Project Management - Our Plan for Your Plan

PROJECT MANAGEMENTOur Plan for Your Plan

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members in order to make technology work for the legal

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ABOUT ILTAProviding technology solutions to law firms and legaldepartments gets more complex every day. Connectingwith your peers to exchange ideas with those who have“been there done that” has never been more valuable.

For nearly three decades, the International LegalTechnology Association has led the way in sharingknowledge and experience for those faced withchallenges in their firms and legal departments. ILTAmembers come from firms of all sizes and all areas ofpractice, all sharing a common need to have access tothe latest information about products and supportservices that impact the legal profession.

3 The Enigma Called Project Managementby Melissa A. Tanner, PMP of Seyfarth Shaw LLP"Project management" is often misunderstood and avoided. It's a processguiding a project from cradle to grave, and a project manager possesses manyskills to bring the project to a successful completion. Change management iskey to the success of this process. Our author outlines the phases of a project,and this article is a great primer for anyone wanting to learn more about PM.

4 Project Management Peer Group SurveyThe results of ILTA’s first-ever project management survey are in! This inauguralsurvey sets a benchmark from which we will be able to spot future trends.

5 A Communication Plan Is Key to PMby Julia C. Forbes of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLPGood communication is the foundation of good lawyering, and a goodcommunication plan targeted to lawyers is the foundation of a good project in alaw firm. Looking at how lawyers communicate, our author provides strategiesfor crafting a communication plan to ensure a successful project life cycle.

8 Scene One, Take One: SharePoint for PMby Juliet Alters of O’Melveny and Myers LLPSharePoint team sites are a valuable component of the project managementtoolkit at our author's firm. She likens the art of PM to that of directing a movie,and you get a view of their successes from the director's chair.

10 Exclusion Lists Control Your Projectsby Patrick Byron of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLPKnowing what will not occur during a project can be as just as important asknowing what will. Defining and maintaining exclusions ultimately gives projectmanagers more time to ensure successful conclusion to a project. Managing theexpectations of your stakeholders is part art, part science; and our author raisesour skill level in both camps.

11 Starting a PPM Initiativeby Brad Robbins and Kiron Bondale of Solution Q Inc.It's the "chicken or egg" conundrum in the PM world — should we plan ourprocesses or our technology first? There are advantages and disadvantages toboth approaches, and our authors offer a more balanced view that parallelimplementations can serve a firm best. The PMO (Project Management Office) inone firm sought to establish the necessary tools, processes, risk and resourcemanagement of IT projects. Their case study is part of this article.

15 “Soft” Skills for Project Managersby Bruce Nicholls of Bryan Cave, LLPA successful project manager recognizes the need for honing his/her soft skillsand becoming a more effective listener, communicator and mentor. This articleprovides a very good overview of the types of training and resources that your PMleaders can utilize, all focused on building strong project teams to ensuresuccessful project completion.

EDITOR’S NOTEProject management is so much morethan what is visible at first glance. Usingthe star above as an example, we see ateam, tools and the pieces to complete theproject. What we don’t see is theplanning, tool selection, communication,mentoring or even the “speed bumps” thatgot the project this far.

Our authors offer their expertise in“star-building” with tips, techniques andwisdom ranging from effectivelycommunicating with the PM team andstakeholders, to balancing processes andtechnology in a project portfoliomanagement implementation. Ourgratitude goes to them.

In addition, we’re very excited to offer theresults of ILTA’s first-ever projectmanagement survey, and we extend ourthanks to all who participated.

Ken Hansen, Editor

:: July 20062

The goals of this phase are to gain everyone’s approval of thedeliverables, delivery dates and responsible parties. This phase is wherethe project team, not just the project manager, will collaborate to:

Determine stakeholders and team members.

Create a list of all the tasks and work to be performed (using workbreakdown structure or other method).

Determine milestones.

Define the roles and responsibilities.

Create a detailed schedule or work plan, including dates,dependencies and resource assignments.

Define the budget, including costs for software, hardware and services.

Determine risks and the plans to mitigate them.

Define the communications plan.

It is extremely important that all project team members buy into the planand believe that they can achieve the goal. If they do not, the projectwill not be successful. Therefore, once the planning meetings haveoccurred, all planning information must be documented and reviewedwith the project team members in order to gain their approval. Theplans should then be reviewed and approved by the project sponsor andother stakeholders.

Executing the Project. The primary goal of this phase is to coordinatethe resources in order to carry out the plan. Key to this phase isdeveloping the team. Team building is critical to the success of theproject and should be an ongoing activity.

by Melissa A. Tanner, PMP of Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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Project Management :: 3

Project management (PM) is an enigma to most organizations, withmany believing it to be a tool with which projects are managed.Similarly, there is a misconception that a project manager is a taskmaster. Project management is a process guiding a project from cradleto grave, and a project manager possesses many skills to bring theproject to a successful completion.

All projects start with an idea or a problem that needs to be solved. It’san art to turn an idea into reality or resolve that problem on time,within budget and using available resources. That art is projectmanagement, and the project manager is its curator.

Role of the Project ManagerThe project manager plays a key role in a project. While one of his/herroles is most certainly managing tasks, a project manager must also bea leader, coach, organizer, motivator, negotiator, planner and conflictresolver, to name a few. A great project manager is an active listener,delegator and one who gives recognition where recognition is due.

Project Management ProcessThe process varies from organization to organization, but most sharethe following phases: initiating, planning, executing, controlling andclosing.1 Without these phases there would be no clear road map forthe project team to follow and no way to know if the project is oncourse. The three key phases, planning, executing and controlling areexamined in this article.

Planning the Project. This phase is probably the most important. Webegin with assumptions that a cost benefit analysis or feasibility studywas conducted, and a project charter was defined and approved.

Project Management Survey ResultsProject management has been rapidly growing in thelegal community, and the number of certifiedprofessional project managers has been growing as well.We didn’t know how much or how rapid this growth wasuntil we got the results of ILTA’s first-ever survey onproject management. The members of the ILTA ProjectManagement Peer Group Steering Committee were allsurprised, pleasantly surprised. 155 entitiesparticipated in the survey. This was a terrific response,and thanks to all who participated!

This survey has two major values. It offers backgroundon what firms and law departments know about projectmanagement (what they are doing and what tools andprocesses they’re finding most useful and acceptable).The questions can be used as a project managementchecklist to determine an organization’s maturity leveland what steps should be taken.

Our thanks to Kathy Boden-Benson and Conrad Ekkensfor designing a great tool.

To view the results of the survey, go towww.iltanet.org/pg/pmsurvey.pdf.

:: July 20064

This phase is where:

Quotes and proposals will be obtained, if needed

Contractor and vendor relationships will be managed

Controlling the Project. The goals of this phase are to monitor andcontrol the project by tracking performance, taking corrective actionsand keeping the team informed. Monitoring and controlling are not justpractical theories; both play an essential part in a leader’s ability tomake sound business decisions. Information on the project isperiodically gathered, and the plan is updated. This updatedinformation should be utilized to facilitate the decision-making phase,especially if corrective actions are required.

A status report document, schedule and other project documents shouldbe updated periodically and distributed to the project team, projectsponsor, key stakeholders and other executive management. Thesedocuments provide information on the accomplishments, goals and anydelays associated with the project, and they report next steps.

Change ManagementImplementing a project management process takes patience andflexibility. There will be resistance to change within the organization.A change management process is needed to execute a plan effectively.Change management must begin at the top level and filter downward.The project managers should be change leaders.

