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Contribute Your Knowledge to Help Update PMI Global Standards
Categories:
PMI
Categories: PMI
| Looking to contribute to the development of a standard? Here's your opportunity. Through mid-March, project, program and portfolio professionals along with the interested public can share their expertise and experience to improve and comment on PMI's portfolio and program standards, as well as A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). The Standard for Portfolio Management -- Third Edition Draft Standard will be available for public review until 14 January 2012. The Standard for Program Management -- Third Edition will be available from 6 February - 6 March 2012 and the PMBOK® Guide -- Fifth Edition will be available from 17 February - 20 March 2012. Here's your link to log in to PMI.org and access the exposure draft that's available. Review and submit your comments. You can also visit and bookmark the "PMBOK® Guide and Standards" section of www.PMI.org to reach exposure drafts and learn about current PMI standards projects. Your voice matters. Provide your comments -- and make a difference in PMI standards. |
Win-Wins Can Build Your Project Team's Brand -- and Your Profession
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| The recent Qantas Airways network shutdown was a good example of an industry taking a long-term view of what is best for the industry. Rather than overtly exploiting the problems and passenger discomfort caused by the disruption, Qantas' competitors scheduled additional capacity and cooperated to minimize the overall inconvenience to the flying public. An obvious consequence to this is that passengers may discover they like the rival airline and keep flying it. But overall, the airline industry worked to minimize the damage to the air travel category. Everyone recognized the collective overall need to keep the flying public flying and returning to repeat the experience. This win-win approach is a stark contrast to the situation where a competitor's primary aim is to score a short-term win, regardless of the damage caused to the sector. If Qantas' competitors had resorted to negative advertising pointing out how bad the Qantas service was, for example, there would have been damage done to the overall perception of flying. Now, consider your next argument with one of your project's stakeholders, either internal or external. While your stakeholders may not be competitors, it may benefit you to use the same "win-win" approach. You have a clear choice: You can work collaboratively to build your project team brand and even enhance the larger project management profession. Or, you can go all out to win -- and if you lose, make sure your competitor can't win. The latter approach always causes long-term problems. If the customer loses, the relationship will be damaged and they'll be looking for an opportunity to get even. You also permanently damage your long-term opportunities. If you lose, you're no longer part of the solution. You've effectively negotiated yourself out of a role. The alternative is a collaborative approach where you seek to build the best outcome with as many of your needs, wants and ideas embedded in the final solution as possible. This collaborative solution will, of course, include some of your stakeholder's wants and ideas, but may result in an overall better outcome for everyone by transforming the problem into a win-win solution. In this scenario, you may have made some compromises, but you're still in the game and can influence the outcome. The relationship is maintained and you have helped maintained the image of the team and the project management profession. What do you think? Short-term "wins" may feel good. But if the consequence damages the customer's perception of you and your project, is the short-term gain worth the long-term pain? |
Groom and Coach Your Gen Y Project Managers
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| As a project or program manager, there may be times when you're asked to recommend one of your team members to manage a new project. Depending on the magnitude of the project, you may select a team member based on his or her skills and experience. The new project may be a good opportunity to fulfill a younger team member's aspiration of becoming a project leader. But to groom project managers from a different generation, you must assess their skills and define an action plan. After the action plan is completed, the Gen Y manager will start a transition period to prove his capacities by executing the associated project activities. Ninety days is usually appropriate. During this period the Gen Y project manager will be vulnerable. It will be important that whoever is coaching the Gen Yer, establish a solid working relationship and that you help him or her to navigate the new role. To effectively coach and train the Gen Y project manager, have your trainee do the following:
Have you had the opportunity to recommend a Gen Y member of your team to lead a project? If so, what did you do to support him or her? |
Are You a Project Driver or Enabler?
Categories:
Project Delivery
Categories: Project Delivery
| Project managers are tasked with many simultaneous responsibilities. They manage and drive the delivery of a project while managing their team to deliver results according to the business expectations, on time and on budget. It's no small feat when this is accomplished seamlessly. As a project manager, many times I find myself to be the driver, serving as the catalyst for movement and action. A driver is someone who takes on the responsibility and accountability for the project deliverables. So, in addition to day-to-day team management, I drive the alignment of the team to the project plan, maintain quality standards with the delivered work and determine the project execution and communication methods. Enablers act as complements to the driver. They go beyond the task of effectively driving the project activities and focus on the elements that empower the team by fostering a strong work ethic, high morale, satisfaction, and attaining personal and professional accomplishments. Enablers are very good at working with all the team members -- internal and external to the project and organization -- in such a way that allows everyone on the team to: • Align to the overall goal • Emotionally connect to why the project's overarching goal is important • See their own purpose on the team through their contribution and knowledge • Feel validated for their inputs and recognized for their efforts and outputs Enablers add life and color to the project. They are known as the glue that keeps the team together. An enabler can exist within the project team, and he or she doesn't have to be the project manager. The great value of project managers serving as enablers is that -- when combined with their authority, they are able to drive the project and enable their teams to deliver higher quality projects and longer lasting results. This value is reflected in the quality of the product or service, processes and process adoption rate, plus greater organizational awareness and integration. Are you an enabler or a driver? Do you think it's most beneficial to have the project manager as the driver or the enabler? Why? |
"Requirements" for Managing Your Project and Team
| Editor's note: The title of this post was changed on 9 December 2011. Do you make time to identify your requirements for managing a project? Sure, you plan and manage the project, but as a program or project manager do you also identify your needs for running the project and the team? It's important to know what we require of our team and stakeholders. When these needs are clearly identified and communicated, it's easier to track and manage the related project tasks and variables. For example, I recommend that you require your stakeholders to attend meetings and give input during the change management process. You'll need the decision makers to assist you in evaluating the need for change. When you set and express this participation as a requirement, your stakeholders understand your requirements and their own importance. Further, when a change is requested during the project, it doesn't come as a surprise that you expect stakeholders to be involved in the process. When it comes to your project team, maybe you require team members to be on time for meetings and to submit progress updates. Communicating this as a need and setting the expectation helps ensure that team members give timely feedback when needed. When team members meet this particular need, you're able to meet your own deadlines with the customer. Setting and communicating project management requirements are nothing new. For the most part, these needs are automatically expected from everyone involved in the project. But failure to pen down and communicate each need usually leads to more project challenges. For example, team members may start to argue, finger-point or shake off their responsibilities. There's also the possibility of missing a milestone -- and that's something to avoid. Take time as the project manager to set your requirements for running the project. And do so as a high priority. What requirements do you establish for managing a project? Do you communicate these to the project team and stakeholders? |