People First (PF): Advisory Committee

I have found it to be very valuable to have a list of folks who are willing to answer any questions I might have, regardless of how silly, picayune, or trivial they might seem to them.

During my Information Technology (IT) career, I had lots of opportunities to meet people in many industries, various levels of experience and responsibility, and numerous levels of education. They all had their strengths and weaknesses. And, the ones who knew their strengths and weaknesses were many of the ones I gravitated to.

It’s amazing how much one can learn about someone else if you ask them to give you their advice and suggestions.

t-p-t-i-v01-i05-pf-advisor-committee-20230425Download

People First Span of your Life (cycle)

Perspective is driven by several components: Experience, Dreams, your perception of a “horizon”, Desires, and, at times, the only measurable things in your reach.

A Life Cycle, in technology communities, relates to the span, time-frame, or scope of an effort like a project or a change applied to an existing application or environment.

Every organization has its own Perspective on what should or could be measured because these things are important to the participants AND their management/share holders.

Some examples of a perceived Life Span are introduced in this attached Newsletter. Enjoy!

Please Download, Read, Respond or Advice. Thank you, bgbg

t-p-t-i-v01-i04-people-first-20230418Download

Jobs for the Geri-Actives

You want jobs? You want to work? Do you NEED to earn money or do you just WANT to stay busy?

Check out this list of job types or categories and see if one or several might interest you:

CategoriesCategoriesCategories
AccountantAdministrative AssistantBook Keeper
Bus DriverCashierCustomer Service Representative (Phone, In-Person)
Delivery DriverDental Assistant / HygienistFiling Clerk (manual, electronic)
Home Health AssistantLPN (Licensed Practical Nurse)Nanny / Care Giver
NurseOffice ManagerOrderly
ParalegalPharmacy Assistant / TechReception (Phone, Walk ins, Appointments)
Retail SalesSales AssociateSecretary
Security Guard (Days, Evenings, Weekends)Store / Merchandise Display
Virtual AssistantConduct office admin tasks in dircet assistance to Manager / Director / ExecutiveAdmin, Secretary, Assistant
And …… Professional …… Opportunities … :
AnalyticsAsset ManagementContract Management
Finance / AccountingHuman ResourcesInformation Technology
LegalMarketing / AdvertisingPlant Operations
Research and DevelopmentShipping / DeliveryWeb Services
Job Categories 2023 April Geri-Actives

People First V01 I02

As my semi-official Inaugural issue of the T P T I Newsletter, I have updated my “Motto” or “Slogan” piece from my primary LinkedIn Profile: “People First!”.

Please Download, Read, Respond or Advice. Thank you, bgbg

T P T I V01 I02 People First 20230406Download

PPM Operational Flows

A Portfolio Project Management (PPM) function will consider implementing operational work flows similar to this list:

  1. Identify Metrics for tracking all PPM data and processes
  2. Produce a Dashboard of current Metrics
  3. Measure PPM Process Compliance to published processes (SOP’s)
  4. Evaluate PPM Process Compliance metrics and recommend mitigation steps
  5. New Work Request Submission process and data collection
  6. Work Request Vetting and Revision processes
  7. Work Request Prioritization settings
  8. Portfolio Development / Proposals
  9. Proposed Portfolio Reviews / Recommendations
  10. Portfolio Review Board Selections and Communications
  11. Project Staffing, Scheduling, Kick Offs
  12. Project Execution Metrics Collection / Dashboarding
  13. Project Execution Oversight / Compliance Measurement Processes
  14. Project Delivery Quality Metrics Collection (Product, Process, Opportunities)
  15. PPM Feedback Review / Procedure Revisions (KPIs) Submissions to Step 5

Please review this list of suggested PPM Processes and advise us about your experiences and recommendations.

Thank you, bgbg

Portfolio Project Management – Level Zero

Portfolio Management is an organization’s process for capturing, vetting, budgeting and scheduling the execution of Work Requests from the users and other contributors within an organization.

A fundamental working assumption for any Portfolio Management process is that it has a high probability of changing on a regular basis to take advantage of new thinking, changing organization goals and objectives, and new capabilities within the implemented architecture.

As part of this expectation of continuous change, it is critical that a dedicated portion of this department be accountable for measuring the compliance, effectiveness, value of the results and also be looking for opportunities to improve the processes as a way to achieve the current goals of its organization.

The Portfolio Management function needs to include a tool for capturing the information about each Work Request and another set of tools for tracking the metrics of all the submitted history of Work Requests.

To get started an organization must ask itself some initial questions which will later evolve to much more insightful questions. To start, let’s discuss these questions:

  • What information should we start to collect to describe and categorize each Work Request?
    i. Submittor details
    ii. Targeted Business Function
    iii. etc.
  • How will these data be reported to the user audience (mail, text, mobile app, etc.)?
    i. Visual Dashboard / Graphs
    ii. Presentation Slides
    iii. Detailed Reports
  • What information will be collected to describe the execution of each approved project?
    i. Actual Costs
    ii. Realizable Benefits
    iii. Progress along Cost and Schedule lines
    iv. …
  • What information will be collected to describe the quality of the results?
    i. Match to Organization Goals
    ii. Match to Project Requirements
    iii. …
  • How do we intend to use these metrics to assess the effectiveness and value of the Portfolio Management processes and collected data to date?
    i. Compare “Planned” vs. “Actual” observations
    ii. Revise the Original Planned based on captured Actual results
    iii. …

Agilist Working Definition

In 2022 I started research into the Job Title of “Agilist”. This title appeared to me to be an evolution from SCRUM Masters, Project Managers, and uses of the Agile Manifesto.

