Project Management from a Distance – Part 4

In Part 3 of this six-part series, we covered the concept of what type of project and IT work seems to work best for telecommuting. In Part 4, we’ll discuss what setup you need to make it work for you if you choose to try to go with the telecommuting option for managing your projects:

Part 1 – Why remote?

Part 2 – Will it work for you?

Part 3 – What type of job enables remote PM?

Part 4 – What setup do you need?

Part 5 – Negotiating when it’s not an obvious move

Part 6 – Staying the course

Basic Setup

There is not likely to be anything groundbreaking discussed here. What you probably assume you need is exactly what I’m going to list here. In fact, if I leave something out, I’d appreciate hearing from you, but I’ll list what’s worked for me:

• High-speed cable modem or similar internet connection
• Secured wireless router
• Laptop (or two…I’ll explain)
• Mobile phone (go Blackberry or similar if you can with access to email)
• Regular phone with a good speaker phone option connected either to a land-line or to a VoiP option
• All-in-one printer for printing, scanning and the rare need to fax
• Free online fax sending (easier than using your all-in-one)
• Freeconferencecall.com account (good for a backup if your company conference line is tied up or if you are independent)

I won’t go into detail on all of these…most are pretty self-explanatory. However, there are a few I’ll touch on in a little more detail:

Laptop(s)

I’ve gone Mac and love it. But I hang on to my XP machine just in case. And I probably will always make sure I have one around as a backup. MS Project isn’t made for the Mac at this point and it may never be. There are other options available to the PM like Open Projects and many web-based options including ProjectOffice.net. However, having that option – just in case there’s a problem and I’m at the 11^th hour – to utilize a legit copy of MS Project on a Windows machine makes me feel more comfortable. I’ve not needed to do that since I purchased my Macbook in March of this year, but it’s nice to know I can if I ever have to.

Free Online Faxing

I hate using my HP All-in-one printer for faxing because I only have one home line – no dedicated fax line. Using one of the free sending services where you’re essentially uploading a pdf file and faxing it is very easy and it’s never let me down. I highly recommend it. Receiving faxes can be a little trickier – I usually have to talk the sender into scanning it in and sending it as a pdf or an image file. If they want me to have it bad enough, they’ll usually do it.

Home Phones with a Good Speaker Phone Option

This one was on my critical list. I was recently on a six-month project that required nearly daily conference calls. Some were vendor demos through webex meetings with associated conference calls and they could last up to six hours. I needed a good speaker phone option so that I could hear and sound like I was on a regular phone. There was no way I was going to wear a headset for that long! I found a setup – ultimately going with an offering from Philips.

Summary

The key is to have all the communication methods available to you just as you would if you were at the office. It doesn’t need to be high-end, it just needs to work. This is basically the setup I’ve had for the past three years and it’s not let me down yet.

Twitter and Facebook as Project Management Tools?

My wife introduced me to Facebook a few months ago and I’ve enjoyed using it to reconnect with friends I haven’t communicated with in nearly 25 years. How cool is that?! I can share pictures, videos and thoughts with all 108 of my friends 24/7. My office is upstairs and my wife’s office is downstairs. I can quickly chat with her (she doesn’t like to use IM) through the chat feature at any time during the day, though instead I usually hear “Braaaaaad!” and have to go down and see what she or one of the kids needs. Ok, I still think it’s kind of lame, but that doesn’t stop me from using it. To me, it’s a “family and friends” tool, nothing more.

As for Twitter – I joined it about a month or so ago. I find it somewhat addictive to go out and check the latest updates from the 96 people and organizations I’m following for their latest thoughts and interests as well as to let the 93 followers that I have know what I’m doing or what article I’ve recently posted. For me Twitter is far more of a business tool than Facebook. It’s Facebook without the pictures and friend connections – it’s just blurb thoughts. But I really only use it for business purposes. I announce articles, conferences, etc. on it. I network with like-minded professionals on it. I realize that some people use it to tell the world what they’re doing every 5 minutes, but that’s certainly not for me.

Now that you know my basis for using Facebook and Twitter, let’s discuss whether either can be a valuable tool for Project Managers and team members on implementations.

