EPM, Microsoft Project and You

By: Collin Quiring

Two interesting articles that I have recently read have me thinking about how the best plans by a Project Manager can be controlled by the unexpected reaction of stakeholders to live events – that have nothing to do with your project.  A Project Manager may be good at Risk Analysis but it is impossible to analyze the risk of a specific real-time event occurring during your project.   I am referring to events such as news or of general interest that are happening somewhere in the world.

My only point is that despite the best efforts of a Project Manager, current events can overtake the best plans – and you have to adjust to it!

For example, take the case of Air Canada, which experienced a flight delay due to a hockey game.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Canada’s largest airline has learned it sometimes has to take a back seat to the country’s biggest sporting passion, ice hockey, the head of Air Canada said on Tuesday.

The airline was forced to delay a flight from Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games because passengers watching the end of gold medal final on airport televisions ignored repeated calls to board.

“We incurred a flight delay for a reason Air Canada had not yet encountered in over 72 years of existence,” chief executive Calin Rovinescu told a business gathering.

Or, from the city of Edmonton, Alberta, the water utility, comes this report:

The water utility in Edmonton, EPCOR, published the most incredible graph of water consumption last week. By now you’ve probably heard that up to 80% of Canadians were watching last Sunday’s gold medal Olympic hockey game. So I guess it stands to reason that they’d all go pee between periods.

But still—the degree to which the water consumption matches with the key breaks in the hockey game is stunning.

BY: Tim Gryder

This accountability thing…such an important term yet subject to so much variance in opinion as to what it really means. In today’s world, accountability is constantly being redefined to us by a political and culture flag that shifts with every change in the direction of the wind. While terms and opinions vary, it’s good to know that some things never change…for example: gravity.

While gravity isn’t a social topic it is definitely a physical force which keeps us accountable to something…such as the ground. It is well defined and absolute and not up for debate as to what it means. In dealing with gravity we apply many points of physics and as a result, we are able to achieve flight but always within the boundaries of rules and physics of gravity.

So what does this have to do with Project Management you might ask? Well in my mind, Project Management is simply like the rules and physics of the absolute of time. If we apply the right business rules, sequences and events, we can manage time and ultimately cost. I recently heard an associate claim the being a Project Manager is like being a glorified note taker and task chaser. I also heard another associate claim that we never get anything done on time and on budget. These perspectives are symptomatic of not understanding the absolutes of time and its best and most profitable use.

Today, we have proven techniques, logic and technology that allow us to manage time. Never before in the history of humanity have we been able to define, plan, schedule, analyze, resource, cost, track, report etc, etc. The access to these tools are great, the use and understanding is maybe not so much.

Look at the resources at our disposal; we have tools like Microsoft Project that allow us to manage the absolutes of time. These tools are way underutilized. What is the biggest reason for not using these tools? I have come to this conclusion: Its accountability! Yes there can be other reasons but I truly believe that accountability is the culprit that deters us from unfettered time management.

Project Management tools and techniques are extremely oriented towards absolutes and holding us accountable to a “Due Date”. There….I said it…yes, time is an absolute.

Does this sound familiar?

•       “The reality is if we don’t ship our product by this date the customer will reject it”.

•       “The buyout transition must happen by a certain date or we will lose our tax advantage”.

•       “Yes, the interest will accumulate on the mortgage note if the construction is not completed on
time”.

These are simple realities that have real implications when not met. Yet I see where it is still often easier to avoid accountability than to manage these processes with business rules, techniques and tools that drive us to deliver. Human nature hates to be run like a machine, but the bottom line sure likes it.

The reality is… we all need accountability. Project Management gives us techniques and processes by which to manage time. Tools such as Microsoft Project and Project Server enable us to acknowledge the absolutes and manage them as fact. Dealing with the truth is well worth the investment of using these techniques and tools….as opposed to the cost of not being on time.

When a schedule is built and changes are made over time (whether with Resources or other areas) and the dates move.  Sometimes unexpectedly.  There are a number of items that could affect this such as Calendars, Predecessors/Successors, Deadlines, Constraints and so on.  One of the fundamental drivers for how the task changes is based upon the task type and how Microsoft Project re-calculates the task.  These task types are duration, work and units.  Even without Microsoft Project, it is good to understand the differences between these task types.

