approval.

The project is now getting exciting - and busy.  I cannot tell you too much detail for now, but the infrastructure is a considerable size and the engagement of the technical team, vendors and consultants, as well as the recruitment is all starting to build up.  This is one of my favorite times in a project, which is taking the design and concepts that have been in development and taking these forward into the final product.  The communication and coordination with all of the people is the particular part of Project Management that I enjoy.  I have built up many relationships and trusts over the past year and they are now starting to pay off.  Communication and being a "people person" is a definite skill required for a Project Manager.

On a monthly basis, I will post an update on the project and try to explain the good parts and the bad parts as we progress.

Self Development

As a mentor, I have often discussed with my team the fact that self development is important. I believe that every individual should take 30 minutes out of their working day to self learn. This would include reading relevant articles on the web, reading news sites and even technical manuals.

30 minutes adds up to 2.5 hour per working week. This amount of time is small enough to not make an impact to your working productivity. However, the golden rule is that if you do not take 30 minutes today, you cannot take 1 hour tomorrow. If you miss a 30 minute time slot in one day, you cannot ever make it up, as this could impact your productivity.

Further to this, I also believe in education. People may be an expert in a particular area, but in the current world, progression never stops. If you were an expert in Exchange 2007, well you are now out of date as Exchange 2010 is the latest version, with Exchange 2015 just around the corner.

It is up to each individual to learn and continuously learn and keep up, especially in the IT world. As a Lotus Notes developer I would make sure that I took at least one exam a year. I think in total, I have taken more than 10 exams related to Lotus over the years. Since moving from my technical background into the Project Management arena, I have already taken 3 exams and am now studying for the next.

I feel it is important to learn from a broad range of sources, including books, blogs and related websites. 30 minutes a day is not too much to ask and it pays dividends in your knowledge and overall breadth of knowledge in your chosen area.