My current project has been getting rather intense lately, which has not given me much time to post anything on this blog. But now I’m winding down from the Thanksgiving holiday and there seems to be a few spare minutes in the day.
I had been thinking recently about what makes an effective project manager. I’ve seen many named and de facto project managers over the years who have been assigned to manage technical projects. Most often the primary qualification is that they have technical experience that is directly related to the project. Sometimes these managers are successful and sometimes not. So is it the best strategy to appoint a PM with technical skills?
In the IT world, we are rather obsessed with technical knowledge and ability. The IT field has only been around in a serious way for about 40 years now. In the beginning, the IT people were scientists and would work on their machines in white lab coats. No one would dream of asking any of them if they had any idea about how to manage projects or people. The IT field has retained that scientific and technical bias to this day. A programmer or analyst with the best technical chops was very often elevated to Lead Analyst or even Project Manager based solely on his tech expertise. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it was a disaster.
The profession of project manager has grown up primarily in areas such as construction and engineering. Those fields realized that the ability to organize and manage projects and people was a skill in its own right and was perhaps even secondary in importance to technical knowledge. Those fields still tended to use technical experts as PMs, but technical expertise was not the only criteria.
In the 1960s, John Zachman, then with IBM, began to realize that the computer industry was in a crisis. Building robust, bug-free systems that met business needs and staying within budget seemed to be an impossible goal. Many projects failed and many more went vastly over budget. He looked over at industries that made things rather than software and observed that they seemed to be very successful – planes could fly, buildings went up and didn’t bust the budget, widgets got made and sold for a profit.
John studied some of these industries in detail and developed his Enterprise Architecture as a way to formalize all of the aspects of any organization and how they would have to work together to create a functioning Enterprise. His Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework (http://www.zifa.com) focused on all the details required to plan and design systems that could run an Enterprise. He did not focus on project management, since that was not what he was looking for.
I believe Zachman’s assumption was that project management was a well-understood discipline and that it did not need to be covered explicitly in his framework, although many aspects of project management can be found in his matrix. Good project management would be essential to drive the implementation of this framework and the lack of this may explain why so few organizations have been able to successfully implement it.
Enterprise architecture and project management have distinct synergies and overlapping areas of application. Any architect needs to know how to manage projects and a PM working in IT needs to understand how to do architecture (or the PM needs to have a good architect on his team).
Both the architect and the PM need to be able to understand the technology they are working with. If they are not conversant with the tools and methods that are being employed on their projects they soon become snowed under with terms and concepts they do not understand. And they can become overly dependent on the technical members of their team.
The fact is however, that technical knowledge is easier to come by and more widely available than project management skills, especially in the IT arena. Many lead analysts and programmers finding themselves in the PM role have no idea how to plan and manage a project. They know how to put together the technical details, but projects under their lead are in fact not under their control at all. Very often their senior managers are in effect acting as project managers. This leads to frustration on both sides, as the technical leader feels he is not in control and the manager does not have the time for the day-to-day process of managing an ongoing project.
The ideal situation is a PM with the right mix of technical and project management knowledge and experience. But it is often difficult to find one individual who meets this criteria. I would urge any senior manager to ensure that their technical personnel get PM training and that when putting someone in charge of a critical project they look first to find a person with PM knowledge and experience and make the technical qualifications secondary. You can always find the right technical resources to help the PM where he might need it.
As for myself, as I’ve said before on this blog, I love the technical stuff. But I have realized that if I want my own projects to succeed, I have to understand more then just the technical aspects. I would recommend to anyone in IT to improve his or her project management skills as a priority. It will certainly pay off.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Two Good Books on Job Hunting
In my last post I talked about the challenges of working with a global team and some of the issues that arise from the practice of out-sourcing. While it is not directly on the subject, it might be helpful for some to know of a couple of good books on the subject of job hunting. And since nearly everyone will face a job change at some point, they are good resources for all of us.
The first book is “Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job” by Nick A. Corcodilos. This is an excellent look at how to break out of the old stereotypes of job hunting and interviewing and to focus on the things that will get you the job you want. The author’s web site is:
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/
The other book is “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard N. Bolles. This is probably the most popular book on job hunting ever written and for good reason. It has many good ideas and resources. His web site is:
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/
The first book is “Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job” by Nick A. Corcodilos. This is an excellent look at how to break out of the old stereotypes of job hunting and interviewing and to focus on the things that will get you the job you want. The author’s web site is:
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/
The other book is “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard N. Bolles. This is probably the most popular book on job hunting ever written and for good reason. It has many good ideas and resources. His web site is:
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Global Sourcing
It is not over-stating the point that the practice of businesses finding labor outside the traditional local markets is an emotional topic to many. This practice has many names — out-sourcing, off-shoring, global sourcing or labor arbitrage. It comes down to finding the best talent at the best price, no matter where the talent happens to live or what their nationality is.
