The Project Office and Why You Need It

January 21st, 2012

Large organisations usually have a number of projects underway at the same time and the success of the whole business can depend on all of these projects being managed efficiently. This is where the Project Office comes in.

Large corporations typically have a portfolio of projects all running simultaneously in areas such as Marketing, IT, Operational Improvement, Product Development, Product Improvement, Research, in fact, almost all areas of a business will have some sort of project running at some point. And being able to manage those disparate projects efficiently for the greatest business benefit can determine the overall success of the organisation.

All of the projects need to be planned, implemented and controlled in the most efficient way possible and senior management need have a good overview of the status of the whole portfolio portfolio. But at the same time the stakeholders of each project – the sponsors, project managers and team members need to be allowed to work efficiently without being bogged down in bureaucracy.

Any project management framework has a number of essential components that determine success or failure in an organisation and it is the project office that oversees each component. Their role should always be a supportive one and provide a link between the project manager and team, and senior management to ensure resources are always available and that the project manager is kept informed of business objectives and priorities if they change after the start of the project.

The Project Office also provides a single, central repository for all relevant documentation and, more importantly, access to this repository – a vital element if an organisation is to learn from both their past successes and past failures. Many corporations are actively striving to use formal project management methodologies to bring improvements to their business or deliver better value to their customers (or both) and access to the documentation from previous projects is a vital part of this process. It allows teams to learn from other projects; it allows teams to easily shares best practices with other teams and provides an easy way to exchange knowledge. The Project Office may also enable forums to be set up for sharing knowledge that has never been written down or well communicated, which is particularly useful for departments within the same organisation but in different geographical locations who have no chance to chat over coffee and pick up tips and advice along the way.

So teams can learn from each other and, by doing so, improve their own projects more easily with the support of the Project Office but it also enables senior management to have easy access to the current status of all projects and review progress either from a strategic or a detailed level. Access to the detail of a project is vital for senior management to gain a full understanding of the status because facts and figures about budgets and schedules do not always present an accurate picture of how well (or how badly) tasks are progressing. The detailed view of the project should always be provided by the project manager, not the project office, as it is only the project manager who can provide clear and accurate insight into the real status.

The Project Office also ensures a common approach to projects is taken across the organisation, which in turn, reduces duplication and minimises effort with, for example, the re-use of existing templates.

So these are just some of the many reasons why a supportive project office can make the life of the project manager and the team members easier by relieving them of some of the administrative tasks and reporting responsibilities involved in running a major project. The best project office will include some team members who have received professional project management training, such as APMP or PMP Certification so they will have a good understanding of how tasks should be managed and can add value to their supportive role.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Project Management | 1 Comment »

What are the key factors in evaluating the success of a project?

January 20th, 2012

In the June 2011 edition of Project Manager Today magazine, I published an article called: “Complex, but not Complicated”, where I discussed how there are a number of generic parts/critical success factors whose influence on project success must be fully appreciated in order to achieve success.

So, what are the key success factors when evaluating the success of a project?  Or looking at it in a slightly different way, let’s think of this question as: “if we were to state that a project was as a success, what factors would we have looked at to come to this conclusion”?

Clearly, it depends on your definition or expectation of what success means. Remember that it is not within the scope of a project to realise the benefits resulting from the use of the produced outputs (some benefits maybe realised during the project, but most likely not all of them) – as a project can deliver its outputs on time, to cost, to quality but this is no guarantee that the benefits will manifest. I will add, however, that benefits realisation planning is one of the critical success factors of a project as if there is no view of how or whether the benefits can be realised, should the project start/continue? What I am saying is that the ‘physical act’ of realising the (majority of) benefits is not undertaken in the project.

Based on this, the correct project outputs need to be created – clearly – but is this all? Would you judge a project a success solely based on if it produced the required outputs? Think of it now in the situation where the project produced the desired outputs but the project plan was, how shall I put it, less than optimal. Success was achieved more from individual commitment than good project management.

Consider the following list. Would you consider these factors influence the success of a project?

