If you are an "experienced" project manager and haven't had a few project failures, in my mind, you aren't a very good project manager. Project managers must constantly push their team members towards exceeding their comfort levels, take (calculated) risks, be decisive, make firm commitments, and be aggressive when base-lining and managing the triple constraints (Time, Cost, Quality). Just like a successful NASCAR driver, a project manager must learn to live close to the edge of disaster, but while doing so, he or she must aggressively manage their project’s Risks.
In my opinion, too many project managers are unwilling to set firm expectations with their team for fear of being unpopular. There are going to be times when your project team doesn't really care if a milestone is missed or a promise isn't kept. The problem is your project isn't always your team’s top concern. Don’t forget that. You live with and for your project and at the same time some of your team members might loathe your project. Many team members have other responsibilities outside of your project and your project may be preventing them from doing their regular job.
Project Tip - If you find that you have members on your project team that aren't 100% committed to achieving the goals of your project, you need to start thinking about replacing them.
Based upon my experience, - at least on IT projects - most project problems that are encountered in the Project Execution phases are the fault of the project manager. Proper Risk Management will help the project manager foresee and mitigate many problems that will arise during project execution. If you have lots of problems and issues on your project you did a poor job of Risk Management in the planning phase.
Some things to keep in mind to avoid failure when planning your project:
Be crystal clear when communicating with your team. All important communications should be in writing.
Don't allow project committees or executive oversight groups to dictate how you plan your project.
Communicate quickly to your team and senior management if you believe that your project is out of control.
Don't assume that suppliers or vendors will be honest with you. Make sure you continually follow-up and get commitments in writing (preferably in the contract).
Split your project into manageable phases.
Ensure that your end users are involved every step of the way.
Communicate Status as often as is needed. Include bad news, problems, issues, and concerns in your status report and be sure to include how you plan to overcome them.
Don't let your project fail because you aren't communicating or your team isn't functioning properly.
Believe in the statement that “Project failure is always the Project Manager's fault”!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Monday, October 11, 2004
Surround Them, Margnalize Them, Forget Them!
Tom Peters a highly regarded speaker and writer said it best in his book The Project 50, “as project managers we should not try to convert our project enemies by overcoming their objections” and I would add through appeasement. Tom states “we should set out to surround and marginalize them; additionally, the most effective change agents ignore the barbs and darts, their time is spent on allies and likely allies”.
It seems to be in our nature to take on those that oppose us, particularly if they have been attacking us behind our backs. This taking on of the opposition is a waste of valuable project time and detracts the project manager from the task at hand. All projects will have detractors, whiners, and complainers. Don’t waste your time trying to convince them of the error of their ways. Let your project’s results answer your critics!
As project managers we need to spend our time working with our advocates and supporters, not answering our critics. If you say you don’t have critics on your project than I say you probably aren’t a very good project manager. The project manager that has friends everywhere on his projects is usually trying to satisfy everyone, and many times at the end of their project – if it ever ends – there will be low overall satisfaction due to all of the tradeoffs that were made between all of the competing interests.
When you push people, demand excellence, set deadlines, push for quality, hold individuals accountable, and are firm on agreed upon commitments you are going to ruffle some feathers. Get over it, and realize no matter what you do on your project there will always be detractors. Just don’t let the detractors sway you from implementing your project on time, on budget, within requirements, and most importantly with a satisfied customer as your biggest fan.
It seems to be in our nature to take on those that oppose us, particularly if they have been attacking us behind our backs. This taking on of the opposition is a waste of valuable project time and detracts the project manager from the task at hand. All projects will have detractors, whiners, and complainers. Don’t waste your time trying to convince them of the error of their ways. Let your project’s results answer your critics!
As project managers we need to spend our time working with our advocates and supporters, not answering our critics. If you say you don’t have critics on your project than I say you probably aren’t a very good project manager. The project manager that has friends everywhere on his projects is usually trying to satisfy everyone, and many times at the end of their project – if it ever ends – there will be low overall satisfaction due to all of the tradeoffs that were made between all of the competing interests.
