Redundancies see demand for outsourced project management services

By Staff Writers
Apr 29, 2009 10:00 AM
http://www.crn.com.au

Pete Swan recently appointed managing director of Australian project services firm, PM-Partners group, said increased demand for the delivery or management of projects was being driven by a reduction in workforces.

He said with project consulting services, there was now a more short term focus.

"Organisations are asking how can you help me in the next three months," said Swan.

"Demand for services like project health checks is booming. Organisations have spent a lot of money on their projects but many don't have enough visibility to make informed decisions."

Swan, based in the company's Sydney headquarters, heads up the sales and marketing operations and is responsible for strategy and future direction.

He takes over from Philip Belcher following the end of his contract as CEO.

His looks after PM-Partners group client's needs in project consulting, delivery and training services in the current tough economic climate.

"We are seeing a shift in our business, there is high demand for professional certification with more people competing for roles and an increased demand for project delivery and outsourced project management services," he said.

"We have also seen an upswing in demand for short-term consulting services such as portfolio assessments aimed at identifying unnecessary projects and project health checks as a low cost assurance service.

"With smaller project portfolios, organisations are reluctant to hire. A project services firm offers a fixed price alternative for the delivery or management of projects with reduced risk."

Another area of high demand was assisting organisations build rigorous business cases for projects.

"Organisations are asking us to consult and provide training on things like business requirements gathering and business case development.

"Others are engaging us just to manage the first piece of the project, to establish the requirements and the scope and get things off on the right foot," said Swan.

"In a booming market, you can hide a multitude of sins and problems.

"In a contracting market, the projects you run need to have a guaranteed payback, and to achieve this successful establishment and delivery is essential."

Swan reports to the board of PM-Partners group, where he serves alongside the company's other co-founders and directors Steve Hewitson and Nik Samuelson.

Prior to the role, he was consulting director for PM-Partners group.

He and Hewitson founded PM-Partners in 1997 and merged the company with ITPM, an IT project delivery organisation, to form PM-Partners group in 2008.

Prior to that, Swan was services manager for Datacraft Australia where he headed up support and project services.

He also held positions with AT&T and IBM.

Redundancies see demand for outsourced project management services

By Staff Writers
Apr 29, 2009 10:00 AM
http://www.crn.com.au

Pete Swan recently appointed managing director of Australian project services firm, PM-Partners group, said increased demand for the delivery or management of projects was being driven by a reduction in workforces.

He said with project consulting services, there was now a more short term focus.

"Organisations are asking how can you help me in the next three months," said Swan.

"Demand for services like project health checks is booming. Organisations have spent a lot of money on their projects but many don't have enough visibility to make informed decisions."

Swan, based in the company's Sydney headquarters, heads up the sales and marketing operations and is responsible for strategy and future direction.

He takes over from Philip Belcher following the end of his contract as CEO.

His looks after PM-Partners group client's needs in project consulting, delivery and training services in the current tough economic climate.

"We are seeing a shift in our business, there is high demand for professional certification with more people competing for roles and an increased demand for project delivery and outsourced project management services," he said.

"We have also seen an upswing in demand for short-term consulting services such as portfolio assessments aimed at identifying unnecessary projects and project health checks as a low cost assurance service.

"With smaller project portfolios, organisations are reluctant to hire. A project services firm offers a fixed price alternative for the delivery or management of projects with reduced risk."

Another area of high demand was assisting organisations build rigorous business cases for projects.

"Organisations are asking us to consult and provide training on things like business requirements gathering and business case development.

"Others are engaging us just to manage the first piece of the project, to establish the requirements and the scope and get things off on the right foot," said Swan.

"In a booming market, you can hide a multitude of sins and problems.

"In a contracting market, the projects you run need to have a guaranteed payback, and to achieve this successful establishment and delivery is essential."

Swan reports to the board of PM-Partners group, where he serves alongside the company's other co-founders and directors Steve Hewitson and Nik Samuelson.

Prior to the role, he was consulting director for PM-Partners group.