  1. The organisational maturity in project management
  2. The robustness of the project governance structure
  3. An organisation’s consistent use of a project management method
  4. An organisation’s project management capability and capacity
  5. The organisational context in which the project operates
  6. An organisation’s culture
  7. The number of stakeholders impacted
  8. The number of stakeholders involved
  9. The degree of stakeholder commitment
  10. The value of the desired (potential) benefits (financial or otherwise)
  11. Whether an organisation has a ‘track record’ in this type of project
  12. The risk appetite of the organisation

I certainly do!

Success on a project is dependent on more than just producing the desired outputs. An organisation can deliver projects on time, to cost, to quality through individual commitment and, let’s be honest, luck. But luck runs out eventually.

For organisations to be consistently successful on projects a number of generic, non-technical factors need to be influenced also. In my experience, it is these success factors that are the critical ones.

Dr Ian Clarkson is Head of Project and Programme Management Product Development aQA -leading providers of Prince2 courses. His role provides business direction and ownership of QA’s portfolio, programme, project and risk management curriculum. Ian is an experienced lecturer, author, speaker and consultant, having delivered programmes and projects in all industry sectors.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Project Management | No Comments »

White Paper – Asta PowerProject Project Management Software

January 16th, 2012

It started with an unsolicited phone call. Would I be interested in looking at Asta Project Management Software. I would probably get ten offers a week to look at anything from new phone plans to listing in directories. This one sounded more interested so after talking with Michael for a while I asked if he could send me some information.

When it arrived, I was impressed. I decided that since I had never heard of the software, there were probably many other project managers out there who had never heard of it either. Whilst we don’t usually promote products through our white papers, I thought it a worthwhile exercise to publish a paper which will alert a few people to the existence of the software and if you are looking for a product, make some enquiries.

In putting this together, I would like to thank Michael Buddee, Karol Kot and Michael Cook from Solid Support in Sydney (www.solidsupport.com.au) for providing the information. Most of this white paper is plagiarised from the material they sent me.

Click Here to read more

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Project Management, Project Management White Papers | No Comments »

Microsoft Access Phone Number Display

January 5th, 2012

In a Microsoft Access database that is used for recording contact details, phone numbers are often stored in a string format with no spaces.  This enables checking if a number has been entered previously.  For example, a landline in Australia may have a two digit area code and an eight digit number.  If the area code is not used, the number is assumed to be in the calling area code.  If the number was 02 1234 5678 it may be stored as 0212345678 so it could be compared with numbers previously entered or analysis carried out to find all phone numbers starting with 02 which is the state of NSW.

Add to this the country code for some numbers (in Australia this is 61) and the fact that if you use the country code you drop the zero on the area code (61212345678) and you have a string that is difficult to dial correctly.  Complicating this is that there may be a number of phone numbers on the screen (business, personal, fax, mobile, direct).  How many people have never dialled a fax number when trying to contact a company?

One solution is to have a pop up screen and use a big font to display the number with logical spaces. I used Calibri 22 bold. The pop up appears if you double click the phone number.

To start, create a blank form. Only  the detail is visible.  I made it about 7cm wide by 3.6cm high.  Add a single text box called txtPhone.  It is 6.6cm wide and 1cm high.

On the original form in the phone number text box I put the following double click event

‘—————————————————————————————
‘ Procedure : txtPhoneNumber_DblClick
‘ Author : Neville Turbit
‘ Date : 18/11/2011
‘ Purpose : Open the pop up phone number
‘—————————————————————————————
‘
Private Sub txtPhoneNumber_DblClick(Cancel As Integer)
Dim strFormName As String

On Error GoTo Error_txtPhoneNumber_DblClick

strFormName = “frmPhoneNumberPopUp”
subOpenForms strFormName, Nz(Me.txtPhoneNumber, ” “)

Exit_txtPhoneNumber_DblClick:
On Error GoTo 0
Exit Sub

Error_txtPhoneNumber_DblClick:

MsgBox “An unexpected situation arose in your program.” & vbCrLf & _
“Please write down the following details:” & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
“Module Name: Form_frmContactsPhoneSub” & vbCrLf & _
“Type: VBA Document” & vbCrLf & _
“Calling Procedure: txtPhoneNumber_DblClick” & vbCrLf & _
“Error Number: ” & Err.Number & vbCrLf & _
“Error Description: ” & Err.Description

Resume Exit_txtPhoneNumber_DblClick
Resume

End Sub

You will notice I am using another function called subOpenForms. This is a function I use to open all forms as it has some error handling and better suits my needs. For some applications I incorporate security into the form opening. You can just use docmd.openform if you want.

