On a mobile mission

Although much has been said around mobility and project and portfolio management as two independent topics, I have struggled to source references on the combination of these two topics. For this reason, I decided to share some views and thoughts around this very interesting topic, one that seems to be creeping into more discussions.

For starters, I think there needs to be an explanation around the context of this piece, and what is the meaning of the two topics. I got this from Wikipedia: "Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralised management of processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyse and collectively manage a group of current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. The objectives of PPM are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to schedule activities to best achieve an organisation's operational and financial goals - while honouring constraints imposed by customers, strategic objectives, or external real-world factors."

Mobility, in my mind, is not a mobile technology or a specific cellular technology to be used for communications, but rather an aspect of everyday work. Mobility means the ability to be mobile, ie, work without being in the office. So the technology I use or the way that I do it is irrelevant, it is the functions I need to perform that are the most important and not what device I have.

So let's take the two topics and combine them. I need to have access to my PMO to analyse and collectively manage a group of proposed or current projects based on certain constraints while I am not in the office. This is going to be very interesting, as I need to investigate a couple of functions that are required to do this task.

There are specific role-players required in any scenario involving project management. Assume for a minute that I have three role-players that form part of this - the sponsor or executive, the project manager and team members. The sponsor is ultimately responsible for the accountability of the project and typically is the one paying for this. The project manager has been appointed to ensure the project gets successfully delivered, and is responsible for the delivery, while the team members are people who have to interact or deliver on this project.

The sponsor is usually someone who does not have the time to sit every day and find information. This individual wants to have information delivered, so he or she knows how the investment is tracking and if there is anything that requires attention and action. The sponsor is typically also someone who is mobile, and since time is of the essence, information should be filtered to ensure optimal use of the time required from the sponsor.

The challenge is that the communication technology in place cannot be SMS, e-mail or even a phone call. Why? Simply put... cost and time constraints. Imagine sending an SMS for every notification update on a project, the cost will skyrocket and chances are this cost would not have been catered for in the original budget.

E-mail is just a waste of time, as no one today has the time to read and action every e-mail that gets sent, especially if it runs into the hundreds or thousands per day. Phone calls will typically be put through to the secretary, and at some stage a message will reach the sponsor, and then it might be too late.

The other concern is that there is such a diverse range of technologies being used by sponsors that to develop an app for this will require it being run on different mobile platforms to really add value. Except perhaps Skype, few apps have proven to provide cross-platform compatibility. The bottom line is that non-intrusive notifications with access to live data are required so the sponsor can see at a glimpse what is happening. Think of it as almost a live tile with direct feeds, but with drill-down capability if required.

The project manager is the key person in this scenario, because s/he harbours the responsibility and has to know everything, always, and immediately.

The biggest challenge is that project managers are as diverse as the universe. All project managers follows their own best practice ideas, and with luck, a methodology or processes to govern this is followed if enforced through technology - doing it otherwise is simply not going to cut it! Project managers need access to information in real-time, but also need to act and contribute towards this information, and more specifically, the process being followed if enforced.

They also sit with the same problem the sponsor might sit with - an overload of information or simply too many projects to run at the same time. This may be more of a challenge to certain industries than to others. Mining is a good example. There are simply not sufficient communication technologies available to perform these duties, as the mines can literally be in areas where technology is not available, or if it is, it is so limited it does not help using it.

The easiest way to resolve this, if there are communication technologies available, is to use it but possibly have access to offline data that will synchronise if and when communication becomes available. Doing all of this on a piece of paper - or worse, trying to remember to do this when there is access - is the worst thing to do.

Team members have to deliver on this project and need to be able to report to the project manager who, in turn, will report to the sponsor. Mobility for them is typically more challenging, because they must perform their duties without concern over a project management system that they need in which to replicate their data - it does not integrate with what they use every day.

They need technologies that will enable them to seamlessly interact with an environment they are familiar with, and can very easily provide updates and status on the work/deliverables they are busy with.

The biggest challenge is that project managers are as diverse as the universe.

If the project is a delivery of an IT type project, the team members will typically be people working on laptops, tablets or other mobile devices. However, what if the team member is the guy laying the cables for this project; or in the construction industry, the guy throwing the cement into the building foundation. I cannot see a builder running around with a laptop, but funnily enough, most people have access to a cellphone, and unfortunately not all of these are smartphones with the capabilities to interact with an organisation's sophisticated systems.

The end result of the issues highlighted above is that mobility for these role-players is potentially only possible for two of the key people involved in PPM. That is unless someone comes up with a seriously brainy idea of how the builder can communicate in real-time with a phone that can, at best, send SMSes and make phone calls.

I believe the solution is to provide a project automation solution that automates most of the processes or methodologies used to ensure the system takes care of the bulk of the actionable items required in this environment.

Even the team member can report back using whatever means, and the systems should cater for this. Reporting and progress updates should be automated and available when required, so whoever needs to interact with team members has the ability to act accordingly. Most importantly, team members can do the job at hand without having to worry about how they are going to provide feedback on their devices.