In This Issue:
From the Editor
Cinda Voegtli: Career Corner
Site Highlights
Ow! Ow! Not the Face!
We've Just Been Tweeting Our Status…
So, You're Going To Do All Our Projects Now?
Follow the Bouncing Task List
When Even Half a Page Is Too Much
Just Add Water?
Take Two Deep Breaths and Call Me In The Morning
Burning Questions
When in a project should I start controlling changes more formally?
Keeping risk from disrupting a project
Roles in determining project goals and scope
From the Blogs
Where's ProjectConnections?
Corporate Subscriptions and Licensing
From the Editor
"Understand, expect, follow through." When Cinda used those words earlier this week it resonated immediately, and it had to become a newsletter. Like so much good advice out there, it sounds completely reasonable, even commonplace. But the devil, as always, is in the details. Understanding is hard (especially in often convoluted project environments). Expectations are too often couched in uncertainty and easily deflected. And following through can be excruciating if it's done with a heavy hand, and ineffectual if it's too feeble or misdirected.
This week, Cinda shares her experiences with VP that got results simply by expecting them—without threats or admonitions. To compliment her story, we've highlighted some templates and tools that will help you understand, expect, and follow-through appropriately, including new templates for IT projects and PMO Directors. Plus, there's a ton of great stuff in our blogs this week. Do you know how much that cold could cost you? Read on…
Career Corner
By Cinda VoegtliGet Results by Expecting Them
I sat facing the new VP, waiting for our meeting to start—and wondering whether I was about to get fired from my Director of Engineering role. Either that, or I was about to get lectured, hammered, chided, and/or warned, for not being an experienced enough manager to suit him. After all, he had just been brought in to replace the founder of our start-up ("Time to have some professional management now that the big company has bought you guys") and I was in my late 20s and even younger and less management-experienced than the founder. I was expecting the worst.
Then something really interesting happened. The VP, by his actions, simply expected the best. He started talking, got right to work. He talked about how we needed to create strategic technology and product plans for the next two years and take the budgeting to the next level. He matter-of-factly relayed what kind of format he liked to see, key items to cover, and when we needed to have the first review meeting on a draft. Find out what happened next »
Site Highlights
NEW – Ow! Ow! Not the Face! – User Impact Assessment – PREMIUM
IT changes can impact users in unexpected but easily anticipated ways. Even apparently simple projects can open a Pandora's Box of user concerns, questions, and frustrations if critical (or even trivial) user impacts are overlooked. This template guides the team through an assessment of the user impacts of technology changes, so they can better understand those possible impacts. A small investment early in the project will allow better planning and communication and a smoother deployment experience for everyone. Get the template »
We've Just Been Tweeting Our Status… – Communications Plan – SPECIAL
This Premium resource is free to registered Members until February 18, 2010
Social media are great, but some situations call for… shall we say, more formal arrangements? Even if your project runs by the seat of its proverbial pants, it pays to make sure everyone knows where, when, and how they can find out what's going on. Otherwise, you may find them inventing their own channels of communication, which may not be well suited to conveying the information everyone needs to get over the finish line. It's all about setting expectations; make sure they're grounded in practicality and need. Get the template »
NEW – So, You're Going To Do All Our Projects Now? – Enterprise PMO Charter – PREMIUM
A key success factor in any project launch is making sure its intended customers understand what it's supposed to do for them, and PMOs aren't exempt from this. To increase the odds of a successful launch, your PMO charter should help build and document stakeholder consensus about the PMO's goals, mission, constraints, and resources, as well as exactly what services the PMO will—and won't—provide. This annotated charter outline, provided by experienced and highly successful PMO Director Lisa DiTullio of Lisa DiTullio and Associates, walks PMO heads and stakeholders through key success factors for launching an enterprise-wide Project Management Office. Get the outline »
Follow the Bouncing Task List – Team Member Status Reports – PREMIUM
You understand what's needed for the stakeholders, the customer, and the team. You've established expectations. Now you have to follow-through, and make sure your team members are able to do that as well. That doesn't mean they have to generate a 3-page report every week (or that you have to read them). This minimalistic status report template shows you how to follow up and follow through with your team members without browbeating or micromanaging. Let them tell you what's on their plate and what's dividing their focus, then follow through with the assistance they need to stop bouncing around and make progress. Get the template »
When Even Half a Page Is Too Much – Agile Technique Guideline: Information Radiators – PREMIUM
A key principle of Agile teams is to do just enough; no more, and no less. Sometimes, a post-it note—or poster full of them—provides just enough status reporting, even on a traditional waterfall project. Aside from turning status updates into a point-and-stick operation, information radiators (aka "Big, Visible Charts") publicly advertise what's done, what's expected, and who is taking responsibility for making it happen. There's nothing like public commitment to ensure good follow-through! Get the guideline »
