Elevating Projects with a Focus on Value with Mounir Ajam

Unlock the full potential of your project management skills with insights from Mounir Ajam, a seasoned expert with over three decades of experience. This episode is your ticket to understanding the intricate dance between methods and methodologies in the realm of value delivery. We promise you'll come away with the knowledge to tailor methods that guide projects from their tentative first steps all the way to triumphant completion. Hear Mounir dissect the layers of project management, emphasizing why a value-centric approach is the game changer every project manager needs.

It's all about the journey, not just the destination—Mounir takes us through the project lifecycle's critical 'gates', ensuring alignment with business goals and market tides. You'll learn to flexibly apply the URUK platform to your organizational needs and discover how project management waltzes with product management to spotlight successful outcomes. Whether you're a veteran project manager or new to the field, this episode is an indispensable resource for those aiming to place value delivery at the heart of their projects.

Speaker 1: 0:08

Good day, howdy, and welcome to the 4PM podcast. My name is Munir Ajam. My core passion is project management in community. I come to you with at least close to 35 years of experience. My eagerness to share knowledge and to mentor and coach groups help organization transform the way they manage project to a higher level. 4pm's tent in this case is shortened for us for what we call value, which means project, program, product and portfolios, so a lot of our topics will be around this 4PM. Let's get going. Welcome to the 4PM podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:59

We're about to start our episode number five, which is focusing on the value delivery methodological process. A quick recap of what we have done before, because you know these episodes are somewhat integrated. In episode two, we talk about transforming project management, and then we made the case why do we need to transform project management? In episode three, we stress that they need to understand our domain and respect our diversity as a community of project management before we can start a transformation journey. And then in episode three, we start to talk about the approach, how to do the transformation, and we talked about different levels In today of project management. The last episode, we talked about the first aspect of transformation, which is how to build and sustain an organizational project management system. That lead us today to talk about the second aspect of building, of transforming project management, which is, in a way, part of the OPM. However it's, we want to focus on value delivery. Now, what do we mean by value delivery? What do we mean by a methodological process? We will cover in this episode. So we will talk about what is the PM method. We will talk about the PM level, a refresher which we covered in, I think, episode three. We will talk about why do we need level five, which is a value delivery model, and then what is level five, and we finish with what is unique about level five. So five. This episode has five parts, so let's go through part one. Part one is about what is a PM method.

Speaker 1: 2:56

We often confuse the word method with methodology and some other videos we have produced in our YouTube channel. We clearly talk about the find the difference between method and methodology. Actually, interesting enough, one of the most viewed videos on our YouTube channel is the difference between method and methodology, so we'll advise you to visit and check it out. But a method typically is very specific. Just a summary here a very specific way of doing things. Our methodology is typically a set of methods, the science of studying method, and so, as a result, a methodology could be a foundation, like a framework, and from there we can develop numerous tailored methods. That is the philosophy and the approach we follow in Aruq project management.

Speaker 1: 3:40

So how do we use? When we say the word method? Unfortunately, today there's people depend on your background. You might have different view or a different mindset of what that word mean. For example, in project management, we have something called critical pass method, so the word method is there. However, that is a technique that is specific to scheduling.

Speaker 1: 4:00

We have earned value method or earned value management. Sometimes we use the word method, sometimes we don't. Again, that is very specific about assessing progress on a project. We might have some risk assessment methods. We might have some stakeholder identification or exploration for their input or how we engage them. There might be method and techniques and approaches In those situations.

Speaker 1: 4:25

The word method is typically very narrow, very specific to some action that we can do within a project While we are managing a project. We can use earned value management, we can use critical pass method. We can use risk management identification techniques. We can use many, many, many other kind of method and technique while we are managing project. So when we hear the word method, yes, we understand some people will think based on what I just described. However, in a root project management, when we talk about method, we typically mean something like a tailored method. That means a method that is specific to manage a project across the entire� life cycle. So we send the Rook method you might be using the critical pass and their own value on, etc. Etc. Etc.

Speaker 1: 5:20

So, from that perspective, when we talked about APM method in this episode, we are talking about methodological process method to take a project from start to finish. Now, where is that start and where is that finish? That might be a good time to shift into part two of this episode, which is the refresher of the project management level we discussed before. As we start with part two, which is a refresher on the PM level that we discussed in an earlier episode, if you remember or if you have not listened to that episode, the way we talked about it is when we talk about the level from level one to level five, is that, as the number goes up from one to two to three to four to five, our attention to the project, the area of the project that we might be managing get broader. Just think about, you know, like my hand are, you know, touching, and then now I am spreading by hand away from each other and growing the gap. So in level one our focus might be very narrow. Level two would be slightly broader. Level three would be even more broader.

Speaker 1: 6:39

So when we talk about span broader, that means we're talking about span of time. That mean the beginning and an end. There is a beginning and an end. So most method, if we define them that they are about managing a project, it depends on that lifecycle or the method that we are following. So it has a beginning and an end. So basically, in that case, a project and that definition have a beginning and an end. Now where we don't often agree is where is that beginning and where is that end? So on level one we talked about basically these are mostly task management. So in the beginning and end, you know we have a list of tasks. We go through them one by one until we finish. So that is beginning and end In the stage we start with, when the stage is authorized and initiated.

Speaker 1: 7:36

We finish when we deliver on the stage output. That's done when we go to level three, which is technical project management, similar to what PMI and other literature advocate. We start with a charter, we end with an output. So that is where we talk about the levels. Where do we start and where do we end when we talk about level four and five? I will save it for later in this episode, because this episode is about level five.

Speaker 1: 8:10

So the question is in part three of this episode is why do we need level five? Well, before we answer this question, maybe we should think about is level five better than level three? Not necessarily. It all depends on if you we probably advise you to go back to episode three is that who are you and what type of organization you work for and what type of mandate you have, maybe all what you can do in your organization. You're designed to me manage project at level three, which is perfectly acceptable as long as if you remember probably the last episode, we talked a lot about competence as long as you are competent in managing the work, whether at level one, level two, level three, level four or level five, it doesn't really matter. So it's important to manage with competence. So in that case, why do we need level five? Why do we say level five may be different than level three? Because if you are a project owner remember it depends on who you are If you work for a project owner organization the organization that is launching the project and want to benefit from its outcome they want to achieve some results, some benefit, right Then in that case you are better to consider working at the minimum, as we said in an earlier episode, at level four, but ideally you want to go to level five, which is the value delivery model.

Speaker 1: 9:38

So why did we call it value delivery? Because if I'm a project owner, I'm not doing project because I like to do project. I'm not in the business of doing project, I am in the business of getting benefit. I might be a hotel company right, I derive value from operating hotel that give me some profit. If I'm the petro chemical industry, I derive value for petrochemical product that I sell. If I am a software solution provider, like Uruk, I get value from the subscription that we get to our platform and from the consultancy and other services that we sell. So from that perspective, we are not necessarily looking at project as the end or the ultimate objective. Project are the engine to drive success. They are the mechanism to help us achieve our objective and deliver value. So if I am an owner organization, I must think along the line delivering value, otherwise I might not be sustained in my business.

Speaker 1: 10:52

So the next part of this episode is okay. What is level five? Well, for this, we will advise you to definitely go to our website and go to the knowledge tab, and you can find our blog site and you can find our YouTube channel and you can find links to articles or videos where we can even show you some graphics, so you will be able to see the graphics that might be related to this. So at least you have a better understanding with visual. Now I will try to be maybe like a sports illustrator, try to describe the game blow by blow. Well, maybe I'm not good at it, but I'll try.

Speaker 1: 11:32

So what is level five? Well, first, it's a project lifecycle model We've been talking about all levels have some kind of a lifecycle, has a beginning and has an end, so we need to start at least to define. It is a project lifecycle model. However, it has what we like to call the stage gate or decision point. Some people say, well, we don't have stage gate. I am sure everyone that work in product management. Even if you never heard or stage gate, you have stage gate in your company. Why do we say that? Too arrogant to say that? Well, no, because that's reality. You have decision point. A decision point is a gate by definition. Some people don't like to use the word gate, unfortunately, or fortunately, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 12:15

It's important to understand that along any project there are decision points and those decision points are gate. So we must have a project life cycle. That typically would mean when we say the word project life cycle, that mean is divided into stages and then every stage have a gate in order to verify that the work that was done before satisfy our requirement as a company policies guideline. And then we shift to question number two does it still make sense to continue with this project or do we stop Right? That's the purpose of the stage gate. So do we progress, verifying the work that was done before is good, and then do we still want to proceed? Maybe because the condition and the market change, even though everything looks good, maybe there is becoming harder to justify continuing the project and we'll have to stop it. That is first two point project life cycle that has stages and every stage must have a gate stage. Gate Now, level five, because we're talking about value delivery.

