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3 Steps to Professional Project Management: Case Study

1. Efficient Process 2. Competent People 3. Shared Understanding

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3 Steps to Professional Project Management

Strategy Efficient process, competent people, shared understanding.

1. Create and embed a light-weight, end-to-end project delivery framework 2. Create and embed a PM competence and learning & development framework 3. Manage and develop project delivery stakeholders

Implementation Measure, benchmark & improve.

Results 5 year case study

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Objectives: Holistic, Long-term Team • Match team to portfolio

• Mix of new, middle & senior PMs • Develop common SMART objectives • Benchmark and align pay & benefits • Learning & Development

• Develop PM Competency Framework aligned to APM & business

• Drive PM Qualification & Certification • Run regular PM Forum to share best practice • Embed mentoring & coaching • Develop PM team feedback

• Succession Planning • PM career development • Identify new PMs: internal & external

Results • Develop scalable project governance & review • Analyse and reduce project loss: frequency & scale • Improve project cash-flow

• On-time payment milestone delivery • Payment milestone invoicing & payment

• Deliver better than budget project portfolio result

Customers • Listen to and act on feedback: internal & external • Measure and increase repeat business • Improve customer change control • Measure and increase customer satisfaction

• Increase on-time project completion • Seek and act on customer feedback

Processes • Create a unified, efficient process framework

• Co-ordinate best practitioner process development • Actively increase understanding and use

• Rationalise engineering tools & align to process • Benchmark and embed improvements

• CMMI-Dev: Achieve CMMI Maturity Level 3 • EFQM: Achieve >650 score

• Close the loop on lessons learned: don’t record & forget

Ensure PM competence matches project value, risk and complexity: availability should not be the only

PM selection criteria

Competence: the combination of knowledge and relevant experience

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Project Delivery Framework

OpportunityAssessment

CONCEPT PHASE

Study Planning

IMPLEMENTATION PHASEDesign Iteration A Design Iteration B

DesignDesign Manu-facture

Site/Final Acceptance Test

Field Trial

Interoperability Test

New Product Introduction (NPI)

Process Design Process Trials Process Proving Ramp-up

Sales & Marketing Definition

Service Definition Service Roll-out

Launch

Volume Production,Sales & Service

End ofLife

G3

ImplementationApproval

G4

ASamples

G5

BSamples

NPI Launch

G7

SalesRelease

G8

ProductSign-off

G9

TerminationDecision

Design/Build/Test

...Increment 1

...

SystemTest

Design/Build/Test

Increment n...

...

SystemTest

Test TestManu-facture

Software &Firmware:

Hardware:

G2

Full Business

Case

G0

Idea

Syn

chro

nisa

tion

Gat

esC o

n c

u r

r e

n t

L

i f e

c y

c l e

P

r o

c e

s s

e s

G1

InitialBusiness

Case

PDRPreliminary Design Review

FDRFinal Design Review

G6

CDRCritical Design Review

PRRProduction Readiness Review

TRRTest Readiness Review

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Typical Timeline

Let the best practitioners own the process Get advice from process experts to ensure consistent process development

Process describes how we do what we do

Gate reviews – timed before significant spends – check work is synchronised and the business case still valid

A chance to stop or change the approach if necessary

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Clear separation of Policy, Process and Guidance

Topic Policy Process Work Instruction

Tools Map Template Guide Owner Form

Lifecycle P01 PR01 WI01-00 to WI01-99

TM01 T01-00 to T01-99 G01 Process Owner F01-00 to F01-99

Bidding P02 PR02 WI02-00 to WI02-99

TM02 T02-00 to T02-99 G02 Bid Process Owner F02-00 to F02-99

Project Management P03 PR03 WI03-00 to WI03-99

TM03 T03-00 to T03-99 G03 PM Process Owner F03-00 to F03-99

20 topics cover whole lifecycle

A little mandatory process

A lot of guidance material including templates and examples from real projects

Project acquisition & delivery focus

Similar structure for operations

1. Lifecycle

2. Bidding

3. Project Management

4. Quality Assurance

5. Procurement

6. Requirements Management

7. Systems Engineering

8. EMC

9. Antenna Development

10. Digital Design

11. Mechanical Engineering

12. Electronics and PCB Design

13. FPGA & Digital ASIC Design

14. RF ASIC Design

15. RF Engineering

16. Software Engineering

17. DSP Engineering

18. Test

19. Manufacturing and Production Engineering

20. Service & Support

Audited Process < > Guidance & Training Material

Practitioner Peer Groups for each area assist buy-in and development Cut the clutter! Keep the best, delete the rest Pinch with pride!

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Example Process

Concept Planning Phase ProcessCategory F ProjectsCategory A to E Projects

A single concept is detailed sufficiently to quote for a fixed price implementation

RequirementsSystem Design

Electronics Subsystem DesignMechanics Subsystem DesignAntenna Subsystem Design

FPGA Subsystem DesignSoftware Subsystem Design

System Design Review

Concept StudyPhase

Define System Requirements

Requirements [18]

Analyse & Refine System Design

Subsystem Design

Define Subsystem Requirements

RequirementsSystem Requirements

[18][18.1]

RequirementsSystem Requirements

Subsystem Requirements

[18][18.1][18.2]

Integration Planning

SW Drop PlanFPGA Drop PlanIntegration Plan

System DesignBlock Diagrams

PCB Shapes & Component PlacementBoM & NRE Summary

FPGA Interface SpecificationFPGA Pin Allocation Table

System Design [19] Define Test Concept

System Modelling

Block DiagramsLevel Plans / Link Budget

[19.2][19.6]

[19][19.2][19.4][19.5][19.7][19.8]

System DesignSubsystem Design

Electronics Subsystem DesignMechanics Subsystem Design

3D ModelsMechanics Rapid PrototypesAntenna Subsystem Design

FPGA Subsystem DesignFPGA Behavioural Simulation Scripts

FPGA Complexity AnalysisSoftware Subsystem Design

Iterative

Cost ReductionFeature RevisionDesign Selection

Make/Buy Decisions(possible sub-contracts)

Test Planning

Test Concept

[21]

Test ConceptTest Plan

Product Integrity TestsSystem Tests

Subsystem TestsIntegration Tests

[18][19][25][26][27][28][29]

[21][22][22.1][22.2][22.3][22.5]

System FMEA

ManufacturingKick-off Workshop

Write Production Test Plan

ManufacturingConsensus

System FMEA

Production Test Plan

Refine PCB Component Placement

PCB Shapes &Component Placement(inc. screening plan)

Schematic Capture

1

[19.4]

[20]

[31][30][32]

[24]

Product Integrity Plan [6]

[19][19.1][25][26][26.1][39.2][27][28][28.1][28.2][29]

Spreads understanding & cooperation

Informs work breakdown and scheduling: acts as a memory jogger

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Manage Risk and Control Change

Pre-Bid Bid Concept Implementation

Acquisition Delivery

10 – 25% 75 – 90% Price:

Opportunities

Threats

Volume

Time

Active Risk Management – throughout the lifecycle – to deal with uncertainty

Uncertainty Knowledge

Contractual Risk Reduction

Reduce risk to <20% of contract value before going into implementation

Get under contract in phases to match the level of risk at each phase

Gate Reviews: focus on risk, check for change

Run all projects as if they are fixed price

Bid and Concept Phase Lots of unknowns = lots of risk Scoped time & materials – if you can Joint activity with customer Get fundamental approach right

Need to do work to acquire knowledge Better able to estimate the job Early work defines final result

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Risk Register: Risk Summary – with Risk History

The saved baselines in the Risk History show the Risk development over time Managing upside risk as important as managing downside risk – and can offset threat impact

Qualitative risk management, using an Excel Risk Register tool

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Risk Register: Risk Event List

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Risk Register: Example Risk Event

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Risk Register: Probability Impact Diagram

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Consistent Planning Strategy (Need)

