Project Signposts

To me, effective project management always hinged on exceeding my Sponsor’s expectations.  Engrained in me from my earliest days of programming system modifications were the words of my mentor urging me to give that little extra effort and go above and beyond the requirements, and to really wow the stakeholders.  In addition, the company made it clear that my salaried position meant that the usual 8:30 – 5:00 work hours were meant only for the hourly staff.  Longer hours would be required of me periodically to meet project deadlines.   This became habit very quickly and it made me feel good.    

This “above and beyond” behavior, I was told, would be noticed, sometimes recognized, and even rewarded at some point in the future.   In addition, I inherited my parents’ strong work ethic along with an internal drive that made me proud to arrive early, put in extra effort and be one of the last to leave the office in the evening.   Long before the recognition and rewards arrived, as they eventually did, I noticed that the most tangible benefit was a tremendous sense of accomplishment, self-respect, and the admiration of my coworkers.   Working hard gave us all pride in our work and pushed everyone on the team to perform at a higher level of quality.  More responsibility and more important projects soon followed, and I eagerly accepted them.  My teams and I were successful with this mindset, but that was twenty-plus years ago.  Back then, those exhibiting quiet quitting tendencies were either eased into non-critical functions or teed-up to be included in the next wave of cutbacks.

Today, I tried to imagine what I would do in a project management environment where quiet quitting was prevalent, but I really couldn’t.  Instead, I tried to imagine the most likely outcomes of this type of behavior. With everyone just doing the minimum acceptable work, how would it impact what those work elements which became most important to my career satisfaction and success?

• Reduced Work Hours – Good Job, that’ll show ‘em!
• Sense of Accomplishment – Only to the degree that you can do it in your set time and effort.
• Self-Respect – Not seeing any here, at all.
• Admiration of Co-Workers – They don’t care either, so this is unimportant.
• Pride in Our Work – Not applicable.
• Higher Quality – There is no incentive to make continuous improvements.
• Recognition – You won’t get any from management.
• Rewards – You get nothing more than the standard salary and you’ll like it!
• Being Good at Your Job – You may be the best person at being mediocre!

This sounds eerily close to all the dismal planned, socialist workers’ paradise states that have inevitably failed in the past.  Mediocrity has arrived!  No thanks!  As for me, I’ll continue to work harder to exceed my project stakeholders’ expectations, thank you very much!

In the real estate world, you often hear the adage, “location, location, location.”  It refers to the fact that the location of a property may have an outsized impact on the sales price or ease of selling a certain piece of property than logic might dictate. There is a similar force in play when managing projects. For project managers, the saying should be, “communication, communication, communication!” That is, the quality and frequency of a project manager’s communication with their key stakeholders often plays a larger role in a project’s and project manager’s success than it would appear on the surface.

As project managers, we are inclined to find immediate solutions to problems while project timeline pressures may cause us to shortchange some of our project fundamentals. Naturally, our analytical side will lead us to want to manage issues as they come up and address concerns as quickly as possible. Often though, issues that cannot be resolved on the spot or our proposed solution may not actually address the underlying causes of the issue. Those cases can quickly lead to increased risk, eventually surprising one or more stakeholders and often result in an undesired outcome. This is true across the entire project management spectrum. Being able to find triggers of increased risk and manage them effectively continues to be a challenge across a wide spectrum of projects. Here are four common examples of typical contributors of increased project risk that often surprise stakeholders.

1. Using a Stage Gate Review to announce a significant project change,
2. Project course corrections that impact scope but are unknown to key stakeholders,
3. Minor project issues are “swept under the rug” to keep project momentum,
4. We Let deliverables slip to the next phase or sprint.

It is easy to see how each of these contributors can increase project risk. When these happen, we can always benefit by revisiting effective project management fundamentals. It’s easy to see how well-timed and effectively delivered stakeholder communication will at least minimize if not entirely mitigate the associated risk. As project managers, if we can get in the habit of practicing and reinforcing the powerful behavior of communication with our stakeholders, our projects will take a turn for the better. With that in mind, how can we end the unwanted surprises? What might be a more effective way for a project manager to be proactive on the above four examples by using the behavior of communication, communication, communication?

1. Prior to conducting any Stage Gate Review, talk with the key stakeholders potentially affected by expected project changes and engage them in recommending a path forward. Reinforce or regain their support so that it is a non-issue in the Stage Gate Review.
2. Anything that impacts project scope is an opportunity to proactively communicate with your key stakeholders or project steering team if you use one. Make sure there is a formal process to request changes to scope and that the process will be followed every time. This is a fantastic way to manage scope creep.
3. Don’t just keep a project issue log, actively manage it.  By communicating with the impacted stakeholders on a regular cadence, you can ensure that everyone knows the open issues, when we plan to have them resolved and who is accountable for resolution.
4. If key deliverables are at risk to slip to the next phase or sprint, prompt communication is the only way for the project manager and project team to retain credibility. Let stakeholders know as early as possible if deliverables are at risk and gain their support on a plan to get back on track. It’s also wise to communicate this to all stakeholders so everyone is aligned on the path forward.  

Remember - Communication, communication, communication. Rather than viewing it as repetitive, look at it as a reinforcer that will pay outsized dividends on your current project as well as future projects you may work on with many of the same stakeholders. It serves to keep everyone informed, reduces surprises and risk, and it builds credibility for you and your project team. The worst that may come of it is that a stakeholder complains that you are communicating too much. Is that a concern to you, or should it be viewed as more of a compliment? It is definitely a compliment!