Chuck’s Snippets 3.0; page 4 of 6

Chuck Millhollan,

Northeast Florida PMI Regional Seminar

St. Augustine, FL

November 1 – 2, 2007

Friends,

Welcome to “Chuck’s Snippets 3.0!” I have included highlights of the workshops I attended during the Northeast Florida PMI Regional Seminar in St. Augustine, Florida on November 1st and 2nd. The main topic was “Change, It Happens.”

If you are interested in discussing any of the specific topics and/or speakers in more detail, please feel free to contact me.

Past Snippets:

Version 1.0: Project World; Orlando, FL; November 2006

Version 2.0: Regional Project World; Boston, MA; June 2007

Normal disclaimers:

  1. While the presentations were terrific, I believe the primary benefit was the exposure to several hundred project management professionals that have a vast amount of collective experience to share. A majority of the sessions were designed to solicit feedback/contribution from the audience.
  2. While I believe all of the content of the attached summary is extremely valuable, I do not fully accept each premise or believe that all of the concepts would fully apply in every corporate environment. However, these basic principles of effective management, leadership, and project management are definitely worthwhile contributions to our professional development.

By the way, if you do not want me to send you these summaries, let me know and I will remove you from the distribution list.

Speaker: Jack S. Duggal, MBA, PMP; Managing Principle of Projectized Group, LLC

Topic: What Do We Need To Do To Make Project Management Indispensable?

  1. What would your CEO or other senior level executives say if asked, “What makes your organization successful?” Would they say project management? If not, why? The reason…most executives view project management as a tactical role.
  2. One of the primary factors influencing how senior executives view project management is the tactical focus of project management, or the focus on “doing projects right.” This is a day-to-day, operational view. The question project management must address, through project selection, approval, maintenance, etc…is “Are we doing the right projects?”
  3. Project managers must understand their profession’s impact on business value, ROI, expected benefits, etc…
  4. Instead of focusing specifically, or solely, on time, cost, scope, etc…project managers should focus on ensuring that the project is going to deliver the business value intended.
  5. Speaker recommended book: What your CEO wants you to know: How your company really works, by Ram Charan.
  6. When addressing projects, even at a tactical level, project managers should address questions in the following –specific– order:
  7. Why – is this project being completed, in terms of benefits, alignment, goals, etc…?
  8. What – will the project deliver?
  9. How – will the project be completed?
  10. When – is the project going to be conducted or when is it due?
  11. Who – will be sponsoring, leading, participating as team members, etc…?
  12. Project managers should not be consumed by the what is being delivered at the expense of knowing why they are working on the project. WITGBRWADTP (What is the great big reason we are doing this project).
  13. Get into the habit of “sleeping with the stakeholders and/or users.” Similar to the “walk-a-mile in their shoes” concept. What needs are you meeting with the project?
  14. Do not be afraid to practice “Intelligent Disobedience.” Tell the emperor if they have no clothes!
  15. Relationship management (with stakeholders, sponsors, users, project team members, functional managers, etc…) is more important that tactical project management.
  16. Outputs are tactical – do the project right, but outcomes are strategic – do the right project.

Speaker: Cythia Stackpole, PMP, MBA; PMI, Project Manager for the PMBOK, 4th Edition

Topic: Change Management: A Multidimensional Approach

  1. PMBOK, 4th Edition related notes:
  2. The new standards will include a focus on requirements discovery to supplement scope management.
  3. We are narrowing procurement management into fewer processes. The primary influencing factor was feedback from practitioners that few people actually performed each process as a separate step…or at all.
  4. One of the primary barriers to integration between PPM (Project Portfolio Management), PMM (Project Management Methodology), program management and project management is that there is conflict between and dual definitions for many terms. The new PMBOK will provide a “Self Consistent, Adjudicated Terms Definition” section. It took me a while to comprehend this…I am from Kentucky! In short, we are standardizing terms.
  5. Strategic/organizational change
  6. People (direct reports, project teams, stakeholders, etc…) want to hear about change from two primary resources:
  7. The organization’s senior leadership (CEO, President, CTO, etc…). They want (“need” would be more accurate) to understand why they are changing and how that change aligns with the organization’s vision and strategy. This helps foster the buy-in to the change, while demonstrating executive commitment to that change.
  8. Their immediate supervisor. Associates want to know how the change will impact them specifically. Will their be new teams formed, will they be moving offices/cubes, do they have new work processes, are there new expectations, how will they be evaluated, etc…

Speaker: Michael O’Brochta, PMP; President, Zozer, Inc.; Past senior project manager at the Central Intelligence Agency

