Project Management Blog

Written by Chris Pinter

February 1, 2010

The development of new technology starts from a marketing perspective. It is important to know what you are building before you build it. Business Analysts’ are constantly asking the question… What does the market want? Knowing the answer is the key to success. Documenting the facts and key features is the essence of the requirements document. It is best written by business analysts and marketing professionals.

The requirements document is the first document that is used to build a technology. According to Wikipedia.com the Product Requirements document (PRD) is designed to allow people within a company to understand what a product should do and how it should work. [1] This document directs the development team in what the needs are and is used to create the technical specifications.

A good requirements document has the following areas addressed:

1. Purpose and scope

The purpose and scope of the project should be well defined. The best way to do this is to use the S.M.A.R.T. approach to setting goals. The purpose and scope must be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. [2]

2. Identify stakeholders

Identify everyone who has an interest in the project. This list of interested parties will consist of members who want a positive outcome and members who do not. Some examples include the client, customer, executives, lobby groups, strategic partners, government organizations, project managers, and members of the development team.

3. Market assessment

The market assessment section should include as much information on the market as required to outline the project. It should include a brief description of the problem, specifically why this project is necessary and the target audience, who has the problem. It must also include the market size and potential market acceptance so that the development team knows the likely volume to design to. Products that have a potential of 5 million pieces per year require different design criteria than those products that have a potential of one thousand units per year. The competitors and similar products on the market should also be noted so that there is a reference to the technology of the day.

4. Product overview and use cases

The product overview is the vision of how the product solves the market problem. This can be described using a series of use cases. Each example describes how the product will be used in each situation thereby solving the problem in different ways or solving a group of similar problems with a single solution.

5. Product requirements

The product requirements section describes how each aspect, notable condition, feature or function the product must possess. The requirements can include function, usability, environmental, interacting and interfacing requirements. It is important that each requirement be well defined in specific measureable terms. A measure of minimum and maximum should be used wherever possible.

6. Supporting business requirements

Development projects are very seldom developed in isolation. Many other business departments and organizational resources will be used to promote, service and maintain the new technology project. It is important to recognize the need for these departments as there are costs and procedures that will need to be recognized and developed.

7. Known risks and constraints

In order to achieve a competitive advantage in the market place, risks must be overcome that your competitors cannot. It is important to recognize the technical, procedural and business risks and constraints that may affect the project.

8. Workflow constraints

It is not required to outline the schedule, budget, and tasks required to complete the project in the requirements document. However, it is important to recognize any time, environmental, budget or resource constraints that must be considered when planning the project.

9. Evaluation plan and performance metrics

How the project is evaluated for quality and the performance completes the requirements as these measurable aspects of the document will affect the feasibility, budget and schedule of the project.

The requirements document outlines the customer needs and the factors that will affect success. The primary use of this document is to direct the development team in creating a technical brief and project plan. The schedule, budget and deliverables can then be outlined and decisions can be made on the return on investment (ROI) for the project. So… provide as much information as possible.

In my previous blog, posted here on the 28th of February, I spoke about the first key to Successful Improvement Projects; “An Uncompromising Focus on the Customer.” At the conclusion of that posting, I promised to follow it up with the second key; Senior Sponsor Support. Read on to find out about the second key…

It is a waste of time to go about improving operations or implementing a new project unless there is a senior sponsor that will advocate, exert influence and resource the project. If the sponsor is not passionate about the change - do not start! I have seen numerous ingenious innovations left to die on the vine. Why? Because the leader was focused on important, urgent and immediate issues while creative people in the organisation had great ideas but no mechanism to bring that idea to market. The senior sponsor plays a critical role when bringing about changes to the business. Sponsor support happens at two very different levels. You need the sponsor’s ‘head’ to provide you support with resources and people. More importantly you need to tap into the sponsors ‘heart’, to find support in the form of an excitement and passion for the improvement. I discuss this further in my newsletter, Silver Bullet 7. Visit Silver Bullet.pdf for more information.

This newsletter includes some practical tips on engaging your sponsor.

As the project rolls out, ensure you maintain communication with the sponsor to give feedback, receive direction and maintain a level of excitement about the success the improvement will bring.

In my next post, I will explore the third key to Successful Improvement Projects: A crystal clear vision.

Dan Jackson
Head Coach 7SIM Business Improvement
www.7sim.com.au

In my post printed here on the 21st of January I referred to the 7 Keys to Successful Improvement Projects. The first key is to have an uncompromising focus on the Customer. We hear it a lot don’t we? Companies promising in their advertising that that they consider the customer their first priority, stressing that they are always listening to the customers needs. Sadly, this is not always our customer experience.

The challenge is to turn that experience around in our own companies, and project improvements.
Recognise that one of most important keys to sustaining successful change is valuing your customer. You can change the way you do things, you can change your structure, but if it doesn’t change how you support your customer then it probably isn’t a change worth making. When improving operations, organisations tend to look for four opportunities:
Eliminate waste
Reduce variation
Grow the customer base
Improve the value provided to the customer.
Whilst a good list, it fails to recognize that improving value to the customer is the first priority; the other improvements can follow.
Practical tips on improving value to the customer are discussed in my newsletter, Silver Bullet. Follow the link to http://www.7sim.com.au/uploads/Files/silver-bullet/Silver%20Bullet%208.pdf. Refer particularly to my article titled "Striving toward having the best business culture in the world".

