building a project management culture | ajay patel and jim stanley | michigan state university...

Building a Project Management Culture | Ajay Patel and Jim Stanley | Michigan State University

Building a Project Management Culture

Ajay Patel

Jim Stanley

Michigan State UniversityAdministrative Information Services


Presentation Content

• Introduction• Project Management • Relating Strategic Management and Project

Management• Project Management for IT departments of Higher

Education Institutions• Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture• MSU Experience• The AIS Project Management Process• Conclusions• Questions and Answers


Six Stages of an IT Project

1. Enthusiasm for the goals

2. Illusion of work and activity

3. Disillusionment with the progress

4. Search for the guilty

5. Persecution of the innocent

6. Praise for the non-participants

Adapted from: Gartner Group/TechRepublic


Introduction

• Creating products, providing service, and finishing work on time, within budget, and without defect is highly beneficial but not easy.

• These goals are even more difficult for a typical IT department of a university—an organization faced with stagnant budgets, changing business requirements, and fast-moving technology.

• Most work performed in IT departments is project-oriented.• Modern project management approaches successfully

employed by traditional industry can help IT departments.


Project Management What is a project?

• A temporary one-time multi-task endeavor with a clear objective, specific begin and end date, and a budget.

• A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service (PMI).

• Projects are building block for developing and implementing organizational strategy.

• Projects face three constraints—time, cost, and quality.

• Projects need project/matrix organization.


Project Management What is project management?

• Defining, planning, scheduling, and controlling of activities that are performed to achieve project objectives.

• Application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirement (PMI).

• Modern project management is now widely used.• PM skills are not just limited to specialists.• PM tools have become better and cheaper.• PM offers many benefits—cost savings, on-time delivery,

quality improvement, high customer satisfactions, increased productivity, and benefits to future projects.


Project Management Critical Success Factors (CSF) for project management

According to Pinto (The PMI Project Mgmt Handbook):mission, top management support, schedule & plans, personnel,efficiency & effectiveness of technical tasks, client involvement,client acceptance, monitoring & feedback, communication,troubleshooting

According to Lintz (Guide to Successful Project Mgmt):clearly defined purpose & scope, regular occurrence ofmeasurable milestones, adaptability of project team,management that avoids micromanagement and blanketapproval.


Project Management Why projects fail?

According to Kliem (PM Practitioner’s Handbook):inappropriate leadership style, lack of vision, unrealistic expectations,Ill-defined scope, poor role definition, inadequate communications,lack of buy-in, low morale, lack of training and skills, poor teaming,lack of culture conducive to PM, lack of trust, poor WBS & estimates,unrealistic timeframe, inefficient resource allocation, no change mgmt

According to Lintz (Guide to Successful Project Mgmt):project not changed with change in original intent, mismanagement ofproject, management in wrong roles, unrealistic goals, project too longand lacking enough milestones, lack of termination policy


Project Management Benefits of standardized project management process

• Uniform practice of PM throughout the organization

• Consistency of formats in major PM components such as proposals, plans, and reviews

• Support structure for learning from past successes and failures

• PM learning and training tool

• Increased visibility with clients

• Time savings in PM preparations


Project Management What makes a good project leader?

According to Laufer (Project Management Success Stories):adapt a will to win, challenge status quo, take measured risks, fosterflexible systems & behaviors, create & maintain focus, legitimizeobjective decisions, involve customer, build trust, develop teamwork

* * *Certain non-technical skills are more important than technical and analytical abilities. Non-technical skills are sometimes called Emotional Intelligence—an ability to manage self and relationship with others.

Research shows that effective leader use different leadership styles (coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching),each at right time and right measure!


Project Management What makes a great project team?

