Author: Kiron Bondale

Save Your Project From These Seven Deadly Risk Management Sins!

Written by Kiron Bondale on March 9, 2016. Posted in Articles. 6 Comments on Save Your Project From These Seven Deadly Risk Management Sins!

One of the more popular articles I’ve written for ProjectTimes.com was my coverage of common, critical negative behaviors committed by project managers. As a sequel to that piece, this month’s article focuses on the PMBOK knowledge areas which I’ve found to be the weakest practiced, project risk management.

Ask almost anyone who has worked on a project whether they believe that risk management is important and you will be unlikely to hear otherwise.

So why do we continue to struggle with implementing risk management practices in an appropriate, value-focused manner?

Ineffective risk descriptions – your team might have identified a high severity risk which requires an immediate response, but if the risk description isn’t meaningful to your stakeholders, it is unlikely to generate the sense of urgency you were hoping for. When in doubt, share the descriptions of your key risks with a trusted peer who is not very familiar with your project and ask them if they perceive the need for a call to action.

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Insufficient divergence or convergence – when identifying risks, you want to cast as wide a net as possible. A key expectation is that you will be able to transform as many critical unknown-unknowns into known-unknowns as possible. Having a broad, diverse set of participants and using techniques such as brain-writing can push past the inertia of just identifying obvious, low hanging risks. However, once it comes time to analyze and respond, focusing needs to occur on the vital few, leaving the remainder on watch-lists for occasional monitoring.

Addiction to mitigation – I’d written previously about the benefits of considering all response strategies, especially when facing a particularly nasty threat. To channel Mr. Miyagi “Best way to avoid punch, no be there”. Trying to convince your sponsor to reduce scope early in the project to avoid a critical risk might not be a conversation you look forward to, but it’s likely going to be a lot more pleasant discussion than the one you’ll have if the risk gets realized.

Failure to refresh – the risk register must be considered a living document for it to provide any value. As your project progresses and changes occur, if you don’t iterate back through the identification, analysis, and response development processes, the efforts spent at the beginning of the project on these is wasted. A longer term outcome of this behavior is that team members and other key stakeholders will be even less likely to commit their efforts to risk management.

Assumptions don’t get analyzed – assumptions are an important input into risk identification. Until an assumption is validated, there is always the likelihood of it being wrong, and if so, this could impact the project. Not only is it important to capture key assumptions made while planning the project but it is a good idea to review them at a regular interval to test their validity so that appropriate responses can be executed. This is another good reason to have a diverse group of stakeholders involved in risk management procedures – the narrower the selection, the greater the likelihood that assumptions won’t get challenged or revisited.

Lessons don’t get learned – the issues which occurred on one project should provide a clear warning to future projects. As part of the preparation for a risk identification session, a review of some key lessons identified on completed projects which bear any similarity to yours might yield some gems to review with the team during the session. Empirical evidence of the realization of some risks on past projects can go a long way towards overcoming biases.

Letting risk owners of the hook – risk management is only marginally useful if it doesn’t result in any change. If you are unable to secure the attention of your risk owners and maintain it through to the successful development and implementation of response strategies, you’ll be as effective as Cassandra – foretelling doom without the ability to convince anyone to act on it. In addition, if your risk owners avoid their responsibilities without follow-up and escalation from yourself, the message you will be reinforcing is that there’s little value in risk management.

We all know that it’s in our best interests to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid or at most moderately indulge in vices. It’s demonstrating discipline, focus, and persistence to put it into practice where most of us fail. This might happen because the returns of following good personal health habits like these don’t get earned immediately. The same can be said of project risk management – benefits realization lags behind the effort invested.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

Should I Become a Contract Project Manager?

Written by Kiron Bondale on February 2, 2016. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Should I Become a Contract Project Manager?

Having worked as a contract Project Manager earlier in my career, and having hired contract Project Managers more recently, I wrote an article two years ago comparing the pros and cons of using them.

This perspective represents only one side of the coin, and with the increasing number of Project Managers I’ve met who have expressed interest in pursuing this type of work, I felt it might be beneficial to cover this topic from the other side. It should be noted that my focus is not on those Project Managers who have taken on contract work temporarily as a stopgap until they are able to land a suitable full-time role.

It might seem surprising to you, but financial benefits are not a factor I will focus on – it is well understood that contract rates will usually be higher than full-time salary rates, but it is might be more useful to calculate net annual income and monthly cash flow.

When one factors in outflows such as health or dental insurance, financial impacts of downtime between projects, self-funded personal development such as courses or conferences, operational costs such as accounting or legal fees and the impacts to liquidity of net 30 or net 60 day payment terms, financial merits alone might be insufficient to clinch the decision.

