TI2011 Spring 2020 – Page 30 – Project Evaluation and Management

Hate Home-office? I’ll tell you why it could be your BEST office

--Originally published at Parra’s Project Management Blog

Times are weird in this era, as a giant pandemic known as the COVID19 struck the world violently. There is currently no cure to this new disease and could be life threatening for the older people. Businesses are starting to close, all mass events, in which people are seriously in danger of contracting the virus, are getting canceled all over the world. What started as a local problem to the Chinese government is now a responsibility for all.

Even though things are closing and people cannot leave their homes, economy is still running and you must pay your bills at the end of the month, so how in the world are going to get past this series of tragic events? Home office is the answer. Many companies and organizations are already in transition for the times to come until COVID-19 is contained. If you have a hard time with working in solitude at home, you are in luck this time around!

I worked for Apple Education for over 2 years and I’ll tell you one thing: I almost never saw my work colleagues and I was the only responsible person for my job in my workplace. I worked for the Campus Rep program, in which one student is selected to represent the brand in their university and find ways to make exposure to Apple’s core education initiatives. I’ll tell you about how I worked remotely and at the end I’ll throw some useful tips for working and managing inside your home.

When I entered the job I only had one physical event to attend: a massive training course given at Mexico City, in which all 40 members of the program, including leaders and managers, came together to ensure that everyone was well prepared for the job. Only 5 days I Continue reading "Hate Home-office? I’ll tell you why it could be your BEST office"

Rizzoli a la Makrov – The Deadline chapters 8, 9

--Originally published at Parra’s Project Management Blog

In this chapters Tompkins learns about an odd manager: a retired Morovian general.

Two very interesting chapters with tons of value to learn from. The Deadline by Tom De Marco is getting more weird in these new chapters. The eight chapter begins with Lahksa telling Tompkins that they are going to meet a very important person: the eminent Dr. Rizzoli. He is a researcher and famous investigator for a lot of fields in project management. Fooled by morovian techniques, he thinks he is going to arrive in Latvia for a conference he was giving, but at the end he landed on Tompkins’ home.

In between breaks, both managers spent a lot of time together and had the opportunity to discuss the current tech project in Morovia. The biggest highlight that Rizzoli gave to Tompkins was at the field of risk management. He said that it is an excellent way to prevent wastes in production time, because risks are everywhere and managers have to keep them tracked. He suggested that he should create a document with all found indications of risks, write how they are triggered, when is possible that they can materialize and the cost they could have. This organizer is a perfect tool for decision making.

At last, they agreed on finding an efficient way to transport the bad news throughout the teams and projects. Sometimes people are ashamed and scared of telling the bad news, but if the problem is not reported at the right time it will snowball towards risks showing up. Tompkins was very motivated with this talk and was ready to apply it at the various projects he is in charge of. Time to say goodbye to Dr. Rizzoli.

Don’t worry, another interesting character arrives in the next chapter: general Makrov. They meet him and Continue reading "Rizzoli a la Makrov – The Deadline chapters 8, 9"

The deadline 6 and 7, but ITS A SONG!

--Originally published at Parra’s Project Management Blog

Hello fellow readers of my blog,

This time I wanted to try something different to reflect the most important ideas on chapters 6 and 7 of The Deadline, by Tom De Marco. I made a song about it. No more needed to say.

The deadline by Tom De Marco 6, 7

If you have trouble viewing the player, check out the song here:
https://clyp.it/iw5g0i52

Lyrics

WE’LL BE COVERING CHAPTERS 6 AND 7
AND LISTEN, THEY HAVE GOOD STUFF
LIKE REAL GAME CHANGERS
So DJ, DROP THE BEAT

TRUST YOUR GUT
LEAD WITH HEART
SMELL BULLSHIT
BUILD A SOUL

Listen up here’s the deal for the chapter six
Tomkins learns about making a good community
Big surprise, a plot twist, Belinda’s added to the mix
A pro manager that retired, what an opportunity

He meets her, then they talk, he asks her advice
Belinda has a secret set of rules for managing
Trust your gut, lead with heart, smell that bullshit on the rise
Build a soul within the team that you are handling

Mr Tompkins and Belinda, Belinda
Best managers in Morovia, Morovia
Mr Tompkins and Belinda, Belinda
Best managers in Morovia, Morovia

¿Did you think I was done? Chapter seven here we go
T and B are searching for new managers in the nation
Analyze each profile, interviews they undergo
They hire five new guys and on the way find good information

Mr Tompkins and Belinda, Belinda
Best managers in Morovia, Morovia
Mr Tompkins and Belinda, Belinda
Best managers in Morovia, Morovia

Managers must track all the info surrounding them
To make strategies and end the war before even begins
Listen more than you speak, ask for pointers with the staff
Make first project easy, next one increase people in their charts

Mr Tompkins and Belinda, Belinda
Continue reading "The deadline 6 and 7, but ITS A SONG!"

