Developing a Project Management Mind-Set Becky King Baylor University Copyright Becky King, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
Basic Baylor Info… Waco, Texas (suburb of Crawford) students (heavily faculty & staff Law School & Seminary Big 12 Athletic Conference
We are the Bears
The mission of Baylor University is… to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment with a caring community.
What I want to cover: Organizational events at Baylor that preceded our project management adventure Our project management implementation experience The current status and future goals of project management at Baylor
Now, let’s go back a ways… OK…not that far back…just to the fall of 2000…and in technology at Baylor, we were…
And then… …pretty comfortable.
The changes began: New CIO (October, 2000) New technology organizational structure CIO also becomes Dean of Libraries (September, 2001) Another new organizational structure Major technology initiatives begun Vision 2012 (more on this later)
Baylor CIO Division Org Chart Chief Information Officer and Dean of Libraries Knowledge Resources and Services “Connecting People with Ideas” University Libraries Resources and Services Resources/Collection Mgt. Client Services Special Collections Electronic Libraries Resources and Services Resources/Collection Mgt. Client Services Academic Tech. Centers Information Resources and Services “Connecting People with Information” Information Systems and Services Information Management and Testing Services Information Access and Storage “Connecting People” Internet Systems and Services Distributed Systems and Services Servers and Networks
In this new job, our CIO: Didn’t know his staff Didn’t know what they did Had big plans & funding for many of the plans Needed to know the status of current IT projects Needed to know the demand for IT staff resources
His solution…
What tool to use? To MS Project or not to MS Project OK…not Other options? Pacific Edge’s Project Office Kick-off meeting in July, 2001 And here we go…
Our Experiences Implementing Project Management Software (developing that mind-set)
How we got started: Chose an administrator for the software Brought in vendor consultants to install & set up initial configuration Decided on # of client licenses to buy (Who would be the project managers?) Developed & held initial training Began using (slowly)
Issues, Problems, etc.
No formal project manager/management training Didn’t have single methodology Some had people management experience Few used to regular reporting No one used to detailed task definitions
Exactly what qualifies as a “project” to be tracked Ongoing support? Minor tasks? Multi-year projects? Overhead (vacation, sick)?
This blankety-blank thing takes too much time. Takes time away from doing the real work I’m too busy for this By the time I enter the project, the work’s mostly done I don’t have any idea how long the tasks will take Any estimate I make is affected by too many other variables
But the boss said “Use it anyway!”
Assigning personnel resources from outside your area to a project How do we get approval to use them? How do we know if they have time available? Should their managers make the assignments?
Cost of software client licenses Each project manager & his/her manager needed one Too expensive for all staff resources to have one Project managers had to do all updating/time logging on projects
To log time worked or not Hassle for project managers to gather & enter this info Led back to question of what kinds of “projects” should be tracked High level of resistance Could be very complex depending on definition of tasks
But, we kept at it…
And, we got a little better…
Our travels/travails in project mgt software: Began with project descriptions, task definitions, & estimated timelines Friendly encouragement from CIO to use the software Led to gentle urging of project mgrs to get on board Had an early success with an IS project Addressed project costing issues
And more: Worked thru structural decisions More emphatic “encouragement” from CIO to use the software Assignment of resources issues CIO shows software to Regents & campus leaders Site license Continued so-so use of software until…
a very emphatic from CIO with the subject “Out of Patience” with phrases like… …have not been diligent… …must be updated… …an imperative… …I’ll find someone who can…
Where we are & where we’re going with project management at Baylor
CIO using to stay up-to-date on projects in progress and projects planned
Professional development tool for project managers Hopefully, considered just another normal part of the job.
Use expanded into other University departments: Student Financial Aid Purchasing Budget Office Controller’s Office Operations & Facilities
Provides visibility and accountability for important University projects
Supports University’s Vision 2012 Result of year-long planning & visioning process Goal to move into top tier of American universities Goal to reaffirm & deepen distinctive Christian mission Major tuition increase, expansion of facilities, increase in # of faculty/staff Project Office used to “gate” proposed projects
Use will continue to evolve: Fully functional Web client Improve logging of time Additional alerts & reports Refine portfolio management Formal project approval process Pervasive throughout campus
Lessons learned: Better have high level commitment (Duh) Administration of PM software takes time! Use of PM software takes time Provide access to all necessary staff Some staff will do it better than others Be flexible in use of PM software Keep after it
Developing a Project Management Mind-Set Becky King Baylor University