Sunday, March 01, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Simple Planning Steps
One of the biggest reasons projects fail is because groups/organizations use an adhoc or random non-repeatable method to plan the work. Minor issues and details are overlooked in the “planning” phase that can turn into major problems down the road. It happens all the time. Combine the normal corporate bad communication with worker incompetency, mix in some management apathy, and you are setting yourself for disaster.
Poor planning, organizational miscommunication, and employee/employer errors mixed with a lack of training can be expensive and sometimes catastrophic (Think NASA).
What can be done? How about applying some basic project management processes to the work? Below are some very simple steps to get started. There are many more to consider depending on the size of your project, but we must realize that some organizations need to move away from today’s chaos and get back to basics right away.
Four Simple Steps
STEP 1 - Divide the work down into tasks that must be completed. Then continue to break the tasks down into smaller tasks. No task should take more than a day (two at most).
One reason that projects are delivered late is because project managers aren’t breaking down the work into smaller and smaller tasks (decomposition). Small tasks are easier to estimate and manage. Remember, good estimates are the foundation of on-time, on-budget projects.
STEP 2 - Sequence your tasks by dependency
If you don’t establish your dependencies you don’t have a timeline since dependencies help establish duration.
STEP 3 - Verifiable Milestones
What pieces of the project will you deliver and when. Remember the old saying, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.
STEP 4 - Assign tasks to people not groups
Get everything on paper. Remember my favorite project management rule “what is not in writing has not been said”. Also, ensure everyone understands their role and responsibilities. No matter what you do there will always be somebody that can’t follow instructions or refuses to fall in line. These people need to be brought into line or moved off the project quickly.
Miscommunication is fatal to projects. Always communicate in multiple ways; – face-to-face, team meetings, status reports, e-mail (as a last resort). Monitor progress, give feedback continuously, and document, document, document.
Poor planning, organizational miscommunication, and employee/employer errors mixed with a lack of training can be expensive and sometimes catastrophic (Think NASA).
What can be done? How about applying some basic project management processes to the work? Below are some very simple steps to get started. There are many more to consider depending on the size of your project, but we must realize that some organizations need to move away from today’s chaos and get back to basics right away.
Four Simple Steps
STEP 1 - Divide the work down into tasks that must be completed. Then continue to break the tasks down into smaller tasks. No task should take more than a day (two at most).
One reason that projects are delivered late is because project managers aren’t breaking down the work into smaller and smaller tasks (decomposition). Small tasks are easier to estimate and manage. Remember, good estimates are the foundation of on-time, on-budget projects.
STEP 2 - Sequence your tasks by dependency
If you don’t establish your dependencies you don’t have a timeline since dependencies help establish duration.
STEP 3 - Verifiable Milestones
What pieces of the project will you deliver and when. Remember the old saying, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.
STEP 4 - Assign tasks to people not groups
Get everything on paper. Remember my favorite project management rule “what is not in writing has not been said”. Also, ensure everyone understands their role and responsibilities. No matter what you do there will always be somebody that can’t follow instructions or refuses to fall in line. These people need to be brought into line or moved off the project quickly.
Miscommunication is fatal to projects. Always communicate in multiple ways; – face-to-face, team meetings, status reports, e-mail (as a last resort). Monitor progress, give feedback continuously, and document, document, document.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Symptoms of Defective Strategic Planning
To be successful, organizations need to ensure that their projects and project outcomes support their strategic goals. Poor strategic planning leads to failed projects, and people working on projects that add no value to the organization’s bottom line.
I found the text below in the book, Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO– by Gerald I. Kendall, PMP and Steven C. Rollins, PMP. The book is an excellent resource for the seasoned project manager looking to move his or her Project Management Office to the next level.
Symptoms of Defective Strategic Planning (pg. 73)
Project and resource managers often fight over resources. The organization’s arteries are clogged with too much work.
Priorities of projects frequently change, with resources reassigned.
Senior managers have the authority to unilaterally approve and release projects
Projects are released as soon as approved by a senior manager, irrespective of the availability of the resources to do the work
Senior management frequently complains about how long it takes to implement change
Even when a strategic idea is implemented, the company sometimes does not achieve major or expected improvement
There is no comprehensive document or portfolio that links all of the organization’s projects to the goals and the strategic plan
There is significant turnover at the senior management level, right up through the president
The strategic plan is presented as a list of ideas or initiatives. There is no attempt to validate if those initiatives are sufficient by themselves to meet the organization’s goals. The cause-effect logic tying those ideas and the resulting effects to the goals of the organization is absent
The list of ideas in the strategic plan is not sequenced. Therefore, each executive assumes that he or she must try to implement all ideas simultaneously, and that his or her functional initiative must be the top priority.
