Strategic Project Management

Over the weekend my wife and I spent some time in southern Utah exploring old ghost towns and enjoying some time together. Fortunately, she likes tooling around the back roads with me. We visited one of the most photographed ghost towns in the country just outside of Zion National Park, but the weather wasn't very good on Saturday and the dirt roads were like driving on marbles. It was very slick.

Yesterday, on our way home the weather was beautiful, so we decided to explore the southwestern route home to Salt Lake City. Neither of us had been that way before, so I looked at the GPS on my trusty iPhone and decided our route. It was a beautiful drive for the first several hours. We saw some scenery that we hadn't seen before and ultimately wound up in Beryl, UT, an old train stop—and the end of the paved road.

Not one to easily retreat and backtrack, I turned the Jeep onto the well graded dirt road and headed to the next spot on the GPS, Minersville. It didn't take long before I realized I had probably made a mistake. It had snowed the day before and we were not only riding on marbles, we were sliding all over the place. At one point we slid off the main part of the road and it looked like we were going to be stuck. I didn't have my shovel or anything else that I would have needed for these types of conditions and started to wonder if my plan was going to put the whole adventure at risk. We were 30 or 40 miles away from civilization, it was cold and there was no way to dig the Jeep out.

A few minutes of reminding myself to be patient and we were back on the marbles again. A couple hours later we were back on easily travel-able dirt and before long were on the highway. Covered in mud, but glad to be out of trouble, we pointed the Jeep north and headed back for home.

Projects don't always work out the way we anticipate, in fact, I think that's true most of the time. It's easy to wind up on an old dirt road, riding on marbles, trying to keep the Jeep on the road. Sometimes, it makes sense to take a step back, regroup and rethink the next steps. It might even be a good idea to retreat and try another route. Pivoting isn't failure, it's taking a look at the goal, determining if you're on the right road to make it safely to your destination and making any needed corrections before you're in big trouble.

Of course getting stuck in the mud on a service road alongside the railroad tracks isn't a matter of life and death. In fact, we later saw a UPRR worker headed back where we had just been, so we would have had some help, but we would have saved a couple of hours if I hadn't been so stubborn and had made the smart decision to backtrack and stay on the paved road.

I was motivated to take the most direct route to our destination. Had conditions been better, it would have been a fun adventure. As it was, we added unnecessary time and took some additional risks that didn't provide the intended reward. Fortunately, my trusty Jeep pulled us through.

Have you ever had to regroup, rethink and retreat?

I have to admit that I come from a generation that convinced ourselves that we could demonstrate our dedication and work ethic by spending more time at the office or in the field working hard—and our extra work would be recognized and rewarded. Unfortunately, all that extra effort just became something to be expected and taken for granted by many employers. If I had a nickle for every extra hour I put into my career, I'd be a pretty wealthy man by now—or at the very least could have taken my wife on a nice trip to Hawaii. I don't think I'm alone.

I don't think there's any argument that too much overtime on a project is the sign of a project in trouble. What's more, no matter how incredible your personal stamina might be (all nighters used to be a piece of cake for me, now I'm pretty worthless for two or three days after), if every project you lead takes heroic efforts to be successfully completed, you will ultimately crash and burn. You and your team.

Plus, too much caffeine, too much junk food and too little sleep aren't good for your health either—which eventually makes it difficult to perform at a high level.

I've come to wonder if the problem of being available 24/7 is sometimes self inflicted. Have you ever had a new boss you were trying to impress so you made sure you were in the office before he or she arrived and made every effort to be the last one out of the office? Who's fault is it if down the road he or she just assumes that you like working until the wee hours of the morning? Being eager to make a good first impression, you set the expectation that you are available 24/7. You might not have asked for it, but you did demonstrate a willingness to work-related communication all night and all weekend.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO, confessed earlier this month on Mashable that she goes home every night at 5:30 pm. "I walk out of this office every day at 5:30 so I'm home for dinner with my kids at 6:00, and interestingly, I've been doing that since I had kids," says Sandberg. "I did that when I was at Google, I did that here, and I would say it's not until the last year, two years that I'm brave enough to talk about it publicly. Now I certainly wouldn't lie, but I wasn't running around giving speeches on it."

