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What have I
learnt about Project Management this year?
The Demand for Project Managers
By Melanie Franklin of Maven Training
 Project
Management is growing!!! You might not think
that is a very impressive statement as the world
of project management and subsequent demand for
project managers has been growing for the last 5
years. However, it is important to note that the
growth in this area of management has not tailed
off – and shows no signs of doing so.
For those of you
who are currently looking for project management
roles, there is evidence from recruitment
consultancies that employers continue to demand
this role in ever-greater numbers. For example,
Arras People has indicated a 49% increase in the
recruiter demand for project managers.
UK job
boards also demonstrate growth, with
Jobserve.co.uk showing an increase of project
manager roles from 17,500 in September 2005 to
19,950 to November 2005 – this is an increase of
at least a 1000 jobs a month.
In addition, the
behavior of organisations has indicated a move
toward integrating project management into the
organisational environment. I have encountered
so many organisations this year who are
reviewing their workloads and categorising work
as projects which had previously been regarded
simply as ‘business as usual’. The drivers for
this are varied. Within the public sector, the
funding of new initiatives continues to be
driven along the lines of a project – with
release of funds being tied to the delivery of
certain milestones. In the private sector, the
complexity of new initiatives, including the
need to include resources from multiple business
disciplines leads managers to establish project
teams led by a dedicated project manager who can
manager across these business disciplines.
Whatever role
you are currently seeking, its worth bearing the
above in mind, and ensuring that your CV
reflects any project management experience or
qualifications that you hold.
Melanie Franklin, is the Managing Director of
Maven Training, a leading provider of project and programme management courses
Christmas Party Advice
By John Stamford of JS & Associates Ltd
 A
party organised by the employer or in the name
of the employer counts as work for the purposes
of employment law. Fuelled by alcohol that is
when the inhibitions of some males and females
are set loose!!
Without being killjoys, we believe that although
the employees may be seen as consenting parties
it is the responsibility of senior managers to
curb excessive or offensive behaviour—remember
that claims for sex, sexual orientation, race,
religion and belief discrimination, harassment
(or subsequent victimisation) are without
limit! Christmas parties are seen as a fertile
area of new business for the solicitors.
John Stamford & Associates give advice on; Redundancy Outplacement Employment tribunals Performance appraisal Training Recruitment Discipline and dismissal Personnel Human resource strategy
What have I
learnt about Project Management this year?
Project Sponsors
By David Marsh of MMP
As a Project
Wrangler of many years - no its not a typo -
I continue to learn from each project - One
of this years lesson's came from dealing with
a Project Sponsor who knew nothing about IT
and nothing about what his role was. Trying to get him to absorb what he had to
do and then get him to do it was proving
very difficult. So I suggested that what I
did for him was to provide a Project
Sponsor's Crib Sheet. Each week I produced
for him a document containing a Word table
describing what he had to do to whom and by
when.
This checklist
proved a huge success - it provided a forum
for us to discuss and agree what the project
needed from him and why - the results - he
did what was required and in doing so he
learnt in small chunks what a Project
Sponsor should do.
The result - he
got promoted - took on a new job with a
large project at its heart - I know he
demands from that Project Manager a crib
sheet as well - he told me so a week or so
ago over a pint.I guess
it worked!
 David Marsh of MMP, Business, Programme and Project Management Consultancy
A Year in Hell's Kitchen
By John
Gough, Director Diabolo Journeys
It will not surprise you, but if
you are a manager for a large
organisation (or even if you are not), chances
are that
you could have spent over thirty
working weeks in meetings this year. I can feel a typical Gordon Ramsey response coming on,
because was it worth it, or with few exceptions
was it the corporate equivalent of Hell’s
Kitchen?
Looking back now, does all that
time blend into one endless experience of grey
whiteboards, soggy biscuits, flat mineral water
and not much achieved? The average meeting costs
an organisation over £2000 in management time
alone, so any organisation should be looking for
real value every time their managers step out.
When Willie Walsh joined BA
earlier this year, he had the opportunity of
touring the company whilst Rod Eddington’s era
came to a close. He was able to view the
organisation at it’s roots, a luxury few CEO’s
ever experience, and his reaction within weeks
of taking the rudder, was the announcement of
the loss of a third of BA middle management
posts, over 600 jobs. That’s a lot fewer
meetings.
I am learning to ensure every
meeting has a purpose, a structure and defined
outcomes. Make meetings count, then count your
meetings, and then divide by three.
See Change with Diabolo Journeys, innovative products, services and training
What have I
learnt about Project Management this year?
People Power
By Chris Grey of Greyline Management
 I
didn’t have to think very hard to decide what it
is that I have learnt about project management
over the last 12 months is. People power is
paramount.
Much literature is dedicated to
the techniques needed to assist Project Managers
to manage their project but the reality is that
the one skill that overrides all others is
people management.
I have observed a number of
projects this last twelve months and each one
suffered to some degree from people problems.
-
People who over/under
estimate how much effort will be required to
complete a task.
-
People who attend
meetings with, apparently, the sole purpose
of disrupting the meeting to further their
own agenda.
-
People who think that it
doesn’t matter if they divert a project team
member onto other task(s).
-
People who think that the
best way to achieve an objective is to put
team members, including the project manager,
under ever greater pressure.
Of course none of this would be
possible if the project manager concerned had
effective people management skills.
So the lesson I have learnt in
the last 12 months is that when next I need
someone for a project management position I will
give people management skills the highest
weighting of all the areas in the interview.
GreyLine Management (GreyLine)is dedicated to promoting Project Management best practice by offering Project Management services combined with mentoring of existing staff
Something I've
learnt about Project Management this year?
Effective Scope Management
By Tom O'Connor of Ichnos
Effective Scope Management: It’s
not just about what goes in that matters!
As professional programme and
project managers, we glow when we have managed
to successfully satisfy and balance all of the
needs and requirements of our many stakeholders.
But what happens if the is a sudden need to
start to de-scope?
It may come as no surprise to you
to find that, after Schedules, Priorities is the
next highest cause of conflict intensity in
Project Management, followed in third place by
Manpower related issues.
So how do you de-prioritise
without being lynched?
My advice is to prepare for this
eventuality at the scope definition phase, by
integrating those activities with the project’s
risk management process, ie “Plan for Descoping”.
A useful tool which can assist in
defining the priorities of project requirements
is: MoSCoW, where:
M – “MUST have”
S –
“SHOULD have”
C –
“COULD have” (if this does not
effect anything else)
W –
“WON'T have” (but would be
wanted in future)
This can be further qualified
with assessments of each element’s cost,
resource usage, duration and expected benefits.
Adopting this approach should
avoid much of the conflict that follows on from
any sudden decision to de-scope, simply by
progressing through the “C’s”, “S’s” and “M’s”,
which have been collectively agreed upon, in
reverse order.
Tom O'Connor, PMP of Ichnos Ltd (Ichnos) provide programme and project management expertise within the UK financial services sector
New Roles from
Arras People For all our
current live vacancies see the website at www.arraspeople.co.uk/jobs.php
Hot Jobs! We
have a number of on-going recruitment campaigns
for a number of clients:
- Consultant Project
Managers - Roles available at Project Manager and Senior Project Manager level
- Rail Industry - Senior level roles - Programme Manager and PSO Manager as well as Project Controllers and Project Planners (especially with P3 experience)
- Project Manager - role available in the Devon area
- Training Organisations - a number of different types of Project Management roles within different training organisations
- Other Roles - Arras People also carries out one-off recruitment for our clients who may have roles which are not project management
Project Management
Careers Clinic
The Project Management
Careers Clinic is open for business once again,
with two dates each month for each area of specialism.
The next dates are the 19th December, 10th and
17th January.
Book now or refer a friend in need
>
Clinic
<. This clinic remains free to all registered
project management professionals who are registered
with Arras People
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