Strategic Project Management

Managing project-based work requires a particularly strong attention to detail.  I believe the ability to identify and coordinate the dozens, if not hundreds, of individual details associated with tasks, issues, and projects is a strength that most of us probably wish we had more of.  That being said, I think it's easy for those required to spend the lion's share of their time in the minutia of things, to sometimes loose sight of the big picture.

For example, a painter I know once told me that he routinely needs to step back and look at his paintings from a distance in order to keep the right perspective.  He said it is sometimes easy for an artist to become so focused on the tiny details that they forget the rest of the painting.  To avoid doing that, he makes himself step back, walk around the easel, and look at the painting every few minutes.

Regardless of how detailed your work management plans are, it's important to step back every once in a while and look at the big picture.  Here are a couple of suggestions that might help you do that:

1. Keep the business goals and objectives of the project front and center — Post on the team white board, or someplace where the team will regularly see it, the business goal associated with the project.  I know one PMO that has created templates in their PPM software with the goal embedded on every task, issue, and project page to remind the team why they are doing the project.  This keeps everyone focused on the big picture, while working on the details.
2. As needed, meet with the project team to make sure everyone is still focused on the goal — We may not like it, but there will always be the "drive-by" or "ad hoc" initiatives that come up to pull team members away from focusing on the project goal.  Meeting with the team on a regular basis allows managers to help resolve impediments and keep the team focused.  Often, the regular reminder of the project objective is all it takes to keep everyone on target.
3. Step back and look at the big picture — Project management software can help automate the management of many of the details associated with a project, so managers have time to step back and see the big picture.  It's important to look at project progress from a broader perspective.  Make sure your project software helps free you from the minutia and doesn't force you to keep your head down, buried in the weeds that keeps you from seeing the forest for the trees.

What do you do to keep your project teams focused on the big picture?  Does your project management software help or hinder?

I don't think anyone would deny that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.  However, did you know that he missed something like 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and took the game-winning shot 26 times—and missed?

I occasionally receive a newsletter from OpenView Venture Partners, which included an interesting post this morning by Scott Maxwell, You Need to Fail More!.  He suggests that our culture is "...stuck with the notion that we must plan and then act and, if there is a failure, then it was either a failure in planning or execution."

I believe it is a mistake to look at problem solving this way.  So does Maxwell who argues, "Most situations and all new situations are unpredictable, so the best approach is to get a quick implementation, identify the issues and opportunities, and then iterate again.  Follow this iterative approach a few times and you will eventually find almost all the issues and be able to perform at the best level possible."

He suggests that most people would call this "failing multiple times," but he considers it success.  So do I.  Creative problem solving is rarely successful right out of the gate.  Michael Jordan is a great example of someone we universally accept as incredibly successful on the court—but even Michael wasn't 100% successful 100% of the time.

Maxwell points us to this short Michael Jordan commercial for Nike to make his point.  It's only about 30 seconds long, but worth watching.  For most of us project-based work includes, among other things, the occasional failure.  Regardless of your work management methodology or the project management tools you use, the difference between success and failure is our ability to learn from our mistakes and improve.

What do you do to ensure that mistakes become learning opportunities?

Keeping project teams focused on the right things requires that they know what the right things are.  Unfortunately, many organizations (and project managers for that matter) don't see the need to share business objectives with the project team.  In my opinion, that's a big mistake.

I once attended a meeting of executives and stakeholders where the topic included goals and objectives for the upcoming year.  The discussion involved engaging the company's employees in the corporate objectives by publicizing them throughout the organization and empowering them to take positive steps to achieve them.  A discussion took place about whether or not individual employees could make autonomous decisions and suggestions regarding their role, how they could positively impact achievement of the objectives, and push those up to the executive and stakeholder level.  "This is great!" I thought.  "This is how you en age employees and increase the odds of success."

Although you might be thinking, "Duh ... this is a no brain-er.  How else would you involve employees in corporate objectives?"  Not everyone in the room agreed.

There was actually one executive who said, "We can't have employees making decisions about corporate objectives.  That would result in chaos."

Sadly, that opinion is alive and well in many organizations and project teams.  What's more, on the surface it might not look like anything is wrong.  However, lost opportunity, which is the primary cost of keeping team members in the dark, can be expensive.  Because many organizations don't make it a practice to keep team members in the loop, it isn't always a matter of projects not getting done.  It's a matter of lost time and energy chasing down the negative results of:

1. Team members that fixate on minor features that either don't add value or actually detract from the project's original objectives
2. Scope creep that starts to spiral out of control
3. Poor morale and apathy regarding deadlines and milestones that cause unnecessary project delays

We often talk about the importance of top-down visibility and how important that is to project success.  As a boy, arguing with my dad was an exercise in futility.  When he said, "Mow the lawn this way," or "Edge the lawn that way," he didn't think I needed to know why—I just needed to do it that way.  He practiced what we call a "command-and-control" management style.

I must admit, I didn't always do it the way he wanted me to.  If I could, I'd try to shortcut the process any time I could get away with it (which is not too different from what project team members do in the same situation).  And, although I couldn't tell the difference, he always could.  Until the Saturday he showed me what he was looking for, and I saw the difference myself.  In other words, he clearly shared his vision and I completely understood what it was.  My mission then became making the process more efficient so I could give my dad what he wanted, and still spend Saturday with my friends.

Is managing projects really much different?  I agree that project management tools that provide business leaders top-down visibility into the initiatives that project teams work on is important—but work management methodologies that give project teams bottom-up visibility into corporate objectives and how their projects impact those objectives is crucial for project managers who want to maximize the efficiency of project teams.

Overcoming an organization's need to keep corporate goals and objectives close to the vest might be a challenge—but the rewards could be great.  If the goal really is to keep project teams focused on those projects that provide the most business value, doesn't it make sense to inform project teams as to what the business objectives of every project are?  In my opinion, keeping the business objectives of every project front and center (visible) just makes sense.  When everyone on the team is focused on the same objectives, regardless of their particular role, the odds of success increase exponentially.

What do you think?  Is it important to keep the project team in the loop?  Or is it better that they do their job and don't worry about the bigger picture?

I'm amazed at the wealth of knowledge available to project managers online.  With blog posts, webinars, user groups, podcasts, and forums—it's never been easier to learn best practices and implement them into your work management methodology.

I certainly enjoy the time I spend with my peers in person, on the phone, and online.  I think it helps me be better at what I do and inspires me to share with the rest of the community.  As I talk to other project managers about what makes them successful, it's rarely a discussion about on-demand project management software (although the right project management tools do contribute to project success).  It's usually about implementing sound methodology and best practice.

A New Podcast

I'm preparing to launch a video podcast and webinar series that will be dedicated to sharing these same ideas and was hoping that you would offer some suggestions as to the kind of topics we should talk about, the people we might interview, and even project management software vendors we might talk to.

Please feel free to comment on this blog with your suggestions for my upcoming podcast and webinar series.  I'm excited to hear back from you.

—Ty
 

This week we've been looking at 15 of LIFE's great leaders through history.  It was pointed out to me yesterday that everyone on the list was from the last century, but I don't believe that invalidates the list.  Today's list even includes a fictional, yet influential leader, a talk show host, and a bandleader.  As project leaders, I believe that there is something that we can learn from all of these great leaders.  Here are the last five:

1. Eleanor Roosevelt: "It isn't enough to talk about peace.  One must believe in it.  And it isn't enough to believe in it.  One must work at it."
2. James T. Kirk: According to The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, "The first captain to appear on Star Trek was an energetic, hands-on leader.  He led every crew excursion to new planets and took an active role in all interaction with new civilizations.  Captain Kirk also relied heavily on his crew, especially his science officer, chief engineer, and doctor.  He pushed them all to succeed but depended on their counsel to help him make decisions.  His crew knew he was in charge, but responded to his call for their input and did their best to answer his needs."
3. Oprah Winfrey:  From the 1998 TIME 100, "Winfrey stands as a beacon, not only in the worlds of media and entertainment, but also in the larger realm of public discourse... When Winfrey talks, her viewers—an estimated 14 million daily in the U.S. and millions in more than 132 other countries—listen."
4. Pope John Paul II: British Prime Minister Tony Blair once said, "Throughout a hard and often difficult life, he stood for social justice and on the side of the oppressed, whether as a young man facing the Nazi occupation of Poland or later in challenging the Communist regime.  He never wavered, never flinched, in the struggle for what he thought was good and right."
5. Count Basie: According to his 1984 obituary in the New York Times, "There was a memorable concert at Town Hall several years ago when a number of musicians, including Mr. Basie, were scheduled to perform in a variety of combinations.  A group that included some Basie sidemen was on stage, playing in a ragged, desultory fashion, when Mr. Basie arrived.  The pianist in the combo gave up his seat to Mr. Basie who sat down, tinkled a few introductory notes, looked up at the drummer, nodded at the rest of the group and, when the combo took off, the musicians were playing as brilliantly and clearly as they had been disheveled only a few moments before."

Effectively leading project teams and implementing work management methodologies that allow everyone on the team to perform at their best isn't really rocket science.  Many of TIME's 15 great leaders were excellent project managers—they just didn't call it that.

Here's the last of the five leadership skills I believe are shared by successful project managers:

1. Flexibility: Adapted from a line in To a Mouse, by Robert Burns, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."  No matter how complete your work management plan, there will always be something or someone that throws a monkey-wrench into the works.  Flexibility is the genesis of creative thinking—which is critical for project success.

Successful project-based work requires more than project management software or other project management tools to be successful.  I've observed that the most successful project managers are also project leaders—and many of the leaders we've talked about over the last couple of days provide great examples of the skills we need to inspire and motivate project teams.

Who are some of the great leaders in history you look to for inspiration?