Voices on Project Management

By Conrado Morlan

“A man may have wisdom and discernment, but that is not like embracing a favorable opportunity. A man may have instruments of husbandry, but that is not like waiting for the farming seasons.” — Mengzi

I do not know a project management professional who has not faced challenging situations during their career. The range of challenges can include unforeseen risks that quickly became issues, such as geopolitical events, acts of God or, most recently, a pandemic.

Those kinds of stressful situations help to forge the resilience skills and traits characteristic of the modern project management professional. Resilience is not about toughness; it is about equanimity. It’s about how you manage your temperament in challenging situations and move forward.

During these times, stakeholders expect you, the project management professional, to act and act fast. There is a desire for instant gratification and often a misinterpretation of the concept of “being agile” by both stakeholders and project management professionals.

I remember one time in which I was leading the negotiation process with a prospect in South America. On that Friday morning, I recommended that my manager hold off on sharing the final proposal until I met with the prospect in person on Monday. On Saturday morning, I received a text from my manager telling me that he was about to leave for South America for the Monday meeting, which was not in the original plan. Due to personal commitments, I was flying in on Sunday night. As soon as I landed, I already had two missed calls from the customer and a couple of texts asking for an explanation about the drastic changes in the proposal and why the purchasing department was copied in the email.

My approach, based on Fabian strategy—a military strategy in which pitched battles and frontal assaults are avoided in favor of wearing down an opponent through a war of attrition and indirection—was not successful. Much like when Fabius fought Hannibal, a third party involved took action without my knowledge.

When we met with the customer, I tried to regain control of the situation, but it was too late. Now the purchasing director was at the negotiation table, something that was not part of the original negotiation strategy. After several hours of renegotiation, the contract was signed, but the two parties left money on the table. The customer saw a reduction in their IT budget, as the planned spend was reduced by 15 percent.

History Repeats Itself

Similar to what happened to Fabius during the Second Punic War, my manager was hailed as the key negotiator who closed the deal, and my perceived lack of action was recorded in my annual performance review.

The desire for instant gratification was satiated, but it made the company lose sight of the future. When the contract was about to end, the customer called to notify us that they would not renew the contract for the second phase of the project.

My strategy not to share the proposal ahead of time was focused on the long term, and on building a strong relationship with the customer—which would later translate into more business for the company. After the contract ended, my manager and his boss realized the reason for my “lack” of action and changed their views.

Lessons Learned

This event was one of the best learning experiences in my professional career. It gave me the knowledge of how to bounce back and the strength to learn the lessons I needed in order to move to the next stage in my career.

Cultural awareness cannot and should not be ignored. Contract negotiations have strong ties to culture, and local and national business etiquette should be followed to be successful.

Recognition for your efforts may not happen at first. It may take some time, but it will help confirm that your decisions were for the best.

It was one of the many setbacks in my career, but I am grateful for the experience.

As a project management professional, what events or situations have forged your resilience?

A program manager must work with several cross-functional teams, facilitate many meetings, and drive and motivate team members to achieve business outcomes.

While this sounds like a great fit for extroverts, introverts can also shine in this role by playing to their strengths. Introverts tend to be good thinkers, great listeners, observant and detail oriented. They are also generally skilled at forming meaningful connections and adept in small groups.

If you consider yourself to be an introverted program manager, here are some strategies you can employ to tap into your strengths as you execute your responsibilities.

1. Meetings: Program managers facilitate a lot of meetings, sometimes with a large group of participants, which can be daunting for introverts. These tips can help:

• Keep the list of participants just large enough to achieve intended outcomes. If the list of participants is long, evaluate if there is an opportunity to break it down into multiple meetings with smaller groups. For example, if you currently have program status meetings with all the program tracks, divide it into multiple meetings with each of the tracks or a smaller group of related tracks.
• Before large meetings, meet with a few key stakeholders in a one-on-one setting to gain an understanding of their perspective.
• Introverts prefer to be well prepared before they speak up. So prep as much as you can in advance of the meeting, including sending the agenda and any reading material. This not only helps you as the meeting facilitator, but it will be appreciated by other introverts on the team, too.
• When facilitating a meeting, be sure to amplify the voices of introverts in the meeting by calling out their names or by having a round-robin format of voicing opinions and asking questions.
• Don’t schedule too many meetings. Block time on your calendar at regular intervals to be alone and recharge.

