My First Project

By Vamsi Krishna

Sameera, a wannabe project manager, lands herself in a rare opportunity of managing a project. She finds a book for help, in which a hare and a tortoise learn project management for managing a wedding event in the lion pride. They learn from the book, through debate and from everything around them. The theories blend with intuition, interspersed with real life examples, making it all seem very natural. Sameera not only completes her project successfully but becomes a confident project manager, who understands the core of project management.

My First Project makes learning entertaining. The motivation starts from the need to solve a practical problem. Then the applicable theories are presented, followed by illustrative examples. This is followed by applying the knowledge to real life examples. The students and the practitioners may be encouraged to think originally while buttressing the basics of project management. The book is also an entertaining reading to all. It is especially useful if you want to demystify project management and imbibe its essence into your daily life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vamsi Krishna
• Release date: Oct 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311976710

Vamsi Krishna

Vamsi Krishna is a senior business consultant in strategy, program management, statistical modeling, operations and IT. He is a promoter director of www.healthscribes.com and a partner in Mantri Consulting Partners. He has an MBA from IIM Calcutta, a premier B School in Asia.He has published in journals on systems dynamics modeling.

Book preview

My First Project

By Vamsi Krishna

Copyright 2013 Vamsi Krishna

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition,Licence Notes

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Unexpected Promotion

Chapter 2 - The Mysterious Old Man

Chapter 3 - Hare Starts to Learn

Chapter 4 - Sameera Makes an Impression

Chapter 5 - Mr. Hafeez Plans Birthday Party

Chapter 6 - Aunt Mary to Rescue

Chapter 7 - No Magic Formula

Chapter 8 - Hare and Tortoise Rack Their Brains

Chapter 9 - Putting it all Together

Chapter 10 - The Missing Requirement

Chapter 11 - The Catch 22 Situation

Chapter 12 - The Wisdom of Eagle

Chapter 13 - Common Sense and Iterations

Chapter 14 - Sameera Steps up

Chapter 15 - The Cuckoo Company

Chapter 16 - Deal With the Work Parasite

Chapter 17 - Ant Wonder

Chapter 18 - Everyone is Packing

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1 - The Unexpected Promotion

It was a lazy Monday morning. Praveen still had the hangover of the weekend. He along with his wife went forest trekking. It was nice and tiring. Sadly, he thought, Monday is here. Moreover, Dave wanted to discuss something important first thing in the morning. The last thing in the evening in the US, where Dave lived, meant the first thing in the morning in India. In any case, all Mondays usually start with some important meeting, Praveen rationalized to himself.

Praveen reached his workplace, walked into a meeting room and closed the glass door behind him. When he switched on the lights, the swanky little meeting room came alive with wooden laminated walls on three sides and a see through glass wall on one side. There was a glass top oval table in the centre with six, black, ergonomically designed chairs around it.

Praveen switched the speaker phone on and dialled in a long number. He listened as the phone rang on the other side.

Is this Praveen? said the voice on the speaker.

Hi Dave, good evening!

How are you Praveen? greeted Dave.

Good Dave, how do you do? Praveen said as he looked at a group of three people- two guys and a girl- walk past the room. They cast a little look into the room in between their engrossing conversation as they walked by.

I am good, said Dave and quickly added look Praveen, a new Project has come up. My guess is about seven man months roughly. You have to start it from Monday.

Praveen was surprised. Dave, my hands are full. There are three major Projects with me now, he said.

I know that, chuckled Dave, let me give you the background. This is one of the fifty top banks in the world. This account has been with Intermode since the last few years. Somehow, Simon got a peep inside through one of his contacts. Apparently, the bank is not happy with Intermode and is going to shop very soon. Simon managed to bag a small Project that one of the Bank Directors wanted to get done rather quickly. If we get this right, we can replace Intermode this year. That is a multi-million account in prospect, right?

Praveen had worked briefly with Intermode before he quit and joined El Dorado two years ago. He thought Intermode under sells to get business. They drop their price to ridiculously low levels to win an account. Then to save margins, the company does two things. First, it pays the employees very less. Second, it makes them put in long hours. But this strategy does not work well as the quality of work suffers. Intermode does not retain many clients, and even when they do, they would further cut the price.

By the way, you worked with Simon, right? asked Dave.

Yes, I did.

Good. He will be managing this account paused Dave, the Chairman is also very keen to get this account, right? He says if we get a foot in the door, it is very easy to replace Intermode and to prevent the bank from shopping further.

Yes Dave, I understand. But all I am saying is that I have enough on hand. Can’t we look at someone else for this?

Praveen, you are missing my point, said Dave.

What did I miss?

Tell me the status of Ricardo Mobile.

It is going very very well, said Praveen emphatically, no outages, client is happy, and we will hand over as planned in the next two months.

Precisely! said Dave.

Praveen did not understand. He remained silent and waited.

How will you bill the two senior Project Managers and their large teams? Would you like all of them to go to bench and pray for another Project to land after you finish Ricardo Mobile? asked Dave.

No! said Praveen firmly. He knew that being 'on the bench' is like hanging by a thread. You draw salary without doing any work. You will be the first to go when trouble arrives.

