Using an External Contracting Manager & Lessons Learned Process to Identify & Resolve Business Issues

This Project Management document will (later) cover off Prince2 and Agile, and Technology, but first let’s think about what and why projects really are at risk?

Maybe it’s because employees don’t want to upset other colleagues and often although a risk is identified, the same employees don’t want to upset colleagues in a different department?

Senior executives are baffled why things are late, or not built to the quality they expect, or why staff seem to lack enthusiasm?

Bringing an external Contracting Project Manager to do more than Deliver a Project?

Senior company executives know something is wrong, but how do they get to the root cause, and which employees will be happy to “point the finger” at other colleagues failings?

This is where an experienced external, contracting Project Manager, can help? The PM is tasked with delivering a project. Part of that requires them to consult a Lessons Learned Document, if there is one? If there is not one then the PM has to write one up.

So here is where and how an external contracting PM, can help the Board understand what’s really causing delays, mishaps and then suggest ways to improve, and this is done without causing employee to employee friction.

Here are a few examples, using real-world experiences. You will have seen the same yourself. But a refresher on why projects fail.

Projects Fail because employees are often too frightened to raise awkward questions with colleagues in different departments. The risk is outside of their team’s area of responsibility, or we just don’t know what that person’s KPI’s are?

Maybe an admin manager is charged with reducing the costs of shipments/deliveries, so they put a project’s next deliverable at risk, because they wanted/needed to reduce costs on products from Taiwan (or wherever?).

Or an Engineering Manager does not want to expose his engineers to more challenging tasks. They are already busy and stretched with the existing workload.

Or the company ERP system does not properly track projects? i.e. Committed Delivery Dates were only given a few days before shipment, because that means that the company meets 100% of all deliveries?

What did we just uncover;

• Are we all focussed on making the customer happy, or are our KPI’s mis-aligned?
• If we “dumb down” our engineers, then don’t blame them if they put in the minimum effort, and/or leave to find a “better” job?
• Are we using our CRM/ERP system properly, or manipulating it, so that our annual report or team objectives are met?

So how does an external Project Manager help?

An outsider, can come in, and ask questions, so that a Lessons Learned Document can be compiled, or updated. We have to be professional, friendly, but we need to ask analytical questions.

We don’t have an annual appraisal to be concerned about. Our responsibility is to deliver the project on time, to budget, and to do that with the cooperation of the Business.

That cooperation means we need to treat staff with respect, but we need to find out what is putting a project at risk. That means we need to work across departments and be allowed to chat with employees at different levels, without their line manager supervising?

Cooperation of the Business.

We come in with the support of a senior executive. We need to carry that support gently. Remember, people don’t want to fail. People want happy customers. People want to be inspired by what they are doing. But they need an “independent” person, to quietly come in and listen, and drill down into why things might be at risk.

Psychology of Leadership

I am ex Army. Soldiers do things because of Team Spirit, and the Drive to get something done.

Military people are all about being part of a winning team. Having said that, you don’t have to come first. You have to get the best out of your team. So coming last can be a brilliant position, as long as you all tried and did your best.

It’s all about motivation. People can’t deliver 100% all the time. But work out what you need from your team, and play the long game. Maybe 70% effort is fantastic?

Maslowe’s Hierarchy of Needs was a key part of my leadership skills that I learned in the Army. I rely on that in my civilian life, and I find it has served me well.

Now the “normal” Prince2 & Agile Methodology

I use Prince2 to make sure we are paid for deliverables, i.e. Earned Value Management (EVM), and I use Agile to keep the stakeholders, actively engaged, and make sure we are delivering what they (really) wanted.

To be clear;

Prince2 is valuable to document what Deliverables (Specialist Products) will be delivered, to what Quality Standard (Fit for Purpose) and that your Company will always be in Profit during the Project (Earned Value Management).

Agile (as far as I am concerned) >> means that you do change the Project Scope (Totally against Prince2) but I agree to make changes to maintain Business Justification (required by Prince2). i.e. if you want a successful project, you do need to allow “scope creep”.

I also use regular “Proof of Concepts/Value PoC/PoV” to maintain Stakeholder engagement, so they continually actively support the project. Those regular demonstrations, also ensure that all Team Members are kept up to date on what each other’s teams are doing and that we don’t get into a “round hole” & “square peg”, situation further down the track.

So, how do you make a project a success? Here is a Prince2 refresher;

It’s not Prince2, if the Project is already signed off, without a PM writing the Justification?

If you wait until your project is signed off, that’s way too late, and your project is not Prince2!?According to Prince2 (and I agree), the PM works with the Project Board Executive (PBE), at the “Starting Up” a project stage. That’s the process in which detailed research and planning takes place, to document how long the project will take, the resources needed, the business case, and much more.