‘—————————————————————————————
‘ Procedure : subOpenForms
‘ Author : Neville Turbit
‘ Date : 04/06/09
‘ Purpose : This function is used in the Click event of command buttons that opens forms
‘—————————————————————————————
‘
Public Sub subOpenForms(strFormName As String, Optional strLinkCriteria As String, Optional strQuery As String, Optional strWhere As String)

On Error GoTo Error_subOpenForms

‘————————————————————–
‘ Open specified form.
DoCmd.OpenForm strFormName, , strQuery, strWhere, , , strLinkCriteria

Exit_subOpenForms:
On Error GoTo 0
Exit Sub

Error_subOpenForms:

MsgBox “An unexpected situation arose in your program.” & vbCrLf & _
“Please write down the following details:” & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
“Module Name: modGeneric” & vbCrLf & _
“Type: Module” & vbCrLf & _
“Calling Procedure: subOpenForms” & vbCrLf & _
“Error Number: ” & Err.Number & vbCrLf & _
“Error Description: ” & Err.Description

Resume Exit_subOpenForms
Resume

End Sub

On the pop up form I use the following code in the On Open event.

‘—————————————————————————————
‘ Procedure : Form_Open
‘ Author : Neville Turbit
‘ Date : 18/11/2011
‘ Purpose : Display the phone number with spaces
‘—————————————————————————————
‘
Private Sub Form_Open(Cancel As Integer)
Dim strPhoneNo As String
Dim lenPhoneNo As Integer

On Error GoTo Error_Form_Open

strPhoneNo = Me.OpenArgs
lenPhoneNo = Len(strPhoneNo)

Select Case lenPhoneNo
Case Is = 8
Me.txtPhone = Left(strPhoneNo, 4) & ” ” & Right(strPhoneNo, 4)
Case Is = 10
If Left(strPhoneNo, 2) = “04″ Then
Me.txtPhone = Left(strPhoneNo, 4) & ” ” & Mid(strPhoneNo, 5, 3) & ” ” & Right(strPhoneNo, 3)
Else
Me.txtPhone = Left(strPhoneNo, 2) & ” ” & Mid(strPhoneNo, 3, 4) & ” ” & Right(strPhoneNo, 4)
End If
Case Else
Me.txtPhone = strPhoneNo
End Select

Exit_Form_Open:
On Error GoTo 0
Exit Sub

Error_Form_Open:

MsgBox “An unexpected situation arose in your program.” & vbCrLf & _
“Please write down the following details:” & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
“Module Name: Form_frmPhoneNumberPopUp” & vbCrLf & _
“Type: VBA Document” & vbCrLf & _
“Calling Procedure: Form_Open” & vbCrLf & _
“Error Number: ” & Err.Number & vbCrLf & _
“Error Description: ” & Err.Description

Resume Exit_Form_Open
Resume

End Sub

You will need to adjust this for your own phone number formats but it should not be too difficult. Basically you find the number of characters to see what sort of phone number you are dealing with and then reconstruct the phone number with spaces.

When I first introduced it to a company the response was incredible.  It was all people talked about when I asked them about the latest changes.  It made their life much easier.  In terms of return for investment, half an hours work got much more favourable response than days on other parts of the system.  Think about using it in your applications.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Microsoft Access Development | No Comments »

Training for Project Managers and Why it is Important

November 29th, 2011

All professionals who wish to be successful, in whatever field, needs to continually aim to improve their skills. As project management is becoming recognised more and more as a profession, project managers need to ensure they have the appropriate training to develop their careers and that they keep their skills relevant and up-to-date. Continuous professional development (CPD) has always been a recognised part of the career path of those in the well-established professions such as accountancy and law and is now being incorporated into training courses for project managers.

