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The Project Management Method – Curse or Blessing

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Project management is an area of expertise that has undergone some significant development in the last decade.  A business project can have a far-reaching effect on the business and result in either tremendous improvement in the businesses ability to function in the marketplace or a significant setback to that business entity.

The idea of a formalized project management approach has been around for quite some time.  So it was not uncommon for any manager to find themselves learning the discipline of a structured project management system.  That project methodology takes any given business or IT project through the same standardized steps from conception through implementation.  Those steps would include…

*    Project definition
*    Needs analysis and requirements definition.
*    Cost benefit analysis.
*    Project scope.
*    Project schedule and budget.
*    Detailed specifications
*    Development
*    Testing
*    Training
*    Deployment

By utilizing a standardized process of doing all projects the same way, using the same reporting methods and tools, there is an economy of skills in that the project leaders and team members become adept at navigating these steps.  Further, by using the same systems and criteria, a scale of evaluation as to the effectiveness of the system is developed so the ability of project teams to do well over time improves.

It was natural that this standardized method would become codified and finally developed into a well-developed system that could that molds all projects to a single standard.  By developing an industry wide method that requires strict training and adherence to the same terms, tool sets and definitions of success, the “intuitive” nature of judging project effectiveness is reduced.  And so “the Project Management Method” was developed whereby project managers can undergo strenuous and exacting training in a standardized method that would be enforced via certification across the whole of the business community.

Whether or not the PMM represents a curse or a blessing to the business world depends to a large extent on individual applications of the method and measurements and observations on whether the method itself introduces efficiency to the process of project management or just another layer of bureaucracy.
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There are some strong positives to utilizing a methodology that is standardized at an industry level.  Those project managers who have gone through the certification process can be depended on to implement that system the same way in each business setting.  As such, the process of finding qualified project managers becomes simplified because the certification process alone communicates to the business that it can expect the PMM system to be implemented correctly.

By putting into place an external method of certification and measurement of excellence, the project manager career begins to take a high level of professionalism similar to in the legal and medical fields.  So the PMM movement represents a maturing of the IT and project management disciplines as they move toward greater levels of accountability and control.

The dangers come in implementation of the PMM methodology on a project by project basis.  In order for a PMM certified manager to live by his credentials, all projects must conform to a standard mold.  The unique nature of each project may not easily fit into the PMM process of systematization.

In addition, the PMM system is heavily dependent on a large amount of meetings to document that the project is adhering to standards and a methodical documentation process from which there is little room for variation or accommodation.  The PMM is a complex methodology so the tool sets that must be used to track the process can be expensive and difficult to use.

The outcome is that the introduction of the PMM system can cause the actual business objectives of the project to take on a secondary priority to the high standards of PMM itself.  Project leaders working under the requirements of the PMM can become more accountable to the methodology itself and lose sight of what is good for the business or what is efficient in terms of getting the project completed.

There is very little room for creativity or individual judgment within the confines of the PMM and that is problematic because the nature of business problems have historically depended on the judgment and creative problem solving skills of middle management.  By dominating the project process with the needs of the PMM methodology, excessive cost is introduced as well as cumbersome requirements that do not benefit the business or the project itself.

The Quiet Explosion of Cell Phone Limitation Technologies

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It is no secret that the explosion of functionality the world of cellular communications is nothing short of phenomenal.  Scarcely a month goes by when something new is added what people can do with their cell phones.  Now cell phones can take pictures, keep your calendar, let you send text messages or emails, surf the internet and do virtually everything except make the toast and burp the baby.  But along with the technological revolution in what cell phones can do, there is another quieter revolution that has as its objective the opposite goal, to stop cell phones from doing what they can do.

It stands to reason when a technology as pervasive as cell phone communications enables virtually every man, woman and child to communicate to virtually anyone virtually anywhere that at some point there would be a need for some controls.  That need has become more and more compelling when it comes to certain types of facilities where it is not only undesirable for cell phones to be operative but in some cases downright dangerous.  Some outstanding examples of where you do NOT want cell phones operational are…

§    Prisons where inmates can use them to plan illegal activities.
§    Federal buildings to protect classified areas and to restrict terrorist activity.
§    Religious buildings such as mosques where cell phones can disrupt the ceremonies.
§    Banks and financial institutions where cell phones could be used for robberies or for terrorism.
§    Theaters and music halls where you want cell phones turned off during the performance.
§    Hospitals or airplanes where the operation of cell phones can disrupt machinery.

