when you know your project is failing, what do you do ... · when you know your project is failing,...
TRANSCRIPT
When you know your project
is failing, what do you do?
Project Recovery
PMI Westchester Chapter
White Plains, NY
November 11, 2014
Confidential
Challenger Disaster January 28th, 1986 at 11:39am EDT - The Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes on its 10th flight during mission STS-
51-L. The explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff. Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its
right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff.
5
Learning Objectives
• Remind you about structured problem
solving techniques
• Introduce you to some tools
• Share ideas
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
9
HOW DO YOU RECOVER
YOUR PROJECT?
If you are not going to terminate the project…
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
11
What is problem solving?
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
Systematic process
Defines a problematic situation
Identifying a problem as an opportunity
A resolution or solution is needed
Which is worth solving
12
Structured problem solving
• Many variants
• From 4-8 steps
• All basically include the same steps
• PMBOK
– Quality Management
– Risk Management
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
14
7 step problem solving process
1. Find the
right problem
to solve
2. Define the
problem
4. Develop the
possibilities
5. Select the
best solution 6. Implement
7. Evaluate
and learn
3. Analyze the
problem
The happy manager, Apex Leadership Ltd. www.the-happy-manager.com
Six Problem Solving Fundamentals
http://www.qualitydigest.com/sept02/articles/02_article.shtml
15
7 step problem solving process
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
1. Find the
right problem
to solve
• This step is left out of many problem-
solving methods.
• What problems are worth solving?
• Which problems can be turned into
opportunities?
• Particularly important when selecting
across possible project options.
Tools: interviewing, brainstorming, cause-and-effect diagrams, and voting
16 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
2. Define the
problem 7 step problem solving process
• What exactly is the problem?
• Provide the details of who, what, where
and when.
• Try to see every problem as an
opportunity.
Tools: brainstorming, storytelling, Pareto charts, check sheets, histograms
17
3. Analyze the
problem 7 step problem solving process
• What are the root causes?
– See PMBOK Quality Management
Page 239
Tools: interviewing,
brainstorming, cause-and-
effect diagrams, flow
charts, Pareto diagrams, 5
Why’s
18
Side Discussion About Tools
• Google “structured problem solving” – you
can find some really good documents,
small apps, workbooks and guides
• Some that I like and have used are:
– Classic fishbone diagrams
– Guides from thehappymanager.com
– Excel templates (see resource page)
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
19
Fishbone Diagram
aka Cause and Effect Diagram • A fishbone diagram, also called a cause and effect diagram or
Ishikawa diagram, is a visualization tool for categorizing the
potential causes of a problem in order to identify its root causes.
(Google)
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
Inability to deliver
Database content being overwritten
Time zone issues
Fishbone for Stacey’s struggling project
Created using Visio 2013
20
The 5 Whys
• Simple but powerful
• Explores cause and effect relationships to
help find the root cause
• Originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and
was used within the Toyota Motor
Corporation
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
21
The 5 Whys for Stacey’s
struggling project Why did it take 2-4 days to deploy a build?
Because the files didn’t have all of the correct and latest code
Why weren’t all of the files correct in the build?
Because one or more people had overwritten the files
Why had one or more people overwritten the files?
Because developers were simply checking in their files without
integrating their work
Why were developers not integrating their work?
Because they had not communicated that they had new work to
integrate
Why were the developers not communicating that they had
new work to integrate?
Because the current process wasn’t working
22
Problem Solving Check List
• What?
• Why?
• How?
• Where?
• Who?
• When?
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
Please see the handout
from
“What’s the problem” guide
by The Happy Manager
http://www.the-happy-
manager.com/
23
Check List for Stacey’s Project
• What?
– Every build requires 2-4 days to resolve integration issues
– What’s exactly is each team member doing at build time?
• Why?
– The problem arose when we integrated the new project code into the core platform
• How?
– This is relevant for the on time delivery of the new project
• Where?
– It has impact on the entire current and future distributed development process for the core
product
• Who?
– The company cares because they don’t want to lose reputation and money
– The client has promised their client the delivery within a time frame
• When?
– The problem arose when we added the new team member from a different location
– We needed an immediate remedy
24
Excel Templates
http://www.thinkreliability.com/cmtemplate-
redirect.aspx (This is a nice Excel workbook
template)
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/work
sheets/RCADownload.htm (One page root
cause template)
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
25 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
4. Develop the
possibilities 7 step problem solving process
• Be creative and generate lots of ideas
• Focus on opportunities
• Bring team members together
Tools: brainstorming, Pareto charts and voting
26 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
5. Select the
best solution 7 step problem solving process
• Select solutions that: – Have a strong chance of being successfully
implemented
– Will be accepted by all relevant stakeholders
– Truly address the root cause identified in the previous
step
• Agree upon a solution
Tools: Pareto charts and voting
27 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
6. Implement 7 step problem solving process
• Project planning
• Communicating to stakeholders
Tools: project planning, presentations, documentation and pilot runs
28 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
7. Evaluate
and learn 7 step problem solving process
• Verify the solution is effective
• Should be a measurable improvement
Tools: auditing, interviewing, documentation, control charts and process capability
29
“RESULTS ARE OBTAINED BY
EXPLOITING OPPORTUNITIES,
NOT BY SOLVING PROBLEMS.”
― PETER F. DRUCKER
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
32
Problem Statement
• Ebola outbreak in Western Africa
• The fact that Ebola is continuing to spread is a
failure
• We haven’t been able to contain it
• In the US:
– 5 infected people have come into the country (as of
Oct 25) - 1 traveler and 4 healthcare workers
• 2 nurses infected in the US
• NY, NJ and other states have implemented
quarantine policies
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
33
Structured Problem Solving
Exercise
• Start at the beginning…What’s right
problem to solve?
• Select one possible problem from your list
• Using the tools discussed and any other
tools you are familiar with, do steps 1, 2,
and 3 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
1. Find the
right problem
to solve
2. Define the
problem
3. Analyze the
problem
34
Structured Problem Solving
Exercise
• Break up into groups/teams
• 20 minutes to do exercises
• 10 minutes of discussion
• Tools
1. Problem solving check list
2. Root cause analysis
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
36 Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014
Structure Problem Solving Resources Here are some links that I like and use:
http://www.the-happy-manager.com/store/pick-and-mix/whats-the-problem/ (Work book)
http://www.depression.org.nz/ContentFiles/Media/PDF/structured_problem_solving_workbook.pdf (Really nice workbook – can be applied to any project)
http://www.lean.org/FuseTalk/Forum/Attachments/PowerPoint%20-%20Problem%20Solving.pdf (Very nice ppt on structured problem solving)
http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=collection/cla_/lessons/cla_lesson2_problem_solving/cla_lesson2_problem_solving.xml
http://www.thinkreliability.com/cmtemplate-redirect.aspx (This is a nice Excel workbook template)
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/worksheets/RCADownload.htm (One page root cause template)
37
“THE MOST SERIOUS MISTAKES
ARE NOT BEING MADE AS A
RESULT OF WRONG ANSWERS.
THE TRUE DANGEROUS THING IS
ASKING THE WRONG
QUESTION.”
― PETER F. DRUCKER
Confidential. All rights reserved. Copyright 2014