Effective Problem Definition

When I think of a single competency that is of the utmost importance in life it is the ability to clearly define a problem before jumping to a solution.  This applies to our personal and business lives equally.  The funny thing is that most of us are either unaware that we have this blind spot or think we have it nailed and do not need to work on it.  The hardest part is that in life, especially in US culture, those who are doers and problem fixers are rewarded.  The rewards come in the form of promotions, friends, and other accolades.  The real issue is that we learn through our increasing success and recognition, that fixing the problem is more important than clearly defining what we are trying to fix.  When you break it down, it seems counterintuitive and not logical to try to fix a problem we haven’t defined.  I mean, how do we measure success?  How do we know if it is fixed if we don’t know what “it” is?

The good news is that there is framework to follow to ensure we are defining the problem first and then going through a simple process to figure out which solution will best address the problem.  This framework is simple and easy to follow which aligns with my approach to most things.

Specifically for those in leadership, sometimes there is a true emergency that needs to be triaged and solved quickly, and other times the  problem is less time sensitive.  Each need a slightly different approach, but regardless of the type of problem you are faced with, you need a basic framework to work from so that you are able to lead your team to the best solution.  As leaders, we are generally not the ones who are actively working through the tasks of addressing a problem. We are not pushing buttons, pulling levers and turning knobs. In most cases we are supposed to lead the efforts and planning to resolve the problem.

So what tools do we have?  

The infographic above shows the basic framework to follow.  We should break each issue down into 3-4 steps.  These steps can be very simple and quick to do, but they need to be done to ensure you are fixing the real problem and finding the root cause before you head into fixing the problem or solution generation and prioritization.

A brief summary of each is below:

Problem (definition):  this is sometimes known as the problem statement.  This is the step where you slow things down, take a step back a truly evaluate the situation. A good problem definition or statement should be a short and simple description of the issue to be fixed or improved upon. It should show the gap between the current state and the preferred end state.  This is where you get the 5 W’s: who, what, where, when, and why.

You have to understand the problem before you can find the root cause, which will then help you determine the best solution(s).

 

Cause (root cause):  The root cause analysis work is a thorough look at what the causes of the problem are/were.  This is the point in the process where you will list all of the potential causes and do a quick vetting of each to determine the likelihood of them being a root cause of the issue.  If you have done a good job of clearly defining the problem, then bouncing each of the causes in your list up against it should be fairly easy to do.  Eliminate those causes that do not seem to be big enough contributors to be at the root of the problem.

Solution:  Now is the time to start working on solutions.  Again, it is always good to list the solutions to the problem by looking at the root cause you established in the previous step.  Keep it simple and focus on the solutions that will give you the biggest impact or benefit with the least amount of energy.  This is the low-hanging fruit approach.  Once you have your list of solutions, prioritize them using the biggest impact/lowest energy to implement as your guide.

Now implement your solutions and don’t forget to circle back around and do a lessons learned exercise to figure out how you can do things even better next time.

As always, I would love to hear from you.  Leave a comment below or look for me on Twitter @ScottTWaters.

Project Management and Resource Planning: Tools of the Trade

This is the part of the journey where I share some of the tools of the trade that I like to use for project management.  Remember, this is not a one size fits all type of thing.  You have to first decide what level of detail you want/need for tracking your projects and project portfolios.  There is a big difference between tracking individual projects with low levels of complexity/minimal team members and trying to keep track of complex projects individually and as part of an enterprise portfolio.  It is important to find the most simple solution that fits your need.  The more complex the solution you choose, the more time you and your teams will spend on project management administrative tasks rather than doing the actual work to get the project done.  The law of diminishing returns applies well here, so choose to track and report on only the tasks and metrics that are truly important and nothing more.

I am by no means going to give a comprehensive list of everything out there in the project management space, but I will give you a peek into the tools I have used and continue to use that make life easier.

Let’s group everything into 3 buckets:  Low-tech, Mid-size, and Enterprise.

Low-Tech:  Spreadsheets and simple task lists

At the most basic level, project management is simply about creating a list of things that need to get done, by when and deciding who is going to do them.  So, with that in mind the most basic form of project planning can take place using some form of a task list and tieing that to a calendar.  In fact, I have seen people be very successful planning and managing projects using Microsoft Outlook built-in functionality such as tasks, reminders, appointments and other calendar functions.  If you want to step it up a bit, Microsoft Excel has plenty of project management templates that can help you create simple to fairly complex Gantt charts.

Mid-Size:  SaaS PM and collaboration solutions

There are many SaaS (software as a service) or cloud-based project management and collaboration solutions out there.  The key to picking the right one for you is to decide what you need to do with the tool.  Do you need a space for documents and other files to be worked on by the team collaboratively?  Do you need to manage one or many projects?  How many team members typically work on your projects?  All of these questions matter because there are literally hundreds of project management solutions out there that offer varying functionality.  The two that I really like are:  Confluence for collaboration and Trello for more formal project management tasks such as issues and task tracking.  When you combine these two tools, you can do a great deal, and the learning curve is still very low.

Enterprise solutions: Complex project and large project portfolio management

When you get to the point where you need to manage large projects or portfolios with numerous projects in them, then a more robust solution is probably necessary.  Still, remember to keep it as simple as you can.  I like to apply the logic that if a project is highly complex, highly visible, or has a large cost or budget then it is worth tracking to a higher level of detail.  This is the space where the project management administrative tasks become much more onerous and time consuming so make sure it is worth it.  You should be asking yourself:  Is the juice worth the squeeze?  We certainly don’t want to do project management for project management sake.

The larger, enterprise tools that I have found to be the most useful are:

BrightWork,  an excellent project and portfolio management tool which allows for simple to very granular project and resource management.  If you have a Microsoft SharePoint infrastructure in place and are familiar with its use, then BrightWork is a great tool with a lot of automation available.  The one area it doesn’t address well is collaboration outside of your organization.  Since BrightWork sits on top of SharePoint, it relies heavily on Active Directory, so it is tougher to open it up to team members who are not full-time employees.

SmartSheet, is a really solid solution across the project management and collaboration spaces.  If offers a lot of flexibility through the use of mobile apps and plugins.  It is also a SaaS solution, so accommodating larger teams that are inside and outside of your organization is fairly simple.

These are just a few of the many tools out there that can help you manage your projects more effectively.

I am always interested in hearing from you.  What tools are you using to manage your projects and project portfolios?  Share them in the comment section below or Tweet them to me @ScottTWaters and I will reTweet and share them.

 

 

Project Management and Resource Planning: The final product…are we there yet?

Now we have an enterprise gantt/schedule to start the year that aligns with the strategic intent of the organization.  All the hard work is done, right?….Nope!  The real work starts now.  

You will need to continue to scratch and climb your way along the the planning path with frequent stops and starts.

Emergencies and opportunity projects happen.  Even the best planned projects go off the rails.  This will test your will, stress you out and challenge your resolve.   The inevitable change in plans will force you to not only manage the portfolio of projects from a status perspective (project status, health, etc) throughout the year/cycle, but to sometimes cancel projects, replace projects or reschedule projects to keep things on track.

The most important thing to consider and pay attention to at this point is to ensure that you don’t let the overall schedule slip without quickly adjusting.  If the initial scoping and planning of each project is done well and the management of each project is executed effectively, there should be ample time factored into the project plans to account for some level of timeline slippage.  If any projects go beyond the planned “wiggle room” that is built into the timelines, then now is the time to jump in quickly and get things on track or take a look at the potential downstream effects that will impact the other projects on the schedule.  Remember, it is not just one project you are dealing with at an enterprise level, and small problems can have significant impacts.  Look back to the inter-project dependency mapping exercise we went through and make sure to account for those as well.

One last note of caution, when the “opportunity” or “emergency” project comes in, outside of the planning schedule, you must go back, reference and use the tools we have discussed during this series, specifically:

• Cost/Quality/Time Triangle – when something new comes in, you have to take something of equal weight (work effort, timeline, cost) off the schedule/gantt if all of the resources and constraints remain the same.  Physics still apply.

My next series will focus on PM tools that can make project management easier and better.

I am very interested in hearing from you.  Leave me a comment below or a follow on Twitter @ScottTWaters.

Project Management and Resource Planning: Prioritizing of the list of demands pt.4 – Inter-project dependencies

One of the last steps in the process of coming up with an enterprise schedule/gantt is to figure out which projects depend on which in order to get done.  This can often be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for a group of people who are trying to get a massive list of requests down to something that is realistic and doable.  This is the case because the process of getting to a “doable” list is an exhausting one if it is done right.  It is all about the long game with this stuff and it takes a significant commitment and endurance to get to the final list.

So, we have a list of requests that have been scoped, prioritized, and filtered down to something that looks like it can be done, at least on paper.  We have considered timelines, budget, resources and we are thinking to ourselves, “we are pretty good at this stuff!”  It is a little too early to celebrate because we now need to look at inter-project dependencies.

There are whole books written on the subject of how to itemize, track and measure inter-project dependencies, so I am not going to try to reinvent the wheel or cover all of them here, but conceptually it is important to look at how the list of projects interact, depend, sequence, or collide with each other.

A visual mapping exercise can be the most effective way to accomplish this.  

My biggest piece of advice is to start simple.  Don’t try to tackle every aspect or dependency on your first go.  The basic items you want to look at are:

• Timing dependencies with other projects
• Resourcing dependencies with other projects
• Operational dependencies like critical infrastructure projects that need to happen before a project can start or complete

Many projects can run in tandem to a point, but the “go live” of each must be staggered because the dependencies say so.

The most widely used approach to inter-project dependency management is to use a DSM (Dependency Structure Matrix) tool or framework.  

There are limitations in this approach if you are trying to account for any more than 2 or 3 dependency items or data points.  The complexity becomes too much to effectively fit into the DSM “box”, but I would advise at least becoming familiar with how to use a DSM because you can use concepts and elements of it to come up with something that works for you and your organization.

Go through the project list and do a dependency mapping exercise to level of detail you can.  This will help you sequence the projects in a way that is practical.  It will also show which projects are going to run into trouble and collide or stall out because they depend on another project or component of another project to successfully be executed.

This stuff is challenging.  Hopefully we are all sharing and learning together taking the nuggets and pieces that work best for us and leaving the rest.

If any of you have come up with a simple but effective inter-project dependency mapping approach, please share by adding a comment below or Tweeting it to me @ScottTWaters and I will be sure to share it.

 

Project Management and Resource Planning: Prioritizing of the list of demands pt.3 – Applying filters

Even when an organization has developed a project and resource prioritization methodology and framework that fits its culture, and it is understood by the stakeholders and decision makers, it can still feel overwhelming to get that list of 100+ project requests down to something doable.  After all of the work has been put in to prioritize the list of demands, what can be done to avoid playing a game of “Wheel of Priority” with the list?  We certainly don’t want all of the planning work to be wasted and to have things fall back into disorganization and chaos before the year/cycle has started.

So how do we reduce the “noise”?  In the end, we need our final list of approved projects to fit the following criteria:

• be aligned with organizational goals
• be supported by the Executive leadership team
• be understood, at a high-level, by the larger leadership group
• fit within the resource constraints of the organization (time, money, people)

A simple way to get to the “final” list is to go through the priorities list from the top (#1’s) to the bottom until all of the resources are exhausted and draw the line there.  Anything under the line just won’t be done this cycle.  Make no mistake, this will have to be done and is a tough pill to swallow for any of the project owners who have projects that do not make the cut.  But we must remember, this should not be taken personally.  The best leaders are passionate about what they do which is part of what makes them great leaders, but it is important to take a step back and look at the greater good of the organization and take our personal feelings out of this process.

There are things we can do to make this work easier and more aligned.  Ideally, strategy (which creates projects) should inform the budget but sometimes we can use the budgetary process to “filter” out projects from our larger list because they are not going to be funded.  So whenever possible, use a cross-walk between the budget (both CapX and OpX) process and the project/resourcing process so that we can eliminate anything from the project list that will not be funded.  Remember “no money, no mission”?  Well, “no money, no project” applies as well, if the project is not purely a process improvement project that doesn’t need funding.

If you tie the budget and project/resourcing processes together, you will find that they can help each other out by eliminating projects or budget requests that are not going to make the final cut for the upcoming year or cycle.

There are other “filters” that can be applied in addition to the budget or “money” filter.  Physics apply as well.  Time is a constraint that can also help filter out projects that are competing for the same spot on the calendar.  Sometimes, you will find that there is simply not enough time in the year or cycle to do a project or multiple projects no matter how much you increase the funding or lower the quality requirements (remember the Time, Cost, Quality Triangle?).  The time filter can be an important aid to eliminate a number of projects on the list.

Do you have any “filters” that are helpful in whittling down a list of projects that is larger than can be done?  If so, share them by putting them in the comments section below or by Tweeting me @ScottTWaters.  I look forward to hearing from you.