Notes

Outline

Chapter 14: Executing

What Is Involved in Executing Projects? Project execution involves taking the actions necessary to ensure that activities in the project plan are completed The products of the project are produced during execution The 1996 ResNet project involved installing over 2,000 PCs in seven different offices, creating more software, training agents, and measuring the benefits of the system

Recall Figure 2-5.  Level of Process Group Activity Over Time

Importance of Good Project Execution Project execution means getting the work done, and stakeholders want to see results June 21, 1999 Fortune cover story highlighted why most CEO’s fail - poor execution!  The same is true for project managers

Table 14-1.  Executing Processes and Outputs

Providing Project Leadership Peeter was an experienced project manager and effective leader He thought the three main success factors on ResNet were having clear goals making the work fun, and sticking to schedules

What Went Right?

Developing the Core Team Peeter developed a strong core team with Arid and Kathy leading major parts of the projects Peeter was a hands-on manager and felt every single person involved in ResNet was important Peeter also kept Fay well informed of the project’s progress Peeter provided necessary resources to help his people succeed

Verifying Project Scope Peeter focused on the broad goals of the project, then the details Peeter was notorious for having long meetings to clarify project scope Peeter and Fay planned for incrementally developing the ResNet interface by budgeting for people to continue developing enhancements.  The scope was limited by what they could do, so users focused on the most important enhancements

Assuring Quality Industrial engineers developed techniques to measure the impact of ResNet and analyzed the reservations process This work helped justify spending money on ResNet and in developing the user interface Quadrant 4 had cells positioned based on the workflow of making reservations The team also followed internal procedures for software development and hardware installation

Figure 14-1. ResNet Quadrant 4

Disseminating Information Communication was a key factor in ResNet’s success “Fear of the unknown is detrimental to a project,” said Kathy Christenson The ResNet team disseminated project information often and in different ways to meet stakeholder needs

Figure 14-2.  Detroit Reservations Center Progress Report

Change Management Teams The ResNet team set up change management teams at each office to keep them informed Training at each office included brief one-on-one sessions with each agent in addition to formal classroom training ResNet management wanted to address the unique questions and concerns of each agent

Procuring Necessary Resources ResNet involved procuring many off-the-shelf hardware, software, and networking products The ResNet architecture was fairly complex, as shown in Figure 14-3 Arvid Lee was instrumental in working with various vendors, and he used his expertise and experience to the company’s advantage

Figure 14-3. ResNet Data Network Overview Schematic

Training Users to Develop Code Recall that a lack of user involvement is the main reason why many IT projects fail A critical decision concerning the ResNet interface software was to have users—sales agents —help to write code Peeter interviewed interested agents and worked with their union to be fair 6 sales agents and 3 IS staff wrote the bulk of the ResNet interface after attending a training course by Qantas

Table 14-2. Sample Scripting Language for ResNet User Interface

Agents’ Reactions to ResNet "This computer is just wonderful.  The colors are great.  It's easy to look at.  It's a lot of fun." "It makes the customer feel confident that you know what you're doing." "You have time to think about more important things like non-stop service to certain cities that we have that other airlines don't." "Not going home at night with headaches.  That's my favorite part." "It's fun.  It's new and it's different.  You look at the big picture and what it can save Northwest and the revenue we can bring in.  The bottom line is it's a great system - it's a moneymaker.  It's quick, it's fun and it's easy.  What more can you want?"