Project Management for Dummies, part II

If it takes one woman nine months to have a baby, it does not follow that it can also be done in one month by impregnating nine women."

~ Dr. J. Ornstein on the fallacies sometimes committed in strategy planning.

 "I know that you believe that you understand what you think George said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what he meant."
~ My colleague's email to our Training Manager concerning my instructions during a new store opening

 "A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning"

~ Anonymous

"Fast, cheap or good.  Pick any two"~ Advise to a franchisee while overseeing the construction of his new unit.

In my last posting, I outlined the general steps one needs to take in planning out a project and in managing it.  This traditional project management style was the go-to approach when creating and managing a project. But technology advancements now (should) get ideas to market faster than ever. Because of this, newly created project management approaches take more risk, quicker changes, and a lightening speed timeline into consideration.  I consider this to be something I call Extreme Project Management.

In his book Effective Project Management Robert K. Wysocki defines this as “projects that include characteristics of high speed, high change and high uncertainty.” Consider the differences between the traditional and extreme styles prior to creating your project plan. You should commit to the extreme approach if your project fits the bill.

Traditional vs. Extreme

Traditional project management follows a straightforward approach to planning and managing a project along the lines I outlined in my last posting. It utilizes what’s called the waterfall method. This method basically plans project activities one after the other, in a direct line. When change happens, the project resets itself at a previous point in the project timeline and starts over again with the same waterfall method.

The waterfall approach is very linear. Once a schedule is reset because of a change, the entire schedule and final deadline shifts accordingly. If you are working in a fast paced environment with let's say strict market launch deadlines, this approach most likely won’t work. You’d likely be knocked off schedule and miss your deadline. The traditional approach is most successful when a project does not include a lot of change and most details of the project are realized at the beginning.

The extreme approach differs from the traditional project management style because it actually allows you to plan for change and uncertainties. Timing is also a big difference between the traditional and extreme approach. Whereas traditional projects tend to take months and in some cases even years by their very nature, the extreme approach breaks activities down into a smaller timeline like weeks or days (or even hours, if necessary).

Analogously, the traditional style of managing a project is the running of a marathon whereas the extreme style is the 100m dash.

Extreme project management is dominated by a constant cycle of change and resetting. It allows for teams to work in a shorter timeline with more regular and consistent cycles of reviews, approvals and agreement on the path forward.

Should Your Project Take the Extreme Approach?

Whether you are looking to assign a new project or you’re the project manager yourself, you’ll want to consider a few factors when deciding if the extreme approach is right for a specific project. If timing is fast and uncertainties remain or are likely to remain, taking the extreme approach might be best for you due to the ability to rapidly and nimbly change vectors.

Consider what you currently know about the project. Ask yourself: Do I know what the exact outcome of this project will be? Do I have all the answers to create a successful project plan? Can I expect there will not be (many or sudden) changes during the process?

If you answered no to any of these questions, the extreme approach might be the right choice for your project.

You’ll also want to consider stakeholder expectations. Are they realistic if the traditional approach is taken? Many times a senior leader will be excited about a project and will then throw it into the lap of their most successful project manager. The leader won’t provide a lot of direction but will expect the project to happen very quickly. Suggesting an extreme approach to the project will show you are nimble and willing to work on a project that might not be clearly defined.

Setting Up Your Extreme Project

Now that you’ve decided to take the extreme approach, you’ll want to consider the project team. The extreme project management approach is fast paced so the project team must be nimble and energetic.

Request or select a group that will be welcoming of change and can adjust quickly.  Request input from each team member as you build your plan. This last part should not be optional.  Confirm that all aspects of the project can happen as quickly as is necessary, and have them outline what obstacles (if any) they foresee arising during the course of their assigned tasks and what their plan of action is should that happen.  This allows for everyone to know what the next steps to take are should something arise that threatens the timeline, and, at the very least, forces your group to begin to adopt an agile mindset.

Lay out your project plan with the extreme approach in mind. Begin with a kick-off, and schedule multiple rounds of quick work time followed by team reviews, check-ins and alignment on how to move forward. I would suggest at least three round tables for a medium sized project with a short timeline, but there can be as many rounds as you like, so long as these don't impact the time the team must devote to the project.

Discovery and research will be needed during the entire process so as to constantly feed the projects outstanding questions.  You should have the resources for this made available to you, a "go to" person or department.  If not, assign two members of your group the responsibility of getting the team the answers or the information they require and support them should they run into any obstacles or delays. 