The book goes on to talk about some of the problems that executives face when creating strategic plans. I have summarized some of the information below.
Root Problems of Strategic Planning Processes (pg. 75)
Executives don’t speak the same language. They tend to view the organization through the eyes of their experience and silo. They don’t understand the organization as a whole.
The organization has measurements and policies that are silo-oriented.
Executives lack the skill to build a strategy that has the commitment of the entire senior management team, meets the goals of the organization, and can be implemented with current or planned resources
Strategies ignore internal systems that are out of control. When executives attempt to improve something before bringing it under control, they often throw the entire system into chaos.
Closing Thoughts
Many organizations I have worked for experience the challenges noted above. As project managers we know that poor or ineffective planning can lead to failed projects. The challenges I currently face in the workplace can in many instances be tied back to the lack of an effective or poorly communicated strategic plan.
I found the text below in the book, Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO– by Gerald I. Kendall, PMP and Steven C. Rollins, PMP. The book is an excellent resource for the seasoned project manager looking to move his or her Project Management Office to the next level.
Symptoms of Defective Strategic Planning (pg. 73)
Project and resource managers often fight over resources. The organization’s arteries are clogged with too much work.
Priorities of projects frequently change, with resources reassigned.
Senior managers have the authority to unilaterally approve and release projects
Projects are released as soon as approved by a senior manager, irrespective of the availability of the resources to do the work
Senior management frequently complains about how long it takes to implement change
Even when a strategic idea is implemented, the company sometimes does not achieve major or expected improvement
There is no comprehensive document or portfolio that links all of the organization’s projects to the goals and the strategic plan
There is significant turnover at the senior management level, right up through the president
The strategic plan is presented as a list of ideas or initiatives. There is no attempt to validate if those initiatives are sufficient by themselves to meet the organization’s goals. The cause-effect logic tying those ideas and the resulting effects to the goals of the organization is absent
The list of ideas in the strategic plan is not sequenced. Therefore, each executive assumes that he or she must try to implement all ideas simultaneously, and that his or her functional initiative must be the top priority.
The book goes on to talk about some of the problems that executives face when creating strategic plans. I have summarized some of the information below.
Root Problems of Strategic Planning Processes (pg. 75)
Executives don’t speak the same language. They tend to view the organization through the eyes of their experience and silo. They don’t understand the organization as a whole.
The organization has measurements and policies that are silo-oriented.
Executives lack the skill to build a strategy that has the commitment of the entire senior management team, meets the goals of the organization, and can be implemented with current or planned resources
Strategies ignore internal systems that are out of control. When executives attempt to improve something before bringing it under control, they often throw the entire system into chaos.
Closing Thoughts
Many organizations I have worked for experience the challenges noted above. As project managers we know that poor or ineffective planning can lead to failed projects. The challenges I currently face in the workplace can in many instances be tied back to the lack of an effective or poorly communicated strategic plan.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
In Project Management, Criticism is Inevitable - Rewind
Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist
Many of you probably know that every now and then I can be critical of a situation or type of person. Evidence of this fact can be seen in last week's posting or others regarding teams, executive apathy, etc. One thing we can all learn about criticism from others - "if you expect criticism, you will seldom be disappointed when you receive it" - Author unknown.
We know that not all criticism is constructive. Many types of criticism are destructive and that is what I want to talk about. Destructive criticism is something you receive that offers virtually no value, and comes from people that don't have your best interests at heart. Sometimes the criticism may have some merit, however when speaking about destructive criticism, the presentation wasn't communicated effectively or was only meant to do harm.
Remember, criticism is just an opinion, but if offered constructively it may be valid and helpful.
Keep an open mind when being criticized. Don't let the criticism control you or change what you think about yourself. Ask yourself, can I learn anything from the criticism? Can I change anything? Should I change?
I don't take criticism well, and I tend to discount those people around me that criticize others too much. I need to take my own advice and learn to be more accepting of criticism, especially when it is constructive.