Speaker 1: 13:20

It must focus on the entire value delivery life cycle. Now, what does it mean? Remember, every life cycle have a beginning and an end. So where is the beginning? In this case, the beginning is the idea, the product vision, the asset vision, the venture vision, whatever you want to call it. Right? We want to launch a new hotel chain in Timbaktu. We want to have a series of clinic in Houston. We want to have X, y or Z, right? So, from the time that strategic planning department was in a company or a group of investors or anybody that had, look, we want to do something that will deliver value and benefit. Right. Whether the value and the benefit are measured in monetary terms, you know, return on investment, net present value, whatever, or services to the community or services to the citizen, there has to be some kind of a value. So, from the point at IZEA, come about. We consider the project life cycle started Now, I'm not going to talk about the stages yet and then we have to stay. Obviously, we I will mention that we will go through the different stages until we reach the end. Now, where is the end? That's very tough question in reality.

Speaker 1: 14:51

Some might say project completion and we do project closure. Well, that's the common view. For us, that is level four, that is a product delivery model. We deliver the product, we go through some closure and we do some proper closure. However, in value delivery model, we want to validate that the product work. So we must do that in two steps. First step is we need to go through some kind of an initial operation period to make sure that everything is working according to the specification, the design, the quality, the objective that we established the project to do. And if all is well, then we might do some closure. However, in a Rook we are probably quite unique in this we don't close the project at that point. We do what we call PLC closure. So we are only closing the life cycle, because the team that is working on the project will probably need to demobilize and go on to do something else. That's why, for us, that means at that point the project is complete but it's not closed. So what does it take to close the project?

Speaker 1: 16:02

In our value delivery model, what it takes to close a project is to do the final success assessment, because one of our four-dimensional project success, which is a topic for the next episode, is to talk about the objective success. Often enough, objective success cannot be measured at completion. We might have to wait weeks, months or even years before we can determine how did we do in terms of our objective, in that case, the project. For example, in our ARUK platform, the project will go into the completed list of project and program and will stay there until the PMO, the PM department executive, have determined that this would be a good time for us to assess for final success and close the project. So our life cycle model, the value delivery model, starts with the product vision and ends up only after we assess how did we perform in line with the business objective and the business case.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Now the project life cycle is basically what we emphasize in ARUK is that it must be tailored method. So we start with a methodological process and then we tailor based on the need, which means a life cycle for some project could be four stages, some project could be 15 stages. Usually our standard model is nine stages, some could be six or seven. So all depend on the nature of the organization, the sectors, the domain, the vertical, the project type, the project size, the project complexity would help us design a unique or at least a very specific tailored method for that type of project. So in that case we need to have the project life cycle and we need to tailor it. We already talked about the life cycle start and end and as a result of that, it covers the entire life cycle. So I think that is clear by now. I think it's becoming clear. There are many stages.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Now maybe here I need to touch on one last point in this section on what is level five is that in the way we do it in ARUK platform is that we have total flexibility on designing tailored method, which means we can control the number of stages and whether those stages are sequential or overlap, and we can control the number of gate. And we can control whether you want to use agile development or what we call big bank development. We can control what is the output of every stage, which means the stage deliverable, what is the content of every one of those stages. We can have the stage gates and the stage gate criteria. All of that is adaptive. All of that is we can tailor in the platform. We come to part five in the last part of this episode, which is what's unique about the level five. I think over here I probably explain everything, so maybe it's just a matter of re-emphasizing the key point. The focus is on the product and that way we can integrate product management with project management.