Contingency

Opportunities

Enhancement Tasks

Secondary Risks

Product Breakdown Structure

Work Breakdown Structure

Work Packages & Tasks

Estimates

Zero Risk (Deterministic)

Cost

INFORM

Inform / Offset

Threats Mitigation Tasks

Programme & Project

Set-up

INFORM

Project Delivery Process,

PDP

Risk Register Tool, RRT

Risk Management Strategy, RMS Risk Management Plan, RMP

Held at Board level: Project, Programme or Business

Held at Project & Programme level

If cost effective

Contingency

Project Risk Pot

Estimation Uncertainty

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Funding Estimation Uncertainty

The business Risk Appetite can inform what probability to use, e.g.: 10% Team Target (likely risks do not occur) 50% Best Estimate (as many risks occur as not) 90% ‘Safe’ Estimate (several unlikely major risks occur) One strategy:

Estimation uncertainty ‘project risk pot’ = deterministic cost – 90% cost Reward using less of this risk pot, but recognise that a proportion is likely to be required This encourages behaviour that enhances results whilst recognising uncertainty and setting realistic expectations PMs use project risk pot to ensure delivery to the deterministic end date Drives the right behaviour in the team – to deliver on their Most Likely estimates Selective 4 point estimating maintains competitive pricing

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Ensuring Team Delivery

Same team to bid, estimate and deliver Agile Sprints and Burn Down charts Scrum: daily meetings, limited sprints to develop end-to-end testable features, etc. Use of Burn Down charts to display progress for all to see Team really buy-in and like to see themselves “below the line” Suitable length expected to be around 4-6 weeks Burn Down chart example on next slide: Interesting dynamics and effects clearly visible VHDL Team, 10 week sprint which was too long, too much to verify at the end Co-locate teams whenever possible and mix the team disciplines and grades Flexi-time, reward/recognise contribution beyond the norm, exceptional results bonus

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Burn Down Chart Example

Team take corrective

action!

Burn Downs get the team

to engage with the plan

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PM Excellence Programme

A Learning & Development programme for project managers Incorporating a competence framework based on the APM competence framework Each project manager owns a Portfolio, Programme & Project Career Review tool, or CRT

– The CRT encapsulates their career to date: • Education & Continuing Professional Development • Bid and project experience • Competence self assessment • Summary of achievement compared to their next career level up • Next step planning

– Objectively compares their performance with their peers – Helps set learning & development objectives – Clearly shows the next steps to advance their career – Built on Portfolio, Programme & Project best practice

CRT used for promotion and certification reviews and annual performance assessments

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Best Practice Peer Review

A quarterly PM Forum – 1 day best practice workshop – build a supportive PM community – close the loop on lessons learned The PM Excellence Programme submitted for APM Corporate Accreditation APM professional body membership encouraged APM qualifications required for jobs matched to IPMA levels A to D All category A to D projects peer reviewed PM Certification by internal review panel with external PM chair

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3 Steps to Professional Project Management

Strategy Efficient process, competent people, shared understanding.

1. Create and embed a light-weight, end-to-end project delivery framework 2. Create and embed a PM competence and learning & development framework 3. Manage and develop project delivery stakeholders

Implementation Measure, benchmark & improve.

Results 5 year case study

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Case Study: Project Portfolio

The methods described were used in a contract R&D business with this project portfolio

Many complex projects, according to the APM definition

Projects were categorised to enable PM competence matching. Category A is the highest value, risk and complexity, F the lowest.

41 (40 External & 1 Internal) category A to D projects 70% of overall project portfolio by value PM was now always a career PM Average contract value: £1.3m Largest project: £15m fixed price Average duration: 18 months

334 (234 External & 100 Internal) category E & F projects PM remained typically an engineer Average contract value: £90k Average duration: 9 months

Red 8

3%

Amber 14 5%

Green 353 92% Project

Status

External 275 73%

Internal 100 27%

375 Projects

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Case Study: Over-Budget Project Root Causes

Year 1 An analysis of project over-spend root causes showed poor and inconsistent project management skills as root causes None of the PM team held any PM qualifications or professional PM body membership

