Joe Cummings

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Project Management Leadership

• Joe Cummings
• Managing Director Information Services, DePaul
  University

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Project Management
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Project Management

• How would a project begin? What are some of the
  reasons that projects happen?
• Compliance The need to maintain compliance
  within in your companies
• business is necessary and can be strategic.
  Regulatory agencies business is the
• business of compliance.
• Strategic We are changing the way that we do
  businessright now.
• IT adapts
• Flexibility required
• Maneuverability required
• What do we do with the old hardware? Can it be
  re-used?
• Can we leverage our vendor relationships?
• Do we have vendor relationships to be leveraged?
• Time, Money, Resource Do we have all or any of
  these?
• Senior Leadership support Usually results in
  some or all of the above
• What is the delivery date? Can this be
  negotiated (up front) or is it set in
• stone?

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Project Management

• What if your project is something that is a
  new idea?
• Did you know that selling an idea or a concept
  is what successful leaders,
• consultants, politicians, etc. do? Why would
  an idea need to be sold?
• Assuming that your project is strategic or
  mandated, do you think that it still
• needs to be sold? Why or why not?
• OK, now you have the green light to begin your
  project, you have the backing of the IT
  senior leadership. In fact, they want something
  in three months, six months, and the whole
  enchilada in nine months. Where do you begin?

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Project Management

• Some Characteristics of great PMs
• They have the ability to set dates/they have the
  ability to make deadlines and mitigate risks
  (the power of N)
• Better still, they have the ability to keep
  others on track and make dates and help others to
  mitigate the risks Nth
• They are very focused. Some might say
  single-minded in their tasks.
• They have an uncanny ability to put things down
  in writing, clarifying scope,
• deliverables, milestones, resource and
  requirements.
• The best PMs foster communication and
  collaboration. you can replace foster with force
  if you like.
• A great project manager will do what is
  necessary to make a project successfuleven if it
  is unpopular.
• Daily meetings, weekly status reporting,
  tracking of time, driving estimates, driving
  resources, and
• holding people accountable because they too are
  accountable.
• Great PMs arent bad people, they are just more
  likely to take the success or
• failure of the project more seriouslythats
  why they are PMs.
• Some PMs are technical while others are not.
  Most are somewhat technical, but thats really
  what
• they are not hired for. The name of the game is
  project management.
• PMs manage money, time and resources like its
  coming out their own pocket (including your
  time!)
• Most PMs react faster to problems and changes
  than most people they also have an uncanny
  sense for red flags!
• All PMs hate surprises, most are great at
  planning they have to be otherwise they wont
  be PMs for very long.
• All great PMs will do what is necessary to make
  a project succeed even if it is not popular.
• All great PMs deal with the hard issues
  (people, financial, time constraints, politics)
  even if they dont like to

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Project Management

• Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.
• Plan the Work. Work the Plan.
• Look first at where you want to go, then look
  how to avoid making the same mistakes
• Major projects fail, generally, because of
  people, not because of the lack of dollars or the
  lack of clarity in the vision.
• People who make their people better managers of
  projects will gain and advantage over rivals who
  dont.
• Managers should have the education and skills to
  plan, organize and implement projects and have
  two years project experience before being
  charged with larger efforts.

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What a Project Leader Should Do

• Give both sides of the story
• Get better feedback
• Train everyone
• Empathize

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Vendor and Contract Management
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Vendors

• Are they your friends?
• Market position (Microsoft Vs. The World)
• Strategy Consulting Giga, Meta Group, Gartner
  Group
• People consulting When the culture wont
  change
• Do you need vendors?
• Costs, Risk Mitigation, Help, Planning, Skills,
  etc.

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Vendors

• Have you managed your vendors lately?
• Are they working for you? or are you just
  giving them ?
• The vast majority of vendors will take your
  money without doing
• much elseif you dont ask.

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Leadership
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Ten Points of Focus for Leaders

• Lead, dont just manage
• Understand the fundamentals of the environment
• Create a vision
• Shape and inform expectations
• Create clear and appropriate IT governance
• Weave business and IT strategy together
• Build a new IT organization
• Develop and nurture a high-performing IT team
• Manage the new enterprise and IT risks
• Communicate IT performance in business-relevant
  language

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Know thy self?

• Whats a people person?
• Can you foster relationships with all different
  kinds of people?
• Do you have thick skin?
• How about politics and political capital?
• Do you understand what your place is in the
  world and are you
• going to do thisno matter what.
• Are you a phenomenal communicator? Can you sell
  your ideas?

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Relationships?

• How many friends have you made in this class?
• Do you know everyones name?
• Can you find something to talk about with
  everyone?
• Why am I asking these stupid questions? Because
  they are the most
• important questions that people never ask.
  Why? Because they are
• so obvious that everyone naturally assumes that
  you can do this,
• yet managers spend all day dealing with people
  issues.

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The Five Leadership Imperatives for 2005

• Drive Innovation and Growth While Managing Costs
• Prove the Strategic Value of IT
• Run IT Efficiently and Effectively
• Develop the Next Generation of IT Leaders
• Manage CXO Expectations

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Leadership Excellence

• Be leaders. Create excellence. The world needs
  fewer followers and more leaders. FYI, you dont
  have to have a team of people working for you or
  an entire division to be a leader. Heres a
  secret Leadership starts with the individual
  first.
• Make good decisions, every time, think things
  through. Be very precise and detail oriented.
• Know what a storm looks likeif you dont watch
  the Weather Channel.
• Be relaxed but also be on your game. There are
  many sports-related analogies. Not everyone
  played sports. Not everyone had the opportunity
  to be a member of a sports team.

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Configuration Maneuverability

• What will you get out of all of this effort?
• How about a better job? Im not talking about
  leaving your
• current company. How about the creation of a
  career path?
• Many people dont believe that they can make an
  impact on their
• companies. Why?
• Career path What is it? Do people ever get
  offered the perfect
• job? Would you know it if you did?

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Career Advice
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What Employers Are Looking For

• Businesses today are looking for employees with
  skills beyond traditional programming and IT
  expertise
• People that can bridge the communication gap
  between IT people and business partners they are
  valuable but hard to find.
• Good communication skills are a must
• Better understanding of customers needs and
  expectations and can give them the product that
  they want and will be excited about.
• Problem solving, innovation, communication, and
  teamwork.

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The Power of Passion

• Often forgot by management
• Passion motivates more than money
• Passion has the power to energize and transform
  organizations, for both leaders and followers
• As a manager, you dont want to hire those who
  lack passion. You can always teach new hires what
  they dont know, you cant teach them how to have
  fire in their bellies
• A leader must find a way to make sure that most
  of the staffs passion stays focused on the
  larger goals of the organization
• You dont have to feel passion every moment. But
  if you never feel it, something is wrong.

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Keys to Corporate Advancement

• Develop a full roster of skills development is
  continuous and dynamic regular commitment to
  self-improvement
• Seek opportunities
• Insist on fully understanding how each major
  IT-spend item advances the business strategy or
  takes care of a particular tactical problem
• Find a personal mentor who can guide and support
  the development of skills
• Temper you inclination to excel in all of these
  areas