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Sunday, May 22, 2011

Role of project champion

Project management and leadership have long been in existence. As the nature of projects became complex over time, so did the roles of project managers and leaders. There have been a number of advancements in the field of planning and control techniques, but still a number of projects fail to achieve the final goal. According to a recent survey, approximately 20-30% of projects fail to achieve their targets. One reason for this is that the project scope is not well defined when the project kicks off, which leads to cost and time overruns.

To reduce the project failure rate there has to be an efficient and effective project leader or project champion. Thus, the role of project champion has become more detailed and complex at each stage from project initiation to project close out.

While numerous project methodologies exist today (agile, iterative, traditional ad-hoc), all follow the basic five stages of project life cycle namely – initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and successful closure. Since the role of project champion has become more detailed and complex at each of these stages, gone are the days when the project teams were composed of just people with certain specific goals and once the task was performed the task handed over to the next team (also known as the waterfall approach). Now companies form teams from different departments to facilitate completion of projects by just one team rather than tossing the project from one team to another at different phases. Thus, cross functional team work became the need of the hour in various industries and the need for cross departmental communication became an important task for the project champion.

Once the project is handed over to the project champion, the first thing is for him to understand the project scope himself and discuss potential loopholes. The next stage is resource planning which is of utmost importance because with cross functional resource planning he has to select the right number of people. The project champion has to be very cautious and particular while forming the team as he needs to see what particular skills people from each department bring to the team, if they can be the leader in their area of expertise, if they gel with the other team members without any force or friction, and at the same time the person should be influential in his department to get work done in time and avoid any delays and bottle necks. Once the team is formed, the project champion should discuss the project scope and establish a charter with the team. Considering each member’s point of view and having a healthy discussion can lead to the formation of a well-defined project scope and charter that is clearly understood by each team member and hence will help avoid time over run. With the charter and scope clear and resources allocated, the project champion’s next task is to perform activity sequencing or the work break down structure. Once developed it should be discussed with department heads to avoid resource conflict as the teams are formed cross departmental. The team should also be involved in risk management discussions which can help prevent potential time and cost overrun. These steps will lead to a solid foundation to initiate the project.

Once the project is kicked off, the project champion should maintain and present the project reviews to the team and act as the link between the team and the client or senior management. Thus, he should have the abilities to manage the team as well as stake holders. To keep the team enthusiastic and moving, the project champion should empower his team by showing faith and motivating them. The best way to motivate is to have achievable goals from the project, reward the top performers, and try to get the comparatively low performers up to par. He should have performance appraisals, compensation, and promotion criteria tied to the work. Non-monetary rewards are remembered longer in comparison to monetary rewards which are short lived. There should be clear and concise communication flow between the teams and also from management to the team. Another way to keep the team involved in the progress is to develop a dashboard which shows movement of the project through various phases and where it stands in term of time and success rate. While I was taking a class on project management, my professor, Karen Brown, defined it as A3. I found it a very helpful tool to track the project success. If tasks are veering away from schedule, this can be seen quickly and the required corrective actions can be taken to avoid overruns.

Once the project is completed successfully, it should be handed over to the client with a clear presentation and demonstration of the project. If the project is accepted by the client, the project should be closed. A successful project close out should include closing of the project files, developing a document on the learning of the projects positives as well as negatives which will help the team understand what went well and what didn’t so that it can be improved upon in the future. The project champion should recognize and reward the top performers and hold a successful big project closure party.

Some of the key characteristics of successful projects include:

  • Motivated project leader who has the capabilities to empower and motivate the team. Have excellent communication skills at the same time be accountable for his work and a good planner
  • Clear development of project scope and charter to avoid any loopholes in the later stage of the project
  • The team members should be completely involved in the project and should believe in themselves and the project
  • Management should not setup unrealistic expectations from the team just to please the clients. There should be achievable results set for the team
  • There should be a good mix of expertise on the team
  • A dashboard for the team to monitor the movement of the project (A3)
  • A reward and recognition should be linked to the performance of the team members

Friday, July 4, 2008

Sarkar Raj.....

After a tiring and grumbling day of work decided to go for a movie....started the search for ticket online and finally decided to catch up 10:45 pm show of Sarkar Raj...at Fame Inorbit(Malad).... since we booked ticket at last moment...what else cud have been expected got the tickets of 1st row from the screen and So was lucky to see Aishwarya Rai closely...Finally after some adds and delay the movie started at 11:00 pm...With Mr. Bachchan making the first appearance....
This what i felt for the movie....
First things first: A huge round of applause to Ram Gopal Varma. The director has redeemed himself after the failures of NISHABDH and RAMU KI AAG. This here is vintage Ramu at his best, no doubt about it. Just goes to show that one should stick to what one is best at. And no one uncovers the underbelly of crime and politics as succinctly as RGV.
SARKAR RAJ is a thriller to the core. It may have the background of power politics but when it's time to reveal his cards, Ramu pulls out his 'Aces', one after another to dish out a gripping fare. The final 'Ace' he delivers at Sarkar's house is mind numbing! To reveal more would be a crime. Just goes to show that it's not only the ones bred in the city who are power hungry, but also those in far off villages! Hence, he does full justice to the tagline: 'Power cannot be given. It has to be taken'. And on this line rests the plot of SARKAR RAJ, a sequel to SARKAR! Yes, it also takes a fresh look at the tradition versus modernity debate.
Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan) is the CEO of Sheppard Power Plant. This international company wants to set up a power plant in rural Maharashtra. Only the Nagres can help. A meeting is facilitated by Govind Namdeo (Hassan Qazi) an aspiring politician. Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan) sees no sense in this project and dismisses it outright. But Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan) thinks otherwise. He feels that this power plant will be a huge benefit for the villagers in the interiors of Maharashtra. After convincing his father, Sarkar, he mobilizes support from the villagers and goes about the business with Anita. But things are not as easy as they seem. Shankar meets with obstacles, one after another and as the plot unfolds, you realise how the characters are used as a pawn for a completely different game!
The background score by Debashish Mishra is commendable. Even when there are no dialogues being spoken, Mishra creates the mood, which speaks a thousand words with his music, as the cameraman, Amit Roy, takes astute angles. The sepia tone throughout the film maintains the mood of this exciting fare. To my mind, there is no standout performance.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Some People......

Some people are just there for you when you need them the most. They go out of their way to help you in every possible way. You haven't even known them for long. Guess they just know you are reaching out for them. They really care! And you haven't even bothered to stretch your arms enough, but they are always with you. Truly are some angels sent by the lord. In their presence, the world seems like a better place to live in.
On the other hand, you find some people who go out of their way to hurt others. They keep taunting, finding faults or even worse back-stabbing you. They think that making a song out of it or saying something mean in a cheerful way is gonna make you laugh. How mistaken! They just tell you what you're doing wrong and repeat it over and over again. They assume you are stupid, the evils just want to bother you. Such is the world!Its the striking contrast of humans around you, including you......
Strange! Its you and only you who makes the choice between the former and the later intentionally or unintentionally...

Saturday, April 12, 2008

A Boy's Thoughts in School Days

She was gorgeous,awesome,aesthetic , her voice mesmerize my heart ,her eyes make my stunned, dumb.I started gazing at her all the time in my class-though in secrecy.Truly speaking,I have no difference with other guys ,I mean , back bencher's of my school who do the same thing. hough sometime I think I am in love with her but can I tell her the truth.No I can't.Why?

Because I have heard the most brilliant student of our school has got a slap when they propose her.But I must admit i don't know what was happened exactly.Does she want somebody totally different?Does she want somebody who run against the flow of the stream? Or does she want someone who will make her laugh?I don't know what she exactly want but I think I can fulfill her dream.

Just one time I want to say you "In my heart I feel you ,I see you I love you".But why the hell god doesn't give me the power to do it.Or am I just an introvert,stupid boy who can't share feelings to his fellow school mates.or why can't I just leave her alone?

I was confused by this dilemma.I can't find anyway to get rid of this.I can't see any ray of hope to be at least a close friend of her as because I think she hates boys like me at the core of her heart.

That was not a auspicious day.But a doom,dull morning of a winter.I was on my way home from my maths tution, when I saw her weeping and slowly walking along the road.I rushed to her and asked her what happened? She told me two boys who were on bike just took purse away from her..and ran sped away.

I was taken aback.I then told her that if possible lets go to police station to lodge a FIR.

To my astonishment she said "No Rohit leave them.I know they can go to any extent if we stand against them".

For the god sake you know my name.I just can't believe it. I was feeling as if I was in heaven

She said Why the hell I wouldn't know a boy's name who spent most of his school time looking at me and she took my hand in her hand. I'll never forget that moment .




Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Don't Let........


Don't Let someone become priority in ur life, when you're just an option in their life........
Today I’m very sad probably because it’s a big let down for me. I ’m so shocked that I cannot express it in words and neither feel the pain that is cuffing my heart every minute. ‘Where did I go wrong?’ This is the question I repeatedly ask myself. But there is no answer that comes back to me. I haven’t certainly expected such a treat from you. The only thing that I understand is that I’ve got hurt by you. This is something that I had never expected, at least from you my dear friend......

I just want someone to understand me, my condition, my suffering that you have caused me. The person whom I least expected would gift me anything such. Why did you play with my heart, my trust, my faith and my understanding? Don’t you feel for me that you hurt and bruise me time and again? Why??
After being together, today I’m left alone. A loner in spite of being surrounded by people, a loner with a lost heart, with broken faith and broken trust, wandering on mindless thoughts, a loner who has lost the objective to live and has no reason to die. I don’t even know if a person like you should be punished or should I bear this pain like I’ve borne all these years, your love, your failure and success, your fakeness, your truth!!!

I know I am to be blamed because time and again I’ve trusted you, tried to rectify you, trusted your lies knowing that it’s a mistake I’m committing, have supported you like a pillar. Throughout I’ve pulled you out of testing times.
But I couldn’t help because I trusted you,liked you like hell was that my biggest mistake----- as all the while I was trusting you, loving you, you were just pretending your love trust and friendship for me! Today you stab me all over, misunderstanding me in every thing I say, treating me as if I don’t exist for you, looking at me like I’ve doomed your life.
I haven’t expected anything from you neither physical support. But I thought that in mind we’re bonded together. Alas! That is the biggest lie I’ve been living with.
I don't have anyone to turn to. God I just trust you because I know are there and will always pull me out of the biggest crisis of my life. You can see all that I’m going through and can hear all those words that are being spoken to me. If anywhere I go wrong please let my conscience feel it and let me rectify it. Whenever anyone does any wrong to me give me the courage to fight back.
Please don’t make me weak, God!