The problem with securing a building from cell phone operation is that putting up a sign that cell phones should be in use is not getting the job done.  The phones can still be on and used as a homing device or create disruption to sensitive equipment.  So to be effective, the facility needs to have cell phone blocking technology in place to stop the operation of every cell phone that comes inside that facility for the time it is there and then returns operation to that device as soon as it passes out of the facility area.

This is a tough challenge and the technologies that have been developed for the most part bring as many problems as they solve.  There are basically three solutions to the problem.

1.    Alarming.  A device is put in place that can detect the signals coming from user’s cell phones.  When the signal is detected, alarms go off to alert the user that the cell phone should be disabled.  The problem is that this is not that much better than a sign on the wall informing people that cell phones are not allowed.  It depends on compliance and the user can easily turn the phone right back on once inside.

2.    Disruption.  Otherwise known as jamming simply sends out a disruptive signal to jam the cell phone while in the facility.  Jamming is destructive to machinery, dangerous to people and animals and in many countries, illegal to use.

3.    Distraction.  This approach detects the signal that the cell phone is sending to the tower to be recognized and sends a false signal back to the phone so it is distracted and thinks it is in communication with the tower when it is in fact off line.  No calls can come to the phone because the tower doesn’t know its there and no calls can be made because the phone isn’t actually on line.

Of the three, distraction has the best chance of solving the problem permanently.  The business trend to look out for is the rapid expansion of any company that uses the distraction method for cell phone management.  That will be the business that thrives in this market.

Employee Retention in the Twenty First Century

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The business paradigm in virtually every department of the modern business has been undergoing continuous change in the last ten years to such an extent that it becomes necessary to step back and review how we do business in all aspects of corporate life in light of new markets and new ways even our employees do business.  This is as much true in our Human Resource Department as it is in Marketing.  The labor pool is changing and the impact on the bottom line of the business can see be serious if we don’t change how we go about recruitment and view employee retention in light of the changes to the available educated labor “out there” to draw upon for our staffing needs.

Employee retention and how we approach the concept of keeping employees over many years is an area where certain assumptions must be challenged if we are going to stay competitive.  Some assumptions concerning employee retention that are rapidly becoming obsolete include…

§    That there is an unlimited resource of eager employees out there to fill my staffing needs.
§    That it’s a good idea to cycle employees in and out of the company because that keeps benefits costs down.
§    That the “my way or the highway” approach to management is the right way to go to enforce your vision for how work will get done.
§    That employees are commodities.  There are always more where they came from.
§    That employees should be grateful just to get a paycheck.
§    It is better to keep a youthful staff and to move older employees out of the work place.

The labor pool in changing with shifts in the demographics in the country and those changes make these assumptions obsolete and dangerous if we expect to keep a staff that can provide quality support for our business objectives.  Because the “baby boom” is leaving the market and being replaced with a smaller and less skilled youth population, we have to adjust our expectations both in terms of hiring and retention.

Probably the biggest change we have to get used to is to begin to view employees as valued assets and to give significant attention to retention, not just once a year at performance review time but on a daily and weekly basis.  The assumption that employees will work for us for a paycheck and that we can exert leverage in the management situation because of a large labor pool we can tap to replace unhappy employees has become a flawed approach to people management.

The truth is the pool of talented labor is shirking at an alarming rate.  If you have a staff of skilled people who you have invested in to bring up their knowledge and skill levels, that is an investment worth.  Skilled and educated employees are in short supply and, above all, they know they are in demand so they can move from job to job without difficulty if they become dissatisfied at their current work place.

These changes to the paradigm of emplacement justify a corporate wide reevaluation of retention policies and strategies.  The HR Department should be on the forefront of changing the business’s attitude toward employees from one of “us against them” to one of employee empowerment and partnership.

The managers who will excel at retaining valuable, productive and trained employees will be those who see the employment relationship as a contract in which management has responsibilities to employees to assure their continued growth and success just as the employee must pull his weight in the company.  A partnership approach to management will go a long way toward improving the company’s retention profile which will benefit the business in a multitude of ways.

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