1

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

5

5

9

16

0 10 20

Relocation

Order Reduction

Staff Competence

Grade Mix Change

Customer Dependency

Production Data Pack

Staff Availability

System Design

Integration & Test

Supplied Code Issue

Other

Incorrectly Bid

Project Management

Test Failure

Underestimation

Over Budget - Root Cause Frequency

Year 1

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Case Study: Portfolio Objectives Progress after 5 years Team • Match team to portfolio

• Mix of new, middle & senior PMs • Develop common SMART objectives • Benchmark and align pay & benefits • Learning & Development

• Develop PM Competency Framework aligned to APM & business

• Drive PM Qualification & Certification • Run regular PM Forum to share best practice • Embed mentoring & coaching • Develop PM team feedback

• Succession Planning • PM career development • Identify new PMs: internal & external

Results • Develop scalable project governance & review • Analyse and reduce project loss: frequency & scale • Improve project cash-flow

• On-time payment milestone delivery • Payment milestone invoicing & payment

• Deliver better than budget project portfolio result

Customers • Measure and increase repeat business • Improve customer change control • Measure and increase customer satisfaction

• Increase on-time project completion • Seek and act on customer feedback

Processes • Create a unified, efficient process framework

• Co-ordinate best practitioner process development • Actively increase understanding and use

• Rationalise engineering tools & align to process • Benchmark and embed improvements

e.g. • CMMI-Dev: Achieve CMMI Maturity Level 3 • EFQM: Achieve >650 score

Continuous Improvement Significant Change Ongoing Significant Change Required

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Case Study: Results after 5 Years

13%

17%

15%

8%

-52%

Year 5

Year 4

Year 3

Year 2

Year 1

Overall Project Results Result vs. Budget

• Transformed portfolio results • Happy customers • Happy Project Managers

• Estimation still #1 issue but reduced in frequency • ‘Project Management’ no longer an issue

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

5

5

5

6

8

11

0 10 20

Project Management

Relocation

Supplied Code Issue

Order Reduction

Incorrectly Bid

System Design

Staff Competence

Production Data Pack

Other

Customer Dependency

Test Failure

Integration & Test

Staff Availability

Grade Mix Change

Underestimation

Over Budget - Root Cause Frequency

Year 5

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PM professionalism is the key to transforming project results. There is no short-cut to consistently good project results. Project management is hard: projects are more complex, stakeholders more demanding and the competences required cover a hugely diverse range of subjects. Executives often behave as if a PM were only as good as their last result. Competence is one required element, but the environment must also be conducive to efficient project delivery. Project delivery process and tools and the culture of the business must be aligned. The strategy described here isn’t fast, cheap or easy. It is however transformational, long lasting and ultimately pays for itself many times over.

Summary

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Author Profile

In my board role I led a team of 22 Project Managers and 5 Quality Engineers, and ensured Roke’s £79m project portfolio delivered better than budget profit. I set-up and ran a virtual PMO and created REP, the Roke Engineering Process, also managing the engineering tools to support it.

After 4 years as an electronics engineer for Siemens, achieving Chartered Engineer, I moved into project management for 14 years, at Siemens and Roke Manor Research. Successfully delivering Roke’s most challenging whole lifecycle product developments on time and under budget led to a role as Director and board member for 6 years. In 2013 I returned to hands-on project management as Programme Director at Cambridge Consultants, founder member of the Cambridge Science Park.

Creator of the APM corporate accredited PM Excellence Programme, I chaired a quarterly PM forum to share best practice and built a supportive PM community. I coached seven PMs to RPP, five to PQ, and all passed APMP.

These investments in PM professionalism led to a turn-around and annual improvement in project results across a 400 project portfolio and delivered an above budget performance in five consecutive years with profits totalling £7.9m above budget.

Passionate advocate of PM professionalism, Fellow of the APM and the IET and author of articles published in Project and PM Today.

Professional Development

Winning Project Work

Planning

Estimating

Risk Management

Earned Value Management

Change Control

Stakeholder Management

3 Steps to Professional Project Management: Case Study

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