What does a project manager actually do?

Posted on by Mark Myers Leave a comment

I’ve never really got on well with project managers despite managing projects myself.

And I think it’s down to the sheer diversity of management styles and what people think are the actions of a project manager versus what is genuinely needed to manage a project. However, I suddenly realised that the exact definition of a project manager has been staring me in the face and you will forgive me if this exists already, but it’s only just come to me.

So your project is a car journey, and a project manager is the Co-pilot. They plan the route, They keep a second eye on the petrol gauge. They arrange any changes to the car and book it in for repairs if needed, They ensure the rest of the occupants of the car are doing well, and if necessary they eject a passenger if they can’t behave.

In short they are the person that facilitates keeping the project on the road and going at the right speed in the right direction.

However what the project manager is not:

The Driver: This is the business or information technology, you can show this by the fact that if the project manager is missing, the car journey would still continue. It would eventually get there. It might get lost a few times, It might run out of petrol. It might even stall, and a number of terrible things might happen to it, arriving late and in bad shape. But it will still reach the goal.

The Passenger: They are not the passenger in the back. Their role is not to merely say “Are we there yet?, Are we there yet?” and “Drive faster, Drive faster!”

So as a project manager, if you ever wonder why your requests for status updates are ignored, look at your actions and try and determine if your are a co-pilot on the journey, or just a passenger.

Painting Guide – Cursed City Vampire Transformed

Posted on by dultoriminis Leave a comment

Painter: Dultoriminis

Model(s): Cursed City Main Box

Paint(s): Wraithbone spray, Guilliman Flesh contrast, Magos Purple contrast, Gore-Grunta Fur contrast, Stegadon Scale Green, Pallid Wych Flesh.

Method(s): Spray basecoat of Wraithbone. For the skin use Guilliman Flesh, once fully dried, dry brush Pallid Wych Flesh lightly over all skin, then with a 1:1 mix of Magos Purple and water, wash over the hands and feet. Next apply Gore-Grunta Fur to all fur areas being careful not to get it on the skin. Lastly paint teeth and claws with Stegadon Scale Green.

Paint Time: 1-2 hours

 

Corporate term: Soup Stone

Posted on by Mark Myers Leave a comment

Definition:

This is an object, usually software, that promises something but can only deliver it when a lot of additional resources and other systems are bolted on, normally paid for by the customer.

Explanation:

Soup Stone is an existing term that comes from a European folk tale.

In this tale, a traveller or travellers convince either a old woman or a village that they have a magic stone that can produce soup. However this is a con. They get the villagers or old woman to actually make the whole soup by adding tonnes of ingredients one by one.

This tale has two interpretations:

  1. Is that if everyone works together they can produce amazing things.
  2. Don’t believe people who say something can produce amazing things without proof and that nothing is free.

In the corporate world, its the second interpretation that is most common, and is seen mainly in the form of something that promises everything and while the something indeed exists, 1 it doesn’t do what is advertised as without tonnes and tonnes of extra bits. This is most commonly seen in software systems, particularly a lot of the modern day cloud ones. So they may say our software does XXX, but it only does that because it’s hosted on AWS and takes advantage of their systems and you have to pay for the extra AWS systems, or that it has monitoring when all it does is allow other monitoring software 2 to interface to it. or it sends emails but it requires a separate mail server etc, etc, etc.

It’s when something is sold as doing something but requires lots of other systems to actually complete. In the worst case, you will be sold a single licence for a cloud subsystem in the hope of keeping everything on the cloud and end up with a bunch of local servers to deliver on that promise and leave you with twice the complexity you started with.

The only real way to combat this is to dig down in to the detail, arrange a workshop with your techs and get hard details on what supporting systems and licences are needed for your deliverables.

 

Disclaimer: As always these posts are not aimed at anyone client or employer and are just my personal observations over a lifetime of dealing with both management and frontline associates.

 

  1. So it’s not vapourware.[↩]
  2. Not normally free[↩]

2022 in review and goals for 2023 : Work edition

Posted on by Mark Myers Leave a comment

This year has been my most professionally challenging year for at least the last decade and all in a good way.

Prior to this year, I fixed complex IT problems. I did project management to make things work when there was no good project manager allocated, I did business liaison as a specialist, again just to facilitate the work I was delivering, but this last year its all been very different.

This year each of the 3 core areas of work has been a deliverable in its own right and my competency held to a high standard.

Management: People management on a much larger multi region team with different levels and types of people with different challenges, multiple projects all going on at the same time and not projects in the contract way, where you keep them all separate, projects that merged together, projects dependent on each other. There was an awful lot of plates spinning, In this, delegation has been my biggest challenge the scale of deliverables required has truly meant I have had to “Work Smarter not Harder” 1.

Technical: The normal technical growth continues and technology keeps on changing at its insane pace, so it was all in all absolutely fabulous, a real challenge but one that has been my bread and butter for 2 decades so its just a case of fitting it in with the other learning needs.

Business: The main project I am working on weaves multiple areas of business together and to my knowledge has not been done like this before, so a lot of truly complex business challenges come up suddenly 2, thus I’m expanding my knowledge on a daily basis, indeed I put aside 7 hours a week on training to accelerate this, this is making things that I only saw in the distance before, snap into sharp focus.

2023: My only fear for the upcoming year is it won’t be as challenging, because I’m enjoying it hugely 3. I am learning far more about the people side of project management, dealing with people who are quite frankly not wanting to come onto the same page as you, something that you don’t tend to have with clients when you’re a contractor. From the business side, I am going solidly for my CII certification and full SOX certification, so can reach a point where I can argue with authority with an actuary or with compliance lawyers. The constant technology push I’ve always loved. It’ll just keep going through. I spend my time learning, I spend my time digging through things and having fun. It’s a joy. It’s a non stress part of my job, but thankfully I still have lots to learn.

Bring it on!

  1. Mark makes a retching sounding sound at using such a phrase[↩]
  2. Even with the best planning done by competent BA’s[↩]
  3. My Wife says that its the least unhappy she has seen me in a while[↩]

Painting Guide – Blackstone Fortress: Dahyak Grekh

Posted on by dultoriminis Leave a comment

Painter: Dultoriminis

Model(s): Main Blackstone Fortress original box.

Paint(s): Chaos Black spray, Caliban Green, Ogryn Camo , Retributor Armour, Leadbelcher, Rhinox hide, Mornfang Brown, Skrag Brown, Screaming Skull, Screamer Pink, White Scar, Nuln Oil, Agrax Earthshade

Method(s):

Base: Chaos Black spray.

Skin: base Caliban Green, wash Nuln Oil, mix Caliban Green 1:1 with Ogryn Camo, paint over skin with the exception of any recesses, highlight with Ogryn Camo.

Claws: Screaming Skull, wash Agrax Earthshade,

Leather: base Rhinox hide, wash Agrax Earthshade, layer with Mornfang Brown, and highlight with Skrag Brown

Steel: base Leadbelcher, wash Nuln Oil, highlight with Leadbelcher

Cape: Base Screamer Pink, wash Agrax Earthshade, layer Screamer Pink avoiding dark recesses, mix White Scar and Screamer Pink 1:1 for highlights.

NOTE: Retributor Armour on any trim you decide on for either leather or steel.

Paint Time: 4 hours