by daisy on August 30, 2010
As a project manager, getting what you need when you need it is imperative for a successful outcome. This means you have to work closely with your company’s Procurement Department (Purchasing). If you are constantly at odds with the purchasing agents, this can hamper your ability to work effectively. Things don’t have to be this way since your departments share some of the same goals (to stay on track and under budget). Here are 4 possible areas for improvement in communication and collaboration:
Give Early Notice
If you are commencing a large project, the Purchasing Director may need to assign a buyer full time to fulfilling your requisitions. That impacts the manpower available to devote to other tasks. As a professional courtesy, you should keep the Director apprised of the scope of upcoming projects. Don’t simply send over a huge list of required items and services that will take Purchasing by surprise. When buyers have to scramble to get things done, costly mistakes are much more likely.
Plus, you might think an item is available off the shelf when it actually has a 6 week lead time. When you make assumptions, your project may experience unexpected delays. The more information the Procurement Department has up front, the more accurate your project planning will become.
Don’t Make Agreements
Unless you have the authority to spend your employer’s money, never agree to buy anything from a vendor. This applies to verbal statements and written contracts. The number one way to make your Procurement Department angry is by usurping their authority. When they have to go back and renegotiate a deal and break promises you made to a vendor, this makes their job much harder than it should be.
If you do speak with vendors directly, it may be OK to ask for initial price quotes. However, make it clear that you are only doing a preliminary investigation into costs and that a purchasing agent will be in charge of any further discussion. Don’t try to haggle about pricing – you may inadvertently disclose information that should be kept confidential. Experienced buyers know how to finesse vendors and maintain control of the conversation. It is in your best interest to leave negotiations to trained purchasing agents.
Double Check Your Specs
You and your staff members are the experts on what you need to complete your project. This means you are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the specifications for the components, equipment, or services you requisitioned are correct.
A good purchasing agent will do his or her best to become conversant in the technical terminology required to discuss your project requirements. However, buyers often handle the procurement of dozens (or hundreds) of different items in an average week. This means there is a limit to how much new knowledge they can absorb. When they buy exactly what you tell them to and it turns out to be the wrong item, you will take the blame for the mistake.
On the other hand, you need to be on the lookout for buyers who substitute a cheaper product in order to get a better price. They may be under pressure to do this to stay within budget – or simply to enhance their next performance evaluation. For critical components, always ask to see the final specs prior to order placement. Make this type of request politely in writing (email is fine) so it will be taken seriously and you will have a copy of the correspondence for your records.
Prepare to Defend Your Preferences
The Purchasing Director typically has the final say over which vendor will be awarded a contract or purchase order. If you have a preference for using one vendor over another, you must be able to clearly show how this choice benefits your company. Buyers are expected to be impartial in their decision making process and they expect the same attitude from you.
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Renowned business expert Rita Mulcahy died May 15, 2010 following a long battle with breast cancer. She was the founder of RMC Project Management, starting that company in 1991. It was at this time that Rita discovered the need for additional training to be able to grow their career. The certification process was intense and without the proper guidance, many people would fail. Ms. Mulcahy subsequently wrote a PMP Exam Prep Study guide for those persons who wanted to become Certified Project Managers. It received national and international acclaim, with most experts this to be the industry standard.
She was also recognized around the world on such business topics as project management techniques, risk management and project management certification. With more than fifteen years of experience working directly with business leaders, Rita had over 2.5 billion dollars of experience to her credit. Her company became a leader in the business industry, renowned for the ability to both teach people and allow them to enjoy it as well.
Ms. Mulcahy was also a guest speaker at thousand of seminars and business conventions every year. Her firm continues to be involved with this type of risk management work, offering help and guidance to many people training in this field. This includes e-books, online courses, kits, and self-help books. It has continued to grow, even in her absence, with expansion into other areas, including publishing, internet technology and even real estate.
Rita Mulcahy was a true pioneer in this industry, helping thousands of people along the way. Her company continues with the vision she began almost 20 years ago of assisting those most in need.
The company continues to grow with divisions in publishing, warehousing, distribution, online books, and real estate. Rita had a love for the outdoors, the arts, theater, and skiing.
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This is rather old news, but given that more and more people understand the importance of being certified by either the PMI or the IPMA, this should still be mentioned. In 2008 already, the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association signed an agreement that they will join forces in order to boost the project management profession. As a consequence, the PMI certification Project Management Professional and the IPMA certification Level C will be accepted by both parties as being equivalent. This is a huge step, given that both organisations were perceived as being two different religions that were not compatible to each other, despite the fact that some project managers have certifications from both.
Furthermore, the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association will work together building university programs and doing research. The agreement has been signed for three years so that we should see the outcome soon.
At the end of the day, there is no alternative than working together for the two big organisations. The project management profession is still very young, and too often project management is done by people who may have experience but lack a professional education. Compare this to the dentist profession: centuries ago, the barber was also the dentist. Obviously, there was not too much education available so that most barbers relied on experience which must not have been a bad thing in all cases. There was no alternative. Project Management in the early days was done by the “barbers”, and while more and more professional project managers are available, too many projects are still being managed by “barbers” because businesses have not seen the importance of professional project management by now; project management seems to be doable by everyone who has enough experience in another profession. The blame must not be put on these businesses: The PMI and the IPMA have failed to prove the value of professional project management by now, and they MUST work together in order to make sure project management is perceived as the art of improving the bottom line.
And while the barber comparison may sound odd: Centuries ago, a tooth was just pulled out by the barber, there was no way to save a tooth from being extracted. At the same time, teeth did not have the aesthetic value as they have today. Compared to today, often enough there is no alternative to loosing money due to unprofessional project management, and people believe that this may just be the way it is. It is not. It is time the attitude towards project management is changed. And this is the challenge the PMI and the IPMA must face together.
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- Risk Management Expert Rita Mulcahy passed away
Renowned business expert Rita Mulcahy died May 15, 2010 following a long battle with breast cancer. She was the founder of RMC Project Management, starting that company in 1991. It was at this time that Rita discovered the need for additional training to be able to grow their career. The certification process was intense and [...]
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by Tom on January 8, 2010
There are a variety of open source project management tools available for free online. Despite being developed and distributed for free, these programs are high quality software, and many are used for massive important projects done by various government and private agencies. We will look at these different tools and their strengths and weaknesses in a series of blog posts.
For hunting down bugs in a larger group of developers, Trac is the right solution. It is a web based project management tool specifically designed for linking with a programming bug database, viki content, and the revision control information. Trac allows a group to collaborate on finding and fixing glitches and bugs in any type of software.
Collabtive is a web based software that is a great open source alternative to BaseCamp. It allows all the members of a group working on a project to chart and track their goals, publish regular progress reports, share documents and other files securely, and has a built in private messaging system. It’s flexible and powerful enough to work for any project, and allows unlimited user accounts on one project.
eGroupWare is another program that allows group project workers to collaborate and connect. eGroupWare is mainly web based, but can also be used with certain compatible clients, such as Microsoft Outlook. It allows all of the users on one project to share and manage contacts, to-do lists and progress reports, track dates and timelines, and share project information.
For editing and presenting information and documents over the internet, Feng Office is a great choice. Not only does it allow for document and data management within the software, it keeps your team on top of time management with it’s built in tools. It’s also one of the few open source product management programs to allow online editing and multi-user presentations, eliminating the needs for regular video or in person meetings. No matter what the project is you need to manage, there is a perfect open source software solution for your team.
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