Separating the best from the rest!

Are you involved in evaluating project management talent for your organization? If the answer is yes, then you are sure to have grappled with the problem of outlining the ingredients that go into determining that a project manager is indeed capable, competent and a professional; and then going a step further, taking a call on which project managers are the cream of the lot!

Across the industry, many others are in the same boat. So, we decided to talk to a number of CxOs, portfolio managers and HR professionals from around the world, to get a handle on what exactly goes into choosing the right project managers. While certification requirements have become de rigour, and assessment of core PM competencies is critical, most of our respondents agree that these alone only take you halfway to your objective. Therefore, our focus while writing this article was more on the qualitative indicators as opposed to developing a rigorous assessment model.

What emerged was an illuminating Competence Checklist that goes a long way into ensuring that evaluation errors are minimized and capability recognized. And then there are those traits that the select few possess to scale the summit of project management excellence and be pronounced as The Best.

The Competence Checklist

Here is a list of the 12 most agreed-upon qualitative aspects and also sample evaluation strategies, which will help you to assess a prospective project manager’s competence on each aspect. Please note that these are in no particular order but that each of these has been recognized by industry insiders are being crucial to selecting the right person for a project management role.

1. Effective communication skills
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask the candidate to explain some aspect of previous work so that you get a better understanding
This will give you a flavour of her ability to communicate and explain complex subjects in lucid manner

2. An understanding of project management lingo
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about the most important project she has managed and how she went about it
This will provide you with the candidate’s comfort with PM language and slang (such as Change Requests, Charter, EVA, etc.)

3. Ability to take challenges head-on and come through successfully
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about how the candidate applied her experience to pull a project out of trouble
The answer should give you the necessary confidence to judge whether the necessary experience exists. A little probing can also bring out the depth of the candidate’s involvement.

4. Ability to deliver on desired outcomes
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Talk to stakeholders who had a major stake in the candidate’s past projects
This is a form of reference checking, but more specific.

5. Self-learning propensity

Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about learning from failed/ troubled projects
This will give you an insight into the candidate’s ability to recognize and learn from mistakes and also to accept and use feedback to improve

6. Confidence to Lead
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about specific project and how she led her team and managed stakeholder relationships (internal and external) to achieve the results
This will give you an insight into the candidate’s confidence, role clarity, leadership style, ability to motivate and manage conflicts and stakeholder expectation management

7. Customer Centricity
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about her experiences with customers and the problems she may have faced in interacting with them
This will give you an insight into the candidate’s focus (or lack of focus) on customer requirements and feedback.

8. Ability to take calculated risks
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about a particular instance of how she handled a situation where there were potential time and/ or cost overruns

9. Ability to Innovate
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about specific instances of a long term project where a change of approach during the execution led to better results over time

10. Productivity Focus
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask the PM for previous project plans, scope and planning reports, Gate Review presentations, etc.

11. Ability to align to organizational/ project contexts
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask the candidate about his experience with different types of projects and elaborate on the unique aspects

This should give you an understanding of how she adapts to the context in which he/she has to deliver (organization, environment, technology, industry).

12. Ability to get the ‘right decisions’ from stakeholders
Sample Evaluation Strategy
Ask about a specific situation where the candidate used the power of information to elicit the right decision from stakeholders on a contentious issue

The Best

Here are the six unique traits that differentiate the best from the rest (Source: Andy Crowe, Alpha Project Managers). These are traits of project managers who have been rated “The Best” within their organizations and peer groups.

1. They just love their jobs as a PM

Indicator: They view their jobs as a career and seek education and development opportunities on their own

2. They believe that they have more authority than their counterparts. Even if something is not within their sphere of responsibility, they seek to influence the outcome without formal authority. As Tom Peters aptly puts it “Nobody gives you power, you just take it.”

Indicator: They believe and value their role as a PM and know as well as demonstrate that their role is critical to success

3. They are not overwhelmed by multiple tasks, and have a mechanism to maintain their focus and to prioritize their work and day

Indicator: They receive fewer project emails that their counterparts and not glued to their PDAs during meetings.  Also they log less time spent in project meetings.

