Summary of the book “Project management for the unofficial project manager” by Kory Kogon, Suzette Blakemore, James Wood.

More than ever, employees wear different hats at work. They are routinely expected to coordinate and manage projects even though they might not have a formal training. This is what the authors refer to as the role of the unofficial project manager.

The authors make it clear that this book emphasizes leadership in project completion and explain that the people are crucial in the formula for success. This book offers practical, real-world insights for effective project management and guides us through the essentials of people and the project management process. This includes the steps to initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control and close. If we are struggling to keep the projects organized, this book certainly helps us.

A project is a temporary endeavor with a start and finish undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. Project failures are evidenced by the following facts: Only 8 percent of organizations are “high performers” in managing projects. 45 percent of the projects are either overdue or canceled altogether. Only 45 percent of projects actually meet the goals they are supposed to meet. For every US$100 invested in projects worldwide, there’s a net loss of US $13.50 – “lost forever – unrecoverable”.

This book provides hope against such a failure in two ways: First, it says that everyone is a project manager. And second, project management is no longer just about managing a process. It’s also about leading people which taps into the potential of the people on the team, then engaging with and inspiring them to offer their best to the project.

Most common reasons for failure are cited as one or more of the following: lack of commitment/support, unrealistic timelines, too many competing priorities, unclear outcomes/expectations, unrealistic resources, people pulled away from the project, politics/legislation, lack of a “big picture” for the team, poor planning, lack of leadership, changing standards, and lack of or mismanaged budget. Failure is expensive and there are even greater costs than just the budget when measured by lost opportunities, dissatisfied customers, loss of innovation, and employee morale. A successful project meets or exceeds expectations, optimizes resources, and builds team confidence and morale for future projects. In fact, this definition goes beyond the popular notion of project success as one that meets deadlines or budget. Doing more with less and maximizing the human, technical and budgetary resources are only some of these. The true formula for winning at projects is therefore expressed in the equation PEOPLE + PROCESS = SUCCESS.

A good project manager is often known as one who valued the project members. While some are nervous about leading people, others may be the opposite – great with people but anxious about the process part. In such a case, simple is good. It might even be better to do without the vast machinery that the project management profession uses.

Founded in 1969, the Project Management Institute sets standards for the project management profession. It has 454,000 members in 180 countries and defines five process groups. These are: 1. Initiate, 2. Plan. 3. Execute, 4. Monitor and control and 5. Close.

Some people thrive on the operations side and others thrive on the people side. The modern thinking is that managing the process with excellence is important but being a good leader is essential. Informal authority inspires people to want to play on your team and win. The flip side is also clear. Formal authority comes from a title or a position. Giving people titles doesn’t necessarily make them good leaders.

The authors have worked with hundreds of clients and come up with four foundational behaviors to focus on. 1. Demonstrate respect, 2. Listen first, 3. Clarify expectations and 4. Practice accountability.

The first one values respect as its own reward. The more respected team members feel, even when having a tough conversation, the more engaged they will be. Listening first allows the other to talk first. It also avoids impatience or immaturity in decision-making. The key principle here is empathy. Clarifying expectations brings focus to a cacophony of voices. The cause of almost all relationship difficulties is rooted in conflicting or ambiguous expectations around roles and goals. Accountability on the other hand is about walking your talk. It also means transparency because covering up the truth is what hurts in the long run.

Among the five process groups, the initiate, monitor and control and close are progressive. The plan and execution are cyclical. None of these steps should be skipped. Every successfully completed project runs through all five process groups. Initiating processes authorizing the project, planning processes defining and refining objectives, executing processes coordinating people and resources to carry out the plan, monitoring/controlling processes ensuring that objectives are met, and closing processes formalizing acceptance of the project.

When there is pressure, it takes work, discipline and practice to keep one’s head and inspire others to keep theirs.

Each of the intermediary chapters in the book focuses on one of these five process groups.

The 'initiate' process group is about skillset and toolset.

For the skill to identify all stakeholders, the tool of group brainstorming helps.

For a skill to identify key stakeholders, the tool to perform key stakeholder D.A.N.C.E is relevant. The acronym stands for Decisions, Authority, Need, Connections and Energy where the risks against each of them are called out. For example, make the decisions that control or influence the project budget, have the authority to grant permission to proceed with the project, directly benefit from or are impacted by the project and consequently need to know all about it, are connected to the people, money or resources required to remove roadblocks or exert influence to ensure project success and have positive or negative energy that could affect project success.

For a skill to interview key stakeholders, the tool could be the key stakeholder interview or the question funnel.

For a skill to document project scope statements, the tool could be the project scope statement.

In short, frontloading is the basic principle of project success.

The next set of iterative process groups are planning and executing.  A similar breakup for skills and tools for planning can be drawn as follows:

For a skill to perform effective planning, a risk matrix could be helpful.

For a skill to plan a risk management strategy, the tools to tame the risks and the risk management plan helps.

For a skill to create a project schedule, the tools for 1. Mind Map. 2. Linear lists, 3. Post-it Note method and 4. Gantt chart help.

For a skill to develop a communication plan, the choice among tools is hands down the project communication plan.

Similarly, the breakup of skills and tools for execute process group are listed as:

For a skill to create a cadence of accountability, a team accountability session could be a tool.

For a skill to hold performance conversations, a conversation planner could be helpful.

Above all, the four foundational behaviors must be kept in mind during the execution phase.

Monitoring and control require skills and tools as follows:

For a skill to keep stakeholders informed about the project status, the tool is to create a project status report.

For a skill to manage scope change effectively, the tool is to create a process change request.

Lastly, the closure demands the following skills and tools:

The skills include evaluating task list, confirming fulfillment of project scope, completing procurement closure, documenting lessons learned, submitting final status report to stakeholders and obtaining required signatures, archiving project documents, publishing success and celebrating project close with rewards and recognitions and the corresponding tool is closing checklist.

The authors conclude by saying that developing the skills in this book will be worth the effort, and not just for managing the projects. It has positive side-effects. It complements and augments the critical time and life-management skills. Those skills applied correctly will have far-reaching effects in all areas of our life.

 #codingexercise

get count of strings with same prefix

static int getCountOfStringsWithPrefix(String[] strs, String prefix)

    {

        return (int)Arrays.asList(strs).stream().filter(x -> x.startsWith(prefix)).count();

    }