According to Mashable, "...although she used to worry about what others thought of her departure time (which is a completely reasonable hour to head home, by the way), she has finally reached a point where she can take off at 5:30 p.m. without the lingering concern of how others are perceiving her."

She was sending emails late into the evening and getting up early in the morning to make up for "...ducking out at 5:30..." I once worked with a guy who was incredibly talented and made it a point to be out the door sometime between 5:00 and 5:30 every evening. He worked very hard and accomplished a lot during the day, but he was on the receiving end of some additional scrutiny for not making his career his life. When it was crunch time and there was work to be done he always stayed, but in his mind every day wasn't crunch time. Although there were times when I looked down my nose at him, I now have come to a greater appreciation of his view. It should be what we accomplish during the day, not how much time we spend on the job.

I have to admit that there have been times in my life that I was an addict. I would role into the garage at 1:00 a.m. or so and crawl into bed for a less-than-friendly reception from my wife. Fortunately I don't do that anymore.

Of course, there are times when extra effort is required to accomplish a critical project. Those times should be the exception rather than the rule. If your boss sees you working long hours all the time, he or she might just think that's how you work. Or worse, that you don't know how to effectively manage your time. Either way, it will be taken for granted that you are going to work that way all the time.

A consistent need for heroic efforts could indicate that your project is in trouble. A project running on schedule should really require little or no overtime. Working long hours is often just a quick fix. I've also noticed the ratio of mistakes to accurate work increases exponentially for every hour or two you're in the office after nine or ten hours in a day.

Leverage project management tools to help you manage projects more efficiently and ease the burden on your schedule. Engage the team in helping establish legitimate timelines and milestones—giving them a greater sense of ownership and you an extra few minutes to tackle one of the dozen other things you need to accomplish right now. Don't try to do it all yourself. I once worked with a fellow who felt he needed to do it all himself. It wasn't long before he was burnt out and ineffective. Don't let that happen to you.

Mashable has posted a brief video of Sheryl Sandberg talking about her work schedule. It might be interesting to hear her perspective from her own mouth.

When are you going home tonight?

My friends and I will sometimes debate whether Superman or Batman is the more interesting superhero. Technically, I guess Batman isn't a superhero at all, he's just a very disturbed guy who has the ability to create some incredible crime-fighting gadgets that make him appear to be a superhero (he's my choice for most interesting superhero, by the way).

Superman, on the other hand, has a number of very incredible superpowers that make him more than a match for the average villain. The "Man of Steel" is too squeaky-clean and unbeatable to be really interesting in my opinion. Give me a flawed, kind of messed-up superhero for real "interesting" potential.

A couple of years ago I came across a list of PM superpowers that if added to your "utility belt" can help make you appear to have super powers. I wish I could remember where I first came upon the list, but these have the potential to make your colleagues believe that you are "super".

1. The gift of foresight: I'm not suggesting that membership in the Psychic Friends Network is required, but being able to look down the road and make some reasonable predictions based upon practical assumptions is an important skill.
2. Organization: I don't think this needs much explanation. Keeping information, schedules, and team members organized is critical. Fortunately, most project managers I now are very organized and detail oriented people.
3. The ability to lead: Although there are some people who are natural leaders, basic leadership skills can be learned, practiced and improved. You might not read about it in the PMBOK, but there are mentors, leadership training and books you can find if an honest evaluation of your leadership skills finds you lacking. Leadership and people skills are, at the very least, as important as methodology and tracking tools. I happen to believe that they are more important.
4. Exceptional communication skills: It's important to be able to communicate with everyone involved in the project from peers, to team members and stakeholders. Everyone needs different information presented in different terms. This is a skill that is vital to a project leader's success.
5. Pragmatism: A pragmatic approach to problem-solving is a skill that is essential for a discipline that faces the regular adjustments and changes that face project managers.
6. Empathy: In order to lead people, you need to understand them and what motivates them. Everyone is different and a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership is seldom the most successful approach. I'm not suggesting that project managers need to get all "touchie-feelie" and start tearing up in romantic comedies (not that there's anything wrong with that), but the old saw about "walking a mile in another man's shoes" might apply here.

