Project Management in the Internet Age - Meetupfiles.meetup.com/1458144/Project Management in the...Project Management in the Internet Age for PM PM SIG July 28, 2010 Brian M. McCutcheon

Project Management in the Internet Agefor

PM PM SIG

July 28, 2010

Brian M. McCutcheonFounder and Principal Consultant

SoftReach Services, Inc.

Agenda

• Introduction

• About Conventional Wisdom

• Our Changing World

– The Legacy, The Changes, Workplace & Project Trends

• Emerging Opportunities for Project Success

• Today’s Challenges – Culture, Context & Tactics

• Navigating the New Terrain

• Questions and Wrap-Up

Project Management in the Internet Age© 2010 SoftReach Services, Inc. – All Rights Reserved

Experience from Large Government Program in the 1980’s– These young guys don’t know that certain things can’t be done

… so they go get them done

How is Conventional Wisdom evolving for Project Management?

• That which is widely accepted to bring success

• Led by those who have WOWED the community

– Successful Practitioners … Thought Leaders … based on Success to Date

• The Guide on How to be Successful in Yesterday’s World

– Some things carry forward … some don’t … few remain unchanged

About Conventional Wisdom …


Our Changing World … the Legacy• Once Upon a Time (Let’s call it the Large Program World of the 1980’s) …– Cohesive Alignment of Teams was much more dependent on In Person Contact– Alternatives were constrained, especially with Distance

– Remote Dialogue commonly through expensive Phone Calls, with Varying Accessibility for Spontaneous Issues and

Varying Quality/Effectiveness in Some Cases, especially Internationally– Written Communications through “slow” Letters (aka Snail Mail)– Supporting Material was relatively expensive and rigid


… in a World Far, Far Away …– In Person Meetings dominated Communications

– The Means for a “Meetings of the Minds”

– All else tended to be Issue/Topic Oriented

– Collocation provided the chance for In-Depth Teamwork

… but moved the point of “disconnect”

Often Lost Common Understanding / Shared Vision

• Once Upon a Time (Let’s call it the Large Program World of the 1980’s) … in a World Far, Far Away …… Project Success depended on a recurring cycle of realignment …

– In Person Project Meetings, commonly every 1-3 months– Key Decision Makers Represented from All “factions” (often aligned to geography)– Top-Level “where are we at” Review– Re-Sync where Plans and Emerging Reality are Known/Found to be Out of Sync

– Progress, Artifacts, Deliverables

– Close the Gap between Expectations and Reality, often as a Negotiation

Our Changing World … the Legacy


… and In Between Meetings– Everyone Goes Back to the Work

– Work Proceeds from the Latest “Settlement” …

… with limited opportunity to share Where It’s Headed

– Gaps Grow between Expectations and Reality …

… with too little chance of Recognition

Success Rooted in Deterministic Methods

Our Changing World … the Legacy


• Low Value placed on Course Corrections– Too Late . . . Too Expensive . . . Too Embarrassing

• High Value placed on Deterministic Planning– Thorough & Accurate Project Artifacts

Project Management is Compelled to Predict the Future …… and Account for All Possibilities …

… both Known and Unknown

Career PerspectiveThe Best Polished Crystal Ball Wins

A Seemingly Innocent Change

Dateline 1987 – Mons, Belgium

The 5 page Report can be Delivered to the US Development Team in Minutes


More Communication, More Often, for Less Effort / Cost

• Proliferation of Communications Options– Faxes – Office-to-Office “Letters”, without the Postal “Delay”– E-Mail – Desk-to-Desk Communication/Dialogue, without Time Synchronization– Cell Phones – Phone Dialogue from virtually anywhere– Instant Messaging – Parallel Dialogue for the multi-tasker– Text Messaging – “Instantaneous” Dialogue, from virtually anywhere– Voice Mail – Personal Interaction, without Time Synchronization, with less effort– Conference Systems – Geographically-Dispersed Participants, without Travel– Web Share – Visual Expression in Geographically-Dispersed Meetings– Social Media – The Power of Community

• Communications Game-Changers– Increases in Spontaneity, Interactivity, Immediacy and Dynamics– Increased Traceability; Increased Accountability– Communications Distributed and Innately Disjoint– More Options to Express Ideas; Potential to Improve Information Consumption

Our Changing World … Communicating


Our Changing World … Workplace Trends• Increased Complexity

– Proliferation of Tools and Technologies– More Ideas, More Dynamics, More Relationships– More Thinking – whether its Right or Not

• Increased Interdependency– Specialization of Skills– Organizational Complexities (e.g. offshoring)

• Increased Globalization– Half-Way Around the World, without

Leaving Your Desk• Increased Competitiveness

– Do More, With Less– More Demand for Flexibility

Demand for Speed and Agility … in a Complex WorldProject Management in the Internet Age

© 2010 SoftReach Services, Inc. – All Rights Reserved

Our Changing World … Project Trends

• Explosion in Stakeholders, Perspectives, Sophistication• Distribution Geographically, Organizationally

– Increased Opportunity for Contextual Fragmentation• Increased Communications

– More Opportunity to Keep Everyone on the Same Page– More Opportunity for the Blind to Lead the Blind


Our Changing World … Project Trends• Proliferation of Information . . . often even Knowledge• Increased Challenge to Deterministic Planning• Increased Changes in Plans, Course Corrections– More Need . . . More Opportunity . . . More Value

Compelled to Absorb Change … and Still Bring ResultsProject Management in the Internet Age


Key Success Factor Common Understanding/Shared Vision

• Challenges to Deterministic Planning– Driven to Embrace Change … in goals, scope, direction … learning as you go– “It’s all for naught if it’s always going to change” . . . or is it??

