Microsoft project and your behaviour

[Lawrence Latif]

Hi,

As part of a project management course, I am having to do some behavioural
analysis of the project managers who use MS Project for my dissertation.
I was hoping I could gauge some of your views on this. Please note this isn't
meant to be a "what's bad about MS Project" thread, I just need some valid
feedback from people who use MS Project (other than myself) and how it affects
your decisions.

I would like to know how using MS Project has altered your decisions. Has
it caused decisions to be made differently if MS Project wasn't in use?

It would be really helpful if some of you guys (and gals) were able to help
me out on this, as the dissertation is quite a big chunk of my final degree
grade.

Thanks and regards,

Lawrence

 

[Jim Aksel]

Decision making has been influenced by the ability to perform "What if" type
analysis on various project decisions. Without MS Project (ok, any robust
scheduling software), I would be frustrated and have to make decisions more
slowly.

Project assists me with the ablility to filter and sort data in various ways
to help expose where problem spots are. This helps cut to the chase and
provide quantitatve data concerning the project.

We use a "look ahead" type filter allowing team members to focus on their
immediately due tasks.

What I wish it did better.... Earned Value in MS Project seems to have a
mind of its own. It is much better now that I have adopted using Physical %
Complete.

 

[davegb]

Hi,

As part of a project management course, I am having to do some behavioural
analysis of the project managers who use MS Project for my dissertation.
I was hoping I could gauge some of your views on this. Please note this isn't
meant to be a "what's bad about MS Project" thread, I just need some valid
feedback from people who use MS Project (other than myself) and how it affects
your decisions.

I would like to know how using MS Project has altered your decisions. Has
it caused decisions to be made differently if MS Project wasn't in use?

It would be really helpful if some of you guys (and gals) were able to help
me out on this, as the dissertation is quite a big chunk of my final degree
grade.

Thanks and regards,

Be interesting to see if anyone replies, "No, it doesn't affect how I
do my projects". My question would be, "Then why are you using it?"

Your question begs a question in return. Do you mean does using
scheduling software affect our decisions, or does MS Project affect
them differently than using other scheduling software might?

I'm going to guess that you're asking the first. How does scheduling
software affect our decision making?

My answer is that it affects it in very profound ways. The first, and
most important, for me, is that when I sit down and go through the
process of carefully planning something, it forces me into an entirely
different mode of thinking about that effort. This part reminds me of
General Eisenhower's quote, "Plans are meaningless. Planning is
everything".

When I start to list tasks, I am forced, if I'm doing CPM scheduling,
to think in terms of dependencies which makes me think about the
sequence of events and how they might interact. Risks start to become
obvious. Different approaches become evident. I might end up rethinking
the whole project.

Once I know the CP I can prioritize better, assign resources better,
assess risks better, etc. Having a valid CP schedule is one of the
primary tools in my toolbox to have some control over what happens and
what doesn't, and how to cope when things I hadn't planned on
occurring.

And of course, the affects of using scheduling software on enterprise
wide resource planning are huge! Knowing I need 6 bulldozers when I
only have 5, weeks in advance, instead of the day before, or the day
of, is such an advantage.

Once a plan is layed down, and I start to track progress, it shows me
the impact of changes and often shows me things I didn't anticipate. I
believe that 90% of projects that fail fail before they are 10%
complete. If I know what to look for, I can anticipate most of those
problems, but the indicators are usually relatively small this early
on, so I use scheduling software to help me scout out these small
differences in the early going.

Time permitting, I could go on for pages. Ask anyone who knows me!
So I'll quit here. I'm sure others can add significantly to this brief
summary.

 

[JackD]

Project is a tool which was developed based on a need. As such I feel it
does not create that need so much as it fills it.
Critical path scheduling existed prior to Microsoft Project. Having (fairly)
inexpensive software to facilitate the construction of CPM schedules has
something to do with their popularity, however, the processes and theory
were in existance first. I'd posit that tools are tools, they have some
impact on what you do, but you have typically purchased/developed them
because you had a pre-existing need.

There has been very little advancement in the basic scheduling techniques
over the past 20 or 30 years.

Perhaps one of the more powerful things that cheap computers and software
enable is monte carlo simulation, yet this is hardly common among most
project managers and is not built into Microsoft Project. Change comes slow
in this area.

for more of my thoughts on this and related subjects see:
http://zo-d.com/blog

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[Jim Aksel]

Yes to all of it. We even have specific procedures that deal with MSP and
how to set up the files.

 

[Lawrence Latif]

Hello JackD,

Apologies for not repling yesterday, and thank you very much for your thoughts.

So would you say that the computerization of tools (such as the Gantt chart,
CPM) has just made it easier to use or do you believe it's made it more accessible
to project managers?

It's an interesting thought about Monte Carlo simulation. I would think Monte
Carlo would be more suited to test beds rather or even scenario planning
rather than project management per se. Of course it allows you to take the
"right" decisions (based on the quantitative data that it output) but does
it have anything to do with managing the project directly?

I will check out your blog as well.

Thanks again for the reply, it's much appreciated.

Lawrence

 

[Lawrence Latif]

Hi,

Thank you for the detailed reply, and apologies for not replying sooner.

Your reply tends to suggest to me that the tool is dictating what you do
- is that a correct conclusion?

Do you feel that something like Project forces you to do things in a linear
order rather than allow your own "creativity" to alter the process. By creativity
I mean the order in which the process of planning occurs - not what happens
in the activities themselves.

Once again thanks very much for your thoughts, it's really appreciated.

Lawrence

 

[Lawrence Latif]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, it's really appreciated.

Sorry to ask so many questions, I just need to follow up in order to get
a completeness to the research.

Does the fact that a particular tool (in this case MS Project) has shaped
your process, affect the overall performance? Does it constrain your company
and also does it lead to a lack of creativity in certain situations (in your
view)?

Thanks and regards,

Lawrence

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Just an observation.
I never met anyone using CPM and not using a tool for the calculations and
the tracking.
Greetings

 

[davegb]

Hi,

Thank you for the detailed reply, and apologies for not replying sooner.

Your reply tends to suggest to me that the tool is dictating what you do
- is that a correct conclusion?

I think the method, i.e., CPM dictates what you do. But I think this is
positive, not negative. It forces us to go through the entire project
and figure out what has to be done, how long it will take, and what the
dependencies are between the tasks. This is definitely a good thing!
That's why it's called a "discipline".

Do you feel that something like Project forces you to do things in a linear
order rather than allow your own "creativity" to alter the process. By creativity
I mean the order in which the process of planning occurs - not what happens
in the activities themselves.

Not at all. A tool only constrains you if you allow it to. I can do the
scheduling at any point I choose, though based on experience, I prefer
to do it as soon as I have enough information to do so. I.e., a
complete scope/requirements document. I don't find the planning process
that linear in practice (though I think that some of the latest efforts
of PMI tend in that direction). Usually, in the early stages of a
project, so many things are happening at the same time that there is no
hope of it being linear. Some more linear thinkers (like maybe
Meyers-Briggs SJs) probably wish it were more linear. But I work best
in what I see as a "cloud" of information. Information coming from
numerous sources at random times without any clear-cut pattern. My role
is to discern the patterns and then plan and manage the project
accordingly. (I imagine others here will be horrified to learn this! Or
maybe they'll say, "Just as I thought, the guy's crazy!) That's why I
like other tools like Mind-Mapping and software like "The Brain" as
supplements to the very linear tool of CPM/Project.

Once again thanks very much for your thoughts, it's really appreciated.

Lawrence

Interesting questions, Lawrence. You're making me think, for which I
may never forgive you!

 

[JackD]

It depends what you mean by "project management". There are some who think
that there is a difference between project management and project
accounting. I happen to be one of them. I think for the most part that
statusing the schedule is closer to accounting. So yes, using monte carlo
schedule analysis is definitely a management tool and highlights the areas
in your project which have greatest risk so you can take action to minimize
it. In my opinion action, decision and projection are management. Counting
hours spent is accounting.

As for the first question, anything that makes something easier also makes
it more accessible so the answer is an inseparable "yes".

-Jack