Business Record - Iowa Biz

Thanks To You Meddling Kids!

Recently, my daughters and I have been enjoying some vintage Scooby Doo episodes.  At the end of each episode, in a typically formulaic approach, the bad guy (after being unmasked) would utter something like, "Yeah, and I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

It would appear as though Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby stuck their noses where they didn't belong... and turned it into a career which spans generations.

What about your projects?  Do you have a few of "those meddling kids" among your project team?  Are you asking the right questions about your projects:

• Why are we doing this project?
• What are we trying to improve?
• What's wrong with the status quo?
• What will it do for our company?
• Who cares about this project?
• What can go wrong if we proceed?

Make sure you have somebody documenting these questions (and their answers) as you will invariably having people asking these same questions throughout the life cycle of your project, and it will help to have this information readily available so everyone gets the same answers.  Let "those meddling kids" ask any questions they want... the only bad question is the one not asked.  I was reading a post by Stephane Bourbonniere about e-Discovery projects.  In this post, he talks about some of the right questions to ask... BEFORE he even launches into the project management issues.  Yes, snooping around for clues is encouraged.

If you don't have any meddling kids on your project, if there are no people asking questions, if there are no hungry dogs sniffing around your project, I can only say one thing:

Jinkies, Shaggy!

Dear Mr. President

As of writing this, I do not know if I'm addressing Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama.  My message is the same, regardless of which one of you wins.

First of all, congratulations on winning one of the most epic and historic elections ever.  As one who loves the art and science of office politics, I've been riveted to the dramatic twists and turns the past 10 months have provided.

Now, however, it's time to get down to business.  And I have but one request for your performance as "Leader of the Free World":  it's time to quit acting like a politician and start acting like a project manager.  Since you're a Washington Insider, I'll explain in simple terms and try to use small words:

1. Prioritize - As a project manager, it's impossible to do everything to make everybody happy.  Our profession is blocked in by the triple constraint.  You'd better learn this principle quickly.  You have a few things that are the top of everybody's minds:  Economy, environment, education and enforcement being among them.  Special interests and party politics will need to take a back seat.
2. Define - once you've established your priorities, you will need to figure out what your project solution will look like.  You're going to get battered around quite a bit, but you're the leader we elected, so we'll expect you to have the diplomatic backbone to sell your solutions across party lines and also make all of the Joe-The-Plumbers and Joe-Six-Packs content.  Along with this, don't forget to create some metrics so you can prove to your nay-sayers you were successful.
3. Plan - create a timeline for the tasks needed to make your solution.  Get the right resources in place to make them a reality.  Make a budget.  Identify and strategize your risks.  Set the expectations of your stakeholders.  Don't get distracted by all of the special interests who will want to add to your plans.  It's called "pork" and we're sick of it.  (In project terms, we call it "scope creep."  Either way, it's bad.)
4. Lead - protect the project priorities, stay focused on the key things, execute your plans, remove obstacles for your project resources and keep us informed.  Work with us... ALL of us... Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Federal employees, State employees, Local employees and regular citizens who know how to think and solve and articulate and get things done.

Regardless of which of you wins the election, my wish, my hope and my prayers are the same, Mr. President: Act more like a project manager than a politician and figure out how to Carpe Factum.

Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About

As a project management consultant, one question I receive very regularly is how to motivate the project team, especially if the project is long.

My philosophy on motivation is to get people who really want to be on my project in the first place... in other words, to generate my own passion and energy.  If they don't want to be on my project, I like to give them a reason to want to be on my project.  I mention this article when I teach classes, but Tom Peter's Wow Project article is timeless.  Talk about building passion into ANY project.

The most exciting project I was ever on was a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance implementation.  Why was it fun?  We made a conscious decision to make it fun.  We built relationships within the core team.  We did goofy things for the training video.

There are some projects where the scope is so boring that you really just need to trudge through it.  However, what really makes or breaks the motivation factor is how much people know you care about them.

