http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog Tue, 31 January 2012 13:33:00 Tue, 31 January 2012 13:33:00 http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/latest-newsletter-a-pmo-and-resource-planning-triumph http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/latest-newsletter-a-pmo-and-resource-planning-triumph http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/latest-newsletter-a-pmo-and-resource-planning-triumph Tue, 31 January 2012 13:33:00 Peter Heinrich http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/proof-a-strong-resoure-planning-process-contributes-to-pmo-portfolio-productivity By: Peter Heinrich When I first saw Coleman Grimmett's previous chart at RPS 2010, I immediately knew it was an important moment for the Resource Planning Summit. The chart provided proof of something we all inherently knew - that a strong resource planning process would contribute to driving PMO and portfolio productivity. Conference attendees and clients had asked me forever, "Where are the metrics?" and here they were. However, when this updated chart was put in front of me this time around, it meant so much more to the discipline of Resource Planning and the validation of the Summit. Here is why: First of all, the chart stands on its own.  Coleman's PMO at Medtronic  improved the percent of projects launching on time from 5% to 76%, with a reduction in the average launch delay for the remaining projects from 18 months to under 2 months. The introduction of resource planning into the PMO was a major contributor to these results. Coleman reported this correlation at RPS 2010 and will speak about it again at RPS 2012 this year. But Coleman did more than just report the results in 2010. He brought with him insights into the approaches he took to get there. He shared lessons learned and delivered thoughts on what he would do differently. The audience took note, and so did we. Coleman was ranked as one of the top speakers at the event, but the real excitement is what happened next. One of the great dynamics of the Resource Planning Summit is the way people are willing to exchange war stories and best practices. Based on the feedback we get, it seems that everyone takes home something of value. Coleman was actually a veteran of the 2009 RPS, and he thought at that time he had gotten some real nuggets that he would use to kick off his PMO development project. At the 2010 Summit he was the teacher and the students were listening.   The proof came during our speaker search for RPS 2012. I was interviewing John Page of Becton Dickinson for one of the speaking positions and he described the success that he had with his resource planning deployment over the past year. There were, of course, a number of factors that led to his success, but he was clear to point out the influence of the information he took home from RPS 2010 and specifically that of Coleman's presentation on his decision-making.  Amazingly, it had happened again.   You can now understand why this chart is so important -- it shows that real results are possible and it represents the power of the Resource Planning Summit.  At RPS 2012 John Page will speak about his implementation of portfolio resource planning, his results, and how he adopted parts of Coleman's approach. We now know for sure he will have an influence on someone else. You should be there.   http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/proof-a-strong-resoure-planning-process-contributes-to-pmo-portfolio-productivity http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/proof-a-strong-resoure-planning-process-contributes-to-pmo-portfolio-productivity Mon, 23 January 2012 13:17:00 http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/january-rps-newsletter Get the latest information on our January newsletter, including info on a couple of our keynote speakers, Garrinson Wynn and Peter Heinrich!   http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/january-rps-newsletter http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/january-rps-newsletter Wed, 18 January 2012 14:54:00 http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/thoughts-from-asapm-on-the-resourcre-planing-summit We are honored to have the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm) participating with us at the Resource Planning Summit!  They had some very nice words about us in their latest newsletter:  Whenever Dick Rutledge puts on an event, we immediately take notice. The 2012 Resource Planning Summit, will be one of the best USA PM events of the year.asapmhas participated in Dick Rutledge's events three times in the last several years, and have always been impressed with thisDean of the PM Conference world. Originator of the Project Leadership Conferences in the 1990s, others "went to school" on Dick's conferences, to discover the secret sauce of successful conferences. In our recollection, he and Adam Kahn (now running the ProjectSummit series) wrote the book in the 1990s on how to hold a rewarding and useful PM conference. As our friend and asapmmember Terry Schmidt says at the Resource Planning Summit's LinkedIn site, "Dick, You put on superb events, absolutely top notch, ever since you pioneered outstanding events in the Project management world. I look forward to delivering the closing keynote,Strategic Planning For Your Career And Life, and to meeting the many thought leaders who attend." Of course, Terry may be a bit biased: He is delivering the closing keynote. And, from our Trip Report of the last Resource Planning Summit: "One of the best features, in addition to the magnificent organization of Dick's events, is the audience. Consisting primarily of Senior Managers, Product Managers, Portfolio Managers, Functional Managers, Resource Managers, and advanced Project and Program Managers, this event perfectly matches the audienceasapmhelps the most: The Change Agents of today's organization." asapm will be staffing a booth at this event, and we encourage you to participate! See more about the speakers, venue and past participant rave reviews at the