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Voices on Project Management
by Cameron McGaughy,
Lynda Bourne, Kevin Korterud, Conrado Morlan, Peter Tarhanidis, Mario Trentim, Jen Skrabak, David Wakeman, Wanda Curlee, Christian Bisson, Ramiro Rodrigues, Soma Bhattacharya, Emily Luijbregts, Sree Rao, Yasmina Khelifi, Marat Oyvetsky, Lenka Pincot, Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres, cyndee miller
Voices on Project Management offers insights, tips, advice and personal stories from project managers in different regions and industries. The goal is to get you thinking, and spark a discussion. So, if you read something that you agree with--or even disagree with--leave a comment.
View Posts By:
Cameron McGaughy
Lynda Bourne
Kevin Korterud
Conrado Morlan
Peter Tarhanidis
Mario Trentim
Jen Skrabak
David Wakeman
Wanda Curlee
Christian Bisson
Ramiro Rodrigues
Soma Bhattacharya
Emily Luijbregts
Sree Rao
Yasmina Khelifi
Marat Oyvetsky
Lenka Pincot
Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres
cyndee miller
Past Contributors:
Rex Holmlin
Vivek Prakash
Dan Goldfischer
Linda Agyapong
Jim De Piante
Siti Hajar Abdul Hamid
Bernadine Douglas
Michael Hatfield
Deanna Landers
Kelley Hunsberger
Taralyn Frasqueri-Molina
Alfonso Bucero Torres
Marian Haus
Shobhna Raghupathy
Peter Taylor
Joanna Newman
Saira Karim
Jess Tayel
Lung-Hung Chou
Rebecca Braglio
Roberto Toledo
Geoff Mattie
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Date
The increase of international projects has made working and communicating with people of different cultures and languages more common. Preparing and understanding another person's culture, mind set, sensitivities and communication styles can maximize the chances for successful outcomes.
Some of the most common problems of cross-cultural working arise from three main misconceptions:
1. Assuming your way is the correct way
In my experience working in the West, it's generally considered a positive trait to be able to communicate assertively, directly and voice an opinion.
But for Far East and Arab cultures, communicating in this manner is largely considered rude and aggressive. Emphasis is placed more on honor, pride, politeness and relationship building as a means for successful collaboration.
2. Assuming everybody understands your language
When I began working in the Middle East, I wrongly assumed that my strong British accent and articulation of the English language was clear for everyone. But just because I spoke clearly did not automatically mean that everyone understood me.
In fact, politeness prevented people from telling me truthfully that they didn't understand what I was saying. Though English is spoken around the world, it is still a second or third language for others. Allow time for others to process what is being said.
Additionally, the word "no" does not exist in some cultures. These cultures breed an optimistic disposition, and the answer to everything is a nod of the head, whether it's impossible deadlines or difficult requirements. If left unchecked, the end results will lead to frustration, misunderstandings and differences in quality expectations.
3. Selecting organizations or individuals on language abilities
When selecting suppliers, implementation teams or project staff, it seems more reassuring to recruit based on English language skills. The assumption is that communications will be easier and mitigate risks associated with translation.
This can actually backfire as the ability to communicate in English does not necessarily mean a person or organization is suitable for the job.
Based on personal experiences and lessons learned, here are my suggestions for good practices for project managers who work across cultures on projects:
- Begin conversations with a warm and engaging welcome. If you can learn the greeting in the local language, this immediately breaks the ice and leaves a good impression.
- When speaking English, speak slowly and use simple words.
- Limit professional jargon and unfamiliar terms until you are sure they are understood.
- Ask questions and politely request the other party to share their understanding.
- Never show frustration at having to explain something more than once.
- Insist on an opinion or clarification if one is required.
- Listen to everyone's opinion. It may be the person who is not speaking or is not the most articulate has the most valuable input.
- Be patient and tolerant in accommodating others' styles of making a point.
- Be astute as to what is being said and why.
- Follow up meetings with appropriate written communications to confirm times, dates, costs, and any other agreements or actions. Insist on a reply confirmation.
- Ask, request and check for constant feedback
- Smiling, relaxing and showing personality helps build relationships faster.
- Deliver on your commitments. This builds trust and respect. It sets a standard and makes it easier to hold others accountable.
- Employ multilingual people who can advise on cultural norms.
- Spend time building communication networks.
- Consider cultural training, guidebooks or manuals for all team members working on cross-cultural projects.
What advice or experiences of interacting with other cultures can you share?
Read more posts on risk.
Read more posts on best practices.
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Posted
by
Saira Karim
on: March 30, 2012 11:55 AM
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Permalink |
Comments (14)
Have you ever thought that as a project or program manager, you indirectly set a precedent on managerial style, behavior, competencies and professionalism. Unconsciously, we are showing our team members how to manage crises, deal with stakeholders and so on.
There are many ways that we can unknowingly coach our team members. When dealing with stakeholders, for example, project managers have the authority to set limits and control the discussion to stay on the subject. To be able to do this, we need to know the business process at both a high level and in terms of the customer's business goals.