I know that many, in the IT profession especially, believe this is a bad practice. There is no doubt that it has hurt many people’s careers in the US IT industry and put a strain on their families. I know of people who were out of work for as much as a year after losing their jobs. I understand their anger and frustration.
IT is a difficult topic. No one wants to see people displaced from jobs and struggling to make ends meet while unemployed.
The fact of the matter is that this is nothing new. In the last couple of hundred years humanity has defined the concept of a “job” to mean being in the employ of another for wages. Before that, most people were either what we would call today “self-employed” or they were serfs or slaves. The self-employed made their way in however they could. The serfs and slaves had job security of a sort — but no one wants that kind of security to come back.
Ever since the industrial revolution redefined the idea of “job”, people have gotten jobs and lost jobs at the whim of their employer. Cheaper labor from elsewhere have come in to displace them. Factories closed and moved to places where it was less expensive to do the manufacturing.
When you take a job in the modern sense, you usually have an unwritten contract to provide services in return for pay. You have the right to leave at any time and the employer has the right to terminate the employment at any time. Most of us are quite happy with this situation — so long as nothing unexpected happens.
Change is difficult to manage sometimes but it is inevitable. It has been said that we live in a time of rapid change. That may well be, but there have been many, many periods of rapid change in the past. Take the Great Depression of a generation ago, for instance.
When a person believes he is doing a good job and providing good value to his employer, it is hard for them to accept that they could be replaced by someone from another country who the employer believes can do the same work for less money.
In my years working in IT it has been a constant that good skilled people are hard to find. I should modify that by saying “at the right price”. Good skilled people can often ask and receive a premium price and if they are not getting rewarded well at one employer, they can move to another.
For a business to stay competitive in their industry they must do everything they can to create a quality product at a competitive price. Salaries cannot be unlimited.
In the current environment the ability to find good talent at good prices can now be extended around the globe. This is the competitive environment businesses and employees find themselves in.
I do not like to see my friends lose their jobs. I don’t like to see businesses fail due to cheap overseas competition. But it is going to happen. There is no way that protectionism will solve the problem — it would only shrink the nation’s economy.
I don’t like to just say “that’s the way it is and you’re going to have to live with it”. There are always ways to make a situation better. The number one solution has to be education. Keeping one’s skills up-to-date and diverse is the best possible insurance against joblessness. Every IT professional has to take his own steps to ensure that he has a broad range of skills that can help him succeed in a wide range of situations.
It is not an easy situation to solve. while the current era may not be unique in its rate of change, there is no doubt that change is happening. We can lie down and let it run over us or paddle hard and ride the wave. I think its more fun to surf.
As a project manager I will always want to put together the best possible team that will keep the project within its budget. It is easier to grab the resources you need from the immediate environment. But if you stretch your view to take in the World, you will find that good talent at the right price is just a bit easier to find.
Whether you are a project manager or work on a project team, all of us are going to have to get used to the fact that this is after all a small planet.
I know that many, in the IT profession especially, believe this is a bad practice. There is no doubt that it has hurt many people’s careers in the US IT industry and put a strain on their families. I know of people who were out of work for as much as a year after losing their jobs. I understand their anger and frustration.
IT is a difficult topic. No one wants to see people displaced from jobs and struggling to make ends meet while unemployed.
The fact of the matter is that this is nothing new. In the last couple of hundred years humanity has defined the concept of a “job” to mean being in the employ of another for wages. Before that, most people were either what we would call today “self-employed” or they were serfs or slaves. The self-employed made their way in however they could. The serfs and slaves had job security of a sort — but no one wants that kind of security to come back.
Ever since the industrial revolution redefined the idea of “job”, people have gotten jobs and lost jobs at the whim of their employer. Cheaper labor from elsewhere have come in to displace them. Factories closed and moved to places where it was less expensive to do the manufacturing.
When you take a job in the modern sense, you usually have an unwritten contract to provide services in return for pay. You have the right to leave at any time and the employer has the right to terminate the employment at any time. Most of us are quite happy with this situation — so long as nothing unexpected happens.
Change is difficult to manage sometimes but it is inevitable. It has been said that we live in a time of rapid change. That may well be, but there have been many, many periods of rapid change in the past. Take the Great Depression of a generation ago, for instance.
