Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?

 

Back when I was spending a lot more time in classroom settings, teaching new Project Controls Specialists how to do their jobs, I would devote a good five minutes within the Performance Measurement module to discuss one particular aspect of preparing the documents germane to PM, specifically Baseline Change Proposals and Variance Analysis Reports. When I came to this particular point in the session, I’d turn off the projector, walk over to the white board, and write the word “his” on it.  Then I’d pick out someone in the class (usually the person who appeared to be least engaged) and ask them to read the word, which they would do.

“Is it misspelled?” I would challenge.

“No.”

Then I’d write the words “hers,” “theirs,” and “ours,” followed by the same questions, and getting the same answers, as the class slowly became more curious about this line of inquiry. Then, after erasing the previous words, I’d write the word “its.” It was at this point that most of the class would laugh, finally seeing where I was going with this little exercise.

“You’re laughing now,” I would begin, “but I can virtually guarantee that, within the coming week, I will see at least one instance of the impersonal possessive pronoun being spelled ‘it’s,’ in either a VAR or a BCP. For the record, ‘it’s’ is a contraction of the words ‘it is,’ which is something that we all should have learned definitively prior to graduating seventh grade. And, before anyone accuses me of being an insufferable grammar police nitpicker, which may or may not be a reasonable assessment of my persona, I would like to point out that I’m not the person for whom these communications are meant. It’s the customers who will likely make some rather unfortunate, negative inferences if they see errors like this. Remember, they rely on these documents to reliably inform them of the cost and schedule status of their project. If any aspect of these reports indicate that their author wasn’t paying attention in seventh grade English class, why should any of them believe that the same person understands the difference between a Cost Variance and a Schedule Variance? Or the proper way of computing an Estimate at Completion?”

The old writers’ admonition to consider the audience prior to picking up the pen has an additional layer when it comes to writing the documents germane to PM. Using the previously-stated examples of the Baseline Change Proposal and Variance Analysis Report, what are going to be the typical customer’s concerns when it comes to the reliability of these communications? I believe that

• …for the BCP, they may be on guard against a contractor attempting to gain an adjustment for some added cost that, in reality, was due to something the contractor could control, such as performance.
• …with something similar for the VAR, but more along the lines of shifting blame for negative performance away from the contractor, and towards unmanageable or unforeseen events.

To be clear, I’m not saying that this is what’s going on when these documents are prepared and presented, only that it’s at least a possibility that these concerns are in the back of the clients’ minds when they see them. In order to quell these fears, it’s incumbent on these communications’ preparers to write them in such a way as to demonstrate (a) a command of the issues and events leading to the BCP/VAR being created in the first place, (b) an acceptable level of expertise in PM strategies and techniques, and (c) sufficient proficiency in writing to convey both (a) and (b). Engaging in obfuscation or muddy writing is an indicator that the ideas being “conveyed” haven’t been thoroughly vetted, or thought through sufficiently to establish reasonable causation.

Whenever I’m on the hook to produce PM-specific documents, I try to remember to be mindful of voice. Psychiatrist Eric Berne, in his best-seller Games People Play (Grove Press, 1964), theorized three parts of the persona, namely Child, Adult, and Parent, and went on to posit that interpersonal conflict arises when the lines of communication between people become mis-aligned with these parts. For example, if a member of GTIM Nation were to post a comment on a technical aspect of one of my points, that would represent that person’s Adult communicating to my Adult. However, if I were to respond condescendingly, challenging that person’s education or depth of experience, that would represent my Parent addressing their Child, thereby crossing the lines within that transaction, and most likely leading to conflict. This aspect of PM communications may be the primary reason I find many paper presentations on the subject to be off-putting, as more than a few first-timers present a voice of absolute intellectual superiority as they spout long-known elements of PM, an approach I’ve nicknamed eat-your-peas-style hectoring. Their voice is that of a Parent scolding a Child, almost certain to generate resentment on the part of the listeners.

So, I’ll ask again: When preparing a PM-centric communication, who do you think you’re talking or writing to? And, after you’ve taken a shot at answering that question, one more remains: Is that really who you will end up talking to?