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

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

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

Back Again

Seems like I went away but really I am still here.  A few things have been going on.  First , and most important, is that we had another baby on 8-14.  A strapping 7lbs 7oz boy named Austin. The pregnancy and the birth had me distracted.

The second is the turmoil here at work.  With the addition of Wenda Millard and the absolute jumbling of everyone else things have been lets say up in the air.  The stock has rtaken a hit, down today to under 13.  This is troubling since the stock has fallen considerably since the addition of Wenda, though personally I think it has more to do with Lauren leaving.  She did a great job with our publishing side, consistently outpacing our competitors.

So what is new hmm lets see….still moving to Exchange from Lotus Notes, should have that wrapped up by Dec 15.  Probably going to put the VoIP migration on hold til early next year, just cant rationalize the cost right now.  The website, which thank god is not my dept, is still blah all around form performance to design to well just everything.  The talk is that the site is going to be a push in the next year but the minds controlling the push are the same ol folks who did the last revision, so I for one am not terribly optimistic.  Be nice to see them use any technology from the last few years on it.  Maybe they will use more of the Flash, yes adobe did announce the hd flash today…sweet, but I would be surprised or rather shocked if they did any HD on the site.  For a company that strives for innovation they are technology prehistoric in their thinking.  I hear the complaints that they cant get ajax working, this seems to me to be more mismanagement than anything else.

Infrastrucutre side we are revamping all roles and responsibilities, lets see how that falls out.  Generally our problem is that we have a glut of staff who haven’t kept up with technology, and those hard chargers that we do have are being wasted in roles which limit their drive.  Yeah such fun but I am just rambling

Friday the 13th yipppee

So here is my update on the happenings on this lovely Friday.  Not much really.  We did announce to the company plans to move onto exchange and away from Lotus Notes, and other than a few cheers from the user base not much has advanced on this front.  Wenda officially begins on Monday and we will see where that goes.  I don’t expect huge changes but who knows what she may have up her sleeve.

They are real big on thees 360 reviews here and I have one coming to me I need to write for someone.  Real reluctant to do it.  I mean I have heard the questions and cannot figure out a way to be both honest and positive.  Plus I do not want to be the reason someone loses their job, whether I think they deserve it or not.  We will see if I have a flash of genius on this next week.

Tennis is going well and my two teams have already reach playoffs which commence in another week.  So far the competition has not been great but its this time of year things pick up.

I am not a huge Iphone fan, seen a few around and my reaction is basically so what?  Its a better toy than a device that has some real functional advantages.

Well its time to head out and enjoy the weekend..enough rambling for me

I am back

Not sure why I didn’t blog for so long.  Maybe I was busy or maybe jsut wanted to relax or possibly afraid that some initial reactions , not suited for type.  Anyhow news is big here with the addition of Wenda Millard.  Its not totally surprising as the Internet group is littered with former Yahoo folks ever since Wenda was on the BOD.  Now I think she has a tough job of cleaning up and getting that segment to really move forward.  The question on everyones mind is can the addition of Wenda make up for the loss of Lauran Stanich.  I guess its sit back and lets see.  If I could give one suggestion to Wenda, find someone from the tech side to advise you or at least sit real close.  Previous heads of the Internet have been tech lacking in both whom they lean on for advice and their own abilities.  Be nice to see something, anything inventive or new out of that group.

For our move to Exchange, finally got the necessary signatures to really move forward.  The process here is slow, real slow.  Sometimes I wonder if the folks who are in the power positions really understand its takes three hours of process to get one hour of work done.  But hey I guess that is the problems with middle management everywhere.

I saw all the buzz on the iphone, for me its just a nice ipod and I prefer the n95..never really been a huge apple fan..this product is no different.  I laughed when I saw the Iphone Dev conference being held at Adobe in San Fran, for a device that does not support flash?  I see the lack of Dev tools being the real downfall of the Iphone if not remedied soon.

Tennis has been going well wining again and feeling good about my play.  I have another easy match tonight and the real competition wont happen til end of July and August, so I have time to peak

i promise to be more diligent in writing cause I love to ramble