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Project Management Masterpoints
1. The key to me is to know the true estimate. 2. Separate the lists we know from the lists we don't know 3. There are certain irreducibles that you ignore at your peril 4. Each new element is significant 5. We should spend more time in the helicopter 6. Drive one car ahead keep an eye on your boss 7. Let your customers into the front kitchen but not into the back kitchen 8. Give the client feedback/visibility on the cost of prioritised requirements 9. When doing preliminary work give the customer feedback on costs 11. Separate the tasks from the people 12. Prioritise which parts of the functionality to include 13. It is important to have interim evaluations 14. Don't fall in love with the analysis 15. Part of the project plan is a communication plan 16. Define what stocktaking means on this particular project 17. Plan communication for building and for publicising the project 18. It's important to give compliments 19. You have to get the client to own the piece of work 20. Listen to your team informally as well as formally 21. Start showing the customer "something" as early as possible 22. Projects play games: I can solve it 23. To establish the goal 'look for where the pain is' 24. Make 500 copies of "The Critical Value of It" by James Porter, and distribute it. 25. People who do not stay forever are as potentially productive as those who stay long-term, plan how to get most out of them 26. Ask for the implementation budget at the beginning of the project 27. You can only think of 6 things at once what are they? 28. If you think safety is expensive, try an accident 29. The quickest way to screw a project is to write a bad contract 30. Experts concentrate on very few things amateurs on everything so they get swamped 31. Incompetence is learned. Make sure you're not the teacher 32. GQM. Invert it. Given a metric: what questions can it answer? 33. Establish at an early stage who has the mandate to stop the project if it's unfeasible 34. Estimate in ranges but tell the customer a precise value 35. Estimating is a probabilistic process 36. Customers don't accept contingency reserve in the schedule 37. How to deal with changing ambitions/requirements 38. When managing projects try to put on the other person's shoes 39. It's not a matter of documents but we look for deliverables 40. 'The Pyramid Principle' by Barbara Menlo Book 41. 'Project Management Incompetencies' by Barbara Tuckman Book 42. 'The Psychology of Military Incompetence' by Norman F. Dickson Book During a Project Management Masterclass held in London on 7-9, November 2001, the following international group of project managers identified these project management masterpoints. The masterpoints are a way of communicating individual project manager's principles, expertise and questions with their peers.
1. Define expected communication with stakeholders and make it measurable 2. When problem arises: Stop. Make a plan. Then follow that plan. (from the SAS Handbook) 3. Project risks exist within assumptions 4. You had to have in your pocket at least 1, better 2-3 TOP MANAGER (directors) 5. Communicate. Co-ordinate. Control. 6. Breaks during meetings informal talks learn people's stake/attitude 7. Assume nothing 8. Lead by example 9. Estimate multiplier for the next project = time needed for this project, time estimated before this project. (In my experience: time needed 2.25 time estimated) 10. Have a visibility window index 11. Convince by spoken word not written text 12. Identify reasons for negativity and find ways to involve them to overcome their concerns 13. Plan ahead 14. Make every effort to bring the 'team' together for the duration of the project in one room or building as close as possible 15. Technical people expect everything to be black and white 16. If we cannot deliver in 90 days then subdivide the task 17. Ask people directly "what makes you stay in our company. What will make you leave" 18. Show your employees you care about them not just their work 19. q. How do you eat an elephant? a. In small bits 20. Set project tolerances at the beginning 21. The project Manager should try to write a requirement 22. Don't hide the truth with words 23. Knowing what you know and admitting what you don't know! 24. Use negatives to your advantage 25. Allocate a buffer for extra requirements that the users own but can't exceed 26. Project = team task individual. Don't concentrate on one without considering the others 27. Solving problems is sometimes like pealing rings off an onion 28. Doing projects is like bringing up a child. Every child is different. 29. Implement clear change control and be sure to raise all change control notes as soon as they are identified so that everyone gets used to them and accepts that they happen. 30. Project = conflict of interest management + political decision making. 31. What does the football team manager say to the team at half time? 32. Do a project summary on one sheet of paper 33. Give them another/different job or they will leave. 34. Define the scope 35. Give people credit for the work they've done, for the work they're going to do, for the knowledge they share 36. Don't do anything unless you are asked twice 37. Fix a methodology 38. We are supposed to know how to manage projects, but we need to keep on learning. 39. Shut up and listen 40. A day lost at the start of a project is as important as a day lost later in the project 41. Found the team around clear goals and a vision. Motivation: Let the team members do what they have time for. Team behaviour rules. 