In This Issue:
From the Editor
Carl Pritchard on Context in Communication
Featured Templates
Pick a Card, Any Card (Take Two, They're Small!)
Sometimes a Cigar Is Just a Cigar
Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!
A Public Display of Affliction
What's Everyone Looking At?
Because Bad, Unlike Wine, Does Not Get Better With Age
Burning Questions
I Think It's Developing Language Skills…
Cloudy With a Chance of Ooooh Shiny!
From the Blogs
Where's ProjectConnections?
This month: Washington, Minnesota, Maryland
Next month: Tokyo, California, Maryland
From the Editor
How many project tasks, requirements, requests, or investigations have jumped up at the last minute to thwart us due to faulty memories and fractured recordkeeping? One of the eternal challenges of this newsletter is keeping a steady stream of fresh quips, ideas, and takes on our subject matter and new material. I frequently find myself firing off a remark or laughing at someone else's, and thinking, "I should write that down." It seems gauche to whip out the PDA or scramble for scratch paper, so I repeat it a few times and tell myself that I'll remember it later. I almost never do, and even when I do it has usually lost the precise edge that made it relevant in the first place.
The sad fact of the matter is that we have so much flying at us so fast all the time, we're almost guaranteed not to remember it later unless we write it down now. And during the inevitably hectic year-end period, when we're trying to wind down and impatient customers are wound up, it's even more vital.
This week, we're highlighting resources designed to help you keep track of all those little remember-it-laters, so you actually can. We're not big fans of tree-killing paperwork around here, so you won't find any overwhelming, desk- and back-breaking tomes listed. Project documentation should be a thinking tool and a memory jogger, not an end unto itself, with just enough discipline in place to make it something you'll use, not just write down. Will it matter in 6 weeks? In 6 months? Will someone who isn't here right now need or want to know it later? Then take a few moments to jot it down now. Here are some tools and suggestions that can help.
Featured Article
Context in Communication, by Carl Pritchard
In discussing risk, I often make reference to an episode early in my career when I was driving down the GW Parkway outside Washington, DC in the early morning hours. It was just before dawn as I whipped around the long curve near the CIA. There she was . . . in the middle of the road:
Bambi.
That's right. Morning rush hour in a major metropolitan city, and I'm whacking a deer and becoming the clog in the morning rush hour. This was far from the highlight of my driving career, but it did make a powerful point. When folks ask me about the risks of driving in Washington, I immediately respond: "DEER!"
What's compelling is that I have shared that story so many times, that I begin to believe that everyone has heard it. They haven't. But I often use the term "deer" in my conversations with others about risk to refer to some risk we have "hit" in our careers. I know what I mean. Those who have been in my classes or keynotes know what I mean. But the term "deer" is far from synonymous with "things that you have hit one time in your whole life, but which loom so large that you continually cite them as significant, even though it's a remote chance you will ever hit them again." Read the rest »
Want to see Carl in person? He's teaching PM Essentials at Frederick Community College on November 30, and on December 3 he begins Risk Management Professional courses in Baltimore and "Managing Multiple Projects" for PMI's E-Seminars World. More information and registration available on Carl's website.
Featured Templates
Pick a Card, Any Card (Take Two, They're Small!) – Agile Technique Brief: Requirements Cards – SPECIALThis Premium resource is free to registered Members until December 7, 2009
You don't have to wait until the big requirements meeting to start capturing requests and features. This technique brief explains how to use a common Agile planning technique in order to capture feature requests quickly and efficiently, along with notes on its users and business value. Even phase-based projects can benefit from taking the time to capture features on a stack of index cards before going into gory details on the specifications. Then, when it's time to build the formal document, you've got a head start—and a much better chance of playing the right cards on the project.
Sometimes a Cigar Is Just a Cigar – Action Item List Formats
One of the most basic tasks of managing projects is keeping track of all of the tasks without driving everyone (including you) batty. But you don't need complicated software or intricate spreadsheet formulas for those "oh, by the way" things that crop up. You just need something that's easy to read, easy to update, and easy to review. A simple list like the ones found in this template will provide all the information you need for handling those day-to-day tasks that are so easy to forget. Plus, you'll have a permanent reminder to make sure that "extra" work is accounted for in the project schedule next time around.
Heeeeeeeere's Johnny! – Project Stakeholder/Influencer Assessment and Communication Plan – PREMIUM
Forgotten stakeholders can wreck havoc on a project, even if they don't come wielding axes. It's bad enough when you suddenly realize you forgot to pass something along or get a necessary sign-off. But it can be a show-stopper when that stakeholder is on vacation in the Himalayas for a month. (Or, perhaps worse, now wants to go over every project requirement to date with a fine-toothed machete.) Keep track of your important "I have to remember to tell Key Person that" thoughts with a communication plan dedicated to tracking stakeholder interests. Taking a few minutes to jot down their names and review it regularly for reminders will keep those important insights from slipping through the cracks, along with your deadlines.
