John Webster - PM Down Under

Smoke and Mirrors? Systems Development in the City of London 2007

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Pragmatic Programming rules the day. A conversation with a veteran systems developer in the City reveals what really happens in at least one institution.

Qualifications

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Is there a place for lower-level Project Management qualifications? How do we create a pathway to PMP?

New Government Projects

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Sun, 27 May 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Australia and New Zealand governments have recently announced their budgets for the year ahead, and as usual the governemnt departments have started announcing the projects they will be spending money on.

Analysing a contract

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Thu, 24 May 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Started the day on the beach walking the dog as the sun came up. A great way to clear the mind for the day ahead.

Today's class exercise is to analyse a typical contract for the acquisition of a small to medium sized software development project. Most students have never seen a legal contract, let alone analysed one, so this exercise introduces a touch of practicality.

I use one of the ITANZ sample contracts (see previous blog) and divide the class into pairs, one representing the purchaser and one the supplier (or vendor, as IS organisations seem to like to call themselves - it seems less pushy than 'seller'). Their job is to discover the constraints that the contract places on them, and to add tasks to the project plan where necessary to enable the managing of the contract.

Ideally, having done that, the contract can be filed away and should only need to be referred to if major problems arise.

And while the procurement knowledge area may not seem to be the most exciting for students, I've found in 'real life' there's a real buzz in negotiating a win-win deal that makes everyone happy. It's called 'doing business'.

Recommended Resource

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Wed, 23 May 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Guidelines for IT Procurement, Services, Software Outsourcing etc.

The word is out

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Tue, 22 May 2007 12:00:00 GMT

At last, the word is out. The ISSIG newsletter reports that Tim and I are here, live in cyberspace. Open all hours, visitors welcome.

We're near the end of our course and the students are trying to come up with atopic for their final assignment. One that should be interesting is from a ni-Vanuatu on cross-cultural communication in project teams. (ni-Vanuatu is a native of Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation that the colonialists (British and French) called the New Hebrides). It was ruled as a condominium jointly by France and Britain - but they didn't get on very well and it became known as more of a pandemonium than a condominium).

Voluntary Labour

john.webster@clear.net.nz — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Start with a bang? Is this an example of the cobblers children (being the worst shod)? This project has been on the go for almost all this year and has missed its original deadlines. This is not unusual when dealing with volunteers who have another life they need to maintain to pay the bills. It's an interesting topic - how to work with volunteers. You don't have the same authority or power relationship - you can't discipline them (or they'll pick up their ball and go home). Or can you? How can you work effectively on a project staffed by volunteers?

The Lessons Learned report should be interesting.