2010-04-08 April 2010 Demonstrating the Value of Project Management to Organizations

PMI - Sacramento Valley Chapter's I-80 Breakfast Roundtable Meeting – April 8, 2009 at 8:00 AM

Demonstrating the Value of Project Management to Organizations
Jim Kaupanger, CPF and PMP

Here is an outline of the Demonstrating the Value of Project Management to Organizations presentation:

· How do we deliver value, reduce cost, and improve quality?

· How do we approach problems and challenges?

· What skills should we enhance?

· How do we communicate those skills?

· What are CIO’s looking for?

Here is what was presented:

How can we best deliver value as project managers?
Deliver on time
Confuse activities with accomplishment
Great project plan, but the project failed
Have the right scope
May need to sub-divide a project into multiple phases and focus on the scope during each phase
Business opportunity where a scope of work will meet the core objective
Ensure initial scope is what is needed and control scope creep by a change control process
Knowing how to control scope
Add new scope, will be consequences
Quality, schedule, resources
Manage expectations – Stakeholders understand what they are getting
Value of the Project
Communicate the value of the project to the stakeholders
Steering Committee to evaluate projects – Select the right projects
As a profession we shouldn’t always accept a new scope item
When you arrive at a scope compromise – it must be communicated to all the stakeholders
It has to be in writing
Create the communication plan in the beginning
If there is a problem, then you can escalate issues using the communication plan
Education of stakeholders about project management

Reduce Cost?
Management only understands dollars
Need complete understanding of scope, WBS, resource
Analyze total cost
Manage costs – travel cost is one example
Break it down
Avoid costly errors
Planning/Executing
Doing the right process
Control cost from the beginning
Manage the project according to its size
Don’t get stuck in analysis-paralysis, the scope and estimates can’t be absolutely perfect

How to Communicate the Skills We Have?
PMP
CIOs don’t care about your titles/certificates; they care more about relieving their pain

CIO Pain?
Uncertainty
Changing environment
Financial targets
Stockholder/Boards
Stay off the Front Page
Competition
Politics
Sustainability
Deliver

Janice Thomas –
Associated with Athabasca University
Selling Project Management to Senior Executives: Framing the Move that Matter
IBN 1880410958

Book Referenced at the meeting
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Selling Project Management to Senior Executives: Framing the Moves That Matter

Author: Connie L. Delisle, Janice Thomas, Kam Jugdev, Project Management Institute

ISBN-10: 1880410958

Description:
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In every industry and every profession in the United States, people are looking at ways to improve and demonstrate the value of their profession. This is something we all need to do on a consistent basis—in good times and bad. Whether we are project managers in government, not-for-profit organizations, or in highly competitive commercial ventures, we all need to deliver the best value to our customers. Whether we are interns, full-time employees, or independent consultants—whether we have been PM’s for decades or brand new to the profession, we need to look to ways to improve how we deliver value to our customers.

Join us at this month’s round table as we discuss ways we can improve what the consulting world calls the value proposition of project management. We will discuss real-world ways we can improve our value as individuals and as a profession. We will discuss techniques we can use on today’s project and for improving our career in the long term.

Join with the group and with discussion leader Jim Kaupanger as we discuss topics such as:

How do we deliver value, reduce cost, improve quality?

How do we approach problems and challenges?

What skills should we enhance?

How do we communicate those skills?

What are CIO’s looking for?

Bio

James A. Kaupanger, CPF, PMP has led projects and delivered results for over thirty years. He leads projects and delivers success with a collaborative, iterative approach.
Jim is a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He is one of fewer than 25 people worldwide who have this combination of certifications.
He is the principal of Facilitation Enterprises, LLC, a Sacramento area Information Technology, Consulting, Facilitation, and Project Management firm that helps organizations deliver quality solutions.

Jim and his wife Jan have been married for 35 years. They have five children and seven grandchildren. His hobbies include family time, backpacking and Scouting.