Project managers are required to fulfil an increasingly expanding and important role as projects become more and more complex with new technologies being developed ever quicker. They are having to find new ways of coping with increasing expectations from both clients and employers.

The right type of professional training course can equip a project manager with the skills to deal with these complexities and to plan and manage their projects efficiently, deal with risks and change effectively, and to deal with people at all levels involved in a project.

The benefits of professional qualifications and credentials to the individual can be a higher salary, better career prospects and improved job satisfaction so project managers themselves should need little encouragement to attend a training course. But employers also recognise the benefits of having a well-trained and motivated employee who can deliver complex projects successfully so most major organisations offer access to a training program.

For those project managers who are self-employed or employed by small companies without a training budget (or, worse, a company without the desire to train its employees) there are plenty of good courses aimed at individuals to help them gain recognised qualifications or credentials independently.

One of the unsung benefits of a training course (or at least, traditional classroom-based learning) is learning about the successes and failures of both the trainers and the other delegates. It is highly likely that there will be someone on your course who will have experienced, or is experiencing, the same issues as you. Being able to discuss these issues with others, in the company of a professional trainer, can be a good learning experience in itself.

So why is professional training worthwhile?

Planning and Managing

 Whatever approach you might take to planning and managing a project will be determined by the type of methodology you have learnt (PMP, PRINCE2, APMP etc.). But what is certain in all projects is that a schedule will need to be planned and managed. Depending on the industry, your approach to the schedule may be that it is flexible, adaptable and likely to change frequently before the project is completed. This particularly true in software development projects. Nevertheless, every project will start with some sort of schedule, and knowledge of the key areas of good project management will enable the well-trained project manager to develop a schedule that takes into account all necessary tasks, their interdependencies, estimations, milestones and resource tracking, whilst also being capable of flexibility, where necessary.

 Dealing with Risks and Change

 Methods can be learnt to better anticipate risks or deal with those risks that could not be predicted. A training course will also promote the importance of a good change management process, how to establish one and how to ensure it is followed so that the management of change requests does not become a full-time job and change requests do not obscure the original purpose of the project.

 Dealing with People

With the help of training, a project manager can learn team-building skills, including how to develop a motivated, committed team that will work co-operatively. And how to communicate effectively with everyone involved in the project, including the stakeholders. It will give him, or her, the confidence to stick with the plan when the plan is right, change the plan when it is wrong and be prepared to make unpopular decisions when necessary.

Finally, training will ensure every project has established and documented the criteria for success, which can be used to confirm that a project has been successfully delivered.

These are just some of the reasons why project management training is important, whatever methodology your organisation is committed to: PMP, PRINCE2 or APMP. It will help every project manager to develop fully, to be recognised as a professional and to deliver complex projects successfully.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

White Paper on Agile Development

November 25th, 2011

In this paper, we look at the new role project managers and their team members play when applying Agile methodology to their software development projects.

Agile development has typically been classified as a “lightweight” software development approach that encourages quick changes and rapid delivery of solutions. Some of the more popular methodologies include Scrum, Crystal Clear and Extreme Programming. All are designed to have a more inclusive and iterative approach to software development projects. In contrast to the more rigid Waterfall methodology, Agile methodologies encourage a democratization of development that is believed to improve team collaboration and accelerate delivery to customers.

Read More…

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Project Management, Project Management White Papers | 1 Comment »

Professional Project Management and Why it is Important

November 23rd, 2011

Project management has existed since buildings were first erected or ships first built but it wasn’t known by that name in mankind’s early history. It was with the development of Gantt charts in the second decade of the 20th century that the role of managing a set of inter-related tasks to deliver an end-product to a defined schedule started to emerge as the discipline we now refer to as project management.

The Gantt chart was developed by the engineer and consultant Henry Gantt (1861-1919) to visually show the scheduled and actual progress of a project, and was an innovative concept at the time. It was used on projects during the First World War and on the project to construct the Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

Today project management is an essential element of all organisations in a variety of industries: engineering, construction, defence, almost any industry you can think of will require projects to be managed at some time. There are a number of internationally recognised methodologies that can be followed to manage a project (such as PMP, PRINCE2 or APMP) each with a different approach and different terminology. But underlying these different methods is the common theme for all projects of the triple constraints of cost, time and scope, and the basics of professional project management.