When a person believes he is doing a good job and providing good value to his employer, it is hard for them to accept that they could be replaced by someone from another country who the employer believes can do the same work for less money.
In my years working in IT it has been a constant that good skilled people are hard to find. I should modify that by saying “at the right price”. Good skilled people can often ask and receive a premium price and if they are not getting rewarded well at one employer, they can move to another.
For a business to stay competitive in their industry they must do everything they can to create a quality product at a competitive price. Salaries cannot be unlimited.
In the current environment the ability to find good talent at good prices can now be extended around the globe. This is the competitive environment businesses and employees find themselves in.
I do not like to see my friends lose their jobs. I don’t like to see businesses fail due to cheap overseas competition. But it is going to happen. There is no way that protectionism will solve the problem — it would only shrink the nation’s economy.
I don’t like to just say “that’s the way it is and you’re going to have to live with it”. There are always ways to make a situation better. The number one solution has to be education. Keeping one’s skills up-to-date and diverse is the best possible insurance against joblessness. Every IT professional has to take his own steps to ensure that he has a broad range of skills that can help him succeed in a wide range of situations.
It is not an easy situation to solve. while the current era may not be unique in its rate of change, there is no doubt that change is happening. We can lie down and let it run over us or paddle hard and ride the wave. I think its more fun to surf.
As a project manager I will always want to put together the best possible team that will keep the project within its budget. It is easier to grab the resources you need from the immediate environment. But if you stretch your view to take in the World, you will find that good talent at the right price is just a bit easier to find.
Whether you are a project manager or work on a project team, all of us are going to have to get used to the fact that this is after all a small planet.
Friday, August 29, 2008
A Blind Project Manager?
How does a blind project manager...manage?
First, we have to talk about this term “blind”. The dictionary defines the word as being “without sight”. There are other terms that float around: The term “visually impaired” is so broad that anyone with less than 20/20 vision could qualify. There is also the term “legally blind”. Legally blind just refers to the legal definition of blindness. A blind person gets certain benefits from government and private organizations and so there must be criteria that defines what is blind.
The fact is that only a very, very small percent of the population are totally without sight. Most people who are blind have some level of light perception. It may only be awareness of some light when looking in the direction of the sun. Or it could be much more than that.
The legal definition of blindness for most purposes is “visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction possible. or a visual field of less than 20 degrees (reference: Wikipedia). Some estimates put the number of people in the US who fit this criteria at about 3 million.
So when I say I am blind, it is per the above definition. I still have substantial vision and in some circumstances you would not realize that I was blind. To give you some idea of my acuity, take out a $20 bill. The only thing I can read on that bill is the nice, large 20 on the back. In an eye test I can no longer read the big “E” on the top of the chart.
I use a white cane to help me get around. Without it I run into things and people and I generally look like I am probably drunk. With it I am able to avoid obstacles and ensure I don’t step off the edge of a train platform. It also serves as a signal to others (though I am sometimes surprised to find that people don’t know what the cane is, like the teenager who asked me what I was doing with the stick).
When I work on a computer, I use a screen magnifier that enlarges everything about 8 times. With this aid I can use almost any computer program. The only ones that give me trouble are those with lots of graphics, like a drawing program. But even those I can use, though I might be a bit slower than a sighted person.
I augment the magnifier with speech synthesis, which is often a much faster way to read a document or something else on the screen. With the reader I can rip through an e-mail at 300 words per minute – faster than most visual readers.
My tools as a project manager are the usual: word processor, spreadsheet, MS Project, e-mail, web browser. With my accessibility programs I can manage those things just fine.
If I have a printed document I need to read, my first choice is to scan it and convert it to text using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. For printed diagrams I use a video magnifier that does the same thing for a paper document that my computer magnifier does on the screen
Things that give me trouble include weird fonts, use of color for highlighting (documents with the comment “see the text in blue” does me no good at all since I can’t tell the difference).
Meetings with handouts are sometimes a problem. I always try to get electronic versions ahead of time and bring along my laptop to read them. I do have a small portable video magnifier, which is great for restaurant menus but quite difficult for following along in a document that someone is reviewing.
The eye condition I have is called retinitis pigmentosa. This is a hereditary condition that is progressive – meaning that it gets slowly worse over time. I have worried all my life how I was going to manage when my eyesight got worse. But every step of the way I have found ways to cope. I imagine I will continue to do so, even if I have no vision at all. Many blind people do so in fields from engineering to law.