Resource Planning Summit website! http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/thoughts-from-asapm-on-the-resourcre-planing-summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/thoughts-from-asapm-on-the-resourcre-planing-summit Mon, 09 January 2012 13:42:00 Dr. Hendrie Weisinger http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/want-a-more-productive-staff Emotional Intelligence is best defined as," the ability to manage your emotions, feelings, moods-and those of others-as a source of information that allows you to navigate through life more effectively." On an everyday basis, EI translates into managing your emotions, dealing with adversity, giving and taking criticism, self motivating, managing difficult people, keeping teams effective, and many other tasks that are essential to your success. Developing your own EI is essential and if you are a manager, it is also essential to apply your EI to your staff. Here are some "How Tos": Increase your awareness to your staff's current emotional landscape.  It would be EI smart, perhaps at a staff meeting, to begin asking your staff what emotions are dominating their day. Your task is not to evaluate their feeling, or to ask for justification. Rather get your staff to "befriend" their feelings by helping them articulate and share what they are experiencing. In so doing, you are helping them manage their emotions. Help staff manage anxiety and frustration . Most likely, you will find that your staff is experiencing anxiety and frustration on a daily basis. Since most people do not manage these emotions effectively, it is EI smart to help them. Anxiety  communicates uncertainty  so keep your staff informed about key issues and encourage them to share information with each other. On an individual basis, help your staff clarify their uncertainties and determine the actions to take that can best introduce some certainty into the situation. Frustration  communicates "blocking of a goal ," so those staff members who are frustrated are feeling that despite their best efforts, they are going nowhere fast. To help them delete some of their frustration by establishing daily and weekly goals which they can achieve, It is also EI smart to have a short mid day support meeting at which staff can help each other problem solve some of the day's frustration-seeking and giving support is the goal-not complaining. Help your staff become more effective problem solvers.  Many times, staff frustration is a result of their ineffectiveness in how they approach a particular task. Typically, they will try harder but more often than not, the results are not achieved and frustration mounts and frequently brews into anger. Be an EI manager by pointing out that  a problem is not the situation or a particular event  such as too many demands, conflicting priorities, not enough resources, a bad economy. Rather  the problem is how they are responding  to these situations. Get them to view their "problems" as a collection of ineffective responses. It is very empowering to realize while you cannot change a bad economy, you can change how you respond to it. Similarly, you are not going to get more than twenty four hours in a day but you can change how you use those hours. Generating novel ways of responding will solve many staff problems and minimize feelings of frustration. Create Emotions for Success . There is a great deal of empirical research that indicates confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm enhance performance. As an EI manager, your goal is to create these emotions within your staff. Start the day off with generating enthusiasm with an early morning five minute humor meeting. The agenda is to tell jokes for laughter. It might seem silly but the staff will leave enthused. Whenever possible, spread good news with the intent of creating positive thoughts about the future-its optimism. Talk up future goals (achieving short term goals will energize the staff to go forward). Before the day is over, make sure you have a short success meeting. Sharing the successes of the day-no matter how small-help build staff confidence and send people home in a good mood, thus increasing the likelihood they will return in a good mood the next day. Taken together, these easy to use tips can give you and your staff a big boost, especially in these hard knocks times. As the world's most interesting psychologist, put emotional intelligence to work, my friend. This article is re-posted from drhendrieweisinger.com.  Dr. Hank Weisinger will be delivering a keynote address at Resource Planning Summit 2012.  To see this post in it's original location, click here .    http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/want-a-more-productive-staff http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2012/want-a-more-productive-staff Fri, 06 January 2012 08:40:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/10/ei-strategies-for-resource-managers Terry Schmidt and Hendrie Weisinger have a manuscript coming out on emotional intelligence for project managers. If Terry's closing keynote at the Resource Planning Summit was any indication, it'll be an essential read for those us trying to close the gap between PMBOK and the soft skills we need on the job every day. Here are Terry's ten take-aways on self-leadership for making teams work: Learn to listen to yourself. Use your thoughts as instructional self-statements. Identify your objectives and intentions. Observe your behavior. Learn to relax. Generate humor. Become an effective problem solver. Practice the power of positive criticism. Listen to the message of the emotions. Use multiple ways to motivate. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/10/ei-strategies-for-resource-managers http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/10/ei-strategies-for-resource-managers Mon, 04 October 2010 12:57:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/you-might-be-right Christine Cashen was a hit at RPS 2010, and for good reason: she's smart, insightful, personable, and dynamic. I've just read her book, The Good Stuff: Quips and Tips on Life, Love, Work and Happiness (2010). We all want to feel we've left a conference - or read a book - with valuable advice that will change our futures. The following was a gem for me. When someone around you is acting crazy (if you don't know what I'm talking about, proceed to another blogger ASAP), approach the situation differently. After all, your present strategies aren't working. Here are Christine Cashen's suggestions: Deal with it - the sooner the better - so it doesn't fester. Become a fact finder. Ask questions to get to the bottom of the behavior: "You seem really upset by this...please tell me why." Really LISTEN. Frequently, we are plotting a response in our heads when we should be paying close attention to what's being said at the present moment. Find a point of agreement. What is it that you CAN agree on and let that be the starting point for your discussion: "I think we'd agree that the objective is to support the students...." The "I's" have it. Speak in "I" language rather than "you" language. Instead of, "You always interrupt me during meetings," try, "I find it difficult to make my point when interrupted." Give up the need to be right all the time. I know, just breathe through this one. Say, "You might be right, let me think about it." The conversation will take a new course. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/you-might-be-right http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/you-might-be-right Thu, 30 September 2010 12:56:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/goodbye-gut-feel Carolyn Bellisio of Liberty Underwriters urged that we think about project metrics as follows: Develop metrics that are easy to understand even if you are not familiar with the project. Once you put them in place, be careful of what behaviors they will produce. Collect data that you can use. More is not better. Be aware that the collection of metrics may produce an emotional response in staff who worry that you are anticipating a reduction in force. Most importantly, metrics are not an end in themselves. They should be a way to initiate crucial conversations about what is and isn't working in your organization. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/goodbye-gut-feel http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/goodbye-gut-feel Tue, 21 September 2010 16:55:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/worrying-about-resource-planning Resource Planning Summit 2010 keynote speaker Michael Hanford shared the results of a survey of 35,000 IT professionals in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. The survey asked respondents to rank order topics of most concern to them. For all three regions, resource planning appeared in the top five -- for the first time above project portfolio management. Something is going on that is causing leaders of all kinds, from project leaders to executives to middle managers, to stay awake worrying about resource planning. More than money, resource availability constrains an organization's ability to do work. Resource management, properly defined, is the continuing management for the effective and optimal usage of human capital in the execution of work activities. Hanford offered this vision of success: Balance of accepted work and available resources Capabilities and skills that match initiatives' needs Individuals playing roles in which they can succeed Understanding resource constraints Division of labor and usage that works. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/worrying-about-resource-planning http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/worrying-about-resource-planning Tue, 21 September 2010 12:55:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/museum-of-silly-assumptions Terry Schmidt of ManagementPro opened the Resource Planning Summit 2010 with a pre-conference seminar entitled Turn Strategy into Action: Smart Thinking Tools for Delivering Spectacular Results. He alerted us to the dangers of "fuzzy front-end thinking" and encouraged us to look at our assumptions for problems in logic before we begin. Examine and test your assumptions, for they highlight risk. He warned about what he calls the Museum of Silly Assumptions, which include: Once we have management support, we will always have it. The people we want on this project will be highly motivated. This project won't affect other people very much. We all know the project objectives -- no need to write them down. If we get behind, we can always add more resources and catch up. No need to waste all that time planning. Things will change anyway. Talented project managers are especially adept at sensing when the first assumption is at play -- when management has begun to have doubts or questions -- and using the moment to encourage fresh, big picture thinking. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/museum-of-silly-assumptions http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/museum-of-silly-assumptions Mon, 20 September 2010 12:54:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/prescription-for-operational-improvement Do you spend enormous amounts of money collecting detailed project data, but still find yourself unable to plan resources six quarters out? Collecting detailed project plan data doesn't work for resource management efforts. To address this issue, resource planning visionary Peter Heinrich offers what he calls "a prescription for operational improvement": Capture fresh, credible demand data from resource managers closest to the source Use that data to demonstrate with supply-demand analysis that you can finish what you start Require concurrence by project managers, resource managers, and portfolio managers at phase gates Keep it simple where possible and appropriate Resource planning must be continual and repetitive and consider progress, changes and demand. It must happen at the planning stage, at phase gate reviews, and through periodic audits. All parties must be willing to make changes and adjustments as necessary. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/prescription-for-operational-improvement http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/prescription-for-operational-improvement Fri, 10 September 2010 12:53:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/an-idea-whose-time-has-come For Peter Heinrich, Portfolio Decisionware, resource planning is an idea whose time has come. How do you know if you need resource planning -- and not just project management? You don't have a clue what people are working on. You start all kinds of projects but have trouble finishing them. You can't tell if your resources are focused on high-priority projects. In bust times, you can't tell which skills to cut or keep. What we need is a data provider role for resource managers so that they can provide "pure data" at phase gates, portfolio reviews, and operations reviews. How has your company invested in resource planning? http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/an-idea-whose-time-has-come http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/9/an-idea-whose-time-has-come Wed, 08 September 2010 12:52:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/8/how-to-manage-mistakes I loved these paragraphs from the Harvard Business Review by  Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford. He talks about how to create a working environment in which employees can make mistakes and learn from them: "You forgive because it is impossible to run an organization without making mistakes, and pointing fingers and holding grudges creates a climate of fear. You remember - and talk about the mistakes openly - so people and the system can learn. And you also remember so that you'll notice if some people keep making the same mistakes, even after being taught how to avoid them. In that case, well, they need to be moved to another kind of job. A vital difference between good and bad bosses is that the former consider it their responsibility to surface and learn from past setbacks, errors, and failure. They apply their management skills and dedication to building trust and an atmosphere of psychological safety. These are the kinds of bosses we need more of if we want fewer preventable deaths in hospitals, fewer plane crashes, fewer oil spills. Not bosses that demand no mistakes, but bosses who help their organizations stop making the same ones." Do you have a boss who forgives and remembers? Or one who expects perfection? We can expect the same kind of thought leadership from Resource Planning Summit speakers like Christine Cashen, Terry Schmidt, and Paul Glen. Can't wait to see you there. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/8/how-to-manage-mistakes http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/8/how-to-manage-mistakes Fri, 20 August 2010 12:51:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/why-projects-fail I liked this article by Safinaaz Rawji on why projects fail. We have a key speaker, David Maxfield, who no doubt will have much to say about this list: As managers, we have experienced project failure in some shape or form. It can come from working on a project you know should have not have passed through the governance body and now you have no choice but to lead, or it can be a project that has incredible potential but no one is on board. Below is a list of common signs/causes of project failure… Project Manager is worried about losing their job or upsetting the leadership team. Client expectations are not realistic and cannot be met. Client/leadership keeps changing the project design. Wrong resources assigned to the project/tasks. Poor or lack of Communication with the client, stakeholders, etc. Lack of involvement from stakeholders. Poor planning - planning is to rigid and doesn't give space to handle any issues/risks. Planning is solely done by project managers. Absence of Risk Management Management works to make senior management/director/VP's happy. Project is based on CXO's dream with no clear vision or business value. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/why-projects-fail http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/why-projects-fail Mon, 21 June 2010 12:50:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/nurture-a-project-culture Just read a great article from Mike Gordon of the MIT Sloan Management Review. After surveying more than 300 employees at 28 companies across North America, his team found that businesses with the best product development track records do three things better than their less successful peers. Create a clear sense of projects goals early on; Nurture a strong project culture; Maintain close contact with customers throughout a project's duration. Of the three, what does your organization do best? I'm presently working with one web development company that has goals one and two nailed, but fell short recently on the third. It made a difference - we missed a client deliverable. I made two phone calls to make sure it didn't happen, but my primary contact person had taken a long weekend, with no message left for me and nothing to show my client. Trust blown. How do you communicate with your folks when you know you'll be out of the office? You're entitled to vacation. How do you let your clients know you're still responsible for the project they've entrusted to you? http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/nurture-a-project-culture http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/6/nurture-a-project-culture Mon, 14 June 2010 12:49:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/hard-and-soft-skills I'm struck by how smart Jonathan Feldman is when he identifies that the best PPM leaders have a balance of hard and soft skills. Let's face it - we often hire the sharpest, smartest engineers, and communication isn't necessarily in their skill set. It might never have had to be. Here's what Feldman says: "Think of it as a balance of soft skills and technical acumen....These people are rare, but to be successful with PPM, you must find them, either inside or outside your organization, and put them to work. Don't