So just what are the basics?

Initiation Phase: When the scope, objectives and end-product are defined, and the project is formally approved.

Planning Phase: When a set of plans is created to define the tasks necessary to complete the project, and to enable effective management of the schedule, budget, risks and change.

Execution Phase: When the tangible project deliverables are created. Other activities such as a change management process and quality analysis are also implemented during this phase.

Closing Phase: When the end-product is delivered to the client, documentation is handed over and resources are released.

And why is project management so important?

Professionally managed projects reliably and consistently ensure that projects are run efficiently and that they successfully deliver what the client expects in an acceptable timeframe and at an acceptable cost. They ensure effective communication so that the client and all stakeholders are well-informed about progress, changes and risks; that everyone involved in the project is aware of their responsibilities and that different departments work together co-operatively.
By managing risks the impact of predicted or unexpected risks occurring can be minimised by ensuring the schedule and resources are affected as little as possible. And implementing a sound change management process will ensure that the client objectives are reached.

A properly controlled project will also lead to a high-quality end-product, whether that is a feat of engineering such as a major dam or a feat of technology such as the latest microchip or the implementation of new software to improve the efficiency of core business processes.

So whatever methodology you choose to follow, a knowledge-based one such as PMP or APMP, or a process-based one such as PRINCE2, professional project managementis an essential part of the future success of every organisation from the corporate giants right down to the smallest start-up.

Project management has existed since buildings were first erected or ships first built but it wasn’t known by that name in mankind’s early history. It was with the development of Gantt charts in the second decade of the 20th century that the role of managing a set of inter-related tasks to deliver an end-product to a defined schedule started to emerge as the discipline we now refer to as project management.

The Gantt chart was developed by the engineer and consultant Henry Gantt (1861-1919) to visually show the scheduled and actual progress of a project, and was an innovative concept at the time. It was used on projects during the First World War and on the project to construct the Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

Today project management is an essential element of all organisations in a variety of industries: engineering, construction, defence, almost any industry you can think of will require projects to be managed at some time. There are a number of internationally recognised methodologies that can be followed to manage a project (such as PMP, PRINCE2 or APMP) each with a different approach and different terminology. But underlying these different methods is the common theme for all projects of the triple constraints of cost, time and scope, and the basics of professional project management.

So just what are the basics?

Initiation Phase: When the scope, objectives and end-product are defined, and the project is formally approved.

Planning Phase: When a set of plans is created to define the tasks necessary to complete the project, and to enable effective management of the schedule, budget, risks and change.

Execution Phase: When the tangible project deliverables are created. Other activities such as a change management process and quality analysis are also implemented during this phase.

Closing Phase: When the end-product is delivered to the client, documentation is handed over and resources are released.

And why is project management so important?

Professionally managed projects reliably and consistently ensure that projects are run efficiently and that they successfully deliver what the client expects in an acceptable timeframe and at an acceptable cost. They ensure effective communication so that the client and all stakeholders are well-informed about progress, changes and risks; that everyone involved in the project is aware of their responsibilities and that different departments work together co-operatively.

By managing risks the impact of predicted or unexpected risks occurring can be minimised by ensuring the schedule and resources are affected as little as possible. And implementing a sound change management process will ensure that the client objectives are reached.

A properly controlled project will also lead to a high-quality end-product, whether that is a feat of engineering such as a major dam or a feat of technology such as the latest microchip or the implementation of new software to improve the efficiency of core business processes.

So whatever methodology you choose to follow, a knowledge-based one such as PMP or APMP, or a process-based one such as PRINCE2, professional project management is an essential part of the future success of every organisation from the corporate giants right down to the smallest start-up.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Free Microsoft Access Course

November 23rd, 2011

Came across an online Microsoft Access course which is being run in October.  It is a free university standard introductory database course available from Stanford University.

