Connect, Collaborate, Perform - PM Best Practices

As we spend our days, tracking deliverables, following up on issues, we wonder sometimes is the life of the project manager ever going to change? Even the "Chaos Report" hasn't shown a marked improvement in project success. After more than 25 years managing software development projects, there are certain things that never seem to change.

• Business Process Improvement projects make up the large majority of all projects being worked on across the globe; Most of which include some level of technology component.
• Business users have difficulty defining requirements early in the project which has lead to the use of "Agile" concepts
• Use of technology today does not require detailed knowledge of how technology works or is developed, leading to lack of understanding of the complexity of changes and lack of collaboration.
• Project team members have difficulty following schedules, especially when involved in multiple projects simultaneously, reducing accountability in delivering on objectives.
• Speed of technology delivery drives a less than acceptable amount of testing performed, resulting in lower quality technology projects than years ago Some of these challenges are the result of bringing technology quicker to market which could be considered a benefit to many.

However, I believe there are things we can do to improve these challenges for the future. I would love to get your input on my ideas below. -

Let's train our children the value of project management concepts-- putting a plan together to solve a specific problem.

• Teach our young people how to think through a problem and define the business process as it is and ultimately as we want it to be and to be able to identify processes that add value and those that don't.
• Demonstrate quality in all aspects of our life. What I mean by this define the level of quality that we require and demand a level of quality that is appropriate for the situation.

I believe there is great value in helping our young members of society learn the value of project management skills and best practices in project management early in their lives. Habits are more difficult to break as we get older and being an educator of project managers for over 10 years, I am still surprised at how few young professionals are provided the opportunity to learn these valuable skills.

What are your ideas?

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

I was watching the state of the union back in January and had a revelation. As a project manager and a project leader we learn that there are certain traits to successful leaders.

Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, outlines 5 levels of leadership:

Level 1 - Highly capable individuals -- they make productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good communication and work habits

Level 2 - Contributing team member -- they contribute individual capabilities to the achievement of objectives and work effectively with others in a group

Level 3 -- Competent manager -- they organize people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives

Level 4 -- Effective leader -- they catalyze commitment to and vigorously pursue a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards

Level 5 -- Executive -- they build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will

As a project manager for over 25 years, I have strived to improve my leadership skills and these 5 levels really resonate with my experience of good leadership skills. As a project manager, we know that if the team succeeds, then the team will take the credit -- not the project manager. However, if the team fails, the project "leader" will take responsibility and protect the team.

Now let's talk about Level 5. "They build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will." What strikes me in this statement is the concept of humility. Great leaders do not stand on a pedestal and announce greatness. Great leaders encourage greatness by setting an example through their own habits and continuously encourage the team's ability to succeed. So what does that have to do with the state of the union speech? Well, it has to do with the fact that our society expects our politicians to stand up and say "I did this" or "I did that".

When was the last time you saw a candidate say the "We succeeded" and didn't use the work "I"? I think I would be more encouraged by our political system if I saw a future leader stand up and with humility tout the successes of the "TEAM" and not "I". What are your thoughts? As stakeholders in this country, why should successful political leaders be any different than successful corporate leaders? Wouldn't that be a good strategy?

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

 So you think you are good at your job....You've received your PMP credentials and you are getting to work on some great projects for your company.  You're enjoying your work and you've been able to implement some projects that have helped your company grow and expand.

 Well, it doesn't stop there.  I tell my students frequently that they need to think of themselves as a "consultant" even though they have a secure, steady job.  Why you might ask!

 Great consultants understand the following:

• The job is temporary
  
• Continued work with a current client relies on how well the project was delivered
• Success isn't just about how well the project manager performs his/her job--it is about whether or not the project delivered the results expected
• There may a moment where the project manager must CHOOSE to close a project
• There is no expectation to be working with the same team twice

 So why would this be important to a project manager that isn't a consultant? A great project manager must understand exactly the same situation.  A great project manager must go into a project knowing that the work is temporary and that their performance is ONLY measured on the project deliverable and not on how well the project manager managed a risk register.  A great project manager also understands that you cannot treat all teams in the same manner.  

