I am planning a project. Do I need professional assistance?

Most firms push for a consultation that is tedious and focuses only on the project itself. A process that requires more than the given availability both in dollars and time. What can one do to be more efficient on the decision of a project?

Seek advice from someone who has done it before!

Very simple and logical, no?

Last fall we had a client call who asked is it good to go with the cloud or not? The simple problem they faced involved the change that would result in the firm operation by implementing the cloud. They never thought about it before. The client just thought about the dollars spent and the resulting savings that would occur.

Advice on what is required is based on the project specifications and the firm’s successful implantation on a financial scale. Some projects can be done in house and some require a dedicated team. Being able to make a decision on the route your company takes should be a profound educated choice.

So, let’s look at a situation.

You have a project that you are thinking about. The project will cost at least 60 thousand dollars on an assumption based on what others have done before. This be the real end scenario we are happy. But let’s face it, we have a project to run and a business that is running.
The professional assistance is based on competence of the team trying to start the new project. If a company does not have the resources to make a project work it will inevitably fail. The CFO, controller or stakeholder should be in line with their business fully knowing their capabilities.

A quick snapshot of the financials it is often a great indicator of what can be done and thus a great indicator of how much professional assistance is needed.

Any PM with experience will ask, is this a project that is required? Does it have a budget? What is the time line?

How Does Personality Play a Role in Hiring a PM?

Hiring a PM is somewhat of a challenge for most companies. The end result that must be achieved is the project completeness. This involves many aspects of the project, however maintaining the scope and achieving the time and budget is priority. Companies like to hire experienced PMs as it increase the probability of a project being successful.

But why do experienced PM’s sometime fail?

Human understanding is complicated and when a team is formed the PM has to play the quarterback position to achieve the goals of the project. The PM needs to make sure all team members are working toward the end goal within that scope of the project set out by the stakeholders.

Picking a PM therefore must be thought out and not a swing decision made over night. Many times we hear of PMs who have joined an organization and were replaced rather quickly as they were not a good fit. Other times, due to contracts, they can’t be removed.

How does personality play a role in the success of a PM?

Personality plays a big role in the PM career. Many have made it through with a rigid personality and others with adaptable characteristics. In my experience personality will make or break a project, keep team members loyal, and elevate or hinder career growth.

Personality should encompass a “go getter” attitude. This being an inclusive characteristic that empowers their team to reach their goals in the time set out. The PM doesn’t need to have full understanding of the technical details per say, but rather understand what the technical details require in order for the team member to complete the task.

A supportive personality that is able to hone in on the skill sets that each team member has and encourage the growth and development through the process will generally yield a better environment to see success which will translate in better final results.

My experience with Project Managers has lacked success. What can I do?

One of biggest problems any stakeholder will be faced with revolves in dealing with a PM who fails to succeed. The question I was asked the other day:

I have always had a bad experience, what can I do?”

FACT: you will always be presented with a problem where acquiring a resource is troublesome. This could be a project manager, but also, a marketing professional, HR, Payroll, accountant, etc.

The trick is simple, pick and choose all you want, but find someone who can specialize in your situation. Every situation is different and every problem has a certain required result. So why would you use the same PM over and over?

It is not always 1 + 1 equals 2.   Sometimes in the heat of the moment it turns into 3 and know one knows why. What then?

Simple is as simple does. Pick a PM that has been there or one that can handle pressure and risk. We often find ourselves in times where we are dealing with such situations where a norm by the “book” person cannot handle the risk and needs of the project in real time.

Characteristics of a PM that can handle risk includes charisma, strength, character, and most of all fearless in change. The end game requires a PM that can say the magic word “NO”.

One of the best examples comes from a recent client who had a repeated failed project. The key requirements were never met. The project scope was out of line and never became visible to availability of resources. A simple approach would be to say no but everyone hired needed the pay check.

Saying NO to people is hard but saying NO to stakeholders is even harder. The best guideline to hiring a PM on unsuccessful projects includes a characteristic of someone who is able to say and do different than the status quo. This is to say that this person will speak up to what is wrong and not fear losing their paycheck. This person has the keys to success. A highly effective PM when in operation!

Do Theories Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Play a Role in Project Management?

This question came up the other day on a LinkedIn post and many answers were given. Personal bias plays a big role in answering this question. Usually this bias comes from experiences where companies have tried to integrate different theories such as Maslow’s into their team environment. The results are either good or bad based on how fast and how drastic the changes took to be implemented.

