On Services for Collaborative Project Management

Transcription

1 On Services for Collaborative Project Management Martin Ollus, Kim Jansson, Iris Karvonen, Mikko Uoti, Heli Riikonen Vuorimiehentie 5, Espoo P.O. Box 1000, FI VTT, Finland

2 Content of presentation 1. Collaborative Project Management; some concepts 2. Features of management 3. Intangible assets for management 4. IT for Collaborative Project Management 5. Applications; first development efforts 2

3 (Project) Management Management "the art of getting things done through people" (Mary Parker Follett, early definition) directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing them towards accomplishing a goal Project Management discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring a successful completion of specific project goals and objectives (Global project management handbook ) Challenges for Project Management 1. achieve all project goals and objectives while adhering to project constraints 2. optimize allocation and integration of inputs to meet pre-defined objectives 3

4 Collaborative Project management Discipline of project management is well established Much good support available PMI: Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK, PMBOK Guide) Project Management Association, IPMA focus is mainly on the management of project within a single enterprise Collaborative Project Management Collaboration: a process in which entities share information, resources and responsibilities to jointly plan, implement, and evaluate a program of activities to achieve a common goal (Camarinha-Matos & Afsarmanesh) Management of Collaborative Projects networked and distributed environments participants and organizations in different locations, countries and cultures management either central or collaborative Collaborative Management of Projects shared project management delegation of management responsibility some extent of self organization management may in many cases be non-hierarchical and participative results based assessment of progress. 4

5 Interpretation of Collaborative Project management Management of Collaborative Projects Management approach Collaborative (democratic) management Centralized (top-down) management Delegation of responsibility Self organisation Progress assessment Project hiererachy Clear chain of command Internal monitoring within the organization Non-distributed (single organization) Nogotiation & selforganization Collaboration, trust, communication based Distributed progress monitoring Central project responsibility Command structures unclear (independent organizations) Monoitoring at organizations boarders Collaborative/distributed (virtual organization) Collaborative Management of Projects Project topology 5

6 Aspects on project management So far, project management has mainly focused on monitoring the progress of activities performance Management assumed to know needed measure for coordinating the activities BUT Management of inter-organizational activities a complex task could be supported formally and systematically Management of inter-organizational activities mainly considered as transactions at the interfaces between the participating organizations focus has been on standardization of the information exchange communication even between enterprise systems Very little emphasis on the interactions between people and business processes Also the BUT Collaboration is performed by people in the processes of their organizations 6

7 Dimensions of collaborative management Interaction level Business process, People System Communication Integration platforms, ERP - integration Performance, collaboration, trust Info from many different systems Understanding & modelling of behaviour & relationships Intelligent decision support systems Collaboration focused management Supported active management Transaction based integration Transaction Data formats, standards Data acquisition (PMBOK, SCM, ) Coordinated actions over company borders Information exchange Monitoring Active management Management 7

8 Active management for collaboration support So far Coordinated actions over company borders Supported by efficient information collection from participating organizations including monitoring of past events Decision support to aid decision making proactive alarms on emerging or occurred problems simulation based evaluation of different possible management actions Focus has been on the management aspects Assumption of a manger with the final responsibility for the task or delivery Collaborative organization culture means community Consists of relationships between people Knowledge sharing Understanding and monitoring of intangible assets Communication Collaboration performance Trust Management focusing on business processes and relationships Creating trust and a collaborative atmosphere Considering risks Still relying on incomplete information 8

9 Management is about dealing with people Management CUSTOMERS Management structure, set-up Collaborative real-time status analysis Implementation of needed actions Work break down, Task allocation Management, Monitoring approach Incentive system PEOPLE Communication COST Trust TIME Collaboration Individual attributes Project organization QUALITY OTHERS 9

10 Some intangible assets in collaborative project management Mutual trust Critical factor for Communication Collaboration and knowledge creation Creation of competitive advantage Reducing governance costs Conflict management Includes rational dimensions Keeps relationship together & reduces their complexity Provides flexibility & lower transaction costs Leadership Many definitions Emphasize support of others in the accomplishment of common objectives Define aims and to create a collaborative and inspiring atmosphere Decentralized management style usually adopted Engagement of all participants vital Monitoring achievements and performance Performance in collaborative activities is ability to Forge relationships Communicate networking Get self-motivation 10