2. Self-promotion: Advocating for yourself can be one of the hardest things for introverts. Here are some ways to do it gracefully:

• It is important to highlight your accomplishments to your manager. During one-on-ones, talk about the program challenges and how you overcame those challenges. Highlight these to other key stakeholders in smaller group settings.
• Talk about team wins and give credit to the key team members who contributed. Lifting your team up is lifting yourself up, too.
• In program updates or project closure reports, highlight the challenges the team had to face and what was done to overcome those challenges, such as creating a new process or streamlining an existing process.
• Write a blog. This is a great way to share your knowledge, help others and promote yourself. This should be in an introvert’s wheelhouse, since you can do it with self-reflection and in solitude.

3. Networking: As program managers, we have to exert influence without authority. We need to work with different types of personalities and get things done. Networking is key. Here’s how to build and sustain meaningful connections as an introvert:

• Form strong relationships with the key program stakeholders by scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with them.
• Make it a point to meet with one new person on your program team, chosen at random, every two weeks. During these meetings, discuss their concerns and any opportunities for improvement with the program.
• Organize reading clubs or brown bag sessions. Not only will you have a chance to network, but you’ll learn something new, too.
• Volunteer to help with company-sponsored initiatives. You’ll get to network with people across various organizations and contribute to something you are passionate about.
• Keep in touch with your connections at a cadence with which you are comfortable.

4. Communication: Introverts tend to speak up less often than others. If you are generally quiet in meetings or other situations, it tends to create a misconception that you are not assertive. Here’s how to communicate better as an introvert:

• Thoroughly prepare for meetings so you feel confident in speaking up. Make it a point to ask at least one thoughtful question. This helps with getting visibility.
• If you are uncomfortable sharing your views in meetings, make sure to send an email or talk to the relevant people after the meeting.
• When someone does not deliver on their commitments, don’t let it slide. Have a one-on-one conversation with that person, understand why they missed the commitment and agree on recourse. Hold others accountable for their commitments.

5. Motivating teams: Motivating program teams is another key responsibility of a program manager. Here’s how to handle it as an introvert:

• Recognition is key to motivating team members. Be compassionate about other introverts on the team, and ensure there are processes in place to recognize team members based on their contributions.
• Team events are morale boosters. If your company budget allows, organize team events at a scale that you’re comfortable with. If you’re not comfortable organizing, find someone within the team who enjoys organizing events. Alternate between introvert- and extrovert-friendly type of events and attend them to show solidarity.

Lastly, if you are an introverted program manager, be authentic to your true self and stretch yourself in ways that are reasonable. Trying to be something you are not will only lead to burnout in the long run.

What tips have you found most helpful for yourself or for introverts on your team?

By Emily Luijbregts

We are facing uncertain times. The “External Shock” that COVID-19 has brought to economies around the world was something that few of us could’ve predicted—deserted highways, closed schools and businesses, and an instantaneous demand to work remotely. Within the first quarter of 2020, workforces were furloughed and organizations struggled to adapt to the new world.

As project managers, we have not remained immune to this. Our projects have been cancelled, postponed or delayed. We have had severe issues with supply chains, team management and connectivity. And the uncertainty which faces us, not only for the next quarter but for the remainder of the year, has made us look tentatively towards future prospects and the ability of our organizations to survive.

If you are finding yourself furloughed or in a precarious position within your organization, you may already be asking yourself: What can I do to become more adaptable to change? How can I make myself indispensable within my team and organization? And more realistically: What can I do to make sure that I can land another job as quickly as possible?

