acl 2013 presentation projects kick ass
DESCRIPTION
Projects Presentation by Tom Clancy.TRANSCRIPT
New Project Module Kicks ASS(Ass isn’t even profanity. It’s in the bible.)
THOMAS CLANCY, JRVice President
Valiant Technology, Inc.
15+ years pretending to know how to fix stuff 10+ years as founder of Valiant, now managing a team of 17 Father of three (for sale, $500 ea, $1200 all three, OBO) Author of Mac OS X Bible (Panther, Tiger, Leopard Editions) Speaks at Google HQ in NYC Continuing education speaker at AIA
AGENDA
WHAT IS A PROJECT? COMMON CHALLENGES BEST PRACTICES Q and A
What is a Project?
Temporary Defined Beginning and End Group Activity Complex/Non Routine
Project True Confession“Sometimes in the middle of the night, I think of something that's funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny”
–Mitch Hedberg
New UI is EZ
CONTEXTUAL MENU IN-LINE EDITING DRAG + DROP = WHEW MULTI-SELECT=MULTI-AWESOME BULK CHANGES ARE BAD ASS
COMMON CHALLENGES
SCHEDULING TECHNICAL CLIENT (AKA the enemy) BUDGET CHANGE ORDERS
Scheduling: Our Worst Enemy
Scheduling: Capacity Planning
Avoid Overload
Scheduling: SLIDE and Auto Adjust! Yay!!!!
Scheduling: Use Predecessors!
Make Visible
Scheduling: Gantt Chart
Technical Challenges
Technical Challenges = ISSUES
Technical Challenges = ISSUES
Client Challenge: Participation (Lack thereof)
Client Challenge: GET ‘EM INVOLVED!!!
Admin Client Access Portal Security Level
PER TASK!
Challenge: Budget!
During Startup: Use Budget Shortcut
During Project: Use Costs and Expenses
No Budget: Use Proposal Projects
Make a Proposal Project Possible for non-customers Easy to convert to Client Project
NOTE: NOT FOR PRO-BONO WORK
PERSONAL CHALLENGES
Weak Change Order Approach Chronic Ninety-osis (Acute Incomplete-itus) Non-Repeatable Results No Post Mortem
Change Orders: A Familiar Tale?
Change Orders: Add Milestones
Change Orders: Milestone Phase
Don’t Be “Afraid to get Paid”
“Yes of course we can do that!” (big smile!) “You of course understand this is a change order?” (quizzical, dismissive) <show original scope of work> (wink) “I will write up the change order with the price and timing for your approval.” “Please sign here.” (big smile!) <Add Milestone to Contract, New Phase to Project, Associate>
SOMETIMES THE PRICE IS ZERO. THAT’S OKAY TOO!
Change Orders Can Pay In MANY Ways
Chronic 90-osis
No Post Mortem? Non-Repeatable?
No Post Mortem? Non-Repeatable?
BEST PRACTICES RECAP
OpportunityFixed Price ContractProject Milestones Associated with Phases Import Canned Projects Use Predecessor Tasks Insert Issues (don’t ignore them!) Involve Client Persistently Change Order = New Milestone = $$$ (or not) Update templates every time!
CONCLUSION
The new project module helps solve many of the challenges of managing projects
New Projects + Attitude Adjustment = Unstoppable! GO FORTH AND WIN!