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

Business leaders: Have you ever wondered the real value of the Project

Management profession?

Project managers: Are you a project manager who knows darn well your value and wishes others would see just how valuable you are?

Are you sick of having your entire career called the accidental profession?

Everyone: Do you wish there was a more meaningful way for you to give back to your community?

Well, have I got a story for you!

Enter the Project Management Day of Service (PMDoS)  

What’s that?

Oh, only the record-setting event where we do exactly as the title says…we use the profession of Project Management to change the world.

Project Managers have mastered the skills to make things happen despite lack of time, lack of funds, not enough skilled staff, and lack of clear scope.  And yet, even with these constraints they are still effective.

But even more, project managers take inputs, and plan for specific outcomes…we plan transformation, we deliver change.  Ultimately we are delivery agents of change. Making change for organizations that are chronically hampered by resource constraints to achieve their missions, and with no time for the Project Management overhead, that’s the challenge.

And that’s always the problem, isn’t it?  Not enough time to do it right, but enough leeway to either have to do rework, or just take the best product you can get, right? There is a whole sector that exists in this mode of operation all of the time…the Non-Profit Organizations…

Many nonprofits, whose mission is to make a local or global impact, make do without the skills of project management, or they do it in the same incidental manner that has plagued our profession for so long.  But we have matured past that and we have the opportunity to step in and have an impact.

Nonprofits can achieve their mission of creating local and global change through the resources available to them in project management and by using project managers.   After all, what profession has more to offer than project management, a profession that focuses on planning within Scope, Schedule and Budget?  We get things done!

From actually helping them with projects to beginning to educate and teach on the tenants of Project Management for their ongoing success, we have something to offer. 

This event engaged the project management community in a meaningful way to show that professional project management can have an impact, that we can do good work and make a difference.

The goal of PMDoS was very straightforward.  We believe that all project managers have a role to play in helping clarify and strengthen the value proposition of Project Management. This event showed everyone that we can make a difference and that Project Management matters.

The first annual event was held on Martin Luther King Day, 2015, a national day of service.  On this day, 350 project managers met with 100 nonprofits for an all-day ScopeAthon.  These project managers volunteered their time to help nonprofit organizations define and scope a business challenge or mission project they wanted to undertake and then together, they built a road map for execution of that project so that the organization could realize their mission objective.

Just imagine…100 nonprofits walking out of the room with a clear and specific path forward for their most pressing mission.

That’s what happened here. The work done on this day equaled $200,000 worth of project management services provided in a single day. Now, take the value created by all of those nonprofits achieving their project objectives and you have $1,000,000 impact in the local community. IN ONE DAY!

THAT is what Project Management can do!

Project managers get stuff done for a living.  This event gave them an opportunity to use their unique and hard-earned skills to make a difference in their local communities while shedding light on the ever-increasing importance of project management done right.  Where else can they use project management to give back and have this kind of impact?  It was about aligning mission with resources.

Our profession is about change, and it is also about intent and service.  This event has ripple effects, as many project managers shared feedback that PMDoS has inspired them to become more active in their local nonprofit community.

As a result of the work done by the Project Management Day of Service, there is now an established foundation and expandable opportunity for project managers to engage in pro bono service using their specific project management skills.

The movement has begun.  This event has become a catalyst for creating opportunities for continued work to raise the profile of the Project Management profession.

This day of service model opens the door for us to understand as a Project Management community how we can begin to engage in even more assertive and continuous ways with our local communities.

1. It gives project managers across the globe a framework to provide pro bono project management services to nonprofit organizations desperately in need of these services and connect with their desire to give back to the community in a meaningful way. 
2. Giving project management organizations an opportunity to provide high-value pro bono project management volunteer opportunities and increase membership value and engagement. Adding additional meaning and purpose raises the profile of the Project Management profession globally.
3. Providing nonprofit organizations an opportunity to see the value of the Project Management profession applied directly to a business challenge their organization faces, seeing real-time, impactful results directly.

So now what?  How can you use your project management skills to make a difference?  Do you want to put project management in the driver’s seat on the quest to change the world?