And think of your bonus, right? If you keep even half of the team on the bench, you will miss your billing target.

El Dorado discovered what all other IT companies eventually do. The best way to keep a services business profitable is to make sure that all employees are always assigned to a Project. Employees on a Project are billed to the client. For others who are on bench, the company has to bear the cost of their salaries.

Having discovered only the obvious, El Dorado went ahead and followed another obvious strategy. They linked the bonus of all senior management to billing. All people under a Manager should be billed for at least eleven months in a year for the manager to qualify for bonus. More billing percentage meant more bonus.

Ok, said Praveen with a big sigh, I get your point.

Dave knew he had got him.

Listen now. Find a good Project Manager and at least two resources for this by the end of this week. The work has to start from Monday, which I promised to the Chairman. He is keen on this account, right? Simon’s take is that we have to deliver this in two months. You must be releasing people from Ricardo Mobile now, right?

Praveen thought for a while and said, I can release some as the Project is closing shortly. But I do not have a Project Manager within. I am not sure if we can hire someone by next week also. May I manage it myself?

No, said Dave firmly, you will not have time to manage it yourself. You have to find someone quickly. Ask other teams if they can release any.

Praveen laughed and said sarcastically, Folks here may release their spouses but not their Project Managers.

"Ok, listen. This is an important account for the company and the Chairman is keen on this. It will also stand you in good stead with the top management. And think about bonus. Now you have five working days and a weekend to look for a good Project Manager, right?"

Praveen remained silent.

Praveen, what say you? asked Dave after a while.

Will find someone said Praveen to Dave, and as if I have a choice to himself.

That’s good. Call my mobile for anything. By the way, I will come there mid next week. I hope you will have everything organized by then.

Ok

Now if you allow me, I shall go to douse some fire at home and save my marriage.

Praveen smiled and said Wish you good luck!

Yeah, I need a lot of luck. Catch ya later, Dave hung up.

****X****

Praveen walked out of the meeting room looking rather exhausted. He knew the importance of building a pipeline of Projects. Early in his career, he thought that it is the job of sales people to get business. Not only that. He used to think that they should get only as many Projects as the delivery team can handle. But the timing never worked out; sometimes people used to sit idle without work, and at other times, there used to be too much work.

After spending more than fifteen years in the IT industry, and after seeing massive retrenchments in 2001 and in 2009, he grew wiser. Now he knows that the only way to get a good pay cheque every month is to make sure that there is enough work to do. The more Projects his company has, the more stable his salary and savings would be. This realization made him take the bumps along the ride in his stride. In fact, he thinks that having more than one can handle is a good sign for the business.

Later in the day, Praveen inquired with the Human Resources.

We do not have any managers on the bench, sorry said the lady as a matter of fact.

The billing drive is really working well, no one on the bench! said Praveen sarcastically.

The lady held her gaze as if asking him, What else?

Can you hire someone?

The lady leaned forward, looked straight into Praveen’s eyes, and said, Hire someone who can start work from Monday?

Praveen smiled. Thanks. See if anything is possible.

Will send some CVs in any case, he heard the lady say as he walked away.

Praveen felt heavy as he sat down in his chair and looked up at his desk. He forgot something important since morning. He slowly picked up the phone and dialled a number. He waited as the phone rang. When the phone was answered, he said, We can’t go to Europe this summer….it’s a new Project…… I don’t know when, let’s see after a couple of months…..or you go to your parents’ place, they wanted to see you. It will be some change…, he heard the phone disconnect while he was still talking.

Can’t help it he said to himself as he kept the phone down, she will come around by tomorrow.

He looked at the computer screen on his desk that read, This system has been locked by Praveen C, Please enter the password to unlock. He keyed in the password and saw a long list of unread emails in his inbox. He took a deep breath and clicked the icon that read 'Sort by importance'. He saw the long list shuffle as the emails were sorted.

The top most email had the subject 'Approval pending for Project Management Training’.

Is this the most important task for the day? Praveen said to himself sarcastically as he clicked the email open. It read: Nominations for PMI Training will close at 12PM today. You can nominate one person from within your team. The applicants from your team are:

1 . Riaz Muhammad

2 . Ved Prakash

3 . Keerti Jain

4 . Sameera Dushyant

5 . Stevens Sampath

Oh, it closes today, realized Praveen. He looked perplexed as he tried to think whom to nominate for the training. And then, his face lit up.

He picked up his phone and dialled a 3-digit number.

Sameera, he said, can you come once? and then hung up the phone.

He then saw the next email in the list. 'Project Report to-be-sent', read the subject line. When he clicked it open, it read, Please review. The report is due for submission to Ricardo Committee today eod- Neeraj.

Okay, said Praveen to himself as he clicked the attachment to download. He then heard Hi Praveen.

He turned around and saw a lady in front of him. There is nothing particular about this lady. She dresses in simple cotton salwars, wears no noticeable makeup or perfume, and has a plain hair-do. She comes on time, works late when required, does not gossip in the office, and most of the time she keeps just to herself. She also looks tired quite often, perhaps because she puts in more hours while her colleagues take frequent coffee breaks. She eats at her desk to save time. That helps her leave on time on some days, while her colleagues stayed late almost every day, but only to complete lesser work than she did.

