Visual Project Management (3rd Edition)

Author: Kevin Forsberg, Hal Muz, Howard Cottman (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-12
Features: The increasing complexity of projects makes this situation even more challenging, as the entities and interfaces within the project grow exponentially with system complexity. Therefore, manually entered tables or matrices are no longer efficient or even effective. The project support system (including planning, work assignment, cost collection, status reporting, earned value analysis, technical performance, subcontract management, etc.) should be designed to be simple and efficient, using as little manual effort as possible and eliminating bureaucracy. Well-managed companies typically have planning centers, planning software, daily cost collection, real-time cost reporting (daily or weekly), requirements management software, system simulation software, decision analysis software, lessons learned databases, and other support systems. Forward-looking organizations install computer-based PM and SE tools for their teams to facilitate project planning, progress tracking, and technical solution analysis, while also providing some support for decision-making systems. INCOSE is currently developing a graphical template that can represent both requirements and solutions, is general-purpose, and supports multiple tool providers. A major issue related to environmental support is the authorization of project managers, which is usually the responsibility of senior management. Some project managers have no authority at all, while others have supreme authority. In some government-related projects that strictly adhere to contract terms, the project manager has relatively complete authority over the entire project, and the project becomes a cost center within the organization's business operations. In this case, the project manager has autonomous management authority over decisions and execution and is fully responsible for the results. The project manager can procure resources internally by issuing work tasks and budgets. If internal resources are insufficient, the project manager can procure from any external organization that possesses the required resources, even if it is a competitor. Buyers also expect the supplier's project manager to have such complete project authority. In this situation, the concept of "making commitments and keeping commitments" can only be truly realized because people face the threat of having their work canceled. Another extreme situation is when functional departments obtain annual budget allocations from the general manager rather than from the project manager, leaving the project manager without authority over resources or finances. They must go to the functional departments to request (or even beg for) their support. In this case, the project manager has to complain to senior managers to obtain the resources needed to complete the project. Since functional managers control the resources, they decide the priority of the project and the spending on it. In this environment, "making commitments and keeping commitments" can only be a hollow promise. P45