Project Managers can take the mission and drive toward transformational outcomes that can literally change lives, save lives, and create a better world for us all.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are we doing for others?’

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

You now have a choice to make and you can choose to do good and have impact in a meaningful way using your Project Manager skills. 

Why?  Because it matters!

Please join those of us that believe that making a difference in our local communities matters.  Help us change the world, one project at a time!

To learn more about Project Management for Change, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization responsible for the Project Management Day of Service, please visit PM4Change.org. 

No, seriously, they aren’t. Don’t believe me?

Know anyone that has gotten married, had kids, changed jobs, tried a new hairstyle, remodeled their kitchen, bought new clothes, read a new book, taken a class, rearranged their furniture in their house, or any of millions of other large or small changes? How many of those have you willingly chosen to do, yourself?

Yeah…we go through change, all of the time.

Alright, alright, no need to yell! I can hear you saying, “Sure, but not the people I work with. They are ALL resistant to change, or this project I’m trying to get done, or the organizational change we are trying to create, or the new system we are trying to put in, or…”

I hear you. As my awesome coach says, “all generalities are false, even that one”.  So, sure, there are exceptions to every rule, but I’m willing to make a bet that the change itself isn’t actually what they are resisting. Come along with me for a few and then let me know what you think…

Ever try to pull someone by taking their hand? What’s their first reaction? To pull back. They pull away from you because you are pulling them, of course. Yet, that’s what many of us are taught when it comes to creating change. Convince them, tell them, make them, etc. How many of the tools provided to people in the project management space are all about telling people what to do? Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish they would just do what they are told?” World would be a lot better place if everyone just did what you told them to, wouldn’t it? Ha! I feel you!

Unfortunately, they don’t. Annoying, I know.

I believe that people are not actually resistant to change (see change examples above), but what they really do NOT like is having change DONE TO THEM. People like to have control, maybe not of others, but surely of themselves. They want to choose their work environment, the people they work with, the work they do, etc. When you threaten that, the safety of their environment, and take away their control and choice, you have a problem.

I speak at conferences all over the country and every time I ask the crowd if they think people are resistant to change.  If it’s a room full of change agents (a.k.a. project managers), most of the people in the room raise their hand! Interesting…because people willingly go through change all of the time…so why is it that these folks that “do change” for a living are finding the most resistance?

Well, it’s because many of them are doing change…to people.

So, you’ve been charged with creating change and told you need to get it done. So what do you do?

You do change WITH them instead of TO them.

What does that mean?

That means you go stand next to the people you need to come through this change and hold their hand, walk beside them, and bring them through the change WITH you.

How?

