Change, Agility and the Elusive 'Typical Project'

Harsh, but true. No one really cares about whatever change you’re trying to champion, they care about their own.

Let’s look at an example

The factory in which you manage a production line is purchased by an overseas company. In order to allow easier communication between your location and the main office (now an ocean away), the new main office is shifting their hours one hour later, and your factory is shifting to one hour earlier for all standard operations. They’re asking that your day now shift from 8am-5pm to 7am-4pm.

Overall, it makes sense – now you’ll all have overlap hours until after lunch, opening schedules for calls and efficient communication with the main office. Sounds great!

Your leadership rolls out a series of change communications, discussing all sorts of positives that focus on the people rather than the company:

• Offset hours change drive times to be outside of peak rush hour, shortening commutes.
• Leaving at 4pm allows for more evening time with family before kids go to bed.
• Earlier hours can shorten childcare needs like babysitters and daycare, saving money.

This is a great start! Leadership is considering the needs of their people, not just those of the organization.

But what about you?

• Your commute is short and involves mostly back roads, so rush hour has never been much of a bother.
• Enjoying more daylight hours is nice enough, but not particularly critical as most of your hobbies are indoors.
• You don’t have kids, so family time and child care don’t impact you at all.

The official ‘positives’ are pretty neutral for you. And then there are the negatives:

• You have a Wednesday night poker game that goes fairly late, so getting up an hour earlier will be a challenge.
• Your dog is used to a schedule and resistant to change (talking to the dog, no matter how effectively, will not improve this fact).
• Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you go to the gym before work. The gym opens at 6am, which currently allows you a 45min workout, a shower, and breakfast in time to drive to work and arrive at 7:50am (or 7:52am if the train is running late and you get stuck at the tracks).

The new schedule will throw off your whole routine (not to mention your dog’s important schedule).

In light of all of this happening to you, do you really care about the positive changes for other people? For the company? Nope. You don’t care at all.

So what makes you think that anyone cares about your change initiative?

Nothing I’ve said here shows that the leadership team in our example did anything wrong. Their goal is (and should be) to do what’s best for the company. They also created a communication plan and made an effort to talk about positive impacts for their employees. This is all great.

What else could they have done?

• Allow flexible work arrangements such as offset hours or working from home?
• Casual dress codes?
• Job sharing?

Perhaps these would work for the overseas office, but you work in a factory and manage a production line. In that role, you have to be onsite when the line is operating, so a flexible schedule isn’t an option. You already dress fairly casually, and you always have to follow safety regulations, so it’s unlikely that a dress code change would be impactful to you. Job sharing could be an option, but that would involve reducing your hours (and your paycheck) by half, which is not terribly practical for you.

So what can your leadership really do for you? They can listen. They can respect that this adjustment is hard for you. They can give you plenty of warning so it doesn’t happen suddenly.

And most of all, they can let you choose how you will proceed.

When you’re rolling out a new change initiative, you can take every possible step. You can send out surveys and carefully plan communications. You can implement training and offer incentives. You can listen and talk about options and answer questions and provide any number of support tools.

In the end, change is individual. It's not about the new hours or any new initiative; it's about the direct impacts on our lives.

In our example, perhaps you could shift your poker game to earlier in the evening, start going to the gym after work, and deal with a few weeks of a confused dog (he’ll forgive you, you’re sure of it).

Or you could look for a new job. That may seem excessive to some, but what if your poker game is the only time you see your best friend, and she already arrives late because she works until 6pm? What if your gym is so full after work that a workout takes twice as long or longer? What if your dog…? Ok, you can probably deal with the impact to your dog’s schedule.

The key takeaway is that change is individual, and each individual decides how to deal with it. No matter how effectively you roll out a change initiative, some people will simply not want to come along with you. And that’s OK.

It was the best of projects, it was the worst of projects, it was the age of empowerment, it was the age of hierarchy… I had better stop before Charles Dickens* gets annoyed with me.

Imagine two projects:

1. A large initiative managed and executed leveraging waterfall methodology. It has been thought through and planned in detail, with each person having clear tasks assigned, and each task having specific duration and due date.
2. A large initiative managed and executed by several small agile scrum teams. It has been loosely sketched out, with each small scrum team being empowered to make decisions and adjust their schedule as they see fit.

Now imagine a (likely) scenario. Perhaps a priority shift comes from leadership, or a new technology erupts as the hottest thing on the market, or maybe a critical privacy law changes dramatically.

Any one of these changes (and many far smaller) can wreak havoc on a project – and none of these scenarios are outlandish.

How do the two projects we imagined handle these scenarios?

