Quiet Time

After a really hectic year on two different assignments with virtually no time off I'm now enjoying a break.

Playing a lot of golf (and improving!), doing those jobs that always seem to be ignored when you're working and catching up with old friends.

I've let it be known that I'm looking for a new assignment for the New Year, but I don't expect much to happen in the market now until January.

Programme Management for the 21st Century

RPP Assessors' Training Day

Spent a good day yesterday at the APM's RPP Assessors' training day.

It's great to see how committed to the standard everybody is.

RPP (Registered Project Professional) is also being well supported by more and more organisations, and in time it's likely to become the first thing employers look for when recruiting Programme/Project Managers. One or two corporates have already declared that it will be compulsory when they recruit in future.

The verification process that has been added to the assessment process should ensure that all candidates receive a consistent evaluation, and in time all assessors will achieve a common view of what constitutes a successful application.

Once APM achieves Chartered status for this denomination the slow burn of applications we are seeing at present will become a raging fire!

I'm really pleased to have been part of it right from the start.

All change again!

My current assignment comes to an end in September.

I'm looking forward to a break, because the last two assignments have been a log slog and I've only had a week off all year.

This current assignment has been one of my most enjoyable, probably because the programme was in such a state when I arrived.

The end client had been promised a lot and had received little. The transformation part of the programme was roughly a year behind schedule, with no signs of delivering much in the near future.

Some people on the programme had to be replaced; they were either getting stale and jaded or they simply weren't up to the challenge.

In some cases, the developers had been asked to achieve the impossible, but it took a change of management for anyone to realise it was impossible and so change the way they were working.

Structurally, the organisation's business model did not lend itself to efficient delivery, because people were not necessarily incentivised to focus on one particular account.

The parlous state of the programme was hidden - not necessarily deliberately - because reporting was very subjective.

My first task was to make the reporting objective, based on the programme schedule. This turned most RAG reports red almost instantly, and people began to understand the scale of the problem. Then, we reorganised the way the account was set up, to incentivise people to focus on the one account.

I also replaced people in key positions, created a whole new programme management team below me and restructured the sub-programmes into outcomes-based projects in order to reduce complexity and risk.

Next, I mandated a better governance structure, based on MSP and PRINCE 2, and increased the size of the PMO. Programme and sub-programme boards were dramatically reduced in terms of the number of attendees so they became proper management forums instead of talking shops, and finally RAID management became effective.

All of this, of course, was done against a backdrop of commercial/contractual "discussions" with a somewhat unhappy and tense end-client.

Things are back on an even keel now, but it has become clear that the programme will take far longer to complete than was ever envisaged. Consequently, I've started replacing contract staff with FTEs to reduce burn rate.

With the programme in a far healthier state and on track to deliver, I can hand over to a permanent Programme Director and look for my next assignment - once I've played a bit of golf of course!

Busy Times!

I'm typing this using my iPad on a train, which is where I seem to do a lot of my work these days. 


The programme I am directing has run into serious difficulties, which is why I was brought in, and we are in the middle of completely revising our approach to the work and new timelines. The end client, with the potential to become my client's biggest customer, is understandably disillusioned and will take a lot of convincing that the programme can be turned round, but the delivery teais so committed that I am confident it can.


Today is a visit to one of the end client's sites to give them the opportunity to express their misgivings and for me to tell the what we are doing to turn the programme round.


One other thing going in our favour is that the end client continues to behave collaboratively and genuinely wants to help us succeed. Yesterday was a full day's workshop with 30 representatives of all areas of the delivery team, and it went very well; strong commitment from everyone present and some real insights into what we can do to turn things round. I've several more workshops of a similar nature, often including the end client, over the next week or two before we present a revised proposal to the board.


Lots of travelling, hard work and lots of mental stimulation - I'm loving it!

Two weeks with the Mac

Well, everyone who uses a Mac raved about them, so I decided to join them and see what the fuss ia about.

I bought an Apple MacBook Pro - the 13" for portability - and upgraded it to 8Gb of RAM and a 128Gb solid state hard drive. It flies like the wind!

The build quality is superb; far better than any PC I've ever owned.

I've deliberately opted to avoid using a Windows parallel system, and I've resisted the temptation to use Office for Mac.

I find that Apple Mail suits my email purposes just fine, and in place of Business Contacts Manager for Outlook I've bought Daylite, which is a very impressive CRM package for Mac, and it integrates perfectly with Apple Mail.

Instead of Office, I've installed NeoOffice (don't even get me started on how superb the Mac is for installing and uninstalling programs!) and it's great! It will open all my Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and contains all the functionality I need without the bloatedness of its Microsoft counterpart. It's also free, although you can make a donation, which seems only fair.