42. Is the management team there to help? 43. Observe, Orient, Decide Act 44. Try to create the environment where people in the project can give you their bad news 45. Thinking that a methodology will solve all the problems is like asking a robot to bring up a child 46. A project is like a marriage, it's trying to keep people together 47. A project team is like an orchestra, the Project Manager is the Conductor and helps the performance to take place 48. Some projects are like oil tankers too heavy to stop 49. A project plan, like a ship, needs continual navigation. Currents, winds, rocks, changes in destination 50. A Project Manager is like a juggler: throwing, catching, number of balls, what is your 4th ball? 51. Start with a "One Ball Project": internal, known domain, small 52. A project is like building a house some things have to be done/planned before others 53. Adding extra requirements is like having another cocktail late at night seems like a good idea at the time 54. A project is like a game of golf, you need to use the right club 55. "A whack on the side of the head" by Roger Van Oech Explorer observer Artist orientate Judge decide Warrior - act The following group of project managers participated in a meeting in Rome, October 2001: 
The purpose of the meeting was to improve our project management skills by exploring project management issues from the business, technological and sociological perspectives. During the meeting the managers helped each other by communicating their experience and by defining pieces of knowledge that have been useful to them and are potentially useful to other project managers. We call these gems of knowledge Project Management Masterpoints. 1. Try always to define some parameters and reviews, even for non-software tasks, keep track and build an 'history database', use it to adjust continuously metrics and estimate criteria confidence level define and communicate. 2. Every measurement has an associated precision 3. I think that it is necessary to project the project (in other words to project the way in which you conduct your project) 4. Make sure that requirements (functional and non-functional ones) are always defined and clarified. 4. Handle changes formally. 5. The effort expended on project management should be commensurate with the size of the project. 6. Documentation must be updated to remain useful 7. Welcome the different perspectives different individuals bring to the same question 8. Evaluate and keep track of 'project elasticity' i.e. how much budget, deadlines, costs, estimates and so on can be changed without negative effects 9. One of the most important and successful activities is negotiation at every level 10. Avoid unnecessary translations 11. Assumptions tend to remain hidden 12. Build a lab to test our assumptions 13. Risks are good negotiating tools 14. Make sure that processes (technical and project management ones) are defined and known 15. Metrics and measurements are useful to understand if we're reaching an objective: starting from the objective, we define metrics 'what' and targets 'how much' and 'who' should perform the measurement and 'when'. 16. Allocate Budget to system integration 17. Projects succeed in spite of the organisations they exist in 18. Motivate users on new technologies keep them up to date 19. At the start of a project imagine the risks and define preventive action. During a project analyse the risks and find correcting actions 20. Stop thinking you know exactly what the project is all about. Listen to the stakeholders and try to make them feel part of the project 21. Listen to everybody's ideas and think about them, but decide with your own head 22. Accept suggestions and do not do everything from the very beginning again 23. Identify beforehand stakeholders and objectives (user needs) in order not to lose energy 24, Concentrate on manageable risks 25. Interpret risks as an opportunity to increase knowledge 26. Analyse, classify, prioritise and identify only manageable risks 27. Almost all the critical issues have a solution. We must patiently choose the right one assessing it among many 28. Think of risks as a way to analyse a project 29. 'Spend' more time discussing, considering, assessing, analysing with the stakeholders and planning tasks and responsibilities. 'Spend' the needed time to 'review' and where necessary change the direction every once in a while 30. Turn risks into opportunities. Unexpected situations are learning opportunities. 31. Value added risk analysis: more information about the project which you can also use during the negotiation phase 32. The misuse of safety margins often leads to redundancies inside the Project, with waste of time and money 33. Analyse what to measure. Choose how to measure. Record one's measurements, but always keep in mind that people are and always will be behind the metrics 34. Measuring is useful to build an objective experience, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. I tried function point counting. They are better than nothing but have many limits they are useful during the analysis 35. Never organise an outside dinner if you have no umbrellas and it is expected to rain 36. The support of specific methodologies 'corrected' by experience and environmental conditions estimates final measurement. Analysis in order to improve estimates, 37. Detect 'critical points' , find room for improvement 38. Evaluate time paying special attention to higher risks, processes and tasks, creating alternative solutions 39. Metrics and Measurement. 1. Measurement is knowledge. 2. Define the borders of 'key knowledge'. 3. Measure what is essential. 4. Combine measures obtained with structured methods and measures based on previous experiences. 5. Final measurement and comparison 40. Find a way to measure the 'environmental variables' which influence the project to detect among all pieces of information the ones who are worth measuring 41.A document represents a point of view of some knowledge During a Project Management Masterclass held in London on 4-6 June 2001, the following international group of project managers identified these masterpoints. The masterpoints are a way of communicating individual project manager's principles, expertise and questions with their peers.
