How are your project communications? How do others perceive you? How do you perceive yourself as a communicator?
Let us review some rules of communication that will help us better manage our projects.
When making presentations know your:
OBJECTIVE – Goal, Purpose, Destination
LISTENER – Know facts about the group, the group expectations, the key people
APPROACH – Premise, Strategy, Theme, Pay-off for the Listener
When speaking with others one-on-one, use statements that show you are concerned about them. Remember the three “A”s when communicating.
APPRECIATING – Show appreciation for the other person’s problem or situation
Examples: “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention”
“Thank you for letting me know that”
ACKNOWLEDGING – This lets the other person know that you hear them
Example: "I can understand…”
“I sorry to hear that..."
ASSURING – Lets the other person know that you will help
Example: “This will be taken care of…”
“I will see to that personally.”
Some thoughts to ponder…
Project Managers that do not communicate effectively at the right times are destined to fail.
Poor communication skills have derailed many a career.
More than likely you will never be told that your communications skills are lacking.
Every project needs to have a written communication plan.
In closing, there are many good resources available to help us all improve our communication skills. A couple of books you might consider are: “The Four Agreements” and the “Seven Survival Skills for a Reengineered World”.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Communicating with Discretion and Tact
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Conflict in Negotiations
In the book "Field Guide to Project Management" by David I Cleland, there is a discusson on page 282 about "Conflict in Negotiations". As the book mentions, PMI (the Project Management Institute) outlines eight project management functions that can be a source of conflict.
To paraphrase from the book, the areas are:
Scope: what is to be done (results, products, services)
Quality: what measures, what steps to be taken
Cost: financial outcomes, savings, ROI
Time: deadlines, resources, when complete
Risk: what risks are accepted, avoided, deflected
Human Resources: what resources, what skills, availability, competency
Contract/Procurement: cost, requirements/specifications, when, how, what, where
Communciations: when, how, to whom, contains what
There are several ways to approach handling conflict (see the Guide to the PMBOK), however the important point to keep in mind is we must confront the issue(s)and work with the individuals or groups to come to a win/win outcome.
Unresolved conflict can often lead to bitterness and resentment, which can linger and rise up later to sabatoge your project.
To paraphrase from the book, the areas are:
Scope: what is to be done (results, products, services)
Quality: what measures, what steps to be taken
Cost: financial outcomes, savings, ROI
Time: deadlines, resources, when complete
Risk: what risks are accepted, avoided, deflected
Human Resources: what resources, what skills, availability, competency
Contract/Procurement: cost, requirements/specifications, when, how, what, where
Communciations: when, how, to whom, contains what
There are several ways to approach handling conflict (see the Guide to the PMBOK), however the important point to keep in mind is we must confront the issue(s)and work with the individuals or groups to come to a win/win outcome.
Unresolved conflict can often lead to bitterness and resentment, which can linger and rise up later to sabatoge your project.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
When Project Managers Attack!
As a project manager I have had my share of frustrations over the course of my career. Some days while working on certain projects I feel like why bother. I get to the point of thinking, if others don't care about the project's objectives, why should I? I can only give one good reason why the project manager should care about their projects; THAT IS WHAT WE GET PAID TO DO!
Certainly there are other reasons to care: a sense of ownership, responsibility to our customers, a commitment to finish what we started, personal pride, professional integrity, because it is the right thing to do, because others are counting on us, because as leaders we must always do what is expected, etc, etc, etc...
Project managers wear many hats. We are members of teams, leaders of teams, we are followers, we are stakeholders, we are fiscal planners, we are risk managers, risk takers, planners, schedulers, mentors, quality assurance reps, writers, motivators, listeners, we are empathetic, we are sympathetic, we demonstrate common sense when others don't, we demonstrate a fair and balanced approach to problems, and lots more.... You get the idea. You can see why we are sometimes frustrated. You can see why we need to be as professional as we can all the time.
I have communicated with many people that read this blog, and there is a lot of frustration out there in the Project Management world. The consensus seems to be that yes, there are organizations that do a good job of Project Management and have a great support structure for their project managers. But, it seems that a large majority of organizations don't do a very good job implementing and/or supporting project management, and according to what I hear, quite a few do a terrible job.
In many organizations the project manager position (if one exists) isn't viewed as a profession, but a job that can be performed by virtually anyone in the organization. That can be frustrating for those of us that consider ourselves to be professionals. We all get frustrated sometimes no matter what job we have. We all feel like we aren’t being supported which can lead us to believe that we are being “setup to fail”.