Other non-financial benefits of contract work include:

The freedom to decide what type of projects you will accept
The ability to take longer time off or to spend more time on your personal development
The opportunity to get much greater depth and breadth of experience than might be possible in full-time roles
The chance to build relationships across many companies

But before you quit your full-time role and jump into the contract market, here are a few questions to ask yourself.

Are you a generalist?

In many parts of the world, it has been a buyer’s market for hiring managers.

Recruiters have the luxury to not only demand project management competence but also to expect that candidates possess specific domain expertise relevant to the needs of a given project. When recruiting full-time project managers, employers are usually going to consider the breadth of experiences which a potential candidate can bring to their organization as they are (or should be!) considering the long term. In contract situations which are more transactional and time-bounded, depth is often given greater weight.

Even if you have worked in many different industries and on many different types of projects, don’t despair! You might still have gained sufficient specialized project management experience which could be a differentiator. For example, if you have frequently taken over troubled projects from other Project Managers and have been able to complete them successfully, you could find your contractual calling as a recovery specialist.

How effective are you at networking?

Relationship building is critical for Project Managers regardless of whether they are working full-time or on contract. However, if you are not effective at cultivating your network, especially at times when you DON’T need something from your connections, it can become very challenging to find new gigs, especially when the supply of talent significantly exceeds demand.

It is almost impossible to get into the heads of a recruiter or worse, automated application processing system in order to craft a resume which guarantees being at the top of the candidate pile, so your best bet is to leverage the support of someone in your network to do a warm introduction for you. But if you haven’t taken the time to stay in touch with your contacts, helping them as often as you require their help, it will come across self-serving to solicit their assistance.

This can be challenging for many project managers. Some may simply not have the interest or ability to maintain a broad network. For others, if they have been managing a long-running project, it can become onerous to invest regularly in such business development activities.

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How resilient are you?

NO job is a sure thing.

Even long-tenured employees are just a few days’ notice from having to find alternate employment. Having said that, contract Project Managers need to possess the intestinal fortitude to stomach a greater volume of vicissitudes than their full-time peers. Shifts in business priority cause projects to be delayed or to be put on hold and organizational restructuring can result in shifts from contingent to internal workforces.

Even if none of these occur, projects come to an end, and if you haven’t been fortunate enough to line up a new gig to coincide with the end of the previous one, you could be looking at some prolonged downtime. Yes, this might be a good opportunity to take that much needed vacation or take a few courses, but that’s all on YOUR dime!

As is often the case in our profession, there is no decision tree which will help you quantitatively determine the expected value of working as a contract project manager, but with the questions I’ve provided above, hopefully, you will be better equipped to make a balanced decision.

Crossing the Domain Expertise Chasm

Written by Kiron Bondale on January 5, 2016. Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on Crossing the Domain Expertise Chasm

In my last article, I provided some tips on how someone who is interested in entering the project management profession, but lacks specific experience, might improve their odds of landing a role. This month, I’ll try to answer the related question which is frequently asked in online discussion groups: “How do I get a project management role in a different domain or industry?”.

This question always manages to stir up a lively debate!

First we have those project management purists who believe that subject matter notwithstanding, a project is a project. The same hard and soft competencies which are required to successfully manage a project in one domain apply when managing a project in another. This group will bring up tales of uber-project managers who crossed multiple industries, successfully managing projects across all.

In the other corner, we have those who believe that in spite of how successful a project manager has been in one domain, their effectiveness decreases when they have to manage a project in a different one. This side will recall the horror stories of project managers they had worked with who tried to apply their expertise in one domain to another, only to abjectly fail.

So which is the correct view?

IT DOESN’T MATTER.

It really depends on a few factors including economic conditions and your own situation.

If you happen to be transitioning domains within your own company, you have a track record of successful delivery in your existing role, and you have an established network of champions within your current department as well as the one you wish to enter, the lack of experience in the new domain could be successfully positioned as an area for short-term development rather than a showstopper.

Similarly, if you have the good fortune to work in a geographic location where the demand for competent, experienced project managers exceeds the supply of such talent, you could be offered a role in spite of your lack of specific domain expertise.

Unfortunately, neither of these situations might apply to your case.

Few companies are large or broad enough to provide the lateral, domain-switching opportunities which a project manager may wish to pursue. In addition, the explosive growth of the project management profession over the past two decades has resulted in a surplus of qualified talent in many parts of the world. Yes, there are some regions where demand still exceeds supply, but the number of qualified project managers willing to relocate significant distances remains low, and the economic or political conditions within some of those regions might not make them suitable for many professionals.

