PM excellence - Henning Zeumer Projektmanagement

Program Governance with cascading Meetings and Reports

In the realm of Program Management, as initiatives grow in size and complexity, so does the distribution of information and governance. While adept project managers can readily navigate the intricacies at the project level, scaling introduces a surge in stakeholders, communication channels, and the imperative to tailor information appropriately. To prevent meetings and reporting from devolving into burdensome overhead, but still serve their purpose adequately, structured and strategic communication becomes paramount for programs and large projects. In my experience, cascading structures have proven to be effective for this purpose.

Management Levels of an Organization

To understand this, let’s examine the distinct management levels within an organization, division, or department:

PPM-PgM-P - Program Management, Governance

Portfolio
Oversight of all programs and projects of a Business Unit.
Program
combination of 2 or more projects sharing the same customer, product, or cultural background.
Project
individual customer-oriented project to fulfil one (1) customer contract.

Communication and control within projects

Within the projects, coordination between the teams and sub-projects is essential. This occurs through internal meetings (e.g., daily stand-ups) and interdisciplinary gatherings (e.g., weekly meetings), supplemented by succinct reports to higher level. Project managers collate management information and project status reports for dissemination to steering committees, possibly alongside other relevant bodies such as the Program Management and Portfolio, and the executive Management.

This also follows the premise that the majority of operational decisions should be made at the work and project level, as this is where the technical expertise and granular insight is available. Higher levels are usually not as deeply involved in the subject matter and are chiefly concerned with more tactical and strategic decision-making. In addition, in the case of problems that cannot be solved within the project, they are the escalation level to be invoked.

Communication and Governance beyond projects

At this “superior” level, routine project reviews (e.g. monthly at the committee meetings) facilitate in-depth discussions on status, risks, issues, decisions, and any necessary, further escalations are discussed in detail.

Cascading Governance - Program Management, Governance

If the program or portfolio includes diverse projects, such as customer and product development initiatives, these are aligned and coordinated with each other at this level, complementing continuous efforts at the working level.

The higher-level management is stringently informed about its development and customer projects and can in turn make well informed decisions. Issues can also be escalated cascaded, and resolved.

Prerequisites for efficient communication and Governance

It is important for a functioning distribution of information that does not cause too much additional work

a lean, transparent, end-to-end reporting system.
short, fast escalation and decision-making paths.

At the working level, the number of participants and the lead should be streamlined, agenda and content should be prepared (offline) and results should be tracked.

The reporting is standardized and can be aggregated to the next level throughout. The focus is on control, overview, escalations, and decisions.

Additional communication and information

In addition, accompanying periodic (e.g. bi-monthly) leadership meetings can take place, in which an extended management team regularly informs about strategic development, finances, operational and organizational topics of the industrial business. These sessions may include focused presentations by a predetermined speaker. This is where it’s important to get feedback from the extended team with questions and answers. The results will then also be reflected, if necessary, in corresponding meetings at the Program Management and working level, in order to also take the employees in the teams along on the cross-functional and cross-regional as well as the strategic and operational topics.

Conclusion: Communication, information, and control are critical to success

Communication is repeatedly cited as a particularly critical factor for success in projects and programs. The structured governance approach outlined herein provides program managers with a blueprint to navigate these challenges adeptly, ensuring initiatives progress smoothly and achieve desired outcomes.

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What can Artificial Intelligence do in Project Management?

ChatGPT & Co. are on everyone’s lips. Many people are thinking about how to make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or how to prevent its use – for fear of no longer being able to distinguish between contributions from humans and AI. There are also already some application proposals for the project management profession.

Options for KI application

Matrix - Project Management, Artificial Intelligence, AI

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to significantly support project managers in various ways, both now and in the future. Here are some key ways AI can enhance project management:

1. Data Analysis and Predictive Analytics:

Artificial Intelligence can analyze vast amounts of project data to identify patterns, trends, and potential risks. This allows project managers to make more informed decisions based on data-driven insights.

