Project Candor

My 3 Top Business Books (Advisory Cloud Question)

jeanne — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 21:12:56 +0000

What are my top three business books, and why? This is a fun topic. I think my list is always changing, but for today this is my list.

1. Jesus, CEO by Laurie Beth Jones: This book teaches you how the greatest man who ever lived could build an enterprise using resources with varying skill sets and backgrounds that still exist today– 2020 years later.

2. Get Over Your Damn Self by Romi Neustadt: This is my “Stop the self-pity” book. Romi teaches frontline tactics for tackling tough tasks. It helped me breathe and stop overcomplicating things.

3. Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter: by Scott Adams. I love Scott Adams’ humor and his Dilbert cartoons. However, this book is about knowing how to persuade by appealing to others’ emotions, as well as guarding yourself against emotional persuasion.

That’s my list for today, but I’ve enjoyed many great books on leadership, self-improvement, strategic planning, and other business topics. Tomorrow, my list might be quite different.

Did You Achieve Your Expected Results?

jeanne — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 17:02:03 +0000

How do you know if your project achieved its expected results? It’s not just making the target date or coming in under budget. How do you ensure that what you planned to do is what you accomplished?

If you have been around the project world for a while, you have probably seen the tire swing picture. The original drawing comes from John Oakland’s Total Quality Management and Operational Excellence book published in 1989. You may laugh that you have experienced this type of project, but how do you know if you did?

No matter what methodology you are using, you have to know what the customer is asking. You need to clearly define and communicate their desires at the beginning and throughout each phase or sprint/release of the project to the entire team. Ensure that the customer is allowed to share with the team. Break down departmental barriers where status and updates are illusive. When reporting project status, show key milestones that are completed and ask the entire team if the milestones are on track with the requirements. Demo the ready product as early and often as possible to gain feedback from customers and the team.

Cost, budget, and Schedule tracking is essential for PMs. Maintaining a small %variance in all three categories from beginning to end can indicate the achievement of expected results. BUT if you really want to ensure you achieved your desired results, check scope against progress early and often.

Identifying Project Opportunities

jeanne — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 20:44:47 +0000

A smart runner plans his or her training, diet, equipment, budget, and physical needs when prepping for a marathon. Even so, race day can present issues that hinder a race’s successful completion. Missing a scheduled hydration stop could cause dehydration, or drinking too much water could cause hyponatremia. An injury during the event can stop the race for the runner. Early planning helps the athlete know what issues or risks to avoid, but it doesn’t provide 100% protection. But are there things to learn from the overall experience?

Similarly, project managers plan the project’s timeline and facilitate risk reviews to identify and monitor potential stumbling blocks to achieving the project’s overall goals. It is crucial to understand the common challenges and make a plan to overcome them. But don’t stop there. Savvy project managers add another perspective by identifying opportunities to improve the project outcome and provide valuable feedback to project stakeholders for continuous improvement.

How do you get a team to list the opportunities on a project and track the success? How do you get a team to understand what an opportunity comprises? One idea is to include an opportunity discussion as part of the risk review. Ask team members to identify actions that can improve day to day efficiencies, personal work satisfaction, and overall project success. Get the group to consider opportunities in the following three categories:

Team engagement
Technical focus
Continuous improvement/feedback loop

Some examples that might come from the discussion are:

Team Engagement:
- Can we find mentors to assist in the project areas where we need a more experienced skillset?
- In what ways will we recognize and reward success across the project team?
- Are there opportunities to train shadow resources that will expand our skill base across the company?
Technical Focus:
- Are there similar technical projects that the team can review before starting?
- Can we identify our “go-to” toolset and make a plan for team onboarding?
Continuous Improvement/Feedback loop
- What are our feedback mechanisms to our sponsor, stakeholders, and partners? (i.e., lessons learned at each phase or sprint)
- When identified, how are changes in our processes implemented?

Some project managers might argue that spending time identifying opportunities is time away from project tasks and ultimately doesn’t change the project’s overall goal or improve the outcome. Albert Einstein once said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” I agree with Mr. Einstein. Take a little extra time to discover opportunities for growth and improvement of your projects.