20130312 The Zombies of Project Management

www.nonsuch.co
The Four Zombies of Project
Management
‘How lazy habits and bad attitudes in Project
Management continue to manifest themselves’
Presented by
Youssef Mourra
Director, Head of PPM
Nonsuch Consulting
12th March 2013
Sydney PMI Chapter Meeting
Castlereagh Boutique Hotel
Sydney

The Speaker –Youssef Mourra
• Managing Director and Head of PPM – Nonsuch Consulting
• Over 20 years' experience in the world of project, programme and portfolio
management (P3M).
• Past experience with Lexel, PIPC, Cognizant, Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini in
Australia, France and the UK. Worked in Europe, Asia and America
• For the past 10 years have been based in NZ (Wellington) and has gained
experience with a number of clients both in the private and public sector.
• Led hundreds of consulting engagements ranging from complex project and
programme rescues, mobilisation of project offices, to implementation of
project management information systems.
• Recognised as a trusted advisor by a number of 'C' level executives and
project offices throughout the APAC region.
2 © Nonsuch Consulting 2014

Are you a Zombie PM?
Do you know a Zombie
PM?

Meet the Zombies
Boris
Doris
Morris
Horace

Meet Boris
Benefits Management Zombie

What Boris believes…
• Benefits can’t be measured
• Because benefits are not all about dollars, then it’s too hard to do and not
worth the effort
• Cynicism about the reason benefits are identified
• He reckons they’re used to justify a project but then set aside during delivery
and never referred to again
• He’s never seen Benefits reported on or referred to or after the
project has been delivered
• Just get on with the project
• If enough people want the project and it’s a good idea, then that’s all you
need. What’s the drama?

Why Boris must die!
• Why are you doing this project?
• Why was it chosen above others?
• Benefits Management is easy if you keep it simple
• There are Four phases to Benefits Management
• There are Four broad types of Benefits
• Keep the Business Case simple
• Use an Outline Business Case and then a Detailed Business Case if necessary
• Use Investment Logic Maps
• If you’re feeling lucky, use NPV or IRR
• How else do we establish return on investment?

Benefits Management Lifecycle -
Four Phases
Program
Management
Identify the
Program
Define the
Program
Close the
Program
Deliver the
Program
Deliver the
Capability
Realising the
Benefits
Managing
the
Tranches
Review and Prepare
Establish
Benefits
Management
Benefits
Identification
Benefits
Quantification
Benefits
Tracking
Benefits
Realisation

Four Types of Benefits
• Benefits are either:
• Direct Financial – additional revenue, eliminating a business process,
revenue protection
• Non-Direct Financial - Cost avoidance by action to reduce future waste,
safety compliance, brand awareness, legislation compliance.
• Enabling - efficiency returns, increase in productivity, increases in increases
in quality or quantity of service delivery, training, new computer systems
• Soft - staff satisfaction, turnover, absenteeism, brand value, empowerment
of staff, teamwork, morale
• All of the above are quantifiable in dollar or KPI terms

Business Cases
Applicable – is it a good
strategic fit and does it
meet business needs?
Appropriate – is it fit
for purpose?
Attractive – is it
commercially viable?
Achievable – can it be
successfully
delivered?
Affordable – is it
within budget
estimates and are
funding sources
available?
Strategic
5
Elements
Functional
Financial Commercial
Delivery

Investment Logic Maps
Grab the sponsor, get
an ILM facilitator and
spend a couple of
hours

Why do Benefits Management?
• Avoid the deadly combination of poor selection and ineffective execution
Benefits of getting it RIGHT
•Potential savings of 20% of portfolio
value in Year 1
•30% improvement in time to market
for revenue-generating initiatives
•5% reduction in overall costs
•59% reduction in project failures
•78% reduction in redundant projects
•37% decrease in cost per project
•35% increase in number of projects
under management
Portfolio
Management
50%
Value
Achieved
50%
Value
Lost
100%
66%
0%
Project
Mgt
75% 100%
Effective Selection – ‘Doing the Right Things’
Identifying Potential Business Value
Effective Execution – ‘Doing Things Right ’
Realising Business Value Primary Source: : IDC,
September 2008

Meet Horace
Schedule Management Zombie

What Horace believes…
• Horace believes that you can control a project without a schedule.
• He says that way too much emphasis has been placed on having a
schedule of activity on a project and this ties project managers down
to their desks.
• He believes you should instinctively understand how your project is
going and should focus on a few key dates and deliver to those dates
without much trouble
• He believes that as projects constantly change then expending effort
on a schedule that constantly changes is just a waste of time and a
distraction that a project manager doesn’t need.

