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Prashant Malhotra
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Further More... September 2014
You can help yourself ! Page 12
F1 In Schools Page 24
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And... September 2014
BIG DATA Page 10
Page 30
Page 41
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New Governance Members PMI North India Chapter board has expanded and has now brought in another layer so that we are able to meet the upcoming broader needs of the chapter members. The overall expansion is being done to facilitate the smoother execution of tasks and also helps to connect with members. The new governance members are Ms. Shobha Madan Vice President—Volunteer Management Mr. Praveen Anand Vice President—Programs Apart from the above, the operations team has expanded Mr. Nirmallya Kar Assistant Vice President—Communications Mr. Shivender Vats Assistant Vice President—Memberships Mr. Gaurav Sarin Associate Secretary Mr. Anurag Deepak Assistant Vice President—Programs Mr. Jay Kumar Assistant Vice President—Finance
Shobha Madan Vice President—Volunteer Management
Praveen Anand Vice President—Program
Nirmallya Kar Assistant Vice President— Communications
Shivender Vats Assistant Vice President—Memberships
Gaurav Sarin Associate Secretary
We all wish them all the best and hope that they would perform their best in the interest of chapter and its members. Anurag Deepak Assistant Vice President—Program
Jay Kumar Assistant Vice President—Finance
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An evening with PM veterans - Infrastructure | Education | Corporate Environment Event Date : 15 Sep 2014, 3.5 PDUs
The half day event was organized at Hotel Clarks Amer along with PROMAC Advisors. The event started off with an introductory note by Sharad Jain followed by Manoj K Gupta. The mind gripping session on ‘Project Management in Competitive Environment was taken by Mr. Ratnesh Kashyap and was followed by back to back sessions on ‘Need of PM as a subject in Technical Institutions’ and ‘Adoption of guidelines and tools for effective PM in construction Projects’ by Mr. C K Bafna and Mr. Vinod Garg respectively.
The event recognized PMI Credential holders in Jaipur followed by a Panel discussion. The day was concluded by the session on ’Education & Project Management’ by Prof (Dr.) Deepshikha Bhargava.
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Ar. Jayesh Bansal, Rajat Agarwal- MD Gravita Exim Ltd., Manoj K Gupta – President & CEO, PMI North India Chapter, Vinod Garg – Region Connect Ambassador (PMI NIC), Ratnesh Kashyap (Ex. Chairman, CII Rajasthan), Prof. (Dr.) Deepshikha Bhargava Dy. Dir. & Head of Institution, Amity Instt. Of IT, Amity University, Rajasthan, Ar. Rashmi Gupta (Designer Luxury Train Palace on Wheels in 1982), Sudhir Gupta (Management Consultant – US), Deepak Sogani
PMI NIC thanks Vinod and his team along with Manoj, Shivender & Ajay for laudable articulation of the event.
Domain Centric Project Challenges – Large Capital Projects | IT Projects Event Date : 13 Sep 2014, 4 PDUs The half day event was organized at YMCA The day started with Kumar Saurabh driving the participants through different risks such as schedule, responsibilities & contracts, external agencies and payments, country’s political & legal risks that large capital project may shake hands with. Post Tea break, the floor deep dived into the simplest yet most complicated aspect of human relationships i.e. Communication where Parul Choudhary uncovered PMI researched statistics, followed by providing relevant tips in making a project successful using effective communication. The last session was taken by Lt. Col. Ajay Bhattacharya on Leadership. This session helped members understand different leadership styles. How leadership was different from Management, followed by concluding on how effective leadership resolved challenges in large projects. PMI NIC thanks Hemant, Praveen, Anurag and Shivender for coordinating the success of the event. Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org, Prashant@pminorthindia.org
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Great work.. Am sure there will be lot of good feedback.. Kudos to the team.
Thanks for sharing this. New look and feel is great.
Raj Kalady Managing Director PMI India Ramam Atmakumari PMI Component Mentor Western Asia Region
some kind words‌. Very good issue. Great going!