I’d be interested on hearing your views.
In my next post, I’ll discuss the 2nd key to successful improvement projects: Senior Sponsor Support.

Dan Jackson Head Coach at 7SIM
Head Coach at 7SIM
www.7SIM.com.au

With the current economic conditions, an increasing number of people are either afraid of losing their jobs or desperately searching for work. Just like it’s a buyer’s market for housing, it also seems to be a buyer’s market for employers. Those who are hiring can be extremely selective in whom they choose. That’s why smart Project Managers plan today for tomorrow’s “what if.” We need to be smart about managing our own career “risks” and have a mitigation plan firmly in place now. There are three simple, cheap, and super smart things you can start doing now to avoid any unneeded worry and panic if you do, in fact, find yourself looking for other career opportunities.

1. Invest in yourself. First, make time to invest in yourself. No more excuses! If you do not currently have your PMP® certification, now is the time. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. A PMP exam prep course can range from about $800 for a PMI® chapter sponsored course up to $3,000 for a professional training course. All told, your total required investment is small compared to the rewards (significantly better pay and more visibility as a job candidate). Further, if your current company pays for training, you really have no excuse; that’s a benefit you can’t afford to pass up. Nothing in life is guaranteed, and that includes the job you have today. Take the time to invest in your career now, so you do not end up having to scramble if things take a turn for the worse.

If you already have PMP certification, look into some advanced training that is complementary to project management. There are a number of niche areas that employers are starting to look for (i.e. Six Sigma, ITIL, CMMI, Agile/Scrum, etc.). There is a strong emphasis on “doing more with less” these days, and employers are looking for people who can help improve how they run as a business. Broaden your skills, and differentiate yourself by being a project manager who understands the world outside of just managing projects.

2. Create a buzz. Now is the to start making a name for yourself! Start a course of action to position yourself as an expert in your field. One way to create a buzz is to write articles on what you know. You can do this a number of ways. First, try submitting articles to your local chapter of PMI or another local professional organization. Groups like this are always looking for new content and will often be more than happy to publish your work in an online newsletter.

Another way to get your ideas out there is to start a blog (or post here!). Also, WordPress offers free blogs that take only a few minutes to set up. You can write as often or as little as you like. Write about whatever you are passionate about, and you may be surprised at how many readers you end up with!

Consider joining a local Toastmasters club in your area. If you’re feeling adventurous, book a speaking engagement or two! This will provide you with credibility in your industry, and you will undoubtedly become a better speaker as a result. Plus, it’s a great way to meet influential people in your industry.

Demonstrating your communication skills, both written and verbal, is a good way to make you a better project manager and get the word out that you are an expert in your field. Start building your reputation by putting your thoughts and ideas out there.

3. Make a difference. If you are busy making a positive difference in this world, you will be rewarded. Volunteer your time! If you are not doing so already, get involved as a volunteer with your local PMI chapter, or work with another non-profit organization in your area. By giving of your time and talents, you will likely find you get tremendous satisfaction in mentoring others around you. You will also strengthen your own skills and maybe even pick up a few new ones. It’s also another great way to meet good people in your area. I personally know a lot of people who have found wonderful new jobs as a result of becoming a volunteer. Make a difference in the lives of others, and your life will positively benefit as well.

If you focus on developing these three areas, you will undoubtedly have an amazing road ahead of you, both personally and professionally, regardless of the ups and downs of our economy.

Erika Flora, PMP, ITIL Expert
Principal Consultant, Beyond20
erika.flora@GoBeyond20.com
http://blog.erikaflora.com

If you are like me, it doesn't really matter how much you are making, you need a pay raise! Vicky Wrona of Global knowledge did a study of Project Manager salaries and discovered that certified PMPs recieve 15-30% more than their non-certified co-workers! Don't you think it would be worth passing that PMP exam for a 15 to 30% raise? Of course it would. There are some other things that, as a project manager, you have to understand. People count on you. They count on you, as the project manager, to control the scope of the project, control the budget of the project, and keep the project on a course for success. No one wants to be part of a failed project, and as the project manager, you are the responsible one. Standish Group International reported that up to 75% of all IT projects fail. They fail to come in at or under budget, fail to complete on time, or may fail altogether and be canceled. The core cause of the failure? According to Standish Group, it was plain and simple Project Management! Stop being part of the problem, and become part of the solution.

How will PMP certification help me as a project manager?

The PMP certification will give you the training you need to make the projects you manage successes. You are already being trusted to make the core decisions that will drive your projects--don't you think it is time to get the tools and the training that will give your projects the edge they need to be successful. You owe it to your team to get trained, pass the exam, and get those projects on schedule, to complete on time, within budget, and to successfully fulfill the project objectives. I have seen how project managers that have become PMP certified have really matured and have been able to bring down project costs, managed schedule over-runs, and learned to deal with stakeholders better than ever before. You owe it to your employer, to your co-workers, but especially to yourself. Your success as a project manager will earn you that 15-30% raise that you deserve, and people will know you deserve it with that PMP at the end of your name.

