http://pm411.org project management internet radio show, templates, and webtools Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:37:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 The pm411.org Project Management Podcast is dedicated to help you at your job as a Project Manager or Program Manager, regardless if you have years of experience, or if you are just starting on your journey in Project Management. pm411.org is a place where you can come to find the latest in PM tools, PM Templates, PM tips, and PMI (PMBOK) methodologies that have been found to help others. It is a place where discussions can be had with project managers from around the globe and in every industry where project management permeates in our Project Management discussion forums. It is a place where you can find the best Project Management links to other sites dedicated to our wonderful profession. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no Ron Holohan, MBA PMP show@pm411.org show@pm411.org (Ron Holohan, MBA PMP) 2007-2012 Ron Holohan Project management internet radio show, discussion forum, methodology, templates, and webtools project, management, pm, prepcast, management, manager, pmi, pmp, team, management, schedule, budget http://pm411.org/wp-content/uploads/pm411logo_itunes.jpg http://pm411.org/category/pm-topics/accountability/ http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/ http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:23:39 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1786 http://pm411.org/2011/01/14/podcast-episode-067-stop-playing-games/feed/ 6 Do you ever get tired of playing games? - No. I’m not talking about Scrabble or poker or even Dungeons and Dragons Online in which incidentally, I am a current fourth level paladin. No, rather I’m speaking about the games that we get to play every... Do you ever get tired of playing games? No. I’m not talking about Scrabble or poker or even Dungeons and Dragons Online in which incidentally, I am a current fourth level paladin. No, rather I’m speaking about the games that we get to play every day as project managers. What games you ask? Oh, you know the ones like “The Pricing Game,” “Guess the Truth,” and “Grapevine.” Well, lucky for us, Rick Morris, PMP, provides some strategies on how to win at these games. Rick Morris is the best-selling author of the book Stop Playing Games: A Project Manager’s Guide to Successfully Navigating Organizational Politics. This book, from the author of Project Management That Works and The Everything Project Management Book, dives deep into topics of gaining buy-in from upper management, accurately estimating timing and cost, controlling project communications, managing within a corporate culture, taking care of your team, and more. The Inspiration Behind the Book Frustration was one of the factors that inspired Rick to write Stop Playing Games. Frustration often occurs when project managers are ask to try to beat impossible deadlines with budgets and dates that they didn’t help set and without the authority to be successful.  Then, often we get to take the blame for when it all goes wrong! Luckily, Rick has worked with a lot of executives, both as a consultant and as a project manager, and has been able to help many see that their team leaders actually share the same goals that they have. In the end, we’re all people and we all want to be successful. By applying tips from Rick’s book, project managers can help their executives look so much better than they do today. In the long run, together we can stop playing these games and just have an honest relationship and become successful together. So, who's ready for a hug? The Current Status of Project Management Rick contends that the current status of project management is that a lot of people want a “quick fix” to improve corporate efficiency and they think that Project Management might be able to provide that, but they don’t want to put in the needed work to make the process changes to truly get the benefit of doing it the right way. One of the reasons we try to play “games” is because, just like when "Six Sigma" was new to organizations ten years ago, Project Management is new to a lot of organizations today. If you remember when Six Sigma became so prevalent, you had stories of Motorola and GE getting all these gains and successes from implementing Six Sigma. They had these results that suggested that if you brought a certified "Master Black Belt" in, your organization would suddenly become tremendously more efficient overnight. Although organizations are starting to recognize that Project Management does bring dividends, they still don’t know exactly how to help project managers do their jobs succesfully. What’s happening is they think “Oh, we just established a Project Managemetn Office (PMO), now we’re finally going to have better project predictability.” Unfortunately, the problem is that organizations don’t want to put in the effort to really change any of their processes. Perhaps they read some journal article that said, “Hey, if you hire a project manager, you can get results.” So, they go and hire a PMP. But they don't provide the time or budget to effectively plan and execute the project. Soon the top floor wants to know “Where are these results we were promised?” As a result, in many cases project managers simply end up being big paper pushers and additional money gets spent to bring in consultants to figure out that the organization's processes and expectations never got changed to allow projects to come in under budget, under schedule, and within scope. When I grow up, I want to be a Project Manager Most of us really didn’t plan to become a project manager. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 26:05 http://pm411.org/2010/10/27/podcast-episode-065-extreme-project-manager-makeover/ http://pm411.org/2010/10/27/podcast-episode-065-extreme-project-manager-makeover/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:33:34 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1724 http://pm411.org/2010/10/27/podcast-episode-065-extreme-project-manager-makeover/feed/ 5 extreme project management,extreme project managers,extreme projects,leader,leadership,pattie vargas I recently talked with Pattie Vargas of The Vargas Group and author of the book, Extreme Project Manager Makeover, about what it means to be an Extreme Project Manager and how to become one. I recently talked with Pattie Vargas of The Vargas Group and author of the book, Extreme Project Manager Makeover, about what it means to be an Extreme Project Manager and how to become one. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 27:54 http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/ http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:21:41 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=1117 http://pm411.org/2010/03/28/podcast-episode-057-tom-peters-speaks-out-about-toyota-recalls/feed/ 5 al dunlap,apple,authors,auto manufacturers,chevrolet,Chrysler,Ford,GM,google,Honda,ibm,in search of excellence I was recently joined by best selling author and Management guru Tom Peters to discuss his perspective on the Toyota recalls. Tom and I also talked about where other major companies such as Dell, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Google, GM, IBM, I was recently joined by best selling author and Management guru Tom Peters to discuss his perspective on the Toyota recalls. Tom and I also talked about where other major companies such as Dell, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Google, GM, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Honda fall on that elusive spectra known as "Excellence". By the way, if somehow you have not heard of Tom Peters: Simply put, Tom Peters is the last of the still living and truly great 20th Century management thought leaders and, incidentally, is more relevant in today's business environment than ever before. Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 31:36 http://pm411.org/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/ http://pm411.org/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:39:23 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=941 http://pm411.org/2010/02/09/what-we-can-learn-from-undercover-boss/feed/ 7 http://pm411.org/2010/01/16/podcast-episode-052-its-okay-to-be-raci/ http://pm411.org/2010/01/16/podcast-episode-052-its-okay-to-be-raci/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:19:18 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=870 http://pm411.org/2010/01/16/podcast-episode-052-its-okay-to-be-raci/feed/ 5 Accountability,consulted.ram.responsibility assignment matrix,raci,responsibilities,responsibility,roles,team If you like us, give us a 5 star review in iTunes! - In Episode 004 and Episode 051 we discussed the Work Breakdown Structure and how it can help you as a team to clearly document your project’s deliverables.  But once you have completed your WBS, If you like us, give us a 5 star review in iTunes! In Episode 004 and Episode 051 we discussed the Work Breakdown Structure and how it can help you as a team to clearly document your project’s deliverables.  But once you have completed your WBS, what’s next? Well the next step is to develop a Responsibility Assignment Matrix, or RAM, using the RACI process.  I think you are going to find this to be a valuable tool to help clarify ownership to various parts of your project.  Soon your entire team will be RACI! Define Activities Process After you identify your deliverables in your Work Breakdown Structure, you will need to define those actions and activities that need to be done to produce the lowest level deliverables.  This is the first process in the PMBOK Time Management Knowledge Area and is known as the Define Activities Process. In Episode 004 on Work Breakdown Structures we provided an example of a project of doing laundry.  A lower deliverable could be “clean dark clothes”.  Decomposing the activities under this deliverable could be “sort laundry by color,”, “select cold setting,” measure laundry detergent, add detergent to washer, add dark clothes to washer, check clothes once the cycle completes, unload washer, add washed clothes to dryer, select regular drying setting, check clothes once dryer timer goes off, fill laundry basket, sort laundry to iron, Iron laundry, Fold laundry, and Put laundry away. Note that the order of the activities doesn’t need to necessarily be in order at this point, and additional activities can be added such as “add dryer sheet to dryer.”  However, once you have your list of activities for each deliverable, you are ready to use the RACI process to assign them to folks associated with the project. Basically, RACI is a method to assign activities to resources by name or by function. RACI is an acronym that stands for four types of task assignments: Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed So, let’s talk about the four types of assignments. Responsible [R] The first type of assignment is “R” that stands for “Responsible.”  The person assigned as “responsible” for a task is the person, or role, that is responsible for actually performing the work for the task. A few guidelines to keep in mind…  When no one is assigned as responsible for the task, chances are that it won’t get done. Also, when many people are assigned to completing the work, it requires a lot of coordination and usually means further decomposition is required to make sure everyone is clear about what specifically they need to work on.  Finally, if a specific person is assigned as the “R” to multiple tasks they may become overloaded.  In this case, you may want to see if someone else can fill in as the “R” on some of the tasks. Accountable [A] The second type of assignment is “A” that stands for “Accountable.”  This is the person who is held accountable for the task getting completed.  One guideline to keep in mind for the person assigned as “Accountable,” insure only one person is assigned as accountable for each task being performed.  If you end up trying to assign multiple people to a particular task you will end up with a lot of finger pointing and confusion when issues occur. Consulted [C] The next type is Consulted – the “C’s.”  