Pick a Non-Profit and Watch Yourself Grow

As a PMP and project manager, I see volunteerism as the perfect win-win. You get to stretch your wings and grow in a low-risk environment, gain experience that is relevant in the private sector, network and meet new people, and give back to a cause that you care about.

The non-profit organization you’re helping gets your time, expertise and passion for contributing. You get to show the time-tested project management techniques that can have a lasting impact on the organization. From establishing project agreements at the beginning of a project to capturing lessons learned at the end, basic project management approaches can make a big difference to any organization.

For you, it’s an accessible and inexpensive way to grow personally and professionally. For the non-profit, it’s a way to make the organization more efficient and effective without paying a consultant.

So, let’s get started. Here are ten steps to follow as you volunteer, grow your career and help an organization benefit from project management. 

1. Choose an organization that connects to your personal passions or interests. Are you a political junkie who gets energized by the campaigns or a home improvement nut who loves to do one project after another? If politics is your passion, campaigns at the local and national level are always looking for volunteers. Home improvement zealots and those handy with a hammer can get involved with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Whatever organization you choose, make sure it’s something that energizes you and fulfills you in a way that money doesn’t. Think of this as a virtual paycheck that your soul cashes. 
2. Match your skills to their needs. Do your homework before you volunteer. Call the organization you’re interested in and find out what kinds of needs it has. If a web master recently left, and you’re an Internet hobbyist or professional, you could use your skills to have a real impact on the web presence. 
3. Present yourself professionally. Don’t go into a non-profit and act like they should be lucky to have you. Instead, treat it like a job interview and prepare yourself beforehand. Know what your goals are that you want to achieve working with them, and position yourself to fulfill those goals for them. 
4. Use your volunteerism as a resume builder. Is there a hole in your resume that has held you back? Maybe your boss thinks your leadership skills need some work, or maybe you have a weakness when it comes to managing budgets? Whatever your soft spot is, use your volunteerism to strengthen it and gain more experience. Also, use your volunteerism as a talking point in an interview. What you choose to do in your personal time says a lot about you to a prospective employer. 
5. Create new relationships that expand your network. Don’t you just love it when people tell you to get out there and network? They make it sound like there’s a special park you can go to and just walk out there and network. Simple, right? In my experience as a business owner, networking comes from building relationships. It doesn’t happen by just walking into a room and making a dive for the coffee bar. It happens when people know you, trust you and get a sense of who you are — which is exactly what can happen in a non-profit where you are volunteering with other people who share a similar interest. 
6. Spread your wings in a safe environment. Do you have a secret penchant for marketing but are afraid to explore it at work because you’ve never done it before? In our jobs, it’s easy to get cast in a department for life, but as a volunteer, you can become the star marketer and write the monthly newsletter or a feature article on the newest member of the Board of Directors. If you have a secret dream to cross departments or shift your skill set, a volunteer position is the perfect place to spread your wings and test your dream. 
7. Assess the opportunity for a high-visibility project. Is there a project that is critical to the organization and that will offer exposure to the Board members of the non-profit? If there is, first assess the risk. You don’t want to choose a project that is so high risk that your volunteerism could back fire on you. Instead, look for an opportunity where you can showcase your skills and talent, and let leaders of the organization see you strut your stuff.
8. See where you can have the most impact. After you’ve worked at an organization for a while, you can begin to see their Achilles heel and where you might be able to help the most. For example, maybe you’ll see that they don’t have a consistent way of approaching projects or capturing lessons learned. If you can offer ways for them to incorporate some basic Project Management methodologies, the impact could be felt long after you’ve moved on to your next adventure. 
9. Go to the annual event or fundraiser. If the organization has an annual gala or fundraiser, make sure you make it there. It shows you’re committed to the organization and gives you an opportunity to meet people at all levels of the non-profit. Doing the funky chicken with the Executive Director is something that will be remembered! 
10. Service with a smile. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.” This is an opportunity for you to serve and have fun at the same time. Savor the lessons and bring them along with you wherever your journey takes you.

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Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is the founder of Cheetah Learning, and author of Cheetah Negotiations and Cheetah Project Management. The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, recently selected Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the World, and only one of two women selected from the training and education industry. She is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner President Managers (OPM) program and also holds engineering degrees from Syracuse University and the University of Dayton. Cheetah Learning is a virtual company and has 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To hear more about what Michelle LaBrosse has to say about volunteerism and project management, download the podcast at http://podcast.cheetahlearning.com/podcastgen/

Developing Leaders of Complex Projects

This is the second article in the series describing the unique nature of complex projects and proposing an approach to manage project complexities. The first article described the characteristics of highly complex projects. A new model, the Project Complexity Model, was introduced. The model is used to diagnose the level of complexity of a particular project, or projects, within a program. Once the project complexity profile is determined, project leaders are urged to apply complexity thinking to make managerial decisions about the project.

It is clear that projects sometimes fail because of an inappropriate match of project leadership capability to the level of project complexity. The project manager, business analyst, lead IT architect and developer, and business visionary are four critical project leadership positions. Once the project complexity has been understood, this article makes the case for organizations to use this vital information to make project leadership assignments.

As organizations depend more and more on project outcomes to achieve their strategic goals, they are developing career paths for their project leadership positions, including project managers, business analysts, lead technologists (architects and developers), and business visionaries. Organizations that are undergoing pivotal transitions require leaders who exhibit characteristics and follow a career path that differs in certain respects that of traditional project leaders. Complexity thinking can assist organizations in identifying and developing these leaders.

Traditional Project Leader Career Path

The traditional project leader career path starts with entry-level associates who are
critical, complex projects (see Table 1).

Level	Proficiency	Responsibilities	Competencies
Strategic	Ability to perform strategic tasks with minimal direction	Lead large, highly complex projects	§         Business and IT strategy §         Program and portfolio management §         Systems engineering, BPR, six sigma §         Enterprise architecture §         Business case development
Senior	Ability to perform complex tasks with minimal coaching	Lead moderately complex projects	§         Business and IT domains §         Advanced project management and business analysis §         Systems engineering, BPR, six sigma §         Requirements engineering
Intermediate	Ability to perform simple to moderately complex tasks with minimal assistance	Lead small, independent projects	§         Business or IT domain §         Fundamentals of project management and business analysis §         Quality management §         Facilitation and meeting management §         Basic requirements modeling
Associate	Ability to perform simple tasks with assistance	Support intermediate and senior PM/BAs	§         PM/BA principles §         BPR, six sigma principles §         Business writing

Table 1. Traditional Project Leader Career Path

Emerging Complex Project Leadership Career Progression

The Australian Competency Standard for Complex Project Managers proposes a new four-tiered career path: 

1. Project manager 
2. Traditional senior project manager 
3. Program manager 
4. Complex project manager

While this structure is not yet fully accepted in the project management community, it is certainly food for thought as we consider the competencies needed to manage complex projects successfully. The standard also proposes certification levels for traditional and complex project managers (see Table 2) and describes four competency levels for each action in the workplace (see Table 3).¹

Traditional			Complex
Project Manager	Senior Project Manager	Program Manager	Member	Fellow

Table 2. Complex Project Manager Certification Levels

Traditional				Complex
Actions in Workplace	Project Manager	Senior Project Manager	Program Manager	Member	Fellow
Develops vision statement, values charter, code of conduct, and mission statement	D	D	P	C	L
Maps stakeholder alignment/differences over the project life cycle	D	D	P	C	L

Table 3. Complex Project Manager Competency Model
Key:
D – Development
P – Practitioner
C – Competent
L – Leader

For each action in the workplace, certification levels are defined as follows: 

• Development. The project manager applies the competency under direct supervision. 
• Practitioner. The project manager applies the competency without the need for direct supervision, but within the bounds of standardized processes, procedures, and systems. 
• Competent. The project manager applies the competency without the need for direct supervision, provides direct supervision of the competency for others, and mentors development of the competency in others. 
• Leader. The project manager provides professional leadership in the competency, leads in the design of processes, procedures, and systems, and has the ability to use the competency flexibly and creatively.

Successful Leadership Characteristics for Organizations Undergoing Pivotal Transitions

As we work to identify and develop leaders of complex projects, it is helpful to examine a model for extraordinary organizational leadership presented by Jim Collins. Collins provides us with researched-based information on the characteristics of business leaders whose companies are exceptionally successful during pivotal transition periods; these characteristics are also relevant to project leaders who are successful in leading complex business transformation projects.

Collins describes exceptional leaders as very ambitious but also very humble. Their ambition is first for the organization rather than for themselves, and their goal is to leave the legacy of a successful enterprise. Characteristics of these leaders, which Collins refers to as “Level-5 Leaders,” include a compelling personal humility coupled with an unwavering resolve that he calls professional will.² Collins describes a leader with personal humility as someone who:

• Demonstrates a compelling modesty, virtually shunning public praise 
• Acts with quiet, calm determination 
• Channels ambitions into the company; identifies and mentors successors for even greater success 
• Attributes success to others.

