The Hard-Nosed Project Manager

PMO crazy talk

In the past I may have occasionally ranted about PMOs.  I may even have said that I would not rant about PMOs ever again.  If I did say that; I LIED…

A PMO may mean:

• Project Management Office.  Sounds fine.
• Program Management Office.  Still fine; a program is a collection of projects.
• Portfolio Management Office.  OK, I’ll buy that; a portfolio is a collection of projects or programs.

Now, let me just refresh everyone’s memory with the definition (PMBOK) of project:

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

I’m pretty sure that anyone involved in project management regardless of the certification body, framework, or methodology can agree to this definition or something close to it.

As I often do while driving around I was listening to podcasts.  Actually I was catching up on my listening when I heard 2 well know PM talking heads mention OPERATIONS PMO… 

I almost drove off a bridge at the first mention and I yelled at the top of my lungs at the second.  I checked the date on the podcast to see if it was an April Fool's prank.  I replayed both passages to check if I was not hallucinating.  Negative on both counts...

What the hell is wrong with these people?  Operations are continuing endeavors; they are not projects.  You can’t PMO them; stop the crazy talk.  What’s next; PMOs that run PMOs?  Do we really have to call a PMO any structure that holds 2 or more PMs?  Call I call the pub a PMO if I go there with another PM?  Again, stop the crazy talk.  Do it right now and I promise that I will not rant about PMOs ever again.

What do you think?  As always questions and comments are welcome.

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O Group update

Way, way, way back in the early days of this blog (OK, barely a year ago) I wrote a post about O Groups based on my experience as an Artillery Battery Sergeant Major (BSM).  It is now time for an update.

This weekend my brother, who is a Company Sergeant Major (CSM) in an Air Force command, told me that these days O Groups are delivered via email while in garrison.  What does this tell you outside of the fact that being a Sergeant Major runs in my family?

The purpose of the O Group is efficient information dissemination.  They manage through a single, clearly written, one way email O Group to direct the activities of a large organization (300+ persons) for a period of time that can stretch to many days.  Wouldn't you just love to get this efficient?

Think about it a little.  How many meetings does it take in your organization to get 5-10 people organized and executing effectively for a couple of day?  How much time gets consumed running the meeting, the meeting to clarify the meeting, the meeting to get people back on track, etc.?  Don’t forget the time to write the minute and doing the old back and forth with everyone.  Of course you enjoy those meetings, don’t you?

I say have an O Group, kill a meeting…

What do you think?  As always questions and comments are welcome.

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Growing leaders

This past Friday evening I had the pleasure of attending a briefing on the future state of the Artillery given by the RCAA (Royal Canadian Artillery Association) and hosted by my unit.  I’ve been out for more than 20 years but “Once a Gunner, always a Gunner”, so I do attend these as much as I can.  As a bonus we get to trade “war” stories with the other old crusties…

Among many subjects discussed was the state of leadership in the various units of the Royal Canadian Artillery.  I’m happy to say that my old unit is still at the top of the list due to its strength in identifying, training, and mentoring new leaders.  This yields a few observations:

• Organizations that believe in leadership regularly discuss the state of leadership in their organization.
• Leaders do not pop out of the womb fully formed, they are grown.
• Leadership begets leadership.  Those I trained years ago have trained others who trained others, who trained others.  You get the pattern...

A few months ago I ran as series on leadership that discussed how to identify and pick future leaders.  Let’s assume some candidates have been identified, now comes the time to get them to grow into the job and to strengthen the qualities that got them the job in the first place. 

Here are a few tips that served me well in the past:

• Mentor the new leader.  In the army you don’t have a choice as you’re graded on how you bring up the new wave.  In the “real” life those you mentor will fill your shoes allowing you to move to something new.
• Mistakes are part of learning.  Mistakes indicate the need for more training while repeated mistakes may indicate that the new leader was promoted too early.
• Offer advice even when it has not been requested.  Do this softly as the new leader may not have realised yet that he doesn’t know everything.  Hell, do you?
• Help the new leader identify his strengths and weaknesses.  Sometimes this will be a hard pill to swallow but it needs to be done.  As we well know 90% of drivers think that they are above average.
• Help the new leader “read” people, their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.  That’ll help him get the best out of everyone to the benefit of the whole team or organization.  That’ll start him on the path to mentoring others.

I read somewhere that only 10% or so of all leaders in civilian companies have been groomed for their position.  I guess it says a lot and explains a lot.  If the organization you’re in does not believe in training leaders then I guess you’ll have to do it on your own.  You don’t know but maybe 20 odd years from now you’ll meet someone from way back whose professional life you’ve influenced for the better.  I’d call that a great reward.

What do you think?  As always comments are welcome.

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Not really off topic

 The video below is both funny and educative.  Although its primary focus is not project management, I believe many of the subjects discussed can benefit a project manager. 

 

A few that come to mind are:

• Communications between cultures.  Except if you have lived a very sheltered life, you'll have been in contact with other cultures or, even worse, members of a younger generation...  Seeing this from a different point of view or just acknowledging that they exist goes a long way.
• The impact of choice.  Have you ever had a project unravel because too many choices or path were available?  I know I've had clients that mandated that "all possible avenues" be investigated and multiple options be included in proposals.

After you've listened to the video you can let me know that I'm all wrong and that not everything can or must be related back to project management.  I know, I have a tendency to oversimplify things...

What do you think?  As always comments are welcome.

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We're all equal; it's just that some are more equal than others…

Do not count votes; weigh them...

- Anonymous

So true, isn’t it?  Although we live in an era of management and project management by consensus, the reality is that some stakeholder votes carry more weight than others.  Examples are regulatory agencies or the PM’s best friend/enemy the Sponsor.  Something to remember and to use to your advantage...

What do you think?  As always questions and comments are welcome.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.  I am a LinkedIn Open Networker (LION); you can use “Friend” to add me to your network, please mention the blog in your request.