How are you Sameera? greeted Praveen, gesticulating her to sit.

Good Praveen, said Sameera as she sat.

I have five applicants for the PMP Training, including you. And a budget for one, he smiled.

Yes…so? asked Sameera apprehensively.

Ok, he said relaxing in his seat, I want to know why you want to do this training.

Sameera thought for a moment. He is not saying my self-nomination is rejected. At least not yet! she thought.

She gathered her thoughts and said, "It is seven years since I have been coding. The last two years, I have been the team lead. My team is also happy with me, and…,"she hesitated for a moment.

Go on, encouraged Praveen.

Sameera does not open up with many people, and particularly with her superiors. Praveen is Neeraj’s boss, and Neeraj is her boss. But she is comfortable with Praveen somehow.

Last time when Neeraj was on leave, I had to manage everything for five weeks. I think I did ok. And in the team meeting, you too said that I can make a good Project Manager, she felt embarrassed as she said that.

Praveen noticed her discomfort. He said, Sameera, in a corporate job, you have to speak for yourself. Otherwise, people will take you for granted. Look at some of your colleagues. They boast even when they cannot even do basic stuff. Here no one looks at your work, they look at how you look, and added, And of course, how you talk or project.

Sameera smiled at the last sentence. I know, she said to herself. But soon enough the questioning look returned on her face.

I know, said Praveen, you are only interested in PMP Training.

Sameera’s silence was a confirmation.

Well here’s how it is. I see that you work hard. You usually complete whatever is given to you. Your team is also happy with you, Praveen noticed that Sameera was warming up to the discussion. I can send you for the training if you can grow to become a Project Manager. The training will be an investment in you, he said.

What is he trying to get at? thought Sameera.

I have a small Project starting on Monday and I want you to manage it.

Now I know. You don’t have anyone to manage that Project. That is what this is all about, Sameera said to herself.

But what about Ricardo Mobile? she put up a straight face, concealing her thoughts.

You know it is coming to a close, and Neeraj can overmanage that through the last mile.

But the training starts in July?!

You can opt for the second batch, which is two months ahead. We split it into two batches to minimize the impact on ongoing Projects.

Sameera thought for a moment and said, But I think it's better if I take up a Project after the training. She was more interested in her PMP certification. Projects can come later. But the PMP certification improves her employability and potential income.

Praveen smiled at himself. What a lady? he thought, People crave for higher roles and promotions, without even thinking once if they are ready for additional responsibility. And here is Sameera, diffident and hesitant, who believes that slow and steady wins the race - like the Tortoise. All we find around are Hares who want to run very fast.

I wish things work so nicely Sameera. A known devil is better than an unknown angel. You are the known devil, smiled Praveen as he said that, You work hard and sincere. I am right here to help you. With some stretch you can pull this off. Then it will be easy for me to recommend you for a promotion.

Sameera kept staring. She was not prepared for this. It took time to sink in.

And it is a good opportunity. On-the-job training along followed by formal PMP lessons, Praveen persuaded her.

Praveen knew something more about Sameera. He had a performance appraisal discussion with her a couple of months ago, where they talked about her interpersonal relationships at work. Sameera does not spend time with her colleagues at work. When they go for a team lunch, she goes home. When there is an office picnic, she makes sure that she does not join. She is rarely found chatting with any one at work. Praveen thought she has interpersonal issues and he gave her the feedback.

But he realized he was wrong when Sameera explained her behaviour to him.

Sameera has two children - a three year old and a five year old. Her husband gave up a corporate job to start a business. But it did not take off well and he had been struggling to keep his nose above water. He says that he works twice as hard in his business as he did in a job, but earns nothing much in return.

Sameera is anyway career-oriented. She does not enjoy being at home. When she had to spend two months without a job post her wedding, she almost went into depression. But now, given the status of her husband’s business, Sameera is doubly resolved to work even harder. That is the only way she feels secure about future. Like fuel added to fire, an ambitious person has been pushed into greater responsibility.

But at the same time, she thought that she does not spend enough time with her kids. Sameera’s mother stays with them to take care of the children. But her mother is not particularly fond of kids. Every day at work, Sameera has a nagging feeling to be home as soon as she could so as to spend time with her kids, and to relieve her mother of the unwanted duty.

Because of this, she tries to finish all her work on time so as to reach home as early as possible. An office outing or a picnic is an opportunity for her to spend time with her children.

Tough life, Praveen thought whenever he remembered Sameera. He had always wanted to help her. Now he has the opportunity. He can provide her on-the-job training with this Project, sponsor her for the PMP training, and also help her with a promotion if she does this well. If all falls into place, he will also have found his Project Manager.

In the given circumstances, she was his best bet. She is ambitious, she needs money, and she is technically sound to manage delivery issues. All she needs is a bit of managerial knowledge and skills.

Sameera was relieved that the discussion is heading in her favour. She can not only get the training, but also work towards her promotion.

So…are you game? asked Praveen.