Speaker 1: 19:34

We have not talked about product today much as a product lifecycle. Most models on product lifecycle consider usually for a new product or for product in general. There are five stages or five phases of product. The first one might be acquisition and then you might have growth, maturity, decline, withdrawal. Each stage could have a different name depending on the industry. However, for example, if we are, let's say, building a hotel, so the product is a hotel. The acquisition phase of that hotel, product life, the hotel, because as a physical entity it probably has a 25 to 30 years life, useful life that's a term we use sometimes. Basically, the first phase of that is the acquisition phase, which means it's a project. It goes through the vision, the business case, the feasibility requirement, design, engineering, construction, commissioning, all the way until it's fully operational. Now that is typically where project management happen, in the acquisition phase, in parallel to product lifecycle. Then, of course, during the other phases of the product, during the growth or the maturity or the decline. We could implement many other projects. It could be upgrade project, maintenance project, expansion project all they could be related project and software. We might have increment, upgrading technology, whatever the case might be, after the initial product is acquired and it is in the market. We can do many, many, many projects down the road With the 4pm remember we talked about product being part of this 4p's so project program, product and portfolio In a value delivery model.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Our focus is not technical project management. We view project management as the engine of project success. You probably have seen our logo with that slogan, basically to indicate that we use project management, learning, project management competence, project management process to deliver success. Of what? Of the product? We're not only concerned with project management success. In this case I repeat myself maybe for the third or fourth time today the focus is on the product. That is one thing that is unique about level 5. Another point it integrate project management with business aspect. In a way, we have a way to start to break down the silos between business and project. If you think about the project often enough, that might start with a division within the company, hr marketing, whatever. Then it might go to some kind of project management group or project execution group. Then it might go to an execution group like an IT or engineering or construction. You notice there are many interface points there.

Speaker 1: 22:30

The advantage of a product delivery methodological value delivery model is that we integrate. In this case, project management is not just over the fence. We must use project management even in the discovery phase of the project, where typically the business people operate without project management support or input or knowledge or competence. As a result, whatever they produce end up being set in stone, which is almost difficult to change. What we are saying. We must introduce project management even in that phase, in the discovery phase, when we're doing the business case, when we're doing the analysis, when we're doing the feasibility. In that case it's not just we have one department doing work and then we shoot the ball over the net or over the fence to IT or engineering or construction. We integrate project management with that business side of the organization, which typically could be, if we are an internal team, is an internal customer or could be a external customer. Also, what we've seen often we fail in project and we've seen this even on mega project.

Speaker 1: 23:40

Project people are designed to think. You know, in a way. Sometimes we joke about IT people think zero or one, and project management people, in a way, think zero or one, but in a not in the technology aspect. We are engineering or construction or working on facilities project. We think about building. You know all what we care about build it right. Let's get going. Let's build it right. Let's start to get digging hole in the ground.

Speaker 1: 24:02

Sometimes you might hear some construction people and when they get frustrated, when they are in the office too much and they will probably joke about you know, we just need to start digging some holes. That is part of our focus and maybe our DNA in project. You know the people who trained in traditional project management or what they think about getting things done. Well, however, we got things done. We built that hotel, we built that museum. What's next? We don't know. Well, we need to hire people, we need to train people, we need to do things like this.

Speaker 1: 24:34

That is what we call operational readiness. That is also often ignored in most literature on project management. So what we are saying, that must be an essential part Now in bigger organization and bigger project. You could have two teams working in parallel. You might have an operation team and you might have the technical team that is doing the engineering and building right. That's fine as long as we have a cohesive leader leading both. To get to the point when we are ready to hand over the facility, the operation, people are ready to accept it, test it, commission it and to start to operate it.

Speaker 1: 25:14

That is another area where we are, when we start to shift from level three of technical project management charter to output, where we're saying wait a minute, we have to go even before to integrate with the business side and then, in parallel, we have to consider the operational readiness side until so we can make sure that when we finish we can achieve success. And of course, when we talk about operational readiness, we also have what I mentioned earlier initial operation stage, where now we are, we go into an operation, maybe like a pilot or soft operation or just you know, we start to operate, but in a way in the testing mode, to make sure, to validate that we are able to produce. If it's something that is a production facility, we are producing to the capacity desired and the quality desired. In the software there are other criterias and marketing there are other criterias. So depend on the nature of the project that initial operation criterias could be different, and we have to make sure we understand it. Now, in parallel to all of that, we must implement what we call the four dimensions of project success, which we are also building into a Rook platform.

Speaker 1: 26:35

Again, that will be the topic for next episode. So time to wrap it up and close this topic. We talked about the difference between method and methodology. What does the word method mean in project management? What is the refresher of the PM level? What is level five? What is unique about level five? We covered all of these topics, so we let you to ponder until we meet again. Do you measure project success on your project, since that is going to be our next episode? If you do, how? And the only thing left to say is we wish you success today, tomorrow and always.

The 4PM Podcast

Elevating Projects with a Focus on Value with Mounir Ajam

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