4. They accurately handle their communication effectiveness

Indicator: They probe communication expectation of stakeholders, articulate and summarize their understanding and validate it with the stakeholders either verbally or in writing.  They adhere to their communication schedule stringently.

5. They balance the relationship and conflicts effectively

Indicator: They build informal relationships and networks and separate the person from the problem when a conflict arises. They also confront the conflicts early on and do not swipe them under the carpet.

6. They align the stakeholders to the objectives of the project

Indicator: They speak about not just the project objectives but the business/organization goals and translate their projects’ status to business performance numbers.

Read a whitepaper on how to develop a competency development framework for assessing project managers

Ajay Parasrampuria, Managing Director i2m Management and Services IT’S A HOT SUMMER EVENING AND RAMESH HAS JUST WALKED OUT OF HARESH’S OFFICE, THE DELIVERY HEAD OF THE ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS PRACTICE AT GLOBALSYSTEMS. HE WAS JUST BRIEFED ABOUT HIS NEW ROLE REQUIREMENT.  NOW IT TURNS OUT RAMESH HAS A MAJOR CAREER DECISION TO MAKE…

As his mentor and reporting manager, Haresh took notice of the latter’s ability in defining solutions and leading a team of developers and testers in delivering to the clients requirements.  The account manager is also sufficiently impressed with the way Haresh and his team delivered on the client account. Although the client did mention a few things about delays in deliveries, they were extremely pleased about the overall quality; plus the focus on testing and subsequent integration went on without hiccups. As a result of these efforts, the CIO at the client end has increased the scope of work and the contract work to GlobalSystems.

Parag—a senior PM for the same account—would also speak well about Ramesh; except that Ramesh would always ignore his requests not to overdo the quality and testing tasks in order to save time and cost; after all the projects were now all about fix bid. But hey, a satisfied client is what one needs and the fact that the contract scope has been increased indicates that quality work always pays.

Given that the scope of work is increasing for the client account the organization has decided to increase the headcount of resources. For Ramesh, this only meant more rookies to be handled. In order to manage resources effectively and take on additional scope of work, Haresh in consultation with Parag voiced his idea about grooming Ramesh to take on the PM role and develop another project lead; they both agreed that, given current constraints, this was the best way to manage the account.  They approach Ramesh to explain the situation and present him with the new proposition. To help him move into the role, they also identify the PMP prep training program and certification to facilitate Ramesh to move into his new role.

Ramesh is an intelligent engineer from IIT Mumbai. After working in the IT industry for now almost 4 years, he is just not sure if he would like to be a PM.  For Ramesh being a PM means giving up on the technical aspects of his work which he enjoys a lot. The satisfaction in developing a solution and managing a small team of 6-8 young engineers gave him a kick.  He is also not sure if PM is right choice for him.  PMs are often non-billable resources; no wonder then that with the dollar rising and margins getting tougher, he is not sure if this is right career choice for him.  To add to this there is increasing pressure from parents to get married. Ramesh is also concerned that moving into a new role would mean starting from scratch.

Will this new role pay well?

Will be succeed in the new role?

Is he cut out for it…? Ramesh is confused and uncertain.

Is PM a growing profession or just a glorified technical leader role?

Is the PM profession growing in ITES industry?

Apart from the fact that most Indian IT services organizations still seem upbeat about their recruitment numbers, with over 5 percent of their employees in the PM role, I can see no foreseeable decline in demand for Project Managers.

But is it a rewarding profession, satisfying enough to stray from a well beaten technical career path?  Other indicators we could agree on to measure growth in PM profession would be the salary and compensation structure of Project Managers in the country.  Going through the data in the PMI salary survey, I was surprised to see that there is data available for India too.  And the data was available for 3 time periods i.e. 2003, 2005, 2007 across the following Job Profiles i.e. Project Manager Level1, Level 2, Level 3 and Program Manager.

Now before we get excited over compensation figures, let’s understand the job description at different levels of the organization. The table below summarizes the job description as defined by PMI in its career framework.  I have added a column to indicate what it means in the India IT services role/designations.