Does Technology Offer Assistance?An organization must understand project management and have theprocesses in place before implementing a PM tool. The tool (e.g., Ganttcharts, resource management, task management, etc.) aids the projectteam, it does not manage the project. The tool is only as good as theprocesses behind it; and without a clear understanding of this concept,many projects are doomed to failure.

Plan Your Work, Work Your PlanIf your organization is ready to implement a PM practice or if yourcurrent practice needs to be reviewed, keep these thoughts in mind:

Process is key: No tool will manage projects by itself.

Education, education, education: Educate the organization onproject management.

Change management: Get buy-in and support from uppermanagement.

Start small: Focus on important issues.

If these four key items are addressed, your organization should be ableto turn project management from an enigma into a reality.

Endnote1 These five phases align with the Project Management Institutes (PMI) project

management processes (initiating, planning, executing, monitoring andcontrolling and closing) as defined in the Project Management Body ofKnowledge (PMBOK) 3rd Edition (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2004) page 23.

Recommended Reading from the AuthorProject Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) 3rd Edition (ANSI/PMI99-001-2004), by Project Management Institutes (PMI)

Principles of Project Management, by Project Management Institutes (PMI)

Project Management, by Gary R. Heerkens

Project Management for Dummies, by Stanley E. Portney, PMPCChhaannggee mmaannaaggeemmeenntt mmuusstt bbeeggiinn aatt

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Why Projects FailOnly 28 percent of technology projects are delivered “as planned.”1 Thelarger the project, the greater the likelihood of failure (think Denverairport baggage handling system). The following studies revealprecisely how important communication is in a project.

In 1998, BULL (a French computer manufacturer and systemsintegrator) requested Spikes Cavell (an independent research company)to conduct a survey in the U.K. to identify the major causes of IT projectfailure. Poor communications were blamed 40 percent of the time, withmore than half of those indicating that a breakdown in communicationswas the culprit. The breakdowns occurred in all areas and among allgroups associated with the project.

The KPMG Canada Survey, conducted in 1997 concluded that “poorproject planning” and, more specifically, the quality of the“communication plan” was the reason for project failure.2

The CHAOS Report in 1995 identified “incomplete requirements andlack of user involvement” as the top reasons for project failure.Involving users is an essential element of proper communication. Therole of an IT or project manager centers around good communication.You’d think we would have a higher project success rate.

by Julia C. Forbes of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP

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A project manager should prepare a well thought-out, effective andbulletproof communication plan as part of a successful project plan.Good communication is the foundation of good lawyering, and a goodcommunication plan targeted to lawyers is the foundation of a goodproject in a law firm.

Learning and Applying Communication SkillsTwo of the primary skills taught in the first year of law school areproblem solving and writing. While the “problem solving” part of aproject is centered around quality, procurement, cost, scheduling andrisk, all the processes together rely upon writing skills and ultimately acommunication plan to keep the stakeholders (usually lawyers)informed. It would stand to reason that lawyers would respond quitefavorably to a good communication plan. Informed stakeholders makefewer demands on project team members, providing better utilization oftime and other resources. With a successful conclusion to a project,budgets for future projects are more likely to be approved.

Additionally, lawyers learn to use the FIRAC (Facts/Issues/Rules/Analysis/Conclusion) approach to practicing law. Therefore, acommunication plan should include these five points as much aspossible to increase the odds of success.

Now consider what is at the core of practicing law. For thetransactional legal practice, it is document drafting. For all legalpractices, particularly litigation, it is the ability to present or argueusing written and oral skills. Lawyers who are collaborating withoutside counsel, recruiting new lawyers or bringing in clients, mustalter their content and style for their specific audiences. The productlawyers sell is expertise, billed in six-minute increments. The validityand accuracy of all communications is paramount for them, and itwould be reasonable that they would expect the same of staff,particularly project managers.

Study Primary Failure Other Causes

CHAOS Report Lack of user involvement No clear statement ofrequirements

Bull Survey Poor communications between relevant parties Lack of planning

KPMG Poor project planning Poor articulation of userrequirements

:: July 20066

there may be some special considerations such as regulatoryrequirements that must involve the lawyers or elevated accountpermissions to monitor cost overruns or missed deadlines that may,perhaps, impact a trial or a client need.

Communication planning has constraints and assumptions that impactthe outcome of the project. For example:

Can the type of technology in place realistically work within theproject timeline?

Should time zones be a consideration for multi-office firms?

If a deadline is missed, will there be fines, loss of clients ordamage to attorneys’ reputations?

Balancing Frequency and FormatThe frequency and format of the communications should occur based onthe needs of the lawyers and the culture of the firm (most lawyers don’tappreciate a “drive-by” unless the information is completely relevant totheir role or stake in the project). The Project Management Book ofKnowledge (PMBOK) suggests that those actually working on the projectshould provide updates on a daily to weekly basis. Stakeholders usuallybenefit from weekly to monthly communications, largely dependent onthe duration of the project. Also, beware of “over-dependence” onelectronic communications6 such as phone and e-mail. Because of thedynamic and unique characteristics of law practice, memos andmeetings are appropriate for certain types of situations. In fact, lawyerstend to respond to hard copy communications since that is a tool oftenused in their practice. Those situations should be clearly spelled out inthe communication plan. Those members of the project responsible forcommunicating with the lawyers (usually the PM and possibly the liaisondiscussed above) may need to step outside of their comfort zone when itcomes to this. Reliance on a handheld device is fine for quick,applicable updates, but face-to-face interaction should be used whenthe information is more immediate, contentious or positive.

The information distribution portion of the communication plan shoulddefine the requirements for the staff and lawyers in terms of whatneeds to be communicated, when and in what format. The data thatshould be contributed and considered are work results including status,quality measures, schedule and cost and any other details the lawyersmay have requested. Other information that should be consideredinclude feedback from those working on the project, informationreceived from the technology (reports, databases and PMIS) or vendorsbeing used for the project and, of course, the status. These details canbe provided in formats discussed above and available in thecommunication plan.

At this point in the project, communication problems may becomeapparent. Those problems might include retreating from the lawyers orstaff and under-communicating to them, not monitoring whatinformation is being distributed, not placing emphasis on bad news,and keeping everyone on a “need-to-know” basis. Adhering to thecommunication plan can prevent or mitigate these bad habits.

All of the information gathered and distributed can be placed in aknowledge base or archived for future use, and it could be used in theevaluations of the employees who worked on the project.

Constructing the PlanA communication plan is one of the most important elements in aproject plan. Techrepublic.com proclaims, “Communication plans arekey to project success”3 in an article authored by Rick Freedman. Tothat end, a project manager is held to a higher standard.

When putting a communication plan in place, the process is dynamicand involves all members of a project. The all goal is to understand the expectations from the project sponsors andclients and effectively communicate these expectations to all membersof the project team. The team needs to be directed to apply the toolsand techniques, skills and knowledge to complete the project work.Feedback on progress from the project team must be then translated forthe lawyers. Lawyers generally have expectations surrounding projectscope, cost, quality and time.

The communication plan must live through the planning, executing,controlling and closing processes of any given project. Whilecommunication occurs during the entire project, the communicationplan is a “formal, defined communications management process that isperformed as part of certain process groups,”4 and includes thefrequency and format of communications, information distribution,performance reporting and administrative closure.

