ThoughtLeader Consultants provides project management consulting to address common issues that cause projects to fail like unrealistic estimates, quality issues, and dysfunctional teams. They classify problems into meeting timelines, quality of deliverables, and team dysfunctions. For timelines, they help with estimating, planning, and tracking. For quality, they recommend review processes and subject matter experts. For teams, they suggest techniques like leader-leader relationships, open "war zones", bottom-up involvement, and linking appraisals to results. ThoughtLeader also offers end-to-end project management consulting including setting up processes, meetings, training, and project audits.

1. ThoughtLeader Consultants
End-to-End Project Management Consulting

2. Dinesh Srinivasan
Founder, ThoughtLeader Consultants
Independent Project Management
Consultant
2
• 13 years of corporate
experience in IT Industry
• 5+ years of experience in
Program and Project
Management. Expert in
People-Process-Project
Management
• Alumnus, Indian Institute of
Management, Calcutta
• Certified Project Manager
from Wipro’s PM Academy
• Work History: ST
Microelectronics, Creative,
Wipro Tech.

3. Project Management Issues
• It is no secret that many projects fail to meet
or balance the Triple Constraints – Cost, Scope
and Time.
• This imbalance drastically affects the Quality
of the Deliverables (QoD) and in turn result in
Customer Dissatisfaction.
• Many Organizations aware of these problems
but not aware of methods to avert or arrest
the issues.

4. ThoughtLeader – Project Management
Consulting
• ThoughtLeader classifies the Project
Management Issues into
– Meeting the Timelines
– Quality of the Deliverables (QoD)
– Dysfunctions of the Team
and provides pragmatic ways of solving these issues
and make the projects successful

5. Meeting the Timelines
• Estimation
– The seeds of timeline issue might be sown in this
stage itself.
– Unrealistic Estimates
• In the competitive environment of today’s world, the
bidding organizations are forced to provide ‘Aggressive
Estimates’ to win the projects. But sometimes it becomes
way too ‘unrealistic’ for the execution team to meet the
timelines
• ThoughtLeader provides unique competency mapping to the
project requirements that help to assess whether the
execution team is capable of meeting the timelines and in
turn helps to come up with competitive estimates that can
be achieved.

6. Meeting the Timelines
• Planning
– If you do not eliminate the potential issues in this
stage itself it’ll sure come back to haunt the
Project at a later stage.
– Establish Critical Paths, Assign proven performers
to the critical tasks and not load Key Resources >
85%
• ThoughtLeader can scrutinize the project plan with a
bird’s eye view and identify ‘potential problem creating
areas’ and provide suggestions to eliminate the issues
to maximize the probability of the project success.

7. Meeting the Timelines
• Tracking
– This a crucial stage where a lot of chances to screw up
the project!
– DSM
• Daily Standup Meeting is a process of Agile-Scrum but
regardless of Project Methodologies this can be used as an
effective tracking process. ThoughtLeader can train the PMs
to conduct this meeting effectively.
– Tracking Sheets
• ThoughtLeader can guide the PMs of the organizations to
create sensible Tracking sheets and Project Dashboards with
color codes for effective tracking of the projects.

8. Quality of the Deliverables (QoD)
• Possible Root Causes
– Few processes in place and very few are followed.
– No effective Review process
• Set up Review Process
– Exit Gate Review.
– ThoughtLeader can help organizations to set up stringent review
process like Exit Gate Review and phase-wise delivery Checklists to
achieve the high quality of the deliverables.
• Creating SME pool
– Subject Matter Experts are group of Technical Experts in their
respective domains. SMEs are involved in Requirement Elicitations,
Estimations, Design Inputs, Reviews, Technical consultations &
Mentoring the team. They’ll not be involved in hands-on coding or
team management and also not tied to a single project at a time.
– ThoughtLeader can help to set up the SME pool.

9. Dysfunctional Team
• Possible Root Causes
– Absence of Trust
– Fear of Conflict
– Lack of Commitment
– Avoidance of Accountability
– Inattention to Results
– Lack of Motivation

10. Dysfunctional Team
• ThoughtLeader has unique solutions to the issues
of Dysfunctional teams
– Leader-Leader Relationships
• In this setup, each team member consider himself as a
leader and is responsible to create other team members as
leaders. He does it by sharing his knowledge and know-how
to others and it’s mutual. Gradually, the trust issue will be
removed and the team wants each other succeed.
– Setting up a War Zone
• To overcome the fear of conflict, a war zone will be setup
where the team members are encouraged to confront the
ideas openly without holding back. ThoughtLeader can
moderate the warzone and make it efficient. This brings
transparency in the team.

11. Dysfunctional Team
– Bottom-Up Drive
• The Bottom-Up Drive encourages even the last layer of
the team member to have equal interest as the Top
Management in the success of the project. This can be
achieved by letting know the team members how their
contributions are actually helping the project.
– RACIO chart
• Clearly captures the role of each team member with
respect to each module. Inculcates ‘ownership’

12. Dysfunctional Team
– Project Results linked to Appraisal
• To overcome the Inattention to Results issue,
ThoughtLeader recommends the project results to be
one of the factors of Performance Appraisals.
ThoughtLeader can conduct a bias-free audits on the
project management and recommend the ratings with
respect to project results to the Appraisal committee.
– Reward Program
• To motivate and retain motivation ThoughtLeader can
set up unique way of rewarding the team members
who bring success to the projects.

13. End-to-End Project Management
Consulting
• For the organizations which expects a bit of
handholding & guidance on Project Management,
ThoughtLeader can provide End-to-End Project
Management Consulting that includes…
– Setting up the complete Project Management Process
(ex., PM process flow, SW process flow,…)
– Various Meetings (ex., Kickoff, Risk Review Meeting,
Touch-base Meeting, client meeting…)
– Training to PMs and team on the PM processes
– Project Audits and reports

14. THANK YOU