Strategic Project Management

A team is more than simply a collection of individuals working on the same project—or at least it should be.

I once worked with a fellow who processed information very differently than I did. We were contributors on the same team, but we would often "discuss" our differences in approach (most of the time in a civil manner). Although we had our disagreements, we were able to collaborate very well together because we appreciated our differences and came to discover that sometimes the perspective of a divergent view can force everyone to look more critically at the process or the proposed solution. Over the years, I have come to really appreciate the way we successfully worked together to accomplish our objectives.

I've also worked with others who refused to collaborate or compromise (sometimes these were even project managers). Everyone was frustrated, nothing ever really got accomplished and projects often languished until they were abandoned or worse, ignored.

Most of us have also worked with people who had no opinion of their own, refused to contribute anything but their butt in a seat, creating an even more frustrating collaboration environment than those who were intransigent in their opinions.

So how do you create the perfect team?

1. Technology can help keep the team together: Project teams should leverage technology to work together regardless of where they work in the world—particularly as more and more organizations seem to rely on distributed teams. The Internet has made it possible for project leaders in Europe to manage teams in China or South America, and executives in Cincinnati to have access to real project information to make informed decisions.
2. Because you don’t always get to pick your team, you need to make the most out of the team you’ve got: Most of the time project leaders don’t get to pick their team—nor does the team get to pick their project leader. Building a good working relationship with everyone on the team is important. Sometimes the collaboration will be easy, but it isn't always easy. We need to work on effectively communicating with everyone we work with, even those who are stubborn or disengaged.
3. It’s not fair to expect any team member to do all the heavy lifting: The same team members shouldn’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting for the team. When everyone works together and carries their share of the burdens associated with a project, the project is more likely to be successful and the team is more likely to pull together as they all work to overcome challenges and help with the heavy lifting. This is also a good way to get people who would otherwise be content to sit in the background engaged.
4. Stronger and more capable team members should mentor and help less experienced team members improve their skills: I’m a firm believer in always learning and improving skills, at work and in everything else I do. How we treat less experienced members of the team and potential learning experiences can positively or negatively impact how they perceive their role on the team. I will always be grateful to the more senior people who took an interest in me during the early years of my career and taught me the things that didn’t appear in the HR manual or company training.

I don't think it really matters what type of projects we work on, keeping the team working together is sometimes challenging when project teams are made up of people with different abilities and dispositions. With that in mind, we also need to remember that successful teams don't just happen. We need to use the technology and interpersonal skills at our disposal to foster a good team envirnoment where everyone collaborates and contributes together.

What are you doing to keep everyone working together and successfullly collaborating?

A team is more than simply a collection of individuals working on the same project—or at least it should be.

I once worked with a fellow who processed information very differently than I did. We were contributors on the same team, but we would often "discuss" our differences in approach (most of the time in a civil manner). Although we had our disagreements, we were able to collaborate very well together because we appreciated our differences and came to discover that sometimes the perspective of a divergent view can force everyone to look more critically at the process or the proposed solution. Over the years, I have come to really appreciate the way we successfully worked together to accomplish our objectives.

I've also worked with others who refused to collaborate or comprimise (sometimes these were even project managers). Everyone was frustrated, nothing ever really got accomplished and projects often languished until they were abandoned or worse, ignored.

Most of us have also worked with people who had no opinion of their own, refused to contribute anything but their butt in a seat, creating an even more frustrating collaboration environment than those who were intransigent in their opinions.

So how do you create the perfect team?

1. Technology can help keep the team together: Project teams should leverage technology to work together regardless of where they work in the world—particularly as more and more organizations seem to rely on distributed teams. The Internet has made it possible for project leaders in Europe to manage teams in China or South America, and executives in Cincinnati to have access to real project information to make informed decisions.
2. Because you don’t always get to pick your team, you need to make the most out of the team you’ve got: Most of the time project leaders don’t get to pick their team—nor does the team get to pick their project leader. Building a good working relationship with everyone on the team is important. Sometimes the collaboration will be easy, but it isn't always easy. We need to work on effectively communicating with everyone we work with, even those who are stubborn or disengaged.
3. It’s not fair to expect any team member to do all the heavy lifting: The same team members shouldn’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting for the team. When everyone works together and carries their share of the burdens associated with a project, the project is more likely to be successful and the team is more likely to pull together as they all work to overcome challenges and help with the heavy lifting. This is also a good way to get people who would otherwise be content to sit in the background engaged.
4. Stronger and more capable team members should mentor and help less experienced team members improve their skills: I’m a firm believer in always learning and improving skills, at work and in everything else I do. How we treat less experienced members of the team and potential learning experiences can positively or negatively impact how they perceive their role on the team. I will always be grateful to the more senior people who took an interest in me during the early years of my career and taught me the things that didn’t appear in the HR manual or company training.

