Project Management PMP » Using http://www.ausbanner.com Project Management PMP Professional Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:47:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Completing Jobs Successfully Using Construction Software to Assist in Project Management http://www.ausbanner.com/completing-jobs-successfully-using-construction-software-to-assist-in-project-management/ http://www.ausbanner.com/completing-jobs-successfully-using-construction-software-to-assist-in-project-management/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 07:03:42 +0000 Project Manager http://www.ausbanner.com/completing-jobs-successfully-using-construction-software-to-assist-in-project-management/ Related Posts
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]]> Project Management is a vital cornerstone for any business. All types of businesses rely on projects and efficient project management to get the job done and to attract and retain clients. If projects are handled poorly, projects result in lower profit margins that originally planned, and the business suffers. If they are handled efficiently, the business prospers. Successful project management involves the effective management of all resources involved including money, skilled labor and time.
Few realize the complicated nature of project management until they are overwhelmed by too many details and not enough time. It is common for entrepreneurs skilled in carpentry or building to start their own construction company. Unfortunately, many of these builders learn the hard way that skills in management can make or break a project and that they might not have those skills.
First of all is the budget. No matter what size the job is, capital is needed for the project. While money may be set aside, or planned, the total amount of the project is seldom available at once. Construction Project Management Software allows a builder or project manager working for a builder to accurately plan budgetary needs. This ensures that the funds are available on a timely basis-exactly when they are needed.
Projects are broken down into milestones or “dependencies. ” The word dependency comes from the term dependency mapping which is commonly used in project management. Dependencies are best depicted with a flow chart complete with alternate scenarios that should be used if things go wrong. Software creates such a chart and allows you to easily make changes and see how the changes affect the outcome of the project.
Time management is essential to the completion of any construction project. Software makes it possible to keep track of task time and slack time. Slack time is down time and should be avoided whenever possible, especially when employees are still being payed. This makes it possible to anticipate areas of increased slack time and fill them with other needed tasks. This simple process can do wonders to keep a project on track or even ahead of schedule, which can even increase projected profit margins.
One of the primary functions of project management, besides keeping a project on task, is reporting. Whether it’s reporting up the ladder in a corporation, or directly to a client, project managers need to keep people informed. Also not to be forgotten are bankers or finance managers, controlling the purse strings of a project. The basic reporting tools are a Gantt chart, and associated printouts.
Construction software reviews are a great place to start when trying to find the perfect software for your business. Pay close attention to details such as ease of use, the ability to change particulars of the project and the reporting format used by the program. Software is an expensive investment that can be highly rewarding for companies that take the time to evaluate their possibilities and select the right software.
Project management is a critical component of any construction project. In fact, after securing a job and getting funded, management is easily the most important part of the job, and construction software is a management must-have.

Samuel Daggle writes articles for construction and manufacturing businesses that are looking for ways to use construction software to improve their business. For more information about specific software packages, check out construction accounting software reviews.

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]]> http://www.ausbanner.com/completing-jobs-successfully-using-construction-software-to-assist-in-project-management/feed/ 0 Better Risk Management –- Using Risk Surveys to Identify, Assess and Mitigate Business Risks http://www.ausbanner.com/better-risk-management-%e2%80%93-using-risk-surveys-to-identify-assess-and-mitigate-business-risks/ http://www.ausbanner.com/better-risk-management-%e2%80%93-using-risk-surveys-to-identify-assess-and-mitigate-business-risks/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:55:54 +0000 Project Manager http://www.ausbanner.com/better-risk-management-%e2%80%93-using-risk-surveys-to-identify-assess-and-mitigate-business-risks/ Related Posts
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]]> Business Risk Assessment Surveys Strengthen Your Risk Management Process

Running a company is a risky proposition. Too much risk can be very costly, particularly when things go wrong. Too little risk can also be very costly, especially when smart risks are being avoided or too much money is being spent to limit risks.

Significant risks are often hidden or ignored by organizations. The best way to identify and assess these hidden and ignored risks is to survey managers and staff professionals at all levels of the organization. Business Risk Assessment Surveys collect risk information and insight from managers and other key employees and consolidate it by business unit and your organization overall.

Companies need a clearer understanding of the risks they are taking to protect the physical, financial, human and intellectual assets of their companies. The main goal is not to eliminate uncertainty. Instead, it is to be proactive in assessing and managing risk for your company’s advantage.

Risk assessment surveys are a critical tool for any successful risk management process. It is all about identifying, assessing and managing a wide range of risks at acceptable levels.

