What are ways to reduce challenges teams face during project execution? Post your questions to project management expert, Kara Austin, by 11am ET 14 Nov 2024
Online Community Specialist| PMINewtown Square, Pa, United States
What have team members experienced from similar scenarios in the past? What unknown factors might the team be facing and be apprehensive about? Why is the team hesitant to speak up & is there a way to motivate open dialogue? What do they not want to happen? These are things that might be holding them back from reaching an outcome
Ask Kara Austin! PMI’s Director, EPMO will be available for “Office Hours” on Thursday, 14 Nov at 11am ET to answer your questions about ways to reduce challenges teams face during project execution.
About Kara Austin: Kara Austin lives in Middletown, Delaware, and is the Director of the EPMO at the Project Management Institute. She has experience in leading mergers, Transformations and is passionate about Agile ways of working. She enjoys sailing in her free time in warmer weather. She enjoys learning and holds certifications in PMP, PMI-PBA, PMO-CP, DASM, CSPO and CSM.
Date/Time: Thursday, 14 November 11am-12pm ET
How do “Office Hours” work? -Comment your question below between now and 14 November 11AMET. -Please stay on topic. Please stay on topic. Questions should be related to the ways teams can reduce the challenges faced during project execution. We welcome your questions and thoughts on how this information is most useful in a practical setting. -Kara will answer questions directly on this thread during the scheduled time; visit the thread on 14 November to view the responses. Please note that you will need to refresh the page to view the most recent questions and responses during the live session. -Kara will attempt to answer as many questions as possible during the scheduled “Office Hours” but may not be able to answer each question individually. The discussion thread will close at 12pmET on 14 November, and no additional questions will be accepted after the event. -When commenting, please adhere to the ProjectManagement.com User Guidelines. -Please feel free to connect with Kara here on ProjectManagement.com as well as LinkedIn to expand your professional network.
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Nov 14, 2024 11:39 AM
Replying to Kara Austin
...
George, Great discussion with you here live.
Managing corporate political issues involves identifying key players, gaining their confidence, addressing issues at their source, leveraging external consultants, building a support network, communicating effectively, and understanding the organizational culture. By taking these steps, project managers can navigate the complex political landscape and improve the likelihood of project success.
I agree with your response.
However, it is often portrayed that a project professional should avoid the corporate political side and focus only on the functional elements of execution (i.e., it’s above your pay grade).
Although stakeholder management principles should guide one toward non-politicized project executions, corporate politics can always find a way in.
It would be great to have a higher degree of focus in this area for our profession.
George
...
1 reply by Kara Austin
Nov 14, 2024 12:06 PM
Kara Austin
...
You are giving me a lot to think about. Investment in culture and change management comes to mind to solve this.
However, it is often portrayed that a project professional should avoid the corporate political side and focus only on the functional elements of execution (i.e., it’s above your pay grade).
Although stakeholder management principles should guide one toward non-politicized project executions, corporate politics can always find a way in.
It would be great to have a higher degree of focus in this area for our profession.
George
You are giving me a lot to think about. Investment in culture and change management comes to mind to solve this. Saving Changes...
Online Community Specialist| PMINewtown Square, Pa, United States
A big thank you to Kara Austin for sharing his knowledge and expertise with us! We would also like to thank all of you for participating in today’s “Office Hours” and posting your questions. Kara has kindly offered to continue the conversation here, so this thread will remain open for one more week. Please feel free to share your own experiences, reactions, and thoughts on this topic.
...
1 reply by Kara Austin
Nov 14, 2024 12:07 PM
Kara Austin
...
Thank you! Let's keep the conversation going this week!
A big thank you to Kara Austin for sharing his knowledge and expertise with us! We would also like to thank all of you for participating in today’s “Office Hours” and posting your questions. Kara has kindly offered to continue the conversation here, so this thread will remain open for one more week. Please feel free to share your own experiences, reactions, and thoughts on this topic.
Thank you! Let's keep the conversation going this week! Saving Changes...
Great question. This is something many of us can relate to. The key is to have team members 100% allocated to the project. If this is not possible, a RACI exercise with the team member and their manager is crucial. In an office environment, this is easy to pick up on where you can see the team member with a line of people at their desk or looking stressed. Having coffee or lunch informally may help the team member open up to share their workload concerns. You could also have coffee with managers to show them the project importance/impacts their team member is making. In a virtual environment, meeting once a week even for 15 minutes to “check in” is helpful. If the team member is not experiencing a concern, you are still building the relationship to open the door if a concern shows up later. You could also hold a retrospective meeting and share action items with the managers of the team to help with these issues. Retrospectives are powerful tools that are documented opportunities versus just a feeling or a complaint. Retrospective actions require attention to ensure continuous improvement and the team’s success to meet scope, schedule and budget, while having some fun along the way.
Thanks for the reply Kara! This was really helpful!
Online Community Specialist| PMINewtown Square, Pa, United States
Thank you once again to all participants and PMI project management expert, Kara Austin! This thread has been closed. Please feel free to join the conversation on an open thread or start a new discussion. Saving Changes...
"We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins."
PMI Team Member