JOB/Role: Program Manager

Responsibilities and Description as per PMI Career Framework

•    Responsible for the coordinated management of multiple related projects. In many cases, ongoing operations which are directed toward a common objective.
•    Works with constituent Project Managers (who are responsible to the program manager for the execution of their project and its impact on the program) to monitor cost, schedule, and technical performance of component projects and operations.
•    Works to ensure the ultimate success of the program.
•    Generally responsible for determining and coordinating the sharing of resources among their constituent projects to the overall benefit of the program.
•    Usually responsible for stakeholder management, particularly stakeholders external to the organization.

India IT Services Industry Role observation

•    Designated as an engagement manager or an account manager who oversees all the projects being delivered to a specific client account
•    May not have PMs reporting into him.
•    Coordinates with Delivery Heads of multiple units/centers to ensure deliveries to the client.

JOB/Role: Project Manager III

Responsibilities and Description as per PMI Career Framework

•    Works under general direction of either a Portfolio Manager or in some cases a Program Manager
•    Oversees high-priority projects, which often require considerable resources and high levels of functional integration.
•    Takes projects from original concept through final implementation, in addition to the duties of a Project Manager II.
•    Interfaces with all areas affected by the project including end users, distributors, and vendors.
•    Ensures adherence to quality standards and reviews project deliverables.
•    May communicate with a company executive regarding the status of specific projects.

India IT Services Industry Role observation

•    Designated as a senior project manager who is involved with a project from proposal phase to delivery stage.
•    Plays a significant role in defining the overall solution strategy or approach along with breakdown of deliverables across multiple teams/delivery centers.
•    Communicates directly with the on-site account/Program manager and to the delivery heads.
•    Coordinates and communicates directly with client program/project manager.
•    May not be reporting directly to the Program Manager.
•    Carries most of the performance tasks related to Project Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Risk and Communication Management (especially with client and senior management).
•    Other major tasks would include performance analysis & reporting along with resource & schedule analysis and control.

JOB/Role: Project Manager II

Responsibilities and Description as per PMI Career Framework

•    Works under general supervision of either a Portfolio Manager or a Program Manager
•    Oversees multiple projects or one larger project.
•    Responsible for assembling project team, assigning individual responsibilities, identifying appropriate resources needed, and developing schedule to ensure timely completion of project.
•    Also responsible for duties of Project Manager I
•    May communicate with a Senior Project Manager, Functional Area Manager, or Program Manager regarding status of specific projects.

India IT Services Industry Role observation

•    Works under the direct supervision of the PM II
•    May be in charge of assembly and assigning responsibility to project and tech leads.
•    Carries out most of the PM performance tasks related to Time, Effort, Quality, HR and Communication Management.

JOB/Role: Project Manager I

Responsibilities and Description as per PMI Career Framework

•    Works under direct supervision of a more senior project manager, a Portfolio Manager, or a Program Manager
•    Oversees a small project or phase(s) of a larger project.
•    Responsible for all aspects of the project over the entire project life (initiate, plan, execute, control, close).
•    Familiar with system scope and project objectives, as well as the role and function of each team member, to effectively coordinate the activities of the team.

India IT Services Industry Role observation

•    Starts as  a project or a technical leader
•    Responsible for the project life cycle, deliverables, and activities.
•    Charged with managing  technical resources as well as quality of the deliverables

Here are the figures sourced from the PMI 4th PM salary survey report.  I have taken the median compensation that includes the salary plus variable.  Although, PMI doesn’t say what constitutes the total compensation over and above the salary, this is a safe assumption made.  Given that the difference between the salary and compensation is less than or equal to 10 percent, I am assuming it would mean the variable based on performance and would not include benefits etc.

Interestingly the difference between PM L3 and PgM in terms of compensation is hardly 10 percent, which to me indicates that some of the L3 PMs are designated as PgM; but by and large their roles remain the same.  This is particularly true for IT services industry as Program Management definition and related processes and roles are yet to be clearly articulated by many organizations.  Given the fact that they are service providers, there is a major overlap between roles of a PgM, Account Manager, Engagement Manager, Relationship Manager Etc.

