Posted: September 15th, 2009 | Tags: Autism spectrum, Project Management Institute, Project Manager skills, Winston Churchill | No Comments »
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Stephen Covey
and
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
The last in my series will focus on the item that brings it all together. Being able to do all the other nine and still be able to focus. How to keep your eye on the ball. This is where some of the bad aspects of Autistic Spectrum disorders could be a benefit.
It is well known that the “rain makers” have the ability to focus like none of us can. People on the autism spectrum normally has a topic that they focus on and go into way too deep! The drawback of this is that they normally end up sacrificing other skills in order to do this. In most cases it is their outward focus that they loose. Ability to read emotions, communicate with people etc..
When the project is really in a tough spot, the only way to get out is normally to cut out the noise, get to the root cause and then focus on the remedy for this root cause. To many inexperienced project managers get distracted by the noise and/or emotions. They try to please everybody and in a lot of cases “over communicate”. It sometimes takes a project manager a couple of tries to develop this skill. Most “seasoned” project managers have developed this skills without even noticing it.Just like we are taught concentration skills at a young age, so project managers can be taught focus. Small steps.
However, to much focus is not long term sustainable. You have to come up for breath every now and again. Touching base with all your stakeholders and re-checking that we are all still aligned. If you focus for too long you could miss key signs that the world around you has started to change.
Posted: September 14th, 2009 | Tags: people skills, Project Management, Project Management Institute, Project manager, Project Manager skills | No Comments »
The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun. - John D. Rockefeller
Here we get to the point that really seperate “any old” project manager from the “Good PM”. How well can you deal with people. People is the most dynamic part of any project. PMI defines a project as an “unique endevear”. Every project that has people involved will by definition be unique if we do not have exactly the same team as on the previous project.
A lot of the previous “good pm” attributes, like conflict management, have people at the core. In order for your project to be successful in any way, you will need to be able to make the best of the people you have on-board. Being able to relate to people, being able to identify different personality types and how to deal with each of these is crucial if you want to succeed in project management. Like the previous post, this skill is also something that can be taught in training classes but only be perfected by real life experience.
Recently I have witnessed another case of a brilliant mind that did not have the ability to build rapport with key stakeholders. Although all the decisions made on the project were technically correct, the inability of the project manager to appropriately deal with the conflict between stakeholders turned the project into a “burning” project where the fire fighters had to come and help. The key cause in this case was the project managers inability to “read” the stakeholders, understand their emotions and deal with it in an unbiased way.
I have also seen the opposite case, where the project manager is such a people person that now work gets done. Keeping everybody happy was so important that no tough decisions where ever made and all difficult decision got put on hold.
It is normally fairly easy to spot the project managers with bad people skills. Not to say that bad people skills always equal bad project manager. There are roles for these people as well. Sometimes the lack of “soft” skills is what is needed from a escalation manager, where being able to take charge, evaluate a situation and make decisions are the critical skills.
Horses for courses! Just be sure you know the limitations of the project managers that you work with.
Posted: May 28th, 2009 | Tags: presentation skills, Project Management, Project Manager skills | No Comments »
“Never tell a story because it is true: tell it because it is a good story.” – John Pentland Mahaffy
Here is another of the skills that I believe makes a “good” project manager – the ability to present.
Most project managers who work for a profesional services organization will at some point attend a “presentation skills” course of some sorts. How many actually make this a core competence? All too often I still see a lot of “”death by powerpoint” type sessions. In my opinion – a sure way to loose your credibility as a “profesional”. Not all of us will be able to present like Steve Jobs (my personal favourite presenter) but we can surely get to the point where we can effectively communicate a message. I am not going to give a 5 minute course on presentation skills here – enough of those around if you care to search for them.
My personal strategies for presenting:
- Know your subject – Nothing will make you more nervous than the knowledge that you do not really know what you are talking about. If you do not know enough – get a co-presenter that does know enough. Presenting in a team can be very effective if planned properly.
- Know the audience – Try and find out as much as you possibly can about your audience. Who are the key decision makers, who are their influencers, who can only say “no” and block a decision…. Also check up on their knowledge of the subject you are presenting. You need to ensure that you pitch your message at the right level to the key people.
- Have a storyline – make sure that you presentation follows a storyline. It has to start somewhere (reason for knowing verybody’s previous exposure) and then follow a clear path to the desired outcome. This is also why you need to have a clear agenda and every now and again explain where you are in this agenda. It makes it easier for people to follow your message.
- Use pictures – They say more and also allows you to interact better with your audience. Tray to minimize those bullet points. They are good for training sessions.
- Every slide must have a message – be sure that every slide you use has only one message. Ensure that this message comes out. Put it at the bottom of the slide or build an animation.
- Manage your time – Everybody’s time is limited. All of us have tight schedules and one meeting that overruns can ruin my day! Have respect for other people’s time.
Most important – R E H E A R S E – Do not go into a presentation unprepared. When I present a new topic I use a ratio of 4:1 – 1 hour presentation = 4 hours of rehearsal (dry runs included). If it is something I have presented before my ratio drops to 2:1. Never go into a presentation without rehearsing!