Topic: Getting Executives to Act for Project Success

  1. Mike regularly provides consulting services for senior leaders in Fortune 500 companies, and the focus of his work with these leaders is on understanding the value proposition for project management and PMOs.
  2. His coaching with senior leadership highlights the following facts:
  3. Effective project management is dependent on executives that have the authority to allocate organizational resources and visibly support the PMO.
  4. There is a communication gap between executives and project managers. It is unreasonable for executives to be expected to learn PM lingo, so it makes much more sense to ensure that project managers understand the business and how to communicate with their business partners.
  5. Organizations have varying degrees of ability to accept and/or absorb change. Projects frequently result in change, so approving projects that result in “change” more quickly than the organization can adapt will produce counterproductive results.
  6. Organizations have varying degrees of maturity. Understanding where your organization is on a maturity scale (such as CMM) is foundational to developing effective processes.
  7. Executives have varying degrees of PM knowledge, but almost universally accept that project management is an effective way to “get things done.” The lesson is that project managers must learn to speak in business terms and not expect their leaders to understand the details behind project management’s value proposition.
  8. From Mike’s perspective, leaders should ask the following question of their project managers:
  9. What can I do to help?
  10. What are the requirements?
  11. What is the plan?
  12. What is the status compared to the plan?
  13. What are the top risk areas and the mitigation strategy?
  14. What do the stakeholders and customers think?
  15. What do you think and/or recommend?
  16. As evidenced by the previous questions, the idea is servant leadership. While this is targeted to senior sponsors working with project managers, I believe this concept applies directly to program and project managers working within their project teams. A project manager should be viewed as a facilitator and resource for resolving potential barriers, not just the person pushing deadlines. In short, each step up the corporate ladder is actually working for those that report to them, not vice versa. A “Leader’s” role is to provide direction, ensure their team has the necessary tools and resources, remove barriers, etc…
  17. Keep in mind that executives do not always understand project management terminology. The key to effective communication is ensuring that the intended audience receives the intended message. Use their language!
  18. DON’Ts for communicating with executives (and at times, project teams):
  19. Use project management or technical language that they do not use on a daily basis.
  20. Oversell your capabilities and/or the team’s progress.
  21. Neglect to fully communicate the impact of change and/or undocumented expectations.
  22. DOs for communicating with executives
  23. Put your content in the context of value to the organization.
  24. Use business language, or language they are familiar with.
  25. Link your project to corporate strategy and/or goals.
  26. Always have evidence to support your case (even if that evidence must be analogous).
  27. Executives want their PMs to use their power (informational power, expert power, positional power, etc…) to take charge of their projects. One of the most common comments that Mike receives from the senior executives is that PMs do not exercise their full power frequently enough.
  28. Project managers that care passionately about the success of their companies are not only more effective, but also tend to incite similar behavior with their peers and project teams.

Speaker: Gary R. Heerkins, MBA, PMP, CBM, PE

Topic: Make It Your Business To Be Business Savvy…You Will Become Indispensable

  1. There is an increasing expectation that project managers are also business savvy in their chosen industry.
  2. While project managers are not always involved in the project request and approval processes, effective PMs must focus on more than just meeting time, cost, quality and scope constraints. The next generation of PMs will understand how to optimize business results, optimize return on the project, and optimize the business benefit.
  3. Project managers all too often focus on the “process” and their “tools” to get things done. Remember, our job is to produce business results, not use tools.
  4. Potential measures of success with a business focus vice a project focus:
  5. Maximize the project’s ROI.
  6. Manage strategic alignment.
  7. Satisfy the “true” need or “root cause.”
  8. Make customers want to come back to the PMO.
  9. The most effective PMs study and communicate the benefit stream associated with their projects to create a bridge between project management and functional management/operations.
  10. Develop a deep understanding of your business users and/or clients. Ultimately, they are the person that will determine success.
  11. Speak up if there’s not a link between your project and the organizational strategy.
  12. Avoid arbitrary constraints and/or controls at the expense of sound business decisions.

Speaker: Mark Wiskup; President, Mark Wiskup Communications, Inc

Topic: Stop Talking, Start Communicating

  1. You are only communicating with others when you are listening and connecting with your words.
  2. The following are Mark’s “Connection Tips:”
  3. CT 1: Plan what you are trying to accomplish with your communication. In PM terms, have an agenda. Speaking without goals is not communicating, it is just talking.
  4. CT 2: Your agenda should focus on changing the status quo. Effective communication should have a result. What are you trying to change?
  5. CT 3: Paint a picture of success (or failure) with your words. Help your audience understand why you want the intended results or the consequences of not deciding on, or allowing, the status quo to change.
  6. CT 4: Use stories of past success. The audience does not always understand everything you know. Why is your recommendation a good idea? What is your evidence?
  7. CT 5: Have an elevator pitch (about 5 – 7 sentences) that explains what you are doing for your customers in layman terms. Let your audience know what value you bring to the team…in their terms, not project management “speak.” If possible, describe a project you are involved with and how the customer/users will benefit from the outcome(s).
  8. CT 6: Get to the headline quickly. Explain what is needed early in a presentation and or meeting. This helps the audience absorb the information effectively.
  9. CT 7: Praise and/or criticize with specific stories. Reinforce positive behavior and communicate clear expectations.
  10. CT 8: Always accept a compliment. Do not downplay your contribution; it puts the person that complimented you on the defensive to justify why they think you did well.
  11. CT 9: Avoid vague qualifiers (such as somewhat, for the most part, as far as I know, pretty much, etc…). These dilute your meaning and can make you look like you simply do not know an answer. Instead, use Yes, No, or I Don’t Know and provide an explanation as to why.