He and Hewitson founded PM-Partners in 1997 and merged the company with ITPM, an IT project delivery organisation, to form PM-Partners group in 2008.

Prior to that, Swan was services manager for Datacraft Australia where he headed up support and project services.

He also held positions with AT&T and IBM.

Integrating Project Management into a Six Sigma System

Manufacturers and transactional firms share a drive to lower costs, reduce cycle time and offer a diverse product mix as they pursue higher profits and an increased market share in a growing global environment. Consumers (those paying for the end product) want products or services that are cheaper, readily available and of a quality that meets their expectations.

A variety of systems - such as Total Quality Management, Total Quality Control and Six Sigma - have been implemented by organizations to help guide the efforts of creating new products, reducing product costs, improving manufacturing or organizational capabilities, realizing new market share or entering new markets. These systems rely on teams of people to identify the voice of the customer (both internal and external), taking into account the organization's competencies. They also require an ongoing portfolio of projects aimed at creating revenue or reducing costs.

While not all organizations implement these systems or keep them in their original form, many of the core ideas are adopted. Some organizations have integrated two or more systems. One melding of systems that holds significant promise is the integration of the Six Sigma methodology with the tools and processes of project management.

The Six Sigma methodology DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) offers a structured and disciplined process for solving business problems. Six Sigma uses tools designed to identify root causes for the defects in processes that keep an organization from providing its customers with the consitent quality of products the customers require on time and at the most reasonable cost. The Six Sigma work is normally done through cross-function teams that manage the project. Yet the methodology does not address the management of the project itself.

Project management's tools and techniques focus on attributes of a project such as development, execution, control and closing. There is an assortment of tools that are used throughout the project to manage the project to completion.

Six Sigma and Project Management

With Six Sigma's DMAIC process, a problem is first defined and quantified; then measurement data is collected to bound and clarify the problem; analytical tools are deployed to trace the problem to the root cause; a solution for the root cause is identified and implemented; and finally, the improved operations are subjected to ongoing control to prevent recurrence. The Six Sigma toolkit includes a variety of techniques, primarily from statistical data analysis and quality improvement. Design of experiments (DOE), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), cause-and-effect diagram (aka fishbone diagram, Ishikawa diagram), process flow diagram and gage repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) studies are among Six Sigma's many tools.

While the methodology of Six Sigma has proven effective in troubleshooting or improving existing processes using the DMAIC approach, there are challenges to confront when using Six Sigma. A company that relies solely on Six Sigma to run its projects may experience issues with control of the project process. A Master Black Belt was interviewed from a firm that utilized a pure Six Sigma system for its projects. The firm found that the majority of its projects were not being completed as the Six Sigma system would suggest. A lack of management support, insufficient resources and failure to understand the voice of customer (VOC) were some of the reported problems.

The DMAIC approach focuses on controls for the improvements to the process, not the control of the project management process. "Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements," according to the Project Management Institute.

By Daniel Zucker

Project Management Learning Solutions

PM-Partners group is an established and accredited training organisation with all leading global accreditation bodies. Our team consists of experienced facilitators and Project Managers, so you can take advantage of the best and most practical education solution from people that deliver projects. Our objective is to develop capabilities and initiate behavioural change through:

	Interactive exercises & case studies that simulate real life scenarios as opposed to theoretical examples
	Practical solutions to everyday challenges
	Ongoing support – to assist effective learning transfer into the workplace
	Workshops that are developed and facilitated by talented, experienced professionals who are currently active within their areas of expertise, based on real-life situations.
	Learning content developed in a modularised format to enable speedy customisation to client specification.
	Extensive curriculum approved by leading global accreditation bodies

PM-Partners group are PMI Global Registered Education Providers, Approved CompTIA Project + Training Providers, a PRINCE2 ATO, an MSP ATO, Registered AIPM Assessors, recognised as a Project Managed Organisation by the Australian Institute Of Project Management, endorsed course provider for the International Institute for Business Analysis, a Government Endorsed Supplier and a formal RTO Partner with ETAS Pty Ltd (RTO #1967), enabling AQTF qualification award to Certificate IV, Diploma & Advanced Diploma in Project Management.

