A decision log is simply a list of all the key decisions made on the project.  It includes:

• A reference for the decision
• Date decision made
• What was agreed and why
• Who agreed to it
• Where you can find more information or supporting documentation (optional)

This is better explained by a screenshot of a decision log:

A decision log is better than keeping discussions on email or in another enterprise collaboration tool.  All the answers you need and the justification about why those decisions were taken are all in one place.  The decision log can solve many project disputes, especially when the team is working on a project that involves changes to strategy or approach or has a long duration.

Just because something is on the decision log does not mean it is written in stone.  When key members of the project team change, or a new sponsor takes charge, you can review the decisions to date and check if they are all still relevant.  If not, reverse or amend the decision – but make sure you record why this was done and who authorised it.

You may already have a similar thing included in your meeting minutes.  Project managers sometimes record a summary of actions and decisions at the bottom of their meeting minutes.  This is a good habit, but it does mean that you have to look through a lot of minutes when you want to review the background to a decision and can’t remember when it was taken.  A decision log keeps everything in one place and makes it easy to review what was agreed when.  It’s a useful tool for managing disputes, and if you append it to the meeting minutes everyone has an up-to-date record at all times.  I encourage you to try it on your projects!

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1. Making Good Project Decisions
2. Communicate, communicate, communicate
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In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed the first five of ten problems commonly experienced on projects.  In Part 2 we’ll dive further into these issues as we examine problems six through ten.

#6 – Communication with top management while the project is underway is not effective

How do you handle the problem of poor communication with top management? Even when you make the effort to keep the lines of communication open, management may simply fail to keep you up-to-date on priorities.

Your solution: You cannot force top management to improve their communication skills, but you can do your best to present status reports, ask for continuing definition, and convey information to the top—even if your only avenue is the interoffice memo. If you can’t even get an executive to take time for a brief meeting, chances are your communication link will suffer. You may find that management does not respond to your requests or suggestions, fails to confirm project goals, and offers little support; but when the project is completed, you are told that “this is not what we wanted.”

In most cases, management wants to support you, and will try to maintain morale. So even though the problems seem formidable, if you make an effort to communicate, they can usually be resolved – even if you have to train top management in the development of communication skills!

#7 – The schedule is difficult to control

Coordinating the many ongoing efforts of your team members and successfully completing many different phases within the same limited time period may be a struggle. If so, examine the method you are using to develop and control your schedule. You may have to invest more time in developing a detailed network diagram and showing team members how to use it as a control document. Most instances of scheduling control problems are created by a lack of preparation in creating the schedule itself.

Your solution: Revise your methods.

#8 – Deadlines are not being met, and projects are completed late

You may have an excellent process for schedule control, and team members are working well together. But in spite of that, you simply don’t meet phase deadlines, and projects aren’t completed on time.

Your solution: Allow more time, or increase the size of your team. Your schedule is not realistic, and phases cannot be executed at the pace built into it. You may have been forced to accelerate your schedule because management imposed an early deadline. When you first organize your schedule, the realistic completion time will be dictated by the scope of the job. If the final deadline is unrealistic, convey this fact to management, explain why there is a problem, and ask for a later deadline or a larger project team.

#9 – Project budgets don’t work, resulting in expense overruns

In your Preoccupation with schedules, it’s easy to overlook the importance of the budget. Because the company’s risk is defined by the financial investment it has made in the project versus the potential reward derived (either from reduced costs and expenses or increased profits in the future), the budget should be controlled very conscientiously.

When you experience budget overruns, there are two possible reasons. First, the budget may be unrealistic. In that case, you need to ask for a more suitable one. Second, you may need to exercise more direct control. Review expense levels more frequently, compare budget and actual expenses, and look for emerging variance trends. Then identify what you need to do to correct the problem and take action.

#10 – There is no time for overview or control

You may find yourself committed so heavily to tasks and supervisory duties (as well as your ongoing departmental responsibilities) that you don’t have time to monitor schedules and budgets.

Your solution: No matter how busy you are, don’t overlook the critical importance of overseeing your team. Project management involves several roles – trainer, supervisor, leader, and communicator. But your most important task is to control the project network. You are the organizer, the driving force that ensures that the project succeeds in every respect. Overseeing should be your highest priority. Don’t become so involved in other pressures that you overlook this important fact.

Information for this article was derived, in part, from Michael Thomsett’s book entitled, “The Little Black Book of Project Management.”

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1. Overcoming Common Project Issues – Part 1
2. Communication Weak Links
3. Common Project Issues: Budget Overrun

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It has certainly been a nice creative outlet for me and I’ve enjoyed the writing far more than I thought I would.  500 posts have added up to nearly 400,000 words and more than 750 comments that contain yet another 75,000 words.  That’s a lot of reading for all of us.  The 400,000 words in the articles alone is the equivalent of more than five books.  Considering the fact that I’m writing a book (more on that later) and haven’t finished it yet but I’ve written more than five books worth in the articles says I’m not project managing my book writing process very well.  Oh well.

So, what have I learned so far by expressing my thoughts and experiences online to strangers, peers, and colleagues?

I’ve learned that, as I indicated above, I enjoy writing much more than I thought I would.

I’ve learned that it’s easier to express your opinions, experiences, trials, and tribulations than I thought it would be.  I’ve only experienced writer’s block a couple of times.  And I’ve gained much inspiration for articles just from the reader comments that come in.  Project managers are a very thought-provoking group.

Though I’ve made it sound enjoyable, I have learned that it’s not always easy to squeak out at least 500-1000 words on a topic and sound fresh.  Sometimes I’ve come up short.  Likewise, when I have lots of thoughts on a topic and write a long article, it can be hard to keep the writing flowing and orderly so that the reader can make sense of it.  In other words, sometimes I ramble on.  Like right now.

I’ve learned that there are just about as many ways to manage projects as there are projects to be managed.  And it often depends on the project size, budget and ultimately the customer.  The one common factor is success.  If you don’t manage to project success than you may have chosen the wrong way to manage that particular project.

I’ve learned that it’s just as fun sharing project failure experiences as it is project success experiences.  PM Tips’ mission is to share experiences with project managers as well as mentor new project managers.  Sharing failures, successes, templates, and documents is all part of the game and it’s been great to see how much we’ve all helped each other out.

I’ve learned that the IT industry and the project management industry is taking hard hits just like nearly every other industry.  There are a lot of underemployed, unemployed, and frustrated project managers out there with great resumes that companies need, but are reluctant to spend money on.

I’ve learned that surveys are fun and interesting and analyzing the results stirs that part of me that has always enjoyed analysis, mathematics, and looking for ways to draw meaning out of combining similar, related issues.

I’ve definitely learned that there are so many pieces of software out there that can be used to manage projects that are either cheap, free, in the cloud, or easily downloaded that the corporate world doesn’t just revolve around Microsoft anymore.  And I’ll plug the nice people at Seavus now as their Project Planner and Project Viewer software are great project management solutions for very small monthly fees.  And yes, they work nicely with MS Project files.

I’ve learned that even with so many words put into articles it’s still harder than I thought to put them into some semblance of a book format and get them out to readers.  I do still intend to complete my book in September though – I’ll keep you posted.  The title (so far) is “RealPM: A Hybrid PM Methodology for Real Life IT Project Management” and it will soon be available on the Books link at bradegeland.com.

I’ve learned a lot of things about areas that I was weak in before through research I needed to do in order to sound more knowledgeable in specific articles.  Oddly, that has sometimes led me to be perceived as an expert and interviewed for other articles when all I did was write one piece on a topic.  The world works in strange ways…

Most of all I’ve learned that I really enjoy connecting with project management and technology peers more than I ever thought I did or would and writing about PM topics has been and continues to be a very rewarding experience.  Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to do so.

