My thoughts today are partially inspired by Tom Peters whom I have written about in the past.
A great/WOW project always changes (Has to be for the better) the way organizations work.
Tom Peters says – “WOW Projects = Changing the Rules”
He also says, “Changing the Rules = Pissing off members of the Establishment”.
If your project is pushing massive change through your organization there will be people that are going to be upset, and some of them might try to derail your project. These small thinkers will be envious, jealous, might feel you are invading their turf, or are just afraid of change. Sometimes you will have to use your political skills to go around them, go through them, or better yet find ways to get them on your side. All three approaches can take time, energy, and patience.
Quick Rules and Thoughts
Project management politics can be brutal. When big changes occur big guns come out.
Politics is life; however politics can and must be managed if your project is going to be successful.
Don’t let the status quo kill your great ideas or derail your project. Be flexible, but firm when it comes to implementing your project's deliverables, but don’t ignore the political realities.
Politics is the art of getting things done. As Tom Peters says “No Politics=No Implementation”.
Develop powerful allies in your organization to help you get your project implemented. Be sure to show appreciation to all those people that help you along the way.
Don’t implement anything in your project that can’t be verified (verifiable milestones).
Monday, March 03, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
Organizational Project Management Dysfunction
Studies have shown there are lots of out of control projects in organizations. One of the contributing factors to this fact is the lack of qualified project management professionals. Many organizations tag people and assign them to run projects even though they have little to no experience and/or training in project management. Even with training, we know that training alone does not make a project manager. It takes years of experience to build project management competence.
Project management is a discipline, and as such requires people with self-discipline, and project management knowledge and experience to be successful. Too many times organizations look at a person’s technical and/or functional skills and make the assumption they can train them in the project management basics. They also wrongly assume these individuals will make a quick, smooth transition and be effective, capable project managers. You aren’t effective at anything if you aren’t measured against your performance. Most “accidental” project managers fail miserably because they don’t have the experience, or aren’t interested in doing the job.
Immature organizations tend to add project management to people’s job function rather than recognizing that project management is a profession. Organizations won’t be successful entrusting large complex projects to accidental project managers.
Organizations can help themselves by realizing that project management competence is measurable, and project management results are what matters. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Inconsistent project results are many times the result of having the wrong people planning the wrong things in the wrong order, and using the wrong resources at the wrong times while following the wrong (or no) process while looking for the wrong results.
Competency at anything requires training, knowledge, and experience. Providing project management training without the benefit of ongoing mentoring is just asking for poor project results and dissatisfied customers.
Project management is a profession. Training alone doesn’t build professionalism. It takes lots of time and varied experiences, and even then some people never become professional project managers. I have said it before and believe the statement that “knowledge plus experience equals wisdom”. Without wise project managers an organization stands little chance of consistently delivering successful project results.
Project management is a discipline, and as such requires people with self-discipline, and project management knowledge and experience to be successful. Too many times organizations look at a person’s technical and/or functional skills and make the assumption they can train them in the project management basics. They also wrongly assume these individuals will make a quick, smooth transition and be effective, capable project managers. You aren’t effective at anything if you aren’t measured against your performance. Most “accidental” project managers fail miserably because they don’t have the experience, or aren’t interested in doing the job.
Immature organizations tend to add project management to people’s job function rather than recognizing that project management is a profession. Organizations won’t be successful entrusting large complex projects to accidental project managers.
Organizations can help themselves by realizing that project management competence is measurable, and project management results are what matters. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Inconsistent project results are many times the result of having the wrong people planning the wrong things in the wrong order, and using the wrong resources at the wrong times while following the wrong (or no) process while looking for the wrong results.
Competency at anything requires training, knowledge, and experience. Providing project management training without the benefit of ongoing mentoring is just asking for poor project results and dissatisfied customers.
Project management is a profession. Training alone doesn’t build professionalism. It takes lots of time and varied experiences, and even then some people never become professional project managers. I have said it before and believe the statement that “knowledge plus experience equals wisdom”. Without wise project managers an organization stands little chance of consistently delivering successful project results.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Attributes of Great People
What common behaviors or attributes turn ordinary people into great people? Here are a few I have assembled from various sources, including Tom Peter’s book "Reinventing Work, The Project 50" .
Great people almost always have had some of the traits below.
They are Risk Takers
They often don’t appear rational
They are obsessed with success (success is clearly defined up front)
Their ideas are often ahead of their time
They can be peculiar, creative, off-the-wall
They are often described as irreverent
They have a burning passion to make their dreams come true
They are determined to make a difference
They have little tolerance for the “the way it has always been done” crowd
They have thick skin
They have charisma
They thrive on chaos and often love to generate chaos
They are great at what they do
They hate J.A.M.S – Just Another Mediocre Success (Tom Peters)
They have a positive influence on the lives of others (not everyone, all the time)
They make lots of mistakes and are quick to admit they made them
They often ask forgiveness vs. permission
They hate, hate, hate politics and petty people. (They will occasionally play the “political” game to get what they want, but they know most career politicians are disingenuous, self-centered, and are only interested in furthering their own careers.)
