Stansburys Blog

Previously we have looked at the power interest matrix for helping you map and manage your stakeholders.  Now we will turn our attention to an Energy vs. Commitment matrix.   Now you plot the individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups against these criteria – their commitment to you change / programme and their natural energy for communicating and acting – which gives us four groups:

Blockers – to watch as their high energy makes them likely to communicate widely and act vigourously.  Their low commitment to your change affects what they say and do, which makes them likely to land up standing in your way.

Champions - why do we never seem to have enough of these?  The same high energy as your Blockers but committed to your change.  Look after these stakeholders when you find them.

Preachers - are committed to your change and also may talk a lot, but their low energy means they are unlikely to take much other action.

Sleepers - well the hint is in the name.  They are not really committed to your change and don’t have the energy to do anything about it or talk about it.  Unless you know they are because they don’t understand what is coming (and therefore might move to another quadrant when they find out) you don’t need to exert too much time or effort looking after them.

As we often say, the key to using these models is not just doing the analysis, but actually doing something active with the results.  When you find Blockers it may be their low commitment is based on misunderstandings or fear and uncertainty.  We have found many cases where it’s possible to engage these people and turn them into Champions.  If not, it is important to find ways to counteract the communications and actions of these people (particularly if they have positions of power and/or influence).

Stakeholder communication links back effectively to Kotter’s 8 step approach – in particular, step 1 of “creating a sense of urgency” and step 2 “building a powerful guiding coalition”.  And don’t forget, the earlier you start these activities the better!

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Project cost estimation is one task that should not be under-estimated (sic). In reality the JFDI (“Just Focus and Do It” as the version we will print) approach followed by the SWAG (“Silly Wild-Ass Guess” rather than a Super WAG) estimate tends to result in a rather moveable baseline and a rather disappointed customer and project board.

There are several approaches to improving this and we will visit various of them over time. However one tried and tested approach is that of 3 point estimating (sometimes referrred to as PERT estimating or 3 point planning).

In the land of MS Project each task generally has a single estimate of duration and / or cost (as a result of typical usage btw, not software shortcomings). When using a 3 point approach you apply a “best case” (OPT), “worst case” (PESS) and “most likely”(LIKE) value to each item.

Then apply the following formula:

o EXPECTED = (OPT + (4*LIKE) + PESS) / 6

For example:

3 Point example

In this case we would use 15 days as the estimate for our schedule, but we now have a view of the possible up and down sides. This might look very similar to the estimate of 14 days (assuming you received this answer if you just asked for a single estimate). However you can now start looking at the impact on your schedule if the task did take 25 days rather than 15.

There are some who advocate adjusting what you ask according to the person – e.g. for the optimist / salesperson type start by asking for the best case, and for those glass half empty types start with the worst case. I.e. start them off in their comfort zone, move them to the other end and then finish off by asking for the most likely.

There are then some other fancy things you can do, for example consider using Monte Carlo simulations that can help you achieve a greater level of confidence across a large schedule. Also another trick people use is to revisit the estimates over time. Ideally the uncertainty (as represented by OPT – PESS or 15 days in this case) will decrease over time – i.e. the closer you get to something the clearer the picture. This is not always the case, but should set some alarm bells ringing for the project manager if this number is either staying the same or even going up.

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While there is no universally agreed definition for Projects, Programmes and Portfolios – you can go a long way to improving your management in this area by agreeing and working with a fixed set of terms. We like to use the following:

Portfolio:

• A collection of projects and programmes that are developed and executed across a management domain, and that are consolidated into a single view of overall value and risks,
• About choosing the right things to do,
• You should only have a few (or perhaps only one) per organisation.

Programme:

• A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually,
• About outcomes, benefits and business change,
• You will have several per organisation.

Project:

• A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result,
• About products and deliverables (and doing things right),
• You will have many per organisation.

In fact we see it looking something like this:

P3M Structure

To assist the effective delivery of these you  are well advised to set up a suitable P3MO (Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Office).

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This question has come up  a few times recently so I thought I would take the time to elaborate:

A P3MO is a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Office.  The concept of a PMO (either a Programme Management Office or a Project Management Office) has been around for a while.   More current and more comprehensive is the idea of a P3MO.

At the portfolio level you are looking to ensure the right programmes and projects are being carried out.  You should only have a few portfolios in your organisation.

At the programme level you are looking to ensure the forecast benefits are being realised.  You are likely to have several programmes in your organisation.

At the project level you are looking to ensure the right products and deliverables are being produced.   You are likely to have many projects in your organisation.

The P3MO plays a vital supporting role in the effective management of all of these levels.  We will come back to discuss some of these areas in detail over the coming weeks.

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