MTDC in press

Word processor alone will not make you a writer

Computerworld, 17.03.2002

Dorota Konowrocka is talking with George Sifri, ESI International instructor.

Is project management software widely used? Companies note that the available software products dont meet their needs and their practical application is very time-consuming, while time is a scarce commodity in projects.

It appears that the problem arises from a lack of established methods of operation rather than insufficient software functionalities. Many companies use software tools to build schedules that become a dead letter as soon as a project begins. A schedule is posted on a wall and no one ever revisits it. No one tries to monitor progress, compare plans with actual results, and evaluate the quality of planning or resource utilization, because it requires a consistent data collection and entry. Nonetheless, its not a problem of inappropriate or missing software. The problem is the lack of proper project management principles.

Inability to render some project management tasks in the currently available software is a rare case. Obviously, there is a number of shortcomings and limitations. Five years ago MS Project wasnt a good tool for managing project resources. It took Microsoft Corporation quite a lot of time to develop and stabilize the package. Nevertheless, MS Project 2002 is now a very serious competition to Primavera, which for many years has been a very popular tool in projects calling for extremely good management, i.e. large oil extraction and processing projects.

However, I dont want to make an impression that using any software product is a necessity. You can build a schedule without IT tools but, obviously, the application of appropriate software offers numerous benefits extending beyond mere visualization of schedules, like for example the possibility to assign various additional attributes to planned tasks. Most packages can be tailored to specific customer needs, so organizations by no means have to giv in to software requirements.

Companies running software development projects point to the fact that the enormous number of tasks and supplementary data makes it very difficult to manage such projects with standard packages.

But you can manage schedules at different levels of detail. You dont need to have a very detailed schedule for all minor tasks that take 15 minutes to complete, but often it is necessary to develop schedules at different levels of detail for individual project team members. Management board of a company is interested with milestones, while project management personnel wants to know about main project deliverables. At lower levels you might need a more detailed schedule for specific members of a project team.

It seems that companies often try to bring some order into their project management processes by acquiring some software. Only later they realize they dont have a sufficient knowledge of project management basics and they send their people to relevant training courses. Does this happen often?

Yes, quite often. As often, management boards start thinking about project management from forms or methodologies. They buy a book containing a set of forms used in projects. They buy a methodology, e.g. Prince 2 and try to implement it in their organization. A methodology is very often considered tantamount to professional project management, but a methodology alone is not enough! A methodology is nothing more than a tool. We feel comfortable having a tool but other things should come first. Unless a company has good practices and relevant competencies in place, tools will only make poor work 100 percent poorer. We will only become more efficient in doing a lousy job. Having a word processor will not make anyone a good writer. Thanks to the word processor the works of a poor writer can only reach the readers a few times faster. Automation of an ineffective process and transferring the ineffectiveness to an IT system makes the process even less effective. Before I start working with tools I need to understand what Im trying to achieve. An owner of a carpentry toolbox is not necessarily a carpenter. First I have to acquire subject matter expertise and then I can think which tool would be the most appropriate for a company of this size and type. Primavera may be a fantastic tool for oil extraction and processing plants, but it might not suit a smaller-sized company like mine.

How to choose a suitable tool?

This is not a problem. There are many analyses and studies available on the market. One of the best is Project Management International, which examines all project management software packages available on the market, their strengths and weaknesses, and their applications. The selection of software that suits the needs of your organization will not be a problem. You can use analyses, build a prototype or implement a pilot program. The real problem is to define the needs of your organization and the competencies you have to obtain for the sake of effective project management. Also, you have to bear in mind that the information we need for good project management doesnt come only from project management system, but also from our accounting system, inventory management system, and human resources management system.

How can we use the data to make the system as effective as possible? Should we mirror the accounting data in our project management system?

First of all, we have to think about our information needs. We need current, reliable, and precise information. Perhaps we should adapt our accounting system to the way we operate in a projectized organization. How will this impact our accounting practices? The same goes for human resources management: how do we account for work time? Are we able to allocate labor hours of individuals to specific projects? If we cant do it, if all our systems do not support information formats that allow us to evaluate project management results, this will surely affect the quality of decision making.

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