"Innovative efforts should never report to line managers charged with responsibility for ongoing operations. ...The new project is an infant and will remain one for the foreseeable future, and infants belong in the nursery. The "adults", that is, the executives in charge of existing businesses or products will have neither the time nor understanding for the infant." - Peter Drucker

I can see the wisdom in this, especially when the new developments are very different than existing operations.

But on the other side of the coin, when projects are very similar to existing operations, or in fact are themselves organizational changes, is this still a good idea? Or would a common source of authority and/or funding for these projects be a positive situation?

This is a question for you. What do you think?

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This happens every year.  We make predictions so we know we can look back and see how wrong we really are.  No one really looks back though, so I'm just going to accept that this is a fun exercise and I'm going to be wrong.

However, you can listen to episode 164 of the Project Management Podcast and hear my project management predictions for 2011 along with a handful from other people.

Lean/Agile

I think we will continue to see momentum in the direction of Lean and Agile.  Technology will enable this in more ways than one, and Lean/Agile projects will enable technology implementations.  It's a virtuous cycle that will continue in 2011 and probably pick up the pace.

Distributed and virtualized systems and technologies in particular will increase in adoption as more and more knowledge workers become distributed.  There will be a struggle between the benefits of co-location and distributed teams, a struggle I am going through now myself.  

Education

I'm a volunteer for the PMI Educational Foundation and have seen increases in both awards and candidates for scholarships and grants for project management education.  I think that will continue in 2011.

Also, the offerings of project management courses and training has grown.  I plan to offer more courses myself through pmStudent e-Learning and other venues, so the choices available will be ever-expanding from me and other providers like here at Gantthead, which is great!

Social Networking

I expect to see increased adoption, and a consolidation of platforms.  I'm spread so thin across so many platforms and groups within those platforms, I think it's time to simplify.  And I think a lot of other project managers involved with social media will feel the same.

For Me Personally

I will continue to develop the lean/agile approach my teams and I have been working on.  Eliminating waste in process has become a bit of an obsession for me, and I will continue to evolve my approach over the course of 2011.  I'm also planning on focusing a bit more on Systems Engineering than I have in the past, and perhaps become INCOSE certified in the process.

What are your predictions for 2011?

I answer a question from a member of my project management training program about project scope considerations, and highlight a dichotomy between project scope and product scope, their different sources and how they should be thought of as separate but related entities.

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We all know documentation can be useful and is an important part of project management.

But all too often, we go too far.

Here are just a few ways your own project documentation can run amok.  Seek out and destroy them.

Relying on Documentation for Communication

It's always so strange to me when I hear someone justify a lack of communication by saying they assumed everyone knew about it, because it was on page 734 of the software design document.

Really?

My first question is why the hell we have a software design document with 734 or more pages?

Second, exactly what mechanism do you think is at play that would allow all stakeholders and team members to be aware of every update to all the documentation on your project?  Did I miss the memo about the new matrix-style jacks so we can all plug in and download information directly into our brains?

When I talk about communication, face-to-face is always preferred, followed by phone, then email.  Communicating via documentation is not even on my list because it's not a method for communicating.  It's for documenting.

Ask yourself...is this information best used as a book is used?  Is it something that needs to be documented so it can be learned by someone new, years down the road?  Are you trying to shove a bunch of stuff into it that could best be communicated in another way?

Producing Documentation that Provides No Value

When it seems you are putting more time and effort into writing documentation than actually producing a product, it's time to ask yourself what value that documentation is providing.

Every section of every document should have a purpose.  It should have a user.  If there is no user, there is no purpose.  Who is going to read this thing?

User stories can be wonderful for identifying the value for documentation, and specific sections within documents.  If you're not familiar with user stories, they are simple.  Use the following syntax.

"As a [user] I want [something] so that [benefit]."

I encourage you to create a set of user stories for every document you have.  Go show them to the users and validate you actually know what the [bleep] this is being used for.  It  will be an enlightening experience.  I have gone through this activity and cut 60-page management plans down to 8 pages in length, without losing any value.  In reality, the organization actually gained value because someone might actually read an 8-page document.

