Strategic Project Management

I'm not much of a gardener.

I can think of about 100 things I'd prefer to do than spend the day weeding, mowing the lawn, or otherwise working in the yard. That being said, I do prefer yard work to a root canal, a visit to the doctor, or water-torture.

However, muling over some projects I have planned for the weekend while driving into work this morning, I was thinking about a component of work management success we seldom talk about—showing up. A couple of years ago I wanted to make the parkway strip (the three or four feet of frontage between the sidewalk and the street in front of my home) more eco-friendly. I decided that I was going to rip out the grass that required water for irrigation, gas for mowing, and fertilizer for healthy growing, and replace it with pea-gravel. I thought it would be a low-maintenance, drought-friendly alternative to the Kentucky Blue Grass that had been there for 20 years.

Over the course of the summer I cut out the sod, carted it away, trailer-load by trailer-load hauled the pea-gravel to my home, and one shovel full at a time filled the parkway. It didn't require a lot of brain power, it wasn't very glamorous, but I did have to apply some elbow grease to make it all happen. In other words, I had to show up. I couldn't sit on the couch in front of the TV and "wish" to make it happen.

Sometimes, in fact most of the time, our particular approach to project management, our project management tools, and how we "plan" to do the work is irrelevant if nobody "shows up" to do the work. What's more, I've observed that project success is usually associated with team members and managers making incremental advances in pursuit of project goals. There's seldom a flash and puff of smoke to complete a project.

I also recalled being pretty satisfied when I was done. Although I loaded the pea-gravel into the trailer and unloaded it by hand a shovel full at a time, it didn't take as long as I thought and I got better at doing it with each small load. Although there would have been a certain allure to waving a magic wand and seeing the parkway "poof" filled with the gravel, I feel a certain satisfaction in job well done and a project completed. It's really amazing how much can be accomplished by simply showing up.

What do you do to encourage your project teams to show up? I'm sure part of it is showing up yourself (even though there are times when that's a challenge too). Feel free to share your success stories or favorite tactics with us.

By the way, I have a really big project in the back yard for next summer—does anybody have a magic wand?
 

Whether or not you have a good working relationship with project sponsors is up to you. Everyone, including the project sponsor, has a role to play that helps determine whether a project is successful or struggles. However, unlike most members of the project team, a project sponsor might not completely understand his or her role. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for keeping sponsors engaged and participating:

1. Schedule regular meetings (generally monthly) with sponsors, team members, and other important stakeholders: This may be a good time for a "quick" status update; but more importantly, it is a time for reinforcing the value and significance of the project in terms of business value and the sponsor's commitment to helping the team.
2. Educate the sponsor on their role as part of the team: The sponsor has a significant role as a project advocate in a steering/stakeholder committee as a way to communicate with stakeholders and provide visibility to executives.
3. Don't neglect impromptu one-on-one time with the project sponsor: Make sure your sponsor is willing to have the occasional informal meetings as needed. It's not only important to cultivate the relationship with the sponsor—your success impacts their success within the organization.

Keeping sponsors engaged often makes the difference between a project that succeeds and one that fails. Project management tools that facilitate sponsor and stakeholder communication can make this easier, but regardless of whether or not it's a part of your work management solution, allowing project sponsors to sit on the sideline isn't a good idea.

How do you keep your project sponsors involved? Is there anything else we can add to the list?

 

It was the 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who said, "That which doesn't kill us makes a stronger."

I look at project challenges this way. Over the years I have come to appreciate that regardless of the project management methodology, the PPM software, or the training of the project manager, there are some pretty common challenges that need to be addressed by every project leader. It doesn't even really matter the nature of the project, if you neglect the following, the odds are against your success:

