Category: Uncategorized

What percentage of your organizational time is spent on business-driven projects?  In other words, how much time is spent working for customers?

Even a one-man operation must worry about this number – this percentage of customer-driven time.  Every organization has projects they do for customers, and projects for in-house development.  The balance between them is what I’m talking about.  Do you know your percentage?  Do you track your project time?

I’d like to think that 90-95% should be customer-related.  Any lower, and you’re probably spending too much time fiddling with non-marketable work.

I once worked for a company that wrote all their own software development tools.  At the time, Microsoft was selling full-featured compilers for $300.  Yet this company wrote all their own.  In their case, I would guess their customer-drive project time was less than 80%.  That’s too much time fooling around with internal tools.

A company with that much time on their hands won’t do well.  What say you?

–ray

I know a person (who will remain unnamed) who uses a little trick to work on projects.  When starting a new job, she does just a little bit the day before.  When she comes in the next day to begin the project, she’s happy to see that there’s some done already!  And then, she can continue where she left off.

Nobody likes to start a new project with a blank page.  Yuck, where do I begin?  That small hurdle is sometimes enough to make you procrastinate a whole other day.  Yes, I do it too!  I have hundreds of small projects I’m responsible for, and sometimes I can’t bring myself to start another one.  To avoid a new one, I’ll putter around on secondary tasks, avoiding the real work.  But, if my project is already started, I have no trouble picking up where I left off.  It’s the starting that bugs me.

I think I’ll try this little trick next time!

— newshirt

The trouble with tracking project time is that most people don’t know how quickly it passes.  Unless you are a geek who studies where project time is spent, you probably have little idea how quickly it rushes by.

Does that sound a little absurd to you?  After all, everyone from the day they are born, is conscious of time.  We live under its shadow every day.  So of course we all know how long things take to complete, right?

No… we don’t…  It’s like we’re willingly ignorant.  Nobody really wants to know how long a finished project will take.  I suppose this stems from impatience and aversion to hard work.  But there’s also a feeling that “the future” is infinite.  We really can’t see past the next few weeks, and a month (in project terms) is an eternity.

I always laugh when people say, “we’ll have that finished by [September].”  Supply your own month.  They don’t really have a clue, and don’t care either.  September is so far off, they can’t imagine it taking any longer.  The decision is purely emotional.  They can’t imagine is the key element in this scenario.  It’s not based on experience or logic, but rather the feeling that “future time” is next to infinite.  In other words, September will never come.

I’d like to know how you plan your projects…  Feeling or past experience?  Drop me a comment…

–ray

There is one trait of poor management that really irritates me.  Indecision.  I like a fast moving organization that makes decisions.  A long time ago, I read that AOL was like that.  Their managers made snap decisions and deals without any deliberation.  Too fast for the tastes of some.  Of course AOL/Time Warner didn’t turn out so well…

But lots of the companies I work with are paralyzed with indecision.  Here’s the kind of management I deal with all the time.

No… we couldn’t add the new Whiz Bang feature to the product because we needed Dan’s approval.  He was out on vacation until the end of the month, and had 10,000 spams to deal with when he returned.  Of course, we also needed Pam, Jim, and Joe’s input, but we couldn’t get them all scheduled for a meeting at the same time.  Joe was busy with Mary’s project, Pam needed to review the specs again, and I don’t think Jim likes me.  I’m not sure what the status is now…

Is it any wonder things don’t get done?  I don’t see any negative consequenses to indecision.  “Oh, you didn’t get the project done?  Oh, that’s okay…”  With a tightening economy, this don’t work.

My advice: if you are the manager of a project team, give your people the lattitude to make quick decisions – for good or for bad.  The cost of indecision is higher than the cost of mistakes – IMHO.

–ray

I really wish I’d thought of this one…  🙂  (See the link below for PMI’s PM Network Magazine.)  Two project management auditors gang up on Wyatt Earp, demanding to know why he’s failed so miserably at the O.K. Corral.  They examine his project management methods and results, siting all kinds of iregularities.  Poor Earp has failed miserably in his famous gun battle, and he doesn’t even know why.

 Article by Michael Hatfield:

http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/This-Month-in-PM-Network.aspx

 

The point Hatfield is making is this: sometimes you just have to go out with guns blazing.  Some projects just need to get done, regardless of what the experts say.  I’ve done enough all-nighter’s, 24-hour weekends, and three-day coding summits to know what he is saying.  The big showdown is sometimes what it takes to get the job done, and honestly, you feel like a gunfighter when the dust finally settles!

So, the next time your manager asks how you finished your project so quickly, tell him you went “Wyatt Earp” on it!