I have come into organizations and found documents that have taken on lives of their own.  When I ask why a particular activity is being performed because I don't see what it's used for, I am told "it's for the TPS report".  When I ask who reads the TPS report the answer is "I don't know."

Hmm.  Let's stop doing it, and see if we get any phone calls.

Producing Documentation as an Alternative to Trust

Do you ever get the feeling some things are documented just so someone can point a finger and say "I told you so!" or "You should have known better!"

Documentation (and process) is no alternative to trusting people to do the right thing.  A classic example is the case where a simple point-to-point communication step in a process is turned into a frankenstein monster.  I once was on a project where an update to configuration-controlled artifacts was implemented by a specific individual.  After changes to the project were formally approved, this person would update the baseline.

The 'trigger' to have this person look for the completed change request and update the baseline could be as simple as "give Jasmine the CCR number and ask her to update the baseline."  Instead, a whole new tool was set up so that timestamps could be saved and requests would be formally documented.  Mind you, this is completely separate from the system used to actually run the change control process.

In the end, this insanity resulted in pages upon pages of documentation about the new system and all of the scenarios that could possibly every happen.  There was no trust in the people running the process in the first place; and no trust that people on the project had enough brain power and common sense to fiture out what to do in case things didn't go smoothly.

Trying to document every 'what if' scenario is as futile and worthless as trying to manage every risk.  Only a handful of scenarios are worth the time and effort to plan for.  Like the one that mud people will emerge from the bay and raid our server rooms, frying server after server with their muddy slime and killing our project.

Damn mud people.

images by A.K. Photography and ChernobylBob

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I've written a lot on this topic and even produced a training course for new project managers.  Today, I'd like to outline an order of operations for thinking about how to pursue your own project manager career path.

1 - Start at the Beginning

It's easy to do a search online and start studying for a certification or think about going back to school for a degree in project management. 

Not so fast.

Before you do anything, take stock of your current starting point.  What advantages and disadvantages do you currently have to deal with when trying to get into a career like this where most job postings require many years of experience?

What are your career goals?  Are they written down?  How will you know when you are heading down the right path, and when you are lost?

2 - Plan Your Career Trajectory

Now that you know where you are starting from and what you want to accomplish from a 10,000-foot view, it's time to figure out how.

Now you can start educating yourself about the various educational options, certifications, and most of all: how to gain experience.

See, project management as a discipline doesn't have a lot of internship programs yet; and just because you have a degree or certificate doesn't mean I want you to run a project team in my company.  There are many ways to get into a project management role, and the considerations are different for each trajectory you might take.

3 - Learn From Others

My youngest brother and I are 10 years apart in age.

His favorite joke is to tell people how much he learned from me; by NOT doing what I did.  Learning from others' mistakes and successes is a powerful way to teach yourself to be successful.

Do whatever you can do learn from others who are doing or have done what you want to be doing.  (Wow, that was a confusing sentance!)

Gantthead's Project Management Central is a good place to start.

4 - Build Professional Relationships

Most people are hired through professional networking.  It's true, whether you like it or not.  I happen to like it, because it means decisions about hiring are made more from actual experiences with real people and less from what you read on someone's resume or CV.

Networking is an art, and it can be learned.  Sure, some people are naturally better at it than others, but it can be taught.

You start building your online network right here at Gantthead.com.  Reach out to people, ask them about themselves, and in general just get involved!

5 - Now Worry About the Details of Execution

How do you know what organizations would be good to grow your career in?  Are you researching organizations, or jobs?

You SHOULD be researching organizations.  Remember, most jobs are never posted for you to see.  But what if you pursued the right organization in a way that made them come to you when a relevant positition came about?  I've even had companies create positions for me, because they knew me and wanted me to be a part of their team.  You can make that happen too.

Then there's the resume writing, cover letters, portfolios, and the actual interview process.  All of these details are important, no matter how you are going about finding positions that are a good fit for you and the organization.

So that's my approach to helping my students with their project manager career paths.  If you are interested to learn more, you can always check out my project management career coaching course.

photo by Randy Levine

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