Dick Billows PMP

Dick Billows, PMP, GCA

Why I Developed Story-based Project Training

CEO 4pm.com

After a decade of successful project management performance, I was promoted into program and project portfolio management positions. Developing project managers was the foundation of my future success. The Fortune 200 company and later in the fourth largest consulting firm where I was a partner demanded consistent project success. So I spent a lot of time developing and honing project manager training materials for my PMs. This includes the books below. I packaged the technical tools and techniques within stories about projects with real business situations and executives. I had learned that dealing with the people and applying the techniques are inseparable. So it’s best for new project managers to learn them together.

LEARNING TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL SKILLS TO PERSUADE EXECUTIVES WITH THE DATA

I started to write project management books using this story-based learning approach with my own staff. Then I did it for clients and other program managers. The results were excellent. The PMs who completed the story-based training not only gained technical skills but they also acquired some political savvy in dealing with clients and executives. They had a better “feel” for how to present the technical information. Here is how my books work . They start with the basics required to manage smaller business projects. They cover business value planning, gathering requirements, estimating, scheduling & tracking. I also show you the actual data and PowerPoint presentations to use on these projects. The reaction to this approach has been positive. People remember the stories as well as the formulas, tools and techniques. And the best part is they don’t have to memorize.

I also wrote a book for managing larger business projects. It covers more advanced techniques and tools including risk management and estimating time and cost using 5 different techniques. It also covers stakeholder management and earned value analysis for tracking large projects. It has chapters on persuading stakeholders and making effective presentations for the different personality types in an executive group.

DRIVING PROJECTS FROM BUSINESS VALUE

I had clients who wanted to use the same project management methodology tailored to their unique worlds of Information Technology, Construction, Healthcare and Consulting. Senior managers liked the quantification of business value built into my planning process and into the definition of every deliverable. They found it easier to make project priority decisions by comparing the business value each project promised to deliver. The alternative was basing project priorities on power politics.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The success of the basic Information Systems book justified producing an advanced version with chapters on estimating, risk and managing user expectations. It was challenging to change the planning focus from producing lines of code to generating business value for the users. I altered the methodology to include three elements that are vital to producing business value: training, process improvement as well as new systems. It’s important to recognize that creating the new software by itself does not produce business value. I stressed two things to remember: the project’s business value must be defined in the user’s terms and every project task must be a measured deliverable, not an activity. Here’s an example. “Produce user friendly interface” is an activity. “Operators can enter 100 invoices an hour with 98% accuracy” is a measured deliverable. It’s an outcome with business value defined in the users terms. I always engage the users’ personnel in the process redesign/improvement to ensure success.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

I made changes to the methodology to fit the increasing number of construction and engineering projects I was managing. Using business value as the definition of success (rather than just “built as planned”) required a different type of thinking during the planning process. To deliver the business value the client required, I couldn’t stop planning when the structure received its certificate of occupancy. The process continued until the structure was operational and met the client’s performance specs. I also added techniques for managing sub-contractors and holding them accountable for measured deliverables, not just activities. How to manage change orders is also included.

HEALTHCARE

The healthcare version of the methodology required substantial modification because of the dual organization structures (medical and administrative) in most healthcare providers. That requires the ability to deal with the different project objectives of the administrators and the medical staff. I had to know how to resolve those differences or the project would produce very little value for the organization. My focus on measured deliverables continued but I had to deal with the differences between the administrative and medical organizations in managing every aspect of the project. The issues I addressed in the risk management process were also different. So are the team management challenges because teams are composed of both care-givers and administrative decision-makers.

CONSULTING

The most recent adaptation of my methodology is for consulting projects. The principal addition to the methodology is on change control. Specifically, my techniques are aimed at getting paid for changes to the project plan. I achieved this goal while maintaining positive client relations that included a continuing flow of projects. The stories in this book teach you how to do it.

ORGANIZATIONAL TEXTS

I have written two additional textbooks. One addresses the management of multi-project programs and portfolios. It focuses on the best practices for organizations to use. It covers project initiation, planning, setting project priorities and allocating resources based on those priorities. I also cover techniques for evaluating a portfolio of projects and balancing it to fit the corporate strategy. There is a heavy focus on techniques for persuading executives to adopt those best practices even at the cost of restrictions on their ability to start new projects.

The other is a reference book of the methodology and all the tools and techniques. It has 132 scenarios of project situations and explains how to apply the methodology to each one. These are real project situations. I wrote this book as a reference for project managers encountering common and unique situations.

All of my books use story-based learning. For example, you learn about the critical path technique in the context of a real project aimed at cutting delivery times. The executive sponsor has promised customers a two-week delivery time starting on June 1. The project manager has calculated that without changing the budget, staff and/or scope the project team can’t deliver that service level until July 1. You’ll read how the project manager assesses the situation, calculates the schedule options, and subtly guides the sponsor to a good decision in this real project situation.

Dick is the author of 14 books and over 225 articles on project management. He has also written and directed over 50 short project management videos. In 1986, Dick formed 4PM.com where he and his fellow project managers assist organizations in improving their project management processes. They include: Siemens, Intel, Baker-Robbins, Citicorp, TCI, Kaiser Permanente, Sentry Safe, Reader's Digest, Jones Intercable, US WEST, Norwest Bank and First Data Corporation as well as smaller organizations like Candy's Tortilla Factory and Colorado Mountain Development. Dick has a BA in Economics and Statistics from Johns Hopkins University, an MBA from the University of Colorado and did three years of doctoral work in Organizational Behavior at the University of Colorado.