SYNERGY Collaborating Project Management for High Performance Business Insight
Jul 2017, Issue 18
INSIDE Creativity in Project Man- 4 agement
Image—http://www.indiatimes.com
Global Project Delivery
8
And the HARD WORK pays
12
Why Projects Fail? Tools of Titans for success
14
Events @PMI NIC
20
Risk & Opportunity management for a non-profit organization
23
Message from the President
Professor in marketing Area at IMI.
Dear Chapter Members & Practitioners,
The election results will be announced in the last week of September, and there will Greetings from PMI North India Chapter an overlap period till 31st December 2017. Board! The newly elected board members will take over the portfolio from 1st January Pritam D. Gautam Elections for this year have been initiated 2018. early, to provide better handholding between incoming and outgoing board mem- Chapter is for Members by Members bers. This year the elections are being orWe as Chapter Board strive on increasing ganized for the President, Secretary, and member value, and would be glad to hear VP Membership positions. any new ideas, that you believe can help in Elections provide an for our chapter member volunteers to step up and take bigger roles and responsibilities. By the time this magazine reaches you, you may have already received election communications for chapter board positions, or it may be underway.
increasing the member value of our chapter members. Please click here to share your ideas and suggestions for improvement.
Also, if you think, you or your organization can help us in hosting an event of 70100 ppl, please let us know by visiting http://j.mp/1FjeyAp and share your interWe would like to see good number of est to host a chapter event in your organichapter members participating – both in zation. We are sure project management terms of filing nominations for various po- practitioners are gaining from the sitions and voting for final selected nomi- knowledge sharing sessions being connees by the chapter nomination committee ducted by the chapter We also welcome for these elections. veterans to come and share their knowledge and experience at chapter Elections are being governed and manevents. aged by the Nominations Committee headed by President – PMI North India Chapter. Other committee members include Mr. Thanks, BCK Mishra, Managing Director Dehradun, Pritam D. Gautam President & CEO - PMI North India Chapter Uttarakhand, and Prof. D. K. Batra Chairperson-Branding and Media Relations and pritam@pminorthindia.org
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 2
From the editor’s desk Hello PM Gurus,
Prashant Malhotra
T
hink of now and thoughts around monsoon are first to come. Be it making paper boats, or playing out in the open or as adults eating pakoras along with garma-garm chai. Rain & water brings peace & purity in our hearts, bringing back all the good memories. Out of everything, one thing that was common in all memories is that, we could see greenery, more area to walk & play and less of dust, smoke. Unfortunately, that’s gone; so the question is, what can we do to bring some of it back; what can be done to bring back the greenery around us or to reduce dust & smoke in the air. What can we do so that our kids or future generation does not have to survive on nebulizers or oxygen cylinders all the time.
taken initiative to take up a side project to bring back greenery & cleanliness. Even our Prime Minister, Mr. Modi has been driving the effort of Swachh Bharat .For the rest, it’s a request to pull up socks. Regarding this publication, thanks to all those who contributed, we received many articles and it was tough for our team to assess between them. My deepest gratitude for everyone who penned down something for the editorial (whether it got published or not is secondary). At the end of the day, it’s the spirit to do something that will bring greater good. JAI HIND !! Happy Reading !! Happy Synergizing !!
With warm regards,
Prashant Malhotra Editor-in-Chief PMI North India Chapter
Hats off to those who have already
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles of this magazine are those of the authors and do not stated position of the PMI or PMI North India Chapter. Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 3
Creativity in Project Management By Nitin Anand Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 4
Creativity
them the need to complete the job creatively and efficiently. Obstacles, issues and risks are some of the
ˌkriːeɪˈtɪvɪti/
show stoppers that fall in the path of completing a
Noun
T
Project successfully. he use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness. There is a difference between imagining and creating.
Having ideas but not acting on them doesn’t make you
creative. Also, there is no innovation without creativity. Creativity triggers the brain by generating ideas and working on the principles of behavioral sciences. Associating
problem
statements
with
Solutions.
Questioning the very essence of the processes. Observing the various stages and levels of working including those of resources and even the customers. Networking with various stakeholders and people for distinctive ideas and solutions. Experimenting with new ideas and being positive on the outcomes.
Creativity is not something that can be learnt or bought from someone. It
is a feeling, It is a practice; It is a Prayer that comes from inside by associating your ideas and interests along
with
Project
P
Manager
is
the
person
responsible
for
developing, in conjunction with the Project Sponsor, a definition of the project. The Project Manager then
roject Manager is
the person responsible for developing, in conjunction w i t h t h e P r o j e c t S p o n s o r, a definition of the project.
the
circumstances and problems which you face and then overcome them. I would rather say that is a personal and professional religion that has to be continuously practiced on a day to day basis.
ensures that the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality standard
(within
specifications). ensures effectively
the
agreed He/she
project
resourced
is and
manages relationships with a wide range of groups (including all project contributors). The Project Manager is also responsible for managing the work of consultants,
allocating and utilizing resources in an efficient manner and maintaining a co-operative, motivated and successful team.
