Modern Project Management

Jojo P. JavierDoctor of Business AdministrationLetran Graduate School of Business

SPECIFIC TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Many IT programs are managed by disparate teams, rather than large centralized teams in a ‘head office” and leveraging their global workforce and cheaper labor markets.

It brings many challenges, such as time zones, languages, cultures, and the need for the tools to enable effective collaboration.

This trend is accelerating due to a combination of economic factors and improvements in connectivity.”

Globalization of projects, with dispersed teams working on the same project

Organizations should learn to embrace it instead of fighting it. By effectively using modern communication tools you can get more out of a distributed team than a co-located one.

Globalization of projects, with dispersed teams working on the same project

Many projects but smaller in size

Experts indicate that with the advent of cloud computing and the proliferation of a “shadow IT” within organizations, projects are likely to become smaller in size than some of the large ERP programs that we have become accustomed to.

This means that there are a far greater number of them to manage and the integration of the technologies is becoming extremely challenging as well.

The Cloud and project and program management tools

More and more projects are cloud centric. PM tools look to centralize management information into a single controllable space, from which both project managers and senior managers can track progress, a single version of the truth so to speak.

In addition, these tools are becoming more collaborative to allow disparate teams to work more effectively—providing project repositories, version controls, and so on.

The Cloud and project and program management tools

Global players in many geographies with different skills all focused on one project need one, real-time place to work. Without cloud technology, efficient collaboration wouldn’t be possible,” he said.

Project managers should build or invest in a flexible, easy to use project platform that all stakeholders can work with regardless of geography, technical experience or technologies used.

The choice of cloud-based collaboration and project management tools has increased and they have become powerful enough to enable and facilitate management of distributed projects not seen before.

Outsourcing of project management services to third parties

Many organizations are outsourcing traditional internal project management services as well as IT operations to enable cost reductions. Though this provides a number of benefits for organizations, such as resource on demand, access to different skill sets and access to lower cost markets, it does bring in other challenges such as the client still having to fulfill many of the expected responsibilities.”

Additional complexities lie in the acceptance of one supplier having authority over another and the inevitable commercial conversations about scope and price that crop up: both of which often end up with the client having to step into the breach.

Project organizations must work to build a bottom-up process that continually links project outcomes with organizational strategy

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) processes rely on a top-down approach where portfolio decisions are made in the boardroom and then permeate down to project selection and funding.

The problem occurs when strategy shifts, as it often does, and the existing project portfolio does not follow. In many instances PPM processes do not keep pace with market velocity and dynamics, and the shifting organizational priorities that follow. When misalignment occurs projects ultimately pay the price.

It’s all about CHANGE

Change is coming and it is inevitable.

The disciplines of change management, risk management and project management will continue to merge.

Projects have been entirely about delivering project outcomes on time and on budget. This perspective has, for the most part, entirely ignored the underlying purpose behind any project — to move the business forward.

Web-based project management and collaboration tools will maximize your productivity, organization, and help you keep on top of your projects effortlessly. Keep track of your projects, manage your workers, set milestones, schedule your work, upload your files, send invoices, sync with your mobile – all of these features and more make these apps almost necessary.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

The use of centralized reporting tools enabled the team to effectively escalate issues and identify when projects were going off track, allowing senior management to take corrective action.

The use of collaboration – from instant messaging, through project stores, to video conferencing – allowed the team to act more cohesively and ensured that everyone knew their specific responsibilities.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

35 Interdependent projects

70 full-time people excluding suppliers

Teams were spread over more than ten countries and countless offices.

Teambox is voted the best online project collaboration software for project managers, contractors, freelancers and teams. Teambox is the pioneer in joining social collaboration tools with online project management. It’s mission is to change the way people work by making it easier and more fun to get things done.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

Projecturf is the Web-based project management app that helps individuals and businesses manage projects, people, and tasks. Within a project, there are tons of features and functions that can be done, such as creating and managing tasks, events on the calendar, and discussions; uploading and storing designs and documents; and analyzing project data using the Dashboard activity history and reporting.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

Apollo has a project overview to keep track of what’s going on across all of your projects, calendars and personal tasks.

Start interactive timers – with interactive timers, you can start a timer and keep track of how long you are spending on a task.

See your project’s activity – in the activity screen you can see who did what on your project and who is allowed to access it.

Set your milestones – you can assign a task list to a milestone, to divide your project into stages and throw a party when you complete a full stage.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

Basecamp is the top choice for entrepreneurs, freelancers, small businesses, and groups inside big organizations. Projects go well when people talk to each other, discuss issues openly, and communicate clearly. Basecamp is focused on making this easy.

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

Identifying Value-Driven Projects throughBusiness Process Reengineering

Objectives

Present an overview on the concept of Process Management and Process Reengineering

Analyse existing workflow to be able to align current resources and capabilities to achieve optimum process performance

Definition of Terms

Business Process Management is the process of aligning the resources of the organization to improve business process performance.

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. It shifts the focus from operational improvement to operational innovation.

Cross Functional Groups – Individuals with different functional expertise working toward a common goal.

1. Organize around outcomes, not tasks.

Basic Business Process Reengineering Principles:

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

(OUTCOME)

OPERATIONS•COMPLETION

OF PROCESS

HR•DELIVER

MANPOWER REQUIREMENT

SALES•CLOSE A SALE;

HIT QUOTA

QUALITY•PVR,

SCHEDULES

SHARED SERVICES/IT•COMPLETION

OF DELIVERY

FINANCE• SEND & COLLECT BILLINGS

OUTWARD FLOW DIAGRAMFocus on TASKS instead of Outcomes

• Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritise them in order of redesign urgency.

• Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the information.

• Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized.

• Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results.

• Put the decision point where the work is performed, and buildcontrol into the process.

• Capture information once and at the source.

Basic Business Process Reengineering Principles

PROCESS MAP (current)

CLIENT SATISFACTION

CORE PROCESSESSALES IMPLEMENTATION FINANCIAL

SERVICES DISPATCH BILLING/COLLECTION

PLANNING

CLIENT REQUIREMENT

MARKET DEMAND PLANNING CORE

PROCESSES

PROCESS MAP (REENGINEERED)

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

SALES

SERVICE DELIVERY

BILLING & COLLECTION

CLIENTSATISFACTION

CROSS FUNCTIONAL TEAM

Jojo P. JavierDoctor of Business AdministrationLetran Graduate School of Business