Moving Day

Now I've gone and done it! I've created my own blog at http://shipwreckedproject.com.

Using WordPress, I have a website and blog all in one. It was pretty cool to figure out how to do all of that. It helped immeasurably that the WordPress community is generous with beginners.

If you subscribed to this blog, please subscribe to that one. If you need a different option than RSS, just let me know and I'll figure out how to get it for you.

I copied all of the existing posts from this blog over there. Although I intend to take this blog down at some point, it won' be in the near future.

My new posts are all being published on http://shipwreckedproject.com. Take a look at it. I hope you like it!

Project Managers vs. Executives - Part 3

or

What do the Dumb-dumbs in the executive offices know?

In the first two parts of this series, we learned how to decide which executive to start building a relationship with, and what we need to do in order to advocate project management processes in our company. In this final part of the series, we'll talk about a very important, but often overlooked, part of the advocacy process - when to advocate.

Part 3: When

After you've done all your homework and learned about selling, it's time to start working.

As with any communication between people, timing is important.

Choose a time to talk with your executive when a project has succeeded in a way that the executive can appreciate.

The worst time to talk with an executive is when a project has failed, or is on the road to failure.

Even when a project is proceeding well, there's no proof for your pudding.

Be careful to understand the executive's timing as well. Just after layoffs are announced is probably not a good time. Wait for a few days - or until the assistant lets you know that it's okay.

Choose a time to talk when you won't be interrupted. It's often a good idea to get out of the office - lunch, coffee, dinner, or some other place where the two of you can talk openly.

Because you've gotten to know a bit about this executive, you'll know how much small talk he/she wants. Many executives want to get to the point quickly - even at dinner.

Summary

We've talked about the who, what, and when of talking with executives about the value of project management practices.

Be picky about who you talk with. Choose with care.

Build a relationship with that executive. Base your talks on the benefits that project management practices will bring to the strategy that the executive has.

Choose your times to talk very carefully. Make sure you're both ready to talk, and go somewhere that limits interruptions.

This is only the starting point. There's so much involved - people skills, communication skills, strategic thinking - that it takes time.

There are two main points:

1. Build a one-to-one relationship with the executive
2. Talk with one executive at a time

Until next time . . .

Project Managers vs. Executives - Part 2

or

What do the Dumb-dumbs in the executive offices know?

In part 1 we learned how to decide which executive to start building a relationship with. In this part of the three-part series, we'll learn the beginning steps about what to do next.

Part 2: What

Selling is NOT evil.

Here are a couple of definitions that I prefer.

Sell - to persuade another to recognize the worth or desirability of something
Sell - to cause to be accepted; advocate successfully

American Heritage Dictionary

Besides thinking of ourselves as advocates, we're also teachers. Whether we want to or not, as project managers we teach people about project expectations every day. They come to expect success, or failure, based on what we deliver.

When we consistently deliver successful projects, it's much easier to advocate the process.

Learn how to sell. Read books, take classes, talk with salespeople. There are many sales techniques - and some are not relevant to what we do. I've found that techniques that use relationship building work best for this type of sale.

Then translate the word "sell" to "teach" or "advocate."

We don't convince other people of anything - they convince themselves. We supply the information for them to do that.

The best information to give them is the benefits of project practices. Answer this question: What will they get?

Be careful here and really study this point. Benefits are not features. A feature would be the project schedule. A benefit would be opening a new market.

Next time, we'll talk about when to sell project management practices.

Until then . . .

Project Managers vs. Executives

or

What do the Dumb-dumbs in the executive offices know?

As project managers, we know that the processes we use are valuable. We want to help our companies to succeed. It makes sense to us that using project management throughout the company will lead to success.

No brainer, right?

Wrong.

Executives see projects as operational processes, and not part of a successful business strategy. Which means that they see project managers as staff people, not executive managers.

How do we do that?

As project managers, we need to learn more about the business of our companies. Do you know your company's business plan? Marketing plan? Sales plan?

In this three-part post, I'm presenting some ideas on how to get started talking with executives about the value of project management practices. We'll talk about the who, what, and when.