You can manage your project accordingly now that the project plan is in place. There will be a lot of change to track and manage so communication is critical. Project managers taking this extreme approach should plan to be in constant contact with all key team members. The probability of change will cause questions to arise constantly, so being available for answers is imperative.

Once you become comfortable with the idea of taking the extreme approach, you’ll probably find it suites you well and applies to many projects. The great thing about extreme project management is that its flexibility allows you to create the plan that best meets your goals and objectives.

If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com. 
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Lessons from the Red Baron

"It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity" ~ Christopher Morley

 

"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note" ~ Doug Floyd

 

"George, this is because the average manager is a conformist.  He or she will accept failure or disappointment with the stoicism of a cow standing out in the rain" ~ A colleague

 

"Not all those who wander are lost" ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

 

 

 

To make your organization more creative, learn from the Red Baron and hire talent for their differences

 

During World War I, German fighter pilots found themselves heavily outnumbered above the skies of France and Flanders. So, in June 1917, their high command did something radical. They combined several squadrons, each of which had planes of a distinctive color. They put them under the command of their most successful pilot, whose brightly colored plane had made him famous: Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

 

Von Richthofen was an unconventional officer. Scandalously - for a German - he wasn’t interested in conformity. He was interested in effectiveness. He didn’t ask pilots to repaint their planes. He didn’t expect them to fly as he did. (The Red Baron wasn’t a particularly aerobatic pilot. He was just a really, really good shot.) In fact, he deliberately recruited several aces, including the flying prodigy Erich Lowenhardt, who had far more flamboyant styles than his own. The Red Baron’s pilots only had two instructions from their commander: “Aim for the man, not the plane, and don’t miss. If you are fighting a two-seater, shoot the gunner first.” How each pilot got the job done was up to him.

 

Von Richtofen’s band of aces tore into the Allied air forces all that summer and into the beginning of the next year. Their bright colors, individualistic styles, and innovative tactics earned them the nickname “von Richthofen’s Flying Circus.” By the time the Red Baron died, in May 1918, they had scored more than 300 kills against the formation-flying conformists in Allied planes.

 

CEOs need more tools at their disposal

 

A couple of years ago, IBM did a survey of 1,500 top CEOs around the world. Their message was consistent: They were facing a chaotic environment, and they had a firm belief that the thing their companies needed most was creativity. Of course, what the survey didn’t say is that most CEOs are far too busy to come up with any of this creativity themselves. As is the way of CEOs, they delegate that kind of thing to people like you and me.

 

So now all over the world there are EVPs and SVPs trying to get their teams to think differently. The trouble is that most organizations spend a lot of time and money making sure that their people all think the same. They’re creating "Squadrons", flying in tight formations, valuing consistency and efficiency over individual flair.

 

For a start, they tend to recruit in their own likenesses - same recruits same.  They then get the same results over and over again - results one assumes could be better or improved in a modern, competitive organization - because they keep hiring the same skill sets and experiences over and over again.

 

This is because it seems more people are comfortable with old problems, rather than with new solutions.

 

Recently, a division head at one of the world’s largest hospitality companies told me, “When somebody walks into an interview for a management role, we can instantly tell whether they’ll fit in here. This is a company of several hundred managers from highly recommended sources and contacts.” It seemed a world away from my experiences working in industries and fields of endeavor where the great leaders I was privileged to work under always provided homes for individualists on their teams.

 

Square Peg. Round Hole

 

I thought of my own experiences, where I once managed a man who used to design components for Ferrari. 
In a cave.
In Italy.
 
Another member of my team I on boarded once as a forensic analyst was one of the world’s top harmonica players. When I used to run an large team with an international scope, almost everybody was also an "-ie" or an "-er": a Trekkie, a LARPer, a Designer, an Animator.  It was my job as the leader to harness all the skills that my team could bring to bear, and these added eclectic skills were a reflection of different ways of thinking. Why would I need two people who thought the same way?

 

The British military rejected triplanes during the World War I, as they were too slow. The Red Baron saw their potential: All that lift made them extremely maneuverable. Companies modeled on his strategy of maneuverability and adaptability don’t just value speed and efficiency.  They're built to change direction fast.

 

The recent release of Valve’s employee handbook is an extreme example of valuing flexibility over efficiency: There is almost no organization at all. But their results will tell you all you need to know about the firepower they can bring to bear. Like the Red Baron, the founders of Valve and Netflix and Google hire great people, give them a simple but difficult goal, and let them get on with it in their own way. At Nordstrom, they famously only have one rule (a 50% improvement on von Richthofen’s two instructions): Use best judgment in all situations.