As we can see, there has been a median increase of 50 percent (taking 2003 as a base). I would say that the numbers look quite good, given the growing number of new clients the Indian IT services industry acquired during this period. More significantly, IT industry is also experiencing an average growth of 30-40%. This growth needs to be sustained by growing headcounts and overall economic growth and development in the country. All of this put together indicates an upward trend in the countrywide growth of demand for project managers.

But given the reality of the falling dollar, we may see a decline in the salary component. My prediction would be that perhaps the variable portion would increase as focus would now be on performance based compensation and not just an appraisal based increment, which to a large extent is given to almost all.

In spite of the possible slowdown in the US economy work being off-shored will increase. New mergers and on-card acquisitions in the BFSI sector could bring in more integration projects across major technology applications as well as infrastructure.  But the challenge would shift to delivering projects within time and under tighter budgetary constraints.  These circumstances hold promise for the role of PM in Indian IT services industry.

But what is worrying is the way industry is going about in-sourcing more PMs and developing existing managers. The current L&D initiatives related to the PM role are perhaps short sighted with only PMP® certification as their goal. We cannot yet see a competency based solution on the horizon.

Epilogue

Ramesh finally takes the call and decides to plunge into the new role of a PM, attends the PMP Exam program organized by his organization, and has started preparations for the examination.  After getting through IIT JEE and IIT, cracking an exam is an easy task for Ramesh.

Right now, however, he is occupied with the next client visit to the Bangalore center. The Program Manager from the client end is coming down to review the Program and Project Management Practices of the organization and especially the Project Office for their account. There will be a meeting followed by an evaluation of Project Managers working on the project.

Bridging the gap between knowledge and practice as viewed by practitioners and senior management

By Prof. Ajay Parasrampuria

Global standards and methodologies for project management are gaining  recognition in the Indian corporate world. This is based partly on assumptions of a mutually informing relationship between standards and effective performance. But there are several obstacles—both practical and ideological—that is holding back progress on the adaptation of these standards. For example, there is no research or data that supports this assumption about standards and performance and many practitioners have started questioning the link.

There have been various occasions where I have taken the opportunity to advocate (and at other times enforce) the value of using global standards of PM to senior management across various organizations.  Many among them didn’t really care about these standards as long as the project results are achieved. Of course they had legitimate concerns about today’s tough economic conditions. They also expressed fears about their project teams being able to achieve the results out of squeezed resources without effective project management.  It was during these discussions that I noticed what their body language was really saying: ‘‘Don’t tell me how it’s done, just show me the results’’.

To go to the heart of the matter, I thought I should examine the underlying attitudes that I believe are today undermining efforts regarding the standardization of project management practices:

1. Senior management resistance to project managers’ involvement in practices usually relates to matters of strategy, project definition, project integration and communication. The expectation here is that project managers are supposed to only focus on the monitoring and control of cost and time resources. The view here is that project management is no more useful than its ability to deliver results as a control mechanism.
2. To be rated by senior management as top performers, project personnel are expected to avoid overt involvement in activities that might be interpreted as encroaching upon the territory of general management such as strategy. PM is expected to deal only with technically/tactical aspects.
3. Recent research studies indicate that there is less than 50% agreement on the importance of knowledge for project personnel in areas of strategy, requirements management, integrative management, and performance measurement and information management.  The same study also reported that use of practices in these areas, and in stakeholder management, is likely to translate into lower perceptions of project management performance by senior managers. (This would be perhaps due to lack of awareness and understanding of program management discipline, among senior management).

I could immediate relate the above observations to my own experience IT services space, which is really no different. As the strategic aspects (front end definitions) of the projects including dealing with customer interface is managed by the Delivery Manager and or Account/Engagement Managers, there is little or no role left for the Project Manager during the sales process.  Commitments made during this process (including time, scope, cost and quality) have to be now managed by the PM. When such managers are trained, coached and mentored on application of PM standards in their context, there is a conflict among them. The current context has defined a limited role for a PM and it heavily overlaps with that of a project lead.  (Please note the distinction I am trying to mark between Project Leader and Project Leadership).  Another aspect is that their managers (manager of project managers) and bosses neither know, nor are interested in knowing the standards and its value. This leads to a conflict that, Project Managers don’t relate to the relevance of the standards, in their current organizational context.

