Data Analytics at Project:Hack

PMO Learning is sponsoring the next Project:Hack event which is taking place on the 12th & 13th October (the weekend!) at the Microsoft Reactor in London. Project:Hack was created by Projecting Success to bring together project professionals and data scientists. They work with a number of companies to collect project data and develop challenges to tackle over the course of the event.

In every project, wherever there is reporting, there is data being produced. Depending on the project this can vary massively.

In large construction projects, this can be material stock levels; delivery details; daily onsite progress updates etc.

In your projects, this might be a monthly RAG status and report. Regardless of the size, scope or significance of the project, there is an important question to be asked:

Are You Getting the Most Out of your Project Data?

As a PMO professional, you’re probably already good at keeping track of your projects and if you’ve been in the game a while, you probably already know when a project is going well or if you need to be worried.

Sometimes this can be for obvious reasons – friction in the project team or low stakeholder engagement, but sometimes it’s more subtle, maybe the PM seemed distracted the last time you spoke, or there’s been some organisational shifts.

In these situations, you use your experience, and you get good at trusting your gut instinct.

Why PMOs Are Looking at Project Data Analytics

This is where project data can really help you. When you get a gut feeling, you’re subconsciously picking up on patterns that you’ve seen before.

Data analytics picks up on patterns that people can’t notice.

Even with just monthly reports, there’s more data then you think. You can use word count, readability, sentiment analysis and even the time submitted to learn about your projects.

Working with Project Managers for Successful Projects

For example, you have a project manager, Lucy, and she’s great at her job. She submits her reports an hour early every week, full of detail and perfectly formatted. Now she’s running a green project, but month by month, her reports start to get a bit shorter, come in a little bit later and a few spelling mistakes slip in, but her project is still green.

Then, out of the blue, the project is red. If you’d had some more warning that things were beginning to slip, then maybe more resources could have been directed towards the project and this situation could have been avoided.

As a PMO, you don’t have the time, manpower or money to analyse every project report and track the minute changes over six months or a year but can your organisation afford to not pick up on watermelon projects as early as possible?

For most people in projects, having an early warning system is a dream come true, and this isn’t a futuristic idea. It’s happening now, in organisations all around the world. So how do you do it?

This is where Project:Hack steps in. The weekend is all about the art of the possible. It opens a path of communication between project management professionals and data scientists.

Learn from the Masterclasses

On the project side, it’s an eye opener. Even if the most technical thing you can do on a PC is update your Excel spreadsheet, the weekend is packed with masterclasses from industry specialists to introduce you to the tools available and the possibilities they can allow for.

You’ll meet some really passionate new people, eat some great food and have a drink with us all at the PMO Learning sponsored bar.

There’s a message to take away too – just how valuable your project data can be.

If you want to know more about changing your organisations attitude towards data, take a look this great article from Martin Paver, founder of Projecting Success and creator of Project:Hack.

Join Us at Project:Hack

Check out the video below to see what PMO Learning achieved at the last Project:Hack and if you’re interested in coming along to the next one, we’d love to see you there. The event costs just £25 to attend, with all proceeds going to charity. Book your place now.