Project management audio blog featuring monthly interviews with the most seasoned and recognized practitioners, thought leaders, project managers, and executives on industry-specific business problems to help C-level executives achieve success.
In this episode Wayne Thompson sits down with Blake Chadick, Parksite's enterprise systems manager, to discuss how Parksite improved its operations by transitioning from multiple disparate software systems to a single integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
Parksite is a wholesaler and distributor company headquartered in Illinois that offers specialized products, training, and value-added services to market segments within the building industry. It is one hundred percent employee owned, and has 14 locations and over 350 employees.
Parksite’s growth and its continued success demand that the company maintain a clear vision and well-defined goals. It already had in place the right business model, the right people, the right attitude and outstanding products and services. What it was missing was an integrated IT system to enable managers to see what was happening in the business in real time and respond in a timely and effective manner.
Parksite set out on a quest to find a software solution that provided end to end integration; the ability to customize the software to Parksite’s needs and business model (and not the other way around); and a low total cost of ownership. After doing an evaluation of enterprise resource planning vendors, Pronto Software emerged as the finalist. Today, Blake will share with us his experiences and insights of selecting and implementing PRONTO-Xi.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Chelsea Loft” 2. Interview with industry insiders – “East Ender” 3. The closing of the episode – “Torn Jeans”
Many project-centric organizations continuously struggle with scheduling projects and communicating ideas and objectives across their project teams. In today’s competitive economic climate effectively collaborating project details across your organization can provide you the edge you need to deliver superior service to your clients. In many cases organizations have scattered teams across multiple locations and regions further complicating the dynamics of an organizations portfolio of projects and resource pool. With that in mind, companies are looking to on-demand technologies, like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), to quickly address their ability to better organize project schedules and the collaboration of project details across dispersed project teams.
In this episode, we will examine how improving scheduling and collaboration with project management software can help service companies deliver superior customer service, achieve productivity gains, and ultimately gain competitive advantage.
To do this, I’m sitting down with Mark Rogers, the localization project manager of ENLASO.
For those not familiar with the company, ENLASO provides enterprise language solutions including translation, localization, and interpreting services. Its core multilingual solutions include: Technical Documentation Localization, Web site Localization, Software Localization, Multicultural Marketing, Multimedia Localization, Localization Testing, Consulting and Training, and Language Technology Engineering. In serving clients, ENLASO uses a rigorous linguist selection process and customer-focused account management methodology.
Today Mark will share how ENLASO not only improved visibility, communication, resource planning, customer service, and productivity but also gained competitive advantage by moving from an ad hoc system of spreadsheets, usually not synched, to Clarizen’s on-demand project management software.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Collins Avenue” 2. Interview with project manager – “Investigation” 3. The closing of the episode – “Elysium”
For the State of Delaware, managing the construction program of roads and bridges involves hundreds of projects with thousands of resources to be managed all across the state. Throw in a mixture of large scale multi-year projects with multiple smaller projects and poor project scheduling, and you can end up literally stopping an entire city in its tracks. With that in mind, it is critical that a capital program of this magnitude requires extensive workflows and project scheduling capabilities that move beyond the basic scheduling of project dates based on an existing resource pool. In fact, project scheduling can in effect become both program managers and project managers doorway to obtaining the visibility they need with through the centralization of project information to achieve project success while keeping their constituents satisifed.
In this episode we sit down with industry insiders, Bob Perrine and Connie Post of the Delaware Department of Transportation or DOT to discuss the challenges and complexities of managing a portfolio of capital projects.
Bob Perrine is a civil engineer with 30 years experience in the vertical and horizontal construction industries. He has worked in federal government, private industry, and state government. Currently, Bob is the Constructability Review Engineer / Master Scheduler for the Delaware DOT where he is responsible for managing the master schedule for the capital construction program, performing constructability reviews of all capital construction and many maintenance and operations projects within the DOT, as well as for determining the construction duration for each of the projects within the capital program.
Connie Post, my other distinguished guest, has over 28 years of experience in Information Technology, and 18 years of experience in Project Management. She is a member of the PMI Delaware chapter and has also served as an instructor for WorWic Community College. Connie is currently an independent consultant with the Delaware DOT and her responsibilities include project management, requirements analysis and implementation of new systems, systems integration, and business process review.
In this episode, Bob and Connie will share how the Delaware Department of Transportation improved visibility, communication, resource planning, and delivery of capital projects by moving from an ad hoc system of spreadsheets, usually not synched, to Oracle Primavera.