When you push people, demand excellence, set deadlines, push for quality, hold individuals accountable, and are firm on agreed upon commitments you are going to ruffle some feathers. Get over it, and realize no matter what you do on your project there will always be detractors. Just don’t let the detractors sway you from implementing your project on time, on budget, within requirements, and most importantly with a satisfied customer as your biggest fan.
Monday, October 04, 2004
People are the Problem?
The employees within your company either help it to prosper or impede its effectiveness. Because employees at all levels of the organization make decisions that could effect your project, we as project managers need to be aware if these workers are motivated, properly placed, supported by senior management, and well trained.
A good question to ponder before starting work on that new project is: will your project team be staffed with the right people, having the right set of skills, doing the right things, at the right time, in the right place?
Also, are your project team members motivated and committed to doing a good job, and are they supportive of the company's goals, mission, and values? Do they have the support of their management? Is there a senior management representative assigned to your project that will act as Project Sponsor and be held responsible for the success of the project?
If not, STOP YOUR PROJECT!
Refuse to work on or manage a project that doesn't have motivated, skilled, properly trained team members. Better to kill a project (or recommend one to be killed) than to be the one that hears the words "You're Fired" when the project fails.
A good question to ponder before starting work on that new project is: will your project team be staffed with the right people, having the right set of skills, doing the right things, at the right time, in the right place?
Also, are your project team members motivated and committed to doing a good job, and are they supportive of the company's goals, mission, and values? Do they have the support of their management? Is there a senior management representative assigned to your project that will act as Project Sponsor and be held responsible for the success of the project?
If not, STOP YOUR PROJECT!
Refuse to work on or manage a project that doesn't have motivated, skilled, properly trained team members. Better to kill a project (or recommend one to be killed) than to be the one that hears the words "You're Fired" when the project fails.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Good Website
In case you haven't heard the Ten Step website has some excellent free project management white papers and templates, and additionally they license (for a fee) a number of Project Management Methodologies (TenStep, PMOStep, SupportStep, etc). The prices are reasonable, and I personally have licenses for the TenStep and PMOStep methodologies and can highly recommend these for new or experienced project managers.
I have no affiliation with this site, but use the content and have found it to be an excellent source of project management information. If you visit the site let Tom Mochal (President of TenStep) know I sent you.
Tom has just recently written a book entitled Lessons in Project Management, and from what I understand it has received rave reviews. I will be purchasing a copy for myself within the next few weeks.
Until next time...
I have no affiliation with this site, but use the content and have found it to be an excellent source of project management information. If you visit the site let Tom Mochal (President of TenStep) know I sent you.
Tom has just recently written a book entitled Lessons in Project Management, and from what I understand it has received rave reviews. I will be purchasing a copy for myself within the next few weeks.
Until next time...
Thursday, September 16, 2004
What Makes a Successful Project?
The four measurements that must always be used are:
1.) The customer is satisfied
2.) The project is delivered within or under budget
3.) The project is completed on time
4.) The project's requirements have been met
Keep in mind the most important measure of project success is Customer Satisfaction. If you deliver a project on-time, within budget and it meets all requirements yet the customer is not satisfied, the project is a FAILURE!
Keep your customers (stakeholders/sponsor) informed throughout the project. Communicate to your customers using face-to-face conversations (yes, good project managers actually do this), status reports, e-mail, status meetings, voice mail, formal documentation, even sky writing if you have to. Your customers must be kept informed and remain engaged throughout the project. If you aren't hearing from them during your project, you aren't communicating with them. We all know that effective communications are two-way. If members of your project team choose not to communicate with you during your project look to have them removed from the team immediately.
In closing, maintaining a dialogue with your customers throughout your project helps you to address concerns and issues quickly. Combining effective communications and management of the project's triple constraints (Time, Cost Quality/Requirements) will help to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the end result of the project.
1.) The customer is satisfied
2.) The project is delivered within or under budget
3.) The project is completed on time
4.) The project's requirements have been met
Keep in mind the most important measure of project success is Customer Satisfaction. If you deliver a project on-time, within budget and it meets all requirements yet the customer is not satisfied, the project is a FAILURE!
Keep your customers (stakeholders/sponsor) informed throughout the project. Communicate to your customers using face-to-face conversations (yes, good project managers actually do this), status reports, e-mail, status meetings, voice mail, formal documentation, even sky writing if you have to. Your customers must be kept informed and remain engaged throughout the project. If you aren't hearing from them during your project, you aren't communicating with them. We all know that effective communications are two-way. If members of your project team choose not to communicate with you during your project look to have them removed from the team immediately.
In closing, maintaining a dialogue with your customers throughout your project helps you to address concerns and issues quickly. Combining effective communications and management of the project's triple constraints (Time, Cost Quality/Requirements) will help to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the end result of the project.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
What is Not in Writing Has Not Been Said - Part II
A subject of one of my previous posts contained the quote "what is not in writing has not been said". While you may not want to make that statement to your boss when asked about your last conversation, there are many times when this statement is applicable during your project's lifecycle.
A project manager’s main function is to complete his or her project on time and on budget. This takes teamwork and a strong commitment by all team members. To be a successful project manager you must use written communications to ensure the team is kept informed.
Having said that, just because you go to the trouble to document your thoughts does not mean that your communications are clear. The receiver of your message will act on the message they think they received, which is then filtered by the receiver through their emotions and assumptions.
Don't be as concerned with what your words mean, but more with the effect they will have on the people that read them.
An important fact when writing, "Know Your Audience". If the tone of the message reflects the audience's needs you are more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep it longer.
Most of your readers are overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, and tired of reading all the e-mails, memos, and office correspondence they receive. While this may see extreme, keep it in mind when writing your message and you will tend to keep your messages focused to the point and brief.
A project manager’s main function is to complete his or her project on time and on budget. This takes teamwork and a strong commitment by all team members. To be a successful project manager you must use written communications to ensure the team is kept informed.
Having said that, just because you go to the trouble to document your thoughts does not mean that your communications are clear. The receiver of your message will act on the message they think they received, which is then filtered by the receiver through their emotions and assumptions.
Don't be as concerned with what your words mean, but more with the effect they will have on the people that read them.
An important fact when writing, "Know Your Audience". If the tone of the message reflects the audience's needs you are more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep it longer.
Most of your readers are overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, and tired of reading all the e-mails, memos, and office correspondence they receive. While this may see extreme, keep it in mind when writing your message and you will tend to keep your messages focused to the point and brief.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Team Communications
How clear are your Project Communications with your project team? As we all know, project teams are made up of diverse individuals with different skills, priorities, and needs. Project teams need timely, clear communications in order to function as a cohesive and productive group. While managing your project, you should focus your team communications to address the following areas:
Accountability - What are the team members accountable for? Which tasks and/or deliverables is each team member responsible for delivering?
Approvals - What decisions are the team members authorized to make? What type of communication needs to be sent by the project manager to the team when project approvals have been made?
Synchronizing - Timely and accurate information needs to be provided to the team members regarding the project's tasks and milestones. Special attention must be paid to how the work is coordinated so all team members are working on the right things at the right times. Include the team when making decisions about synchronizing the work.
Progress Tracking - The project manager is responsible for tracking project status and the team must participate in the status reporting process and be kept informed. Ensure that the team is aware of the project's issues and allow them the authority to take remedial action to avert a crisis.
Accountability - What are the team members accountable for? Which tasks and/or deliverables is each team member responsible for delivering?
Approvals - What decisions are the team members authorized to make? What type of communication needs to be sent by the project manager to the team when project approvals have been made?
Synchronizing - Timely and accurate information needs to be provided to the team members regarding the project's tasks and milestones. Special attention must be paid to how the work is coordinated so all team members are working on the right things at the right times. Include the team when making decisions about synchronizing the work.
Progress Tracking - The project manager is responsible for tracking project status and the team must participate in the status reporting process and be kept informed. Ensure that the team is aware of the project's issues and allow them the authority to take remedial action to avert a crisis.