Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program Essay Example for Free

Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program Essay The final spot in the University of Buffalo’s graduating class of 2011 should be offered to me because I embody the values of hard work, dedication, determination, and self-discipline that are essential in succeeding as a college student and later as a professional in my field. I have always had plans for a successful future in younger years I had thoughts of pursuing the medical field, like my sister, but have since decided that being successful means following my own interests and dreams. I have been fascinated with how things work for as long as I can remember; automotive design holds a special attraction for me. During my junior year of high school I came to the realization that adulthood and the ‘real world’ are fast approaching, and got serious about outlining my plans for the future. Now, as a graduating senior, I am on the verge of proving to everyone else what I have always known I am going to make something BIG out of myself. After careful and diligent examination of my personal interests and values, I have decided that my optimum career choice is to be a self employed mechanical engineer. In this profession I will be able to exploit my passion for how things work, while designing my own creations and being self employed will allow me to reach my full potential, limited only by my dream, drive, and education. Knowing that the quality of my education is essential to achieving my lifetime aspiration will continue to provide me with a hunger for the acquisition of the knowledge and experience of my professors and future student colleagues. I plan to embellish my studies of mechanical engineering with a second concentration in business management, to culminate in an M. B. A. which I believe will help me acquire the knowledge necessary to run a profitable and successful business. It is my true dream to do for the world of mechanical engineering what Bill Gates did for computing and what Sam Walton did for discount retail to become an industrial giant through knowledge, drive, and a passion for doing what I love. The University of Buffalo needs me on campus because of my experience in leadership, through the Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program, my strong work ethic as evidenced by my current employment, and my passion for mechanical engineering. I pledge to use this spot to the best of my ability to simultaneously increase my academic knowledge and to uphold the positive public image that the University of Buffalo portrays. My background in athletics, as well as my high school and employment experience have all increased my people skills, and I plan to hone them even further in collaborating with fellow students and being involved in mentoring programs that import to teenagers how important goals, drive, and education are in the accomplishment of great things. I believe strongly that this college will help me accomplish great things, and it is my intent to accomplish great things while I am there.

Hyatt Regency Walkway Design Analysis

Hyatt Regency Walkway Design Analysis The Hyatt Regency Walkway was an engineering design that was made in a hotel in Kansas. The construction began in spring of 1978. Then the Eldridge Construction Company entered  a subcontract with the company of Havens Steel in which they had agreed to fabricate and erect  the atrium steel for the Hyatt project. There were events and communications between both  companies about determining to change the design from a single to a double hanger rod box  beam connection for use on the fourth floor walkway. Then there was a setback because on  October 14, 1979, part of the atrium roof collapsed while the hotel was still in construction. They started an investigation of what caused the roof to collapse. Then into November there were reports and meetings between the owner and the architect assuring that the entire atrium was Safe. In July of 1980, the construction was completed and the Kansas City Regency Hotel opened. Introduction On July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City   held a videotaped dance party in their atrium lobby. With many party-goers standing and dancing on the suspended walkways, connections supporting the ceiling rods that held up the second and fourth floor walkways across the atrium failed, and both walkways collapsed onto the crowded first floor atrium below. Background In 19760, the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation started a project to design and also build the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. There were some companies that were called to help with this project. One of them was the Gillum Colaco, which   had agreed to provide all the services for the Hyatt project. Then on April 4, they entered the real contract in.The G.C.E. were responsible for the drawings for the project. The walkways were not designed right because they were all connected to the 4th floor walkway. Investigation They went to the company that was responsible for the design and saw that they didnt support the rods well, thats why the walkways collapsed into the center of the dance were 114 people died and 216 people got injured. They then figured out what to do with the designer. Findings and recommendations References ENGINEERING.com. Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse ENGINEERING.com. Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse ENGINEERING.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.   