A new White Paper explaining how this works is now on our White Paper section at www.PMPSpecialists.com/WhitePapers.html  Look for the document titled “Task Types – Fixed Duration, Fixed Work, Fixed Units“

BY: Collin Quiring

This is part three on Microsoft Certifications.  Part one and two dealt with the question of “Is it worth it” from the perspective of an employer and an individual.  In writing those, I became interested in the process of how a test comes into existence.   That is what this article is about.

As Microsoft technology is replaced by newer versions, so are the tests.  If I were to tell you that I am certified in Microsoft Project, you might be impressed; until I told you that it was Microsoft Project 1994.  Hopefully, you will be more impressed that I am certified in Microsoft Project 2007 and Microsoft Project Server 2007.  Keeping current on the tests is important.  But, how do the new tests get created?

According to Microsoft, tests now normally go through this development process:

To ensure the validity, reliability, and relevance of Microsoft Certification exams, developers create exams in eight phases:

1.       Job analysis: Exam developers break down the tasks performed within a specific job function, and identify the relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities needed when using a specific technology.

2.       Objective domain definition: Tasks are translated into a comprehensive set of more specific and measurable skills and abilities. The resulting list of objectives, or the objective domain, forms the basis for the development of certification.

3.       Blueprint survey: The objective domain is transformed into a blueprint survey, in which technical and job function experts rate the importance of each objective. This helps to determine the appropriate number and types of items to include on the exam. Contributors may be Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) or MCP candidates recruited from within Microsoft or through online forums. Based on contributor input, exam developers prioritize and weigh the objectives.

4.       Item development: Exam developers write the exam items according to the prioritized objectives. Developers review and revise items to ensure that they are:

Technically accurate

Clear, unambiguous, and relevant

Not biased toward any population, subgroup, or culture

Not misleading or tricky

Testing for useful knowledge rather than obscure or trivial facts

Items that meet these criteria are included in the alpha item pool.

5.       Alpha review and item revision: A panel of experts reviews each item for technical accuracy. After the items are approved, they undergo a legal review.

6.       Beta exam: The reviewed items are beta-tested. During the beta exam, candidates comment on items. The beta exam allows Microsoft to evaluate the quality of the item in an actual exam situation, and helps ensure that only the best content is included in the live exam.

7.       Item selection and cut-score setting: The results of the beta exam are analyzed to determine which items should be included in the live exam. This analysis focuses on many factors, including item difficulty and reliability. Microsoft works with a panel of experts to review the technical accuracy of questions and to determine the final item pool for the live exam. The panel determines the cut score (minimum passing score) for the exam. This score differs from exam to exam, because it is based on the difficulty of the item pool and the expected performance of the minimally qualified candidate.

8.       Live exam: Prometric, an independent testing company, administers the final certification exam. The exam is available at testing centers worldwide.

I used to wonder why it took so long for the tests to come out in some areas after the software was released.  But, if you realize that the software sometimes isn’t finalized until just before it is being released, that means that test questions can’t even be created yet!

Read Parts One and Two here.

BY:  Collin Quiring

This is the second part of three articles on Microsoft Project Certifications.  In the interest of trying not to repeat myself and not requiring you to read Parts one or three, let me just say that this article is trying to answer the question: Is certification worth it for the individual?

From the perspective of the individual and according to Microsoft, certifications are “available for most Microsoft technologies and skill levels from business workers to IT professionals, developers, technology trainers, and system architects. Achieving a Microsoft Certification helps provide you with up-to-date, relevant skills that can help lead to a more fulfilling career, while giving you access to valuable Microsoft Certification program benefits.”

If you have the experience in a tool, I think that certification is what gets you “in the door” if you are looking for new work.  It is also beneficial if you are trying to move up the corporate ladder within your own organization.  And, in this economy, sometimes it is the deciding factor to just keep the job you have now. 

One of the obvious benefits to a certification is that it shows to others that you have the skills, knowledge and ability that you are claiming you have.  If you talk to somebody that doesn’t know your work – inside or outside your company – sometimes the certification is the only way that person will believe that you actually know the subject matter.  I am not claiming that having a certification will get you a job, but I do believe that it will get you the interview.  How many times have you seen a job listing where the hiring entity wants persons with a list of skill sets and you have some of those?  Any time that more than one person applies (or, in times like now, when 100’s or 1000’s apply) how is that hiring manager going to differentiate people?  If you can apply for that job showing that you have the experience AND you have the certification to back that up, you have a better chance of at least making it past the first culling.

There are some people that have told me that certifications are a waste of time, that nobody cares and that since they have years of experience and can show any hiring manager (internal or external, whether for full time or contract position) that they have the skills and then they don’t need any certification.  I am not so sure, particularly in times like this.  When lots of individuals are competing for work, unless this person can somehow get past the first cut, they never get the chance to show their abilities (even if they are superior).

I will give a simple example from my life.  I can’t do any major car repairs and I move quite a bit.  Therefore, I don’t have the personal knowledge to judge a mechanic’s ability.  Also, I don’t have any life-long mechanic friend in my city because I always seem to be relatively new to town.  Therefore, I have no choice but to look for a mechanic that can somehow prove to me that they have the skills to work on my car.  I look for those certifications (like ASE) on websites and phone books before I call.  When I call, I ask questions about their experience in the type of repair I need.  There may be a mechanic that is absolutely excellent that lives in my town but because of a lack of a certification I don’t go to them. 

That leads me to a quick sub-point.  Not all certifications are created equal.  Some carry more weight than others do with employers and experts in the field.  Therefore, it is important to get the certification that best fits what you are doing and best represents your skill sets. 

A certification shows an employer that you cared enough about your profession to obtain a level of endorsement that not everybody else has or gets.  However, the benefit to you can be significant as well – and not just for work reasons.  I won’t get into all of the psychological reasons why a certification might be of value to you but there are non-monetary benefits.

The last thought I will mention about this is that a certification can demonstrate that you are current and a series of them can show that you know your technology.  With Windows 7, Office 2010 and new server versions coming out, a current certification shows that you know the tool.  For example, depending on where and how you work, it is entirely possible that you work with, or recently worked with, SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008 (and 2008 R2).  Obtaining the latest certification on the newest software shows that you are keeping up with the changes in technology.  Having your older certifications along with the newer ones shows that you have experience in a wide breadth of the technology.

To me, the certification is worth it because presenting a certification is a quick way to gain credibility and be recognized as knowledgeable in your field.  That is the way that you stand out from the crowd.

Read Parts One and Three here.

BY:  Collin Quiring

I noticed that Microsoft is retiring a couple Project certifications in October of this year:

Exam 74-131: Designing a Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution

Exam 70-281: Planning, Deploying, and Managing an Enterprise Project Management Solutions

It is common for Microsoft to discontinue tests over time as the software or original purpose of the test becomes out of date.  Unless the technology has been discontinued or the original purpose no longer exists, there is usually a replacement exam that is created.  With Project 2010 coming out, it makes sense for the older tests to be phased out and new ones to be created.

I have one of those certifications and fully expect to have to take the “new” version – I have been fortunate to help with the beta testing in the past and hope to do so again (see Part Three for the test creation process).  That said, I started thinking about a few questions and ended up with three separate articles.  First, “Is certification worth anything for the Employer?”  The second one is “Is it worth it for the Individual?”  And, part three is about the normal process that Microsoft goes through to produce a test.

According to Microsoft, one of the benefits to the employer is that “when you hire a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), your company benefits from a technically proficient professional who has hands-on experience and in-depth knowledge.”  Microsoft has a 10 page paper based on an IDC survey that explains more benefits of hiring a certified individual.  Go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-benefits-emp.aspx  and find the link titled “Read the “Value of Certification,” IDC white paper”.

I have two main points of view for the Employer.  The first one is about hiring somebody that already has a certification and the second is in paying for certifications for current employees.  In the case of hiring an individual that already has the certification the employer can be confident that they are getting somebody that can begin contributing immediately and the learning curve for a new hire will be more about the organization’s culture and “how we do it here” rather than learning the technology.

(I know that the risk to an employer is that a person goes to a boot camp or is just inherently good at passing a test and that some “certified” individuals aren’t worth the paper their certification is written on.  But, I do think that this is getting to be a smaller set of individuals over time as the tests become harder and more specific.  And, the person’s ability is easily tested during the interview process with a simple practical application assessment.)

My second point of view is when an employer provides the opportunity to become certified (or maintain) to an existing employee.  Not everybody cares about or desires certification but for those that do, having a certificate is more than just a pride item – it can be an intrinsic benefit that demonstrates their hard work in learning the latest technology and that their employer recognizes this as well.  Depending on the certification, it is possible that no extra training expense be incurred as the individual just has to make sure they understand what the test is covering and brush up on their skills in their weak areas.  In other cases, some training expense may be incurred.  I understand how companies cut training expenses in lean times – but this is still less expensive than trying to replace an employee.  The benefits to an organization aren’t easily quantified on a spreadsheet when they invest in their employees in this manner.

Be sure to read Part Two and Part Three.

BY: Collin Quiring

I am asked “What release (version) of Project do I have?” and “What is the latest update?” quite often and this is an attempt to help answer those questions.  And, this also answers the question about what the differences are between a hotfix, patch, update and service pack.

Please note – always read the installation instructions on any update for software as there are pre-requisites that sometimes must be installed first or at best the update won’t work and at worst case it could stop your program from working at all.  And, of course, always back up your software and data prior to patching anything!

ALSO NOTE that it is very important that the Server and Client versions of the software stay matched with updates as problems can occur if they are not equal.

To determine the version of Project that you have, open Project, go to Help and then select About.  (There are other ways to determine the version, but we will only cover this one method.)

A pop-up box will appear and the top line will have the information that answers the question “What version of Project do I have?”  The first part of the line will be descriptive of the version and will say something like “Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003” or “Microsoft Office Project 2007” (or 2000, 2002, 2010) as appropriate. 

The next part of that line is the “File Version” or “Build” for that product.  If you have installed a Service Pack then the file version or build of the Service Pack is listed as well.  Here is an example:

“Microsoft Office Project 2007 (12.0.6524.5000) SP2 MSO (12.0.6425.1000)”

This means that this computer is using Project 2007 with the December 15, 2009 hotfix update (found by knowing what the number “12.0.6524.5000” means) and with Service Pack 2 that has been updated with the latest Office Service Pack (that is what “12.0.6425.1000” means).

I have included a list below of the Project 2007 release numbers as of today, with the Microsoft KB article explaining the modifications:

I don’t have a full listing for Project 2003 like I provided above for 2007, but here are the original release values for Project 2003:

Project 2010 and Project Server 2010 haven’t been officially released as of the writing of this article so I won’t try to put in values for those here at this time.

How do you determine what version of Project Server are you running?  If you go to the Project Server itself, to the currently installed program list it will have a line for Project Server.  In the 2007 version, that is called “Microsoft Office Project Server 2007”.  When you select that line, there is a “Click here for support information” option.  Selecting that will bring up a pop-up with the server version of the product that you are using.

As a rule, the file version of the Server should be the same as the file version on the Client.  When the client says this:  “Microsoft Office Project 2007 (12.0.6524.5000) SP2 MSO (12.0.6425.1000)” the Server version should also be “12.0.6425.1000” – demonstrating that they are on the same Service Pack.

Here are the Project Server 2007 release numbers as of today:

Finally, here are the definitions and differences of the various update types (as taken directly from Microsoft’s TechNet Project information):

Hotfix:

A hotfix is a single cumulative package composed of one or more files used to address a problem in a product. A hotfix addresses a specific customer situation and is distributed by Microsoft Customer Service and Support. Customers may not redistribute hotfixes without written, legal consent from Microsoft.  Individual hotfix releases are no longer available. Hotfixes are released to customers by Microsoft Customer Service and Support through cumulative updates.

