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Make the Most of Your Agile Project Coach
| During your project management career, you may encounter an agile coach -- someone who helps you or your project team adopt and improve agile approaches. Let's look at four types of coaches and how to best utilize them: Fly in, fly out This is usually a consultant who comes for a one-time session. He can provide a fresh perspective from having worked with several organizations. Be sure the session is long enough for the coach to assess the state of your organization. Let his input be uninfluenced by your existing perceptions. Deploy the coach's suggestions in your own way or get him back for more extended consulting. If the coach's observations seem extreme, don't be surprised -- it may be necessary to get to the issues in a short amount of time. Continuous outsider This "contract coach" typically spends a few months advising a team or an individual. This arrangement offers more continuity, as the coach can observe the flow of the process through all stages and still maintain her independent view. To get the most of your contract coach, be sure to include her in most meetings of the teams being helped. Do not think of these coaches as separate from your team just because they are not regular employees. One insider Some agile coaches will work alone, as a full-time employee. This situation is advantageous because the coach can set clear direction for an agile team without a potential conflict of interest among his and the proper organizational strategy. While this arrangement assists in quicker implementation of decisions, it may not allow for as many fresh ideas. It can also be hard to scale the coaching effort to more agile teams as organizational needs grow. Team of insiders Some organizations employ an entire team of coaches, which is effective when working with difficult teams because the teams and coaches can support each other. For example, a team may have trouble adopting key practices, but pointers from another coach may help get the team unstuck. Multiple agile coaches can also balance the workload of coaching multiple teams so no one is overloaded. The hazard is that the coaches may splinter into competing ideas on how to execute agile. Establish a process for when the gurus do not agree on which agile practices should be emphasized. Strive for a balance of standards and the ability to evolve as new practices emerge from the profession or successful teams. In general, make sure there is synergy between your agile coaches, tools team, education people, and corporate governance or process definition body. How do you best work with an agile coach? See more posts on agile. See more posts on teams. |
Best Practices Improve Customer Experiences
Categories:
Best Practices
Categories: Best Practices
| In order to survive, project-driven organizations must compete on many levels. Delivering on time, to cost and with quality is always important -- but so is the interaction and customer experience they provide during the project. Project-driven organizations must consider customer satisfaction as a critical success factor. Organizations that deliver projects that disregard customer needs create negative experiences and ultimately cause huge problems for the organization. Typically, project teams that fail to capture what the customer actually needs or wants end up getting the product or service wrong. This can happen because:
In my experience, organizations with project management practices that deliver positive experiences are customer-focused and have proactive, sound processes in place. They also have dedicated, responsive teams who are flexible and able to satisfy customer needs. I believe the following practices can help deliver a positive customer experience:
See more posts from Saira Karim. See Taralyn R. Frasqueri-Molina's post on The Benefits of a Change Control Board. |
6 Tips to Persuade Stakeholders to Say "Yes" to Your Project
Categories:
Human Aspects of PM
Categories: Human Aspects of PM
| "Advertising is fundamentally persuasion, and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art." -- Bill Bernbach, founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach, an ad agency Starting a project is not always easy. It requires resources and changes the status quo, so there can be a lot of obstacles until you hear "yes" to a project. That's why you need to know how to effectively persuade your stakeholders to get on board with your project. Dr. Alan H. Monroe's motivated sequence pattern, created in the 1930s, is useful for doing so: 1. Attention: Capture your stakeholders' attention with an interesting opening statement, or share a statistic related to your project. 2. Need: Identify the need that your project will address and share it with your stakeholders. The more information you have about the business needs, the better the chance your project is approved. 3. Satisfaction: Let stakeholders know how your project will satisfy the identified business needs. In detail, describe the approach you'll use in your project to address the needs. 4. Visualize: Explain the 'perfect world' that will exist after the project has finished. Make it as vivid as possible -- explain how it looks, sounds and smells. Be very energetic and enthusiastic when you explain. 5. Action: Tell them what you need them to do. Let them know specifically what steps you are taking to achieve the vision you've just shared. The sixth element I would add is to tell a story to help you make your point. It could be real or it could be fictional, but remember that people are more likely persuaded when they hear or read a story that transports them. If a story is told well, we get swept up and are less likely to notice things that don't match up with our everyday experiences. Use your creativity -- find your own way to mix all of these elements and you can build a powerful tool to persuade even the most demanding stakeholder. How do you reach and influence your stakeholders as people, not just businesspersons? See more posts from Jorge Valdés Garciatorres. See more posts about stakeholder management. |
Posted
by Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres
on: February 06, 2012 11:33 AM
| Permalink |
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In Search of Project Management Stars
Categories:
PMI
Categories: PMI
| Every project professional knows the massive effort that goes into a project delivered on time, on budget and in sync with organizational strategy. Now's the time to put the spotlight on all that hard work. Established in 1989, the PMI Project of the Year Award recognizes the accomplishments of a project and project team for performance and exemplary execution of project management using processes and approaches consistent with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) -- Fourth Edition. PMI encourages nominations for projects from around the world, regardless of size, industry or location. Anyone can nominate a project or be nominated for a project; PMI affiliation is not required. The winner will be announced in October at PMI® Global Congress 2012 -- North America in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. But you have to act quickly. Nominations for the 2012 PMI Project of the Year Award must be received by Thursday, 1 March 2012. Winning such a coveted professional award reaps many benefits for both organizations and individuals. These may include a boost in sales, attracting and retaining top talent, and gaining media exposure. It's also an excellent way to celebrate a project team's successes while affirming an organization's commitment to sound project management. For individuals, a professional award can enhance your résumé or CV and your career prospects. Last year's project entries represented a diverse array. The Prairie Waters Project, aimed at preventing water shortages in Colorado, USA, took top honors. The finalists included the EMAL Smelter Complex in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the Oak Grove Steam Electric Station in Franklin, Texas, USA. Learn more about the 2012 Project of the Year, download nomination guidelines and watch videos of 2011 award winners and nominees. Have you submitted your nomination yet? |
Build Generational Awareness on Your Project Team
Categories:
Generational PM
Categories: Generational PM
| There are certain interpersonal skills that project managers must master in order to analyze situations and interact appropriately, as outlined in Appendix G of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)--Fourth Edition. The skills include political and multicultural awareness. But, since the project team environment has evolved over the last 10 years, I think a new interpersonal skill should be required, not only for project managers but also for team members and stakeholders: multigenerational awareness. Generations as cultures are based on invisible values, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions created by shared experiences and events. These differ across generations, and each will likely feel or behave differently in the same situation. The lack of cultural awareness may lead to a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the situation. As a project manager leading a multigenerational team, you must know how to handle generational differences. Try to empathize with someone from a different generation and understand where he or she is coming from. Listen to the meaning behind words and interpret non-verbal clues rather than applying generational stereotypes. Focus on making that connection with individuals of different generations to build a meaningful relationship. When your multigenerational project team disagrees, in my experience, it's often because people are following those generational fundamental values. As the project manager, you need to assume a humble attitude and question rather than assert. Asking people to explain themselves before assuming anything shows respect. Building awareness around generational differences in your project team can ultimately help avoid any problems. Encourage your team to: Avoid making quick judgments of values. Try to understand the value and its historical reason. Values evolve as people live their lives in different periods of time. Define a balancing act. Figure out how to manage different perspectives and different ways to doing things. What are you doing to build generational awareness in your team? Read more posts from Conrado Morlan. Read Dmitri Ivanenko's post on Answering the Loaded Question in Project Management. |