Know Your AudienceThe first part of constructing a communication plan is to ensure theinformation and communications needs of the lawyers are clearlyunderstood. If possible, request a formal “liaison,” preferably a lawyerwho has been an IT advocate in the past, perhaps a third- or forth-yearassociate to be a go-between. This liaison provides the projectmanager information about the lawyers’ communications needs andformat. This part of the project is a facilitating process of planningand is NOT optional. It occurs often and as needed over the life of aproject. The communication plan is written and includes:

A method and means for collecting and storing data (project archive)

A definition of information allocation and methodologies

The format, content and amount of information that align with thefirm’s culture (project charter and scope)

A schedule of each type of communication to be produced (e.g.,when project meetings will be held)

Methods for accessing information at any given time (e.g., intranet,public folder, extranet, etc.)

Methods for updating and refining the communication plan (donethrough the project manager)5

The inputs to project communication planning are documenting thecommunications requirements of the stakeholders, assessing thetechnology available to deliver the information and determining anyconstraints and/or assumptions inherent to the project. It is critical toknow where lawyers fall in terms of responsibility and interest in theproject, what practices and departments are impacted, where thestakeholders reside and any external communications that do (or don’t)exist (i.e., does the firm have a public relations specialist responsible forcommunication externally, such as the public and/or media). In addition,

The Key to Good ReportingThe communication plan must also contain the objectives forperformance reporting. The PM needs to know the status of the projectand how it relates to the baselines of cost, schedule, scope and quality,as well as to the expectations of the lawyers and staff. Depending onthe expectations, the process for performance reporting may involveGantt charts to which lawyers respond quite positively to, as thesecharts are frequently created and used as exhibits. If the finance/accounting department is involved, a trend analysis of cost or earnedvalue management system (EVMS) could be used. By measuring andcomparing planned value, earned value and actual cost and othermeasurable factors, the EVMS gives a cut-point view of the projectperformance in relation to the schedule and cost. Depending on thevalues of these formulas, different strategic actions can be taken tosolve problems and put the project back on schedule, budget or both.Finance departments tend to want to be as fully informed as possibleregarding matters of cost, and communicating with them in a languagethey understand benefits everyone.

Administrative ClosureA plan for administrative closure is required in the communication plan.Unfortunately, it is often seen as unnecessary. Frequently, lawyers havemoved away from the project, the project has no further priority (ormoney), and administrative closure is not billable work for a lawyer, andthey don’t understand the need for IT to carry it out.

When performing administrative closure, it is best to hand-deliver andacquire a signed document from the managing partner or otherhigh-level stakeholder at the project’s completion. Lawyers use signeddocuments in their practice all the time and will respect the desire toget their consent or formalize their acceptance of the closure of theproject. This may lead to increased credibility and more considerationat budget time when IT endeavors to take on new projects. Whenobtaining the signed document, the communication plan should detailthe process of closure. At this point, postmortem audits can beconducted, experience and lessons learned can be documented to aknowledge base, and a white paper or other type of retrievable archivecan be created for future projects.

Get It in WritingIn any communication situation, there is a sender and receiver, and thebetter each is able to understand their respective communication needs(what they need to know, how much and how often) is vital. Sincelawyers are trained in problem solving and writing skills and practicethose skill throughout their careers, they hold other professional staff tothis same standard. Being held to this standard frequently helps honethese skills, and these skills are needed to compose a goodcommunication plan. A successful communication plan involvesresearching, studying and scripting the plan using informationdistribution and performance reporting. Getting this in writing at thebeginning of the project and adhering to it throughout the project lifecycle will give the lawyers the consistency and formality they frequentlydesire, while keeping the project team members informed.

The communication plan facilitates and is central to all other processesof the project and must be mandatory. A lawyer wouldn’t invest in amutual fund without a written document describing risk, cost,

performance and/or quality management, nor would he or she invest ina project without similar guarantees. So too, a written documentshould be created for reference by both the project team and thelawyers regarding the communication plan throughout the life of theproject. This document keeps the lawyers informed at a level theyunderstand, while the team focuses their efforts on the project plan.When time is allotted for the communication plan and you’re told it’sunnecessary, remember you’re spending the lawyer’s money onsomething IT will be held accountable for days, weeks or months tocome. Insist on a communication plan for every project involvinglawyers.

Endnotes1 Standish Group, CHAOS Report 2001, as quoted in the Defense Acquisition

University (DAU) Deskbook, http://www.it-cortex.com/stat_failure_cause.htm.The Standish Report began in 1994 and is updated every 3-5 years. A newedition was scheduled for release in Spring 2004.

2 KPMG Canada Survey (1997), and CHAOS Report (1995), all cited athttp://www.it-cortex.com/Stat_Failure_Cause.htm#The%20Bull%20Survey%20(1998).

3 http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6333-1028635.html, by Rick Freedman.4 PMBOK5 PMBOK6 PMBOK


Our StoryboardsThe business analysts who manage our enterprise applicationimplementations leverage SharePoint team sites to facilitatetransparency and promote knowledge sharing among project teammembers. Through the use of the project team sites, we can seeprojects unfold in real time. When a project starts, the businessanalyst creates a project team site with a predefined template. As theproject progresses through the different phases of the software lifecycle, more and more information is posted to the site by project teammembers. When a project is completed, the team site may be archived.

Why did we choose SharePoint? We already had an existing investmentin Microsoft technologies, and SharePoint is an existing component ofour Enterprise Agreement, so there was no additional cost to use it.Moreover, SharePoint team sites are workspaces that have essential“out-of-the-box” functionality for easy collaboration including:

Check-in/check-out of documents, allowing team members to makechanges to documents without the possibility of having theirchanges overwritten

Version control of documents that are works in progress (butSharePoint is not a replacement for a robust documentmanagement system)

List maintenance with different filtering options, a feature that isvery helpful for managing progress on action items

Quick and easy survey creation, offering a way to reach out togather and validate user requirements

User-defined alerts, allowing teams to subscribe to alerts so theyare notified when new content is posted to the team site

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by Juliet Alters of O’Melveny and Myers LLP

:: July 20068

Being a long-time Southern California resident who is surroundedby icons of the film industry — I drive by Universal Studios on mydaily commute — I’m heavily influenced by all this “moviedom.” It’snot a far stretch for me to liken the process of project managementto that of directing a movie. A good movie starts with a script thathas a compelling and cogent storyline with a beginning, middle andend. It then comes alive when good actors make the story believableand engaging.

As a project manager, you are the director of your own movie. You needto craft a cohesive project plan (script) which includes all of theappropriate phases, starting with the initiation process and ending withthe closing process. Just like casting a movie, you also must carefullychoose the project team members (actors) who can successfully executethe plan, and you must be mindful of the other people who participatein your project, including sponsors, key stakeholders and end users.

Action!Those in the project management field are faced with the challengingand persistent responsibilities of managing tasks, risks, costs andpeople’s expectations. This is a lot of information that must be shared,and to be successful, good communication is imperative. Much like thedirectors use bullhorns to communicate with their cast and crew,project managers also need communication tools. Many organizationsuse e-mail for project information distribution, but this approach maynot be the most effective as it can be cumbersome for participants tokeep current on the latest versions of key project communications.While I won’t say we have found the Holy Grail of communication tools, Iwill say using Microsoft SharePoint team sites has made it easier to“direct” our projects.

Calendars for tracking project milestones, events, vacationschedules of team members, etc.