• Lessons Learned– The Team Members want to do the Best Job They Can Do

… but may have a different idea on what is Best– The most important Question is Tell Me What I Need To Know, That I Haven’t Thought to Ask

… but it rarely brings anything to ask it that way– Know your Team, Know their Perspectives, Lingo, Blindspots, Aspirations, Backgrounds …

… so you can get to the Answers– Surprises are Your Friend … Find Them Early and Learn from Them

Our Changing World …… and its Impact on Project Management


Experience from Global IT Infrastructure Program in the mid-2000’s

That all got done without a Plan!?!?!?!?!?

• Driven to Embrace Course Corrections• Shift in the Planning Paradigm

– From Deterministic Planning – Comprehensive, all-up-front Project Plans– To Adaptive Planning – Rolling Planning– To Proactive Planning – Plan for the Continual Course Correction

… Ready, Willing and Able to Turn on a Dime




• Shift in the Value Profile for Project Management– Highest Value: Shared Vision, Management of Relationships & Context

– Next Up: Course Corrections, Future Detail in the Form of Dynamic Plans

– Then Address: Collocation, Exhaustive Planning

Key Success Factor Common Understanding/Shared Vision


Emerging Opportunities for Project Success• Collaboration without Collocation

– Leverage Today’s Communication Options - More Work/Communication … Less Travel– Reserve In Person Meetings for Relationships, and Major Context Sharing– Reduce the Cycle of Realignment … The Minds are Always Meeting

• Time Zones – Friend or Foe?– Reduced Opportunity for Immediate Interaction– Opportunity to Accelerate through Follow-The-Sun mechanisms


Emerging Opportunities for Project Success

Our Changing World can Adapt Quickly … and Bring Results

• The Continual Course Correction– Find/Fix the Gaps between Plans and Emerging Reality . . . On an Ongoing Basis . . . Before they Cost Too Much– Eliminate/Reduce Dependency on Cycles of Realignment

• Leverage the Living Model Paradigm– Coordinate Initiative of Self-Directed Teams– Ensure Vision and Context, to enable Self-Correction of Self-Directed Teams


The Value of Context; The Challenge of Culture

• Discontinuities in Context– Context Drives Understanding … Understanding Drives Behavior … and then Outcome– Misinterpretation of Requirements, Deliverables, Stakeholder Considerations …


Today’s Challenges to Project Success• The Challenges of Cross-Cultural Collaboration

– Shared Beliefs and Behavioral Patterns of a “Society”– Company/Group Cultures – the Challenge is not Only International– Culture Sets Context … Context Drives Understanding …

… Understanding Drives Behavior … and Outcome

• Language Differences– Language Linked to Culture

– Multi-Lingual Teams

– “Techno-Speak”

– Engineering and Business Lingo

• Limited Overlap inTime Zones

Manage Project Context as Part of the Shared VisionProject Management in the Internet Age


Navigating the New Terrain• Documents Supplement Communication … Not Supplant• Actively Communicate – Listen, Learn and Teach

– Go Beyond Shared Information … to Shared Knowledge …… to Shared Understanding . . . to Shared Vision

– Manage the Context, Not Just the Content

• Engage the Team in Planning and Self-Direction… and Continual Course Corrections


Navigating the New TerrainPlan the Work . . . and Work the Plan– It’s Still About Scope, Time and Cost– Embrace Iterative Refinement; Embrace Course Corrections

Now More Than Ever … Life Is An Iterative ProcessProject Management in the Internet Age


SoftReach Services is a Professional Services Firm specializing in the practices of Program and Project Management.• Management Consulting – enabling clients to transform their Project Management and PMO Practices for Operational and

Competitive Advantage; Aligning Project Management Practices to the Strategic Objectives of our Clients• Enable Consistent and Predictable Project Results• Optimize Resource Allocation through Effective Workload Management• Portfolio/Project Management and PMO Practices, Repeatable Processes

• Practitioner Services for high-tech initiatives – driving initiatives of a scope, scale or complexity beyond that with which organizations have experience; Helping clients through periods of major change

• Specializations in Contact Center solutions, Software Development, Telecommunications and Offshore Outsourcing• The professionals of SoftReach Services ensure the success of our clients

Nimble Project Management for Today’s Fast-Paced World

Questions and Wrap-Up• Any Questions?

• Any [email protected]

www.SoftReachServices.com


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.softreachservices.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmmccutcheon