Project Management in digital media - also internationally.

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(International / digital media)

Project Management: Ideas, learnings, experiences and opportunities

Tommi Pelkonen Business Consultant

Finpro Hungary

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International Project Management -Ideas, learnings, experiences and opportunities

★ Introduction and definitions

★ Project management basics

★ International/multi-country PM

★ Digital media PM

★ Conclusions and recommendations

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Official definition A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. It implies a specific timeframe a budget unique specifications working across

organizational boundaries

Source: Ficher , 2003

Project management is about organization

Project management is about changing people’s behavior

Project management is about decision making

Project management is about creating an environment conducive togetting critical projects done!

McLeod & Smith

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Attributes of a project

• Attributes of a project include:• it has a goal• it has a start and finish• it requires resources, including:

• people• money• tools & equipment• administration

• it requires coordination• it is a temporary structure• it is mounted to achieve change

Start FinishGoal

People, money, tools, administration

Co-ordination

CHANGEt t+n

Project is a process that should always be managed

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Project in a nutshell

Projects - in any industry - share same common components

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Project vs. programs

Programs consist of series of well-planned and interlinked projects

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What is project management?

• Project management encompasses all the activities needed to plan and execute a project: • Deciding what needs to be done • Estimating costs • Ensuring there are suitable people to undertake the project• Defining responsibilities • Scheduling • Making arrangements for the work• Directing • Being a technical leader • Reviewing and approving decisions made by others • Building morale and supporting staff • Monitoring and controlling • Co-ordinating the work with managers of other projects • Reporting • Continually striving to improve the process

Source: Lethbridge/Laganière 2001

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Project Charter

• What must be done?• What are the required resources?• What are the constraints?• What are the short and long term implications?

• Why do it?• When must it be done?• Where must it be done?• Who does what?

• Who is behind the project?• Who is funding the project?• Who is performing the work of the project?

5 W¨s: What - Why - When - Where - Who

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Project managers’ crucial triangles

TimeResources

Scop

e/qu

ality

Risk


Project managers needs constantly to balance between sides of the triangle

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ScopePlanning

ScopeDefinition

ActivityDefinition

ResourcePlanning

ActivitySequencing

DurationEstimating

CostEstimating

ScheduleDevelopment

CostBudgeting

PlanDevelopment

Project planning flows and activities 1/2

Regardless of industry - similar flows

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QualityPlanning

CommunicationsPlanning

RiskIdentification

RiskQuantification

ResponseDevelopment

OrganizationalPlanning

StaffAcquisition

ProcurementPlanning

SolicitationPlanning

Project planning flows and activities 2/2 (cont’d)

Supporting flows can be also quite standardised over industries, only substance changes

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What do project managers do?

• The project manager is the facilitator for the project• Project Management is a “role” someone must play• Project Management deals with the art and science of

making projects happen!

Source: Yim , 2002Source: MIT, 2006

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What do good project managers do?• They Manage the entire Project Life Cycle and make sure

it aligns with the vision & mission (strategy & charter)• They Make Things Happen

They Manage Resources :

•Time•Money•People•Intellectual Capital

To Drive :

•Efficiency•Productivity•Effectiveness, &•Optimal Deployment of Resources

Source: Yim , 2002

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PM’s activities: How do they do it?

• They Organize the Team• They Plan & schedule• They Manage the

• Deliverables• Resources – time, money, people, knowledge• Priorities• Expectations• Risks• Project Life Cycle

• They Communicate• They Monitor and Measure (set up metrics)• They Document• They Review, and make sure lessons are learned

Source: Yim , 2002

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What do Project Managers need to know and manage?

Source : PMBOKhttp://www.pmi.org/

http://www.pmi.org/

http://www.pmi.org/

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Why need Project Management?• Project Complexity• Division of responsibilities - specialization• Knowledge & Expertise – breadth vs.depth• A typical tri-partite project leadership model:

• Business Lead – owner of the purpose (know why)• Technical Lead – subject matter expert (know how)• Project Manager – make happen (know when; know who)• All Three – work as a team (all must know what)

Source: Yim , 2002

T.E.A.M. = together we achieve more.BUT: would this be true without a PM?

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Some PM tools & jargon

• Organization, organizational behavior• Life Cycle, “waterfall”,“iterative” & “rapid development” process• Tasks, work breakdown structures• Milestones, deadlines, on-time• Dependencies, start, finish, critical path, slack• Network diagrams, PERT, CPM, Gantt Charts, Project plans• Requirements. Specifications, project scope & scope creep• Justification, budget, variance• Resources, constraints, Utility function, optimization• Status, reporting, communications• Responsibilities, ownership, respect, trust• Collaboration, teamwork, community• Intellectual capital management, knowledge re-use• Post mortem• Quality, excellence

Source: Yim , 2002 Common terms throughout industries

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Managing concerns and challenges in PM

• Accurately estimating costs is a constant challenge• Follow the cost estimation guidelines.

• It is very difficult to measure progress and meet deadlines • Improve your cost estimation skills so as to account

for the kinds of problems that may occur. • Develop a closer relationship with other members of

the team. • Be realistic in initial requirements gathering, and

follow an iterative approach. • Use earned value charts to monitor progress.


PM is in most cases accountable for project profitalibity!

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Project Budget

• Direct Costs• Hardware• Software• Contractor fees

• Estimated hours• Hourly Rates per

contractor• Various contractor

rates• Training• Fanfare• Other

TOTALS

Indirect Costs Your people’s time and

effort Estimated time on project Estimated cost based on

hourly rate Other’s time and effort Opportunity cost

What projects or tasks are NOT going to get done in order to get this project done?

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Do do forget to calculate own organisations extra efforts and consultation

Opportunity cost is the key for this

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Planning: Split project into clear task packages

• The WBS (work-breakdow-structure) is a hierarchy of:• Goal

• Objectives• Activities

• Sub-activities• Work Packages

• Divide and Conquer!

“Failing to plan is planning to fail”

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Estimating the time to need for a project

• Have a good guess?

• Calculate? • Guess at minimum (A), probably(B) and maximum (C) • Calculate:

= good sophisticated guess!

(A + 3B + C)/5

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Set preferences for project goals

Targets helps to constantly review if right thing are carried our during the projects

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Communication, communication, communications

• Communicating effectively in a large project is hard • Take courses in communication, both written and

oral. • Learn how to run effective meetings. • Review what information everybody should have,

and make sure they have it. • Make sure that project information is readily

available.• Use ‘groupware’ technology to help people

exchange the information they need to know


Employees easily complain about lack of communications

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Negotiation and commitment to actions

• It is hard to obtain agreement and commitment from others • Take courses in negotiating skills and leadership. • Ensure that everybody understands • The position of everybody else. • The costs and benefits of each alternative.• The rationale behind any compromises. • Ensure that everybody’s proposed responsibility is

clearly expressed. • Listen to everybody’s opinion, but take assertive

action, when needed, to ensure progress occurs.


Committed and devoted team is easier to manage and can bring amazing results

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Signs to look at during the project...


Think beforehand of actions you could carry when alarming signal appear

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Typical Project Tasks & Flow

Source : http://www.gantthead.com/

Justify - Plan - Activate - Control - End

http://www.gantthead.com/

http://www.gantthead.com/

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PHASE A: Planning phase - Justify / plan


Ensure that your project has good reason to exist

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PHASE B: Initiation (starting) phase - Activate


Get things rolling...

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PHASE C: Implementation phase - Control


Ensure the development is stays on track

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PHASE D: Closing phase - End


Ensure that there is a clear ending!

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Critial success factors for projects

• Projects will only deliver if the team has: • The right mixture of skills and experience • The right resources in the right place at the right

time (equipment, space, support as well as people) • Sufficient full-time permanent resource and the right

mix of internal / external staff • A clear, shared and understood goal –a sense of

unity • Clear communication of progress, issues, risks and

expectations • Don’t forget the basics –project teams have careers

too & need development • A successful project should enhance the CV

No rocket science - pragmatic profession!

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Why Projects Fail

• Failure to align project with organizational objectives • Poor scope• Unrealistic expectations• Lack of executive sponsorship• Lack of project management• Inability to move beyond individual and personality

conflicts• Politics


Sources for conflicts and failures are very often visible already in the planning phase.

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Why Projects Succeed

• Project sponsorship at executive level• Good project charter• Strong project management• The right mix of team players• Good decision making structure• Good communication• Team members are working toward common goals


Succesful projects work within a positive feedback and learning curve

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“The single greatest cause of difficulties in global business transactions is not a lack of

technical expertise, hard work, or good intentions – it is a lack of ‘people skills’ for

relating successfully with counterparts from other countries and cultures.”