Discussion threads for managing conversations without clogginge-mail inboxes

Application of security by owner/administrator of the team site torestrict or expand access to users without IT intervention

Each project team site becomes the one-stop shopping place for all majorartifacts related to a project. Using a team site eliminates unwieldye-mail threads that may not have included everyone and maintains oneversion for the project team to reference. Additionally, having everythinglocated in one repository makes traceability throughout a project’s lifecycle much easier to manage. For example, you can access therequirements specification that ties into the application designdocument, the test strategy and test cases without having to searchthrough multiple e-mail archive folders and/or network drives.

Microsoft’s powerful search engine allows for ready access toinformation. As easy as it is to launch a team site, it is just as easy toarchive a project team site when the project is completed. But whathappens to the information housed in the archived site that may be auseful reference source? No worries. Any archived site is searchable inthe event you need to retrieve precedential materials.

Our All-Star CastWe have been using SharePoint team sites as project artifactrepositories and collaboration workspaces for over a year now, and wehave over 50 individual project sites to date. At the end of 2005, werealized we needed to bring these discrete team sites into a morefocused view, and we have started to build on the concept of a projectportfolio management site that is intended to be the “home base” forall project information. The existence of our project portfoliomanagement team site allows us to give a single link to projectstakeholders, sponsors and team members to gain access to theprojects in which they participate. From this top-level site, any user

with the appropriate levels of access set by a project team siteadministrator can navigate to individual project sites for more details.At the project portfolio management site, we plan on supportingdashboard views for sponsors to see their own projects as well as howtheir projects are doing vis-à-vis other enterprise projects. We will alsohouse here will be overall resource allocation information and indicatorsof where over/under allocations occurred. We believe these pieces ofinformation will help sponsors make well-informed decisions whenprioritizing projects for the firm in the event of resource conflicts.

We also use the project portfolio management site to house generalproject management resources such as the Project ManagementInstitute’s tome, the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK),as well as our own lighter and more agile version tailored for projectmanagement that I affectionately refer to as “PMBOK Lite.” Otherresources include our software test methodology and links to oursoftware quality assurance site.

Project portfolio management is, unfortunately, not an “out-of-the-box”feature of SharePoint team sites. Currently, we are evaluating severalportfolio management software vendors and third-party Web partvendors, as well as keeping a watchful eye on Microsoft Office 2007implementation of a lighter version of Microsoft Project. These allsupport (or plan to support) integration with SharePoint so they can fitwell into our current and future strategy.

Previews of Coming AttractionsAs we look to the future with Microsoft Office 2007, SharePoint becomesa seamless component of the Office suite and will further facilitate howpeople work. We recognize that SharePoint is not just an applicationbut a technology platform foundational to Microsoft’s vision of thetechnology architecture to support knowledge workers. By utilizing itsout-of-the box features for collaboration today, we are well-positioned toleverage future improvements. As Microsoft introduces more features,we are committed to exploring their usefulness in our projectmanagement toolkit. Watch for the sequel to this movie!


Project Management Peer GroupILTA's Project Management Peer Group connects IT

professionals and legal staff in member organizations to

facilitate educational opportunities and networking

events. The group strives to provide webinars, white

papers and networking opportunities for its subscribers;

and its listserv facilitates discussion relevant to both

the technical and process-related needs of project

management members.

For more information, please contact Sally Hatchett, Vice

President of ILTA’s Project Management Peer Group, at

[email protected].

:: July 200610

With a well-defined exclusion list, the project manager has a strongargument to provide the change requestor. It demonstrates that earlyin the project, the project team had considered the proposed changerequest and determined it would not work due to specific conditionsand valid arguments.

Defining the Exclusion ListThe project sponsor is the best person to start the exclusion list. Theproject sponsor has a set of expectations, a timeline in mind for theproject completion and a good understanding of what the project mustand must not include. After gathering information from the projectsponsor, the exclusion list can be developed by working with:

The project team: If a team is already assigned to the project, it isto the project manager’s benefit to meet and confirm the projectscope and how they understand it. Brainstorming will most likelyallow the project manager to develop project scope and items thatshould be excluded from the project.

The technical leads in the organization: They are working oninitiatives that may resolve some of the project’s goals. They couldalso give the project manager technical arguments regarding whycertain aspects of the scope may not be realistic.

The vendor: The vendor has the expertise. The vendor knows howother clients approached the project and why other projects weredelayed or went over budget. The vendor can establish time andcost metrics based on experience that would support an argumentfor exclusion or inclusion of an item within the project scope.

Other project managers: These individuals may have usefulinsight as they may have worked on similar projects in the past.

Once information has been collected from these various sources, theproject manager can start building the exclusion list. It is preferable tomeet with the project sponsor and the project team to finalize both thescope and the list of exclusions.

Documenting the Exclusion ListAlthough referred to simply as the “exclusion list,” it is critical for theproject manager to document not only the exclusions, but also thereasons for the exclusions. The reasons could include a timeconstraint, a budget constraint, a lack of expertise within theorganization, a resource constraint, insufficient ROI, etc. Keeping trackof the reason for the exclusion is just as important as the exclusionitself and will bring more credibility to the exclusion list when a requestfor a change is received. And just as the project schedule and the riskmanagement plan continue to evolve, the exclusion list should be adynamic list that evolves with the project.

Exclusion List InclusionKnowing what will not occur during a project can be as just asimportant as knowing what will. Defining and maintaining exclusionsultimately gives project managers more time to ensure successfulconclusion to a project.

Project managers are consistently confronted with change requestsfrom various stakeholders or people outside a given project. Thestakeholders feel the new ideas and enhancements need to beincorporated and must be delivered. Some of these ideas andenhancements may have already been considered early in the projectplanning and not included for any number of reasons. Documentingthese ideas and the reasons for their rejection during the planningphase in an exclusion list allows the project manager to spend lesstime on project delays and budget overruns and more time on movingthe project forward.

Often the exclusion or “out of scope” list is overshadowed by the scopedefinition. However, these two sections of the project definition eachhave important purposes and distinct impacts on the project.

The Project ScopeThe scope definition is created so all stakeholders have the same goalsfor the project. It should be the result of an agreement between theproject team and the stakeholders of what must be completed for theproject to succeed and meet the stakeholders’ expectations. The projectscope helps the project manager keep everything on track. Typically,however, the project scope does not give the project manager enoughinfluence when facing scope change requests. By definition, the projectscope explains what must be done but does not explain what cannot bedone, nor does it include what was considered and discarded during theproject initiation phase.

Facing the ChangesWas an idea or proposed change considered and discarded when theproject was originally started? Throughout the project, new ideas andnew directions arise and result in requests for scope changes that mustbe analyzed by the project manager and approved or disapproved by thestakeholders, the customer and possibly the change control board. Ifthe proposed change isn’t feasible, the pressure is on the projectmanager to prove this because any change may be positively perceivedby the stakeholders as new, innovative and with the potential of havinggreat benefits. And while the project manager could attempt to use theinformation detailed in the scope document to turn down the request,this will usually be insufficient. With the support of an exclusion list,the project manager can show that the change is not an innovative ideaand its potential was already measured and proven unnecessary.

The Project Exclusion ListThe exclusion list is the project manager’s primary ally in challenging ascope change. It tells the change requestor that during the projectinitiation phase, the project team:

Thought about the proposed idea

Established reasons why the idea should not be included in the project

Agreed the idea would not be implemented

EExxcclluussiioonn LLiissttss CCoonnttrrooll YYoouurr PPrroojjeeccttssby Patrick Byron of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP

PPM initiatives succeed best when changes are introducedgradually. This is due to the significant individual behaviorchanges required. As the processes built into most technologysolutions tend to expect a high degree of PPM maturity, introducingtechnology first without making adequate process decisions canforce your company to “run before you can walk.”

