WE HAVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT, SO WHY ARE WE STILL FAILING? And Would We Recognize Success If We Saw It?

Project problems and solutions  16.2% successful  52.7% challenged  31.1% failed The Standish Group’s CHAOS Report, 1994  Promise of project management  Project managers emerging as professionals  PMOs The problemsThe solutions

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 And yet… According to the 2004 Standish Group CHAOS Report: 29% of IT projects are successful 53% are challenged 18% fail

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Top reasons projects fail  Incomplete requirements  Unmanaged change  Project conflict  Poor communication

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Mistakes we are making  Implementing project management in a vacuum  Committing to too many projects  Soft focus on project reporting and control  Inappropriate responses to change  Lack of understanding of what we want

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Q: How can we fix this? A: Enterprise project management. Seven steps to integrated project health 1. Engage stakeholders 2. Portfolio planning 3. Define success 4. Prepare the organization 5. Implementation: simplify, simplify, simplify 6. Support your project managers 7. Learn from experience

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Foundation Plan Portfolio Engage Stakeholder s Define Success The foundation

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 1: Engage your stakeholders Risks of unengaged stakeholders  Commitment to wrong projects  Diminished support  Working around you  Deteriorating relationships

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 1: Engage your stakeholders  Set expectations – in both directions  Understand  Strategic goals  Needs  Risk tolerance  Dependencies  Constraints  Follow up

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 2: Plan your portfolio Risks of an unplanned portfolio  Overwhelmed by multitude of projects  Lack of clear, strong vision  Missed opportunities  Missed dependencies  Overtaxed work force  Inability to meet goals

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 2: Plan your portfolio  Define strategic goals  Take a meaningful inventory  Understand how projects support goals  Purposefully plan project work

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 3: Define success Risks of poorly defined success criteria  Decreased chance of getting where you want to be  Greater chance of ending up somewhere you don’t want to be  Missed leadership opportunities  Poor morale  Misaligned focus

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 3: Define success  Portfolio and program: what are the high level goals  Project: what is important on this project  Product: what does the end result look like Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time bound

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Continuous improvement Prepare the organization Learn from experience Implement & Support the PMs

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 4: Prepare the organization  Risks of an unprepared organization  Lack of participation  Processes fail  Diminished effectiveness of PM  Misinformation  Poor morale  Sabotage

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 4: Prepare the organization  Identify critical needs and opportunities  Develop a phased plan  Understand costs  Educate  Open the communication channels  Publish results

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 5: Implementation - simplify, simplify, simplify  Start small but strong  Utilize a phased implementation  Consider a pilot  Expect and encourage bottom up leadership  Review and adjust

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 5: Implementation - simplify, simplify, simplify  Key initial elements  Requirements and scope definition  Change management  Communication planning  Risk planning  Project measurement

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 6: Support project managers  Communicate success criteria  Consult and listen  Don’t shoot the messenger  Encourage leadership, accountability, and responsibility  Allow flexibility  Provide for continuing education

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 6: Support project managers  Project management basics  Planning Scope Estimates Risk Communication  Monitoring and status Project measurement Forecasts  Project control Project integration Change management

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Step 7: Learn from experience  Feedback: open dialogue concerning current efforts  Input: ideas for the future  Review: objective analysis of performance against plan  Lessons learned at every gateway

©Lindsay Chamberlain 2008 Seven step solution Enterprise project management 1. Engage stakeholders 2. Portfolio planning 3. Define success 4. Prepare the organization 5. Implementation: simplify, simplify, simplify 6. Support your project managers 7. Learn from experience

LINDSAY CHAMBERLAIN, PMP, MLIS