Here are a few things you can do to make your project more enjoyable and keep people motivated:

• Food - There's a reason Jesus held the Last Supper instead of the last board meeting.  Have a food day.  Take your team out for lunch.  Cater lunch in.  There's just something about the tantalizing aroma of chow that gets people up and going.
• Certificates and Recognition - Criticize in private; praise in public.  Make a big deal when an individual (or even better, a team) has a big win.
• Play - not only will it get people away from their work for a while, it's been shown that play time actually improves people's creativity and analytical thinking skills.  Building some play time into the day may make your team more productive.
• Brand yourself - give your project its own brand (T-shirts are a fun way to advertise your brand identity), but give your style of management and leadership its own brand as well.  Create a brand story that says, "Hey, I'm both fun and productive" and you'll have people beating down the doors to work on your project.
• Budget for it - stick in an extra few bucks (the amount will depend on the size of the team and the length of the project) to do a few really special things for people throughout the project life cycle.

These are just a few things you can do to help people trudge through the sometimes less-than-pleasant activity of project management.

Carpe Factum!

Vanilla, Please

I'm currently in New Orleans speaking at the local PMI chapter event:  Project Management All Jazzed Up. It's been a wonderful visit, and I've enjoyed sharing with fellow practitioners how to become more creative and how to build "office politics proofing" into their project plans.

One workshop I attended yesterday was entitled "Fight for the cause" by Lisa DiTullio. Wow! She was an amazing speaker who exuded credibility, having pulled off an incredible multi-million dollar project recovery for a major health-care insurance institution in Boston.

What impressed me about her presentation was not a lot of flash or theory, however. Lisa and I are actually kindred spirits:  we like simplicity. She told a story of being a young girl in south suburban Boston and going with her large Italian family for ice cream every Sunday afternoon. Given all of the flavors to choose from, she always selected vanilla.

Why? Well, the flavor of vanilla is basic. It maintains its integrity. It's simple, without pretense. And it's very easy to accessorize. You can add just about any ice cream condiment to vanilla ice cream and it improves both. Having watched my daughter request sour gummi worms with her bubble gum ice cream, I know there are combinations which no rationally thinking person should attempt.

How vanilla are your project management processes? Are you easily wowed by the chocolaty richness of Lean Manufacturing? What about the fruitiness of Six Sigma? The big problem with these is that they leave little room for flexibility. Is there a nutty consultant who has sold you their "flavor of the month"? The templates for these methodologies work well if you stay strictly within their confines. Lisa and I talked for a long time yesterday after our respective workshops were finished, and we realized that while we're both pro-process, we're anti-methodology. We like to keep things simple in our project processes and then accessorize to fit the situation. We may pull in a tool from Lean or Six Sigma, or we may just make up a new "flavor" depending on the need. But by going vanilla, we keep our flexibility intact.

Are you afraid of project management because of the complexity of some of the methodologies out there? Are you overwhelmed by the sheer volume? I have a book on my shelf at home of project templates - it's over two inches THICK. I rarely reference it. It's easy to become spooked by project management. Hence, I choose to manage my projects with a foundation of only four documents:

• Business Case to justify why the project is needed
• Project Plan to say what needs to be done by when and by whom
• Status Report to tell how well we're progressing against the plan
• Issues/Risks log to highlight potential roadblocks

Then you can accessorize this "vanilla" project management with additional tools and templates... AS THEY ARE NEEDED.  How can you make your project management more vanilla to maximize both flavor and flexibility?

Carpe Factum!

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

I was planning on writing about risk analysis and quantification for this post, and I was wracking my brain to figure out a good segue into the topic. So I must remember to send a nice hand-written note to the executives at AIG, Morgan Stanley, Freddie and Fanny and Lehman Brothers.

In my last post, we covered ways to identify risks in your projects.  Now we need to quantify those risks... in other words, figure out how potentially bad they can be.  Our goal here is not to have exact numbers, but to be able to make intelligent decisions about whether to spend money and energy to avoid or mitigate the risk.

The calculation to figure out the "cost" of the risk (otherwise known as Expected Monetary Value, or EMV), is pretty simple.  First, you should determine the probability that the risk event will occur (e.g., there's a 20 percent chance Sally will quit unexpectedly). Then calculate the impact of the risk event should it occur (e.g., if Sally quits, it will cost us $40,000 to backfill her position).  EMV is simply the product of the two numbers.  So the "Sally Risk" is worth 20 percent x $40,000 = $8,000.

What? You say you don't have time to put an exact probability or dollar figure to each risk?  I don't either. In one of my most successful risk management projects (a highly complex program involving hundreds of resources and a detailed process/system overhaul), we created a very simple 5x5 grid to calculate risk:

The program executive, the technical lead, and I sat down over a long meeting and threw out the first number that came into our head for each risk.  (Surprisingly, we agreed the first time about 90 percent of the time; for those where we disagreed, we had some great dialogue.) We then multiplied the two numbers together to come up with a composite risk score. If the risk score was higher than eight (8), we paid attention to it. For those which scored less than 8, we revisited them about once a month.  So it's not necessary to do complicated Monte Carlo calculations, difficult computer-generated models, or expensive and time-consuming in-depth research.  Risk analysis and quantification can occur very quickly, yet still provide you with the ability to make quick decisions about the important project risks on which you should focus.

Like the $85 billion ones.

Carpe Factum.

What? Me? Worry?

Having a pre-schooler in the house is a continual lesson in risk management.  Try as I might to keep her from harm, the prevailing question in our house is not WHETHER we will go to the emergency room, but WHEN we will be heading there.  I'm not sure what her guardian angel did to honk off the Almighty and wind up with my daughter as his responsibility, but I'll be sure to thank him some day.  A typical soundtrack for any given day in our house sounds something like:

Me: "Abby, stop that/slow down/be careful.  You're going to get hurt."
Abby: "No I won't!" (Insert sound of running or continued activity, followed by a THUD and the sound of crying.)
Me: "Honey, what happened?"
Abby: "I fell down and got hurt."
Me:  "Hmmmm"

As a project manager, you may not like to think anything bad could possibly happen.  The internal voice which just keeps prompting you to "think happy thoughts" also prevents you from seeing what might possibly go wrong.  Franke James, a good friend and a stunning visual essayist, recently created a very telling blog post on a series of explosions which recently rocked her world.  A propane depot less than five miles away blew up, causing 12,000 people to evacuate in the middle of the night.  Her husband dismissed it as an unpredictable event, but Franke had other thoughts:

Yes, it had a massive impact.  But it was NOT unpredictable.  It was entirely foreseeable.  The residents complained to the city about safety violations.  Twenty-one years ago the city planning commissioner warned of this, except he predicted even greater loss of life.  It was just luck that the explosion occurred at 4 a.m. on a Sunday night.  If it had been a weekday, the loss of life could have been catastrophic.  As it was, two people died.

Franke goes on to do a brilliant risk analysis.  She provides a model for every project manager.  Too often, egos, ignorance and schedules get in the way of really diving down into the details of what can go wrong.

Before running headlong into a project, spend time brainstorming with as many people as you can get to participate to identify all of the possible things that can go wrong.  Make sure you write them down (if they're not documented, they don't exist).  To help get you started, here are some of my favorite categories of risk management brainstorming, just to prime the mental pump:

• Hardware issues (including sourcing and supplying)
• Software issues (version control and compatibility)
• Vendor issues (delivery and solvency)
• People issues (performance capabilities, availability, office politics)
• Budget issues (economy, competing projects)
• Managerial issues (weak sponsorship, lack of consistent project processes)
• Manufacturing issues (supply chain, machinery, or infrastructure)

In my next blog post, I'll share with you how to analyze those risks.  But for now... start looking at what can go wrong.

Carpe Factum!

The Summer Games: 14X40 Vacation Relay

I love the Olympics (summer or winter games).  Regardless of my schedule, I take time to watch and cheer as the world comes together.  The variety of games and the diversity of skill to excel amazes me as I watch the peak of athletic prowess in action.  (By the way, a gigantic Iowabiz CONGRATS to Shawn Johnson - you've made your state proud of you, both by your performance and by your gracious integrity.)

