Project Managers are unique individuals that run unique projects. Projects are unique initiatives that have a specific scope, that must be done in a limited time, and that have a tight budget. Somehow good Project Managers remain unruffled no matter what the client comes up with next. At least that is how we like to see ourselves, but honestly this stretches the truth more than a little. For the most part Project Managers are passionate about getting the job done as best possible, fully aware that things often change in an I.T. project because the business does not remain static. The key to success is our ability to respond to change in a manner so that it does not cause the project to fail, which means that change has to be accommodated in a controlled fashion. More than any scheduling, change management is where I.T. Project Managers make a difference. Business benefits can be compromised if a project fails to meet scope, time, or cost objectives due to scope creep, or uncontrolled change, but necessary changes must be implemented if the product is to meet the client needs. Project quality demands a lot. It is not enough just to maintain updated schedules or to track progress to completion. Progress must reflect meaningful deliverables: it may be necessary from time to time to demand that the work is redone to get it right. Different resources may have to be mobilized to make sure the project does not go off track.

PM4HIRE.COM has the hands-on experience of eliciting business requirements, user requirements, and functional requirements in a manner that makes it easier to stay on top of change requests. We specialize in Information Technology projects. We have actively participated in programming and testing, so we understand the issues from a developer point of view. We do not make unreasonable demands from an ivory tower perspective, we work with developers to make sure all possible solutions are considered before plans are finalized. We remain current with the latest technologies to be able to deliver those kinds of projects that depend on current technologies. We teach Project Management, and we practice what we teach! Not only do we have experience in using many current Project Management software tools, we have developed many of our own tools that enable us to be exceptionally well positioned to take on many challenging projects. Many of these tools are made available exclusively through our seminar programs, to make sure people understand how to use these tools on projects you undertake in-house with your own staff. Our continuing hands-on involvement in developing specialized software provides us with a fresh perspective of what developers have to put up with, which is a major benefit in order to define project plans that work.

PM4HIRE.COM offers a proprietary Project Management Life Cycle methodology. Project Management is not a "prediction". Its main function is to intercept all pressures that might cause the project to exceed its time or budget objectives, or that might compromise the scope or quality of the final deliverables. We have developed the expertise to counteract these pressures and to deliver results on time. We have developed an ability to make tough decisions, and we are prepared to confront anyone who compromises the project, because we want the job done right. Above all, we do not like surprises, and we certainly are not shy about telling you when something is not on track in order to mobilize corrective action as early as possible, not as a last-ditch effort. But our goal is ultimately to stay in the background.

So maybe we do not set the world on fire...

Project Management is not about attracting all the attention, it is about getting things done. It is about removing barriers to progress, about finding ways to work smarter instead of harder, about keeping track of progress and the issues that interfere with progress. It is about communicating and reporting and keeping everyone that is connected to the project informed of the current status and of expectations. Ultimately it is about the product, not about us.

PM4HIRE.COM is keenly aware that visibility is diminished when things run like clockwork: we like it that way. We understand that projects are not run in isolation but as a part in a larger scheme that needs to be well coordinated, which means our projects may be delayed when higher priority projects are expedited. Eventually, with everyone coordinated and working at top efficiency, you may even wonder what we actually contribute to the project. We understand that too, and we see this as a great incentive to stay on top of our status reporting responsibilities. In many projects high visibility is not exactly a sign of great success, but rather of problems. After all, success is the expected outcome of a project. We understand that our clients appreciate a job well done without dwelling much on our role or on how we managed to get to end of job to deliver what the client wanted, in time and within budget. We also understand that clients may be preoccupied with other projects that are not managed according to our standards. Quietly doing our job and getting the results you want while we maintain complete control over everything that goes on in a project is what we believe to be a sufficient incentive to assign us the next project, and the next, and so on.