What risks does your organization face? How do you know?

Who is responsible for risk management in your organization? Does that person/department have the tools and resources to identify and assess risks effectively? Does your organization have a comprehensive list of risks that is updated annually?

The risk problems facing many organizations today

· Many complex and broad risks threatening your business

· Lack of tools and processes to identify and assess risk importance and likelihood

· Failure to identify and act on risks until it is too late

· Overspending to avoid risks

· Missed opportunities and profit due to excessive risk avoidance

· Financial losses and reputational impact due to risk failure

The solution for identifying and assessing risks

· Risk Assessment Surveys provide the solutions you need for assessing and managing risk at appropriate levels

· Risk Surveys gather information and insight from managers and decision makers across your company

· Connect the dots to understand where to focus risk initiatives

· Hone in on your organization’s specific risk assessment needs

· Collect suggestions for identifying and managing risk

· Business Risk Surveys typically include 30 – 70 questions that are included in the following risk categories:

1. External Risks

2. Operational Risks

3. Financial Risks

4. Sales, Marketing and Products/Services Risks

5. Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness Risks

6. Management Risks

Business Risk Assessment Survey Metrics

Identifying and assessing risks and then managing the risks at appropriate levels can significantly increase profit and make earnings more predictable and consistent. A few of the many risks that can be identified, assessed and managed using Business Risk Surveys include:

· Risk of costly legal suits from employees, customers and competitors · Reputational · Competitor · Accounting · Investment · Economy · Customer (risk of losing customers, dependence on key customers) · Insurance (too much or too little insurance) · Accident · Business decision · Risk of employee turnover · Hiring · Product risk / service portfolio · Innovation / product development · Risk of lost business due to product and service problems · Business interruption / continuity · Capacity utilization / availability

· Inventory · Regulatory and legal compliance · Fraud and theft · Environmental /weather risk · Health and safety · Supplier · Outsourcing · Technology · Information · Bias, diversity and abuse · Management and key employee succession · Fiduciary · Facilities

Benefits of Business Risk Assessment Surveys

Business risk surveys generate significant bottom-line benefits and a very strong payback including:

· Reducing business risk uncertainty

· Protecting shareholders, customers, management, employees, board members and the community from costly, embarrassing problems and catastrophic events that may threaten profit, reputation and survival

· Raising awareness of business risks across the organization

· Measuring the importance and likelihood of each risk criteria in each business unit and across the organization, and tracking risk trends

· Reducing costs

· Increasing revenue through smart risk-taking

· Risk survey comments and suggestions identify actions for achieving breakthrough improvements

· Identifying hidden risks and possible solutions

· Creating a roadmap for making breakthrough improvements in risk levels

· Focusing managers’ energies on the highest payback risk management opportunities

· Managing risk more effectively

· Strengthening the culture of risk management collaboration and change

· Facilitating smart risk-taking

Other types of Risk Surveys

In addition to comprehensive Risk Surveys that identify and assess a wide range of risks across the organization, risk surveys that focus in detail on specific risk issues are an excellent way for organizations to identify and assess specific risks in considerable detail. Examples of detailed risk surveys include Contract Risk Assessment Surveys, State Regulation Risk Surveys, Ethics and Compliance Risk Culture Surveys and Sarbanes-Oxley 404 Surveys. Each of these surveys include many questions about these respective risks. Detailed risk surveys can also be conducted for each of the types of risks listed in this article.   

Summary message for CEO’s, COO’s, CFO’s, Risk Managers, Internal Auditors, General Counsels and others responsible for Risk Management

Risk surveys are a highly cost-effective way to protect your organization from unanticipated and hidden risks, and to avoid significant costs and threats to your organization’s reputation due to risk incidents. The surveys provide loads of actionable information that can be used to identify and assess risk importance and likelihood, and for creating and monitoring execution of risk management action plans.