Here are a few career tips to set yourself up for the future:

1. Update your profiles

First things first: When was the last time you updated all of your professional profiles? I’m not just talking about LinkedIn, but also PMI and ProjectManagement.com, PMTribe and others. Are you showing off all your skills, and are your job descriptions and goals concise?

It can also be helpful to analyze if your skillset is still relevant to the job that you’re looking for. This can be especially enlightening if you are working in a remote environment and can now promote your ability to manage virtual teams.

I try to update my own profile every quarter or every six months, depending on the amount of change that has happened in the previous period.

2. Continue learning

Like many of you, I’ve been forced to spend a considerable amount of time indoors in the last few weeks, and I’ve been trying to figure out the best use of my time without binge-watching another series on Netflix. One thing that I often try to reflect on are my strengths and weaknesses. What do I need to improve, and where do I excel? Then, I try to look at what I can do to turn my weaknesses into strengths in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.

If you’ve been furloughed, your company may have provided you with a learning program to boost your skills during this period. But if, like many project managers, you’ve been let go without support, there are a few free options that can support your learning journey.

For example, PMI offers free courses to anyone who is interested in project management. This is a great way to learn more about project management and refresh your existing skillset:

• Business Continuity
• Project Management for Beginners
• Agile in the Program Management Office
• PMI Virtual Resource Hub

3. Network … virtually

Have you already joined your local PMI chapter? Have you tried networking on ProjectManagement.com? I am a strong advocate for online networking, and I’ve been trying to connect with other project managers on LinkedIn and ProjectManagement.com to support them during this time with coaching or access to job prospects.

Networking is not just about searching for your next job. It’s about utilizing and building relationships with your peers that can stand the test of time. During the first month of virtual working, I scheduled and held virtual coffees with peers and team members, and also planned regular catch-ups with colleagues to make sure that we could stay virtually connected and supported during this uncertain time.

4. Connect with recruiters

Recruiters are also feeling the pinch of the economic downturn. I have several recruiters in my network who are very nervous about the remainder of the year and what it will mean for companies and their ability to provide suitable candidates. If you do not have a few trusted recruiters in your network, consider sending an updated CV or résumé to professional recruiters who might be able to help if a viable opportunity presents itself.

We all know that life will be dramatically different for many of us once this pandemic is over. Not only with respect to our careers, but within our personal lives. I hope that whatever happens in the coming year, we all come out of this crisis with our health and good humor intact. The project management community is known for its close-knit and supportive atmosphere, and I hope that in a “Life after Corona,” it will continue to be so.

Share in the comments below: What career tips would you give other project managers during this time?

By Peter Tarhanidis, PhD

No one could have expected the reality of what a pandemic unleashes on each of us—our families, communities and places of employment. A once booming economy filled with demand and focused on the deployment of strategic investments and projects has now changed. This global pandemic has brought on uncertainty, sparking leaders and NGOs around the world to step up with varying approaches to crisis management, emergency response and the critical need for communication.

The implications of COVID-19 have exposed us to new health risks, limited healthcare capacity, challenged supply chains and the need to operate in the new normal of isolation and social distancing.

Yet we all have witnessed how leadership can stand up, rally and partner with government and industry to provide guidance to avoid undue risks, maintain connections and guide us through this pandemic. While this entire episode may be distressing and taking its toll, YOU were built for this unprecedented global crisis. Your development as a leader and manager of teams and initiatives has established an excellent foundation to rely on to guide your teams through this time.

As I continue to evolve and flex my leadership style during this time period, I’ve developed a list of key habits to offer some guidance to all project leaders:

1. Reset your leadership style with compassionate behaviors.
2. Connect with your team and continue to maintain your relationships.
3. Stay in control by collaborating with your team to redesign the team’s guiding or working principles.
4. Set clear boundaries to enable the balance of work and family time.
5. Enable healthy habits for you, your family and your team members.
6. Celebrate small wins and keep everyone motivated.
7. Streamline unnecessary activities and prioritize new activities to combat the pandemic.
8. Leverage technology to maintain professional and personal connections.
9. Communicate and support your organization’s leadership messages to mitigate the pandemic.
10. Consider re-prioritizing your milestones and initiatives, and realign goals to meet long-term business strategies.

