PMIS and Project Management Software

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About this lesson

The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is the method that the project manager and core team use to share and disseminate project information.  It often is based upon the use of a project management software application.

Quick reference

PMIS and Project Management Software

The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is the method that the project manager and core team use to share and disseminate project information.  It often is based upon the use of a project management software application.

When to use

The PMIS is used to coordinate and disseminate the baseline plan and it is used throughout project execution for tracking progress.  If the project pulsing meetings are virtual meetings, the PMIS is often the focal point during those meetings for status update and issue identification.

Instructions

A PMIS is at the heart of the project knowledge management approach.  It is a major and crucial element of project communication on large complex projects.  On these projects, you cannot rely on “hallway meetings” and emails to keep track of all the project communication and information.  Even on small project with only two or three team members, if they are not co-located, a PMIS is often needed. The characteristics of a PMIS are unique to each organization.  The PMIS must be acceptable to the organizational culture and compatible with the project management approach of the core team and the stakeholders.  PMIS systems can be categorized into three types.  In some cases, I have seen hybrids used effectively.

Project management software

There are many different project management software applications available.  In a recent study I did for a client, I reviewed 74 different commercially available applications.  Each application had strengths and weaknesses.  Generally, software is at its most useful when the project is complex and has many interactions that must be managed.  Some application manage the schedule interactions well, and some manage the resources interactions well.  Some applications focus on document sharing and storage, others on project analytics.  However, in all cases, I found that project team members need to be trained how to use the software – the applications were typically not intuitive.  Without proper training, the team members do not use the software as it is designed and the team soon has the problems of the project software is not current, or correct; which results in the classic software problem of “garbage in – garbage out.”

Spreadsheet

Yes, I know that spreadsheets applications are also software.  However, spreadsheets are not designed to be project management software applications; they are designed to manage and manipulate numeric data; which they generally do very well.  Many of the project management planning and tracking tools lend themselves to a spreadsheet format (WBS Dictionary, Responsibility Matrix, Risk Register, Task List Schedule, Issue Log, Stakeholder Register, and Budget Baseline).  In my experience, managing small projects using a shared spreadsheet is more efficient and just as effective as using project management software.  The important point is that it is a small project.  Large projects have many interconnections between tasks, dates, and resources.  It is very difficult to create a spreadsheet that will automatically update all those interactions.  When that is the case on your project, use project management software.

Notes on the whiteboard

Another approach that is often used with small co-located teams is to manage the projects with notes on a whiteboard that is maintained in some central meetings area.  The advantages to this approach are that it is visual, easy to understand, easy to update, and doesn’t require special training.  This is often the approach used with project teams that are managing a crisis project.  It is also the way many AGILE/Scrum teams manage their scrum board and burndown chart.  I have often used this approach with small co-located teams where we plan the project on the whiteboard and then update the project status with notes on the board.  The biggest limitation with this approach has been that the team had to be co-located.  There are now some virtual team software applications that allow virtual teams to use this approach.

Definitions

Manage Project Knowledge: “The process of using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to organizational learning.” PMBOK® Guide

Project Management Information System (PMIS): “An information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes.” PMBOK® Guide

These definitions are taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017.

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  • 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Let's talk about the use of project management information system and
  • 00:09 project management software.
  • 00:11 These are aids to a project leader and the core team to assist them to manage
  • 00:15 the project information including communicating decisions.
  • 00:19 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines project
  • 00:24 management knowledge as, the process of using existing knowledge and
  • 00:27 creating new knowledge to achieve the project's objectives and
  • 00:31 contribute to organizational learning.
  • 00:33 The project team is constantly learning about their project and
  • 00:36 the tasks that they are accomplishing.
  • 00:38 They find out what is working and what is not.
  • 00:41 And as they gain this experience, they can create more accurate estimates for
  • 00:45 the remaining work.
  • 00:47 The project team should use the knowledge to improve and update the project plan.
  • 00:51 There's nothing like first-hand experience to improve performance.
  • 00:55 In addition, this knowledge should be captured in the project lessons learned so
  • 00:58 that it can be passed onto other projects.
  • 01:01 We don't want each project to reinvent the will.
  • 01:04 One of the things that would help the team to do this is a project management
  • 01:07 information system or PMIS.
  • 01:09 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide defines PMIS as,
  • 01:13 an information system consisting of the tools, techniques used to gather,
  • 01:17 integrate, and disseminate the outputs of the project management processes.
  • 01:21 The project leader normally is in charge of implementing the PMIS on the project,
  • 01:25 and when used well, all of the core team members will actively participate with it.
  • 01:30 Complex projects often have lots of information requirements and
  • 01:33 lots of knowledge being created at any given time.
  • 01:37 Therefore, on the projects a software-based PMIS is often best.
  • 01:41 That will be scalable and accessible.
  • 01:44 And projects with the remote team members or
  • 01:46 at least team members who are not co-located rely on a PMIS to integrate
  • 01:50 project management information both planning and control.
  • 01:54 Let's look at some different types of PMIS and how they operate.
  • 01:57 The first type of PMIS is project management software.
  • 02:00 There are many different types of project management software available.
  • 02:03 A few years ago, I did a quick report for a client on the different applications.
  • 02:07 And at that time, there were 74 different commercial applications that advertised
  • 02:11 themselves as project management software.
  • 02:14 The advantage of most PMIS software applications
  • 02:17 is that it manages complexity well.
  • 02:19 The difficulty is that they usually take special training to manage the software
  • 02:23 features needed to handle all of that complexity.
  • 02:26 Another approach which I find used frequently, is for
  • 02:29 the team to work with a shared spreadsheet or a simple shared database.
  • 02:33 In this case, everyone's able to put their data into the spreadsheet and
  • 02:37 they can see the data that other team members have loaded.
  • 02:40 This approach makes it easy to manage the project with simple tables and charts.
  • 02:44 However, the disadvantages that is difficult to manage complex interactions
  • 02:48 between task resources on the project.
  • 02:51 The third approach is often used by a co-located team.
  • 02:55 In this case, the project team has a dedicated meeting space and
  • 02:58 the project plan and issues are posted on the wall.
  • 03:02 I often use this approach with small ad hoc projects that are rapidly unfolding.
  • 03:07 Its advantages that it's quick and simple and visual.
  • 03:10 Of course, the disadvantage is that,
  • 03:11 you need to have the entire team there at the whiteboard.
  • 03:14 So if there are remote team members, this can be a difficult approach to implement.
  • 03:19 I wanna take just a few minutes to talk about the use of
  • 03:22 project management software.
  • 03:24 Software is a tool to help the project team.
  • 03:27 You do not want to became a slave to your software.
  • 03:30 The software provides information about the impact of decisions and
  • 03:33 risks on the project.
  • 03:34 Some software applications tried to put in rules for
  • 03:37 how the project should be planned or managed.
  • 03:39 And therefore, well in essence, take the management out of your hands.
  • 03:43 Don't let it, you are responsible for your project's success or
  • 03:46 failure, not the software.
  • 03:49 The more complex the project, the more value you get from the software.
  • 03:52 It can tell you the impact of a project change or risk event in seconds.
  • 03:56 So when I have a complex project,
  • 03:58 I will definitely be using project management software.
  • 04:01 However, creating the initial baseline and
  • 04:03 maintaining the project status on many software programs is burdensome.
  • 04:07 It can easily take hours or days to create a baseline.
  • 04:11 Few other comments on software.
  • 04:14 Many of the project management software applications are great for
  • 04:17 analyzing interdependencies between tasks and activities.
  • 04:20 If you have a complex project, you'll have lots of those.
  • 04:22 And again, most of the applications will allow you to integrate multiple projects
  • 04:27 from multiple sources.
  • 04:28 Finally, most applications have created some powerful reporting capabilities in
  • 04:33 dashboards.
  • 04:34 Some focus on schedules, others on budget or resources.
  • 04:37 These will ease the creation of project reports.
  • 04:40 However, there are also some limitations.
  • 04:42 Each application has something that they're good at.
  • 04:44 But very few are able to manage all three sides
  • 04:47 of the project management triple constraint triangle well.
  • 04:51 And these are very complex.
  • 04:53 As with any software program we must be aware of garbage in and garbage out.
  • 04:57 If there are omissions, errors, or
  • 04:59 if it's not up to date, it will give you bad information.
  • 05:02 If you wanna use a full-functioning project manager software application,
  • 05:06 you will need to invest in some training for the whole team.
  • 05:10 One final reminder, you are the project manager.
  • 05:13 Don't let the software make all your decisions.
  • 05:15 It's a tool, not the boss.
  • 05:18 As your organization moves into the digital age,
  • 05:21 knowledge management has become more important.
  • 05:24 Use the tools that fit your project and your project team.

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