BB6. Innovative Project Management Systems

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the fifth and final building block of “Tier II: Setting the Direction” for innovation and answers the fundamental questions: Are there Project Management Systems applicable to TIME? If so, would you identify and describe them - both theoretical models and automated tools -and how can I learn more about them?

The most important goal of an innovative project management system is to execute a plan to bring the idea to a productive and value-added position as quickly as possible. Whether this is a more profitable product (extrinsic value) or simply a better way of doing something (intrinsic value), it can create something completely new, or it can improve the quality of an existing service, process, or management model. In short, it is the addition of value to stakeholders, especially the customer. If no monetary reward is achieved with the addition of customer value, I would assume that the innovation at least offers an improvement to an individual, a group, or to society, in general. However, I would call that “creativity,” not “innovation.”

One can categorize innovation by product innovation, service innovation, process innovation, supply chain innovation, value stream innovation, marketing innovation, or the focus of this chapter (Innovative Project Management Systems).

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS

Here, in alphabetical order, are the specialized terms and acronyms used in this chapter that aren’t already defined for you:

• • PMS: Project Management System
• • Portfolio: A centralized collection of independent projects or programs that are grouped together to facilitate their prioritization, effective management, and resource optimization in order to meet strategic organizational objectives.
• • Project Portfolio Management: Aligns organizational strategy by prioritizing projects and programs, prioritizing work, and allocating resources. It is the centralized management of one or more portfolios to achieve strategic objectives.
• • PPM: Project Portfolio Management (see above)
• • Program: A group of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. May include work outside the scope of projects but will always have two or more projects within its scope.
• • Program Management: The specialized application of management knowledge, know-how, tools, and techniques to a program to achieve its objectives and to obtain benefits and control not available from managing its components individually. It focuses on ° Creating cross-project interdependencies.

° Resolving resource constraints/conflicts among projects.

° Aligning strategic direction to impact PPP goals and objectives.

° Addressing issues and changes within the governance structure.

• Project: A temporary, change-oriented work endeavor undertaken to create or modify an innovative product, sendee, system, or result.

• • Project Life Cycle: The series of phases through which a project passes from its initiation until its closure.
• • Project Management: The specialized application of management knowledge, know-how, tools, and techniques to a project in a manner that is fundamentally proactive, integrated, and preventive.
• • WIP: Used in a Lean context, it refers to “Work in Process,” which is a company’s partially finished goods waiting for completion; used in an Agile context, it refers to “Work in Progress,” which is a Development Team’s partially finished backlog of features waiting for completion at the end of a Sprint or Scrum.
• • WIP Limit: Coined for use in an Agile context, it refers to a strategy for preventing bottlenecks that should be agreed upon by the Development Team BEFORE a project begins and which is enforced by the Team’s Facilitator or Scrum Master.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:

It is the central premise of this chapter that bridging organizational strategy by delivering a continual stream of successful, short-term outcomes must come through a pipeline or portfolio of projects and programs, each of which must be managed properly to drive incremental change and, in some cases, transformative innovation within the organization - one project at a time.

The increased presence of disruptive technology on 21st century projects has changed the “rules of the game” and created a demand for unique project life cycle choices and development approaches that will match their unique challenges and opportunities. This chapter focuses on the unique project life cycle and development approach choices available and used by Innovation Project and Program Management teams and the automated tools available to implement them.

Project Life Cycle Options

Innovative projects and programs in the first quarter of the 21st century have been coming in varying shapes and sizes, and there are many ways to execute them, including the type of Project Life Cycle used to undertake each one. There are five types of Project Life Cycle from

FIGURE BB6.1

Project Life Cycle Options and Factors.

Project Management Institute Inc., Agile Practice Guide, 2017. Copyright and all rights reserved. Material from this publication has been reproduced with the permission of PMI.

which to choose: Adaptive, Incremental, Iterative, Predictive, or Hybrid. See Figure BB6.1.

Another way to distinguish between the five main Project Life Cycle Options is displayed in the dual-axis matrix in Figure BB6.2:

FIGURE BB6.2

Project Life Cycle Options Matrix.

Below you’ll find brief narrative descriptions and illustrative examples for all five Project Life Cycle options:

Adaptive (aka “Agile"): When innovation Project Teams use this Life Cycle option, they iterate over the product to create smaller, finished, and more frequent deliverables. The team gains early feedback and provides customer visibility, confidence, and control of the product. Because the team can release things earlier, the project may provide an earlier ROI because the team delivers the highest value work first. It leverages both the aspects of incremental and iterative characteristics described below. It is also characterized by

• • The requirements are elaborated frequently during deployment;
• • Deployment occurs frequently with customer-valued subsets of the overall product;
• • Change is incorporated in real-time during delivery;
• • Key stakeholders are continuously involved; and
• • Risk and Costs are controlled as requirements and constraints emerge.

There are two “sub-types” of Adaptive Project Life Cycles: “Iterationbased” and “Flow-based,” which are illustrated separately in Figures BB6.3A and BB6.3B. (Note: The “S” Star at the left of the Life Cycle is the Project Start Milestone and the “F” Star at the right is the Project Finish Milestone for each one.)

Incremental: When innovation Project Teams use this option, the deliverable is produced through a series of product increments that gradually add functionality within a predetermined time frame. The

FIGURE BB6.3A

Iteration-Based Adaptive Project Life Cycle.

FIGURE BB6.3B

Flow-Based Adaptive Project Life Cycle.

Project Management Institute Inc., Agile Practice Guide, 2017. Copyright and all rights reserved. Material from this publication has been reproduced with the permission of PMI.

deliverable contains the necessary and sufficient capability to be considered complete only after the final increment. It provides finished deliverables that the customer may be able to use immediately. It is also characterized by

• • The requirements can be elaborated at periodic intervals during deployment;
• • Deployment can be divided into subsets of the overall product;
• • Change is incorporated at periodic intervals;
• • Key stakeholders are regularly involved; and
• • Risk and Costs are controlled by progressively elaborating the plans with the new information.

You will find an example of an Incremental Project Life Cycle in Figure BB6.4:

FIGURE BB6.4

Incremental Project Life Cycle.

Iterative: When innovation Project Teams use this option, the Project Scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team’s familiarity with the product increases. Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product. It is also characterized by

• • The requirements can be elaborated at periodic intervals during deployment;
• • Deployment can be divided into subsets of the overall product;
• • Change is incorporated at periodic intervals;
• • Key stakeholders are regularly involved; and
• • Risk and Costs are controlled by progressively elaborating the plans with the new information.

You will find an example of an Iterative Project Life Cycle in Figure BB6.5:

FIGURE BB6.5

Iterative Project Life Cycle.

Project Management Institute Inc., Agile Practice Guide, 2017. Copyright and all rights reserved. Material from this publication has been reproduced with the permission of PMI.

Predictive (aka “Waterfall’’ or “Traditional”): When innovation Project Teams use this option, the Project Scope, Schedule, and Cost are determined in the early phases of the life cycle and any changes to the Scope are carefully managed after the Baseline has been set. It takes advantage of any variables that are known and proven. This reduced uncertainty and complexity allow teams to segment work into a sequence of predictable groupings. You can use the “Predictive” option when the requirements are very well known, clear, and fixed up-front; product definition is stable and the solution is known; no changes in the scope are expected; the technology is understood; resources with the required expertise are freely-available; and, project duration is expected to be relatively short. It is also characterized by

• • The requirements are defined and the design is approved up-front before development begins;
• • Define plans for the eventual deliverable; then, design, develop, test, and deploy only a single final product at the end of the project timeline (“Big Bang Delivery”);
• • Change is constrained or controlled as much as possible during the Project Life Cycle;
• • Key stakeholders are involved at specific milestones; and
• • Risk and Costs are controlled by detailed planning of mostly known or knowable considerations.