According to Elbeik (Project Skills):informal but highly involved work atmosphere, focused discussions,common commitment to clear objectives, high listening, constructivecriticism, open expression of disagreement, decisions throughdiscussions and consensus, sharing of feeling, sharing of roles andresponsibilities, open review of success and failure

According to Kliem (PM Practitioner’s Handbook):acceptance & objective evaluation of ideas, sustained commonnorms-values-beliefs without conformity, team synergy throughmutual support & commitment to the project, focus on results, trustingand open attitude, high morale, ability to resolve conflicts and gainconsensus, high morale, information & resource sharing


Relating Strategic and Project Management Strategic management

Strategy (game plan!) is a pattern of decisions that reveals organization’sscope, purpose, goals, objectives, and its approach to future success.Strategies are future-oriented & concerned with firm’s long-term prosperity.Strategic Management (can occur at organizational, functional, ordepartmental level) involves formulation and implementation of strategy.

Elements of strategy formulation:vision, mission, organization profile, environment study, options analysisand choice, long-term objectives and goals, and grand strategyElements of strategy implementation:organization structure, roles, management styles, business policy, long-range plans, mgmt systems for strategy evaluation and control, resources


Relating Strategic and Project Management Project portfolio and project selection

• Every organization maintains a portfolio of projects.• Projects are selected and initiated as mandated in operational plan in

order to develop/implement organization strategy.• Various models could be used for project selection, but in reality

projects are selected using very simple models or just by subjective decisions.

Screening models – Simple models used for quick yes/no decisions. Based on checklist, criteria scoring, risk profile, value contribution.Discounted cash flow models – Detailed models involving computation ofdiscounted payback, accounting rate of return, and NPV.Risk assessment models – Consider probability. Include scenarioanalysis, risk-adjusted discounted rate, and simulation.


Relating Strategic and Project Management Project management and strategic management

• Strategy is reflected in long-range and operating plans and influences project selection.

• Project plans are prepared according to broad parameters specified in operating plans.

• Project management is guided by strategic management.• Project plans form key components of a feedback system that helps

monitor, evaluate, and correct implementation of strategy (and even strategy itself!).


Project Mgmt for Higher Ed IT Departments Information technology today

• Rapid change and fierce competition characterize today’s IT industry.• IT products have compressed life cycles. In hardware, Moore’s law

(1965) still holds true. In software we see new releases every year!• Lack of timely delivery, incomplete products, and broken promises

(hence term vaporware) are more common in IT.• Driving forces such as Internet evolution, frequent entry/exit of

players, shortage of knowledge workers, and high amount of rework make IT a very unique industry.

• Also, many IT firms are run by “creative genius” who lack management skills and knowledge.

• These characteristics and driving forces make management of IT project very difficult resulting into cost overruns, delayed deliveries, and inferior quality. Project problems faced by vendors effect projects of downstream users who rely on vendor products.


Project Mgmt for Higher Ed IT Departments Higher education today

• Traditional universities are facing competition from unconventional for-profit institutions.

• Changing demography and internet have ushered in e-learning and virtual universities!

• We now have universities with distributed campus and even virtual campus.

• Most universities today have to deal with escalating costs (specifically labor and infrastructure maintenance costs).

• Cost increases cannot be entirely passed to students in terms of higher tuition as universities may have agreed to limits on tuition increase to preserve state funding.

• So portion of cost increase is handled through budget cuts.


Project Mgmt for Higher Ed IT Departments IT departments at universities

• IT departments at universities are affected by changes in IT field and challenges faced by educational institutions.

• New systems are needed to increase productivity and implement new education options.

• However, new systems require additional expenditure when organizations are under increased monetary pressure.

• Changes in IT require frequent upgrades and retraining.• Employee hiring and retention is a problem. University IT

departments may be able to compete with corporate sector in terms of job offerings, compensation/rewards, career advancement opportunities, and flexibility in recruitment.

• Although university IT departments are more likely to use some standard/methodology for software development, use of project management does not seem to be wide-spread or popular.


Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture What is culture?

• Culture is a set of stated and unstated, explicit and implicit beliefs and assumptions that are shared by a group.

• Culture is invisible, unconscious, ever-present, and lasting feature that shapes and harmonizes behavior of all members.