For the current role definition of the Project Manager to evolve with the emerging context (PM is not just delivery but benefit realization), we must stop condoning typical “water cooler” prejudices such as “Project Managers are just glorified technicians or are no better than technical managers.” Of course this is a classical conflict which needs to be understood, resolved and is another topic for discussion.

Coming back to ‘‘Don’t tell me how it’s done, just show me the results syndrome’’, we need to overcome this bridge and move beyond “knowledge” and work on the “practice” (performance outcomes), but what is a practice (see table below)?  I have seen numerous practitioners, trainers and consultants who have nothing to say beyond processes (knowledge) and I always wonder if they ever used the processes themselves in as equal rigor as what they profess now (well yet another topic for discussion).  Lastly, this is one bridge that needs to built from both end and we will keep our fingers crossed that there no small gaps left behind during integration. Just Mind the GAP!

The table below lists some of the differences between process and practice; the need of the hour is to go beyond the processes and knowledge and focus on the practice to bridge the gap between the value perceived by management and practitioner.

It would be interesting to hear from other practitioner on their views and thoughts on the subject.

A blind man is rushing home. His seeing-eye dog senses his haste and quickens his pace to match his master’s expectations; the traffic is quiet as they approach the intersection near their apartment. The blind man, usually keen on hearing, does not sense the approaching mini-van heading towards him at 80 miles an hour.

The van blinks its lights but does not slow down. The dog feels a tug on his leash indicating “Go!” The animal feels something’s wrong and sensing impeding disaster over given instruction, pauses on his heels. As the dog’s nails drag against the sidewalk, the leash jerks the blind man back, his left hip missing the hood of the van by mere inches

The little parable may seem to speak to us about instincts but it’s actually about the intelligence behind those instincts. Some people may call it an example of intelligent disobedience: Intelligent disobedience means that the dog must learn not only when to obey the commands of the blind person, but when to disobey commands that might put their owner in danger.

When applied to workers executing ‘successful’ projects, the analogy seems to bring in some vital home truths. For instance, it reveals that the criteria used to evaluate project managers are still based on a crude behavioral psychology, where PMs are judged on their ability to manage and complete tasks and milestones. The impact of such ‘performance’ on the project’s ‘big picture’ is simply not considered a part of the same equation. It is important to know the objective and differentiate it from a deliverable, or for that matter, a task.

On the other hand, there are times project managers know that the demands from the project are unreasonable and pose a significant risk to the sponsor or the customer. A common example is the constant demand for new and additional features to be added to the scope of the original project. Customers think they can get better bang for their buck (especially in times of global recession and cut-back spending) if they push out a product that has everything in the first version.

So how do project managers push back on requirements which are not in the interest of project success?

Project managers need to understand that having a sound schedule plan built around schedule development principles is not enough. What matters is the power to exercise your own judgment no matter how it strikes others as being against the flow of things.

Here’s an insider’s look how authority and decisions work in our cultural context:

• Indian give positive status reports but never comment on the causes when a deadline is missed
• They will strictly code to the specs and never raise an issue before completing the code
• Revolt silently when given ‘crap work’ or feel like they are not treated like team members • When they say yes, it means, “ I heard you” not “ I agree” or “I understand”
• While Americans assume that no news is good news and any problems would be identified as they occur,

Indians consider raising objections as disrespectful and prefers to bury them

Here are some situations where you may be called upon to exercise your ability to intelligently disobey:

• When you’re dealing with scope creep (requirements keep growing without accountability)
• When you are proposing unpopular options go against team consensus
• When you are crafting compelling arguments for an unpopular initiative
• When you are standing up to senior management on personnel and resource issues
• When you are using non-traditional techniques to create “unexpected” impressions as a means to change stakeholder perceptions

All of the above involves a conscientious project manager using not just communication skill alone but deploying leadership capability, understanding stakeholders, influencing people while protecting the organization from itself!

