installed base? Can an applications development manager really be
an empowered entrepreneur when the PMO occasionally takes over and delivers its products?
If you were an applications development manager, might you wonder how you can be sure that the project manager will make decisions that are in the best interests of the applications development line of business in the long term? Wouldn't it be tempting for the PMO project manager to cut corners, get the project out on time, get the credit, and perhaps accept undue risks with regard to future maintainability, supportability, operational efficiencies, integrability, etc.?
And will you be prepared (or motivated) to support the solutions the PMO produced?
But Don't We Need Super Project Managers:
Clearly project-management gurus are critically important on large, complex projects. But making PMO staff the accountable "project manager" raises as many questions as it settles.
While on the surface it may appear that most staff aren't very good at managing projects, the problem may be deeper -- it may be systemic.
Most problems in teamwork aren't due to a lack of knowledge of what skills are needed on the team. Most applications developers know whose help they need and know exactly what they need to buy from others. The real problem is generally a lack of an organization process to get the needed help from others, or perhaps a lack of the discipline required to be confident that others will deliver their pieces of the project reliably without lots of oversight.
Similarly, most problems in project management are not due to a lack of skill in managing projects. Rememeber that applications developers are entrusted with smaller projects.
Sure, if you expect one person to manage and control the activities of a large project team, it would take an exceptionally talented person.
In fact, excellence in teamwork and project management does not require confusing accountabilities and disempowering other managers. Applications developers sell applications, big and small. They are the right choice for project manager, indeed the only choice in an empowered, entrepreneurial culture.
"But," you ask, "in the past, they've struggled with big, complex projects; how can we address that problem?"
Consider how the real world manages complex projects.
A REALLY Tough Project:
Take, for example, the challenge of managing one of the most complex projects in the world: getting a cup of coffee.
With the traditional approach, you'd have to tell "Juan Valdez" how many coffee bushes to plant.
You'd arrange for workers to plant, tend, then harvest the crop, and a truck to carry it to market.
You'd coordinate shipments of fertilizer.
You'd build a truck to carry the beans to the dock (and we're not even thinking about where the roads came from).
You'd send a ship (fully staffed) to pick up the beans and dock workers to load it.
On the other end of the voyage, you'd arrange trains (again, fully staffed) to carry the beans from the dock to the roasting plant.
You'd pump natural-gas to roast the beans, and containers with labels to package them. And where did all that equipment come from?
You'd schedule trucks to carry the coffee to market.
You'd plan shelf-space in the market, and check-out clerks to sell the beans.
You'd arrange for filters, water, and electricity for a coffee-maker....
It all adds up to an unthinkably complex project.
If you had to depend on one person to manage every aspect of such a complex project, you'd be in jeopardy. But fortunately, there is another way.
How the Real World Manages Projects
Clearly, a cup of coffee is an impossible project to manage using the traditional model of a project manager as one who directs the activities of everybody on the project team.
In reality, how do we get a cup of coffee?
The market handles the challenges of teamwork and project management perfectly.
In a market economy, each step in the value chain simply manages its immediate subcontractors.
As the "project manager" for a cup of coffee, all you need to do is run down to your grocery store and buy the coffee and filters. You leave it to the grocery store manager to procure those products, managing their suppliers and their staff. The distributors they buy from, in turn, manage the manufacturers, shippers, and store staff. And so on, all the way back to Juan Valdez.
Note that your suppliers don't just provide you with people whom you have to direct. They give you complete subcomponents -- a can of coffee grounds, a mug, a coffee-maker, filters, electricity, and water. You don't have to manage their tasks; they do.
In the real world, there's not just
installed base? Can an applications development manager really be
an empowered entrepreneur when the PMO occasionally takes over and delivers its products?
If you were an applications development manager, might you wonder how you can be sure that the project manager will make decisions that are in the best interests of the applications development line of business in the long term? Wouldn't it be tempting for the PMO project manager to cut corners, get the project out on time, get the credit, and perhaps accept undue risks with regard to future maintainability, supportability, operational efficiencies, integrability, etc.?
And will you be prepared (or motivated) to support the solutions the PMO produced?
But Don't We Need Super Project Managers:
Clearly project-management gurus are critically important on large, complex projects. But making PMO staff the accountable "project manager" raises as many questions as it settles.
While on the surface it may appear that most staff aren't very good at managing projects, the problem may be deeper -- it may be systemic.
Most problems in teamwork aren't due to a lack of knowledge of what skills are needed on the team. Most applications developers know whose help they need and know exactly what they need to buy from others. The real problem is generally a lack of an organization process to get the needed help from others, or perhaps a lack of the discipline required to be confident that others will deliver their pieces of the project reliably without lots of oversight.
Similarly, most problems in project management are not due to a lack of skill in managing projects. Rememeber that applications developers are entrusted with smaller projects.
Sure, if you expect one person to manage and control the activities of a large project team, it would take an exceptionally talented person.
In fact, excellence in teamwork and project management does not require confusing accountabilities and disempowering other managers. Applications developers sell applications, big and small. They are the right choice for project manager, indeed the only choice in an empowered, entrepreneurial culture.
"But," you ask, "in the past, they've struggled with big, complex projects; how can we address that problem?"
Consider how the real world manages complex projects.
A REALLY Tough Project:
Take, for example, the challenge of managing one of the most complex projects in the world: getting a cup of coffee.
