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How can we Improve Programme Presentation

5 replies [Last post]
Thu, 2007-07-26 07:48
David Brown
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Hi Guys

This is the first time I have entered a thread on the Planning Plant website. But after spending a couple of days reading hundreds of the threads I thought I would have a go myself.

I have been tasked with improving the presentation of Programmes to both our clients and the in house project team.

To us hard core planners the basic tools that we use are very easy to understand and are essential to controlling a project in both time and cost. However, our clients find these tools very confusing and hard to understand and continually ask us to provide other ways and means of programme presentation.

I currently use Powerprojects, Tilos and a little known piece of software called CS Project which is very similar to Powerproject and easy to use. The bulk of my work involves heavy civils and road infrastructure. And therefore tilos works well for me also, but still clients and the men on the ground find these hard to comprehend.

Therefore, if any of you have any experience of different options open to me I would be very interested to here any comments you have. Also, any websites would be very beneficial to me.

Cheers

David

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Replies

Sun, 2007-07-29 20:14
#1
Paul Leivers
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The Japenese have one excel spread sheet which they plot the time cost profile across with simple bars and milestones with the plans of the building set in the background. The advantage of this is everyone has excel and so can view, print, ammend etc. It shows the project details, planned and actual costs and the outline of the works involved for the project.
The only other way of improving is as others have mentioned, the powerpoint slides showing phases etc with dates shown relating back to the programme.
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Fri, 2007-07-27 06:42
#2
Trevor Rabey
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A few short years ago, perhaps before you were born, there was 3D modeling CAD software which started off clunky but got very good very fast. Still, no one would use it, and if it was suggested there were lots of good reasons (BS, actually) why it couldn’t be done, such as too hard, client wouldn’t pay, doubtful benefits etc.
Now 3D is routine and expected. Of course, everyone who could not see that the future would be different from the present just got left behind or had a hard time catching up.
Before that, troglodytes said that computers wouldn’t replace drawing boards.
4D will be the same.

As for the presentation problem, sure, thicker bars, more colours, bigger fonts on bigger posters, all might help. But there must be a limit below which it is impossible to further dumb down the information to suit the deliberately obtuse and un-educated audience that composes senior management. How about a graph which shows how many months from now they will be broke?
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Fri, 2007-07-27 09:12
#3
Richard Spedding
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Trevor

I detect a bit of a cynical attitude, surely you respect your senior management and their undoubted ability to pick up simple concepts like a critical path, and follow through with informed action plans such as the normal, get more people and do it quicker! (otherwise known as the JFDI plan)
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Thu, 2007-07-26 12:14
#4
Richard Spedding
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Welcome David,

Most people when presented with a bar chart or GANTT chart are totally non-plussed. However they react quite well when information is given to them visually. That is why the 4D computer programmes are so good, in adding time to a design drawing or 3D model. However few contracts can afford the cost of these modelling tools.

I have found that a time slice approach is quite good, where you mark up plans, sections or elevations of the Works with the area of the work completed week by week or month by month. Most people in construction do understand and can interpret drawings, so they can appreciate the way the project is to be built given the information presented in this manner.

Regards
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Sat, 2007-07-28 05:39
#5
Trevor Rabey
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Well, that could be cynicism, but cynicism has an element of sadness or bitterness attached to it, so perhaps it is just sarcasm or an attempt at satire. I have been trying to think of some humorous KPIs with TLAs, and graphs, such as a project anxiety index (PAI) or Contractor Credibility Index (CCI). Make some suggestions.

OK, I am all for effective communication, and there are things which can be done and should be done to make complicated information more digestible. But a certain minimum level of project management literacy remains essential. To illustrate, without some minimum understanding of what art is, and who Van Gogh was, to the ignorant his paintings are just daubs of coloured paint. Such a person might say, "it’s all too complicated. Can’t you give me a quick one page summary and a photo of some sunflowers?"

Try this:

http://itprojectguide.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-great-day.html

This is very well known:

http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000076&topic_...

BTW, I know what JFDI stands for. Something a bit like RTFM.
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