Project Managers are tasked and bombarded with continuous duties, activities; competencies that make them transcend across various platforms and aspire in Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
To complete these tasks he needs to have Leadership,
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 5
Negotiation, team management, personal organization,
like in future or bring in new ways to use the same
conflict management, Risk Management Apart from
product in a different way.
communication skills which are very essential for day to day working. Creativity comes from thinking and thinking with ideas. Everybody can think but not
The Project Manager wears various hats during the
everyone uses thinking effectively.
various phases of the project. According to De Bono’s
Often
thinking happens without a reason but with a problem
six hats method, it is quite imperative and necessary
statement in hand thinking can cover many aspects
for a project manager to get across the message to his
which would not have been covered before. Simple
stakeholders in a clear and effective way. White hat for
kind of thinking is
example helps him
related to learnings
to
and higher order of
information
thinking
statistics
imbibed
analyze
the and from
from experiences is
various sources and
related to Analysis,
present it to his
Evaluation
stakeholders in a
and
Problem solving.
creative way. Black Hat ensures in him to resolve conflicts
Convergent
in the wisest way
thinking / deductive
and
reasoning
looks
Image: https://highlandliteracy.files.wordpress.com
inward to find a
constructively
criticize,
analyze
and
explore
solution while Divergent / creative thinking looks
potential negative repercussions of his plan and
outward to find a solution. Both the thinkings require
consequent risks. He should be impartial and neutral
critical thinking skills to be effective in solving
to any plan and unbiased towards any ideas raised by
problems, doing projects and achieving objectives.
his team members. Green Hat signifies creativity and
Project Managers mostly use Brainstorming and Mind
unconventional thinking. This enables people to think
mapping techniques in their work. Sequential thinking
creatively and apply the same to tasks and problems at
helps people to follow processes but it doesn’t help in
hand. Blue Hat relates to switching his hats when
creativity. Creativity can help people in reducing the
necessary for summarizing the major points of the
time to deliver, bring in new ideas and overall in turn
discussion as well as making right decisions. Red Hat is
even help in reducing costs on projects considerably.
all about handling emotions and feelings and while
For example, a creative thinker and a holistic thinker
wearing it he should make sure that all parties
would not see a table or a bicycle in its actual form but
involved in the project should share their feelings
would also would already configure his brain to
about the project flow. This ensures maximum synergy
visualize in advance on how the product would look
between all parties. The Yellow Hat seeks logic and
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 6
harmony in the project. It reflects rationality and
creation. Companies and brands like Microsoft, Lego,
optimism and is used to look at the benefits derived to
Mary Kay, General Electric, Unilever, Philips, FedEx
inculcate maximum synergy between all parties.
have taken Co-creation to an all-new level by ensuring zero defect delivery, cost efficient management, increased performance.
As rightly said by Daniel Goleman, renowned author of Emotional Intelligence, states that “I have to do it myself, and I can’t do it alone”. This implies that a
Thus Project Managers in General have many tools and
project requires the contribution of individuals which
techniques at hand that can help them in day to day
includes their inputs to achieve common goals and
management of their projects and tasks, and overall
requirements.
make life a little easier and less stressful.
Creativity
encourages
emotional
contribution to the challenges it offers. It helps in building emotional involvement and in turn gives a
Nitin has more than 14 years
wider perspective to the whole picture dealt in
of
projects. It overall opens minds and increases
Chain Management and IT
knowledge
infrastructure
and
teamwork
by
making
people
experience
in
Supply Project
generating new ideas. Consequently it stretches the
Management. He has been
performance of the people by opening up new
Involved with long term
possibilities and realities that have never before
projects
existed.
with
American
Express, Coke, Pepsi, Singulus Gmbh, Citibank, McGraw Hill in his Career. Nitin Holds B.E Degree in electronics from Pune University. MBA from IMT A new form of collaboration in Creativity, Co-
Ghaziabad and 2nd MBA from University of Texas at
creation is an initiative or a strategy developed by
Dallas, Dallas, USA. He is PMP, ITIL v3, EMC Cloud
managements around the world that brings different
Expert Certified and Big Data Professional Certified.
teams and customers together in order to produce a
His hobbies include Travelling, Sketching, Psychology
mutually efficient result. This could vary from
and Numerology.
involving customers in generating new ideas or making
them
a
part
of
product
or
concept
Development. Increasing number of customers around the world are demanding innovations and defining new products and services. This makes organizations more customers oriented, improves relationship with customers and increases the success rate of new innovations. Co-creation workshops, Crowdsourcing, Open Sourcing, Mass customization, User-generated content, Story Boarding are the different types of CoFeedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 7
Global Project Delivery — Understanding of human psychology & culture - Brinda Sharma
T
he business world has never been more
time zones. This landscape is very often the breed-
dynamic and diverse than it is today. As
ing ground for challenges that may not be measur-
the business world turns global “Language, Com-
able in manner that most PM’s are equipped and
munication or Culture” barriers have been re-
attuned to handle - such as DOPs and cost over-
ported to be the biggest hurdle and cause for Pro-
runs.