I don't think it really matters what type of projects we work on, keeping the team working together is sometimes challenging when project teams are made up of people with different abilities and dispositions. With that in mind, we also need to remember that successful teams don't just happen. We need to use the technology and interpersonal skills at our disposal to foster a good team envirnoment where everyone collaborates and contributes together.

What are you doing to keep everyone working together and successfullly collaborating?

The economic downturn we’ve experienced for the last few years is taking its toll on the workforce. Whether you work in a project environment or not, "Businesses expect a lot more out of their employees these day…" writes Anne Kadet for the Wall Street Journal. In her article, ‘Superjobs’: Why You Work More, Enjoy it Less, Kadet writes about organizations of all size who are expecting employees to "…take on extra tasks that have little to do with their primary roles and expertise—with engineers going on sales calls, accountants pitching in on customer service and chief financial officers running a division on the side. And some believe this shift is permanent, as the quickening pace of change demands more flexibility from everyone at the office."

Although I have always felt that it is a good idea for everyone in the organization to be willing to pitch in and help when times are tough, I worry that too much "pitching in" will do more than lead to burnout—it will lead to exhausted workers who are frustrated and unmotivated to do anything more than what they must to survive (I guess that’s the real definition of burnout, isn’t it?). Which is not an environment where project teams can creatively problem solve or invent and create. Ultimately, this type of environment will lead to an even greater project failure rate and ultimately organizational failure.

"Some experts say the superjob is the logical next step in management’s quest to make the workplace more cost efficient," writes Kadet. "The latest shift started when businesses redistributed the workload during the recession; last years nascent recovery intensified the process."

Kadet says that a recent survey conducted by Spherion Staffing suggests that 53 percent of workers surveyed last year have taken on new roles, most of them without pay (only 7% got a raise or a bonus). "Now that sales are picking up, there’s even more work to do, but companies are reluctant to hire, say human-resource experts. Some are anxious about what the economic future holds," she writes, "while others are seeing their profits increase now that that their workforces are leaner."

Although I believe there are probably a lot of great opportunities for careers to grow during this time, I agree with Kadet when she suggests that even the most hard-nosed bosses know they can only stretch employees so far. It’s pretty obvious that the current conditions are taking their tole on the workforce. "Indeed, a recent survey from the Conference Board found that just 43% of Americans are satisfied with their job—a record low," she says.

What does this mean for project teams and the workforce at large?

We’ve talked before about how multitasking can actually reduce productivity. In fact Kadet brings this up. We aren’t really neurologically wired to do dozens of unrelated things at once. At least  we’re not wired to do them well. What’s more writes Kadet, "The sheer number of hours demanded by the superjob also can impair your performance as your brain gets fatigued, says Susan Koen, an organizational psychologist and consultant whose clients include Pfizer, Alcoa and Procter & Gamble."

According to Kadet, "Of course, the ultimate responsibility for workload management falls to the employee. Experts say that in many cases, employers have no idea how many tasks they’ve loaded on one person, so workers have to ‘manage up.’"

As project leaders, I think it’s important to have an understanding of all the work our project team members are engaged in. If we don’t have visibility into all work (not just project-based work), it makes realistic capacity planning problematic. Most people are not inclined to say no, so we need to help. I think that’s part of being an effective project leader.

My daughter lives downtown—about twenty or so minutes away from where my wife and I live in the suburbs. We decided to stop by for a visit. It was the perfect weather for a short bike ride. Although I am an "epic ride" sort of guy; disappearing on the road for hours at a time, just before dark is my favorite time to ride. The light is soft, it's easy to see and somehow you can almost sense the day winding down. Even though it was a very short ride, it was still a "great" ride.

Over the last couple of years project managers in many organizations are being asked to manage and organize many different types of projects. I've spoken with a number of project leaders who spend time regularly jumping back and forth between agile and waterfall projects (some may even be concurrent projects). It's pretty obvious to me, that a one-size-fits-all approach to managing projects and other work doesn't fit.

For most projects, almost daily, software companies are developing sophisticated project management tools that offer resource grids, business case builders, bubble charts and interactive Gantt charts. Sometimes I wonder if we've forgotten that the point of project management is to get work done—not complicate the work.

Although there are projects that might require a charter or sophisticated project plan, they aren't always needed. I'm not saying those tools and techniques aren't important. Like most of you, I work with projects of varying degrees of complexity, duration and urgency every day. Some are very structured and some are very informal. All of them are considered important to the organization (like last nights bike ride)—but does that imply that they all require the same level of formal structure?

I don’t think so.  With that in mind, here are three keys to simplify most project-based work:

1. Don’t underestimate the power of a checklist: Most of us have had experience working with a checklist since the days when mom wanted us to mow the lawn, weed the flowerbeds, and take out the trash.  A checklist can be a valuable tool for even the most complicated projects.  Regardless of the size or complexity of your project, looking for places to leverage a simple checklist can be very practical.  NASA has been sending astronauts into space for decades with the help of checklists—and those are pretty complicated projects.
2. Team synergy is a powerful tool: I learned a long time ago that two heads are better than one.  Involving everyone in the project plan, where appropriate, does a number of things to streamline team effectiveness and encourage project success.  Not the least of these is to create buy-in and insure greater team participation.
3. Don’t throw away the trash can: Over the last couple of years we’ve heard a lot about doing more with less.  It’s something we talk about in our organization.  However, I think many organizations miss the point.  In real terms, we should be talking about doing less with less, but doing more of the right things.  At some point, smaller project teams and smaller organizations can’t do more, no matter how much they automate processes with software or other project tools.

Looking for the simplest solutions will help any project team be more effective.  I was speaking with an analyst the other day who felt like most organizations do a really good job at managing major initiatives, but don't do well with other projects. Maybe it's time we started to focus less on our favorite methodology and more about the right methods for a wide variety of projects and project-based work.

What are you doing to simplify the way  your approach project planning?

Marketing leaders, like other shared services departments, are inundated with work requests on a daily basis. Having been a contributor and led marketing projects for many years, I can relate to the almost constant barrage of conflicting priorities and demands that are often placed on small teams and limited resources. It's like being asked to be creative with a gun to your head.

Every stakeholder feels like their project is the most important thing you have to do (whether or not it really is). People spend so much of their time managing stakeholders and one-off ad hoc initiatives that they don't have time to creatively approach the high-priority work where they should be focused. What's more, this forces people to stay late into the evening to get done what they should have been able to accomplish during the work day. Ultimately, the stakeholders who complain the loudest get their work done, while everything becomes less creative, less thoughtful and less effective.

Our colleagues in other shared services situations like IT, finance and HR face many of the same challenges. Some of the best practices used by other shared services teams can help marketing groups find more time for the right side of their brain while slowly putting the gun down.

1. Don't ignore small one-off work because it's not a project or other major marketing initiative: It's seldom the single, fatal, shot that brings down a marketing team. It's usually death by a thousand cuts. I envision those little tiny dinosaurs from the movie Jurassic Park, the Compsognathus, that might not kill you with a single bite, but a few dozen of those little guys will tear you to shreds in just a few minutes. The combined weight of a few dozen small and individually insignificant requests can derail progress and put important initiatives as risk. Marketing leaders need to make sure they have visibility into all the work their teams are doing.
2. Evaluate and manage all those in-bound marketing requests: I'm a big fan of creating a request queue. It doesn't necessarily have to be really formal, but someone (and I don't think it should be individual contributors on a team) should be collecting, prioritizing and evaluating all the requests that come into the department. If we force team members to become relationship and  work managers, we limit their ability to do what they do best—be creative. Plus, when that happens, all those in-bound marketing requests start managing the marketing team and not the marketing leaders.
3. Reduce reliance on heroic efforts: In other words, when people are required to spend late nights and extra hours on every major marketing initiative we don't get their best work. I'm convinced that after nine or ten hours, most people start running on auto-pilot and creativity drops. What's more, mistakes increase. And, too much caffeine and too many late nights aren't good for people's heath. After years of being a self-acknowledged workaholic, I must admit that I have often crawled into bed early into the morning to a less than friendly reception. Those kind of additional stresses make it difficult for creative people to be, well, creative. I admit, heroic efforts are needed from time to time, but if marketing leaders rely on them, they are handicapping their ability to do great work.

When marketing leaders can successfully manage and prioritize the work their marketing teams are doing, they can keep their organizations focused on those initiatives that provide the most value—instead of getting distracted by requests for a new t-shirt design or coffee mug. What's more, adding some structure to the way teams do their creative work actually gives people more time for the right side of their brain.