No two projects are the same. Our place in the business universe is far from ordinary. The things our engineers can do would knock your socks off. Although we have customers who buy from us over and over again, what they want is never the same. Although our project managers lead these projects, the project teams never have the same members. And, the vendors we use to provide goods and services for our projects never know what to expect from us.
After One Month
But, after a month of planning projects the CCPM way, a pattern, a rhythm, and drum beat has emerged from the chaos. The calm voices, the productive meetings and an improvement in our performance measures is almost spooky. It may be the calm before the storm.
There are eight projects in flight which were planned and scheduled the new CCPM way. We have about 20 more projects to go. But, already the amount of distractions and people running to me for answers has gone down. No dark clouds are on the horizon.
I don’t know by how much, but the number of emails from upset customers has dropped off. Of the few measures we are using to track our performance the number of nasty emails per day is the one I am using. I want them all to go away someday, and someday day soon.
Don’t Expect Miracles, Yet
It doesn’t take long to bring me back to reality. My daydream was shattered when I hear our CEO bellow, “Why do I have to hear from one of our best customer, MegaForm, that their project is going to be late? They are threatening to pull the next order they have with us and send it to one of our competitors.” Our CEO has a temper, but today his voice was flat and firm. But, below the surface, I saw the dragon straining to be unleashed.
Remaining calm, I say, “I won’t give you excuses. Let me look into it and see what I can do. One of our best project managers is leading that project, so there must be a reason.”
The majority of our projects are still waiting to be re-planned. My hands are sill full with the unplanned ones. But, it’s how our customers are managing projects. It’s what our competitors are doing it. It’s what the professional organizations tell us are the best project management tools. How could they all be so wrong.
Somewhere along the line, the world has been suckered into a mediocre status quo. And, some folks think that’s alright. Some folks like it there. Although, we are not out of the woods my any means, I see there is a different way and a way which may raise us above the mediocrity. Right now other people’s way of doing things is not my problem.
Before I could say anything else, his back was to me as he huffed out of my office. Still, my anger was building, but after a few deep breaths and I felt the feelings pass. It’s a good thing, too, since Jim was the next person to walk into my office.
More Good News From the Front Lines
He says, “Hey boss, I want to give you an update on how our Labor Day project is going. Have a minute?”
“Sure,” I say, “give me as much detail as you want. Tell me everything.” I took another deep breath.
He grins and sits in my guest chair. He says, “As you know, we started this project on the recommended start date, which was the same day we finalized the planning. I immediately prepared to start the tasks the software suggested to start during the first week.”
“Yes, I remember that,” I say. It was a turning point which I won’t soon forget. Would this be the solution we were looking for? Time will tell.
A New Way to Request Resources
Jim said, “I asked the manager of our Accounting Department for someone to fill the Financial Analyst position. We need to set up the budget tracking process for this project. In the fine print of our contract, we agreed to provide the City with a detailed breakdown of our expenditures.”
‘We did,” I asked, “Did you get the resource you needed?”
“Like every other department around here, they are all overloaded. But, when I specified which resource we needed, for how long we needed them, and showed her the priority of this project in our portfolio, I had no problem getting them.”
Usually, getting the commitment from department managers for project resources is a well rehearsed and civilized battle between two Japanese sumo wrestlers. I asked, “How did the task assignments go?”
Assigning Tasks Redux
Jim said, “Fine, I didn’t include a due date when assigning the tasks like you asked. I was careful to only use the estimated task duration as a guide. I also stated when the task is complete, be ready to pass your work on to the next resource. This will cut the multi-tasking, Parkinson’s Law and the student syndrome behaviors.”
By focusing attention on the task due date caused all kinds of bad behaviors. Jim’s use of using the task duration should keep these behaviors at bay. I wonder if folks will add their own date to the task when it is assigned. If the task duration is three days, they could look on the calendar three days from now and pick the due date for themselves. Let me ask Jim about this when he finishes his report.
Effects of Exposing Management Capacity
I asked, “How long did it take to assigning all the first week’s tasks?”
He said, “Less than two hours. I know what you are thinking, what did I do with the rest of my day. I know we expect to free up capacity, but I didn’t think it would happen to me. I did have to take time to hold some hands to get the daily days remaining updates. But, I asked myself, what else can I be doing to move this project along.”
“And,” I said.
A Leader Emerges
“I looked ahead in the schedule and tried to think of all the things which would slow things down. I’ve heard you say time and time again to be paranoid. Be paranoid. But, don’t be hysterical. So, I found a few documents we need to have and some folks who need to have a clear desk in the next few days. I was clearing a path for the project team to follow. I’m a few steps ahead of them and can see things before they do.”
“That’s one of the things Gary, our software non-salesman, expected would happen. Putting project managers in a leadership position is much better than managing things by pushing a string through the forest.”
“It felt good being out front for a change. Not only can I see better, but I’m not being pressured to make decisions under duress. But, there is a temptation to intervene even when I know I shouldn’t.”
“What do you mean,” I asked.
“I’m so used to sticking my nose in and trying to help. When the indicators show I don’t need to, I’m helpless somehow.”
I said, “You are not helpless. You said it yourself, it’s better to be out front leading the team through the jungle rather than being in reaction mode. That’s a move in the right duration. You are also in a much better position to deal with the unexpected we know are behind the next corner. Murphy as been pretty quiet so far, but I don’t think that will last.”
“Thanks for that. I do need some reassurance from time to time,” Jim said.
One Way to Evaluate Disruptions to the CCPM Schedule
I said, “When you do come up against something that you think will cause a delay, let me know. In the software, we can make a copy of your project, make the changes we will need to make, and see what the impact is. If we like what we see, we can use the updated plan or stick with the one we have.”
“Good idea. But, I only want to use the updated plan if the change turns out to be a major disruption. I want to avoid changing the tasks along the critical chain. That would also be a major disruption. If the critical chain changes, all your looking ahead efforts are lost. Wasted,” I said.
Jim said, “I’ll be sure to let you know. The other change we made is having the team make their own daily updates to the task’s day remaining estimates. This will help us see any deviations as early as we can.”
That answered my question. Our project resources may add a date to the end of their task assignment. But, being reminded every day that all we want is a days remaining estimate should counteract the date they set for themselves.
“That’s all I have for you today, boss,” Jim said, “I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Come back anytime. When you have positive status to report like this,” I exclaim. “I can use all the positive news I can get. It’s also a good idea to plan on sharing your efforts with the other project managers in our weekly staff meeting,” I said.
Rising from his chair, Jim said, “I’ll be glad to. As good as it feels hearing good news, it feels good giving some good news for a change.” With that, he disappeared.
Silence. I’m now alone to worry about how I’m going to get the next projects planned and scheduled.