A Public Display of Affliction – Personal Time Management Assessment Log – MEMBER
You know you were crazy busy last week—you skipped lunch every day, after all—but do you remember exactly what you were working on? Those "where did my time go" moments are especially unnerving when you're being called to task for a missed deadline; you know the time wasn't squandered on Solitaire, but it can be hard to remember what did get in the way. Capture those unexpected tasks with this simple worksheet, which includes instructions for analyzing your results to identify non-value-added activity. You'll have a good picture of reality to show the boss, and might finally be able to make the case to get out of some of those time- and lunch-hour-sucking obligations that have been bogging you down.
What's Everyone Looking At? – Team Roles and Responsibilities List – PREMIUM
You know and remember what you're counting on people to do, but that doesn't mean they do. It's not uncommon for people to be assigned to so many projects that they can't keep it all straight, and that makes it too easy to end up being the one in a meeting looking for a place to hide. A simple, straightforward list, filled out with the team's help, helps people keep track of their responsibilities to any given project. It's also a handy reminder of who's is counting on information or deliverables in order to accomplish their work, so you know who to warn when there's an inevitable delay. The end result: more communication, and less "Who, me?"
Because Bad, Unlike Wine, Does Not Get Better With Age – Daily Hot-List Meetings – PREMIUM
When grapes ferment, you can serve them with a nice Brie. When issues ferment, it just plain stinks. During hectic project periods you need status more often than once a week, because things are changing so frequently. That doesn't mean everyone has to surrender an hour every morning. This guideline explains how to implement daily and fast hot-list meetings during hairy project cycles. Ditch the big end-of-week meeting for a few days or weeks, and watch everyone's productivity go up as issues are resolved daily instead of steeping (and being forgotten).
Burning Questions
I Think It's Developing Language Skills… – PREMIUMQ: I keep diving deeper into the scope and WBS of this project, developing a plan with potentially a huge amount of detail. Is it possible to "over-plan" a project?
A: This is a good question, without a truly definitive answer. What you really want to do is find the sweet spot for planning. On one hand, having a great deal of detail helps reduce project risk and define the effort in explicit terms. On the other, too much detail can cloud the real work of the project, missing the forest for the trees. Doug DeCarlo, a project management expert and early contributor to ProjectConnections, once remarked: "One of the conclusions I've come to is that a lot of planning is a dangerous thing, because we can end up believing the fiction that we create—and some people actually do and so they hold people to the plan…" Read the rest of this answer »
Cloudy With a Chance of Ooooh Shiny! – PREMIUM
Q: I don't want to over-constrain the creative process early in the project while we are defining the scope and requirements, but I know that if we don't start tracking change sometime we might have a problem. When in a project should I start controlling changes more formally?
A: Change is inevitable and something we all need to accommodate in our projects. But how formal or informal should we be about it? When striking the right balance, the most important consideration is assuring that changes are communicated to those we interact with, with so everyone is aware of how the change will impact our interactions.
Everyone involved in the project is focused on helping achieve the objectives and producing the defined deliverables. Changes instituted very early in the project lifecycle can be accommodated with informal processes… Read the rest of this answer »
From the Blogs
Ann Drinkwater provides her second installment on rescuing projects, tux and tails optional—how to help recover a project by transitioning in to help rather than charging in (and causing immediate problems) with a grand, formal takeover.
Tom Ferguson, a new blogger from Project Management Edge in Ireland, shares his thoughts on why feedback is not a great idea (what?!) and offers suggestions for using feedforward instead.
Sinikka Waugh supplies some more data points on the seemingly superhero traits executives value in PMs and questions to help us each see how we measure up.
Randy Englund offers quotes on PMs' fears about negotiating and tips for doing it well to get what we need on our projects.
Matt Glei shares tips from his experience on personally managing all your competing project work.
Margaret de Haan has a few quick tips on resume keyword usage, after getting 600 resumes in 24 hours for one position!
Cinda Voegtli describes the great PM traits Michael Jackson exhibited as he prepared for a massive new concert tour this summer.
Where's ProjectConnections?
It's Thanksgiving week in the U.S., so we're on vacation Thursday and Friday. Our offices will close at 5 pm Pacific on Wednesday, and re-open Monday, November 30.
Kimberly Wiefling is back in Japan for most of the rest of the year, though November 30 she'll be in Europe for the Global Leadership Development program at Kuraray. December 15 she will be conducting a free demo workshop for HR Managers and decision makers in Tokyo. (The page is in Japanese, but the brilliant rubber chicken picture says it all.)
Geof Lory will be in Seattle in November guiding a Fissure Project Management Simulation for 140 of Microsoft's top performers. He will also be delivering a two-day Scrum Team Training class for Medica in Minneapolis the end of November.
Carl Pritchard is teaching PM Essentials at Frederick Community College on November 30, and on December 3 he begins Risk Management Professional courses in Baltimore and "Managing Multiple Projects" for PMI's E-Seminars World. More information and registration available on Carl's website.
Randy Englund will lead a Project Management Office course at the UCSC Extension in Santa Clara, CA, starting December 1. You can also catch Randy online at the UCI Extension course on "Management, Leadership, and Team Building in a Project Environment."
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