11 IT: Social media and project management Project management a social effort involving all relevant actors Social aspect to be emphasized in collaborative project management Social capable IT tools and software could support the project work and management Enterprise 2.0 Used to describe the collaborative nature of an enterprise Introduction and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies within the enterprise Rich internet applications Provide software as a service Web used as a general platform Six fundamental components, using the acronym SLATES Can help organizations in capturing unstructured tacit knowledge Challenge: how to differentiate meaningful and re-usable knowledge from other content Blogs, wikis, etc useful for sharing unstructured information on active projects and processes Not good for structured informational retrieval Business processes often rely on access to structured but distributed data and documents Several positive outcomes in adapting Enterprise 2.0 technologies Remaining threats Employees may not use the adapted technologies They may use the system as intended, but producing unintended outcomes 11

12 Social media and project management (cont.) Agile Project Management (APM) For compact and lightweight projects Created mainly for software development projects Expected to respond to the needs of an agile and volatile business environment Lighter than traditional (long term) project management approaches Less complicated Iterative and incremental processes All project stakeholders actively work together Projects are conducted collaboratively, in small teams Series of sessions Documentation minimized Project team relies almost exclusively on informal internal communication Principles APM may not necessarily always apply for other industries 12

13 Social media and project management (cont.) Project Management 2.0 (PM2.0), or Social Project Management Project management practices and software built on Web 2.0 Applications include blogs, wikis and other collaborative and social software Share characteristics like Open APIs (Application Programming Interface) Service oriented design Ability to upload data and media Ability to collaborate, share and communicate PM2.0 often associated with Agile Project Management Collaborative style of project management PM2.0 is more about the collaborative tools APM is more about lightweight project management practices They are complementary 13

14 Comparison of project management approaches Traditional project management places the manager in the centre of the project work Collects all the information from the team Processes it Communicates to the upper management All the information on the project is passing a single person the project manager PM2.0 tools enables the creation of a collaborative space Full access to project information for each team member Project progress is also visible to everyone Project manager has a visionary role choosing the direction for the project development Tasking and structures evolve organically 14

15 Comparison of project management approaches (cont.) Traditional Project Management Project Management 2.0 Centralization of control Top-down planning Authoritarian, strictly controlled environment Decentralization of control Bottom-up planning Collaborative environment Implied structure, pre-defined structure and tasks Emergent structures, tasking Limited / restricted access to the plan Organized / unlimited access to the plan Local access to information, strict user restrictions Universal access to information, very few restrictions Limited communications within team, separate tools Enhanced communications within team, e.g. shared project s, chats Separate projects Often complex tools Rigidity of tools Holistic approach, resource pools Easy to use tools Flexibility of tools 15

16 Software Solutions for Project Management Traditional PM solutions Focused on scheduling and resource management Functions for both planning and follow-up In some cases also for multi-project management Enterprise software suites usually have such functionalities among their functions Common commercial alternatives for project management software Microsoft Project dotproject For viable collaborative project management, further innovations needed Web 2.0 applications for collaborative Project Management with e.g. ability to Build on project partners distributed contribution to learning Collect rich user experience and shared intelligence Create and interact with content rather than just consume information 16

17 Application case Global market leader in the process industry providing Engineering and project implementation services for investment projects worldwide Maintenance engineering Local services to process plants Future success will build on the combination of two paradigms: Fully automated and IT supported engineering process Totally networked and efficient global operation Second one (networked global operations) Takes full advantage of using core competencies in networked organizations Work distributed between the most competent and most cost-efficient project partners Topics selected for further development: Shared working practices Project Alignment Delegated and participating project execution Communication through tasks 17

18 Project alignment Process of ensuring that key stakeholders share a common understanding of the project work processes, operational procedures, objectives and plans Good level of alignment often requires participation in a learning process Need to analyze and measure the working and experience level at the project partners Based on the alignment capabilities a suitable learning environment can be established Building blocks in boosting project alignment Measurement of partner s alignment status Interactive learning environment Participating Project Alignment Booster to be implemented as web-services and currently under development Services: Definition of maturity model and best practices Project specific work process and operating instructions Identification of alignment training needs Project interactive e-learning space 18

19 Communication through tasks Tools under development Support for delegated and participating project execution Agreed and shared operational procedure to support social and participative execution Basic underlying principle Work broken down to a detailed task level Task planning on the lowest level Accomplished by the person actually performing the work Aim: realistic and fully understood Task sizes Work content Task duration Including realistic estimations 19

20 Further information 20

21 VTT creates business from technology 21