Predictive analytics can help anticipate potential issues, delays, or resource constraints, enabling proactive management and risk mitigation.

2. Automated Task Management:

AI-powered tools can automate routine and repetitive tasks, such as scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking. This allows project managers to focus on more strategic aspects of project management.

Task automation can improve efficiency and reduce the likelihood of human errors in routine project activities.

3. Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Communication:

AI-driven chatbots or virtual assistants equipped with natural language processing capabilities can enhance communication within project teams. They can answer queries, provide updates, and facilitate better collaboration.

NLP can be used for sentiment analysis to gauge team morale and identify potential issues early.

4. Resource Optimization:

eXcellence - Project Management, Artificial Intelligence, AI

AI algorithms can help optimize resource allocation by considering factors such as team members’ skills, availability, and project requirements. This ensures that resources are used efficiently.

Machine learning models can adapt and learn from past projects to improve future resource allocation decisions.

5. Risk Management:

Artificial Intelligence can analyze historical project data to identify patterns associated with project success or failure, helping project managers assess and manage risks more effectively.

Advanced risk prediction models can provide early warnings about potential project risks, allowing for timely interventions.

6. Project Scheduling and Planning:

AI tools can assist in creating realistic project schedules by taking into account various factors, including resource availability, dependencies, and historical performance data.

Dynamic scheduling tools can adapt to changes in real-time, optimizing project plans as new information becomes available.

7. Decision Support:

MonteCarlo - Project Management, Artificial Intelligence, AI

Artificial Intelligence can provide decision support by analyzing complex project scenarios and suggesting optimal courses of action. This helps project managers make more informed decisions aligned with project goals.

AI-driven decision support systems can consider a wide range of factors and variables that may be challenging for humans to process comprehensively.

8. Continuous Learning and Improvement:

Artificial Intelligence can facilitate continuous learning within project teams by analyzing project outcomes, identifying areas for improvement, and providing insights for future projects.

Machine learning models can evolve and adapt based on the feedback and performance data from various projects.

How and what I use Artificial Intelligence for, and what I don’t

Gladly: Recording and evaluating

For me, it makes sense to use AI to collect and evaluate data. This requires that the data can be digitized and prompted. An example of this is taking minutes and then summarizing conversations, meetings, retrospectives, etc.

The evaluation of quantity data for analyses can also be an area of application for AI. Not for calculating any results from the raw data – spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel are sufficient for that, and knowing which formulas were used to calculate and what the results say. But extracting new insights from these results, such as correlations, anomalies, etc., can be exciting and, above all, faster with the help of AI.

With caution: Reporting

I’m already becoming more cautious when creating reports. Of course, the aforementioned data can be perfectly processed into information and decorated with graphics and other bells and whistles, automated, of course. This would be a good way to simplify the day-to-day work of a project manager or PMO. But this often results in technical nonsense.

So, I still have to check the AI result and if necessary. until I can pass it on to my addressees. Sometimes I am faced with the question of actually saving time and simplifying my work, especially if I can fall back on fixed (reporting) formats, where I only have to enter the current content.

Difficult: Decisions

Button - Project Management, Artificial Intelligence, AI

Where I can’t get used to Artificial Intelligence at all – at least at the moment – are the topics of decision-making and leadership. An AI-supported decision based on deep evaluations and information is fine, but the important things are not decided exclusively on the basis of numbers, data and facts, but with experience, empathy, diplomacy and other skills that a machine cannot have and will not have in the long term.

Finally, for the topics of leadership, motivation, conflict resolution, stakeholder management, etc., good human project management will always be needed. And even many people who call themselves project managers or executives are already overwhelmed.

My conclusion for AI today

In my many years of practice as a project manager and project renovator, I have often experienced that problems arise from an over-belief in processes and regulations, which are the basis for AI. Maybe I don’t (yet) have enough imagination for all the great things that AI can do for me in the future.