Tejas Sura PMI Region Mentor Western Asia
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What skills do project managers need to jump into the booming big data sector? 8 January 2013 Every minute, 204 million emails are flying around the world, 100,000 tweets are posted and consumers spend US$272,070 online, according to tech company Domo. Google alone receives over 2 million search queries in those 60 seconds. As big data continues to flood servers, organizations are scrambling to find professionals who can harness, analyze and monetize the information deluge. The promise of big data could drive US$34 million in IT spending in 2013 and create 4.4 million jobs globally by 2015, according to an October 2012 report by IT research firm Gartner. But only one-third of those jobs will be filled, says Gartner, because of the dearth of professionals with the “data management, analytics and business expertise and nontraditional skills necessary for extracting the value of big data.�
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So what does it take for project professionals to land a job in the growing field? First, project managers should go in armed with a keen understanding of the economics of big data. “Accumulating big data without an actionable benefit can result in costs outpacing those benefits too quickly,” says Doug Laney, vice president of research, business analytics and information innovation at Gartner, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Project managers must be able to tie tons of data to a distinct business value, says Sanjul Saxena, PMP, senior vice president, Foundation’s Edge, an IT firm in Santa Clara, California, USA. That value can take the form of anything from operational efficiency to customer insight, he adds. In addition, deep-dive analytics requires a big-picture approach — and reaching beyond the usual software development and engineering teams. Project professionals must be able to collaborate with other departments, such as engineering, operations or business analysis. “The big data team’s core mission is to make sense of all that data,” says Sanjay Gupta, a technical architect with energy management company Landis+Gyr, Noida, India. “Big data projects operate on a different cycle than traditional ones. It’s not so much about ‘plan, then do,’ [but rather] ‘experiment, learn and evolve.’ It requires a [multidisciplinary] mindset attuned to research as much as delivery.” Big data projects call for more than the standard warehousing, recording and trending skills. And that could mean additional training. Analyzing complex data sets requires knowledge of predictive modeling as well as visualization techniques, such as data trees and clustergrams.
The good news is, because big data is a newer discipline, most organizations accept that there will be some onthe-job learning of new skills or software for new hires. Greta Roberts, CEO of Talent Analytics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, notes that there isn’t just one analytics role. She recommends entering the field in a role closest to your current role — data preparation and data acquisition are similar to project managing data. Then, widen your scope to full-blown analytics. Beyond technical prowess, Ms. Roberts suggests highlighting soft skills, too. Similarly, creativity is a requirement in today’s deep-dive analytics jobs. “That’s the thing about big data,” says Ms. Roberts. “You need to poke around. Analytics has been around forever. It’s just bigger now.”
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You can help yourself !!!
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ABSTRACT
Let us consider a case of conflict between Team lead and Quality Manager during one ut of many expectations from Pro- of the Software development projects. My ject Manager, Managing conflict is friend Project Manager, team lead and Quality Manager organized a meeting to defuse one of the trickiest one. Most of time we get ourselves marred with the conflict and during the discussion Project Manager uttered the following. processes and methodologies (No offence) that we overlook some typical symptoms of “Quality team always complains about simmering conflict around us. I thought to defects in code, there appraisal depends pen down my thoughts to put some human face to the handling of conflict management on raising issues.” as we are dealing with the most important Rest I can leave to your imagination the resources i.e. Humans. This article may help you to manage conflict “music” faced by Project Manager from effectively by asking some simple questions whole Quality fraternity and big boys. to yourself.
O
ARE YOU AWARE OF YOUR OWN SELF? I believe that each conflict teach you a lesson or two and in most of cases you implicitly improve self-awareness by meddling in the issue .And believe me in case of Project Manager lacking self-awareness he or she can create a mess out of seemingly simple conflict. Now question comes that how can “My Selfawareness” help in managing conflict , a very direct answer lies in the definition of Selfawareness i.e. the ability to know one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values Your “empathy” to un- and goals and derstand the sensitivities recognize their impact on others around the people inwhile using gut volved in conflict can feelings to guide help you to manage it in decisions. So, if Project better way. Manager is in doubt or confused state that will reflect in his ability of handling of team and conflicts.
ARE YOU JUDGMENTAL? There are cases of misplaced or lack of empathy in people responsible for managing conflicts some of time become its victims of situation they were expected to manage. Our current lifestyle with all of its blessing had also reduced our capacity to manage stress and handling stressful situations. Your “empathy” to understand the sensitivities around the people involved in conflict can help you to manage it in better way. You also take this opportunity to help individuals to strike a balance between managing stress and fulfilling their professional obligations. Now to make my point more clear let us consider two team member having conflicting view on the plan. In this conversation one of person in conflict actually stated “I know you reported this plan will not work, as you always tend to miss deadlines”. In this situation the Project Manager was able to resolve a potential flare up by listening to individuals and was able to separate the issue from individuals and understand the cause of conflict and he actually needed to fine tune the plan based on the feedback.
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"The better able team members engage, speak, listen, hear, interpret, and respond constructively, the more likely their teams are to leverage conflict rather than be leveled by it� Runde and Flanagan ARE YOU PASSIONATE?
may not have thought off before. Brainstorm all the ideas and solutions based on inputs, and once you arrive at solution make it transparent to all involved.
YES WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE ! It may be helpful to remind that as a team we are on same side and we need to cater to project objectives and should not drag our self in petty conflicts.
REFERENCES
Passionate, yes you read correctly, if choice is among being Neutral, Arrogant, or Pas1. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matsionate I will prefer to demonstrate passion ter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman for resolving the conflict. 1997 You can use your position to team that most of conflicts can be resolved via discussion and 2. Runde, C. E. & Flanagan, T. A. (2007). Becoming a conflict competent leader: negotiation instead of aggression or submishow you and your organization can mansion. Emphasize that one should communiage conflict effectively cate his or her perception to rest of team; one practical way is by asking people in conflict to write, paraphrase, and summarize their ABOUT THE AUTHOR position and perceptions. Your passion to manage conflict can help you to understand underlying interests, needs and concerns. Active listening and empathy will help you clarify your situation. Based on understanding you may need to acknowledge there is a problem and agreement is in place on problem itself.