ject failures. One World One Project is the new norm such as projects are created, operated in
In more than one of these settings, one has
multiverse of regions, across various cultures and
witnessed teams turning into high pressure
with clients and teams spanning over multiple
vessels with not many outlets to let out the
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 8
steam. This primarily attributes to that, the man-
well as internal teams.
agement and the teams themselves fail to recognize the equally strong impact of intangible factors such as interpersonal relationships, cross culture dy-
Since my experience has largely been, working with
namics and its limitations on the overall health of
American and European clients, my observations and
the project.
learnings are also based on these cultures. Similar to any social interaction, business transactions are also influenced by our fundamental beliefs, perceptions
Some of the most common bumps that slows down
and ethos. Incorporating a basic understanding and
the natural acceleration of a project are -
appreciation of the human aspect in the context of our workplace can definitely contribute to a relatively

Lack of a underlying trust and relationship be-
smoother ride.
tween the various stakeholders based across different time zones When dealing with western cultures some very sim
Tight Project
ple considerations
timelines and
can go a long way
minimal over-
in building valua-
lap of working
ble trust and re-
hours do not
spect for collabo-
allow for de-
rating teams. On
velopment of
the global stage it
healthy team
is critical for you
dynamics,
and your teams to
which is usu-
have strong work
ally the foun-
ethics, transparent
dation of
work style, per-
teams work-
sonal grooming
ing in the
and effective
same physical as well as cultural space
presentation skills, especially in the client/vendor dynamics as these elementary tools are instrumental in

Inefficiencies that creep in due to fundamental
establishing relationships and perceptions that even-
differences in culture, working style and gen-
tually come into play at various crucial (read chal-
eral processes of external (client/vendor) as
lenging) junctures of the project lifecycle.
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 9
Development of soft skills such as effective listen-
ing and conflict management for the mid manageHere are some initiatives that I have been engaged in,
ment layer that acts as an interface as well as
to empower my team to handle different cultures,
binder across various project tiers
environments and situations.
Proactive dissemination of key information to all
Cross culture trainings, trainings on meeting eti-
stakeholders, e.g., a delayed milestone or budget
quettes, managing expectations etc. are efficient
overruns, risk assessment and mitigation plans
tools to give team members an insight into alter-
go a long way in setting expectations as well as
nate cultures and broaden perspectives. Also, ini-
bringing about a feeling of inclusion. No one ap-
tiatives like sharing vacation/holiday plans in ad-
preciates surprises and embarrasments. Weaving
vance with your onshore internal and external
this kind of a work ethic, inclusion and collabora-
teams underlines how much value you place on
tion into the team fabric can be a shock absorber
your team’s time and helps setting constructive
for a lot of the road bumps for the project.
trends and expectations.
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Public access to key artifacts and workflows – for
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 10
instance team wide access to the Roles and Re-
sponsibility matrix, Communication Plan and Es-
Brinda has over 12 years of
calation matrix play a valuable role in setting up
experience working as an IT
the project for success.
Professional out of which the last 5 years were in the PM
As a concluding note, I would state neglecting the
domain with Sapient Corpo-
human aspect can lead to irreparable damages.
ration. She has exited the IT
On the other hand building a project based on
arena couple of years back to start her own bake-
strong interpersonal relationships can be instru-
house that operates from Gurgaon.
mental in mending and averting the greatest of adversities.
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 11
And the hard work pays‌ Vimal Khanna— 2010 to 2017
L
et me take the honor of narrating a story back
fifty. Second phase, was to conduct online session to as-
from 2012. PMI North India was gearing up
sess presentation skills and filter down to handful few.
for the National Conference 2013. Under Mr.
For us, it was an achievement in itself.
Piyush Govil (then VP Communications), was setup a team to review close to thousand articles that came in as
But for the speakers, this was only the entry to Olym-
an opportunity for unknown or new speakers, in the Na-
pics aka PMI Conference. Every speaker was evaluated
tional Conference.
by different Presidents, Vice Presidents, esteemed guests on material, knowledge, presentation skills, able
Surrounded by tonnes of article, multiple reviews, brain-
to answer questions and so forth. I remember very well,
storming, head banging; our team shortlisted to around
introducing a lean but energetic & confident person by
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 12
the name of Vimal Khanna. Let’s rewind a bit to step into Vimal’s journey; below are his published articles -
2010— “The Top Five Mistakes in Running Offshore Development Centers”, PMI India Project Management Conference.