Our comprehensive Education Services contain a portfolio of workshops from beginner to advanced, including the broadest range of Project Management Certification courses available.

News from PM-Partners

The Project Management Institute (PMI) have released the new PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition, and as a result of this PM-Partners group PMP/CAPM Exam Preparation Workshops will be based on the new edition from our upcoming Sydney workshop beginning 22 May.

For more information about the PMI and their project management certifications please visit www.pmi.org and to view our exam preparation workshop outlne please click here.

Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Overview

In most organisations multiple projects co-exists with many other initiatives or programs. All have various priorities, some are strategic, some tactical and some should not be done at all.

Enterprise Project Management (EPM) is a process, system and mindset to facilitate transparency, management and governance support to projects at an organisational level.

In order to facilitate governance and to ensure the projects are aligned with the strategic intent of the enterprise, it has become essential to be able to manage, monitor, and assess the status of all projects. To achieve this enterprise wide view of projects a set of (preferably uniform) Enterprise Project Management processes, methods and applications is required.

Organisations that adopt a best practice approach to Enterprise Project Management set up a Project Management Office (PMO), adopt a Project Management Methodology or standard like PRINCE2 or PMBOK then select and implement a software system to support Enterprise Project Management. Once these processes and systems are in place, the organisation will create and track a portfolio of existing and future projects leveraging Project Portfolio Management techniques.

Implementing Enterprise Project Management systems needs to be considered in association with the organisation's Project Management Maturity, methodologies, processes and governance structures that are currently in place.

For more information take a look at the PM Partners site

10 Basic Principles of Project Management

The Basic Principles of Project Management

There are a number of significant principles which determine success in any project. These are simple and well known principles, however they are difficult to apply and are quite frequently ignored in practice.

1. Precise Business Needs

Successful projects are business driven. This represents the 'why' of the project, and it is important because it provides the basis for all decision making.

2. Defined Benefits

Projects are about translating the business need into the business benefit. In addition to the business need, the 'bottom line' benefits must also be well defined in terms of source, timing and quantity.

3. Explicit Plans

Effective planning, allows people to work together in a co-ordinated way in order to achieve the project objectives. Effective planning is dependent on being at an appropriate level of detail and being presented in an appropriate way.

4. Agreed Deliverables

Quite simply a 'deliverable' is an unambiguous way of defining responsibilities in terms of outputs rather than inputs. Each phase, area and task within the project plan should have a tangible deliverable associated with it, ie. something that one can see, touch, or otherwise validate.

5. Pro-Active Decision Making

Project work has little momentum of its own, unlike routine work. All parties involved are therefore required to take the initiative and actively look for ways of driving and improving the project outcome.

6. Single Point Responsibility

In business tasks are only completed successfully when people have unambiguous accountabilities. 'Single point responsibility' for results is of the very essence. The Project Manager is ultimately responsible for making the project happen.

7. Active Follow-Up

Plans have practical value only when they are used to help people do their daily work. They are similarly used as a means of identifying problems while there is still time to overcome them. Plans must therefore be used throughout the entire project in order to allocate tasks and monitor achievement.

8. Open Communications

Time must be invested in communication as it is the key to a successful project. By effectively communicating the project and issues everyone involved has the opportunity to take the initiative and contribute fully with ideas and decisions.

9. Good Teamwork

Teamwork in projects is absolutely critical but does not happen automatically. Project work involves people from different parts of the organisation, often with competing priorities and different perspectives, which can make teamwork all the more difficult to achieve. Teams must therefore be actively developed by the Project Manager.

10. Strong Leadership

Successful projects are usually led by an individual who is committed to the project objectives, and who has a completely clear view of where the project is going and how they intend to get there. The leadership qualities of the Project Manager are as important as their technical management skills.