It was a vertically contiguous walkway that collapsed onto the tea dance that was in the hotel lobby. The walkway killed about 114 and injured 216, at that time that was the deadliest structural collapse in U.S history before the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Background: The construction for the 40 story building began in May 1978. There were delays and setbacks including an incident that happened on October 14, 1979 when a 2,700 square foot of the atrium roof collapsed due to the failure of one of the connections at its northern end, the hotel still was officially opened on July 1,1980. The building was constructed to one of the walkways that had to also hold the weight of two others which in that case when 1,600 people gathered in the atrium to participate in and watch the tea dance and when there was 40 people on the second level walkway and more on the third and also with like 16 to 20 on the fourth level where they watched the activities that were going on below in the lobby. The construction difficulties resulted in a subtle but flawed design change that doubled the load on the connection between the fourth floor walkway that supported beams and the tie rods carrying the weight of both walkways which the design could barely adequately support the dead load weight of the structure itself. With the weight of the spectators the connection failed and the fourth floor walkway collapsed onto the second floor walkway then both fell unto the lobby killing 111 and injuring 219, but later on 3 more passed away in the hospital. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse On july 17,1981 the Hyatt Regency hotel held a videotaped tea dance party. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czmQS81k9eM There was a crew of reporters there to record the dance. They recorded the walkways and showed all the people dancing and others at a bar area because there were 4 different bar sections. Later on around 7:00, they had to change the battery and while they were changing the battery the walkways then collapsed onto the lobby and there was silence for like a moment then all of a sudden there were people screaming and yelling for help. The reporters then turned on again the camera and recorded after the walkways had collapsed. Due to evidence supplied at the Hearings, a number of principals involved lost their engineering licenses, a number of firms went bankrupt, and many expensive legal suits were settled out of court Rubric rating submitted on: 12/21/2016, 12:43:50 PM by [emailprotected] 10 5 0 Title Page    Your score: 5 x Present not done Table of Contents    Your score: 5 x Present not done Abstract    Your score: 3 Present not done Introduction    Your score: 5 x Background    Your score: 7 Present not done Investigation    Your score: 5 Present not done Findings    Your score: 0 Present not done Impact    Your score: 0 Present not done Conclusion    Your score: 0 x not done References    Your score: 3 References included no references Notes    Your score: 10 Notes recorded no notes 6 Content Pages    Your score: 2 filled 6 pages 3 content pages no contents pages

The History of American Home Products :: American Home Products Corporation Essays

The History of American Home Products   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Home Products Corporation (AHP) was founded in 1926 and has a history of continuous acquisitions of smaller companies that made proprietary medicines. In 1931, AHP purchased John Wyeth & Brother, Inc. from Harvard University. Another important acquisition was that of Canada’s Ayerst Laboratories in 1943. Ayerst was a large pharmaceutical company that had introduced Premarin, the world’s first conjugated estrogen product, and now the most widely prescribed product in the United States (ahp.com). In March of 1982, Sherwood Medical was acquired, enabling AHP to capture a share of the developing medical devices market. In 1984, Whitehall, an original member of AHP, started to market ibuprofen in the United States that was sold under the trademark Advil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lawyer John Stafford became CEO in 1986 and soon after he supervised the acquisition of Bristol-Meyer’s animal health division and assimilated the new business into Fort Dodge, now Fort Dodge Animal Health. In 1989, AHP bought A.H. Robins along with its popular consumer products, including Chap Stick, Dimetapp, and Robitussin. AHP and American Cyanamid merged in 1994 in a deal valued at $9.6 billion. AHP introduced many new products in 1996, including Redux and Pondimin (Phen-Phen), two weight-reduction drugs. These drugs were later pulled from the market because of links to serious health problems and lawsuits soon followed. When 1998 mega-merger plans with SmithKline Beecham and Monsanto collapsed, AHP settled for the acquisition of New Jersey based Solgar Vitamin and Herb Company for $425 million. It’s clear to see that AHP’s history is comprised of acquisitions in the desire to be the ultimate leader of the pharmaceutical industry. Marketing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Home Products has a suprisingly vast array of products. From women’s health care products to agricultural goods to animal health care products, AHP covers a variety of pharmaceutical needs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wyeth-Ayerst’s research, products, and educational initiatives benefit millions of women. Premarin, the most widely prescribed medication in the United States, is a post-menopausal product that gained AHP notoriety when it was introduced in 1996. Wyeth-Ayerst also introduced Alesse in 1997, a low-dose oral contraceptive formulation that has become very popular in the birth control field.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wyeth-Ayerst also focused its research on cardiovascular therapies and mental health products. Its cardiovascular research concentrates on medication for diseases such as arrhythmia and hypertension. Their anti-arrhythmia franchise leads the U.S. market, reflecting Wyeth-Ayerst’s and AHP’s recognition of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia (Tardiff 114).

Jack Londons To Build a Fire Essays -- Papers London Jack Build Fire

Jack London's To Build a Fire In his short story entitled "To Build a Fire," Jack London portrays a bitter conflict between man and nature. The nature in this story is the harsh environment of the Yukon Trail. London chose to use nature as the antagonist, almost as a force working against the main character in his struggle for survival. London accomplished this personification of nature by giving the environment many human characteristics, by creating numerous things going wrong that really should not have happened, and by foreshadowing the protagonist's fate all throughout the story. The author used such a struggle with man versus nature in many of his stories. He liked to portray a sort of struggle for survival, a rising up against the odds, theme to appeal to the masses at the time. He wrote passionately about the many tough questions of life and death, the struggle to survive while retaining one's sense of dignity and integrity, and he wove these fundamental themes into stories of high adventure based on his own firsthand experiences, whether it was trying to tough out a storm in Alaska or out at sea, or working in a factory or in the fields in California (California State Park Historians 1). Jack London gives the environment many human characteristics. During the entire story, the reader gets a feeling of the man being challenged by the "threats" that are placed in front of him by the Yukon Trail. "à ¢? ¦The mysterious, far-reaching hairline trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all-made no impression on the man" (London 116). Nature also throws some potent... ...pened, and by foreshadowing the protagonist's fate all throughout the story. In the end, however, the antagonist of this story wins, proving to the man that it is the stronger of the life forces. Works Cited California State Park Historians. "Jack London - His Life and Books." February 9, 2003. http://www.parks.sonoma.net/JLStory.html "John Griffith London." Contemporary Authors Online. Literature Resource Center. GaleNet. Lake-Sumter Community Coll. Lib., Leesburg, FL. 9 Feb. 2003 http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?c=1&stab=128&ai=55459&ste=9&docNum=H1000061094&bConts=16047&tab=4&vrsn=3&ca=1&tbst=arp&ST=jack+london&srchtp=athr&n=10&locID=lincclin_lscc&OP=contains#Writings London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. United States: Longman, 2002. 117-128.

The Religious Dimension of Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe Essay

The Religious Dimension of Robinson Crusoe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Robinson Crusoe’s discovery of the work ethic on the small island goes hand in hand with a spiritual awakening.   Robinson Crusoe is not a very profound religious thinker, although religion is part of his education and transformation.   He claims he reads the Bible, and he is prepared to quote it from time to time.   But he doesn’t puzzle over it or even get involved in the narrative or character attractions of the stories.   The Bible for him appears to be something like a Dale Carnegie handbook of maxims to keep the work on schedule and to stifle any possible complaints or longings for a different situation.   Still, the religious dimension is central to Robinson Crusoe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Robinson Crusoe’s interpretation of his life links the financial success directly and repeatedly with his growth in religious awareness.   This is not an intellectual conversion but, simply put, an awareness that he has, in some ways, received God’s grace and is under His care.   The growing profitability of his efforts is proof of such a spiritual reward.   This awareness fills him with a sense of guilt for his former life and a great desire to be relieved of that guilt.   The desire to be relieved from that feeling of guilt, in fact, is much stronger than Robinson Crusoe’s desire to be delivered from the island. Now I looked back upon my past life with such horror, and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing of God but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore down all my comfort.   As for my solitary life; it was nothing; I did not so much as pray to be delivered from it or think of it; it was all of no considerations in comparison to this; and I added this part here to ... ... The inhabitants of the New World were there to be ignored, like Friday’s father, used as servants, like Friday, or killed, like the cannibals.   The important part of the Puritan encounter with the New World was what Robinson Crusoe shows us, the spiritual testing of the solitary Protestant spirit, a life-long ordeal in which he achieved success (or the closest thing to a manifestation of success) by stamping his will on the new land, staking out territory as his property through backbreaking toil, without any concessions to anyone or anything, least of all to the land or to its original inhabitants.   That was the Puritan’s calling; that was the reason God has placed us on this earth: to put to our personal uses the material and people available, to ignore what does not fit in with such projects, and to remove quickly and ruthlessly anything that stands in our way.

Descriptive VS. Narrative, You Decide Essay

Many think that narrative and descriptive styles of writing are one in the same, but they are not. Although they complement each other for a complete story; you can successfully write using one style without the other. The authors Connell, C.M. & Sole, K. define narrative writing as, â€Å"Narration is storytelling from the perspective of a narrator, and the story may be true, false, imaginary, or a combination.† (2013, chapter 6.3). When you tell a story you want your readers to experience it through your words as if they were there when it happened. Connell, C.M. & Sole, K. define descriptive writing as, â€Å"Description is a pattern of writing that can be defined as painting pictures with words.† (2013, chapter 6.4). A descriptive story leaves no detail unrevealed and appeals to all of your senses. When comparing Maya Angelou’s descriptive poem â€Å"Caged Bird† and Judy Brady’s narrative essay â€Å"I Want a Wife†, it is clear that there many similarities and differences between the two styles of writing. However, because Maya Angelou’s poem has descriptive language that appeals to your five senses, specific detail descriptions and uses figurative language to compare the unfamiliar with something more familiar it makes it a superior piece of literature. In the narrative style essay written by Judy Brady (1971), â€Å"I Want a Wife†, she uses out right sarcasm and exaggeration with a slight humorous tone. This demonstrates her stance on the unrealistic demands that were placed on women in that era. She starts off her essay stating â€Å"I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife. And, not al-together incidentally, I am a mother† (1971). As if being a wife and a mother was almost an undesirable task to bear in life. I suppose that in the 1900 century it pretty much was to an extent. The way Brady goes on to list the expected duties of her wife, makes her sound more like a servant than anything else. She even mentions her wife performing things like party catering, financially supporting the family and goes so far as to say, â€Å"I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and change of scene† (1971). Brady’s narrative essay uses a block arrangement structure, with a priority style order. Brady (1971) begins her story by stating, â€Å"Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one  evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?† then she proceeds with an exaggerated list of tasks for her wife to fulfill. From the wife working full time, to caring for her and her children, cooking, cleaning, counseling, playing, pleasing, catering parties, shopping, planning and entertaining, all while Brady just goes to school and lives a carefree and extremely selfish life. In the descriptive poem â€Å"Caged Bird†, written by Maya Angelou in 1983, she uses her talent of vivid and eloquent writing to express her stance on being African-American and living in the United States during segregation and the Civil Rights movement. Although she never actually mentions race in her poem the metaphors that she uses makes it clearly evident. Angelou starts her poem talking about a free bird and his arrogance referring to the Caucasian race. According to Angelou (1983) in â€Å"Caged Bird†, she starts off with a free bird riding the wind’s back, and he’s floating as long as the current will take him; when he â€Å"dips his wing in the orange sun rays† and has the audacity to c laim the sky. Now when she goes on to her second stanza; she speaks about the African-American race as the caged bird. She writes, â€Å"But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his trout to sing† (1983). In Angelou’s poem, she uses a dramatic order in a point-by-point type structure to describe experiences she witnessed as an African-American person living in America. One way that the descriptive is different from the narrative writing is figurative language. Figurative language is the comparison of something unfamiliar to something familiar in order to paint a clear picture. â€Å"Cages Bird† (1983) has a clear example of this in the second stanza, which says, â€Å"But a bird that stalks  down his narrow cage  can seldom see through  his bars of rage  his wings are clipped and  his feet are tied  so he opens his throat to sing.