There is a reason that the PMBOK guide (A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, a well known resource) dedicates its entire chapter ten to communication. Communication is paramount to successful project management and is said to be 90% of a project manager’s job.  Too often we minimize the time in communicating key information clearly to project stakeholders on both client and service side because we are concerned about spending too much time and budget on something that perhaps is perceived to have low value. While there is no question that budgets can quickly be burned up with unnecessary detail, I have found it is also true that taking the time to follow some important steps during a project will help to make it a successful one.

• Listen. We all benefit from enhancing our own ability to listen to what someone is saying and understand what they actually mean by their words and where they are coming from. It helps us to plan, react and communicate accordingly. Listening, after all is the most important part of communicating.
• Identify what disciplines, departments and expertise will be needed for a project as well as any external information or services that will need to be included.
• Disseminate and make available, key information, specific tasks and timelines that each project stakeholder will need for their part in a project. Make sure you get your questions answered and that you answer as many questions as needed at project start. People generally don’t like to admit that they don’t understand something, so find a positive way to confirm that they have what they need. This may come in the form of a project plan or charter.
• Make sure that you have your information distribution planned and executed so that there is a centralized area where stakeholders can access the resources they require.

We seem to be equipped to communicate our initiatives plans and goals better today than ever with scalable project management software solutions available at our fingertips through the cloud. There is no question that these tools when utilized properly can equip us with greater visibility and intelligence while empowering us to be more efficient, productive and profitable.  It’s all about communication after all.

As an owner and manager of companies providing web development, IT consulting, and creative marketing services over the last couple of decades, I can humbly say that I have been through my fair share of bleeding edge technology nightmares. Some of these cliff jumps happening after the expenditure of considerable time and resources pouring over hardware quotes, software features and cost evaluations, never mind the bill for up front implementation costs. Sure, there were many successes over the years as well but needless to say, deciding on a solution you are going to live in for the foreseeable future can be daunting when your impression is built on salesperson provided information and a big old software comparison matrix in hand. The take away from this experience is understanding that in selecting a project management solution I will not truly know if the solution will fulfill all my needs until I am there walking the walk. So how can I improve my odds?

For a few years now, I have watched web development and online application specialists I work with make the switch to cloud based software solutions for their everyday tasks and over the last year, we have seen a massive movement towards cloud or SaaS solutions both in product offerings and mass media marketing. It is clear that the cloud is not a passing phenomenon and for myself, in this case representing the solution purchaser, there are a number of advantages over the on premise solutions purchases I have made in the past.

• Cloud based solutions offer trials that enable me to gain a greater understanding of product features and if it will work for me, lowering overall risk.
• A subscription based service means lower capital startup costs & predictable monthly costs.
• Hardware and IT infrastructure startup and maintenance costs are minimized and in some cases eliminated in place of the subscription based fee.
• Scalability for our organization. We subscribe based on the number of people we have today and scale up on a linear ratio.
• Shorter road to realizing ROI. Without the large initial capital expenditure and scalability of a cloud solution, chances of seeing results sooner are greater.

Of course, In selecting and implementing a capable cloud based project management solution I will need to follow some important steps:

• Prioritize features required for day to day project management tasks and evaluating if I can work within the feature set of the solution.
• Develop processes, timelines and budget templates for common projects to facilitate automation where possible.
• Evaluate the solution from a role point of view considering not only my own requirements, but how working in the system will be for my colleagues.
• Evaluate the solutions flexibility and the ability for the solution provider to provide service and upgrades.

I am looking forward to implementing a project management solution. For many professional service companies with a varying array of product offerings, project management and the tools of the trade are all too often overlooked when the investment in making them a priority will surely pay dividends down the road.

A huge body of work has gone into the development of many tools and methodologies such as Agile software development  that are suppose to help our organizations be more efficient,  keep our clients happy, enable our teams, and ultimately help us be more profitable.

Endless Project Management Software Options

Software options that will help us in our quest are abundant. We can create flow diagrams, produce Gantt charts and in recent years have been able to lay out entire project schedules on cloud based project management platforms.  Project managers can use these tools to allocate tasks, assess timelines and estimate cost and profitability.

