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One voice amongst many
I never wanted to be a project manager. At various times in my life, I have wanted to be an astronaut, a physicist, a programmer, a telecoms engineer, a telecoms manager, a product manager, a management consultant and a teacher. But never a project manager.
Like many in our profession, I am an accidental project manager. I just sort of stumbled into it unintentionally, only realising that I had become one when others started attaching the PM title to me.
Why, then, did I drift in this direction? What is it about project management that others recognised in me? (And I’m far from unique here; I think this is very much a shared experience.)
I like driving. I enjoy the act of planning and executing a route, and adapting as needed depending on traffic conditions. The discipline also appeals to me: driving is a skill that can be learnt, and developed. It helps to have a destination in mind, but even that isn’t essential; I’m happiest of all when driving round and round in circles on a track day. There is “best practice”, but there are also differing views on driving technique. On track, I enjoy trying different lines to find out what works best for me.
The analogy with project management should be obvious. There are those of us that enjoy the journey, and managing the journey, in and of itself. Having a clear destination is great – but what really matters to the project manager is finding the best way to get there. There are opportunities to try out new approaches, and to optimise the journey. Project management is a road movie. And having arrived safely (hopefully), project managers are immediately looking forward to the next trip. The journey is the important part: making things happen.
So that is what project management means to me. Project management is about making things happen, and project managers are people that like to make things happen.
Once I accepted the mantle of “project manager”, the next step was to look for best practice, start to try out alternatives, and accumulate the bits that seem to work for me. I have being doing this for around 10 years now, and the distillation has been The Seven Essentials, which you can read about on this blog. Very little of The Seven Essentials is truly original, of course. It is mostly borrowed (some would say stolen) from the best practice of colleagues, consultants and experts that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with over the years, as well as some input from Prince2, PMI PMBOK and other recognised standards.
The fun part is that project management best practice can never be complete. There are always new challenges, new approaches, new tools and technologies. So I’m always on the lookout for new ideas. Every project has its “what can I learn from this?” moments.
That is why I am excited about participating in #pmFlashBlog. It has been a challenge to write this article. As a “sermon”, it is perhaps more personal and soul-searching than my usual style. More than anything, though, I’m looking forward to read all the other contributions, which surely will provide new and thought-provoking themes to explore in the pursuit of project management excellence.
This article is my contribution to the #pmFlashBlog event, in which over 70 (and counting) PM bloggers will publish simultaneously at 01:00 GMT on 25 September 2013, on the same topic: “What does project management mean to me – a Project Manager’s sermon”
I have been invited to present a bar camp session at the Thomson Reuters London PM UnConference 2013. The topic is “soft skills”. If you are planning to attend my session and it hasn’t happened yet, please stop reading now, as there are spoilers below!
The topic was selected from a list of topics that had been requested by invitees. I am rather intrigued to know why it was suggested, and what on earth they hope to gain from the session. Surely nobody expects to learn soft skills in 30 minutes? If so, they’re going to be disappointed!
It’s a vague and fluffy term, and I intend to keep it that way. Some dislike calling it that, and I have heard “intrinsic skills” offered as an alternative – which I understand to mean the skills that are within us. “People skills” is another option.
It might be easier to define what it is not. It is not the “hard skills” of project planning, progress tracking and reporting – which is what many people think project management is all about. But practitioners with any experience know that project management is a whole lot more than that.
Let’s look at The Seven Essentials, and consider the hardness or softness of each. I’m going to borrow the Mohs Scale, which is, of course, an appropriate way to measure hardness. It goes from very soft (1 – Talc) to very hard (10 – Diamond).
Benefits tend to be hard business targets “achieve revenue of xx”, “reduce cost of operation by yy”, but may – or rather, should – also have a soft element such as “improve customer satisfaction by zz”. Hardness: 7.
Scope and Quality also tend to be defined in hard business language: “implement this new system”, but for change projects might encompass soft elements: “reorganise this department, and improve staff morale”. Hardness: 6.
Stakeholders and Communications are strongly soft factors, since we are dealing with human beings and their aspirations. Hardness: 2.
Plan. A traditional project management skill, and can be largely mechanical. Needs just a smattering of people skills to gain buy-in. Hardness: 9
Team. Entirely about getting the best out of people. Plenty of talc needed. Hardness: 1
Suppliers are people too, so a mix of soft and hard skills are called for. Negotiation is often a surprisingly soft skill, with a hard edge (“Speak softly, and carry a big stick” – Theodore Roosevelt). Hardness: 5
Risks arise from all sources in and around the project. When things go wrong, it is often a communications and/or human problem at the core. Hardness: 4
The point I’m trying to illustrate is that most of what a good project manager does relies on soft skills.
When project managers become project managers, they often start by taking a course and a qualification. That is all well and good, but the focus of these accreditations (including PMI, Prince2, APM and IPMA) tends to be hard skills. There is some soft skill content – notably in stakeholder management – and there is recognition of the importance of communications skills, but don’t expect to acquire any of these through a qualification-oriented project management course.
Some trainers incorporate excellent soft skill content in their project management courses, but they don’t tend to be the ones that are built around PM qualifications. If anyone is looking for a more holistic approach, I would be happy to recommend one or two training partners that I have worked with in the past.
Instead, if it is training you need, then look to more general management training topics, such as:
For further inspiration, there are some excellent blogs and twitter feeds worth following. I particularly enjoy:
…and of course if you are reading this, then you already know about the Q2 Associates blog.
Finally, the best way to develop your soft skills is to get some practice. Stop reading this blog, step away from MS Project, and go and talk to your team!
Here is a link to the presentation material from my Thomson Reuters session: http://prezi.com/0u1zeuvdwwaj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copyYou know what they say about first impressions? Good. I won’t bother repeating it, then.
For a Project Manager, the Project Start-up Meeting is that chance to make a positive first impression with the team. So it is perhaps surprising how often PMs just seem to “wing it”, without really having thought about the objectives, purpose and process of the meeting. Even worse, some PMs simply don’t seem to bother… which rather sets the tone for the rest of the project.
In response, I offer you this five-minute guide.
The Start-up Meeting is an opportunity to:
Depending on the size of the project, the Start-up Meeting can vary in size from a 1-2 hour meeting for the project team, through to a 1-2 day off-site workshop involving core team, extended team, internal and external suppliers, facilitators, etc.
Even for small projects, the meeting should always be held face-to-face (not a telco) to establish intra-team relationships and trust.
Naturally, I recommend applying The Seven Essentials as the basis for an agenda.
Business Benefits. Invite the Project Owner to introduce the vision driving the project, and ideally link it to corporate strategy and objectives. A good Project Owner should be able to do this with passion and enthusiasm, motivating the team to deliver to the best of their abilities, and setting the mood for rest of the meeting.
Scope and Quality. During project initiation, the Project Manager will have established the project’s deliverables, defined to a greater or lesser degree of detail depending on the circumstances. Now is the time to introduce this to the team, examining the definition of Scope, and ensuring a common understanding. Where there is uncertainty or ambiguity, this needs to be explored and understood. Quality requirements also need to be defined. Is a “beta release” approach allowed — with known omissions or faults? Or perhaps there are safety or security requirements that are absolute.
Stakeholders and Communications. Again, the PM will have established an initial view during initiation. The Start-up Meeting provides an opportunity to review and possibly update the Stakeholder list and Communications plan. In particular, ensure that the team is understands and is comfortable with the communications that they can expect to receive, and also that they are committed to the communications that they are expected to provide (e.g. reporting deadlines).
Plan. At least some of the team should have been involved in planning activities already. Now introduce it to the full team, and have them work through their own part to ensure full understanding and commitment. New information may come to light — don’t forget to ask about holiday commitments — so don’t be afraid to update the plan accordingly. Ensure that all activities have a clear owner. Check that appropriate contingency has been built in (based on past experience), and that dependencies are mapped and understood.
Team. Is the team complete? Are there any gaps? Does the team feel empowered, capable and confident of delivering? If not, what needs to be done about it: perhaps additional skills or resource, specialist input, training? The Start-up Meeting also provides the opportunity to start building a high-performing team, particularly important if these individuals have not worked together before. Within the constraints of company culture and available budget, now is a good time to work in some team-building activities. Try to have some fun!
Suppliers. If possible, include the major suppliers (internal and external) in the Start-up Meeting. They are part of the extended team, and are critical to the project success. Make sure they understand what is expected of them, and why the team relies on them. Understand their constraints, and give them ample opportunity to explain what they need from the team, why, and when.
Risks. Reviewing risks should be a regular team activity, and the Start-up Meeting is the first iteration. Work through the risk register, add new risks as perceived by the team – and retire any that are no longer relevant. Review mitigation actions and assign owners. Review contingency plans.
A well-planned Start-up Meeting gets the project off to a good start, not just in terms of the mechanics of the project (the plan, the tasks, the responsibilities), but also setting the mood and atmosphere – hopefully one of cooperation, enthusiasm, openness and commitment. You should aim to spend enough time speaking to establish authority and leadership, and to spend even more time listening and questioning.
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