Tools for a virtual team

According to Forrester’s US Telecommuting forecast an additional 29 million telecommuters will enter the remote workforce by 2016, totaling 43% of US workers. Technology has evolved so quickly that the tools we use as remote workers are the same tools we use at the office. It is estimated that 60% of office based employees use virtual teaming technologies daily. Here are some of the tools you can use when managing remote project teams.

The 1st tool required for virtual teams is a central calendar for all team members to post vacations, milestone, schedule meetings etc. When using a central calendar establish some basic standards on nomecalture, language etc so everybody can use it effectively.

Another valuable tool for virtual teams is a common project document repository such as sharepoint or dropbox. Use a check in and check out model for the document repository to prevent accidental overwrites and notify others when a document changes.

Video conferencing is another effective tool for virtual teams. It helps to build better interactions among the team. You don't always need high end video conferencing tools for things like one on one meetings. If your company allows consider Skype or OOVOO.

Another useful tool for virtual teams is web based conferecing such as Go To Meeting or WebEx. Make sure to establish rules for the use of web based conference tools as well as standards for how to conduct a virtual meeting.

When managing a virtual team consider using a project management and colaboration tool. This helps with task assignment and tracking.When using a project management tool make sure to enable the email function so as to notify team members when a task is assigned to them.

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Tools to support virtual project teams

The virtual workforce is growing. Currently 25% of US workers work remotely at least part time. This is going to increase in the next few years to almost 43% according to Forrester Research. Thus the chances will increase that you will have to manage a virtual project team. There are many tools that help support a virtual team. One of the easiest to implement but also one of the most important is a central calendar for the team. The calendar should be editable by all team members and should be used to:

• Request and schedule meetings
• Show holidays and vacations
• Show major milestones

Most companies will have a calendar as part of their email or collaboration software. If you don't have access to one, tools such as Google Calendar work well.

Project Management Tip of the Week

Check out this week's tip on the PRT web site, http://bit.ly/c4nANt, on team building on a virtual project team.

"Right size your project documentation to fit your project."

Project Management methodologies were created to promote consistency, quality, and completeness in the execution and documentation of the project. Project documentation should support the execution of the project. Many times, the methodology may call for a document or a format that may not be useful for your particular project. When that occurs, document why the document was skipped or changed and move on. Only create that which helps you manage the project.

Project Communications Plans

On large projects particularly you should create a formal communications plan. The plan should define how and what communications will be used throughout the project. Areas to cover include:

• Status reporting and team meetings
• Project steering committees
• Sponsor meetings
• Escalation
• Vendor communication
• User communication
• External communications
• Project document repository
• Risk and issue submissions

On smaller projects you can include the communications as an addendum to the charter

Top 10 Project Portfolio Managment Mistakes

Here are numbers 5 through 1 of the top 10 PPM mistakes organizations make.

PPM mistake #5 - Overlooking true business value. Most companies measure value as ROI or another financial metric thus missing other value. Project value is also the utility that is delivered to the company. Identify and track that with the portfolio. An example of utility is delivering ability to sell a new product online. There is ROI but also a new use to the company.

PPM mistake #4 - Not realigning the portfolio. As time progresses the portfolio can change. What was low priority in Dec may be high in May. I recommend to clients a quarterly portfolio review to check portfolio & make adjustments. This is also a good time to add new projects.

 

PPM mistake #3 - not balancing the portfolio. Companies and departments can absorb only so much change or new things. The portfolio should be balanced between # of lg, med. sm. projects., # projects per dept., # projects that impact a customer group etc.

 

PPM mistake #2 - using H, M,L to prioritize projects. Using this method causes deartments to make all of their work high priority. If project priority is only H, M, L senior management will not know what projects are really most important. Use a numerical scale  starting with 1 for highest priority, 2 for next highest and so. This gives senior mgmt the tools they need to make portfolio decisions

PPM mistake #1 - Not cancelling projects. Companies tend to let projects have a life of their own. Once approved a project must be done. During the portfolio review look at projects not started and reaffirm their need. If the need is no longer there, cancel the projectCompanies should also consider canceling projects when ROI will not be realized or if project has been waiting to start for more than 12 mo.

Top 10 mistakes made in Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

The following are numbers 10 - 6 of the top ten mistakes I have seen organizations make with their PPM process implementation. Next blog will have #5 - 1

PPM mistake #10 - only including new, major initiatves in the portfolio. This hides the impact on resources and budget from other projects.

PPM mistake #9 - No risk / reward view of projects. Complex projects should be included in the protfolio if ROI or business value is high

PPM mistake #8 - Not sequencing the start of projects. Allows too many projects in play at once which can drag on the portfolio. Projects should be started based on priority, complexity, and due date. Delaying a project start can help other projects get done.

PPM mistake #7 - No tangible IT investment strategy. IT Projects are done for the business but they are also an investment.When a company invests in an IT project it should be done as part of a longer term strategy. This way the money spent contributes to growth.

PPM mistake #6 - Not monitoring portfolio health. We measure project health to know if it is on track so we should do the same for portfolio. Measure portfolio health by number of projects approved, budgeted, started, on schedule, off schedule, completed, & actual spend vs. planned.