Processes FirstProcess engineering proponents will say that implementing a technologysolution only makes a broken process break faster. Companies investsignificant effort in working through governance decisions, establishingPPM standards and developing processes. However, once theyimplement the modified processes, most firms using this approachencounter the following challenges:

Significant effort is spent in developing and maintaininghomegrown templates, systems and reports.

Significant effort has to be spent on training and ongoing qualityactivities to ensure that the homegrown tools are used as expected.

Significant effort is spent by project managers, analysts andexecutives in gathering, maintaining, reporting and accessingportfolio information.

Information tends to be “stale” or obsolete because of the effortand time required to collect and maintain it.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to roll information up from differentlevels of reporting (work package, project, program, portfolio).

Data-intensive functions such as time or resource allocationtracking cannot be done without developing relational database-based systems.

One company with an IT staff of just over 100 had a business analystspending a minimum of five days each month to compile and report onless than 10 metrics for their portfolio. In addition, the quality of thesemetrics was suspect given the nature of the homegrown tools used tosupport their PPM processes.

by Brad Robbins and Kiron D. Bondale, PMP of Solution Q Inc.

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Project portfolio management (PPM) has gained popularity in law firmsas an approach to ensure engagement in the right types of projects andproper management of those projects. Managing a limited pool ofresources in the demanding law firm environment is also of utmostimportance. And there’s a critical first step in a PPM initiative: It isimperative to determine if the project should begin with establishingprocesses or implementing technology.

Technology FirstFirms with little experience in PPM often assume the processessupporting PPM are generic and they can adopt “out-of-the-box”processes as part of their technology solution implementation.

It’s an easy assumption. As an example, companies implementingenterprise resource planning (ERP) systems were plagued by a commonmistake; they attempted to customize the systems to fit their processesonly to learn it was less costly and more effective to adopt processesthat were “hard-wired” into the systems.

And the assumption can get reinforced during the technology selectionprocess, as most PPM solutions do provide sample roles, business rulesand workflows. However, the intent for these “built-in” processes is tobe a starting point for customization, not the final state.

Implementing a PPM technology solution without adequatesupporting processes will rarely provide the expected benefits for thefollowing reasons:

PPM processes such as the project intake and portfolio evaluationprocesses as well as supporting processes such as resourcemanagement are built on standards and governance decisions thatare very organization-specific. If those decisions are not made inadvance of a technology implementation, the implementation willbe too generic and have to be significantly modified at a later date.Additionally, this lack of fit with the organization will increase thelikelihood of noncompliance with the processes.

:: July 200612

finally, ensure you have BOTH the appropriate processes and tools inplace to successfully achieve your objectives.

Charting a Smooth CourseBy appropriately balancing the implementation of process andtechnology, and by managing your PPM and PMO initiatives as strategicprojects, you will increase your odds for success.

However, despite having good processes and technology, many firmsstill fail to achieve the full benefits of PPM. This is usually due to themost critical constraint on a business — people.

Unless management and staff understand and buy-in to the objectivesfor the initiative, receive appropriate training and are empowered andmotivated to perform their roles, benefits realized from a PPM initiativewill be marginal.

Successfully charting and navigating a PPM implementation providesyour firm with a significant opportunity both in terms of project successand value as well as employee satisfaction.

PPM and PMO Implementation Case StudyWith a firm-approved three-year strategic project plan, Powell GoldsteinLLP in Atlanta, Georgia, was faced with the challenge of how to deliverand manage all of the strategic technology project initiatives within theplan. This challenge was further impacted by not having a consistentproject management framework, the lack of central project reporting,inefficient resource management and inconsistent project qualitymethodology.

The firm identified a project management office (PMO) as one of thestrategic projects of the plan and approved the development andimplementation of a PMO. The primary objective of the PMO was toestablish the necessary tools, processes, risk and resource managementof all information technology projects moving forward. One of the keytools in this success was a project portfolio management (PPM) solutionto ensure a centralized project repository.

Powell Goldstein achieved the following benefits from their implementation:

A centralized project portfolio management framework

Project alignment with firm objectives

A consistent project management framework

Improved project reporting

Automated project e-mail notifications, reduced meetings andincreased project efficiency

E-learning for project managers, staff and vendors

Better resource management

Improved project quality

ChallengesThe challenges faced by the firm that motivated this initiative included:

Inconsistent Project Management Framework: There was noconsistent methodology among internal and vendor-led projects.

The Best of Both ApproachesWhile there are some PPM governance decisions that need to be madebefore you can benefit from a commercially-available technologysolution, there are significant advantages that can be gained by aparallel implementation.

The following implementation approach combines the benefits of both thetechnology and process approaches while addressing their drawbacks:

1. Secure executive commitment and sponsorship for the PPM initiative.

2. Develop and get approval on governance standards (e.g., what willbe in the portfolio, what is a project, who will evaluate the portfolio,what key metrics will be captured and reviewed).

3. Develop an initial, simple set of processes for project intake andportfolio evaluation. Depending on whether your firm staffsprojects internally or not, you will likely need to develop simpleprocesses for resource management. This process work shouldinclude definition of roles, procedures and training materials.

4. Evaluate, procure and install a PPM technology solution andconfigure it with your defined standards and processes.

5. Roll out the processes, procedures and technology concurrently.Use the technology as a platform to train staff on the procedures.

6. Measure and tune the performance of the processes and technologyon an ongoing basis.

7. Once the firm has fully absorbed these changes, define the next setof processes or objectives and repeat steps 3-6, adding theprocesses to the chosen technology platform.

Implementing a Project Management OfficeAs the preceding section indicates, successfully introducing PPM practicesrequires solid planning and a commitment of sponsorship and effort.

A number of law firms are choosing to establish a project managementoffice (PMO) as one means of focusing this effort. In a survey of 30 lawfirms with sizes ranging from 130 to 3,000 attorneys, approximately 50percent had implemented a PMO.

As with PPM, there are a number of governance decisions that need tobe made when you set up a PMO. Some of these key decisions include:

Who is the executive sponsor?

What formal authority will the PMO possess?

What is the scope of services provided by the PMO? Is it intendedto report on project status, be a center of excellence or staff PMresources?

What is the organization structure of the PMO?

Is there a defined career path for roles within it?

Given the criticality of the PMO, firms should treat the PMOimplementation as a strategic project. Apply the same disciplinedproject management practices to the implementation, and give it thesame corporate visibility you would to any other strategic project. And

Without a consistent process and framework, tracking project statuswas very difficult. Before the addition of the strategic projectsapproved by the firm’s technology committee, there were already a largenumber of “in-progress” projects and even more were planned for thenext fiscal year.

Project Reporting: Projects were essentially silos of information. Sincethere was not a centralized project repository, managers were unable toget the status of all projects in a single place. This also contributed tothe over-allocation of personnel, project cost and resources as projectschedules were not shared among projects.

Resource Management: Personnel resources had to manage their owntasks across multiple projects. There was no central location in whichthey could have access to report all of their assigned project tasks. Itwas evident that managers could greatly improve the efficiency of theirresource allocation with a centralized tool.

Project Quality: Projects were managed with various methods,milestones and risk management techniques. The inconsistency ofapplication of these techniques had made it difficult to ensure theconsistent delivery of quality among all projects.

