Don’t Kill Your Customer – It’s Bad for Business

Whether you are a project manager working in a large corporation with a PMO, or a PM-inclined individual in a smaller company thrown into the PM role, or a skilled consultant recruited by any sized organization to lead critical initiatives, you’re going to run into customers who drive you absolutely crazy.

I’ve discussed in previous articles some negative things about customers. These aren’t surprises to the experienced IT veteran. Usually the customer does not have the necessary expertise or knowledge that is needed – otherwise they wouldn’t be customer and they wouldn’t be coming to us for their project. Whatever it is – there is some need and they’ve come to you specifically, or your company in general, to fill that need.

If you come from a software development background then you know the attitude I’m talking about. It’s easy to put yourself above the customer and talk down to them. You need to both avoid coming across as knowing more than they do while at the same time resisting the urge to throttle them when they can’t seem to get a grip on what it is they really need and what you’re trying to do for them.

Customer Service

While customer service may not really be in the job description of most software developers and other key members of your project delivery team, it is a key responsibility of the project manager. The PM is the face of the company to the customer and the first point of contact for issue resolution during the project engagement process…and sometimes for a period of time following deployment. How you respond to that customer may mean the difference between ongoing revenue from them in the form of add-on business and change orders and a work stoppage on a project if they feel like they’re being treated like second-class citizens.

An Example of Bad Customer Service

I had one customer where my team was performing an enterprise software application configuration and rollout. It was, of course, one of five or six projects I was running at the time and one of three or four projects that most of my team members were involved with also. I had a junior business analyst on the project and a senior business analyst – supposedly the junior was being mentored by the senior. What actually was happening, though, was all the work being performed by the junior and no oversight by the senior.

What resulted was a functional design document that was full of errors – even easy typos – and it took four or five iterations to get it cleared up. At that time, peer reviews of documents like that were performed by position peers – meaning the senior BA was supposedly reviewing the document…but that never happened. Policy changes following this fiasco meant that peer reviews were performed by the whole team (something I personally should have required anyway as the PM…lesson learned, definitely).

What the customer saw, however, was a bad document being delivered to them repeatedly and they then realized that the senior BA was too busy with other critical work to be involved in the project. They actually had to state that they felt like they were being treated as a second-class project. Wow…I ended up with a lot of damage control on my hands.

The Lesson

The lesson here is to be proactive when these situations arise and correct the problem before the customer feels that they’re not high on your priority list. They know you have other work to do, just don’t make them feel like they’re at the end of your list. Your customer came to you out of need and because they lack the skills, resources and probably time to perform what you and your team can perform for them. Understand their need, work with their weaknesses and help them to fully understand the solution. You’ll end up with a very satisfied customer and likely a long-term customer.

Agile Project Management and a SIEBEL PM Job

A rather thought provoking article I came across on Agile Project Management.

Agile teams: Focus on the people rather than the process

Rick Freedman believes the agile PM’s most important roles are to create a collaborative environment that enables teams to achieve creative results and to encourage contributors to focus on group goals and agendas rather than the individual.

The NBA Finals are over, and LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson has broken the record of the legendary Red Auerbach by leading his team to the NBA championship for the 10^th time. Jackson’s ability to coach superstar players Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and to get superstar results from role players Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, illustrates that leadership matters, and that a group of skilled, confident, and occasionally arrogant individuals can be guided to success and can coalesce as a team.

While other coaches struggle with players who are more interested in individual statistics and personal highlight reels than in getting team results, Jackson has been able to channel the ambitions and skills of his players, both in Chicago and Los Angeles, towards team achievement. Shaquille O’Neal and Scottie Pippen make winning championships a bit easier, but, despite all the outstanding players in the NBA, no other coach demonstrates Jackson’s ability to inspire teams to great outcomes.

What does the NBA have to do with agile PM?

Like Jackson, agile project managers often have teams composed of supremely skilled and confident contributors. Like Jackson, many agile project managers often struggle to get arrogant or immature team members to subsume their personal ambitions and instead focus on team results. And, like Jackson, agile project managers must develop a leadership style that inspires and enables team members to achieve.

The coaching metaphor is, in my view, an appropriate analogy to illustrate the type of project leadership that agile methods require. Great agile project managers are coaches, with the critical understanding that, whether it’s shooting hoops or developing software, only the player can make the right decision under the pressure of the moment. Creating the environment that enables the experts to do what they do and setting the strategy while allowing the players to create are attributes of a winning coach and an agile project leader.

