Risk Management and Alligators

I read once in a project management book, very likely from one of many that James P. Lewis wrote, where projects risks are described as being like alligators over which you have to jump over in order to complete the project. The menacing reptiles may or may try to bite you, and if they do, they may or may not succeed. Risk management is a tool you can use to get you past the alligators alive and well.

I think the imagery can be further adjusted to fit reality a little better. In many projects we are racing to complete the project against competition or against time. In other words, we don't just need to get past the alligators, we need to do so quickly because there are hungry wolves tearing down behind us.

If we adopt this revised imagery, we begin to see clearly that there are trade-offs that must be faced. If there are hungry wolves closing in, we may need to get across now. We may not have the luxury of waiting for the alligators to sleep before attempting to cross. We are now able to accept greater risk. Yes, we might get a chunk of our rump bitten off by an alligator, but the razor sharp alternative is coming in fast.

Managing Web Projects, Part IV

We continue the review of J. Rodney Turner's book. In chapter 2, Turner discusses what distinguishes web projects from other projects, especially other IT/IS projects. He argues that web projects are a subset of IT/IS projects but have enough differences to make them distinct. When Turner writes that there are at least 10 key differences, I thought that would be a large number. After all, besides the technology used, how else are web projects different from IS project, as projects? The key differences he lists include: - shorter time horizons - global reach with diverse user requirements - managed from outside the IS department - multidisciplinary teams with high focus on creativity and usability - wider range of user requirements - diverse technologies - immature industry with skills shortage - undefined methodologies - fast changes in the industry - perceived greater risk. Note that the focus of the distinction is on the project, and not the product itself. That is, the focus is on the experiential difference in the undertaking of a web project versus that of a typical IS project.

Managing Web Projects Part III

Chapter 1 of the book comes before Part I and is intended to be a brief introduction to project management. While it's generally an excellent coverage with lots of useful insights, I'm not sure about the wisdom of trying to introduce project management in such a short chapter. Especially when you give a definition of what a project is that is almost heretical:

A project is a temporary organization to which resources are assigned to undertake a unique, novel and transient endeavour managing the inherent uncertainty and need for integration in order to deliver beneficial change objectives (emphasis mine).

I think the chapter needed more space -- the subject it tries to cover is too big and only very briefly touches on the obligatory discussion of a project life-cycles.

There is a brief discussion on the importance of seeing a project at various levels, and some advise against prematurely planning the lower levels of a project before the higher levels are clearly understood.

His discussion of business objectives are also useful. Business objectives are the reasons why the organization is spending time and resources on the project, and they are different from the project objectives. Only after and if the project gets finished does the business begins to reap the business objectives.

A short and sweet discussion of the difference between cultural objective is also presented. Projects often focus only on the technical objectives ('build and install software') and the cultural objectives ('user training', 'creation of new procedures because of the new software'). This is a good reminder for the project planners.

Some of the valuable insights come from his discussion of project typologies. For example, he presents a typology of a project's importance to the business. Is the project intended to keep the business alive? Is it intended to reposition the business? Is it intended to improve business performance?

Finally there is also a brief discussion on the uniqueness of a project. While linguists may get riled when some things are said to be more unique than others, the world of project management seems to have latched on to the word. Turner presents a typology based in the uniqueness of projects. The classifications range from Runners, which are projects that are very similar to other projects undertaken by the project team, to Repeaters , which are projects common to the organization itself, but not to the project team, to Strangers, which are less familiar to the organization, having undertaken a few similar projects, to Aliens, which are totally new projects. The importance of this typology is that it highlights the risk inherent in the type of project, with Stranger projects bringing the highest risk.

In chapter 2, Turner begins describing what is special with web projects.

Managing Web Projects Part II

Continuing the review of J. Rodney Turner's book.

It seems many people who read books ignore the Preface. I'm not one of them, and I don't understand why people skip it. The Preface is the author's personal message to you, dear reader, about their intention in writing the book, and how they intend it to change you, as well as change you into what. Why would you not want to know about that?

Upon opening a book, I go directly to the Preface right after briefly flipping through the pages (mostly to filter out books that use size L or XL fonts). After reading the Preface, then I start to take in the smell of the paper, but let's not go into that.

In his Preface, Turner reveals that this book is the first of a projected series of books on specific applications of project management. Perhaps sensing that he needs to undertake a defense of the need for such a series, he elaborates that although he agrees with the opinion of many, that project management is a generic skill, nevertheless, different types of projects have different needs and therefore require different methodologies.

Comparing project management with other professions, such as medicine, law, and accounting, Turner observes that while these three, like project management, are generic professions, each has its own sub-specialty.

You probably do not want a specialist in corporate-law to defend you in a criminal case (viz. when Sherman's lawyer acquaintance turns him down in The Bonfire of the Vanities). Neither do you want a neuro-surgeon to deliver your baby (Dr. Brown of the Everwood TV Series notwithstanding).

Turner points out some revelations he had while researching and working on the book:

- General managers (rather than IS managers) tend to end up being handed responsibility for delivering web projects.

- Change management seems to be much more important than he initially thought.

- Web projects tend to be managed whole, rather than delivered piece-meal. In consequence, he discovers that techniques like agile management or extreme programming were not as central as he initially expected.

I was initially confused by those observations: why would piece-meal deliveries espoused by agile techniques not be central? Isn't the changing nature of web pages a perfect match for agile software development? And why would change management be important in a web development project where quick delivery is the expectation? Who has time for change management?

Peeking inside, I realised that in the context of the book, Turner was not speaking about simply developing web applications, but also about web-enabling business operations. That is why general management plays larger role. That is why change management is fundamental (not change control management, as I originally thought), and that is why the project tends to be delivered whole.

The type of projects covered by the book possibly makes this book less interesting for technical managers interested in managing web-based software alone, but it does make it more interesting to me.

In the next posting on this subject, we will look at chapter 1.

Managing Web Projects Part I

Just received a copy of J. Rodney Turner's newish book : Managing Web Projects (The Management of Large Projects and Programmes for Web-space Delivery).

I'm a fan of Turner. His handbook is, to me, a serious candidate for the title of the-only-project-management-book-you-need. It fails the criteria, of course. No single book will pass and I would consider it doubtful that any collection of 5 books will pass.

Amazon prices it at US$89.95. At 228 pages, it's likely to be priced beyond the willingness of many people interested in learning about managing web projects. How many other good books can you purchase with that cash?

I will be reading this book and reviewing it in these blog pages over the time I read it. I just borrowed my copy. Let's see if it's worth the price tag.

On the Nature of an Activity

An undertaking (i.e., a project) consists of many activities required to complete the undertaking. Failure of one or more activities eventually cascade and bring about failure somewhere in the undertaking.

Understanding the nature of activities help us understand its effects on the undertaking -- i.e., the project.

A typical activity requires people to perform the activity. The fact that people are required to undertake an activity implies a secondary activity -- assigning people to that activity, which implies other activities -- deciding (an activity) what kind of person is best suited for that activity, deciding where we can get that kind of person, etc.

Activites also require resources. To paint a wall requires not just a painter, but also paint. And brush. And newspapers to line the floor.

An activity takes time. Painting a room may take a day or so, not counting the time required to let the paint smell to dissipate to safe levels.

Activities cost money as well. Whether you hire a painter or do the job yourself, some cost is involved. You can pay for the services of a painter, or give up your time for doing other profitable activities in exchange for painting.

Activites have an end result. In our example, the end result is a painted wall.

Activities have constraints. You cannot start to paint a wall and then decide to stop midpoint. You cannot go back conveniently.

Activities may fail. A good painter may produce an evenly painted surface, but a bad one may end up with bumps and visible drips.

Lastly, once the wall has been painted, there remains some cleanup work to do.

To summarise:

An activity:

• Requires preparatory activities
  
• Has an output
• Requires material resources
• Requires people to undertake the activity
• Takes time to finish
  
• Has constraints
• May fail
  
• Has closing activities

Project Management

Every undertaking, faces the possibility of taking longer than anticipated, costing more than expected, and or not completing successfuly. The bigger the undertaking, the bigger the likelihood that unwanted events and outcomes occur.  One key culprit is complexity.

Consider the undertaking of changing your shower curtain versus the problem of defending Normandy beach from Allied invasion.  You might slip on the floor and bang your head seriously while doing the former.  However, many, many more things could go wrong more seriously in the latter (and many things did go wrong).

Launching an invasion is more complex than changing a shower curtain. It is this (vast) difference in complexity that makes the other undertaking much more likely to have potential problems. Complexity is like having many open doors and windows where problems are free to let themselves in. The more complex the undertaking, the more numerous the open doors and windows.

We could stay small and be content with simple undertakings, but our society's progress will be limited. We can choose to limit our undertakings to nothing more complex than mastering the art of candle-making, but our society will not progress much. If we want progress, we have to face and deal and master complexity.

Fortunately, we have tools at our disposal.

Look at the skyscrapers and other technical marvels we now have.  Science and engineering has progressed such that it is now possible to design buildings that will not randomly fall down and will even resist powerful earthquakes. We now know how to design such buildings. Complexity and its associated problems have been reduced by scientific and engineering knowledge.

But we like to push the envelope, and so complexity remains.

Every undertaking requires activities. No activity, no undertaking. The more complex the undertaking, the more numerous and varied the activities are.

Activities depend on and interact with other activities, and therefore must be coordinated. Those who need to fit glass windows to a building cannot start working until the building structure has been built. Those who need to test software cannot begin until there is some software to test.

Knowing how to design a building is not the same as knowing how to organise the activities required to build that building, and vice versa.  The orchestration of these activities is also different and demand a different kind of knowledge, attention, and discipline from that required to design a building or build a building.

To harness the benefits of science and engineering, there is another discipline that was developed to help us with our complex undertakings. This discipline is intended to help us manage the activities and ensure that:

• We can have a confident estimation how long a undertaking will take, so we can plan for it.
• We can have a confident estimation how much the undertaking will cost
• We can identify the activities required to complete the undertaking.
• We can ensure that the undertaking will take no longer than planned
• We can ensure that the undertaking will cost no more than planned.
• We can ensure that the undertaking will be completed.
• Everyone's valid expectations are met.

That discipline is called Project Management.