PM4HIRE.COM believes that the Project Manager is ultimately responsible for the quality of the project deliverables in accordance with the value of the deliverables to the client. This has become a major part of our focus, to make sure that the proper Quality Assurance initiatives are embedded in every project. After all, you can make sure that quality goes into a project, but you cannot hope to add quality by testing at the end. To find out so late in the project that there are fundamental problems is not a good strategy . Therefore we have to incorporate the right initiatives to make sure that any weaknesses are identified as early as possible. In our methodology the QA tasks are second to none, to make sure the project gets off to a good start and stays on track, to deliver everything the client wants and more, but without allowing scope creep. Scope creep merely diverts productive resources to deliver functionality that was never asked for and that is not authorized, which is different from a formal project change request (PCR). We explain that rejecting unauthorized changes is not intended to be difficult, but to protect the client investment from ill-conceived changes. Of course any project will incorporate strategic improvements that help the client improve their competitive advantage in the marketplace, but each PCR must be formally accounted for in terms of what impact it has on the project (and possibly on the resourcing of future projects if it causes the delivery dates to be pushed out). The bottom line is to maintain full control over the bottom line until the job is done.

The key to success is to keep things in perspective...

Project Management is basically very simple, it is just that there are so many dimensions to a project. As soon as you have dealt with one facet, another pops up to demand your attention. It does not stop until the project is over. It can be an exciting role for someone who likes to respond to constant challenge while at the same time maintaining a reassuring posture that everything is under control.

PM4HIRE.COM has the tools to make sure we stay on top of all the facets of a project. We do not limit our attention to just the "hot item du jour". In fact, we like to think that we can keep at least a couple of steps ahead of crisis conditions to smoothen the way for the development team. The reason is simple: we have a complete end-to-end focus of what is required to get an I.T. project from inception to completion. We have a proprietary Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that has proven effective over many different projects, or we are happy to work with your standard methodology. We can provide documentation templates for reports and design documents, unless you have your own. Quality is a major aspect of our business, and the right methodology goes a long way to getting the results you want. But that is not all there is to the way we run your projects. After all, it is not as if we do all the work by ourselves. We are seasoned developers and we know how to work with developers to maintain a flow of information about all the possible roadblocks that must be overcome. We do not ask people to explain themselves when things go off track, we ask what can be done to get things back on track and how we can facilitate remedial action. It is easy to take an idea, flesh it out on paper, put a budget together, draft a development schedule, and get rolling. It is a little more challenging to work out the technical details and to bring the concepts to life, that is where the real issues come out of the woodwork. Developers work with us, not for us, to meet those challenges!

PM4HIRE.COM provides the people management skills to attract the right people for the job, to keep them motivated, to challenge them to bigger and better results, and to look after them so that they are not burned out before the next project starts. We are keenly aware of the people challenges. We lead by example, manage by walking around, tackle problems by asking what obstacles we can possibly remove. We make sure that people know what is expected of them, but we also pay attention to what may be more than they can take on, even if they may not verbalize their concerns explicitly. We pay attention to training, a quality that has resulted in the development of comprehensive seminar programs. We do not consider ourselves exceptional: we think that these are the reasons why you hire a Project Manager in the first place. We are keenly aware of team dynamics, and how to communicate in order to get through to people. We help people to analyze problems and to consider alternative solutions. If necessary we will help them raise a PCR to account for any costly detours that turn out to be necessary to accomplish their goals. We never consider people inadequate when things do not go exactly as planned, because we know from experience that this is part of life in a project. Since pre-project funding tends to be limited and focused on discovering opportunities it can be difficult to unearth all the challenges that might derail the project. As a result, these challenges manifest themselves only after the project is started, so the trick is to flush out these "gotcha's" as early in the project as possible by tackling the most difficult aspects first. This way you have more time to find solutions and you can assign the brightest resources without risking the delivery date of the product.

PM4HIRE.COM is the real deal, not just someone who has managed to master a PC project planning software product, who then presents a schedule printout and calls it "the plan". Or someone who is occupied collecting weekly time reports and then thinks they are managing. High technology teams expect a lot more before they accept leadership and direction from a Project Manager: we know that because we have been there and done that. If you do not provide that expected leadership the project may well run out of control as the developers can say anything to a leader who simply accepts everything at face value. Or, a leader who may be willing to make promises, or to compromise, without understanding the consequences to the project. That is why we are hands-on and involved: to work with the team rather than to lead the team from a distance. The result is that we know status from observation rather than from second hand information that is supplied on request. That is our version of controlling a project.