SimplifyingResource

Planning

Implode Your Project

Charles Howell, PMPIT Director, Operations, Floyd Medical Center

Project Insights from Destruction

IT Director, OperationsHIPAA Security OfficerFloyd Medical CenterRome, GAchowell@floyd.org

Charles Howell, PMP

Self-Proclaimed• Minister of Order and Reason• Dot Connector• PM Aikido Master

Charles Howell, PMP

Follow me on Twitter @OpsTempo

Implode Your Project

• Landing a building in its footprint requires immense and detailed planning• Key preparatory steps are necessary to weaken the

building in the correct place to make the building fall easier• Timing is critical for the last few minutes and the

actual implosion• This assumes you have done you pre-work

successfully

Flawless Execution!

1. Embrace the Difficult2. Lower Risk with Phase Zero3. Benefit from Slow Efforts4. Focus in Windows of Opportunity

Implode Your Project

1. Embrace the Difficult2. Lower Risk with Phase Zero3. Benefit from Slow Efforts4. Focus in Windows of Opportunity

Implode Your Project

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Embrace the Difficult

• Spend the time to consider the entire project effort, keeping the end in mind• Know where the hard parts are and embrace them

early• Know the real effort forecast, it is typically different

than expected

Embrace The Difficult

• People often tackle projects as one long series of events and do not tend to think in parallel efforts• The first one to the calendar wins! Get on the

calendar to start giving structure to your effort• Know where the difficult work resides and go after

it early. Make deposits on future work

Embrace the Difficult

• Difficult people, challenging stakeholders? Embrace them! Appoint the person who complains the most to analyze and propose solutions when they arise• If the person you want to do something doesn’t

cooperate, work around them with more favorable and receptive people. Know the political landscape

Embrace the Difficult

1. Embrace the Difficult

2. Lower Risk with Phase Zero3. Benefit from Slow Efforts4. Focus in Windows of Opportunity

Implode Your Project

• Do anything early that you can to get it out of the way. It is like money in the bank• Do the hard things first, especially the things that

can be completed with minimal resources• Take care of a lot of project housekeeping tasks

before you have to do it at the last minute• Draw out how you see the final product or service.

A visual representation provides great context to future discussion. It minimizes the number of versions we all have visualized in our heads

Lower Risk with Phase Zero

Lower Risk with Phase Zero

Lower Risk with Phase Zero

1. Embrace the Difficult2. Lower Risk with Phase Zero

3. Benefit from Slow Efforts4. Focus in Windows of Opportunity

Implode Your Project

• There are deliverables that are critical toward the end of many projects• They typically do not start until later in the project… just

because “we have time”• Make multiple, small, iterative passes at the larger deliverable• Each pass increases content and consensus• Can identify unknown tasks earlier• You can more easily wrap up with less effort• Prepare to surprise. Have plans waiting in the wings. Even if

your plan may not be accepted, you have moved the ball down the field

Benefit from Slow Work

Benefit from Slow Work

Don’t start h

ere

Start here in

stead

First D

raft

Second Draft

1. Embrace the difficult2. Lower Risk with Phase Zero3. Benefit from slow efforts

4. Focus in windows of opportunity

Implode Your Project

Focus Windows of Opportunity• A project itself is a window of opportunity (unique

effort with a defined start and finish)• Inside the project there are times of opportunity as

well• The ‘window’ is the most open at the beginning and

end of the project. Take advantage of this time!• Apply considerable focus up front while you have time

and resources dedicated to the effort.• Within a project, take advantages of high visibility

times (testing, design reviews, etc.)

Focus Windows of Opportunity The window was

wide open for this event

The entire organization had this effort as the one single highest priority

Implode Your ProjectThe Four Hour House Now that we looked at destruction, how about a

more positive view…. How fast can you build a house.

Implode Your ProjectThe Four Hour House

Implode Your ProjectThe Four Hour House Very detailed project timeline with dependencies Creative thinking like building the roof separately

and placed on the house frame at the right time Great example of what unlimited resources and

solitary focus can do

Remember this for Flawless Execution!

1. Do the hard stuff first – reduce risk early2. Start anything early that you can and plan on

iterative reviews to move them along 3. Be pessimistic in planning but optimistic in

execution!

Amaze bystanders with Flawless Execution!

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesrhowell

@OpsTempo

Let’s be Social

Hashtag #RPS2014