Just Add Water? – Getting Aligned and Staying In Sync with Outside Partners – MEMBER
There's no such thing as an instant team. Even when an outside firm looks perfect for the job, you still have to work to create the right expectations. Managed well, they can save our projects and contribute to the bottom line. Created or managed poorly, these teams can seriously threaten a firm's critical time-to-market goals. This paper discusses how to keep virtual teams properly aligned with the team's critical goals and strategies. It provides guidance on assessing and selecting team members, handling communication, and managing the project's activities to successful completion. Examples from real projects and detailed action recommendations are included. Read the paper »
Take Two Deep Breaths and Call Me In The Morning – Project Manager Coaching Guidelines – PREMIUM
Deep breathing is good, but project managers worried that they're in over their heads may be looking for something a bit more action-oriented. Whether it's a first project or one that's drastically different in scope or domain from previous successes, a coaching agreement with a more experienced PM may provide the support and confidence needed to succeed on an intimidating or difficult assignment. There are valuable ideas in here for senior project managers who are mentoring others, but the same thoughts apply to functional managers or executives overseeing project managers who may need a little extra help. An established coaching arrangement assures PMs that you understand their concerns, you expect them to succeed, and you'll follow through with the help they need. Get the guideline »
Burning Questions
When in a project should I start controlling changes more formally? – 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, but require that everyone involved or affected be aware of the change. Read the rest of the answer »
Keeping risk from disrupting a project – PREMIUM
Q: We have a pretty good idea of the work ahead of us and have developed a detailed project plan, but how do I keep risk from disrupting the project?
A: To minimize the disruption risk can cause, you need to put some up front effort into thinking about what could happen and how you would react. You manage project risk by identifying potential risks and the events that create them, measuring the risk or making some judgment about its severity, and identifying the activities necessary to eliminate the risk or mitigate it to an acceptable level. These mitigating activities become activities in the project management process or tasks in the work breakdown. Here's a quick process guide… Read the rest of the answer »
Project manager vs. executive roles in determining project goals and scope – PREMIUM
Q: How much am I supposed to figure out what the project does, vs. just take what the executives give me and do it?
A: That depends on what you've been given. Typically, a project manager is appointed when a manager or executive has decided that something is worthy of moving forward as a real project. That implies the idea has been thought through by those executives (!). Thus you'd expect that they would express the overall business goals for the project, assumptions on what the project will create (its scope), and expectations such as due date and budget guidelines. What can happen in the real world is one of the following: Read the rest of the answer »
From the Blogs
Our blog has been buzzing with thoughts on what truly defines project success, but you'll also find suggestions on better project scheduling, better project careers, and the urgent and inescapable need for ice cream and movie rentals. Here's a quick run-down.
Margaret de Haan, in a congestion-induced fit of brilliance, cleverly illustrates the surprises that can lurk in a thorough project plan, even for something as simple as Managing the Common Cold. It's funny, but there are profound truths hidden the chuckles. If you've ever wondered how much your cube mate's cold might cost you, check it out. (We hope you're feeling better, Margaret.)
Niel Nickolaisen has been asking project managers What One Thing Best Determines Project Success, and he got an intriguing answer. There are implications here for the project manager's responsibility to the team as well as the project; see what you think and share your thoughts.
Randy England also wants to know how you determine project success, because sometimes it's not found in the infamous Iron Triangle. The comments and standards shared by his online students are revealing and sometimes surprising (not necessarily in a good way). But, as Randy points out, that doesn't automatically invalidate them.
Ann Drinkwater points out that Experience Matters, though just how much is an open question. (10,000 hours?!) And is there something that matters more?
Jerry Perrone shares some personal Lessons on Setting a Project Schedule, and how to use it once you've got it. If you're looking for some matter-of-fact advice and pointers on what matters in this critical PM activity, don't miss it.
Alfonso Bucero's Project Manager Vision encourages us to consider our careers as a program, and lists many aspects to consider when clearly identifying our own personal Vision for our career—and, by extension, our professional development. Which voice are you listening to?
Where's ProjectConnections?
On Thursday evening, February 11, Randy Englund presents one of his favorite topics in one of his favorite places—negotiating in the wine country. He is the featured presenter for the PMI Wine Country Chapter in Novato, California on "Negotiating for Success: Are You Prepared?" which illustrates the ten "rules" of negotiating and the imperative to apply them for project success.
Corporate Subscriptions and Licensing
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