Many companies try to establish this induction of a theory or process in a subtle manner but are often found with too much change being implemented. This change can cause many emotional imbalances to come out by the team and is usually not shown or evident to the implementers.

A good process is to understand, based on a theory such as Maslow’s, what characteristics already exist in the team environment. Although the theory is created in a structured manner, many PM’s and corporations already deliver some, if not most, of the theory’s key concepts without fully being aware.

Let’s face it, the theory isn’t rocket science and we know that different things motivate different people. By looking at all the different concepts and slowly introducing them without impacting a “change chaos” situation, the team will gradually adjust.

A PM that enters into a failing project can have the ability to implement a drastic change, however this is based on how much need there is for it and what backlash will be received. Thus, gradual change over a period of time with limited emphasis to the change is a good method to achieve this goal.

Can a Project Manager who is not Specialized in the Area of the Project be Successful?

Have you asked yourself this questions before? Have you been in a room where this question has been asked before? What were the results? Were all parties on the same page?

This question is usually a black and white kind of question for most. Either one agrees or does not agree. There is rarely a middle ground. It is based on experience and biased knowledge of what is possible. The story goes, if it’s a technical project I need an engineer. This engineer needs to be a project manager.

But why?

If a project manager is the smartest guy in the room then will we need to hire more engineers to do the work? We probably will have to hire someone new, as the engineer turned PM has the PM work to do. So how can they have enough time to complete the engineering work?

If this is the case then, do you pay the PM more or less money? Do you have the engineer make decisions or do the engineers make the decisions? What happens if some engineer work needs to be done and so to save time and money on the budget the PM starts doing some of the engineering work?

Fact is that although it’s a great idea, one has to look at the big picture. A PM has the knowledge of managing projects. No two projects are alike but basic principles are used. A strong PM is able to apply these to any project and be successful. The level of success is based on how well the resources are utilized. For instance, if the PM is not an engineer, they will leverage the engineer’s knowledge on the project in order to fully complete the PM tasks. One cannot exist without another.

Being inclined to hire based on reputation is a good thing, however, being inclined to hire based on PM characteristics strengthens the choice. If a PM has a personality that can deal with the engineers and talk their language in the meeting room, then that candidate can be successful.

If the harnessing of resources is done properly by the PM and is supported by the stakeholder and owners of the project then success is easily achieved.

How can I Sell My Idea to the Boss?

Is dealing with the boss a challenge? Do you have an idea but not sure how to sell it to the boss? Is this something you want changed?

Simply put, the boss is human and only needs a simple push in the right direction. Our concept of the boss is shaped by the self-developed assumption of who the boss is.

Our belief is that he is the guy who can fire us!

This methodology is not only flawed but a travesty to our working understanding of life. The actual idea behind it stems from society engraving it in our minds from day one and letting it blossom into a normal habit of thinking. A new habit needs to be instilled this being:

If one wants success they need to achieve it by being what they are. Simply, a working solution.

So, instead of worrying about how to sell the ideas, work on how to understand the idea in the eyes of the boss. Look at it from their perspective. Understand more than your idea in an isolated form and place it in the light of their working world.

Every boss knows that there are many aspect to making a decision but let’s look at two parts. The first is based on the idea and the second on the budget/dollars. Sometimes a third is introduced that is on personal wants and needs but let’s avoid it until it gets complicated.

Focus on the sale in light of the bosses thought process and then bring back the playbook on sales that you read. Skill sets are developed over time and this no doubt is a skill set. One that you will be developing for many years!

Is Your Project on Track?

The question that haunts most stakeholders relates to the project finishing on time and on budget. It is a normality of project management that exists in common fashion.   Stakeholder needs a project complete and a project manager has to deliver.

FACT: Projects are rarely on pace with planning!

Why?

Many factors exists. The scope of the project is really the defining factor. The questions have to be revolving around the probability that it will be complete.

Have you been in the stressful situation of uncertainty?

The actual play time is the introduction stage. The place where the project actually starts and the beginnings start to flow; meeting new people, gaining insights, brainstorming, etc.

The problem to this begins with people not realizing that the scope is the single most important document that one has to work with in a project. All planning starts with this document and without a solid scope document all things may come to a halt.

CASE 1: Scope document is not complete. Owner of project requires changes. What happens?

CASE 2: Scope document is complete. Owner of project requires changes. What happens?

In either case, when a problem presents itself it will cause some form of chaos. The fact of the matter is that most owners will understand that the scope document was complete or was not complete, however they will not really care. You, the PM on the job, has a due diligence to complete the scope document and maintain its integrity.

A PM’s primary focus has to be the scope document and the requirements defined by what the project owner requires. Simple steps include the provisions and understanding the characteristics of the project and presenting a thorough requirement document to the customer. A change request process must exist that is understood by the stakeholder.

Further this thought process, the stakeholders must have complete compliance to the process and a full abbreviated amenability must be completed to scope.

Take the proper approach to verify and make certain that project is completed to scope and can sustain uncertainties within its preplanned requirements.

The final complete project remains in accordance to the scope and its compliance!

Stand Up Meetings … Nikos Advice (PM Network Magazine)

Clever bee… where do you find the time?

Finding times for meetings is sometimes challenging and overall a headache when you have a project on the line and the team scattered on tasks. The questions PM’s always ask is how do you manage?

Simply put I don’t believe in big meetings. I don’t believe that sitting through an hour meeting once a week has any positive impact. This being said, traditionally and for many years this has been the norm. I don’t fight it when an organization wants it done this way. I don’t fight it when a manager wants it this way.

A simple method that can help improve meeting performance are stand up meetings. Stand up meetings are great for those who have to get things done and need to inclusively pass the messages along.  Why have an hour meeting when you can have a few a day that are 5 – 10 minutes?

Check out the article attached from the PM Network Magazine. Yours’ truly has provided some insight in the article regarding stand up meetings and the wonderful world of changing the flow!

 

 

Communication Change in Corp World

We have all been involved in large organizations. We have all witnessed what it is like to work with others in a massive team. We have worked the jobs at the bottom of the chain and also the ones at the top. Various understanding of how to deal with people exists and it is usually based on previous experience, culture, society norm, and so on.

What I noticed while working with some big corporations, is that people tend to stick to what they know. They don’t like change and certainly not anything that will compromise their job/career. It is intuitive that they follow procedure.

Does this make or break a corporation? Well startups are in a different position. They are able to create a different culture and develop new approaches to their work flow. Usually this can give them leverage over bigger companies and giving them an opportunity to grow faster and capture market share.

So how does communication come into play? The basis of any working model should require a proper communication flow; a way for a team to develop and grow constructively. What happens next? The interesting process of corporate politics enters the arena and when you have new technology… fireworks are always expected.

While at the bottom of the chain working the entry jobs, I would suggest great tools, great flows and really, anything that would limit the amount of time it would take to get responses back. Moving up the chain and learning the tricks of the trade I would start suggestions with proper presentations and proof of efficiency. This proved to be beneficial. The interesting portion however, came from different management.

Focusing on the successful ones, they integrated culture change. Culture change is always difficult, with all the politics, procedures and what not else that exists in a large corporation. The effectiveness of being able to make the change always brought success in the implementation. If this was not accomplished, the opposite occurred, where by efficiency dropped and the projects felt the ramifications of limited culture change.

Communication: Does Style Matter?

Over the years I have realized that the most important part of any job is communication. Without it, possibilities of success vanquish. In Project Management however, communication is imperative to successful completion.

From large corporations to small startups I have found one constant to success:
“The ability to grow the team organically through proper communication”.  What is proper though? Let’s put it in to perspective. Proper communication is, and only is, “proper” in the eyes of the team that is involved in the project. Where one person may say great things, another will say horrid things. Bottom line is that one should analyze and come to a proper working model.

In corporations, I have found that it is easiest to follow status quo. Rules and regulations are there for a reason and must be followed. Of course, there is opportunity to change things and yes being flexible is a necessity. However, when being pulled into a project that is not your own or starting a project where you don’t have maximum authority, well then there is no use fighting.

Startups however? That’s another story!  Why? In the previous paragraph I was referring to culture change. In order to change the flow of things, you need the culture of an organization to adapt and transform into a new methodology and way of life organically. Acceptance is not always simple.

In a start up, we can transform the culture such that it not hinder but promotes growth. Simply put, everyone wants to succeed and thus you are able as a project manager to steer the communication in the direction that will find ultimate success.

Working with startups across the globe and in my own backyard, I have found that it is always easier to address the issues at hand and assist in the process of the business as a whole.  Creating a culture around communication is the process that must have focus in the immediate months following growth of employees.

In my next several blogs, I will talk about culture change for communication in both corporate companies and start ups, addressing the differences I have seen!