ARE YOU OPTIMIST? Optimism plays a significant role in resolution of conflict. How? Your optimism is key force for your team to agree on providing inputs that can lead to resolution. Your optimism and openness will encourage team to provide ideas to resolve conflict that you
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Agya is Senior Project Manager with SAP Labs India with 18 years of experience, he is interested in Project management, technology , User Experience and Design thinking. His hobbies includes photography and travelling. You can reach him on LinkedIn
Synergy Sept 2014, Page 14
Question provided by The PM Exam Simulator Question You are managing a telecom project. You have two teams reporting to you. One team is responsible for equipment installation and the other team is responsible for commissioning and testing the equipment. Both teams are working in parallel so that as soon as the installation team finishes equipment installation at one site, they move on to another site for installation. This allows the commissioning and testing team to start their activities on the newly installed site. The reporting structure is such that each of the teams has five engineers and a separate team lead. Each team member interacts with each other but only the team leads interact with you. Both team leads also interact with each other to synchronize their operations. How many communication channels do you have on your project? A.) 33 B.) 23 C.) 42 D.) 78
Answer on Page 40
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WHERE GAMIFICATION COMES FROM BY NIDHI ARORA
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THE BACKGROUND The trigger for this article comes from a parenting workshop run by a top end school. The objective was to teach parents activities and games to help children learn spelling. At one point, the trainer said, "Our children have a very low span of attention. And this
generation does not believe in work. So it is our duty to make learning fun for them. They will learn, but we must make it interesting and...fun! Our parents just asked us to learn spelling, and we did. But that’s not how this generation works." If the reality of the millennials had never hit, it did then. The teacher was right - this is a generation that has grown up without the concept of "work". If it’s not fun, if it’s not engaging enough, they won’t do it. Suddenly, it is someone else's job to make the workplace "engaging" and to keep them interested.
OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CREATION OF
MILLENNIALS In metros or the cities that have transformed due to a strong connect with the rest of the developed world has made changes to our educational structure and our parenting style. The change has been gradual, but consistent and unidirectional to ensure that upcoming generation has same or similar environment in any corner of the world. We thought that the current educational system leads to too much student pressure and leads to student suicides. So we changed the require-
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ments of the educational system. We also changed the parenting styles at home. Since the children who do not win in a fancy dress contest feel bad, we started to give participation prize to everyone. Two generations ago, it was absolutely acceptable for children to help around the house, and children learnt one additional skill for many years (dance, art, music, anything) and were expected to have one hobby. Today,
children are not expected to help around the house if house help can be afforded. Parents exchange notes over how many different
If a system leads to stress, then system should change, not their coping behavior.
classes the children are being sent to. No one talks about the number of years a child has invested in a certain skill (12 years of dance, 6 years of music or 10 years of athletics). Children are not expected to stick to one activity for that long. When they get bored, parents are willing to get them try another hobby.
With world becoming smaller, exposure to knowledge
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and other cultures increased, more array of academ- themselves. Thus we have individuals from generaic, career and life choices became available,
tions before the technology and telecom revolution
our patterns of upbringing changed, it is no surprise who like the old world order, the discipline and dethat the adults of today are very different from the
fined norms and today’s youngsters who want to
adults who were a product of an earlier nurturing
write the norms for themselves coexist in our sys-
system. Their expectations from the world, their re- tem. sponse to stimuli and their patterns of analysis are
different. We call them “The Millennials”. They have grown up with the ideas like
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
They have one life to fulfill their desires includ-
The new generation is now broadly consisting of two
ing the desire to have fun
forms. On one side, we have those youngsters who
They have a choice
still treat the work as work as they have been still
whether or not to accept
coming out of institutes
stress and which stressors
who have not completely
to accept in their day to
adopted the ‘One World’
day life
culture. And on the other
They are entitled to cre-
side, we have these young-
ate the balance they
sters who are known as
choose in their lives
‘Millennials’ and don’t like
If their current environ-
term called Work. So, how
ment does not engage /
do we get these Millennials
motivate them, it is ok to
to contribute to the grind-
look for what is missing
ing mill called "normal
elsewhere
work"? How do we get
Happy individuals create happy societies and
them to understand the concept of "work"?
hence individual is more important than societal / corporate norms of behavior
THE IMMEDIATE SOLUTION Increasingly, "Work" becomes a dirty word. This is
Hence they are rewriting the norms of behavior for
not a random event. A generation raised in a social
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system where adults are responsible for “engagement” and ensuring that “learning is fun” will not change overnight as it enters the workforce. The sense of entitlement is carried forth to the workplace. The only option the workplace has is to meet that expectation. To make work “fun” and “engaging.” Gamification, therefore, is not a random fad engulfing
the corporate office. It is, in fact, caused by the needs of the most recent entrants to the workforce – the millennials. The Oxford Dictionary defines “Gamification” as “The application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity”. Today, organizations are actively paying to convert
tasks into games. In 2011, Gartner predicted that more than 70% of global 2000 organizations would have at least one gamified application by 2014 *1. Global researcher Markets and Markets predicts that gamification will be worth $5.5 billion by 2018, compared with its present size of $421 million *2. We reward the smallest things - there are "tasks" and "quests" and "points (or eggs or coins or gems) to be won, and then reused within the game for higher levels, more advanced digital tools and so on. I would like to make special mention of things like Office Vibe, which rewards proof of collaborative behavior, healthy living et al. There are a lot of other apps, websites and custom developed tools that do the same. As Games proliferate, workplace practitioners find themselves facing some new challenges.
THE PROBLEM CREATED BY THE IMMEDIATE SOLUTION The colleagues, who are not millennials, wonder why this group is so "pampered”, while they come and do an honest day's job and are not rewarded as much as, or on par with their work contribu-
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tion. They find college graduates being given really high salaries and wonder why. Their faith in the things they have always held dear – hard work, a diligently done assignment and sticking to 8 hours in office – starts to waver. Their engagement levels sometimes drop, and productivity almost always suffers. On one hand we have a generation that needs to be entertained to work, and on the other, we are faced with the dwindling engagement and productivity of the steady workhorse – the ear-
lier generations or the other group (Not coming up with right word to put across for ‘the other group’).
CAUSE ANALYSES Let’s try to understand the Millennial conundrum. As I see it, these different generations derive gratification from
different stimuli. As workplace practitioners, we try and provide these stimuli. For the non millennials, the primary source of gratification is, by and large, how much and how well their work is done, the money they get for it, and the recognition they get for it. Also, elements of discipline like being on time, communicating according to protocol et al. For the millennials, gratification comes from "fun", "enjoyment" and "being engaged". Having control over their calendars, working out of anywhere, and getting recognized for output alone. (Of course, these are sweeping generalizations being used to simplify and present the problem we are dealing with in this post.) So, structurally, both groups are getting what gives them gratification. The problem comes when we try to create an environment that rewards *both* these behaviors at the same time and also when people try to compare their Contribution: Reward ratio
with that of the other groups. Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org, Prashant@pminorthindia.org
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SOLVING THE ROOT PROBLEM Therefore, we surmise that the problem is not just that the 2 generations view the idea of "work" very differently. It is also not that organizations are not willing to provide what they need to create a stimulating and engaging workplace experience. The real problem arises because:
A. WE PRETEND THAT WE TREAT ALL EMPLOYEES THE SAME We cannot. Because they are not the same. We are giving each one what they need - broadly. If one gets flexi time, it is because they need flexi time. If the other gets higher fixed bonus, it is not because we penalize flexi time and reward adherence to fixed time. It means that money is not the only kind of reward we give. Money is only one type of gratification. Flexi time and shorts at work is another. When we create this myth of equal treatment for all employees, we are also perpetrating the myth that basically, all employees are the same, and they need the same things.
SOLVING FOR PERPETRATING THE MYTH
To solve for this myth, we need to acknowledge that all employees are different and may need different things. Being different does not make them "flippant" or "undisciplined" or "old fashioned" or "stuffy". We don’t need to label anyone who is different from us. Labeling
The problem comes when we try to create an environment that rewards *both* these behaviors at the same time and also when people try to compare their Contribution: Reward ratio with that of the other groups.
happens when acceptance is missing. And acceptance has to start with the employer. Acknowledge differences. Stop the "Everyone gets the same treatment" myth.
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Acknowledge that policies are differential, but the
Each element has a cost to company , and it is
basis of differentiation is the need of that employ-
published.
ee group.
People choose the parameters that work for them. And get rewarded for contribution.
B. PEOPLE COMPARE WITH EACH OTHER It’s a natural human tendency. If most of us were
ENDPOINT
grateful for our blessings, we would all be happier.
We are dealing with multiple age groups at the work-
Comparison is an evolutionary tool for improvement
place. We keep thinking of ways to make them work
and progress. Comparisons help us get better and help together. A good starting point is to acknowledge groups improve as they learn from each other. Some- varied groups, with different needs. From there, we times, it doesn’t quite work that way.
start to arrive at solutions, and communication about the idea that each group is getting the solution that
SOLVING FOR COMPARISONS AT
they would like.
WORKPLACE Comparisons happen, mostly in linear reward structures - ones based mostly on money as the reward. Suppose we were to initiate a multi factor rewards environment, where people could pick the things that work for them - flexi time, informal dressing, tele presence, travel et al.
REFERENCES *1— http://www.emee.co.in/blog/post/2014/02/18/ Gamification-Myths-and-Reality.aspx *2— http://www.cognizant.com/InsightsWhitepapers/ Gamifying-Business-to-Drive-Employee-Engagement -and-Performance.pdf
Nidhi Arora is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta. She has worked with HCL Technologies, SAP India, and Cairn India Limited. Her areas of expertise include Remote delivery of ERP implementation projects, Change Management and Organizational Innovation. Her work has been published by PMI India and also presented at the PMI National Conference, 2012. She has served on the jury panels for professional bodies (the PMI2013) and voluntary organizations (The Karmaveer Puraskaar, 2013) She is also a social entrepreneur spearheading 2 important initiatives in the area of visual disability - Creating Blind service professionals and running India's biggest online audio library in Indian languages. The initiative is called "Esha" and works towards simple yet powerful ways of empowering the visually challenged.
You can reach her on LinkedIn Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org, Prashant@pminorthindia.org
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT @ SCHOOLS
BY SUNCHIT ANAND
BY AJAY BHARGOVE Feedback: pminicmag@pminorthindia.org, Prashant@pminorthindia.org
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A
s a young student, I have to
to collaborate, design, analyze, manufacture,
meet deadlines - be it home-
test, and then race miniature compressed air
work, projects, or even study-
powered balsa wood F1 cars.
ing for exams and tests. The
Teams must raise sponsorship and manage
challenge of dealing with multiple deadlines and
budgets to fund research, travel and accommo-
many stakeholders (parents, teachers, peers,
dation. The challenge inspires students to use
extracurricular mentors) is increasingly chal-
IT to learn about physics, aerodynamics, de-
lenging in the today’s ultra-competitive times.
sign, manufacture, branding, graphics, sponsor-
Thankfully, PM processes present a framework
ship, marketing, leadership/teamwork, media
to handle these challenges. Hence, I strongly
skills and financial strategy, and apply them in
believe that PM principles should be inculcated
a practical, imaginative, competitive and excit-
very early in school students.
ing way.
But application of PM processes have helped me not only in managing complexity in my academic career, it has also helped me explore
amazing opportunities such as the F1inSchool challenge. And I’m happy to share these experiences with you.
THE MSSION The mission of the team is to successfully qualify for the Nationals and further go for the Bernie Eccelstone World Championship Trophy. We are aiming to design the fastest car in the history of F1 in Schools Competition. Since we
PM @ SCHOOLS APPLICATION – F1 IN SCHOOL CASE STUDY
support the motto “GO GREEN” our designers have been successful in designing a car that is supposed to be fuel efficient when it turns on engine. The aerodynamics is engineered in that way to make the car environment friendly.
INTRODUCTION “F1inSchool” challenge is the only global multidisciplinary challenge in which teams of students aged 9 to 19 deploy CAD/CAM software
OUR CHALLENGE There were bucketful of tasks to be done and the 2 month project window was extremely limited. We did not just wanted to design a car or
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team graphics on time but we wanted to design the best possible car within time, cost and scope constraints. Our challenges were
Select a team identity and graphics
raise funds through sponsorships
research on the aerodynamics of the car
design the F1 car model using the SolidWorks software
manufacture the car manufactured,
gather resources for pit display (Posters, banners), design
compile the team portfolio
OUR APPROACH Since we were students, we understood our most severe constraint was the budget. Hence, avoiding cost overruns was paramount. Using PM princi-
ples, we shifted our focus from tasks to process. This insight helped us manage additional control variables such as quality and resource manage-
TEAM MOTO
DESIGNED FOR VICTORY
ment well. In every stage of the project planning, execution and monitoring, we understood the following aspects
Control the scope of the project, so the scope does not creep.
Manage Time lines for timely completions of tasks
Managing Cost, so that the budget should not overrun
Manage Quality Control for optimum performance of the car
Managing the team and utilization of resources based on everyone’s skills
Manage timely and right Communication to all the stakeholders
Monitor Risks and its mitigation
From our exercise, the triple constraint diagram emerged -
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FIG — Managing Important Constraints thing, we had a remarkable learning experience. All
OUTCOME We were able to complete the project very well on
this was possible because we were able to manage the project efficiently using PM Principles.
time and within cost with a very impressive pit display and team identity. In the race knockouts, we
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
got to the 8th rank out of 88. We were able to meet
Being a school student, getting to know these princi-
the budget as predicted by the budget plan by raising
ples has helped me a lot. It has become a habit of me
enough funds through sponsorships. More than any-
to plan every school work I do. Even when I am pre-
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Hence, I would like to iterate my earlier point that PM processes must be taught very early to school students. However, PM processes should not be made into a subject in which students give exams on it because that will make students lose interest and lose objectivity of its application.
This is very important since learning theoretical physics, chemistry or economics is of no use until the student doesn’t underparing for exams, I make a list of subject
stand its applications.
wise topics and chapters and then make a
In my humble opinion, teachers should
study schedule according to the time I
keep track of how students are applying
have, dividing the chapters and doing two
the principles while studying or complet-
subjects in a day. This helps me complete
ing their work. There should be a review
the chapters on time, gives me plenty of
class in which students would share how
time for revision and prevents last minute
they used the principles in their studies.
panicky preparations. I also create a ‘Why
This will not only help the students who
Sheet’ where I jot down all the points on
are using these principles efficiently but
why I need to complete a particular task and that helps me stay and mind
motivated brings
my
back
to
work/studies whenever I feel myself going off track.
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Synergy Sept 2014, Page 28
listening to such students tell about their experiences in review classes will help others to see how they can improve in managing their work. Since I have learnt the PM Principles, when I grow up I will definitely be applying these principles to my work life and I encourage every work executive to be PMI certified as it not only helps those who are at the post of Project Managers but also everyone who has to work and meet deadlines because if these principles can be applied in a student’s life then these can be applied everywhere. Thanks to PMI for establishing PM Principles for project monitoring.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sunchit Anand is studying in Class XII, Salwan Public School, Gurgaon and enrolled himself in “F1inSchool” challenge. His team known as CARVIATORS comprised of himself (Team Manager & Graphics Designer), Tanubhav Srivastava (Design & Manufacturing Engineer), Tushar Gupta (Resources Manager), Mehardeep Khurana (Marketing and Sponsorship Manager) and Sahej Puri (Secondary Manufacturing Engineer). The team reached out to sponsors, did research, design & development. They managed costs & effort against time and in parallel, they performed marketing and promotion to gather the right traction to build awareness about the project.
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The
term “morale” is used to describe the overall feeling in project team
and is most often thought of as a set of work environment attributes, as perceived directly or indirectly by the people who work in that environment. Morale has a major impact on team members’ motivation, behaviors, and productivity; it is also one area over which the project manager has the most influ-
ence, because the morale of a specific project team will reflect the leadership style of the Manager. A Manager generally performs several basic “tasks,” which in some way involve or impact team members. These tasks are listening, setting goals, planning, giving directions, rewarding, holding members account-
able, and developing team members.
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“Good leaders motivate people in a variety of ways. First, they always articulate the organization’s vision in a manner that stress-
CONCEPT OF
es the values of the audience they are addressing. This makes the work important to
MOTIVATION:
those individuals. Leaders also regularly involve people in deciding how to achieve the organization’s vision. This gives people a sense of control. Another important motiva-
PERFORMANCE
MOTIVATION
SOURCE OF GOALS
tional technique is to support employee efforts to realize the vision by providing coaching, feedback, and role modeling, thereby helping people grow professionally
and enhancing their self-esteem. Finally, good leaders recognize and reward success, which not only gives people a sense of accomplishment but also makes them feel like they belong to an organization
that cares about them. When all this is done, the work itself becomes intrinsically motivating.” (Kotter, 1998, p.48) The general concept of motivation consists of three main ideas: 1. Performance—the outcome of motives, abilities, and the situation. 2. Motivation—the internal driver that moves a person to behave in ways to achieve or acquire a goal. 3. Sources of goals—the wants, needs, and desires influenced by biological factors, emotional factors, cognitive factors, and social factors. Morale has a major impact on team members’ motives and is reflected in how they view their job performance and overall satisfaction. Project managers can raise or stifle the motives of the team members in the way they shape the morale of their project team. A team member’s productivity is affected by how the work environment is perceived.
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This perception is affected by three factors: a. the nature of the task being performed, b. the team members involved and the strength of their motives, and c. the leader’s leadership style. Because morale is influenced by many factors, both in and out of the project manager’s direct control, he or she should evaluate team morale on a regular basis and develop action
steps to make changes, if any are needed. The project manager has a major effect on morale, for better or worse. This paper presents different Techniques to improve team morale and discusses how it impacts project success. Ask any project team how to improve team morale and the answers will vary based on what is important to each individual answering the question. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, (Collins, 2001, p 41) stresses the importance of organizations hiring the right people and making sure that they are in the right positions based on their skills, abilities, and attitude. This practice, when possible, is a great starting point for increasing team member morale. However, the option of choosing team members is a luxury that many project managers do not have. So, what can a project manager do to increase team morale regardless of the level of authority he or she has?
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Some basic tips and techniques include:
Demonstrate commitment to team Establish clear and specific perfor- goals and project success mance goals for the team and
If the project manager expresses his or
team members
her commitment and shows passion for
Meet with the team on a regular basis to achieving project goals, team members periodically review performance against are more likely to become more commitproject objectives and confirm accounta- ted as well. It is important for the project manager to exhibit the kind of bebility for deliverables *. Clear expectations are critical to good team morale.
havior he or she expects from the project
Team members need to know what is
team.
expected of them. They also have the responsibility to make sure that they take the initiative to clarify what is expected of them if they are not sure.
Ensure everyone on the team knows who has responsibility for what work Prepare a Responsibility Assignment Matrix, focusing on placing the right people on the right tasks. This is an opportunity to allow team members to have an input into task assignments. This not only gets team members involved, it is also a way that the project manager demonstrates trust by allowing them to provide input and help with decision-making related to their project work.
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Communicate with and listen to team mem-
Team members need to
bers
feel their opinions are
Good communication between the project manager
valued and that manage-
cial for good morale. Team members need to feel their
ment is listening to what they have to say.
and the team as well as among team members is cruopinions are valued and that management is listening to what they have to say. Frequent and honest communication provides an opportunity to share information and develop trust.
Provide honest and useable feedback to each team member Team members want to know how well they are performing. It is important to regularly provide team members with information regarding their performance; however, to be useful the feedback must be timely, address specific behaviors, and be something over which the team member actually has control and can change.
It is one thing to talk about risk taking, it is something else to actually encourage and reward risk taking. Encourage team members to be innovative Allow team members to be creative and experiment with new ideas. Address the
impact of risk taking and the potential for failure. While understanding that failure and mistakes will happen, it is important to differentiate between mistakes that are catastrophic and those that can be tolerated. It is one thing to talk about risk taking, it is something else to actually encourage and reward risk taking.
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Implement a performance-based reward and
performers accountable. Be enthusiastic about the
recognition system
success of others. Recognize team members’ potential
Team members need recognition. Rewards and recognition should occur more often than negative comments or criticism. By clarifying and communicating
and help them achieve it. A project manager should always strive to be professional and treat team members as professionals.
performance standards and monitoring performance, appropriate rewards and constructive feedback can be provided. Consistency is the key; in other words,
Support team members in the accomplish-
the project manager should be objective, not show fa- ment of their tasks
voritism, reward positive performance, and hold poor
One of the project manager’s most important jobs is
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to remove obstacles so that team members can
emotional, and mental welfare. It is also im-
do their work effectively and efficiently. It does
portant to provide for the team’s social develop-
not mean “micro-managing” the team members’ ment and growth as well. Short discussions in a work. If team members make a decision within
break-room allow team members to share ideas,
their given authority, the project manager
address common issues and problems, and to
should support that decision. Sometimes this
connect with each other on a personal level,
means that the project manager might have to
thereby building trust and increasing good com-
be their advocate or champion when they are
munication throughout the team.
challenged by a senior manager or other significant stakeholder.
Experience has shown that Work to achieve a safe, healthy, and
team members who are ac-
friendly workplace
tively and appropriately en-
To the extent possible, project managers should strive to ensure that the work environment is
gaged in project and organ-
free from physical hazards. The project manager
izational
can never guarantee that accidents will not hap-
efforts
tend
to
pen or that the conditions will be the best; but,
more satisfied and have
even in less than optimal working conditions,
higher morale.
morale can be maintained if the team believes that the manager has done everything he or she could and is concerned about their physical,
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Find ways to instill a sense of team spirit
When team members are forced to follow inflexible
Group identity is crucial to creating a feeling of be-
rules, policies, and regulations, that they believe to
longing and membership. The team should develop
be meaningless or burdensome for a given situation,
a way to create a team identity through a shared
it can create a high-stress environment and nega-
symbol, team logo, motto, and so forth .Ask the
tively affects morale. Over time, a project team
project team and they are likely to say that it is the with low morale will experience frustration, feelings project manager’s responsibility to create and main- of hopelessness, and overall dissatisfaction. Team tain team morale. In the purest sense, they are cor-
members are more likely to have greater satisfac-
rect; the project manager has the greatest influence tion and higher morale if they clearly understand their level of authority and the basis for their job on team morale. However, it is also important to remember that each member of that team also bears accountability and are involved in decisions that some responsibility for the team’s morale. Effective affect their ability to perform their professional reproject managers work to help team members see
sponsibilities. Team members want to feel that they
how they contribute to their own and the team’s
can exercise their own judgment without having to
morale.
check everything with the project manager before taking any action.
Experience has shown that team members who are actively and appropriately engaged in project and organizational efforts tend to more satisfied and have higher morale. Higher morale leads to greater productivity, creating a win– win situation for them, the project’s customer, and the organization. Team
member morale is based on their perception of the work environment and the degree to which they feel that management is concerned with their well being as well as the project deliverables.
When
team
members
are
forced to follow inflexible rules, policies, and regulations, that they believe to be meaningless or burdensome for a given situation, it can create a highstress environment and negatively affects morale.
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In addition to wanting an input into project and or-
organization’s senior management, has the biggest
ganizational activities, team members also want to
impact on team member morale. A project manager
know that they will be recognized for a job well done,
does not have to be everyone’s friend, but he or she
and that when their performance does not meet stand- should always strive to be professional and treat team ards, appropriate feedback will be provided. It is im-
members as professionals.
portant to team members that the project manager provide fair and equitable performance-based rewards, and that the organization provide career advancement opportunities.
REFERENCES Buckingham, M., & Cliffton, D.O. (2001). Now discover your strengths, New York, NY: The Free
It is also important that the project manager and the
Press Collins, J. (2001). Good to great, New York,
management team understand the team’s composition and when necessary be willing to customize organizational practices, policies, and processes accordingly.
NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. Kotter, J., (1998) What leaders really do. In Harvard Business Review on Leadership, Boston, MA:
The project manager, and in the larger context the
Harvard Business School Press.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ajaibir Singh is working
Naveen Kataria is retired
as Delivery Portfolio Man-
from India Navy and cur-
ager in IBM India and has
rently working as Transition
22 years of experience . He
& Transformation Leader at
has served as the catalyst
IBM India for over 5 years
for successful completion
of Program, Project and Technical Services initiatives in IT / ITES / Construction Industry, complimented by PMI Certifications. You can reach him on LinkedIn
complimented by M.Tech from IIT Kharagpur , PgDBA from IIFT Delhi & certification from PMI.. He has over 27 years of professional experience of providing Leadership and Excellence in Delivery. He has been instrumental in overall direction to the Transition teams & responsible for execution of diverse range of large and complex Transition projects for key outsourcing contracts You can reach him on LinkedIn
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Answer & Explanation Correct Answer: A) This was a difficult question wasn't it? Let's analyze the scenario to calculate the answer.
> We have two independent teams. Each team has six members (five engineers and one team lead). Each team member is interacting with each other so communication channels for each team are (6)*(6-1)/2=15. And because we have two teams like this, the total is 2*15=30. > Both team leads are communicating with you so there are two communication channels for this interaction.
> In addition, because both team leads are interacting with each other, there is one additional communication channel. Therefore, the total communication channels on your project is 30+2+1=33. Reference: PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, page 292
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4 Misconceptions About PMI Certifications — And What You Should Know It’s myth-buster time! There’s a variety of commonly held myths and misconceptions about PMI’s certifications and one or more may be affecting you or someone you know. From prerequisites to credential maintenance, click through to discover four of the biggest myths as we set the record straight. SOURCE: www.pmi.org
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Myth #1 — The PMP® prerequisite. You’re not a Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential holder, but one of our other certifications has caught your eye. It seems like a perfect fit for your interests, ambition and role. No problem! If you meet the eligibility requirements for the certification you desire — go ahead and apply. You don’t need to hold the PMP® to qualify for any other PMI certification. It’s not a prerequisite. The most important qualifier for PMI certifications is your related experience. So for the program management certification (the PgMP®), you need program management experience. For the business analysis certification (the PMI-PBASM), you need business analysis experience. For the agile, risk management and scheduling certifications (PMI-ACP®, PMI-RMP®, PMI-SP®) — same deal — you need documented experience in those domains. Sure, some of our certifications do require project management experience along with domain experience. But that doesn’t mean you need the PMP to prove your experience or to apply.
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Myth #2 — Only project managers can apply for PMI certifications. You’ve checked out the certifications available right down to the eligibility requirements for the one that interests you. It sounds like a fit with your work and experience level, but your job title is not “project manager” and you’re afraid that disqualifies your application. If so, you’ve fallen for a myth! When it comes to qualifying for a PMI certification, it’s not your job title that matters. It’s the role you perform on the job. If you hold the role and responsibilities aligned with your desired certification and have the needed experience level, we encourage you to apply. The formal title of project manager is not required for any PMI certification, including the Project Management Professional (PMP)®.
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Myth #3 — PMI certifications are only valuable for practitioners working in North America. You work outside of the United States and Canada. You’d like to attain a certification to impress your stakeholders, increase your confidence and boost your chances of getting ahead. But you’re concerned that PMI certifications only matter in North America. In fact, PMI certifications are not tied to any one geographic area but to the role performed. They validate your experience and competence regardless of where you work. More than half of PMI certification holders are located outside of North America: 33 percent in the Asia Pacific region; 13 percent in EMEA and 5 percent in Latin America. So signal your pride in your PMI certification by displaying the letters after your name. Your PMI certification validates your abilities and commitment, and travels with you across industries, market segments and geographic locations.
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Myth #4 — You can’t maintain more than one PMI certification. Many of our certification holders have earned and maintain multiple PMI certifications. It’s totally doable. Once you’ve earned a second certification (or more) it takes just a bit more familiarity with the continuing certification requirements to keep your credentials current. In some cases, it takes a few more PDUs as well. If you hold both the Project Management Professional (PMP)® and the Program Management Professional (PgMP)® certification, all PDUs that you earn can be shared to maintain both. Add a third certification and some of the PDUs can be shared among all three. The content of your development activity determines what certification it supports. For example, an activity that covers only agile topics certainly helps you retain the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® but won’t count toward maintaining the PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)®. Your certification handbook provides guidance and more examples, and be sure to network with peers who hold multiple certifications for their insights and tips.
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Why stop at one? Your knowledge and experience keeps growing — is your certification status keeping pace? Explore more about PMI certifications and see if additional certifications are right for you.
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Abhijit Kumar
Ajay Bhargove
Hemant Seigell
Kumar Saurabh
Neelima Chakara
Nirmallya Kar
Parul Choudhary
Prashant Malhotra
Shashank Neppalli
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