Communication and Collaboration:
If you've managed projects for any amount of time, you have probably come to realize that much of your job as a Project Manager is not spent in front of a computer screen, building and updating project schedules, but rather it is spent communicating and collaborating with the members of your project team. Whether you use the latest-and-greatest Microsoft EPM system or good old face-to-face communication, much of your time is spent communicating task assignments, capturing task status updates, sitting in status meetings, and helping to resolve issues.
Microsoft EPM:
At this point, I could start raving about Microsoft EPM, and tell everyone to start lining up for the latest version (2007). With its desktop interface and reporting improvements, its server-side scheduling engine, better work management, better SharePoint interface, etc. etc., why wouldn’t everyone run out and grab their nearest Microsoft EPM consultant and start using it?
The fact of the matter is... many organizations, for whatever reason, can't justify spending the time or the expense to implement the Microsoft EPM solution. Perhaps they don't have the budget, they don't have the required IT resources, or they've recognized that they're simply not ready for it.
Not Ready?
I've worked with organizations who wanted their very own Project Server, and they wanted it so badly that they jumped into the deep end of the pool... without first making sure that they knew how to swim. I'm a firm believer in addressing the People, Process, and Technology needs of an organization when implementing a business solution, and these folks didn't seem to care about the first two "P"s. They saw a Project Server demo, they loved the bells and whistles, and they dove right in... without determining whether their people were ready to adopt such an advanced technology or whether they had the Project Management and collaboration processes in place to support it. Hundreds of thousands of dollars later, they're still struggling with Microsoft EPM. Those of you who work with organizations to implement business systems such as Microsoft EPM know exactly what I'm talking about.
Project Management Pains:
"How do we avoid this situation?" you might ask. "We want to take our Project Management to the next level, but we don't want this to happen to us."
Different people have different philosophies on this, but most would probably agree that a structured, methodical, and gradual approach can be taken to improve the chances of success. Assuming that your organization is like most out there, where Project Managers aren't sufficiently trained and aren't given the tools and resources that they need to do their job effectively, you're probably operating in "Ad Hoc" mode. You'd like to get to the point at which you can actually be proactive, rather than reactive. You'd like to be able to communicate effectively with your team members, and you'd like to get decisions in a timely manner from the powers-that-be.
Laying the Groundwork:
That won't happen overnight, and it won't happen by throwing an expensive tool such as Project Server at the problem. Don't misunderstand... I think that Project Server is a fantastic tool, but in order to be successful with it, there are some other things that should be in place beforehand.
There are some quick-hitting, relatively easy things that you can do to get things moving in the right direction. Remember that a large portion of a Project Manager's job consists of communicating and collaborating with everyone involved in the project. There is an opportunity to make huge advancements in this area -- without investing a ton of money or time -- and all-the-while helping people to get prepared for a full-fledged Microsoft EPM solution in the future.
First Step... SharePoint:
For those who have not seen or used SharePoint, it is an extremely powerful, flexible, easy-to-use, and inexpensive web-based collaboration tool... and it's a perfect way to improve Project Management within an organization. In fact, the new release of Project Server (2007) is entirely built upon a SharePoint foundation.
SharePoint allows people to quickly and easily create collaboration websites which can be used for sharing documents and other pieces of information, such as:
- Task Lists
- Issue Lists
- Contact Lists
- Event Calendars
- Web Links
- Discussion Forums
- Surveys
...basically any type of data can be stored in a SharePoint website.
I won't go into all of the gory details here, but a SharePoint website can be customized in many different ways, depending upon the needs of the project team or the over-arching organization.
Also, when the newest version of SharePoint (2007) is released, it will include additional collaboration features such as blogs and wikis. Cool!
Do you work with partners, clients, vendors, or subcontractors? Do you share documents and other pieces of information with them? Do you sometimes have a difficult time connecting with them because of hectic schedules or geographic location? A SharePoint website is a perfect place for everyone to collaborate... regardless of time or location.
Getting Started:
SharePoint is a relatively inexpensive system to get your hands on. If you already have your own server with some basic minimum requirements, then you can actually get SharePoint software for FREE from Microsoft's website. You’ll need some technical expertise to install and configure it, but then you can be off and running without much training.
If you don't have access to a server, then you’re not out of luck; some companies offer hosted SharePoint services which allow you to get started quickly and inexpensively... usually for a small monthly fee.
MS Project and SharePoint:
So perhaps you've run out and gotten your very own server with SharePoint installed on it, or you've subscribed to a hosted SharePoint service, and now you're able to create great collaboration websites for communicating and sharing information with your team. How does MS Project fit in?
If you're not currently using a Project Server, then you're probably storing your project schedules in .mpp format on a drive someplace. Maybe they're on your hard drive, maybe they're on a network drive, or maybe they're on a floppy disk (do they still make those?). When someone asks you for the latest version of the project schedule, you probably...
- Send them a copy of the .mpp file via email, which they open with MS Project
- Convert the .mpp file into a more commonly-viewable format, such as pdf, then send it via email
- Copy or export selected data into another file format, such as MS Word or Excel, then send it via email
- Print a hard copy and hand-deliver it (yikes!)
...and what if you share the management and updating of the project schedule with one or more people? Do you ever have a hard time determining who has the latest version? Worse yet... do multiple people ever make updates to the schedule at the same time, then someone needs to somehow merge the changes into a current version? Yikes!
Fortunately, you can easily store your .mpp files in a SharePoint website just like any other file. Anyone with permission to read the file can download it from the site, view it, or print it. Anyone with permission to edit the file can download it from the site, update it, and upload the latest version back to the SharePoint site. Better yet, when someone wants to edit a file (this applies to all file types... not just .mpp files), they can "check out" the file, preventing others from editing it at the same time.
SharePoint is a great tool for organizations struggling with Project Management to get some quick wins and improve the collaboration within their project teams. And moving forward, as the needs of the organization evolve, they can easily migrate their work into a full-fledged Microsoft Project Server.
Want More?
I realize that this is somewhat of a divergence from the typical MS Project topics, but it's something that I’m fanatical about (as you might have already guessed). If anyone would like me to write more about this, please leave a comment.