So how does a blind project manager manage? Much the same way as any project manager does – using the tools of his trade, his knowledge and experience.
Here are some useful links about low vision:
The Foundation Fighting Blindness http://www.blindness.org
The American Foundation for the Blind http://www.afb.org
The National Federation of the Blind http://www.nfb.org
First, we have to talk about this term “blind”. The dictionary defines the word as being “without sight”. There are other terms that float around: The term “visually impaired” is so broad that anyone with less than 20/20 vision could qualify. There is also the term “legally blind”. Legally blind just refers to the legal definition of blindness. A blind person gets certain benefits from government and private organizations and so there must be criteria that defines what is blind.
The fact is that only a very, very small percent of the population are totally without sight. Most people who are blind have some level of light perception. It may only be awareness of some light when looking in the direction of the sun. Or it could be much more than that.
The legal definition of blindness for most purposes is “visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction possible. or a visual field of less than 20 degrees (reference: Wikipedia). Some estimates put the number of people in the US who fit this criteria at about 3 million.
So when I say I am blind, it is per the above definition. I still have substantial vision and in some circumstances you would not realize that I was blind. To give you some idea of my acuity, take out a $20 bill. The only thing I can read on that bill is the nice, large 20 on the back. In an eye test I can no longer read the big “E” on the top of the chart.
I use a white cane to help me get around. Without it I run into things and people and I generally look like I am probably drunk. With it I am able to avoid obstacles and ensure I don’t step off the edge of a train platform. It also serves as a signal to others (though I am sometimes surprised to find that people don’t know what the cane is, like the teenager who asked me what I was doing with the stick).
When I work on a computer, I use a screen magnifier that enlarges everything about 8 times. With this aid I can use almost any computer program. The only ones that give me trouble are those with lots of graphics, like a drawing program. But even those I can use, though I might be a bit slower than a sighted person.
I augment the magnifier with speech synthesis, which is often a much faster way to read a document or something else on the screen. With the reader I can rip through an e-mail at 300 words per minute – faster than most visual readers.
My tools as a project manager are the usual: word processor, spreadsheet, MS Project, e-mail, web browser. With my accessibility programs I can manage those things just fine.
If I have a printed document I need to read, my first choice is to scan it and convert it to text using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. For printed diagrams I use a video magnifier that does the same thing for a paper document that my computer magnifier does on the screen
Things that give me trouble include weird fonts, use of color for highlighting (documents with the comment “see the text in blue” does me no good at all since I can’t tell the difference).
Meetings with handouts are sometimes a problem. I always try to get electronic versions ahead of time and bring along my laptop to read them. I do have a small portable video magnifier, which is great for restaurant menus but quite difficult for following along in a document that someone is reviewing.
The eye condition I have is called retinitis pigmentosa. This is a hereditary condition that is progressive – meaning that it gets slowly worse over time. I have worried all my life how I was going to manage when my eyesight got worse. But every step of the way I have found ways to cope. I imagine I will continue to do so, even if I have no vision at all. Many blind people do so in fields from engineering to law.
So how does a blind project manager manage? Much the same way as any project manager does – using the tools of his trade, his knowledge and experience.
Here are some useful links about low vision:
The Foundation Fighting Blindness http://www.blindness.org
The American Foundation for the Blind http://www.afb.org
The National Federation of the Blind http://www.nfb.org
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Introduciton
Welcome to my Blog! The title might seem a bit dull, but I wanted to make it descriptive. I may change it to something snappier later. I intend to publish entries relating to IT project management as well as some of my other passions, such as music.
This first entry will serve as an introduction.
I have worked in the Information Technology field for almost 25 years now, most of that time in some sort of supervisory or management position. In the last 8 years or so, I have focused almost exclusively on managing IT projects. Recent projects I have been involved with have included data warehouses, application modernization (mainframe to Windows), IT architecture and CRM. (I plan to write entries on each of those subjects and more, so come back if you would like some further elucidation.)
I have just recently attained the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from the Project Management Institute (PMI), an accomplishment I am very proud of. PMP certification could be considered the equivalent to the CPA certification for accountants. It indicates someone with the experience and knowledge of how to get projects done.
I also happen to be blind. If there are other blind project managers out there, I would really like to hear from you – I’m sure we could benefit from sharing our experiences.
The really good part of project management is that you are always faced with new and different challenges. A project is, by definition, temporary and unique. This means that you are frequently shifting your attention to new and interesting areas. You get exposure to new technology, new people and new methods of dealing with all components of an IT project. To me, it is the ideal profession.
