Tips, hints, links, and helpful information related to the discipline of Project Management.
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Sunday, September 30, 2007
ProjectSteps Has a New Look
By the way, if you are attending this year's Global Congress drop me an e-mail and maybe we can meet for a beer. You can reach me at sfseay(at)yahoo.com or sseay(at)scgov.net.
Finally, this week brings a new look for the ProjectSteps blog. Do you like it, hate it? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Have a good week and don't forget to have fun!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Don't Be a Victim of Politics
Politics and projects go hand in hand. Team conflict, competing agendas, stakeholder dysfunction, resource constraints, and a myriad of other challenges exist and will send your project careening out of control if not managed properly.
Learn to negotiate from a position of strength
Do everything you can to educate those around you about Project Management. Stress the benefits and overcome the objections by pointing to your successes.
Master the art of influence.
An effective executive sponsor can help minimize political time wasting events that slow project progress and increase project budgets.
Recognize that conflict on your project is inevitable and necessary. How you respond to conflict will determine how successful you are.
Mastering the art of negotiation is a critical skill for project managers.
Realize that for the most part internal politics wastes time and is usually not something that people enjoy.
Team commitment and loyalty will help to minimize project politics.
Don't fight a political system you don't understand and can't influence. Leave that to the experts. (Hint: get these experts to support your project if possible).
A good communications plan will help to lessen the politics on your project.
Every project usually has at least one "politician" in the organization that is out to either sabotage it, or will try to ensure that it isn't fully implemented.
Recognize that change (which is what projects are all about) scares some people and your project's deliverables can lead to a loss of power or influence for certain individuals or departments. Anticipate this and have a plan to deal with the behaviors that will surface.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Would You Like Cheese with that Whine?
Project teams are dynamic and interpersonal relationships amongst team members are always in a state of flux. Some teams are high performing and function at a high level over a long period of time. Other teams can't seem to come together and function at all.
An effective, experienced project team leader is an important part of any successful team, however, all team members must be personally accountable for their actions and be supportive of other team members if the team and project are to be successful.
Individual team member behaviors can contribute to team success in many ways. Emotional maturity and willingness to compromise are two important team member traits that help make a good team dynamic and lead to a successful project outcome.
Here are some negative team member behaviors I have personally observed. These behaviors detract from team synergy and place an unfair burden on other team members.
Projects fail or take longer than they should when team members:
Leave problems for others to solve rather than solving the problems themselves
Routinely blame others (stakeholders and/or other team members) or circumstances for not getting their tasks complete on time
Aren't personally accountable for their project task outcomes and timelines
Are unwilling to hold stakeholders accountable for their responsibilities
Aren't properly documenting their findings and defining a scope of work or adhering to an agreed-upon project scope
Aren't documenting Scope Change Requests
Aren't bringing issues and concerns to the team for discussion
Are constantly complaining, whining, and finger-pointing
Are unwilling to reach consensus with their team members
Are unwilling to let go of past negative circumstances and relationships
Are unwilling to admit past and current mistakes and learn from them
Play the victim and exhibit passive-aggressive behavior
Have a recurring theme in their dealings with others that everybody else is wrong and they are right
Continually demanding that things be done their way when it is contrary to the stated direction of the team
Team members who exhibit some or all of the above behaviors above should be placed on a performance improvement plan as their behavior is disruptive to the team and the project.
Project teams can't afford to have team members that aren't willing to compromise, are emotionally immature, and are a constant distraction to the team. In addition to being placed on a performance improvement plan, these team members should be released from the team as soon as possible as they are detriment to team cohesiveness and productivity.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
The Good Project Manager
Show appreciation - thanking people for their assistance is not only the right thing to do it is expected.
Listen effectively - think before speaking. Listen attentively. Make the person feel like they are the only thing you are focusing on.
Give credit to others - always give credit where credit is due.
Don't be negative - negative people can kill team creativity. Eliminate them from your team if possible.
Have a work/life balance - don't forget that all work and no play makes for a dull life.
Don't have hidden agendas - they are only hidden for a while, and most people realize what you are doing.
Be willing to publicly admit your failures - there is nothing more pathetic than the person that never admits a mistake.