Because of this environment, a great project manager must be a lifelong learner and approach every project as follows:

• Go into the project knowing that there will be something they don't know
• Be a quick study on the industry and seek out those within the organization that can help navigate the nuances of that industry
• Understand personalities and learn who the team is and how they have operated in the past.  The project manager must be observant and respond to the slightest change in attitude or mannerisms of each team member.
• Be fearless for their team.  There will be times of conflict and every situation brings with it unique challenges.  Willing to investigate and address appropriately is key.

Some of you may think that you have the answers, especially if you are in a corporate environment and working with similar teams and stakeholers day-to-day.  I challenge you to be even more reflective in your own actions and seek out new ways of addressing the same issue. No two situations are exactly the same.  No two teams inclue the same resources.  Nearly all projects involve change and change management, and the changes being made will ALWAYS be different. Keep your eye on the goal, but be observant and reflective in order to navigate appropriately for the project you are on today.

Diane

Recently a client of ours wrote an article about whether or not good managers are born or made?  It had me thinking and I wanted to share my thoughts.

Many of you reading this blog post are project managers trying to navigate through an ever changing, ever diverse set of situations and sometimes it may feel overwhelming.  Sometimes, no many times, it feels like the person at the helm can do nothing right.  If we succeed it is because of the team, and not the leader.  If we fail, then we take the sword for our team. 

"History indicates that some people were born to have the ability and traits to be good managers.  Evidence and research indicate that most successful managers do use proven skills and techniques that bring their abilities to the forefront. If good managers are born, then is he or she born with a kitbag full of tools such as a Requirements Traceability Matrix, Precedence Diagramming, Rolling Wave Planning, Critical Path Analysis, Critical Chain Method, Resource Leveling, Network Diagrams, Analogous Estimating, Variance Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and  Trend Analysis; to name a few." Read the full article by Dr. Jay Braden, Director of Professional Development Programs for Stetson University's Celebration Technology Programs  http://coreperformanceconcepts.com/partners/bradenarticle.html

 A true leader understands that it is a thankless job and is willing to continue to build their skills and continuously improve.  This improvement comes at a price -- you cannot expect to be recognized for your individual accomplishments...it is the personal satisfaction to know that you performed to the best of your ability in the role that you performed and took advantage of all tools available to you in your own personal tool belt.  Good managers and leaders are willing to be accountable for the opportunities presented them.

What do you think?

As a PMP for nearly 10 years and being passionate about what I do, I'm always looking for ways to improve my skills, find best practices and learn from past experiences.  I've taught and talked to thousands of project management professionals and are always curious as to the latest methods in learning as well as what people want to learn.  Every class I teach, I learn from my students. Every event I attend, I gain insight into other areas of project management and program management that I haven't yet experienced.  

The world continues to evolve and so do the environments each of us work within.  2012 will be no different.  In our partnership with Project Insight we look to provide valuable webinar content that is relevant to you, so we'd like to hear from you regarding the topics you'd like us to deliver as part of our FREE WEBINAR series.

Here are some of the topics we are considering.... What do you think?  Which would you like to see?

• Agile Project Management-- what it is and what it isn't
• Difficult Conversations -- Communicating for Success
• Collaborating within the Politics
• Survival is Optional -- What makes companies succeed or fail
• The Art of Negotiating 
• Managing Conflict
• Demystifying the “Meanies”/Turning Nay-sayers Into Yay-sayers!
• Creating Connected Conversations
• Asking the 4 Questions Many Leaders Overlook
• Making the Most of an Opportunity
  

If you have other ideas, feel free to send them along to me, Diane Altwies, at daltwies@cpconcepts.net.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

Many of you who read this blog are already certified PMPs.  As a practicing project manager, I believe we have the responsibility to stay abreast of the changes that the Project Management Institute makes to the PMBOK® Guide as well as the PMP® Exam. 

Did you know that the PMP® exam will be changing after August 31, 2011?  Over the next couple months we’ll explore the changes to the exam to help those of you considering taking your PMP as well as for those who already have it and have a NEED to know.

A sample of the changes in the Executing and Closing Processes include: 

• Team performance is maximized through leading, mentoring, training, and motivating team members
• Less emphasis on team building, cooperation, and morale
• Final acceptance of the project deliverables always includes the project sponsor. May or may not involve a customer
• Closure requires ensuring no further liability
• Release of resources no longer included in RDS
• Formal transference of ownership of project deliverables is included in closure
  

What are your thoughts? Do you think these are good changes?