The Usual Information Sharing Techniques for PMs

To me, the effective parts of project communication, as I’ve always said, are:

• Weekly formal status reports
• Up-to-date project plans/schedules
• Weekly formal delivery team/customer status meetings or conference calls
• Weekly delivery team calls to prepare for customer communications and ensure everyone is on the same page
• Adhoc calls with the customer on issues or progress
• Adhoc calls with the delivery team members on issues or progress
• Frequent information sharing, status check, and issue alert emails with delivery team members and the customer.

I have honestly racked my brain to figure out a way to make either Facebook or Twitter a useful tool for Project Managers and project team members. I can’t figure it out though.

My Thoughts on Facebook & Twitter

Facebook, to me, is a complete no-go. I can’t find any useful business application for Facebook other than to kill time in long meetings or on long webex’s and conference calls. Nada…nothing.

As for Twitter, because I use it almost exclusively for business networking I’m trying to find some good PM use for it. I share info on my articles when they’re published. I connect with other PM, business and IT professionals that provide information I can use or have deemed my information useful. But as for sharing info with on-going team members…I just don’t see it. Oh, it can be done, but email and phone calls are better. A quick Twitter message could get overlooked. And email stays in your inbox and marked as unread until it is read.

Summary

Again…I’ve tried. I know there are those of you out there claiming that at least Twitter can be a viable way to share information across teams within an organization. If you’ve been successful with it, I’d like to hear your story. Comment here and let me know how you’re using it because information sharing is ALWAYS going to be a roadblock to some degree. Anything that aids information sharing without just providing another grey area path to communication is a welcomed addition. So tell me how you’re successfully using it. Likewise, if you’ve tried and failed, I’d like to hear that as well. Until someone convinces me otherwise, I can’t visualize a way to use either Facebook or Twitter as a viable Project Management communication tool.

Project Management Jobs

Project Management-Oman-Construction

Location: South Island
Salary: Negotiable
Company: Globester Recruitment
Sector: Building services
Job role: Project manager
Job type: Permanent

The client is a leader in the construction and engineering industries in Oman. With 30 years experience in this sector.

The company have an urgent requirement for a Project Manager to join their team in Oman. The successful candidate will have experience and knowledge of the Middle East construction sector.

The Requirements
o The candidate need to have a civil engineering degree
o At least 10 years experience in roads ,bridges and pipelines
o  Strong ability to successfully manage, delegate and motivate others
o  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
o  Good technical skills
o  Fluency in English is required

This is an urgent requirement and to be considered for this position applicants should fulfill the above client requirements to be considered.

If you are suit this role and possess the relevant skills and experience please forward your CV for review to the email address provided. You will be contacted by a representative from Globester Recruitment to discuss before your application is sent to the client.

Please register your interest by emailing your CV to the email address provided (matt@globesterrecruitment.com) .

For all national and international vacancies, please log on to www.globesterjobs.com

Project Quality Manager

Location: Oman
Salary: £65000 – £85000 per annum + Car + Housing + Flights
Company: Digby Morris
Sector: Oil / Gas / Power
Job role: Civil engineer
Job type: Permanent

The Company

Digby Morris’ client has been providing a comprehensive range of professional services to the power industry for over 100 years. They focus on long term partnerships with their customers to develop and execute effective solutions to a diverse range of energy challenges facing the industry such as meeting growing energy demand, maximizing performance of existing assets, and reducing carbon footprint.

Their capabilities and experience cover the full spectrum of professional services from pre-feasibility and environmental delivered through Select to full scope project delivery and support of operations, including operations and maintenance of the asset via their ‘improve offering’.

They optimize their customer’s investments across the entire asset life cycle, from detailed engineering, through vendor quality assurance, construction management to start-up and operations. They pride themselves on a culture characterized by flexibility, capability and partnering. They can act as the prime contractor or work as a member of a joint venture to deliver the most effective service to meet their customers’ needs.

Purpose of the Job

To effectively manage the Quality Assurance / Quality Control resources required to safely execute and handover the Harweel project on schedule, to quality specifications and budget in a way that fulfils PDO’s policy of sustained mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders and the environment.