“Practitioner Devised Methodology for Managing Projects”, PMI Asia Pacific Global Congress
“Change the Paradigm of Managing Software Services Projects”, PMI EMEA Global Congress
2011— “Learn how to identify and deal with your ‘Negative Boss’ and ‘Negative Peer Managers’",
“How to Displease the Customer, to Engage the Customer”, PMI North America Global Congress
2014— “Small Team, Big Challenges”, PMI e-Link “Outsourcing to Innovate”, PM Network “Managing Talent in Offshore Development Centres”, PMI EMEA Global Congress
“Managing Challenges of Leading, Motivating & Grooming Talent in Small Teams”, PMI North America Global Congress
2015— “Being a Mid-level Manager”, PMI e-Link
PMI India Project Management Conference,
“Top Five Challenges in Running Offshore Development Centers”, PMI e-Link
2017— His untiring efforts finally transformed into a book
“The Risks of Outsourcing – Know them and
“Leading and Motivating Global Teams: Integrat-
what to do about them”, Interview with PM Net-
ing Offshore Centers and the Head Office" that
work
got recently published by CRC.
2012—
I on behalf of PMI North India Chapter would take this
”Identify and deal with your ‘Negative Boss’ and
opportunity to congratulate him and wish him success for
‘Negative Peer Managers’”, PMI North America Global Congress
his future endeavors.
Way To Go Vimal” !!
“How to Displease the Customer, to Engage the Customer”, PMI India Project Management Conference
2013— “Adopting a Collaborative Approach to Enhance Project Deliverables”, PMI e-Link
“Managing Small Teams - Look beyond Process Simplification” Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 13
Image Source — http://www.i4biz.com/
Why Projects Fail? Tools of titans in ensuring project success By—Sandeep Srivastava
As
projects. Since this topic is subject to a lot of debate, before going forward, let’s take a moment to define a project manager, your whole sense
what success or failure in project management.
of accomplishment and contribution comes from the success of the projects undertaken. There are times when even the experts lead unsuccessful projects that
FAILURE
usually follow lots of struggles for the people involved.
Budget or timeline overrun
Project failure can cause frustration and loss of re-
Project Cancellation before deployment
sources, money, time, puts strain on relationships and
Change in project requirements or scope
an unmistakable dent in the curriculum vitae!
Low Customer Satisfaction
Change in project leadership
It is not necessary that all the projects that are initiated will be successful. There is no guarantee that certain people or companies will always lead successful
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
SUCCESS
High Customer Satisfaction Synergy Jul 2017, Page 14
Timely completion of Project milestones and deliv-
of that together. The team should be commit-
erables
Effective project management and positive feedback from stakeholders
ted to the project and must have
It is not necessary that all the projects that are initiated will be successful. There is no guarantee that certain people or companies will always lead successful projects.
similar vision of success. Projects and the project manag-
Now, since we all have
ers will have se-
seen many projects go
rious trouble if the
either ways, sometimes it is hard to see why some pro-
wrong or inadequately talented people are se-
jects – despite having all the right ingredients – do not
lected in the team. Out-of-sync leadership and
make the cut.
inept team is a surefire way to failure.
Do some ‘Lucky’ projects or project managers ex-
To avoid failure, the following guide will be help-
ist?-I Wouldn’t it be great if we could ensure
ful:
our projects will succeed? Sometimes it is impossible to predict the project’s suc-
cess a 100% of the times, there are certain steps to
Smart People A project plan will fall apart if you do not have
ensure that the project is moving in the right direction
the right people in place. Skills of the key people will
without missed deadlines, lack of support and other
be important in ensuring high quality output.
failures that haunt us.
Identify the core strengths of the people and
Let’s look at the major factors that can lead to successful projects. As you read through them, remember that
Right Person for the Right Job
ensure that you put the right person for the task.
each of these factors points at areas so vast that they deserve a book each.
Ensure long engagements Every person in your project should be in for
Five factors leading to Successful Projects:
SMART PEOPLE– II : HIRE THE RIGHT PROJECT MANAGER AND PROJECT
the long term. This means that the team should be committed to ensuring project success. Ensure that you consider the personal gains of all the team members during the selection process.
TEAM: Having the right project manager is the first and a truly critical step to actual project success. But roping in the best project manager is far from enough. You need a team to get in place a strategy and plan and execution that will bring all
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Think Win-Win The biggest mistake made while selecting peo-
ple when creating the project charter is that we think only about the project. We consider people who have done a particular thing over and over, are considered experts and ask them to do the exact same thing yet Synergy Jul 2017, Page 15
another time. While branding this as a safe strategy,
The direction of the project should be completely clear
we often overlook the fact that repeated performance
to all the stakeholders and team members. They
of success does not leave people with any motivation
should all know the “solution highlights” and steps to
to excel again. Worse still, it causes complacency.
success before the detailed plan is created.
While selecting people, ensure that only the ones who
Quality and level of detail are the most critical aspects
can contribute and stand to gain something personally
of this step. Assuring accurate time estimation and
from the success of the project are selected.
clear understanding of milestones and deliverables is the key to project progress. Any good project plan will
Use the right tools Using the right project management tools will
ensure ease of management and governance. While
inevitably double up as a warning system for slippage of timelines or costs. The few critical steps in Smart Planning are:
many tools exist within organizations, selecting and identifying the right tool will make a large difference.
Create a Strong PMO
If nothing else, please use Microsoft Project – it still remains one of the best systems to use!
The Project Management Office should be centralized and must be strong. The PMO cannot be aligned to any team (operations / quality etc. etc.) but
Take a Moment Notice any movie or story about organized crime (my personal favorite is Godfather) and look at how much effort is put in while selecting the gang-members. The don always knows the levers to pull for each member of the gang and is able to get people to do what he wishes. Shouldn’t our project manager be as careful in selecting the team?
MUST work as an independent consultant for the project. A strong PMO allows for the utilization of knowledge sharing and becomes a trusted advisor in this capacity.
Clearly defined Goals that add value A project plan will be defunct without clearly
specified goals. It is also critical that all stakeholders see the actions that will be taken to achieve results. It also aids in getting stakeholder support for the pro-
SMART PLANNING Planning is a very critical step that lays the foundation to the project execution. Effective planning helps keep the team focused and provides clarity of the timelines
and keeps stakeholders aware of the progress against plan. This step is easier if the right people are selected. As a project manager, if you find yourself struggling to put together a great plan, you would surely find some issue with the people aligned. Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
ject.
Reduce Multi-tasking Many project managers get so comfortable
with managing one project that they feel they can manage multiple projects together. This is the honeytrap that many careers have fallen prey of. Multi tasking is sometimes seen as the ‘cool’ or ‘more efficient’ whereas nothing could be farther from truth. Plan resource utilization to ensure that they handle small
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 16
numbers of tasks and projects at the same time.
weed out the steps that are not important for your
project and you end up losing the vision of the project
Generate team’s Buy-In
deliverables. Many plans have suffered because of this age old and absolutely useless ‘best practice’
This is the most important step in effective planning. Most often, the project scope, costs and schedules are decided between leadership teams who may not know much of the details around the processes. –III
SOLID EXECUTION All the steps before this were a preparation to ensure
Generate Executive Buy-In Tteam buy-in helps you get motivated people,
rock-solid execution. Execution is where the true mettle of your organization is shown. This is also the
Executive Buy-In gets you the stakeholder support.
stage with maximum stress and action. Here are the
For this, ensure that you reach out to the ‘big fish’ and
steps of how we can do this:
ensure that this person is wholeheartedly invested. Your project cannot survive on one sponsor – these
people are usually very high up in the organization
Manage adherence to plan with an IRON FIST Manage the schedule very tightly and ensure
and have multiple such projects vying for their atten-
everyone knows what is expected, by when, and of
tion. You need the people who are senior enough to
what quality. Never let the project slip dates.
knock down resistance, secure resources and manage issues. Many BPO projects will benefit greatly if the
IT, HR, Legal and Finance leadership is aligned and
Manage Scope with the same IRON FIST All changes to the scope MUST be managed
bought-in. Else, the project manager will spend a lot
very tightly and changes that were not a part of the
of time chasing teams that do not have your project as
original design should be avoided as much as possi-
a priority.
ble. Many projects have moving timelines due to scope changes and eventually, people tire out of the
Tip for Planning
project, funding stops, stakeholders get wary, and the project eventually dies a slow and painful death.
Always start with a blank page for the project plan– IV. Always go from the high level project, to the key milestones, break them down into steps, into the sub-
Jointly manage the project with the Customer Many project managers avoid customers like
steps all the way to the activities and start putting
the plague and forget that keeping the customer is the
realistic timelines for completion of the tasks. Do not
biggest stakeholder and must be kept informed,
let anyone tell you to use previously used project
aware and engaged. Always be upfront and honest
plans as templates for the new project – I have tried it
with the customer. After all, it is their project and
and it DOESN’T WORK! Using an older plan puts you
their money !!!
as the validator – the brain starts working only to
Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 17
Deliver as expected
The biggest impact on the project communication is
This may come as obvious but you’d be surprised at to have one standing meeting each day with the core team how many times the delivery fails. First of all, many project and one meeting each day with the customer project leader. managers do not understand the difference between the
Start it in your projects today and thank me later !
stated and expected outcomes. Always try to ensure that the expected outcomes (e.g. successful delivery on the met- The daily standing call with your team ensures that the rics etc.) is clearly articulated and delivered to.
