Mid-range Project Management Tools for Government

April 17, 2008

Mid-range Project Management Tools for Government

Government Agencies have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure project success. Trust and Verify should be credo for all projects

Developing an RFP is not an easy task. What with putting out sources sought and RFIs and all the work required for vetting responses and then coming up with a single document that successfully defines the problem, outlines the project parameters, and list the criteria for evaluation and successful award are a true test for agency officials.

How come after contract award and all of the happy talk, getting-to-know sessions and project governance rules, projects still fail or result in limited deliverables? How come there are always surprises? Why the numerous project post mortems and finger pointing?

Oftentimes the problems arise because of poor execution and even poorer communications between the two parties.

A project manager must perform like an orchestra conductor. He/she must turn their back to their audience (the ultimate customers) and wave the baton to the orchestra’s player’s (awardee(s)) trying to solicit unique notes from each team member, while keeping them all in sync to obtain the desired results.

An orchestra maestro is not required to be an expert at playing all instruments, but he must have an understanding of the acceptable output from each instrument. And if he senses any notes that are going astray he must take immediate steps to guide the player back on course. Live performances do not get to do a redo.

To summarize, the contract awardee may have many subs with a variety of roles and skills and who in turn may employ numerous persons with different execution skills. The government project leader must coordinate this risky proposition. No wonder projects are difficult to control.

Project difficulties often happens not for lack of tools. Hugh sums have been invested in complicated project tracking systems, but the understanding of these ‘big-iron” systems are often tenuous. A single project tool may not do the job.

When you purchase a vacuum cleaner it comes equipped with a variety of nozzle types and sizes. This is because you’ll not be effective if you choose to vacuum the stairs with the larger size nozzle. Thus the need for multiple flavors of project management tools for the multiple stages of a project.

Here’s what goes on in a typical project.

The Principal project manager is assigned and he briefs his subordinates as to the project charter. A timeline of high level issues is hammered out and inputted into a big project management software system.

Sub contractors are brought in at their required stages and they perform their tasks to the best of their abilities. This is the ideal, but reality is different.

Delays occur, personnel are rotated, change orders impact schedules, project managers are reassigned and budgets are strained as cash flow becomes the only thing that is managed.

	The Problems	TaskCaddy Solutions
1	Difficult definition of Task Orders	Capture tasks from the “big-iron” system
2	Rapidity of results of tasks	Use mobile tools to capture info at the point of use
3	Prime feedback from Sub	Utilize an affordable PM system for feedback
4	Qualification of task worker	Build into TaskCaddy system
5	How to granulate project elements	Ability to define and follow all tasks steps
6	Forest from the trees complications	System is easy to use and has smaller footprint
7	Rotation of personnel severs project institutional memories	TaskCaddy serves as a repository for all projects correspondence, notes and FAQs.
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For more information on how Government agencies could benefit from the utilization of affordable field services technologies go to www.taskcaddy.com

Instant Benefits from TaskCaddy

1. Using the TaskCaddy system, the project manager can input all task orders into the database. Task steps are defined once, and used often, so that the job ticket creation for routine maintenance projects is dramatically speeded up.
2. All job standards – Task duration, scheduled stat time, planned material usage and other costs are measured against actual
3. The field tech can print the work acknowledgement directly unto a mobile printer in the presence of the customer, thus speeding up the approval process and reducing return calls, faxes and unnecessary correspondence
4. Using TaskCaddy, the supervisor would match the technician with the assignment before deploying the project
5. Using TaskCaddy, the supervisor would attach installation instructions and other support material if required, to be viewed on the PDA or on the host server via the mobile device
6. Using TaskCaddy, the supervisor may automatically assign multiple projects to multiple techs (paperless)
7. Using TaskCaddy, the system would match tasks by qualifications and certifications
8. Using TaskCaddy, the tech start-stop activity would be logged and sent to the main server
9. Using TaskCaddy, the tech would capture an electronic customer signature and print a service acknowledgement
10. Using TaskCaddy, the system would automatically compute inventory usage upon job completion
11. TaskCaddy provides the ability to store and reuse estimates from previously completed jobs for current or future use
12. You can Incorporate the ability to use GPS for driving optimization and Location Based Tracking
13. Using TaskCaddy a field tech has the ability to take a before and after photo capture of the job site
14. Using TaskCaddy mangers can capture the task completion metrics and feed to Excel or other business reporting systems

For more information on how Government agencies could benefit from the utilization of affordable field services technologies go to www.taskcaddy.com

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