Forward Momentum: Delivering Results

by Eileen McMonagle

Editor’s note: We are pleased to welcome a new contributing author, Eileen McMonagle. We look forward to her words of wisdom.

When a project feels like it is getting out of control, don’t try to move faster with it.  Now is the time to stop.  Even though it may feel like you should be doing the opposite, stop and really look at where you are in your project.  

Where to start

Step back and take that fresh look at your project. We all know that we’re supposed to do all of the planning up front and identify every risk and potential obstacle, but how many times have you been handed a project and told to start it immediately?  Today, more than ever, project managers are asked to do more, with less, and in a shorter period of time.  In many cases, the projects that fall within the realm of big, but not huge, get started too soon.  We could be in the middle of executing and can see that the project is heading for a sharp turn in the road and …. we’re not sure if it will make it around that bend. That is the time to STOP.

1.       Talk to key stakeholders

I would recommend first that you talk to your key stakeholders and ….make sure they will tell you what they are really seeing about the progress of the project.  You have been communicating with them through the course of the project and they have the perspective of not being in the middle of the details.  Your key stakeholders are of course your Sponsor and the Senior Staff.  They can also be the key customers with whom you feel comfortable.  They should give you honest insight as to what is happening with the project from their perspective.  They may also give you some interesting information on the strengths of your project team that you may not be aware of or capitalizing on.

2.       Ensure the right people, processes and tools are in place

It is critically important that you review the end goal or “future product” of the project. Now that you are into the project, do you have the right people, systems and tools in place, at the right times, so you can complete the project on time and on budget?  When I talk to clients about envisioning that future of a big project, I liken the process to getting ready for a long car trip.  For the great majority of the time you don’t just get in a car and start driving.  Typically you map out how to get to your future destination in the most efficient way, with the least possible cost. If it’s a long trip, you also plan the provisions and tools you will need. And finally, if you are on a long trip, you usually want to take people along who you like and respect and if they have any special skills that you may need on the trip, all the better!

Now in today’s GPS world you may think, “Wait, I do just get in the car, punch in the address and start driving. “ That’s where the right tools come into play for your project.  I hope you admit though that for the long, extended trips, you develop a plan as to where you are going rather that just get in the car and follow the voice of your GPS.  

3.       Have the right team members

If you don’t mind me stretching my car trip analogy a little further, you need to make sure you have the right personnel “vehicles” in place to get your project to the right destination.  This also involves  making sure you are using all of the potential methodologies and company procedure “maps” at your disposal and that you are effectively getting your message out to all the members of your team and those key stakeholders.  This has become particularity complex these days with the myriad of ways we communicate in business.  Be open to suggestions from your team with the knowledge that this time you have taken to “stop” the project will also need to include your analysis of the impact of any changes you would propose.

4.       And finally, fight to get it right

I realize it is difficult to “stop” a project once it is started but the responsibility of a successful project is yours.  I would recommend that if you are asked to start a project too soon, put into the schedule a review milestone that will allow you to put the brakes on the project.  If you feel you will need a couple of points in the project where you will need to ‘tap the brakes” try to get them in as well.  I realize this is tough because these projects are usually on a very tight time schedule but I have had projects that had major reworks when we didn’t stop and course correct them.  It actually took longer to complete those types of project s than when we stopped and reviewed the true status of the project.

Let me know what you think

Tell me about your “off the map” projects and how you were able to get them back on track.

By Kathy Martucci, PMP

So, it’s 2011 and you’ve been assigned a “simple” project. In fact, it’s so simple there’s really no need for a formal project plan, a charter or any formal methodology for that matter. You feel good.

Day 2: the business owner calls you and asks why you are managing this project.  Why isn’t someone in her functional line managing it?  Who is working on it?  Before she hangs up on you, she sighs: “There’s no time to work on this and do our real jobs.”

In this case, a project charter with appropriate sign offs would have secured buy in from the business owner and cemented and communicated mutually agreed upon goals and objectives. You feel slightly guilty.

Day 10: the manager of another department calls you and asks why he wasn’t informed about the project since his area is affected. Who is managing this effort? Why don’t we know about it?  What’s your plan? He doesn’t hang up on you, but in time you wish he would.

A Communications Plan and Stakeholder Involvement Plan may have identified the involvement of this functional area before the manager heard about the project in the lunch room. Project management cannot be done in a vacuum regardless of how simple or complex the project. You feel queasy.

Day 20: the technical staff didn’t know they needed to refresh the servers.  The IT manager is now telling you that based on his estimates and other workload, you can have your servers in about 4 weeks if the project funds the overtime necessary. This seriously delays the software install which puts the training vendor off which breaches their contract.  Now you’re also over the original budget.

A project task list and schedule and regular meetings would have established the work breakdown structure and timeline.  Even a high level workplan can serve as a very worthwhile discussion document. You have a headache; your jaws are clenched. You start over at square one…the project is already a month late at best and over budget.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Initially, the temptation to manage a “simple” project by the seat of your pants can be really appealing and seemingly harmless. However, the use of standard project management tools and methodologies can be used in an appropriate fashion to plan, execute and control even the most basic of projects.

by Darrell G. Stiffler, PMP

If you are preparing to take the Project Management Professional (PMP) examination, I have an idea I would like to share.

You have probably been told the best way to prepare for the exam is to take as many practice exams as possible. I could not agree more. Because of the nature of the PMP examine, the wording of the questions can be very confusing. The Project Management Institute (PMI) also includes wordy questions; correct answers, but to another question; impossible questions, etc. The exam is a challenge even if you know all the material. It is as if you have to know the material AND understand how to read the questions and decipher the code.

I have taught PMP Exam preparation courses for some years now. I recently had a student who had an approach to taking the test that I thought was very creative. It could be that this idea has been around for some time and I have never heard of it. If so, I guess I’m the last one to hear about it, part of the 10% that never gets the word and when they do hear about it, they feel like they need a dunce hat. If this tip is not widely known and I come across as a genius, I’ll never tell that Bryan in my Washington, DC class, came up with the idea.

Here is the deal: when I take a multiple choice test, I do a certain amount of cogitation and guessing. When I’m done with the test and look over the answers, if I get the question correct, I breeze quickly past that question and focus on the questions that I answered incorrectly. Well folks, I’m here to tell you that not all the questions I got correct were because I knew the correct answers. Yes, I guessed. However, because I got the question correct on the practice test, I never reviewed the material that the question was referring to. We both know that this is a recepe for disaster later on. Therefore, the approach I suggest to the small minority of those who guess on questions is as follows. Take paper and write down the number of questions that you have on the test. At the top of the paper, write this scale:

                        Confidence Level 
  1 = Don’t have a clue what the answers is.
  2 = Kind-of think I might have heard the terms before somewhere.
  3 = Know most of the words and definitions of the terms.
  4 = Pretty sure I know what they are asking about and think I know the answer.
  5 = Nailed that one, piece of cake, I wish they were all this easy.

As you answer the questions and write down the alpha character that is associated with the answer you have chosen, also write down the confidence level number associated with the above description.

As you go back through and grade your answers you will now be reminded if you guessed or knew the answer to the question. If you got the answer correct but guessed at the answer, you will know to brush up on the subject. Additionally, you could add up the values of all the questions and divide by the number of questions and get a good idea how confident you were taking the test.

Let me hear from you. If you try this approach and it works for you, let me know, it will make me feel good and feel like I contributed to my profession, which by-the-way is part of the Code of Ethics. If you have already heard of this approach, let me know and I’ll not mention it again and embarrass myself.

Good Luck!

by Dr. Gerald Mulenburg, PMP

I once headed up an organization for a year while their chief was off getting a masters degree in business. I soon learned that the organization had an obsessive-meeting-compulsive-disorder. It seemed like none of the managers knew how to reach a decision, including just making it, without having a meeting of all of the key people involved and discussing every aspect of what could be done and the impact of doing it.

I found my time being consumed by attending meetings that I did not need to be at, but my name had been added to the meeting via the meeting scheduling software. With this tool, others could look at my calendar and see when I was available, and just schedule me for a meeting. I soon fixed that problem by blocking out large portions of my calendar as “not available.” This helped provide me with free time to do my work, but did not slow down the number of meetings being held. They just went ahead without me, which was fine with me.

In addition to having excessive numbers of meetings, this group of managers had difficulty getting anything done that had been decided at the meeting. There was a large poster on the wall that described what a good meeting should consist of. This included: 

• Notify people in advance of the meeting, what it would be about, where, and when.
• Have an agenda and follow it.
• Document and assign action items with due dates and follow up at the next meeting.

Believe it or not, they did those things. The problem was that the action item list kept getting longer and longer as things didn’t get done – the due dates were just extended. Despite my best efforts to change this group’s obsessive-meeting-compulsive-disorder, I failed. But with the experience I gained with them, and with familiarity of the PMBOK’s^® five key process groups, I did learn how to better manage meetings myself and have passed this information along to my students. 

Looking at the five key process groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing, I developed what I call Mulenburg’s Meetings as Projects. The result is quite simple and, if followed, will help guarantee if not fewer, at least more productive meetings.

INITIATE
- Be prepared by developing a Meeting Charter of Why the meeting will be held with Who should attend, What their roles will be, and When and Where it will be.

PLAN
- Plan How the meeting will be run and develop and publish an agenda in advance with clearly articulated purpose, expectations, and responsibilities identified for those invited.

EXECUTE
- Start on time and set the meeting rules.
- Follow the agenda.

MONITOR & CONTROL
- Have a Facilitator to manage the meeting, not the Project Manager who needs to be listening and participating.
- Occasionally summarize what has been decided or assigned and timing of agenda.

CLOSING
- Assign deliverables or actions with clear responsibilities and due dates.
- Circulate minutes immediately after the meeting to all attendees.

We all have heard about the need for the first three of these items for meetings, but our meetings still suffer once they begin. That’s where defining the entire meeting process as the Initiate-Plan-Execute-Monitor & Control-Close process of project management can make your meetings actually work. The key of course is to get someone besides the Project Manager to facilitate the meeting. This person can be anyone who can control who is speaking, who will speak next, and sticking to the agenda by staying on track and declaring when it is time to move on to the next agenda item. This can be when an item is complete or looks like more time will be needed, and can be tabled if needed or dealt with off-line from the current meeting.

The other key item in the process is to be sure the meeting is closed and decisions, actions, and responsibilities are delineated and documented in the minutes. Having a separate person take minutes on a laptop during the meeting allows for a quick review by the Project Manager and with one click sending them to all who attended, which is normally those who were invited to the meeting so you therefore already have their email addresses. Done! (At least until the follow-up begins for tracking the actions.)

With a little practice, this technique will ensure your meetings improve even if you never quite achieve perfection. Excellence is sufficient.