Let’s pick one to discuss.  Do you agree that Closure requires that there is no further liability?

One argument for this change would be that, ideally, closure assumes that the team has delivered satisfactorily on the scope of the project.

One argument against would be that if projects are delivered with “bugs”, there should be some residual responsibility.

For your organization, would this change be applicable?

*Note that these changes are NOT changes to the PMBOK® Guide.  They are changes to the Role Delineation Study (RDS).  PMI conducts a role delineation study (RDS) for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential every five to seven years to ensure the credential reflects contemporary practice and evolves to meet current needs in the profession, and to comply with the PMP’s accreditation under the ISO 17024 standard.

Join us on September 14th for a FREE webinar on the changes to the PMP® Exam.  

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

Many of you who read this blog are already certified PMPs.  As a practicing project manager, I believe we have the responsibility to stay abreast of the changes that the Project Management Institute makes to the PMBOK® Guide as well as the PMP® Exam. 

Did you know that the PMP® exam will be changing after August 31, 2011. Over the next couple months we’ll explore the changes to the exam to help those of you considering taking your PMP as well as for those who already have it and have a NEED to know.

A sample of the changes in the Planning Process include:

• Assess vs. record requirements. Incorporate lessons learned into requirements gathering.
• HR Management plan includes additional emphasis on guidance regarding how resources will be utilized and managed.
• Objective of the WBS is to specifically “manage the scope of the project” vs. allowing the creation of subsidiary plans.
• Objective of the Quality Management Plan is to prevent defects and reduce the cost of quality (vs. applying the quality policy).
• Focus of the Change Management Plan is to track and manage changes (vs. in order to handle risk).

Risk Management Plan scope broadened to include “identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing project risk and defining risk response strategies”.

Let’s talk about requirements gathering.  Do you have a standard template that you use to create requirements?  Do you have large group requirements gathering sessions?  From my experience, requirements gathering best practices are where you manage the expectations of the audience to JUST focus on the requirements and NOT spend any time solutioning.  In addition, smaller groups are usually better than larger groups for initial requirements gathering.  Large groups are prone to having side-discussions that take away from gathering the actual requirements.  What are your best practices?

How about the Change management Plan.  Although having a change management plan DOES help manage risk on the project, it DOES set the framework for the project manager to track and manage all changes.  Project teams that can’t manage changes well tend to complain about scope creep.   From my experience the project charter and the change management plan are critical documents.  If you do not have a clear charter for the project and do not have a mechanism to manage changes well, there will be huge opportunity for both the team members as well as the customer to include items in the project deliverables that truly were not meant to be within the actual project scope. What are some of the things you do to better manage changes in your organization?

*Note that these changes are NOT changes to the PMBOK® Guide.  They are changes to the Role Delineation Study (RDS).  PMI conducts a role delineation study (RDS) for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential every five to seven years to ensure the credential reflects contemporary practice and evolves to meet current needs in the profession, and to comply with the PMP’s accreditation under the ISO 17024 standard.

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

Many of you who read this blog are already certified PMPs.  As a practicing project manager, I believe we have the responsibility to stay abreast of the changes that the Project Management Institute makes to the PMBOK® Guide as well as the PMP® Exam.

Did you know that the PMP® exam will be changing after August 31, 2011.  Over the next couple months we’ll explore the changes to the exam to help those of you considering taking your PMP as well as for those who already have it and have a NEED to know.

A sample of the changes in the Initiating Process include:  

• Project selection methods are now outside the scope of the PM role.
• High-level scope definition has additional focus on compliance requirements.
• Stakeholder analysis emphasis is on alignment and support vs. buy-in and requirements.
• Objectives of Risk Identification include recognizing project limitations and implementation approach.
• Charter creation incorporates further gathering and analyzing of stakeholder requirements.

What are your thoughts? Do you think these are good changes?

Note that these changes are NOT changes to the PMBOK® Guide.  They are changes to the Role Delineation Study (RDS).  PMI conducts a role delineation study (RDS) for the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® credential every five to seven years to ensure the credential reflects contemporary practice and evolves to meet current needs in the profession, and to comply with the PMP’s accreditation under the ISO 17024 standard.