† From this quote, you can see that the bird stalks down his narrow cage like a prisoner in a cell and the bird can seldom see through his bars of rage also  refers to a prisoner in a cell. Much like how slaves were imprisoned on the plantations in the south. On the other hand, the narrative essay â€Å"I Want a Wife† does not rely on fugitive language; instead it just uses concrete language without the extra detail that appeals to the five senses. Another way descriptive writing is different from narrative writing is the use of specific detail description. It is clearly visible in the fourth stanza of â€Å"Caged Bird†. Angelou (1983) writes, â€Å"The free bird thinks of another breeze  and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees   and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn   and he names the sky his own.†   In her description of the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worm on the dawn bright lawn. However, in â€Å"I Want a Wife† Brady (1971) merely writes, but without detail. Instead she says, â€Å"I want a wife who is a  good nurturing attendant to my children, who arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the zoo, etc.†Ã‚  As you see Brady doesn’t use specific detail in her writing just simple concrete words. Another highlight to Angelou’s writing style was her use of alliteration; which is defined in Essentials for College Writing as â€Å"repetition of initial consonants in words in a series† Connell, C.M. & Sole, K. (2013). An example of her alliteration would be, â€Å"The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees  and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn   and he names the sky his own.  But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   his wings are cl ipped and his feet are tied   so he opens his throat to sing. The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the caged bird sky his own. But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams  his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. You see it in the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and in his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream† (1983). With Angelou’s careful selection of words you can almost feel the pain and despair of the caged bird; as well as see the free bird floating through the air in the warm orange sunlight. Although Brady also uses alliteration she uses mostly the same words which are â€Å"I Want a Wife Who Will† (1971). Then she follows with naming a chore of some kind but mostly cooking or cleaning. In conclusion, when considering which of the two forms of literature was superior to the other, not just for personal preference. I would have to deem the descriptive style of Angelou’s writing to be a better overall polished piece of work. Not only does it provide extensive language to portray its message with detail to the most important parts of its story. Like bringing the characters to life and shining light on important social issues, but also submitting a few subtle details in the technique used to compose the text. Like alliteration and metaphors so that parts of her short poem stick out and stay with you more so than others. I believe the more magnificent and detailed the picture is that your words paint, the more impact it will have on its audience. This is something that she was well aware of, so the way Maya Angelou selected her words helped to give her audience a sense of pathos. It also helped to shine light once again on the views and opinions she felt so strong ly about in society.