So with the plethora of project management tools and almost a second language full of terminology and methodologies at our disposal, two questions come to mind.

1. Why do we still have projects that go squealing off the rails?
2. Why do we have such a hard time including that project management line in our quotations or estimates?

These are common symptoms of resources being stretched too far and as a result, a deficiency in communications (sometimes ever so small) with the client or amongst project team members. If there is a breakdown in communication in any aspect, be it scope, timeline, costing or procurement then having the right software solution in place or appropriate process in a user manual is not going to keep us on track.

Project Management Software: Friend or Foe?

Don’t get me wrong.  I am a big believer in establishing a process and accessing the knowledge base of those that have taken their bumps before us.  As well, having been involved in web enabled application development over the years,  I can attest to the value of having the right software solution for the job.  Project managers and their teams can especially be empowered with the right solution allowing for greater communication and visibility, clearly defining the beginning and end of projects or project phases.  With the lower TOC of cloud based solutions becoming available, organizations of all sizes can take advantage of these robust offerings.

Agile Teams + Agile Software

Still, the value of having the right software solution and processes cannot be realized unless the stakeholders in a project team agree to adopt them and become focused on the same goals.  The last time I checked, it still takes a team of living, breathing, real live people working together in concert and clear communication to deliver a project.  There is a reason that they say there are no Agile methods or processes but rather Agile teams.  If we listen carefully, communicate thoughts and ideas respectfully and keep our clients informed while taking advantage of the powerful project management tools available to us, we will experience much higher success at keeping on track and getting to the station on time.

Many company owners have expressed their fear during our coaching calls about the inability to afford a skilled project manager to control the delivery of ERP or CRM projects to their customers.  This fear is rooted in the belief that;

• Customers don’t want to pay for project management services, and
• Their delivery team isn’t ready to accommodate this role yet.

As a business, sales and delivery team coach here at Salesworks having worked with hundreds of partners over the years; consider my perspective on this issue.

Most partners struggle with getting projects delivered on time, on budget and according to the specifications presented to the customer when they closed the deal.  As a matter of fact, there are still a large number of partners that struggle with keeping customers happy throughout the kick-off to go-live stages of implementation.  Projects are still being canceled midstream, or are going substantially over budget or falling short of customer expectations after go-live.  If you look closely at enough projects the reasons for these shortcomings become abundantly clear.

Project Shortcomings

1. We set ourselves up during the early stages of the sales cycle for moderate to high complexity projects by encouraging the “big bang” approach to implementations.   That is, include as much of the customer’s demands, requirements or wishes in the first project as possible since there might not be another chance to get this work.
2. The disciplined approach an experienced project manager brings to the table to control scope, assign/manage resources and hit deadlines is lacking in most consultants working on the project.  In fact, many implementation consultants are saddled with the task of being their own project managers!  All too often I will review a partner’ organization chart to see the titles of many employees listed as project manager when in fact their job is some form of implementation consultant.

Here is the reality.  The skills and talents brought to the table by a good implementation consultant are diametrically opposed to those of a good project manager.  On one hand, the consult is a feature, function, process oriented “people-person” that is very interested in pleasing the customer.  They are the good guys/gals.  On the other hand the project manager is a deadline focused, paranoid, risk manager whose primary goal is to get the job done on time and budget.  They are the bad guys/gals.

Mixing these two roles is highly stressful on your staff.  In fact, role-mashing here is one of the best ways to burn out your good consultants or frustrate a good project manager. Placing our implementation consultant in the role of the project manager, is akin to asking the airplane mechanic to fly the plane.  Is it any wonder that the passengers (our customers) get a bit panicky when the plane (project) starts to wobble and the “pilot” looks and sounds a bit stressed out?

A Good Project Manager Will More Than Pay For Themselves In Four Major Ways:

• Through the better controlling of resources, delivery schedules and anticipating/mitigating risks during the project your utilization of billable resources increases dramatically.

• By pricing in their services into every contract you sign, project managers become just another profitable resource on your team.