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

I know most of you, if not all of you, that read this posting are project managers that do this for a living.  Learning about scheduling and managing risks makes a lot of sense in the context of your work environment.

Today I want to talk about other uses of all the great skills and best practices we learn as a project manager and their invaluable use outside of work.

Scheduling - Think about planning a big party, a wedding or preparing your kids to enter school for the first time.  There is always work to be done and how many times did we get caught missing something that we would not have missed if we put together a WBS, task list and subsequently a project schedule.

Risk management - How many of us have horror stories about that contractor that came in to remodel your kitchen and the project took on a life of its own.  What could you have done differently if you really thought through all the risks associated with that project?  Would you have put a different kind of contract together for that contractor? --- maybe penalties for unnecessary delays???  Would that have made them more accountable?  Would communication have improved?

I want to hear from you.  What have you realized, in retrospect, that if you handled the personal project like your work, you may have gotten better results?

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

Do you feel that responsiveness and process are two ends of a spectrum?  How can you be responsive when process gets in the way?

I pose this question to see what our audience thinks.  Can an organization, or for that matter, a Project Management Office (PMO), facilitate responsiveness if their charter is to build structure and process to ensure consistent quality project outcomes?

Let’s look at the purpose of the PMO within your organization.  Does it mandate process be followed for each and every project in the organization?  You would think that consistency in methodology within the organization is a good thing, but is it really.

Let’s compare and contrast to a real situation.  Take a hospital.  In the operating room, you would hope that the processes and procedures the medical team follows are put in place to ensure a consistent and successful outcome.  However let’s contrast that to the Emergency room.  Sometime, for the right reason, process is bypassed for the good of the patient.  Consider a person collapsing due to a gun shot.  If time is of the essence, would you rather wait for surgery when the operating room is available and that an expert surgeon is available to perform the surgery, or is it acceptable in this situation to operate immediately even if all possible precautions aren’t addressed.

It is a matter of risk and reward.  Project Management Offices that I have observed, in many cases, take too strong of a stance in the compliance to a recommended methodology.  The key questions to ask to allow for a flexible approach to process are:

-          Do the project managers understand the importance of each step in the methodology?

-          Do the project managers know the ramifications if a process step is not followed?

-          Can the project managers assess and prioritize projects to determine an appropriate amount of process needed to ensure a quality outcome?

If the project managers do not understand the importance of a process, then the PMO has two choices – educate the project manager OR re-evaluate why the process is recommended.  Maybe in your organization that process is unnecessary for ALL projects.

If the project managers understand what impact they will have if a process step is not completed, they will be able to communicate that risk appropriately early on in the project, minimizing any surprises later on.

Finally, project managers need to understand how each project fits within the organizational strategy.  Some projects contribute greatly to the strategy, while others will be minor players.  Some projects if they fail can have significant ramifications, while others are much less risky.  Should you apply the same process to those that are low risk?

A successful Project Management Office is able to lay down a best practice methodology for success that allows the project manager to adapt its implementation to the importance and risk level for each project. 

What are your thoughts?

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

So many organizations are trying to figure out how to improve their project management processes and project management systems.  Some are implementing project management offices, while others are attacking the problem by evaluating the overall organization’s project management maturity.  In my experience, process change is difficult enough and organizations that try to deliver this change in the Big Bang approach rarely succeed.

My approach to improving project management processes within organizations is tackling the areas that are most important for the type of organization you work in.  There is no one-size-fits-all solution.  I believe there are four types of organizations, and each organization type will warrant a different focus on managing change.

·         Customer focused

·         Internally focused

·         Vendor focused

·         Virtually managed

Each of these types of organizations will have unique needs as it relates to project management processes and project management systems.

Customer focused organizations must focus more intently on customer communications and ensuring that the customer is clear in their roles and responsibilities.  Too often project teams assume the customer’s experience with projects is the same as theirs and take for granted that extra care must be taken in managing customer communications and setting expectations with them.

Internally focused organizations, those that deliver the majority of their projects for internal customers, typically take for granted the impact of change to the organization.  I’ve worked with organizations like this who act as if the internal customer knows exactly what is being delivered to them and ignore the project phase called “transition”.  The transition phase of a project is from the point of project delivery to recipient adoption.  No matter who your customer is, the success of the project is rarely determined at the point of project delivery.  Success is measured when the objectives of the project are realized and that doesn’t happen until the recipients of the project have adopted the change.  These organizations must implement processes to ensure this change is realized.

Vendor focused organizations will spend more time in managing vendor contracts, therefore, having an efficient vendor relationship and delivery process is key.  Vendors must understand their responsibility and the project team working with these vendors MUST understand the contractual relationship that has been established.  Without knowledge on both sides, conflict will arise.  Those organizations that manage a large number of vendor relationships must have processes that ensure this information is known and understood in order to effectively deliver.

Any of the organization types previously discussed could also be virtually managed.  Virtually managed organizations need to incorporate project management systems to allow for efficient team communication and sharing of information.  These organizations rely heavily on in-direct communication.  Without the face-to-face opportunities available to co-located teams, these organizations must have processes and procedures to allow for streamlined communications between team members.  Tools such as instant messaging systems, bug tracking systems, work assignment systems and many others, should be evaluated for application.

As you can see, if we took a standard project management methodology and tried to apply it to these various organization types, the probability of success will be limited.  For those of  you that work in one or more of these types of organizations you can understand that focusing on key processes that can aide in your project success is something team members and management can rally around.  It is process for the right reason.

Let me know what you think. 

Diane Altwies

Diane Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.

Being a project manager is a thankless job.  When the project is a success, it because of the "team" that made it successful.  When the project is less than a success, the project manager is to blame-and it is the way it should be.  So when do you get the pat on the back? 

The honest answer to that question is: NEVER

I've been managing projects for over 25 years and have been teaching project management concepts and best practices for over 10 years and continuously tell my students that if you are ever fearful of losing your job you aren't doing your job.  So where do you get the recognition you own ego desires?

If we reflect on our efforts on past projects, there are a couple questions to ask yourself to assess how you are doing:

1. Do you have self-pride in what you do? Do you follow the PMI® Code of Conduct and honestly try to follow a consistent and appropriate methodology within the organization you work? There are many project managers that go the extra mile to move mountains to try to ensure project success, however due to circumstances beyond their control are just unable to move the team forward. When faced with this situation do an honest assessment of what you could have done differently to obtain a different result. There usually is "something" you could have done-there is always room for improvement. Organizations do value experience and the willingness to recognize failures and the development of continuous improvement
2. Are you willingness to cancel a project when necessary? Some projects will just NEVER succeed and you must recognize this as early as possible to stop an organization from throwing good money after bad. If you've every cancelled a project, quantify what would have been spent if the project was taken to fruition. What was the actual cost savings for NOT doing the project?
3. Do team members WANT to work for you? Have your team members every complimented you on your contribution? Sometimes that means more to me than the pat on the back from senior management. A positive sign that you are doing the right things is that team members get excited to be on a project that you are managing. Many times it isn't because you've had the most successful projects, but that you treat people with the respect and that you help them individually succeed-no one wants to be on a losing team. The more "disciples" you have means that you have team members that understand how you work and you understand how they work. That momentum will ultimately result in project teams that are excited about the project and will increase its chance for success.
4. Does your organization or organization's customers respect your opinion? This related directly to your networking abilities. The relationships you build on the projects you manage are significantly important to your long-term professional success. Project managers that have continue relationships with employers and the respect of the customers can pat themselves on the back. Are you always being assigned the most difficult project or project the most important client take that as a sign you are doing the right things.
5. What additional business was generated directly from your efforts? Finally and probably something that is mostly overlooked is quantifying the financial contribution you may be making to an organization. Excellent scope management can translate directly to additional revenue opportunities for an organization. The project manager is the closest to a customer during project execution. Inevitably the customer will ask for something that technically isn't part of the project scope. Taking a little extra time to capture the request and forward the information to the organization's sales team increase the harvesting of additional revenue from existing clients. As many of you know, retaining an existing client is much cheaper than finding a new client. If you can quantify this value, doesn't that say volumes to the value of you to the organization?

