Managing AM/FM/GIS Projects in Environments of Change
Mike Barrett Engagement Manager EMC Corporation 12720 Hillcrest Road, Suite 820 Dallas, TX 75230
Introduction
Webster defines change as a transformation, modification or alteration. Change is inevitable. Defining and adapting to change within AM/FM/GIS projects is no different and must be managed accordingly. Without a properly structured program to manage change, whether it be in technology, project scope, schedule, organizational structure or the various other “opportunities” that often impacts AM/FM/GIS projects, a project manager severely decreases his chances for success. Organizational Change Management AM/FM/GIS implementations often involve organizational changes that can be significant. A corporate culture that is not used to these sometimes radical changes can be strained and the backlash detrimental to the project’s success. Today’s AM/FM/GIS projects are more likely to involve alterations to the corporate mission statement, modifications to the business objectives, reshaping of the organizational structure and reengineered business processes. While a few success Business Process Reegineering (BPR) projects have received significant publicity, the majority of projects--some estimates are as high as 70 percent--are not considered successful by management. That is because a reegineering project that redefines processes without altering the values, shared opinions, and beliefs that supported the old processes is likely to fail. These projects significantly impact not only the way people perform their jobs and interact with others, but also fundamental areas of their self-image, the values that direct their actions, and the attitudes that shape the business. Many organizations will attempt to roll organizational change management activities into general GIS project management tasks, but with limited success. Those organizations that have had the foresight to recognize, plan for and manage organizational changes apart from the everyday GIS implementation will even go as far as employing a organizational change management specialist. One such company who staffs a change management focused group is Hawaiian Electric Company. One of the best ways to consign a project to almost certain failure is to manage it without regard for the organization’s external environment, including those project stakeholders who can play such an important part in a project’s success or failure. Project “stakeholders” is the term used to refer to any group, internal or external to the company, that has an active stake in the project’s development and implementation. To ignore the potential power of such stakeholder groups is foolhardy and often results from either ignorance or complacency on the part of the project manager. As more and more companies re-engineer in the age of deregulation, how they handle organizational change management is becoming increasingly paramount. Adopting new technology forces needed changes in business processes. It is important that companies not think in terms of simply automating tasks that people are already performing, but to think in terms of consolidating and replacing unneeded tasks to ensure the process is efficient and effective. A project manager should always be looking for and encouraging the team to look for ways to improve the entire workflow process, even if it means the organizational structure will be impacted. Nonetheless, if an organization is to work effectively, the communication continues to be through the most effective channel regardless of the organization chart or its structure. Technology Change Management One of the consistent temptations of any project manager is to upgrade to newer technology in the belief that it will improve the project’s user acceptance or usability. However, it should be stated that new technologies do imply new and unknown risks. Sometimes the allure of being first to market with a new technology causes project managers to cut comers, marginalize safety factors, or make quality trade-offs. In the end, these decisions almost invariably come back to haunt the project manager. Intel often states that every eighteen months, the chip technology improvements allow processing speed to be doubled and the price of the processors to be one-half. Make no mistake, new technologies are very tempting to exploit for exactly that reason: they are newer, faster, and/or cheaper. They often offer the project manager an opportunity to improve on an previous oversight from the planning stages of the project. Unfortunately, in the rush to push new designs or technical achievements, there is a strong likelihood of inadequate or cursory pretesting that can result in disaster. There must be a proper balance between being the first to implement new technology and ensuring that the new and improved products will perform in positive, expected ways. Managing Project Scope Changes The Project Management Institute defines a project as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. Unique means that the product or service is different in some distinguishing way from all similar products or services. Project scope management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. However, all projects, large and small, evolve over time, growing in complexity, changing in appearance, and finally reaching a state of maturity. It is important that there be techniques and procedures for tracking progress toward the defined specifications and for incorporating changes that occur in the requirements over time. It is critical for the delivered system to reflect the client’s expectations. Good management control, deliverable product control, and technical acceptance reviews are the keys to successful project control. However it should be noted that before changes can be proposed to the project scope, it must be clearly defined and documented. When there is a poor scope definition, final project costs can be expected to be higher because of the inevitable changes which disrupt project rhythm, cause rework, increase project time, and lower the productivity and morale of the project team. A deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and defines the total scope of the project is called the work breakdown structure (WBS). Work not in the WBS should be considered outside the scope of the project. It is commonly expected by most project managers that there will be numerous requested changes to the scope of the project over the project’s timeline. This is not necessarily a negative impact as long as it is managed correctly. One such technique that has been utilized by numerous AM/FM/GIS projects is the implementation of a Change Control Board (CCB) which is a formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for approving or rejecting changes to the project baselines. Each change request must be scrutinized as to its impact to the project budget, schedule and risk. The New Project Manager Skill Set Effective project management is not impossible. It has been successfully accomplished for thousands of years. Why then does the information systems industry, and specifically the AM/FM/GIS projects, have a reputation for project cost overruns, schedule slippage, and poor quality as measured by maintainability? The answer does not lie in the lack of project management knowledge. Perhaps it lies in the lack of applying professional project management techniques. This does not imply that strict rules need to be documented and established. Rules tend to evolve into constraints. Good project management must be flexible. Certainly the role of the AM/FM/GIS project manager is changing as the technology strives to become more integrated into the enterprise. So what skills are required for effective project leadership? Certainly the ability to see the big picture, strong communications skills, excellent team development skills and the ability to motivate. In the past, project managers most likely were appointed to lead teams based on their technical skills, past track record or position in the hierarchy, rather than their ability to provide the needed leadership that the team demanded of them for success. A project team must have leadership, but that does not mean that it necessarily must have a defined leader. It the dynamic world of AM/FM/GIS projects, it is increasingly more unlikely that any one person will be best equipped to satisfy all the roles required at each stage of the project. By putting aside the hierarchical title of project manager, it may open the opportunity for different members of the team to contribute to the leadership role when required. The role of the “new” project manager continues to include team building, task assignments, task monitoring, communicating, motivation, conflict resolution, counseling, meeting guidelines, quality control and quality assurance planning. A project manager must be able to mold the available resources and use the available tools to accomplish a recognizable goal within the project parameters. There is no formula, which when applied, guarantees success 100% of the time. A project manager must be able to foresee inconsistencies, unknowns, and changing environments before they affect a project’s outcome. This is especially tricky when most of the variables are human in nature. Project management skills, unlike business cards, are not issued. They are learned, often in the heat of the battle. Summary “Weak leader/project manager” is an oxymoron. Successful leaders exhibit many traits, but a weakness is not one of them. Leadership is essential in project success. The AM/FM/GIS project manager may be the single most essential position to ensuring the success of project planning and implementation. The general role of the project manager is to oversee specific vendor, contractor and consultant activities, coordinate any in-house development and data conversion activities, communicate significant project milestones to management and project stakeholders, and act as liaison with other external agencies and organizations as required on multiparticipant issues. The project manager is the responsible, accountable person who makes the project successful and surrounds himself with the proper resources, procedures and technologies to ensure his success. However, the project manager cannot do it all by him/herself. Another important component of the project manager’s role is the function of personnel/team management and project morale building. This entails not only communications with other team members, but also the ability to effectively plan project details and follow-up on specific action items. Thus, the role of the project manager continues to be diverse, complex and multidisciplinary in nature. The modem AM/FM/GIS project manager requires both leadership and management skills. A good manager that has leadership qualities, and a good leader that has management skills. People and organizations continue to resist AM/FM/GIS implementations for a number of reasons, including suspicion of or dislike for technology, fear of job loss, concerns about increased job complexity, confusion about the benefits of AM/FM/GIS, disruption of the organization’s power structure, and human nature’s resistance to new things and change. Convincing project managers are needed to overcome such resistance and help participants appreciate the benefits of GIS. Strong and persuasive project managers are also needed to convince stakeholders and upper management of the benefits of GIS, particularly in the face of competing and often more appealing corporate projects. | ||
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