Project Management Lessons Learnt

During release cycles and delivery..it's important to review and if needed group all stakeholders and have a workshop to discuss, brainstorm , review and firm up delivery plan and get things moving, pick up pace in release.In this post, will touch upon certain aspects and pen some thoughts towards having a successful stakeholder's workshop. Why a workshop.. Over a period of time as release progresses and due to changes it keeps on dragging and priorities change..a review indicates that we have few items which need decision..few items which are strategic and need deliberations...there is a pressing need that all stakeholders are on the same page and the release details needs updates ..to realize the road map are detailed and agreed by all..and may be the road map itself needs a revisit..may be need a break  from continuous operations and retrospect.. try to look at issues/challenges and encourage some out of the box thinking...agree and get the release done. It may be more n...

Hi..saw a recuritment ad..thought of mentioning it..nice to remind always if we  are executing all responsibilites daily and proactively...Will try to augment the list with more thought..  Prepare/Review project plan and schedule.Keep it updated at all times.  Project monitoring and control to ensure delivery as per project scope, schedule and quality  Ensure Requirements/Use Cases are detailed/reviewed and understood by Dev and Test Teams.   Accurate and Appropiate Status reporting to client / management as per Project Communications Plan..  Risk management and issue management  Change management , Configuration management ,Measurement and analysis   Adherence of coding standards ,Process compliance..Automated Build/Deployment..Continous Integration..SVN hygine...Junits..Code Violations w.r.t standards,functionality,security,performance,and IP are checked at developer's desk and doesn't land up in trunk for discovery during later phases o...

Hi..Today evening,,got an opportunity to hear some tips from a senior IT manager who had worked for 29 years in IT projects..He shared few things he says often he shares with his son who is also now in IT to bear in mind: Accept the facts that requirements in an IT projects will definitely change..so fundamental acceptance of this fact by you/your team will help one to deal things better.He suggested to take effort and have customer accept the fact.He broadly advocated the agile delivery paradigm..and encouraged to actively get the buy-in to deliver in iteration-1 current understanding of requirements and then in subsequent iterations..the next set of requirements..i.e have the mechanism in place like agile delivery advocates and work in sprints..so that if a new set of requirements are available..the next sprint can handle it.Always keep Customer as your first responsibility. Have the humility to accept mistakes..as the option of hiding it is just temporary and has greater adverse...

PMR has high visibility hence a PMs personal attention to details presented is a must. Adequate time must be sought to prepare and present. Unless detail data points are handy don't schedule it. (Defect slide had data showing closed instead of fixed..last time issues and effort were incorrect). -Deck should be ready 3 days in advance and should be reviewed. -An internal peer review and discussion should be done on the data in deck. -Defects if there in a release should be priortized and fixed at the shortest possible time before starting any new release. A clean code base is a must. Parallel work and planning for merge after 2-3 weeks should best be avoided despite market pressures. -Duration of Defect Fix for a release should not be more than 2-3 days. You may use whole of the team for it to close it on high priority always. Rest things can wait. -Keep right team. Individuals who lack proactiveness ..accountability. ..passion ..intelligence  should be let go off if ef...

Configuration Mgmt Release Management PMD Rules, Sonar/Hudson Security Scan and Fixes Technology RoadMap Licensing Models Performance Benchmarking PA-DSS SPMM Process Governannce and Adherence Smart Scrum/STM Coes and Regular Interactions Integration ARB CAB Deployment and Rollout Risk Register Learning and Compentency Register Resource Fluidity and Managment Tracker. (biweekly reviews)

Requirement Docs/Design Docs/DataModels take time to read, but it must be read. Ask the right questions to team..you cann't review everything..but you should check as much as you can...and cover the rest by random checks and asking questions..clarifying your doubts..getting handson with poduct usage...coding, testing and reviews.. At all times, a high level schedule and low level schedule should be available, Every day at Eod , or at start, it should be updated with latest. Scrums should be made more evidence oriented or check randomly artifacts/process compliance of few. Even if there are scrums, just like WSR is shared with customers, entrust leads to share their track progress daily data points . it should be very granular. Individuals should track their productivity /FP. Review Week's and log lesson's learnt.

Induction to be formal with functional and technical walkthroughs. Logs needs to be maintained. Videos on product features can be used. SME / Backup SME / Volunteer list should be published. Major Decisions should be formally communicated (besides meetings, email for records). Meeting with RMG should be periodic. Inspite of daily standups, atleast once a  fornight meet with formal agenda. Review Daily Progress to minute detail of each assoicate via a tracker/tool smart scrum etc. Every other days review meetings with deep dive on tech or process are a must. Leave Tracker. Competency Development Tracking in icalms. Part of Goal Sheet. Mandatory 1 hr Learning Session every week. Thank you Thrusday...recognize and appreciate good work/initiatives. Risk Review Meeting every week with leads, once in two weeks by Management. Right Size Team. Read Each E-Mail and Doc. Clear Backlog of Docs Daily. Share review daily. Have right backups and BCP of physical and electronic re...