Strategic Project Management

I recently finished reading Eric Ries' The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. I included the subtitle because, Ries suggests, business leaders and project teams should consider themselves "entrepreneurs" and should be working to create the innovation that will make our organizations successful.

Not too long ago, I asked if it made sense for project team members to feel a sense of skin in the game, I believe it does. Ries suggests, that people "...need a personal stake in the outcome of their creations."

Neither he nor I believe this always needs to be some kind of financial stake (although that sometimes makes a lot of sense), however even in organizations where a financial stake is unacceptable or impossible because the organization is a non-profit or government, "...it is still possible for teams to have a personal stake," says Ries.

Ries describes how Toyota creates this sense of personal ownership and stake in the outcome with the role of shusa, or chief engineer:

"Shusa are often called heavy-weight project managers in the U.S. literature, but this name understates their real roles as design leaders. Toyota employees translate the term as chief engineer, and they refer to the vehicle under development as the shusha's car. They assured us that the shusa has final, absolute authority over every aspect of vehicle development."

The shusa is responsible for the development of every new car from start to finish. In the late 70s I met an engineer at Toyota who was really excited to pull out the schematics of the quarter-panel he designed. My first thought as he describe how this was "his" quarter-panel was, "It's a fender." That "fender" happened to be recognized as part of the best engineered car in the world that year. All these years later, I admire his passion and sense of ownership. I don't know if he had a financial stake, but his name was attached to the car and he definitely felt a personal stake in the outcome of that project.

When teams have a personal stake in the outcome of a project (whether financial or otherwise) they feel a greater sense of ownership, perform at a higher level and ultimately contribute to the success of their organizations. What are you doing to give your team a personal stake in project outcomes?

Last night I made a presentation at an event sponsored by the Social Commerce Exchange. It's not a project management group, but it is a network of people who share ideas, network and try to learn how to better leverage social media to accomplish the goals of their very diverse organizations. Not unlike the #pmot or #pmchat communities I enjoy interacting with about project management topics, I think there's value looking outside of the PM community to get fresh ideas and learn new techniques. Because I'm an advocate of leveraging social media best practice within the project management process generally, learning what others are doing to communicate with their audiences is very informative.

Outside of project management, are there other communities you visit or forums you frequent? I'm a big believer of utilizing techniques and approaches from other industries that are successful (but possibly untried in ours), to increase productivity, improve collaboration and help individual team members maximize their contributions.

Attending events like the Social Commerce Exchange is part of what I do to improve my EVE ratio. Events like this often happen after work, I don't get paid to be there, but I think it's an important investment in my career. What are you doing to improve you skills and move the needle on your EVE ratio?

There was a boy in elementary school who had a reputation for being tough and liked to bully the kids that were smaller or appeared weaker than him. He was the best athlete in our class, he could run faster, hit the softball farther and was definitely the strongest. Everyone was afraid of him. I was afraid of him.

As we got older and left elementary school he kind of slipped into anonymity. He wasn't so tough anymore nor could he bully us anymore. In fact, I completely lost track of him and never really noticed him in high school.

Although grown-up bullies still exist, they aren't quite as frightening as they were when I was elementary school. Nevertheless, that type of brutish atmosphere isn't very conducive to creativity and collaboration. However, even more than a bully, I think there is something else that makes it difficult for teams to effectively collaborate.

We work in an age of instant messaging, email and other almost instantaneous communication. We can't let the immediacy of the medium allow us to become callous and casual in how we approach our co-workers, even when problems arise and mistakes are made. I believe that even in today's workplace, there is a place for common (maybe not so common now) courtesy.

1. Take time to make communication thoughtful and cordial: When timelines are truncated and project teams are asked to do more and more, take an extra few seconds when writing an email or other communique to consider that your communication is going to a person. I like to begin every email with a salutation, which reminds me that I am writing to someone. The extra two or three seconds it takes me to address the person I'm writing to doesn't negatively impact my productivity, but it does help me foster a productive and cordial working relationship.
2. Take time to be polite: Within the imperfect world of project-based work, sometimes difficult decisions take place. That doesn't mean we can throw civility out the window. Over the thirty-plus years of my career I've watched what used to be considered common courtesy among superiors, subordinates and co-workers become "quaint" and considered "unnecessary." There is nothing wrong with considering the feelings of someone needing correcting, regardless of how stupid you think they are or how big a mistake you think they've made. Being polite and considerate of each other is the very least we should be able to expect from our "professional" colleagues. Anything less is unproductive and immature.
3. Remove the criticism from "constructive" criticism: I was taught early in my career, by friends and colleagues much wiser than myself, that "criticism" is never "constructive." I don't think I have ever worked with a project team that agreed all the time. Project management involves a lot of problem solving, which means that it's seldom done right the first time. Fostering a creative environment where team members are creatively solving problems and pushing for excellence requires collaboration, not criticism. Where disagreements arise or a course correction is required, "I don't like this," should be followed by, "Here's why, and here's a suggestion as to how you might proceed."
4. Remember that critique is always easier than execution: It's always easier to see the flaws from the outside looking in. Theodore Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause who, at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Effective communication and collaboration doesn't rely on tricks or gimmicks. In my opinion, it's important to remember that effective communication is personal. It doesn't matter if it's face to face, via email, or even in a blog—its one person interacting with another. Project management tools can help facilitate this, but it's really up to you.

American author and playwright Jean Kerr said, "Man is the only animal that learns by being hypocritical. He pretends to be polite and then, eventually, he becomes polite."

What are you doing in your organization to encourage considerate and courteous interaction among your colleagues?

I recently spoke to Tom Cooper of the Brighthill Group on the TalkingWork podcast. He's a PMP who is now a speaker, trainer and coach who focuses on personal and professional leadership. Tom asks, "What's your EVE Ratio?"

If you're not sure what an EVE ratio is, you're not alone. I didn't know either. It's the ratio of investment you make in education vs. entertainment. Tom suggests (and I wholeheartedly agree) that project leaders need to be investing regularly in their careers and leadership skills. If we content ourselves with the investment our companies are willing to make in us, we are being shortsighted.

I try to spend time every month either reading books, attending webinars or other events to help me become better at my job—and I'm willing to pay for it myself. Particularly with tight budgets and organizations less willing to pay employees for personal development, it's important to continually make that investment in yourself. For example, over the last couple of years I've become a huge fan of Audible and take advantage of my commute each day to keep up to date on thoughts and ideas that will make me better at what I do. That being said, my EVE ratio is probably still weighted on the entertainment side.

Tom kindly shared his list of books, webinars, seminars and podcasts with the TalkingWork audience. We also want to make his Leadership Reading List available here.

Have you ever considered how much time and money you invest in entertainment vs. education? I'm pretty convinced that if you're not willing to invest in your education and career, nobody else will either.

I'm a big believer is applying social media techniques within the project management process.

A little over a year ago I spoke with Elizabeth Harrin (@pm4girls) about her new book, Social Media for Project Managers. I understand it recently became available via Kindle, so I thought I would bring it up again. Whether you prefer the hard-copy or the electronic version of books, if you're a project manager and want to wrap your head around what social media methods can do for you, I'd read this book.

Elizabeth takes the time to go through the different types of media, the pros and cons, along with discussing why you may or may not want to apply any particular media to your project management process. This applies to everything from podcasts, blogs, forums and webinars (but isn't limited to those mentioned above).

I'm a pretty regular reader, and many project management books require a pretty dedicated desire to learn to get through—this one is decidedly different. Harrin's writing is engaging and accessible. She's a pro at making her ideas consumable to a pretty varied audience. This book should be on your bookshelf or in in Kindle library.

As you may already know, I'm a huge fan of implementing social media best practice into the project management process. I think taking those practices that have made Twitter, Facebook and other social media popular just make sense (particularly with so many Millennials in the the workforce today). I think the collaborative advantages of social media are pretty apparent.

If you want to create a more collaborative environment and you're not considering a social media-like approach, I think you're missing an opportunity to ramp up the collaborative ability of your project teams. I know of an engineering firm in Japan that is finding a lot of success in their efforts to eliminate email for project related communication and replacing it with the social component of their project management tool. I'm excited to follow how their efforts pan out over time.

Elizabeth suggests a great starting point for project managers who may be considering something like this. "Let's start with establishing whether the project organization is ... culturally prepared to take a dip in the social media waters." She adds, "The first dependency to consider for your project-based social media activity is how much your team will want to participate in this. Web-based collaborative tools rely on people working online and being prepared to share knowledge. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How technically literate are your team members?
2. Where are they based?
3. How keen are they to try something new?

"A team already confident in using social media and online tools (in or outside the office) will make for an easier adoption of any such technology in the workplace. If you are working with a group of people who struggle to send emails, don't text, and can't use the calendar feature on their mobile device, you could find yourself meeting a technical challenge."

This is great advice. The type of media you apply really does depend upon where your team is and whether or not it will actually provide value and help your team. What's more, I don't think age is the issue either. I'm a 50+ guy who is totally into the value of social media, while my wife doesn't get it and doesn't want to get it.

Is it right for your team? I can't answer that one, but starting with Elizabeth's book will help you make that determination for yourself.