Project Perfect - Project Management

What do you call a "Project Contingency"

Some time ago we published a white paper called managing changes to projects. http://www.projectperfect.com.au/info_contingency.php It basically covered the need for a contingency and how to manage it. An interesting conversation recently with a group of PMs focused on how you handle the contingency in a budget. The common experience was that if you used the word "contingency" it was usually cut.

We came up with a number of other terms such as:

- Unallocated funds
- Reserve for undefined low level requirements. (I like this one as if challenged, you can always say you want more time to define the requirements to a lower level of detail)
- Scope Expansion funds
- Undefined scope
- Uncosted detailed requirements (This was my favourite)

There were a few others such as "PM's discretionary funds" that are not worth mentioning but it would be interesting to hear other people's views on what the reserve could be called.

New release of Project Management Software

Project Perfect is proud to announce the release of Project Administrator version 3.3. Project Administrator assists project managers to manage issues, risks, action items, scope, documents, budgets, timesheets and more. The latest release adds change control to the functions available to a project manager.

"We have a philosophy of letting our customers decide what developments they would like to see for the software." said Neville Turbit - a director of Project Perfect. "There are many refinements in the new release including new reports, and easier data entry. One suggestion we were happy to take up was to include an area to track changes on a project. You can use this function to manage proposals through approval and allocation to a person for implementation."

For more information see www.projectperfect.com.au/pa.htm

Project Management Diary Notes

Being a Project Manager is like being a traffic cop. You are trying to direct the traffic all around without letting anything happen that shouldn't. It applies equally to those hundreds of conversations you have every week where all manner of topics are discussed. You try to file away the bits and pieces in your head and perhaps scribble down some notes in a book, but how do you know what is important? What should you really record? Even worse, when it suddenly becomes important in a few months, how do you find it?

Long ago I started keeping a spiral bound notebook to jot down 20 or 30 things a day that seemed relevant. Often I would mark the important ones with a highlighter. Many of you probably do the same. Then it occurred to me that we are in the information age. Where is the electronic solution to my problem?

When we designed our Project Administrator software we set out to address the issue. We built a diary notes section into the software. It allows me to jot down a short note, date it, and store it away for possible future reference. Like most people, my typing is faster than my writing so it is much easier, and more legible, to type up a note on the PC. I find when working on a project, that the diary notes screen stays open on my desktop all day and enables me to capture what might seem at the time to be irrelevant information. Later, that information may prove invaluable. There is nothing like being able to say to someone " … but on 5 August you told me that ...... I made a note of it."

You can view the screen at www.projectperfect.com.au/pa_fun_diary.htm Even if you don't use a product like Project Administrator, it may be worth considering a simple Access database to store your diary notes.

Project Status Reports

One of the most common search engine queries that brings people to our site is for project status reports or project weekly reports. It seems many people are looking for some guidance. We have just published a white paper that gives some guidance as well as an example. For more information see www.projectperfect.com.au/info_status_report.php

Project Managing the Tsunami Crisis

The tsunami a few days ago was a tragedy for those involved, and must also be a trial for those assisting. The inability to make a significant impact must be a frustration for the many aid organisations. It is after all, just another project, however on a scale rarely seen. Thinking of it as a project, consider the following:

- A project should have a sponsor. With a dozen countries involved, having a single Sponsor is impossible. Even the UN does not have the authority to be a sponsor so there is no single decision making point.

- Timeframes are non negotiable. The dead need to be buried and the survivors fed in a certain timeframe. There is not the luxury of extending deadlines.

- There is no opportunity for risk management. For example a risk analysis would raise the prospect of another earth tremor and second tsunami. Mitigation could be put in place if there was time but there is not time.

- The scope is totally undefined and growing all the time as more devastation is discovered. There is no scope control where additional work can be considered and either accepted or rejected.

- Quality control is not an option. It is a case of do what you can with what you have. Forget the quality.

- Resource management is an exercise in coordinating a myriad of organisations and governments without clear lines of authority.

- Communication has been destroyed so no matter what you have to communicate, you cannot actually reach many of the people other than to go and talk to them. On top of the internal communication, we have the external communication. The world media is devouring the communication effort to feed our TVs and taking away precious time from those involved.

- Cost is both unknown and escalating rapidly. In spite of the generosity of the rest of the world, the final cost will far outstrip the amount being collected. To fix the problem, a blank cheque is required. What project ever had a blank cheque?

As we go about our business projects, spare a thought for those involved on the tsunami cleanup. They too are project managers. The problems they face far exceed anything we will ever encounter.