In our offices, there is a different kind of summer game, and it seems to bring most projects to an excruciating halt in the 14 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  I refer to it as the 14X40 Vacation Relay.  The 40 hours a week you get are about as productive as a sloth at a relaxation clinic.  You can't see it directly, but some of the color commentary sound like the following:

• "Sorry, but we can't sign off on the deliverable.  The executives on the Steering Committee won't all be back in the office at one time until September."
• "What do you mean Fred is unavailable?  A three week fishing trip?!  He's supposed to be working on this critical path task due this week!"
• "I can appreciate the fact that Andrea's kids are home on summer vacation, but we need her subject matter expertise, or we can't move forward."
• "I know you're waiting on a hiring decision from us, but we can't sync up all of interviewers calendars for a couple of months."

How do you combat this phenomenon, short of shutting down every project in your organization for three months each year?  Keep everyone from taking a vacation?  Hmmm, that seems a little intense (as well as counter-productive, according to Andrew Trent).  There are a few simple strategies to help you mitigate this problem:

1. Revisit your project plan at the beginning of summer - what major deliverables are due in June, July and August?  Who is assigned to them?  What are the risks associated with getting them done on time?  Do they really need to be completed during these months or can they be delayed.
2. Block off "high volume vacation weeks" on your plan - I generally will block off the entire weeks of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day so in my plan, no work is scheduled.  But I don't tell my team this (so don't let my secret out, OK?).  During these weeks, where so many are gone anyway, it allows those still in the office to play catch-up on behind tasks.
3. Have critical resources assign proxies - if there is a resource on your project who might be unavailable when critical deliverable or hiring decisions need to be made, ask them to assign a back-up who will be there when they aren't.  Allow them to negotiate what level of authority the proxy has, but allow enough leeway to keep the project moving forward.
4. Touch base proactively - I provide my teams with a 3-week look-ahead report (generated directly from the project plan) so everybody knows what is due in the immediate future.  We talk about these upcoming tasks weekly, so I know early if there are resource availability issues and can mitigate schedule risks.
5. Compare your end-of-summer plan with your start-of-summer plan - use variances as a "lesson learned" along with explanations of what caused the variance.

Again, the 14X40 vacation relay does not need to be a "summer game event" which shuts down the entire organization.  With some project planning and a lot of proactive communication, you can make summer as productive as the other nine months of the year.

Carpe Factum!

It's Decision-Making - Don't Blow It

This summer, I've sought a few relaxation techniques to add balance and equilibrium to the life of this dad/husband/project manager/writer/speaker/college professor/other duties as assigned.  One such pursuit has been the Native American flute.  Keep in mind, I'm not very musically inclined.  With the Native American flute, I don't really have to be.  It works on a pentatonic scale (i.e., 5 notes) as opposed to the 7-note scale of other traditional instruments (not to mention all the requisite sharps and flats which add complexity).  Five notes.  That's it.  Hit any one of the five, and it sounds hauntingly beautiful.  The concert tour will be scheduled any day now.  OK, maybe not.

The Native American flute can teach us some lessons about decision-making when selecting a solution for our project.  Often, we encourage our teams to brainstorm and believe the sky is the limit.  However, when it comes to presenting solutions to the decision-makers, one is never enough, but it is also possible to have too many solutions.  Why not use the approach of the Native Americans?  A maximum of five alternatives.  Any one (or any combination) of those five will sound good.  Providing only one alternative gives decision-makers (usually attention-deprived executives) the chance to dislike it and send you back to the drawing board (and who would want to listen to only one note?).  Provide them with too many alternatives and their eyes glaze over (along with more chances to get it wrong).

I found a blog post with some good pointers on brainstorming and problem-solving techniques.  Their eight steps are in about every management 101 textbook you'll find:

1. Look for the reason. Specify the problem and identify the reason, why it must be solved.
2. Look for all available information relating to the problem and list them.
3. Define the judgment criteria. What principles or standards should be met for one of the alternative solutions to emerge as the best solution?
4. List as many possible choices as possible through discussions and brainstorming sessions. The more ideas you generate, the closer you move to the optimal solution.
5. Examine each choice on the yardstick of standards and judgment criteria that you have defined. Determine the pros and cons of each alternative.
6. Identify the best alternative. This is relatively an easy step, once you have sequentially followed the above steps.
7. Initiate the plan of action. The decision you have just taken must be transformed into action. In absence of the execution of plan, the very reason for making decision will be nullified.
8. Finally the consequences of your decision and the steps leading to it must be examined and evaluated so as to learn the valuable lessons. This hones up your decision making skills further.

However, there are probably a couple of steps missing in the 5-6 range.  My additions would be as follows:

• (5.1) Narrow down the alternatives to no more than five possible ones.  Just like the notes at either end of the scale are the hardes to hit, put the least favorable alternatives at the start and finish.  (Working from the middle is a great rhetoric technique.)
• (5.2) Present to the decision-makers and get their commitment to your solution, securing you resources and support as you prepare for steps 6 and 7.

Any project solution you present should then be a lot easier if you just ensure your project is solving the right problem.  Then you'll be making beautiful music for your organization!

Carpe Factum!

The Patient Is Recovering Nicely, Thank You

Yes, it's true.  Iowabiz.com is back up and running, thanks to new sponsorship of The Business Record.  I'm excited to be back in the saddle (although having a couple of months off with one less blog was a nice reprieve).

I've written in the past about effective project recovery and rescue techniques, and I've learned a thing or two about getting a flailing project back on its feet.  It's been interesting watching Drew McLellan and the Business Record folks as they breathe life back into Iowabiz, and it brings to light an interesting aspect of project recovery:  PUBLICITY.

Yes, every project manager knows (or should know) that 90% of effective project management is communication.  Stakeholder communication becomes even more critical when dealing with a project recovery.  Merely having a recovery plan isn't good enough; it has to be communicated and sold to those who endured the originally failed project.  So communication in and of itself isn't enough.  You now have to SELL, SELL, SELL your project as never before.  As Amy Alberg of the Making Things Happen blog states:

The next stage is to develop your project recovery plan and sell it to the team, stakeholders, customers, suppliers etc that may be part of project. Begin your planning and communication with a healthy dose of reality. If something should have worked based on X assumption and it wasn’t, don’t continue to assume it will and determine a viable alternative. The recovery plan itself will vary widely based on the size, scope and type of project you are working on. Basic elements are issue statement, root cause, impact, resources required, short term actions, long term actions, date fix will be in place, who the accountable person will be. If there are multiple options, than lay those out without playing the blame game so decision can be made. This will take strong communication and salesmanship to convince all parties that this project will be successful and ensure strong support needed. At this point, you may be communicated with a frustrated team, angry customers, internal political battles, competing agendas, etc so be deliberate in crafting your message.

One of the big lessons I've observed watching the Business Record that every project manager could learn is that one communication channel/medium isn't enough.  It's a publicity full-court press.  Don't assume that a blanket email will cover everybody's communication needs.  Hold a "town hall" meeting.  Schedule one-on-one's with key decision-makers.  Set up an internal website or blog or Facebook group to carry on an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders.  Heck, perform an interpretive dance in the company lobby if it will get people's attention (just don't put your CFO in a tutu - I hear he doesn't have the legs for it).

Remember, you want people to be well informed that 1) the project is being recovered, and 2) you have things well under control.

Welcome back, Iowabiz!

Carpe Factum!

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Do you have an action plan in place just in case things get really wild and crazy on your project?  Do you know what you need to do first?  Second?  Whom should you call?  What is the first meeting you should hold?  What messages should you relay?

We spend a lot of time and energy on business resumption and disaster recovery plans for our organizations.  Do we know how to apply these concepts for our projects?

In your next risk management plan, put in a scenario for "everything bad happens at once" and see how well you can prepare for it

Carpe Factum!