• Do they crumble under the weight of their own plans, structures, and hierarchies?
• Do they scramble and struggle to communicate the new priority to disparate teams and resources?

Let’s start with the Waterfall project.

The team spends a full six months compiling requirements, interviewing stakeholders, and documenting what they plan to build; then another three to six months planning tasks, requesting resources, and laying out baselines for schedules and budgets. Then the project moves into execution where it’s scheduled to stay for several years, closely monitored and controlled. Stakeholders are happy to have clear expectations set.

It’s a year into the project’s execution (two years since the kickoff), and with minimal adjustments it’s on track. There have been a few tweaks, but everything has been falling well within established tolerances.

Enter: The Change (in this case let’s assume it’s an update to privacy law.) There is a long list of things to consider:

• What are the specific impacts to our project? It could be as small as a text update to the Privacy Policy, or it could ripple out through marketing permissions, data collection and use, how you talk to consumers, how you interact with vendors and third party partners, and more.
• When is compliance mandated? Is a tiered approach available as an option?
• What is actually required for compliance, and what is a ‘nice to have’ change?
• What is the point of view from your leadership, particularly in determining whether minimal compliance is the right path, or if there is a broader update that is best for your business?
• Etc.

Each of these considerations has a list of tasks that comes with it, including implementing the changes of course, but also communication, key decisions to be made, research, and more.

As PM of the Waterfall project, you know what to do. You pull the key people from your project together to submit a concise change request, plan an approach, and assess the impact of the work (possibly multiple assessments, if you have several options to choose from). This effort takes several weeks, partially because a key leader is on vacation for a week and three other stakeholders are at a conference the following week. The final decision can’t be made until everyone has had the opportunity to review the details and weigh in.

Then it takes a week and a half to plan the approach that’s been decided on, and several more weeks to adjust the rest of the project timeline to accommodate the new additional work.

By the time work begins on the new change, a few months have passed and the overall project plan is impacted as well. Hopefully the process didn’t take longer than your legal compliance timeline.

On to the Scrum project.

The team sketches out a high level structure of what they’re going to build, and prioritizes the work based on agreed upon evaluation criteria (criticality of the capability to the business, complexity, technical dependency, perhaps others). They dig into the first priorities and write stories for developers to work on; staying several weeks ahead so there is a steady stream of prioritized requests for the rest of the team to build.

Execution is underway about two months after the project was kicked off. The full picture still isn’t defined with complete requirements, but the team continues to deliver the highest value capabilities and stakeholders are happy to see tangible results early.

At the same time as before, about two years after the kickoff, The Change comes (the same update to privacy law). The same considerations and tasks get added to the project – after all, it’s the same change we’ve already looked at.

Managing change in a Scrum project is a team effort. The team pulls together to assess and prioritize the needs that come from this legal change. You’re all empowered to make project decisions, so you get to work on the most critical pieces as soon as possible, and add lower priority items to your backlog to work on as needed. 

The team is underway on the second high priority item when your leadership team determines that they are choosing a third party partner who is already compliant with the new regulations. A portion of your project, as well we all of the work done on as a result of the privacy law update so far, now need to be undone so you can integrate with the new third party partner’s systems.

By the time integration work begins, a few months have passed and the overall project is impacted as well. Hopefully the process didn’t take longer than your legal compliance timeline.

What does it all mean?

Both approaches, Waterfall and Scrum, have pros and cons. Waterfall is predictable and manages expectations effectively; Scrum is quick and easily adapts to change. Waterfall takes a comparatively long time to plan and adjusts slowly to changing requests; Scrum is difficult to communicate clearly and plan for long term.

Both options have a time and a place; neither is ‘the right way’ in all scenarios. Trends show that successful companies implement with the right methodology at the right time, often blending structure and speed to meet their needs.

So how could both projects have been more efficient?

• The Waterfall project could have spun up a small ‘strike team’ to focus on the most critical changes, even while the rest of the update was still being prioritized. This approach would have gotten work started quickly to help ensure that any legally mandated timelines were met.
• The Scrum project could have prioritized all of the changes and queued up the work in order in the backlog, and then worked with leadership on a final ‘go’ decision before getting started. This approach would have minimized rework and lost time.

In short, both Waterfall and Scrum can learn a little something from each other. As PMs we learn and use these standard methodologies, but perhaps the right answer is to create our own. Each company, each PMO, will have different needs and inputs. What if rather than looking at these two options as disparate, we instead view them as two ends of a spectrum? Or perhaps two tool boxes? Then we could find the right answer for our needs somewhere in between – taking pieces from each methodology (and so many others) to focus on the needs of our projects and teams.

