One of the first steps to getting buy-in for more project management is to make the need apparent.

The first step to achieving this transparency is to put together a list of every single project that’s being requested, match it with the departments or people involved in making that project happen, and matching it, as well, with the requestors.

This simple list will show you how many total projects there are on the table, how many projects are requested by each requestor and how many projects each department has to be involved with.

For an average size group the number of requested projects is generally in the 50 to 150 project range -with the lion’s share of the projects touching IT and/or a marketing or art department. Summarize these statistics and share them with key decision makers. It provides a simple but powerful view on everything going on within a group.

By seeing the amount of requested activity it should highlight the need to prioritize projects, really ask the requestors which are the most important projects to get done and to track the progress of projects by department so that the decision makers and key stakeholders can have visibility into how shared resources (namely IT, marketing, HR, procurement etc.) are being spent.

Project management as a practice and project management software as a tool can help facilitate this transparency and present it in a non-threatening way.

Prioritizing tasks is critical when you have limited resources. A traditional project management approach doesn’t work in most situation. I generally recommended a holistic approach to task prioritization.

The traditional approach by project managers using traditional project management software is to prioritize tasks based on the critical path of the project.  This critical path is constructed by defining tasks, information about those tasks and constraints.  Project management software (like MS Project) then auto-calculates a critical path.

Time and again I’ve found that this isn’t helpful to getting projects done.

1. It doesn’t capture all the variables that should go into prioritizing a task and
2. It is way too cumbersome to be useful to most people doing projects.

Instead, try a holistic approach to task prioritization.

Here are two ways of doing that. They can be used separately or together.

Subjective Task Priorities
First, come up with at least three levels of task priority. For simplicity, these can be low, medium and high or 3,2,1 -with 1 being highest priority.

These are completely subjective priority levels which allow you, as a human being, to factor in any number of variables when deciding what is important to work on.

A human being can better appreciate all the factors around a project or task better than any algorithm or decision making model. Algorithms and models can only go so far when factoring in things like human error, rework time, and things simply taking longer than planned. Algorithms also allow the project manager to be aloof from the process as a whole. This isn’t good.

An added benefit of a subjective approach is that it requires the project manager to have detailed knowledge of the production process and the business goals behind the project. That way, they can weigh everything in when deciding what people should be working on and when.

Second, when putting together a task list, label each task with the priority.

When the relative importance of a task changes, change the label and make sure everyone on the team knows about it.

Project management tools like Vertabase can help you notify people automatically. Or, just make sure you continue to communicate with the team.

Subjective Critical Path
A second way of incorporating holistic prioritization is to manually flag critical tasks when you set up your task list or work breakdown structure. The critical tasks should be those which are key for your project to be completed properly and/or on time.  Many organizations call these project milestones, though I like to reserve the term for major phases of a project.

I’ve often said that managing the active phase of a project is the most crucial part of a project’s lifecycle.  This is when the project’s goals are being worked on. Some have argued that planning is the most important phase. That good planning can take care of anything. An incident on the most recent spacewalk by NASA seems to prove my point.

Two astronauts went out on a spacewalk to fix a particular part on the Hubble Telescope. The part that needed repair was blocked by a handrail. To get to the part, they had to unscrew the handrail. But, of course, the bolt that held the handrail onto the telescope was stripped. They couldn’t use any of their tools to get it off. The plan called for them to use a tool to unscrew the bolt. But it wasn’t working. Eventually, they had to resort to brute force, yanking the handrail off with old fashion muscle, in order to get to the part. They called it ”Plan C.”

My wife and I cracked-up when we heard this. The same thing always seems to happen to our household projects. Nothing ever goes as planned, things take longer and you often have to come up with innovative solutions to achieve your goals (which sometimes involved brute force).  Even with the huge budget, master planners and technical information that NASA has, things don’t always go as planned.

Why is this important?  It has a direct impact on how you structure your projects, the techniques you use and the tools you use for managing projects.

Recognizing that the active phase is the most crucial part of a project’s lifecycle, means that the flow of information from team members to the project manager, and back again, is of utmost importance. It is only by having accurate information that the project manager can understand the situation and implement changes as needed.

Without good information, those astronauts would probably be stuck trying to build a tool that could unscrew the bolt, to go according to plan, rather than just getting the job done.

QUESTION (from LinkedIn): Forecasting the same as prediction? Which one is more realistic and easier to do?

ANSWER: Forecasting is different from predicting. Predicting is much easier but far less accurate.

Predicting is when you start making guesses about things. For example, you predict that laying sheet-rock will take 45 hours to do and you guess that it will be done in 2 weeks.

Forecasting, on the other hand, is when you take information from past jobs and apply it to a new job. For example, if you have seen that laying the sheet-rock for a 3,000 sq ft space takes 65 hours and it usually done in 4 weeks then the next time you have to quote out the same job you’ll be able to forecast how much its going to cost and how long it will really take i.e. when it will really be done after work starts on it.

The big difference is predicting is based on your best guess from experience. Forecasting is based on data you’ve actually recorded and tracked from previous jobs.

I’m happy to announce that Vertabase 4.5 launched today (official press release).

This is the biggest launch of our project management software to date.  It includes a totally new interface and tons of great new features. 

It was built entirely with a rich internet application approach powered by ColdFusion.   To me this means:

1. An intuitive, immersive user experience
2. Enabling quick visibility and access to information
3. Facilitating sharing, data portability and data visualization
4. Integration with the user’s eco-system.

You can see how Vertabase 4.5 adheres to these principles in the 2 minute Quick Tour.  To read about specific new features check out the Vertabase 4.5 Release Notes.

Along with the version, there’s a new, searchable video learning center and we added customer support via instant message using Skype (search for Vertabase Support).

Its been a whirlwind week and I haven’t had a chance to blog about three other events that took place this week in the world of Vertabase. Here is a summary.

1. Vertabase Project Management Software -we publicly launched the pre-release version of Vertabase 4.5. Clients are already using it and raving. Here is a link to the full release notes (on the pre-release).  Some significant changes are:

• New interface, new look and feel
• Resource Calendar view of projects, tasks, resources, etc. across calendar days and weeks
• Change request system with change logs
• Faster timesheet entry
• Enhanced MS Excel import for even faster template and schedule creation.

We launched the next version of the Vertabase site to go with it and a new Vertabase Video Learning Center.

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We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Accomplice task management software and to welcome the over 30,000 registered users to the Vertabase community.

Accomplice has been called the “Nirvana of Organization” and reaching “Holy Grail Status” of task management.

Here’s a link to the press release on the acquisition and there’s a ton of information on the product on the Accomplice site.

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Question: As an IT Consultant with people already working as many hours as they can, how can I make more money without adding overhead or needing to find new clients?

Answer: The short answer is -bill faster.

Most IT Consulting shops have thousands of dollars of free cash bottled-up in unbilled time.  The problem is either:

• Technicians have been on-site, done the work but haven’t reported their time or
• Their time has been entered but it takes a long time for someone to re-key that time in Quickbooks or another accounting package so that it can be billed to the client.

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Vertabase is proud to have been honored by the Michigan Council of Women and Technology at their annual Partnership Recognition and Scholarship Award event.

This great organization encourages the advancement of women in technology related fields through mentoring, Summer tech camps for girls, laptop awards and, to-date, 0ver $300,000 in direct scholarships to a remarkable group of people (through the MCWT Foundation). Keep up the great work!

Question: How can government be made more efficient with project management software or by using project management in public administration?

Answer: Project management software provides a clear structure in which all steps of a public works project can be spelled out.

A basic break-down of the steps in a project can provide an effective operational overview of municipal or Federal government projects. This gives executives or public sector employees a clear way to track progress, identify bottlenecks and learn from past projects -because the tasks involved and people or departments associated with those tasks are clearly identified. This level of visibility in public administration can breed increased efficiency and transparency in the use of government resources.

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