Trust and the Project Manager (revised repost)

In my career I have found that the ability to work well with others, show empathy towards their needs, and being trustworthy have done more to help me be successful than being overly reliant on tools such as pert charts, resource loaded histograms, and quantitative risk analysis documents.

When managing any size project the project manager needs to focus on what is most important to that project's success. Only you, your sponsor, and stakeholders can answer the question of what is most important. Is the most important thing getting the project done on time, coming in at or under budget, delivering at a high level of quality, or having a big WOW factor? (See Tom Peter's – “The Project 50” book for more on the WOW factor). You must decide what the Project “Driver” is before you begin your planning.

Remember, don't get caught in the trap of believing that if you meet your Time, Cost, and Scope objectives your project is a success. If your users and/or sponsor aren't satisfied with the project's results YOUR PROJECT IS A FAILURE! Every project needs a project sponsor, charter, a budget, a realistic agreed upon schedule, competent resources, a list of valid assumptions, a list of the project’s constraints, dependencies, and people assigned to your team that are dedicated and personally committed to seeing the project succeed. However, you as the project manager must have the trust of all stakeholders and demonstrate that your are committed to doing your best and delivering on your promises.

Without the trust of your peers, management, and customers your project management career is doomed to failure.

Clever or Wise?

Albert Einstein said "A clever person solves a problem; a wise person avoids it". After reading this quote, it reminded me that project managers spend a lot of time (or should be) avoiding problems. One thing that can help project managers to avoid problems is following a defined process, or more specifically, a Project Management Methodology (PMM). At its core a PMM is a set of agreed-upon processes that assists project managers to deliver predictable project outcomes.

To create a PMM you need to define all project management processes, procedures and policies used to deliver your organization's projects. Also, don't forget to develop or obtain a set of project templates as they are an important part of any PMM. Finally, you must develop a training program to introduce and educate your organization about the new PMM.

KEY POINT - When developing a PMM ensure you include input from your lead project managers and any other personnel that have a stake in your project management outcomes.

Once your PMM is implemented ensure you measure the results and make adjustments where necessary. If you need help in developing your PMM there are many products that can assist you and your organization to develop a custom PMM that works for you.

Two of my favorite vendors that specialize in this are are TenStep and Method123. I am affiliated with TenStep and Method123, and I own, use, and endorse their products.

Organizational Dysfunction and Projects

Just over a year ago I posted about Projects, Leaders, and Discipline.  I started the posting with the text below: 

One of the things that hurt project teams most is the lack of an enterprise (executive) focus and oversight regarding the management of projects.  It takes discipline to manage projects, and enterprise project discipline is lacking when executives are disinterested and/or disengaged from the project process.  Great organizations (not project managers) manage projects well, and in doing so they have employees with higher morale, they get better project results, and implement projects faster with higher quality.

Is your organization disciplined?  There have been many studies that show a lack of executive support for projects is a key contributor to project failure.  You can meet all your project objectives and still have failed if your project does not support a business need.

Organizations that have successfully embraced and implemented project management have a few things in common.  They are:

  They treat project management as a profession

  They treat project managers as assets

  They have internal policies that support the management of projects

  They align their strategies to a published project portfolio

  They recognize that a project management methodology is only works when it is coupled with         experienced   project managers

  They have a formal training program for new and experienced project managers

  They have a formal job classification and promotion path for project managers

  They have a strategic program/project management office

  Have been through a formal project management maturity assessment

Regarding discipline, George Washington said, "Discipline is the soul of an army.  It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all".  

You cannot have effective organizational project management processes without discipline.  Discipline begins at the top of the organization and works its way to the bottom.  Organizations that have weak organizational discipline have weak leadership.

As I have stated previously, undisciplined organizations have high turnover, low employee morale, and poor project results. These organizations cheat their investors, employees, and customers by not providing the highest level of service possible. Highly disciplined organizations make and keep commitments, manage to clearly articulated and measurable goals, and have executives that are engaged and visibly participate in the oversight of projects.

BOLD TRUTH - If you are not visible, your are not relevant.  If you are not relevant, you are not needed. 

In closing, dysfunctional organizations believe that the workers are solely responsible for managing projects and other day-to-day work. These organizations believe that the executives should spend the majority of their time strategizing and making policy. This is a failed approach (see General Motors, Ford, K-Mart, etc), and ensures the work, including projects, will take longer than planned and cost more than what was budgeted.

Executive leadership and oversight of projects has been proven to motivate project teams to be accountable, results driven, and focused on achieving a common goal.