With the traditional approach, you'd have to tell "Juan Valdez" how many coffee bushes to plant.
You'd arrange for workers to plant, tend, then harvest the crop, and a truck to carry it to market.
You'd coordinate shipments of fertilizer.
You'd build a truck to carry the beans to the dock (and we're not even thinking about where the roads came from).
You'd send a ship (fully staffed) to pick up the beans and dock workers to load it.
On the other end of the voyage, you'd arrange trains (again, fully staffed) to carry the beans from the dock to the roasting plant.
You'd pump natural-gas to roast the beans, and containers with labels to package them. And where did all that equipment come from?
You'd schedule trucks to carry the coffee to market.
You'd plan shelf-space in the market, and check-out clerks to sell the beans.
You'd arrange for filters, water, and electricity for a coffee-maker....
It all adds up to an unthinkably complex project.
If you had to depend on one person to manage every aspect of such a complex project, you'd be in jeopardy. But fortunately, there is another way.
How the Real World Manages Projects
Clearly, a cup of coffee is an impossible project to manage using the traditional model of a project manager as one who directs the activities of everybody on the project team.
In reality, how do we get a cup of coffee?
The market handles the challenges of teamwork and project management perfectly.
In a market economy, each step in the value chain simply manages its immediate subcontractors.
As the "project manager" for a cup of coffee, all you need to do is run down to your grocery store and buy the coffee and filters. You leave it to the grocery store manager to procure those products, managing their suppliers and their staff. The distributors they buy from, in turn, manage the manufacturers, shippers, and store staff. And so on, all the way back to Juan Valdez.
Note that your suppliers don't just provide you with people whom you have to direct. They give you complete subcomponents -- a can of coffee grounds, a mug, a coffee-maker, filters, electricity, and water. You don't have to manage their tasks; they do.
In the real world, there's not just
installed base? Can an applications development manager really be
an empowered entrepreneur when the PMO occasionally takes over and delivers its products?
If you were an applications development manager, might you wonder how you can be sure that the project manager will make decisions that are in the best interests of the applications development line of business in the long term? Wouldn't it be tempting for the PMO project manager to cut corners, get the project out on time, get the credit, and perhaps accept undue risks with regard to future maintainability, supportability, operational efficiencies, integrability, etc.?
And will you be prepared (or motivated) to support the solutions the PMO produced?
But Don't We Need Super Project Managers:
Clearly project-management gurus are critically important on large, complex projects. But making PMO staff the accountable "project manager" raises as many questions as it settles.
While on the surface it may appear that most staff aren't very good at managing projects, the problem may be deeper -- it may be systemic.
Most problems in teamwork aren't due to a lack of knowledge of what skills are needed on the team. Most applications developers know whose help they need and know exactly what they need to buy from others. The real problem is generally a lack of an organization process to get the needed help from others, or perhaps a lack of the discipline required to be confident that others will deliver their pieces of the project reliably without lots of oversight.
Similarly, most problems in project management are not due to a lack of skill in managing projects. Rememeber that applications developers are entrusted with smaller projects.
Sure, if you expect one person to manage and control the activities of a large project team, it would take an exceptionally talented person.
In fact, excellence in teamwork and project management does not require confusing accountabilities and disempowering other managers. Applications developers sell applications, big and small. They are the right choice for project manager, indeed the only choice in an empowered, entrepreneurial culture.
"But," you ask, "in the past, they've struggled with big, complex projects; how can we address that problem?"
Consider how the real world manages complex projects.
A REALLY Tough Project:
Take, for example, the challenge of managing one of the most complex projects in the world: getting a cup of coffee.
With the traditional approach, you'd have to tell "Juan Valdez" how many coffee bushes to plant.
You'd arrange for workers to plant, tend, then harvest the crop, and a truck to carry it to market.
You'd coordinate shipments of fertilizer.
You'd build a truck to carry the beans to the dock (and we're not even thinking about where the roads came from).
You'd send a ship (fully staffed) to pick up the beans and dock workers to load it.
On the other end of the voyage, you'd arrange trains (again, fully staffed) to carry the beans from the dock to the roasting plant.
You'd pump natural-gas to roast the beans, and containers with labels to package them. And where did all that equipment come from?
You'd schedule trucks to carry the coffee to market.
You'd plan shelf-space in the market, and check-out clerks to sell the beans.
You'd arrange for filters, water, and electricity for a coffee-maker....
It all adds up to an unthinkably complex project.
If you had to depend on one person to manage every aspect of such a complex project, you'd be in jeopardy. But fortunately, there is another way.
How the Real World Manages Projects
Clearly, a cup of coffee is an impossible project to manage using the traditional model of a project manager as one who directs the activities of everybody on the project team.
In reality, how do we get a cup of coffee?
The market handles the challenges of teamwork and project management perfectly.
In a market economy, each step in the value chain simply manages its immediate subcontractors.
As the "project manager" for a cup of coffee, all you need to do is run down to your grocery store and buy the coffee and filters. You leave it to the grocery store manager to procure those products, managing their suppliers and their staff. The distributors they buy from, in turn, manage the manufacturers, shippers, and store staff. And so on, all the way back to Juan Valdez.
Note that your suppliers don't just provide you with people whom you have to direct. They give you complete subcomponents -- a can of coffee grounds, a mug, a coffee-maker, filters, electricity, and water. You don't have to manage their tasks; they do.
In the real world, there's not just