–ray

Yeah, I said it. Cut T.O. (Terrell Owens) from the Cowboys; give a pink slip to one of the best receivers ever. This guy argues with coaches, yells at his quarterback, and then complains to anyone who will listen. He acts like a punk. Imagine dealing with that on your project team! We’ve all been there, because project team dynamics are not much different. All it takes is one bad apple to bring the whole process down.

 

We look for individuals at the top of their game to help us win. The dichotomy is that sometimes these “all stars” bring a lot of baggage and pull teams down instead of taking them to the next level. Much of the time, people are misunderstood and their frustration builds, causing true problems. Remember the old adage, “perception becomes reality when left unchecked”?

 

What to do…the first thing I recommend is patience and a little communication. We aren’t babysitters, but we are dealing with people, not robots. A little attention goes a long way. The new coach of the Cowboys, Wade Phillips, is known as a “players” coach.  He takes time to learn about them individually and does not ride them too hard.  I thought Wade was soft and T.O. would run him over. Guess I was wrong. With Wade Phillips as coach, T.O. had one of his best years ever. The Cowboys started winning and have a team capable of going all the way. T.O. toned down his complaining and even won some praise from his teammates. Is it because Wade Phillips handled him like a China doll?  Who knows? I bet if they win a Super bowl no one will care!

 

As you can tell, I don’t like T.O. But right now my team, the Denver Broncos, could sure use his help!

 

 

–Warren

How long does it take you to launch a new product? Doesn’t it always seem to take 2-3 times longer than anticipated? I’ve been involved in the launch of over fifty new products, and it’s always the same routine.

We have a great idea, which seems so simple. If we take our existing product and just tweak it a little here and there, we can introduce something new. Simple enough, right? Wrong.

Products take an incredible amount of time to mature. A few tweeks suddenly turns into a handful, and then more. Current products need attention, drawing your resources away from the new one. Excitement wains when people realize the instant payoff won’t be there. This is turning into work… We never expected this!

I’d like to hear your project team experiences with new products, and new revisions. How smooth is it for you?

–ray

Have you heard of the “Optimizing Organizational Performance” webinar PMI is hosting?  It’s free, and the blurb looks good.  I’ve already registered.  Here’s the link below.

 http://www.amanet.org/events/optimizing-organizational-performance/

Here’s why you should attend:

AstroWix quote: Each year, an estimated $10 trillion is spent on projects around the world and almost 50% of them fail.

I’d like to hear your opinions, after the webinar.  What did you learn?  Was it over your head?  Beneath you?  Feel free to submit your comments here – that is, if you remember this blog posting after April 30th.

I personally don’t like heavyhanded project methodologies.  Anything heavier than a project plan, timesheet, and regular meetings bothers me.  I understand the need for process overhead, but sometimes people get carried away.  Of course, the simple approach assumes a top-down buy-in from upper management, something I always have.  Other organizations don’t have it so good.  So, let’s see how this PMI webinar works!

–ray

When I develop products, I like them foundational.  In other words, simple.  Every release of our products is simple.  They are almost never a week away from release.  That affords a few good luxuries.

First, the products are (almost) alway stable.  There are never any huge releases that introduce a dozen bugs into the system.  Every release has at least a few small bug fixes and polish.  We keep up on that, along with adding new functionality.

Second, we’re nimble.  If a customer asks for a new feature, it’s less than a week from delivery.  Customers love that, I can assure you.

Lastly, project management is simpler.  There are no huge project plans to deal with.  Just small to-do lists we can check off rapidly.  Does it always work?  Yes.  Well, maybe not always…  Okay, about half the time.  But that’s better than deep-dives and unstable products.  Wouldn’t you say?

–newshirt

Have you seen the FedEx commercial with the half-pipe?  It’s halarious! As employees crash all over the place, the big boss discusses how much time FedEx is saving them, but then asks, “So why aren’t we getting more done”. One of the managers says, “Maybe we should get rid of the half pipe?” The boss ponders for a moment and says, “No, the half pipe stays.”

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5qwxqm683c

 

This kind of environment exploded during the tech boom. The feeling was that all of the dot com’s were going to make millions and competition was not a problem.  In order to recruit young talent, companies offered more than the standard benefits, i.e. health insurance, company car, etc. They offered a work environment that became a place where individualism rules. This is where today’s job market and yesterday’s collide.

 

When my father entered the work place I can picture an old-timer standing at the front of the office cracking a whip. Nobody likes that. Today we have moved to the opposite extreme. We get free massages and our choice of gourmet coffee. There are ping pong and foosball tables and the most distracting item of all…the internet! It’s easy to spend hours on the web planning vacations, reading articles and checking out American Idol results.

 

In my opinion Ramiele can sing. I think she was robbed. They should’ve sent Kristy Lee Cook home!  But that just makes my point. I am guilty like the rest. I could be more focused, after all what’s more important: the survival of my job, or playing on a half-pipe? But secretly… I hope Carly Smithson wins. What do you think?

 

–Warren