Problems With Project Management

Sometimes I feel as if there is just something that needs to be put out there, even in the face of much opposition.  Companies nowadays are real big on project management and many include mine have a PMO so they can manage project managers.  Seems like a lot of overhead to me but that is not the real crux of its problem.

Where the real problem lies are with those who choose this vocation.  They tend to be more concerned with the forms and reports then they are with what these “tasks” are suppose to fulfill.  Now I cannot disagree that a properly instituted project process helps even out the field a tad.  Superstar employees will be shackled a bit and brought back down a tad and those who are not as adept will have the process force into them some discipline.  But is this really where we are looking to go?  Blindly filling out forms and useless processes are more the rule than the exception.  When running a project PM’s must realize the the forms etc. are merely tools or means to an end and not the end within themselves.  It is not how you communicate that matters, but how effectively communication is occurring.  It is not how pretty you format a report but more that the readers or audience get the message.  It is a difficult task to insure both adherence to process and results as many times they are in direct opposition.  I remember Jack Welch saying something along the lines of “Don’t celebrate the process, just the results.”  this is so true.  No one will remember who batted what in the series, but we can all tell you who won.

So my suggestion to all those out there looking to use PM process in the future to remember that these are merely tools and even as a PM you will be judge on the success of a project at a far greater scale then the adherence to the process…or at least you should be but I ramble

Websites for Traditional Media

I have been away for a while, ok not away physically but not writing the blog and I have a few posts in mind that I will be writing in the next few days.  Today I wanted to put out what i see as the biggest problem with Traditional Media websites.  First a disclaimer, I currently am not involved in website design, development, etc although I have been in the past.

What i see most lacking is the lack of focus and understanding who the customer is.  Lets look at a single type of site, one that uses advertising and is not subscription based.  In this example the customer is the advertiser and the product is cpc/cpm whatever your current metric is.  Where most fail here is they believe that the customer is the person who views the site.  This approach not only lessens the value of the site but prohibits its true potential.

When comparing the two view one is after page views the other revenue.  So you say is not page views revenue, yes it is but it is only a piece of the pie.  Do you focus your strategy on page views or cost per $ of revenue?  When looking at page views you are content driven, get page views up at any cost, be more concerned with design then the cost of the design to implement.  This leads many companies to not realizing the economic benefits that are achievable.  One must always keep an eye on margins and to attract more customers (advertisers) find way to penetrate the market faster, cheaper and with better results.

I have seen many companies not understand the web or realize that beyond just the technical and creatives involved in the actual site building there needs to be a strong business acumen involved.  Whether the same or different people these three basic roles must be integrated in any site.  Ok any site that has the intention of making a profit.

Where the creatives go off course is that they do not understand the customer.  They believe their role is to provide the greatest site experience to the viewer of the site and while a great experience is an essential component the business mind must develop the “at what cost” standards. 

Lets also look at “true costs”.  Most media companies look at the site costs as the cost to develop.  They leave out their share of corporate overhead, support, maintenance, all these cost must be included when calculating a true margin calculation, as a web segment does not exist in a bubble so not only does it need to account for its direct costs but its costs on other segments.

Not a very clear and concise blog today but rambling is what I do

A Worrisome Wednesday

At east for me and I hope alot of other Americans the loss of both John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani is a big blow ot our hopes for some positive changes come November.  I am a Republican, always have been, but as I get older I have begun sliding more towards the middle especially on social programs.  The plight of too many Americans who cannot afford healthcare, housing and even to feed their families is something that has touched me . 

So with the coming of a new president I thought, “Yes, now is the time for some change.”  I did like Rudy, and being from NY I can tell you he did a great job with NYC.  Its a better place to live, almost no one I know disputes this.  Did he step on a few liberties along the way, he sure did, but the overall effect, at least to me, was well worth it.  He took on the crime families both as DA and Mayor, he cleaned up the business districts and spurred the local economy.  No one sees homes dropping in value in NYC.  Rudy also broke away from the party line as being pro choice, and although personally I am pro life, I dont feel we should legislate my sentiments on others.  Its a shame to see Rudy go.