The following group of project managers met in Rome from October 23-25, 2000: 
The purpose of the meeting was to improve our project management skills by exploring project management issues from the business, technological and sociological perspectives. During the meeting the managers helped each other by communicating their experience and by defining pieces of knowledge that have been useful to them and are potentially useful to other project managers. We call these gems of knowledge Project Management Masterpoints. 1. You can't think too broadly at the beginning of the project 2. Think fast during all the life of the project, without analyzing all the particular, proceeding by priorities 3. Do everything to avoid people conflicts. 4. Know very well customer organization. Know very well customer organization. Think in a positive way 5. Project Management is a real job! It needs proper staffing and schedule 6. Beware when your client doesn't understand the difference between a new business process and the IS you must design to support that business process 7. Projects must have linguistic integrity 8. A plan provides the security of something to change from 9. Schedule real time for: thinking, listening, reading and ecnourage your team to do the same 10. Real work is challenging and can feel risky. Learn to identify when you (or others) avoid it by enchantment with technology, re-organisation and planning (or metrics!) 11. It's more difficult to obtain a change in culture and people's thoughts than a change in the technology tools 12. Beware of one-way traffic conversations. Grown-ups have dialogues 13. Complex projects can be portioned into simple ones 14. Think simply. Look close to you. In the beginning you must have your authentic point of view 15. Each member of the project must and be accountable for his/her role. The project team must share the project's goal 16. Without metrics you are just another guy with an opinionLook at the wall and see the morale 17. The metrics of the project's advantages helps to define its domain 18. The project team should be organized based upon the functions carried out by the user 19. Roles have to be defined. Accountability 20. The project team members have to be involved in decision making 21. The project has to achieve the objectives for which it was designed 22. Project's purposes must be clear to each person in the team 23. The project's objectives and methods should be agreed upon with the client 24. Always maintain a leading role, even if not necessarily in an interfering way 25. Always praise adequately all the project team according to their
specific contribution Pixelpark GmbH project managers held a project management masterclass during July 2000 to share their wisdom and discuss difficult issues. During the class we captured these project management masterpoints which we would like to share will all project managers
1. Milestone presentations with deciders only (not discussers...) 2. Every project has a tail that must be managed 3. Communicate positive and negative feedback in all directions 4. Manage the risks and share it 5. Only give constructive criticism 6. A perfect project manager is able to respond on every situation 7. Back to the roots 8. Ignore restrictions as long as you can 9. Praise people 10 Pay attention to yin and yang 11. The time you need depends on the experience of the team members 12. Work a lot with "brown" wallpaper 13. Planning a project means that you will be wrong 14. Trust your team 15. Have regular 'motivation' talks 16. Plan that there will be problems and bugs 17. Projects always last longer than estimated 18. Don't forget any stakeholder 19. Thinks realistic, behave optimistic 20. Test before use, use before test 21. Place sweets on your desk 22. Take a comfort break from time to time 23. A perfect project is a dream 24. Build teams and keep them as long as you can 25. Keep your team informed 26. People 80% technology 20% 27. If you have the feeling that something goes wrong, speak about it/ask... 28. The review is the goldmine for every member (lessons learned) 29. Turn Critics into the core-team (from defensive into offensive) 30. Ask as many questions as possible 31. If your summary doesn't fit on one page, it's too big 32. Be aware of the "tonality" 33. It is much easier to start a project than it is to finish one 34. 1 + 1 = 3
1. You need to "dream" about different scenarios. 2. There is power in knowing how your team members will react 3. Have a Clear Goal. 4. Enterprise, Architecture, Framework guiding principles. 5. Doctrine not dogma. 6. Use Pareto's principle to approach risks: 20% issues = 80% risks, 80% focus is on 20% issues. 7. Need a mechanism for tracking risks. 8. Raise the flag: green, yellow, red as a status tracking mechanism. 9. We resist change we can't control. 10. Step by step approach method. 11. Communicate problem before rumours. 12. A little information works better but it must be right. 13. Make the stakeholders aware of the opportunities early! 14. If you can put a "reliability" (+ -) figure next to your metrics they will be richer and more useful 15. Storming forming- norming performing. 16. Manage the risks that affect your project. 17. Tell the truth 18. Risk management is a secondary consideration in today's real world. 19. Identify/differentiate between controllable/uncontrollable risks. 20. Make the risk visible. 21. Sometimes you speed up by taking people out of the project. 22. The more beautiful the documentation the less it is used. 23. Keep your door open. 24. The project manager is a Juggler. 25. Must have documentation. 26. Communication, communication, communication. 27. Goal of project before personal goals. 28. Manage' the plan but make sure the plan reflects reality. 29. Keep it stupid simple - K.I.S.S. 30. Divide the work.