1. Unrealistic Deadlines: The success of some projects might depend on a hard deadline, but most projects don't. Creative and flexible planning can remove the stresses of unrealistic deadlines.
2. Scope Changes: Although most of us would agree that you can't always stop change, you can make stakeholders aware of what scope changes cost. Changes in schedule, cost, and even the quality of the product can add us fast.
3. Failing to Manage Risk: Ignoring risk doesn't make it go away. Acknowledging risk and addressing it early will at least minimize expensive issues later. Risk and efforts to mitigate risk should be identified before the project has even begun.
4. Poor Team Communication and Collaboration: With all the technology available today, there is almost no excuse for poor project communication. The right PPM software makes collaboration easier—and online project management software makes it possible for teams spread throughout the world to effectively collaborate.
5. Stakeholders Who Aren't Engaged: Keeping stakeholders informed of project status is only a start. The real challenge involves helping stakeholders see the value of becoming real project advocates.
6. Undefined Project Goals and Objectives: To maximize the value of every project, each project should be tied to some kind of strategic objective. Once identified, it's critical that everyone understand the strategic value of of any particular project in process. Most people want to be part of something bigger than themselves. It's always been a puzzle to me why so many organizations neglect to share their vision with the workforce.

Are there any of these common challenges you face? What do you do to overcome them?

I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us believe that sponsors are critical to project success. Let me clarify that. Most of the time a project sponsor is critical to project success. There are some projects that probably don't need a sponsor (like ongoing infrastructure projects) and would probably find difficulty attracting a sponsor anyway.

That being said, there are projects that are doomed to fail without a sponsor. But remember, simply having a sponsor isn't enough. Let me share a couple of sponsor issues that contribute to project ineffectiveness:

1. The sponsor's role is not clearly defined: Don't assume that the project sponsor knows his or her role in the project. Most business people don't really understand the project management process. Make sure sponsors know exactly what's expected of them. It's never a good idea to make them guess about their role. They will appreciate the explanation and you will appreciate the results.
2. Your sponsor falls out of the loop: If your sponsor doesn't have the political clout within your organization to help you push issues forward, he or she won't add any value to the project. It's important to pay attention to how connected your sponsor is to the decision-makers in your organization. Remember, ineffective executives sometimes get the ax too. Don't let your project languish on the chopping block along with them.

Sponsor relationships should add value to your project. If they don't you may need to evaluate whether it's the way you interact with your sponsor, or whether the sponsor is able to adequately fill the roll.

What do you do to manage sponsor relationships? Have you ever had to work with a sponsor who is "out of the loop?"

 

Over the last year or so we've talked a lot on this blog about how empowering project teams with some autonomy and control over the work they do will help improve the project management process. With that being said, we should also talk about the need for individual project team members to step up and take responsibility for the additional autonomy.

As Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker in the Spiderman comics, "With great power comes great responsibility."

Over the last several months, I've talked to a number of project managers who have questioned the wisdom of giving individual project team members so much influence over the project management process. Although they have some valid concerns, I'm convinced that the real issue is less about whether or not team members should be empowered, and more about how we staff project teams and who we staff them with.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with and manage some great people. Most were highly motivated and anxious to contribute. However, I have worked with others, who no matter what we did were never able to catch the vision of their role in the process. Unfortunately, as it became apparent that they were not able to contribute with an increased level of autonomy, their role on the team was eliminated.

The question then becomes, how do you choose the right team? Although there is no way to guarantee that you've picked the right project team, here are five traits that will help you build engaged, motivated, and responsible project teams:

1. Do they have the skills I need to make the project successful? Because I will be relying on them to do their jobs (so I can do mine), I always look for individuals who have demonstrated that they know what they are doing.
2. Do they have the ability to learn and stretch? I always look for people who aren't afraid to try new things, take on additional responsibility, and think "outside the box." I learned a long time ago that collaboration with people of different skills can be very productive.
3. Will they play and work well together? A superstar who is a jerk doesn't help the team. He or she might be highly skilled, or even the best at what they do, but if they don't get along with anyone I won't add them to my team.
4. Are they willing to take (and offer) constructive feedback? I don't call it criticism. Criticism doesn't help anyone, but feedback and honest critique can help a willing learner improve and increase their skills. That includes team leads and project managers. A willingness to incorporate constructive feedback allows everyone on the team individually, and the entire project team collectively to improve.
5. Can I count on them at crunch time? Every project seems to run into times when people need to put forth a little extra effort to make things happen. It seems like no matter how well you plan, there are always things that crop up to cause trouble. It's important that we can count on each other to pitch in with a little extra effort when this happens.

Building a project team where everyone shares these traits is easier said than done. However, I've found that it's critical to consistent project success and absolutely necessary for project teams that want to empower individuals to increase performance. How do you pick your project teams? How can you tell if you've got the right combination of skills?