Here is a recent posting from the upcoming issue of Tipoffs, the monthly newsletter from Arras People. The article is written by John Thorpe, the Managing Director of Arras People.
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Having been involved with Projects and Programmes and Business Management for many years I believe that there is a recognised, if not agreed, difference between the two forms of delivery; my question regards the personal qualities required of the person who is charged with the delivery of programmes.
Programmes in the extreme c
an be characterised as being complex, high value (in cost terms), high value (in bottom line impact) and high impact in terms of the number of people impacted by their outcomes. Recently, Terminal 5 became a great example of this, and it certainly ticked all of the above boxes, though not necessarily in the way it was envisaged when the programme was conceived!
Come to think of it, many programmes are larger in terms of “annual turnover”, “potential risk” and “individuals employed” than many organisations run by a board of directors and a host of specialist contributors! Can or should these be recognised as a business operation in their own right? Are they companies that should be addressed and managed as such? In fact, is there a point at which a project can no longer be called a Project because of its fiscal value?
My quandary in this article does not concern the size and potential complexities of programmes and projects; I am more interested in how we find the right person to take on such a task. What skills do they require? How they were trained? Where did they acquire the relevant experience? Can they lead and deliver?
I believe all “managers” require a core set of skills and competencies both hard and soft in order to be effective and to deliver. What I really struggle with when it comes to Programmes is; are business trained people or project trained people in the box seat?
If we first consider competence, the following elements of competency need to be considered if you are looking for a Project Leader, Operations Director or Managing Director:
- Technical
- Behavioural
- Contextual
Within each group there are many sub elements, of which desirability and capability will differ according to role, its seniority and deliverables. How these have been acquired and the breadth of experience will depend upon career path.
Background and experience is an area of contention: Is a programme just a logical extension of a project environment which demands the skills associated with a solid background in delivering projects? Or is it really a business situation; a microcosm of the organisation that demands the skills normally associated with a business leader, such as vision, leadership and strategy?
My own feeling is that true programmes need Programme Managers who understand business in the round. People who are able to motivate and lead; People who can set the course and then lead from the front relying on the management team around them to deliver be that in the areas of Finance, HR, Operations etc. Yes, an understanding of projects and their control is a great background. But is it enough?
What is the de-facto profile for a Programme Manager? The answer, I believe, is in the hands of the business people who have to carry the can for the success or otherwise of the programmes that they initiate. They need to work with the Project Management community (in-house or externally) to create this template and then identify the most capable individuals to deliver their visions, whether they come from the Business or Project community. Once identified, they then need the environment in which they can succeed.
What are your own individual opinions on this matter? Feel free to post your comments below and tell us what you think about the correct prototype for a solid programme manager.
I might have to change my PMO Watch to P3O Watch after reading a recent article (based on a presentation at the International BPUG Congress) called “The New P3O Guidance from the Office of Government Commerce” [see the presentation notes (PDF).]
The P3O essentially means Portfolio, Programme and Project Office, and is focused on bringing the concept and model of “PMO” (I’m going to have to choose something to describe the current situation!) firmly on the agenda. Specifically, it looks like OGC would also like to get their hands on the PMO structure, function, etc., much like project management (PRINCE2) and programme management (Managing Successful Programmes).
Yes, you guessed it - a manual and accreditation will be coming down the line later this year (Autumn 2008). We’ll wait to see what all this means nearer the time but a few thoughts from the article:
- “Brand is all” - a great quote in relation to the PMO and its place within the organisation and the service it provides. Amazingly, still to this day when new PMOs are created within an organisation brand and specifically brand awareness are one of the last things to be planned and managed.
- “There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach” - yup, which has pretty much been the problem for many organisations. Will P3O be good enough to give scalable models? To give real guidance to leaders to understand the factors that effect their particular scenario and which elements of the P3O model to apply?
- Real solutions to real business problems? I have concerns that the P3O has come about due to the “alignment to OGC best practice” - does this mean the commercial world will be once again looking to the public sector as market leaders in project management thought? That we hear the same old line “Yeah, we have a P3O approach - we just took the best bits and created our own version”, when all it really means is: P1O i.e., “We have a Project Office”.
- From an employment market point of view - the accreditation will be interesting. How many project support professionals have the opportunity to work within a mature PM environment - where an established structure of portfolio management office, CoE and programme / project offices exist within their business and therefore gives them the opportunity to put into practice the P3O training programme and their “continuous professional development”. Chicken and egg situation definitely - trained P3O people with nowhere to exercise their abilities?
We wait with bated breath to see what happens next in the P3O journey……….
Article posted on OGC Best Management Practice
Tipoffs is the free monthly newsletter Arras People distributes to candidates dealing with subjects and sub-issues relating directly to project management. Currently, our circulation is running at 8500, and we are hoping to push that number to five figures in the coming year. For more information about how you can sign up to receive future issues, click here.
Usually, we’ll aim for the last Monday of the month to send out the monthly issue, but May presents some level of disruption for the Tipoffs distribution cycle. This month, as in all years, the final Monday of May means the weekend extends to Monday, making it difficult for people to get a look at Tipoffs and scour our robust batch of links before heading off to the water cooler for weekend gossip. And with the mad rush back to work on Tuesday to ensure five-day productivety in a four-day week, some e-mails get pushed aside quicker.
With that in mind, I’ll give all of our readers a chance to settle into the new week. The May issue, which will focus on the issues surrounding programme management, will be available to all from Wednesday morning, 28 May.
So enjoy a weekend of family, friends, a night out or three, the Playoff Finals, and a recovery day on Monday, then settle into the shortened week with a fresh brew and a look at the newsletter that gives you the inside track on your project-minded profession - Tipoffs.
Suffice it to say that as the central editor of comments on How to Manage a Camel, people out there do know how to give their input on blogs. But to make a generalisation that essentially philosophises ‘If a few know, then all of them know,’ is wrong when it comes to public knowledge of how to post, comment or use blogs to one’s own satisfaction. For not recognising this, I offer this post as a truce.
Here at the Camel, we enjoy receiving feedback, individual posts, even links to your own postings at other sites. We welcome it. But in some cases, people don’t necessarily know where to begin.
I’m here to help, complete with Hypothetical Scenarios to serve as a guide to your next action at How to Manage a Camel.
Hypothetical scenario #1: You’re reading a Camel post talking about work-life balance, recall a instance in yours or somone else’s career in which career and life got in each other’s way, and felt it was to everyone’s advantage that fellow readers were aware of such pitfalls. How could I not comment about this?, you ask yourself rhetorically.
Hypothetical solution #1: Go to the bottom right of the end of the blog entry, and click on Add a Comment. You can give your name, e-mail (we won’t publish it), web site, and comments there. If you’re only reading the post itself, you’re already there and ready to do what you wanted to!
Hypothetical question #2: You remember a funny entry you had read at the Camel a few days ago (You can guess who wrote that post) that mentioned Neil Diamond, and knew you just had to print it off and read it on the long train-ride home. How do you locate it? Moreover, is there a print icon you couldn’t locate?
Hypothetical solution #2a: Not to worry. There’s a keyword search box at the top of the main page on the right-hand side. Just go to the box, type in ‘Neil Diamond’, and you’ve found you’re hilarious article (NOTE: The author has no shame).
Hypothetical solution #2b: There’s no need to scroll all over the web page for a print icon, link or button. Just go to File, then Print.
Hypothetical scenario #3: After reading an entry, you want to read more Camel posts on a similar topics. Where can you filter out the stuff you don’t want to read?
Hypothetical solution #3: On the right-hand side after a short scroll down the page, you’ll come to a gray heading entitled Categories. You can click on your chosen topic - age discrimination, Arras People, Project Management (among others) - and the page automatically filters all articles into your chosen category. ***BONUS: At the end of the article you’ve originally read, the article itself lists categories it is featured under. Click it, and the same filter narrows your search.
With this information, you should be able to comment on Camel-created issues, or just find out what you’ve been looking for. Maybe even have a chuckle, if all comes together!
I’m going to be keeping an eye out for interesting snippets in relation to PMOs. At Arras we have a specialist team who recruit solely in the PMO space and its been interesting to see the ebb and flow of PMO roles over the last 6 years. It’s surprising how many organisations have been turned on to the benefits of a PMO but unsurprisingly alot of these roles are still within the admin or control PMO functions. Classifications for PMOs makes it much easier for people to quickly pitch what they do - for example CITI came up with four types; admin, control, guidance and partner. See the presentation from the last conference from John Zachar from CITI.
So over 6 years there hasn’t been much change in the types of PMOs an organisation wants - or is it a case of not knowing what you don’t know, shouldn’t an organisation ideally have a PMO function that covers the four areas? I’ll have an admin PMO to sort out the paperwork and plug project data and figures; I’ll have a control one for making sure we are doing what we said we would do; I’ll have a guidance one for keeping everyone on the straight and narrow today whilst looking at what we need to be doing in the future and I’ll have a partner at a corporate level to make sure it all ties together at a strategic and board level. An organisation could have its cake and eat it - but it might cost!
I’ll let you know if we come across a 4PMO organisation (hmmm maybe I should trademark that!)
Anyway apart from the PPSOSIG link above, another PMO snippet this week that I like; “GreenPM” from an article by AllPM (Judy also has a new blog called the power of acknowledgement - see the blogroll). The article talks about how the PMO could also get involved in the green revolution (GreenPMO??) :
“PMOs currently act as the advocate for project management to the organization. Although GreenPM is in its infancy, it seems that there is a logical next step for PMOs to advocate and align environment-related items into its project management methodologies. The PMO can apply “greenthink” by incorporating environment-related factors into the products and services that the PMO is responsible for. For example, a PMO usually owns the project management methodology, but can also have responsibility for other processes such as portfolio management, business planning, development lifecycle and other organizational methodologies. These processes can be modified to determine when green thinking may be applicable. The PMO should not write processes that mandate environmental costs at the expense of providing business value. Instead, the emphasis should be placed on understanding when environmental factors should be considered.”
I like the idea…. I can almost hear the project team banter too… no more copies of meeting minutes thanks I’m doing my bit for the environment… we could plant a tree for each successful milestone we hit (visions of barren forests!) etc etc
But joking aside I’d like to know if anyone already incorporates the environmental factors in to their PIDs, risk plans etc etc and actually there is nothing new here in “GreenPM”
Arras People managing director John Thorpe swears by a philanthropic policy that ensures Arras People strive to be upstanding, community-enhancing ambassadors for public good. Last week, Heywood Children’s Charities were more than pleased to accept Arras’ good intentions.
Rochdale Online:
Arras People, a national project management recruitment agency based in Heywood, made a £360 donation to Heywood Children’s Charities - the ceremony was marked with a cheque presentation.
After conducting a series of Project Management Careers Clinics for almost eight months, Arras People have matched the total donations made by their candidates for three different charities based around the Greater Manchester area.
The three registered charities slated to receive donations this year include Three Owls; Francis House Children’s Hospice, a respite house for families caring for very sick children based in East Didsbury, Manchester; and Heywood Little Monkey’s, a charity affiliated with Heywood Children’s Charities geared toward vulnerable families and their children, based in Heywood, Rochdale.
Donations made by Arras People will total £1,040, a grant increased thanks to Arras People’s commitment to matching the original donations made by each candidate as payment for the consultation they received. Arras consultants Mick Hides, Lindsay Scott and Nicola Thorp, provide career advice and help for people on their CV and share their opinions and tips in areas such as qualifications, training, current job markets in project management. Fees for the sessions were donated to the charity of the candidate’s choice.
Said John Thorpe, a director of Arras People: “It is great to have a dedicated team who are willing to make time to share their experience and at the same time generate money that goes towards helping others in our local community.”
In spite of failures in policy, it’s not always particularly hard for politicians to find avenues of support in the national media (even if by a forceful nature, as Robert Mugabe and Vladimir Putin would personify.) Among the more civil politicians in the democratic world, the funny mannerisms and calendar-friendly quotables of George W. Bush create several parodies that are hard to separate from the real thing.
But at the end of the day with politicians in popular culture, we’re more likely to embrace the popularity contest. Face it: When W can make fun of his dwindling popularity on the US-version of ‘Deal or No Deal‘, it’s clear that world leaders can find some avenue in media to dine with and flirt.
Even project management is not above the political parade. However could it be, as evidenced by the March issue of Project magazine. The cover boy for Vol. 20, Issue 5 was former London mayor Ken Livingstone, his index finger pointing at readers in a gesture meant to convey that London under Livingstone meant ‘A Vision For Projects’. And for all intents and purposes, Livingstone deserved cover status at the time and mention in Project’s Top 10, which annually honours 10 ‘outstanding project professionals (who) have demonstrated commitment to the development of project management’s future that goes way beyond the mere call of duty’. Livingstone was hailed as ‘a man with a vision for projects that is capable of lifting the scope and scale of the profession into new realms’.
The figures Project used served well in backing up the claims. While the 2012 Olympics is clearly the turkey at the Christmas PM dinnertable, the trimmings are nice as well: goals to build 30,500 homes each year, eco-minded congestion charges, bicycle-friendly environmental and rental projects, London refurbishments such as Design for London and the Case for London, and long-term regeneration as a result of London 2012. All of it is attributed to Livingstone’s vision and project-friendly eye. Clearly, one media outlet - Project magazine, ‘the voice of project management’ - had found a friend in Ken Livingstone.
But then came Friday the 2nd, and the election that all but ensured Livingstone’s title would heretofore be ‘former London mayor’. On a day more suited in Red Ken’s memory as his own ‘Friday the 13th’, the most popular Johnson in London since Samuel had made his popularity official in becoming their elected leader, the Pied Pie Pusher in Public Schools.
And so, London, the city benefitting from the eco-minded, regenerative projects that helped make them Olympian for the first time since 1948, has its second mayor. Outspoken and un-PC, Boris Johnson seems to the outsider to be the mannerism caricature Bush’s foibles have so readily encouraged. Rory Bremner certainly didn’t waste much time. But will Boris waste much time overshadowing the perception and producing punctual and professionally pleasing policy?
Perhaps it would be wise for project management professionals to take heed: The darling Livingstone - the man who brought London three American professional sporting events, a new Wembley Stadiun, a conversion of the Millenium Dome to a state-of-the-art arena across from the David Beckham Soccer Academy, and London 2012 - is no more, and this only two months after being declared ‘our guy’. Now, the question project managers nationwide must be asking themselves is this: Can Boris Johnson live up to the project goals set by London’s first mayor? Or is the caricature that reminds us of Wembley Fraggle actually just a Muppet?
It’s good to see Sir Alan back with his troupe of apprentices (or is that “ambush of apprentices?? collective nouns don’t you just love ‘em!) and with them comes the dreaded task each week headed up by a selected “project manager”. It’s good to see, particularly in this series, that everyone rushes to take up the role - not! Finally the apprentices have learned that to be the project manager will ultimately mean you end up in the board room every single week, in fact being the “project manager” means everyone else can sit back and do nothing helpful or constructive without being micro managed to death, try their hardest to screw it up for the manager (back stabbing abound!) and then whinge that “the project manager doesn’t know how to manage me…………!”. What happened to the role and responsibilities of the team members? Can you imagine this set up on your project?
Fire the lot of ‘em!
Catch the latest installment of “12 Reasons Why You Wouldn’t Be a Project Manager AKA The Apprentice” each Wednesday
From a recent Tipoffs article by Mick Hides…
Work life balance is a term that is gaining in prominence, and for once is a UK-inspired philosophy which was only adopted by the USA a decade or so later. The meaning of work-life balance is different for everyone but in general addresses the “unhealthy life choices that many people were making; they were choosing to neglect other important area of their lives such as family, friends, and hobbies in favor of work-related chores and goals”
This has been reduced to the more well-known tome: “working to live, not living to work”.
The UK government formalised this thinking into ‘flexible working’, a phrase that describes any working pattern adapted to suit your needs. Common types of flexible working are:
- part-time: working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week
- flexi-time: choosing when to work (there’s usually a core period during which you have to work)
- annualised hours: your hours are worked out over a year (often set shifts with you deciding when to work the other hours)
- compressed hours: working your agreed hours over fewer days
- staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace
- job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else
- home working: working from home
You can combine any of these working patterns to come up with something to suit your circumstances.
The rights of employees to basic rights regarding work-life balance are enshrined in law across the European Union. Working time directives, paternity leave, parental rights, and caring for dependents have all become accepted cases for controlling work life balance.
Employers are more aware today that a healthy and happy work force is more productive and more likely to continue producing for them. More money either in overtime, bonus or base salary is losing its appeal to many people who recognise that money isn’t everything; perhaps that is why the public sector have a greater holiday allowance than anyone else.
The reality for Project professionals is that they are constantly driven by deadlines and often tomorrow will not do. We have all worked on projects when the right thing to do is to work excessive hours. But how many of us have considered the alternatives. Why are we working such long hours? Is our plan unrealistic? Do we have sufficient resources? If you are not able to change any of these are you really empowered to manage the project?
One simple way to gain back control is working from home. Free from the constantly ringing telephone and other office related distractions, you can concentrate on the things that matter within your project. From personal experience, I know that I can achieve significantly more, than if I were in the office. If this is not appropriate, what about getting in slightly earlier and using the quiet time in the same way? I have recently caught up with a public sector manager who has a flexible working arrangement. He manages a portfolio of projects and has a high record of achievement. He has designed his day to start at 7am and he often ends up finishing by 3pm or 4pm, allowing him time for MBA self-study and quality family experiences each day. This may not work for everyone, though, and even he admits that occasionally longer days are required.
The truth is that as Project Managers, we are probably the best equipped professionals to design a work-life balance that is both productive for our employers and allows us to have a lifestyle outside of the office. The decision as to whether you make the changes is your choice. I was taught early on in my career about reasons and excuses. From the perspective of work-life balance, you need to determine whether there are reasons or excuses for you not making the right choice.
Mick Hides is a Consultant for Arras People.
SOURCES:
As Dr. Leo Marvin taught us in the comedy ‘What About Bob?’, everyday growth and development is synonymous with baby steps. Some, such as Marvin’s obsessive-compulsive, vacation wrecking, Neil Diamond-despising patient, Bob Wiley, can take the concept a bit too literally (and too far). But for the management professional, taking baby steps is a solid ground principle that can, in turn, develop a manager’s knowledge, expertise and skills. And while Arras People is in the business of getting the project management professionals to that next position, they are also in the business of providing those baby step opportunities to candidates.
In so doing, Arras People is also helping several local North West charities take a few more steps toward their goals. Careers clinics, held throughout the last eight months by Arras People, have helped to develop the skills and fast-track the career paths of assistant project managers hoping to become established project managers, or project administrators to become project co-ordinators and programme office managers. The clinics are also beneficial for any project management professional looking for general advice and guidance on the construction of their project management CV. For a small donation of just £10, candidates registered with Arras People have learned, developed and taken their baby steps.
The candidates’ donations? Oh, they’ve just gone on to benefit the charity of the candidate’s choice. And Arras People? They’ve matched the candidates’ donations pound-for-pound, raising over £1,000 for Francis House Children’s Hospice, Three Owls Bird Sanctuary and Heywood Little Monkeys Children’s Charity.
John Thorpe, a director of Arras People, feels that it is important not only to educate and develop their candidates, but show it’s presence in the community.
‘It is great to have a dedicated team who are willing to make time to share their experience and at the same time generate money that goes towards helping others in our community,’ he said.
And the baby steps that candidates can take through Arras People show no immediate signs of slowing. Careers Clinics are still available through April and will be offered continuously throughout the year with any of our three in-house advisers. The £10 donation fee will go toward any one of three new charities, and you must be available to talk via telephone with the Arras People representative at the specific time and date you sign up for.
To sign up for a clinic in April, details are available at http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/PMC_Clinic/. To register with Arras People first, go to http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/register.html.
