PMs have become an integral part of businesses delivering on strategies & objectives. Some of the most important things they do but are still not fully understood include:

• increase probability of success for projects
• package work into projects and categorize based on risk and complexity
• help clarify priorities in order to make good decisions related to trade-offs
• develop structure that enables timely and accurate reporting 
• create lessons learned for the next project

PM is one of the most exciting, challenging and most valuable Professions, but still it is often ranked low in terms of job respect, admiration and value? Studies are commonly showing that PM Experience is key to get into senior leadership roles and also critical if you have entrepreneurial desires (want to start your own business). 

Often, everyone wants a confident, experienced, good PM........... until they get one (then they want to return them, lol).

Today I presented at the Saskatoon Chapter of the Project Management Institute (great organization promoting PM as a Profession, check out their website:  pminorthsask presentations ).  The presentation had many questions and comments at the end, we did not even have enough time to address them all.  So this is a bit of a hot topic.

For a copy of the presentation, email me and I'd be very happy to share
jason.tratch@galexgroup.com


Perception of PM often includes:

• Meetings
• Paperwork
• Reports/documents
• Lots of acronyms
• Coordinating people
• Taking minutes
• Administration

• it is easy, I do it all the time in personal life (e.g. trips, weddings, building something, etc.)
• I need to get the work done so just give me the checklist of tools and I'll do it
• we don’t really have PMs in our office since we dont really focus on large projects

 As discussed at the PMI presentation, these perceptions are not correct and need to be met head on by the PMs that are out there and are ambassadors of the profession.

• More efficient (documentation, processes, collaboration, centralized data/reporting, avoid duplication, consistency)
• Prioritization of resources
• Project alignment to business strategy
• Identify and react to issues faster
• Risk management and change control
• Break-down complexities
• Confidence
• Management and Security of IP
• On time, on budget results
• Formal start and end
• Estimating
• Monitoring and tracking of KPIs
• Adapt within a dynamic changing market
• Better decision making
• Clarity on role, responsibility, accountability and ownership
• Higher probability of success (betting)

• Don’t look at a quick solution, evolve the organization
• Track and optimize the organization following a management maturity index 
• Have a staged plan for the long term and align with the picture.  Jump “low hanging fruit
• The culture must change along with the systems and there is no silver bullet
• Ensure you identify the PM title as a formal, professional role, backed by the organization
• Follow a methodology (leverage ones that already exist and are global leaders, e.g. www.pmi.org)

Below is an example of a project plan review, but funny since it happens far too often. Try to involve professional PMs as early as possible and get the complete plan (don't find out you are missing things when you are half way through the plan)

 

Humans love to give advice - stating what should be done.

In early stages of a project, a strong PM & Sponsor are leaders - they are steering the ship because they are the most informed people of the project.

They need to be very open to asking for opinions, but be careful when they ask for advice. This type of approach can also be leveraged for any type of business.

Often Advisory boards are set up early in the project and the people give strong advice as what should be done.  People love to jump into the "How we should get it done".

We forget to still ask the Why, and focus then on the Who leads, and then clarify the What at high level.  Then break off into smaller groups to figure out the What in more detail. Then we can start to figure out the how (based on the items above and based on the type of resources and priorities set).

Asking people for "Opinions" vs "Advice" is a a key skill of a PM.  Then take the opinions under consideration to achieve the best decisions.  Great PMs have a high number of advisors that they can go to and thus get multiple "opinions" based on multiple perspectives.  A project at it's early stages has tremendous complexity, uncertainty and interfaces.  Thus for people to give advice (telling what to do) they are only basing it on the limited amount of information that they know (and often they will assume that they know more about the project then there is). So  be careful with that.

Tip is to ensure you have strong governance as to who you go to for advice and opinions. If you can, have it documented in a Org chart that has lines of communication and why the lines exist. Often in a project advice/opinions come from multiple types of committees, but a good PM should also try to include individuals from specialized areas. Ensure there is a process to leverage peoples formal and informal opinions and get them documented and communicated.

Reminder, try to also ensure they understand that there is a lot they do not know about the project so if they get frustrated that their advice was not followed, is often due to other things that they were not aware of.

Early on in the project, remember to focus on aspects such as:
- project strategy and justification (value)
- alignment with the business
- organizational complexity and maturity
- project complexity
- org design
- complexity of the roles and responsibility
- project methodology to be followed
- expectations of stakeholders
- stage of the project that you are in

As you can imagine, the aspects above can greatly influence a persons advice, so help all your advisors understand this and keep this in mind for you (the PM) and the Sponsor as you incorporate peoples advice and opinions into your plan (vs jumping to follow their advice).

Focus on governance which will help to establish, who you go to for what, and ensure that those people you go to for advice/opinions have enough background on the project.

Listed below is a good link that talks more about governance and some common pitfalls that can occur:

http://alexandrachapman.hubpages.com/hub/project-governance-failure

1. Initiating – consists of the processes that define a new project or project phase by obtaining formal authorization.
2. Planning – consists of the processes that establish total scope, refine objectives and develop course of action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project was undertaken to address. 
3. Executing – consists of the processes that integrate people and other resources to complete the work defined in the project management plan of the project.
4. Monitoring and Controlling – consists of the processes that track, review and orchestrate the project progress & performance, identify any areas of change to the plan that could be required and initiate the changes.
5. Closing – consists of the processes that conclude all activities and will formally complete the project.  This includes formal acceptance of the product or service to end the project. 

