Different cultures

[Vazabe]

Hi,

Have a situation where an international company has decided to use Project
server. In France it works reasonably well but in Sweden there is a lot of
resistance amongst the project managers. They do not want to track their
projects in such detail as they do in France (hours per day) but they will
have to since there is an executive decision to do so. Have you any comments,
thoughts and advice on how we best can persuade the swedes to start using
Project?

 

[Steve House]

The bottom line is that Project is far more than a tracking and documenting
tool and yet at first glance people mistakenly believe that is what it's
intended to do. Point out that Project's role is not to simply make pretty
charts and reports about a project plan that has already been created.
Instead show them how it can be used to *create* the best possible plan from
basic data about what it is that needs to be accomplished and what resources
are available to do it with. If the project manager's career advancement,
raises, bonuses, etc are dependent on his ability to bring bring projects to
completion ahead of schedule and under budget, Project can provide him with
the tools to make that job easier - tools that allow him to better predict
the outcome of the various decisions he makes from day to day. Point out
that Project's primary role is to help him design a project with the most
efficient workflow, acting as an extension of his management skills to help
him better predict outcomes.

 

[davegb]

Hi,

Have a situation where an international company has decided to use Project
server. In France it works reasonably well but in Sweden there is a lot of
resistance amongst the project managers. They do not want to track their
projects in such detail as they do in France (hours per day) but they will
have to since there is an executive decision to do so. Have you any comments,
thoughts and advice on how we best can persuade the swedes to start using
Project?

My experience has been that the best way to get someone to do something
they're reluctant to do is to convince them it will benefit them
personally to do it. Has anyone explained to them how CPM works and how
they can use this tool to better manage and control their projects?
When I teach CPM, I finish with a half-an-hour on why we do CPM and all
the uses it has in managing a project. So I'm not just showing them
some painful process they have to understand, but a better way to
manage their projects.

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[Vazabe]

Thank you for your thoughts! I understand that this will be a challenge and
that I will have to argue with the reluctant project managers on a higher
level than the technical. And focus on their needs. It is too bad that the
project managers do not receive any bonus for bringing projects to completion
ahead of schedule or under budget but it should advance their careers.

The bottom line is that Project is far more than a tracking and documenting
tool and yet at first glance people mistakenly believe that is what it's
intended to do. Point out that Project's role is not to simply make pretty
charts and reports about a project plan that has already been created.
Instead show them how it can be used to *create* the best possible plan from
basic data about what it is that needs to be accomplished and what resources
are available to do it with. If the project manager's career advancement,
raises, bonuses, etc are dependent on his ability to bring bring projects to
completion ahead of schedule and under budget, Project can provide him with
the tools to make that job easier - tools that allow him to better predict
the outcome of the various decisions he makes from day to day. Point out
that Project's primary role is to help him design a project with the most
efficient workflow, acting as an extension of his management skills to help
him better predict outcomes.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Hi,

Have a situation where an international company has decided to use Project
server. In France it works reasonably well but in Sweden there is a lot of
resistance amongst the project managers. They do not want to track their
projects in such detail as they do in France (hours per day) but they will
have to since there is an executive decision to do so. Have you any
comments,
thoughts and advice on how we best can persuade the swedes to start using
Project?

 

[Vazabe]

Most of the project managers have a licence for MS Project Standard on their
computers and have in the past been to one or several courses in Project but
I don't think any of them have used Project throughout an entire project. My
feeling is that they stopped using Project during the tracking phase when
things got busy. Most of them have some conception about the critical path
method but a lot of them have forgotten about it and confuse the concept of
'critical' with 'important'. I like CPM a lot. I remember how it gave me such
a rush when I first read about it. Yes, maybe I will bring it up in my
presentations. I will have to persuade them that the difficulty of learning
Project will in the end benefit them.

 

[davegb]

Thank you for your thoughts! I understand that this will be a challenge and
that I will have to argue with the reluctant project managers on a higher
level than the technical. And focus on their needs. It is too bad that the
project managers do not receive any bonus for bringing projects to completion
ahead of schedule or under budget but it should advance their careers.

I'd be very careful here. You mention "I will have to argue with the
reluctant project managers". I think this is part of the problem. If I
were doing it, I'd avoid disagreeing with them that way. Agree with
them. It is time-consuming. It is a pain-in-the-whatsis to have to
learn something more. And to have to do something more. Then show them
that by investing x hours in learning and implementing Project, they'll
save 2x hours in the long run. Arguing with them will only entrench
their position and make it that much more difficult to bring them over
to your POV.

Hope this helps in your world.

The bottom line is that Project is far more than a tracking and documenting
tool and yet at first glance people mistakenly believe that is what it's
intended to do. Point out that Project's role is not to simply make pretty
charts and reports about a project plan that has already been created.
Instead show them how it can be used to *create* the best possible plan from
basic data about what it is that needs to be accomplished and what resources
are available to do it with. If the project manager's career advancement,
raises, bonuses, etc are dependent on his ability to bring bring projects to
completion ahead of schedule and under budget, Project can provide him with
the tools to make that job easier - tools that allow him to better predict
the outcome of the various decisions he makes from day to day. Point out
that Project's primary role is to help him design a project with the most
efficient workflow, acting as an extension of his management skills to help
him better predict outcomes.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Hi,

Have a situation where an international company has decided to use Project
server. In France it works reasonably well but in Sweden there is a lot of
resistance amongst the project managers. They do not want to track their
projects in such detail as they do in France (hours per day) but they will
have to since there is an executive decision to do so. Have you any
comments,
thoughts and advice on how we best can persuade the swedes to start using
Project?