1. Stop talking and listen.  No more convincing people of anything. Listen to their fears, understand their motivations, ask them questions. You may be surprised what you hear. What do they know that you don’t? Have they seen this movie before (and it didn’t work when the last guy tried this)? Do you understand the environment? What do they think needs to get done for this change to be successful?
2. Remove the secrecy.  I know for me, I don’t like the unknown. I like to know, to understand, and not necessarily have control, but I like to understand what is going on around me. There are many people like that…they don’t like the unknown. Ask them what they want to know. The safety for them comes in the knowing, so tell them. Let them ask questions and answer them. Remove the cloak and dagger style of management from your organization – provide transparency.
3. Bring them with you. For some, they just want to be a part of it. They are OK with the world changing, as long as they can feel included in the process. So, include them! If you are the boss, let them sit in on your strategy meetings. Let them take notes, whatever it takes, just let them be there to see how the magic is happening and understand more about the process that is driving the decisions. If you are the lucky project/change leader, remember that you are there to facilitate the change through people. Project management is getting things done through others. You need them. Bring them with you through the project by including them in the process. You are NOT the best person to put together the plan. The team you build around you and leverage are the best people to put together the plan if you want them to own it and implement it.
4. Don’t assume they get it. When we understand why something is important and see the value, we assume it’s obvious to everyone else. It’s not. You may have more information than they do (because you didn’t do #3 maybe), the value proposition might not be really clearly articulated yet, or it may just not be as important to them yet.
5. Make it matter. Unless you make it important to them, they probably won’t come along. They might tell you they are with you, but actions may suggest otherwise. How do you make it matter? Give them their WIIFM (what’s in it for me)! First, refer to #1. Once you’ve done that, you will have a good idea of what matters to them and can find a way to connect the change you are creating to something that benefits them. Here’s an example: You are implementing a new system or process. When telling them that the new system will save the company money…you hear crickets. Instead, tell them that when that new system goes in, they will all be able to get back to 8 hour working days. Now, you have their attention! Make it personal to each of them. When talking to Susie, tell her she’s not going to have to miss any more of her son’s soccer games. Tell John he’s going to be able to make it to his cooking class. Whatever their personal WIIFM is, find it, know it, leverage it, and you will now have their support! After all, this is JUST work. As important as your project is to you, it’s just work and not as important as the many other things these folks have going on in their lives.
6. What about the naysayer? There’s one for every project. I love those people! The ones that are telling you all of the things that are going wrong with your project! You know what I do with them? I hand them a whiteboard marker and put them in front of a whiteboard and let them tell me all of the things wrong with what we are doing. Then, I ask them what they would do to fix it. You know what happens? They start giving you solutions. Keep digging, keep engaging, keep working through it with them, ask more questions. You know what happens next? They start owning the solutions…they start becoming invested, they are now a part of the future of the change. You want to gain their investment? Implement one of their ideas, and then another. Go ahead, it won’t hurt you. Let them be a part of the solution.

I’ve given you some ways to rethink how you bring people with you through the change. Now, go Get. It. Done!

Does it seem like the “business side” of your company speaks a different language? Are you the business side and sick of not being heard, or feeling misunderstood? We all (or at least most of us) have positive intent when it come to getting the job done, but we seem to have stars that just don’t align when it comes to how we talk to each other…this is apparent in so many different areas…IT vs. “the business”, sales and marketing vs. product development, or even the PMO leaders and their various stakeholder groups.

We’ve all seen it – they don’t talk your language and you don’t talk theirs.

We often focus too much on the tools and process of a PMO and not the why people care part. The people, your clients, your stakeholders, and the people that you want to engage in your PMO are the people that want to see it provide value. Talk to me in my language if you want me to understand you.

I’m guessing that part of the reason “the business” doesn’t engage in your PMO is that they haven’t seen the direct link between what it is doing and what they need in order to get the job done. Let’s assume for a moment that you read my last blog post and said, “Yes! Exactly! That’s what my PMO (or insert any other business support organization here) is here to do! WE support the business! We provide business value. We help them achieve their business objectives.”

OK, awesome! We are on the right track. Do they know that? Do your business stakeholders know that you are helping them achieve their business objectives? Can they see the direct link between the tools and process you created, and the way their lives have been made easier by you doing your PMO thing? No? Not sure? Have they called you process heavy, administrative, box checkers or any other similar names recently? Maybe it’s how you are communicating with them…

Things “the business” needs to hear you say…

We will not rest until our PMO is seen as an organization that effectively manages strategic initiatives by..

1. Providing transparency to you so you know what’s going on with your projects.
2. Giving you reliable information so you can make educated and informed decisions.
3. Arming the people on your projects with the tools and resources they need to help them do your projects better/faster/more reliably/cheaper/with greater throughput, etc.
4. Decreasing the cost of a project by removing barriers to project progress.
5. Making sure the projects we implement are actually realizing the intended value.
6. Supporting the project selection and prioritization process so we are utilizing our resources most effectively and getting our most important company priorities accomplished.
7. Minimizing the need to cut projects each year because we are doing the right level of planning and maximizing project throughput.
8. Increasing accountability across projects so that everyone understands their role and how to keep your initiatives moving forward.
9. Giving you a centralized view of the work happening and where your projects are in that portfolio.
10. Enabling the strategy development process and transition to project execution so that no information is lost during the process and project alignment with strategy can be maintained.