Talk about the problem not the person - don't personalize problems and make them about a person or group. Be willing to focus on only on the problem.
If you lie down with dogs you will get fleas - be careful of your relationships in the workplace. Trust, but verify.
Don't gossip - gossip can hurt careers and projects. Don't participate in gossip and don't allow it on your team.
Use Empathy not Sympathy when dealing with delicate issues - Empathic listening is listening with intent to understand. Sympathetic listening is a form of agreement and judgement.
Diagnose before your prescribe - if people don't have confidence in your diagnosis, they won't have confidence in your prescription
Keep your commitments and promises - enough said.
Remember while you are free to choose your actions, you aren't free to choose the consequence of those actions.
Monday, August 27, 2007
PMO Best Practices Checklist
Identify the participants and their roles
Identify potential project team members as well as the major players in the user community that will test and except the final product or service. Ensure the Sponsor is engaged and has signed the Project Charter
Assign the project manager early
The Project Manager will make or break a project. Be sure the individual has the expertise to manage the project and they work well with others. Do not hesitate to look at outside sources if there is no one on staff that qualifies.
Assess the qualifications and experience of the planned project team members
Along with the project manager, assess carefully the qualifications and experience of each team member as they pertain to the specifics of this project. Keep in mind the importance of team players, and the ability to get along with others.
Conduct a project kickoff meeting
Officially start the project with a meeting of all parties involved. The project team should be introduced, the milestones reviewed with estimated completion dates, and expectations as to the level of participation, should be outlined.
Complete a detailed work plan
A preliminary work plan with major milestones should have been completed while developing the Requirements Document or Statement of Work. Now is the time to work with the project manager in identifying the tasks involved for each milestone. The work plan should list the tasks for each milestone with the estimated hours, start and stop dates, costs and responsible parties. Sample work plans and templates are available through the PMO upon request.
Establish an issues control tracking system
Establish a method by which, all issues pertaining to the project are recorded and can be reviewed regularly and tracked by the project team. All issues should eventually have a documented resolution.
Establish a regular project team review meeting schedule
Regularly scheduled project review meetings should be incorporated into the work plan. These meetings are to review the current progress of the project including the percentage of completeness of work plan tasks.
Establish a participant update meeting schedule
Periodic participant update meetings should be incorporated into the work plan. These meetings are to present the current progress of the project to upper management and major participants in the user community.
Track, Manage, and Obtain Approval for
ALL Scope Change
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tom Peters and the Dozen Truths
Successful Businesses' Dozen Truths: Tom Peter's 30-Year Perspective
1. Insanely Great & Quirky Talent
2. Disrespect for Tradition
3. Totally Passionate (to the Point of Irrationality) Belief in What We Are Here to Do
4. Utter Disbelief at the BS that Marks "Normal Industry Behavior"
5. A Maniacal Bias for Execution and Utter Contempt for Those Who Don't "Get It"
6. Speed Demons
7. Up or Out. (Meritocracy Is Thy Name. Sycophancy Is Thy Scourge)
8. Passionate Hatred of Bureaucracy
9. Willingness to Lead the Customer... and Take the Heat Associated Therewith. (Mantra: Satan Invented Focus Groups to Derail True Believers)
10. "Reward Excellent Failures. Punish Mediocre Successes"
11. Courage to Stand Alone on One's Record of Accomplishment Against All the Forces of Conventional Wisdom
12. A Crystal Clear Understanding of Story (Brand) Power
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Business Process Improvement and the Project Manager
Processes need measures. If you don't have measures then your processes aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Processes have to meet the needs of the organization, business unit that executes them, and the customer's requirements. Measures also help to identify and solve process problems, and help to ensure they are meeting the customer's requirements.
When it comes to process improvement, a good project manager understands:
How to develop team skills
How to break down work into processes
How to solve problems and to find the root cause of the problems
How to recommend solutions to problems that are acceptable to the majority
How to lead a team and when to let the team lead
Measure the effectiveness of a process by:
Looking at the cycle times between process steps
Identifying bottlenecks that cause unnecessary delays
Identify problems that cause defects to occur
In order to help develop good business processes, a project manager must have the knowledge, skills, and experience to ensure that the right people are doing the right things at the right time, using the right tools and delivering the results that are expected.