Some rules we should follow regarding criticism:
Never criticize another behind their back. Keep in mind what Stephen Covey says and have "respect for the absent".
If there is nothing to be learned when you are criticized it is best to ignore it and move on with your life.
Responding to criticism that has no value will only reduce you to the level of the person doing the criticizing.
Don't let deceivers deceive YOU!
Many of you probably know that every now and then I can be critical of a situation or type of person. Evidence of this fact can be seen in last week's posting or others regarding teams, executive apathy, etc. One thing we can all learn about criticism from others - "if you expect criticism, you will seldom be disappointed when you receive it" - Author unknown.
We know that not all criticism is constructive. Many types of criticism are destructive and that is what I want to talk about. Destructive criticism is something you receive that offers virtually no value, and comes from people that don't have your best interests at heart. Sometimes the criticism may have some merit, however when speaking about destructive criticism, the presentation wasn't communicated effectively or was only meant to do harm.
Remember, criticism is just an opinion, but if offered constructively it may be valid and helpful.
Keep an open mind when being criticized. Don't let the criticism control you or change what you think about yourself. Ask yourself, can I learn anything from the criticism? Can I change anything? Should I change?
I don't take criticism well, and I tend to discount those people around me that criticize others too much. I need to take my own advice and learn to be more accepting of criticism, especially when it is constructive.
Some rules we should follow regarding criticism:
Never criticize another behind their back. Keep in mind what Stephen Covey says and have "respect for the absent".
If there is nothing to be learned when you are criticized it is best to ignore it and move on with your life.
Responding to criticism that has no value will only reduce you to the level of the person doing the criticizing.
Don't let deceivers deceive YOU!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Political Sharks and Projects
In the past, I enjoyed reading the book, "Power and Politics in Project Management" by Jeffrey K. Pinto (and still review it periodically). I have learned over the years that playing politics is a skill set that needs to be constantly refined. As mentioned in the book, we need to be aware of all political behaviors (Naive, Sensible, and Shark) and react to them appropriately if we are to keep ourselves from getting in to trouble.
One behavior I have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing lately is that of the Political Shark. These types of people have certain character traits that if not recognized can negatively impact our careers. These sharks know how to play the self-serving political "game" and don't mind leaving blood in the water. They are experts at manipulating the system to get their way and have no interest in serving anything but their own desires. They have loyalty only to themselves and their own goals.
SHARKS ARE PREDATORS, AND ARE INDISCRIMINATE WHEN FEEDING!
To quote from the book, "work with them (sharks), and one is likely to be used and manipulated; get between them and their goal and their behavior becomes utterly amoral." "The only cause these individuals espouse is their own."
The author goes on to make an important point; Sharks "enter organizations with the express purpose of using politics and aggressive manipulation to reach the top."
As summarized in the book, Sharks are:
* Opportunistic
* Self-serving and predatory
* Manipulators that will use fraud and deceit when necessary
* Bullies that will misuse information and use others to service their own means
Do you know or work with or for a shark? What can a project manager do to ensure these types of individuals don't negatively impact their projects?
Here are some things to keep in mind:
* Be aware that sharks exist in your organization
* Know who the sharks are and avoid them whenever possible
* When working with sharks, be very careful not to become their prey
* Learn to be politically "Sensible"
* Be a good negotiator
* Expand your network and be fair and honest in all of your dealings
* Be comforted in the fact that Sharks will eventually move on to new feeding grounds
It is unfortunate that political sharks are so prevalent in organizations. They offer little value to the organization other than to serve their own means. Occasionally sharks do good things, but the cost of their behavior will always be a disruption to the organization. The benefit is rarely worth the cost.
Don't trust a shark. Don't turn your back on them and don't take them lightly. Remember they are self-serving and will stop at nothing to satisfy their appetite. I have seen the damage they can do first hand and I know they are indiscriminate in the way the feed. Even though we have to swim with the sharks, we don't have to become their victims.
Keep your friends close, but the sharks closer.
One behavior I have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing lately is that of the Political Shark. These types of people have certain character traits that if not recognized can negatively impact our careers. These sharks know how to play the self-serving political "game" and don't mind leaving blood in the water. They are experts at manipulating the system to get their way and have no interest in serving anything but their own desires. They have loyalty only to themselves and their own goals.