In some respects, this is similar to the debate as to whether or not one should attain a project management credential. While there is no doubt that one can be a successful project manager without getting certified if human resources staff or recruiting agencies within your region are using the lack of a certification as a low-effort means to weed out candidates, the argument is moot if you have no other means of getting past these gatekeepers.

So what can you do?

First, make sure you really want to go through with this. Have you really exhausted the opportunities within your own domain? Is this more than just a “grass is greener” desire? Seek out an experienced project manager who can help you learn the good, the bad and the ugly of the new domain.

We all know that the majority of vacant positions are not advertised. Lacking the domain expertise which would elevate your visibility with recruiters, the next best thing is to have some influential advocates who can put in a good word for you when an opportunity arises. This is easier said than done, but here are a few ways to do it:

Make sure everyone in your network is aware that you want to go through with this transition
Join a community of practice or special interest groups for the new domain and actively participate in their events
Attend a conference or take a course

Knowledge is no substitute for experience, but you need to be able to talk the talk if you are lucky enough to be granted an interview.

Specific things to learn include:

Common sources of risk and risk events
Good practices specific to the industry
Rules of thumb such as parametric estimation models

Leverage peers in your network to learn which of your skills will be most transferable. If you get invited to an interview you are likely to be asked how you will overcome your lack of domain expertise, so be prepared with scenarios from your past experience which are applicable to the new role.

Geoffrey Moore’s 1991 book, Crossing the Chasm, addressed the challenge faced by companies who wish to sell disruptive innovations to a mainstream audience. His quote should resonate for all project managers wishing to cross the domain expertise chasm: “The number-one corporate objective, when crossing the chasm, is to secure a distribution channel into the mainstream market, one with which the pragmatist customer will be comfortable.”

So You’d Like to be a Project Manager

Written by Kiron Bondale on December 16, 2015. Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on So You’d Like to be a Project Manager

In one of my recent articles, I’d listed some characteristics which might dissuade someone from joining the project management profession.

These included low change resilience, a preference for working with tools rather than people and an inability to multitask. But let’s say that you don’t possess any of these traits and you are passionate about becoming a project manager.

Where should you start and what is the path of least resistance to landing your first role?

PMI recently modified their Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) process to reflect the reality of managing today’s projects by requiring certified professionals to earn a minimum number of Professional Development Units (PDUs) across three areas which PMI terms the Talent Triangle™. These areas are:

Strategic & Business Management
Technical
Leadership

As the profession evolves, there’s a need to stay current on one’s technical project management skills (e.g. scheduling, risk management, agile practices) and soft skills development is lifelong learning, but it is also important to possess sufficient business acumen related to the industry in which you are interested in managing projects.

This is not to say that a competent project manager can’t move from one domain to another. Another article I’d written provided means of crossing that chasm.

Evaluating your goal to become a project manager against the Talent Triangle gives you the ability to assess your knowledge and experience against each area to find out where further development may be required.

But what else can you do? There’s no foolproof approach but here are some suggestions which might help you achieve your dream.

Join the club

It really doesn’t matter which project management association you join – whether that is PMI, APM or AIPM really boils down to their ability to help you achieve your goals.
A worthwhile association will provide you with three benefits:

Opportunities to increase your knowledge through in-person development events, an online knowledge base, and print or online publications.
Opportunities to expand your network both in terms of meeting contacts who might help you land your first project management role but also those who might be willing to act as a coach or mentor.
The chance to volunteer which will not only broaden your network but also gives you a great opportunity to showcase your project management skills to other members and to add to your experiential portfolio.

Ideally, you can join an association which has a local presence so that you can participate and contribute in person rather than virtually. While a network of virtual contacts can certainly add value unless you are willing to relocate to land your first project management role, local contacts will be the most helpful.

Read the key publications of the association cover-to-cover each month. Not only will this broaden your knowledge of the profession with relatively low effort but it will also provide you with a range of topics to discuss with your peers at local networking events.

Get trained

If you have never taken a foundational project management course, it’s worth investing in one to not only learn and practice tools and techniques which you might not have previously been exposed to but also to continue to broaden your network.

I would not recommend attempting to attain a project management certification until you have gained sufficient experience to demonstrate that you aren’t just paper-certified. While the lack of a certification could eventually prevent you from landing certain project management roles, those are not likely to be the ones you will be pursuing for your first project manager role.

Play to your strengths

When crafting your resume and cover letter, your lack of specific project management experience is something that you can’t hide, but you shouldn’t emphasize this.
Focus on the experience you’ve gained in previous roles which can showcase your fit for the role – whether that is domain expertise, influencing, negotiation, conflict resolution, or event planning, all should be considered and highlighted. If you are stumped, reach out to a trusted member of your network to help – they might find those hidden nuggets in your past experience which you are ignoring.

Fish where the fish are biting

You might know that you can easily manage a large project. But if you aren’t getting the response you’d expect to job applications, consider pursuing a full-time or contract opportunity as a project coordinator/administrator/control officer.

Be strategic about this – look for these types of roles on large, complex projects in organizations which have made a visible commitment to project management. By doing so, not only will you gain valuable experience, but you will be supporting a seasoned, senior project manager who might give you opportunities to “steer the ship” and may also help coach you.

“Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.” – Dennis Waitley

Project Management is All About Trust

Written by Kiron Bondale on November 3, 2015. Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on Project Management is All About Trust

I’ve written previously that a key benefit of project management is predictability. Without the benefit of project management, the range of possible outcomes is likely to be quite large and most sponsors would have insufficient confidence to invest in even moderately complex projects.

Communication is frequently cited as being the activity which consumes most of a Project Manager’s time and poor communication has been identified as a key contributor to project failure.

While project success is predicated on effective communication, the must-have requirement for achieving predictable project outcomes is trust. This comes as no surprise when we consider that projects require the cooperation and willing participation from multiple people to achieve success, and trust is crucial to developing positive, productive working relationships with these stakeholders.

What happens when there are low levels of trust on a project?

Morale issues are just the tip of the iceberg. The main impacts of low trust are the waste and opportunity costs resulting from non-value add activities such as:

Excessive follow-up and verification of status updates and other routine information provided by team members and other stakeholders
Procrastination when making decisions until all underlying assumptions and rationale have been validated
Increased scrutiny or micromanagement of the Project Manager by their sponsor or of team members by the Project Manager
Increases in the level of detail or expected frequency of status updates
Finger-pointing or other forms of assignment of blame instead of alignment towards resolving the root causes for issues
Inefficient meetings resulting from participants inviting others to bolster or protect their interests

These behaviors further reduce trust and the vicious cycle continues.

On the other hand, when there are high levels of trust between key stakeholders, there is greater willingness to accept recommendations and updates at face value, risks and issues are managed quicker and more effectively, and micromanagement gets replaced with management by exception.

So what helps to cultivate trust, especially in those situations where team members or other key stakeholders haven’t worked together previously?

Trust usually begins with competence or familiarity.

When a sponsor wants to hire a Project Manager who has significant domain expertise or when a Project Manager requests team members who have worked on multiple similar projects in the past, they are trying to bootstrap those relationships with a high degree of trust. With more junior team members, there is a greater likelihood of close monitoring and follow-up. Once expertise is demonstrated and proven on the current project, trust grows.

However, when those that we perceive as being highly competent let us down, the sense of betrayal resulting from expectation gaps is significant and it will take them that much longer for them to regain our trust.

This is why vulnerability is so important.

Being open about one’s weaknesses in front of others is one of the best ways to gain trust and secure support. Most people want to be perceived as being helpful and vulnerability on the part of someone they work closely with provides them with the opportunity to highlight their strengths and to provide assistance. In the same way as proven expertise increases trust, honest expressions of vulnerability cultivates confidence in the observer that there will be similar openness in the future.

Vulnerability has to be authentic. We have limited tolerance for false modesty or for excessive self-critique and such behaviors will quickly be perceived as self-serving or duplicitous.
The close cousin of vulnerability is transparency.

Taking the time to understand the information needs of your key stakeholders and then meeting those needs in a reliable manner in spite of how good or bad things are going earns trust. Working with the sponsor and key stakeholders early in the life of a project to define criteria for escalation and communication can help to ensure that when a problem or action is needing their engagement arises, it is presented in a consistent, objective manner.

Transparency with team members is equally critical – if a recommendation they have developed is not accepted or if a decision is made which isn’t in the organization or their best interests, help them understand why.

The final elements in establishing trust are warmth and empathy.

Recognizing other’s efforts, showing an interest in their lives and aspirations, or providing support when they require assistance will all help gain their trust. Listen actively and focus on them – the more you demonstrate through your actions that you are paying attention to what they are saying, the more appreciated they will feel. Giving stakeholders the benefit of the doubt unless they’ve given you reason to judge them otherwise also helps to generate trust reciprocity.

Henry L. Stimson – “The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way you can make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him.”