Often we look to software to save us, or to tell us how to do our work.  This is dangerous.  The best definition as to what PM software should do for you is "to better enable processes and improve communication".

Key things improper software roll outs could lead to:
1 - software may not align with culture of how you manage projects and deliver value to your customer
2 - you become dependent on the software to run your business
3 - the software company is not agile and open to change or evolving their application
4 - ongoing licence and user costs are not properly understood and accounted for
5 - software does not integrate with other systems within the company

On the other hand, what software can do for you if properly rolled out includes:
1 - automate processes (saves time, money and resources)
2 - enables more ability to track, monitor, control and improve (data analytics and business intelligence)
3 - improve quality and reliability of what is being communicated
4 - improve collaboration outside your cubicle (geographical constraints are managed)
5 - leads to more mature business management (improves maturity level, strategy, execution, continuous improvement)

As one can see, the lists are considerable for both improper and proper roll outs.  It is critical to plan all software roll outs and ensure proper stakeholder buy in and communication has been accomplished.

Do not fall into the trap of doing nothing or waiting for the perfect software tool and the perfect price. Embrace technology but in a planned organized manner. The "train has already left the station, software is as essential to a company as telephones, pens and paper are."

If not done properly or if not taken advantage of, the consequences are critical to your business and give competitors the edge - especially now that markets are so globally interconnected and some countries are moving much more aggressively in offering better service and value due to their ability to better harness project management softwares.

Some sample links to elaborate on this subject:

Benefits & Risks of PM Software
project-management-software-advantages-disadvantages

Benefits of PM Software
5-advantages-of-project-management-software

Risk of PM Software
Disadvantages-of-Using-Project-Management-Software

Is everyone capable to do all types of work?  Can everyone be an Einstein or a Mozart or a Bill Gates?

Often we grow up telling our children they can be anything and do anything.  But then in adulthood, we soon realize we are not successful in everything. Then often if we cannot succeed we blame ourselves or we receive blame from a Manager - this is SOOOO  wrong.

Always remember, avoid looking at the person as not doing a good job.  Look at the person as being an a bad fit within that specific role, within that specific environment.
This fundamental principle is key to understanding and ensuring that both the manager and direct reports are happy and maximizing synergies, personal satisfaction and productivity.

If there is an HR issue, too often the first thing we want to look at fault is the employee.  THIS is not a best practice.  The best approach is to look (in sequence):

• look at the organizational design structure, 
• then the management systems in place, 
• then the strategies (clarity and alignment), 
• then the Project Manager or Manager (look in the mirror), 
• then can look at the Employee

When looking at the PM/Employee, fully assess the role complexity and time span of the longest tasks required, then compare it to the PM/Employee in terms of how well these parameters fit with the role:

• KSE (knowledge, skills, experience)
• Preference of work (level they want to apply themselves, desire to do the work of that role)
• Inhibitors (are there glaring things that prevent the person from working in that role)
• IPC (information processing capability, what level of complexity can they work at, how well do they perform when work becomes ambiguous, abstract, uncertain, multiple events in random series, etc)

  Simple little reminders:

• often we do not support the concept of hierarchy, yet we all want to be put in a role that we fit with and click with.  We must understand that there are natural hierarchies already established in every working environment. Within mature work environments, the hierarchies are openly communicated and compensation structure and accountability is also much more transparent (we all need to know what our role is and if it is a good fit and then we can all accept accountability to perform what is needed to get done).  This also can enable more self management and self actualization that is aligned between the person and the role.

• often we see leaders as "good" and mangers as "bad".  However, the manager is so critical in order to get things done.  We often seem to live in a world where there are so many great ideas, concepts, ways to improve, everyone often can have opinions.  But where we tend to fall down is when we need to "get things done according to the planned scope, schedule, budget and quality."

A key take-away:  each job a person does, they must take full accountability whether or not they have the capability to do it.  If it is a "stretch goal" then formal support systems must be in place. 

So both Employees and Managers must confidently know what they like to do (preferences) and where their knowledge, skills, experiences (strengths) lie.  Far too often we do not know ourselves and then we put this job in the hands of managers to tell us the answers and to give us career judgements. Once we can be better at communicating this, there is a "win-win" since it will take much risk, stress and anxiety out of work that needs to be planned and executed.

A good article from the New Management Network to go through and ask yourself these types of questions and to help you better know yourself, or to help a PM or Manager get to better know a team member or direct report, is included at the link below:

Management-Assessment

Teams are usually happy when initially formed, however, soon conflict begins to occur. There is a science behind why this happens.

The PM must talk to the team so they understand, use tools and techniques to help get the team through the low periods.  It is just a phase everyone is going to have to get through and have faith that it will pass and you will get to the next stage.

There are 5 main stages a team flows through from when they first meet to when they are leaving the team.

See video below to help explain: