Good communication can turn failed project into a success one

I just finished a project that was about to fail 2 weeks ago. The scope of the project was very small and we implement it many times with many customers. But really we had the worst luck ever. it starts with some troubles that soon propagated and it was about to end up with disaster. Our customer was very annoyed, unhappy and unsatisfied. And we were about to fail to deliver the project on time and on budget.

The project was small BI project initiated to deliver a dashboard to serve a specific needs. This was the first time for that customer to work and ask for a dashboard. We suggested the proper tools and as our company is a partner to the product main company we initiated the process. A big mistake done from our side by initiating the purchase order without considering the right version to buy and before do the required communication to know the exact required licence to perform the work. I discovered this and raised as a project manager and communicate this with the customer as well to maintain their trust and to transparent with them.

To overcome this we started the project and used some trial licence keys provided by the product company till we get the official licence key. Again we discovered that we still need extra licence key to be able to deliver the required functionality. Again as a project manager i communicate this with our customer and raise it to the responsible person.

One week later, our bad luck continued. the development server went down and the server admin told us that there is no backup taken and we may loss our completed work and rework everything from scratch. This was like a nightmare and i started to get the feeling that this is my first failed project and i start preparing myself to accept this. there is no one who can win for ever. life is a mix of loss and win. but really this was very difficult for me. we are already one week behind the schedule. the project dead line passed one week ago. and we are over budget because the licence key that we forget about. the customer is unsatisfied and unhappy and worried about the project as well.

For a moment i thought that as a project manager i have to keep the customer updated even if the things get worst. and my manager as well. I communicated the situation to the customer and i was facing issues from their IT department, as they was careless and not supportive. I sent our client an email that i explained everything and make it very clear. that we are facing a delay, rework and may be extra budget. i decided also to visit my manager in his office to discuss the situation. here it was the turning point. my manager was open and tried to help me and find options. We consulted on of our technical consultant (one of my best friends) on the server issue that we encountered with our client and we come up with some suggestion to try. Our client escalated the careless behaviour of IT department and internally they start working to fix the problem.

By end of the day, the light started to raise again. the server is not only up and running but also we were able to recover all our work. we took around one week to close everything and continue our development and another good news come. The licence key problem was solved and we migrated our work to production and BINGO.... everything is perfect and working fine. the customer is happy and more over they was appreciating to be transparent with them and to keep them updated about everything. The project is delivered on budget and finally the nightmare disappeared.

The lesson learned from the project:

• you need to consider project risks even if you did the same project 1000 time before.
• you need to be transparent with your customer. they will appreciate it and they will try to help you to complete the project.
• Don't use trial keys and don't start the project till you install all required tools.
• take usual backup. you may work with a lazy server admin like the one in our story and you discover too late that he is not taking any server backup!!??
• Sending weekly update and documenting every single requirement is the right approach.
• don't assume that every one will do his job in a perfect way. you may face a lazy sales account manger and partnership coordinator whom may destroy your project before it even starts.
• You friends may save you in the most critical situation and in the darkest moments.

Tornado Diagram

Definition:

Tornado Diagram is one of the tools used to complete sensitivity analysis which also know as tornado chart or tornado graph. It is one type of stacked vertical bar chart. Usually contains 3 type of information (bars) stacked together and then sorted and displayed from higher to lower. The final output of this process is a diagram similar to tornado. I will go through how we can benefit from tornado diagram in sensitivity analysis, Many examples on how to create tornado diagram using excel, Some PMP exam questions related to that topic, and finally a use case study on why we need to complete sensitivity analysis using tornado diagram to reach to our final decision in that case study. But before we start lets first identify our exact position in PMI process group and which knowledge area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tool Name:	Tornado Diagram
Process Group:	Planning
Knowledge Area:	Risk Management
Process:	Quantitative Risk Analysis
Method:	sensitivity analysis

Process:

Step # 1: Determine variables affecting your identified risk or your business case.

Step # 2: Determine the formula that can be used to link all identified variables with their effect on the identified risk.

Step # 3: Estimate High, Medium and low value for each variable.

Step # 4: Calculate your base by applying the formula identified in Step # 2 on all variables medium values.

Step # 5: calculate variance for each variable by applying the identified formula for High and Low value for each variable.

Step # 6: Sort them from higher to lower.

Step # 7: Draw the tornado chart.

Step # 8: Perform sensitivity analysis.

Case Study # 1:

The best way to understand tornado diagram, why we need tornado diagrams, how to use it and how to create it. is to start with an example or case study and see how we will start with a business case going through step by step till we construct the tornado diagram using Microsoft excel and then do the required sensitivity analysis.

a publishing company want to release a new book. they want to make sure that they will get a good net profit based on the forecasted sales. First thing that we need to do is to determine the factors that will affect our net profit which are (Step # 1):

• Total number of sold items (Volume).
• unit price.
• unit cost.

Step # 2: The net profit formula should be:

Net Profit = # of sold items * (unit price – Unit cost)

Step # 3: The following table displays the estimated figures

Factor	Low	Medium	High
Volume	1000	2000	3000
Unit Price	5	10	15
Unit Cost	1	2	3

Step # 4: Now we need to calculate our base by compute our formula using the medium values for our variables

Net Profit (Base) = Volume(2000) * [unit price (10) – unit cost (2)]

Net Profit (Base) = 16000 $

Step # 5: calculate variances for each factor:

Factor	Low	Base	High
Volume	(A) 8000	16000	(B) 24000
Unit Price	(C) 6000	16000	(D) 26000
Unit Cost	(E) 18000	16000	(F) 14000

(A) : Net Profit (Base) = Volume(1000) * [unit price (10) – unit cost (2)]=8000

(B): Net Profit (Base) = Volume(3000) * [unit price (10) – unit cost (2)]=24000

(C): Net Profit (Base) = Volume(2000) * [unit price (5) – unit cost (2)]=6000

(D): Net Profit (Base) = Volume(2000) * [unit price (15) – unit cost (2)]=26000

(E): Net Profit (Base) = Volume(2000) * [unit price (10) – unit cost (1)]=18000

(F): Net Profit (Base) = Volume(2000) * [unit price (10) – unit cost (3)]=14000

Variance Table:

Factor	Low	High	Variance
Volume	(A) 8000	(B) 24000	24000-8000=16000
Unit Price	(C) 6000	(D) 26000	26000-6000=20000
Unit Cost	(E) 18000	(F) 14000	18000-14000=4000

Step # 6: Sort factors based on their variances from higher to lower:

Rank	Factor	Low	High	Variance
1	Unit Price	(C) 6000	(D) 26000	20000
2	Volume	(A) 8000	(B) 24000	16000
3	Unit Cost	(E) 18000	(F) 14000	4000

Step # 7: Draw Tornado Diagram

Step # 8: it is clear from our chart that unit price is the most important factor that we need to take care of

Note(s):

• Tornado diagrams can be used to do the sensitivity analysis not only for risk, but for any business case as well
• You can do tornado diagram for equation with 3 variables manually. But you may need to use a specific program to do it for 100’s of factors.

Project Management Process

This post should act as the road map for all our coming posts. We will list today all best practice project management process as per PMI-PMBOK [Project Management Institute – Project Management Body Of Knowledge]. Later on, I will write a detailed post for each process.

Overview:

As per PMI we can look at project life cycle from 2 different angels as follows:

•  Project Process Group
• Project Management Knowledge Area

But before we go deep in details lets first try to differentiate between the following 2 terms:

• Product Life Cycle:
• Project Life Cycle:

Now let’s take a look on the 5 Project management process group, this is should be equivalent to Deming cycle [PDCA: Plan – Do – Check – Act]:

Project Management Process Group [5 Process Groups – 47 Processes]

1.          Initiation ( 2 Process)
2.          Planning (24 Process )
3.          Execution (8 Process)
4.          Monitor & control. (11 Process )
5.          Closing. (2 process )

Project Management Knowledge area [10 Knowledge Areas – 47 Processes]:

