In this scenario, not
only does the Project Management Office or Project Controls group have to
educate management and manage up, they also have to get
management to understand the requirements for implementing a certified Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS). Frankly, I’d rather have a root
canal. An uneducated department manager could be overwhelmed by the
ANSI/EIA-748 criteria, and may struggle with fully comprehending the effort and
cost of putting together the EVMS. As a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy
once asked me, “Good grief, what do the budget weenies want THIS time???”, you
may encounter some resistance. Convincing management to spend so much time
and money on this effort, and then attempting to get the department/senior
manager to USE the data for managing is no small feat!
Sometimes management
will listen, or give more credence, to someone from the outside. This is
a perfect situation where the organization may consider hiring a consulting
firm to lead and manage the effort. Getting management to fund the
consulting firm could be difficult at best. Again, they may see the EVMS
as some fancy accounting or scheduling system. They may fail to realize it
is the integration of the data and their number one tool for managing and
communicating their project performance. In this case, leverage the fact
that the ANSI/EIA-748 is a stringent set of requirements put in place by the
client. An outside firm can also share their prior experience with
implementing a certified EVMS, which will show management that the CAM
training, procedural requirements, and system design will take quite a bit of
effort and cannot be minimized.
Now that they know
they have to implement some kind of EVMS, be aware that management may be
inclined to opt for the simplest, quickest, and cheapest way to implement the
32 criteria. Not surprisingly, they may also buy cheap software packages
that cannot be easily integrated. They could create Mickey Mouse
procedures with no teeth, and severely limit CAM training. However,
eventually this quick and dirty implementation will be inadequate to monitor
the performance of the project(s) and the client will see the shoddy planning
and implementation of the EVMS. They risk not passing their EVMS
certification requirements, not to mention losing face with the client.
Then the company may be forced to redesign the system and buy more robust
software to enhance integration, which also means they’ll have to transition
from the existing design and software of the EVMS. The transitioning
effort can be especially taxing considering the development of crosswalks for
the historical records that still need to be maintained. They may also have
to re-write procedures and train CAM’s and Project Controls again. Show
them the risk of this rework and quantify it with time and money impacts.
So, why not just
design it correctly up front? That’s the key, to educate management in
such a way that they really comprehend the complexity of the design and the
maintenance requirements. Remember, it is a system. Any
changes or impacts to one area of the system is likely to flow into other areas
of the system. This shared structure and ripple effect makes it important
to plan, design, and implement carefully. One way to demonstrate the
interconnectivity of the system is to use a whiteboard and place sticky notes
for the various elements in the system. Then draw lines or arrows to show
how the data flows from one system to the next. This is an old fashioned,
but simple, way to outline the beginning of your system architecture and
interface mapping. Start with the shared elements and pay additional
attention to their interfaces. This includes the WBS, OBS, resources, andrate tables; all of which must be consistent within each software tool.
This is where a consulting firm would start in designing your system and it
will allow for a more seamless integration. That translates to fewer
headaches and more meaningful data outputs—directly correlated to time and
money, which is something management will understand as long as you communicate
it.
As I’ve said before,
treat your EVMS design and implementation as a project. Remember Pareto’s
Law of Project Management: 80% of the time and resources on a project are spent
in the first and last 10% of the project. Don’t be afraid to spend the
time to plan, engage, and educate management so they can appreciate the need to
spend time and money upfront. I keep mentioning time and money impacts
and that’s for a good reason. Most managers speak time and money
language, so while they may not understand the EVMS or its requirements, they
will understand the risk of improper design and implementation if you speak
their language.
Do you have experience
in implementing an EVMS when management can’t even spell EVM? What were
your results and what additional actions would you recommend for success?
Our next post looks at IPMR reports and saving both time and money.
- Melissa Duncan (About Melissa)
Read the previous posting Earned Value Exposed: How to Get Management to Not Only Buy-In to EVM, but Drive It...
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Earned Value legend as there may be a few of us that don’t yet have
this memorized…
PM=Project Manager
PC=Project Controls
CAM=Control Account
Manager
EVM=Earned Value
Management
EVMS=Earned Value
Management System
WBS=Work Breakdown
Structure
OBS=Organizational
Breakdown Structure
IPMR=Integrated Program Management Report
IPMR=Integrated Program Management Report