Bottomline, this blog is to discuss how you can take pride in what you do day-in and day-out even when you may not get the direct recognition.  Always be reflective an honest with your experiences by looking at what you can improve yourself BEFORE blaming another, as well as quantify some of the tangible benefits you bring to the organization such as cost savings and/or additional revenues-who can argue with that?

Diane Altwies, MBA, PMP

Diane Altwies has a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus. She has more than 21 years managing software development projects, and over 14 years experience in the insurance, financial services, mortgage lending, and healthcare industries.

Janice Y. Preston, MBA, CPA, PMP

 

Janice Preston has been managing projects for more than 20 years in industries as diverse as real estate, financial services and the PC industry. Ms. Preston has been a principal with Vista Performance Group since 1991, consulting in project management for information services, health care, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and automotive. Some of her clients include Boeing, Countrywide, Nissan, Balboa Insurance, Allergan, Computer Sciences Corporation, Capital Group Companies, and Southern California Edison.

When it comes to managing change, an organization should select the appropriate strategy for its goals and culture. You should take into account the urgency of the change, customer impact, internal acceptance and potential resistance to change. Change can affect individuals within an organization, and an approach must be developed that not only meets your business requirements but fosters acceptance and maintains respect for the participants.

Change Approach

One popular change methodology comes from Kotter's Eight Stage Process of Creating Change, outlined below:

1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency

2. Creating the Guiding Coalition

3. Developing a Vision and Strategy

4. Communicating the Change Vision

5. Empowering Broad-Based Actions

6. Generating Short Term Wins

7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change

8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture

These steps were established in order to mitigate the main causes for failure in change initiates. Of course, our professional services team and our network of change management experts can directly assist your organization with these steps by, working closely with your guiding coalition to develop and meet project objectives, clearly communicating the implementation approach, developing a multi-phased implementation strategy, and working with your team to develop an appropriate training approach for your project team or organization.

Diane Altwies, MBA, PMP

Diane Altwies has a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus. She has more than 21 years managing software development projects, and over 14 years experience in the insurance, financial services, mortgage lending, and healthcare industries.

Janice Y. Preston, MBA, CPA, PMP

 

Janice Preston has been managing projects for more than 20 years in industries as diverse as real estate, financial services and the PC industry. Ms. Preston has been a principal with Vista Performance Group since 1991, consulting in project management for information services, health care, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and automotive. Some of her clients include Boeing, Countrywide, Nissan, Balboa Insurance, Allergan, Computer Sciences Corporation, Capital Group Companies, and Southern California Edison.

I'm sitting here on a Tuesday evening at the end of September and my air conditioning is still running even though it is 10:00pm. It was nearly 100 degrees today!  It reminds me of the importance of keeping your cool as a project manager and how a project manager's demeanor can greatly affect the overall success of a project.

There are a couple absolutes that I live by from being a project manager for over 20 years.

1. People don't do what they don't want to do
2. People tend to avoid conflict at all costs
3. No one likes bad news, no one likes to deliver bad news

The PMBOK® Guide, has an entire section on human resources management, but doesn't provide guidance on human nature tendencies. Every project I've ever worked on has required that I deal with each of these tendencies.  Successfully managing these can help build team comaraderie and team member motivation.

Most can understand that individuals enjoy performing certain tasks while dislike performing other tasks. Human nature shows us that people perform better on tasks they enjoy performing than those they do not. The challenge a project manager has is how to divide up work to most effectively deliver the project.  If you think that the creation of a schedule and the assignment of work-packages to individuals on the project is good enough motivation to deliver high-quality, timely work, you are wrong.  Whenever possible, best practices in task management means that work is assigned to individuals that actually like performing the task at hand. For example, you can have a team of QA analysts. Some of these analyst may enjoy creating a test plan while others may prefer to perform the actual tests.

Regarding conflict, yes I agree that there are individuals we know that appear to want to argue about everything. However,  most team members I've encountered really just want to do a good job and don't like to confront and will tell you that EVERYTHING is OK. The challenge here are the "hidden" concerns that are arising within the team, which the team just doesn't want to articulate. As the project manager, get to know your team and take the time to talk to them individually about ways to improve their respective processes. You will be surprised to hear what examples come out that can give you insight into where risks are hiding. Where possible, work to implement some of their recommendations, even if you have to do it anonymously. You'll find the team members becoming more open to discussing their concerns with you rather than hiding them.