There’s genuine excitement within the PM community (along with the inevitable confusion) as we collectively evaluate the new release of the 4th edition of the PMBOK® guide. The PMBOK® is a foundational framework representing the collective experience of practicing project managers working in projects around the world including China, Norway, Finland, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, among others.

When it comes to explaining the essence of project management, the PMBOK® is known to be dry and abstract at times but we also trust it for its comprehensiveness and authority. The key question is of course does it really help us execute projects successfully. While no one expects the PMBOK® to guarantee project success on its own, there are project managers who use it as a guideline to plan and manage projects effectively.

We need to understand that the PMBOK® can only tell you many of the things you need to do (“The What”); it does not prescribe the way you should do them (“The How”). PMI also mentions that a lot of processes mentioned in the PMBOK® might not be applicable in some parts of the project life cycle. The key lies in the project manager’s ability to identify the right tools and processes and map them to the project context.

We put these questions to practicing project managers and came up with 4 criteria for project success:

1.    People and their skills
2.    Organization of the project environment
3.    Decision making
4.    Alignment of the project to business strategy

Some limitations: PMBOK® and project complexity

Projects are complex in their structure; they are uncertain and heavily time limited; this means that balancing the interrelationships between the project’s components as well as technological/user uncertainties along with time criticality would determine the dimensions of complexity. A central limitation of the PMBOK® is that it does not account for different Project Dimension (Technology, Complexity, Novelty and Pace (Time) and related classifications for each) of a project. Based on these dimension the application of PM processes and methods needs to be chosen and applied.

If we are to do justice to this dimension of complexity, of which we do not even possess a common definition, a project would actually need to be seen as a large program. Hence the initiative may involve multiple systems.  In this situation what is perhaps needed is rigorous implementation of Configuration Management System as well as an Interdependency/Interface Management Process.

Tips on using the PMBOK®.

You will find that the worst misuses of the PMBOK® occur when it is used a set of dictums intended to be applied uniformly to all projects. Aaron Salo, PMP® and Change Manager, puts it best:

The PMBOK® is a recipe book. In the hands of a chef, who can coordinate the timing of the courses, understand what ingredients are in season and choose the best recipes for a great meal, it is a very useful tool.  Without the chef, it is only a book.

Here are a few of our favorite tips:

• Put people first and use the PMBOK® to make sure that their roles and responsibilities are clearly defined
• Use the work-breakdown concept to drive down to the most elemental aspects of defined work
• Always have an “out”..or a backup plan for every major step along the way. Use Risk management and Contingency planning.
• Use Earned value principle to check progress against time-line and amount work completed.
• PMBOK® gives your team a shared vocabulary. Use this common vocabulary in team communications while managing projects to minimize chances of misunderstanding and to live and perform excellent projects.

While performing projects based on international PMI standards, we should remember that the benefits thereof accrue not only to the project managers, but to their organizations, internal and external customers, and other stakeholders.

The consensus about PMP certification seems to be changing, or at least shifting. In a recent discussion with my peers, I shared my disenchantment about the PMP hypermarket. I was surprised at how many of my friends shared my feelings—even ones from the university. I guess this is because we share a common dilemma: we are deeply invested in the success of projects and worried about the commoditization of PM education.

This is how the problem breaks down:

a) The PMP exam has pretty large overheads—including 4500 hours of PM experience, 35 credit hours of PM education required for taking the test and costs not less than 5000 dollars. Not to mention the fact that all this must be supported by tedious forms verifying the authenticity and length of these hours

b) Not having the certification creates anxiety in uncertified managers who are otherwise star performers. To make matters worse organizations often make these mangers feel undervalued by demanding PMP certified professionals, which in turn makes experienced but uncertified project managers insecure about their position in the company

Current trends show that passing the exam is becoming a mandatory requirement; to make things worse services organizations are creating a salary differential (an incentive) for certification.

