Now Apply Five Whys to Global Project Management

My last blog talked about applying Five Whys to elements within project management and specifically to human and team dynamics. The more challenging aspect is in attempting to apply the Five Whys on global projects where activities are performed in multiple countries and the team is typically comprised of members from more than one country. (more…)

Five Whys for Managing Project Dynamics

Five Whys provides a structured yet simple approach to solving problems as they occur during a project and can provide a framework for a team to work through complex problems. It is a simple process at its core.  (more…)

Adaption By Fast Observation Of The Environment

In this final posting about the Fish Pond metaphor we will look under water to see what we can learn about how (project) organizations can adapt to change.

Fish do not simply float around in a tank. Although they once in a while bump into glass walls, they are able to find food, detect other fish and perform other cases of interacting with their environment. Fish in general can sense changes in the environment either by vision, by smell, sound and by the sensitivity of the skin (changes in water pressure, acidity and temperature). Yes, if fish want to communicate, they blow bubbles.

(more…)

Managing Complexity: Train Your Brain

Every project is unique. Circumstances are always different. Different people. Different goals. To lead a project, or organizations in general for that matter, to success, you need to tailor your approach to the situation. To be able to do this you got to have a flexible mind. One that can switch from one world view to another; one that can use one set of assumptions right now, and an entire different way of thinking in a couple of minutes.

Photography by Erikogan.

(more…)

Project Management And The Fish Pond

For those who missed it: the world is changing. We are global, diverse and confused. This is not your grandfather’s earth. It is not even your daddy’s earth. Economic powers are shifting; you are now working with people from all over the globe. With different backgrounds, different beliefs, different economic and social possibilities. If someone brakes wind in Toronto, you can smell it in Bangladesh. Everything effects everything. Fast and in ways we have no clue about.

Photography by Jelene.

(more…)

Cross-cultural Intelligence 3.0: Develop a Global Mindset

Yes, we’re living in a world economy and it’s the era of globalization. Yet it seems so difficult for many organizations to develop a global view. Innovation, speed to market, and customer intimacy are increasingly becoming drivers for achieving competitive advantage in today’s networked world. Yet few companies are paying full attention to the needs of a culturally diverse audience. Everybody’s talking about the need to survive in a “flat world”. Yet few managers are talking about what this means to their global planning and execution needs. Which begs the question: What have you done to develop your global mindset? (more…)

Engaging brain before engaging outsourcing

If you have not read Shampa’s post below I encourage all of you to read it.  I would like to point out a few newish developments on the software side.  First of all my information on outsourcing prices is from about two years ago.  As most of you know the dollar has taken a significant plunge since then so outsourcing would have gotten even more expensive in terms of dollars.  When I had to calculate the cost of an engineer outsouced from India vs. one onsite in the U.S two years ago the cost ratio was about two outsourced engineers for the price of an onsite after the real middlemen costs were taken into account.  From a project management standpoint I knew from experience that except for well defined and stable pieces of the project I might be better off with onsite engineer productivity due to ease of communication.  That being said it was always easier to get approval for offsite engineers because of the perception that outsourcing was “the no brainer way to go” given the exchange rates.

Now I am with a small game company startup and the equations are changing rapidly again for onsite vs. offsite.  (more…)