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Viewing Posts by Taralyn Frasqueri-Molina
Plan an Effective Project Meeting
| On a project management forum I frequent, someone asked whether or not it was rude to use digital devices during meetings. Some responses were flat out rejections of using digital devices. Other responses were accepting of using technology while others are speaking. Personally, if you are not being disruptive, I don't think it's rude to use your digital devices in a meeting. I think what's more important to note is why people are using their digital devices during the meeting. As a new project manager, you will probably be hosting many meetings for a project. It's up to you to stay focused even if the participants aren't captivated the entire time. As project managers in general, we should really take a good look at why we call meetings at all. You may think you've called everyone together to get their input. But how many people did you invite? What often happens is that a few people talk at once, and several people are left out and unable to contribute.They will inevitably find a more useful way to spend their time. You may think you've called a meeting at a good time because everyone was available on the calendar at the same time -- finally. But realistically, almost everyone has something going on before and after your meeting. Your meeting isn't the only thing occupying their attention. An empty space on a calendar really isn't an empty space. As project managers, we need to ask ourselves what kind of meetings we are calling, what's the purpose, who must be invited and why to determine if a meeting is the absolute best way for you to impart or gather a particular type of information. The reason for calling a meeting should not be because it's the easiest way to give information or to get input. If you do find that you must meet, consider having several smaller meetings in small spaces that engage your core audience. Invite three to five people instead of a huge group. You can even adopt the agile practice of having 15-minute stand-up meetings to encourage groups to focus and get through agenda items quickly. Sitting in a room waiting to be engaged is bound to lose anyone's attention. If you keep your attendee list short, even if the meeting is long, there is more audience engagement and less individual downtime. Most importantly, there is less opportunity for someone to tune out because they feel no one is paying attention to them. How do you engage team members during meetings, and do you care if they use digital devices? Read more posts from Taralyn. Read more about project planning. |
How to Handle Your Project Management Mistakes
| My mother used to have a Charlie Brown pin that said, "I've never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong." I'm not as oblivious to my mistakes. In fact, I have made quite a few, both personally and professionally. In some cases, my gut told me I was making a mistake, but I went ahead anyway. Other times, I forged ahead confidently, only to be jarred by the sudden reality that I'd done something wrong. This happened recently at work. I got called into the proverbial "principal, or headmaster's office" and learned something I'd done caused trouble at a sister company. Not intending to make waves, I had started a tsunami. If you're a new project manager, it shouldn't be a surprise that you may make some mistakes. What do you do when you are called in to discuss your fallibility on the job? I sat and listened to the grievance presented to me -- staying calm is always the best approach. I absorbed everything my organizational leader shared with me. The first thing I said was, "I'm sorry." I briefly explained my side of the story without fanfare or drama. If you can explain yourself with brevity, do. Rambling probably won't work in your favor. I made it clear that I understood the other side of the story and guaranteed that I would be extra diligent in the future to avoid such mistakes. I wasn't defensive. I wasn't full of ego. I recognized my part in the issue and accepted the blame, as hard as it was. My organizational leader was professional, but she also expressed her dissatisfaction and disappointment in my behavior. This was the hardest thing to hear. The importance of being able to receive harsh criticism is not touted enough. The ability to hear -- and accept -- when someone else points out that you failed goes a long way in helping you establish a fruitful project management career. Afterward, my organizational leader followed up by saying she trusted that I had learned my lesson and would make better decisions going forward. She appreciated hearing my side because she now had full context of the incident. Before leaving, I asked if there was anything else I could do. In my case, the answer was no, but if there are action items for you, be diligent about accomplishing them in a timely manner. Give feedback to your organizational leader about your progress. Making a mistake as a professional is embarrassing, but most times, your career will go on. Deal with the mistake professionally and with integrity for a chance to be even better at what you do. |
Every Project Manager Has a Story
Categories:
New Practitioners
Categories: New Practitioners
