I wish I had me when I was you...

There are several building blocks necessary for a PMO to be successful. To keep things simple for this post, let’s focus on the general categories people, processes and tools.

Everyone knows you need people in your PMO or playing the PMO roles to make it a PMO (even if there is only one of you and you are just getting started or having the life drained out of you by being one resource doing a hundred things), right? Yes, you’ve got to have people doing something (hopefully of great value). If you want to be really great, you probably want to spend a good amount of time finding the right kind of talent and they need to be delivering on whatever services your PMO will provide. Got it. OK, we need people. Check.

We also know that we need to have a couple of kinds of processes. We need process for how we will operate internally within a PMO (i.e. how will we assign project managers to projects) and how we will deliver services to our customers (yes, even if you are internal, you do have customers – they are the people that use your services). We need project, program, and/or portfolio management processes for the work we do. For example, if we have a Project Management Office (you gotta define your P first), then I’m guessing you will create some project management best practices or a methodology for how you will manage your projects. Yes? OK, good. Let’s keep going.

The third area we would need to consider is tools, templates, and all of the other enabling systems that help us facilitate the work processes. These are the mechanisms that enable the people to use the processes to get things done. These are also important.

But when we use them and how we use them is what matters most, to me. Frankly, if you want to do your project schedule on sticky notes or a napkin, I don’t care. The tool isn’t as important early on. Not nearly as important as the other things that determine success or failure of a PMO. In fact, focusing too much here at the wrong time helps you fast track your PMO to extinction. Timing and order is everything. If you haven’t figured out what processes you need and you don’t have the right people in place, the tools don’t matter. At all. Period. Sorry, but no, not even a little bit. Stay with me here…

Have you ever seen a PMO or a big project go through a startup? Did they immediately go to discussions on what system they were going to use? Did they spend a lot of time on MS Project vs. Clarity, for example? Did they spend months and months or even years getting that system up only to realize the business moved on without them or that the system isn’t even usable the way it is designed? Or worse yet, the business totally rejects the system because they don’t see the value. Yuck. This happens all of the time and not just with PMOs, but with projects all over the world that have a technical component. We focus on the enabling system and forget to ask some basic questions or really define our requirements first. Consider yourself lucky if it hasn’t happened to you.

I watched a client go through this once and it was really heartbreaking for me. I was helping a PMO leader new to the company setup a PMO run by the IT department. The IT leader insisted that the tool get implemented first, believing that was the first and most important step in setting up the PMO. I referred them to articles, training, resources, and my own guidance on the reasons why this would fail. I predicted that the business would not buy it because they hadn’t addressed their WIIFM (what’s in it for me) to engage with the PMO. They hadn’t clearly defined their why, or as my coach says, their “who and do what statement”. The business just saw another tool being thrown at them from IT before they were bought into the value proposition. In fact, they fought it all the way, as I kept telling them would happen. And I hated it.

I did not want to be right. I hated knowing what was going to happen and watching them make the mistakes that were going to derail their efforts, despite their best intent. I tried to keep up with the pace of their tool rollout by focusing on getting clear on their mission, value proposition, services, etc., but the force by which the tool rollout was happening was hurting them faster than I could help them. Have you ever watched a child hurt themselves after you tell them 100 times not to do something? It doesn’t make you feel good when they hurt themselves and it’s not about “I told you so”. It still stinks.

Lesson: if you pay a consultant to come in and help you, you probably did so because they are experts in their field…listen to the experts, just like you would a doctor, lawyer or any other professional that has spent their career learning how to keep you from running into problems. LET THEM HELP YOU. We want you to be successful. We are in the business of service. We want you to win.

We were able to get things back on track eventually, but at a much lower scale than they had originally intended…and the tool that they invested a lot of time and money on was not leveraged. Sadly, it was a really good tool, in fact, I believe it was perfect for them, perfect for what they wanted to accomplish. Yet, by not doing things in the right order, they derailed the PMO buildout for a while and it took a lot longer to accomplish their goals.

Sometimes, we do this to ourselves and the funny thing is that as project managers, we should know better. Aren’t we the ones always telling people to define their requirements before building a system? Isn’t that in our project manager DNA? It’s like the plumber with the leaky faucet. We have a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude. We pick the cool project management software that we just know is going to make managing our projects easier, but before we really know what services we are providing or what makes the most sense in our environment or with our types of people resources…and then it (and we) crash and burn when it takes too long to get done (because you only have so long to prove your PMO worth) or doesn’t meet the processes we need to follow to be effective. I’ve seen PMOs fail because the short two year window where they should have been building and delivering services for the business was spent almost entirely on implementing a tool that didn’t end up meeting the needs. Bye bye PMO.