The only concession I've had to make in switching to a Mac is the loss of the ability to take handwritten notes as I did on my tablet. The input pen I bought to use with the Mac was very unimpressive. To get round that, I'm going to buy an iPad 2 to take notes on and integrate them with the MacBook.

All things considered I'm delighted I made the switch. The Mac boots up in 14 seconds, does what it's supposed to do - very  quickly - backs itself up to an external drive every hour without my even noticing, never crashes, needs no anti-virus software and defrags itself instantly every time I write to disc.

Am I smug? You bet I am!

Meanwhile, on the work front, it continues to be a fascinating environment to work in. It's the first time I've been involved in a brand new outsourcing site, and the amount of storming and forming has to be seen to be believed. Both sides of the equation are feeling their way. There are misunderstandings and dissatisfaction on both sides but people are doing their best to make it work.

Add to that the large offshore element of the work, and the fact that half a dozen companies are involved, and the whole thing is very challenging. At least there's never a dull moment. And of course, I get to come home to my Mac!

To switch or not to switch?

I've been using my iPhone - a very basic model - for about a fortnight now, and I'm completely blown away by it!

I'm also in the market for a new laptop, because my current one is creaking with age.

Then again, I'm sick of error messages, crashes, endless reboots and registry errors.

Perhaps the thing I'm most sick of is the frequent slowing down almost to a standstill while my anti-virus software does whatever it does; am I alone in thinking that being monitored by anti-virus software is almost as bad as having the virus itself?

All of the above points to making the switch to Apple.

And I would, and I'd use iWorks and all that other good stuff and not be one of those people who buys a Mac for its looks and then installs a parallel OS to use all the software that causes the problem in the first place.

I do, however, use certain killer apps that are the very things that make me so productive, and they might ultimately stop the switch to Apple.

The first is Outlook - OK there, because Microsoft produces a Mac version.

The second is Business Contact Manager - vital to me, but I've found a Mac alternative, so that's OK.

The third is Personal Brain. If you've never seen it, Google it - you'll thank me for it. Fortunately, PB is available for Macs too, otherwise that would be a deal breaker.

The fourth and final killer app, and the one that is a deal breaker I think, is OneNote. I don't even necessarily have to stick with this app - I know that Apple have something similar and I could happily live with that. However, the single thing that boosts my productivity more than anything else is the ability to handwrite notes straight on to my tablet laptop. That, I cannot live without.

So what am I to do? I plan on buying a powerful beast that will last me years rather than year, but I need that handwriting function.

There are several great convertible laptop/tablets out there now, sporting solid state hard drives, 8Gb RAM and Intel i7 processors, but ultimately they will keep giving me the same Windows OS grief.

A MacBook Air is very tempting, but I can't handwrite on it. An iPad screen is too small, and the OS wouldn't let me load the programs I need.

Rumour has it that Apple will launch a convertible laptop, but that could be ages off, and what if it turns out to have a disappointingly small 10.1" screen? I want portability, not a squint. My current tablet is just over 12" and that's my benchmark, give or take half an inch.

So do I wait and hope Apple come up with the (near-) perfect answer for me, or do I go out and buy a mega-powerful convertible laptop PC now, and so turn my back on Apple for at least another four years?

Or is there another alternative I'm missing?

I'd love suggestions from all you Apple aficionados out there - preferably before my PC gives up altogether!

Adding Project Management Value

I heard yesterday about an excellent manager who has fallen victim to the public sector cuts. I'm sure he won't be the only one, and anyone who thinks the cuts are an opportunity merely to discard the deadwood is sadly mistaken.

Don't think for a minute it couldn't happen to you.

Now more than ever it's essential for project and programme managers to demonstrate that they add value for organisations.

It's not enough to merely maintain marvellous governance documentation. Documentation and methodologies are only enablers to help deliver programmes and projects effectively.

Project professionals need to be able to show their worth by bringing projects in on time - or sooner - and on budget - or below it! They should also always be looking for ways to cut project spend without compromising quality. In austere times especially, organisations often want to see "Good enough" for purpose, not all-singing, all dancing deliverables that cost the Earth.

Striving to identify ways in which your project can reduce your customer's operational costs is also something good project professionals do as a matter of course.

There will always be sceptics out there who believe project management is an unnecessary overhead. We know they're wrong, but we have to demonstrate it in our behaviours.

My contract at IBM is in a highly competitive market and there is always tremendous pressure to drive down costs without compromising quality for the end client.

Similarly, I'm currently helping with the next edition of the APM's BoK as well as being an assessor for the new project professional standard, due to launch in March 2011. I'm sure the quest for value for money will loom large in both activities.

Make sure that your customers recognise that you add value to their organisations to strengthen your position in these difficult times.