Stanford Computer Science courses are joining Stanford University’s “bold experiment in distributed education” by presenting  Professor Jennifer Widom’s Introduction to Databases. http://db-class.com/

The Microsoft Access course runs from October 10 through December 12, 2011. During the course, the instructor will be available online.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Microsoft Access Development Tip. Saving email hyperlinks in a table.

November 21st, 2011

A recent Microsoft Access development project caused us to look for a creative way to generate an email from Microsoft Access, save the email as a .MSG file, and create a hyperlink in an Access table.  We came across a piece of software called MessageSave which we have been able to integrate into the process.  The process is:

  • Microsoft Access opens a new email in Outlook.  Access then pauses.
  • MessageSave saves the email as a .MSG file and calls a VBScript
  • The VBScript writes a text file with the name of the saved .MSG file.
  • Microsoft Access resumes.  It reads the text file and saves the file location as a hyperlink in a table

We decided to make the sample code available as a download.  You can read all about the process used, see the sample code, and download a free Microsoft Access database from our website.  Click here for more information, and to download the free Microsoft Access database.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Microsoft Access Development | No Comments »

Effective Project Management and How to Achieve It

November 17th, 2011

There is no doubt that every project requires good management if it is to deliver what the customer is expecting. And deliver it in an acceptable time frame and for an acceptable cost without any disasters along the way.

Even a team well-experienced in their individual roles need direction and every project requires efficient use of its resources: time, people and money. The right sort of management will also ensure a team achieves to their full capacity and doesn’t just trundle along in a low gear.

So we know we need to manage our projects effectively to achieve success but just what are the core skills that will enable us to be effective project managers?

Be Thorough

Well, the first “skill” is not really a skill at all or maybe we could call it the skill of being thorough. During the initiation phase and throughout the life of a project you must ensure that you understand all elements of the project and all external factors affecting the project. On complex projects this is a highly demanding task but without a knowledge and understanding of how all the elements of a project work and fit together there is little chance of understanding potential risks and how they might affect the end-result.

Plan Well

 Once you have a good grasp of the basics of the project the next skill is thorough and detailed planning from the initiation of the project through to the delivered product and beyond. Although many projects, and particularly software development projects, usually end up being completed through an iterative process that adapts to change during its life, it is still important to start out with an end-to-end plan. The route you plan to achieve the objectives of the client may not always be obvious; there might be many inter-dependencies and options for scheduling particular tasks so this is not a process to be hashed together on a spreadsheet in a hurry.

Employ experienced team members

 No project manager can hope to run a project effectively without the right team members and that doesn’t mean just the right experience but the right attitude and the right personality mix so that the members work co-operatively as a team and not as competing individuals. And when you have put your perfect team together don’t forget to put as much effort into retaining them as you did in selecting them. And if you can’t find team members with the right experience consider those that could become experienced with the right project management training.

Put Milestones in place

People always work to a milestone or deadline – without one we could all continue fine-tuning a task long after it was completed. Milestones should be set at strategic points within the project. As it is likely that some parts of the project will change as the iterative process starts to reveal more efficient ways of completing a task and a clearer understanding of the requirements the estimates of many tasks will change but try to keep milestones the same wherever possible to prevent the underlying structure of the project plan from changing too often. Focus more on achieving the milestone and less on how much is delivered at the end of every day, week or month. But at the same time keep your finger on the pulse of progress to make sure there are no impending problems.
Stay Calm

 

All good project managers will have put in place risk management and change management strategies to plan for a range of eventualities but it is impossible to be able to predict all risks or changes that could possibly occur. External factors that are outside your control can often throw up problems that could not have been anticipated in advance and for which there is no mitigating action plan. In situations like this you need to remain calm and level-headed – make a thorough assessment of the problem (remember skill #1) and consider all options before deciding on how to tackle the problem.

These are just 5 skills that will help you to manage your projects more effectively: be thorough, plan well, employ the right team members, set milestones and stay calm. With the right project management training (in any of the recognised methodologies such as PMP, PRINCE2 and APMP) and an understanding of these important project management skills you will have a greater chance of managing your projects effectively, and effectiveness equals project management success.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Project Management | No Comments »

« Older Entries