The Project
CANVAS
A VISUAL TOOL TO
JOINTLY UNDERSTAND, DESIGN, AND INITIATE PROJECTS, AND HAVE MORE FUN AT WORK
written by
FRANK HABERMANN co-authored by
KAREN SCHMIDT
Copyright © 2014 by Frank Habermann & Karen Schmidt. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. The authors shall not be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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Version 1.0, digital pre-release, invented and written in Berlin, Germany.
The Project
CANVAS BUSINESS PROJECTS NEWLY DISCOVERED
3
Developing a new leadership model
Re-allocating the sales force Reengineering the bonus system
Creating a market study Aiming for ISO certification Opening a subsidiary in a new market Introducing a new controlling instrument
Inventing a service
Setting up a data warehouse
Developing a sustainability policy
Merging companies
Recreating employer brand
Establishing a shared service center Developing a strategy for corporate social responsibility
Implementing business software Finding an agency for the marketing campaign
Moving to another office building Improving the material management system
Canvas
"Canvas" is where we'll explore an easy-to-use tool for understanding and designing projects. A canvas serves as both, a charter to jump-start the project and a map for guiding the journey. Since the canvas is visual, it provides a unifying language for people from diverse professions and backgrounds. Originally, the term "canvas" was introduced by Osterwalder & Pigneur in their book "Business Model Generation". Since we've met many people who fell in love the original concept of the "business model canvas" and are eager to get something similar for their projects, we decided to keep the term but make it a "Project Canvas". This is for three reasons, firstly to give well-deserved credit to the original authors, secondly to allow recognition by readers, and thirdly to address the special characteristics of projects in business.
CONTENTS Before we start … Developing the Project Canvas 10 Building Blocks Input-Action-Output
Before we start ‌ ‌ let's try
a small exercise! It only takes ten seconds and all you need is a pen and paper. Everything in place? On the next page (don't turn over, yet!), you will find a question. The question could be something like "what's a car?", or "what's a cat?". Please answer the question immediately after turning the page. It's crucial that you do not hesitate, simply write down what comes to mind (do not look for a better or best answer). Be prepared to answer the question within 3 seconds! Ready? Then turn the page, now!
What was your answer? No matter where people come from, what kind of work they do, and how experienced they are, their answer can be put into one of three groups.
THE PHILOSOPHERS
THE TECH GUYS
THE BIZ GUYS
answer things like "friendship", "love", "nature", "virtue", "food", "family", "respect", "health", "freedom","happiness", etc.
say things like "number", "data", "figure", "object", "parameter", "attribute", "token", "integer", "item", etc.
say things like "price", "money", "revenue", "bargain", "contract", "product", "quality", "capital", "customer", "profit", etc.
AN INDIAN ENCOUNTER A few years ago, I worked with a group of IT directors from the Indian government. These women and men were very smart and they all graduated with majors in informatics or natural science. My mission was to facilitate a "citizen-friendly re-design" of their e-government system. When we were discussing the desired changes of the existing software (which handles the visa application of the Indian citizens), the word "value" came up. Spontaneously, I stood up, went to the white board, drew a box, wrote "Value" in it and connected it to another box labeled "Citizen". To explain my drawing, I expressed, that the citizens will appreciate the value of both, an improved application process (a convenient "service") as well as the visa document itself (a flawless "product"). "That's not a value!", the IT directors said unanimously. "What do you mean?", was my puzzled response. "This is not a value", they echoed, "a value is the data entry in the validity field, i.e. 90 or 180 days!"
Since the Indian encounter, I have asked thousands of people from various fields of life (and work) about their definition of "value".
Bachelor Business Students
MBA/Master Business Students
This is what they said!
Senior Business People
Of course, the exercise is not limited to the term "value". You can rerun this small test with a number of "unmistakable" terms, e.g. "client", "platform", "performance", "service", and many more.
Computer Experts/ Software Engineers
Guys, I've met in the pub
A person’s response tells us something about the individual "mental model" or "belief system". The sum of answers we receive from a specific group of persons reveals the "collective understanding" of this community. If we follow the alongside path of charts from Bachelor business students via Masters students to senior business people, we get an impression of how strongly our mental model is shaped by our professional education and work environment.
The collective understanding of a community leads to both, (internal) cohesion and (external) segmentation. Consequently, the collective understanding between different professional groups varies a lot. This is not only true between extremes (let's say senior business managers and junior software developers). It also applies to the differences between sub groups, e.g. between business areas like Marketing, Human Resources, Controlling, Procurement, Sales, etc.
Each substantial project is a collaborative endeavor which involves people from diverse backgrounds and fields of expertise. These people have different professional perspectives and speak different "languages". Consequently, the starting point of each project is the development of a mutual understanding about the purpose, the subject, and the procedure of a project. This is what we need the Project Canvas for. It is a shared tool for creating a common ground!
BUSI-NESS PRO-JECT [ˈBɪZNɪS PRɒʤEKT ]
A business project is a temporary endeavor of how an organization creates and delivers a unique result
Three things make a business project!
#1 Uniqueness
#2 Specific organization
The raison d'être of any business is to deliver valued products to customers. Volkswagen for example delivers cars, McDonalds Burgers, and Oracle software. The fact is, each of the mentioned companies delivers many more products and services – the totality is what we call their portfolio. Creating and delivering the portfolio is what a company is made for, it's their business, performed in well-known and recurring processes. A business project is the opposite of this. Running a project means going into unknown areas; a company is not made for this; it's not within their business model. For this reason, business projects imply unknown challenges and the risk to fail. To sum it up: uniqueness must always be viewed from the perspective of a specific company which aims to reach a specific result. If this means entering wellknown terrain with no real risk to fail, it is not a project in the sense of this book (which is true for companies (or departments) which run projects as their business, e.g. marketing agencies, event organizers, etc.).
A business project is performed by a number of people from the business (plus potential external partners). That means, the project team is staffed from different areas of the business organization (aka the line organization). For the project team, a specific work organization is developed in order to meet the particular needs of a project. In other words, the project's work organization is as unique as the project result to be achieved (and thus much different from the usual business organization). To sum it up: a project is performed by a micro organization within the overall (business) organization. If a result can be created without touching the existing business organization, it is not a project in the sense of this book. #3 Time limitation Each project has a clear starting date and a clear end date. Before the start the project simply does not exist. After the end date the project result is handed over to the business and the project organization is liquidated.
Each project is a journey
Developing ‌
the Project Canvas
BUDGET
TEAM
RISKS RISKS MILESTONES MILESTONES CONDITIONS MILESTONES Known Known and and unknown unknown Crucial Crucial stages stages events events that that could could during during thethe project project endanger endanger thethe success success (e.g. (e.g. thethe delivery delivery of of ofof thethe project project partial partial results) results)
RISKS
RESULT RESULT Product Product or or service service to to bebe created created and and delivered delivered (i.e. (i.e. thethe actual actual goal) goal)
RISKS MILESTONESMILESTONES RESULT
QUALITY QUALITY QUALITY
CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
Criteria Criteria which which must must Target Target person person who who be be metmet to satisfy to satisfy receives receives thethe result result thethe customer customer andand let let (could (could also also be abe a him him accept accept thethe result result group group of persons) of persons)
RESULTQUALITY RESULT
QUALITY CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER
Known and unknown Known and unknown Crucial stages CrucialProduct stages or service Product or Criteria service which must Criteria which Target must person who Target person who events that could events that during couldthe project during thetoproject be created and to be created be met andto satisfybe met toreceives satisfy the result receives the result endanger the success endanger the (e.g.success the delivery (e.g. of the delivery delivered of (i.e. the delivered the (i.e. customer the and theletcustomer(could and let also be a(could also be a of the project of the project partial results) partial results) actual goal) actual him goal) accept the result him acceptgroup the result of persons) group of persons)
RISKS RISKS
Known and unknown events that could endanger the success of the project
MILESTONES
RESULT
QUALITY
CUSTOMER
Crucial stages during the project (e.g. the delivery of partial results)
Product or service to be created and delivered (i.e. the actual goal)
Criteria which must be met to satisfy the customer and let him accept the result
Target person who receives the result (could also be a group of persons)
RESOURCES
TIME
On the next pages, the 10 BUILDING BLOCKS will be explained in greater detail.
The 10 Building Blocks
BUDGET
TEAM
RESOURCES
CONDITIONS
RISKS
Maximum sum of money to be spent for the purposes of the project
People who drive the project and take responsibilities for success
Tools, materials, and facilities as well as external support (from partners)
Limitations, rules, and restrictions that form key challenges of the project
Uncertain events that could endanger the success of the project
TIME
MILESTONES
RESULT
QUALITY
CUSTOMER
Start date and due dates for delivering the result as well as reaching milestones
Crucial stages during the project (e.g. the delivery of partial results)
Product or service to be created and delivered (i.e. the actual goal)
Criteria which must be met to satisfy the customers and let them accept the result
Anybody who invests in the project and receives the result
CUSTOMER Each project starts with a customer. This is different to most businesses. Just think of the book industry, tourism, automotive, or the textile industry, they predominantly create products and services for an anonymous market. In projects instead, we know the purchaser, before the actual result is created. In this regard, business projects show similarities to single piece productions, like constructing custom-made yachts or building exclusive mansions.
Customer is first, customer is king, but ‌
A mother goes to the supermarket and buys three packs of milk. But the milk is not for her, it's for her little daughter at home. Who is the customer? The mother, one could argue, because she has the money and pays the bill. The kid, one could state instead. Without the existence of the kid the mother would never have bought the milk (particularly not, if the mother is lactose intolerant).
‌ who actually is your customer?
The Sponsor
The Recipient
A person who holds financial resources and allocates the project budget is a sponsor.
Projects aim at providing value for certain areas of the business. The intended effects of a project could either be local and internal or they could influence the entire company (including interfaces to external partners).
Typically, project sponsors are people, who carry responsibility for the company and respective resources. The project budget is drawn from corporate resources and should turn into higher value. This is why corporate decision makers invest in projects. In other words, the project sponsor aims at solving business problems or realizing opportunities. Thus, the project sponsor is the (only) person who can tell the cause and the intended effect of a project. Your task is to work this out and write it down in a Project Purpose Statement.
The people whose future work is impacted by the change created through a project are the recipients. The recipients receive the project results. They get the new ideas, concepts, services or products, and make use of it. As a matter of fact, each business project depends on the cooperation of the recipients. Without their willingness and their acceptance, the desired values cannot evolve.
Each project is governed by a specific customer constellation
Sponsor
Sponsor
one Sponsor
=
â‰
vs.
Recipient
Recipient
many Sponsors
The most straightforward constellation is dealing with just one person. This means, the guy who pays for the project directly receives the result and benefits from its values.
In corporate practice, this is the most common constellation. Very often, projects are commissioned by some sort of executive, but the positive effects should be generated on various other business levels.
Since major projects involve multiple business units, just as many sponsors could appear on the scene. Clarifying the structure of sponsorship (and related ownership) can become a tricky task.
A project example is the foundation of a shared service center (which will dramatically change the future work of many people).
Just imagine the global rollout of an HR software system, involving several regional HR directors as well as heads of IT. In this case, the project potentially has multiple business owners as well as multiple technical owners (the guys who will host and support the new system). Who is in the driver's seat?
Examples for these kinds of projects are reviewing and redesigning the existing corporate strategy (ordered by the managing director), or developing a market study (commissioned by the head of sales). In both cases, the result (i.e. some kind of written report) would be handed-over to the sponsor.
Remember the mother and her little daughter – and let's assume the kid does not really like milk. What would that mean for the family relationship?
Checklist: CUSTOMER
ďƒ° Who allocates the budget; who is the project sponsor? Do you have multiple project sponsors? What is the purpose of the project?* ďƒ° Who receives the result; who is the project recipient? Do you have multiple project recipients?
* In the DESIGN chapter you will learn to create a great purpose statement.
RESULT
What would you like to get out of your project: an innovative product, a competitive strategy, up-to-date software, improved workflows? Whatever you wish to achieve – each project is supposed to deliver at least one main result. Knowing the result(s) means knowing the direction of your project. Consequently, without knowing the result(s), you cannot start the project. Instead, you must start a (pre-) project that solely aims at specifying the result.
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Input - Action - Output
Business projects are time consuming actions which transform costly input into higher value output.
Budget, Team, and Resources are the "Input" Building Blocks
INPUT
Result, Quality, and Customer are the "Output" Building Blocks
Quality of the result Quality of the procedure
specifies
needs
Product Service Knowledge
Sponsor Recipient
is delivered to / approved by
Conditions, Risks, and Milestones are the "Action" Building Blocks
ACTION
Entvironmental factors, i.e. region, industry, and the specific organization
constrain Progress of work: points of completion, delivery, and decision
could raise
Uncertain events that negatively influence project work
endanger
Selected References
Barney, Jay, Cliffort, Trish: What I didn't learn in Business School, How Strategy Works in the Real World. Boston, Massachusetts, 2010. Berkun, Scott: Making Things Happen, Mastering Project Management. Sebastopol, California, 2008. Campbell, Clark, Campbell, Mick: The New One-Page Project Manager, Communicate and Manage Any Project With A Single Sheet of Paper. Hoboken, New Jersey, 2013. Craig, Juana: Project Management Lite, Just Enough to Get the Job Done. North Charleston, South Carolina, 2012. DeMarco, Tom, Lister, Tim: Peopleware, Productive Projects and Teams. NYC, New York, 1999. Gray, Dave et al.: Gamestorming, A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers. Sebastopol, California, 2010. Madson, Patricia: Improv Wisdom, Don't Prepare, Just Show Up. NYC, New York, 2005. Michalko, Michael: Thinkertoys, A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, NYC, New York, 2006. Takeuchi, Hirotaka, Nonaka, Ikujiro, The Knowledge-Creating Company, How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. Boston, Massachusetts, 1995. Osterwalder, Alexander, Pigneur, Yves: Business Model Generation. Hoboken, New Jersey, 2010. Project Management Institute (ed.): A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMBOK(R) Guide. Newton Square, Pennsylvania, 2013. Schmidt, Terry: Strategic Project Management Made Simple, Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams. Hoboken, New Jersey, 2009. Schwaber, Ken: Agile Project Management with Scrum. Redmond, Washington, 2004. Senge, Peter et al.: The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, New York et al., 1994. Simmons, Annette: The Story Factor. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. Verzuh, Eric: The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. Hoboken, New Jersey, 2008.
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