John Edwards had caught my eye when he was on the Democratic ticket as VP.  Its a shame Kerry was such a left wing liberal, for I feel Edwards would have done a great job and been a breathe of fresh air to the ol boys club DC has become.  His stances against lobbyists and for the plight of the poverty stricken were both admirable and in the end what caused his downfall.  Those on the poverty line you are fighting for dont donate money to campaigns and like it or not it takes money and lots of it to win.  His plan to revise Social Security and take away that absurd cap on income that is eligible for Social Security taxes was brilliant.  So simple yet possibly so effective.  John Edwards more than anyone else was ready to make changes , bring accountability and possibly make this country stronger and I for one hope we have not heard the last of him…hey Barack does an Obama-Edwards ticket make good sense??

Which leaves me with decisions on Super Tuesday and although I am not ahppy with it at least for me John McCain is the lesser of the evils that still exist,, and he could show me alot if he was to make Joe Lieberman more of an influence ot his campaign.  Looks like November for this vote will come down to choices the candidates make from here out.  Do they stay within the friendly confines of normal politics or do they try to bring change and radical change at that.  Politics make for strange bedfellows I look anxiously to see who will be sleeping with whom…but I ramble

Thoughts on Leadership

As many stuck in middle management I, at times, get wondering how my leadership style compares with others.  I know I have met many people whose style I respect but know it doesnt work for me, as well as many that baffle me as to how they were able to manage such success being complete idiots ( I will save this ramble for another day).  Last night I saw an interview with Ken Chenault from Amex done by Tisch.  I can only wish that top execs around the country took heed in what this man not only was saying but how he has lived the example.  His quote of Napoleon was so thoughtful and on point.  “Leadership is identifying reality and giving hope.”  How profound in a culture where most leaders try to hide or mask reality giving a false sense of hope, generally leading to despair shortly after.  I got the sense of a personal stake in the well being of others and not the me first, golden parachute attitude so many of todays corporate leaders take.  There is nothing more distasteful to the workers than to see the executive washroom littered with raises and bonuses while the common worker lay in fear of not being able to keep up with the cost of living or worse yet laid off as a cost reduction.  I did see last week in Fortunes list of the 50 best companies a comment where one company does not allow anyone to make more than ten times the salary of its lowest compensated employee, a step in my mind in the right direction.  During these times of uncertainty and slow growth I look to see how many of our corporate leaders realize that the base and foundation of their companies is what they can build on and that even the prettiest of penthouse cannot stand without its strength….did I ramble again?

To hire or not

Sometime in my position I need to make choices that affect the lively-hood of others, today is one of those days.  I have two candidates looking to fill a position here.  One real qualified but doesn’t seem to have the drive to move past where he has settled and one who is real green, yet shows tremendous drive and determination.  Its a tough question cause there are different answers to the question.  Short term the answer is easy one can do the job one cannot, its long term where thing becomes more complicated.  NY nowadays is not the culture where people make careers.  Its more of the quick hit type of atmosphere and then on to the next large jump.  SO many questions going on in my head…devote the time and resources to bring someone up to speed with no guarantee that they will stick around once done?  Plus what about my security how will a short term hit or chance reflect on me…yes i know selfish but still a consideration.  So I ponder what to do and frankly I haven’t made up my mind so I thought why not ramble…

Democrats squabble

Last night although I am a registered Republican I watch the debate with all the Democrat candidates.  I watched basically because I am not a John McCain fan and thought hmmm wonder how bad the other side really is.  My opinion of Hillary Clinton has not changes.  She is a self promoting, stab you if I have to, do anything to help herself politician.  I kinda knew this living in NY where she has done nothing since her carpetbagging move put her into the US Senate.  Now I do not believe Barack is electable.  I am sure there will be a big difference when Joe middle America isnt speaking to a pollster from his living room but rather pulling a lever behind a curtain.  I was however very impressed with John Edwards, not only for what I thought was a good sense of what the real issues are, but with the savvy he handled the constant bickering of the other two candidates.  In this Republicans opinion he almost has me leaning his way…too bad he wont get to an election I can vote in…but I ramble

Fluther

So over the last few days I have been obsessed with Fluther  At first I thought that this would be more of a techy geeky type site where folks would ask different coding questions and such, but it is not.  The questions range a broad spectrum of categories and the answers from what I have been able to gather are pretty good.  You get your occasional jackass but it is the exception not the rule here.  I attribute sites like this to the basic fact that so many people, especially those who are younger tend not to trust the “establishment”.  So a site that has UGC questions and answers has the ability to garner a level of trust that alot of the more commercial sites do not. 