But I always think of the saying “Don’t trust any statistics that you haven’t created yourself”. So, if an AI comes to results that I can’t comprehend, I prefer to stick to my last and provide statements that I can take responsibility for.

As AI technologies continue to advance, project managers can leverage these capabilities to enhance their decision-making, improve project outcomes, and streamline various aspects of project management. It’s essential for project managers to stay informed about emerging AI tools and methodologies to harness their full potential.

Read more articles in ProjektMagazin Blog Parade 2024 …

Different Styles – same Objective

Today’s Project Management Lessons Learned originally come from IT, but I’ve found that they can easily be transferred to most other development projects as well: My project teams include a wide variety of people, characters, pragmatists, nerds, team players – all of them great specialists in their respective fields. We all have the same goal, which is to deliver our project as well and quickly as possible. But everyone has a different story about how they got to where they are today, what role models they had and what they drew from them. So, everyone has their own style of doing their job.

A project manager has to deal with this and integrate each individual with his services. And/or consistently demand the things that threaten to fall behind individually. The best example is the high aversion to documentation among developers. Developers want to develop, tinker, create great results. But the paperwork is boring and time-consuming, and besides: “You can see it all from the code or the drawing !” It is strange, then, that even the “producers” without a clear task and development documentation usually find it difficult to define usable test criteria and test cases. And this causes increased effort for the testers and test engineers at the latest – at the expense of the project budget.

Regardless of this, the project manager must always make sure that the project results are comprehensible and representable. So that others who later (perhaps in a completely different project) work on it again and possibly have to change something, can find their way around and go to work without major problems of understanding.

After all, the goal should not only be to ensure that project results work, but also that they can be used in the long term.

Legosteine - Project Management Lessons Learned

Project Management Certifications – Where are the Business Benefits?

What are the business benefits of Project Management certifications? In my long practice as a project management professional and project doctor, I have had this discussion many times. And (not only in IT) all too often had to get projects back on track in which the managers responsible for the projects have given priority to a specialist over a real, experienced project manager when filling the project manager position, often even putting the fee over the quality of the PM as a staffing criterion. In all cases, they have paid a high price in the end!

Certificate - business benefits of certifications in Project Management

But what should you go for if you’re looking for a good PM? For certificates? I have seen some excellent PMs without a certificate, and also many with a certificate, who truly had no idea about project management and leadership. So you’d rather go for experience? This is always good, but only a quality criterion if it has been acquired from good teachers. If you only have experience with bad projects, your own practice won’t be any better, will it?

Toolbox - business benefits of certifications in Project Management

Therefore, the combination of both seems to me to be the most expedient: Certifications offer at least once a good opportunity to reflect one’s own practice on “Best Practices“, to reflect on one’s own actions and thus to continuously improve them. For this purpose, the certifications of the major PM associations IPMA, PMI, AXELOS (Prince2) are recommended, but also HERMES (in Switzerland) or, for agile approaches, SCRUM Alliance and SCRUM.org. In my experience, this is the most effective way to learn and develop personal skills. In my opinion, anyone who only strives for the certificate “quick and dirty” has not understood his job and the opportunity he is wasting!

Quality Seal - business benefits of certifications in Project Management

If, in the search for a good project manager, you consider a certificate as a “by-product” of a good education and the demonstrable successes achieved with it (= quality) as a yardstick, while first putting the amount of fees to the back in the evaluation criteria, then you are on the right track. If you want to give yourself or your employees a chance for real development, then send them on a good project management course and to a PM professional for coaching (Learning Best Practices by Doing)!

And what’s in it for the certified project managers? Many years ago, I conducted a survey with our graduates about this. The results can be found at https://eobz.de/?p=843. They are likely to still be up-to-date today, but acceptance fortunately is now much higher.

Risk Management

Projects and uncertainty belong together. Because developing or implementing projects always is something new, i.e. never been done before, and “terra incognita” is something unknown, uncertain, and risky by definition. Risk Management helps to cope with risk pro-actively.

Let’s compare a project with driving at bad sight. There is uncertainty with the driver, he could go off direction or track, and it is not without danger. But instead of getting into bad mood or motivation, you could do measures to avoid or mitigate risk, e.g., switch on the lights, drive a little slower etc. Such Risk Management also exists for projects. If you know the threats (or can imagine them) you can develop strategies against them, and execute them for prevention.

There are some well proven techniques in project management to do so, same as with driving. And they can be trained, thus being able to control the uncertainty, making it predictable and manageable. Project Management Professionals know how – just let them show it to you in your practice case. To be followed up with your own Learning by Doing then…

Mastery Matters !

Was it the Corona pandemic which forced us to re-think, or was it the increasingly faster turning market, VUCA, disruption etc., what made clear that we need to do something essential to also in future continue playing a role in the market? Whether we need to consolidate, concentrate on our key competences, or whether we need to grow, expand to not become a take-over candidate, or rather to “dress up the bride”? What is at stake – and what is top of the program agenda?

Reasons are multifold, but in consequence the situations are pretty similar for companies: It always takes big and critical Transformation and Change projects or even programs that must not fail because they afford big investments, show their results mid- and long-term, and are crucial for the future.

Critical for success: Project staff’s competence

And in only very few cases these changes come with internal key competence available. That is why there is an intensive search for new, skilled and experienced staff everywhere, but these are at least as rare as qualified practitioners. Some may do hard with externals because they are presumably expensive, and the know how should be built up internally, not taken away again after work is done.

To avoid the latter an interim (program) manager is recommended who sets up the program and later will hand over to an internal (potentially just hired) employee. But watch out: freelancers in this topic are rare as well and headhunted; the big consultancy firms are much more expensive and not necessarily better. However, this approach bears many advantages:

You will have more time to assess and chose a really qualified permanent candidate
You actually will receive the benefits from the function assigned ad interim immediately (time-to-market !)
The position will be prepared optimally for the internal colleague to come so that he/she can start most efficiently
The interim manager’s work will also be a benchmark for new colleagues
You receive a proven professional contact to cover future peaks and for “sparring” with your employees and organization

Misson critical: Patience and Project Management Excellence

I already filled this position successfully a few times, at corporate or business unit transformations, mergers, process optimizations and digitalization. Calculate a longer time for the change because changing – especially the minds – needs time and patience, and be focused on the support’s quality. It’s worth it: The Art of Project Management Excellence – Mastery matters !

Learn more about Program Management…

Professional Project Management as key to successful Projects

In times of budgets cut and scarce resources success is actually a must for the projects continued or newly started. However statistics show that still far too much projects do not meet the expectations or even fail. Here is a try to investigate the causes from a different perspective: from project management ankle.

Priorities: Subject Matter Expert or Project Manager

Project Management for many companies still is something like a commodity or facilitating discipline. Project’s focus is on strategy, processes or technics. Thus there is much focus on related expertise at staffing the project. Project management or coordination is supposed to be done at the side by someone. That may work with a new database set up or a marketing measure sufficiently, but latest at projects where different functions and departments need to be involved and coordinated the project lead should have interdisciplinary and leadership skills and much room for project management.

In projects with strategic significance for the company and/or touch the company’s “philosophy”, e.g. implementing Management Information Systems, Mergers & Acquisitions or organizational and structure projects, the project manager needs to be a generalist with project management skills beyond the average.

What’s needed is no longer professional know how on process or technical level, but high competence in organization, coordination, communication, and motivation. He needs to get the Professionals out of their ivory towers of functional line view into a committed cross-functional team that makes more than the sum of its resources. In reverse that means, that, where competent project management is missing, the project is at risk from the beginning!

The problem of insufficient project management skills often hits companies with grown, functional line organization, but also in matrix organized enterprises that even conduct many project at the same time, well educated project managers are rare. By the way this applies for the user side same as for many system suppliers and consulting firms. Here also mostly an “experienced” Senior Manager from a process or IT department is assigned project manager. If he and his counterpart on customer side complement each other well professionally, it’s fine, but one of both needs to be the project manager on top.

Good Project Management in every project phase

Most of issues already start at a clear Scope Definition.

What exactly is the project’s product, and how does it fit, i.e. what measurable contribution does it deliver to the (customer) company’s entire strategy?
What stakeholders are involved in the project, and how exactly are their expectations and their understanding of the project’s benefit?

In particular high expectations have led to big disappointments in the last (hype) years again and again. Risk and probability of deviation from plan is high in projects that deal with new technologies (e.g. Cloud, Cyber Security, In-memory big data BI, and KI etc.), by nature higher than at “standard” ERP projects. And it therefore affords a more prospective and thorough project management.

Regarding project planning unfortunately a more or less well tailored Microsoft Project plan is understood in many cases instead. The project inherent concurrency of Scope, Time, Budget, Quality and Risk is often underestimated and also wrongly prioritized according to stakeholders’ expectations.

Depending on the company’s organization structure there additionally might be resource issues with the functional lines. They can influence the project’s planning and execution significantly. The project manager needs to rely on the unquestioned support from his project sponsor – and he needs to have received the authority to claim it! This is also a weakness in many projects where management tends to let project sponsorship slide in their daily business.

Project Management Cycle and Processes (according to PMI)

During the project’s execution phase coordination, motivation, and communication activities dominate the project manager’s day. Everyone in the project, especially stakeholders, and above all the project sponsor, always should be informed – according to his project role – about the project’s progress, eventual issues, upcoming to-dos etc. up to date. It needs professional handling of agreed-upon measurement (KPIs), tools like Earned Value method etc. Micro-management and “interventions” into detail are rather contra-productive and block the view on the big picture. But this is something many functional specialists can’t quit as project managers.

Last but not least a proper close-out is part of a successful project closure. It is not sufficient to deliver all parts of the project product as agreed. Success is measured by the stakeholders’ satisfaction and the benefit it definitely gives to the company. The project manager’s responsibility is to verify this objective realization permanently during the project – until the final sign-off. Otherwise projects become Zombies by rework, or they develop past the company’s objectives until their inglorious ends.

Conclusion of all these thoughts:

In many cases not the project team members – internal or external – are responsible for bad project results or even its failed success but missing or wrong staffing and support for the project manager. In the USA and Asia many clients now request evidence for their consulting or contracting partners’ project management competence. This involves internationally recognized certificates like the ones from the Project Management Institute (PMI), IPMA or Prince2.

But as a project always needs contribution of the own organization it is recommended to have an own competent project manager at the table, be it from own internal staff or hired external. Then the probability of well invested budgets in successful projects is increasing significantly.

Learn more about the topic of Project Management and Operational Excellence…

What makes a good Project Manager ?

I’m frequently asked how to uncover whether a candidate for a project lead position is capable of his „craftwork“, or not. Well, you only really know after having worked with him/her. But in the course of the many years in project management I think I have recognized a few “patterns” that at least can give a hint to his/her quality.

Self-organization and structuredness

You can probably lead a project well-structured and target-oriented only if you have a good self-organization and working structure yourself. An adequate stacker system to retrieve information in general and in addition specifically a reasonable project repository with a good overview for me are basic prerequisites to be and stay “on top” of a project, even if it’s getting a little bumpy sometimes.

Often a quick view on the candidate’s desktop is sufficient. Is it overcrowded with lots of unsorted icons/links, or organized, well-arranged following the most important work topics? Same applies to the Outlook Inbox. Is it tidy, processed and/or arranged in structured folders, or chaotic with many unread messages? At a glance you can see quite easy how someone is used to work…

Methodology and practice

Many application letters already contain some hints to the applicant’s level. To be clear right upfront: I know a lot of skilled project managers without any certificate, and also quite a bunch of certified “colleagues” without any clue of project management. At least certificates earned show a more or less profound education. Best Practices learned this way also offer the opportunity to apply some self-reflection to own (project) practice. Autodidacts on the other hand only had a chance of proper learning if they had good patterns…

Toolbox - Project Management, Project Manager, Project Lead

During the interview an interviewer knowledgeable in project management also learns whether the candidate has understood his method(s), and whether he applies them situatively, i.e. with a certain selection and without dogmatism. Evangelists only substitute the weaknesses of one approach with those of another.

And of course the candidate’s CV should show a track record of successful delivery in past projects, i.e. in time, in budget, and in expected quality. Otherwise you need to challenge that specifically.

People Skills

The so-called „weak“ factors are often underestimated concerning their criticality for success, especially if technical specialists are „promoted“ project leads. Actually it is one of project managements primary tasks to motivate the team members and facilitate collaboration. As team members usually like to execute their tasks as undisturbed as possible part of the leadership is to take care for few but well-structured (effective) meetings. If the candidate shows a tendency to micro-management (as often happens with project leads from the technical staff) he will probably soon let his job as a project manager slide. In distress he will probably bow out in favor of his technical expertise. Project Management then will tip over the egde. Good team players instead rely on self-responsibility, roles and delegation, and they consequently track results in a structured way.

Teamwork - Project Management, Project Manager, Project Lead

Not every candidate is equipped neither with a second, very important „weak ingredient“ which is leadership quality. A good project manager needs to have this towards team members as well as towards his deciders/superiors. The focus should be on good decisions that drive the project forward. Generally good project managers show a distinct Stakeholder and Change Management, and they have a straight talk !

At the interview I also watch out for eye contact, commitment and consequence, which are indicators for good leadership. To build a good team from average employees it also takes you to be very authentic showing and practicing yourself what you pray and request…

At the interview

Unfortunately I very often meet candidates at interviews who may have prepared themselves a bit about the company by the web site but are briefed only rarely or quite generally for the open position. In many cases that might relate to the screening process upfront and weak job profiles, e.g. via recruiters or procurement. This rather leads to the cheapest but not the best…

A candidate for a project manager position does not necessarily need to be a distinct subject matter expert (see above), but important is a certain affinity and interest to the project’s subject.

Opportunistic applicants or those who would like to prove themselves „with something new” I turn down on principle. Instead I honor the well-known virtues for potentials: motivation, curiosity, perspicacity, engagement and resoluteness.

A candidate with interest will strive to deepen his understanding of the project and the client’s expectations. I would always ask for details of project scope, and e.g. whether it is a Green Field or Brown Field project, an initial installation or a migration from legacy etc.

Spy Glass - Project Management, Project Manager, Project Lead

The project‘s setting, like company, industry, project status, suppliers, stakeholders, team size and structure, whether we have dedicated team members in the project, and whether they work co-located or virtually etc., is essential to get an impression and judgment of the challenge to overtake.

More candidate’s questions should clarify the report and escalation lines and his own competencies in the project. For example is it planned to have a double-head with a technical lead or a supplier’s project manager? And last but not least he should care for the modalities of his own ramp-up until he takes over the project responsibility.

Self-evidently the interviewers or dialogue partners should be sufficiently prepared themselves for these questions. And perhaps after this accurate job clarification you also should be open talk about the price once again. I find it unserious to give a binding pitch without a sufficient clarification upfront as often requested by recruiting agencies…

Profiling for preparation

To find the right project manager for a project obviously is no coincidence but needs to be well prepared. At project recoveries which I perform I use to overtake the search for a matching internal successor and apply the criteria mentioned above. But also for projects that are going to be set up new the checklist is helpful. In addition you can ask for professional support at project management staffing. How? Just have a look at https://pm-professionals.eu/?page_id=109 .