From the Editor

Teamwork is one of those fluffy words that inspires a lot of eye rolls among jaded project veterans, even though we all know that it's critical to getting anything done. It's probably because of all those float trips and sharing circles. Mind you, we're not knocking float trips. But to really inspire teamwork we have to give our people the right tools and the right information, learn to delegate, and reward them for work well done. That will build a stronger team than any spontaneous stage dives off the conference room table.

Speaking of teams, we thought it would be a good idea to let you get to know the Project Practitioners blog team a little better, so we're introducing a couple of bloggers in more depth this week. We'll continue to do that over the next several months, to make it even easier for you to get to know who's talking and see what they're saying. Plus, Kent McDonald also shares his advice on how to make more informed decisions, and Cinda continues her essay on Lessons from Hurricane Gustav.

Featured Article

Decisions, Decisions, by Kent McDonald

Recently I worked on a project at a regional insurance company to implement a specialized call center. We were partnering with a small company that specialized in running these types of call centers. They were very good at what they did, but they were small, and our contract was considerably larger than any they had before; our volume stressed their technical capabilities, especially with respect to transferring data back and forth for operational and analytical purposes.

Some on our team were concerned that the vendor would not be able to complete the necessary integration work in time, which meant that while they could operate the service, they would not be able to provide sufficient analytical data. We had a decision to make. We could trust the vendor to deliver the necessary functionality by the due date and be in a sad state if that did not happen, or we could add additional work internally to produce the necessary analytical data. We were still not sure if we could even do the work internally in the desired time frame. We were still three months out from the targeted implementation point, but there was a burning desire to make a decision NOW!

Did we really need to make the decision right then? Could we trust the vendor to deliver? Are there ways to gather more information to allow us to make a more informed decision? Read more »

Featured Blog

Remember what it feels like to not know (or at least not be SURE you know) the right way to do something—how to get started, how to use the tools, how to deal with issues that arise? I'll bet new project managers often feel that way; I know I did. Are we helping them get started effectively in their new roles? Not always. I recently experienced anew what it feels like to be totally new and uncertain at something, and I didn't like it—until I unexpectedly got the chance to get better fast just because of how someone worked with me.

I flew home last month to Louisiana to help my parents deal with the overwhelm of disruption and details from damage their home received from Hurricane Gustav over Labor Day weekend. The first major chore when I got there was to help my dad build a wall in front of his garage—the garage door had been mangled by the 100 mile an hour winds and removed. Now Hurricane Ike was about to come through, and the opening had to be boarded up fast. It was to be a simple wall of a 2x4 base plate, 2x4 top plate, and 2x4 studs set perpendicularly … then big sheets of plywood nailed up onto the studs.

Although everything we did was simple conceptually and common sense, I immediately experienced the angst of doing something new (and in a time-pressured, stressful situation to boot!). My dad, on the other hand, has been building things his whole life. He knew exactly how to go about it, had all the tools at his disposal, got to work. But I sat there waiting for instructions, feeling unsure of myself. Although I've used a drill to hang curtain rods and other such isolated tasks, I had never built a wall. I was not sure how to deploy the simple tools of drill, nails, hammer, etc. to "do this right." So I did nothing until instructed. And when I did each thing he asked for, like using the drill and screwdriver attachment to set my first stud, I felt like a slow, butter-fingered idiot.

But over time an interesting thing happened. Read more »

Featured Bloggers

Jerry Perone was one of our first weekly bloggers, and we're glad to have him. Jerry, who specializes in troubled project recovery, is widely travelled and brings a wealth of project management experience to the discussion. His blogs center on improving project management practice throughout the organization—aiming for what he refers to as "transformation"—and he'd like it to be an interactive journey. His most recent entry, highlighted below, identifies four critical success factors for bringing about that transformation. See if you agree.

Critical Success Factors for Enterprise-Wide Project Management, by Jerry Perone

In my very first blog I told you that I would focus on enterprise-wide organizational improvement. So, this week in that regard, I thought I would outline for you some of the critical success factors if you and your organization are serious about enterprise-wide project management implementation and improvement. As you read my list you may be struck by the absence of certain items like buy-in, portfolio, methodology, tooling and others. In my opinion these are components of the organizational change project plan but not the critical success factors. We will talk about each of those in later blogs along with all the other work streams that will be addressed. The key critical success factors are:

1. There must be a champion. Someone must be identified to lead the effort who has the vision, the power and the authority to make it all happen. To implement a well defined and managed project management system inside a medium to large organization is no easy task. Leadership, management, business and facilitation skills are required. The champion must have the skills, the charisma, to bring top executives together, to create a common set of objectives and to establish an effective steering committee which will stay in place during the entire campaign. The champion must have expert project management subject matter and sales skills. The champion must have large scale program and project planning skills. The champion will be in effect the General Manager for the effort and will ultimately be accountable to the people in the organization. Read more »

Alfonso Bucero is a prominent PMI leader in Spain, with decades of project management experience and a dedication to "passion, persistence, and patience" as keys to project success. Alfonso doesn't hesitate to call them like he sees them, and his blogs provide a window into project management on the continent. His passion and enthusiasm are infectious, and we're very pleased to have his perspective on the site. In this recent post, Alfonso gives us all a reality check about our desperate need to delegate.

The benefit of the doubt, by Alfonso Bucero

Delegating is not an easy task for the project manager but never do anything that someone else can do for you, as well or better. Delegation begins by determining all the tasks that must be performed to reach your project's goals. Then select the individual or individuals best qualified to handle each duty and empower them to do it. Finally, check results regularly to make sure the productivity goals you have set are being reached or surpassed.

These are the excuses some European project managers give for not delegating: My team members lack the experience, says J. M. Devesa (project leader of G.E. at Spain); it takes more time to explain than to do the job myself, a mistake by a team member could be costly for my project, my position enables me to get quicker action, there are some things that I shouldn't delegate to anyone, my team members are specialists and they lack the overall knowledge that many decisions require. Other comments gathered after talking to project professionals from the south of Europe were: my people are already too busy, my team members just aren't ready to accept more responsibility, I am concerned about lack of control over people performance when I delegate, I like keeping busy and making my own decisions, delegating is terrifying to me.

When you delegate, don't think of it as doing the other person a favor. The use of effective delegation will pay off for you, as project manager, and your organization in many ways. You will mobilize resources to achieve more results than you ever thought possible. You will have more time to manage your project, like planning, monitoring team members, and handling conflicts and personnel problems, that no one else can do. You will focus on doing a few tasks very well, rather than doing a lot rather poorly.

Alfonso suggests four steps for more successful delegation »

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