Cumulative Update:

A Cumulative update is a method of providing hotfix releases on a scheduled delivery basis for Office Server products, including Office Project Server 2007. Through this model, Office hotfixes are released every two months in the form of a downloadable package of current and previous hotfixes. The primary goal is to deliver high-quality fixes on a predictable schedule.

Service Pack:

A service pack is a tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates. Service packs may also contain additional fixes for problems that are found internally since the release of the product and a limited number of customer-requested design changes or features. Microsoft service packs are public updates that are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center.

Infrastructure Updates:

The Infrastructure Update for Microsoft Office Servers is a set of public updates to improve platform performance and also contains several customer-driven fixes.

Tanya Foster has just added a new document to our White Paper section which is formatted to print on one page – with sample images.  This document lists five of the new features and is designed for you to be able to print out to show others about some of the newest features.  It highlights the ribbon, timeline view, user controlled scheduling, team planner and inactive tasks features.  We plan to have more of these one page documents in the future and if you have suggestions for a document please let us know. 

This document is in our White Papers section at http://pmpspecialists.com/WhitePapers.html and is titled Project 2010 New Features – One Page Quick Summary.

BY: Collin Quiring

Microsoft Project Server and Project Professional work very well together most of the time. However, every now and then, particularly if you use multiple instances or Servers, some challenges can arise. Recently, I was confronted with an annoying issue that I have resolved in the past and thought that I would share it with you just in case they were experiencing the same issues. And, while I am at it, I am going to mention a few other errors that I receive every now and then when using Project Server and Project Professional.

First, the easy part: how it is supposed to work. I know that Microsoft has documentation about this but in a nutshell, here is how you connect Project Professional to Project Server.

1. Open Project Professional

2. Go to Tools, Enterprise Options, Microsoft Office Project Server Accounts

3. Select Add

4. Enter something you will remember in the Account Name field

5. Enter the URL in the Project Server URL field

6. If you are using forms or windows authentication select and enter the appropriate information

7. If this is the only or the main URL that you use, then select the default.

8. After clicking OK, you are back at the Project Server Accounts box

9. I always recommend that you select “Manually Control Connection State” in case you add more instances or often go “offline” but that is up to you.

10. And, that is it – just close Professional and the next time you open Professional it will connect (or give you the option to connect).

Now, that is the way it works for most people. And, it works fine for most of the time, especially for those that only connect to one instance. However, in other cases, interesting things that can happen.

To understand the issues that I run into you need to know my situation. I have both Project Professional 2003 and Project Professional 2007 on my computer. I also connect to about 15 different instances with 2007 and 6 different instances with 2003. Of those instances, only a few of them are local to my computer’s network so I am using my internet connection to access the majority of these sites. The servers I am accessing are either within a client’s domain or are being hosted by PMP Specialists. (This post is about Project Professional setup so assume for this post that the server and user/password are all correct.) Also, for clarity, I am running Vista and Office 2007.

Normally, having both 2003 and 2007 on my computer at the same time isn’t an issue with the way that Professional works. However, every now and then an update from Microsoft will render one of the versions of Project to stop working correctly. I usually find this out at the most inconvenient moment and when I don’t have the time to fix it!

One of the most common ways that I find there is an issue is when I try to open a file directly from Project Server. When in Project Web Access (PWA) and you select a project file to open, the Project Server automatically goes out and opens your Project Professional. The catch is that it sometimes tries to open the other version of Professional. This is because of a change on the local computer, not the server. The error messages are not necessarily intuitive either. And, the Server sometimes seems to time out or to be doing nothing at all so this is a time for patience. Clicking refresh or clicking on other items only makes it worse when the Server catches up. It sometimes takes a minute before the error message appears.

For example, the error message I get when I use 2007 and the server opens up 2003 is some version of the error message below. Note, I am using a 2007 file, created in Professional 2007 and a 2007 Server and the error still mentions Project 98.

Error message:

“Project cannot open the file

· Check that the file name and path are correct

· Check that the file format is recognized by Project

Project files save in a version earlier than Microsoft Project 98 can’t be opened.

If your file is from an earlier version, open it in that version, click Save As (File Menu), and save in MPX format. Open the MPX file in the current version of Project. When you use this method, project data is imported, but formatting is lost.”