Learning and education in the Indian context is being replaced with passing an exam and getting a certificate. Many in the PM community are bewildered that even computer coaching classes are offering PMP Exam Prep coaching classes. Time and again we have encountered ‘certified’ PMs struggling to prepare a schedule plan which reflects the realities of a constrained and uncertain project. PMP certified managers, at least in my experience, fare no better than their uncertified counterparts when it comes to live project contexts. Managerial education in this country needs to be made more practical and relevant to the needs of projects and organizations. And the best way this can be implemented is through mentoring practices within organizations.

Senior managers are beginning to invest themselves in the lives of junior managers. I am not just talking about teaching them the ropes. I am talking about support them on live projects. There is no better learning than the learning that happens on the job. Simply pursuing a degree is not enough. Project managers deserve better because they are willing to take on more responsibilities and power. They need to be trusted. They need to be supported and nurtured.

In every organization, you will find enthusiasts floating around the latest buzzwords; prophetic signs that announce a significant departure of ways or at the very least a cultish gathering around totemic rituals. Around the water-cooler you might hear insiders mumbling the latest sacred jargon of moder management: ‘agile’, ‘scrum’, ‘XP’, ‘RAD’ etc.

In case you find yourself in a state of extreme mental and emotional excitation – notably rage—over exclusion from this hallowed circle, we have arranged a small primer covering these so-called radical methodologies.

The first thing you need to know is that these ‘trends’ do not in any way indicate a sea change in the technology market. They do represent, however, a conceptual framework for software development grouped under the nomenclature of ‘Agile Methods’. To clarify, ‘agile’, ‘scrum’, ‘Extreme Programming’, ‘RAD’, ‘Cleanroom’, ‘Lean’ et al are an expanding set of development methodologies that can be evoked under the framework today known as ‘Agile Development.’

Agile then becomes a new way to manage projects in a technology driven environment.

A very short history of Agile

What happened around the turn of the century is that processes originating from traditional PM methodologies came to be seen as bureaucratic, slow, and inconsistent with the ways that software developers actually produce and perform effective work. Agile methods are credited with minimizing project risk by developing software in short amounts of time. This is typically done through iterations which involve the full lifecycle of project development but with an emphasis on showing working product to stakeholders. At the end of each iteration, stakeholders are expected to re-evaluate project priorities with a view to optimizing their return on investments.

Breaking the code

Let’s take a closer look at some of Agile methods:

Scrum: Scrum is a cross-functional, self-managed team-based Agile process that can be used to manage and control complex software and product development using iterative, incremental practices.

Scrum includes a set of practices and some predefined roles. There are main roles and there are supporting roles. The ScrumMaster maintains the processes and works (this role is similar to a project manager). Then there is the Product Owner who represents the stakeholders, and the Team which includes the developers. The supporting roles are performed by users, stakeholders (customers, vendors), and managers. Scrum adopts an empirical approach towards project management, disposed with openness towards unpredicted challenges and rapidly responsive to emerging requirements.

XP: The acronym comes from eXtreme Programming which is a software development methodology that prescribes a set of 12 engineering practices that embody and encourage the XP values of communication, feedback, simplicity, courage, and respect.

These practices, such as continuous integration, test-driven development, and pair programming, help the development team stay responsive to the customer’s needs. XP teams are usually small (no more than ten) and co-located. Their practitioners embrace the fact that product requirements change, and change for good reason, while working in iterations alongside the customer to capture and implement the requirements for immediate feedback.

RAD: stands for Rapid Application Development, a software development process which involves iterative development and the construction of prototypes. RAD is credited with enabling faster development especially when used to develop web application frameworks and other types of software framework.

Cleanroom: The Cleanroom Software Engineering process is a software development process that focuses on defect prevention and removal. Cleanroom development uses an iterative approach, in which the product is developed in increments that gradually increase the implemented functionality.
The quality of each increment is measured against pre-defined standards to verify that the development process is acceptable at a particular stage in the process. If quality standards fail team review, testing for the current increment is stopped, and the team returns to the design phase.