Please comment below with any tactics that have helped you and your teams endure this time and keep moving forward.

By Cyndee Miller

You don’t need me to tell you these are dark times. You’re probably stuck at home seeing the same dire headlines I am: The number of COVID-19 cases around the world has surpassed 1 million, with more than 64,000 deaths. And the end is nowhere in sight.

It’s overwhelming. Yet we human beings have a wonderful knack for pushing through. We’re seeing it every day as the global community delivers innovation—and hope—through an array of projects reimagining everything from supply chains to product design.

Just 72 hours after the French government issued a call for much-needed medical supplies, the CEO of French luxury group LVMH approved a project via text, according to The Financial Times, agreeing to transform three of its perfume and cosmetics factories to produce hand sanitizer free of charge for health authorities. Dyson—best known for vacuums and hair dryers—designed and built a ventilator in just 10 days, and the U.K. company is donating 15,000 to combat the global ventilator shortage.

Conquering COVID-19 can only happen with cross-disciplinary teamwork—reaching across organizational, political and geographic borders. Case in point: Chinese auto supplier BYD formed a task force of leaders from different business divisions and pulled in more than 3,000 engineers on R&D, design and processing. The result? A plant capable of generating 5 million masks and 300,000 bottles of disinfectant per day.

Virgin Orbit is collaborating with teams at the University of California Irvine and the University of Texas at Austin to build simple “bridge” ventilators that meet the needs of people who don’t necessarily need intensive care—and that can be quickly mass-produced. “I have never seen our team working harder. Never seen ideas moving quicker from design to prototype,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart in a statement.  

For all teams, agility has taken on an entirely new meaning. Industrial engineer Mat Bowtell founded Free 3D Hands to ensure access to prosthetic devices through 3-D printing. Now he’s pivoting the Australian org’s mission and using that same technology to produce free face shields. Design firm Carlo Ratti Associati and MIT’s Senseable City Lab are designing ICUs inside shipping containers, creating “plug-in biocontainment pods that can be quickly deployed in cities around the world.”

We’ve faced deadly epidemics and healthcare emergencies before, of course. And project leaders are putting those hard-won lessons to work. In Chicago, Illinois, USA, Rush University Medical Center is preparing to activate the emergency preparedness capabilities it baked into its design from the start. Built in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, the hospital has the ability to surge capacity by 130 percent. To get ahead of the looming influx of COVID-19 patients, Rush has converted two units to negative pressure to prevent cross-contamination, and staff have already doubled the number of beds on two floors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ranu Dhillon was on the front lines of the battle to contain Ebola in West Africa in 2014 and witnessed firsthand the unrelenting toll.

“In an epidemic, transmission is happening and it’s not caring about weekends, it’s not caring about holidays, it’s not caring about any other parts of life where we have momentary pauses,” Dr. Dhillon says on a recent episode of Projectified^™. “And it’s just going to keep going unless you build the system to counter it.”

Just as viruses vary, so do the responses. While in Guinea, Dr. Dhillon had full government support to acquire the necessary resources and push his containment project forward. That’s not always the case these days as leaders scramble to come together on a clear path.

“There may be certain things that are clear that you want to act on, but the pieces that have to be put into place, the players that have to be engaged in order to act in that manner, it’s really tough to sometimes align that with federal level, the state level and the local level,” he says.

But project leaders aren’t about to let a little bureaucracy get in the way of battling the coronavirus pandemic. After his own COVID-19 test came back negative, Dr. Dhillon rejoined the fight. And he’s not alone. Around the world, organizations big and small are flipping their scripts and launching whatever projects are needed in the new COVID-19 reality.

What projects do you see making a difference?