SIEBEL CRM Senior Project Manager.

Our global multinational client in the french speaking part of Switzerland is now looking for a Senior Siebel Project Manager/Program Manager to join the project on a long term basis here in the French speaking part of Switzerland.

THE ROLE:
Senior PM for Siebel implementation with role evolving to Program Manager (multiple projects/more countries) as Siebel initiative is planned across next 3 years. You will be in charge of the overall Siebel global implementation.

YOU NEED:
At least 8 years CRM projects, Siebel experience (SFA/BI/Call Centre), global/large scale projects(multi-country deployment), strong project management skills (end-to-end project life cycle, good command of all project areas; technical, process, change, etc), process manufacturing experience, strong communications skills, experience of vendor management.

• University degree or equivalent. Good education is mandatory.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken)
• At least 10 years large complex international experience in delivery of IT/consulting services in the area of CRM with in-depth expertise in implementing CRM software such as Oracle CRM/Siebel
• Experience on business process re-engineering;
• Experience in international working environments; Experience of off-shore delivery model
• Management of project teams
• Advanced business consulting competencies

Nice to have:

• Deep understanding of leading and emerging IT solutions; experience of Siebel on-demand will be appreciated
• Selling skills on high added value services
• Good business acumen for marketing and sales in specific industry/process manufacturing/pharmaceutical/chemical are an advantage

Document Controller SITE/ PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Location: United Arab Emirates
Salary: Excellent TAX FREE salary
Company: Stepp Recruitment
Sector: Commercial
Job role: Project manager
Job type: Permanent
Date posted: 22/06/2009 18:50

Document ControllerSITE/ PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Ref: A1022
Location: Abu Dhabi UAE
Date Posted: 19 June 2009
Salary: Excellent TAX FREE salary

Details:

Stepp Recruitment Limited has been placing candidates to the Middle East for almost TWENTY YEARS!! No other recruitment Company has more experience in placing CURTAIN WALLING/ CLADDING/ FACADES skilled applicants to this prosperous and stunning region of the world.

We are delighted to be working with one of our most prestigious client Curtain Walling companies in the Middle East, a company which can offer its clients complete expertise in Architectural Aluminum and Glazing product’s design, manufacture and installation and having a coveted portfolio of some of the most outstanding and architecturally award winning projects throughout the region.

Document Controller – part of a vital team assisting the Project Manager in a role that is highly computer orientated. The successful person will have intelligence and common sense and be able to document any changes to projects by recording the information and liaison with various departments to ensure awareness and implementation of any amendments. This will require an ability to read and understand drawings.

Experience Required:

Be computer literate with at least 2 years (ideally 5) experience in curtain walling and be familiar with all the components – extrusions, glass, brackets, silicon screws, nuts, etc. Able to speak clear and fluent English, so more suitable to an English, American, South African or Australian nationality. Methodical, highly organised

This is a highly pressurised, challenging role that will suit someone who has worked in the Middle or Far East previously, understand the culture, climate and working conditions. MUST be a ‘doer’ who will give everything to the role. Someone who will roll up their sleeves and go out and push. Practical experience is more important that qualifications.

A mature person who has worked in the same environment and has an acceptance of stress levels. In return you will a superb TAX FREE salary plus accommodation, with the opportunity to work alongside some of the most experienced and techncially competent people in the Curtain Wall industry and be involved in award winning, internationally acclaimed projects throughout the world. This is a GLOBAL company and prospects are superb for ambitious, hardworking, technically competent people.

To apply for this position please forward your CV in PDF or Word format by clicking the apply button.

Apply here..

Agile Software Development Project vs. Standard Software Development Project

I traveled through the Expo portion of the SQE Better Software Development Conference & Expo today.  The slant was definitely toward Agile Software Development.  I had the pleasure of speaking with representatives from QSM, Rally Software, VersionOne, innerworkings, NetObjectives, Software Quality Engineering, and VMC among others. 

I have not personally fully managed a project that utilized Agile or Iterative development processes.  I was leading a project utilizing an iterative development process on an enterprise-wide software re-write, but unfortunately the project never finished as the company I was working for at the time closed down suddenly, thus sending the remainder of the project to a competitor.

