Project Managment: Land the Plane Stop Doing and Start Succeeding

We all spend time on planning vacations. If it's not you then it's probably your significant other or travel agent. Think of the time we spend choosing the destination, getting the best airlines fares, the right clothes and the best sightseeing adventures for a great trip. I know for my trip to Hawaii I wanted to make sure that I did not want to miss anything so I talked with people who had been to Hawaii for their suggestions and read up on the islands we were going to visit. And many of my clients do the same thing. But yet when it comes to project management people live in what I call a "doing" mode. Given a project a team or an individual just jump in and do with little or no planning.

Here are ten tips on how to get out of the "doing" mode and into the succeeding mode of project management.

Tip One: Destination

Establish a destination for the project is the same as establishing a charter at the beginning of the project. What is a charter? Think of it as the compass that guides your project. It is the information you need to know to be successful. Who's accountable and who's responsible for the project (they are different), what are the resources available, what are the present constraints, support available, visibility or access for project?

Tip Two: Establish a pace; two cites in ten days or five cities in seven days

Set realistic expectations for the project. In our fast paced world when the mantra is "yesterday" I agree this can be hard to accomplish. But if you don't set realistic expectations are you not setting your project and team up for failure? If getting a permit from the city now takes five weeks instead of three weeks why is that not plugged into the project plan instead of plugging in the "old" three weeks? It's not realistic. You're behind already without any unexpected hiccups in the project schedule.

Tip Three: Who's Flying the Plane?

For a project to succeed it needs sponsorship from senior management. And that sponsorship needs to be visible to management and the project team. I remember working on a project where the senior manager stood up and told us in no uncertain terms that: "I don't care if you install this new system in one store or 500 stores by Oct. 1. It will be done right and every store will be operational the morning after conversion. There will no impact on the stores". His leadership, sponsorship and ownership of this project were clear to all.

Tip Four: Project language and customs

Set aside time before the project begins for the team to set groundrules or guidelines. How will you communicate with each other? How will the team make decisions, resolve conflict and work together?

Tip Five: Be an Air Traffic Controller

How and to whom do you communicate the project's progress outside the project team is critical. This needs to done in a formal fashion in writing and maybe even by presentation. In addition what is said to people in the corridors or lunchrooms will build or destroy the confidence that management has in the project.

Tip Six: Setting an Itinerary

Just like the vacation up front detailed planning needs to be done for a project to succeed. The project plan can be a one-page sheet for a one-time event or 50 pages depending upon the complexity of the project. The key is to spend the time doing the detailed planning not rushing in "to do" the project. That's when things are uncovered in the middle of a project that seriously impacts the results or outcome.

Tip Seven: What if it Rains?

Things are going to go wrong, so you might as well plan for it. Making a Plan B helps the project team members to know how to react immediately without having to make on the spot decisions during a potential crisis. The decisions have already been made and the whole team is confident in their ability to execute both Plan A and Plan B if necessary. I worked on one project that we had Plans A, B and C. These plans covered what we thought would be the most challenging scenarios.

Tip Eight: Let's Do that on the Next Trip

This is a tough one but that is how the words enhancements and phases help a project come to reality. I bet you can think of a project or two that because of the change in requirements or adding of scope either doomed a project or made the project over budget and a year or more behind schedule. Avoid changing requirements or scope if at all possible.

Tip Nine: Utilize Early Warning Lights

Monitoring the project where issues or problems are surfaced early is a key ingredient to successful projects. The ability to be up front about issues and problems lies with the project leader and to a certain extent the project sponsor. Do they want to hear bad news? Are they open to changes based on facts? One project leader rode people so hard that they stopped giving information. In another instance several members of the project team went to the project leader and pointed out the impact of his behavior on the team and the project by being unyielding and not open to hearing people voice their concerns. If the guidelines are set in Tip Four then hopefully this will not be a problem.

Tip Ten: What Did We Learn on This Trip?

How many of us are guilty of not debriefing after a project? Or is we do not sharing the knowledge and making it part of the company's knowledge system? Sure, it takes time and after all, the project is over and we are on to something else. This I feel is the most valuable leaning lab. Not only for future projects by the team but also for each project individual who will be on other projects and will some day lead their own project.

So whether you are planning a vacation or working on a project use these tips to ensure your success. It just makes good sense, project management sense that is.

© 2001-2005 Barbara Callan-Bogia All rights reserved.

You Are Welcome To Reprint This Article

Please include the following text on your reprint:

Copied with permission of the author, Barbara Callan-Bogia. Source: www.CallanConsulting.com

Barbara Callan-Bogia, Leadership Catalyst is the founder and principal of Callan Consulting. She works with companies to bring out the best in their leaders and helps professionals bring out the best in themselves so people are contributing 110% of their talents with outstanding results.

Contact Barbara at 508-788-9056 or http://CallanConsulting.com

Check out her blog at http://www.leadershiplady.blogspot.com

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