Tips on Project Portfolio Resource Allocation Courtesy of James Bond's Boss
| The new year has arrived, and some senior managers may face the pressure of troubled projects. Which projects must be scaled down? Which should get more support? Which should be canceled because market conditions have changed? Portfolio management demands these kinds of tough decisions. In the 2006 version of the James Bond film, "Casino Royale," for example, the character named M is responsible for managing military intelligence projects and programs. She has to make the best use of the resources under her governance, whether they are programs or projects. When one of her projects is out of control, she corrects the deviation by removing resources and support -- in this case, from Mr. Bond's personal revenge-oriented task -- because it may not align with the organizational objective. In the meantime, she also has to define what each operation or action should achieve and in what way. Should it be an interception done secretly by the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams or a detainment in a sumptuous gambling casino? It all depends on what effects an action aims to achieve and at what costs. The basis of portfolio management lies in its top-down logic. Depending on what objective you want to reach, you combine the resources and organize the projects and programs to move toward that direction. When it comes to personal investments, people often combine different products and methods to gain the maximum benefit based on the risks and available financial resources. Similarly, project portfolio managers consider the resources that should be allocated to projects and programs based on what risks and benefits they can generate for an organization. Programs and projects sharing similar risks or benefits may be put together for better management. The grouping facilitates decisions on further investments and resource allocation, as well as adjustments amid changing market conditions and organizational strategic plans. By following effective project portfolio management processes, you can put together a business operation that makes your investment objectives more achievable. Just like M -- but leave the SWAT team at home. |
Who's Really the Project Lead?
| On teams that work in creative services, like those found in advertising and in consulting agencies, often the person who serves as the project lead is not a project manager. This situation can be very tricky for a truly robust project manager who provides -- or wants to provide -- strong leadership and guidance to the team. It can lead to conflicts of interest and power struggles that can leave team morale in shreds. When you see project managers in these environments, they've typically been relegated to a more administrative function. They essentially provide resource scheduling and reporting on data such as project profit and loss, rather than being empowered to provide much true leadership. (I discussed this in a little more detail in my first post.) So should we eliminate the project management position and have the creative leads or account managers take on those responsibilities? Well, no. Companies that attempt to eliminate the project management position from their ranks are ultimately just pushing this responsibility to other members of the existing team. Those members may believe they are able to take on the role of project manager, but more likely are too busy with their current responsibilities. Not to mention, they are nowhere near as knowledgeable or skilled in project management as they would like to believe. The challenge lies in the perception of what it takes to manage and lead a project team from start to finish. If you were to ask your creative team or your account team, I'm willing to bet their description of leading teams would be inadequate. And much of the job they describe will be tasks they simply don't have an interest in performing. So what do we do in these situations? To me, the answer lies in accountability. If creative or account teams are going to claim leadership positions on projects, they need to be clearly identified by senior management as owning of the final, holistic project outcome. These project leaders must understand that their success -- and the project's success -- is tied directly to their ability to make all of the parts come together, even when many of the parts don't fall squarely in their functional purview. Have you experienced this kind of conflict? How was it resolved? |
Instill Acknowledgment Into the Corporate Culture
Categories:
Teams
Categories: Teams
| Normally, I encourage and promote the use of heartfelt and spontaneous acknowledgments. Now I want to talk about the possibility of instituting and practicing a more formal process of recognition simultaneously. I recently held a webinar with about 60 project managers from Finland. I had been told before the webinar that they didn't believe acknowledgement even existed in their culture. Shortly after this webinar, though, I received an enthusiastic e-mail from Dean Pattrick, PMP, telling me about an internal program introduced at Nokia in Finland. It's called the Peer-to-Peer Recognition Award. Below is a copy of the certificate he and the company's human resources department put together to recognize achievement in one of the company's four core values, Achieving Together. "So I filled in this certificate for eight people and the response I got from each of them was jaw-dropping," Mr. Pattrick wrote. Remember, acknowledgment supposedly doesn't even exist in Mr. Pattrick's culture. Yet people were thrilled and delighted with the recognition certificates and the heartfelt comments. He achieved these results because acknowledgment is a human need, especially at work. Many companies are starting to institute formal practices like Nokia's and I wholeheartedly applaud them. I also acknowledge Mr. Pattrick for putting this practice into action. Does your organization have a formal process for recognizing its employees? If so, please share it with us and let us know how you think it is working. Photo copyright of Nokia and was published with permission. |
Veteran Project Managers Can Show Younger Ones a Thing or Two -- and Vice Versa
Categories:
Leadership
Categories: Leadership
| Young project managers are taking over senior management positions -- and some veteran project managers realize they're in for some changes, according to a recent article in PM Network® ("The Young and the Restless," October 2010). The "younger generation bosses" act entitled or like they know everything, say some of the veterans. They also complained the new upstarts didn't earn their position, they micromanage, play favorites with younger workers and don't give enough direction to the veterans. But the younger generation has plenty to offer, too. They generate a healthy mix of ideas and are usually more willing to try new ways of doing things that some veterans might consider too risky. At the same time, seasoned pros can show young project managers a few of their own tricks. What's the game about if not about leaving the best of yourself in the hands of the younger generation? Imagine the power of teams that emerge from this kind of cooperation and collaboration! Both seasoned veterans and their younger counterparts can learn from each other. It's good for the organization, the project -- and your own development as a project professional. Have you looked outside your own generation for advice? What did you learn? |
Implementing Difficult Decisions
| In my last post, I asked what you would do as a project manager if, hypothetically, two key team members could no longer work together after ending their romantic relationship. Some suggested avoiding the issue, but while that may buy you some time, it doesn't get to the root cause. Others suggested confronting the problem. Using a proactive problem-solving approach reframes the issues, engages others in the solution and creates opportunities for an all-around positive outcome. Yet unfortunately some conflicts are virtually unsolvable and an important part of a problem solver's role is to recognize this. I can't tell you what to do, but I can suggest how to handle this. Most dilemmas involve deciding which is the least damaging of the alternatives. But the nasty thing with dilemmas is that making no decision is almost always worse than the most terrible outcome from any of the other options. You have to decide something to minimize the overall damage. So first, make a call and then seek support of your decision from your senior managers. When you're "advising upward," you must succinctly lay out the facts, your interpretation of the facts and the steps leading to the decision. Then your managers can make an informed decision to support you or to suggest alternatives. After gaining the necessary support, you have to implement the decision. It will be unpleasant and stressful, but such is the nature of the situation. As an ethical leader, you need to take responsibility for the bad and the good in your project. If you handle a situation like this decisively, but also with empathy and consideration for others, you'll find your team's respect and support for you as a leader will be enhanced. |