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To start, Rich Maltzman, PMP presents Zero is the new Infinity posted at Earth PM, saying, “Green is the new black, and zero is the new infinity…” He also writes his own blog and posted We just ain’t that good at risk from Scope crêpe, saying, “Really – we aren’t.”

Valery Zelixon presents Supplier selection process part 1 – - how to select global supplier for your business posted at Supply Chain Notebook.

Stuart Corrigan presents How To Map A Process posted at Vanguard Scotland, which also includes some links to free tools for process mapping.

Guru presents 25 things that you need to know to host successful events posted at Eventzilla Blog. This is on the boundaries of project management, but if you are hosting lunch-and-learn sessions for teams of project managers, courses or simply workshops for your projects, review this list.

Wise Bread presents How to Get Your Boss to Let You Work From Home posted at Wisebread.

Bruce Loflland presents Hidden reasons why things don’t get done posted at PM Technix.

And here’s another from Rich Maltzman, PMP presents Green Project Management and the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill posted at Earth PM. “Pertinent!” he says.

Chris Solomon presents Project Management Tools Part – 1 Critical Path Method(CPM) posted at Jazz Presentation, saying, “Critical Path Method is A very effective Method used in Project Management to Segregate the most important parts of the projects for the rest.” This is a basic article on critical path method.

And finally, here is a new project management blog: IT Project Blog.  Not very adventurously named, but it looks like it could build into a good resource.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of project management using our carnival submission form. The next edition of the Carnival will be hosted at A Girl’s Guide to Project Management.

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In Part 1 of this two-part series, we’ll examine the first five of ten problems commonly experienced on projects.

#1 – The team doesn’t work well together

When you struggle to create a team but don’t succeed, first examine your own management style. Do you truly offer team members an opportunity to participate? Or do you discourage them from speaking out, offering ideas, or suggesting changes? Teams work only when you encourage participation and then follow up on it.

The problem may also be caused by excessive diversity in the team. If you have the chance to pick your own team, try to limit as much as you can the involvement of a large number of other departments. Projects often demand help from people other than those you supervise directly, but it is not always necessary to strive for participation beyond those resources you absolutely need.

#2 – Other managers resist having their employees recruited to your team

You face a formidable task just in getting cooperation from other department managers – no matter how diplomatically you approach them or how well you define and explain the project. To solve this problem, you will need to convince the other managers that their priorities will be respected.

#3 – Management skills that work in the department don’t seem to work on the project

Be aware of the important differences between departmental and project management. They often require different levels of supervision and leadership. In fact, skills that work for you as a department manager may interfere with team participation, so you will probably need to develop a completely different approach to supervising the project team.

#4 – The goals of the project are not well defined

Your first responsibility is to ensure that the goals of the project are clearly and specifically spelled out – even when the assignment is not clear. You may have to push for definition, since often the person making the assignment does not even know what he or she wants. However, don’t proceed until you find out. Otherwise, your success will be a matter of chance, not of science.

#5 – Top management changes the scope of the project after it has started

Unfortunately, priorities change. You cannot always assume that a project assigned today will be valid by its deadline. Chronic changes in project assignments are a sign of poor leadership at the top, and there is little you can do while trying to accomplish an ever-changing goal.

Your solution: Continue to communicate while you are working on your project. Don’t abandon communication after the initial purpose and goals have been defined. Meet weekly with the person who assigned the project and present a brief status report. Restate the goals to make sure they’re still valid.  Also recognize the fact that changes can also occur because of new priorities resulting from perceptions about the market, the competition, and profitability.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll examine common problems six through ten.

Information for this article was derived, in part, from Michael Thomsett’s book entitled, “The Little Black Book of Project Management.”

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2. Ten Characteristics of Successful Project Teams – Part 1
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In addition to developing the skills required for project management, continually set career goals for yourself as a project manager. Recognize that management is watching with high expectations and will likely be reviewing your performance based on how well you achieve these goals, which may include:

Acquiring the reputation as a skilled, effective project manager

Be aware that your reputation within the company will affect your career. A positive reputation includes the element of reliability. To become a skilled project manager, practice the ideas and techniques that make the process work. To become an effective project manager, keep your goals and deadlines in mind at all times, support your team, and work well with all resources, internal and external.