Masterpoints from Pixelpark April 11-13, 2000. The following project managers from Pixelpark met at the Jagdschloss Hubertusstock in a forest near Berlin from April 11-13. We explored what it means to be a good project manager from the point of view of the business purpose, the people and the technology. The Masterpoints summarise the ideas that we learned from each other.
1. Don't focus on the detail 2. You have to know what you are doing! 3. Be sure to know the importance of the project for the customer 4. Don't get "lost" in details (yet!) 5. Never add manpower to a late project 6. Be Proactive not reactive (communicating with the client) 7. The core team has to have a main idea, vision and to focus on that during the project 8. "true news" better than "good news" 9. Always stay flexible in mind to react to changes , changing demands, customers, to probable risks 10. Laugh a lot then the project runs faster 11. "Divide & Conquer" 12. Start modelling - simple and stupid 13. Draw a map (communication, interfaces) 14. Risk-awareness is important, but shouldn't dominate the project culture!! 15. Try to keep the project always running! 16. Make people (feel) responsible! 17. Defend your estimates (against customers or internal stakeholders) 18. Beware of hidden functionality when sizing. (Implicitly mentioned features) 19. To close the project with a review (internal) is important for the team and the next project 20. Remember that each client is an individual, not a number 21. Sweets for the team (lots of) 22. Try to keep it simple 23. Step back and have an "objective" look at the project (time to time) 24. Create a situation that your team members will provide you with true estimates 25. Put budget in relation to aims of the customer and Compare budget with aims of the project 26. Know the role of each stakeholder and communicate this to everyone 27. Be a guide for your customer (tell him if she/he is not optimal) 28. Know when and how to ask an expert 29. Focus on the customer needs 30. Decisions have to be made by the right people! 31. Do not let too many people disturb the project process! 32. Remember "Murphy's Law's" before creating the risk list 33. Celebrate project success 34. Things tend to fall apart (T.S. Eliot) 35. Uncertainty (or even chaos) is the norm. Don't treat it as if it was exceptional, learn to love it! 36. Never think 'it's self-understanding' 37. Determine boundaries of work and product (don't forget!) 38. Try to control the way in which other people may disturb you during your concentrated work periods 39. There are no shortcuts 40. There are many longcuts 41. Beware with whom you brainstorm on a risk list pessimistic and optimistic characters 42. It is less important how things are, than how they are seen by everybody 43. Always consider who else may be interested in the information at hand (customer, project team) 44. Respect the know-how of the team members 45. Don't wait to be given the power to do your work ask for it 46. Create networks for differences 47. As the team for minimum and maximum production time and ask for the percentage of risk that it might be the maximum 48. People need their weekends 49. Reduce or be aware of dependencies 50. Don't forget the rope between the chunks 51. Educate your customer in such a way that he realises what is required in order to make the project succeed 52. Don't have too many stakeholders 53. PASSION 54. You are not responsible for all details 55. Accept and enjoy the change 56. It's good for the PM to look at the project through the eyes of everyone: PM, client, team member, stakeholder, 57. Every project needs Resource Managers 58. Delegate or die 59. Looking behind things to discover political reasons personal reasons. Make clear in the proposal the risks and the way you work. Keep questions alive, are we on track (internal/external) and decide carefully if the answers do influence the actual project or the next version!! 60. Define roles and responsibilities at the beginning of the project set up rules 61. Know when to cut your losses (and do so!) 62. Fix the first idea , the requirements and the overall target at the start of project 63. Think in versions! 64. Be consequent 65. Quality assurance reduces risks dramatically 66. Risk Management: find, prioritise and plan to cope with your dependencies. This is part of planning 67. No guts no glory 68. Beware the lollipop of mediocrity lick it once and you will suck forever! 69. Discuss project workflow very early with team and customer
During a Project Management Masterclass held in Rome 15-17 November 1999, the following project managers identifed these masterpoints. The masterpoints are used as a way of communicating individual project managers' principles, expertise and questions with their peers.