Final point – Learn to tell stories and not make speeches! People listen to stories and “sit through” speeches. Remember how you parents or grandparents told you bed time stories? That is what I am talking about.
Posted: May 20th, 2009 | Tags: business benefit, Business case, communication, Project Management, Project Manager skills | No Comments »
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.
Henry Ford
Continuing on my series of what makes a “good” PM – “Articulate the project’s benefit in a very clear and concise way to business”
It is crucial that you keep the end in mind. By this I mean, how will the outcome of this project improve things for the stakeholders? I have often seen a lot of objectives in project charters that leave me with the thought “Yes and then?”. Can you explain to your stakeholders in their language what benefit you will add for them. On big projects you would find a business case that mathematically calculate if a projects is “worth doing”. However, can you as the project manager turn this into a clear message that would keep your stakeholders interested in your project. A good project manager should be able to explain the business benefit of the project’s solution in a clear and concise way. This implies at the appropriate level as well. Not all people want to know the ROI.
For most people the real question they ask when asking about the value of the project is: 1. What is in it for me? 2. What is in it for my organization? and 3. What is in it for you (and your organization)?
Can you sell your project? Can you keep on selling your project when things get tough?
This keeps on coming back to the basic principle of communication skills. I believe that this is one of the skills that must be taught to new project managers and needs to be developed with existing project managers. Most people can talk but few can communicate effectively! In most cases I have found my project sponsors to be good teachers of communication skills. Most project sponsors become senior in their organization because they have mastered the art of communication (at least those that last a while!).
What also ties in with this topic is the concept of value tracking. Do you know how the value of your project will be measured? It is important that you have a clear definition of how this value is measured at the start of the project. You then need to establish a clear method of measuring the effect by creating an initial baseline and then periodically comparing the current state against the initial state. What is also important is the agreement up front on how long this will be measured for. Will the value realize in year 1 or 5? Also make sure that there is a process in place to keep on measuring even after the project team has been released from the project. Most project end before the final benefit is realized.
Posted: February 4th, 2009 | Tags: personal network, Project Management, Project Manager skills, technical understanding | No Comments »
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.“
— Albert Einstein
Rather than getting in to the age-old discussion about functional skills makes a good/bad project manager, let’s rather think about the benefits that a PM with understanding of the solution will have. (Most of my PM experience has been in the IT systems environment and this may taint my view a bit.) I do not support the idea that a good PM must be a functional expert, but I do suggest that the PM needs to understand the solution that his/her project will deliver. This normally means you need to get into the technical jargon of the subject area. How deep this knowledge must be is a question that does not have a single answer. The “it depends” type of answer should be given here. Rather than being a functional expert, I support the recommendation that the PM needs to be a quick and eager learner. Do you know how to learn? Are you open to be taught?
What benefit will you get out of understanding the technical issues:
- A better understanding of your scope boundaries. What is a new requirement and what is a clearer definition of an existing requirement? Do you understand if the proposed solution the technical wiz kid has just come up with is small alteration in approach or is it a new solution with it’s own set of problems?
- One of the trouble areas of any project is the accuracy of effort estimations. PMI recommends several techniques that you could use to validate the estimations via experts but I think the PM should be able at least sanity check these. This knowledge should normally be restricted to “rough order of magnitude” type estimations.
- Do you understand the progress that the resources are making? So many tasks ends up with the 90% done status! It is the PM’s responsibility to understand what is holding up a specific task, what is causing delays etc and a technical understanding of these helps you to foresee the next challenge that you are most likely to face. For some reason a lot of functional experts only warn you about problems once it hits them! It is nice to be able to discuss the next step/challenge/risk before it hits the issues list!
- Once these items do hit the issues list they need to be prioritized. This is a step where cause and efffect knowledge always helps you to identify that one roadblock that is holding up several tasks or is the root cause of severla issues.
I am sure that most experienced PMs can add to this basic list of mine. I think the key here is that you must follow the good advice from Ronald Reagan – “trust but validate”. You can do this in one of two ways, technical understanding or a network of subject matter experts (SME). My ideal solution is not either-or but both. Understand what is happening yourself and when in doubt use your network of SMEs. This emphasizes the need for a personal network that is well managed.
Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better be alone than in bad company.
Posted: January 12th, 2009 | Tags: Dealmaking, Negotiation, Project Manager skills | No Comments »
Over on PPMNG Andy Kaufman has started a discussion on How to say “No” (Without saying “No”). This is in line with my current discussion here.
Andy’s suggestion is to rather use the “Yes, but” answer than a solid “No”. In principle I agree with his answer. Always leave the door open for negotiations. However, I do differ with the way the answer is phrased.
An expert negotiator has told me never to use “Yes, but” because an experienced negotiator will cut your sentence short at the “but”. Better way to phrase this is ” If ….<your conditions> then I will be able to do ..<their requirement>…” This allows you to get your position on the table before saying yes to anything. If they cannot accept your condition then you will be interrupted before accepting anything.
