spa - systemic project alignment

ITs a new social science…peopLinks

SPA – Systemic Projects Alignment

On “soft” Aspects of IT Project Management

Daniel Ofek


What?

• On IT Project distress• Human factor in IT projects• Effective behavior in projects• Systemic thinking in projects context


What is a Project?

• A project is a one time planned effort, composed of activities performed by professionals in order to reach pre-defined results by using pre-allocated resources

• Project results is a product or a service• Every project has a customer• Every project meant to promote a bigger goal of the

organization• A project is a process of change and learning – by its

completion the organizations is different. The people who took part in it are different too


The Challenges

April 8, 2023


What’s Going-on with IT Projects

Large Scale IT Projects

Cancelled19%

Challenged46%

Successfull35%

Source: Standish Group “Chaos Reports” 2006


Why Projects Fail -Testimonals (1)• Project has no published vision• Too much focus on technological issues• No clear division of responsibility• Managing tasks instead of outputs• Poor risk management• Episodic approach to project• Matrix structure increase conflicts, disputes, lack of

commitment • People don’t believe in: managers, product, plan, each-

other• Vicious circles drive the projects


Why Projects Fail -Testimonals (2)

• Many activities are performed with no project framework

• The project solves the wrong problem (sold by hungry salesperson)

• The solution is of “soup of the day” type• Trying to do the best – instead of the right

ITs a new social science…

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Why Projects Fail –Testimonals (3)

• Bad project management (in-experience, poorly trained, poorly selected….)

•Plan (and scope) are irrational•Wrong WBS and personnel assignment•Bad manning – inadequate team members•Bad quality product•Too many changes, poor productization•Wrong mix of technology and interfaces


Why Projects Fail -Testimonals (4)

• Lack of company commitment

• Lack of requested knowledge in company and among project members

• Missing sponsors from company and customer

• Too complex processes

• Passive not involved customer

• Weak agreement between stakeholders regarding the solution


An Industry Leader Definition of the Cause of the Problems

• Question: Are most project failures caused by technical problems, people problems or business problems?

• Answer: People problems. Business and technical problems boil down to people problems. People solve problems. People create problems.

• It's the extent to which we take responsibility for solving problems that gets them solved.

• The myth of IT is that it's about computers and technology. It's not -- IT is about people. From: Sue Young CEO of ANDA Consulting in Colchester, VT


Project Management Body of Knowledge-PMBOK

The five process groups are:Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Monitoring, and Closing.

The nine knowledge areas are:Project Integration Management Project Scope Management Project Time Management Project Cost Management Project Quality Management Project Human Resource Management Project Communications Management Project Risk Management

Project Procurement Management


PMBOK - Human Resource Management Chapters

Focus on human as resources:

• 9.1 Human Resource Planning• 9.2 Acquire Project Team• 9.3 Develop Project Team• 9.4 Manage Project Team


Background

April 8, 2023

Project Management Dimensions

Technical• Technological

solution• Trade-offs

• Engineering• Quality

Organizational• Structure• alignment

• Teams• Knowledge

• Communication

Logistic• Resources,

Budgeting• Business goals• Planning and

Control• Quality – standards,

commitments

• Work processes, Reporting, Interfaces, Management (e.g. PMBOK)Methodology

• Given budget, resources, Control ProcessesBusiness

• Expertise, Problem solving, Knowledge Base, technological attributesContent

• Human energy, recruitment Competence, Knowledge, CulturePeople

Infrastructures

Organizational• Structure• alignment• Teams• Knowledge• Communication


Determining the

Critical

Success Factor

technology

Legacy knowledge

com

ple

xity

outsourcing

Quality Standards

Unique expertise

Cost objective

Life dependant System Company importance

Available test equipm

ent

ETC ….

Time crucial

EvolutionRevolution

State of the Art

Global Developments

Rich feature set

Classifying your Project (what’s missing?)

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Multi-disciplinary

Taken from PM course

SW intensive

In-house knowledge

Risks Multi Project Org . Infrastructure ReUse

Version release policy

Time to Market Goals

Novelty

Budget

Off-shoringstakeholders

HW or SW Project ?

Human

Iceberg model of PM and Problems SolutionsSolutions Elements

Integration, ContentTimeCost, Budget, Pro-

curementHR ManagementFormal CommRisk Management

CultureMoodCommitmentPoliticsLeadershipInformal CommCooperationKnowledge&Und-

erstanding

Formal Management Procedures

Informal Management Procedures and Relationships

Project Products Change ScopeTechnical ChangeIncrease BudgetReduce CostReplace People"Investigation

Committee”Change Co-

efficients

Systems ThinkingInfo sharingAlign with supra-systemSupport LeadershipHR-Human

Relationships

Management Elements

The Space of Org Support in Projects

Implemen-tation

Planning

People Placement& HRM

Internal comm

Org structure

Human relationships

Mood

Commitment

Systemic vision

Knowledge &understanding

External Comm &PR

Project specific org. parameters

ProjectLife-cycle

Leadership

Culture

Initiation Execute Closure Maintenance

Emergency

The more dynamic and less stable is the project environment, the greater need of fostering the organizational aspects


