Thoughts on Project Management

The problem

The project you have been assigned has a short deadline. Given a recent increase in customer complaints over one of the company’s software products, you have been asked to take on a project to correct the problem with the product and release an updated version of the software. Although there are some individuals you’d like to have on the team, specifically because of their expertise in this particular software issue and their application development expertise, you are unable to get them assigned to the project because they are involved in another initiative. The individuals available to serve on the project team are more junior within the organization and don’t have the higher level skills you’d like to see for such a key project with a short deadline and the potential for a large financial impact on the company.

You cannot hold off on starting the project; you’ll need to start with the team members available - even if they don’t have the exact set of skills you’d like to see on the project. You don’t want your team to feel incompetent because they aren’t the best qualified for this project. Doing so would only cause the project to fail because they will be afraid to try. Let’s assume you have a conversation with the sponsors for the project, and this is what you know:

• The project cannot be delayed and must start now.

• It may be possible to extend the deadline a bit to accommodate a team that will need to “learn as they go.”

• You are able to get some more budget monies released in order to bring in external resources to assist your team members.

• You may be able to get some help from those internal resources who are most qualified but working on other projects.

The first team meeting

At the first team meeting to kick off the project, you discuss the project that needs to be accomplished, the importance to the organization and the need to start immediately and complete as soon as possible (you are sensitive to the fact that you don’t want to give them the definite deadline just yet until you can work out a project plan in conjunction with the team.) You also acknowledge that while the team may not have the exact skill sets required, there are many great skills on this project team that will be of value.

With the team, you delineate the exact skills needed and the level of skills (beginner, intermediate, advanced) needed. You also make a plan to “make up” for the skills that are lacking on the team, which includes:

• Providing assistance from the internal resource experts as needed (ad hoc support)

• Hiring a few external contract resources with expertise in application development

• Providing “on the job” training opportunities

• Adding a few additional team members in key areas to help support the project

To prepare for an upcoming meeting with the sponsors, based on this team meeting, you reach out to the individuals who are unable to participate on the team (those with the advanced skill sets required) and ask if they are able to provide ad hoc support for the project. They have agreed to do so.  You have also taken the step of researching the cost of bringing in outside contract resources.

After the team meeting, you develop a plan that includes:

• A request for 4 additional team members

• A new timeline that expands the project by 2 weeks

• A request for additional budget monies in the amount of up to $35,000 to cover the costs of bringing in two external contract resources for a period of 2 - 3 months.

You also develop an “on the job” training plan that includes the ability for individuals to partner up to complete tasks and through 2 hour workshops (coordinated with human resources) in order to provide project team members with some tips and best practices prior to them taking on a particular task. Per human resources, the cost of these 2 hour workshops will not exceed $4,500 (they will partner with an outside vendor).

Your meeting with the sponsors

In your meeting with the sponsors, you outline your plan for moving forward, emphasizing that while you are only requesting to expand the project timeline by 2 weeks, you may find that the project will need to extend beyond that time if you run into issues.

You also discuss with the sponsors that while the project is certainly of strategic importance to the organization, equally important is providing the project team the resources and support they need to be successful. By focusing on the team members and providing them the support they need to be successful - you are increasing their skills and knowledge which will only be of long-term value to the organization.

The sponsors agree to the additional requests you have made and the changes to the project plan, but suggest that you work diligently to keep the project within the requested additional 2 weeks.

Wrap up

Your team members are unprepared for the work ahead of them, but with a bit of pre-planning and thoughtful consideration on your part, you are using a variety of ways to increase their skills and build their knowledge.  This includes:

• On-the-job training via2 hour workshops

• On-the-job training via pairing them up with other team members and with external contract resources

• Providing ad hoc guidance from internal experts

• Bringing in external contract resources with specific expertise

• Additional time on the project to get the work done

Everyone has to learn skills in some way and need a starting point. How will you prepare team members for a project when they don’t have quite the right skills or level of experience? What are some options you might try? Please share your thoughts with others in the Comments field below.

While it is important for project managers to recognize the efforts of the project team as a whole, there are times when they should also acknowledge the efforts of individuals on the team.

When an individual team member stands out in some way – whether by pitching in to help another team member, managing a challenging stakeholder, or going out of her way to complete a task on time – acknowledge that individual team member.

Do these three simple things:

• Write (yes, write!) a “thank you” to the team member.

• In a team meeting acknowledge the individual’s contributions.

• Send an email to the team member’s manager to let them know the efforts of the individual.

What are some things you have done to acknowledge individual members of the team?