Gundling, Ernest, Working GlobeSmart: 12 People Skills for Doing Business Across Borders, page xi.

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Then…

• Fairly homogenous societies

• Domestic markets dominate

• Poor transport• Early days of

technology

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…Now

• Multicultural societies• International trade &

commerce• Global travel • Internet, satellite technology

and mobile phones

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Then…

• Reliance on domestic labour

• Small numbers of ethnic minorities

• Little mixing or integration

• ‘Diversity’ a non-issue

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…Now

• Influx of economic migrants

• Multicultural societies• Ethnic minorities

represented in all sectors• Rich mix of cultures,

religions and languages• Diversity legislation

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Then…

• Domestic marketplaces

• Culturally homogenous colleagues, clients and customers

• Little international interaction

• Foreign language use limited

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…Now

• International markets• Clients, customers

and colleagues from across the globe

• Daily cross cultural interaction

• Foreign languages critical

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Then…

• Mono-cultural teams• Communication

uncomplicated by language or culture

• Management issues relatively simple

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…Now

• Multicultural and International teams

• Culture and language pose potential obstacle to communication

• Cross cultural management skills paramount

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The result

A need for…• Global approach to

business• Intercultural awareness in

public and private sectors• Language proficiency• Cross-cultural

communication skills

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International projects add up complexity to PM

• Culture• Time zones & time

perception• Managerial styles and

expectations from managers

• Keeping promises• Geographical distance• Communication challenges• Multi-country, multi-location

work• Prejudices and stereotypes

Additional challenges, but still no rocket science!

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Outcome: challenges via cultural clashes

• Miscommunication on scope

• Misunderstanding on exact form of deliverables

• Attitudes toward schedules result in missed deadlines, long delays

• Poorly estimated durations

• Over-budgeted projects• Sub-par projects

Source: Colliton, 2007

Becoming concious of differences in one thing,turning these into assets another

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STATEMENT: “it is important for a manager to have at hand precise answers to

most of the questions that his subordinates may raise about

their work”

• Sweden 10%• Netherlands 17%• USA 18%• Denmark 23%• UK 27%• Switzerland 38%• Belgium 44%• Germany 46%• France 53%• Italy 66%• Indonesia 73%• China 74%• Japan 78% ~ Adler et al, 1989:69

Manager’s role differs per country!

Manager needs to know how his directions are regarded among subordinates

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Tools can help, but do not solve the problem

• Collaborative tools can help to manage multi-country/-location projects• YET - do not solve cultural nor

people problems!• All the team members should be

able to use the tools in ~similar manner

• Differences should be turned into advantages, conflicts into learning - easier said than done

• Face-to-face meetings if possible during project, also usage of videoconferencing - min teleconferencing

• Special attention should be put to communications

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CHALLENGE 2: People tend to resist change

WE PROMISE ONE THING AND DO SOMETHING ELSE

90% of businesses are unable to execute the strategy they have on paper as

• only 5% of the workforce understands what the strategy is

• 60% of organisations do not link budgets to strategy

• 70% of organisations do not link management incentives to strategies

• 85% of executive teams spend less than 1 hour per month discussing strategy

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Typical tasks of a digital production PM

• Planning and follow-up • Resource acquisition and allocation • Managing client expectations • Internal conflicts within teams • Communication challenges inside and outside • Quality ensurement • Competence development • Working with multiple partners and sub-contractors • Keeping up with deadlines and budgets • Legal and contractual issues • Change management • Claim management • Closing of projects –approvals and milestones

It really does not differ from the PM general base of knowledge!!

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Practice: Working with digital media individualists / experts...

• “Leave me to it...”• “Focus on the final deliverable... do not bother me now “• “Project meetings are a waste of time -I know what to do

without these...”• “I’m doing it...”• “This is possible, I think I can do this...”• “Trust me –I’m an expert in this... “• “It will take as long as it takes...” • “I’m just finishing it... “• “I’ll tell you if I have a problem... “• “E-mails... “• “Give me another half-hour…”

Strong egos need guidance, too!

Questions, thoughts, comments...

For more information

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Project Management in digital media - also internationally.

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