IT Management & Global Sourcing: Management Principles

Showing posts with label Management Principles. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Management Principles. Show all posts

October 13, 2008

Mandating or Negotiating – Which is Better?

First we talk ...

The short answer is – it depends!

The easy option is the top-down approach. Leadership creates a vision, they back it up by investing in that idea/strategy. The rest is a matter of change trickling down and being accepted by the rest of the organization. It takes time but it happens.

Unless the vision is revolutionary and drastic. Consider the challenges facing a new leader who is brought in to shake things up and get the organization moving to a different tune. Vikram Pandit at Citibank, Alan Mulally at Ford and Mark Hurd at HP are some examples of leaders that need to affect change from the top. They have to make alliances, influence managers, goad the organization to change and inflict some level of pain to change the organization. In such situations, there is significant resistance to change and leadership courage and persistence is required for success.

Negotiation and influence are a big part of any change effort. Human beings are emotional beings and especially in a 'knowledge worker' environment – dictating a strategy is not the most effective way to align your team behind you. The team has to be sold the vision, cajoled into changing, influenced with projected benefits and engaged in making the shift.

If you are frustrated with the speed of change on your team – rethink your change strategy. Hopefully your approach it is a prudent mix of leadership vision, partnership and active negotiations.

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September 26, 2008

Who Is Your Master?

Ready to communicate?

The easy answer is - the person above you in the organizational chart. But organizations are unfortunately more complicated than straight forward 1-1 relationships. There are dotted lines, peer groups, interface points, stakeholders, steering committees, client, customers – you get the picture.

In this web of relationships the challenge becomes prioritization. Who is relevant, influential and critical for your project success? Everyone cannot be dealt with in the same way, given the same information and expected to react in a predictable fashion. People are different, their roles are different and their expectations are different.

Your immediate manager can be your best ally if you have the right relationship with him. He will defend you, coach you, and help you succeed – because your success means his success. If you ignore, sideline, undermine or surprise your manager – you walk on dangerous ground.

Other relationships need to be scoped out and put in perspective. Some are “required but useless” ventures – you need to meet the requirements but not invest too much time in such activities. Some relationships may look superfluous but could be important. Participation of upper management in your project (steering committee) needs to be managed carefully and proactively.

The requirements are plentiful and time is limited. Understand your reporting priorities and leverage your relationships to be successful.

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August 24, 2008

Do You Buy Your Leader’s Vision?

It is almost a rite of passage. The new incumbent starts his tenure by articulating his vision. It is grandiose, glamorous and catchy. After all the objective is to establish yourself as a credible leader and leadership without vision is almost an oxymoron.

But I am frequently disappointed because the vision unfortunately remains a vision. When the dust settles, I often find no perceptible change in how things operate and it makes me wonder. Is this vision thing a sham?

In some cases it is a sham. It is a political exercise to present yourself, garner support, make some connections and move on. The leader presumably had a different objective in mind, but used the vision thing to get what he wanted.

In some cases constraints get the better of intention. You cannot affect the change you want because of culture, financial or organization constraints.

And in some cases it is just a disconnect between vision and reality. You bite off more than you can chew. New Year resolutions are a good example of this syndrome. You aim too high and due to lack of progress lose interest.

There are leaders who can talk and then there are leaders who can deliver. I am biased towards the one that under promise and over deliver.

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August 17, 2008

ROI – Thinking Like a Business Owner

Can you measure it?

When investing or making a deal – you have to worry about the return on your investment. ROI defines what you expect from the deal or transaction. Without a good understanding of the expected return – the question becomes – why make the deal?

The same question gets posed when you initiate or embark on a new project. What is the ROI of this project? And usually the concept is sold with subjective articulation of perceived benefits like increased efficiency, more productivity, reduced defects and higher morale. Great but can you prove (factually) the validity of these claims.

If you were an astute businessman you would be always asking – what is the ROI? And no businessman (like a bank) will give you money if you provide subjective benefits. The problem with subjective definition is lack of measurability. And if you can’t measure something – how do you know if you are getting better or worse, getting more or less, deriving value or throwing away money.

An objective ROI analysis for any project or venture forces you to quantify and clarify benefits of this investment. We will reduce defects by x%, we will increase output by x% or we will reduce headcount by x% are all discrete and measurable attributes. You present a more robust and valid business case when you back-up your analysis by facts and objectivity.

Invest the time upfront to understand the ROI of your project. If you cannot quantify the benefits – do you really want to move forward?

(Photo courtesy Flickr/Nick Sayers)

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August 6, 2008

A Gantt Chart and A Project Plan

Part of the solution

There is an infatuation new PMs have with timelines or specifically Gantt charts. I guess they are visually appealing and easy to draw. Often when I review project plans – I am presented with only a Gantt or a timeline. And I always wonder – what about the rest of the plan?

What is the rest of the plan? Well – it is everything needed to draw the Gantt. The Gantt is basically stating a timeline requirement to accomplish something. So the plan should address this something or in other words the scope of the project.

Scope – what exactly is included in this project? The more detailed the better because this is the reason why this project is being initiated – to accomplish this objective. Next comes the question – how will this scope be accomplished?

That leads to metholdology, WBS, steps or tasks. The Gantt may show these steps, but any assumptions, constraints, dependencies or milestones need to be clarified and spelled out as part of the planning process.

The Gantt may show resource assignment but what is needed is the organizational structure for this project. Reporting structure, roles and expectations need to be explicitly defined. Any assumptions about skills, availability, critical resources or training need to be defined.

And finally the cost of the project in terms of hours and dollars needed to be articulated. Cost components like contingency management, resource costs, assumptions, locations, and hw/sw should be defined.

A Gantt is defendable and viable when it is backed up by core project planning attributes. Without these – a Gantt is little more than a pretty picture.

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April 5, 2008

Any Questions?

Ready to talk?

I recently attended a management team meeting which had about 100 participants on the phone and around 25 participants in person. The meeting leader used the first part of the meeting to communicate key management objectives, challenges and execution approach.

The second half of the meeting was meant for active discussion and Q&A. The floor was opened for discussion. Tick, tick, tick … No questions – nothing but an awkward silence. A few feeble attempts to coax out a question were unsuccessful. Everyone seemed eager to be done!

When a team meeting (like the one above) evokes no dialogue or exchange – is it indicator of deeper problems? Probably yes!

Presenters in conferences are expected to conduct a one-way information exchange. Team discussion meetings are meant to be forums to discuss relevant topics amongst the group. Teams debate, discuss, raise concerns, comment, commend and most importantly participate. Active participation indicates trust and engagement – important team attributes needed to work and produce as a group.

Engagement
Are your team members intimidated by you? Are they interested in the topics of discussion? Do they feel part of the team? Is your team empowered and eager to get the job done?

Lack of participation also points towards lack of engagement. If you team does not believe in what you are proposing or are just plain and simple disengaged – this is what you will get in a meeting. When you are not into it – you are probably showing up because you are supposed to not because you want to. A disengaged team will usually meander around looking for direction and leadership.

Mismatch
Do you have a mismatch of participants in your team? Participants who don’t know their role or expectations in a meeting can be a problem. Participants in meetings need to be educated about their role and their contribution expectations. ‘Mix and match’ is possible but highly contingent on the meeting objective and outcome. Like minded resources who are involved in a common problem will be more apt to contribute in a meeting and make the discussions productive.

Lack of participation in a meeting that merits active participation is a symptom of bigger problems. Address the root causes to set the stage for a productive and eventful discussion meeting.

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March 18, 2008

Communicating Change!

Try to stay awake!

How do you manage change?

A typical example of change at work is a 'reorg'. At some companies it's a semi-annual exercise, which if nothing else creates some noise, excitement and change. At the end of most reorgs, there are new teams, new leadership, new responsibilities and new objectives.

Some managers get so wrapped up in consolidating their new role/team that they neglect to communicate? Sometimes managers intentionally keep quite as they work out the details. Sometimes one just doesn't know enough to communicate.

One approach that limits the chaos and anxiety caused by change is active communication. To foster communication you have to support an open and sharing environment.

Openness encourages you to engage with all the players on your team. Remember your team is more than your direct reports. Team includes all your touch points - management, peers, customers, clients, mentors and reports. Keeping everyone updated, though time consuming is beneficial in the long run.

Sharing allows you to learn, understand and grow. If it has already been done, why reinvent it. But to learn how it is done you need to reach out to the experts. When in doubt remember this adage - 'If you are afraid to ask, you are afraid to learn'. If you are transitioning out it helps to be a good team player and help the new team come up to speed.

Sharing pertinent information with your team allows you to leverage experience, insight and ideas that lays the foundation of the new org. Communication can takes different forms, including the formal meeting, the ad-hoc meeting, the one-on-one, email messages and the informal chat.

One key to managing change is effective, frequent and active communication. So start talking!

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February 5, 2008

RFP - Much More Than A Request!

Here are my requirements

RFP or Request For Proposal is usually one of the first real dialogues between a client and a vendor. This interaction is crucial because the success and failure of the engagement starts to be cemented at this early stage. Consider the following items that a RFP can start to clarify -

Requirements Definition
The viability and success of any contract is directly contingent on the understanding between the involved parties. The clearer the expectations about the scope of the work, the deliverables, payment schedule, milestones and organization - the better the chances for success. And the details start with the RFP. A good RFP should set the tone of the engagement by

Providing the vendors with ample visibility into the current state of the project or team
Clearly articulating the problem definition
Identifying quantifiable and objective requirements (a good and user-friendly system is not a good requirement)
Detailing constraints (resources and culture), key milestones, organizational concerns and workplace nuances that can impact project delivery.

Engagement Model
An engagement model defines the rules of the game. What will I do, what will you do, how will we interact, how will we work together, how will issues be raised and resolved, how will status be reported, what metrics will be tracked and more. The RFP is the perfect place to start this definition. By the time the contract is signed there should be acute clarity around the "how" of the engagement.

Performance Measurement
Most service engagements have (or should have) clear expectations around performance measures. What are your expectations in terms of delivery dates, resource commitments, deliverable quality, compliance requirements and overall execution quality. If the vendor fails to meet these expectations - what are the repercussions? Performance requirements set the stage for risks, rewards and financial penalties associated with the engagement.

Vendor Assessment
The RFP is the starting point to access what vendors exist in the space you are seeking assistance. Vendor qualification seeks to understand the vendor's background, domain expertise, financial stability, process maturity and management strength. Any engagement with an external party should start by understanding who you are willing to conduct business with and what do they bring to the table.

If you are serious about partnering with a vendor and expect quality deliverables from this engagement - your path to success starts with a well-structured and detailed Request For Proposal.

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January 9, 2008

Are You Chasing Perfection?

Draft is ready

Long time ago I read something about Microsoft's software development philosophy

"It does not have to be perfect, it should be good-enough"

What gets me is the hesitation people have in presenting what is 'good enough'. They toil on it, they revise it, they tweak it but they will not present it. They are seeking perfection and firstly perfection is usually not possible and secondly perfection is usually not required.

What is needed is an early draft and an opportunity to solicit feedback and get the ball rolling. Iterate through the cycle - create, review, incorporate and improve. The sooner you start, the sooner you have what is needed - perfect or 'good enough'.

So please - present a draft, get feedback, improve and get it done.

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January 6, 2008

Follow-Through - Finish Your Swing

A fundamental rule in golf is follow-through. The golfers ability to complete his swing leads to either a good shot or not. The same cardinal rule applies in a business setting.

If you start something - make sure you finish it. Keep your audience updated if your stated objective changes. Here is a recent example -

"In a meeting on Monday John agreed to compile a list of prospects and email it out to all team members by Friday. Friday came and went but the list was still not available."

Follow-through in this situation is a courtsey email by Friday informing the team members about a new delivery date and adherance to that new committment.

If you are responsible for something can you be trusted to complete that assignment? Complete means bring to a meaniful conclusion by keeping the respective parties informed of progress. If someone has to ask you what is going on - maybe you need to do a better job of following through. A big part of follow-through is timely communication. Avoid the situation where people have to guess what is going on or need to reach out to you for information.

December 2, 2007

Hire a Professional

(Time to clean-up?)

I can change a faucet and tinker around with minor plumbing issues but for major repairs or a remodelling effort - I hire a professional. The professional comes with years of experience, has the right tools and knows the tricks of the trade. I get the output I desire in a timely and cost effective fashion. The professional gets paid for his expertise. Everybody wins.

Does the same model apply to IT? Absolutely! Here are some reasons and thoughts on this subject.

- Expertise: The reason we call them professionals is because that is what they do for a living. You have to be careful in hiring the right professional but hiring a professional provides you with years of experience, appropriate tools for the job and industry best practices.

- Denial: IT departments stumble on this front because of a variety of reasons, including ego, fear and denial. Ego - we have an excellent IT shop and can accomplish any objective. Fear - lets not expose our deficiencies by bringing in external consultants. Denial - This project is not that hard - we can retrain our folks to learn this new stuff.

- Cost: But external consultants cost money! Sure they do but lets not forget about the concept of "value for money". A good consultant should always be justifiable in terms of value you derive for the cost incurred. Another cost consideration should be comparative analysis of external versus internal execution. A project done in time, within budget and finally yielding a quality product needs to be compared with the expenses of training, shoddy quality and extended timelines that usually are associated with an internal effort.

- Market: Market conditions change fast and companies that cannot react quickly enough to these changes get in trouble. To compete effectively in the marketplace one needs to be quick, fast and efficient. Retraining, retooling and "learning on the job" could be detrimental for critical and strategic IT offerings.

Hiring the right professionals for the right job is always prudent. If you are confident that you can remodel your bathroom yourself - go for it; otherwise don't be shy to hire help.

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November 28, 2007

Is Your Client Smarter Than You?

No – they hired you!

In today’s outsourced world we are often in a situation where you are either the hired help or are doing the hiring. Anyway you look at it – being savvy about managing the client/consultant relationship can go a long way in setting up a productive partnership.

The client is always right: It’s not a question of right or wrong but more of understanding the context in which the client is operating. The client has an agenda, an objective and also a set of constraints or limitations. Understanding the environment in which your client is operating and why he/she is asking for what he/she is asking – makes you more effective in responding to their needs.

Listen: Either you wait to talk or you listen! To understand what you client wants and why – listen. Sure, the client is paying for your services but before you can provide solutions – you need to understand the problem and it's associated history. You will be much more effective and persuasive if you on the same page as your client.

Ask the right question: There are many ways to ask the same question. With experience and practice you will realize how to elicit information. This skill is obvious when conducting requirements gathering. Don’t fall in the ‘don’t ask – don’t tell’ trap. Be creative and exploratory in your interviews and information gathering sessions. Piece the data together and ask questions to fill in the blanks.

Delivery matters: Sales and delivery so hand in hand. To build a lasting relationship you have to deliver on your promises. Delivering what you committed to builds trust, which is the cornerstone of any lasting relationship.

Be smart: You have to prove that you are smarter than your client. In other words you have to excel in your area of expertise. If you don’t bring the skills and competencies to the table – there is no relationship. Continuous investment in your skills and competencies keeps you marketable and supports a lasting relationship.

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October 15, 2007

Death by Paper Cut

Are you drowning in paper? Procedures, guidelines, controls, change control, sign-offs, tracking … the list goes on. The more process maturity you seek the more paper you have to generate. Does it not feel like an oxymoron when your productivity decreases to achieve process maturity?

It is an oxymoron because we get so enamored with the process optimization concept that we sometimes forget the true intention of these best practices. Best practices are supposed to make your process more effective and efficient. Process efficiencies should provide tangible business value – less errors, faster delivery and more output.

If you are inundated with paper and process – stop! Understand the rationale and the value being gained by following the procedures. Leaders take the initiative to be vigilant against waste and impractical practices. They question the value of inefficient procedures. They propose a better and more effective solution. They merge or reduce duplicative requirements. But above all – they don’t become another clog in the corporate machinery by being a rubber stamping drone?.

Smart companies value employees who generate savings by creating efficient procedures. Lead by adding value to your business. There are plenty of order takers – be a leader by moving above the bureaucracy and creating true process efficiency.

Technocrati Tags: Process Leadership Maturity

September 21, 2007

Do You See The Big Picture?

There is a story around putting big rocks, small rocks, sand and water into a jar. The moral of the story is focus on the big things in life before chasing the smaller issues. The same concept applies to project management. Focus on the big picture before you get entangled in the minutia.

An effective manager is a visionary. He can proactively seek out risks/challenges that lurk on the horizon and deal with them before they become reality. How do you do that? One approach is – think big. Look at the big picture. Understand the context of your project or assignment. Understand the magnitude of the problem domain. If you spend time on understanding the big picture you will have a much better appreciation of the challenges you face.

Similar to investing sufficient time conducting requirements before jumping into coding – investing enough time as a manager understanding the holistic picture will lead to a much better plan and execution.

Don’t seek the solution before you understand the problem. In my mind – the big rocks represent the important pieces of a project – the problem domain, the challenges, the stakeholders, the concerns, the implications, the benefits, the interactions, the risks etc. The small rocks are the pieces needed to solve the problem. The project plan, the resources, training, deliverables – the nuts and bolts of every day execution.

To be effective you have to see the big picture, understand your domain and then execute.

September 14, 2007

Estimation - Do You Have the Crystal Ball

Every project manager or team lead is invariably asked the question – How long will it take? What will it cost? How many FTEs do you need? Anyway you look at the questions – they are all asking for a prediction. And what better way to make predictions than use a crystal ball.

Think about all the myriad reasons why you cannot accurately predict the future – in terms of the project cost or duration. Here are a few …

- You don't know everything
Which is why you assume. You validate your assumptions, list and document your assumptions, but what you don't know – you have to assume. Most plans will have a list of assumptions around the critical areas of the project – scope, resources, durations, technology, dependencies, cost etc. Use assumptions judiciously to track and plan for the known unknowns (Unknown unknowns are dealt under the change section).

- People matter
Believe it or not but people make a huge difference in how projects are executed. The skill set of your team, their morale, attitude etc. all play a huge role in the execution of the project. How will you staff your project, what level of attrition will you face, will the team `gel' together and work in a cohesive fashion – has a huge impact on the project cost and success. Your estimation model should be explicit about staffing requirements and related assumptions.

- Change is inevitable
We say it, live it but don't always plan for it. One way to counter the effect of `change' is by instituting effective contingency management. Is contingency planning a basic component of your planning effort? Do you prioritize and evaluate the probability of change on your project? Are these changes captured as appropriate risks and mitigated with corresponding contingency plans?

- Technology is the easy part
Not always true. In today's dynamic IT environment, technical components are evolving faster than you can deliver projects. Technology consolidation, new products/versions, new integration challenges, new architectures and not enough maturity pose a significant cost component on most projects. Accounting for realistic cost for architecture management, infrastructure management and deployment activities can lead to a better planned effort.

- And what about data
There is a tendency to focus on the application components more than the data components. Not the best strategy since most systems use data as an integral part of the business solution being delivered. Data planning should include data modeling, database management, data conversion, test data management, test id management etc.

These are some of the estimation challenges a PM faces. Focus on these and similar components of project estimation and your dependence on the crystal ball may diminish.

How Important Are Numbers

It is generally belived that IT project management is more an art than a science. Thereby numbers are only so important when managing projects. PMs often rely on `gut' to assess the progress and health of their projects.

On the other end of the spectrum are PMs who are overtly focused on numbers. Affectionately called `spreadsheet managers' – these managers spend an inordinate amount of time slicing and dicing numbers using – you guessed it – Excel! They live by these numbers and unfortunately fail to effectively manage the non-number portions of projects.

So what is the appropriate balance of numbers? Strong PMs generally pay attention to some number crunching in the context of the overall project. These key numbers include

- Effort: Defining, tracking and managing the effort keeps a PM aligned with the project budget. Effort numbers include the original baselined effort estimate, the actuals spend, remaining effort (ETC), variance etc. An initial baseline and regular updates (weekly) are a must on most projects.

- Deliverables: Hopefully all the hours being spend on the project are helping produce some meaningful and predetermined deliverables. Tracking the progress of these deliverables in terms of number of deliverables, percentage complete, progress and issues etc. is essential.

- Schedule: This project component is usually focused upon the most in terms of the project timeline and is an important project metric to track. Project schedule is usually derived using progress being made on the deliverables using the assigned resources etc. Baselined schedule, estimated completion time, variances etc. should be tracked and reported.

These three project parameters form the core of any project and merit comprehensive tracking and management. Other metrics which can be included to enhance project tracking include – resources management (utilization and productivity), issues/risks (impact and mitigation), quality (defects and variances) etc.

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