Skills of a Project Manager

13_26_ch02. fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great; some achieve greatness—others have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Introduction Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of project—industrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation— operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of this book, we focus on the last type of project and its leader—the IT project manager.Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm Page 14 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM What Does a Project Manager Do?Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements: G G G G G G G G Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs. Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and base lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.Manage the technology, people, and change in order to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and within budget. Manage the pro ject staff by creating an environment conducive to the delivery of the new application in the most cost-effective manner. Be able to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, surprises, and a less defined environment. Manage the client relationship by using an adequate direct yet complete and formal reporting format that compliments a respected and productive relationship. Drive the project by leading by example, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us examine the skills and qualities needed to meet these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a good project manager possesses are many and varied, covering the entire spectrum of the human personality. We can divide these skills into a number of specific categories, namely: 14 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 15 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Personal Skills Project Managers must be able to motivate and sustain people. Project team members will look to the project manager to solve problems and help with removing obstacles.Project managers must be able to address and solve problems within the team, as well as those that occur outside the team. There are numerous ways, both subtle and direct, in which project managers can help team members. Some examples include the following: G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members will be closely watching all actions of the project manager. Therefore, project managers must be honest, direct, straightforward, and knowledgeable in all dealings with people and with the project. A good manager knows how to work hard and have fun, and this approach becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always have a positive attitude, even when there are substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a downward spiral will follow. Define expectations. Managers who manage must clearly define what is expected of team members. It is i mportant to do this in writing—get agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems later, when someone states â€Å"It’s not my job. † Performance expectations must be defined at the start of the project.Be considerate. Project management is a demanding job with a need for multiple skills at many levels. Above all, be considerate and respectful, and give people and team members the time and consideration they deserve. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a long way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or avoid addressing them.If a problem is bigger than the project manager or the team can deal with, escalate it to senior management. Never make commitments that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author: â€Å"Underpromise, then over-deliver. † 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Technical Skills There are two schools of thought about the level needed for technical skills. Some project managers prefer to have little technical knowledge about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the technical management to other junior managers, such as programming managers or network managers.Others have detailed technical skills of computer languages, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their structure, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following: 1. What types of technical problems require management? 2. Who will solve them? 3. Is it done with quality and satisfaction? 4. Who can I rely on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for assistance?As with all em ployees, project managers should have the technical knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, training is one option; being mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior management should ask the question, Do your project managers need more technical skills than they already possess? On larger complex projects, such as systems integration projects or multiple-year projects, there are frequently too many complex technologies for the project manager to master.Technical training that provides breadth may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technical contributor. In this case, technical training may enhance the abilities of project managers to contribute technically, but it is unlikely to improve their management skills. One thing is abundantly clear—the project manager is ultimately responsible for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Management Skills Project managers need other key skills besides those that are purely technical to lead and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the business aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the areas of organization, communication, finance, and human resources. The following are examples of the management topics used in training effective project managers: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject planning, initiation, and organization Recruiting people and keeping them Effective project negotiation Software tools for project management Accurate estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing powerful project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem manage ment Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management professional (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a high-performance team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we worry about whether the technology selected is the correct one for the organization and will lead to success, projects do not generally fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, most projects fail because the â€Å"soft science† portions of the project have not received enough attention—the human factor has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or for bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to acquire a number of skills to cope with dif ferent situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means: G G G G G Being flexible Being persistent and firm when necessary Being creative, even when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from multiple sources Being patient but able to differentiate between patience and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often unrelenting stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage One Project—or Many? There is no simple answer to this question: some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these days of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, reliable answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some basic questions: G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they part-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted project may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G G GAre all the projects in the same physical location or will the project manager spend a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the same technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of staffing, budgeting, and technolog y, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work force competencies with enterprise vision is to create a road map from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to required skills, the required skills to the IT skills inventory, the skills inventory to the IT staff’s competence levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be filled.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an order for managing the work force (see Figure 2–1). It la ys out a road map for skills development, work role definition, career tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work force can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprise’s plans.Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a turbulent IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and conservative companies—all are looking at skills management with renewed interest. Many enterprises now recognize that the combined lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Enterprise Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will i t need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How valuable will today’s skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How proficient are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and training will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? What sources of IT skills — internal and external — can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill Valuation Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 2–1 Skills Management—A Road Map for the Work Force (Source: Gartner Group, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for today’s labor crunch as is the shortage of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful tool for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. Even more enticing, many IT professionals, under the mantle of career â€Å"entrepreneurism,† will throw in their lot with enterprises that ha ve clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more meaningful than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process reserved for the most progressive enterprises. By methodically and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused training programs, and add some rational thinking to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. I n the Gartner