Crystal Methods: Project complexity and team size are the core areas around which Crystal methods are customized. The focus is on people rather than process, and the priorities of all the crystal methods are safety (with respect to project outcome, efficiency, and habitability), frequent delivery, reflective improvement, and close communication. Like individual facets on a crystal, the dimensions of projects—technique, roles, tools, and standards—sit atop a core of principles and values.

Lean Software Development: The first thing that comes to mind when you hear ‘lean’ is Toyota. This is because Lean Software Development was adapted from Lean Manufacturing, the Toyota Production System, and Bob Charette’s Lean Development. Here are lean’s seven principles:

1.    Eliminating waste
2.    Amplifying learning
3.    Deciding as late as possible
4.    Delivering as fast as possible
5.    Empowering the team,
6.    Building integrity
7.    Seeing the whole

Recommended reading for project managers
Agile Project Management with Scrum – Ken Schwaber
Microsoft Press 9780735619937 073561993XFeb-04

I have worked in functional organisations, semi projectised organisations and projectised organisations.

One marked difference which I have perceived is the team spirit or the lack of it, depending upon the organisation structure. As you move to projectised organisation, team affiliations become more transitory.

In functional organisation, team members spend more time with the same team, may be years, growing in skills, knowledge and also position of responsibility. This process of mutual exchange builds stronger loyalty to the team. Having the same supervisor responsible for your work as well as career progression also helps.

In projectised organisation, project teams seem to be a collection of individuals (I thought of using the word mercenaries, but avoided), each individual worried about what he or she would learn out of the project on hand and how the experience could be useful for the next project and career in general. Everyone wants to avoid being ‘on the bench’ once the project on hand gets completed, because being ‘on the bench’ for longer could mean losing your job. Also in projectised organisations reporting is matrix based. Your day to day work is visible to the project manager but your ‘straight line’ manager decides on your promotion. This adds to the problem of team loyalty.

Continuing on projectised organisations. I have seen that if the team members get to see a purpose larger than the project, teaming is better. For example in a project I had worked with, the team had clear idea of how the project fitted into the client’s portfolio, who the competitors were and how the project could make or break the business situation for the client. The project manager should get the credit for steering and communicating the alignment to the larger purpose, over and again. And the client for sharing this perspective with the project team.

In another team, planned and deliberate teaming activities, both structured and unstructured, helped teaming. This team did an outdoor workshop which was designed to bring out norms of working together like preferred time and days for meetings, expected response time for mails, preferred work hours and breaks etc. This team or its part would also be seen chatting informally over coffee and lunch. To an outsider these informal meetings would appear as waste of time. But they definitely helped to create team spirit.

I am wondering what else is being done by project teams to improve teaming which seems to be a neglected area in project management. As the business situation gets more competitive, we are going to see more projectised and less functional organisations. Project managers will have to think of new ways to create more effective teams by shrinking the stages of forming, storming and norming and get the team into performing stage faster.

If there was one, believe me, I would have been standing with syringe and antidote for inept PM practices at kiosks across the country. But it is the rare encounter with PM excellence which leaves one wondering about atypical potentials. Here are some clues that light the way.

Project manager or task manager ?

The first question that could be asked is “Does this professional complete his tasks?” Or “Does he leave them partly done?” This is the first characteristic that tells us whether the person will make it as an effective project manager (PM).

Projects are about beginnings and I think it’s worth finding out how a PM starts with a project. After all, what is a project? A project is an assignment to achieve an end, which was defined in the beginning, i.e. when the project started. So, if the man habitually completes his tasks, he is a potential PM.

Here are the questions that could preview a project manager’s DNA:

1. Does the man respect his time commitment?

2. Is he interested in doing things as required?

3. What about money?

4. Is he a disciplined spender?

5. Does the man communicate well?

6. How does he behave when he has a conflict?

7. How does he react when things are a little chaotic?

8. Can he foresee uncertain events?

That’s all for now but bookmark this page for updates, as I weigh PMs against on other core metrics such as Time, Quality, Cost and Communication.