Some people consider reporting progress on their project or programme as either a weapon to be beaten with later, or a way of hiding the real progress (or lack of it) in a 30 page document that they hope no one will ever read – then when it goes wrong later than can whip it out and say ‘ah, but we told you it was going wrong months ago, just look at the progress report on x date’. Shocking, but sadly all too common. That is where the best project and programme managers outshine their weakers fellows, and in so doing make the Project Director or Programme Director look great in the eyes of their superiors.

So how do we ensure that we have truly effective progress reporting?

For me its very simple, if you keep the basics in mind – what is the purpose of the report? Surely its to keep those that need to know about progress informed of the real position, and to be honest if its lacking in any area. If lacking of course, it needs a plan to resolve the situation and recover the shortfall. Are we on track or off track with regard to the key parameters of the project or programme. Again sadly, even these get forgotten about, far too often I see reports that concentrate on time and cost only – yes these are important, but what about the other four key areas??? For those new to the area,the full set is time. cost, quality, risk, benefit and scope. You should be reporting against these parameters – the Golden Six, by each project and at programme level.

I have delivered a major programme comprising 5 large projects over several years, and reported progress every month to the Programme Director, Chief Executive and Member Committee using a 3 page report, backed with a single page A3 Gantt chart. Thats all you need at this programme level. At the project level beneath, there was a 3 page report and a similar A3 Gantt chart for each project. All simple to read and understand.

My thinking behind this was that it was more of an Executive Summary document than a fully detailed project and programme document. My audience would not be interested in 30+ pages of detail, they just wanted to know if it was on track or not, if not what where we going to do to recover the position. Once you cross that simplicity threshold the rest becomes easy. Well not exactly easy, as I have spent several occassions in heated debate with project and programme teams debating how we recover a ‘red trafic light’ on the draft report. Great – that is what the team should be focussing on, the best solution. Then, when the report goes in and shows a ‘red’ or ‘amber’ light there is a note of what caused it and how it is going to be resolved. That is the best type of reporting possible, open, honest and truthful. It builds credibility for you and the Project or Programme Directors involved.

I would rather spend the time on the solution before the report goes in, than spend twice as long in an inquisition later on why the report was misleading – and still have to spend the same time on the solution – only by this point team morale will have plummeted and whatever the solution looks like then, you can bet that your superiors will crawl through the detail at that point as they have just lost confidence and trust in the delivery team – thats a hard place to be for everyone involved.

So in summary, if you feel the need to issue a 30+ page periodic progress report, to hide bad news, then you should be thinking about your next job – otherwise when the truth finally comes out, and it inevitably will, you will probably be looking for your next job and not through choice.

I hope you have found this of interest, if you have any subjects you would like to see here, please let me know

regards

Simon Kennish BSc(Hons), FRICS, MAPM, MCMI

www.simonkennish.com

Twitter: @simonkennish

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/simonkennish

So what can sand tell us, well its made up of many tiny particles, each one pretty insignificant, but as a collective mass pretty formidable. The sand can contain some risks – like broken glass or a rusty piece of metal, which if trodden on will certainly casue you an immediate issue. You can move the sand round at will, but to make a big dune takes a fair amount of resources and planning. The beach may have others using it and if you want to do something big you need to take these other stakeholders into account. If the wind blows, even the most solid steadfast object will be worn away to dust given long enough, never under estimate the power of a myriad of particles grinding something down.

Then I thought about the benefits, well sitting on the beach with the salt air up your nostrils maybe have been all that was required, but then again it may require some more human resources, persuasion and a ball or a spade – well it is a family holiday after all. Then there is the motivational piece and teamwork to take into account to get the real benefit of enjoying the sandy beach. 

So strange as it may seem, you can learn a lot about project management even when doing something as simple as enjoying the sand.

I hope you have found this of interest, if you have any subjects you would like to see here, please let me know

regards

Simon Kennish BSc(Hons), FRICS, MAPM, MCMI

www.simonkennish.com

Twitter: @simonkennish

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/simonkennish

 #Prince2 #MSP #stakeholder #simonkennish #simon #kennish #project #programme #management #projectdirector

In the construction field this is called ‘snagging’ – though there is no legal definition of what snagging is, and it doesn’t appear in most major forms of contract, so I prefer to use the contractual term of ‘defective or incomplete works’. That just elevates the issue, its not a trivial thing, it goes to the whole point of the project, to deliver an output that is both fit for purpose and to the right quality standard.

The real skill for a project or programme manager of course is getting the end user to tell you what it is they really want at the start of the project/ programme. The old saying ‘the day the client tells you what they really wanted, is the day you give them what they asked for’ is very true. So good PM’s must spend time really teasing out what the client wants, this is an advanced skill, along with advising the client if they are unsure. Sometimes the PM assumes he knows what is required, and whilst this can be true for some technical spec’s, the real high quality PM’s go the extra mile to define the requirements with the client – truly probing their needs. For me the golden rules are:

Work out what you actually want to be delivered – this sounds daft, but I am continually amazed at how little thought goes into this process. For example if you want a new roof on your building, you probably want it to keep the weather out, you may or may not want it to look pleasing to the eye, you may need it to be able to withstand people walking on it etc

Then work out what performance levels you want it to achieve and how you will be able to check its meeting those levels – for a roof this could be something as simple as it doesn’t let rain water in, or has a certain thermal value, or can withstand high winds etc

Then find a suitable method of defining these so the provider stands a fighting chance of delivering what you have asked for -whether its a British or European Standard (though please check to see that it does cover what you want it too), I’ve seen the wrong ones specified before, which doesnt help when you have a claim. If you want to avoid a debate over whether its fit for purpose or not, then spend time to spell out what fit for purpose looks like.

