tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29301315530585361232024-03-12T18:58:37.421-07:00my-life-is-my-businesss.blogspot.comBusiness News & TrendsKopi Hitamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852851410356459764noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2930131553058536123.post-23444372002092381022014-01-23T16:41:00.000-08:002014-01-23T16:41:25.436-08:00The Project Management Method – Curse or Blessing<div style="text-align: justify;">
Project management is an area of expertise that has undergone some significant development in the last decade. A business project can have a far-reaching effect on the business and result in either tremendous improvement in the businesses ability to function in the marketplace or a significant setback to that business entity.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />The idea of a formalized project management approach has been around for quite some time. So it was not uncommon for any manager to find themselves learning the discipline of a structured project management system. That project methodology takes any given business or IT project through the same standardized steps from conception through implementation. Those steps would include.<br />
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<li>Project definition</li>
<li>Needs analysis and requirements definition.</li>
<li>Cost benefit analysis.</li>
<li> Project scope.</li>
<li>Project schedule and budget.</li>
<li>Detailed specifications</li>
<li>Development</li>
<li>Testing</li>
<li>Training</li>
<li>Deployment</li>
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<br />By utilizing a standardized process of doing all projects the same way, using the same reporting methods and tools, there is an economy of skills in that the project leaders and team members become adept at navigating these steps. Further, by using the same systems and criteria, a scale of evaluation as to the effectiveness of the system is developed so the ability of project teams to do well over time improves.</div>
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It was natural that this standardized method would become codified and finally developed into a well-developed system that could that molds all projects to a single standard. By developing an industry wide method that requires strict training and adherence to the same terms, tool sets and definitions of success, the “intuitive” nature of judging project effectiveness is reduced. And so “the Project Management Method” was developed whereby project managers can undergo strenuous and exacting training in a standardized method that would be enforced via certification across the whole of the business community.</div>
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Whether or not the PMM represents a curse or a blessing to the business world depends to a large extent on individual applications of the method and measurements and observations on whether the method itself introduces efficiency to the process of project management or just another layer of bureaucracy.<br /> </div>
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There are some strong positives to utilizing a methodology that is standardized at an industry level. Those project managers who have gone through the certification process can be depended on to implement that system the same way in each business setting. As such, the process of finding qualified project managers becomes simplified because the certification process alone communicates to the business that it can expect the PMM system to be implemented correctly.<br /><br />By putting into place an external method of certification and measurement of excellence, the project manager career begins to take a high level of professionalism similar to in the legal and medical fields. So the PMM movement represents a maturing of the IT and project management disciplines as they move toward greater levels of accountability and control.</div>
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The dangers come in implementation of the PMM methodology on a project by project basis. In order for a PMM certified manager to live by his credentials, all projects must conform to a standard mold. The unique nature of each project may not easily fit into the PMM process of systematization. </div>
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In addition, the PMM system is heavily dependent on a large amount of meetings to document that the project is adhering to standards and a methodical documentation process from which there is little room for variation or accommodation. The PMM is a complex methodology so the tool sets that must be used to track the process can be expensive and difficult to use.</div>
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The outcome is that the introduction of the PMM system can cause the actual business objectives of the project to take on a secondary priority to the high standards of PMM itself. Project leaders working under the requirements of the PMM can become more accountable to the methodology itself and lose sight of what is good for the business or what is efficient in terms of getting the project completed. </div>
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There is very little room for creativity or individual judgment within the confines of the PMM and that is problematic because the nature of business problems have historically depended on the judgment and creative problem solving skills of middle management. By dominating the project process with the needs of the PMM methodology, excessive cost is introduced as well as cumbersome requirements that do not benefit the business or the project itself.</div>
Kopi Hitamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852851410356459764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2930131553058536123.post-53379738559693933922014-01-23T16:39:00.000-08:002014-01-23T16:39:03.558-08:00A Hidden Gold Mine in Every Business<div style="text-align: justify;">
In many companies, most of the company seems to operate by a completely different set of rules and communicate in a different language than those the IT or computer services sector of the business. This division is somewhat artificial and partially maintained by the IT people themselves because of a certain culture technical people have about their specialized knowledge and application areas. But at heart, those strange people down in IT have the same goals as every other business person which is to succeed both personally and corporately in shared projects.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />But those of us on the business side of the corporate landscape depend on the computer folks to let us know how things are going with that highly valuable asset that we have in our IT systems, hardware and software. Most medium to large businesses run very high capacity computers or multitudes of computers connected through a network and those systems must perform at top capacity each day to accomplish the goals of the business.<br /><br />The upgrade and maintenance budgets for the computers that run your business no doubt represents a fairly sizable percentage of the corporate budget each year. But because those systems are what make you competitive in the marketplace, that investment is worth the money to assure that the mission critical jobs those powerful systems do get done on time each week and month.<br /><br />When a computer begins to show signs of straining under the load of work, we are giving it, that can be a cause of significant concern for a business. If your business paradigm dictates that the load of traffic or system resources could be pushed to beyond what the computers can do with their existing computing power, that weakness in the IT infrastructure represents a significant risk to the company should the system become overloaded when there is a large body of work to be done by these machines.<br /><br />What not every business person knows is that there may be a hidden goldmine of computing capacity already resident in your IT resources that simply is not being tapped to its fullest. You know that it isn’t uncommon for your IT professionals to report that your systems are at 80-90% capacity and must be upgraded to handle the next big increase in business.<br /><br />That hidden goldmine is a discipline that has actually been around for quite sometime but is infrequently tapped in the modern business world. That discipline is called “capacity planning”. By implementing a capacity planning office and monitoring function, you can put the tools and the talent in place to precisely measure scientifically if your computer systems are at capacity of if there is just a need for system tuning or realignment of computing schedules to get more out of the systems you already own.<br /><br />Recently a large oil company in the Midwest noted that many of its mission critical functions were being delayed in processing, seemingly because the computer systems were overloaded and in dire need of an expensive and time consuming upgrade. Capacity planning measurements were taken and the system was diagnosed to determine what the real problem was and it was found that job priorities of new functions were not tuned to the load of the system at critical time frames. The adjustments were made by talented systems administrators and the IT infrastructure continued to perform at top-notch capacity and the delays were eliminated with no additional hardware or upgrades needed.<br /><br />By utilizing capacity planning software tools and enabling your IT team to take advantage of this highly scientific computer measurement and prediction method, the business can get the most out of its computer resources and use its corporate resources to further the business objectives of the company. And that benefits everyone.<br />Kopi Hitamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852851410356459764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2930131553058536123.post-52452499167467332532013-06-07T22:57:00.002-07:002013-06-07T22:57:38.623-07:00kokoktunduh..Kopi Hitamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852851410356459764noreply@blogger.com0