That is what they want to hear…unfortunately, when many PMs and PMO people talk to the business about what the PMO does, they say…

1. project reporting
2. project status
3. templates and process
4. risk and issue management
5. project value realization (or EVM)
6. portfolio management
7. project planning and portfolio management
8. hold you accountable
9. portfolio management and dashboards
10. attend your business strategy sessions

Is it any wonder they aren’t listening or seeing the value? Connect the dots for them, people! Give them their WIIFM (what’s in it for me). Don’t talk at them. Don’t tell them you are doing the second list to them (and yes, I said to them…it feels like it’s being done to them when you talk in list 2 terms). Talk in list 1 terms about whatever value you are bringing to them in their terms and you have the beginnings of a conversation. They will come if you talk to them in their language and then actually deliver on the promise.

How do you deliver?

There are a lot of buzz words and phrases out there in the PMO space, but what does it mean to really be a business driven PMO?

It’s very, very simple. Your PMO is there to serve the business. Don’t forget that. The reason you exist is to support the process of getting things done in your organization to improve the business in some way:  greater project throughput, process performance, capability improvement, cost savings, revenue generation, etc.

Sometimes we forget that the reason we have the templates, the tools, the process, and the people is because we are there to make things better for the business – otherwise, why does the PMO exists? And to exist (and stay effective and sustainable), you need to provide real impactful business value that helps move the business forward. The PMOs that don’t survive are the ones that business leaders have lost hope in…the ones that aren’t helping the business get things done, better than they would be without the PMO. If you have heard any of the following terms used to describe the PMO, watch out! You may not make it to the next fiscal year.

Things you do not want to hear: process heavy, checklists, red tape, barrier to progress, overhead, administrative, etc. Those words translate to “the first place we make cuts when we need to tighten our budget”.

Look at it from the business perspective. If you are there to make their lives easier, yet you spend months upon months on planning, creating process, building templates, putting in systems, and doing this all with the promise of a someday benefit, you will lose their interest. The business will go on without you. You will be unnecessary. And, to make it even more of a challenge, if you weren’t the first one attempting to do this, you have to pay for the lack of patience they now have with you as you are just starting – in their eyes, this is the second, third, fourth attempt at this. They’ve seen this movie before, and it hasn’t worked. What makes you different? You are months or years behind before you’ve ever even started. I’ve been in that situation many times and help my clients through that process all of the time.

How do you change this? I will tell you what to do right now…immediately…today…this minute.

You need to rapidly identify some very quick wins that solve a problem they have.

How?

Talk to them.  Have you done that recently? No? Do it now!

Find out exactly how much pain they are in and what your PMO could do to solve that pain point by the end of this month.

Don’t think you can move that fast?

Well, then you’ve just acknowledged you can’t be the PMO that your business needs.

The PMOs that are effective and sustainable, whether just starting up, going through a transformation, or taking their capability to a higher level, are all successful because they know what is going on with the business, understand their value to the business (and how to communicate it), and know how to solve business pain points early and often. That’s how you get the attention of the people that decide whether you stay or go, whether the business has moved on without you, or you are seen as a strategic asset for driving change in the organization.

The pain points you solve do not need to be complicated, they just need to improve the ability for the business to get things done – better, faster, or cheaper than before. For example, there is not enough clarity on the projects your sponsors are overseeing – stop the 10 page (or more, yuck) status reports and give them a One Page Executive Dashboard that covers what they really need to know about the project. Tell them what they need to know to make educated and informed decisions. Then, STOP! Stop talking and drilling into details. Stop giving them layers of unnecessary information that only you, as the really awesome detail oriented person that you are, care about. Just answer their questions and tell them what you need from them. Then, get back to the business of getting it done.

How about the meetings for the meetings for the meetings? Stop them. Now. Period. You may as well say you don’t care about company resources, value realization, or the bottom line if you have filled everyone’s calendar with review meetings, status meetings, and other group think that keeps people away from their desks and producing results.

The best thing you can do to raise the energy level and support for your PMO via business stakeholders is to find out what you can do to help them “Get. It. Done.” Start small, show quick and real value, then grow that trust. People that know, like, and trust you are more likely to try what you are offering. Then, when it makes their lives easier, you can get their support to “buy” into being more patient for the bigger PMO improvements you want to make.