1. Appoint a change manager. Changes take place constantly and they have to be monitored. 2. To create an atmosphere of trust, respect and loyalty within the team 3. Allocate tasks to team members based upon their attitudes and skills 4. Look at all viewpoints in depth, taking nothing for granted 5. A project (and its success) is one, which is strongly affected by all those who take part in it, directly and indirectly. 6. I can learn from others only if their experience is 'conveyed' 7. Internal and external communication is a critical success factor for the project 8. Many projects are similar, but each of them is a unique creation 9. In order to have a clear idea of the size and complexity of a project; it is necessary to consider the number of stakeholders and their individual weight and influence 10. Set up a partnership, rather than hiring an expert 11. To be a good project manager, it is necessary to be a statesman a diplomat and a politician at the same time 12. If a risk becomes a problem, it is necessary to think about what action to take 13. 'because times are changing' (Bob Dylan) 14. Projects are like a chess game: learn to look further beyond each move 15. One of the major success factors in a project is the passion team members feel for it 16. Maximise consistency and minimise interfaces 17. Every new situation, if we analyse it well, may be related to a previously experienced and standardised situation, or part of it. 18. For each single task, set the end date 19. Some of the costs which are perceived as project costs are best considered as an investment (such as the documentation) 20. Enhance your intuitions finding out the elements that your mind has used to generate them 21. Failure to identify a stakeholder implies a failure to identify a risk 22. Projects having multiple objectives require multiple estimates 23. While planning human resources, always consider they are neither all major characters nor all body doubles 24. Identify and highlight the added value, which can be more easily grasped and appreciated by sponsors 25. The cost to fix errors introduced at any development stage (specifications, analysis, design, etc.) goes up by a factor of 10 for each completed stage 26. Try to constantly share ideas and avoid getting stuck on a specific problem 27. When a risk turns into a problem, it is necessary to think it over without getting scared or undergoing pressure by the authorities. It is advisable to be humble and try to find advice from someone who can help us 28. Any project, as complex as it may be, can be broken up in simpler and known tasks, which will be easier to carry out/solve compared to the project as a whole 29. Curiosity as well as the dissemination of knowledge add to the chance of success 30. Share planning and system testing by handing over test cases to users 31. When can I say that a project is completed? 32. In the Progress Report Meetings, try to involve stakeholders as well 33. Compromising between stakeholders is the successful way forward 34. The more the group is protected, the less it will grow 35. Your role is not your job title; it is what you do 36. Adverse experience is what unfortunately teaches more 37. A project manager may actually protect his team from outside turbulence if he is able to convey security and calmness. This usually happens by sharing the project objectives as well as information from inside and outside the project 38. Managing doesn't mean imposing, but rather: analysing, agreeing upon, mediating, co-operating, empowering, and organising 39. Work is like a fluid: regardless of the pressure applied, it always takes the same amount of space (time). But, as pressure increases, it becomes hotter and hotter 40. If you want to become as skilled as I am, ask me why I do things the way I do 41. If something exists, it can be measured 42. Maximise coherence and minimise coupling 43. Significant digits in measures are often less than one. Beware of models that use a lot of measures 44. The decision-making power (mandate) of someone taking part in a meeting on behalf of the client has to be checked, based upon the subject of the discussion 45. It is essential that the project manager may bring together the team, capitalising on the diversity of each single member to add up to the experience of other members 46. The chances of success of a project are directly proportional to the degree of serenity, harmony, motivation, and mutual appreciation you find within the group
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From June 17-19, 2001 a group of
project managers met in London to discuss their project management knowledge
and questions and to share their experiences. We came up with the following
project management masterpoints that might be interesting to other project
managers.