But why is that? Why do people go to the tools first? I call it “something shiny syndrome”. It seems like it is more fun or more tangible and easier to start, not easier to do in the long run, but feels easier to start – just pick a tool. It feels harder to figure out the people side and the processes/services you are going to deliver. Defining the services and hiring the people also (in theory) seem to take longer than just “picking a tool”, but starting with the tool doesn’t give you a PMO. What it might actually do is give you a nightmare you have to clean up later if you didn’t figure out your processes first and get the right people in place to operate those processes.

Same goes for the templates. You can spend a lot of time building templates, really complicated ones, to capture every possible data point for large projects and while you are doing that, people are still using their own stuff that they become more and more attached to as the days go by. Opportunity missed. Start simple. Use just the basics. Don’t get fancy. A handful of impactful and simple templates will do.

Tools should be enablers, not the center of the PMO universe.

So how do you avoid the mess, get your PMO setup right, in a short amount of time, all while you still have the interest (and the funding) of your leadership?

STOP PLAYING WITH TOYS!

Do the “hard” stuff first. And really, it’s not that hard. And if you do it first, it’s even easier. It’s as straight forward as creating a charter, which many of us can (and probably have) do in our sleep. Start by asking a simple set of questions:

1. First, define your “P”. Are you a project, program, or portfolio management office or some combination of the P’s? To determine that, ask yourself two questions: What is your purpose? What business problem are you solving?
2. This helps inform the services question. Who do you serve? What do you do for them?
3. Then, you can get into the processes, how you will deliver those services to them.
4. Then, validate all of this with your stakeholders. Do not pass go until you have gotten agreement from those that will interact with you that these services, when you deliver them well, will meet the customer needs. The value has to be there.
5. Then, you ask yourself who you need to deliver on those services. You can’t answer that question until you’ve done the homework above to figure out the services you will provide (that the business leaders HAVE ASKED FOR, not what you think they need). That sets the stage for the kind of talent you need.
6. THEN, and only then, you can get into the enabling systems and tools you need to help you deliver those services.

If you do it in any other order, you risk building systems, tools and templates that don’t help enable your people to deliver on those services in the most impactful way.

As always, I’m happy to answer any questions you have to help you on your journey.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,

What does it mean to be a project sponsor? What is expected of me? Why can’t they just do the project without getting me involved?

Here’s the deal. If you are the sponsor for a project, you are the most important, number one factor in determining success or failure of the project. Yep, that’s right. You can drive it to success, but you can also be completely in the way or unhelpful and the project will most likely fail.

Don’t believe me? Here’s some great supporting data from two of the standards organizations in this space:

Project Management Institute Pulse of the Profession: Executive Sponsor Engagement

Prosci Thought Leadership Library: Importance and Role of Executive Sponsor

OK, now that we got that out of the way. Let’s talk about what you can do to help your project be successful.

1) Remember that this is YOUR project. If it’s not, then maybe you don’t make the most sense to be the sponsor. Did someone delegate this role of sponsor to you? The sponsor has some very important responsibilities for this project. Keep reading.

2) Figure out your WIIFM (what’s in it for me). What benefit will this project have to you, your team, and the organization when it is successfully implemented? Be really clear on that. Take time to really understand the value. That return on investment picture should be clear and tied directly to things you care about. If you are not motivated to make sure this project is successful, then you won’t be motivated to take the time necessary to make it successful.

3) Build coalitions. Your ability to influence the stakeholders on the project will greatly determine your success as a sponsor. Do you have relationships with key leaders in your organization? You never know when those relationships will come in handy to help move that project forward. Make sure that everyone is hearing the same message across the organization about this change, the benefits, and how important their engagement is to the success of the project.

4) Address the change resistance. Enforce consequences of inaction or passive and active change resistance. For ideas on how to do this, refer to this article: People are not resistant to change.

5) Communicate. I don’t just mean talking to the project manager who keeps trying to get on your calendar. I’m talking about with ANYONE and EVERYONE on the project. Your role is to create a sense of urgency, help find the WIIFM for every stakeholder, build awareness about the project and benefits, make sure the alignment between project and strategy is clear, and LISTEN. If you watch and listen, you will see where you are needed and can be most valuable.

6) Be visibly engaged. Show the project team that you are engaged and really have an open door policy. Start every meeting with the words, “How can I help?” And then HELP THEM.

This means that you need to make time on your calendar for some of the project meetings and especially meetings with your project manager. They are your gateway to all things related to this project. Need to know what kind of information you should expect from them or getting bombarded with data and details? Send them this article: Project communications your sponsor will LOVE.

But don’t micromanage the heck out of everything. You are a leader, a guide, a barrier-removing warrior for your team, but they need you doing that stuff…not managing the tasks on the project schedule and tasking people directly. If you do, you will inevitably be overriding direction they’ve already been given and now the resources are running around doing your things instead of the most important project tasks. Look at it this way…if you start acting like the project manager, the project manager will back off and stop being the project manager. Guess who just became the new project manager? It’s very tough to come back from that when you set expectations that you are now the project manager…just sayin’.

7) Hold people accountable for project engagement and delivery. You have far more authority than you project manager. Use it. I’m not saying to beat people over the head with sticks (although, your project manager could ask you to), but it’s very simple to ask people what they can deliver and then hold them to that. So, do it.

8) Set expectations and keep your commitments. Be very clear about what you will do on the project, where you will be engaged, what level of authority your project manager and team have, and what they can expect from you. Then do it. Period. We all get busy. We all have other priorities. Just remember that project team is there to deliver on YOUR project that will make YOU look good when it succeeds. Help them help you.

Now, I know there are a dozen other things your project manager wants to say to you, but I’m going to leave it at 8 for now. I get what it’s like to be a busy sponsor and leader. Lots to do. More later, my friend. Now, go be an awesome sponsor!

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,

What do you think when you see someone that is successful? Do you think…

• I want to be like that!
• I could be like that if…
• GOOD For them!
• They aren’t that great
• They didn’t get there on their own
• Their motivations are not pure

Being successful can be absolutely wonderful. It can be an incredible and life-fulfilling experience. Sometimes, however, it can get really lonely. Why is that?

Have you ever been in a situation where you are doing all the right things, kicking butt and taking names, making the impossible possible and the people around you seem to be putting up barriers left and right? Is it your imagination? It seems so illogical that people would do that, right? Don’t your peers understand that as one of us rises, we all can rise together? Don’t they realize that you will put that hand back behind you and bring them along with you on your journey?

What I’m going to write here is from the experience of someone that has done big things, like many of you…and has occasionally had to suffer the loneliness of success, like many of you.

There are certainly people that will see you for the rock star that you are and help you along your journey. These are your mentors, your advisors, your business partners, your real friends and family. They will go out of their way to give you moments to shine. They are selfless in their support of your efforts. They will give their time, support, energy, and focus to help you succeed and for the most genuine reasons of all – they want you to succeed.

I have a really strong inner circle of people in this category. As they read this, they will know immediately who they are and how much they mean to me. We will do big things together. We are doing big things together. I know it and so do they. They also know that I have their back. As I take a step forward, I bring them with me. And they do the same.

Then there is the group of people that will stand in your way. And I don’t mean just stand there. They will actively throw rocks in your path or push you in front of the proverbial bus to see you trip up. The scary thing is that those people could be anywhere and in any role. They could be masking themselves as your friends, advisors, and mentors or they could be your boss, your peers, those that you count on and trust to work with you to help you all do big things together.

Unfortunately, I have worked with people in this category, as well. In fact, I recently had an experience where I was blown away by the lengths a small group of people would go to to tarnish my name and stand in the way of success for all of us as a group.

Does any of this sound familiar? Are there people in your life that you feel like you should be able to count on to be your partners, your supporters, and your friends, yet you observe behaviors that suggest they don’t really have your back? Yeah? OK, keep reading…

So, what do you do?  Whatever you can to survive until you can be very clear on whether or not you are up for the challenge of attempting to change the culture. If you are not yet ready to go, take every opportunity you can to learn everything you can from the people around you, even those who seem to be fighting against you. Earlier in my career, I learned a lot from my experiences in less than desirable environments that were heavy in change resistance and even unsupportive cultures. That’s where a lot of my proven techniques on change resistance and navigating culture were developed.