Modeling systems (not UML)

--Originally published at TI2011 – Press enter to continue…

In software, we are really used to UML for the modeling of our systems to understand what we are needed to do or just for documentation, if you don’t get what I’m talking about here, check this awesome post I did last semester. But here I’m not going to write how to model software, but how to … Continue reading Modeling systems (not UML)

Mr Bolok, the anti-productivity new chief

--Originally published at Blog de Célia

Remember what we learn after 10 chapters of the Deadline Novel: setting super ambitious deadlines doesn’t make you achieve the work more quickly (it only give you more stress), creating bigger team can decrease the productivity in a project…. So now, that you have that in mind, let me explain you the new situation.

It’s been 3 months that Webster live in Morovian, he looks to be used to live there, to have some habits. Then, we learn that NNL was gone to work for some times and during his absence Mr Bolok will replace him.

Webster meet his new chief that decided that everything need to change in the way he is managing the project. First, he changed the deadline (even if officially there wasn’t any, Webster put one). Initially, they had 606 days left before the deadline, Mr Bolok set a 420 days objective and to do so he asked Webster to doble the team worker. Webster tried to negotiate a lot and explain the model relate to the productivity/number of workers in a team, but nothing changed.

Webster learnt how the political aspect (because the choices of Mr Bolok are about politics) of a company can influence all the work done or that will be done. He wrote that Mr Bolok makes pathological politics, that means “that goals of personal power and influence come to override the natural goals of an organization.”.

With his board manager team Webster tried to find solution and they found some to hide the fact that there will still be the same sized team working on each project… but Webster still feel unsafe and depressed after this discussion…

Review on Chapter 11 of “The Deadline: A Novel about Project Management”

--Originally published at Project Evaluation and Management Reflections

Office Politics

This chapter shows us that in real life, there is never a straight line from A to B, no matter what we are talking about…
However, as Mr. T. also realizes during his morning walk, you should always be aware of your surroundings and notice as well as appreciate the little things, otherwise you will scare them away or not even notice them at all.

The same applies to project management, as despite that there will always be problems, you need to appreciate the smart people, the team you can work with, the facilities and resources you have available, the opportunities to are given and the environment you are able to work in, especially if you are given a lot of freedom and no pressure but instead trust from your boss(es). But simply bear in mind that projects and people WILL cause problems over and over again (people with talent demand recognition, no matter how you schedule there will be time problems etc. etc. etc.).

When Minister Belok, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Tyrant takes over for NLL, we see excatly why we should appreciate the small things and not take them for granted… instead, now Mr. T. all of a sudden has a boss who is someone whose „particular focus is the financial“…
People like thim express the cost of a day in terms of profit it could have generated. And they simply cannot be convinced of a different approach towards the same goal, even if it clearly has advantages over their plan, as they just do not want to look right and left, but all they want is people to follow their orders no matter if it produces a worse or a better outcome.

Contrary to the leadership style his boss is demonstrating, Continue reading "Review on Chapter 11 of “The Deadline: A Novel about Project Management”"

Review on Chapter 12 of “The Deadline: A Novel about Project Management”

--Originally published at Project Evaluation and Management Reflections

Welcome to the World of Data

The fact that Tompkins needs to reorganize the entire organizational structure simply to please an ignorant manager seems quite realistic. Even though they had carefully planned the projects and the experiment and had set up the project teams with a lot of expertise, now all these need to be done “hidden away” just so the top management is pleased.

Mr. T. Johns is introduced, who works for a small company which expresses sizes of projects in “function points”. Upon arrival, he already knows the exact number of programmers, workstations, computer models … of the entire country of Morovia. However, it doesn´t stop just there, as he can also recall average temperatures, average rainfall, wine production etc. Clearly, he is that kind of person who likes to express themselves in numbers and who likes to put everything into a mathematical context.