Meeting deadlines, without fail

Some people accept the fact that deadlines in their companies are not taken very seriously. Don’t allow yourself to think in this way. View the deadline as an absolute. It you never miss a deadline (except in the most extreme circumstances), management will think of you as a dependable, valuable resource.

Staying within budget

The budget, like the deadline, is often seen as an outmoded practice, as an idea with little validity. This is because so few people use budgets as they are intended – as control tools for measuring the effectiveness of management’s effort. The budget defines risk and potential reward for the organization, and should be carefully monitored and controlled while the project is underway.

Producing and delivering the desired result

Once you have achieved a clear and precise definition of your purpose and goals, you will know exactly what management expects from you. And as long as you keep communicating to ensure that the goals have not changed, you will succeed. Produce and deliver the desired result, and management will think of you as a results-oriented manager.

Resolving conflicts

Conflicts – whether involving mere scheduling problems or personality clashes – may seem trivial in the scheme of things. But in some respects, your ability to resolve conflicts without difficulty may be the most important attribute for successful project management. You certainly want to draw attention to yourself as an effective manager; what you don’t need is the kind of attention you get when top management has to step in to mediate an unresolved problem.

Information for this article was derived, in part, from a section of Michael Thomsett’s book entitled, “The Little Black Book of Project Management.”

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3. Dealing with Other Department Managers

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Now comes the hard part.  Each one of your team members has 3-4 other project managers that they are working for on other engagements AND they have a resource manager who is their ultimate authority, who is responsible for their performance reviews and raises, and who also is assigning them work from time to time that has nothing to do with your project.  You have the work you need them to do.  You have the assignments that you’re making.  Beyond that, you have to hope they are understanding the meaning of the project and their role in its success to perform the work you need them to perform and to do it well.  But you truly lack the authority to ‘make’ them do it.

Firmly embedded in project management folklore is this one: the responsibility you’ve been given is not in line with the authority you believe you need to accomplish the mission. The size of the gap between responsibility and authority will partially depend upon the structure of your organization.  If you’re in a purely functional organization – and in many cases, a matrix organization – you should not expect to be granted very much formal authority. The gap between responsibility and authority will be quite wide. To compensate for your perceived lack of formal authority, you’ll have to rely upon expert power (respect you can garner through superior knowledge or capability) or referent power (often accessed by practicing an excellent leadership style).  You’ll also need to rely heavily upon your ability to influence and persuade.

If you sense that you may have problems with any of your team members and lack the authority to do much about it, then you’ll need to act proactively early in the project to help ensure the success of the team and the overall working relationship.  Easier said than done?  Probably, but by taking a couple of early actions you should find yourself more productive and less frustrated.

Clearly define the project goals and team relationships

If you lack full authority, then it’s critical that you gain compliance among your project team members.  In order gain that compliance among your team resources, you need to clearly define the project goals, set project expectations, and ensure that your team resources understand the tasks assigned to them.

Touch base with functional managers for team resources

By meeting with your team members’ functional managers at the beginning of the project you can get a better understanding the other commitments that those assigned to your project have during the course of the engagement.  It also gives you the opportunity to gain an open line of communication with the functional managers.  If assignment conflicts should come up, then even though you may lack the necessary authority over the project resource, at least you’ll have a good relationship with their functional manager, which may give you some negotiation footing when the need arises.

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Either way, I enjoyed Mr. Heerkens’ basic overview of what to expect and wanted to share it here…

New to the role

However we may feel about taking on that first project, the truth is that life as a project manager can be extremely rewarding. You’ll find it to be different from most any other thing you’ve ever done. It’s complex, varied, and interesting. If done well, it can lead to a very strong sense of accomplishment.  These are among the aspects that project managers identify as the main draws to the job.