ApproachIn mid-2005, the Powell Goldstein information technology services (ITS)department and Technology Committee worked with a strategicinformation management solution provider to develop a three-yearstrategic plan which included deployment of a new PMO as one of thefirm strategic initiatives.

In late 2005, the ITS department partnered with a technology consultingfirm to help realize their PMO strategy. Working together, they developedthe core PMO structure, processes, tools and training to ensure a smoothimplementation and adoption of a world-class project managementframework. This framework raised the bar on expectations, quality andproject performance across the ITS organization. One of the essentialtools required was configuration and deployment of a PPM solution toensure a centralized project repository.

This PMO/PPM framework was essential in assisting the firm to ensureachievement of objectives for cost, quality and scheduling of majortechnology initiatives.

BenefitsBefore implementation of a PPM solution, the project managementprocess consisted of vendors and staff using their own methods formanaging quality, cost and schedules.

No two projects were managed in quite the same way. However, movingto a single project portfolio management framework, all projects nowfollow the same set of rules for managing quality, cost and scheduling.

The benefits achieved of implementing a PMO using a PPM solutioninclude the following:

Consistent Project Management Framework: All projects now benefitfrom a centralized project portfolio management tool as part of theoverall new framework. This consistent use of a single projectmanagement framework has greatly helped the ITS department in thefollowing ways:

Improved process and planning for all new internal projects

Improved management of vendor-led projects

Understanding of project status by ITS and helpdesk staff notdirectly involved in specific projects

Quick determination of a project’s status as major projectmilestones are consistent across projects

Automated Project E-Mail Notifications: Leveraging automatedcustom e-mail notifications based on the project portfolio has allowedproject teams to spend less time in meetings and stay more up to datewith their projects in the following ways:

Less time is spent directly accessing the project portfolio softwarefor project tasks.

Courtesy e-mail notifications for project tasks target dates that areeither past due or due by close of business.

Weekly project organizer e-mail notifications are sent to projectteam members to help them plan their week.

Improved Project Reporting: Using a single PPM tool and frameworkgreatly improved project reporting capabilities in the following ways:

Resource utilization across projects is more visible.

Simplified project status and summary information is easilyavailable to ITS management and executive committees from onecentralized repository.

Project resources are now able to quickly determine their tasksacross all projects in which they are involved.

Project costs incurred to date can be evaluated in real time.


ScheduleCostQuality

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Vendor/Staff

Vendor 1

Vendor 2

ITS Staff

ScheduleCostQuality

Method 1 Method 1 Method 1

Vendor/Staff

Vendor 1

Vendor 2

ITS Staff

:: July 200614

Better Resource Management: ITS resources experienced improvedtime management and allocation using a single framework and tool byhaving a single location to obtain a list of all tasks across all projects.Also, ITS management can better allocate resources by eliminating theover-allocation of a single resource across two or more projects.

Improved Project Quality: Now, as projects are performed with thesame framework and tools, project quality was improved because:

Personnel are not as over-allocated and can direct their attentionmore fully to the current project tasks.

A consistent framework across projects ensures important stepsand milestones are not overlooked or missed.

Consistent risk management assists ITS management to betterunderstand the challenges that all of their projects face.

Lessons LearnedDuring the establishment of the PMO and the implementation of thePPM solution, the following lessons were learned:

Support and buy-in from your technology and executive committeesare critical to a successful PPM/PMO initiative.

Implementing a project management framework is a necessity inpreparation for future technology driven projects to ensureconsistency.

Even with a successful PMO, resource management has to be one ofyour top priorities moving forward to ensure successful projectdeployments.

You need to know your departmental staff and what roles they willserve on project teams.

Make ongoing e-learning available to project managers, staff andvendors to ensure project methodologies and processes are beingenforced.

Clear communications to vendors before project kickoff ensures thatexpectations regarding your project management methodology andprocesses are clearly understood.

To achieve early buy-in and support of the PMO from youremployees, conduct focus and pilot groups before deployment ofyour project management framework.

This initiative was primarily led by Jamie Usher, CIO and Rod Dreyer,Project Management Office, ITS at Powell Goldstein.

possess. Good communication was found to be the cornerstone ofsuccessful projects, and organizational skills were needed to provide aworking structure that could support the various functions of the project.

The conclusion from these reports was that to be a successful projectmanager you need to:

Have experience and use a project management methodologyeffectively

Know your business and its objectives

Have good communication and interpersonal skills

These skills are highlighted in the Guide to the Project ManagementBody of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Third Edition in Section 1.5, Areas ofExpertise. This section details the need of the project manager andteam to have knowledge and skills outside of the specialized tools andtechniques used in managing projects. To be an effective team andproject manager, you must use and understand the knowledge andskills from at least five areas of expertise:

Project management body of knowledge

Application area knowledge, standards and regulations

Project environment understanding

General management knowledge and skills

Interpersonal skills

The guide specifically mentions soft skills relating to team development:“Interpersonal Skills (Section 1.5.5), sometimes known as ‘soft skills,’are particularly important to team development. By understanding thesentiments of project team members, anticipating their actions,acknowledging their concerns and following up on their issues, theproject management team can greatly reduce problems and increase

by Bruce Nicholls of Bryan Cave, LLP

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Soft skills: A set of skills that influence how we interact with eachother. It includes such abilities as effective communication, creativity,analytical thinking, diplomacy, flexibility, change-readiness andproblem solving, leadership, team building and listening skills. Thegoal of soft skill training is to give students the opportunity to learnand practice new patterns of behavior and in so doing, to enhancehuman relations.

U.S. Air Force - National Security Personnel System

The use of the word “soft” is deceptive. These skills are usuallyacquired through experience and practice. “Hard” skills are easier tolearn and follow, but the greatest payback for a project manager will bein learning and putting into practice the soft skills. A project managerneeds to gain the trust of the people influenced by the project, and thistrust is achieved through the use of soft skills.

Gartner published a research document in 1999 titled What Skills WillCharacterize Top Project Managers? The document concluded it was notenough for a project manager to have a good project managementmethodology and technical expertise. In order to improve projectoutcomes, the project manager had to have knowledge related to thebusiness and enterprise culture together with leadership andinterpersonal skills.

Project Managers Increase SuccessThe skills needed by a successful software project manager have beenstudied by the Standish Group and documented in their annual CHAOSreports. In the 2001 report, the question was asked: “Does a projectmanager increase success?” The report concluded that a projectmanager did increase the chance of success, but there were more skillsrequired than just project management skills. Three of the skillshighlighted were good business, organization and communication skills.Business skills were the most important asset a project manager can

:: July 200616

people and maps the 16 MBTI personality types into eightcarefully-defined team roles. Simplified views of these roles are:

Sculptors — Get things done now

Curators — Clarify ideas and understanding

Explorers — Look for new ways

Innovators — Create new ideas and perspectives

Conductors — Organize

Scientists — Explain how and why

Coaches — Harmonize people

Crusaders — Evangelize

These psychological techniques give the project manager aframework that can be useful in finding out how best to interact andmanage the team.

To be able to motivate and understand team members, the projectmanager needs to know the personal goals of the individual. A teammember could be a perfectionist, someone who is purely motivated bymoney or someone who values family life. A project manager mustknow what influences the team member to be able to align the goals ofthe team to the goals of the project. If someone values family life andthey are forced to work on the project every weekend for an extendedperiod, this person’s productivity, quality or respect may suffer unlessthe project manager takes action. There are numerous theories on thelink between motivation and performance, and some of the well-knownones include:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Douglas McGregor’s Theory X Theory Y

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Work Motivation

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)The next stage is to get to know the goals, strengths and weaknesses ofthe individual team member. This is achieved through listening (atechnique described later), face-to-face and informal meetings, SWOT(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis andcreating a skills matrix/inventory.

