Volume IX - Issue VI - June 2007
PM Tips and Techniques
How to improve Project Sponsorship -
By Alfonso Bucero Some years ago, I worked as a PMO manager for a multinational company in which business managers were assigned as project sponsors for the whole project life cycle. Results were not very good because project managers often felt alone when dealing with customers. As a solution, I organized a workshop meeting with the project sponsors. I asked some questions to find out the level of knowledge they had about their projects. Seventy percent of them did not know the accurate project status, and 50 percent never visited the project customer site. Most of the sponsors didn’t know much about their projects at all. In the last five years, I have seen organizations focus on improving project management, implementing methodologies and developing the project management career path. But I have seen only a few organizations that are aware of how to develop the skills of their managers and top executives. Organizations often confuse the project sponsor role. Sometimes, the Sponsor is not involved in the project enough. Other times, the project sponsor is too involved and acts like a “super project manager”, generating conflicts and problems.
What La Necesidad del Sponsorship - Por Alfonso Bucero Hace algunos años, yo trabajé como Jefe de la Oficina de proyectos de una compañía multinacional donde los responsables de negocio eran asignados como “sponsors” de proyecto para el ciclo de vida completo del proyecto. Los resultados no fueron muy beunos porque los “project managers” se sentían solos en los proyectos frente a los clientes. Como posible solución, organizamos una reunión de trabajo con todos los ejecutivos que actuaban como “sponsors” de los proyectos. Les hice algunas preguntas para averiguar el nivel de conocimiento que tenían de sus proyectos. El setenta por ciento de ellos no sabía, con exactitud, el estado de los proyectos en los que estaban involucrados, y el 50 por ciento nunca había visitado la oficina del cliente. La mayoría de los “sponsors” no sabían mucho sobre sus proyectos. En los últimos cinco años, he visto organizaciones que se han centrado en la mejora de la gestión de sus proyectos, implementando metodologías y desarrollando la carrera profesional del “project manager”. Pero solo he visto unas pocas organizaciones preocupadas de cómo desarrollar las habilidades de sus ejecutivos y directivos en la parte estratégica de la dirección de proyectos. Las organizaciones confunden a menudo el rol del “sponsor” del proyecto. Algunas veces, el sponsor no está suficientemente involucrado en el proyecto. Oras veces, el “sponsor” del proyecto está demasiado involucrado y actúa como un “super project manager”, generando conflictos y problemas.
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP I was recently at a conference of women business owners, and I attended a break-out session about blogging. By the end of the session, I was struck by how many of the women in the room were digitally challenged. These were highly successful and intelligent women, but it seemed that many of them were fearful of technology. With technology affecting all aspects of our lives exponentially, I realized that their digital fear could become paralyzing and get in the way of their personal and professional success. When we think of the digital divide traditionally, it focused on access to the Internet, computers, software and education. That division hasn’t gone away. It has shifted, but it’s still a critical issue – especially when we look globally at the developing world.
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An Introduction to Requirements Management By Laurence Nicholson An Introduction to Requirements Management The Management of Requirements is the process of establishing and maintaining an agreed set of both technical and business related requirements. This agreement should be between the customer (business) and the Development team, and the resultant set of requirements form the basis for estimation, planning, executing and monitoring (controlling) activities throughout the project. The primary activities within Requirements Management include:
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An Eye for Value: What the Business Analyst Brings By Kathleen B. Haas, PMP There’s no question about it: agile project management expedites the new product development process. It is a streamlined methodology, based on having only essential people work in tight knit teams for quick and efficient results. Of course, one very important member of the team is the business analyst. Why? Because if companies hope to achieve strategic goals, they need someone who is focused on the business value expected from the project outcomes to help provide guidance not only during a project but also before it is invested and after it is delivered as well. In traditional project management, which comes from the construction industry, a great deal of up front planning and requirement generation is done. People can then walk away with finished plans in hand to construct a building. Though it is a logical approach for construction, project management has been adapted over time into an agile system for business projects that contain a significant technology component. For such tasks, it is difficult to articulate requirements for a future way of working that has not yet been tested. Agile projects proceed on more of a ‘learn as you go’ premise where small working teams include customers and developers who are co-located and spending 100 percent of their time dedicated to the project. The work is done in increments, and quick iterations are continually evaluated and modified. A project manager and a business analyst each play a crucial role on such a high performance team.
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