 

Managing the Issue

 

Perhaps we should encourage people to become more different, not more similar. Perhaps we don’t need to have a standard training framework to make employees conform to a set way of thinking or a fixed behavior pattern at all times.  Perhaps if we want to jar ourselves loose from the same repeating cycles, we need to broaden our definition of what other skill sets are required for a particular role, and where we can find them.

 

Of course, the world needs Squadrons. If you run an eye surgery clinic or a nuclear submarine, you need to standardize procedures and training. And of course, it’s not always fun running a flying circus. Several of the Red Baron’s top aces, including Lowenhardt, were killed in collisions with friendly aircraft. Anybody who’s worked in a high-intensity environment will know the feeling.

 

But if your CEO is demanding creative solutions to problems, then maybe you need to think about ways to encourage everybody to paint their own plane a different color, and loop and wheel around the clouds in their own way.

 

Six differences between a Squadron and a Flying Circus

 

Squadron

 

Motivated to shine as a team.

Emphasizes speed and efficiency.

Has a regimented training program.

Deliberately hires people who’ll fit in.

Standardizes procedures.

If it were a person, it would run.

 

Flying Circus

 

Motivated to shine as individuals.
Emphasizes ability to change direction.
Allows people to grow their own way.
Deliberately hires people who stand out.
Encourages diversity of techniques.
If it were a person, it would swagger.

Dealing with Difficult Employees II

"You must look into other people as well as at them."

~ Lord Chesterfield

"We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates"
~ Denis Diderot
       

"I don’t like that man.  I must get to know him better'

~ Abraham Lincoln

In this second part, I will try and list the 6 most common "difficult" personality traits I have encountered in my professional life, and what strategies and tactics I have found are effective in either dealing with them or in getting them to positively contribute, for I believe that everyone, no matter how "difficult" they can be, has something to offer.

1. The Aggressor

Dealing with hostile people requires both tact and strength. Since persons who feel they have been wronged are more likely to be belligerent and aggressive/violent, you should first try to be sure they have been dealt with fairly.

In addition, it would be wise to help them meet as many of their needs as possible without reinforcing their aggressiveness or discriminating in their favor. Likewise, avoid interactions with them that encourage intense emotions or threats of violence. Certainly do not interact with these angry people when they are drinking or carrying weapons.

Say or do nothing that would incite more anger or, on the other hand, cause you to appear to be scared, weak, and a “pushover.”

In most cases, strong retaliation against an aggressive person is the worst thing you can do. Nastiness begets nastiness. Hostility escalates.

If you can divert the angry person’s attention to some meaningful task or a calm discussion of the situation, the anger should subside. Also, offer him/her any information that would explain the situation that upsets him/her. Point out similarities or common interests between him/her and the person they are mad at (you). Let him/her see or hear about calm, rational ways of resolving differences. Almost anything that gets him/her thinking about something else will help.

I have dealt with many such personality types, and have compiled this brief list which outlines some basic ways in which I have calmed an angry person.  Since some of these people were, in the end, some of the most loyal and reliable members of my team, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the following:

• reduce the noise level
• keep calm yourself
• acknowledge that the irate person has been wronged (if true) or, at least, acknowledge their feelings without any judgment
• ask them to explain their situation (so you can tactfully correct errors)
• listen to their complaints without counter-attacking
• explain your feelings with non-blaming “I” statements
• show that you care but set limits on their aggressiveness (“I’d like to work it out with you but I’ll have to call security if you can’t control yourself”).

I have found that this personality type can be an asset to a group, because if properly handled and motivated, they will be the ones who will keep the group persevering if the goals seems hopeless or an extreme stretch.  Their aggressiveness requires focus, so give them a mountain to move.  They might just surprise you and ask you where you want it put.

2. The Chronic Complainer

What about the chronic complainers? They can bring the morale of any group down due to their fault-finding, blaming, and certainty about what should be done, but they never seem able to correct the situation by themselves. Often they have a point — there are real problems — but their complaining is not effective (except it is designed to prove someone else is responsible).

Coping with complainers involves, first, listening and asking clarifying questions, even if you feel guilty or falsely accused.