For today, I am proposing a working job definition for “Agilists” which I would really like to hear about from those who are willing to read, advise, critique, or influence.

Please review these suggested job attributes and let me know how I should revise, review, or replace these characteristics.

An Agilist:

  • Subscribes to the Agile Manifesto / Methodology
  • Approaches Software Development emphasizing:
    • Collaboration Flexibility Rapid Iteration Frequent Deliveries
    • Continuous Improvement
  • Focuses on:
    • Customer Engagement
      • During the Delivery Process
      • During Usage and for Support
      • During Revisions and Evolving Business Needs
      • Up to Sunsetting and Replacement
  • Adapts to:
    • Changing Infrastructure
    • Development and Delivery Tool Capabilities
    • Testing Techniques and Bug Tracking tools
  • Role Titles or Names include but are not limited to:
    • Project Manager
    • Application Developer / Tester
    • Team Leader
    • Agile Coach / Consultant

As of 2024, I have realized that I will NOT be publishing a book about “The Agilist”. I have created a fair amount of content in a few different sequences leading to a few conclusions but I am thoroughly unsatisfied with my results to date.

So, for now, I am going to put down this work for a while. Maybe, at some point in the future, I will come back to this topic and write more and/or better stuff so that I will feel better about publishing this material.

Thank you, all, for listening to me, answering my questions, and taking the time to think with me about this topic.

Medium Friend Link: https://medium.com/@seventysomethin/agilist-working-definition-f7194813cc01?sk=dc284b6d37c1fdd23c8340d0dda4123a

Two Things

It’s the Old Philosopher’s first appearance here and I wonder what some of you might think about these topics.

Let’s start with this idea:

There are Two Things I Know I am Responsible For

Feb 17 ’23: I am thinking about posting this on my YouTube channel (@b.henrygutches5704) also but am wondering how many folks listen to YouTube rather than this WordPress source. Any suggestions? Whendoyoustoplooking@gmail.com

PS: I did post this on Facebook (2026) and got only a few pretty strange responses…

My Mission Today

What is your mission?

Today is January 11, 2023. I turned 76 this passed November and I remember when I tried to retire back when I was around 64 – 65. Retirement was brief (just days really), awful, boring, and drove me nuts – more nuts than my usual “nuts”.

My Mission has had many aspects over recent years. Here are some points I can still remember:

  • Continue to provide coaching to individuals who want to find new income sources. Check out my website for some details: http://www.thepathtoinkc.com
  • Expand my knowledge of new technology software, hardware and capabilities.
  • Write some more stuff: Blogs, Books, Articles, Video / Audio Training
    • Lately I have been writing some more on my RetroPublican blog (www.retropublicans.wordpress.com) about how I would really love to return the Republican party to its earlier platforms, beliefs, values, behaviors.
    • My second book is an autobiography titled: “A Cowboy’s Reflections” which was a result of a subscription that my son gave me to StoryWorth. I responded to about 48 of their 52 weekly emails with suggested topics so it is now available on Amazon. The first book is also available on Amazon: “IT’s Lost Art of Software Engineering”.
    • I write lots of Opinions (www.opinionsarefree.wordpress.com) some of which are getting responses from my readers. I truly love the dialog but I am NOT trying to change anyone’s personal choices or opinions. I just want to have some meaningful discussions.
    • Started a video training offering on “How To…” for spreadsheets, word processing but, for the moment, I need a new name for that business. Tried “Five Dollar Bill”, “Technically Retired”, and “TECHnical.E.Retired”, but neither of those worked well. If you have any ideas, please reach out (see my Contact Page). A friend suggested I deliver video on my Small Business Advice topics which I am considering once I have a NEW NAME!
  • Advise small businesses in the areas of: Data Collection (Mobile Apps, Spreadsheets, Pivot tables, Reports); Business Metrics (SOPs, Dashboards, KPIs, Mitigation / Revision Strategies); Delivery Practices (Process Maps, Decision Tables, Methods and Techniques {SDLC, PMLC, Agile / Kanban, Hybrid-s-}, etc.);
  • Make enough money for myself and family so that I can pay my bills with less stress and give enough money and myself when warranted / requested. AND, be able to recognize when my attention is “warranted” or needed.
  • When I think of some other “Mission” goals, I will try to remember to add them here.

bgbg – 610-662-5658 –
whendoyoustoplooking@gmail.com –
bgutches@thepathtoinkc.com

How Many P’s in Your PMO?

Many years ago, I decided that we should not limit ourselves to only three PMOs:

  • Portfolio Management Office
  • Program Management Office
  • Project Management Office

Even though these were very obvious and have immediate value to those who sought more management for these functions, I still thought there could be MORE.

I started writing notes about how to structure and operate these initial three PMOs and came up with two more that I thought could make sense for some organizations and/or institutions:

  • People Management Office
  • Process Management Office

Attached here is my latest presentation about my thoughts on:

The Five P’s Of PMO

How Many Ps WHGutches V0002 20220213Download

I hope that you will have some observations, opinions, suggestions, even criticisms of this piece and that you will send me your thoughts.

Thanks for reading and, please, stay in touch, bgbg

Bill Gutches, 610-662-5658, bgutches@thepathtoinkc.com