SHARKS ARE PREDATORS, AND ARE INDISCRIMINATE WHEN FEEDING!
To quote from the book, "work with them (sharks), and one is likely to be used and manipulated; get between them and their goal and their behavior becomes utterly amoral." "The only cause these individuals espouse is their own."
The author goes on to make an important point; Sharks "enter organizations with the express purpose of using politics and aggressive manipulation to reach the top."
As summarized in the book, Sharks are:
* Opportunistic
* Self-serving and predatory
* Manipulators that will use fraud and deceit when necessary
* Bullies that will misuse information and use others to service their own means
Do you know or work with or for a shark? What can a project manager do to ensure these types of individuals don't negatively impact their projects?
Here are some things to keep in mind:
* Be aware that sharks exist in your organization
* Know who the sharks are and avoid them whenever possible
* When working with sharks, be very careful not to become their prey
* Learn to be politically "Sensible"
* Be a good negotiator
* Expand your network and be fair and honest in all of your dealings
* Be comforted in the fact that Sharks will eventually move on to new feeding grounds
It is unfortunate that political sharks are so prevalent in organizations. They offer little value to the organization other than to serve their own means. Occasionally sharks do good things, but the cost of their behavior will always be a disruption to the organization. The benefit is rarely worth the cost.
Don't trust a shark. Don't turn your back on them and don't take them lightly. Remember they are self-serving and will stop at nothing to satisfy their appetite. I have seen the damage they can do first hand and I know they are indiscriminate in the way the feed. Even though we have to swim with the sharks, we don't have to become their victims.
Keep your friends close, but the sharks closer.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Weekend Photo - BIG Gator in Florida
Note the wild boar hanging out of the alligator's mouth. If you look close you can see the boar's tusks by the gator's front left foot. CLICK THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Thursday, February 05, 2009
My Love/Hate Relationship with Project Teams (Re-run)
Project teams can be a project manager's greatest resource or can be a huge impediment to getting things done. I have a lot of opinions about project teams and most people would find them to be controversial. I will state them here and hope for feedback.
My general theories about project teams follow:
Project teams tend to waste a lot of time, and like to blame others (outside the team) for lack of project process
Project team members are rarely on the same page
Internal politics doom many project teams from the start
Project managers usually don't have the ability to reward or punish bad behavior
One or two "bad apples" can spoil the whole bunch
Many functional managers don't believe they have to support project teams, and at times they do all they can to undermine the team approach to managing projects
A team "visionary" is a person that is usually disengaged from everything and accountable for nothing
Lack of leadership, direction, and follow-up from top management is the number one cause of project team failure
If you have a member of your project team that would rather be doing something else, do everything you can to grant their wish
Most project managers are wimps when it comes to managing individual members of their teams
Lots of organizations talk a good talk when it comes to project management and teams, then go about managing change using the same old failed processes
Many project team members are loyal to their functional departments, not to the project
Teams by nature are dysfunctional, and because of this fact the project schedule and estimates should reflect this
Dysfunctional project teams are the fault of senior management because of their refusal to attend important project team meetings
Many project teams are composed of the wrong people doing the wrong things at the wrong times.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Eight Stage Process of Creating Major Change (Re-Run)
I like the process below for creating major change. It was taken from the book "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter (see source information at the end of the posting).
1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
a. Examining the market and competitive realities
b. Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities
2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
a. Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
b. Getting the group to work together as a team
3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
a. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
b. Developing strategies for achieving that vision
4. Communicating the Change Vision
a. Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
b. Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees
5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
a. Getting rid of obstacles
b. Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
c. Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions
6. Generating Short-Term Wins
a. Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
b. Creating those wins
c. Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible
7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
a. Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
b. Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
c. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents
8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
a. Creating better performance through customer and productivity-oriented behavior, more an better leadership, and more effective management
b. Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
c. Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession
SOURCE: Adapted from John P. Kotter, “Leading Change,” Harvard Business School Press 1996
1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
a. Examining the market and competitive realities
b. Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities
2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
a. Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
b. Getting the group to work together as a team
3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
a. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
b. Developing strategies for achieving that vision
4. Communicating the Change Vision
a. Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
b. Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees
5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
a. Getting rid of obstacles
b. Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
c. Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions
6. Generating Short-Term Wins
a. Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
b. Creating those wins
c. Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible
7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
a. Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
b. Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
c. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents
8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
a. Creating better performance through customer and productivity-oriented behavior, more an better leadership, and more effective management
b. Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
c. Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession
SOURCE: Adapted from John P. Kotter, “Leading Change,” Harvard Business School Press 1996
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Another Project Goes Live
As many of you know I manage IT projects. While I don't work in an IT department, I still have to manage many of the issues that involve technology. One of the challenges I have had with my current project is getting everybody to agree on and put status updates to the Project Issues List.
A project issues list is key tool to track issues as they arise during and after implementation. If you aren't using one you are setting yourself up to fail.
The issues list should contain:
* A description of the issue
* The person responsible for resolving the issue
* When the issue was opened
* When the issues is expected to resolved
* Notes regarding the ongoing status of the issue
Remember in project management, "what is not in writing has not been said".
Keep and issues list and update it regularly. Finally, negotiate expected resolution dates with those that are responsible for resolving the issues.
Monday, January 19, 2009
The "19 Es" of Excellence by Tom Peters
You can also find it as a PDF on Tom's website
The "19 Es" of Excellence:
Enthusiasm. (Be an irresistible force of nature!)
Energy. (Be fire! Light fires!)
Exuberance. (Vibrate—cause earthquakes!)
Execution. (Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to the Bill Parcells doctrine: "Blame nobody! Expect nothing! Do something!")
Empowerment. (Respect and appreciation rule! Always ask, "What do you think?" Then listen! Then let go and liberate! Then celebrate!)
Edginess. (Perpetually dancing at the frontier, and a little or a lot beyond.)
Enraged. (Determined to challenge & change the status quo!)
Engaged. (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch. Always.)
Electronic. (Partners with the world 60/60/24/7 via electronic community building and entanglement of every sort. Crowdsourcing rules!)
Encompassing. (Relentlessly pursue diverse opinions—the more diversity the merrier! Diversity per se "works"!)
Emotion. (The alpha. The omega. The essence of leadership. The essence of sales. The essence of marketing. The essence. Period. Acknowledge it.)
Empathy. (Connect, connect, connect with others' reality and aspirations! "Walk in the other person’s shoes"—until the soles have holes!)
Experience. (Life is theater! Make every activity-contact memorable! Standard: "Insanely Great"/Steve Jobs; "Radically Thrilling"/BMW.)
Eliminate. (Keep it simple!)
Errorprone. (Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff and make a lot of booboos and then try some more stuff and make some more booboos—all of it at the speed of light!)
Evenhanded. (Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!)
Expectations. (Michelangelo: "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Amen!)
Eudaimonia. (Pursue the highest of human moral purpose—the core of Aristotle's philosophy. Be of service. Always.)
Excellence. (The only standard! Never an exception! Start now! No excuses! If not Excellence, what? If not Excellence now, when?)
The "19 Es" of Excellence:
Enthusiasm. (Be an irresistible force of nature!)
Energy. (Be fire! Light fires!)
Exuberance. (Vibrate—cause earthquakes!)
Execution. (Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to the Bill Parcells doctrine: "Blame nobody! Expect nothing! Do something!")
Empowerment. (Respect and appreciation rule! Always ask, "What do you think?" Then listen! Then let go and liberate! Then celebrate!)
Edginess. (Perpetually dancing at the frontier, and a little or a lot beyond.)
Enraged. (Determined to challenge & change the status quo!)
Engaged. (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch. Always.)
Electronic. (Partners with the world 60/60/24/7 via electronic community building and entanglement of every sort. Crowdsourcing rules!)
Encompassing. (Relentlessly pursue diverse opinions—the more diversity the merrier! Diversity per se "works"!)
Emotion. (The alpha. The omega. The essence of leadership. The essence of sales. The essence of marketing. The essence. Period. Acknowledge it.)
Empathy. (Connect, connect, connect with others' reality and aspirations! "Walk in the other person’s shoes"—until the soles have holes!)
Experience. (Life is theater! Make every activity-contact memorable! Standard: "Insanely Great"/Steve Jobs; "Radically Thrilling"/BMW.)
Eliminate. (Keep it simple!)
Errorprone. (Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff and make a lot of booboos and then try some more stuff and make some more booboos—all of it at the speed of light!)
Evenhanded. (Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!)
Expectations. (Michelangelo: "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Amen!)
Eudaimonia. (Pursue the highest of human moral purpose—the core of Aristotle's philosophy. Be of service. Always.)
Excellence. (The only standard! Never an exception! Start now! No excuses! If not Excellence, what? If not Excellence now, when?)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Winter Dogs in Florida
It was cold in Florida today (64F High, 38F Low). Perfect for golfing.
Stay Warm!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
When Project Managers Attack! (Rewind)
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.
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.
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!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Quotes to Ponder for the New Year
An old boss sent me these several years ago. I like them all!
No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking. Voltaire
I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. Abraham Lincoln
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. George Bernard Shaw
The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck. Channing Pollock
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before. Jacob Riis
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. Andrew Carnegie
Success is a journey, not a destination. Ben Sweetland
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden
Act as though it were impossible to fail.
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. David Lloyd George
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Eddie Rickenbacher
All of the significant battles are waged within self. Sheldon Kopp
No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking. Voltaire
I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. Abraham Lincoln
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. George Bernard Shaw
The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck. Channing Pollock
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before. Jacob Riis
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. Andrew Carnegie
Success is a journey, not a destination. Ben Sweetland
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden
Act as though it were impossible to fail.
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. David Lloyd George
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Eddie Rickenbacher
All of the significant battles are waged within self. Sheldon Kopp
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
My (not glib) Christmas Thank You
Thank you to…
God. I know I will be scared when I see you
My wife and kids. Why you put up with me I will never know. I love you all deeply and pray for each of you. Please don’t give up on yourselves or me
My parents. Your love and concern was/is the deepest I have known
My sisters. Beautiful people with good hearts
Our troops for enduring conditions and situations we can’t imagine. They are our heroes, and we must never lose sight of that
Policewomen and men. My dad was a cop for many years. They are always in harm’s way and are fighting some very bad people every day.
Nurses. Wow, what you do is incredible
Firemen and women. They are under paid, under appreciated, and they should be commended for their dedication and courage
Kids that defy the odds and always strive to do and be their best
George Bush and Dick Cheney. I’m mad at them for rushing us into war and their other mistakes, but they have worked very hard to help us avoid another 9/11
Military families. Their support helps our soldiers endure
Jimmy Carter. He works tirelessly for others
My manager. Your dedication to family and work is inspiring and awesome
Co-workers and bosses – past and present - that supported me (and those that didn’t). Without them I would be nothing
Leaders. We know who you are
Friends. It has been a wild ride
People with character. We see you
Honest politicians. They do exist. Trust, but verify
People struggling through hard times, yet remaining faithful
People with kind and gentle spirits
People that love to laugh
Anybody that says “thank you”
Great listeners
Women. You guys are awesome
God. I know I will be scared when I see you
My wife and kids. Why you put up with me I will never know. I love you all deeply and pray for each of you. Please don’t give up on yourselves or me
My parents. Your love and concern was/is the deepest I have known
My sisters. Beautiful people with good hearts
Our troops for enduring conditions and situations we can’t imagine. They are our heroes, and we must never lose sight of that
Policewomen and men. My dad was a cop for many years. They are always in harm’s way and are fighting some very bad people every day.
Nurses. Wow, what you do is incredible
Firemen and women. They are under paid, under appreciated, and they should be commended for their dedication and courage
Kids that defy the odds and always strive to do and be their best
George Bush and Dick Cheney. I’m mad at them for rushing us into war and their other mistakes, but they have worked very hard to help us avoid another 9/11
Military families. Their support helps our soldiers endure
Jimmy Carter. He works tirelessly for others
My manager. Your dedication to family and work is inspiring and awesome
Co-workers and bosses – past and present - that supported me (and those that didn’t). Without them I would be nothing
Leaders. We know who you are
Friends. It has been a wild ride
People with character. We see you
Honest politicians. They do exist. Trust, but verify
People struggling through hard times, yet remaining faithful
People with kind and gentle spirits
People that love to laugh
Anybody that says “thank you”
Great listeners
Women. You guys are awesome
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Excellent Free Christmas Music!
Great site for free Christmas Music - Click here
Be sure to scroll down the page to get past years' music.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Happy Holidays to ProjectSteps Readers
I hope you have some time off you can spend with family. By the way, thanks to the people that read this blog. It has been an interesting year. I'm happy and thankful that I'm healthy and employed. And most especially, I'm thankful for my family and two great daughters.
Happy Holidays!