| While recently attending a NASA event, I spoke with a Mission Control Manager, who remembered me from a project management panel I was on earlier this year. I was pleasantly surprised. I almost didn't participate on the panel because I didn't think I had much to share. Those new to project management may feel they don't have the "expertise" to speak or write on a topic. This could not be further from the truth. Your experiences about your career path or even individual projects you've managed or worked on contain valuable information that even just one other person in the profession could learn from. A five-minute talk or a five-paragraph blog is really all you need to start connecting your story to others. It's this connection, done over and over again, that will increase your influence, your reach and professional network. "Storytelling" is more than reading fairy tales to a child. It comes in the form of speeches, presentations, panels and writings. At project management events (in person or virtual), you can reach dozens or hundreds of people with your unique experiences in the profession. Additionally, the experience of applying for a panel, or writing a paper or article, will help you realize how much you do know, and where there's knowledge gaps. So I say, challenge yourself: Volunteer to present and share a project management story in a familiar setting, such as at a PMI chapter meeting or speaking panels. If you're ready to present in front of an audience of people you don't know, search for opportunities to present at events such as a PMI® Global Congress. These types of events expose you to project managers from all walks of life, new comers and veterans alike. With such a large audience present, sharing your stories will inevitably reach other project managers who can learn from your experiences. Take some time to write a short entry on the project management topic you're most knowledgeable about -- then find an outlet to share that material. From a PMI community of practice to a PMI chapter discussion board to your own Facebook page, there are many virtual spaces on which to share your project management stories. Start small -- even if it's just 140 characters on Twitter. Then build your momentum, and soon you'll find your project management stories have reached places you never thought they could. Fellow blogger Jim De Piante recently covered this topic. Check out what he has to say. |
The Benefits of a Change Control Board
Categories:
New Practitioners
Categories: New Practitioners
| You may think that a change control board (CCB) has to be some official project governing body, but it's not so. A CCB can be a small group of project team members who are willing to review and approve or reject change requests. Even if your projects are small, it's better to have some semblance of a CCB than to have none at all. A CCB can help you manage the myriad changes that will come your way as a project kicks off. Your sponsors, stakeholders and project delivery team may all have agreed on scope, cost and schedule -- but it's inevitable that something will change before the project closes. Those changes come in many shapes and will impact your project positively and/or negatively. A CCB helps you figure out which changes are acceptable to undertake, which aren't and which can be shelved. Instead of shunning change or accepting every idea without examination, use the CCB to determine the best course of action for the project. There will be times when members of your project delivery team have great ideas for the project, for example. After all, they're right in the mix during the execution phase and can clearly see where things could be improved. If you always shoot those ideas down, you will create strife between yourself and your team. You may find no one comes to you with great ideas anymore. Part of a CCB's job is to listen to all ideas, carefully consider the merits, and explain to the project team (or stakeholder or sponsor) why an idea was approved, rejected or held until more favorable conditions arise to implement it. A CCB can be more than just a repository for tracking changes and a governance tool. A CCB can show team members and stakeholders that their ideas are worthwhile and innovative, and can help foster those ideas that most positively impact a project. What kind of CCB do you use? What do you have them help you with? See more posts from Taralyn. See more posts for new project managers. |
Finding a Project's Intangible ROI
| If you're new to project management, you might be surprised to learn that some projects -- maybe some of yours -- do not generate any actual profits. That can make it difficult to demonstrate how talented you are as project manager and how great your project delivery team is. So, how can you show you've created value if you cannot show revenue or profits as a direct result of your project? Look at ROI in a different light. Instead of using profits as a benchmark, consider intangible benefits, such as cost-savings that will result from the project, or a positive swing in public relations or team dynamics My team and I were working on a project that involved automating a conference room. A user could walk into the room, push a single button and the automation would do the rest. The project didn't generate any profit, but the feedback from stakeholders was 100 percent positive: My team had created an environment that worked as advertised and made users' work lives easier and less frustrating. And that translated to a huge upswing in stakeholder influence. When we needed buy-in on the next project, the stakeholders were more than happy to offer support. They even understood if the project would affect them negatively (i.e. space being unavailable for use during project, or a feature being disabled for a short time). It may be hard to say that stakeholders' good graces (for example) increased by exactly 42 percent, but it's very obvious when your ability to influence them has increased. Things seem to just run more smoothly. Have your projects generated intangible ROI? How have your project teams benefited from it? |