• After all these years of doing business, most partners still create 30+% of their new customer adds from referrals from happy customers.  Adding a skilled project manager to your team increases the number of happy repeat customers in every partner we have worked with.

• Many owners are really nice to their staff.  Some are too nice.  Many owners have taken on the role of project management by assuming the role of “services delivery manager” and fall short of doing this role well.  By adding a good project manager to your team, you create a disciplined buffer between the company owner and the delivery team that results in a strengthening of your authority.

If you are struggling with the decision to add project managers to your team roster and need someone to work through the pros and cons for your company or would like a detailed job description to use for hiring, feel free to make contact with me at ross@salesworks.com or call at 604 685 3908 x 106.

The principles of cloud computing that will most impact project delivery are:

1) The comparatively low service to software ratio (between .08 and .2 depending on who you talk to as compared with the 2.17 that “traditional ERP Partners report);

2) The increased importance of managing customer churn and creating a sticky customer experience.

Increased efficiency, faster implementations and high levels of customer satisfaction become essentials for partner survival. So what are the elements of your Implementation Methodology that can be modified to deliver this?

Increased efficiency and faster implementations means fewer upfront services.

Fewer up front services will mean less customization.   The Sure Step Rapid project type methodology will be the most appropriate in many cases.  The Analysis phase will consist of Feature Selection and templated Gap Analysis. This assumes that the ERP partner will have template solutions available to offer.

The typical ERP cloud customer will not be prepared to invest in extensive business process analysis and requirements and process reviews.  With limited customization, the Design and Develop phases can be combined into a configuration, data conversion and testing step.  The template solution will be configured for the customer, data conversions designed and tested.

Where there is customization required it is more likely to be performed according to the Agile Project type method in Sure Step – that is in increments once the initial solution is implemented.   Large upfront design phases that are often advisable in on premise projects will not be cost effective in the cloud.

Training and Support are more important than ever!

Partner profitability in delivering cloud based solutions is largely dependent on the length of time that a customer will stay with the solution (a.k.a. “customer stickiness”).  At the same time the cloud customer has less invested in terms of both money and time and is therefore more likely to walk away than an on premise customer.

Outstanding training and support is a critical component of the customer experience.  Partners need to be prepared to deliver whatever it takes in terms of training and support to ensure that the customer is happy with the solution from the beginning.

This “White Glove” support will not only ensure customer retention but also increase upsell and cross sell opportunities and referrals – all of which are essential ingredients for continued ERP cloud delivery success!

Financial Pressures

The financial pressure comes in a number of ways:

• The valuable part of the consultant’s time is diluted by less profitable work in another area and billings suffer.
• Work is performed at sub-par levels requiring rework, delays, poor customer satisfaction, etc.
• In the case of superheroes, you are highly vulnerable to their leaving as well as reducing career path options for those starting at a lower (more profitable) level.
• Staff burnout.

This phenomenon of role mashing is not limited to this scenario.  It is pervasive throughout most of our companies at some point.  Here are a few mashed scenarios to watch out for:

• Owner:  Sales, strategy, marketing, HR, administration, account management, accounting, sales leader, presales demo king/queen, and coffee maker.
• Sales: account executive (new customers), account manager (existing customers), account executive and marketing.
• Consulting: project manager, project implementer, technical support, programmer, consultant, account manager and superhero (they do everything).

The Remedies – Unravelling the Roles

Now that the scenario has been presented, what can we do about it?  The answer involves timing, since most of us can not afford to un-mash roles immediately.

Here are a few steps to take to align your team members with their most profitable and motivating roles:

1. Evaluate all sales and delivery team members to determine what they are best at.  Include yourselves, the owners.  There are formal tools out in the market for this or you can simply conduct your review with a few simple questions and several points of view.
2. Evaluate each current position and identify the different types of work they are performing.  Depending on your organizational make up and solutions provided, this will vary.  One of the best ways to define roles is to use the Sure Step methodology framework available to all Microsoft Dynamics partners and review the roles section for job descriptions based on the size of projects you work on. You can download it here for free.
3. Perform a bit of triage.  Which roles are most critically injured due to the individual trying to wear too many hats?  Make a priority list based on seniority of staff, nature of the position, customer/project involvements, etc.
4. Define new role definitions (see step #2) that will relieve the pressure.
5. If possible move staff to a more effective role immediately.  For instance, if you do not have a dedicated project manager, and one of your consultants shows signs of strong project delivery discipline, consider moving them into a pure project manager’s role and rehire the consulting position.
6. As the company grows, rework your organization chart to include pure play roles.

In the end, we run companies powered by human beings that possess intricate mechanics.  Paying attention to how each of our team members fit into the organization and perform their jobs optimally is one of the most challenging functions as an owner and manager.

Unfortunately, most of us pick up this skill through informal means or by trial and error.  As a result, time passes and profitability suffers until we can get it right.

If you are feeling bewildered about the process for moving forward, send me an email at ross@salesworks.com.  I would enjoy providing some guidance to you and your consulting team.

Adjusting for Growth

After 9 years of being a value added reseller Hayworth, Nash & Co (name changed), had grown to 26 employees in a Midwest U.S. city implementing Microsoft Dynamics ERP, CRM and related services.  They have been reasonably profitable and there are thoughts of either expanding their existing office or opening an office two states away where they have acquired four new profitable customers within the last year.

Brian Hayworth, one of the two owners, has been concerned about improving utilization and profitability before making a final decision.  He asked SALESWORKS to undertake a review of his delivery team to determine if there are any improvements in efficiency to be made and where best to add to his team.

Role M*A*S*Hing was Unprofitable

After a review of the 19-member delivery team and their approach to project execution, the most significant finding was that many of the consultants where combining roles (role mashing) which interfered with in their ability to apply their most valuable skills in a profitable manner.

Here is what we found: consultants were their own project managers.  Consultants where selling new projects into existing accounts (account management).  Consultants where answering technical support calls and providing training services. A few consultants role mashed their way into superhero status by doing everything, including programming, testing and customer support. Consultants were generally very unhappy, except the superheroes.  Superheroes were strangely happy, but just about burnt out. Billable mark up rates (BMUR) where well below the 2.0, healthy level.

Role M*A*S*Hing Manifests Dysfuntion

Often it is out of shear necessity that we role mash early in our company’s development as a means of selling, delivering projects and managing our organizations profitably all the while keeping our customers happy.  As we grow, we tend to forget that role mashing has taken hold in the organization and a moderate form of dysfunction has crept into the family.

The pressure to wear multiple hats creates great stress; both on the personal level and financially to the organization.  Before we look at remedies, let’s take a closer look at how this dysfunction manifests itself and where the stress originates.

Focusing on Strengths

At a base level, most of us are naturally talented in just a few areas.  If we are lucky or thoughtful during our career development, we navigate towards jobs that take advantage of this natural talent and we apply training and experiences to add skills on top of our talents.

For instance, we are often better at being analytical than creative, or good problem solvers versus effectively managing a team.  It is often a helpful exercise to take your team through a process of identifying what part of their jobs they are best at (i.e. history shows they are efficient, certain functions seem easy for them to execute, they really like doing the work, they are impatient with others that do this task less well, etc.)

Right Brain, Left-Brain

When a consultant mashes the roles of good problem solver with disciplined project task master, they tend to do one well and the other poorly.  In fact, in this instance, the talent required to do each of these roles is vastly different.  On one hand the problem solving consultant is a highly analytical, product oriented and a task driven individual.  The ideal project manager is time, scope and value focused, where the elegance of the solution is less important than applying discipline to get the job done on time. In these situations something has to give and it is typically the role that the individual is least talented at.

This leads us to the stressful part of our story…Read part 2 of Role M*A*S*Hing next week on the struggles and remedies.

Managing Different Methodologies

Sure Step addresses different sized project types by enabling you to filter by Upgrade, Rapid (no customizations), Standard (single site), Agile (significant development) and Enterprise projects. Many partners feel that the Rapid and Standard methodology best suits their project needs.  There are, in fact, steps that can be taken to streamline Sure Step’s Standard Project methodology while keeping the critical project management milestones and checkpoints in place.

