Simple Project Management: For Noobs to Pros

Just received a note that the book is available the Republic Polytechnic library. "Simple Project Management" is also available at Nanyang Polytechnic and my kids' alma mater (Raffles Institution).

Zech 4:10 - Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...

I recall that as a kid, our parents will tell us (and i suspect that some of us parents still do to this day) that in order to do something well, we need to have proper time management. As one who leads projects for a living, I kinda know a thing or two about this: I will say that "time management" is a fallacy.

Purely speaking, time management (just like managing people) refers to managing time in which we control time, i.e. we can accelerate it (to make it go faster), slow it down, or to stop time. We can do this with a lot of things but we cannot manage time - it continues to chug along, whether we like it or not.

If you were to ask me the time and my answer is, say 9:00am, that time is already gone because it is 9:01am when you continue with what you are doing. Time is like a freight train or a subway that we can only latch on to (or HODL) and hope we can do things within the allotted time. Ask the student who needs to submit the paper at 11:59pm Sunday night or the employee who need to submit the report Mon morning 9:00am.

In truth, what time management really refers to, is Project Management. We cannot control time, but what we can (and should) do is to manage the efforts going into the activity. If we can do it efficiently and effectively, that will result in better "time management".

To me, project management is not some lofty thing that many people associate the term "project management" with. For some reason, folks in the industry has elevated project management such that it becomes daunting to most, that you need a PMP or Masters in Project Management to do it well.

It does not have to be that way. To put it simply, project management can be distilled into 5 processes:

Initiating - ask the question, "Why do I want to do this?"
Planning - plan the activities required...could be as simple as having a "to-do" list
Executing - doing the physical work as per the plans
Monitor and Controlling - review if things are working for you, adjust if necessary
Closing - review if we want to do part 2 or if plan B is required

For more info, I have written a simple 100+ page book which Kobo says will take just 1-2 hours to complete. This is the written version of the Project Management Fundamentals class that I have been teaching in Agilent Technologies (a company making analytical instruments) for 10+ years to folks comprising of engineers, scientists, sales, managers, etc. In the class, I talk about why projects fail, how to be successful, the skills required as well as how to do the project based on the 5 processes. Do check it out if interested.

Link: https://www.partridgepublishing.com/en-sg/bookstore/bookdetails/857910-simple-project-management-for-noobs-to-pros

Just sharing an article on Planksip.org that talks about how we are living our lives as though playing a game of checkers rather than international chess. In checkers, we often make quick decisions on the next move as a reactionary approach versus chess where every move has to be evaluated in advance.

The same rule applies in life - we often choose the easy way out when our projects go awry, when our superiors/colleagues disagree with what we say, when our children are unhappy what Papa/Mummy has to say.

Let's aim to live life in a manner that all our actions are carefully deliberated, as though we are playing chess, and perhaps sprinkled with prayer that it will work together for good....

https://www.planksip.org/from-checkers-to-chess-navigating-the-complexities-of-our-world/?ref=re-imagining-plato-newsletter

From Checkers to Chess: Navigating the Complexities of Our World Why does the world look like we’re playing localized checkers instead of international chess?

One of the greatest myths about projects is that all projects are successful or that "if you build it, they will come".

The famous phrase is from the baseball movie popular in the 1990s called "Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner. The story is about Iowa farmer, Ray, who hears a voice telling him that "if you build it, he will come". He followed the voice and eventually built a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield. The movie ended with a stream of cars heading to his field to enjoy the game.

Over the years, this phrase undergoes a subtle change to say "if you build it, they will come". For some reason, people start using the phrase to say that if we do something, it will succeed, which is a great lie!

All of us want to believe in the happy ending a la Disney movies: if we start a business, we will make lot of money, if we post a video on YouTube or start a blog, it will become viral and we will be rich and famous, if we marry, we will live happily ever after - if we start a project, it will be successful.