You know what, we all get paid to do a job, and sometimes the job isn't easy, fun, or structured the way we would like. If our managers value us as individuals then they should be willing to hear our ideas about what we need to be successful.
Keep in mind; the project manager can’t be successful on his or her own. They need a management structure in place that is committed to seeing Project Management succeed. Management must at least agree that Project Management adds or can add Value. Management must be able to state the Value that Project Management is adding or should be adding to the organization. If management can’t do that then you probably need to find a new place to work. It is that important.
As you probably know by reading this blog I usually try to reinforce the basics of Project Management, and today won't be any different.
Rule #1 - Team Conflict hurts Projects!
Team members need to remember that they must manage their departmental responsibilities as well as their project tasks to support the project to which they are assigned. Their management needs to assist the team members in setting priorities so that the project work doesn't suffer when the departmental work becomes more important.
Rule 2 - Management Apathy Hurts Projects!
All levels of impacted management must remember that if they are not engaged and interested in a project's success then their lack of support is a major contributor to project failure.
Rule #3 - Poor Planning Hurts Projects!
Project Management can only work when the project manager is given time to plan properly. Also, the project sponsor must explain the project's objectives clearly, and most importantly, obtain the entire team's commitment to meet the all of the project's objectives (this is a critical planning component). Simple project management principle: If you Fail to Plan, then you Plan to Fail. The failure to allow enough time for proper project planning is the sponsor's fault.
Keep fighting the Good Fight!
Certainly there are other reasons to care: a sense of ownership, responsibility to our customers, a commitment to finish what we started, personal pride, professional integrity, because it is the right thing to do, because others are counting on us, because as leaders we must always do what is expected, etc, etc, etc...
Project managers wear many hats. We are members of teams, leaders of teams, we are followers, we are stakeholders, we are fiscal planners, we are risk managers, risk takers, planners, schedulers, mentors, quality assurance reps, writers, motivators, listeners, we are empathetic, we are sympathetic, we demonstrate common sense when others don't, we demonstrate a fair and balanced approach to problems, and lots more.... You get the idea. You can see why we are sometimes frustrated. You can see why we need to be as professional as we can all the time.
I have communicated with many people that read this blog, and there is a lot of frustration out there in the Project Management world. The consensus seems to be that yes, there are organizations that do a good job of Project Management and have a great support structure for their project managers. But, it seems that a large majority of organizations don't do a very good job implementing and/or supporting project management, and according to what I hear, quite a few do a terrible job.
In many organizations the project manager position (if one exists) isn't viewed as a profession, but a job that can be performed by virtually anyone in the organization. That can be frustrating for those of us that consider ourselves to be professionals. We all get frustrated sometimes no matter what job we have. We all feel like we aren’t being supported which can lead us to believe that we are being “setup to fail”.
You know what, we all get paid to do a job, and sometimes the job isn't easy, fun, or structured the way we would like. If our managers value us as individuals then they should be willing to hear our ideas about what we need to be successful.
Keep in mind; the project manager can’t be successful on his or her own. They need a management structure in place that is committed to seeing Project Management succeed. Management must at least agree that Project Management adds or can add Value. Management must be able to state the Value that Project Management is adding or should be adding to the organization. If management can’t do that then you probably need to find a new place to work. It is that important.
As you probably know by reading this blog I usually try to reinforce the basics of Project Management, and today won't be any different.
Rule #1 - Team Conflict hurts Projects!
Team members need to remember that they must manage their departmental responsibilities as well as their project tasks to support the project to which they are assigned. Their management needs to assist the team members in setting priorities so that the project work doesn't suffer when the departmental work becomes more important.
Rule 2 - Management Apathy Hurts Projects!
All levels of impacted management must remember that if they are not engaged and interested in a project's success then their lack of support is a major contributor to project failure.
Rule #3 - Poor Planning Hurts Projects!
Project Management can only work when the project manager is given time to plan properly. Also, the project sponsor must explain the project's objectives clearly, and most importantly, obtain the entire team's commitment to meet the all of the project's objectives (this is a critical planning component). Simple project management principle: If you Fail to Plan, then you Plan to Fail. The failure to allow enough time for proper project planning is the sponsor's fault.
Keep fighting the Good Fight!