However, even though when leaving it seems like Mr. Tompkins and General Markov still hadn´t quite caught up with all calculations that Mr. Johns produced, the final result was definitely worth it as now, each project has its size expresses in function points ranging from 1,500 to 6,500 points. Yet, did need Belinda to bridge the gap between the table of function points and the simulation models they had done previously. She explains to them that the function points are basically nothing more than the amount of work and effects they had used to establish their simulations.

However, in order to predict productivity and to know the variation in function points of a project, some mathematical values derived from other products are needed to calculate means and variations.

Here we can learn about the importance of archaeology and considering past experiences to make better predictions for the future. Just like Webster wants to

“You don’t accomplish anything by standing in front of a train” – Chapter 11

--Originally published at Meeting the Deadline

Dogs on Gatineau Park Trails - National Capital Commission — Dogo in parkz founs in an articlez: https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/blog/dogs-on-gatineau-park-trails

I love being at peace the most.

With ongoing projects following their track, things being taken care of, enjoying the early results of good work. And even more if I reflect about this surrounded by nature?

Who doesn’t enjoy a peaceful walk in the park? A quick stroll perhaps?

Anyways.

That’s how this chapter started. Right in the middle of a peaceful reflection and tasting success as it develops.

Then sh*t got LIT.

Scared Dog Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash — Scurred dogo founs in stok photoz: https://unsplash.com/photos/MjKUUaYQQ6U

After Mr. T was at peace with the decisions made, he encountered a mysterious and nasty figure in his office. Turns out NNL and Hoolihan are in a business trip in the USA, and all that’s left to “run” the country is Minister Allair Belok, NNL’s emissary.

He discusses (and by discuss I mean yells and gives a stupid monolog with a horrendous agenda) with Mr. T the deadline he set for all the projects to be delivered. It appears Belok will cut it in almost half and will dismember without care the 18 teams Mr. T formed just to unify them under one humongous team for each of the 6 projects and dismantle the Project Management Laboratory. Mr. T rage intensifies with each word Belok says, but ultimately agrees to his demands (in order to keep his head in place).

After that, Mr. T discusses with his star team their chances of keeping the lab running AND keeping his head on place while doing so.

With that conversation, one of the most important lessons of work-related content that I’ve learned arose:

“If you’re not willing to put your job on the line, your job is not worth having”

Mr. T said.

I know that’s some serious and Continue reading "“You don’t accomplish anything by standing in front of a train” – Chapter 11"

Chapter 10 reflection

--Originally published at Project Evaluation and Management

Chapter 10: Abdul Jamid

Mr. T traveled to Rome to be able to check some accounts and be able to update them, he had to change from a previous account and travel to a newer one to be able to put the funds that they would give him for the projects, he had requested the new passwords and they were given them They sent by fax, they told him that once he had them, he would change them and that he did not keep them on his laptop, only in his mind, in case his laptop was stolen, they did not have access to their accounts.

Mr. T is on the way to his hotel with Dr. Jamid, who introduced him and they started talking about management dynamics, he is overwhelmed by all the information he sees about management dynamics. Mr. Tompkins was still not convinced about this to what he said. “The simulator calculates the aggregate, that’s what you’re saying. Big deal. Since the input to the simulator only specified my hunches anyway, how can the simulation prediction of their aggregate effect be better than my hunch over the added door? “

Dr. Jamid began drawing a model on the screen. Use a rectangular tank to represent your usable staff. The higher the level, the more people they will have. We will set its initial value up to one hundred. That is already a model, but it is not very dynamic, since there are no flows of people leaving the project or new hires. If we find the simulator, we find that the personal level remains constant throughout the time of a hundred.

The entire project is presented as an effort to move the work from one Continue reading "Chapter 10 reflection"

Chapter 10

--Originally published at Erick learning experience

In general this chapter was a lot of explanation about how to model your hunch and try to make it as realistic as possible.

One of the most important things about this chapter in my opinion are first Dr. Jamid’s point of view of how to improve predictions of how the work is going to be done by making a hunch and to know exactly what your hunch is you can use a hunch model where you try to quantify your predictions and then let the project continue and start compare it with the actual results and see what things you got wrong and improve it.

When Mr. T and Dr. Jamid started to argue about how Mr. T can implement a hunch model they talked about something very interesting in my opinion on how ten people in a team can complete a certain project in twelve months but twenty people can’t complete the same project in half of the time given to the team of ten first because the first days the new people takes the time of the people that have already experience working at that project in order to learn and then the interaction penalty increases because people in the team have to spend more time talking and planning what to do with more people, but with time the people in the team start to know each other and this process is faster.