1.          Integration (6 Processes)
2.          Scope management. ( 6 Processes)
3.          Time management. (7 Processes)
4.          Cost management. (4 Processes)
5.          Quality management. (3 Process )
6.          HR management. (4 Process)
7.          Communication Management. (3 Process)
8.          Risk Management. (6 Process)
9.          Procurement Management. (4 Process)
10.          Stakeholder Management. (4 Process)

The following table shows the interrelation between process groups, Knowledge areas & processes:

KA/PG*	Initiation	Planning	Execution	Monitor & control	Closing
Integration	*Develop Project Charter	* Develop Project Management Plan	*Direct & Manage Project Work	*Monitor & control Project Work *Perform integrated change control	*Close Project or Phase
Scope management		*Plan Scope *Collect Requirements *Define scope *Create WBS		*Validate scope *Control Scope
Time management		*Plan schedule *Define activities *Sequence activities. *Estimate activity resources. *Estimate activity duration *Develop schedule		*Control Schedule
Cost management		*Plan cost. *Estimate Cost. *Calculate Budget		*Control Cost
Quality management		*Plan Quality	*Quality Assurance	*Quality Control
HR management		*Plan HR	*Acquire Team *Develop team *Manage Team
Communication Management		*Plan Communicate	*Manage communication	* Control Communication
Risk Management		*Plan Risk *Identify Risk *Qualitative analysis. *Quantitative Analysis. *Risk Response		*Control Risk
Procurement Management		*Plan Procurement	*conduct Procurement	*Control Procurement	*Close Procurement
Stakeholder Management	*Identify SH	*Plan SH	*Manage SH	*Control SH

Time Management Skills, Tips & Techniques

Overview:

Time management is an essence in our today lives. Without an efficient time management you will end up and many things not completed, Your energy already consumed and you don't have a clear progress in your work. Please note that time management is a very important topic and it is not only related to work or projects you need to manage your time  across your life.

Daily Time Management:

• Maintain a daily TO-Do list to keep track your daily tasks.
• Filter your To-Do tasks remaining from yesterday.
• Add one or tow from your general To-Do list to your daily list.
• Check your organization main objective list and check how your To-Do list is linked or mapped to those objectives.
• Prioritize your TO-Do list  using 80-20 rule. This is means, find the 20 % of tasks that will achieve around 80% of your work required today.
• Spend 15 min at end of each day to assess your performance during the day. 
• After that meeting, write down in an external maintained list what went good and what is went bad. This will help you to build your own time management techniques.
• At the end of the day, move all your remaining To-Do list items to tomorrow To-Do list.

Daily Time Monitoring:

Some time your day end up with many unaccomplished tasks even if you worked so hard and if you feel that you was very busy during the day. In this case you may need to monitor your time consumed during the day and try to reach to a set of patterns or bad activities that consumes your time. Then you can build your own technique to tackle those patterns or to change your behavior to be more productive. find below how to monitor your time.

• Build a small table that can be used to note down the following:
• Activity ID
• Activity Name
• Start Time
• End Time
• Duration
• Activity type
• Flag (Related to work)
• Start writing down the time consumed in every single task you have. the more accurate you are the most valuable results you will get at the end.
• Do this for 2 or 3 random days.
• Analyse the data you already collected

Find below some findings from research and people experience:

• Multitasking is one of the most reasons that consumes your time. our brains not build to multitask. So you need to identify task or item and focus on completing it. Research proves that you spend time when you try to switch your brain between tasks. your quality will be reduces as well. so hope that you got it. focus on one thing till you complete it and remove it from your To-Do list for ever.
• External interruption consumes your time. Like phone calls, unplanned meetings, monitoring e-mails, unexpected customer visits...etc. To handle this find another some tips:
• Book a specific time to read your e-mails and for your phone calls. For example every 1 to 2 hours spend 15 min to filter your important e-mails and take 1 hour at the end of the day to reply your e-mails and forward it to your team. you can also Book 2 hours per day to receive phone calls.
• When you have critical task that need focus and concentration to accomplish, Switch off your mail and phone.
• Coming to work late is one of the disasters. It will destroy your day. Because you will try to catch up and you will lose your focus and will reduce your productivity.
• Try to have a sufficient sleeping hours. It will help you to have a clear brain and mind.

Meeting Time Management:

Many people come late to their meetings. This is unprofessional behavior and shows lack of respect to the others. If you under estimate your time value, then don't waist the other's .  Find below some tricks to help you to manage your meeting time:

Before meeting:

• Prepare meeting agenda and share it with other meeting attendee.
• Share any other files required along with meeting agenda.
• Book specific time to address every topic in your agenda.
• Make a small plan if required to estimate the time required to reach the meeting room. Find below a small example:
• Meeting in another building that needs around 10 Min to be there.
• I need 5 min to get off the building and reach my car.
• I need 5 extra Min to find parking slot at that area.
• I need extra 5 min to take the left and reach 5th floor- room 502 [meeting room]
• give additional 5 min backup in case if there is an accident or traffic jams.
• Total time required to reach that meeting on time: 30 Min.
• If my meeting at 1:30 PM then i need to leave at 1:00 PM.

During meeting

• Try to stick to meeting agenda.
• Avoid any external topics.
• Try to stick to time slots assigned to each agenda topic.
•  Write the actions along with action taker / owner.

After Meeting:

• Share minutes of meetings with all attendee.
• Share actions table with your attendee:
• Action Description
• Owner
• Target Date.
• Follow up on actions required and hold any required meeting to tackle any issue. 

Work Breakdown Structure [Definition - Example - Template]

Overview:

Work breakdown structure (WBS) is one of the most important documents generated during the project life cycle. It is mandatory to have it at the early stage of project planning as it is part of scope baseline (Project Scope Statement + Work breakdown structure [WBS] + Work breakdown Structure Dictionary [WBS Dictionary]). Usually the WBS document stored in Project management system and it is been updated frequently as part of progressive elaboration. It is part of project planning process and scope management knowledge area. It is an output of “create WBS” process under planning process group. Please note that creation of WBS is a group and team activity which is means that all team members should participate in that activity.

Work breakdown structure (WBS) Definition:

Work breakdown structure is a decomposition of the project into smaller manageable pieces of deliverables. Usually presented as a tree or outline with unique code stamped with each node. The project name is the root of that tree (highest level) and work packages are leaves (Lowest level). Work package is the level that you can start assign your time and cost. You can also start team assignment her at that level by assigning each work package to and individual team member or group.

Work breakdown structure (WBS) Example:

Tree Format:

Outline Format:

1. Build House
  1.1. Main Building
    1.1.1. Building Rooms
      1.1.1.1. Work package
      1.1.1.2. Work package
      1.1.1.3. Work package
   1.1.2. Base & Foundation
 1.2. Yard
   1.2.1. Parking
     1.2.1.1. Electrical door
     1.2.1.2. Entrance

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Template:

1. Project Name

  1.1. Major Deliverable (L1)

    1.1.1. Control Account

      1.1.1.1. Work package

      1.1.1.2. Work package

      1.1.1.3. Work package

    1.1.2. Work package

    1.1.3. Work package

    1.1.4. Work package

  1.2. Major Deliverable (L1)

    1.2.1. Major Deliverable (L2)

      1.2.1.1. Control account

      1.2.1.2. Control account

        1.2.1.2.1. Work package

Tips, Hints & Tricks:

• Stop decompositioning when you reach for a deliverable with amount of work equal to around 80 hours. This is called 80's rule of thumb.
• Don't start decomposition of the next level in the hierarchy till you list all deliverables in the current level.
• Start identifying control accounts after you complete your WBS tree. 
• Don't reach to activity level.
• Give a unique code to identify each node in the hierarchy.
• It is not mandatory that all work packages be on the same level. But it is mandatory to be on the leaves.

Project management skills and techniques

Project management is one of the mandatory and essential roles played in our market. At the end everything is a project. Every product, building, objective, initiative...etc is a project. so we need to project managers every way and we need them to be qualified enough to accomplish the job and close the project successfully. I will use this Blog as a window to share our experience and to build project management skills and techniques.