A SWOT analysis and skills matrix/inventory can be drawn up at the startof a project. The SWOT analysis will give a better understanding of thewider project environment together with the risks. The skills matrix/inventory provides an insight into which team member would be bettersuited to a particular role. These analyses also include soft skills as wellas technical and managerial skills. If a team member has good writtencommunication or negotiation skills over and above a technical skill, theymay be called upon more readily to interact with a supplier than a teammember who only has the technical competence. If these skills arelacking internally, then the project manager has the option to develop theteam with focused training and mentoring. If this training is not anoption, and an outside hire or consultant with the appropriate skillscannot be used, a risk to the project exists. The project manager alsoneeds to evaluate how much handholding or supervision will be required.Some team members need more direction and support than others.

cooperation. Skills such as empathy, influence, creativity and groupfacilitation are valuable assets when managing the project team.”

Throughout the guide, it is assumed that these skills, tools andtechniques are used, in PMBOK terminology, “to perform the project.”

A project is rarely performed by a lone project manager. Other membersof the organization are usually co-opted/assigned to work on theproject. These members must then be managed and built into a teamto get maximum benefit. If the project manager has a choice ofmembers, the techniques below can be used as the basis for selection.

Enhancing Team-Building Soft SkillsThe project manager must first get to know the team members asindividuals. This includes assessing team members for their preferredthinking and personality style.

The formalized HR approach for this is determining their Myers-BriggsType Indicator usually referred to as MBTI. The purpose of the MBTIpersonality inventory is to describe and make understandable/usefulJung’s theory of personality types. The MBTI questionnaire must begiven by a qualified administrator after which one of 16 majorpersonality types is assigned to the examinee.

The 16 major personality types are made out of four separatedichotomies. It is assumed an individual has a preference toward oneof each pair of opposites. The four dichotomies are:

Extraversion vs. Introversion

Sensing vs. Intuition

Thinking vs. Feeling

Judging vs. Perceiving

As an example, someone who is classed as an INTP (Introvert, Intuition,Thinking and Perception) is seen as an independent problem solver.They excel at analyzing ideas and situations. They work best alone andcan be seen as quiet and reserved. They find it difficult to work onroutine tasks, preferring to focus on complex problems. They prizeprecision in communication and dislike redundancy or stating theobvious. If they are not appreciated they can become cynical andnegative critics.

A questionnaire that gives similar results to the MBTI is known as theKeirsey Temperament Sorter. This is freely available in a book titledPlease Understand Me by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates. Thequestionnaire consists of 70 questions with two possible answers andcan be completed in less than half an hour. The answers are thenanalyzed for patterns that match the 16 major personality types.

Another questionnaire that can be given is the Management Team RolesIndicator or MTR-i. This is based on an Internet study of over 20,000

The major problems of our work are not so muchtechnological as sociological in nature.

Peopleware — Productive Projects and Teamsby Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

“ ”

Teams are increasingly becoming multinational. Misunderstandings ormisinterpretations can occur if the project manager is not sensitive to thecultural diversity of the team. This is especially true of language andwork ethics. Project managers need to harness and exploit the culturaldifferences if they are to deliver multinational projects successfully.

Chapter 9 of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge(PMBOK Guide) Third Edition provides an overview of these processesand includes a section on project team development (9.3). The sectionaims to improve the competency and interaction of team members toenhance the performance of the project. Objectives include:

Improve skills of team members in order to increase their ability tocomplete project activities

Improve feelings of trust and cohesiveness among team membersin order to raise productivity through greater teamwork

Four Stages of Team DevelopmentDuring its lifetime, a team may go through four stages of development,each increasing in productivity. A project manager must be aware ofthe stage at which the team is working as each stage needs a differentapproach to managing. These four stages were first described in 1965by Bruce W. Tuckman, a respected educational psychologist. He wenton to refine and develop the model with Mary Ann Jensen in 1977.

The first stage of development is called “forming.” This starts whenthe team members come together. In this stage, team members workindividually trying to gain acceptance within the group. Conflict isavoided, and the team members don’t integrate to any degree as theyonly look at the tasks to be completed. Impressions on the other teammembers are also formulated. This stage requires the project managerto direct the team.

“Storming” is the second stage. In this stage the team members startto compete, and there is conflict within the team. This stage requiresthe project manager to coach the team.

The third stage is “norming.” In this stage, the team members start towork as a cohesive unit without leadership and power issues. Teammembers start sharing information and ideas, and there is a sense ofteam spirit. This stage requires the project manager to support the team.

The most productive stage is “performing.” In this stage, the teammembers act as one for the good of the team. The team is flexible, andteam members adapt to the needs of the team. Team members have ahigh commitment and trust each other. They may also be friends.Morale is high, and the team members are loyal and focused on thetasks at hand. This stage requires the project manager to delegate tothe team.

There is a fifth stage, “adjourning,” when the team is disbanded.

Obviously the most advantageous team for a project manager is onethat is higher up the productivity ladder. To be able to utilize theseteam techniques, a project manager must have a good understandingof soft skills that are applicable personally.

Enhancing Your Communication SkillsMany of the soft skills utilized by a project manager rely oncommunication. A project manager must communicate effectively,clearly and without ambiguity in order to influence team members andstakeholders. The language and style of delivery, whether spoken orwritten, needs to be tailored to the recipient. Once the communicationis sent, confirmation of its delivery is required and feedback isrequested to ensure it is understood. There are models oncommunication such as The Johari Window, Shannon and Weaver’stransmission model and a basic model is provided in Chapter 10 of theGuide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)Third Edition.

The language must be:

Clear and simple

Reflect the communication style of the recipient, be it auditory(hearing), visual or kinesthetic (feeling)

Understood by the recipient (e.g., business or technical)

Culturally sensitive

In a format agreed in any contract or required by regulatory agencies

The delivery method must be:

Appropriate for the information content

Appropriate for the locality and technical capabilities

Appropriate for the time scale agreed

Cost effective

In a format agreed in any contract or required by regulatoryagencies

The content must be:

In a format that can be read (i.e., don’t assume everyone has Visio)

Tailored for the recipient (i.e., low or high detail)

Emphasized or highlighted if action is required on importantinformation

Legal and noncontentious

Relevant and accurate

Worded to request feedback if needed

In a format agreed in any contract or required by regulatoryagencies


We realized project management isn’t about charts, graphs,reports and statistics — it’s about communication. It alsoisn’t about a project manager sitting up high andbroadcasting a project plan. It’s about everyone takingresponsibility together to make the project work.

Getting Real by 37signals

“

”

:: July 200618

Not interrupt

Check for conflicting body language signs

Be personally receptive and not fatigued

A fun test to determine someone’s listening skills is to pose this questionto a colleague: “You are the driver of a Greyhound coach going to NewYork from Du Bois. Twenty passengers get on at the start. On the way,33 passengers are picked up in Bloomsburg and two get out. Another 12passengers are picked up at Stroudsburg junction. Twenty get out atNewark and the coach eventually reaches New York at 5:00 p.m. How oldis the driver?” The correct answer is the age of the listener.

