In This Issue:
From the Editor
Author on subject
Site Highlights:
What are we talking about (and when)?
Pre-empting conflicts
Not it!
Handling the Endgame
Don't Feed the Bureaucracy
Electromechanical What?
Where's ProjectConnections?
Dallas and San Francisco. Oh, and Dallas.
Corporate Subscriptions
From the Editor
Have you ever thought about why your project relationships work the way they do? Geof Lory has, and this week he writes about why, in his view, we should be thinking about it a lot more too. We spend a lot of time measuring things like schedules, budgets, and requirements. But is that really what's most important to our projects? To compliment Geof's insights, we've highlighted a few of our favorite communication-oriented resources—from the indispensible Communications Plan to status reports guaranteed not to kill trees. Enjoy!Featured Article
Measure What Matters, by Geof Lory
I don't want to imply that objective measurement is bad or shouldn't be done. It certainly has its place. My point is that transactional interactions and the associated objective measurements are not everything. And I believe a case could be made for it not even being the most important thing. My personal experience with software development teams, as well as managing administrative, operational, and sales staff, is that more time is spent on relationships—building, breaking, or repairing them—than on getting the real work done. However, rarely is any of this measured.
I believe our perceived inability to effectively measure relationships gets in the way of leveraging the exclusively Personal relationships in the upper right quadrant to affect the other Positional quadrants. Without measurement, we are challenged to understand the impact on results. However, I don't believe measurement of relationships is that difficult; it's just not something we are socially conditioned to do.
Site Highlights
I Thought I Told You Never to Text Me Here! - Communications Plan - SPECIALThis Premium resource is free to registered Members until February 5, 2008
If you've ever irreparably damaged a relationship by blowing a critical norm, you'll understand the importance of a communications plan. But a plan you can live with goes further than documenting the hows and whens of meetings, status reports, and so forth. Our outline will help you cover those essentials as well as the more informal ground rules, like how often people really need to check email, how quickly they are expected to respond, and when or whether a cell phone buzz is appropriate.
A Single Fact can Spoil a Good Argument - PRE-EMPT Conflict - MEMBER
Conflict on your projects is almost as inevitable as difficult clients and budget over-runs. But—unlike your last design review—it doesn't have to leave you or your team members scarred for life. In this paper, David Kohrell, PMP outlines the strategies you can use to pre-empt conflict on your project before it blows up in your face.
Not It! - Partner Contract Guidelines - PREMIUM
Considering contracting for part of the work? Don't get caught in a game of Task Ownership Tag your new partner. When outside partners are employed to execute part or all of a project, the contract with that partner is critical for defining expectations, due dates, and responsibilities. A good contract will define the relationship and objectives well, and insure everyone knows who's It at any given moment. This template provides guidelines for the typical contents of such contracts.
There Are Some Things Money Can't Buy (Unfortunately) - Handling the Endgame - MEMBER
You'd pay good money to avoid the pain and frustrations of your last project endgame, wouldn't you? But it doesn't work that way. Odds are that the so-called endgame of a project will be the least entertaining and not at all game-like. (Why do they call it that anyway? Aren't games supposed to be fun?) The best PMs manage this critical stage with the utmost care. This paper looks at typical breakdowns and crises, with in-the-trenches advice on handling them.
Because Bureaucracy Can Outwait Anything - Project Status Reports - SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until February 5, 2008
Does the management team really need a 32-page update of your project status? By the time they finish analyzing, approving, reviewing, auditing, and stamping it all, your project will grow whiskers—along with any critical issues that needed management attention. This template-slash-guideline provides multiple formats that can be used to give to-the-point status about your projects. Pass along the needed information without making anyone's eyes glaze over, before it's too late to do anything about it.
Plus, It'd Make a Good Name for a Rock Band - WBS for Electromechanical Systems Project - MEMBER
Crazier things have worked. (Electric Light Orchestra, anyone?) But this Major Electro-Mechanical System Development WBS is so thorough you'd never fit it on an album cover, and so detailed it'd be crazy not to have a look. We've compiled a full cross-functional work breakdown structure, including training development, the creation of subsystems, alpha and beta testing, and everything in between. Plan your ultimate triumph of man over machine and become a rock star; at least among the engineering staff.
Where's ProjectConnections?
When they're not writing for ProjectConnections, our expert contributors and columnists keep a pretty busy calendar. We thought it was high time you all knew what they're up to, so you can have the opportunity to see them in person. The following appearances are not associated with ProjectConnections, but we think you ought to know about them anyway. These folks are worth hearing.
Kimberly Wiefling is busy this month, with appearances at the Silicon Valley Innovation Institute on February 6, ("Innovation Management Around the World"), and the North L.A. chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers on February 8 ("Practical Business Planning"). After that, she's jetting back to Tokyo for another Global Leadership Workshop with ALC. If you can't make one of her appearances, just look up and wave.
Carl Pritchard is the keynote speaker at the PMI Puget Sound Chapter Dinner on February 11. He's got a full calendar that day, with a dinner meeting on "21 Ways to Influence Effectively," and a keynote speech on "How to Become a Great Consultant (While You Still Have a Job)." If that weren't enough, he's conducting a Risk Management workshop that day too. Member and non-member pricing available.
If you're planning ahead, and you're interested in Agile methodologies, look into the APLN Leadership Summit in Dallas, Texas, February 21-22. Kent McDonald is on the board of directors, and it's quite likely you'd be able to waylay him in the hallways. Early bird registration deadline is February 1.
If you can't make it to Dallas, try Walnut Creek, California. Randy Englund will be there with the PMI San Francisco Chapter on February 21st to run a presentation on Managing Project Sponsorship. The discussion, which includes case studies, addresses how project managers manage their sponsors as well as how sponsors do their jobs to optimize project success. More information is available at http://www.pmi-sfbac.org.
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