team has a short call where the entire team comes together and discusses the gains, losses, happiness and pain. This ensures strong connect within the team that has unmeasur-
OPEN COMMUNICATION Effective Communication has the biggest impact on the en-
able impact on team bonding The daily standing call with the project leader ensures that
gagement, involvement and confidence of stakeholders and you have a regular and close touch of the pulse of the cusensures complete awareness of the tasks, progress, risks
tomer. This will ensure that you are the first to know about
and updates of the project with all concerned. Ensuring
the customer feedback and are in a position to manage cus-
open and clear communication is vital to the project espe-
tomer expectations.
cially when working under tight deadlines. Good communication also means knowing when to say NO. the project manager cannot be a ‘yes man’. This skill will be put to test multiple times in each project by way of scope creep, change log management, approvals et al. Project
CAREFUL RISK MANAGEMENT Risk management is how adults manage projects – Tim
manager should be completely honest about what the tema Lester can do and by when. Anything outside this should be a strict NO. Below are the key points to take care of :
Many things have a knack for going awry. Multiple things failing at a regular pace is not quite unusual. While planning, it is important to create a Risk Log – one formal docu-
Schedule regular meetings and Actually Hold Them ment which keeps a log of all foreseeable risks, mitigating Many project teams set up very few calls, or set up
action items, and a tracker that records progress on the ac-
calls with the wrong audience. Some teams cancel so many
tions. It should be in easy access of all the stakeholders.
calls that the team members lose interest in attending the
Having a risk log is one part of risk management – and an
calls and finally the entire communication structure col-
entire book will not even cover half of the topic, so, I will lapses. Plan the communication structure ahead, ensure the keep it brief. right people get the right updates at the right time in the Fundamentally, what is needed is a risk management apright forums (emails vs. calls vs. in person meetings). Find
proach with a flexible action plan that responds to risks.
time slot that suits everyone.
Detailed planning is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong in our projects.
Standing meeting Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 18
STRONG PROJECT CLOSURE
References -
Project closure the most frequently neglected aspect of pro- I— Please read the book titled “13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck” by
Ashwin Sanghi. Some of the factors influencing luck are described
ject management. If your project does not have a strong clo- very candidly and clearly for everyone to follow. And this is not about Astrology !!! sure, you run the risk of scope increase and the resources will continue to get consumed. All projects should have a
II— Many people automatically associate SMART with the ‘Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. I DO formal and strong project closure. This should be conducted NOT INTEND the word SMART to be used as an acronym. When I the moment the project has met all the stated deliverables. say SMART, I mean intelligent and committed. Smart People can move mountains, Smart Projects can create wonders (Taj Mahal As a project manager, sometimes, the project closure may and the Pyramids were indeed construction projects !!!)
conflict with your other priorities and it is natural to pay III— We see this very often in BPO projects where the Global Process Owners sitting in the head office take decision on the scope ple projects ongoing. The project manager and the team and schedule for their global teams without realizing the local must be firm and ensure that all stakeholders have formally nuances. My teams have landed up in China during the Chinese new year, in Brazil just before the carnival and in London during the Olympics ! While it was great for the travelers, it was the signed off the project once the success factors have been worst that could happen to the project !
more attention to planning than closure if you have multi-
met. Customer satisfaction surveys are usually a good documentation at the end of the project to ensure feedback and learnings are captured and retained.
Sandeep is head of Transitions and
IV— Do not let anyone tell you to use previously used project plans as templates for the new project – I have tried it and it DOESN’T WORK! Using an older plan puts you as the validator – the brain starts working only to weed out the steps that are not important for your project and you end up losing the vision of the project deliverables. Many plans have suffered because of this age old and absolutely useless ‘best practice’
Program Management for an IT & BPO giant currently based out of
New Delhi, India. He has also worked for Vodafone (erstwhile Hutch) being responsible for managing the customer service helpdesk for Post Paid customers in Delhi NCR region. He can be reached at LinkedIn
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 19
@events of PMI—NIC (Nov 2016—Jul 2017) A Day with PM Veterans PDUs: 3
12-Nov-2016
at Capgemini, Sector—49, Gurgaon
This was a half day event at Capgemini’s sohna road office, gurgaon. The event started with introductory sessions on PMI NIC & Capgemini. Four astounding sessions were taken on Leadership by Mr. Karan, Best of agile practices by Mr. Vaibhav, transitioning of product using risk & rewards model by Mr. Anil and new trends emerging in technology by Mr. Arun.
Annual General Meeting PDUs: 2
18 - Feb - 2017
This activity is a platform where the elected board presents their respective portfolios hard work & achievement over the past year.
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 20
@events of PMI—NIC (Nov 2016—Jul 2017) Workshop on FIDIC Contract Management PDUs: 6.5
03 - Mar - 2017
Hotel Madhuban, Jaipur
This full day event was to spread the knowledge about understanding the scope & range of FIDIC contracts, how the construction & engineering projects across the globe are progressing towards & with help of these contracts. Also, this session gave an insight as how to define roles, responsibilities; administering & dispute resolution tactics & processes.
Project Management Conclave PDUs: 5
29 - Apr - 2017
At MDI Gurgaon
This full day event started off at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon with an insight into DMRC. As per PMBOK, this is a Program with multiple projects getting executed to deliver a story of excellence. Mr. Sharat Sharma shared the challenges and respective successes into its phase by phase development & expansion. It was followed by a session by Mr. D. K. Ojha, on how government monitors the projects; the key things to track and guideline to ensure that the project is completed. Post lunch, we were enlightened on two aspects of management i.e. primarily Leadership & Strategy by Mr. Iqbal Singh & Mr. Anil Pathak respectively.
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 21
@events of PMI—NIC (Nov 2016—Jul 2017) Driving Success with Project Management PDUs: 3
26 - May - 2017
at Ericsson, Sector—62, Noida
This was a half day event at Ericsson’s Noida office. It had a variety of sessions starting Mr. Arun Bhati, on providing us insights, as how entrepreneurs can or are able to manage projects by wearing a PM hat. The second session was taken by Mr. Rakesh Mawa who took us through the journey of communication networks and their transformation in accordance with different times. / generations. Later in the day, Mr. Jacob Varghese, conducted an interesting session on how to handle issues (though appearing naturally ) that can disrupt the natural flow & deliverables of the project. The last session was on leadership & managing the future leaders deliver tasks progress by Mr. Pritpal Singh Chhinna followed by a vote of thanks from all participants lead by Mr. Rohit Shukla.
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 22
By—Nidhi Arora Courtesy—http://postergen.com
R
manage them better, if not mitigate them altogether. It allows us to spot opportunities and use them. The beauty of the non-profit sector is that it impacts isk and Opportunity Management is, for most people, a set of templates and
forms. It is also, unfortunately, perceived as a “negative” activity, which requires compliance and unnecessary data entry. Yet, done right, it is like the lookout on a ship. It alerts early to dangers and allows us to Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org
real lives in very real ways. From sending girls to school, to empowering the underprivileged. From disability to illiteracy. From employment inclusion to financial inclusion. The non-profit sector can and does work to make lives better in a million possible ways. Therefore, the potential benefit of using Risk and OpportuniSynergy Jul 2017, Page 23
ty Management as a formal discipline is much higher
there are at least 5 prisms of view. Each perspective
for this sector. Well-designed projects and programs,
offers a different set of types of risks and opportuni-
with integrated Risk and Opportunity Management, is
ties. These are as under:
a lot more beneficial to the human sector. The corollary to that is – that the cost of a poorly de-
Level of Risk / Opportunity
signed and executed projects is not just in dropped sales numbers – entire communities might be affected, and there also might be physical harm. The cost of not doing proactive ROM is higher.
What is Risk and Opportunity Management A probability of damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be avoided
through pre-emptive action. - Business Dictionary.com This is the most apt, practical definition of the terms. In effect, Risk and Opportunity Management is exactly what the name implies – anticipating and managing
What is the risk/opportunity relevant to?
both risks and opportunities.
Can ROM be done for Non-Profit projects? Not only is ROM absolutely applicable to non profit projects, it should, in fact, be most certainly used. This will not just help maximise the benefits from limited budget programs, it will also help to minimise the negative results of projects. Irrespective of the type of project, ROM reviews are done periodically and the Risk / opportunity management is an evolving, iterative process. This means continuous improvement to
project management and ongoing design improvements.
Types of Risks and Opportunities There is no single definition of types of risks. In fact,
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Functional Risks And Opportunities
Functional Synergy Jul 2017, Page 24
Financial
ryone needs to be an active Risk and Opportunity Man-
Leadership
ager – from the field operative to the project manager.
Operational
The challenge is not to educate. The challenge is to mo-
EHS
tivate and bring out the Risk Manager and Opportunity
Community
Spotter in everyone on the team. Which is why, while
Regulatory
this article covers some fundamental terms that Risk
Partner
and Opportunity management will benefit from, the
IT
key thing to remember is this – NO ONE has created
Analytics
the template yet.
HR
This is even more true of the non-profit sector, where Risk Management is a very new discipline. The project
Magnitude of the Risk / Opportunity
Major
Moderate
Minor
members will always create templates and processes that work for that particular group. The project manager who wants to ensure adoption, should stay far from prescription and lean heavily on motivation.
Risk Assessment Frequency of Recurrence
Frequent
Moderate
Infrequent
It is absolutely good to do Risk Assessment on a simple Probability * Impact matrix to begin with. It’s a universal format that obviously works.
Area
Risk
Probability Potential Impact
Risk Score
Risk Management
A Crash Course in Risk and Opportunity
Management
This is again very simple and elementary. All risks must have a single owner at any time. We may not al-
ways have a mitigation strategy, but it is important to have a placeholder for that. Further, the mitigation
The key success factor in effective ROM
strategy might change with each review.
Unlike what most people believe, effective risk and opportunity management is based on one thing only –
Risk
Risk Score Owner
Strategy
Review Date
common sense. To be effective in the social sector, eve-
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 25
How do we link it to organisational processes to
The Risk Register The Risk Register is very well known to every project manager. However, it is often very fruitful to allow the team to come up with a Risk Register template of their own. The ownership of the Risk and Opportunity process is significantly higher where the team has invested in creating its own templates for the process.
ensure sustenance without maintenance?
At what Level? ROM can be done at project level, program level, portfolio level or organisation level. This decision primarily depends on the sponsor, and the feasibility. A Project Manager may want to run it in their own project. An organisational leader may want to start an organisation wide initiative, or they may want to pilot with a few projects first, and then roll out in a streamlined
Realising the Dream: Creating a Risk and
way. But this is a vital decision that will determine the
Opportunity practice – without the cost.
implementation.
The first myth that needs to be busted, especially for
project managers in the non-profit space, is that Risk and Opportunity Management needs special budget or people. In fact, Risk and Opportunity Management can be easily assimilated into the current project management practice. The second myth that needs to be busted is that only a Risk Practitioner can set up a Risk and Opportunity Management stream. The people who work with communities and other stakeholders on a daily basis already do Risk and Opportunity Management. We just need to crystallise that voice and spread it. All it needs is common sense and a few, co-created common templates.
Bringing together the cross functional teams In community work based NGOs, the project team members manage their own territories and are rarely together. One of the prime asks for setting up the practice, is education and co creation of templates. So bringing the teams together from all relevant streams as a one-time activity is an imperative.
Sustenance without Maintenance If we set up separate Risk Reviews, they will never happen. We cannot also create a parallel reporting structure for Risk and Opportunity. To ensure that the practice does not die a natural death caused by organisational lethargy, we must take steps to just assimilate the Risk and Opportunity Review within the main op-
Key Decisions There are 3 key decisions that need to be taken while establishing the stream: At what level is the ROM practice going to be set
erations review. This can be done as a single slide in the quarterly review, or as a discussion activity in the monthly meeting. But its important to NOT create a parallel structure.
up? How do we bring the cross functional participants together?
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Operationalizing—The practical aspects This section has some key operational steps that need
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 26
to be taken by the project manager.
Creating the Team There is only one way to do this – to wear the evangelist
Finally: ROM and Knowledge Management
hat. ROM is not normal performance. It cannot be moni-
A ROM implementation is literally catapulted to the next
tored. The only way that we can get our people excited
level the minute it is integrated with the knowledge man-
about, and participating in the ROM Practice, is if we evan-
agement of the organisation. Management of risks in com-
gelise the cause and make them internalise it.
munities is a subject that flummoxes the most seasoned field work professional. All that is needed is a simple
Upskilling
Knowledge Management system or even a data repository
Upskilling and ongoing information dissemination practices where they are able to see how the previous projects manwill have to be set up and managed. The initial training is
aged risks and opportunities with this community, what
one aspect. The other is to ensure that all distributed teams opportunities were identified and then used, and how that also hear, constantly, about what the other teams are doing, turned out. In fact, while the article mentions KM as a sepaand how they are benefitting from the practice. The project
rate integration with ROM, the truth is that KM will, in time,
manager / sponsor is the best person to determine the way form the very backbone that sustains the ROM practice. to do this – newsletters, meetings, updates, awards.
Stakeholders may change, even sponsors may change their
mind or their organisation. But a set of professionals who
Budget and Funding for ROM
have once observed the sheer advantage that comes from
This is among the greatest challenges for the ROM practice
active risk and opportunity management, will never go back
in non-profits. It makes sense to create a few case studies of to the old style of working. success due to the ROM practice, and then to present it to the funding organisations. It is also equally important for funding organisations to insist on proactive Risk and Opportunity Management for all the projects funded by them. This change should come more from the sponsoring organisation, because their implementation risk is mitigated to a large degree if the implementing organisation practices active Risk and Opportunity Management.
Nidhi Arora is the co founder of Topgain - a consulting firm dedicated to IT Strategy excellence in India's mid sized businesses. She is also the Founder of Esha - an organization that works towards Dignity, Empowerment and Enablement of the visually challenged.
Consolidation from Project to Program and Program to In the past, she has led the SAP HCM and Success Factors Practice at EY India. She has worked in the sectors Organisation level of IT, BPO, Oil and Gas and Consulting. Again, while the path that each organisation will take is its own, this consolidation itself needs to be considered,
She can be reached at LinkedIn
planned and executed. A big bang approach to organisation wide implementation rarely works on risk management even in for profit organisations.
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Synergy Jul 2017, Page 27
Ajay Bhargove
Lt. Col. Manu Chaudhary,(retd)
Neelima Chakara
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Nirmallya Kar
Prashant Malhotra
Pooja Kapoor
Synergy Jul 2017, Page 28