Supporting the ProjectManagement consultant Technical ConsultantSPA

Org. Consultant


Project Vs. CompanyCompany ProjectVagueness as management and culture tool

Clarity is needed regarding boundries and power networks

Bureaucracy is tolerated, observing procedures

Agility – cutting corners

Limitless Innovation Innovation limited to project framework

Open and opening system Opened for purposeCompany level org. culture Specific and derived cultureOrg. change – long term Org. change – immediate, can be a

lab for larger changes

Learning most often begins with a small group and only gradually spreads across the organization and then up

Edgar H. Schein 2002


In-Project Behavior – What is it?• Every project member performs specific functions within

the project• The In-Project Behavior (IPB) is the way in which these

functions are performed• Functions performance is a product of the following

dimensions:– Behavior - leadership, sharing, trustfulness, biases…– Mental conditions – commitment, motivation, mood, pride…– Professional infrastructure – specific and background

knowledge, experience, competencies …– Personality – traits, character …


In-Project Behavior - Principles

• IPB is derived mainly from 1. personal, 2. project characteristics 3. peers IPB

• Every project has IPB “State of Aggregation” – the total effectiveness of IPB

• Improving IPB is a learning process (not just managerial)

• Teaching IPB is by courses or personal coaching


IPB Improvement

• IBP improvement is composes of the following items:– Defining best IPB for the project (in context of the

organization, market, technology)– Identifying the gap between actual individual and

team IPB and the required effective IIPB– Design and implement activities to reduce this gap


Systemic Thinking

It is possible to improve IPB by adopting systemic thinking approach throughout project life-cycle

Un-solved chronicle problems are largely the result of a systemic failure and not human errors


Systemic Approach to Projects

The Project is a system is a system is a system...

April 8, 2023


Systemic Approach to Projects

• Every project constitutes an open, dynamic, complex and learning system

• The systemic approach uses two lenses simultaneously to investigate the situation

• Concave – enables to see the full picture• Convex – enables to get down to details

Customer

Manager

Project ContextCommitments, Business Plan, Internal & External Goals, Culture

Documentation, External Interfaces

Project’s Ecosystem Company’s vision

Company

Team A

Team B

Function A

Function B

Technology, Innovation, Culture

Project Ecosystem

3rd Party Vendors


SW Development Teams NW


Providing a Vision for the Proejct

• Project leaders must provide a vision for the members of the project so that each individual understands his or her contribution to that vision.

• The vision must be defined according to the strategic obligations of the organization.

• The vision describes the project’s ecosystem• These strategic obligations are determined by what the

organization has committed to provide for its customers in terms of value, what systems must be established and managed to provide that value, and how the functions and tasks interrelate in order to meet those strategic obligations.

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What is the New Paradigm?

• The new paradigm is founded on the recognition that managers must focus on the following two tasks:

• i) Continuously knowing what is valued and what would be of more value to the customers of their organization’s products and/or services, and

• ii) managing the creation, providing, and continuous improvement of strategic organizational suprasystems which when used by members of the organization will produce that which is of value to customers and users.”

• G. Harlan Carothers, Jr., 1988

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When System Thinking will help

• The problems are been around for long time (there is a “history”)

• Existing multitude of “theories” to explain the cause of the problems

• Problems are dynamic and complex – complicated, stubborn, overtime, oscillating (based on mental and cultural)

• Require new approach : פי : Goodman, Karash, Lannon, O’Reilly, Sevilleעל

Designing a System Thinking Intervention


Systemic analysis and intervention

• Identify a problem to be solved by systemic thinking

• Describe the problem using listing of behaviors, time axis events and potential causes

• Graphical depiction of the problems integrated with the theoretical factors – the big picture

• Spotting the right point for intervention


Level of Intervention in a Project

1. The mindset, paradigms, attitudes infrastructure – their influence on project health, cultural issues, inter-relations with intrasystem. Example: highly praising heroic activities, “the customer is stupid”

2. The goals of the project – clear definition, alignment, agreement. Example: quality, customer satisfaction, TTM as additional goals

3. Self-organization – define pressure for change, self adjustments

: פי D.H. Meadows: Places to Intervene in a Systemעל


Level of Intervention in a Project (2)

4. Rules, procedure – rules of the games, constraints, rewards, right-wrong, technical or behavioral. Example: change management, Hierarchical rules, reporting

5. Information floes – presenting results, feedback. Example: Public advancement reporting as motivational factor

6. Control positive feedback loops – more brings more until self-destroy, identify and control growth. Example: Resources growth by customer demand



Level of Intervention in a Project (3)

7. Control balancing feedback loops – goalactionmeasurementaction

8. Material stocks and flow – quantity against flow magnitude, stock as stabilizing buffer. Example: Stock of system requirements against the flow of developing them

9. Data, measurements, results – change data, change interpretation. Example: Change number of reported bugs, change bugs scaling



Thank you

April 8, 2023

spa - systemic project alignment

Technology

strategic

projects fail

people problems

project behavior

systemic approach

change

project

ipb