Why Horace must die!
• We need to sort Horace out.
• Schedules get bad press because of some have used them as an
extreme sport
• An effective schedule is NOT a checklist of activities but instead a
schedule of key work activities that acts as a communication device
for the project team and other key stakeholders.
• Schedules should reflect the key deliverables or products that a
project is delivering for ease of reporting

• Using an Inbound and Outbound dashboard at the top of each
schedule assists in getting Dependency Management right
• Right practice tips take the oppressive aspects of scheduling out of
the equation
• Using right practice schedules as powerful communication and
engagement tools
• Using schedules to understand resource demand and resource
utilisation
• Using schedules to support benefits management

• Schedule Management opens up the worlds of
• Critical Path Analysis
• Earned Value
• Enterprise Project Management – an enterprise view of all schedules
• Matching Resource Demand to Resource Capacity
• Dashboard Reporting
• More than just quantitative data, schedules can link into qualitative
data
• Quick and efficient status reporting

Critical Path

Dependencies & Program
Schedules

Earned Value
Is this really hard? We only need three things:
• Planned effort/cost
• Actual effort/cost
• Estimate to Completion effort/cost

Meet Morris
Agile Zombie

What Morris believes…
• Morris believes that Agile is a project management process in itself
and doesn’t want to see it anywhere near PRINCE2 or PMBOK
methodologies
• He objects to any attempt to use the term ‘waterfall’ near it.
• He believes {in a particularly maniacal way} that any attempt to use a
schedule or any planning controls of any sort harms Agile and there is
just no need for ‘that stuff’
• He believes PMBOK and PRINCE2 are outdated.

Why Morris must die!
• Morris needs to get a grip
• Agile is a great development approach for when it’s impossible or
impractical to get the requirements completely nailed down before
delivering.
• Agile is great when we have experienced practitioners who know
‘HOW’ they are going to do something but are still attempting to get
a clear picture of ‘WHAT’ needs to be developed.
• Agile is delivery focussed.
• However, Agile is not a project management approach for ALL
project types.

Why Morris must die!
• Morris doesn’t understand the information and visibility
requirements that senior management require from projects.
• He also doesn’t understand the challenge facing the PMO who have
a responsibility to provide a dashboard on all projects in an
organisation.
• This approach doesn’t stop projects from using optimal development
methodologies like New Product Development, Agile, V model and
Waterfall in developing products or deliverables.

PM Methodology v Delivery Methodology
PM METHODOLOGY
Project C
Project D Project E
DELIVERY METHODOLOGY
Project A
Project G
Project B
Project F

Project Types – The Diagram
KNOW HOW TO
DO IT
Project management,
processes, corporate
knowledge and tools are
well developed
DON’T KNOW
HOW TO DO IT
Project management,
not well developed
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
Project objectives are not clear
Fog
Quest
Movie
Painting
by
Numbers
KNOW WHAT TO DO
Project objectives are clear

Fog
Scientific /
Research
Step change projects
• Higher risk and well into the
quest/movie
Radical change projects
• These start out as Foggy projects and
are high risk. You’ll need corporate
courage to do these
Continuous improvement projects
• Low risk but could be a bit of a quest
Quest
What Types of Projects?
Movie
Business Process
Improvement
Standard projects
• Low risk meets the
requirements, do it
right first time
Information
Technology Strategic /
Painting by Numbers
Unclear
What to do
Clear
How to do it
Clear
Unclear
or a movie depending on the
circumstances
NPD

Project Types – The Diagram
Profit / Assurance / Confidence /
Income or Market or Brand &
Reputation Protection
‘Keeping the Lights on’
KNOW HOW TO
DO IT
Project management,
well developed
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
Project objectives are not clear
Fog
Quest
Movie
Painting
by
Numbers
KNOW WHAT TO DO
Project objectives are clear
Higher Risk
Higher Rewards
Agile?
DON’T KNOW
HOW TO DO IT
Innovation / Competitiveness / New
Product or Service Development
‘New or Radical Change’
Lower Risk
Lower Rewards
Waterfall?