Group’s definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and initiatives adopt the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inventory and fall short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, professional training and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can reap several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it: G G G G GG Defines skills for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, a nd resource allocation via gap identification Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or incentive for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, rather than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it: G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing company set a goal to boost revenue by $300 million within three years. Key to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, hoarding of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, ubiquitous access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and client/server technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading th e IT organization’s skill base, supplementing and supplanting mainframe skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server application development.The company embarked on an ambitious initiative designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiative—notably, company-wide skill identification and continuous training—will help the company to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included: GIdentifying eight areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the eight areas identified follows this list) Assigning company values to skills for the near term, short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the eight areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and peer feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Mapping skills and performance values to â€Å"salary zones† within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a sampling of associated skills include: GCustomer focus—employee possesses knowledge of customers’ business needs and expectations; delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers to set requirements and schedules Technical skills—employee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, deskt op client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertise—employee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology-based problems Business and application expertise—employee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows company’s business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands general concepts of business management Project management—employee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a degree of accuracy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools Interpersonal skills—employee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills —employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, economics of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26_ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Soft skills—employee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, drive for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a weighting factor based on its strategic significance to the company during the next 12 months, the next 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6; a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. After the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are c rosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employee’s competence level. Employee competence levels range from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not possessed by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they receive from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essential to the program’s success. Here, the IT executives are seeking t o develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for training—time, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills— if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competence scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who choose to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and long-term corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful: 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, rather than as a management dictate, including the employees assuming control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use metrics as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in cutthroat competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may nee d third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news: canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique! Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM As we have discussed in this chapter, project managers are a special breed of p eople.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine Corps drill sergeant—all while having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their best to ship code. Projects rarely fail—but people do. 26 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers Skills of a Project Manager 13_26_ch02. fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great; some achieve greatness—others have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Introduction Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of project—industrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation— operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of this book, we focus on the last type of project and its leader—the IT project manager.Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm Page 14 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM What Does a Project Manager Do?Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements: G G G G G G G G Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs. Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and base lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.Manage the technology, people, and change in order to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and within budget. Manage the pro ject staff by creating an environment conducive to the delivery of the new application in the most cost-effective manner. Be able to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, surprises, and a less defined environment. Manage the client relationship by using an adequate direct yet complete and formal reporting format that compliments a respected and productive relationship. Drive the project by leading by example, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us examine the skills and qualities needed to meet these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a good project manager possesses are many and varied, covering the entire spectrum of the human personality. We can divide these skills into a number of specific categories, namely: 14 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 15 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Personal Skills Project Managers must be able to motivate and sustain people. Project team members will look to the project manager to solve problems and help with removing obstacles.Project managers must be able to address and solve problems within the team, as well as those that occur outside the team. There are numerous ways, both subtle and direct, in which project managers can help team members. Some examples include the following: G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members will be closely watching all actions of the project manager. Therefore, project managers must be honest, direct, straightforward, and knowledgeable in all dealings with people and with the project. A good manager knows how to work hard and have fun, and this approach becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always have a positive attitude, even when there are substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a downward spiral will follow. Define expectations. Managers who manage must clearly define what is expected of team members. It is i mportant to do this in writing—get agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems later, when someone states â€Å"It’s not my job. † Performance expectations must be defined at the start of the project.Be considerate. Project management is a demanding job with a need for multiple skills at many levels. Above all, be considerate and respectful, and give people and team members the time and consideration they deserve. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a long way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or avoid addressing them.If a problem is bigger than the project manager or the team can deal with, escalate it to senior management. Never make commitments that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author: â€Å"Underpromise, then over-deliver. † 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Technical Skills There are two schools of thought about the level needed for technical skills. Some project managers prefer to have little technical knowledge about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the technical management to other junior managers, such as programming managers or network managers.Others have detailed technical skills of computer languages, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their structure, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following: 1. What types of technical problems require management? 2. Who will solve them? 3. Is it done with quality and satisfaction? 