• Cultures can have subcultures based on geography, gender, age, …• Organization culture is the commonly held and relatively stable

beliefs, attitudes and values that exist within an organization.• In a strong or thick culture, members share same values and values

are perfectly aligned with the organization’s goals. • Weak or thin cultures lack homogeneity & stability, but are more

flexible and allow innovation & creativity.


Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture Characteristics and Function of culture

According to Williams, Dobson, and Walters, organization culture is:• Learned--gained from its environment• Both input and output--influenced by internal env., shapes behavior• Partly unconscious• Historically based—based on assumptions of founding members• Commonly held rather rather shared--no explicit attempts to have consensus

on assumptions, belief, etc.• Heterogeneous--will vary within and among organizations

Organization culture plays critical part in creation and implementation of corporate strategy. According to Kono and Clegg, three functions oforganization culture are: simplification and adaptation of decisions,integration and affiliation, and member motivation and activation.


Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture How culture is formed

• Emotions, thoughts, behavior patterns, attitudes, and motives form the personality of individuals. People develop personality through learning--from information, experience, rewards and sanctions.

• In a group setting, members influence, and are influenced by, other members' personality, and are affected with needs for affiliation and commitment. So, members tend to have homogeneous attitudes.

• Organizational culture includes the personality of its members. It is formed and developed through factors external & internal to the orgn.

• External factors: information the orgn. and its members gather from experience they had with, and rewards and punishment they received from, parents, teachers, social organizations, business, and govt.

• Internal factors (more important): information (vision, mission, goals); the type of experience that the orgn. provides to its members; reward and sanctions implemented through organization structure and HRS.


Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture How to change culture

Culture change is essential for implementing strategic change. Culture

change can re-energize & revitalize organizations, improve organization

performance, and realign the organization with its new vision and goals.

According to Lewin, the psychological process of changing values and

assumptions involves three steps:

1. Unfreezing--breaking down existing values, beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes of individuals

2. Changing values, beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes using new information, experience, and a sanction system

3. Refreezing--internalizing and stabilizing these new patterns



Existing culture can be changed through the following multi-step process:• Understand and characterize the present culture and target culture.• Identify and analyze driving and restraining forces for the change.• Find ways and measures to strengthen and enhance driving forces

and factors. Find ways and measures to weaken and limit restraining forces and factors.

• Prioritize measures by using criteria such as effectiveness, ease of implementation, and cost

• Identify measures to overcome resistance.• Identify and recruit change agents (innovators) as pilot members.• Seek management approval.• Prepare action plan with a schedule and budget. • Implement the change. Assess progress and evaluate the change.



Factors that work in favor of culture change: change in top mgmt; extrovertorganization; awareness of new devl; education/training by vendors;openness to new ideas; attention to performance; objective decisionmaking; crises; opportunities, crises perceived as a challenge; competitivepressures; ability to question authority; and freedom of expression.

Factors that work against culture change: a strong present culture;introvert organization; a stable external environment; in-house educationand training; a stagnant workforce; office politics; no idea of whatrepresents success; no clear 'ultimate' authority; strict hierarchy and fear ofauthority; subjective decision making; general feeling of insecurity;homogeneous workgroups; lack of performance based rewards; adominant position in the market; and general success.



• Change agents can help build commitment toward change. They can be internal (mgmt, innovators) or external (trainers, consultants).

• Approaches used to change culture: developing new corp. image; recruiting new people in key positions; changing responsibilities of existing members; changing beliefs, attitudes, and behavior through communication, education, training, counseling, and participation.

The following will help in overcoming resistance to culture change:• Education to develop a clear understanding of the need• Emphasizing benefits of the change• Training to reduce anxiety associated with new methods/practices • Teaching by example--beginning changes from the top • Use of success stories to promote the change • Linking change implementation to reward system