What’s the biggest determining factor in success or failure of a project or any change you are trying to create? Communication, right? It’s all about communication. Even though it’s the most important factor, many of us are struggling to get our message across to our executives because of how we are communicating.

Have you ever been in a status meeting where you had to provide a report to your executives? You’re about halfway through this meeting and they are on page 14 in the bottom right-hand corner stuck on some piece of data. You can’t get them to come back up and focus where you need them to be. They’re stuck, right? They’re drilling down into these details of this report, they’re asking you all types of questions, and you’re thinking to yourself, “This isn’t even relevant to what I need from you. I need some answers. I need some help on something. I need a decision. I need you to take action,” and they’re stuck on page 14.

You’re not getting the outcomes that you needed from that meeting. It’s over. Your problems are not getting solved. Decisions are not being made. You’re thinking, “Are you kidding me? I’m here to make this project move forward, and I can’t make any progress because my executive is drilling down into all these details.”

Let me ask you…who put that report in their hands?

We put a lot of detailed information in front of executives and we expect that they have time to process that information. They don’t. They’re busy. I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of those executives in organizations ranging from small companies to global firms. Those that have worked with me learn quickly that if you don’t give me the bottom line, I am not going to have time to process it. It’s not that I was not interested, but as a leader, I needed clear, simple, and focused information because I had a lot to do. Expectations are high and seem to be growing at a rapid pace. To keep up with that pace, leaders need to think and act differently.

This is the biggest problem that we see in reporting and communicating with our executives. Somebody told us we needed to provide 14 pages of detail and now here they are stuck down at the bottom of page 14. You’re not making any progress with your project, and now you have to go back to your project team and say, “Well, we had a meeting, but now we have to have another one.” I am willing to bet that you’re going to have to have another one after that, just to get to what you needed. Three meetings in, you finally got the decision you needed but now you are further behind on your project and have to go back to the executives to explain why your project just went from green to yellow…or red. And so the vicious cycle continues…

Did it really have to happen that way? How much time was wasted?

My advice to you: Tell them what they need to know, then stop. Just stop! You need to give them the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Then, stop and let them absorb this information and give you what you need.

The stakeholders on your project, your executives and your sponsors, are there to serve you. They don’t know it yet, but your job is to teach them how to be a sponsor. Part of that is in how you’re communicating with them. They are trainable. I promise.

We all think our project is the most important, don’t we? Of course, it is! Which means we should be doing more to protect it. We should be finding ways to get to the bottom line quickly so that we can manage up to our executives and tell them what we need from them so that they can act for us. You should have an elevator pitch in your mind at all times.

Follow these steps to create a dashboard for your executives that helps you accelerate your project progress. And, because I’m always asked when I talk about this topic…if you want more when you read this, scroll down to the bottom to find out how you can get access to our free template or training programs to teach you how to use our extremely popular One Page Executive Dashboard.