Of course its then down to the service provider to deliver what has been specified, no more and no less – that is what the contract is for, laying out the service/ product and the cost for it. If they don’t provide what you specified, then quite simple – dont pay them for it.

So before your next contractual ‘debate’ over snagging, just think of it as defective or incomplete works, check the contract to see what was asked for, and pause for a moment to think what a reasonable service provider would interpret that as. Of course if they have given you a rotten apple with a bite taken out and you aksed for a fresh Braeburn – then you have an interesting conversation ahead. Next time you are drafting spec’s, reflect on what you really want, a few minutes spent then will save hours later.

I hope you have found this of interest, if you have any subjects you would like to see here, please let me know

regards

Simon Kennish BSc(Hons), FRICS, MAPM, MCMI

www.simonkennish.com

Twitter: @simonkennish

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/simonkennish

 #Prince2 #MSP #stakeholder #simonkennish #simon #kennish #project #programme #management #projectdirector

For me its a mixture of Knowledge, Skills, Judgment and Application

Knowledge – you need to know the subject, like the theory of how to drive a car or write a project document

Skills – you then need to practice how to do it, remember that first driving lesson or first PID

Judgment – after knowledge and skills comes the more advanced piece of knowing what’s right and what isn’t, for example should I drink and drive or is this really a risk or an issue for my project

Application – after the above comes the application of the knowledge, skills and judgment – can I safely overtake now or not.

This for me is the basis of competence, take one of these four strands out and it all falls down. So if you’re in a position where you need to be competent, give this some thought and if you a feeling brave check your level of competence against the APM Competency Framework – this is matched to the Body of Knowledge. It may come as rather a surprise, and lead to some personal development areas

I hope you have found this of interest, if you have any subjects you would like to see here, please let me know

regards

Simon Kennish BSc(Hons), FRICS, MAPM, MCMI

Twitter: @simonkennish

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/simonkennish

 #Prince2 #MSP #competence #simonkennish #simon #kennish #project #programme #management

I checked the APMG website and found an online sample paper for Prince2, so I ordered the latest version of the Prince2 manual (all 327No pages of it!) and started to read it through to see what had changed from the one I was examined on back in 2004. I was pleasantly surprised to find the improvements made sense and filled a good few gaps that were there before. I took the sample paper and got a Pass score, so paid my exam fee on line and within minutes I was into the exam. All was going well until my internet connection had a dicky fit and dropped out, so I lost a few minutes but managed to log back in and complete it in time – result was a Pass, so thats Prince2 sorted for another 5 years

Here is the link to the APMG webpage for the Prince2 exam:

http://www.apmg-international.com/APMG-UK/PRINCE2/ReRegistrationExamination.aspx

MSP next, well this was slightly different to Prince2, for this re-registration you have to prepare a dissertation – up to 4,000 words long on how you have used MSP in real life programme. There wasnt a sample paper to read beforehand, so I paid the exam fee and then…….nothing, I chased them a week later and got an e-mail back saying they had ordered an exam pack to be posted to me, I would have 3 months to complete it and send it back. This was a bit frustrating having to wait for a few weeks from paying the fee to getting the pack. Then it took me a while to read the new MSP manual (another 301No pages!) before thinking how to write the dissertation itself. I considered the format of the dissertation using the exam brief as my base, 4,000 words later it was ready to post back to them along with all the invigilators paperwork (it comes out as if you are sitting the exam at a third party centre, despite you doing it at home with no time limit). A week later I got an e-mail from APMG to say I had passed – another great result (65/75), so that is now in date for another 5 years.

Here is the link to the APMG website for the MSP Exam:

http://www.apmg-international.com/APMG-UK/MSP/MSPReReg.aspx

In summary, the re-reg process was fairly simple, Prince2 was very quick to do and cost £165. MSP took a lot longer to get the exam paper, then write the dissertation and wait for the result, but again the cost was £165. Is it worth it, well as I’m currently looking for my next role I thought it was worth the time, trouble, effort and cost to get them both back in date again, if nothing else it’s one less barrier on a CV and it sets you out from the crowd by showing that you are maintaining your knowledge of the latest methodologies by having to read the latest manuals.

I hope you have found this of interest, if you have any subjects you would like to see here, please let me know

regards

Simon Kennish BSc(Hons), FRICS, MAPM, MCMI

Twitter: @simonkennish

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/simonkennish

 #Prince2 #MSP #re-registration #simonkennish #simon #kennish #project #programme #management