Keep in mind, swimming upstream can make you a very strong swimmer, but at some point, it will lead you to exhaustion.

If you are in a position where you don’t have to stay, don’t. The longer you put yourself in a position where you are not around people you can trust, the more anxiety you are likely to feel. It’s a dangerous place to constantly be in a state of fear, whether it’s about your job, a volunteer role, or any place where you are trying to have an impact. Why? BECAUSE YOU WILL STOP HAVING IMPACT. And even worse, you could lose yourself…quickly.

You are successful because you help people. You are successful because you have a core that is strong and true. People can count on you. You do what you say you are going to do. Keep being a rock star. There are not enough rock stars. Keep your eye on your goals. Take care of those around you along the way. Cherish your inner circle and go do big things together. Oh, and when they tell you to get out of that bad situation of toxic behaviors – LISTEN. As one of my advisors said, “You know it’s time to go when it gets painful. Not just the usual drama of people, but really painful. When that happens, go and go fast.”

Don’t forget to stay open. It is crucial that you get really good at accepting feedback and processing it so that you can determine how to improve. However, you won’t always know if those giving you the advice have your best interests at heart. This is where your inner circle comes in to help you process the information you are getting, give you support and guidance in a trusted environment, and be a safe place to learn and grow.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,

I was making breakfast this morning and put a bowl in the sink and noticed a handful of other dirty dishes in the sink. I dislike dirty dishes in the sink, but I dislike doing dishes more. I considered doing them, but then thought about all of the other things I needed to do today and felt a sense of relief knowing that the dishes would be done by tonight.

Why?

Because I have an awesome husband that will do them.

Before him, it was the nannies that I hired to help me with my son when I was a single mom.

Before that, it was my first husband.

So, am I just lazy? Heck no! If you know me, you know I’m incredibly productive.

So, what gives?

I reflected on the trend. I reflected on my dislike of doing dishes and realized there is a moral to this story…

I do the vast majority of the cooking, I will do laundry, I will pay bills, I will do most other things in the house, but dishes? Ugh. I actually get a sense of satisfaction out of many of those other things, but dishes just don’t do it for me. For some people, it’s their thing. Good for them, it’s not for me!

But, the dishes have to get done! So, what do I do? I outsource it! It’s not a thing I enjoy doing, nor is it the best use of my time. There are other people in the house that are fully capable and get much greater satisfaction out of doing the dishes, so I let them do the dishes and I do things that I’m better at or that give me greater satisfaction.

It seems like such a simple thing, but I think about how this applies to small business owners, PMO leaders, project managers, pretty much anyone who has too much to do.

Have you ever noticed that you tend to get done the things you like to do and the things that aren’t your favorite somehow take forever to get done? Well, yeah. Those other things are boring!

So what do you do about it? You find other people to do the things you don’t like to or shouldn’t be doing!

I can hear you saying, “Well, that’s great, but everything falls on my shoulders to get done and there is no one to help me.” OK, let’s go with that for a minute.

You have limited time during the day. Are you spending that time doing the most important, most impactful things that you should be doing? Are little things or things you despise doing getting in the way of your big rocks that really matter? Are you spending too much time procrastinating over the stuff that you really don’t like doing and then don’t have time for the most important things?

In my free time, I run a 60+ person volunteer team for my nonprofit and many of them are project managers. However, most of them are falling into the same trap of taking on tasks themselves instead of mastering the art of delegation and creatively leveraging the people around them to make things happen. Some of these managers are acting like individual contributors. You know why? Because it’s hard to get volunteers to do the things you need to do when you need to get them done. You know why? Because they are people. People have stuff to do. People have busy lives. People have other priorities. You know the difference between those volunteers and your work environment? Not much. It’s the same busy people with busy lives that all have other priorities and not enough time. You know all of those people dedicated to your projects? Yeah, they have other stuff to do too…even if they are allocated to you full-time.

So, how do we increase our productivity?

By not doing the dishes…or whatever your equivalent less than desirable task is that someone else could do.

What if we all focused on doing the things we like to do and the things that only we can do and then leveraged those around us to do the things they like to do? That way, all of the work gets done and we aren’t wasting energy on the procrastination, missing the most important things that only we can truly do, etc.

