Peter R Clarke

I am an experienced provider of a wide range of information technology solutions. My 30 years of progressive experience the IT field has spanned the roles of developer, business analyst, application Architect, team lead, consulting analyst, site lead and project manager. Certified as a PMI Project Management Professional, (PMP) augmented with training and certification in PRINCE2 (foundations) as well as ITIL, I have a deep appreciation of project management best practices which I have successfully employed for over 15 years.

Focusing on being results oriented, I practice “right sizing” delivery management methodology to maximize the potential for successful delivery of solutions while minimizing the associated costs. Overlying this experience and knowledge of best practices, I believe that communication is the key ingredient for success in any endeavor and I am known for being an effective communicator.

I have worked in both the public and private sectors in the delivery of application based and infrastructure solutions. I take particular satisfaction in sharing my knowledge through establishing effective project management practices, and training and mentoring others in the appropriate use of project management techniques.

Prior to my involvement in the IT industry, I accumulated 20 years’ experience as an Architectural Technologist, 10 years of which spent as a project manager. Those highly transferable skillsets further enhance my depth of experience in the managing and delivering of solutions and products.

Certifications

My Blog ...

The beauty of a 20 floor status report (Link)

What the heck is a twenty floor status report? Picture you getting on the elevator at work, and just before the elevator doors slide shut, one last person gets in the elevator. It’s your boss… and he or she asks that fateful question – “Hey how’s such and such a project going?” What are you going to say? Project managers will tell you they spend way too much time doing status reports, in some organizations I’ve worked with, all I seemed to do was status reports! Every company seems to have their own status report template, and the big question is if they’re effective. If you can’t articulate the progress of a project in twenty floors, you’re missing the mark, and here’s why.

Coming soon - How being a pilot made me a better project manager

Flying a plane comprises many of the same tools and techniques as managing a project. One can draw a surprising number of analogies in the processes used, such as planning, communications, and risk management to mention just a few. Whether it's a cross country trip or a project that is being undertaken, the one critical differences is you screw up a project and you might get fired, in a plane, the consequences could have a finality that would involve your spouse to dig out the life insurance policy! Learning to fly sharpened my skills in how I manage projects while safely standing of good old terra firma!

Coming soon – How being a project manager makes me a better pilot.

What’s project management got to do with being a better pilot? The answer is, more than I ever thought. The PMI espouses the 5 process groups of initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and finally closing as processes to be conducted for every project. Each time you take to the air it can be considered a project. Yes, yes, projects are defined as “A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal.” That Sunday afternoon flight meets those criteria, and more. Throw the leather bomber styled jacket on and read on to fully understand my thoughts on this.

Coming soon - Risk Management, a daily event

Every project manager starts of their projects after doing a full risk analysis as part of the project planning process. Any PMP can prepare a stunning risk analysis, identifying risks, mitigation plans and in the good plans even contingency plans. All too often, those risks plans collect digital dust in some folder never to be seen again. One of my mother’s favorite idioms was “Look after the pence and the pounds will look after themselves”. Risk management can be thought of the same way. This article explores the benefits of embracing risk management as an activity that is not only aggressively done, but done often, even daily.

Coming soon - How to survive in a matrix organization

If a project manager is prone to having nightmares, the matrix organization will provoke full blown night terrors! You have a task in your project plan that a team is responsible for, suddenly there is an urgent operational emergency that the team who was supposed to be contributing to your project is now trying to keep the lights on. Needless to say, your project is rarely more important that keeping the environment up and running. That said, the impact to your project is always negative, and how do you manage that?

Coming soon - Why do you need a Project Management office

Project Management offices are all the rage. They are also statistically known to have a very high failure rate, or at best, a short lifespan. Why do you need one is a very valid question. What problem is the organization trying to solve? In this article, I explore this very question. I will warn you, I have mixed feelings about PMOs; I believe in “right sizing” project management methodologies, and I also believe in the value of a project management office. Are those two perspectives at odds with each other? Potentially, but it’s more complex than that.

Coming soon - What's your PMO?

The term, Project Management Office is a much abused polymorphic concept. The range and style of management functions they can provide is as numerous as the companies that institute them. Even more interesting than the different styles of PMOs there are, is the different value proposition each has, or is intended to have. Often, the value proposition is vague, unless of course, you are talking to the PMO manager, and then they will be able to articulate a great value proposition, but rarely is that going to be truly objective and more often a subjective evaluation. This article, explores what different types of PMO’s are typically implemented, each answering to different business challenges.

Coming soon - The 30 day PMO myth

If you are a C level manager and believe it’s time to institute a PMO, your next question is how long will it take. Like that odd pain in your (name body part here), don’t Google “How long does it take to set up a PMO?” - the results will be deceiving. “the 30 day PMO”, “the 100 day PMO” will be in the top search results. So how long does it take you ask. The answer is that depends on many things; What the problem instituting a PMO is intended to address? How big is the project portfolio, how many PM’s do you have, how accepting of change is your organization, what value do you want to achieve from the PMO? This blog entry explores these questions, and unfortunately does not actually answer the question of how long it takes to establish a PMO, but it does dispel the myth that is can be done in 30 days.

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P R Clarke

Providing Project, Portfolio, Program and PMO Management Services

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