The Hard-Nosed Project Manager

Over deliver

I was reflecting this morning on the “under promise but over deliver” maxim which I believe is attributed to Jack Welch.  What prompted this reflection is a podcast that was discussing the expectations of a pharmacist’s clients; really not project management related.

In my line of work, like many lines of work, we can’t “under deliver” as testing will catch up to us.  If you “under promise”, you simply won’t get the job.  Economics mean that line managers don’t want us to over deliver and again, testing would not allow that either.

I wonder, and I’d like for you to chime in, if it would not be good to over deliver not on scope but on project management and especially on communications.   It may cost a little bit more and not be reimbursable but I believe it would create significant goodwill and give an incentive for repeat business.  Works for me…

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

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The 7 Deadliest Communications Sins of a Project Manager webinar

Today I listened to the PMI Leadership in PM CoP webinar called The 7 Deadliest Communications Sins of a Project Manager.  The speaker is a “certified” practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and hypnotherapy.  That kind of psycho babble and wooo turns me off like you would not believe.  If a leader need to game or trick people, he should move on to something else. 

I’m sure that I am susceptible to suggestion.  Everyone is to some extent and I’m not going to delude myself by thinking otherwise.  That being said, his little NLP examples did not work from me.

Some of his “sins”; for example procrastination, multi-tasking causing inattention, etc.  have nothing to do with communication.  They do have to do with leadership but not communication.

I will not claim the PDU.

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

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Learning, Education, and Development CoP webinar; 3/2 at 12h00 Eastern - Emotional Intelligence in Project Management

There will be a Learning, Education, and Development CoP webinar titled "Emotional Intelligence in Project Management" on 3/2 at 12h00 Eastern.  Those who can’t attend should look for my comments after the webinar.

Leadership in PM CoP webinar; 2/27 at 14h00 Eastern - The 7 Deadliest Communications Sins of a Project Manager

There will be a Leadership in PM CoP webinar titled "The 7 Deadliest Communications Sins of a Project Manager" on 2/27 at 14h00 Eastern.  I'll try to attend and, if not, listen to the recording.  Those who can’t attend should look for my comments after the webinar.

Communication is everything

It is said that project management is mostly a people/communication thing.  Yet most communications are handled badly, especially communications about exceptional events or situations.  When things go wrong or off the beaten path you have to make sure that you message is understood.

Let me tell you about an hypothetical (not really) situation.  You are coming back from a business trip and your flight from Raleigh, NC to Montreal, Canada makes you transit through Newark, NJ.  You notice when you check-in that the flight number is the same for both legs of the trip, let’s say CO 5153, and you are given only one boarding pass.  You’ve seen this before a few times, it means the same plane will go to Montreal after Newark passengers deplane.

You get to Newark were the friendly flight crew thanks you for flying with them and announce that this is the end of the flight.  You’re puzzled and ask an attendant.  She looks a bit confused but tells you have to deplane too.  More puzzlement on you part because, in the past, you stayed on the plane in those situations.  Must be a security thing you think.  You deplane.

As you walk out you turn around and see that the gate announces a Montreal flight 2 hours from now.   Great, a delay!  You do not check the flight number, it says Montreal, right?  You walk around a bit and see another gate, with your flight number, departing in 5 minutes.  Rats!  You board and get to destination on time.

How many occasions where missed to properly communicate about an atypical situation?  Could this have been handled better?  Do you ever assume that your project stakeholders will , by themselves, understand there is a problem, that it is being handled, that they agree with the way it is being handled, and that they will have a common understanding?  Food for thoughts I think.

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

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Webinars on 9/14-15 (updated)

There will be a Pharma CoP webinar called “Manage Projects using SharePoint and Microsoft Project” today, 9/14 at 12h00 EDT.  Those who can’t attend should look for my comments after the webinars.

There will also be a PMI Agile CoP webinar called “Fixed Price Agile Products” tomorrow, 8/15 at 12h00 EDT.  I'll watch the recording and issue my comments.

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Communicating Change with Seven Questions webinar

I just finished listening to the “Communicating Change with Seven Questions” with Peter de Jager presented by the PMI IS CoP.  I should have let you know in advance but…

I must say it was both entertaining and informative.  It spoke about change but mostly about communications, minimizing push back, and getting people on board with change.  I highly recommend you listen to the recording.

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

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Should You Let Your Employees Work From Home?

I found this on LinkedIn yesterday (8/18/2011) but since I did not comment fast enough the source had to be fond again.  So, thanks to the power of the Internet…

Some parts of the chart are “cute” (a polite way of saying stupid…) and some arguments weak (employee playing World of Warcraft) but it is still interesting and useful.  I’m partial to working in the office because it gets me out of the house and because people have less on a tendency to lie to you face to face.  But that is me.

Most people tell you the truth most of the time and if someone is playing World of Warcraft at home on a business day he should be fired anyway.  I say let people work at home as long as they you give them tools to facilitate communications and to securely exchange data.

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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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.

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.