My question is more “Why hasn’t a larger company swallowed this up”? Even if your company doesn’t span the full range of questions they cover.  I have seen Martha Stewart talk on a few shows about a Marthapedia type site, questions and answers to homekeeping etc, but that trust issue will be a big factor.  Hey you love her or hate her but few, at least in the US have not at least heard of her so how does a new way to search what she has generate traffic?  Or more than she already has…maybe allow her followers use their own voices to spread the word further?  Dont know the answer to all this just one more thing I am rambling about…..

Back in the Saddle

Seems that I am back after a while without blogging.  Some projects at work and the birth of my son took time away from writing .  Now things are settling in so back to the keyboard I go.

I have learned many things in the past few months.  The most shocking is that 2 kids under 2 are more than double the work of 1.  Now when you are alone you are outnumbered.  Who gets attention when, who can walk away versus, the oh my god is he going to roll today.  It pulls you in many directions both literally and figuratively.  I am sure that many out there have gone through the same exercise and have fared much better than I.  Kudos to all of you

Work wise Non tech exec has been given his walking papers so IT here is now down to just two levels of management.  The CIO and then the rest of us, its a very flat and at time ineffective structure since to advance you need to cut the legs out of one of your peers.  A tactic that I am really not fond of, its easier to sit back and watch them fall on their own.  Less emotional turmoil.  I see that American idol has begun again, not sure why I am addicted to all those folks making fools of themselves but I am.

So now that I have begun writing again I hope to continue at least daily rambling

Risk vs reward or CYA at all costs

Interesting things happened this week and mostly on the exchange migration project.  Seems there are those were not happy with putting Outlook 2007 with an Office 2003 product.  they huffed and they puffed and they claimed that patch management is much more difficult.  Yeah like having to do them in a certain order is something we cannot train chimps to do.  Anyhow seems the higher ups have decided that we are going to put in a lower quality product.  I am not completely happy with this decision as I have always been one who would strive to put in the best product possible for the users and make the changes administratively that were necessary to suppor it.  Seems this is not the prevailing view.  The view tends to be more along the as long as the product can meet minimum requirements then lets choose the one with the lowest possible risk factor. 

Not that either side is completely wrong, but the risks here can be easily mitigated.  Any way I look at it its irrelevant at this time the decision is made and old software has been the victor.

This whole situation has gotten me thinking about corporate life and what are the ethical dilemas that permeate it.  I have seen so many times that the safe has been the choice and it has handcuffed the inventive, the progressive.  Seems this mindset is what makes some corporations average.  Lets look at Google, out there doing great and yet we all can name a bunch of initiatives that didnt pan out.  Some large purchases too that were a flop.  Yet their culture is one of trying, experimenting and striving for the next level, somewhere few have been able to succeed.  It is with this attitude that they have built what so few have.  Now I never want to advocate throwing all caution to the wind, but the safest is not always the best and more often then not it stems the flow of true innovation.

Ok I vented and rambled enough for a holiday morning

Thursday Thursday who loves this day?

Things are very up in the air around this week.  Still going through the process they have here for project management.  Seems silly at times, I mean if we had triple the staff and multiple project going concurrently I would understand all the formality.  But we have a staff of less than 40 tops we run three projects and we do so very inefficiently.  I just don’t get the idea of putting layers and layers of red tape on top of getting things done.  Ok I see its to protect the company from the stupid.  If you write everything down and pass it the 30 folks someone should see the err of your ways.  But is this not leveling down?  I am not sure I hold the belief that we should put so much process in getting everything done that even the most daft can’t screw it up.  It tends to make those guys who are hard chargers fall asleep because of the pace.  I did read Roberto’s book a few weeks ago on why leaders shouldn’t take yes for an answer and frankly one of the best management books I have read in a while.  Much better, in my opinion, then the vaulted Covey.  I have always thought his writing was based on a sense of Utopian organizations rather than real life situations. 

I saw a great website today that I think has the opportunity to make a move.  Its a community site for professional women, and it looks real slick.  Try it out…. Damsels in Success

Sleep has become a priority for me too this week.  With two kids under two it seems like there is no time someone isn’t in need of something.  Hopefully this weekend will get me some well needed rest.

Well that is all the rambling for today