The success of business process improvement (BPI) projects relies on many factors, not the least of which is a strong and diverse BPI project team.

Consider any BPI project you have worked on in the past. Undoubtedly it touches any number of functions within the organization and requires support from throughout the organization in order to be successful. Your project team should be comprised of individuals representing all the key functions impacted by the BPI projects. These are your subject matter experts and their expertise in their particular functional area is required on the BPI project.

Build a strong and diverse project team by looking for team leads and team members who span:

• A variety of functional areas

• Have expertise in the areas impacted or affected by the BPI project

• Are diverse in their time within the organization, their experience and the type of work they do within the organization

The more diverse the team, the better the solution to the BPI project. You want the diversity of a variety of experiences, backgrounds and expertise in order to effectively design the “to be” process solution and trouble solve the variety of issues that will arise during the project implementation.

Once you have the team identified, hold a team kick off meeting to enable the team members to get to know each other and to collaborate on how they will work together. Use this time to determine roles and responsibilities of team members and how they will pass information and support each other on completing the work of the project. I find it always of value to have a team building activity which enables the team to begin to establish relationships with each other which in turn helps to build trust on the team.

Every individual in an organization has to deal with change at some point. Lately it seems that change is coming at us fast and furious! Your ability to support change within the organization is essential to being seen as a leader within the organization; someone who can adapt and is resilient. Supporting change means you see the positive side of change and help others to see the positive side of change too.

Consider these characteristics of individuals who adapt to and more easily support change, and can help others to see the positive side of change:

Positive attitude: Individuals with a positive attitude see the good side of change – the benefits to the organization and to the individuals in the organization. They are excited about the possibilities of change and offer ideas and suggestions to support and move forward change initiatives.

Good communicator: The ability to communicate effectively with others is necessary to help them understand the change and to see the positive side of change. Additionally, communicating enables you to better share your ideas and suggestions about the change initiative.

Good listener: The other side of communicating is the ability to listen! Good listeners can hear the “words behind the words.” They understand what others are really trying to say and can, therefore, more effectively communicate because they are good listeners.

Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence is being aware of emotions and how you act/feel certain situations. Emotional intelligence is also being aware of the emotions of others and understanding why those emotions are occurring. It enables for actively managing your own feeling and those of others.

How effectively do you support change in your organization?

Planning for change initiatives is not an easy task. We often forget some very essential steps that will help ensure success of the change initiative. If you want to have a successful change initiative, take these best practice steps in planning for the initiative:

1. Get Smart: Be sure you understand the change that needs to happen, why it needs to happen, and who needs to be involved. You’ll need to be able to answer questions that arise from employees.

2. Clarify: Is the business ready for change? What else is going on that may impact this change initiative? Do you have the right people within the business to support the initiative or do you need to bring in external consultants/resources?
    

3. Buy-In: Do you have the buy-in you need? Not just from the top, but from throughout the organization? Remember that most change initiatives affect how employees perform their role. They must be champions of the initiative for it to be successful.
   
   Which leads us to…..
    

4. Educate and Socialize: You must be sure employees are educated about what is going on and why. Too often I hear from clients that their change initiatives in the past have not been successful. When we dive into the details, it is obvious they never educated employees about the need for the change initiative. Socializing the upcoming effort before you start is essential to get buy-in and support and convert those against it to champions.  Quick tip…each project plan I develop for such initiatives always includes up front time (built into the plan) for socializing the initiative.
    

5. Communicate: Frequent communications is essential. Keep employees updated on what is happening with the change initiative through a variety of formats: emails, internal newsletters, individual meetings, small group or department meetings, all staff meetings, etc. Rarely do I see clients over-communicate; usually they under-communicate.
    

6. Transition and Train: Have a plan for transition to the new process, procedure, or whatever other change was put in place. Be sure that before you transition you train those who need training so that they are comfortable with what needs to be done.
    

7. Lessons Learned: Capture what went well and where you could improve on the next change initiative project. Use this information for future projects so that you can continuously improve how things get done in the business. I set up an internal portal for my clients to capture and retain lessons learned for easy access by everyone in the business.
    

8. Evaluate: Fairly soon after you launch the change initiative, check in with everyone involved to be sure they are doing well with the change. Answer any questions they may have and be sure they are comfortable and confident. After a reasonable period of time for things to be working under the new process, procedure, etc - evaluate the change made and how effective it is for the business and the employees. Do small “tweaks” need to be made to improve? Get the right people involved to make improvements.

Remember - successful change initiatives requires successful upfront planning! Don’t shortchange the process and remember - CONSTANT COMMUNICATION is essential!