Overheard at the Project Management Cafe

From the PM Cafe–Team Leadership

September 19, 2017
by tom lamm

Stacy and Bob were discussing various Agile methodologies when Jim slid into the booth, “Hey good morning you two!”.

“Morning Jim, how’s Saturday treating you?”

“I’m doing great, bad news for my team, they have to work today”, Jim replied, taking a bite from his doughnut.

Stacy looked at Jim and said, “Jim, if your team is working on a Saturday morning, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, my project status and reports are all taken care of, it’s the software coding that’s behind, they can work on that without me.”

Bob replied, “Maybe, just maybe, if you buy two dozen doughnuts and leave right now, you stand a chance of having a team when you make it to the office.”

“What, you think those guys will walk out and resign or something? Hey, it’s unfortunate, but we need to make up some time. They’re professionals, they understand.”

Bob said, “Of course they won’t resign over a little overtime. And, of course they will remain a team. The question is: ‘Will you still be on that team?’ When the going gets rough, the first thing you need to do is make sure that you have the team’s back.”

Stacy added, “You’ve been in their shoes before, how would you feel.”

Jim, dropping his doughnut and heading to the take-out counter, “Oh crap, I never thought of it from their perspective. I look like a total heel.”

Jim, smiling to Stacy, “Not the word I would have picked, but probably cleaner.”

Overheard at the Project Management Cafe

Protect the Project, Protect the Team

July 14, 2017
by tom lamm

Susan joined Stacy and Bob at the Project Management Café. “I am so frustrated with this project. My staff keeps getting reassigned to other priorities and I can’t count on having the resources I need from one week to the next. My schedule is going to ‘heck in a handbasket’ as my Mom would say.”

Bob passed her a croissant, “Tell me about the company.”

“It’s a small company with a limited staff. I understand that management needs to focus on all of the tasks and priorities, not just mine. And, they need to deal with the occasional client crisis when it comes up. But, I’m responsible for this project’s schedule, and can’t always count on having the people I need.”

Stacy answered, “Sounds like a Matrix Organization, a small one, but definitely matrix oriented.”

Susan asked, “Matrix, what do you mean?”

Bob replied, “Think of a spreadsheet, with the tasks and projects as the rows, and the different departments as the columns. So, your project is a row, ongoing maintenance tasks is another, a client crisis becomes another. The columns depend on the company, but they could be development, financial, marketing, etc.”

Stacy joined in, “The staff answers to the managers responsible for the rows, but also to their department. So, when another row becomes a priority, they might be re-assigned to deal with that, leaving your project for that time.”

Susan replied, “That sounds like a good description, but how can I plan any kind of realistic schedule with the shifting priorities?”

Bob, “In a larger organization, there is usually enough staff to be able to dedicate a team for the duration of a project. In a smaller organization, you’ve got to negotiate and share resources. Have you thought about using sprints?”

Susan asked, “Sprints? That’s an Agile, Scrum, methodology, this is a small, conservative group, they won’t consider that. This is a Waterfall project, all the way.”

Stacy said, “Don’t get hung up on terms. Organize your project tasks into one to two week segments. When planning the next task to focus on, negotiate with the other managers to dedicate the staff you need for that one to two weeks. After that task is completed, re-negotiate and plan the next one.”

“You’ll want to have more than one possible ‘next-task’, that way you can select the task based on the resources available for that sprint period.”

Bob added, “Have a Before Sprint Planning, and outline exactly what requirements will be met during the sprint. Add an After Sprint Lessons Learned, and you can better plan for the next ones.”

Susan replied, “I’ve already used a Work Breakdown Structure to define the tasks and resources. Organizing dedicated sprints would not be difficult. And, the management team will understand the need to have focused resources for each sprint, as long as they can protect the other priorities as well.”

Susan added, “Still, it sounds like I’d be sneaking a little Agile into their organization.”

Grabbing her camera bag and getting ready to leave, Stacy said, “Don’t get hung up on the terms, think of the tools in the toolbox, and using the ones you need to protect the project and your client’s investment in it. That’s the most important thing.”

Overheard at the Project Management Cafe

Waterfall vs Agile, in a Nutshell

June 11, 2017June 19, 2017
by tom lamm

Overheard at the Project Management Café.

Jim sets down his cup and says, “I’ve been hearing a lot about Agile, so, what is the difference between Agile and Waterfall? In fact, what the heck is Waterfall?”

Stacy puts down her sandwich, “The black-and-white answer is this: With the Waterfall style, you plan the project upfront, each milestone, each task, and have the entire plan in front of you. With Agile you plan the project, but you approach it with the attitude that change is inevitable, useful, and welcome.”

Bob replies, “Agile accepts the fact that you cannot plan everything up front, so you need to deal with challenges as they come.”

Jim, “Sounds like simple old fashioned project management to me. ‘Don’t get too set in your ways, stuff happens’”.

Bob, “That attitude works well no matter what methodology. Agile has other aspects, the teams are more self-managed. They have regular ‘retrospective’ meetings during the project to ask ‘What went wrong’, instead of a single one at the end. There’s more, but the main difference is really in attitude. With waterfall the team directed by one manager. Agile teams are self-directed, the manager is more of a resource than an authority.”

Jim, “So, which is better? Which is the one to use?”

Bob, “Hey, Stacy, you’ve been an amateur photographer for a while now, you probably have a bit of gear by now. Which is the right lens to use?”

Stacy, “Well, it depends. If I’m taking nature photos I pack one or two, but for people I prefer…”

Jim, “Hey, I see your point, there is no right lens to use.”

Stacy, “Sure, Agile, Waterfall, a bit of a blend, it all depends on the circumstances that the project manager finds ‘on the ground’”.

Bob, “When I have a very inexperienced team, or a new offshore team that we have not built a rapport with, I am more directive, I end up using more of a Waterfall approach. If the team is highly experienced and used Agile before, you know ‘Not their first rodeo’, I use a heavy Agile approach. For that team, I can do less managing, mainly be the resource that clears roadblocks and run interference for them. That lets me focus more on my other projects and teams.”

Stacy adds, “Actually, there are more nuances than just that. There are varieties and mixtures of both. Different versions of Agile. Different ways to implement Waterfall, even hybrids of both.”

Jim finished his cup, “Ok, so it really is a case of choosing the best options, based on the team, the project, and what the PM and team work with best.”