Howard Deutsch is CEO of Quantisoft, a full service survey company. Our surveys enable organizations to measure and achieve breakthrough increases in performance. Contact Howard Deutsch at (609) 409-9945 or hdeutsch@quantisoft.com

Quantisoft – Cost effective surveys

Quantisoft – Risk Surveys

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]]> http://www.ausbanner.com/better-risk-management-%e2%80%93-using-risk-surveys-to-identify-assess-and-mitigate-business-risks/feed/ 0 Project Management Maturity Model – And The Case For Using A Culture Maturity Model http://www.ausbanner.com/project-management-maturity-model-and-the-case-for-using-a-culture-maturity-model/ http://www.ausbanner.com/project-management-maturity-model-and-the-case-for-using-a-culture-maturity-model/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:57:35 +0000 Project Manager http://www.ausbanner.com/project-management-maturity-model-and-the-case-for-using-a-culture-maturity-model/ Related Posts
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]]> The origins of the concept of a project management maturity model, is lost in the mists of time. With the evidence of project management skills as far back as the time of the building of the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China and other great wonders of the world – it is quite logical to suppose that there could have been an early model to map the progress of developing project management skills. After all, for an ancient project manager the price of failure came high!In more recent times the concept of a project management maturity model has evolved considerably from the software industry. There is the need to understand and measure many variables, manage great complexity, obtain consistent results and achieve stringent delivery targets within budget. With regard to which model is the “best” or most appropriate for any specific situation [I fully appreciate that project management professionals reading this may disagree with what I am about to say, but] I feel the far bigger challenge is actually in getting ANY model applied. From that point on, and with director level sponsorship and support – all things are possible. There are many maturity models [I am aware of over 35] and the dominant model is the P3M3 Model created and sponsored by the OGC [UK Office of Government and Commerce] in association the APMG [UK Association of Project Management Group. This is a composite and enhanced model that addresses the 3 related aspects of large-scale project management and that glories in the full title of "Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Mode".Try this test ...In relation to your [or your client's] organisation:- Do you use project management?- Do you use programme management?- Do you know the difference?- Do you know why knowing the difference matters?Try this simple test – review the different levels listed below based on the P3M3 maturity model – firstly in relation to project management and then secondly with programme management – and see which best describes your organisation:> Level 0 – No process – the organisation has no project and /or programme management skills or experience > Level 1 – Awareness process – the organisation is able to recognize projects and/or programmes – but has little structured approach to dealing with them.> Level 2 – Repeatable process – there may be areas that are beginning to use standard approaches to projects and/or programmes but there is no consistency of approach across the organisation.> Level 3 – Defined process – there will be a consistent set of standards being used across the organisation with clear process ownership.> Level 4 – Managed process – the organisation monitors and measures its process efficiency, with active interventions to improve the way it delivers based largely on evidence or performance based information. > Level 5 – Optimised process – the organisation will be focussing on optimisation of its quantitatively managed processes to take into account changing business needs and external factors.Where you and your organisation sit on the maturity model is one of the biggest key factors in leading change that will determine your chances of success [the others are (a) the quality of leadership, and (b) the cultures in your organisation].Why bother?In 2003 “The Project Management Institute” came up with the following definition: “Organisational Project Management Maturity describes an organisation’s overall ability to select and manage projects in a way that supports its strategic goals”. Well that all sounds very noble – but the simple rationale for having and using a project management maturity model is quite simply that projects fail! [And the same is true for programme and change management.] A survey conducted in 2003 by the Standish Group(US)showed that 66% of IT projects are either totally abandoned or fail against a measure of budget, scope, time or quality (i.e. ‘challenged’). A similar study in the UK by Computer Weekly that 84% of projects either failed or were challenged. It has been estimated that the cost to US business of failing or abandoned IT projects runs into hundreds of billions of dollars. Closer to home the UK government have wasted countless billions of pounds on failed projects. At the programme level – with the wider perspective beyond a project delivery of capability to the actual realisation of a defined organisational benefit – the failure rate is a consistent 70%. And given that every programme encompasses a signifcant change element, the same failure rate applies to any significant change management initiative.Progress driven by painIn most organisations the evolution of project management, programme management and change management skills typically lags far behind the development of other capabilities within the company. So the state of maturity to a large degree reflects the prevailing dominant corporate culture. Given that companies [or more accurately directors] don’t know what they don’t know – the level of maturity of the company remains invisible. In fact the very concept of a maturity model remains invisible. So nothing changes until things go wrong – and pain is felt and someone at director level is facing an exposure as a result of a significant project failure. This is the point at which progress becomes possible as progress needs sponsorship. And as the focus shifts to improving performance, there are two principal targets. (1) To improve how any specific project, programme and change is managed. (2) To improve performance in overall organisational capability in project, programme and change management. The purpose of this assessment is to show the extent to which the infrastructure within the organisation supports the project, programme and change management efforts.Benefits of a structured assessmentThe main benefits of the subsequent structured assessment of maturity within the organisation isn’t in understanding the current level at which the company is performing, but rather in setting direction, prioritising actions and beginning cultural change. So, taking project management as an example: an organisational project management maturity model provides guidance to an organisation regarding how to: – Articulate project success- Measure project performance- Make the delivery of projects more predictable- Help projects work together instead of against each other in a multi-project environmentIn 2003 The Centre for Business Practices produced its ‘Project Management – the State of the Industry’ survey. This survey measured organisational improvement over time, as a result of project management improvement programmes. The highlights of this survey show significant improvements in terms of financial performance, customer retention and satisfaction, project and process improvement, employees satisfaction and productivity, and a dramatic 70% increase in project alignment with strategic objectives.In a change management context, a mature project culture will [after enough pain has been experienced] evolve into the holistic and wider view perspective of a programme based approach to change management.