Kamov Turns to Dassault Systemes PLM Solutions

LE BOURGET, France, Jun 15, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — SRTMF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating — Dassault Systemes (DS) (Paris:DSY) (NASDAQ:DASTY), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that Kamov Corporation, a world leader in helicopter engineering, is starting the deployment of CATIA, Dassault Systemes’ industry-leading virtual design solution, and ENOVIA SmarTeam, Dassault Systemes’ project management and collaboration solution. Kamov is transforming its business with PLM, moving from 2D drawings to a 3D virtual modeling paradigm. Its use of CATIA PLM Express – the Dassault Systemes’ solution combining the power of CATIA’s design excellence with ENOVIA SmarTeam’s collaborative virtual product information management – will optimize the work of Kamov engineers and designers and speed time to market. It is the largest implementation of Dassault Systemes PLM in Russian helicopter industry history.

Prior to purchasing CATIA, Kamov designers worked on drawing boards in 2D. Typically, designers involved in one project worked independently and had no connection with each other. The company lacked a unified, collaborative design process, which resulted in excessive interactions among designers and a lengthy documentation approval period. Taking into consideration the growing competition in the market and the need to establish efficient design processes with new helicopter models, Kamov decided to switch to more innovative and collaborative digital design methods.

During the first phase of implementation, nearing completion now, Kamov implemented the CATIA PLM Express module for mechanical product creation. This module provides extended functions for large and complex product design, surface modeling and design of castings parts and is a core component of Kamov’s move to a PLM design authoring strategy. The company also plans to benefit from the implementation of additional dedicated modules for the design and manufacturing preparation of helicopter’ individual parts and components, including composites, sheetmetal, and electrical wire harness. In addition, Kamov deployed the Microsoft(R) SQL Server 2005 database management system – a productive and intelligent data platform that helps companies reduce time and costs for development and maintenance of applications, and to deliver applicable information to the entire organization. By implementing on Microsoft Windows Server, customers open up possibilities for creating a unified operating environment that is easier and less costly to maintain, providing enterprise performance and scalability with lower deployment and maintenance investments. Dassault Systemes ENOVIA uses the full potential of the Microsoft Application Platform in order to enable customers to reduce costs and free up resources by optimizing business processes

Read the entire story here.

PM Jobs

Project Manager – Bahrain – Interior Management

Location: Middle East
Salary: Negotiable
Company: Globester Recruitment
Sector: Building services
Job role: Project manager
Job type: Permanent
Date posted: 12/06/2009 19:32

Our client has an immediate requirement for a Project Manager who is highly experienced in the project management of large scale interior fit-out projects. This company works on ambitious and prestigious interior contracts throughout the GCC region.

This role will be based in Bahrain and the client will only consider applicants that fulfill the below requirements.

Experience of working in the Gulf region area is essential for this role. No candidate will be considered without this experience. This client is not providing schooling allowances for families so this role is most suited to professionals who do not require this. The package depends on the candidate’s experience. It will include transport and accommodation, transfers and insurance.

Apply here…

Area Project Manager

Location: Saudi Arabia
Salary: £50k+ (dep on exp) + relocations bens inc housing, medical, schooling
Company: M2R Ltd
Sector: Building services
Job role: Project manager
Job type: Permanent
Date posted: 12/06/2009 13:01

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of petroleum and as a result the kingdom’s wealth is world renowned. With extremely low crime rates and high standard of living Saudi Arabia has a history of being a destination of choice for skilled professionals looking to make the most of their skills.

Our client is a provider of engineering, construction, and project management. With a global presence and a reputation for delivering exceptional results on the most demanding and complex of projects they are a true market leader.

They are currently working on one of the most ambitious construction projects in the world and have a requirement for an Area Project Manager to work on residential projects.

Responsible for the planning and execution of contracts for all residential areas within the project from initiation to hand over alongside the management of construction personnel including budget management , you will provide technical information and guidance to construction and engineering personnel on the projects and will also oversee a wide range of engineering and design functions.

In order to be considered for this unique opportunity you will have substantial experience in project/engineering/construction management in the civil or residential sectors and will have managerial and design expertise.

A degree in an Engineering discipline is also essential.

Our client is offering an excellent salary and benefits package to suitable candidates inclusive of housing, medical insurance & schooling making the role a very attractive proposition for the right candidate.

Salary: £50k+ (dependent upon experience) + Relocation benefits including housing, medical insurance, schooling + annual return flights etc.

If you fulfil all of the criteria above and would like to be considered for the role please apply immediately as my client is looking to recruit as soon as possible.

Apply here…

City of Woodland Hills- Airport Development Project Manager

Job Description: