 Reforming Project Management |
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Friday, December 06, 2002
Complete Archives Available for 'Reforming'
Finally...I got archiving to work. You'll find an Archives link both on the left-hand column and along the navigation bar at the top of the page. The Archives are weekly going back to my first posting on August 26, 2002.
Thursday, December 05, 2002
Is 'Reforming' Hot or Not?
A few weeks ago I added this weblog to the HOT or NOT weblog rating service. I was looking for two things. First, I wanted some feedback on how valuable my postings are for the readers. Second, I was looking for some promotion from the HOT or NOT service. At this time the rating is "8" out of a possible "10". While that doesn't sound bad, a straight numerical average of the 25 people who left their ratings would result in a average rating of "6". ("Hot or Not" makes some adjustment to calculate the rating.) So I'm wondering...is this weblog really a "6" or is it an "8" (or something else)? Please go to the HOT or NOT site and leave your rating. AND come back to this posting and please leave your comments. Let me know what you find valuable and what I could be doing to provide more value. Thanks.
Conventional Wisdom Revealed
Heavyweight vs. Lightweight (Project) Methodologies
Reading Jason P. Charvat offers us a view of the conventional wisdom of project management. In Charvat's latest article in Builder.com he sets out to compare project methodologies on the two ends of the spectrum of approaches. In so doing, he gives credence to 'one approach is better' or more suitable than the other depending on the circumstances of the project and the style preferences of the project manager. Charvat does a superficial job of describing the practices. He fails to recognize poor practices saying, "Sometimes a project is simply cobbled together out of a series of quick-paced decisions. This can be effective if the project is small, but as the project grows, it can become increasingly difficult to add new features."Charvat dwells on the weaknesses of the heavyweight approach while giving emphasis to the benefits of the lightweight methodologies. In describing a "practical example" of a heavyweight approach he says, "Everything needs to be planned far ahead on such a lengthy project, and management likes it to be predictable. They have this down to a fine art."Sure, people want predictability and control, but planning to the gnat's ass months and quarters in advance doesn't produce that predictability. Project team members will tell you so. He fails to grasp that point. Charvat lists 10 "essential points" for selecting a project methodology.
Charvat goes on to sing the praises of the lightweight methodologies (scrum, agile, XP, etc.). He lists one benefit after the next, but like many others, he misses the central issue of projects -- projects occur in the future and consequently face uncertainty and variability. While we might show some deference to the preferred style of the project manager, the main concern we have on projects is to manage in a way that acknowledges uncertainty. Further, we certainly don't want to add to the variability on the project by multi-tasking and from poor coordination of action. To some degree or another projects need to be managed for learning and innovation while avoiding the introduction of (more) variability and mitigating inherent risk. Neither heavyweight nor lightweight methodologies (as described by Charvat) explicitly consider the underlying nature of the project setting. Take a look at the article and leave your rating. Oh...stay tuned; Charvat promises to examine and compare the different lightweight project methodologies. You can bet I'll be offering my views!
Monday, December 02, 2002
Hands-on Guide Demonstrates What 'XP' (Project Management) is Really About
Nice book review by Dan Seewer on Builder.com of A Practical Guide to eXtreme Programming by David Astels, Granville Miller, and Miroslav Novak Hands-on guide demonstrates what XP is really about. The book has been around since February, long enough that Amazon offers used copies for $17.75. The Amazon customer reviews are equally as positive as Seewer's review.
For a more comprehensive and useful review see Notes on a Practical Guide and Thoughts on Software Development by Ognian Pushev appearing in the Journal of Object Technology. JOT is published by ETH, the highly-regarded Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Pushev goes into detail summarizing key points in the book as well as commenting on the book. I recommend the book review even to people doing construction projects. Many practices of XP are transferrable to all project environments, particularly the practices for design, engineering, and architecture.
Reduce Project Variability...Start Listening
I've been teaching listening from the time I started teaching project management. Invariably, a large percentage (often a great majority) of the sources of mis-coordination on projects is the result of project participants not listening. Mis-listening just adds to the variability and uncertainty on our projects. You can do something about this.
One action to take immediately is to check out The Listening Leader. This is a weekly email newsletter by Dr. Rick Bommelje. He is a member of The International Listening Association where you'll find resources to build your competence. I'm reprinting today's newsletter message for you. While it is written about the functional manager, just substitute project for functional and it still applies. THE FUNCTIONAL MANAGER: LISTENING IS A MUST FOR SUCCESSRam Charan is a leading thinker of leadership, management, and general business along with being a prolific writer. One of my favorites is his book What Every CEO Wants You to Know. You can subscribe to The Listening Leader by sending an email to: listeningleader-on@lists.webvalence.com.
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