If you don’t use a PM for that, who do you use? The PBE is too senior, so is that a good use of their time? A Business Analyst (BA) understands the Business, but what about their “Product” knowledge, remember the “Product” is the “thing” that the Project is going to deliver. That could involve technology, or changes to HR etc. Or you could use a Subject Matter Expert (SME), but again, not their role, not their area of expertise.

If you use a PM at the “Starting Up” stage, they will save you money, reduce risk, and give you a project plan which details what needs to be done, and by whom. That’s their role.

The dichotomy is how can you use a PM, if the project is not signed off? Sorry, no way around that. As above, what’s your alternative? Mis-use resources, and/or approve a project that’s not accurately planned?

Is the PM responsible for Motivating the Team?

Prince2 clearly states that a PM is not responsible for motivating the team. How does this work in the real world?

Think of this “ad” outside a restaurant; "Come in, if you want? We are serving pretty average food. Tables are OK, and the service is not too bad?" hardly inspiring, read on.

As you take a quick look in to the restaurant, you can see that the restaurant is fairly quiet, and there are plenty free tables. Hmmm, it’s a busy day, but no-one is in the restaurant?

Now think about your project. Is that, how you found team members for your project? They were “available”, and are going to deliver an “OK service”? If that’s how your project team are feeling, don’t expect much? They need to be valued, inspired, and want to be the best!

Motivation. Regarding the above. How can a PM motivate people? Should we even dare to consider that to be our role? We may never have met the team members before, and we might be an external PM? Think of the HR issues we could cause? On the other hand, I am a former Sergeant in the British Army. If my team are not inspired, and committed, I know I have an Issue. Note. In Prince2 terms, an “Issue” is a Risk that has occurred. In this scenario, I move into how I handle an Issue. I need my team to be motivated.

Does the PM need Specialist Product Knowledge?

Prince2 states a PM does not need “Specialist Product Knowledge”, again how does this work, in the real world?

Product Specialism. We don’t need to know as much as the Team Members who are designing or building the Specialist Products. However, we need to know enough, so we are credible. So, no-one, internally or externally thinks that we don’t know what’s going on. In terms of my Technology experience, I build “things” which helps me stay current with technology. That helps with credibility, especially with (internal/external/3rd party) engineers. To see some examples of “things” I have built see;

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/mike-mckean-991a7743/recent-activity/all/

Managing Failings? I will never challenge a Team Member (openly), but I’ll manage to “bump into them causally” in the staff restaurant, and have a chat over a coffee. I once had to drive 300 miles to manage a causal, unplanned coffee and chat … ?? I know that’s more difficult with international projects – yes you got me – on that one. In that case, ask someone to help, or go back to how we handle an Issue in that situation.

Usually everyone involved in a project wants it to be a success. I see the PM’s role, as finding out what is stopping someone delivering. It could be something I am doing? But whatever it is, I don’t think anyone wants to be obstructive. It’s our role to help, and take the problem away.

Business As Usual (BAU)

By definition, a prince2 project cannot be BAU. If it’s just more of the same, it cannot be Prince2.

A Prince2 project is all about something which is delivering change. It’s a change from the norm. It’s forming a temporary team, to deliver something new, or unusual. If you recruit team members who are experienced, and expert in the status-quo, do you really think they will produce something new, and different?

You should recruit team members which include the newest, most inexperienced staff. After all, they have not been indoctrinated yet, into your processes, and procedures. They will have fresh ideas?

Does the PM need Business/Sector Knowledge

This can be a tough one, remembering the BAU, above.

If this is a Prince2 project, then by definition, it cannot be BAU. To be credible in a business sector, do research. Don’t just rely the Company Annual Reports, or any Mandate from the PBE.

You need to use the business vocabulary the PBE and others in the team, and company use. get help from a BA, regarding the Business.

But drop in references to credible external sources. (read them and understand them first). This would include references from Gartner, McKinsey etc. It’s likely the PBE and/or Programme/Corporate got the idea for their Mandate from Gartner, McKinsey or similar sources.?Nothing wrong with that, just do your research.

Who is the PM’s boss?

This explanation is based on a PM delivering a project, that uses technology. The PM’s role is to deliver the project, on time, to specification, to budget. He should strike up, and build a good relationship with Stakeholders in all areas, including Development, Operations and with Users. But who is the PM’s boss? Who pays his day-rate, or salary??Who manages his career aspirations?

You can answer that. Now think about how the PM manages the project, risks, issues, costs, and motivates people?

He cannot be a maverick, but he cannot be a yes man?

The Project Plan, the Elephant?

I am a vegan, so I would never try eating an elephant. But, even eating a carrot, needs to be done one byte (oops bite) at a time.