Whenever issues arise that can negatively impact a project, no one ever likes to hear bad news, they especially don't want to be the person communicating bad news. No one likes to be yelled at if they are the deliverer of bad news. As any project manager knows, projects are inherently risky and that issues will arise-some of them small, while others not so much!  If you are the type of person that REACTS to every little issue in way that has the team working overtime, or being pulled off of previously scheduled work, you may be guilty of negatively responding to bad news. Realize that not all issues brought up are URGENT...many of them may not even be important.  Regardless, when someone brings an issue to your attention, respond according to the urgency by assessing the impact to the overall project success.  And NEVER get emotional in front of the person(s) who have brought the issue to your attention. As we stated above, most people avoid conflict and if you keeping calm in a stressful situations, you will show your leadership and your team will learn that conflict doesn't have to be a bad experience.

Diane Altwies, MBA, PMP

Diane Altwies has a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus. She has more than 21 years managing software development projects, and over 14 years experience in the insurance, financial services, mortgage lending, and healthcare industries.

Janice Y. Preston, MBA, CPA, PMP

 

Janice Preston has been managing projects for more than 20 years in industries as diverse as real estate, financial services and the PC industry. Ms. Preston has been a principal with Vista Performance Group since 1991, consulting in project management for information services, health care, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and automotive. Some of her clients include Boeing, Countrywide, Nissan, Balboa Insurance, Allergan, Computer Sciences Corporation, Capital Group Companies, and Southern California Edison.

Over the past 8 or 9 years, I've spent a significant time learning about and understanding the role of the business analyst and how the requirements gathering process is critical to the success of a project. I've functioned as both a project manager and a business analyst many times and only am I truly understanding the positive impact a project manager and a business analyst can have if they focus on their true responsibilities.

The project manager is responsible for the successful completion of the project and task management. Success can be defined as meeting the approved timeline and budget and even the scope which means that each of the deliverables agreed to are delivered to the customer's satisfaction. The business analyst is responsible for ensuring that the project deliverables will ACTUALLY meet the expectations of the client.

These two roles are very different and it took me a while to really understand and to separate these into distinct deliverables.

Delivering to project scope as it is defined in the PMBOK® Guide states:

The work that must be performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions. If a project is defined correctly the defined features and functions SHOULD enable the product of the project to achieve the objectives defined by the project.

What happens if assumptions change in the course of the project execution that impacts the product of the project to where the overall project objectives may not be met? Or maybe as part of the discovery efforts of the project, the team realizes that the scope that has been defined doesn't allow the project to attain the objectives of the project. What do you do now? This is where traceability comes in.

If the business analyst and the project team documented every requirement and its association to the stated objectives of the project, it is much easier to assess the achievement of objectives. But to do this takes time and requires analysis to determine to what extent a particular requirement contributes to or is expected to contribute to the achievement of an objective. This is where the business analyst is invaluable. Now that I do understand this, I am a huge advocate of having an analyst that actually can take a requirement and understand its contribution and develop ways in which to measure progress and validate the potential for meeting the overall project objectives.

The project manager isn't responsible for validating nor confirming the achievement of the project objectives. They are responsible for leadership and ensuring the deliverables are delivered with the assumption that these deliverables will provide the expected outcomes to the client.

The project management process allows for an iterative approach that can respond to the results of the business analyst's validation efforts. A great partnership between a project manager and a strong analyst that understands how traceability will ensure that the project itself will deliver on the expectations it was set out to provide.

What are your thoughts?

Diane Altwies, MBA, PMP

Diane Altwies has a proven track record of delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus. She has more than 21 years managing software development projects, and over 14 years experience in the insurance, financial services, mortgage lending, and healthcare industries.

Janice Y. Preston, MBA, CPA, PMP

 

Janice Preston has been managing projects for more than 20 years in industries as diverse as real estate, financial services and the PC industry. Ms. Preston has been a principal with Vista Performance Group since 1991, consulting in project management for information services, health care, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and automotive. Some of her clients include Boeing, Countrywide, Nissan, Balboa Insurance, Allergan, Computer Sciences Corporation, Capital Group Companies, and Southern California Edison.