FAQ

Q: In our company, the discussion of problem records has been going on for so long that I just dream of breaking out of this room. What do you propose to do to fix this problem?

A: Managing issue records is challenging because you are dealing with unexpected issues. If expected, they would be planned in the project (assuming you are planning your project). This often makes people nervous, as some of the problem records are viewed as a kind of album of records of how many problems arise in a given area. When people become nervous or defensive, long discussions about this topic can lead people to try to hide their problems. The best defense in such a situation is offense. Try to focus on results. Discussions about problems often move to the level of theoretical discussions or discussions that are not related to the central issue. Focus on the problem and the results. Don’t let the discussion go off course. If the problem cannot be resolved quickly (you can use a five-minute timer or hourglass for control), write it down and move on. Problems recorded in this way may require an additional meeting for analysis and resolution, but analyzing the list of problems will not be painful and unproductive. If you are not the moderators of the meeting, you can politely suggest this method to the meeting leader as a way to make more productive use of the time of all meeting participants.

Q: Although at times it seems that we have planned all possible risks, they appear over and over again. What can you do to avoid them?

A: It is very difficult to simultaneously control many changing things at once, so it is quite understandable that some things can be overlooked. However, project management is a process that is precisely aimed at reducing errors and omissions, and you can try to better manage the project to avoid such problems. You did a great job identifying all the risks of the project, but after that no one was involved in the risk plan. Two possible solutions immediately come to mind (if you have more of them based on everything you read, then this is only good). First, you can delegate the task of overseeing the risk management plan to someone on your project team who can complete it. Sometimes, just scheduling such tasks is enough to better control your project, because you are simply unable to do everything as a manager. Second, add keypoints to your project where you defined triggers. If one of your project risks is that the equipment supplier may deliver the necessary parts late, you need to add a key point at the moment when you set the supplier deadlines, another such point at the time of ordering the equipment, a third at the time of the planned arrival. equipment and another at the moment when you activate the backup action plan. While such a large number of key points for just one single risk may seem overkill, they can help you easily manage project risks while managing the overall plan. If one of your project risks is that the equipment supplier may deliver the necessary parts late, you need to add a key point at the moment when you set the supplier deadlines, another such point at the time of ordering the equipment, a third at the time of the planned arrival. equipment and another at the moment when you activate the backup action plan. While such a large number of key points for just one single risk may seem overkill, they can help you easily manage project risks while managing the overall plan. If one of your project risks is that the equipment supplier may deliver the necessary parts late, you need to add a key point at the moment when you set the supplier deadlines, another such point at the time of ordering the equipment, and a third at the time of the planned arrival. equipment and another at the moment when you activate the backup action plan. While such a large number of key points for just one single risk may seem overkill, they will help you easily manage project risks while managing the overall plan. the third – at the time of the planned arrival of equipment and one more at the moment when you activate the backup action plan. While such a large number of key points for just one single risk may seem overkill, they can help you easily manage project risks while managing the overall plan. the third – at the time of the planned arrival of equipment and one more at the moment when you activate the backup action plan. While such a large number of key points for just one single risk may seem overkill, they can help you easily manage project risks while managing the overall plan.

Q: You did not discuss EVA, although in my opinion percent completion or rejection are all pretty useless parameters. Your comments?

A: We will discuss EVA in the next Chapter 11 as it requires a more technical analysis of project progress. While completion rates and deviations are subjective indicators, they are useful tools for many projects as they do not require sophisticated methods to measure project progress.

Q: It seems that in any IT project its size gets out of control, although we don’t always notice it. Usually we receive a stream of requests from all sides – from users, managers, project sponsor, even company management – and we cannot say no to anyone. What can be done to deal with this?

A: It sounds like you’ve had a lot of volume creep. Fortunately, there is an antidote to this, although in your case it can be a long process. The main thing is to explain to everyone what the danger of the spread of the project volume is. You can start by analyzing already completed projects. Compare the results obtained with the planned ones and calculate how much additional money and time this project cost. If possible, compare the required (planned) quality with the obtained quality. It is quite possible that in these historical studies you will find the answer to your question. You will find that the costs were made over the head of the project team or the tasks were not completed on time or the project results were of poor quality. Since you now understand that there is a connection between volume, time, cost and quality,

There is a feeling that you have problems already in the early stages of project definition. If your projects are not geared towards the needs of users / clients, business and management, then they will constantly pester you. If your projects are well defined and your company simply faces frequent changes, then you will have a stronger position (if possible) in implementing the change management process. Educate everyone on how, when, and why change can happen, be measured and implemented. Help everyone understand what all changes bring to the project and help them prioritize. Your company may not be against a project that goes over budget, is late, or is performed at a lower quality, but if you explain how to do a good job for less money in a shorter time

Q: I really don’t like working with people. I think that as an IT project manager I will manage the project.

A: I guess the question is that you just don’t know what to do now that you find that managing an IT project is mainly about managing people, not technology. Your main pleasure is defining a project, including its functional and technical details, creating a WBS, and detailing tasks. In this case, you are better off working in a group as an expert on specific issues, not as an IT project manager. If you want to improve your ability to communicate with people, then the project can be a great way to do this. Talk to someone who is considered an experienced project manager about how you communicate with people and manage your group. Managing people is a skill that can be learned, especially if you constantly focus on the desired result,

Q: After the project is completed, people usually run as quickly as possible to the nearest exit. How can you convince them to participate in the completion of the project?

A: Indeed, there are several ways you can achieve this. First, you can define wrap-up activities during the project definition phase so that it is clear to everyone that these activities are part of the IT project. In addition, you can add project completion tasks to your project plan, assign who is responsible for completing them, and develop entry / exit and completion criteria for these tasks. Attributing their completion to the key points of the project adds value to the completion tasks.