They are great at marketing
They are often (not always) great listeners
They are masters of the little (important) things
They know how to sell
They hate whiners, complainers, and corporate Dilberts
They aspire to something higher than themselves
They are concerned with doing the “right” thing
They often make lots of people mad (usually the politicians and career procrastinators)
They know how to laugh
They call others out for a lack of commitment or disingenuous behavior
They know that most of the “suits” are empty
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Should project managers adopt some/all of these behaviors? The great ones already have.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Your Project Sponsor is a Risk
Enterprise IT applications are supposed to help organizations with collaboration and cost reduction. Additionally, they should assist in gaining personnel efficiencies by helping to provide access to information required to make timely management decisions. As every project manager knows these enterprise applications can be difficult to implement, and often don’t deliver on their promises. Why is this? I believe the number one reason for enterprise software implementation project failure is the lack of a strong, engaged, focused, and available executive sponsor.
IT customers are demanding more from their software and want results that help them reduce their bottom line, gain efficiencies, and do more with less. Line managers have a justified fear of giving up control of their legacy applications because of past IT miscues and screw-ups (YES, ALL IT DEAPARTMENTS ARE GUILTY OF MISCUES AND SCREW-UPS). A project manager’s job is to help integrate departmental business processes across the enterprise to help ensure the software meets the customer’s needs. A project manager can’t accomplish this task on his or her own. Implementing an enterprise software application can be a daunting task and requires the skills and talents of many people. When these projects fail responsibility is shared by all stakeholders, but the blame falls equally between the project manager and the project sponsor.
PM FOR DUMMIES 101 - In order to successfully implement enterprise IT applications organizations first need to create the culture and climate that ensures investments in information technology contribute to a desired future outcome rather than continuing past practices.
Project Manager Tip – PLAN then DO Quickly. The just “do it” culture is usually a culture fraught with project failures and ruined careers. Run from a job that requires that the project manager follow the failed mantra that says “Ready, Fire, Aim”!
Many departments in today’s organizations feel they are locked into their legacy applications and are resistant or refuse to change. This legacy thinking is the main impediment to change (i.e. your project). Some people refer to these legacy applications as “code museums”. The people holding on to these legacy applications don’t have the vision of the enterprise. For this reason it is important to have a senior executive as a project sponsor when implementing an enterprise application. The sponsor articulates the vision and drives the change to the culture, PERIOD. NEVER forget this fact.
Finally, the executive sponsor must understand the technology being implemented, the culture where the change is taking place, and the benefits of implementing the desired solution. He or she must be willing to “kick some ass” to get the solution implemented in a timely fashion, and ensure the solution provides the required benefits to the organization.
Remember: An invisible project sponsor is your project’s biggest risk.
IT customers are demanding more from their software and want results that help them reduce their bottom line, gain efficiencies, and do more with less. Line managers have a justified fear of giving up control of their legacy applications because of past IT miscues and screw-ups (YES, ALL IT DEAPARTMENTS ARE GUILTY OF MISCUES AND SCREW-UPS). A project manager’s job is to help integrate departmental business processes across the enterprise to help ensure the software meets the customer’s needs. A project manager can’t accomplish this task on his or her own. Implementing an enterprise software application can be a daunting task and requires the skills and talents of many people. When these projects fail responsibility is shared by all stakeholders, but the blame falls equally between the project manager and the project sponsor.
PM FOR DUMMIES 101 - In order to successfully implement enterprise IT applications organizations first need to create the culture and climate that ensures investments in information technology contribute to a desired future outcome rather than continuing past practices.
Project Manager Tip – PLAN then DO Quickly. The just “do it” culture is usually a culture fraught with project failures and ruined careers. Run from a job that requires that the project manager follow the failed mantra that says “Ready, Fire, Aim”!
Many departments in today’s organizations feel they are locked into their legacy applications and are resistant or refuse to change. This legacy thinking is the main impediment to change (i.e. your project). Some people refer to these legacy applications as “code museums”. The people holding on to these legacy applications don’t have the vision of the enterprise. For this reason it is important to have a senior executive as a project sponsor when implementing an enterprise application. The sponsor articulates the vision and drives the change to the culture, PERIOD. NEVER forget this fact.
Finally, the executive sponsor must understand the technology being implemented, the culture where the change is taking place, and the benefits of implementing the desired solution. He or she must be willing to “kick some ass” to get the solution implemented in a timely fashion, and ensure the solution provides the required benefits to the organization.
Remember: An invisible project sponsor is your project’s biggest risk.
Friday, December 07, 2007
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.
Friday, November 09, 2007
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.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
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
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.