A leader who exhibits professional will: 

• Creates superb results 
• Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever it takes to produce the best long-term results for the enterprise 
• Sets the standard of building an enduring great company 
• Attributes responsibility for poor results to himself.

We submit that leaders of complex projects should strive to become Level-5 Leaders, doing whatever it takes to produce the best long-term results. We have adapted Collins path to Level-5 Leadership to depict the journey to becoming a complex project leader (see Table 4).

Leadership Level	Leadership Characteristics
Level 1	HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL Contributes to project success through individual expertise, talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.
Level 2	CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBER Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of business objectives and works effectively with others.
Level 3	COMPETENT PROJECT LEADER Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of business objectives.
Level 4	EXCEPTIONAL PROJECT LEADER Commits to vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling project vision, stimulating higher performance standards with a track record of project success.
Level 5	COMPLEX PROJECT LEADER Brings about business transformation in pursuit of new business strategies through personal and professional leadership.

Table 4. Complex Project Leader Development Model Adapted from Jim Collins’ Level-5 Leadership Hierarchy

Using Complexity Thinking to Assign Complex Project Leaders

To make the most appropriate project leadership assignments, project complexity must be considered by resource managers. Exhibit 1 maps the generic career levels presented earlier with the project profiles contained in our Project Complexity Model presented in the first article in this series. As depicted, strategic-level leaders are needed to manage not only highly complex projects, but programs (groups of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain greater benefits) and portfolios (collections of projects or programs managed together to achieve strategic goals) as well.

Exhibit 1. Project Leadership Capability Maturity Model

Summary
Organizations are recognizing that complex projects require an exceptional leadership team of experts and are developing career paths for their project leadership positions—project managers, business analysts, lead technologists (architects and developers), and business visionaries accordingly.

Based on the project profile diagnosed using the Project Complexity Capability Maturity Model, organizations undergoing pivotal transitions can apply complexity thinking when considering assignments for complex project leaders. Projects need no longer fail because the key project leadership positions are filled with individuals who are not sufficiently skilled and practiced to make the appropriate managerial decisions about the project, build and sustain a high-performing project team, and adapt to changes as the project unfolds.

Look for the third article in this series in the next issue, describing how the project leadership team uses the Project Complexity Model to select the most appropriate project cycle.

Endnotes
1. Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Defense), College of Complex Project Managers and Defense Materiel Organisation, Competency Standard for Complex Project Managers, 2006. Public Release Version 2.0. Online at https://www.projecttimes.com/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Complex_PM_v2.0.pdf (accessed January 2008), pp. 17, 18.
2. Jim Collins, Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001, p. 20.

Note: Much of the information in this article has been previously published in other forms, including the book published by Management Concepts in 2008 entitled: Managing Project Complexity: A New Model.

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Kathleen Hass, PMP, is the Senior Practice Consultant for Management Concepts, Director at Large, Chapter Governance Committee chair and contributing author of the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge for the International Institute of Business Analysis (www.theiiba.org). Kitty has more than 25 years of experience in project management and business analysis, including project office creation and management, business process re-engineering, organizational development, software development, technology deployment, project management training, mentoring and team building. For more than a quarter of a century, Management Concepts, whose mission is to unleash the potential of people, has provided quality training and performance improvement solutions for the mind at work. For further information, please call 1-703-790-9595 or visit the company website at www.managementconcepts.com.

In the first part of this two-part article, we left off at Gaining Approval for Findings and Solutions. In this, the final installment, we will discuss project execution, control, and formal closeout of the distressed/recovered projects.

Execution and Control Phase

Of the four required phases involved in recovering the distressed project, the Execution and Control phase signals a temporary sigh of relief. Although much more work will be required, it signals that we have properly assessed the issues with the prior project difficulties and our solution has been validated and approved.

Execution Planning

During the Analysis and Assessment Phase a fair amount of execution planning would have been committed to in order to develop sound and approvable solutions. In this phase, we will complete the definitive execution planning for our solution. Over the years, we have seen that most distressed projects lack proper execution planning and where there is a lack of execution planning, there is a lack of execution cognizance and the lack of proper resources for execution and closeout. Elements of a sound project execution plan (or project plan) include the elements-areas listed below and will vary from industry to industry.

Project Management	Design Management	Security Management
Risk Management	Information Management	Controls (Scope, Time, & Cost)
Communications Management	Resource Management	Quality – Testing – Validation
Quality Management	Procurement Management	Implementation – Closeout

With the proper execution elements addressed, planned for, and documented it should be very clear which resources we will need to execute our overall recovery plans.

Roles and Responsibility Determination

With a solid execution plan in place and the team resources identified, alignment sessions are utilized to review all deliverables, major roles, support roles, interdependencies and the required timing for deliverable development. Regardless of the size of the project effort, roles and responsibilities should be clearly documented using a basic RASCI (Responsible, Accountable, Support, Consult, and Inform) tool. For more definitive detail a complete WBS Dictionary may also be utilized.

Schedule and Budget Development

As with execution planning, we would have determined initial schedule and budget implications during the development of our recovery solution. In this phase, we will be developing the definitive master schedule and associated budget baseline (supported by our definitive execution plan). In sizeable project efforts, it is advisable to utilize a dedicated scheduling resource (master scheduler) to develop and administer the project schedule. Many best-in-class organizations have realized that expecting the project manager to develop and maintain a complex network schedule and manage the various constituencies of the project is a tall order, to say the least. Scheduling is a professional discipline and project scheduling on large and complex projects borders on art form. Developing accurate baselines that can be monitored, trended, and controlled is well worth the additional cost of the scheduling resource and in a recovery effort, we can’t afford to miss the target a second time.

Project Control Strategies in Place

Developing sound project control strategies begins with accurate and “controllable” baselines. As mentioned above, a dedicated scheduling resource can make this “control” possible for the project manager. Experience has clearly shown us that for any sizeable effort, the project manager will not be able to successfully perform both the management and control duties required by such a project. In addition to accurate baseline development, sound project control requires the development of the following elements: 

• Key milestones identified and attributed with deliverables 
• Key deliverables with clear completion metrics 
• Formal execution reviews (performance and risk related) 
• Earned Value and Burn Rate strategies (monitoring and trending analysis) 
• Defined and consistent performance reporting requirements for team members

Deliverable Execution and Validation

Once controls strategies are in place, deliverable execution may begin again. Our control strategies and practices will assist in trending actual performance against our baselines, and incrementally validating deliverable execution (and reacting to variance).

Closing Phase

For most projects, especially those that are large and complex, project closing is accomplished in a phased manner, or “rolling-wave” closing. It is not inconceivable to have early deliverables or portions of the project in Implementation/Operation while we are still completing later deliverables. The “fast track” expectations of most projects will ensure such a phased closing schema and adds another layer of chaos to the project. Also, and as is true for many projects, organizations begin to “strip” resources from projects as they appear to be reaching the finish line. The project manager will want to guard against this by modeling (in the risk assessment) the adverse effects of prematurely diverting key resources to other projects.

Solidify the Transfer, Handoff, and Implementation Plans

This element of the overall project execution plan (project plan) requires a great deal of time and coordination to develop and solidify. Customer and project resources must be in alignment on roles and responsibilities for:

• Final testing and validation 
• Training (content, materials and facilitation) 
• Implementation assistance 
• Timing for “custody” handoff of phased deliverables (project-based to operations-based transfer) the “roll-over. The graphic below illustrates what we refer to as the “rollover”, i.e. the project manager rolling down to the support role and the customer rolling up to the leading role.

Execute Phased Implementation and Signoffs

If the Transfer, Handoff, and Implementation Plans are complete, then the phased implementation and required signoffs can be executed as scheduled. For projects where the closeout phase is highly complicated, a separate and more detailed completion schedule (inch-stone schedule) will be used to ensure a successfully executed closeout.

Final Audits and Lessons Learned

In a phased closeout, the final audits and final lessons learned sessions will coincide with the phased execution schedule. It seems that no matter the size and criticality of the recovered project, there are always plenty of reasons to avoid the audits and lessons learned sessions. These practices are important for any project and organization and in the case of a recovered project, where we will have spent significant sums of time, money, and attention to rein it in; we should commit to their execution in order to memorialize the initial issues and their costly solutions.

In summary, with a detailed and methodical approach to recovering projects, the effort need not be cathartic, yet, it is still a wiser and less stressful approach to commit to the proper planning and diligence initially.

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Tom Flynn, P.E., PMP is a founding partner and Vice President of Consulting Services at Advanced Management Services, Inc., Tom has initiated and spearheaded the development of the Project and Program Management Division which helped transform AMS into its current position as a leader in the Project Management Consulting and Training industry. In addition to his technical project management competencies, he also utilizes his extensive training and experience in conflict management-resolution, change management and human development to successfully coach and mentor senior executives, project managers and project team personnel. To contact Tom, send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 781-828-8210.