I'll keep this posting short. Click over to Jeffrey Cufaude-Idea Architect. Jeffrey writes of becoming a first-rate noticer -- a skill every project manager needs to develop. Jeffrey Cufaude is a first-rate writer. Enjoy!

posted by Hal at 9:39 AM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

This is the third of five project e-Tips on ideas that are reshaping the delivery of projects. As you read through this consider whether you are systematically doing it or do you just know about it.

The Project Reformer's e-Tip of the Week

026: Optimize the Whole

AEC projects are contracted in ways that usually result in optimization at local or subcontract levels. Consulting engineers manage their work to maximixe engineering utilization. Plumbers do what is good for the plumbers. Other performers do the same. Some people say that if we do well with each of the parts, the whole will do well too. That is blatantly not true. And, people on the project know it. Sometimes it takes one group goins slow so that the project can proceed more effectively. However, the incentives are not set up to accomplish that. Optimizing the whole requires on-going attention. Circumstances change. What appears to be good for the whole at one point in the project may not be so at other points. It takes a recurring conversation and assessment among the many project participants to continue to act for the general well-being of the whole project. Try asking just one question at each of your coordination meetings: What is the best we can do for the project in the coming week? Answer the question in the group setting. Be open to adjust scope, fees, and plans accordingly. As the result, you'll do better for you client and the team. The Project Leaders' Studio™

©2004 Hal Macomber | weblog.halmacomber.com | e-Tip Archive | PDF | Submit Tip

Let me know what you learn while you try this out. And send me your proposals for an e-Tip. If I publish it, then I'll send you a Free Prize Inside!

posted by Hal at 1:59 AM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

Report exposes failure of IT project management:

"Fewer than one in five of all IT projects in the UK can be considered truly successful, and failed projects lead to billions of pounds being wasted on IT systems, according to research from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society. The report, released last week, said the UK is failing to produce software engineers and managers with the project management skills to execute complex projects."

The authors of the report call for the IT community to "...embrace the discipline and professionalism associated with traditional branches of engineering..." to deliver projects that are a success.

"Projects are often poorly defined, codes of practice are frequently ignored, and there is a woeful inability to learn from past experience," he added.

We don't need better engineering. We need people who take care of their project team while addressing the day-to-day responsibilities of coordinating action among them.

posted by Hal at 8:52 PM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

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