A Way to Better Meetings, Projects and Communication

by: stacey - February 17th, 2012   Filed under: Management, Project Management Add Comment

Scott Berkun wrote an excellent post a while back over at his blog about stopping over-communication.  He makes some great points on why over-communication happens and how to fix it.  I agree with his main points, and I think they particularly apply to meetings.  As Scott advises:

Overcommunication is a symptom of lack of clarity over power.  If you want better communication, clarify the following:

  • Who is the single person who has decision making authority for decision X
  • Who should have input into that decision
  • Who should be informed when the decision has been made

What Scott’s points address, really, is people’s tendency to defer.  It’s a proven theory that if a person is lying helpless on the street, the more people are present, the fewer are willing to do anything- and so it goes with meetings and projects.  You *have* to do something, it’s your job, so you do- but what people do is the path of least commitment.  They talk about things, rather than make decisions and take action.  The act of clarifying what has to be done and who must do it immediately removes that ambiguity for everyone and gets the team moving.

This leads to how to improve your meetings and projects- always make certain that actions that need to be taken are captured, including decisions to be made.  Make sure that the person responsible for the action is declared.  Doing so is a basic principle in project management, but it often gets lost in the communication aspects.  Calling a meeting to clear a roadblock or make an important decision is not enough; who has authority to solve the problem needs to be decided as well.

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Assumptions: The (Project) Killer App

by: stacey - February 14th, 2012   Filed under: Project Management Add Comment

Every real project manager knows that the foundation of project management is communication.  You can abandon work breakdown schedules, budgets, gantt charts, the whole nine yards of project management structure, and the project will still have a chance to succeed.  If you abandon communication, you’re doomed from the start.

Today we’re here to talk about the anti-communication.  Assumptions.  We all have them.  We all make them.  And they are slowly killing your projects on a daily basis.

Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad.  Assumptions are , however, a significant, real danger that you have to watch in your project.  They are big enough that this topic should come up on every project risk assessment.  There are five major types of assumptions you have to watch for:

  • Assumptions of understood information:  not everyone in your project knows all the terminology or has the same background on what you’re doing.  Not everyone will say so, however.  It’s sometimes difficult to speak up when you feel like the only one in the room who doesn’t know something.  Level the playing field whenever possible here.  Open up conversations in project meetings and make sure you get folks on the same page whenever possible.
  • Assumptions of understood responsibilities:  not everyone will automatically know what their tasks are, or when to start them.  Make sure you follow up with folks often.  Seek clarity when you do, and if someone doesn’t understand what they need to be doing be active on getting it fixed.
  • Assumption of dedication:  your project will not stay at the top of everyone’s priority list.  It just won’t happen.  Something will come up.  Keep an eye on your resources to be aware of if they are on task.
  • Assumption of interest:  not everyone will support or want your project, no matter how good of an idea it sounds like.  There’s always some people who don’t like change.  Keep an eye out for these folks and work with them where you can.
  • Assumption of correctness:  Projects always begin with the premise that this project is the right thing to do.  Anywhere, any time during your project, it might be discovered that this is not the case.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a project continue on long after it’s discovered that folks are on the wrong track.  Keep an eye out for validation that you’re doing the right thing.

These sound like common sense, but common sense sometimes gets left on the side of the road as projects gain steam.  Keep your eye on these things in your projects.

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Four Things You Can Do to Hire Better and Head Off Resource Issues Early

by: stacey - February 6th, 2012   Filed under: Planning, Project Management Add Comment

Here’s something that gets me every time.  A department within the company gets really busy.  Projects start to mount up.  The product they’re selling gets hot.  Customers are demanding more.  It quickly becomes obvious that they need more staff.  Everyone talks about it.  Everyone quickly agrees.

So obviously, since everyone agrees, and they can see the problem, they immediately go out and hire someone, right?  Wrong.  Someone has to have actually cost-justify the new hire to HR, Finance, and depending on the company, who knows who else.  Then they have to define the job and write a job description.  Fill out paperwork.  Review resumes.  Interview.  Choose a candidate.  The whole time, they have to keep going at their regular job, where they are by now very short-staffed.

So what happens in the meantime?  Management often does not notice it, but in the meantime, they get a huge black eye.  Employees in the department become disgruntled at all the extra work and the apparent lack of action on management’s part, either because they don’t know about the bureaucracy involved, or even worse, because they know about all the bureaucracy involved.  Customers are getting short-changed because a) you’re shorthanded and b) the staff you do have aren’t doing as good a job because they’re overloaded.  By the time the new employee starts, he or she is brought into a culture of team members who will likely bad-mouth management for their lack of action to help, and to irate customers who have low opinions of your company.  In no time, they’re wondering if they did the right thing coming to work for you.

Does this always happen?  No, not always, but way too often for my taste.  I have seen this many times.  As management, none of us want to see it happen.

So what is your organization doing to prevent it from happening?  Here are a few things you can and should do to prevent this:

  • Put a manpower forecasting plan in place for all your departments and project teams.  Require that each manager and PM give you a defined plan, ahead of time, that tells you how they plan to predict when they need employees.  Examine the plans and make sure the reasons are cost-justifiable.
  • Examine your process for justifying new employees.  Find a way to bring your forecasting plans into this.  Streamline it as much as possible so that once you know you have a need and a cost justification, you can get things approved quickly.
  • Meet with HR, Finance, IT and other organizations involved in getting a new employee approved, on board, and working.  Streamline your processes where possible and make certain that getting new employee requests processed, the employee on board and working is one of your top priorities.
  • Have your managers and PMs provide you with a hiring plan.  The hiring plan should provide how they plan to get job descriptions, resume reviews, and other tasks involved in hiring people accomplished.  Have them set time tables for it.  In reality, business may not allow them to meet these time tables; however, thinking out the plan and having it onhand will help them see what they need to do and help them get it done more easily when the heat is on.

Lack of resources when you need it are something that can cripple your company.  Having resources when you need them is a basic principle of maintaining business agility.  Don’t leave the hiring process out of your plans for maintaining a business edge.

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