limit yourself to IT. Are there savvy people in line departments who have an interest in solving the problem?" That sentence is clear. You want "savvy" PPMs - people who can read people, empathize with them, help them get the job done, and then get out of the way. At the root of this skill is not smarts or business sense or anything remotely alpha dog - it's about - dare I say it -  love. Second, you want people who want to solve the problem. Easy to say, not so easy to find. How many meetings revolve around everyone's take on an issue? Does this solve the problem, or merely keep it alive? We all need to know when our point of view is less important than just getting the job done. And this, when it comes down to it, is about letting go of self, and rediscovering our essential humility, even when the stakes are high. --Marti @ the Summit Fieldsman's article "Get Your Projects in Line" appears in the March 8, 2010 issue of Information Week. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/hard-and-soft-skills http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/hard-and-soft-skills Fri, 21 May 2010 12:48:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/jonathan-feldman-get-your-projects-in-line Information Week recently published a piece by Jonathan Feldman called "Get Your Projects in Line." He's trying to save you money, because "a practical PPM implementation, sized correctly for your organization, can boost IT's credibility and effectiveness." I like his proactive approach: Decide on what problem you're solving and how to know when you've solved it. Fit your PPM governance to either a grassroots or top-down approach. Implement a governance framework, but keep your perspective. Match the implementer to the initiative. Get real about work capacity and financial management. Pick your budget and battles. It's not about the tool, but it's important to define a toolset. Don't get hung up on automated integration. Educate, close the loop, and begin again. Points too good to gloss over. We'll tease these out in future posts. -- Marti @ the Summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/jonathan-feldman-get-your-projects-in-line http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/jonathan-feldman-get-your-projects-in-line Thu, 20 May 2010 12:47:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/project-chicken Thanks again to David Maxfield for helping us understand what's going on when everybody knows a project is broken, but nobody speaks up. Maxfield calls this phenomenon "project chicken." When project participants play project chicken, the status and review process becomes a joke. In numerical terms, here's what that means: 78% of projects exceed budget 86% miss deadlines 74% have missing or wrong functionality or quality problems Team morale is damaged on 54% of projects 23% have a long list of problems to be resolved after the project ends. Tired of playing project chicken? Come to RPS 2010 in La Jolla. --Marti @ the Summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/project-chicken http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/project-chicken Tue, 18 May 2010 12:46:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/awol-sponsors Many thanks to David Maxfield and Vital Smarts for providing us with these insights on AWOL sponsors. An AWOL sponsor doesn't provide leadership, political clout, time, or energy to see a project through to completion. David will be a speaker at the 2010 Resource Planning Summit. Key findings include: 65 percent of project leaders experience problems with AWOL sponsors. About half of those make some attempt to bring up their concerns. 88 percent indicate that conversations on this subject are difficult if not impossible to have in their organizations. Fewer than one in five project leaders who suffer from AWOL sponsors are able to hold the crucial conversation in a way that solves the problem. When the project leader fails to resolve AWOL sponsor problems, projects are destined the fail. Resonate with you? Sure did with me. --Marti @ the Summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/awol-sponsors http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/awol-sponsors Mon, 17 May 2010 12:45:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/ipad-drawing-announced-for-rps-2010 If you haven't heard, I'll fill you in. Early registrants (between now and June 15) for the 2010 Resource Planning Summit will be entered into a drawing for the chance to win one of three Apple iPads. Here's the best review I've read so far: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/apple-ipad-review/ Props to Joshua Topolsky for helpful insights like these: The iPad is all about its screen, and Apple's 9.7-inch LED backlit IPS display does not disappoint; As far as actual navigation on the device goes, it really is exactly like the iPhone; We'd like to point out that we haven't mentioned files, folders, or windows. That's because there's no such thing in the universe of the iPad; The iPad browser doesn't support Flash, and won't support Flash, perhaps ever. Check out the complete review, which is rich with detail and features terrific photographs. Whether you like Apple or not, you've probably been curious about the iPad. So register early, and come away a winner. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/ipad-drawing-announced-for-rps-2010 http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/ipad-drawing-announced-for-rps-2010 Wed, 12 May 2010 16:44:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/how-to-annoy-your-boss I'm charmed by Jurgen Appelo, a "writer, speaker, developer, entrepreneur, manager, blogger, reader, dreamer, leader, freethinker, and… Dutch guy." Jurgen lives at http://www.noop.nl/ When you send an email message to your manager, make the number of people in the cc proportional to the number of complaints in that message. If it's really serious, send the cc to the whole organization. To any urgent verbal request from your manager, reply that you will be working on it straight away. Then ignore it. Repeat this procedure until your manager starts turning blue, then send your manager a hyperlink to some web page about "servant leadership." Select any two arbitrary departments and complain that there's too little communication between them. One hour later, complain about time wasted in too many meetings. Tell your manager that you can never find the time to work on self-development, because of the sheer size of your workload. Then one hour later, book a lengthy vacation. **(On point #4...RPS 2010 delivers on self-development speakers, and San Diego is sure nice for vaca :) - Marti@theSummit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/how-to-annoy-your-boss http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/5/how-to-annoy-your-boss Wed, 12 May 2010 12:44:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/thriving-on-stress I wish I could have gone to last year's Resource Planning Summit, even if just to hear Art Mortell. He is a well-known motivational speaker in technology circles. and he had suggestions not for just surviving stress, but thriving on it. Replace your negative addictions with positive ones, such as: Exercise (especially aerobic) Work Relationships Solitude (mediation, spiritual solitude, personal solitude) If you drop a negative addiction, try to replace it with a positive one. This will lessen the anxiety of dropping the negative addiction. Happiness, he adds, is "modifying our expectations to keep ourselves in balance." Are you a perfectionist? Or do you keep things in perspective? --Marti @ the Summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/thriving-on-stress http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/thriving-on-stress Fri, 30 April 2010 12:41:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/attendee-comments-on-2009-rps-summit Here's a neat, short video that shows attendees sharing feedback on the 2009 Resource Planning Summit.  I was impressed with what these conference attendees had to say. Usually I am not interested in what conference attendees going have to say. I figure they were bribed with ice cream or something stronger. But there was something about their thoughtfulness that humbled me. There's no fancy footage here, but these folks are sincere, and I was genuinely, stupidly moved. I heard how resource planning can revolutionize the entire product development life cycle, not to mention project management. Apparently everybody -- that's right, everybody -- who attended last year's Resource Planning Summit said they would come back. That doesn't happen at most conferences. At least not the ones I've been attending http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/attendee-comments-on-2009-rps-summit http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/attendee-comments-on-2009-rps-summit Wed, 28 April 2010 12:39:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/tom-hughes-to-speak-at-2010-rps I just heard that Tom Hughes will speak on "From Chaos to Order: The Story of a Resource Planning Triumph" at the 2010 Resource Planning Summit. This should be a great presentation. You'd think I wouldn't get dizzy over business success stories, but I do. Maybe one day I'll get a life, but in a profound way, this *is* life. Tom will offer a set of of system deliverables that: Produces a vehicle that management can use to instill a disciplined planning process; Can act as a galvanizing communication device for stake-holders and executives; Replaces spreadsheets with data integrity and accuracy; Provides strategic resource planning ratios that show you what projects you can and can't do; Supports the sustaining maintenance cost information required for compliance with SOP 97-2. I know I can be a huge geek, but just the words "replace spreadsheets" get me weak in the knees. I've heard them before, but they seem real this time. I feel I'm watching a revolution in project management -- and product development management -- take place. http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/tom-hughes-to-speak-at-2010-rps http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/4/tom-hughes-to-speak-at-2010-rps Tue, 27 April 2010 12:37:00 Marti http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/3/welcome-to-the-rps-blog Hi! This is Marti. In just a few months, I'll be going to the 2 nd Annual Resource Planning Summit in La Jolla, California, September 19-21. So what is the Resource Planning Summit?  It's a thought leadership event dedicated to gathering and distributing the freshest thinking about the most important part of portfolio management---the management of its essential resources. It is also a leadership training forum because when the leaders fail, the products are doomed. I plan to submit posts that are intriguing, curious, contradictory and informative, and I hope to learn from you and other followers. While reading the summary of last year's conference, I came across Joe Barkai's four habits of successful companies. Barkai is practice director for IDC Manufacturing Insights' Product Life-Cycle Strategies research service, and very good at what he does. Successful companies: Provide accurate and reliable resource forecasting across all projects. Resources get committed early to a project. Predict and manage risks. Identify overcommitments before they create project delays. Increase agility. Respond to shortages and changes in a timely fashion. Improve accuracy. Align actuals against forecast, improve forecast quality; and increase cultural trust in forecasts and decisions. As you gain ground in one area, others improve as well. What about your organization? I was intrigued when he said that the early identification of overcommitments reduces project delays. Is there a code of silence that keeps project managers from speaking up when they know things are going south? http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/3/welcome-to-the-rps-blog http://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-bloghttp://resourceplanningsummit.com/rps-blog/blog/2010/3/welcome-to-the-rps-blog Wed, 10 March 2010 12:21:00