The Standard Process

I’d like to analyze the difference between an Agile Software Development Project and what I’ll call a Standard Software Development Project.  To me, the standard software project follows the process that we all grew up with…

• Requirements definition
• Development
• Unit/system testing
• User acceptance testing
• Deployment
• Post-deployment support (break/fix & tech support)

The Agile Process

Agile is much different, often utilizing 2-4 week ‘sprints’ ending in a usable (though not market-ready) product.  As an experienced software developer, software manager, and project manager I can certainly embrace the concept that an iterative process that involves short bursts to turn out a usable product that the customer can interact with greatly reduces the chances of being way off the mark in terms of requirements vs. the end product.  I can logically assume that the end result is lower costs, less re-work, and a final product that is often much closer to what the customer wanted than what is turned out by a decent percentage of ‘standard’ development projects.

My ‘What If’ Scenario

With what I call the ‘standard’ process there is always a strong likelihood that the end product will not be what the end user actually needs.  The risk is great that either the requirements weren’t detailed enough, or development slowly strayed from requirements enough along the way to provide a basically unusable solution after a development cycle that could be a year in length.  The possibility for wasted time and huge re-work is much greater.  With the Agile process, you can never really be farther than 2-4 weeks off the mark.

The Big Question

So, I can understand the fact that over an entire project portfolio, the likelihood of realizing a significant cost savings could be very high…likely IS very high.  Here’s my question:

If we were to take a large software project and run it both ways – standard and Agile – and then let’s assume that both work perfectly…no re-work, no missed requirements, etc.  At the end of each version of the project, what shape would the budget be in? 

My assumption is, that if everything else is equal…meaning it all goes smoothly with either process…then I would tend to believe that the ‘standard’ process would result in less expense and less effort.  Prove me wrong…I want to hear from the readers – especially Agile promoters.  Over the long haul – the entire project portfolio – I can see it being the better way to go in terms of cost due to less re-work.  But in a perfect world – which is a fairy tale, I know – wouldn’t the cost be less with the standard process of running a software project?  I’m not anti-Agile at all, so please don’t read it that way.  I’m just trying to provoke some thought and discussion here.  Now…respond!

PM in the Cloud and Collective Intelligence Cluster

Live Webcast: Taking SharePoint Project Management into the Cloud!

05.29.2009 – Date: June 4th, 2009
Time: 9am PST, 12pm EST, 5pm GMT
Free to register:

Cloud computing infrastructures are winning over decision makers in companies of all sizes across the globe. They realize the power cloud computing technology offers, including significant savings in administrative costs.

pmPoint Online frees companies from software and its hidden costs, high failure rates, and prolonged implementations. All while providing a complete SharePoint project management solution that meets the varying project management needs of businesses of every size, everywhere.

By taking SharePoint project management into the cloud, pmPoint Online offers a pay-as-you-go model so users can forget about buying servers and software. It’s all rolled up into a predictable monthly subscription, so you only pay for what you actually use. Better still, deployment and adoption is lightening fast and upgrades are painless.

After the webcast, all participants will receive a recording of the demo session and access to a free 30 day trial of pmPoint Online.

Collective Intelligence Cluster and Prediction Markets Summit 18 June 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

San Francisco, CA, May 31, 2009 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) — The Prediction Market Clusters in collaboration with Aurora WDC, Consensus Point, Carlson School of Management, the MIS Research Center and many others announces the Collective Intelligence Cluster and Prediction Markets Summit 18 June 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Collective Intelligence Cluster and Prediction Markets Summit (http://www.pmcluster.com/MSP09.htm) The venue is the stunning Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Learn how collective intelligence networks are fundamentally altering the enterprise landscape, driving executive decision making, leading collaborative forecasting and optimizing supply chain management. Engage with experts in knowledge markets that are reshaping all practices of knowledge management (KM) and propelling enterprise knowledge ecologies of the future.

“There is not much that any of us do that is more important than telling the company what we know.” Jeff Severts, EVP, Best Buy We are thrilled special several key scholars and thought leaders will join your cluster including: Robin Hanson, Professor, Economist, Polymath, George Mason University George Neumann, George Daly Professor of Economics, University of Iowa In addition, university collaboration and support originates from these esteemed institutions and organizations – University of Minnesota, MIS Research Center and Carlson School of Management.