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Not Managing Perceptions: The 10th Waste of Project Management

Written by Claude Emond on . Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on Not Managing Perceptions: The 10th Waste of Project Management

“Project Quality Management must address the management of the project and the product of the project”

(p.180, PMBOK, 3rd edition)

In an earlier blog entry, I presented the Nine Wastes of Mismanaged Projects, according to Lean Project Management gurus (Howell, Macomber, Koskela, Bobek). I said then that I saw a 10th waste adversely affecting project success: Not Managing Perceptions. Today, I will briefly explain why I believe that not managing perceptions is a major project waste, and why it has to be taken care of for our projects to be successful.

The sentence from the PMBOK quoted above is one of the most important messages on successful project management. It means that project quality, a strong indicator of project success, does not only depend on the physical characteristics of project deliverables, it also depends on HOW they were delivered. It means that a project is not only a destination, it is also a journey. It means that in matters of quality, BOTH the journey and the destination are important.

The success of a journey is really a matter of perceptions. Perception can be defined as “ an individual’s interpretation of the world and of one’s experiences, this interpretation being coloured by that person’s model of the world and past experiences.” Obviously, unless they are shared, discussed and somewhat managed, individual perceptions of what’s going on during a project will be very different. Perceptions of why we do the project, of what is important, of how well things are going, of project completeness and success, etc. will all differ. The project management community already wonders how to manage risks in the face of individual risk perceptions. But perceptions differ not only with respect to risk issues; they differ with respect to every single project issue. And all project communications can also be plagued by this important factor, or waste, since what is communicated is not the message transmitted but, rather, the message perceived.

If the perceptions of individual project stakeholders are not confronted with facts and, if these facts are not then discussed, shared and interpreted collectively, it is close to impossible to agree, among other things, on the same perception of the project journey or on the same perception of what project termination means. Hence, the stakeholders cannot agree on project quality and ultimately on project success.

In North America, according to the Standish Group1, only one out of three projects (29%) are considered to be successful by the stakeholders; individual perceptions of project success are just not aligned. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Britain’s Constructing Excellence program2 concludes that, of the projects subjected to the project management approach proposed, 85% are successful; this approach focuses on ensuring better integration of all stakeholders by putting together extended project teams. Are these European projects more successful because they produce better deliverables (the product or the destination of a project)? I don’t believe so! I believe this is because the Constructing Excellence program ensures that project managers also take care of the quality of the management of their projects (the journey); they get all their stakeholders together, they share, they discuss and, ultimately…. they manage perceptions.

1www.projectsmart.co.uk/docs/chaos-report.pdf
2www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/

Full Executive Support for the Project Manager: Is it Close?

Written by Mike Morton on . Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on Full Executive Support for the Project Manager: Is it Close?

Are we any closer to full executive support for the role of the project manager?

The easy answer is yes. The tougher answer is… it depends. Typical.

I think that the position of the project manager within today’s organization has certainly improved. The project manager is an indispensable commodity within most systems departments out there today. No senior executive who is in touch with the IT division could ever suggest otherwise. Mess with this role and you will seriously jeopardize the success of your IT projects. I cannot imagine any executive today not getting this. So yes, this is big improvement from just three to five years ago.

Let’s put aside the non-IT sectors that have understood the importance of project management from the beginning of time: construction, engineering, aerospace to name a few.

For other areas of our business, the jury is still out! I believe the role of the project manager is crucial outside of IT, but this is where the value and applicability of the role of the PM is still being debated.

Time will tell but for the moment these PMOs and individual project managers are still working under a threat of death. Many out there feel some of these other projects do not need a full time professional PM and thus the level of executive support we are talking about is questionable.

But as with IT, this too will change. As project managers get involved in larger, more mission critical projects outside of IT, their value to the organization will grow. And remember, the new CEO, CIO and other C-levels typically GET project management. Look closely and you will notice that some of them even have a PMP beside their names. This will help!

 

David Barrett is publisher of Project Times, Conference Director, ProjectWorld and BusinessAnalystWorld, and Program Director of The Masters Certificate in Project Management, Schulich Executive Education Centre.

Looking for Inspiration in 2008

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 6 Comments on Looking for Inspiration in 2008

Editor’s Comments

Isn’t it the way of the world that we’re always looking for inspiration, that unexpected thought that seems to come like a bolt from the blue. In 10 Ways to Inspire Your Team, Michelle LaBrosse says that Inspiration comes, not from vision and mission statements, but from example and gives some practical primers on how you can inspire your team.

At some time, you’ve probably asked yourself or been asked by others, “what is a project management office? And, depending on the organization, it could mean many different things. Ian Gittens knows that the PMO can have many different titles, with many different functions. In Creating a Successful Project Management Office, he examines the different roles and expectations that term project management office conjures up.

We have a new blogger this month, Ilya Bogorad, who joins David Barrett and Claude Emond with their views on many of the changing issues in our business. We hope you find their comments interesting and food for thought. Also, take a look at our Forums and add your comments to those we’ve received already.

Finally, it remains to wish everybody a successful, prosperous and happy 2008 and to say we hope that this issue of Project Times will inspire you to keep coming back.

Creating a Successful Project Management Office

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on Creating a Successful Project Management Office

What is a Project Management Office?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) states that a Project Office may operate on a continuum from providing support functions to project managers in the form of training, software, templates, etc., to actually being responsible for the results of projects. Project Management Office (PMO) is one name used for this business function. Other names include:

  • Project Office (PO), 
  • Project Control Office (PCO), 
  • Central Project Office (CPO), and 
  • Project Support Office (PSO).

Depending on the organization, the role of the PMO might be to provide an infrastructure for centralized status and budget reporting, providing training and mentoring in project management best practices, creation of methodology templates for use by project managers, and / or completion of projects from inception to benefits realization.

Creating a Successful PMO

ust like building a house, to create a successful PMO, a solid foundation is required. One of the key building blocks for establishing and maintaining a viable PMO is continued executive support. All the templates and methodology in the world will not help you if you can’t get the main sponsors to realize the benefits of a PMO. With this support in place, the PMO can begin to initiate change in the organization.

The next big hurdle is to communicate the PMO mandate beyond the executives. The ability to provide business value and having a clear mandate are two ways to ensure the organization at large understands the importance of the PMO objective. Once this is demonstrated business departments should understand and appreciate what the PMO brings to the table.

Another hurdle to overcome, is removing the control stigma from the PMO. People often associate a PMO with the gathering of status data and providing methodology templates. In some organizations the PMO fulfills an internal audit role for status and budget tracking, this is not an appropriate use of PMO resources. In order to provide the most benefits to the organization, the PMO should be providing the methodology used to measure project manager performance. The actual measurement should be conducted by the organization’s internal audit department, and should not be part of the PMO mandate.

To ensure your PMO is providing value to the organization and the business departments it services, it’s also important to complete projects from inception to benefits realization. Too many PMO departments are guilty of providing only administrative and support functions for project managers. When the budget belt needs to be tightened, if the PMO has demonstrated its value to the organization by completing strategic high- risk projects, it should withstand any organizational restructuring.

One of the PMO responsibilities is to develop the organization’s project methodology, including the project templates. The true measure of a good PMO is whether it can “eat its own cooking”, actually using the templates it creates in PMO managed projects. This way the PMO can get a first hand account of how useful its tools and methodologies are to the organization, and how they can be improved.

The measurement of the benefits realized per project, and how those benefits align to the organization’s strategic objectives, is an important contribution the PMO can make. The focus here is on portfolio management. Do the completed projects contribute to the bottom line? Project benefits should be aligned to the organization’s strategic goals. PMO portfolio management provides the mechanism for evaluation of the overall portfolio health. This will be a key input to executive project prioritization decision- making.

With this foundation in place, a successful PMO can be established and can play a key role in building a successful organization.

Ian Gittens, PMP, is a senior consultant with SPM Group Ltd. specializing in project fulfillment, methodology development, project portfolio management, business process reengineering, change enablement, and the development and implementation of project management infrastructure. Ian has 20 years’ experience in project management, business analysis, and application development, supporting multiple customers such as financial institutions, third party logistics providers, distribution organizations, high-tech manufacturers and retail organizations from APAC, EMEA and the Americas. His past responsibilities have included program management of regulatory and compliance initiatives and enterprise resource planning technology implementations for various business verticals. Ian can be reached at [email protected], or 416-485-1584 X 243

10 Ways to Inspire Your Team

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on 10 Ways to Inspire Your Team

Inspire. Just the word itself causes us to pause and think. We may remember our own personal heroes like Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa or a teacher or mentor who brought out the best in us and showed us the power of one person.

It’s easy in business to get cynical when we’re surrounded by what I like to call “faux inspiration.” I’m talking about the corporate posters with motivational sayings that are easy to spoof when the actions of management don’t reflect the glossy images and quotations.

In my experience, inspiration comes from example. As Albert Einstein said: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” So, that means we all have the power to inspire others by our actions. As project managers, you’re in a prime position to inspire your team. Here are 10 ways to get you started.

  1. Have a clear goal with a reasonable approach to achieve it

    Shooting for stars may work for you when you’re developing your personal goals, but when you’re inspiring a team, people need to be able to clearly see how they are going to get from point A to point B – and believe that it’s possible.
  2. Be enthusiastic about each person’s contributions

    Remember how good it felt when a teacher recognized your contribution? You glowed all day and nearly flew home. It costs nothing to tell people how they’re doing. Recognizing what they’re doing well, and also giving ideas on how they can work even better, goes a long way.
  3. Wear your blue hat and leave the black hat at home

    You may have played the game where you wear different hats to assume different roles. The black hat starts with the negatives and tells you everything that’s going wrong. This is the person who can kill idea generation in any meeting. When you’re inspiring a team, wear the blue hat. See the possibility and opportunity in every challenge. Begin with what is working and then build on it.

  4. Focus on the strengths of each person

    One of the biggest myths in business is to focus on weaknesses instead of building strengths. It’s a backward way to approach problem solving – like fitting the proverbial square peg into the round hole. It’s faster and more effective to focus on the strengths of your team members and develop them. Not only will you see results faster, you’ll also have a happier team because people are doing what they’re good at and contributing at their highest level.
  5. Clear hurdles like a Super Hero

    How do you get your team to feel like rock stars? Think like Superman and clear any hurdles that are in their way. When you remove obstacles, you show your team that you’ve got their back.

  6. Get the slackers off the team

    Nothing brings down a team like slackers. When people aren’t pulling their weight, it lowers the standards of everyone and makes it seem like quality doesn’t matter. When you remove people who aren’t performing, it improves morale because it shows your team that you’re serious about the best results.
  7. Roll up your sleeves

    When you work with the team in the areas where you can contribute, you send a strong message because your actions show that you are part of the team.

  8. Acknowledge people’s contributions every week

    Many managers make the mistake of recognizing people once a year. Recognition isn’t a holiday. It should be a regular part of your team dynamic. Take the time every week to tell people how they’ve contributed to the team.
  9. Be the model of accountability you want to drive through your team

    If you’re telling people to be accountable while not meeting your own deadlines, it doesn’t take too long for the eyes to roll. Keep your team inspired by keeping your commitments to them and meeting every milestone.

  10. Show and communicate your progress

    Don’t make the mistake of doing project updates only at milestones. Communicate the progress of the project every week to make sure you’re on track.

And inside every one of these steps, add one key ingredient: Fun! Whether it’s a quick team-building exercise during a milestone meeting or an inside joke that has come to define your team, give people every reason to laugh out loud and let the sound of laughter inspire your team to be the best they can be.

Michelle LaBrosse is the founder of Cheetah Learning. An international expert on accelerated learning and project management, she has grown Cheetah Learning into the market leader for project management training and professional development. In 2006, The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org, 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. Michelle is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner & President Management program for entrepreneurs, and is the author of Cheetah Project Management and Cheetah Negotiations.