Usually a project is considered successful if groups of the project parameters like cost, time and scope are properly selected and match the expectations of project stakeholders. Some people devote much time and many efforts trying to initiate, plan, track and manage their projects, but they often don’t give a great deal of thoughts to actually the benefits of each project.

When initiating a new project, identifying benefits seems to be a quite obvious goal for the project. However, many projects are initiated with what seems to be a good idea but not an identified benefit. Along with such project parameters like cost, time and scope, the benefit is a particular and specific parameter that tends to be one of the most significant things that we should be focused on when planning and initiating our projects.

Your project becomes successful if the expected benefits are derived. This is the core of benefits management for projects. Benefits management is the way to put your focus in the most appropriate place by asking the questions like: 'Why am I doing this project?' and 'Why am I still doing this project?'

Realizing benefits concerns the start and end of any project. When we set the expected benefits, this means we set a 'background' for our project or an actual reason behind the initiation and execution of the project. And the benefits will surround each project's stage - all the time during the project life cycle. That's why project benefits management is about all the process groups of project management, including Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring&Controlling, and Closing.

Experts say that up to 90% of a project manager’s time is spent on communication either with stakeholders, project team, suppliers or upper management within the organization. That volume speaks about the importance of communication to any project. Experienced project managers can relate to this, when communications is done properly, the project is more likely to achieve its objectives.

Easy formula! Not really. Managing communication is one of the most challenging tasks for a project manager. Daily, you might receive and send hundreds or thousands of emails and IM messages. Some issues start on email but get concluded on IM or vice versa. Keeping track of communication, and most importantly the sequence and relation between messages is really a hectic process.

A proper tool should be available to help. Ironically, available project management applications overlook this fact. However, they significantly concentrate on scheduling and reporting, which make them not of great help in this matter. Relying on web 2.0 applications to enhance collaboration and communication was introduced as what is called Project Management 2.0. However, the down side is that you still have to rely on too many applications e.g. twitter, email, IM…..etc. There is no real integration between different applications especially email and IM.

So what exactly we are looking for as project managers? What are the characteristics of the tool that will help manage communications at ease? I think we want the option to communicate in real-time, but also the ability to communicate at our leisure at times. We want a “passive-aggressive” method of communication. Passive communication is when you are just listening, not waiting for nor expecting a prompt response i.e. email, while aggressive communication is about getting a response promptly i.e. IM. We want both approaches in a unified tool.
Wave! Yes Google Wave is the answer. Google Wave is both a platform and a new communication standard. A wave is:

* Equal parts; conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps and more. A wave can be embedded in a web page as well
* Shared; any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback; anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. You can send to everyone in the wave or select a subset of users.
* Live; with live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

From project management perspective, you can keep track of all communication and documents related to the project. You can track and follow up on issues till conclusion, you can coordinate with your team members and you can communicate with stakeholders using the same wave, awesome!
It is worth mentioning that Google Wave is still not finalized yet, it has been recently released to a limited group of developers for feedback and bugs reporting. However initial indications promise great potential and a mindset shift in our understanding of communication.
So will Project Management 3.0 be based on Google Wave? Most probably.

Stakeholder identification entails conducting a comprehensive stakeholder analysis (rarely, it’s called Stakeholder identification method or Stakeholder identification technique). A group of people responsible for stakeholder identification creates a stakeholder table where stakeholder groups, project goals and ways to achieve these goals are included. Being a tool to conduct a complete stakeholder analysis within the stakeholder identification process, the stakeholder table allows answering the following questions:

• Who are the stakeholders?
• What are the interests and involvement of the stakeholders linked to current project?
• How can each stakeholder group impact on the project?
• What potential contribution can each stakeholder group deliver to the project?
• What are the willingness and capacity of each stakeholder group to participate in the project?

The stakeholder table lets organize all project stakeholders into groups, and each of the stakeholder groups has a detailed description of goals to be set before current stakeholder group. The stakeholder table is also used to comprehend the differences between stakeholders who affect a situation or the course of current project (active stakeholders) and stakeholders who may be affected by it (passive stakeholders).

Stakeholder mapping
Stakeholder mapping is a pragmatic system within the stakeholder management theory that helps project participants to get a big-picture view of the stakeholder groups and focus on specific elements of the complex network of stakeholders. The stakeholder mapping system should be based on the principles of accountability and transparency to create an environment which depends on the stakes each of the stakeholders holds and on how each stakeholder is related to other stakeholders.

As an independent process, stakeholder mapping allows defining stakeholders of a project and areas of interest and engagement. The stakeholder mapping process is aimed at ensuring all stakeholders are committed and advised throughout the change management process. The process helps keep stakeholders motivated and concerned. It also delivers wide buy-in and engagement and ensures all decisions are made in coordination with all parties involved. The stakeholder mapping process results in development of a stakeholder map.