In some respects, you'd have to be a little "disturbed" to work in a project environment in the first place—so you're already part way to being more interesting than Superman.

Oh, by the way, Superman or Batman?

A couple of days ago I came across this checklist created by Pat Didomenico for Business Management Daily. Although it's not targeted at project professionals, it's targeted to bosses and managers in general, and I thought it might be interesting to see how everyone scores.

With that in mind, take a look in the mirror and add up the behaviors you feel confident that you exhibit on a regular basis:

___ 1. Guide, don’t control. Don’t take a completely hands-off approach, but don’t micromanage either. Explain what needs to get done, but don’t dictate exactly how you want it done.

___ 2. Utilize team strengths. All of your team members have something to offer. Identify, recognize and cultivate their specific skills.

___ 3. Empower the team. Give them the tools they need to succeed and the opportunities to learn new skills.

___ 4. Trust. Don’t second-guess team members’ abilities. Believe that you hired good personnel.

___ 5. Take an active interest in team members as individuals. Inquire about their families and hobbies. Remember their birthdays. Offer condolences when necessary.

___ 6. Offer praise. Be quick to give a compliment for a job well done.

___ 7. Respect the team. Your position of authority doesn’t excuse belittling, abusing or humiliating workers, no matter how unintentional. Check that your tone isn’t condescending or parental, especially when giving in­­struc­­tions or critiques.

___ 8. Admit shortcomings and ask for help. There is no shame in admitting that some on the team are more skilled in a particular area than you. Asking for help shows that you respect their knowledge.

___ 9. Have integrity. Avoid a “do as I say and not as I do” attitude. Hold yourself to the same standards to which you hold everyone else. Give credit where credit is due. For instance, if you use an idea from someone in a proposal you submit to your boss, give them credit.

___ 10. Learn from your mistakes. It’s not enough to admit when you make mistakes. Learn not to repeat them. Otherwise, people are going to consider your admissions of error and accompanying apologies as nothing more than lip service.

___ 11. Don’t play the blame game. In the face of adversity, look to solve the problem, not place blame. Team members value knowing that you have their backs. That doesn’t mean you should in­­sulate them against deserved discipline. Just don’t throw anyone under the bus when they make honest mistakes.

___ 12. Give the team a voice. When­­­­ever possible, let them have a say in decisions that directly impact them. Also, ask them for feedback. If you cannot implement their suggestions, explain why.

___ 13. Listen, really listen, to what people are saying. Sometimes, you have to read between the lines or listen for what’s not said.

___ 14. Keep everyone in the loop. Let them know when, why and how decisions are made. Also, explain the reasons behind new policies or changes to existing policies.

___ 15. Keep things in perspective. Don’t go crazy over something trivial. Ask yourself, “Will this matter in a week from now?” If not, it might be best to just let it go.

___ 16. Don’t waste peoples’ time. Call meetings only when absolutely necessary. Have a clear agenda and be organized. Also, recognize that team members have lives outside of work and give them the flexibility to live it.

___ 17. Compromise. Meeting people halfway goes a long way! Be careful, however, of compromising too often. If you do, they may start to think they can bend your will whenever they want, and, in the process, lose respect for your authority.

___ 18. Be blunt, but tactful. Don’t beat around the bush. Burying your message in small talk, for example, could result in the message getting lost.

___ 19. Hold everyone accountable, i.e., don’t play favorites. Not only will a failure to treat similarly situated team members similarly pit them against each other, but it could also result in a discrimination claim.