Part 1: Who

I mentioned that executives view projects as operations, not strategy. That's the key to unlocking the mystery of executive support.

As project managers, we understand the strategy that we use to manage a project. We also know to break that strategy down into tactics.

Just like a project plan maps out the project strategy, the business plan maps out the company's strategy.

In a project the communications plan and risk management plan are tactical support for the project plan. It makes sense that the marketing plan and sales plan are tactical support for the business plan in a company.

Knowing the strategy, as well as the tactical details, allows us to see our goal before we get there. It's the same in running a business.

Executives deal with the strategy of the business, and their direct reports deal with the tactical details.

So when you want to talk with an executive, remember that strategic solutions are their only interest.

So how do we find out about the company's strategy?

Do the research and read the plans. It may take some relationship building with people in marketing and sales in order to get access to the plans. There are many advantages to having these relationships - but that's another subject.

Find out more information about the various executives in your company. Does any one of them have a project management background? Do they come out of an industry that views project management as a core competency?

Choose the person who you find you have the most in common with. When building any type of relationship, people are more comfortable when they can bond at some level.

One of the criteria for choosing an executive is how likely that person is to be open about his/her concerns.

How do you find that out? By talking with other people in your company. Figure out who knows the most about the people at your company. You may need to start talking with people outside of your own department.

One of the things that I learned in the Navy is to always treat the commanding officer's secretary, the finance person, and at least one corpsman with great respect. These people can make, or break, your career.

The CO's secretary can help out in many, many ways - from information to head's up notification to scheduling time with the CO.

The finance person keeps your payroll records and authorizes your pay check. That's someone to keep happy.

The corpsman maintains your medical records - including your shot records - and can make your transfers a living hell. Don't make that person angry.

It's the same in companies. If your executives have assistants - whether it's an admin assistant, executive assistant, or personal assistant - those are the people who know the most. Build a relationship with them.

When you've learned about the company's strategy and chosen an executive to talk with, then you're ready to begin the sales process. That's the What.

Until next time . . .

Prefer talking to a brick wall than an executive?

Would you rather talk to a brick wall than an executive at your company? Do you wonder why executives don't have time to talk about project management? Then this call's for you!

I'll be participating in a conference call hosted by PM Lessons Learned (Henry Will is the founder). Here are the details:

Thursday Nov. 16, 2007, at 9PM (EST/NYC)

"Tips from a PM who's also an ex-executive: How to talk with executives about the value of PM practices" - Diana Lindstrom, PMP (that's me!)

For the phone number and access code, go to http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/

Just in case the link doesn't work, here's the info:

Conference Dial-in: (712) 432-6060
Access Code: 424424#

I'm looking forward to speaking with you then.

Leadership - Do followers choose leaders?

In September, I heard Billy Jean King (US tennis player; instrumental in getting laws passed to provide equal opportunities for female sports in high school and college (aka Title 9)) talking about leadership.

She said that followers choose leaders. Not the other way around.

What do you think?

How do we record project Lessons Learned?

Have you considered implementing a monthly report of Lessons Learned - a mini-newsletter?

It's the idea that I not only offered to companies where I worked, but volunteered to implement it. And it worked quite well.

As the Lessons Learned editor, I interviewed each project manager each month. I asked questions, and became trusted by writing the stories objectively. No blaming; no finger pointing. Every month the project managers would read the Lessons Learned newsletter to see if their story was in it.

There were only two companies where project managers didn't gather at the water cooler to discuss lessons learned. One company was probably too small, and the other wasn't interested in changing.

Lessons learned are best told as stories. And told in a stand-alone format. No going through physical or electronic files. No blaming others. Just a learning experience.

My proudest moment at one company was when a new project manager was hired, and our COO gave him several issues of the Lessons Learned newsletter BEFORE he gave him the project management manual.

Stories - that's how humans learn.

Why are you a project manager?

Are you one of the millions of "accidental" project managers? You were assigned a project and told when it has to be complete? No budget. No other people on the team. Just you, an idea of what the project is, and a deadline.

Not a very comfortable place, is it?

But for those of us who chose to be project managers, the story is a little different. Take mine, for example.

I get easily bored. Who doesn't?!? (smile)

I love looking at the "big" picture while planning the details to make it happen.

