Welcome to littlevillage.co.uk

This is the website of Peter Rollinson. It contains my CV and can provide the reader with further details of my career that would be too much (and probably too boring!!) for a prospective initial reviewer.

Project Management

If you arrived at this site but did not want to read my CV then you are probably here because you want to find out more about practical project management and the methods I adopt.

I have been asked many times how I complete most of my projects within budget and schedule. To be a good project manager remember this piece of advice "PLAN THE WORK & WORK THE PLAN". At first glance, it doesn't appear to offer much but I use it as a constant reminder throughout the project lifecycle.

Complacency is the enemy of the best. In business I have observed over and over again situations where organisations become complacent and apathetic. They believe they have all the cards in their favour because they have done it before, are market leaders and untouchable. All they have to do is hand out their business card and good things will happen.

Those are the companies that invariably fail because they do not understand the concept of either getting better or getting worse. They try to stay the same.

So, one of the things that I do over and over again is to reinforce the concept that we have to get better, even though we may already be successful. Morale climbs steadily because the team knows that positive approach and new challenges are always just around the corner. If complacency sets in, we invariably fall back, morale takes a dive and the spiral begins.

Continuous improvement is almost a cliché but it really is something that has to be embraced in the culture. The notion is that "I've got to figure a way to do something a little better today than I did yesterday" and if you can foster that in the culture, great things begin to happen.

A big part of it is how you benchmark your results. Many companies, for instance, benchmark themselves without looking at the outside world. Projects are no different. In projects you should look at what is being done in projects on your site, on other sites and no less importantly in other parts of the world, in other cultures.

I consider myself something of a restorer of classic motorcycles in my spare time (if I get any time that is!). I don't have to tell many middle to older aged motorcyclists what happened to the best motorcycle industry in the world (The British) when it took the complacency path in the 1960's. However, in Japan at the same time, in their beginnings of the early 60's they didn't really do much different except they began to analyse and refine. They studied what was available in the market and improved their product continually. Apart from the re-birth of Triumph, we don't really have a motorcycle industry today. But in Japan......

Sometimes we can see improvement and can justify accordingly. However, when we look at what is happening outside the box, we can see that although improvements have been made, its being made better, at a faster rate elsewhere. That is why, whenever it is possible, I try to benchmark in two ways. Within the business/project and outside of it. Whenever KPI's are used - make sure they really tell the whole story and not the way someone wants it painted.

We accept mediocrity because we can choose people around who are just as mediocre. I always try to find the very best and benchmark against them. I want my project to be as good or better. I think if I lead with that expectation and get my team to embrace it, that's how we will become first class performers.

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