I’ve spent much of these past 25 years developing business systems. By that I mean systems that are built to solve a particular business need, as opposed to general-purpose software or web development. Most of these systems have been back-end, back-office type applications, often involving manipulation of large amounts of data.
This is the real nitty-gritty of the technology landscape. This is where most of the “heavy lifting” of business applications goes on. It’s things like taking care of customer databases to ensure they reflect a true view of the customer’s relationship with the enterprise or optimizing inventory management. It’s not as flashy as creating web pages, but it is what keeps the wheels of commerce turning in the information age.
I’ve dealt with many different technology platforms in my day – mainframes, Windows, Unix,. Also several languages – Fortran, COBOL, SQL, SAS and others. And DBMSs – DB2, Sybase, SQL Server.
I don’t pretend to be a programming guru. But I can do a code walkthrough involving nearly any kind of system and not get completely snowed under. I love the technology part of my job and I often manage to find ways to take on some of the technical tasks on a project.
I have an especial liking for technical architecture and had at some points along the way considered taking a path into enterprise architecture. But that can be a difficult path to traverse and often a lonely one. Unless you are in a very large organization, with teams of architects, the job often involves working in isolation and in some cases the architect can end up becoming completely ignored. I have great admiration for those who can manage to fulfill there own expectations and those of their managers and clients as architects.
The successful project manager has the opportunity to work with architects, analysts, developers, end users and managers – the whole gamut of technical expertise – to bring about the synergies required to make a project successful. That’s the stuff that keeps life interesting.
In a future posting here I’ll explore in depth the thing that I believe is the key to project management – providing business value. Here is a link to an excellent article on the subject:
“A New Paradigm for Project Success” By Jeff Berman
I’ll plan to build on these ideas in future articles.
This first entry will serve as an introduction.
I have worked in the Information Technology field for almost 25 years now, most of that time in some sort of supervisory or management position. In the last 8 years or so, I have focused almost exclusively on managing IT projects. Recent projects I have been involved with have included data warehouses, application modernization (mainframe to Windows), IT architecture and CRM. (I plan to write entries on each of those subjects and more, so come back if you would like some further elucidation.)
I have just recently attained the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from the Project Management Institute (PMI), an accomplishment I am very proud of. PMP certification could be considered the equivalent to the CPA certification for accountants. It indicates someone with the experience and knowledge of how to get projects done.
I also happen to be blind. If there are other blind project managers out there, I would really like to hear from you – I’m sure we could benefit from sharing our experiences.
The really good part of project management is that you are always faced with new and different challenges. A project is, by definition, temporary and unique. This means that you are frequently shifting your attention to new and interesting areas. You get exposure to new technology, new people and new methods of dealing with all components of an IT project. To me, it is the ideal profession.
I’ve spent much of these past 25 years developing business systems. By that I mean systems that are built to solve a particular business need, as opposed to general-purpose software or web development. Most of these systems have been back-end, back-office type applications, often involving manipulation of large amounts of data.
This is the real nitty-gritty of the technology landscape. This is where most of the “heavy lifting” of business applications goes on. It’s things like taking care of customer databases to ensure they reflect a true view of the customer’s relationship with the enterprise or optimizing inventory management. It’s not as flashy as creating web pages, but it is what keeps the wheels of commerce turning in the information age.
I’ve dealt with many different technology platforms in my day – mainframes, Windows, Unix,. Also several languages – Fortran, COBOL, SQL, SAS and others. And DBMSs – DB2, Sybase, SQL Server.
I don’t pretend to be a programming guru. But I can do a code walkthrough involving nearly any kind of system and not get completely snowed under. I love the technology part of my job and I often manage to find ways to take on some of the technical tasks on a project.
I have an especial liking for technical architecture and had at some points along the way considered taking a path into enterprise architecture. But that can be a difficult path to traverse and often a lonely one. Unless you are in a very large organization, with teams of architects, the job often involves working in isolation and in some cases the architect can end up becoming completely ignored. I have great admiration for those who can manage to fulfill there own expectations and those of their managers and clients as architects.
The successful project manager has the opportunity to work with architects, analysts, developers, end users and managers – the whole gamut of technical expertise – to bring about the synergies required to make a project successful. That’s the stuff that keeps life interesting.
In a future posting here I’ll explore in depth the thing that I believe is the key to project management – providing business value. Here is a link to an excellent article on the subject:
“A New Paradigm for Project Success” By Jeff Berman
I’ll plan to build on these ideas in future articles.
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