These are the people involved and consulted prior to a task being performed. Essentially, their input is sought after and factored in prior to action taking place. As the number of people consulted increases, the speed with which action can be taken decreases. Conversely, too few and improper decisions and actions may be made without those whose buy-in is required being assigned as a “C”. Informed [I] Finally are the “I’s” who are those that need to be Informed on the status and completion of a task. If necessary parties aren’t informed, Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no http://pm411.org/2009/09/11/podcast-episode-046-schedule-killers-parkinsons-law/ http://pm411.org/2009/09/11/podcast-episode-046-schedule-killers-parkinsons-law/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:08:22 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=666 http://pm411.org/2009/09/11/podcast-episode-046-schedule-killers-parkinsons-law/feed/ 8 behaviors,parkinson's law,schedule killers,Teams Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast Newsletter delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. - Today we continue our series on Schedule Killers – those tendenci... Get the pm411.org Project Management Podcast Newsletter delivered by email for free! - Your email address and personal information are confidential and will never be sold or rented. Today we continue our series on Schedule Killers – those tendencies and traits of project teams that cause us to miss our deadlines!  Last episode we discussed “The Student Syndrome,” which is defined as “the phenomenon that many people will start to fully apply themselves to a task just at the last possible moment before a deadline.”   Today we talk about “Parkinson’s Law.” What is Parkinson’s Law? Parkinson’s Law, as it is known today, started as the first sentence of an essay that Cyril Northcote Parkinson wrote for The Economist in 1955.  Parkinson was a British naval historian, public administration scholar, and author of over sixty books.  Parkinson’s claim that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion” later was expanded to include how work expands in bureaucracies in his bestselling 1957 book, Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law is also often expressed as “The demand upon a resource tends to expand to match the supply of the resource,” although the reverse is not true. I personally like to think of Parkinson’s Law as the “Ideal Gas Law” for projects.  No, I am not referring to the hot air that some project managers are famous for expelling.  But rather, if you think of the amount of work required to complete a task as a set number of gas molecules inside a sealed container, the gas would still fill the container if you were to make the container bigger.  Only the distance between the work molecules would be greater and there would be less pressure inside of the container.  However, if you were to reduce the size of the container or if someone were to apply “heat” to the system, the pressure would increase.  But if less “heat” were applied or if the container was allowed to grow, the volume of work would still expand to completely fill the container. So, what Parkinson’s Law states is that if you were to think of the size of a project task duration to be the analogy of a gas-filled container and you were able to successfully complete the work in 2 weeks, that same work would expand to fill 4 weeks if the task duration was expanded. So, if a team member finishes the required work in 2 weeks, they will typically keep the working on the task until it is absolutely required for them to turn their work deliverable over.  If they are given even more time to complete a task, they will still take the entire time allocated to them. The reason why this is a problem is because any “buffer” added to the individual task to protect the project end date is wasted by the effects of Parkinson’s Law extending individual task durations. Why Does Parkinson’s Law Occur? So why do people want to hang on to their work anyway?  You would think people would want to “get it off their desk” and start working on the next task, just like someone would with a “to do” list.  There are actually several reasons why Parkinson’s Law occurs. 1.)   People want to make their deliverable as good as possible. Unfortunately, people often equate this to improving the deliverable’s quality through adding additional features or performance even if it surpasses the task deliverable requirements.  Sometimes this is referred to “gold plating” or “polishing the apple.”  It has been shown that often times true quality is compromised.  A simple example is a presentation that someone continues to make “pretty” by adding a lot of extraneous graphics, colors, animations, and text that takes additional editing time and only serves to detract from the quality of the original presentation’s message. 2.)   People are afraid of turning in their work early.  Team members may feel that if they turn in their work early, Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 21:52 http://pm411.org/2009/08/22/podcast-episode-045-schedule-killers-student-syndrome/ http://pm411.org/2009/08/22/podcast-episode-045-schedule-killers-student-syndrome/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:01:58 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=610 http://pm411.org/2009/08/22/podcast-episode-045-schedule-killers-student-syndrome/feed/ 11 8/80,behaviors,schedule killers,student syndrome,Teams Today we will be starting a series on Schedule Killers – those tendencies and traits of project teams that cause us to miss our deadlines! And the first schedule serial killer of project teams that we will be discussing is called… “The Student S... Today we will be starting a series on Schedule Killers – those tendencies and traits of project teams that cause us to miss our deadlines! And the first schedule serial killer of project teams that we will be discussing is called… “The Student Syndrome!” In this episode we cover: 1.) What is Student Syndrome? 2.) What Causes Student Syndrome? 3.) How to Cure it Ron Holohan, MBA PMP no 9:50 http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/ http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:21:32 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://1448556078 http://pm411.org/2008/09/06/how-to-avoid-stopping-the-line-on-deliverables/feed/ 5 http://pm411.org/2008/08/11/us-olympic-teamwork-and-michael-phelps/ http://pm411.org/2008/08/11/us-olympic-teamwork-and-michael-phelps/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:07:00 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/?p=348 http://pm411.org/2008/08/11/us-olympic-teamwork-and-michael-phelps/feed/ 1 http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:57:59 +0000 Ron Holohan, MBA PMP http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/ http://pm411.org/2008/03/25/be-accountable/feed/ 1