More on Lessons Learned

It is my belief from my years of project management that performing a lessons learned activity is one of the most critical processes for future project success and yet also one of the most overlooked and underutilized. We tend to get to the end of a project and breathe a sigh of relief and move on. Rather, we should hold one or more formal sessions with our team and our customer to identify what worked and what didn’t.

The customer always has a lot to say about any implementation and their opinion and input matters greatly. It’s best for you to hear it in a formal lessons learned process rather than have your customer follow-up with your CEO and give him an earful.

I’ve published some of my thoughts on Lessons Learned previously including an article from February 2009 titled simply “Lessons Learned.” Here, I present some further thoughts on lessons during the project implementation process from Jason Charvat’s book “Project Management Nation.”

Lesson Learned During Project Implementation

“What could be simpler than buying some computers, throwing them on a desktop, plugging them in and turning them on?”

The question is simple: The answer is much more complex. Complexity is almost always underestimated until well after the start of the planning process. Many of the elements of deployment require special coordination and handling due to the lack of direct control over the processes or compounding dependencies. Complexity can come from the technical nature of a project that attempts to take advantage of a new technology not yet tested by the corporation and requires full integration into the existing systems. These factors don’t surface until the project manager demands action or some form of change. Implementing a solution without testing it properly is not acceptable.

I Wish I Had Known That

Look for early warning signs that planned business benefits will not be delivered.

• It is not clear that achieving the business benefits is the top priority of those managing the project.
• Time scales and resources for training, testing, and implementation support have been eroded by project slippage, and there are proposals to cut corners.
• Acceptance testing is being carried out by IS specialists and there is no involvement from the business.
• Other parties, who were not previously identified as part of the project, are now being identified as needing to be involved in acceptance testing and implementation.
• Staff involved in developing and agreeing to the original business objectives have moved on.
• The supplier has not demonstrated that the new system is compatible with existing systems and peripherals.
• The solution needs to be tested and demonstrated within the proposed environment (including links to existing systems). Have the tests for accepting the system from the supplier been planned and agreed upon? Has the process for data conversion been planned and has sufficient time been allowed for it?
• All necessary on-site preparations were not included in the planning (e.g., accommodation, cabling, safety, and security).
• All dependencies, such as slippage on other related projects, have not been taken into account.
• Too little attention is paid to testing the final solution.

Telecommuting Brings Green IT to the Masses

A recent series of articles from InformationWeek focused on Green IT. The final installment of the three-part series focused on telecommuting and what it means to greener IT practices.

I’ve already professed to be a strong proponent of telecommuting and managing projects and project teams remotely.

Past articles of mine or articles that I was interviewed for on telecommuting and/or green project management include:

• The Remote Project Manager
• Going Green with IT Project Management
• More on Green Project Management
• Greening Your Projects

I think telecommuting is efficient, a huge cost savings, very green for many reaons, a logically good business decision, and definitely works well with today’s technology. This article intrigued me and I felt the need to share a portion of it here with you.

Telework Saves Green, Too

For years, workplace experts have plugged telecommuting programs as a low-cost way to attract new employees and retain current ones. But implementing secure remote access also can be a cornerstone of a green IT initiative. Having hundreds of workers converge on a large, central hub, often in an urban area, is an environmental nightmare. Enabling remote access is a win/win: A positive green impact plus real dollar savings, better business resiliency, and increased morale.

The Role of IT

IT’s role is significant when putting a telecommuter policy in place because smart technology choices are needed to help employees work remotely without loss of productivity. But clearly, there’s more to this than just a new VPN or remote backup system. Successful teleworker programs require organization-wide buy-in. Work-at-home policies and procedures must be put in place, and that means close coordination among IT, human resources, and business stakeholders, who also must assess the impact of proposed telecommuting initiatives and policies in terms of overall savings and operational benefits to the entire organization, not just IT. That’s a critical point, because if you measure the effectiveness of the program by its effect on IT’s budget alone, you’ll miss the bigger picture.

Real Benefits

In fact – unlike the technologies and architectures such as green storage initiatives and centralized application implementations that more directly impact IT in terms of environmental footprint or bottom-line operational expenses – the real payback from a comprehensive telecommuting program is more likely to come on the business side. Benefits here include lower costs associated with office space, including utilities and leases; increased worker satisfaction and productivity; and operational flexibility. Having employees distributed around a region or the country adds resiliency and aids business continuity. Organizations with superior telecommuter infrastructures and established home-worker policies can more effectively sustain operations when natural or man-made disasters make working at the office impossible for a large number of employees.

Many IT organizations already have basic VPN capabilities in place, so the initial cost of implementing a bare-bones telecommuter program is relatively low.

Behzad Behtash wrote the full article for the 12/8/08 issue of InformationWeek magazine

Safran’s new Product and a PM Job

Project Manager – Digital/Online Projects
Our client, voted Digital Design Agency of the Year for 2007 and 2008, an ideas driven, design focused and strategically minded design agency is looking for talented Project Managers with Account Management experience for their growing Johannesburg office.

They specialize in the creation of digital campaign solutions for all sectors of business making their clients stand out from the crowd. Services include strategy, design and the technical development of solutions across all digital media space.

Do you like a challenge – being hands on? You will be involved in all matters from client briefing, budgets, traffic and project management?

• Experience working on digital projects is an absolute must!
• Knowledge of digital design as well as knowledge of digital front and back end is essential.
• Experience of working in a creative agency environment (beneficial)

Requirements:
• At least three years Digital Project Management experience
• At least three years of client facing experience
• Understanding of digital design and creative website development and functionality
• Knowledge of digital front and back end
• Running complete online to mobile to integrated campaigns
• Must have technical knowledge (how a website can work & different platforms it can be used on)
• Basic understanding of online and offline.
• Experience producing, trafficking and seeing through the development integrated digital campaigns that involve:
- SMS campaigns.
- Websites, Mailers, online banners (flash, gif and rich-media – must have been exposed to this from a non-technical side.)
- Processes of working with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and mobile marketing.
- Knowledge of programming languages and what is best used in various situations.
- Knowing the difference between an intranet and a portal (for example)

Apply here..

Safran North America Releases Proteus Product into North American Market
Market-tested Project Integration and Intelligence Product introduced to new market

Albuquerque, NM (PRWEB) July 2, 2009 — Safran North America (SNA), one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of project management applications, announced today that it has added Proteus to its product offerings to serve the North American market.

Over seven years in development and proofing in the most demanding project management environments in transnational corporations, Proteus is an integration and intelligence application that connects to project and/or enterprise information regardless of location, database system or underlying application. It is based on .NET it can access geographically dispersed data sources over the web as well as secure networks. In summary, Proteus is a virtual multi-application smart client operating across an organization with security attributes for each user or group of users in addition to any security acquired from the database.

“We are extremely excited about the capabilities that Proteus offers to our market ,” said Safran North America CEO, Nicholas Pisano. “We expect that Proteus will be a game-changer, particularly since it leverages the next generation of tools, by-passing the dead-end reliance on OLAP or Cubes to achieve data integration. Turning data from disparate systems into corporate information aggregated as appropriate based on a user’s role in the organization.”

read the full article here..

Project Manager Needed

Location: Malaysia
Salary: £80000 per annum
Company: Leap 29 Ltd
Sector: Oil / Gas / Power
Job role: Civil engineer
Job type: Permanent

The client is one of the largest oil and gas production companies based in the Asian Pacific region and due to the increase development of one the key sites they are now looking to bring on board a project manager.

The appropriate candidate will be based in the region located close to Malaysia and this will be based on a rotation basis of denominations yet to be decided. A suitable candidate must be degree qualified and it would be advantageous if the candidate was a member of an engineering professional body.

The candidate must also have 10 years experience working within a project management position and this must be supported by experience of working within the oil and gas industry also. The candidate must exhibit and posses all the soft skills required of a senior program/ project manager, this included good analytical skills.

Due to the location of this project the client is only looking to bring on board a candidates that is of an Malaysian or Thai nationality and there is no room for movement on this prerequisite.
If you feel you are an eligible candidate for the above position, send a copy of your resume to the contact details below and I will be in contact in due course
Apply here.

Quality Manager (QC)

Location: Surrey
Salary: £40,000 to £50,000 depending on experience, qualifications and skills
Company: Converge Recruitment
Sector: Building services
Job role: Other construction roles
Job type: Permanent

Defence Services Project Quality Manager

Location: Surrey

Salary: £40,000 to £50,000 depending on experience, qualifications and skills

Benefits: The client offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive range of lifestyle benefits, including a flexible work schedule.They are also committed to the development of their employees and actively support career progression through their training and appraisal programs.

The Client

When you become part of the team, your opportunities are endless. As a leading global engineering, construction and services company, they support the energy, petrochemicals, government services and civil infrastructure sectors on six continents. Serving their customers through six diverse business segments – Government & Infrastructure, Services, Upstream, Technology, Downstream and Ventures – they offer challenging assignments on some of the world’s largest and most complex projects. Their clients value them because they know They Deliver.

With more than 50,000 employees around the world, they deliver top-quality service and performance in engineering, construction, operations and maintenance, logistics and project management services to clients who entrust them with their most vital projects.

Apply here.