Music Notes
The opening of the episode – “Offroad”
Interview with industry insiders – “Collins Avenue”
Probably the most difficult challenge project managers face when mitigating risks within their projects is anticipating their stakeholders impact on the outcome of their projects. Risk Management has become a vital discipline in the planning of project uncertainty often the result of stakeholder activities. Properly employing a defined set of metrics in a systematic manner provided by proven methodologies such as Earned Value Management (EVM), in conjunction with the "softer" techniques touted by Risk Management experts can save a project from being derailed by the unpredictable reality of human intervention . As a result, project managers are constantly balancing stakeholder actions, or in some cases inactions, based on historical knowledge and anticipated future events to achieve the best results in mitigating project risk.
In this episode, we will examine how organizations can mitigate risk through effective risk and stakeholder management strategies.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In Part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Rich Maltzman who has over 30 years of project management experience. He is a Senior Manager in a large telecom's Global Program Management Office, looking after the career path, certification, development, skills management, etc. for more than 2,000 project managers. His current projects include Scope Crepe, a delicious blog about project management and life, and Fiddler on the Project, a book to help project managers keep their balance atop the roof consisting of the traditional project constraints (time, budget, and so on) and the change brought about by the project – all while producing a tune to inspire the various stakeholders. Tonight he will be sharing his insights and experiences in the management of stakeholders and the mitigation of risks.
If you would like more information about coping with or mitigating project risks or developing an effective risk management strategy, then check out:
Episode 5, Creating a PMO: Coping with Risks &Uncertainties of Project Management (Part One); Episode 6, Creating a PMO: Coping with Risks &Uncertainties of Project Management (Part Two); Episode 16, Mitigating Risks in Project Management; and Episode 19, Risk Management: Why opponents to the project are your most important external stakeholders.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, I sit down with Charlene Thompson, who has over 15 years of project management experience. She is the Vice President of Programs for the Kansas City chapter of PMI, and is a member of the PMI College of Scheduling. Currently, Charlene works for the EG&G Division of URS as Project Engineer for Alliant Techsystems (ATK) at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. ATK has more than 17,000 employees in 21 states and is a leading supplier of aerospace and defense products, munitions, smart weapons, propulsion and composite structures. Today, Charlene discusses how ATK uses Primavera's earned value management system to mitigate risks and manage stakeholders while performing complex, long term maintenance projects at the munitions plant.
Thanks again to our community, please keep the war stories coming.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – "Catwalk" 2. Interview with industry insider – "Collins Avenue" 3. Technology Corner – "Investigation" 4. The closing of the episode – "Electric Rodeo"
With businesses around the globe experiencing the pinch of a hurting economy, project managers and PMO leaders are looking for ways to mitigate project cost overruns by carefully gauging their resources and activities at every critical milestone. In light of this reality, measuring techniques such as earned value management have been pushed to the the top of project managers' agendas in order to assist their organizations during these volatile times.
So what is Earned Value Management (EVM) anyways? EVM is a technique for objectively measuring project performance by combining the measurement of project scope, schedule and cost into one single integrated metric. Sounds like a silver bullet? Think again. Like most project management methodologies, without the proper stakeholder buy-in and when misapplied EVM can yield inaccurate results that can potentially derail a project's path to success. Alternatively, since its introduction in the 1960's by the US government, EVM has had a long history of helping project managers in the private sector and government contractors in the public sector in measuring the cost and performance of their projects.
In this episode, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of earned value management in providing metrics to better gauge project milestones.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In Part 1, the Technology Corner, we sit down with Charlene Thompson, who has over 15 years project management experience. She is the Vice President of Programs for the Kansas City chapter of PMI, and is a member of the PMI College of Scheduling. Currently, Charlene works for the EG&G Division of URS as Project Engineer for Alliant Techsystems (ATK) at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. ATK has more than 17,000 employees in 21 states and is a leading supplier of aerospace and defense products, munitions, smart weapons, propulsion and composite structures. In this episode, Charlene discusses why ATK switched from Microsoft Projects to Primavera to manage complex, long term maintenance projects at the munitions plant.
In Part 2, we will be talking to industry insider, Larry Bradshaw who has over 15 years of project and portfolio management experience. He is the founder and owner of Commonwealth Data Systems, Inc. Larry has extensive experience with IT Software Program and Project Execution as well as detailed leadership in software development, testing, implementation and support. In this episode, he will be sharing his insights and war stories around earned value management.
I would also like to remind our audience that it is not too late to sign up to receive a free copy of our upcoming Industry Report on new product development.
The industry report will provide project managers, engineers and executives insight into the technology and tools to develop, manage, design, and produce products from idea generation to commercialization.
The report will feature thought leadership, best practices and customer success stories in key verticals, such as aerospace, consumer goods, process manufacturing, financial services, publishing, and many others, to help project managers, engineers, and executives succeed.
If you would like to get a free copy of the report, which will be published in January, click here to complete the registration form today.
Thanks again to our community, please keep the war stories and suggestions coming.
Often Project Management Offices (PMOs) are setup in response to an increasing volume of projects that are in desperate need to be managed, prioritized and tracked so that they deliver on the expectations of the corporations they serve. Whether these projects drive the organizations operations or are core to the services delivered to customers, aligning their outcome with corporate goals is key to their success in the eyes of both internal and external stakeholder at hand.
With this in mind, Project Portfolio Management (PPM) as a discipline is the governance framework of choice most PMOs embrace in order to efficiently and effectively manage the limited resources and long list of tasks on multiple projects residing at any given time within an organization. This careful balancing act between resources and projects PMOs seek to achieve, requires the necessary visibility PPM can provide so that prject leaders can strateigcally align their success with corporate goals.
In this episode, we examine how project portfolio management provides the necessary visibility into projects that impact an organization’s success by examining a manufacturing company and a media company.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In Part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Beth Partleton, who has more than 30 years of project and portfolio management experience in manufacturing and construction. Beth recently retired from Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she worked as the Director of Strategic Projects and was responsible for creating Miller’s project management office and for developing a better link between portfolio management and Miller’s corporate strategy. During her illustrious project management career, she was a founder, charter member and president of the Milwaukee/Southeast Wisconsin PMI Chapter; she was Chair of the PMI Educational Foundation Board of Directors, and lastly she served on the Board of Directors for PMI’s Manufacturing specific interest group. Today she will be sharing her insights and war stories around managing project priorities in a manufacturing environment.
In part 2, the Technology Corner, I sit down with Kris Reynolds, Director of the Program Management Office (PMO) at Macrovision, formerly TV Guide. Kris has over 10 years of project management experience and has led numerous projects in healthcare and software application development. His PMO was named one of the Top 20 Outstanding project management organizations in the October 2007 edition of PM Network magazine. Kris is a frequent author and lecturer on project portfolio management, PMOs, and project management, and currently serves as president of the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMO Local Interest Group of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tonight he discusses how his organization improved resource management, capacity planning and moved away from putting out fires to managing projects, all by switching from a system of spreadsheets, word documents and the ad hoc standard of the day to Daptiv PPM.
Special Announcement: Based on feedback from our audience, PM War Stories is partnering with the PMI Montreal Chapter to create and distribute the Product Development and Design Industry Report
The industry report will provide project managers, engineers, and executives insight into the technology and tools to develop, manage, design, and produce products from idea generation to commercialization. Examining key software vendors in project portfolio management, new product development and product life cycle management, the report will provide in-depth analysis of the state of the market.
Additionally, it will feature thought leadership, best practices and customer success stories in key verticals, such as aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer goods, electronics, industrials, life sciences, process manufacturing, financial services, publishing, and many others, to help project managers, engineers, and executives succeed.
Anyone interested in receiving a free copy of the report, which will be published in December, should complete the registration form today.
Many thanks to our audience, please keep the war stories and suggestions coming.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode - Torn Jeans 2. Interview with industry insider - East Ender 3. Technology Corner - Highlight Reel 4. The closing of the episode - Electric Rodeo
If there is any type of organization that can best demonstrate the value of project management, it would be professional service organizations (PSO). Projects are the lifeblood of professional services. From the recruitment of the the right talent to the implementation of strong and sound project management leadership, PSOs understand that the difference between their offering and those of their competitors are rarely on the technical skill sets they can deliver but rather on the reilability to deliver a project on time, within specification and on budget. At the end of the day it is the strong project management soft skills of aligining projects with clients goals, ensuring stakeholder buy in, and leading a project team that ensures a PSO's success.
In this episode, we will be exploring the unique needs of professional service organizations, the value of project management and the relevant technologies that can impact their success.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Francois Bruneau, who has nearly 25 years of experience in project management and information technology. He is president and founder of JGF-IT Consulting and serves on the board of directors of PMI Montreal. During his career, Francois has managed projects locally and internationally in health care, the public sector, national defense, telecommunications, manufacturing, finance, and aeronautics. In this episode he will be sharing his insights and experiences in demonstrating strategic leadership as a project manager.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, we sit down with David Hofferberth, Managing Director at Service Performance Insight. David has over 20 years experience and currently specializes in technologies that enable peak performance of people and service organizations. David’s research analyzes the services economy, with particular emphasis on white-collar productivity issues. Tonight he discusses how developing maturity roadmaps can help professional service organizations improve business processes.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Values Are My Own” by Dregnote 2. Interview with industry insider – “Value” by Jimmy Targosz 3. Technology Corner – “Maturity” by Melting Paper Snowflakes 4. The closing of the episode – “Third Time” by To A Generation
Uncertainty is inherent to all projects. Good project managers have developed their own strategies to both manage and mitigate project uncertainties that can have either a positive or negative impact on a project's outcome. To further complicate matters, project managers must face overlapping or conflicting views of risk by both the business side and the project team. What separates the good project managers from the bad is the ability not to only plan for project uncertainities, but the ability to manage risk across the entire organization.
In this episode we will examine the evaluation and management of project risk in its appropriate context, as well as how professional services organizations can mitigate risk when selecting an enterprise resource planning system or ERP system.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Dr. Wilhelm Kross, who is a recognized expert in the fields of risk- and project management. Currently he is President of the PMI Frankfurt Chapter and a Senior Vice President with Marsh GmbH, a subsidiary of Marsh - the world's leading insurance broker and strategic risk advisor. During his career, Dr. Kross has focused on IT mega-projects, crisis and turnaround management, and operational risk audits and management assignments in more than 30 countries. In this episode he will be sharing his insights and experiences in the management of complex and troubled projects while mitigating risks.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, we sit down with David Hofferberth, who has over 20 years experience in the information technology industry. David is the Managing Director at Service Performance Insight, covering the services economy, with particular emphasis on white-collar productivity issues. His area of specialization is the technologies that enable peak performance of people and service organizations. In this episode he discusses how ERP technology can provide business benefits and how to make effective ERP purchase and deployment decisions.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – “Country” by The Videos 2. Interview with industry insider – “Risk your life” by Flipper Dave 3. Technology Corner – “Integration is InteGREAT” by Csub1 4. The closing of the episode – “PSA” by DynaMic Produktionz
Project-centric organizations are constantly balancing their attention on delivering successful short term finite projects and their attention to serving the operations piece of the business. As projects feed the business, the integration of project management and operations management best practices is critical in delivering the most success to a project-driven organization’s bottom line. Thus the project manager that can successfully straddle between the project management and operations management world are more likely to be viewed as strategic stakeholders that can impact the growth and success of the organizations they serve.
In this episode we will examine the gaps and synergies between project management and operations management; and highlight a best practices approach in weaving a pilot project implementing enterprise software into the fabric of an organization’s operations.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, we will be talking to industry insider, Max Wideman, who has more than 40 years of project and program management experience in a wide range of projects and industries, including heavy engineering works such as hydroelectric projects and construction of major building complexes, as well as systems, social, environmental, and software projects. In this segment Max will be sharing with us his insights on the differences between operations management and project management.
In Part 2, the Technology Corner, we will discuss the top 5 issues to consider when moving from an initial pilot project, which requires project management skills, to a full roll out the software application across the organization, which requires operational skills.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
The opening of the episode – “Quebec” by Day Day’s
Interview with industry insider – “Horizon” by MNG STAR
One of the biggest challenges IT departments face is their struggle to deliver projects on time and within budget. But with today’s focus on getting the most out of resources and budgets, IT has to rein in projects more closely than ever before. That challenge has led many IT organizations to turn to project management offices (PMOs) as a way to increase IT efficiency, cut costs, and improve on deliverying projects in a timely fashion and within stringent budget requirements.
In this episode we will continue our examination of the business side of creating a PMO from the ground up for IT projects and highlight a consultant’s best practices approach in PMO creation for an IT organization.
Our show is divided into 2 segments.
In part 1, the Technology Corner, we sit down in our second session with Elissa D'Onofrio. Elissa has more than a decade of experience in project management and information technology. She is the director of the program management office and project delivery at Aviall, a leading solutions provider of aftermarket supply-chain management services for the aerospace, defense and marine industries and a subsidiary of The Boeing Company. Tonight Elissa will be sharing with us her insights of creating a program management office at Aviall to instill a project management discipline, manage IT projects and develop a continual prioritization review process for projects.
In Part 2, we will be continuing our conversation with industry insider, Bruce Moore, who has over 25 years of project management experience in IT, aerospace, manufacturing, energy, government, transport, finance, and healthcare. Bruce is the global managing principal for RCG Information Technology. Tonight he will share best practices and lessons learned in creating a PMO for Aviall’s IT group.
We hope you enjoy the show and encourage you to send your questions, issues, and war stories.
Music Notes
1. The opening of the episode – "Priorities" by RockMan Glenn 2. Intro to Technology Corner – "Priorities Lost" by State Street SnaKES 3. Intro to interview with industry insider – "Predictable Outcomes" by NED ZED 4. The closing of the episode – "Predictable Streets" by Mike Murphy’s Music