You will find an example of a Predictive Project Life Cycle in Figure BB6.6:

FIGURE BB6.6

Predictive Project Life Cycle.

Hybrid: It is a customizable combination or blend of both the Predictive and Adaptive Life Cycles in which those elements of the project that are well known or have fixed requirements follow a predictive approach, while those elements that are still evolving follow an adaptive one. You will find two examples of Hybrid Project Life Cycles in Figures BB6.7A and BB6.7B:

FIGURE BB6.7A

Hybrid Project Life Cycle Example “A”.

FIGURE BB6.7B

Hybrid Project Life Cycle Example “B”.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: THE 12 PERFORMANCE DOMAINS

Regardless of which Project Life Cycle approach you decide to use on innovative projects and programs in the current environment, you’ll need to come up with answers to a set of questions for the following twelve Performance Domains throughout that Life Cycle:

• (1) Project Scope: What are the REQUIREMENTS? What WORK needs to be done to complete them?
• (2) Project Schedule: When does the project need to be done? How Long is the work expected to take?
• (3) Project Cost: How Much Money do we expect to need to complete the work?
• (4) Project Resources: Who, What, and How Many do we expect to need in order to perform and complete the work?
• (5) Project Quality: How Well do we expect the REQUIREMENTS will need to be met?
• (6) Project Communications: What INFORMATION do we expect to be needed? From WHOM? To WHOM? Via which MEDIA? How Often?

• (7) Project Risk: How Much UNCERTAINTY is there on the project? What are the THREATS? What are the OPPORTUNITIES?
• (8) Project Procurement: Do we expect to need CONTRACTORS or VENDORS? If so, which SKILL-AREA(S)?
• (9) Project Stakeholders: Who is expected to IMPACT the project or be IMPACTED by it?
• (10) Project Change: How DISRUPTIVE is the project? What IMPACT is it expected to have on the Requesting Organization? On the Performing Organization?
• (11) Project Management Technology: Do we expect to need help using the PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AUTOMATED TOOLS?
• (12) Project Integration: How comfortable are we with the answers to #1-11 above? Is everything in a state of BALANCE?

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: AUTOMATED TOOL OPTIONS

Depending on which of the five Project Life Cycle approaches you decide to use and the twelve sets of Performance Domain Key questions, you’ll need to answer for it, and you’ll need to select an appropriate automated PMS or tool that is designed to work with them.

Table BB6.1, in alphabetical order, provides brief descriptions and pricing information for the thirteen most popular PMS and PPM automated tool vendors.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS INNOVATION: MORE INFORMATION

For more information and to increase the number of innovation project successes you’ll have, I recommend that you read these two books (I co-authored with H. James Harrington) on Project Management and Project Portfolio Management Systems: Project Management for Performance Improvement Teams (CRC Press ©2018) and Effective Portfolio Management Systems (CRC Press ©2016).

TABLE BB6.1

Most Popular Automated PMS Tools

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Note: Inclusion in the table is NOT necessarily an endorsement of any one of these automated tools.

SUMMARY

It doesn’t make any difference if it is just a short continuous improvement activity for a major project like setting up a new production line or cultural transition: the same considerations apply, but they are implemented at different scales and degrees of complexity. For the complex or critical type projects/programs, a person who is trained and familiar with the project management processes and practices as defined in the PMBOK' Guide {The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge) Agile Practice Guide, and Organizational Change Management should be assigned. For minor or noncritical short duration projects and corrective actions, it is usually not practical to assign a project or program manager. In these cases, the team leader should play the role of the project manager as adding a professional project manager could add additional cost and cycle delays that may not be justified. In the case of an innovation project that shows no continuous improvement, the nature of the project frequently requires a specialist and project manager to be assigned.