Voices on Project Management

by Wanda Curlee

I recently came across an article by consultant Melanie Nelson about project management and situational awareness. In the article, Nelson argues that project managers need to be more than just technically savvy.

They must also be able to see the bigger picture and understand the context they are working in—including industry culture, employee pain points and the other projects and business goals competing for attention in the company. They must hone their situational awareness.

Situational awareness is the ability to understand what is happening around you, why it is happening and what you need to do or not do in reaction. Some call this a soft skill, but I believe it goes further than that.

As rookie project managers, we learn about which processes and procedures are done in what order. However, project managers with situational awareness may question, for example, whether or not all steps in the process need to be completed, what processes must be changed to accommodate the needs of the organization or even if the correct methodology is being used.

For a software project, that could mean questioning if agile or waterfall is the best approach or if lean should be used instead. To paraphrase Nelson, she loves Kanban but she knows that it is not appropriate for all projects.

Situational awareness is a skill beyond understanding earned value management, creating status reports, or managing conference calls and client meetings.

It is about asking, for example, in those client meetings questions such as:

Do you have the attention of the client? Are the right people in the conference room? If not, why not? What will you do about it?

It is not easy and takes a lot of practice.

Do you have the situational awareness needed for your project?

by Wanda Curlee

The Internet of Things (IoT) will change the cell phone landscape.

For many years, the smartphone has been our link to apps. We could lock our cars, play games, spy on our pets—the list is almost exhaustive.

But, I am constantly brought back to a question of whether or not smartphones will always be necessary—or will they become obsolete as more IoT devices are created that combine the hardware, software and user interface into one place.

Is this pie in the sky? Based on how our technology is rapidly progressing (which I started discussing in my last post), I don’t think so.

As Maurice McGinley, design director for Amsterdam-based AVG Innovation Labs said, “Instead of having one universal device—your smartphone—controlling your environment, you would have simple controls placed where you need them, available when you need them.”

While I have no insight into the strategic direction of the companies developing smart devices, I would contend this is the direction they will be going.

And this is great for the project management discipline.

Smartphone manufacturers and network providers (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) will need to change or broaden focus, and that means investing in new projects and programs. And the portfolio manager will need to ensure the projects and programs are on the roadmap to deliver the right value for the enterprise.

Smart device manufacturers will need to figure out how to provide a friendly user interface similar to the mobile experience.

The project management discipline would be used in a similar way as the cell phone industry. The portfolio manager should scan the enterprise for projects and programs that meet the need. If there are none or not enough to help drive the strategy, the portfolio manager needs to work with the portfolio sponsor to determine the issues. The project and program managers would deliver the capabilities needed.

So, where will you be when the industry is stood on its head? How will you help to focus the IoT to deliver the right technology for consumers and companies?

Project practitioners that truly understand their industry and where it is going can be drivers of that change.