In dealing with stakeholders, we indirectly coach our project team members to do the following things:
- Exercise a project manager's authority when the situation calls for it
- Understand the strategic direction the customer is embarking on
- Display at least a little business acumen and subject knowledge
- Communicate direction effectively with the objective of getting good results
- Control meetings and discussion; ensure objectives are met within the allocated time
As project or program managers, we need to tackle our day-to-day tasks strategically in order to be an effective coach and leader. Our team members observe every communication we make and actions we take.
How have you indirectly coached your team members in your projects? What examples do you set for your team members to follow?
Read more posts on coaching teams.
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Posted
by
Siti Hajar Abdul Hamid
on: March 28, 2012 11:48 AM
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Permalink |
Comments (0)
Conducting lessons learned and project reviews has been a practice that many organizations have used over the years to help their next projects be successful.
It's a continuous cycle of retrieving and assessing your project information.
As the project manager, you should call a meeting and discuss any issues or tasks that went wrong and what could have been done to improve the project. The improvements should be incorporated into the processes of the next project, which typically have a better outcome. Then that project will have its own challenges that will also need to be addressed. And so it goes.
If you aren't doing some type of project review or lessons learned, you will most likely repeat actions that have caused the project failures, budget overruns, scope creep, inadequate stakeholder involvement, technology mishaps and other problems that plague your projects.
Yet some project managers find excuses not to host these valuable meetings. One such excuse is a geographically dispersed team. There's no need for a dinosaur mentality to achieve a project review. Use today's advanced technology to your advantage when conducting a lessons learned meeting:
- Conduct a lessons learned session in the same way as you would hold a virtual team meeting. Emphasize the goal of targeting improvements. Use a virtual whiteboard to list pre-determined questions or to show a timeline of how the project progressed. Allow the team members to post their version of the events that could be improved upon in the next project.
- Consider posting a social media page to capture comments. This venue would allow you to reach stakeholders in their habitat, possibly presenting more candid comments.
- Send out a survey. Then collect and analyze the results. Gathering the data this way could lead to more impartial responses and a scientific alignment of the priorities that should be addressed.
Traditional methods for conducting lessons learned will always prove beneficial as well. Bring in an outside group or consultant to assess projects and provide recommendations. As the lead and manager of an important project delivery, designate time to look back so that history does not repeat itself.
Do you use technology or traditional methods in your lessons learned?
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Posted
by
Bernadine Douglas
on: March 26, 2012 12:30 PM
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Permalink |
Comments (7)
The structured approach of project management can add value to operational IT departments. What makes this work is the approach that the project management office (PMO) or the project management team defines in its project management methodology for release of the systems into production environments.
Operational departments should execute with a process often referred to as "steady state transfer." This process gives the project team the opportunity to validate all the key production processes such as the support, maintenance cycle, systems restore and sanity testing, which is the basic testing of the system functionality.
Project teams launch the steady state transfer after successful tests show the systems are ready to be released into the production environment.
This validation step -- to ensure that the system processes are well mapped between various support departments -- adds value to the operations teams. The validation step is done during project execution using the steady state transfer process -- and without generating special projects.
This validation step in the project management practice guarantees process interface manuals are updated with any changes to the processes and the test results.
The operational departments work with the project team to complete this task and thus make a smooth transition into the "steady state" of operation.
What processes does your organization use to achieve the same results?
See more posts on IT.
Read more from Dmitri.
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Who should lead the change challenge: organization management or project management?
The project team probably has a better idea of the technical aspects of the changes required. But, the organization's management initiates the project and has overall responsibility for achieving the intended benefits after the project is complete.
In my opinion, change management is an organizational responsibility. The role of project management is to focus on creating the deliverable effectively and supporting the organizational change effort.
In short, the project management team works for the organizational change management team. However, I have seen many situations where managing the change is treated as a project responsibility.
For those project teams undertaking change management, the change challenge is getting the necessary buy-in from organizational stakeholders who have to make effective use of the project's deliverables to get the expected value from the project.
There is no point in the project team being happy with its work if no one uses it. The way the organization works has to change if the deliverable is going to be used effectively to create value for the organization and generate a ROI on the investment in the project.
Effective communication with the affected stakeholders is a must when addressing the change challenge. These communications follow a fairly standard pattern:
- Explain the reason for the change needs so they are understood.
- Define, communicate and support the actual changes to work practices and behaviors though training or other skills development activities.
- Provide ongoing support to embed the new practices into the operating culture of the organization.
Do you think change management is an organizational or project responsibility? Which option do you think is best for effectively engaging with the affected stakeholders? Which option best facilitates the overall change in behaviors needed to generate a successful project outcome?
See more posts from Lynda.
See more on stakeholder management.
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Posted
by
Lynda Bourne
on: March 19, 2012 03:53 PM
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Permalink |
Comments (10)
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"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
- Winston Churchill
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