Everything, Everywhere and Everybody’s Project
In case you have not noticed, there is a new web that has been emerging and is taking over the internet, and promises to change our lives forever. The new web environment is called Web 2.01 and has taken root in company offices, private homes, government and the connective tissue of cell phones and WiFi (wireless) devices. A now famous Web 2.0 map2 is shown.
This second generation web environment has imposed itself by virtue of new web services and applications available mostly for free and which quickly replaced traditional internet applications. Such services include: blogs, wikis, internet telephony (called Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP) and web applications are proliferating into company and project offices such as Yahoo 360° and Xanga blogs, Skype IP telephony, Jotspot and Socialtext Wikis, and advanced Google Desktop search engine.
Project managers will look and feel great in this environment as they will finally see their wishes come true: a live-collaborative and team-spirited project environment. Web 2.0 services will streamline project execution and control, smooth communication, promote innovation and change forever traditional project thinking and management.
Project Wiki
Project managers can benefit from a powerful web service called wiki. Wiki, which means quick in Hawaiian, is simply a website that allows people to edit its contents without knowing the web programming language HTML. One common wiki application is the free internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Unlike traditional static web pages, that can only be read, a wiki can be readily accessed by everyone, everywhere and they can add, edit, delete, append and update content. Research firm, Gartner Group,3 predicts that wikis will become mainstream collaboration tools in at least 50% of companies by 2009.
Project managers can utilize this tool to transform the project office into a live and ubiquitous environment. A project wiki can facilitate the following tasks:
- Project Meeting Agendas and Minutes
- Collaboration on Project Documentation
- Solicit and Keep Track of Ideas
- Project Dashboard (Project Vital Signs)
- Calendars
- Upload Project Files and Advance Search Tools
- Project Photo Albums
- To-Do Lists
- Contact Manager with E-mail Integration
- Forums and Invited Comments
- Establish a Project Office Intranet
- Integrate Spreadsheets, Schedules, Calendars, and other Applications
Project Transformation
To demonstrate the power of wikis, a project manager can post to the wiki a proposed meeting agenda, inviting direct input from team members, thus saving tedious e-mail messages and phone calls or preliminary meetings. Once the meeting is conducted, proposed minutes are posted for input and comments, almost eliminating the need for a PM meeting scribe. In one case,4 this resulted in reducing e-mail traffic volume by 75%, and slashed meeting time in half, thanks to group input and collaboration.
Table 1 shows a comparison between traditional PM emphasis and the one offered by the wiki collaborative environment.
Table 1 |
|
Traditional PM Emphasis |
Project Wiki Emphasis |
| Centralization |
Decentralization |
| Authoritarian |
Collaborative |
| Hierarchy Organization |
Flat Organization |
| Project Manager |
Project Team |
| Permission Required |
Empowerment |
| Central Files |
Project Intranet File Cabinet |
| Hard Copy Documents |
Documented Digital Media |
| Limited/Restricted Access |
Organized/Unlimited Access |
| Local Access |
Global/Live Access |
| Rigid PM Policies |
Flexible/Adaptable Policies |
| Limited Communication |
Unlimited Communication |
We should stop viewing projects as merely an opportunity for management authority but rather model them and interact with them as empowered teams in a live and realistic view. The proposed transformation is shown in the following figures:
 |
 |
 |
Old Approach, New Model for Projects
A project manager can set up a project wiki page in a minute. A number of wiki service providers are available, however www.Jotspot.com or www.Socialtext.com seem to standout. Once a project wiki page is created, a PM may invite project members and stakeholders into the wiki page, a people’s page is created identifying everyone’s role and contact information. Subsequently team members may setup blogs, which act as personal diary pages posting comments and photos. Finally project applications maybe added such as calendars, file cabinets, meeting agendas and other services.
The following figure shows a proposed model for a project wiki page.
This model promises to improve project delivery by streamlining communication and focusing the team on real project issues. But most importantly, it is a model that promises to boost project quality assurance by reducing errors and provides for better risk management. The project wiki becomes a live project office to some extent.
In his book, The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki5 states that groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them. Groups do not need to be dominated by exceptionally intelligent people in order to be smart. He also stresses that decentralization’s greatest strength is that it encourages independence and specialization on the one hand while still allowing people to coordinate their activities and solve difficult problems. This may not be a new philosophy or management approach; however the emergence of web 2.0 services will transform projects immediately and show instant benefits to everyone.
Unlimited Project Medium
The web is a rich environment for project management to excel and develop. With 4.5 billion pages, 16 million websites and 200 Terabyte (1 Terabyte = 1000 GB) archive6, it promises to become a natural medium to better manage and control project activities.
Table 2 shows a few technology tools that can assist project managers and help streamline project office operations. Project managers are encouraged to experiment with these tools, all of which will require high speed broadband access such as DSL or better. It is becoming critical to be wired at the job site and at the project office. We might even see applications of voice-activated technology or speech directed work7 appearing on project sites soon. Of course there is already MySpace.com and YouTube.com! Project management is about to change forever.
Table 2 |
|||||
Technology |
Description |
Project Application |
Product |
Website |
Cost |
| IP Telephony |
Voice, Data and Chat over the Internet |
|
Skype |
Skype.com |
|
| Blogs |
Personal web page for daily diary and photo entries and sharing with others |
|
Yahoo 360º Typepad Live Journal Xanga Blogger Wordpress |
360.yahoo.com Typepad.com Livejournal.com Xanga.com Blogger.com Wordpress.com |
Free Additional Features are available at Cost |
| WI-FI |
Wireless Communication |
|
Most Mobile Services: Sprint, Nextel, AT&T, T-Mobile, …etc. |
Sprint.com Verizonwireless.com Cingular.com t-mobile.com |
DSL and Cellular phone rates |
| WiKi |
Collaborative writing & editing |
|
Jotspot Social Text |
Jotspot.com Socialtext.com |
Free Additional Features at Cost |
| Voice E-Mail |
Include voice messages and chat in e-mail |
|
Yahoo Messenger |
messenger.yahoo.com |
Free |
| Telecommuting and file access flexibility |
Load files to a secure internet site |
|
Yahoo Briefcase |
briefcase.yahoo.com |
Free 30 MB of space |
| Search Engine |
Search your PC project archives |
|
Google Desktop |
desktop.google.com |
Free |
1 The term Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of services that lets people collaborate and share information online. O’Reilly Media and MediaLive International popularized the term. See Wikipedia.com
2 The figure shows a "meme map" of Web 2.0 that was developed at a brainstorming session during FOO Camp, a conference at O'Reilly Media. For more details, please visit http://www.oreillynet.com
3 The Gartner Research Group, 56 Top Gallant Road, Stamford, CT 06902-7700, U.S.A., www.gartner.com
4 Hof, Robert D., “Web 2.0: The New Guy at Work,” Businessweek Jun, 19, 2006. Page 58
5 Surowiecki, James, “The Wisdom of Crowds,”Anchor Books, New York. Pages xiii and 71
6 Based on web statistics published by Alexa.com, an Internet search and ranking company
7Croft, Tara, “Medspeak,” Tech Confidential Magazine, June, July 2006, Page 40
About the Author
Dr. Kifah Jayyousi, PMP, PE, CPE, is general manager at Project Logistics in Coral Springs, Florida. He brings over 20 years of construction and facility management experience nationwide in the U.S., and overseas including the Gulf Region where he has been a consultant on project equipment and supplies. He can be reached at kifahdc@yahoo.com.