Meet Doris
Change Management Zombie

What Doris believes…
• Business or Organisational Change Management is a luxury that
most projects can’t afford
• Delivering the project is paramount and the rest is just fluff. She has
no time for those that believe we need to understand and
accommodate people’s hearts and minds when changing systems or
processes.
• ‘If an organisation makes a change, then people should accept it and
adopt it immediately. Why should an organisation invest in all of this
touchy feely stuff? Projects use up enough resources as it is without
extra cash and time and trouble being thrown at people who can’t
handle change’

Why Doris must die!
• Doris is seriously deluded.
• A project’s focus is a deliverable or product but without Change
Management, you may end up with a ‘WHITE ELEPHANT’ if you fail
to gain adoption or commitment to use or take on the deliverable
and product.
• If this happens, you run a very serious risk of failing to realise and
deliver the benefits as promised in the business case. This is
disastrous.

Project, Benefits & Change Management
– the union.
Program Manager/Project Sponsor
Outputs/Products/Deliverables
Outcomes
Project Manager
Unfreeze Move Refreeze
Benefits Realisation
(Business Intelligence)
Benefits
Identified and Quantified
(Business Case & Strategy)
Change Management
Benefits Tracking
(Benefits Reporting)
Project Management
Benefits Management

Change Management – What is it?
• The actions relating to people, process, systems and environment
that need to be undertaken in order to move from the ‘understood
current state’ to the ‘planned future state’.
• Based on a well-known change management framework, Prosci’s
ADKAR model, to achieve this successfully, you must have 5 clear
goals:
• A -Awareness of the need for change
• D - Desire to support and participate in the change
• K - Knowledge on how to change
• A - Ability to implement required skills and behaviours
• R - Reinforcement to sustain the change

Change Management Lifecycle
Program
Management
Change
Deliver the
Program
Deliver the
Capability
Realising the
Benefits
Review and Prepare
Establish
Managing
the Change
Identify the
Program
Preparing
for Change
Close the
Program
Reinforcing
the Change
Define the
Program
Managing
the
Tranches
Management Transition
State
Lock changes in
so they don’t
revert back
Unfreeze Move Refreeze

Change Management
Define your change
management
strategy
Prepare your
change
management team
Preparing for Change
Develop your
sponsorship model
Develop change
management plans
Take action and
implement plans
Managing
the Change
Collect and analyse
feedback
Diagnose gaps and
manage resistance
Implement
corrective actions
and celebrate
successes
Reinforcing the Change

WE’RE UNDER THREAT!
Boris
Doris
Morris
Horace

What do we do?
• We need to be vigilant
• We need to adopt and use these right practices
• We need to promote these practices and show
our workplaces how these will make a huge
contribution to overall project & programme
success
• The Zombies?
• Don’t hire them. Make sure you fire them.
• Tell everyone about them and where they are.
• Name them. Shame them.

Like to Know More?
• We offer a short 1-hour workshop on each of today’s
key shops to show you how straightforward, valuable
and powerful each of these project and programme
principles
• We’ll show you how to apply these in your work
environment
• Project Design & Mobilisation
• Project/Programme Office Services
• Portfolio Prioritisation & Optimisation
• Project & Programme Management Capability Development
• Project & Programme Health-checks & Audits
• Post-Implementation Benefit Reviews
• Project Rescue
• Training
• Microsoft Project Training & Consulting

Thanks
• Thanks to you all for your attention and attendance today
• Thanks to Malcolm McFarlane for hosting me today
• Thanks to Angela Flannery for being my zombie today!
• Thanks to the PMI and all sponsors for organising and helping
make this event happen.
• Like what you heard?
• Follow me on Twitter on @youssefmourra
• Contact me on Youssef@nonsuch.co or +64 21 423 620 for more
information.

20130312 The Zombies of Project Management

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