Changing a Well-Entrenched Culture Project Management culture at AIS

Existing AIS project management culture can be characterized as follows:• Lack of common, department-wide, project mgmt practice• Lack of the understanding of formal project mgmt process, its

purpose, and its benefits• Uneven application of project mgmt tasks to department projects• Project mgmt not seen as an essential component for all projects• Project mgmt activities conducted as an afterthought!• Project mgmt not explicitly integrated with strategic planning• Unavailability of a common repository for project mgmt documents• Perception of formal project mgmt as being too detailed, too

complex, and too time consuming



Desired AIS project management culture can be characterized as follows:• Department-wide project mgmt practice • Basic understanding of the project mgmt process (PMP), its purpose,

and its benefits among all AIS employees involved in project activities • Existence of easily accessible, customized, PMP document • Standard criteria for identifying which project must use the PMP • Project mgmt seen as a standard requirement for an identified project,

as essential as product deliverables • Project activities designed and driven using project mgmt framework • Project mgmt seen as an integrated component of strategic

management • Department-wide availability of project mgmt documents • Phased approach to PMP implementation



Driving forces & factors for project management culture change:• Critical role of project mgmt in success and failure of projects • General awareness of project mgmt importance among AIS staff • Top mgmt enthusiasm and preference for project mgmt • High priority assigned by AIS mgmt to project mgmt improvement • Problems with project status communications • Difficulty in monitoring and tracking progress • Successful projects not perceived as such by others • Availability of innovators



Restraining forces & factors for project management culture change:• Lack of clear policy statement regarding project mgmt • Project mgmt tasks seen as pure overhead • General focus on product and service related activities • Limited understanding of project mgmt context (example: We just

need a diagram!) • Lack of knowledge and training in project mgmt tools and techniques• Perception of formal project mgmt being very detailed and complex • Small team size for most projects leading to additional roles (tasks)

for project managers • Clients may not always appreciate project mgmt efforts & docs



Key components for successful project management culture

change at AIS:

• Project management policy • Management support• Department-wide project management process • Phased implementation • Education and training • Use of change agents to support the change


Recognizing the Problem

• Formal PM only used on very large projects • PM practices used were inconsistent• A PM process is essential to consistently deliver projects

on time and within budget • A standard process is needed before ongoing process

improvement could be addressed• Problem recognition brought strong commitment by

department management


Identifying the Scope

• Current department PM culture called for a gradual or phased approach

• Four phases identified which would be handled as separate projects covering a number of years

• The limited scope allows more focus by the project teams making success more attainable

• The phasing gives the department culture a chance to adapt the process over time


Four Phases for PM Process Improvement

1. Document a standard process for individual projects using Microsoft Project as the tool to support planning and scheduling

2. Incorporate time reporting in the process for project staff

3. Incorporate planning and time reporting for all departmental activities

4. Incorporate ability to roll up/integrate projects and activities into a departmental summary


Selecting a Project Team

• Make up of team critical to -Initiate changeOvercome resistanceDevelop a quality process

• Qualities needed – Proven PM skillsCommitment to PMCredibility with peersStrong writing skillsExperience with department practices

• Cross-section of department represented• Led by member of management team


PM Team Participants

• Project Manager, Application Development Manager • Application Development Senior Analyst• Methods & Education Services Manager• AIS Production Services Manager• Methods & Education Services Analyst


Creating a Plan

• Used existing high level plan as base• PM team brainstorm tasks/dependencies• PM team plan review• Several modifications in early weeks


Creating the Deliverables

• PM Process document • Other documents updated for interfaces• PM Concepts training• Microsoft Project training• PM Process training


Goals for the PM Process Document

• Document should be short and concise• Document should be simple enough to be used effectively

by the entire AIS audience• Content must be based on recognized standards and

methods • Document should refer and integrate with existing AIS

documents and processes• Document should include good PM references but should

not repeat PM knowledge available elsewhere• Document should be easily accessible to AIS staff


PM Process Document Deliverable

• Developed each PM process step using the same multi-step approach

1. Research the topic2. Brainstorm ideas to use in the section3. Group similar items items from the brainstorm4. Discuss grouped items and narrow idea list if

possible 5. Create draft of section text and diagram6. Review/update draft with PM Team as many times

as needed


Other Document Deliverables

• Planning and Budget Process• Status Reporting Process• Project Team Member Selection Process• PERT Implementation Standard• Project Management Policy


