How Does Personality Play a Role in Hiring a PM?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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!

Smart or Smarter?

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FACT: everyone thinks they are smarter than the other! Why waste that time worrying about little things in life? When working with someone do you find it frustrating that a person is acting like they know everything but you seem to do all the work? While working with a client and a few of his partners on a consult, I realized that they had a big problem: “No one valued each other’s intellectual ability”

Fact is they didn’t trust each other. Big problem don’t you think?

I was standing in a typical example of a person not respecting the other thinking they were always right and always smarter. This applied for each of the partners on to each other… further this, it trickled down to the whole team of employees! Thought I was in Ramsy’s Kitchen Nightmares…

What did we do? We had a session on what everyone is good at looking at their strengths and weaknesses. Surprisingly, they all had both segments. What a relief.

We started talking all together and analyzed the opportunity cost for each person’s time spent on what the other was doing, trying to make it better or redoing work. The ROI on everything was causing them to be so inefficient that they were latterly bleeding their wallets dry. Further that, they had given up on the business and wanted to end it.

The process was simple:

State what you are good at and what you like to do, then focus on it
State what you are NOT good at and what you DO NOT like to do, then simply don’t do it
Mind your business over a period of 3 to 4 weeks while everything is being monitored

Analyze the performance in a meeting
Figure out a solution and implement it if required

Point is that we spend too much time in other people’s business. We spend too much time trying to fix the other instead of trusting them and helping them develop that skill… Trust is crucial especially in a growing company. If there isn’t any then it must be developed or an exit of one person must occur.

Communication Change in Corp World

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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.