To wrap it up, I’ll bring it back to Charles Dickens* (even if he might get annoyed).

It is a far, far more balanced project that I run, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better project close that I go to than I have ever known.

*Apologies to Charles Dickens and A Tale of Two Cities. They both deserved better.

A colleague once advised me to begin each week with gratitude. I was skeptical… didn’t it make more sense to end the week with gratitude? It seemed a better idea to end on a high note to counter the more challenging aspects of a long work week.

As I thought about it more, I realized I was wrong – I’d had the whole thing backwards. Focusing on starting with gratitude can then set a more positive tone for the entire week. It can be challenging to get motivated on a Monday morning, no matter how much you may enjoy your job.

This is where gratitude comes in play.

Too often, my Monday’s have been beginning with meetings first thing in the morning. I can’t possibly be fully prepared unless I work over the weekend to keep the topic fresh in my mind, but that tactic just distracts from the rejuvenating power of taking two days away from your desk.

Once Monday kicks off with a meeting, more meetings follow it. Then a to-do list carried over from the previous Friday, more meetings, and any new challenges that arise throughout the day.

By the time I’m leaving the office, I’m exhausted! And it’s only been one day.

How about another approach? In an effort to begin each week with gratitude, I block 30 min each Monday morning. Sometimes that means I need to come in 30 minutes earlier, but it has always been worth the time.

During this time, I think about the previous week – not my lengthy to-do list, but instead I think about the people who went above and beyond. I write up a brief ‘thank you’ note, citing the specific action or behavior that I appreciated enough to call out. It only takes a few minutes per person, but if I have too many for my 30 minute block I can always set up more time. What a great problem to have – to have too many people to thank!

My organization has a couple of peer-to-peer recognition programs, so I deliver my notes throughout the day (digitally or in person, depending on my choice). When appropriate, I also make sure to tell the manager of each individual as well.

You can still share your gratitude in person, via email, or just a quick hand-written note, even if you don’t have a formal peer-to-peer recognition program in your workplace. Or better yet, start one.

The effect is astounding:

• I feel great as I kick off my week because I began it with positivity, gratitude, and uplifting conversations.
• Each recipient feels good because they know their actions are noticed and appreciated. It’s human nature to feel positive and renewed when we help others, and they know that their managers are aware of the good work.
• The managers of the recipients feel good to know that their team members are taking positive action… not to mention that these small notes of gratitude pile up and help build into great feedback at performance review time.

Once your week has kicked off on a high note, it's easier to maintain that positive attitide all week. These acts of renewal serve to strengthen us in the face of a lengthy to-do list and a heap of new challenges. 

Just imagine walking in to work each Monday with a positive attitude and spreading it around first thing. You’ll see the impact on your teams and colleagues, and you may even receive a few ‘thank you’s yourself.

How do you show gratitude in your workplace?

It’s been almost a year since I shared things I’d learned as a PM (TIL – quick read). In that time, I’ve learned a whole lot more, some of which is included here.

• Explain your acronyms. For example, it’s at least somewhat relevant to those of you reading this post that “TIL” stands for “Today I Learned.”
   
• Build trust by trusting.
   
• Narrative is important. Tell a compelling story and bring your target audience on the journey with you… they will follow where you lead.
   
• Bring cupcakes once: you’re doing something nice. Bring cupcakes twice: you’re the person who brings cupcakes. Translation: You get to decide how you’re perceived and what’s expected of you. Decide mindfully.
   
• Take every opportunity to breathe fresh air during the day.
   
• “Radical change” means different things to different people (and different organizations). Get examples and clarifications before making any assumptions.
   
• Celebrate! Wins (both big and small) deserve recognition. Take a moment for the team to appreciate what they have accomplished and enjoy it.
   
• Respect uninterrupted work time. That includes interruptions from the project manager. If your question can wait, wait.

We all keep learning daily. What have you learned today? Share in the comments below.

Imagine a carnival on a cool summer evening. You pass through heavy velvet drapes to walk into a dimly lit booth. It smells faintly of incense, and there are colorful gauzy scarves draped over everything, including the old woman who beckons you to sit across from her.

Tarot cards are spread on the table before her. She flips the first card for you… it shows Death.

For some people, several expletives jump to mind here… I mean, really? Death? Seriously?

For others, the card isn’t all that scary… after all, it doesn’t actually mean ‘death.’ It means ‘change.’ (Then again for some, change is even scarier than death.)

In her book “On Death and Dying,” Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described the five stages of grief:

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

These stages represent the emotional response that most people experience when dealing with grief or loss. However it didn’t take long for these stages to be repurposed to understand human response to any major transition, particularly in the workplace. Change can be shocking or difficult, even if it’s an exciting opportunity such as a new role or promotion.

We all go through these stages of change as we adjust. It’s important to know that this is not a linear process – once you’ve moved on to Bargaining, there is no guarantee that you won’t feel any Angry about the change again. That’s OK, it’s completely normal, and it’s all part of the process.

As PMs, it’s critical that we understand this process of transition and its potential impact on our stakeholders, our teams, and ourselves.

Let’s start with stakeholders. Every project is change, so a project plan should include some change management as well. It’s often baked into your communication plan or launch/roll out plan, but it can also appear as a training need, support documentation, or any number of other ways. A well-organized transition plan (or Day 2 plan) can work wonders in the success of a project. And it’s all just a normal part of your job already, so you’re already good at managing change… which is pretty cool. Go add it to your resume. I’ll wait.

Planning doesn’t mean it’ll all be easy. Sometimes your stakeholder wasn’t the decision maker on your project. Some leader somewhere decided you’re moving forward, and now you’re working with a team that will have to adopt a new tool or process that they feel is being pushed on them. They may need to let off steam, or they may not even believe it’s going to happen. (Sound familiar? That’s Anger and Denial.) When that happens you should keep the conversation going, although you’ll be doing a lot of the listening. They need to let it out, so actively listening to their concerns can be a great approach.

Even when your stakeholder starts to accept the situation, they may still test the boundaries a bit – can this feature be tweaked, can that process be adjusted for some scenarios? That sounds an awful lot like Bargaining, which is a great time for a discussion. Maybe you really can tweak this or adjust that, maybe not, but you need to be crystal clear about where there’s wiggle room (and where there isn’t). You may have a change plan, but make sure you approach it with compassion and empathy.

Now let’s move on to teams. The team is the one doing the work, so they should be totally fine with the outcome… they’re building it, right? In reality, that can depend on a range of factors, including how the project itself it working out. New work processes, shifting business priorities, sitting with a new co-located team – any one of these can lead to a bit of churn on a project team. More change often leads to more churn. As a PM, part of your job is to help the team adjust to whatever the situation throws at them.

Engagement is key here. The best way to help your team through a change is to be a part of the team, really understand what’s happening because it’s happening to you too. Stay involved, stop by workstations to check in, keep the same hours as the rest of the team. This is far easier in a single location, but effective engagement and communication across remote locations is now made far easier with a plethora of technology solutions.

Your team isn’t just a team, it’s made up of individuals. Team discussions are great for larger themes, but each person goes through their own change experience. Regular one-on-one discussions with each team member can be crucial in the midst of change – and again, these can be face to face, by video chat, or phone. Avoid email, IM, or text for a meaningful discussion (although these tools are excellent for a quick check in). Don’t forget what each team member is experiencing – just like with stakeholders, their stage in the process impacts how you can help.

And finally, don’t forget to manage your own change. You’re part of the team, and an individual on it, but you’re also the PM and a leader. This is going to be harder, because you have to manage your own process while helping others.

When you’re talking with the team, whether formally or at happy hour, fully participate in the discussion. Your concerns are just as valid as everyone else’s, and your engagement and openness will help the team share as well. Now here’s the tough part – you’re a leader too, so part of the job is to align with the vision and strategy that have led to the change. Share your doubts, but look for solutions as well, and guide the team to do the same. If you’re not aligned, take some time to get there.

Alignment isn’t agreement. You can share your thoughts on points where you disagree with the change vision – share them in an appropriate way with the right people. Have the discussion openly and honestly, and then decide for yourself on your next steps. Unless you’re choosing to walk out the door, you need to find a way to align with what’s happening, even if you don’t agree with it.

With our busy schedules, you may only have a few moments to assess and align. It’s difficult, but it’s also reality. Take a few deep breaths, or pop into an open meeting room for a moment and gather your thoughts before talking to your team. Take this time for yourself – more time if you have it available – and acknowledge where you are in the change process. You may still be in Denial, and it’s ok to talk about that with your team. But be careful not to dwell on the ambiguity or negativity. Tap into your emotional strength, and have an open, honest conversation about what’s happening, how it impacts all of you, how the team is feeling, and how you’re going to take action.

There’s no magic cure to make it easy, but you can never go wrong by planning, staying calm, and keeping lines of communication open.

Next time you find yourself in that dimly lit booth and an old woman shows you the Death card, just smile and tell her “I’ve got a plan for that.”

Have any change management tools or techniques you can share? Whether they’re for stakeholders, teams, or for you, pop them into the comments.