Project Managers, Small Business Owners, Business Leaders, Anyone Trying to Get. It. Done. Through Others:

Your job is to act like the orchestrator. You don’t play the instruments. You conduct the orchestra. You make sure everyone else is playing their instruments when they are supposed to. You provide guidance and direction. As the orchestrator, what you own is the plan. Make sure that you focus on the plan and guiding everyone to follow your plan. DO NOT rescue the musicians by playing their instruments for them. It’s not sustainable and if you stop conducting to go play an instrument, who is going to lead the rest of the musicians through the sheets of music?

What if you are a single person company? I would highly encourage you to google “virtual assistant”.

What if you have a team (project managers, small business leaders, etc.)? Get the team together and create a “sense of we” between all of you.  Work with them to figure out who should be doing what, how to make sure your energy is focused on only what you must do, how you are going to hold each other accountable for delivery (not just you holding them individually accountable), and how you can work together to get to the best outcomes.

Then go Get. It. Done! All of you…doing what only you can do.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,

What? Some projects don’t go well? No way!!

OK, so clearly they do. Not ours, of course, but other people’s projects sometimes don’t work out as intended. I know it’s natural human behavior to not want to be at fault or have a project not doing so well, but sometimes, despite our best efforts, we have projects that aren’t on track. What do we do to get them back on track and prevent this from happening in the future?

Here’s a cheat sheet of things to consider (or to tell that “other” poor soul that’s having issues on their project) to get back on track:

1. Manage expectations, not problems:  Figure out the real bottom line. Don’t go down the who’s at fault or how do I hurry up and cover my butt path, but actually look at what the real issue is and what can be done about it. What you are calling the problem may not be the whole story. You could fix the problem without actually addressing what caused it, thereby increasing the likelihood that it happens again. We actually need to be focused on outcomes. Outcomes are what people really need to know. Here’s an example: The problem is that you have a flat tire. The potential outcome is that you may not get to work on time. You could fix the flat tire (problem)  and still not address the outcome you wanted to avoid – getting to work on time.
2. Be forward looking:  Don’t focus all of your energy on where you are today (a.k.a. status). Remember to spend energy and the energy (attention) of your stakeholders by reminding them where you are going and how you plan to get there. This helps everyone keep their eye on the ball.
3. Plan for planning:  Make sure you allow time for all of the work you have to do as the project manager on the project. Sometimes I see plans with zero activities for the PM and wonder how they are going to stop time and make the work they have to do happen while they are fully booked on “other” tasks or meetings during the day. Don’t set yourself up for exhaustion…you won’t get time to recover between projects, I assure you!
4. Use templates, checklists and peers:  Leverage a template or tool to help you think through all of the things that must be done on your project when you start a new one. That way, you are less likely to miss the gotchas that are coming down the road. Don’t forget to ask your peers to review your plans and give you feedback. You can avoid tons of pitfalls just by learning from the mistakes
5. Think of yourself as orchestrator:  They are judged by the sound that is made, yet they make no noise. Don’t jump in and start playing the instruments when things are not going well. Just keep directing the orchestra. This allows you to keep the momentum forward without getting caught by the swirl of every issue that may arise.
6. Write it down: Are the work products you are creating facilitating getting the work done or are you simply using them to document what happened? How many times did you update a project schedule to write down the work that happened after the fact?
7. Know your stakeholders: The better you get to know your stakeholders, the better you will get at getting information out of them to prevent letting the project go down hill and the faster you will be able how to address their WIIFM (what’s in it for me) to help you get the project back on track.
8. Don’t expect people to read: People have very little time to read these days, unfortunately. Keep your communications clear and succinct then go find the people you need to talk to and actually talk to them. A five minute conversation can save hours of miscommunication over email. Yes, write things down, but use one page formats or simple bullet lists in email to get your facts across in a very short time, then speak to people. They will tell you tons they won’t write down!!
9. Manage to the right level of detail: If you manage at too high of a level, you are likely to miss details, risks, issues that are just waiting to jump out and grab you. This is not a license to micromanage the heck out of the project, just don’t assume that everyone has an entire sub-project under control without breaking that work down just a few layers.
10. Always ask why: When you are presented with a problem, keep asking why until you get to the REAL concerns people have and the root cause of the problem. Seems simply, huh? How many times have you stopped at the first answer and not really understood how the problem occurred. If you want to prevent repeat problems, understand the why they happened.

I’ve given you some ways to rethink how you understand and address some of the common reasons good projects go bad.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,