For more on this: “Project management maturity model – navigating through the issues to where you want to be”

Equip yourself to avoid the 70% failure rate of all change initiatives with the “Practitioners’ Masterclass – Leading your people through change, putting it all together and managing the whole messy business.”

Stephen Warrilow, based in Bristol, works with companies across the UK providing specialist support to directors delivery significant change initiatives. Stephen has 25 years cross sector experience with 100+ companies in mid range corporate, larger SME and corporate environments. Stephen’s services are specifically targeted at the non-expert director of 100 ? 2000 employee organisations. Practical strategies for leading and managing change

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]]> http://www.ausbanner.com/project-management-maturity-model-and-the-case-for-using-a-culture-maturity-model/feed/ 0 The Importance of Using Financial Risk Management Software to Protect Against Financial Loss http://www.ausbanner.com/the-importance-of-using-financial-risk-management-software-to-protect-against-financial-loss/ http://www.ausbanner.com/the-importance-of-using-financial-risk-management-software-to-protect-against-financial-loss/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:03:05 +0000 Project Manager http://www.ausbanner.com/the-importance-of-using-financial-risk-management-software-to-protect-against-financial-loss/ Related Posts
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]]> With the economy performing the worst it has since the great depression, and the US Government having to spend trillions of tax payer dollars to bail out investment banks and insurance companies, it is clear that far more effective risk management practices must be put into place. It is absolutely sickening that hard working US taxes payers are stuck flipping the bill to save greedy investment banks and insurance companies that invested foolishly with money they were entrusted to protect.
Public companies must adhere to strict financial risk management practices so they are not allowed to make high risk investment decisions that can lead to huge losses. We cannot repeat the financial meltdown we are experiencing now in 2008, especially since it was caused by greed.
What is even more disappointing about the financial crisis we are in is it could have been avoided. There are many outstanding financial risk management software applications available that can protect against making bad investment decisions that can lead to great losses.
So, the question is, what is financial risk and how is it measured?
Financial risk is the probability that an investment’s actual return will be different than expected. This includes the possibility of losing some or all of the financial value of a particular investment.
Now here is where investing gets tricky. It is known that the more risk you take, the more potential there is for a large gain. However, the more risk you take, the more potential there is for a huge loss. This is where greed can become very dangerous. One of the main reasons we are experiencing the financial disaster we are in right now is from investment banks and insurance companies investing in high risk consumer mortgages. They took the risk that they would earn a large return from offering high interest mortgages to people with poor credit. They also took a huge risk by allowing consumers to take out zero money down mortgages and interest-only mortgages.
Where the problem occurred is that a greater than expected percentage of consumers who received these mortgages could not pay them. And if people are not paying their mortgages, the investment loses value and causes financial losses. With advanced risk management software, investors would have been alerted that the potential for loss with these high risk mortgages was great and that the investor should be very aware that making these investments could lead to a huge loss.
The purpose of financial risk management software is to protect against making bad investment decisions that may lead to a large financial loss. It does this by estimating the how much risk is being taken for a particular investment choice and how much money could be lost if the investment loses value.
Here are a few advanced methods financial risk management software uses to calculate risk:
1. Measure value at risk (VaR). VAR is a technique that uses the statistical analysis of historical market trends and volatilities to estimate the likelihood that a given portfolio’s losses will exceed a certain amount. It can be thought of as the worst loss that might be expected from holding a particular investment over a specific period of time.
2. Monte Carlo. This is a problem solving technique used to approximate the probability of certain outcomes by running multiple trial runs, called stimulations, by using random variables.

Peter Geisheker is the CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm. Peter develops and implements strategic marketing programs for businesses including financial risk management software companies. For a no-obligation quote, contact The Geisheker Group marketing firm today. 920-471-1638.

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