5 New Project Guardrails for Adaptive Leaders
Categories:
People management,
Conflict,
Adult Development,
Agile management,
PMO Project Management Office,
Categories: Career Help,
Agile management,
Collaboration,
Careers,
Continuous Learning,
PMI,
Generational PM,
Mentoring,
managing stakeholders as clients,
Managing for Stakeholders,
execution,
Conflict Management,
Expectations Management,
Planing,
Business Transformation,
Methodology,
Knowledge,
agile,
Career Development,
Agile,
Change Management,
Leadership,
Complexity,
Consulting,
Decision Making,
Ethics,
Organizational Project Management,
New Practitioners,
Organizational Culture,
PMO,
Portfolio Management,
Communications Management
Categories: People management, Conflict, Adult Development, Agile management, PMO Project Management Office, Categories: Career Help, Agile management, Collaboration, Careers, Continuous Learning, PMI, Generational PM, Mentoring, managing stakeholders as clients, Managing for Stakeholders, execution, Conflict Management, Expectations Management, Planing, Business Transformation, Methodology, Knowledge, agile, Career Development, Agile, Change Management, Leadership, Complexity, Consulting, Decision Making, Ethics, Organizational Project Management, New Practitioners, Organizational Culture, PMO, Portfolio Management, Communications Management
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by Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D. Today’s hybrid work environments, ethical demands, stakeholder complexity, and organizational pace require new success criteria. According to PMI’s 2024 Pulse of the Profession report, only 34% of projects are considered successful by traditional measures of scope, time and cost. For leaders to thrive in this new reality, project guardrails must be modernized to inspire autonomy while aligning purpose, ethics, and sustainable outcomes. Rethinking Guardrails: From Control to Catalysis McKinsey & Co.’s research shows that projects with adaptive governance outperform peers by 25% in delivery of value and 30% in stakeholder satisfaction. Leaders must introduce guardrails that promote empowered decision-making within clearly communicated boundaries, and encourage distributed leadership and agility without sacrificing accountability. 5 New Guardrails for Today’s Project Leaders
Making Guardrails Operational
Conclusion What actions will you take to ensure guardrails turn from control to catalysis? References
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What to Expect: Anticipating and Adapting to Dynamic Economic Trends
Categories:
Project Leadership,
Continuous Learning,
Collaboration,
Servant Leadership,
Priorities,
Value,
Cultural Awareness,
project management office,
Project Failure,
Best Practices,
Project Delivery,
Metrics,
project management,
critical success factors,
Managing for Stakeholders,
execution,
Project Success,
Culture,
Project Dependencies,
Business Transformation,
Transformation,
Disruption,
Design Thinking,
Project Management,
Cost Management,
Risk Management,
Career Development,
Stakeholder Management,
Change Management,
Leadership,
Program Management,
Benefits Realization,
Complexity,
Consulting,
Decision Making,
Business Analysis,
Strategy,
Business Case
Categories: Project Leadership, Continuous Learning, Collaboration, Servant Leadership, Priorities, Value, Cultural Awareness, project management office, Project Failure, Best Practices, Project Delivery, Metrics, project management, critical success factors, Managing for Stakeholders, execution, Project Success, Culture, Project Dependencies, Business Transformation, Transformation, Disruption, Design Thinking, Project Management, Cost Management, Risk Management, Career Development, Stakeholder Management, Change Management, Leadership, Program Management, Benefits Realization, Complexity, Consulting, Decision Making, Business Analysis, Strategy, Business Case
| By Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D.
In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate strategic planning, organizations face the perpetual dilemma of choosing between capital spending for growth—and optimizing operations for efficiency. Striking the right balance amidst economic trends and leveraging organizational strengths becomes paramount when navigating through strategic projects. Meeting shareholder and stakeholder needs, while aligning with the organization's mission, presents a constant challenge. To anticipate potential initiatives, project managers must consider global macroeconomic conditions and CEO outlooks. A preliminary assessment based on the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects and OECD Economic Outlook reports for 2024 reveals a projected global economic growth slowdown from 2.7% to 2.4%. This trend suggests a delicate balance between slow growth and regional divergences. Key considerations include:
Examining the corporate landscape, a survey of 167 CEOs in December 2023 indicated a confidence index of 6.3 out of 10 for the 2024 economy—the highest of the year. The CEO upsurge assumes inflation is under control, the Fed may not raise interest rates and instead reverse rates, setting up a new cycle of growth. Furthering the CEO agenda, McKinsey & Co. identified eight CEO 2024 priorities:
As project managers, navigating the uncertainty of economic shifts necessitates staying vigilant. The year may bring variables and predictions that impact the execution probability of strategic projects. Shifting between growth plans and efficiency drivers demands different preparation. To stay prepared, consider the following:
In an environment of perpetual change, proactive monitoring, adaptability and strategic collaboration will be key to successfully steering projects through the dynamic economic landscape. How else can you stay prepared as the demands shift on you and your team? References |
Do You Ask Too Many Questions to Your Team as a Project Manager?
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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP Questions can help move your project forward and solve issues. Sometimes, questions allow you to discover common ground or interest that will strengthen work relationships. But we need to be mindful with them. I’ve recently thought about some of my experiences as a project manager. I’ve contributed to different teams, and I’ve led other teams. In both instances, I have the same doubt: Do I ask too many questions of them? I want to share some things I’ve learned about this over the years. If you’ve ever faced the same concern, keep these tips in mind. 1. Explain what motivates you to ask questions. You need to understand what motivates you to ask questions. Is it out of curiosity? Is it a way to build rapport with your teams? Is it because you anticipate questions other stakeholders will ask you? Is it part of your routine to check in with the team? Is it to solve a problem?
Each of these reasons is valid, but you need to explain it to the team. 2. Keep the answers. In the rush, you may ask a question and get the needed answer—and then not document it. Then, one week later, you ask the same question. That can be interpreted as a lack of interest. If you have the answers, document them. In uncertain environments, the same question can result in a different answer because some elements have changed. So you can say something like this: “I remember you told me that feature was going to be delivered Week X. Is that still the case?” You will show that you listened properly to the answer. If you don’t remember it, be honest about that. And even if you explain your reasons for asking questions to your team members, don’t expect everyone to react similarly. 3. Observe behaviors and tailor your reaction. There are many reasons you might face difficulty with a line of questioning:
On the other spectrum, some team members will view it as a lack of interest if you don’t ask them questions about their work. Don’t neglect the intercultural aspect, and the power dynamic you are in. Responses will also depend on the number of questions you ask. Do you ask open or closed-ended questions? If each meeting comes across like a police interrogation, it will be unpleasant for team members. And if you ask questions, do you allow people to ask them in return? You should allow some time for this, as they may be curious about what you’re doing. I once contributed to a project where I had many questions. I would have loved to ask the project manager, but I didn’t dare. To help make them feel more at ease, you can end your questions with an invitation: “Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?” And be careful that no question you ask comes across as hurtful. Even if a question is asked with good intent, it can still come across the wrong way (“That was with good intent” isn’t an excuse). Be careful with your words and tone. What kind of experiences have you had with questions (on both sides)?
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Do You Ask Too Many Questions to Your Team as a Project Manager?
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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP Questions can help move your project forward and solve issues. Sometimes, questions allow you to discover common ground or interest that will strengthen work relationships. But we need to be mindful with them. I’ve recently thought about some of my experiences as a project manager. I’ve contributed to different teams, and I’ve led other teams. In both instances, I have the same doubt: Do I ask too many questions of them? I want to share some things I’ve learned about this over the years. If you’ve ever faced the same concern, keep these tips in mind. 1. Explain what motivates you to ask questions. You need to understand what motivates you to ask questions. Is it out of curiosity? Is it a way to build rapport with your teams? Is it because you anticipate questions other stakeholders will ask you? Is it part of your routine to check in with the team? Is it to solve a problem?
Each of these reasons is valid, but you need to explain it to the team. 2. Keep the answers. In the rush, you may ask a question and get the needed answer—and then not document it. Then, one week later, you ask the same question. That can be interpreted as a lack of interest. If you have the answers, document them. In uncertain environments, the same question can result in a different answer because some elements have changed. So you can say something like this: “I remember you told me that feature was going to be delivered Week X. Is that still the case?” You will show that you listened properly to the answer. If you don’t remember it, be honest about that. And even if you explain your reasons for asking questions to your team members, don’t expect everyone to react similarly. 3. Observe behaviors and tailor your reaction. There are many reasons you might face difficulty with a line of questioning:
On the other spectrum, some team members will view it as a lack of interest if you don’t ask them questions about their work. Don’t neglect the intercultural aspect, and the power dynamic you are in. Responses will also depend on the number of questions you ask. Do you ask open or closed-ended questions? If each meeting comes across like a police interrogation, it will be unpleasant for team members. And if you ask questions, do you allow people to ask them in return? You should allow some time for this, as they may be curious about what you’re doing. I once contributed to a project where I had many questions. I would have loved to ask the project manager, but I didn’t dare. To help make them feel more at ease, you can end your questions with an invitation: “Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?” And be careful that no question you ask comes across as hurtful. Even if a question is asked with good intent, it can still come across the wrong way (“That was with good intent” isn’t an excuse). Be careful with your words and tone. What kind of experiences have you had with questions (on both sides)?
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Who Is Your Backup PM?
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Kevin Korterud Life is full of surprises…they always seem to show up unexpectedly. As project managers, we rely on our PMI certification training—as well as our experiences—to both detect and mitigate the effects from surprises, such as missed milestones, new regulatory requirements and quality issues. But what happens when the surprise turns out to be a short-term outage of the project manager? This can come about for a variety of reasons, including family, health and other personal matters. A recent health issue that took me away from a project for a few weeks got me thinking about how to address this special type of surprise. In my early career days on projects, the short-term loss of a project manager meant the project was typically put on hold until the PM returned. In today’s complex, high-speed technology delivery environment, stopping a project is less viable due to market needs, dependencies, specialized domain knowledge, engaged suppliers and many other factors. So, in addition to all of the usual risk factors, one has to consider a risk mitigation plan for the project manager should a surprise occur (this plan also applies to other key roles such as the delivery, test and PMO leads). Let’s look at a few questions to help you prepare for surprises when they occur to the PM role:
1. Who could be a backup PM? The process of finding a backup project manager usually falls into two categories: easy…and not so easy. If there are project track leads with prior PM experience, rank order them as to the size and complexity of the prior projects they have managed. Discuss the project(s) with them and create a plan for the areas that you look to build out as part of their duties in being a backup. If nobody on your project has any prior PM experience, another option could be to consider an existing program management office lead. With today’s complex program office operations, it’s common to have program management office leaders with prior project management experience. They could assist as a backup PM.
2. When should you have a backup PM? As one never knows when surprises will occur, the best time to identify a backup project manager is during mobilization of the project. By having a person identified early in the project life cycle, it better positions the backup PM to be successful should a surprise occur. If it’s not possible to identify and develop a backup at the start of a project, consider an approach that takes advantage of the upcoming or current phase of the project. For example, if the project is headed into the design phase, consider your functional lead as a potential backup. Just be cognizant of the additional burden the backup PM role places on an existing team member; consider additional program office resources to help with the execution of project operational processes.
3. How do you make someone a backup PM? After selecting a backup, create a list of topics to educate them in the many facets of the project. This can start with operational topics such as risk/issue reporting, status report and work planning, and cross-training. From there, they can start to be immersed in domain-related topics with the project (e.g., how does a month-end financial close work?). The domain-related topics may require some specialized training if they have not been exposed to them before. Keep in mind that the backup PM still has their core project duties to execute, so they should not be overburdened with immersion activities. Keep the window for these activities to a few hours each week, and continue them through the life of the project. It is also helpful to bring the backup PM along to attend key project meetings to make them aware—as well as to make other project team members aware of their provisional role in the event of the unexpected.
The days of having a project being placed on hold due to the short-term loss of a project manager are long behind us. In particular, with the highly integrated technology project ecosystem that exists today, the stoppage of one project can impact several others—thus affecting the overall progress of a company portfolio. Knowing who your backup project manager is offers a mitigation path when surprises occur. In addition, it’s also an essential form of career building by exposing the backup PM to the next level of delivery stewardship. How have you selected and groomed a backup project manager for your delivery efforts? |