Trimming Analysis and Design

It is often practical to slim down the Analysis and Design Phase by reducing the amount of documentation delivered to the client for sign-off at the end of each phase.  In almost all projects it is useful to use one document format that accommodates both Requirements (the “What”) and Design (“the How”).  Any process flowcharts can be added as an appendix. It may also be possible to combine the Analysis and Design phases for which the output is one final deliverable Design document.  However, it is important that the project manager understands the project risk they are taking by skipping a sign off step at the end of the Analysis phase.

Finding Flexibility in a Structured Methodology

Sure Step is very flexible in terms of the documents that Partners can use for their projects. You can set-up your own projects and select the documents you want to use in each phase. You can filter out the documents you don’t typically use – just be sure to understand what their purpose is and what risks you are running by not deploying them. In the end, there are lots of way to manage Sure Step … and preventing it from managing you!

Project Schedules & Project Scope – Do Not Define Success

So it is in this state of mind that I am contemplating what the keys to effective project management are.   It seems, at the moment at least, that detailed project schedules, with clearly defined tasks with start and finish dates, identified milestones and appropriate lag (cushion) times have very little to do with delivering a project on schedule.  Some of the other things I would have included in the list are effective project management on the client side, well understood and defined project scope, and regular communications – also don’t seem that critical right now.

Individual Characteristics Make a Great Team

When I look back and think about the reasons why these June 30^th projects were pushed to the last minute,  and also why they WERE delivered on time (assuming one considers midnight timely),  it comes down to the makeup of the team and the characteristics of the individuals on the team.

Selecting the Project Team

I’m assuming that everyone at your company is motivated, committed, intelligent and knows their stuff.   Certainly that is the case here at SALESWORKS.  You presumably have a lot of talented individuals to choose from when putting a team together for a project. So the critical factor is to pick the right group of people to work together. Assign individuals to tasks that they like and are interested in, and to motivate them together to work in a single direction such that the end result is greater than the sum of the parts.

Soft Skills & Deadlines

So next year, I’m going to be pulling out those lately ignored sections of my Project Management handbook and brushing up on those soft skills such as team building and motivation.  And for those on the team that just have to deliver things at midnight on the day of – I might just push those deadline dates forward a little bit.

EBITDA and Estimation – Anything in Common?

As I have been traveling in the last 3 months, working with business application partners in North America, the one thing that has stood out in my mind more than anything is the lack of rigor around the estimating process and the HIGH cost to partners in terms of actual earnings.  I am coming to believe that there is direct correlation between how much rigor a partner has on their estimating process and their actual bottom line.

Consider this: if on every job you underestimate the cost (and we never overestimate as an industry by the way), then for every new customer – you give away more billable time for FREE.  The cycle repeats itself and you take dollars right off the earnings line.  And the impact only goes directly against your profits.  Fixing this broken process is simple – you need our well-defined methodology:

1. Prepare an estimate for a prospect / customer.
2. Manage the project and the change orders diligently.
3. Compare the project actuals to the estimate (net of change orders), see what elements need to be changed in your estimating worksheet that account for your underestimations.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 on every project until perfected – though impossible, this is ideal.

So if this is so simple, then why doesn’t everyone do it?

Most don’t have a project plan or a project manager for starters (hint hint), so they rely on the super hero to do all the work, including the PM duties.  Generally, most leave off the PM duties, which make up much of the FREE billable time we give the customer, working evenings and weekends unrecorded.   For what time that can’t be made up, it is simply written off and your company pays for the customers’ work. This really should be the other way around, you should be paid for your employees’ work.

I know you are reading nodding, thinking this good idea George, but we are too busy for all that.  However, if you could earn an extra $60,000, per million dollars in revenue, would it be worth it to you as an owner?   If the answer is NO, you have too much money and should retire to your own private island.

If the answer is YES, then why not start today?  Why wait?  You will have to cross this bridge, sooner rather than later, if you want to grow your business and invest your working capital wisely.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  If that is true, most partners are going insane working with their current estimating process.