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Viewing Posts by Dmitri Ivanenko PMP ITIL
Disciplined Project Management
Categories:
Project Planning
Categories: Project Planning
| We can all boast of great methods of managing people and project deliverables. But what gets the job done is discipline. And it's interesting to note how the team follows the leader: The more disciplined the leader, the more disciplined the team. A disciplined leader gives others an anchor -- a sense of stability and accountability. You may wonder why some people are disciplined and others are not. I believe it's a choice. Disciplined project managers strongly believe that delivering on the project result is a function of project management science and disciplined execution. Here are some ways to become a disciplined project manager: - Plan the next work week's activities a day or two ahead of time - Confirm activities the day before - Conduct daily reviews of what you did or didn't accomplish - Follow through on your commitments - Avoid time-wasters, such as unrelated conversations - Practice staying within the time allotted to the meetings, tasks and activities - Hold yourself accountable for your own deliverables by using a daily tracker document - Communicate with stakeholders and sponsors regularly, regardless of the results What are the ways you've become a disciplined project manager? And how has it helped you deliver better results? See more posts from Dmitri. |
Manage The Knowledge Gaps
| To be great in project management, we can't only be familiar with our role as the project manager. We must be educated about other roles in the profession, as well as most, if not all, knowledge areas. But project managers often do the work they like and are familiar with, rather than work that needs to be done. Even if it's work that contributes to a project's overall success, I find that many of us focus on tasks that we're familiar with or that we already know we're good at. Regardless of how great I am with some tasks, I know that I must fill in my own knowledge gaps with team members' expertise. Because in addition to being a good project manager, the real trick to getting things done is surrounding myself with a capable, well-trained project team. Instead of trying to learn everything and being everything to everyone, I accept that I won't always know it all. I ask for input from the team on a regular basis. This makes the team feel needed and appreciated for their contributions and makes the project execution more efficient. Do you tackle the tasks you're good at rather than those that need to get done? How do you balance your own expertise with that of your team members? |
Take a Purposeful Break from Your Project
Categories:
Reflections on the PM Life
Categories: Reflections on the PM Life
| Project managers take various breaks throughout the work day: lunch breaks, coffee breaks, meeting breaks, and so on. Maybe you need a break after reading an intense project plan, or conversely, you need to take a break from working on a project to read the plan. No matter the break's impetus, it ultimately comes down to having a distraction from what you were doing. Consider taking a purposeful break -- one that isn't simply a distraction or escape from a previous activity, but, as the name implies, that has a purpose and therefore achieves a desired result. I find that doing so allows you to be more productive and to re-energize faster. It's the same approach that we use for effective project meetings. Making sure that we focus on the agenda, follow all the topics and cover the intended elements. What works best in this case is staying focused on the task at hand, remembering the purpose and the planned or expected outcome. To take a purposeful break, I suggest you do exactly what you want to do. For example, if you need five minutes to unwind after an intense meeting, do nothing else but listen to music. Don't try to figure out something about the project activity you were just involved in or what you are about to do next. Just sit quietly. By allowing your mind to truly rest and disconnect, I find you are more effective at whatever activity you take on next. When we focus on an activity completely, it reduces multitasking, and we are able to complete the activity in less time, at a higher quality and with a sense of accomplishment. It's contagious: the more you get done in less time, the more you feel you can do. This information may seem like common sense, but taking purposeful breaks regularly is what is going to contribute to one's effectiveness in project execution and time management. |
Generate Action in Project Status Reports
Categories:
Documentation
Categories: Documentation
| To keep project activities moving, I've been testing a strategy of having action generate action through status reporting. Here's what I've noticed that works: As it stands, the current status of a project or task either gives a call to action, which creates further productive activity, or it leaves things as they are. For example, a task status might say, "Completed the requirements document." While it's a valid update on the task, it only tells us something that is already in the past. Rewording your updates to generate a vision of current action is more helpful. Consider if the status update said, "Reviewing the completed requirements document with the business owner." By including the present tense, the status presents the same information, but it adds an action-oriented, current, activity-based standing. As a result of using present tense, I've noticed that the action of simply reporting on status has generated further action. It actually put me directly into the doing part of action, rather than talking about the action. Let's say I receive a status update that says, "Kim is getting the screenshots of the system alert message," or, "John is reviewing the requirements document with the business owner." From this, I would know to follow up with Kim on whether she got the screenshot and set a reminder to connect with John and find out how the review went. Review one of the status updates you've recently done yourself, or one that you received. Did it use the present or past tense? If the latter, what better results do you see possible by using the present tense? |
Answering the Loaded Question in Project Management
| In project management, loaded questions can cause massive problems on project teams. As the project manager, it's your job to keep things under control. Loaded questions usually carry some form of presumed fault. Here's an example: "Why didn't so-and-so provide us a project update on time?" When someone -- project team member, stakeholder or client -- asks you such a question, how do you react? Do you answer it directly or do you try to defend yourself or your team, escalating the situation further? In my opinion, the fastest and most effective way to respond to a loaded question is to address its underlying concern. When you address the issue rather than what is being asked on the surface, you create a safe environment where a person is understood. Recently, I was in a situation where my first reaction was to defend myself and completely bash the opposing view. I stepped back and looked for their concern about the incident that occurred rather than jumping into defense mode. As a result, I was able to see more clearly why in this situation, the project process was defined the way it was, without pushing my own agenda. Instead of seeing holes in the process, I started seeing what actions I needed to take. When I acknowledged this to the person that raised the question, the original concern disappeared for both of us. The next time someone asks you a loaded question, answer the concern and not the question. The original issue may simply disappear. Think about a recent encounter with a project team member or stakeholder where you may have gotten a bit defensive. What would be different in that situation if you listened for the concern behind what they were saying? Read more posts from Dmitri. |