At this point, I usually have an easy fix. I open up Professional 2003 first and go to the help drop down and select the Detect and Repair. After that runs, I can try again. This seems to fix the issue for me about 1/3 of the time.

If the issue isn’t resolved and the server is still trying to open the wrong version then the next step that I take is to go to Professional 2007 and run the Help, Microsoft Office Diagnostics.

Interestingly, that doesn’t seem to find problems usually. But, it must flip a bit somewhere because that seems to resolve the problem about ½ the time when I try it second.

If neither of those work I go to Windows Update and run that. After running Windows Update, I sometimes have to repeat the steps above for 2003 and 2007 but have never had to do other steps – to get Server to open the correct version of Project.

Another type of error that I get when connecting Professional and Server is if I have Professional open already and connected to a different instance. Then, when trying to change some server settings or otherwise using PWA to open or use Professional a new error message appears. This is an easy one to resolve as the error message is pretty clear.

It says:

“Project Professional 2007 is currently running under a profile that does not match your current Project Web Access login. Restart Project Professional with a different profile, or exit Project Professional and then let Project Web Access automatically start Project Professional.”

So, close Professional and re-open it with the correct instance, or let Server try to open it for you.

The next error isn’t really an error – it just makes you think it is. When you use Server to open Professional, you sometimes get the message

“Project cannot be fully opened because it is awaiting your input. Either continue with the input process until Project is fully running or quit Project and click Update again.”

The reason for this one is simple, it is waiting for you to enter your credentials. If, like me, you have multiple instances setup and/or just have the “manually control” option setup, then Professional will be waiting for you input. Sometimes this doesn’t become the focus of your computer and so when you don’t enter your information after a bit, the Server is prompting you. Just find the login box prompt on your computer, make sure you have the right instance selected, and sign in.

Another error which appears to have two potentially different solutions is this:

“Project cannot recognize this file format.

Do you want to open this file as text only.”

This is caused by one of two different issues. The first is that you have Professional to open, but in the wrong version. This example was caused by the 2007 Server opening Professional 2003. As we know, this is correct, the 2003 and 2007 versions aren’t compatible. So, make sure that you have the correct version of Professional open.

The second cause of this issue is that you don’t have the Server URL in your IE Trusted Sites zone. I have had the correct version of Professional open and still get this message and then when I add the URL into the Trusted Sites (and close Professional) and try again, all works well.

Another error that may be caused by the Trusted Sites or an invalid URL is this one:

“Login Failed. Project could not connect to the server

Please check your username and password and try again.”

I have seen this error because of the URL not being in the Trusted Sites (usually this is because the URL’s network/domain settings or your network/domain settings have an option that allows traffic through only if the URL is in the Trusted Sites).

I have also seen this error when the URL is typed incorrectly in the Project Server Accounts connection box. In Professional 2003, there was a “test connection” option but in Professional 2007 there isn’t one so you can have a typo in the URL and not know it until you use Professional to try and connect. If you go directly into Professional and then try to connect, you should get a message similar to this one if the URL isn’t correct. (Remember, we are assuming that the Server, userid and password are all correctly configured and working.)

“Could not connect to Server

Project was not able to connect to Project Server because of the following error:

Project Server could not be contacted

If you retry and are still unable to connect, try the following:

· Check your network connection and see if you are able to connect to other websites

· Check the URL of the Project Server you are trying to connect.

· Use Internet Explorer and make sure you can connect to Project Web Access.

· Contact your server administrator for further assistance.”

The best way to make sure that the URL is correct is to go to PWA and then copy/paste that URL into Professional. BUT, be sure to take off the “default.aspx” or whatever extension you have. For example, if the URL in PWA is: https://projectserver/pwa/default.aspx only put https://projectserver/pwa in Professional.

Another issue that happens to me every now and then is that Server gives an error that it can’t open or use Professional. In fact, the error is usually that you have to open Professional – even though Professional is already open, or, sometimes, after it just opened Professional. I am not sure if it is the caching, a timeout between responses or something else that happens but sometimes the Server wants to be the cause of Professional being open and you have to close Professional first. And, other times, you have to open Professional first and then use Server. This seems to happen most often when working with administrative items like custom fields but it does happen in the Project Center every now and then as well. The only solution is to close/open Professional in the opposite order than it was before.