Training Deliverables

• Class for PM Concepts• Class for Microsoft Project• Overview of the PM Process• 60 People trained• Ongoing training available


PM Process Implementation

• Pilot project completed for training and process• Minor adjustments made from pilot feedback• Training completed• Copies of the process provided to all trainees• Implementation announced for October 2000• Hardcopy and Web versions made available


Actions to Encourage PM Culture Change

• Process is simple and easy to use• Training provided in concepts, tool, and process• The leadership team reviews project plans for all projects that

qualify• Project managers’ and coaches’ performance reviews include

project management responsibilities and use of the process• Project plans are stored in a central location available to all

staff• List of mentors experienced in project management to assist• Standing committee established to support the process and

advocate for project management practices


Feedback from PM Process Users

• Review questionnaire completed by 7 project managers• Generally, very positive feedback for both training and

process• What most helped process acceptance?

• 5-PM concepts training • 4-PM process & resources documented • 4-Microsoft Project training • 3-PM mentors identified to assist• 2-PM responsibilities in performance reviews• 2-Implementation announcement requiring use


PM Status as of March 2001

• PM process has generally been accepted• Still struggling for consistency• Still learning PM tools and techniques• Culture change to take many more months • Percent of new projects with plans increased from 9% to

50%


Desired State Evaluation

• Every active project has a named leader & coach (98%)• Project leaders are trained in PM techniques & tools before

becoming accountable for project leadership (100%)• A defined, effective approach is in place for

guiding/mentoring/aiding inexperienced project leaders (100%)

• Project plans reflect a project-wide set of tasks, including those of all groups/individuals participating in the project (100%)

• The project planning approach considers input from significantly involved individuals not assigned to the project (100%)


Desired State Evaluation

• Project participants know assigned tasks, expected task finish dates, and understand the task dependencies (% not yet available)

• Project plans are stored in standard locations and are available to all project participants and the management team (60%)

• Project plans updated with reasonable frequency (% n/a)• Post project reviews are conducted (75%)


The AIS Project Management Process

The AIS PMP document is organized in the following sections:1. Introduction2. Purpose and support3. Project management roles and responsibilities4. AIS Project Management Process overview5. Initiating the project6. Planning the project7. Executing the project8. Controlling the project9. Closing the project10. Additional resources

The document is available in Word format. URL for HTML version:http://ntweb1.ais.msu.edu/d5211/Internal/ProjectMgt/introduction.html


Observations and Lessons Learned

• PM benefits the organization and improves customer service. • Standard approaches may not be effective in changing well-

entrenched practices. Use an approach customized for your organization's needs.

• Successful implementation of PM practices requires sustained culture change and reinforcement.

• Culture change is difficult and time consuming to design and achieve. A pragmatic approach helps.

• Culture change involves changing expectations as well as influencing behavior.

• In designing culture change, it is important to know your culture, recognize its limitations, and devise an approach tailored to your limitations.

• A well-documented process is essential in achieving culture change.


Observations and Lessons Learned

• Although often ignored or overlooked, post implementation surveys and measurements are needed for objective assessment of impact of culture change.

• Management support is an essential requirement in implementing any change.

• Training facilitates the change. Use of external vendors for training improves credibility of the change effort.

• PM mentors help individuals deal with problems and fear during transition to the new culture.

• Size and composition of the team matters. A small team of experienced project managers drawn from across the department was effective in achieving project objectives.

• Gradual change that is implemented through a phased approach may be most effective in the long run.


Building a Project Management Culture

Questions?Comments?

The presentation paper submitted to CUMREC will be available as aCUMREC 2001 conference proceeding item through the EDUCAUSE

Information Resource Library.

Thank you for attending our presentation!

Ajay Patel Email: [email protected] Stanley Email: [email protected]

building a project management culture | ajay patel and jim stanley | michigan state university...

Documents

project activities

project objectives

strategic management

management support

project requirement

successful project mgmt

pmi project mgmt handbook

wellentrenched culture