From what I've read, that makes me one of a small number of people on this planet. And I think it's a vital part of what a project manager needs to be able to do. Keep the project goal firmly in sight, while putting the roadmap in place.

I also love managing groups of people at almost anything. People are the reason that any jobs are interesting - for me. Kind of an odd confession for an engineer, huh?

Project management keeps me involved, challenged, and never bored.

Well, on second thought, I did get bored managing construction projects - but, hey, that can stay between us, can't it? (smile)

Easily bored and find people fascinating - an unbeatable combination for a project manager.

How do you avoid burnout?

As project managers, we often find ourselves looking into the deep, dark hole of burnout. What is burnout?

Burnout is the state of mind where we stop being creative, where our physical energy is low, where we can't imagine doing one more thing, and where we're very likely cranky and difficult to get along with.

Burnout is usually caused by working too much - and playing too little. When all we do is work, our brains never get the chance to recuperate. By concentrating all our mental and physical energy on one thing - work - we don't allow ourselves a "change of scenery." By that I mean allowing ourselves to think about different things so that we see things in a different way. Seeing things in a different way is what creativity is all about.

If you think you're approaching burnout, or are already there, ask yourself these questions.

• Do you prefer to eliminate stress, or learn better ways for coping with it?
• Can you review your workload?
• Can you assess the roles/responsibilities of your team (or get a team if necessary)?
• Can you block out regular time for your favorite social activity, and then make it your priority?
• Can you arrange your next vacation now, and make it non-negotiable?

Here are some ways to avoid burnout - or recover from it.

• Keep a stress-level chart each day (1.0 = good day, 0.5 = so-so, 0.0 = bad). Review it weekly to see where you are, and where you want to be next week.
• Delegation - I know, I know. Everyone tells you to delegate, but how can you? There's a whole industry that will help you learn how to delegate. The point of this article is to suggest that you either start delegating, or delegate more work to others. If you choose wisely who to delegate to, and what to delegate to that person, both of you benefit. Win-win.
• Start doing something that you really love. One project manager that I know took up sailing in order to prevent burnout and burn off stress. He started sailing every day by making it an appointment in his calendar.
• Evaluate your life when you're not hovering around burnout. What do you do? What don't you do? Then look at your life when you're burning out. What's different? What can you start doing again, or stop doing at all, that will move you away from burnout?

Another interesting definition of burnout is that we are not paying attention to the things that we need in life to keep our minds sharp. By focusing our minds on different areas of life, we often see a different approach for solving a problem in our projects. There is one caveat to this, however, and that's to stop over-committing ourselves and our time. Warning symptoms are the words "should" and "ought."

As project managers, we're used to setting boundaries for our projects and our project teams. The secret to avoiding burnout is to know and enforce our own boundaries.

A special thank you to the members of the SdB+PM Forum for their contributions to this article. Without their great ideas and input, this article would never have been written. You guys are the greatest!

How a project plan is like a musical score

An orchestra conductor uses a musical score to direct a piece of music. Every instrument has a different part to play. It's in the way that these parts work together that music is created.

Each instrument has its own part. The sheets of music that each musician uses tell exactly when, and what, to play. The musician knows how to play already - after years of studying, practice, and performance.

The conductor uses the musical score to know all the parts. He knows exactly when, and what, each instrument needs to play. The conductor has spent many years, usually, studying music. His emphasis has not been on the in-depth study of an instrument, but on the interpretation of the music. And on how to lead the musicians who make up the orchestra.

In the same way, a project manager "conducts" the project. Using a project plan, each member of the project team knows exactly when, and what, to do. She is able to perform the required work because of her knowledge, skills, and education.

The project plan is made up of many different parts - all the specific plans like communication, risk, quality, etc. - so that the overall project accomplishes it goal(s). The schedule and budget are integral parts of the project plan, but not the only parts.

Each member of the project team is interested only in the part that they contribute to the project. The project manager is the one who's interested in making sure the project dove-tails together at the end.

By using a project plan, the project manager is directing the project. Utilizing the knowledge and skills of the project team members, the project manager is able to successfully complete projects.