There are several don’ts:

• don’t agree with the complaints,
• don’t apologize (not immediately),
• don’t become overly defensive or counter-attack because this only causes them to restate their complaints more heatedly.

Secondly, as you gather facts, create a problem-solving attitude. Be serious and supportive. Acknowledge the facts. Get the complaints in writing and in precise detail; get others, including the complainer, involved in collecting more data that might lead to a solution.

In addition to what is wrong, ask “What should happen?” If the complainer is unhappy with someone else, not you, you may want to ask, “Have you told (the complainee) yet?” or “Can I tell __________?” or “Can I set up a meeting with them?”

Thirdly, plan a specific time to make decisions cooperatively that will help the situation…and do it.

The complainer's eye for pointing out the issues that need looking after comes naturally for him.  You can and should use them to the advantage of the group in order to identify any issues you may have missed.

3. The Super-Agreeable

What about the persons who are super nice and smilingly agrees with your ideas until some action is required, then they back down or disappear?

Such people seek approval. They have learned, probably as children, that one method for getting liked is by telling people (or pretending) you really care for and/or admire them.

Similarly, the super-agreeables will often promise more than they deliver: “I’ll get the report done today” or “I’d love to help you clean up.” They are experts in phoniness, so don’t try to “butter them up.”

Instead, reassure the super-agreeable that you will still like them even if they tell you the truth. Ask them to be candid and make it easy for them to be frank: “What part of my plan is okay but not as good as it could be?” Help them avoid making promises they can’t keep: “Are you sure you can have the money by then? How about two weeks later?”

Tell and show them you value their friendship. Let them know you are ready to compromise because you know they will be more than fair.

And their fairness in the end will be a sounding board for the group to come to and use whenever needed.

4. The Know-It-All Expert

Know-it-all experts are of two types: the truly competent, productive, self-assured, genuine expert and the partially informed person pretending to be an expert. Both can be a pain, but for different reasons.

The true expert may act superior and make others feel stupid; they may be bull headed and impatient with differing opinions; they are often self-reliant, don’t need or want any help, and don’t want to change.

If you are going to deal with the true expert as an equal, you must do your homework thoroughly; otherwise, they will dismiss you. First of all, listen to them and accurately paraphrase their points. Don’t attack their ideas but rather raise questions that suggest alternatives: “Would you tell me more?” or “What do you think the results will be in five years?” “It probably isn’t a viable choice but could we consider…?”

Secondly, show your respect for his/her competence but don’t put yourself down.

Lastly, if the expert can not learn to consider others’ ideas, you may be wise to graciously accept a subordinate role as his/her “helper.” Too many times, I have observed the egos of upper management render companies oblivious to what needs to be done because the decision makers would like to believe themselves to be the only ones who are truly gifted with insight, knowledge, or deductive reasoning. 

They are wrong, and the corporate world is full of failed companies who's leaders didn't want to consider the advice of people smarter than them.

True experts deserve respect.  They can give your team an enormous advantage.

The pretentious-but-not-real expert is relatively easy to deal with because he/she (unlike liars or cons) is often unaware of how little he/she knows. Such a person can be gently confronted with the facts. Do it when alone with them. Help them save face. They simply want to be admired.

5. The Pessimist

Another “burden” to any group is the pessimist –the person who always says, “It won’t work” or “We tried that.” These angry, bitter people have the power to drag us down because they stir up the old pool of doubt and disappointment within us.

So, first of all, avoid being sucked into his/her death-spiral of hopelessness. Don’t argue with the pessimist; don’t immediately offer solutions to the difficulties predicted by the pessimist.

Instead, make optimistic statements — showing that change is possible — and encourage the group to brainstorm leading to several possible alternatives. Then ask what are the worst possible consequences of each alternative (this gives the negativist a chance to do his/her thing but you can use the gloomy predictions in a constructive, problem-solving way).

Also ask, “What will happen if we do nothing?” Finally, welcome everyone’s help but be willing to do it alone because the pessimist won’t volunteer.

The pessimist can however serve a productive role, once you can navigate across the negativity, in that they can inform you if your ideas have been tried before and what were the causes of their failure.  After all, there is no use in repeating the same mistakes of the past. 

6. The Staller

Every group has a “staller,” a person who puts off decisions for fear their career or job will be put in jeopardy if their decision isn't "the right one".

Unlike the super-agreeable, I have found that the staller is truly interested in being helpful. So, make it easier for him/her to discuss and make decisions. Try to find out what the staller’s real concerns are (he/she won’t easily reveal negative opinions of you, however).

Don’t make demands for quick action. Instead, help the staller examine the facts and make compromises or develop alternative plans (and decide which ones take priority). Give the staller reassurance about his/her decision and support the effective carrying out of the decision.



 It is our job as managers to manage the varying personality types occurring in our teams in order to effectively maximize their performance while developing them further along into something greater.  In order to do that, it is not enough to simply give instructions, monitor their actions, and dole out compliments or corrective measures;  we must learn that managing any group is more like conducting a symphony orchestra, with our people representing the instruments:  every instrument sounds different, is heard at different parts during the performance, and is necessary to the overall performance. 

Only when we recognize the uniqueness of every personality and accept the positive part everyone can have to play can we hope to overcome some of the more challenging aspects of our personalities.

Together.

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If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com. 
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Retailing Commandments

"Customers don’t expect you to be perfect George.
They do expect you however to fix things when they are not perfect."

~Ralf Strub, President of Bellstar Hotel & Resorts

"You’ll never have a product or price advantage again.
They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied."

~Jerry Fritz, Director of Management Institute

University of Wisconsin

"Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will."

~Kate Zabriskie, founder of Business Training Works, Inc

com·mand·ment

kəˈmændmənt, [kuh-mand-muhnt]

–noun

1. a command

Retailing, like Hospitality, is all about the customer.  Like the real estate mantra about "location, location, location" or the allegory about how to get to Carnegie Hall ("practice, practice, practice"), the first, last and only concern is the customer.  All other considerations are secondary.

This is nothing new.  This is not an epiphany, I realize.  I have heard it often said.  I have seen it often written down on a company mission statement.  I have had people more focused on managing their careers than in doing the right thing by their clients engage in one long monologue about it, knowing full well no one in the room believed for one minute that they were sincere. Still, it needed to be said.

And yet all of these well meaning people were missing the point.  You cannot give real service to a customer, the kind that makes them remember you and want to come back with their friends or family, if you don't add something that cannot be measured with money, or with reports or with numbers.

Sincerity and Integrity.

It is the most basic and fundamental element in Service, whether that be in Retail or in Hospitality.  It is the basis of the public trust and loyalty retailers fight viciously over.  It is the end result of all the marketing dollars, focus groups, training seminars and incentive programs we put into place both for and because of our customers.  The sincerity of our staff in wanting to serve their clients as opposed to simply taking an order, and the integrity of our staff in being both honest and open, even if that means owning up to things when they are not going perfectly well.

Perhaps it is a social trend, this tendency for self gratification, that is diametrically opposed to the act of serving someone else's needs, wants or desires, before our own.  Perhaps the difficulty lies in intuitively grasping the basic tenets of what it takes to do a good job in the Service sectors, due to this penchant of the needs of the self being greater than the needs of the others. The older generations seem to be more able to do this than some members of the younger generations.

So in the interest of making it simple, what follows are the "18 commandments" of providing excellent Service, both for the employee and for those of us who lead our respective teams.  Some of them may be variations on previous item, but only because it is worth repeating.

 

 1.     It's the Customer, Stupid.  To paraphrase that popular, and successful, quote from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign: The single most important aspect of your business is your customers. Make sure your entire team understands that - and acts like they understand it. Monitor this closely and reinforce it constantly.

2.     Spoil your Customers.  Everyone wants to think they are special. You can make your customers feel special if you treat them like they are special (they in fact are.  See #1 above.) For the time you are with them, concentrate on them and what they are telling you. Exclude everything else for that period of time.

3.     Delight the Customer.  It is heard a lot, but seldom practiced. Today I saw a Manager straighten out a mess and, in the process, calm an irate customer. When I heard her tell her team to put two mugs with the company's logo into the customer's bag, I knew she understood what "Delight the Customer" means.

4.     You never have to make up for a good start.  If a project or a job gets off to a bad start it can be difficult to catch up. Do your planning up front so you get a good start and you won't regret it.

5.     Train Your Supervisors.  The key to your business success is the productivity of your employees. The key to employee productivity is their perception of their immediate supervisor. Invest in training your supervisors and managers. It will pay off.

6.     Under-promise and over-deliver.  This goes beyond the old adage 'don't promise what you can't deliver'. Instead, deliver more than what you promised. It's a good way to build customer rapport - both outside and inside the company.

7.     Your first obligation is to the customer.  More like #1 above, but it must be repeated. Without customers you don't have a business. Treat them with the same respect you expect when you are a customer. Make sure everyone in your organization understands the importance of customer service, and again, acts accordingly.

8.     YOU have to make a difference.  The group you manage has to be more effective and more productive with you there than they would be if you were not. If they are as productive without you, then I am sorry to say that there is no business sense in keeping you on the payroll. As callous as this sounds, you and/or your Managers need to understand this truth about the business world.

9.     Your biggest business challenge is your competition.  They have to take away your customers in order to survive or grow. There is no other way. How are they going to do that? How can you stop them? How can you steal their customers? How do they steal yours?  Don't wait for it to happen. Constantly anticipate and prepare.  They may have a different product, or a lower price point, but if you can "out service" them, you cannot be competed against.

10.    Follow Through on Sales Promises.  Don't let your sales people make promises the company can't meet. If they tell a customer they can have eleventy-billion (sic) widgets "tomorrow before 10", they better be sure that many are already in the warehouse and the transportation has already been arranged. Nothing loses customers faster than broken promises.

11.    Doing it right costs less than doing it over.  I have often noticed that people will tell me why there was never enough time to do it right, but that there always seems to be enough time to do it over.  Save the costs, including customer dissatisfaction and lower worker morale, by concentrating on doing the job right the first time.

12.    Don't Be A De-Motivator.  Your job as a leader is to get and keep your people motivated and working toward the common goal. Demeaning them, to their face or to others, erodes their motivation. So does dismissively telling them that their ideas are dumb or stupid, or simply laughing when one is put forth. Watch your own actions to be sure you aren't defeating your own efforts by demotivating your people.

13.    Keep the flame alive.  When people join your organization they are all fired up and ready to do great things. Over time we all too often wear down that enthusiasm. Instead, do what you can to fan the flames of their enthusiasm and you will be amazed at their output. 

14.    You Can't Listen With Your Mouth Open.  Your associates, your employees, your suppliers, your customers all have something of value in what they have to say. Listen to the people around you. You will never learn what it is if you drown them out by talking all the time. Remember, the only thing that can come out of your mouth is something you already know. Be quiet and learn.

15.    Appearance Does Matter.  It may be a sad commentary on our superficial society, but appearance does matter. Whether it's the packaging on your product, the first impression you make when calling on a new client, or your company's web site people notice how things look. They care about how things look and make judgments about you and/or your product based on appearance.

16.    Get your people involved.  It's a lot easier to get employees to stand behind a company decision if they have the opportunity to participate in the discussion. Management still has to make the decision, but if they have had the opportunity to make their point of view known employees are more apt to stand behind the ultimate decision, even if they don't agree with it. Open town halls are a great way to elicit opinions and thoughts, even if (or especially if) your employees notice something you are doing to demotivate them or damage the business.  Most people want to do a good job and see their place of employment succeed, and if given an honest chance, they will work very hard to make it so.

17.    Fix the problem, not the blame. It is far more productive, and less expensive, to figure out what to do to fix a problem for the customer that has come up than it is to waste time trying to decide who's fault it was.

18.    Actively listen. Listen to your customers, your employees, your suppliers, and anyone else who comes in contact with your business. Honestly evaluate what they have to say, without letting your ego get in the way, and you will probably learn something that benefits your business.

If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com. 
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Project Management for Dummies, Part I

"Project managers function as bandleaders who pull together their players each a specialist with individual score and internal rhythm. Under the leader's direction, they all respond to the same beat."

~L.R. Sayles

   
"Plans A through Q have this deal going through"

~Michael Sabia, CEO of BCE., when questioned if there was a plan B should his proposal not go through.  It didn't and there wasn't.

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything"
~  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Congratulations! You've just been appointed to manage a project.  Now what? How do you get started? What steps do you do next? How do you maximize your chances for success?

Whenever we examine any project before us, we usually identify what the obstacles are exactly, and identify that they need to be overcome.  But that's only the most basic step.  What is missing is a detailed analysis of not only what needs to be done, but how, why and when. 

In this first part, I have written down these basic project management steps below as a guide through the process of managing any project that should help you set up the markers you will need to start.

Here's How:
 

     1. Define the Scope
The first, and most important, step in any project is defining the scope of the project. What is it you are supposed to accomplish by managing this project? What is the project objective?

Equally important is defining what is not included in the scope of your project. This is an often overlooked definition.  If you don't get enough definition from your boss, clarify the scope yourself and send it back upstairs for confirmation.

     2.  Determine Available Resources
What people, equipment, and funds will you have available to you to achieve the project objectives? As a project manager, you usually will not have direct control of these resources, but will have to manage them through matrix managing (where there are 2 different superiors you report to; one is operational in nature and the other is functional). Find out how easy or difficult that will be to do.

     3. Check the Timeline
When does the project have to be completed? As you develop your project plan you may have some flexibility in how you use time during the project, but deadlines usually are fixed. If you decide to use overtime hours to meet the schedule, you must weigh that against the limitations of your budget.

     4. Assemble Your Project Team
Get the people on your team together and start a dialog. They are the experts. That's why their functional supervisor assigned them to the project. If you don't have any experts you can rely on, request the right people be assigned to you, or request permission to go and get them.  Your job isn't to be the expert.  Your job is to manage the experts.

     5. List the Big Steps
What are the major pieces of the project? If you don't know, start by asking your team. It is a good idea to list the steps in chronological order but don't obsess about it; you can always change the order later.

     6. List the Smaller Steps
List the smaller steps in each of the larger steps. Again, it usually helps you remember all the steps if you list them in chronological order. How many levels deep you go of more and more detailed steps depends on the size and complexity of your project.

     7. Develop a Preliminary Plan
Assemble all your steps into a plan. What happens first? What is the next step? Which steps can go on at the same time with different resources? Who is going to do each step? How long will it take? There are many excellent software packages available that can automate a lot of this detail for you. Ask others in similar positions what they use.

     8. Create Your Baseline Plan
Get feedback on your preliminary plan from your team and from any other stakeholders. Adjust your timeline and work schedules to fit the project into the available time. Make any necessary adjustments to the preliminary plan to produce a baseline plan.

     9.   Hope is not a Plan.  Hope is not a Strategy
I have often asked my direct reports to memorize this mantra and to teach their teams the same.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard the most detailed and exhaustive plans rely on uncontrollable variables that are assumed to be, wondrously enough, all in their favor.  Analyze your plan impartially.  Are there any variables that are beyond your direct control or influence?  And if so, have you accounted for all the possible outcomes?  If not, you need to keep these back up plans as viable alternatives to your primary plans, and allocate for the possibility that you may have to bring them from the background to the foreground at any time as the project progresses.

     9. Request Project Adjustments
There is almost never enough time, money or talent assigned to a project. Your job is to do more with the limited resources than people expect. However, there are sometimes limits placed on a project that are simply unrealistic. You need to make your case and present it to your boss and request these unrealistic limits be changed. Ask for the changes at the beginning of the project. Don't wait until it's in trouble to ask for the changes you need.

     10. Work Your Plan, But Don't Die For It
Robert Burns wrote about "The best laid schemes of mice and men....", but whereas he was apologizing to the mouse who's nest he upturned, the meaning of his poem was poignant to Project Managers: The most carefully prepared plans may (some say will) go wrong.

Making the plan is important, but the plan can be changed. You have a plan for driving to work every morning. If one intersection is blocked by an accident, you change your plan and go a different way. Do the same with your project plans. Change them as needed, but always keep the scope and resources in mind

     11. Monitor Your Team's Progress
Never confuse effort with results.  You will make little progress at the beginning of the project, but you should have started by then to monitor what everyone is doing anyway. That will make it easier to catch issues or failures before they become problems and threaten to derail the results.

     12. Document Everything
Keep records. Every time you change from your baseline plan, write down what the change was and why it was necessary. Every time a new requirement is added to the project write down where the requirement came from and how the timeline or budget was adjusted because of it. You can't remember everything, so write them down so you'll be able to look them up at the end-of-project review and learn from them.

     13. Keep Everyone Informed
Keep all the project stakeholders informed of progress all along. Let them know of your success as you complete each milestone, but also inform them of problems as soon as they come up. Also keep you team informed. If changes are being considered, tell the team about them as far ahead as you can. Make sure everyone on the team is aware of what everyone else is doing.

In part 2, we will examine different Project Management styles, and what situations are appropriate for them.  You can link directly to it  here.
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If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com. 

Romeo and Juliet are Dead....

"You walk into a room.  It is completely bare.  There is nothing inside except two bodies. Romeo and Juliet are dead.  They are lying close to each other in a large puddle of water, surrounded by broken glass.  Their bodies are under an open window.  You are the only person who has been inside this bare room.  Please write down what you think happened to Romeo and Juliet, and how you think they died.  Your answer must take into account all the clues mentioned herein."

This was an actual question on a psychological and personality evaluation test that I wrote as part of the selection process for joining a special purpose team.  The memory of this question has remained with me for all these years because of what it was trying to gauge: The ability to think creatively and with inspiration when confronted with a problem - or what we call in the business world, "thinking outside the box".

When faced with an unexpected challenge, or an unorthodox (re: "never" seen before) one, it is the ability to improvise and not merely respond in a habitual learned manner that seperates the simple from the great leaders.

There was no real wrong answer (there was, however, as I correctly figured out, a right one) to this puzzle; it simply gave a glimpse into how the subject's thought process worked (if they worked in the problem-solving vein at all.  Some people's do not).

Romeo and Juliet are dead. They are close to each other, in a large puddle of water.

In the business world, we are often faced with perplexing puzzles that offer no easy answers.  "Why did our sales not increase as a result to that brilliant marketing plan" or "Why are we not attracting the best people and losing the ones we have?" are two very often voiced concerns (or paraphrased examples of these concerns) I have often heard the mistake wasn't in making the plan, but in assuming that once the step-by-step checklist was drawn up and the appropriate people signed off on it, the list could then become reality and ipso facto run it's course to it's logical (ergo successful) conclusion.

It's "management-by-numbers" for dummies, and it doesn't work.

In order for strategies to work, certain assumptions have to be made first.  Those assumptions need to then be tested for veracity - some will be correct, others won't.  Then the strategy needs to be reworked to take these new facts into account.  The plan then needs to be mentally weighed and compared against certain elements that managers are aware of, such as the overall plan for the quarter/half/year; or a new directive or policy that has been adopted.  The leader then takes all these facts and tries to project himself into the future to see how his reworked plan should play itself out, taking into account everything he knows so far.

Romeo and Juliet are dead.  They are surrounded by broken glass.

So far, anyone can do what I've described above.  But where the inspired leader comes into his own; where the "cause and effect" model of action and reaction are left by the way side is when the leader takes what he or she already knows about the situation, and injects some of his or her own personal feelings into the mix.  It's not scientific, and it certainly cannot be quantifiable nor taught, but often times, I have observed that the most successful leaders had a deeper grasp of what was the correct course of action to take exactly because they listened to how they felt about it.

There is an allegory going around that when Steve Jobs was first shown what his engineers and designers had come up with as a prototype for the 1st generation iPod, he rejected it.  Why?  It was certainly feasable, practical, and could have easily and cheaply be mass produced, and it would serve to satisfy the operating criteria that was drawn up for it.  It was, in other words, completely logical.

Romeo and Juliet are dead.  Their bodies are under an open window.

But Steve Jobs didn't like it.  It didn't elicit a positive feeling from him.  It wasn't visceral.  He stood up and drew a rectangle with a cirlce at the bottom of it and asked his team to build it like his drawing.  The rest, as they say, is history.

But how did Steve Jobs know his design would be the "correct" one?  How did he know that it would be more successful and more acceptable by the consumer than the most assuredly well designed, if somewhat industrial looking, prototype he was originally presented with by his experts?

I do not claim any insight into the man's mind - nor did he ever call me up and speak to me about it - but it would safe to say that whereas he didn't know if his "circle within a rectangle" would be embraced by the public, he certainly knew that an entertainment device should look, well, kind of cool and not like a cold, utilitarian one.

Romeo and Juliet are dead.  You are the only person who has been inside this bare room.

He had the hard facts that his engineers were telling him, to which he added an improvised design that was based on his feelings on the matter, and changed the world, and his company, forever.

It is this act -  that he had the courage to listen to what his feeling were telling him without fear that he would be ridiculed or suffer any blowback for it - that should be cultivated and immitated in your teams everytime you put your proverbial heads collectively together to overcome any challenge before you.  It was his improvising that gave a solution to which there was no wrong answer, but there was certainly a right  one; the one that made the most sense now in hindsight.

Managing your decisions with logic and cold calculations is only effective to a point.  After that, it sometimes only serves to obfuscate what is the right thing to do.

Sometimes, for a leader, that obvious answer is the hardest to see.  But that's what we're paid to do.

Romeo and Juliet are dead. 

Of course they are. 

Fish can't survive long if their bowl falls off a window ledge and breaks open on the floor.  After all.....

....Where did it say that this Romeo and Juliet were people?