Telecommunications Project Management

1. Telecommunications Project Management Power/Authority Vendor Management

3. Measure of Success • How well he/she can negotiate with both upper-level and functional management for the resources necessary to achieve the project objective • PM may have a great deal of delegated authority but very little power

4. Management School Philosophies • Classical/Traditional school – Getting things done (achieving objectives) by working with and through people operating in organized groups. Emphasis made on the end-item or objective, with little regard for people involved • Empirical school – Developed by studying the experiences of other managers, whether or not situations similar • Behavioral school • HR Classroom – Emphasize interpersonal relationship between individuals and their work • Social system - System of cultural relationships involving social change

5. Management School Philosophies • Decision theory school – Rational approach to decision making using a system of mathematical models and processes • Management systems school – Systems model characterized by input, processing, and output, while directly identifying the flow of resources necessary to obtain some objective by either maximizing or minimizing some objective function • Includes contingency theory – stressing each situation is unique and must be optimized separately within constraints of the system

6. Who uses these schools? • Functional Managers • Classical/Traditional • Empirical • Behavioral • Project Managers • Decision Theory • Management Systems

7. Management Functions • Planning • Organizing • Staffing • Controlling • Directing

8. Controlling • Measuring – Determine through formal and informal reports the degree to which progress toward objectives is being made • Evaluating – Determine cause of and possible ways to act on significant deviations from planned performance • Correcting – Taking control action to correct an unfavorable trend or to take advantage of an unusually favorable trend

9. Directing • Staffing – Qualified person selected for each position • Training – Teaching individuals • Supervising – Day-to-day instruction, guidance, and discipline • Delegating – Assigning work, responsibility, and authority to others • Motivating – Encouraging others to perform by fulfilling or appealing to their needs • Counseling – Private discussions with another about how he might do better work, solve a personal problem, or realize their ambitions • Coordinating – Ensuring activities are carried out in relation to their importance and without conflict

10. Understanding Human Behavior • Theory X • Average worker dislikes work and avoids work whenever possible • To induce adequate effort, the supervisor must threaten punishment and exercise careful supervision • Average worker avoids increased responsibility and seeks to be directed

11. Understanding Human Behavior • Theory Y • Average worker wants to be active and finds the effort satisfying • Best results come from willing participation, which produce self-direction toward goals without coercion or control • Average worker seeks opportunity for personal improvement and self-respect

12. Types of Power • Legitimate power – Officially empowered to issue orders • Reward power – Directly or indirectly dispense valued organizational rewards (promotion, salary, future work) • Penalty (coercive) power – Directly or indirectly dispensing penalties they wish to avoid (same source as reward power) • Expert power – Manager has special knowledge or expertise that is considered important • Referent power – Attracted to PM or project

13. Leader Behaviors • P.219

14. Leader Behaviors Explained • S1 (HTLR) • Task-oriented • Accomplishment of objective • Little concern for employees or feelings • Relies on PM leadership ability and judgment • S2 (HTHR) • Strong behavioral relationships • Trust and understanding between the leader and subordinates • High task behavior due to lack of competency

15. Leadership Behaviors Explained • S3 (LTHR) • Pure relationship behavior • Leader more interested in gaining respect than achieving objectives • Delegation (sometimes excessive), participative management, and group decision-making • Employees no longer need directives and are self-motivated • S4 (LTLR) • Employees experienced in the job • Confident about their abilities • Trusted to handle work themselves

16. Types of Leadership • Democratic or Participative Leadership • Workers communicate with each other and involved in decision making process with PM • Large amount of authority delegated to team • Team has active role in management • S3 and S4 • Laissez-Faire Leadership • PM turns things over to workers • No active involvement by PM • S3

17. Types of Leadership • Autocratic Leadership • Focus on tasks and little concern for workers • PM has ultimate authority • S1

18. Proverbs and Laws • “The same work under the same conditions will be estimated differently by ten different estimators or by one estimator at ten different times” • “The most valuable and least used word in a project manager’s vocabulary is “NO.”

19. Proverbs and Laws • “You can con a sucker into committing to an unreasonable deadline, but you can’t bully him into meeting it.” • “You can freeze the user’s specs but he won’t stop expecting.” • “What is not on paper has not been said.”

20. Vendor Management • Large infrastructure projects • Establishment of undersea cables • Hospital • More than procurement • Acquiring goods and services from outside the organization

21. Vendor Management vs Procurement Management • Obtain goods and services for a project • Technical requirements • Schedule • Cost • Assessment, selection, administration and evaluation of supplier • Control cost and quality between buyer and seller • Define requirements, define requirements and work

22. Procurement Management • Business decisions of making or buying • Efficiency of supply chain • Tracking costs • Auditing invoices • Integrating pertinent data • Maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) • Standardized products

23. Vendor Management • Relates mostly to knowledge creation and sharing • Products acquired at early point in their life cycle • Strategic goods related to service creation

24. Vendor Management vs. Procurement Management

25. ISO/IEC-12207 • Need definition and procurement planning • Requirements definition • RFI • RFQ • RFP • Preselection (Short listing) – prepare bid proposal • Evaluation (Due-Diligence) – rank proposals • Supplier selection • Contractual agreement • Contract management and operation • Closeout

26. Vendor Types in Telecom Services • Technology vendors – hardware/software • Connectivity vendors – fill gaps in end-to-end links • Service vendors – installation of equipment, billing of end-customers, training, on-site support for remote locations, etc. • Consultants

27. Vendor Evaluation • Technology environment – vendor vision • Technology evaluation – level of mastering state-of-the art and emerging technologies • Markets/Competitors • Innovation process – short time to market (good and bad) • Support functions – training, consultation, etc • Acquisition and adaptation of new technologies

28. Equipment Vendor Evaluation • TL 9000 – GR-929-CORE • Product quality • Hardware failure rates • Software reliability estimates • Process quality • Quality of process • Time to respond to trouble, escalation time, resolution time • Percentage of patches released on time • Vendor support • Quality of help in installation and config of equipment • Quality of training • Quality of documentation

29. Connectivity Vendor Evaluation • Geographic coverage • Service lead tie • Availability and mean time to repair (MMTR) • Ability to provide adequate support • QoS

30. Communication with Vendors • Statement of Work • Deliverables • Failure rate • Schedule for service and deliverables • Acceptance criteria for product • Division of work and responsibilities • Formal procedures for change request • Intellectual property rights • Vendor support expectations • Location of work • Compensation • Delay penalties

31. Risk Management of Technology Vendors • Risk factors • Technology life cycle • Vendor type • Supply disruption • Congruence of supplier and service provider plans • Standardization • Intellectual property and knowledge management • Inadequate field support

32. Start-ups vs. Established Firms

33. Risk Mitigation Strategy • Requirements of service • Best practices • Hold vendors to contractual obligations (quality, delays in delivery, QoS) • Periodic meetings at mgmt. Level • Standardize interfaces in standard bodies

34. Connectivity Vendors • Interconnection agreement • User access where network operator has no access • Telehousing agreement • Provide floor space for network elements and spare parts • Specific housing requirements (raised floors, UPS, diesel generator, fire protection, access security, etc) • Maintenance and fault reporting • Full service through: • Infrastructure and customer access support • Network element deployment • Capacity planning • Forced agreement • Company forced to do business with another • Wired carriers allow competitor to have access

35. Pitfalls of Vendor Management • Multiple interfaces between vendor and supplier without centralized mgmt. • Expectations not clearly defined • Reasons of vendor selection that are not technical may not be obvious to team – affecting moral • Status of knowledge gained through exchange of information is ambiguous

36. Exam 1 Review