1. Summary: Put the bottom line up front (BLUF). Clearly state what they need to know (your elevator pitch). This is the conversation for when you have the executive in the elevator to say, “How we are doing” in as few words as possible and not a repeat of items later in the report. Keep it to 3-5 sentences.
2. Decisions Made: What decisions have been made on the project and what was the impact of those decisions. Do not use this as a way to point fingers. “We had to make this decision because IT’s taking forever, even though we were late giving them our requirements, but we’re not going to talk about that.” The best thing to do is to be as factual as possible in providing the information.
3. Items Requiring Management Attention: Use this to manage your sponsors. IRMA means, “I want you to do something,” so put it in those terms. Management appreciates directness and guidance on how they can help. This is how you train them. What is the issue and what, specifically, you want management to do. Executives love simplicity, pictures, and when you answer their (sometimes unspoken) request to, “Show me what to focus on.”
4. Activities Accomplished: Activity and benefit. This is not a laundry list of everything you’ve done!! Don’t list a bunch of random activities. What’s the “so what”? What’s the benefit realized as a result of the activities that took place? Again, this seems very simple, but putting it in terms that the executive can process quickly means they can get the big picture in their head so you can focus them on where and how they can help.
5. Planned Activities: Simply state the activity and the expected results. What’s the thing we’re going to do and the expected outcomeHighlights only. When this major milestone is completed, this will be the outcome.
6. Transparency: The fastest way to change behaviors is to give people information. If you stick to the facts, you really don’t need to worry about who reads it. We’re often worried about how people are going to feel when they look at it, but if you are very clear with facts, they cannot be disputed. When you get pushed back, you say, “Wait did you see that happen? That happened? Okay, that’s what we’re going to talk about here.” Then shift the conversation to focus on what we are going to do about what the facts are telling us.
7. Leverage colors to represent progress toward baseline. If you are still in the initial stages of the project, you have no baseline. You don’t have a plan yet, so why are you putting green on your status? Colors are used as a simple indicator of measurement, but you have nothing to measure against…yet. As a way to educate our executives, before we’ve got a plan that’s been baselined that everyone’s agreed to, don’t put a color on it.  Instead, have a box that’s blank or something to indicate absence of color (good example of this in our one page dashboard).  Additionally, when the project is over, it doesn’t stay in red/yellow/green. It goes to black. Black means done. Closed. No room for “but I just have one more requirement”. Show’s over, baby, go home! Your project will never end if you keep the “open for business sign” on the door.
8. Tell your story in data: Show major deliverables and milestones and how you are progressing toward them in a chart. This is not the entire project schedule. This is a list of only the top line milestones that drive the overall project timeline. These are the deliverables that are using all of the resources, costing all of the money. Speaking of money, be transparent and current. What is our budget, how are we tracking to that budget, where do we project we will be? Is it on track, at risk of being off track, or actually off track? Provide commentary (in 5 words or less) to explain how you will get back on track, if off track, or how you got back on track if you are newly “green”.
9. Use issues and risks to manage expectations: Make sure management isn’t blindsided. Communicate risks in terms of the impact if the risk were to be realized. Do the same thing for issues. What is the impact we saw when the issue happened, and what we are going to do to react or respond to this issue. Don’t just say, “It’s going to be hard to fix.” Many executives despise obtuse language. You can’t act or communicate on generalities effectively. Be specific and precise.
10. Finally, make it a habit: Make your report a living document for your own sanity. If you wait until the day it is due to try to recall all the main points of your project communication, you will miss things and it will take you much longer to complete. Start using it to note the big rocks you are moving up the hill. I always suggest doing it at the weekend as opposed to the beginning of the week because by Monday I have no idea what I did last week. If your weekends are as busy as mine, you are going to have trouble remembering what you did last week if you haven’t been writing it down.

A note on change resistance…you will likely have it.

What if “they” say they need that 15 pages of detail? Try this tactic. Use the one page summary form. If they say, “Okay, but where is my 15-page report (I wasn’t reading anyway)?” Say, ”I’ve created a cheat sheet version to summarize it for you because I realize how busy you are and this is easier to keep with you should you need it. Show them where the same information is in the larger report they requested. If we were to only do this shorter report, we would save XXX in terms of time/money. If you like that other detail, we can talk about the cost to the organization for doing so.” Put it in terms that make it hard for them to say no. Who’s going to say to you, “Absolutely, I would like you to waste money putting that report together (that I wasn’t reading anyway)!”

Change the conversation. I have never heard an executive say, “Make my life more difficult and give me more work to do.” Have you ever said that? They’re not saying it either because they are busy. You can’t even get on their calendars for weeks or months because they have so many meetings. The more you can do to streamline the conversation around what you need, the more effective you will be at executing on your projects. We train for the behaviors we want to see.

The right reporting will become your sponsor’s communication tool when they speak to their peers and their boss. That’s powerful. Make them look good and they will make you look good. Arm them with the information they need to make good decisions and give them the information they need to communicate up to their leadership about what’s going on with your project. Your dashboard now becomes the conversation.

And that’s just the left half of the dashboard…