Split the Project down into Specialist Products. You could have a handful, or hundreds, or thousands of these. An example could be; “when I hit enter, all of the data on my screen will update in one second”. Behind that there could be a handful or hundred of technical things that need to happen. But that’s not the PM’s role to define. The Team Manager will take that simple statement (Specialist Product) and work out technically what needs to be done. He does that in the form of a Work Package.

The PM’s role requires that the Team Manager understands that simple Specialist Product. That quality statement (measurement – fit for purpose metric);?“when I hit enter, all of the data on my screen will update in one second”. The Team Manager then writes up a detailed work package to deliver it. At that point the Team Manager has committed to deliver it, to an agreed time-line, with agreed resources.

The Business is happy, they have defined what they want, albeit there could be hundreds of these Specialist products, and the Team Manager is happy, because he has defined how he will deliver the requirements.

The problem is that the carrot goes off? What carrot? remember - the Specialist Product? Taking lots of small, or hundreds of little nibbles (half a byte) from a carrot, over weeks, or months, means that the carrot goes off. In the same way, the environment, and the business changes.

We as PM’s need to understand this. We need to be adaptable. Prince2 has Change Processes. Too often I hear people mentioning Scope Creep, or Change means additional cost, or time. Why? In what way does a change mean that something will cost more, or take longer?

A Prince2 PM, will work with everyone concerned, agree what changes are needed. His starting point should be; yes, we can do it. Once he does his planning he will know and be able to show what changes are needed to time-lines or budgets. If the business wants things quicker, then the PM makes that happen. (yes additional cost/resources may be required, but they should never be accepted as the norm).

Ok back to the carrot. Keep taking the nibbles, you can see that you are making progress. It will get eaten.

When do you start Project Closure?

First the Technical Points;

In Prince2, every Specialist product must meet Quality Standards, basically these determine if the feature/product is “fit for purpose”. As each Specialist Product is manufactured, it should be quality tested. That would, or should be done as they are completed. Then at Project Closure, (in theory) everything works. The PM would complete the Lessons Learned Log, the Business Case etc, and everything should be closed as a successful project.

However, what about operational and maintenance processes? In the Project Initiation Document (PID) , we documented in detail what the Specialist Products were, and that should have included operational details. But, in the past X months, the external world changed?

One thing that the operations, production IT people worry about, and dislike, is something being “thrown over the wall” for them to support – last minute. Avoid this like the plague!

As a PM, don’t just work within your PID. Or, let me put that another way. If you do work within your PID, you are likely to have an Output/Outcome that others find difficult to incorporate into their new procedures.

There’s no point in claiming you delivered a successful project, to budget, meeting the PID etc. If it’s a dead parrot.

In the same way the PM is responsible for making sure, on a regular basis that the project is justified, in terms of RoI, Business Advantage, he also needs to make sure that the environment that this will fit into, has not changed? Or if it has changed, speak to the Team Members. What are the risks?

Make sure you communicate with people outside the Team. Yes, get their buy-in, but make sure that what you are building, remains technically, or operationally relevant, to an externally changing environment.

The Commercial Closure.

This is covered well in Prince2. On a continual basis one of the Key Responsibilities of the PM, is to make sure that the Business Justification, for the Project remains valid, throughout the project. If at any time, it does not, or it becomes a risk, the PM needs to take action. It could mean the premature closure of the project (and loss of PM Role/Day-Rate etc), but it’s your responsibility to do that. Yes, as a PM Turkey, you need to vote for Christmas !

Note. To avoid premature closure, due to loss of Business Justification, just keep on top of it. Learn why the Project was approved in the first place. Make sure you watch the key criteria, measures of success. It’s easier to suggest a change request, at the earliest possible opportunity, than to let something quietly fail.

Note. I agree that in prince2, Management by Exception works, but only if people write the correct Checkpoint and Highlight reports. Rubbish in, means rubbish out. If the PM does not understand how a Work Package is being delivered, then it’s probably way too late, to change things by the time, someone doing a Quality Check (fit for purpose verification) determines that the square peg, just will not fit.

A PM’s role is not paperwork. It’s working with Team leaders, and Stakeholders. It’s walking about. It’s driving about. It’s conference calls. It’s interrupting people.

No-One Responds to the PM

I was with some PM’s recently. Several explained that they had to keep sending emails, chasing people, and that they found it difficult to get people to respond.

Those PM’s lack gravitas.

Points to Remember about Prince2 projects

If it is Business as Usual, then by definition, it is not a Prince2 Project.

If you did not use a Project Manager to work with the Project Board Executive, and jointly write the Project Initiation Document, then how is it Prince2?

99% of people want a Project to be a success.

60% to 70% of projects fail, I can send you the statistics.

If you use a good Project Manager, you will save money, reduce risk, and know what’s going on.?

I value any comments you may have to offer. I see myself as a life-long learner. Technology is always changing, but people and how we inter-act is also ever changing. Please add any comments you want.

Thanks

Mike

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