Well, the real truth (and nothing but the truth) is that...projects fail, and many fail big time: (1) Data from McKinsey says 70% of transformation projects fail; (2) 75% of business and IT executives anticipate that their projects will fail, and (3) 70% of software projects will be late with 30% significantly late

Even the Bible has a similar story: in the Parable of the Sower as told by Jesus, out of the 4 seeds that were sown, only one (the last one) is successful. Yep, 75% of the seeds failed!

Here are some main reasons for the failure:

Weak personal reason
Lack of commitment from superiors
Inadequate planning
Absence of use involvement
New and unfamiliar technology

I suspect that all will find the reasons familiar, because we all have seen in some form or another. In many cases, we did something because it seems like a good idea (at the time). Some also had the idea but we did not take action. Once we start doing the actual work, then we realized we may have bitten more than we can chew and things start to deteriorate and eventually die a uncomfortable death.

The good news is that this is not the end. If we put in the efforts and we follow some tried and tested processes honed over many years by experts, the chances of seeing success improves a lot.

Will share more in the next post.
To learn more, I have written a book describing the process: https://www.partridgepublishing.com/en-sg/bookstore/bookdetails/857910-simple-project-management-for-noobs-to-pros

Itaewon Class is a Korean-drama series currently showing on Netflix about a high-school dropout and ex-convict who opens a small bar-eating establishment in Itaewon. It stars Park Seo Joon, Kim Da Mi,. Kwon Nara and Yoo Jae Myung. The show won Best Drama Series in the 25th Asian Television awards and was included in Time Magazine's list of "10 Best Korean Dramas to watch on Netflix".

Note: spoiler alert…

The drama is a good example of how the process groups of project management (IPEMCC) are implemented. Here is how…

Initiating
Setting the Preliminary Objective Statement: to set up an eating/drinking establishment in the Itaewon district in 7 years with an initial team of 2 (chef and waiter). The initial cost was not mentioned in the show but is likely to be substantial due to the high rental cost in Itaewon, known for its nightlife and trendy restaurants.

Planning
• To work in manual labor and fishing industry for several years. All wages to be invested via a trusted fund manager.
• Once he has sufficient capital, he would set up a shop in Itaewon
• As the business flourish, the business will be turned into a franchise for expansion

Executing
• Setting up the DanBam (the name of the eatery) in Itaewon.
• Hire a competent manager to take care of the business and enable future opportunities
• Perform quality control by improving the motivation of the chef when the food is found to be lacking

Monitoring and Controlling
• Buying a shop-lot when being forced to vacate the initial premise
• Enable nearby shops to succeed to improve the foot traffic in the new but less-popular location
• Winning a national cooking competition to secure investment from a venture capitalist

Closing
In the final episode, the chaebol Jangga group was acquired by the IC (short for Itaewon Class) group. Yes…the show has a happy ending.

To learn more about Project Management, get my book entitled “Simple Project Management: for Noobs to Pros” available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or Partridge: https://www.partridgepublishing.com/en-sg/bookstore/bookdetails/857910-simple-project-management-for-noobs-to-pros

The book has been been reviewed by Prairies Book Review:

“Simple” Project Management: for Noobs to Pros: Simple Enough for the First Project Complex Enough to be Steppingstones to the PMP certification by Ng Wei Kwan PMP A robust, no-nonsense manual that combines the essentials of project management with practical wisdom. Ng cuts through the jargon to deliver a straightforward, no-frills guide for mastering project…

Why the book?

I have been teaching a class on Project Management in my company for over 10 years now. So the thought is that this will ensure the knowledge is still available when I can no longer do this.

Originally based on HP's Project Management Fundamentals, I have since updated the framework to one from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Thus, if you wish to take the next step of getting the PMP, you can use the IPEMCC process as a guide...no need to start from scratch.

The good news?

The book is just over 100 pages (by intention). No more reading 500-page textbooks before starting the project. Hope you find the book useful as you embark on the journey to be the better you.

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (e-book).