At the same time, however, being a project manager will test you in ways you may not be able to imagine now. You will become a focal point in the organization. Everyone will look to you for the answers, but you must be careful not to try to provide all the answers; after all, that’s why you have a team.

And speaking of the team, one of the biggest shifts in behavior (and thinking) you’ll encounter will be the need to rely upon others to get things done. In most cases, that’s your team.  You’ll quickly discover that there’s far too much for you to do alone, yet delegation will prove to be a challenge for you. Empowering others, and then trusting them to follow through, may be a bit unsettling. You’ll find yourself uncomfortable with the idea that others are doing things for which you will be held responsible.

Responsibility without full authority

You’ll have lots of responsibility, but you’ll be missing the authority often perceived as being required to discharge that responsibility. You’ll have to get things done through the people on your team without having any direct control over them. Among your most valued tools will be the ability to persuade and influence, as you seek to form a group of diverse personalities into a unified team with commonalty of purpose.

Unfortunately, not everyone on your team will be as knowledgeable and skilled as you would like. Nonetheless, you’ve got to get the job done using whatever resources have been provided. Project management lore is full of tales of project managers who were able to take “the hand that was dealt” and turn it into project success. For you to succeed, you’ll have to rely on your ability to coach, mentor, and motivate in order to get the level of performance you need from those assigned to work on your project.

Jack of all trades

What will you have to know as a project manager? Well, you’ll have to know a little bit about just about everything. You’ll have to learn to pay attention to the details, but not get wrapped up in them. You’ll have to make countless decisions with insufficient information and despite conflicting signals.  You’ll have to condition yourself to seek acceptable solutions, rather than perfect ones. You’ll have to blend technical expertise with a keen sense of human nature. You’ll have to handle administrative matters.

Dealing with others outside the project

And while you’re busy doing your own thing, you’ll have to cultivate and maintain a smooth working relationship with many other people, both inside and outside your organization.  Unfortunately, as you seek to carry out the objectives of the project, it’s unlikely that everyone you encounter will be an ally.  Organizational politics and reality dictate that not everyone will like project management or project managers (that’s you!).  Many people will admire your role, respect your position, and appreciate your involvement; others will not. You will need to figure out who’s who—real fast.

Summary

But at the end of the project, you’ll be able to look back and feel a deep sense of pride that comes with producing a successful outcome and creating positive change. Project leadership requires the use of many different skill sets. It involves tasks of limitless variety. You must live by a curious combination of process compliance and individual judgment, of gut feelings and data, of people and things. The challenge is enormous.

This article was derived, in part, from an excerpt of Gary Heerkens’ book entitled “Project Management.”

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2. The Responsibility vs. Authority Dilemma
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Some people were responding “why just look at small companies – why not all organizations?”  But I get it.  Most larger organizations have PM practices in place – albeit often ineffective ones.  Or they are large enough it’s very difficult for one person to jump in and make a difference quickly.  You know … bureaucracy.

But with smaller organizations, an experience project manager or consultant could step in and make recommendations and – given the proper amount of authority – start hiring people, creating a practice, and truly implement a practice of managing projects and customers and teams productively.  In other words, they could get some action going quickly – they could get the job done without too much red tape slowing everything down.

So, what would it take?  For me, it took a start-up CIO with a need to find me out on the Allpm.com website, pay me a high enough hourly rate to make me say, “um, ok … I’m onboard with that” and then give me open access to everyone and everything that was going on with their troubled projects so that I could figure out why their customers were unhappy and what we all needed to do to make them happy.  That won’t always be the case in every organization – some will lack the confidence to give such access or take such a bold step.  And some won’t even be looking to bring in a hired gun to whip everything in to shape – they’ll be asking people from within to work together to make it happen.  In other words, they’ll work with what they have and try to wrap PM practices around that.

However they do it, there are few things that need to happen to make it really work – to make it “make a difference” going forward:

Make sure the CEO is onboard with it

A good project management practice begins and ends with the CEO giving it his blessing … or not.  If the top of the organization isn’t onboard – you might as well not proceed because they won’t value it, they won’t explain it’s value to the customers, and it will die a painful death.

But if the CEO IS onboard, anything is possible.  It will be the next big thing in the company.  The CEO will tout it to their customers – expectations will be high and enthusiasm will be, too.  And that will only serve to help the project managers or consultant or whoever is trying to get this off the ground gain confidence and compliance from those in the organization that they need it most from – mainly those who will become part of their project teams.

Come up with an implementation strategy that involves best practices

Next, best practices must be setup, documented, and rolled out to everyone.  Templates and documentation must be put in place.  Best practices in PM center around creating repeatable processes so that projects can be led successfully over and over again without trying to re-invent the wheel every time.  That’s how ongoing success is realized – otherwise success is just luck.

Educate the development staff on the process

In an IT organization, the development staff will often be a significant portion of your project team.  That’s where your developer or developers come from.  That’s where your technical lead comes from.  The individuals who put together the technical documentation on the project likely come from this group as do any performance tuners, system architects, and possibly even your data integration specialists.  You must educate them in the PM process and make sure they are onboard.  The developers can sometimes be a rebel group used to working in their own space on their own time and with their own direction.  PM practices change all that.  Get their understanding and buy-in.

Roll it out to the customers

Finally, show the customers your PM processes.  Do presentations.  Let them know things are changing … for the better.  I brought angry customers in and did presentations for them to explain what I was implementing and how I had the authority to do so.  They were thrilled … and because I performed the steps above first, we were all successful in the process.

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Dave walked briskly over to Bill’s cubicle. “Bill, I just got a call from Amy. She’s got a problem and needs our help. I’d like you to go over there right away and get the details. Figure out what she needs and take care of her.”

Bill was pleased to be assigned to one of his organization’s most valued clients. By the next afternoon, he was sitting in Amy’s office, carefully reviewing the documents she’d prepared.

“Bill, we need the capability of screening all of our incoming components before they come into the assembly line,” said Amy. “You’re free to do this any way you’d like; just make sure that they fall within these guidelines.” She handed Bill some design documents and a list entitled Incoming Material Screening Requirements.

Bill was happy that Amy had given him free rein in determining the solution to her problem. He studied the project requirements and formed a project team. Then, he and his team developed and installed the hardware and software necessary to check all incoming components for compliance with the screening requirements. It was truly a thing of beauty. Bill was proud of the job he and his team had done.

Less than a week later, Dave called Bill into his office. “Bill, Amy just called me,” he said. “They’re still having the same problem as before— too many rejects coming off the end of their assembly line. What happened?”

Suddenly Bill realized what had happened. He had just discovered Amy’s true need—the hard way.

(The above project scenario comes from Gary Heerkens’ book entitled, “Project Management.”)

I really like the example above.  It’s simple, straightforward, gives you the impression that the problem has been solved through the project work and then BAM! … you realize that nothing has changed and you’re smacked upside the head with management questioning you wondering what you actually did on the project.

I can’t say that I’ve experienced utter project failure like this before – not where I’ve come to the end of the project before realizing that I really wasn’t solving anything or at least not the right thing.  But it has happened in midstream – though usually early enough in the project to take some corrective action without trashing the project.

So how do we avoid these types of situations?  The answer … more up front planning.  The project manager or consultant or whatever you happen to be when you’re taking on a customer’s need like this must ask the right questions.  Never assume that the requirements the customer hands you are the right requirements and certainly never assume that they are final requirements or correct requirements.  Skepticism almost always pays off.  Dig a little deeper.  Ask questions of eventual end users.  You’ll always get more information that will help you figure out the real problem.  This will allow you to hand over a final solution that really meets the customer’s needs and keeps them coming back for more business.

If your final solution doesn’t meet their needs, you can point your finger at the customer till the end of time, but you were the expert, they came to you, and you’re the one who wont be getting their return business.  Take the time to find out the real need.

PMtips.net is proudly supported by Seavus Products.

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