I have one more “error” to mention. Sometimes, after opening Project Professional from Server, it opens without the project opening. No error messages. It just opens Professional and then stops. So, you are looking at “Project 1” and not the project that you expected. In my experience, this has happened when using Forms Authentication and for whatever reason, and some point in the communication between Professional and Server the system decides that you don’t have permissions to open the project. This has been a user authentication issue– even when they can open Professional first and open the project file and even though they can see everything in PWA. This is a rare occurrence and seems to be restricted to certain systems.

Now, when you connect and disconnect from more than one instance or Project Server in a day it is easy to get confused about which instance you are in. Tony Zink wrote a great little article about it and so I refer you to his post titled “Which Project Server Instance Are You Connected To?” at http://www.projectserverhelp.com/Lists/Posts/AllPosts.aspx

BY:  Collin Quiring

One of the mantras of Project Management is COMMUNICATION.  Study after study shows that one of the consistent reasons for failure of a project is a lack of or poor communication.  This goes for both positive and negative information.  December was spent on holidays and dealing with the fact that bad news does not get better with age.  Rather than being told there was an issue and trying to help resolve it, I have spent my time trying to understand and adjust to the effects of the issue.

I think it is human nature to try and gloss over rough edges or to avoid tough conversations about issues that will be taken negatively.  However, the statement “Bad news does not get better with age” still applies.  When somebody avoids the tough conversation they might be making life easier on themselves for the moment, but it will probably only get worse as time goes on.

I once worked with a company that had a culture of avoiding negative issues.  This was strongly encouraged by management in the way they dealt with each other and with employees.  This only meant that more money and time was spent fixing issues that had become critical and unavoidable – when they could have been addressed much sooner during the project.  Most issues were seen early in the life of the project and if those that knew the information were encouraged to speak up, rather than punished, they would have become true partners in fixing the problems.  That company would be stronger today since it would have an employee base that was “bought in” to the company and were “part of the solution”.  Instead, as the economy got weaker, and more potential issues arose, the employees ran for cover, which created more issues and so on and so on.  The same concept holds true for vendors, customers and contractors. 

We all know that 2009 was a rough economic year for many companies.  Some managers/owners have shared the bad news of financial downturn with employees – ranging from pay cuts, to cutting all “discretionary” expenses (another post on that some other time!) to forced time off without pay; or, ultimately, layoffs.  Some have kept the bad news secret and then end up at the same point.  In these two cases, the facts don’t change but the ability of the employees to help does.  Even banks have come to the realization that it is better to work out new terms with loan customers than to foreclose on every mortgage or business that they can – because it is better for everybody in the long run.

A lot of companies won’t share bad news because they fear the consequences – some real and some perception.  They want to look strong and that they are weathering the economic storm.  However, when a company knows it is having a hard time, it should go to its vendors, customers, employees and contractors and ask for help.  I know of some companies that have gone to their vendors and asked for restructured payment terms.  I know of companies that have talked with contractors and employees about modifying work or payment structures, or any of a myriad of other options.

I also know of companies that have pretended all is well and then just not paid vendors.  I know of companies that have said everything was going great and then they shut the doors.  How many of those cases would have worked out if they had shared the bad news sooner?  Yes, some companies would still go out of business, and yes, admitting a problem sometimes creates additional issues.  However, what of the reputation of the company and management when they don’t admit to issues and end up having to shut the doors?  And, what about when people eventually find out there is an issue – it may be too late to correct it at all and it is possible that a vendor that could have helped weather the storm becomes the catalyst that forces changes nobody wanted (including the vendor).

Bad news does NOT get better with age!  If a company is experiencing issues, they should be honest enough to confront it themselves and then determine a communication plan.  That plan might be to tell only tell a select few vendors, contractors or customers.  It may be that if one or two big customers pay a little faster and one or two vendors accept getting paid a little later that everybody can weather the storm together.