___ 20. Open your door, and walk out of it. It’s important for the team to know that your door is always open to them. But be careful of waiting for them to come to you. Make a habit of walking around and interacting with team members in their workspaces.

The most successful project leaders I've known over the course of my career consistently exhibit many (if not all) of these traits. How did you do?

According to a recent article I discovered on HR.BLR.com, "The biggest roadblocks to organizational breakthroughs are a shortage of fresh thinking and too much red tape, according to executives interviewed for a recent Robert Half survey."

This shouldn't come as a surprise to most project leaders, over the years I've noticed that the path most organizations take to innovation is re-invention. According to the Robert Half survey, 35 percent of the 1,400 CFOs surveyed said a lack of new ideas is the greatest barrier to their company being more innovative with 24 percent citing too much bureaucracy as the problem. It was also interesting to note that 20 percent blamed being bogged down with daily tasks or putting out fires as the problem. Sound familiar? If so, it doesn't sound like you're alone.

I don't think there's any question that fostering an innovative project environment is important to ensure that projects are successful, and although the six tips identified in the survey will likely not be a surprise to this audience, here they are:

1. Engage the Entire Team: "Empowered employees tend to be more innovative because they have a bigger emotional stake in the firms success," suggests the report. I couldn't agree more. When the team is engaged (and that means everyone from sponsor to individual contributor) projects tend to not only be more successful, the project environment tends to foster an atmosphere of creative problem-solving and innovation.
2. Remove the Red Tape: According to Robert Half International, "Employees become disillusioned when they put their time and energy into devising ingenious ideas only to wait forever for them to be approved and implemented." I'll go one step further. Nobody likes to ask "Mother, may I?" for everything. I learned a long time ago that it doesn't have to be exactly how I would do it to be successful. Giving team members some leeway in how they approach problems and come up with solutions often yields the best solution.
3. Keep it Collaborative: "Create policies that support the open exchange of information and a team-first atmosphere," they suggest. I've witnessed organizations where competition and confrontation where the rule. I'm not convinced that's the best way to get the most out of people. When people can collaborate and work together, I'm convinced we get the best from them.
4. Build a Better Brainstorm: It's suggested that we, "Rein in the naysayers who relish in saying why novel proposals won't work. Support 'blue-sky thinking.'" I've been in some incredible brainstorm sessions over the course of my career. I've also spent hours wasting time in fruitless discussions where every new idea is killed before it even starts to breath. And, in fairness, I've sometimes been a naysayer myself. You've got to wade through a lot of ideas to find the truly great one.
5. Give 'Em a Break: "Burnout does not beget brilliance." I understand that sometimes (and the operative word is sometimes) people need to put in extra time and work. However if sometimes becomes all the time, there's a bigger problem manifesting itself than overtime. I once worked for a guy who told me that if I was working eight or nine hours a day, I should start thinking about working ten. And, if I was working 10 or 11 hours a day, I should start thinking about working 12. Of course, he didn't want to compensate me for any of that extra time. If I had been working only six or seven hours a day he would have likely thought I was stealing a few hours a week from him—yet, he didn't mind taking a few extra uncompensated hours each week from me. Needless to say, I don't work for that guy anymore. If you expect people to consistently put in extra time and effort, it's really only a short-term performance bump. Long term, you'll lose employees and productivity will suffer.
6. Seek Inspiration: "You'll have difficulty motivating staff to ignite creative sparks if you're feeling uninspired yourself," suggests the survey. The same five rules outlined above also apply to project leaders. It's just as important that you avoid burnout and are engaged as everyone else on the team. Wherever you go or whatever you do to feel inspired, make sure you spend regular time going there or doing that. Most project leaders have way too much to do and not anywhere near enough time to do it. Give yourself permission once in a while to step away from the desk and get the creative juices flowing yourself.

What are you doing to create an atmosphere of creativity and innovation within your project teams?