Stakeholder ManagementStakeholders are an important and essential part of a project. A projectmanager cannot deliver projects without them. “People issues” relatingto the project can often be resolved with the influence of a majorsponsor. Methods of communication are written in the projectcommunication plan, and soft skills are used in interacting withstakeholders. A project manager who has the trust and support of themajor stakeholders has a much easier time. A power/influence matrixcan be used to understand the key stakeholders who need to bemanaged carefully. The matrix maps the power of the stakeholderagainst his/her interest level:

If a stakeholder has low power and interest, minimal effort is needed.

If the power is high and interest low, they need to be kept satisfied.

If the power is low and interest high, they need to be kept informed.

If both power and interest are high, these people are key stakeholders.

There are various other soft techniques useful to a project manager.These include time management, running meetings, conflict and stressmanagement, creativity and analytical thinking, problem solving,leadership and managerial skills. These are well-served by books orfree reading material on business websites. Behind Closed Doors —Secrets of Great Management by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derbyprovides a good overview of many of the managerial skills.

Leader, Manager, Facilitator and MentorA project manager is called upon at various times throughout a projectto be a leader, manager, facilitator and mentor. The differences aresubtle, but a project manager must know when to use the appropriatetechnique to move the project forward. A project manager also needs togain the trust of his team and stakeholders.

Truly effective project managers must understand and use amethodology or framework. They must be experienced, have goodbusiness acumen and truly understand the business and its objectives.Finally, and most importantly, they should utilize the many soft skillsdescribed in this article for communication and interpersonal contact.

BibliographyHerding Chickens by Dan Bradbary & David GarrettPeople Skills for Project Managers by Steven W. Flannes, PhD andGinger Levin, DPA

“Don’t Look at Me in That Tone of Voice!”If the content is to be delivered aurally, several additional soft factorsmust be taken into consideration. They include: tone of voice, bodylanguage, attitude, feedback and environment.

The tone of voice used to deliver a message can have more effect on thelistener than the message itself. Observations have shown that if thetone of voice conflicts with the message being delivered, the listenerwill respond to the tone rather than the content. The tone usually needsto be positive. It can be persuasive, upbeat, encouraging,congratulatory, cheerful, convincing or welcoming.

The body language of the speaker must match his tone of voice. Aproject manager needs to understand his/her own body language andhow it can be controlled. If a negative emotion is shown via bodylanguage when a positive message is being made, conflicting messagesare sent to the listener, and the impact of the message is lessened.Positive body language includes smiling, nodding of the head,maintaining eye contact (dependent on culture) and being smartlydressed. During the deliver, the facial expressions and body language ofthe listeners need to be read for signs of boredom or puzzlement. To beeffective at reading body language and avoiding misinterpreation ofpeople’s idiosycrasies, a project manager should get to know people asindividuals. There are many books available going into further detail onbody language and its multitude of interpretations.

A positive and assertive attitude, as apposed to one that is weak oraggressive, must always be maintained when trying to motivatelisteners. Frequent eye contact with an open and relaxed posture is best,and above all, practice what you preach by setting a good example.

Communication is a two-way process. In order to confirm the messagehas been understood, a project manager must solicit feedback. Themost effective way is to ask open-ended questions (what, why, how) thatallow more than a “yes” or “no” response. If control of the discussiontime is needed, then directed questions are useful.

To be more receptive to a message, the environment needs to bereasonably quiet and free from distractions. Listeners also must feelcomfortable and not intimidated by their surroundings.

At the end of the message the project manager needs to summarize theimportant points together with the actions required of the listeners.

Listening Is a SkillListening skills are part of any coach’s repertoire. At times, a projectmanager needs to be a coach and switch from being a passive listenerto being an active listener. Active listening requires more concentrationthan passive listening. To actively listen, a project manager must:

Concentrate on the speaker and what is being said

Focus on the content and not the style of presentation

Have an open mind (preconceived ideas block active listening)

Ask questions or summarize a point if the meaning is not clear

tthhee rriigghhtt ccoonnnneeccttiioonnsstthhee rriigghhtt ccoonnnneeccttiioonnssFor nearly three decades, the International

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About the AuthorsJuliet Alters is Enterprise Application Manager at O’Melveny & Myers LLP.Prior to joining O’Melveny in 2001, Juliet spent 20 years in the financialsector managing global software projects and served as internal consultanton process improvement. She has taught customized Six Sigma qualitycourses to employees and implemented tailored project methodologies inorganizations. Juliet can be reached at [email protected].

Kiron D. Bondale, Senior Project Consultant with Solution Q Inc., is acertified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 15 years of ITexperience. He has managed multiple mid- to large-sized applicationdevelopment and systems integration projects and has worked in bothinternal and professional services project management capacities. Kironhas set up project management offices (PMOs) and has provided projectportfolio management and project management consulting services to anumber of clients across various industries. He can be reached [email protected].

Patrick Byron is Senior Project Manager at Sonnenschein Nath & RosenthalLLP where he is responsible for roll out and implementation of firm ITinitiatives. His projects range from vendor application customization andWeb application deployment to server upgrades. He is also responsible forcommunicating to executive sponsors, project teams, vendors andstakeholders; and he has developed project charters, schedules, riskmanagement plans, communication plans, issue lists, etc., from inceptionto closure. He can be reached at [email protected].

Julia C. Forbes is the Training and Application Services Manager at BrownRudnick Berlack Israels LLP. In her role, she manages a staff of supportspecialists in the firm’s Boston, Hartford and New York offices, and shedirects and proposes training strategies and programs for technical trainingand evaluation of employee skills for the entire firm. Julia has 10 years of

DISCLAIMER This report is designed for use as a general guide and is notintended to serve as a recommendation or to replace the advice of experiencedprofessionals. If expert assistance is desired, the services of a competentprofessional should be sought. Neither ILTA nor any author or contributor shallhave liability for any person’s reliance on the content of or any errors or omissionsin this publication.

law firm experience, holding specialist and management positions in IT atother AMLAW 100 law firms. In addition, Julia has done pro bono work as aparalegal and has contributed to books on the subjects of supporting lawyersand paralegals in the Microsoft Office suite of products. She has alsospoken at ILTA conferences and has been quoted in magazines such as LegalManagement. She can be reached at [email protected].

Bruce Nicholls is a Senior Analyst with Bryan Cave located in London,with 20 years’ experience in IT service delivery and a special interest inproject/program management. He is a fully qualified Prince2 Practitionerand member of the British Computer Society Project ManagementSpecialist Group. He is also the London Volunteer City Representative(VCR) for ILTA. Bruce can be reached at [email protected].

Brad Robbins is Vice President, Products and Customer Management atSolution Q Inc. He oversees the implementation of Eclipse Project PortfolioManagement software and the delivery of project and portfoliomanagement professional services. Brad has been designing, developingand implementing programs and solutions across various markets,including the legal sector, for over a decade. Brad’s background includesexperience as both a project and business professional and as a technologysolution architect with extensive real-world project experience. Brad can bereached at [email protected].

Melissa Tanner is a Project Manager in the Project Management Office(PMO) at Seyfarth Shaw LLP where she is responsible for technology,process and business projects. She has 15 years of experience in IT, witheight of those as a project manager. Prior to Seyfarth, she has worked inboth large and small companies in a wide range of industries.Additionally, Melissa is an adjunct professor at Keller University. She canbe reached at [email protected].

COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright © ILTA 2006. All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America. No part of this report may be reproduced inany manner or medium whatsoever without the prior written permission of ILTA.Published by ILTA. c/o Editor, 2450 Louisiana, Suite 400-616, Houston, Texas 77006

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Project Management - Our Plan for Your Plan