Funny how these small changes make a big difference in the outcome.
Posted: January 12th, 2009 | Tags: communication, Project Management, Project Manager skills, Status Reporting | No Comments »
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” — Albert Einstein
How tell can you explain your project’s current status to a key business stakeholder? When you bump into the client’s CEO and he asks about your project, what do you say?
Most PMs can easily quote their current SPI, CPI, Estimated Costs at Completion etc.. but will the CEO of a Retail company really understand what you are trying to say?
A “good” PM needs to have the ability to translate all of these technical terms into business impact that will be understood by everybody. The message to the CEO is not the same that you will give to the CIO or the business unit manager that is affected by the project. Can you distill the key issues/challenges and package them for the specific audience? This skill is not easy to master. I must admit that I have not yet completely mastered this myself. I also tend to take the road well traveled and start speaking technical terms. The reward is mostly that blank look and a very abrupt end to the conversation.
Key to this skills is the homework you need to do in your stakeholder analysis. What are the top issues for the CEO? When you meet her/him, report only on these issues. A lot of us ended up doing a stakeholder analysis and communication plan at the start of the project which led to a well executed formal communication schedule. This however does not cater for these ad-hoc type feedback sessions. The other document that supports this skills is your project issues list. Do you know your top issues and their potential business impact? Are these articulated in business terms or technical terms?
A good place to practise this skill is when you husband/wife asks you – “How are things at work?” Can you really explain it to them? I know this is a bit different but still a good measure of your skill. Similar test to check your negotiation skills is by taking a 4 year old to the toy store! If you survive these challenges you can survive the busines world.
Posted: January 12th, 2009 | Tags: Dealmaking, Negotiation, Project Manager skills | 3 Comments »
A really interesting discussion has started to develop here at Crossderry between Paul Ritchie & Pawel Brodzinski. The main point focuses around do we really say No to our clients?
I have posted my response here.
To summarize my views:
1. The client’s view is important. Be sure that you manage all expectations. Stated and implied.
2. Any Professional Services Project Manager has more than one customer to keep happy. As stated by Paul in one of his follow-up comments.
3. The way to bridge between Customer Satisfaction and Scope Management includes good negotiation skills. Most PMs do not have this skill.
4. The Professional Services Organizational also need to support the PM by allowing her/him to come up with creative solutions to project challenges. Are your PMs empowered to do this?
5. Any Professional Services company must jealously guard it’s portfolio against bad projects. The costs of one bad project will erode the profit of several good projects. This should also include the pipeline of future projects, thus the need for good selection criteria in you Portfolio Management process. Avoidance is cheaper than cure!
Posted: January 7th, 2009 | Tags: Dealmaking, Negotiation, Project Management, Project Manager skills | No Comments »
If you come to a negotiation table saying you have the final truth, that you know nothing but the truth and that is final, you will get nothing. – Harri Holkeri (politician)
In my previous post I mentioned the ability that a project manager should have to say “no” when needed. Now the questions is “When is it needed?” Looking at it from a project management view the answer will always lead to the discussion regarding “Is scope creep a good thing?”. The most important factor here is control over the process! If the scope is managed then growth is not bad.
However, looking at this discussion from a “Customer Focus” or “Future Sales” perspective then the question should lead us down the conversation path of “the customer is always right!” and the “A good salesperson never says No” discussions. We all know that good scope management and customer focus are both critical success factors for value adding projects and in a professional service environment there is always the sales focus as well. How do I balance this?
This is where I believe the art of making a deal comes into play. This is a skill that a “good” project manager has to develop. How do I give my client what they want without putting myself into a worse position. Creative thinking, negotiation tactics and customer focus all need to be combined. I have personally attended a very good “deal making” training course and I must admit that it has made a big difference in the way I negotiate with customers. This becomes even more relevant if you need to act as an engagement manager as well.
The biggest skill here is on the creative thinking side. Can I come up with a proposal that will keep my client happy and also be to my benefit. This is where the “one must win” attitude needs to be changed to a “Win/Win” mindset. This is not a mindset that we are brought up with. It is a paradigm shift that we need to make. Unless we are aware of the limitations that our current paradigm offers we cannot make the shift. Do you know what your “one must win” attitude has cost you?
Posted: October 13th, 2008 | Tags: Project Management, Project Manager skills | 2 Comments »
Continuing from my previous discussion:
“Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.”
- Josh Billings
I think the above quote summarizes it. A “good” project manager will know that responding and reacting are not the same. There needs to be a “thought” process in between. At the same time there should be a caution not to go into an analysis paralysis in coming up with the answer.
If the answer is “No” then the “good” project manager will know how to package this. The old cliche holds true here – “it is not what you say but how you say it” My personal experience is that the ability to convey a “No” answer is something that has to be taught in most cases and takes some time and experience to develop. (refer to discussion here at Crossderry)
Due to the fact that a lot of project managers never develop this ability we end up with a large amount of scope creep and gold plating on projects.
This point will later become more apparent when I get to the point about “making a deal”.