4. Who can I rely on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for assistance?As with all em ployees, project managers should have the technical knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, training is one option; being mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior management should ask the question, Do your project managers need more technical skills than they already possess? On larger complex projects, such as systems integration projects or multiple-year projects, there are frequently too many complex technologies for the project manager to master.Technical training that provides breadth may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technical contributor. In this case, technical training may enhance the abilities of project managers to contribute technically, but it is unlikely to improve their management skills. One thing is abundantly clear—the project manager is ultimately responsible for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Management Skills Project managers need other key skills besides those that are purely technical to lead and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the business aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the areas of organization, communication, finance, and human resources. The following are examples of the management topics used in training effective project managers: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject planning, initiation, and organization Recruiting people and keeping them Effective project negotiation Software tools for project management Accurate estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing powerful project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem manage ment Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management professional (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a high-performance team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we worry about whether the technology selected is the correct one for the organization and will lead to success, projects do not generally fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, most projects fail because the â€Å"soft science† portions of the project have not received enough attention—the human factor has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or for bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to acquire a number of skills to cope with dif ferent situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means: G G G G G Being flexible Being persistent and firm when necessary Being creative, even when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from multiple sources Being patient but able to differentiate between patience and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often unrelenting stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage One Project—or Many? There is no simple answer to this question: some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these days of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, reliable answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some basic questions: G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they part-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted project may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G G GAre all the projects in the same physical location or will the project manager spend a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the same technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of staffing, budgeting, and technolog y, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work force competencies with enterprise vision is to create a road map from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to required skills, the required skills to the IT skills inventory, the skills inventory to the IT staff’s competence levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be filled.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an order for managing the work force (see Figure 2–1). It la ys out a road map for skills development, work role definition, career tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work force can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprise’s plans.Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a turbulent IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and conservative companies—all are looking at skills management with renewed interest. Many enterprises now recognize that the combined lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Enterprise Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will i t need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How valuable will today’s skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How proficient are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and training will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? What sources of IT skills — internal and external — can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill Valuation Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 2–1 Skills Management—A Road Map for the Work Force (Source: Gartner Group, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for today’s labor crunch as is the shortage of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful tool for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. Even more enticing, many IT professionals, under the mantle of career â€Å"entrepreneurism,† will throw in their lot with enterprises that ha ve clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more meaningful than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process reserved for the most progressive enterprises. By methodically and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused training programs, and add some rational thinking to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. I n the Gartner Group’s definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and initiatives adopt the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inventory and fall short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, professional training and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can reap several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it: G G G G GG Defines skills for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, a nd resource allocation via gap identification Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or incentive for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, rather than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it: G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing company set a goal to boost revenue by $300 million within three years. Key to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, hoarding of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, ubiquitous access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and client/server technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading th e IT organization’s skill base, supplementing and supplanting mainframe skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server application development.The company embarked on an ambitious initiative designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiative—notably, company-wide skill identification and continuous training—will help the company to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included: GIdentifying eight areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the eight areas identified follows this list) Assigning company values to skills for the near term, short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the eight areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and peer feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Mapping skills and performance values to â€Å"salary zones† within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a sampling of associated skills include: GCustomer focus—employee possesses knowledge of customers’ business needs and expectations; delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers to set requirements and schedules Technical skills—employee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, deskt op client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertise—employee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology-based problems Business and application expertise—employee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows company’s business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands general concepts of business management Project management—employee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a degree of accuracy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools Interpersonal skills—employee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills —employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, economics of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26_ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Soft skills—employee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, drive for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a weighting factor based on its strategic significance to the company during the next 12 months, the next 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6; a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. After the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are c rosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employee’s competence level. Employee competence levels range from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not possessed by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they receive from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essential to the program’s success. Here, the IT executives are seeking t o develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for training—time, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills— if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competence scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who choose to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and long-term corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful: 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, rather than as a management dictate, including the employees assuming control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use metrics as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in cutthroat competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may nee d third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news: canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique! Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM As we have discussed in this chapter, project managers are a special breed of p eople.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine Corps drill sergeant—all while having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their best to ship code. Projects rarely fail—but people do. 26 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers