Notes from Project Management Professional Development Day

On Sep. 19 I attended the NYC Project Management Institute's Professional Development Day.  Below are some of my takeaways:

Donald Gardner, Gardner Project Integration Group suggested that we avoid assuming that project team members and stakeholders are "just like us," stressing the importance for different styles of communication.  In dealing with virtual teams, he suggested the simple step of posting pictures online to get to know people better who you may never meet in person.  (In my support of nonprofit staff across the US, I may not even say hello to someone when we do have an opportunity to meet because I have no idea of what they look like, only their voice.)  He also suggested we not say to someone, 'come back to me if you have a problem.'  Most people won't - you have to reach out to them.

Lisa DiTullio, Lisa DiTullio & Associates, described her role in restoring Harvard Pilgrim Health Care from the brink of collapse to industry leadership using project management.  This was especially interesting to me, as I've previously spoken on how nonprofits can make better use of project management techniques.  Lisa suggested usng simple project tracking tools, using green/yellow/red to quickly summarize a project's status.  When I asked how to move to a more collaborative organizational culture which allows project management to succeed, Lisa pointed out that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care almost went out of business before they could change their styles of interacting.  Responding to a criticism I sometimes hear about project management, Lisa described PM as not a way to introduce more work, but a way to change the way work is done.

Ronnie Battista, MISI Company spoke on one of my favorite topics - usability.  Ronnie suggested that users be involved in all stages of project planning and implementation, not just at the beginning.  He asked, "When is the last time you talked to a user," adding that 85% of usability problems can be solved by speaking to five users.  I agree - nonprofits often put too much emphasis on what staff members think, and not enough on interacting with their target audiences.  Jakob Nielsen has long been the authority on this topic.

Why do projects fail?  Lou Gasco, Muto Performance.offered ten reasons why.  A few highlights:

• 'spontaneous requirements' (a.k.a. scope creep) - adding in more requirements after the project scope has been defined
• 'invisible' requirements' - no one has taken the time to define what the project will specifically achieve
• disappearing sponsor - project sponsor can't be reached or otherwise loses interest in project
• minimal / nonexistent testing - testing isn't considered an integral part of project implementation