I have the habit of using Project Management Tools

Unfortunately, many good Project Managers, who has good experience, project management fundamentals and good professionals on their teams, encounter the problem that do not have good tools to seamlessly use their knowledge.

For them, passing the PMP® exam is like getting a driver's license and then realizing they can only walk. Sometimes, even worse, the performing organization requires them to go by bus, by imposing tools overloading them with huge bureaucracy.

Project Managers need to manage a project, not a tool. Especially, they need to manage expectations of all stakeholders, with an effective and efficient communication, providing information in the right format, at the right time, with the appropriate impact and only the necessary information. As regards their personal self-management and team management, they need to manage documentation, communication, changes, deliverables, schedule, cost, risks, issues, procurement, calendars, team members’ performance, etc.

A Regretful Personal Experience

Some years ago, the company I worked for won a very promising contract. The project consisted of developing a technological strategy plan for a Public Administration Organization. This project was considered “key” in an almost literal sense: we’d need it to be able to gain access to future projects.
High profile consultants needed were based in Madrid, but this project would be executed in the client offices in another city in Spain. Due to cost constrains, consultants would work remotely. Since this project was the most critical in this region, the Functional Manager was appointed as the Project Manager. I was leading one of the five subprojects in Madrid.

The project was closed seven months late (100% behind schedule), with a cost overrun as high as three times the original budget. Regarding personal relations, every consultant ended up burned out, not willing to deliver any high quality consulting product, nor keeping involved in future projects there, nor helping that Project Manager anyway (only if obliged).

Algo pasa con el Software

¿Qué tendrá la Ingeniería del Software que la hace tan diferente a las demás? He aquí algunas claves:

Los resultados del proyecto SRM

El proyecto terminó en fecha y coste. Un primer gran resultado del proyecto SRM fue el producto generado. Se cumplieron los requisitos de rendimiento y calidad. El producto fue certificado seis meses después de la entrega y el mantenimiento posterior fue mínimo.