Forward Momentum: Delivering Results

By Kathy Martucci, PMP

You’d swear that you and your team are doing everything possible to create buy-in, communicate to and assist your stakeholders.  Your stakeholders think you ignore them, hide things and hinder their progress. What is going here? Is this a matter of perspective or fact?

Good stakeholder management may be in the eye of the beholder, but it’s a critical success factor in any project large or small. So, if your customers perceive (and their perception is reality!) that you and your team are doing a less than stellar job of communicating, what can a conscientious PM do?

Stakeholder identification is key. All stakeholders, even those deemed “observers” and not active participants, should be included in any stakeholder involvement plan. Granted, the observers may not have as much influence on the project, but they are part of your community nevertheless. They must be considered.

So who does exert the most influence? That person is not necessarily highest in the organization chart. Maybe it’s the person who is most vocal and will stop at nothing to get their point across and make a statement regardless of your project objectives, schedule or budget. You know who I’m talking about – you all have THAT person’s face in your mind right now!  Analyze your stakeholders and understand how each general grouping (executives, supporters, killers, PITA’s…etc.) learns, communicates and can contribute to the success of the project.

And now the question every stakeholder has on their mind: “What’s in it for ME?”  Project politics at its best uncovers and understands the concerns of the stakeholders and does not attribute every negative or seemingly obstructive statement to a bad attitude.  Does the project provide real benefits whether they are of a personal or corporate nature?  If so, what are they in terms the stakeholder can understand and fully embrace?

While addressing those concerns based on fact, there are stakeholders that whine, complain and otherwise make your life miserable without a sound basis for their complaints.  When pressed, they cannot articulate anything you can do to assist them or allay their fears.  Many times I have been tempted to just ignore “bad” stakeholders.  Perhaps they should get less attention, but they are stakeholders no matter what and it’s our job to handle them.  Even acting as a sounding board (if you can stand it) may be helpful.

One critical factor in stakeholder management that is often overlooked is periodic review and evaluation of stakeholder identification, classification and methodologies to engage as the project evolves. Especially important in longer projects with significantly shifting scope, a re-evaluation may be a sound foundation to continuing success of the project.  Getting to Know You is an iterative process!

What have you done to make project stakeholder management work for you?

By Kathy Martucci, PMP

Strength, balance and flexibility….basic foundations of yoga AND good project management.

Try this: the next time you’re in a particularly galling meeting, inhale deeply through your nose all the way from your abdomen through your rib cage to your chest. Feel your breath bathing your inner body with light and tranquility. Hang onto that breath for a brief moment before you quietly expel it through your nose discharging all your tension and that overwhelming urge to slap whoever it is in your face now.  Soften your shoulder blades. Repeat until your blood pressure is in normal range. WOW.  That could have been the lead-in line to any yoga class.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between yoga and project management. It’s weird, I know, but kind of intriguing.

Practice strength

Most people think yoga is all about stretching. Yes, there’s a fair amount of that. But have you ever seen a yogini in crane pose, efficiently balancing her entire body weight on her palms?   It takes that kind of confident strength to be a good project manager…strength of character, integrity, perseverance…all major success factors for any PM.

Develop flexibility

Here is where the mainstream thinking of yoga lies and perhaps it’s those photographs of people in contortionist-like postures that fosters the myth. In project management, flexibility is the name of the game. Have you ever experienced an environment that requires contortionist moves and is more in need of flexibility than a project?  Creative thinking, problem solving, meeting challenges with an open mind and an ability to not just react but be proactive – all basic requirements to survive a project, let alone exceed expectations.

Cultivate balance

Stand in tree pose for 5 minutes. Sounds easy – try it sometime if you’d like a challenge.  Over time, you can improve balance with sustained practice.  In project management balance is key.  Shuffle resources, juggle priorities, maintain a work-life balance…easier said than done but critical to success.  Practice balance, improve balance.

Namaste.

By Kathy Martucci, PMP

What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when someone speaks of a non-productive team member? Is it, “Well, he needs to shape up!”?

Maybe, maybe not. We can all agree that ultimately the team member must be productive or leave the team for the good of everyone. But who is responsible for identifying the nonproductive behavior and providing an environment and actions to correct it?

Perhaps the responsibility rests with fellow team members.  If individuals want to be part of a successful team, they take the initiative to find out why a team mate is struggling. Therefore, a team member who doesn’t take the initiative because it’s not their job (or for a host of other reasons) is not functioning as a productive team member either. It’s this responsibility for each other’s performance that differentiates a team from other business units.

If the issue can’t be resolved at the team member level, it must be escalated to the project manager before the teammate’s nonperformance hurts the morale and/or work product of the team.  So, then what? Some of the strategies that can be employed to resolve the problem are as follows:

• Be brutally honest about where the problem is

If the real cause of the behavior is truly outside of the person’s control, admit it and seek to fix it. If it lies within the person’s control, be clear about it and craft an action plan that can be followed to improve performance.  Set a reasonable deadline to measure that improvement.

• Be empathetic, but not wimpy

Show sincere regard for the person’s performance and an honest desire to guide her to the desired performance. At the same time, be clear that the team can’t be negatively impacted while one person is making adjustments.

• Be inventive

Unforeseen circumstances are typical of projects. And people are the vital ingredient in projects, particularly when trying to solve problems. Encourage the non-productive person to fully contribute to the action plan and its implementation and evaluation.

• When all else fails

If you’ve exhausted all reasonable avenues, make a decision and stick by it. Decisive action on an unredeemable team member will benefit both the team member (whether he admits it or not) and the team who wants to hit the level of performance required by any project.

By Kathy Martucci, PMP

How many times have we been told that we need to “manage up”?  When someone says that, we all know what they mean.  Or do we?  What do we really need to do to manage up?

It’s been said that managing up is a complex set of skills for gaining cooperation from the boss, especially when managing both projects and people.  There’s an endless supply of articles, books, blogs, and you-name-it out there expounding on the concept and offering advice on managing your boss. 

The most intriguing tidbit I found on the subject was a basic tenet of managing up – telling the boss bad news.  No one, and I mean no one, wants to tell his or her boss bad news. Think about it…when was the last time you had to do that? Got butterflies, anyone?

Why is this so important?  “Telling the truth to the boss is the first responsibility of an ethical subordinate. We’re hired for our brains and for the ability to use them. We’re paid to give our best effort, which includes our best thinking.”

If we agree that it’s one of our most important duties, and we’re smart people, why is it so difficult to do?  Answers to that question could include: 

• Our natural resistance to conflict/confrontation
• The feeling that this goes against “being a team player”
• We’re intimidated by authority

In order for us to be as effective as we can be, we must be ready and willing to tell the boss the truth no matter what. Maybe we can use the following idea.

Remember, all of us, including our bosses: 

• Is open to new ideas and suggestions
• Wants things to happen in the most efficient way
• Wants to get best result

…and that’s the truth.