Question

You have just completed two (2) projects in your assessments, Assessment 2 used the PMBOK method, Assessment 3 used the Agile Method.

You have been asked to conduct a review on both projects. With PMBOK a post project review focuses on what went well, issues and any improvements for future projects (Learnings). For Scrum it is done after every sprint in the Sprint Retrospective.

Considering issues encountered in PMBOK Project (Assessment 2), recommend any future improvements for other projects that utilise the PMBOK project method.

Answer 1

Recommend any future improvements for other projects that utilise the PMBOK project method.

1. Stakeholder and Sponsor Relationship Management

One common denominator for successful process improvement projects has to do with project stakeholders; specifically, the ability of the project manager to negotiate and successfully manage the intricate nature of the numerous affected stakeholders of a project. Stakeholders have a huge, if not the greatest impact on projects. Therefore, stakeholder and sponsor relationship management is a vital component of ensuring project success which includes the acceptance and implementation of team recommendations. The key word is “relationship.” This implies more than simply identifying or “managing” stakeholders. A relationship is an emotional connection between people. To have successful process improvement projects, project managers must understand this emotional connection and therefore focus on improving their own interpersonal skill set. The project manager needs to ensure that all stakeholders are not only identified, but are analyzed in such a way that relationships and support for the project can be continuously improved. Project managers need to make sure stakeholders are on board with the approach that is being used to manage the team, the quality tools and use of data to help with decision making, and the testing procedures the project manger will use to verify recommendations. Otherwise, sponsors or other stakeholders might continuously challenge the method or approach used to manage the project.

2. Team Ground Rules

Projects of any kind can become troublesome very quickly. When dealing with numerous stakeholder groups, team members, levels of expertise, and various departments, it is inevitable that problems will arise. Process improvement (PI) projects, by their very nature, are quite susceptible to problems. A PI project is usually assembled because results are currently not good enough. Processes almost always cut across departments within an organization, so PI projects are usually comprised of cross-functional team members. It’s not uncommon for some of these departments, or silos, to have differing viewpoints and objectives, or they may simply not like each other very much. This is where problems begin to arise. Various challenges, conflicts, and issues happen with every project.

3. Process Improvement Methods

A process improvement project is focused on improving results. Nevertheless, improving results is not necessarily easy. A project manager needs a proven methodology to help him or her move the project from current results to improved performance. This is where the Six Sigma DMAIC steps can help with any process improvement project. DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Because there are only five steps, they are easy to remember, easy to understand, and simply make sense. This proven methodology, if applied correctly, can improve any process.

4. Project Facilitation

Anyone who has ever participated on a project where the project manager was not a good facilitator can attest to the importance of project facilitation. A project manager who is an excellent facilitator makes all the difference in the world. Teams work together. People feel involved. Things just go smoothly. Most project managers are natural leaders and are very good at planning. That doesn’t mean, however, that they are necessarily good facilitators.

A good facilitator is very hard to find. A few “naturals” have this skill set, but for the rest of us, it requires practice, work, and constant refinement. A few key characteristics of excellent facilitators include:

Leads but doesn’t dominate

Actively listens

Maintains momentum

Encourages participation

Leads by example

Keeps the sponsor actively involved (but ensures sponsors do not micromanage)

Documents to the level needed (nothing unnecessary, does not go overboard)

Is very organized

5. Testing and Experimentation

The plain and simple fact is that it is hard very hard to improve results. Processes are complicated. Many, many different variables have an impact on a process or key measure including: the complexity of the process, the number of hand-offs, the variety and number of departments involved, the variation among the people involved in the process, the accuracy of the measurement system, the variety of customer requests or expectations, and the accuracy of upstream inputs and information. These are just a few of the numerous variables that can impact results; there are obviously many others. To show an effect, changes to the process must overcome all of these things, in addition to those variables not listed. The problem is that not every improvement idea is a good idea. Although some ideas do help, many if not most ideas either make no impact to the key measure under study or actually do harm.