Guest Blogger: Unlikebefore

Guest Blogger: Unlikebefore
by Deanne Earle

Deanne is an expert at initiating, leading, and delivering change projects. She helps clients bridge the gap between their projects and organization, fully empower their employees, and accelerate results. Hands-on or hands-off Deanne's project-specific services, eBooks, keynotes, and leadership mentoring program helps clients strengthen leadership and accelerate project delivery. If you think working with Deanne could help your projects and teams visit www.unlikebefore.com for more information or contact her by email at: dcearle@unlikebefore.com. Click HERE to see her blog.

A Project Manager’s New Best Friend

5 October 2010 - POSTED by Deanne Earle

White wine vinegar is my new best friend. For some reason the moons aligned and two people in so many days told me that white wine vinegar was the best thing since sliced bread for removing lime scale. So come Saturday, I was busy with my bowl of one-part vinegar to 4-parts water discovering the power of this exceptionally effective and efficient green cleaning product. Not only did I save myself a load of elbow grease, the house smelled nicer and I was finished in half the time.

My green cleaning got me thinking about all those products in my laundry cupboard and that, as you would expect, turned my brain towards project management. Like my myriad of cleaning products, projects can be managed with a variety of methodologies and approaches. All do a job but are they really doing what it says on the packet? Then there’s the question of cost. At one major UK supermarket, white wine vinegar is £0.97/unit, which works out to be £1.94/ltr. Yet Viakal, a big seller when it comes to sorting out lime scale, is £2.98/unit or £5.96/ltr. Even if that’s not your local currency, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to appreciate the cost savings on that one. Perhaps we should be analyzing and challenging the benefits of the tools we use on our projects through a different set of criteria.

The parallels to project management or projects in general are not that far fetched. Business professionals around the globe and up and down an organization are sometimes mistaken by what’s on the outside rather than what’s going on inside. I know I was never satisfied with Viakal, Cif or any of the other products I used until introduced to my new best friend. It takes a lot impress me, but within minutes I was trumpeting vinegars success to anyone who’d listen. Can I say that about the various project methodologies available to the market? To be honest, I’m not swayed by what the method or approach is called, how it’s packaged, or the pain it’ll address because usually when they’re applied in a pragmatic way with a huge helping of common sense, I can appreciate the merits of all or any of them. But when they’re used with dogmatic determination because "this is what we must do!" I challenge their usefulness and question the sensibility of those applying them, which is exactly what I’m doing with my cleaning products.

So next time you go to invest a significant proportion of your budget in the project methodology with the flashy packaging and exceptional sales pitch that will make your house sparkle more than the Great Star of Africa diamond, pause for a moment. Open that laundry cupboard or PMO filing cabinet, check what’s already there and ask:

Are you efficient?
Are you effective?
What results are you giving me?
What’s my payback?

If what you’re thinking of buying brings you more of the same, take another look and see if you can’t find your own new best friend.

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The 4 P’s of People on Projects

30 August 2010 - POSTED by Deanne Earle

Ty Kiisel recently wrote about how we automatically do things that others don’t necessarily know how to do. His example came from spending time teaching friends how to fly fish. Like Ty, I also love fishing, however, I prefer the sea to the river. That might seem a bit weird for a girl, but I grew up in a city where about 1 in 3 households owned a boat and because my family has always been a part of that statistic I was hooked, so to speak, at a very early age. Now whenever I’m home I spend as much time as possible out on the boat with a fishing rod in one hand and the next piece of bait in the other.

But like most things, a great day’s fishing doesn’t happen by waving one’s magic wand in the air and keeping fingers crossed. Project teams can’t perform at their best with that as a baseline either. The same principles that turn a fishing trip into a great day out go a long way towards developing a superb project team. I’ve narrowed them down and called them the 4 P’s of People on Projects.

Preparation: PMs know all about preparing for a project. We have a map (project plan), directions (objectives), and supplies (tools, techniques, budget, team, etc…). All we have to do is get on with it, right? Ha, if only it were that simple! Projects and their success rely on people and any PM worth their hourly or daily rate will be equally thorough in their preparation at a human level as they are at everything else; they’ll show leadership from the start to maximize the chances of success. This cascades through the team allowing them to prepare individually and jointly with clear boundaries and expectations. Forgetting the bait and running out of fuel is not a good start to the day!
Practice: I started with a sprat line off the wharf and soon moved on to a big-girl’s fishing rod. It took practice and some help from my Dad to master the change. Like me, people on projects don’t always get it right the first time. I’m an advocate for situational and experiential learning, so even if someone’s done it before, they need to continue to focus; adjust something here or try something different there, to do better next time. Our job as PM’s is to give encouragement, guidance, and the opportunity for practice. If we don’t, how else will anyone improve?
Patience: With project deadlines getting tighter, PMs need to hone their instincts. We must intuitively know when to bite our tongue and when to push back. Being patient early allows us to get to know people’s natures and people, like fish, will tease to see how far they can get before being caught. Personally, I like the 3 strikes and you’re out approach, which in tandem with practice, sets clear boundaries and behavioral expectations. If that fails try breathing 1, 2, 3…
Prize: My scrap of patience paid off this year with the best snapper I’ve caught for a long time. It weighted about 2.5kg (5lb), gave me a huge buzz and a full stomach. Every person on a project wants the big prize; to see their project Go Live, deliver against expectations and be labeled by all as a resounding success. It makes good reading on CVs, helps with promotions or career prospects, gives people something to crow about and can lead to repeat business for contractors. If everyone does the other P’s well, the prize will be a no-brainer.

What’s my ultimate fishing prize? To catch, tag and release a marlin. I think I’ll need a bigger rod for that though…

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Multi-Tasking: As Easy As Making Toast

23 July 2010 - POSTED by Deanne Earle

On the morning’s when I have toast for breakfast (actually that’s most mornings) the same thing happens, I multi-task. Some of the steps are of course singular yet for streamlined efficiency of process I must be able to do more than one thing at once at various times.

The process I follow is always the same…

Get the toaster out
Find the bread
Put said bread in said toaster and push the button for ‘toast’

Now the multi-tasking starts. While the bread is toasting away I get everything else I need; plate, knife, butter, vegemite (insert favorite spread) and put them on the bench (that’s a counter for my American cousins). What, you call this multi-tasking? Of course it’s multi-tasking—I’m cooking the toast, thinking about not burning, concerned that it doesn’t cook enough, and at the same time I’m getting everything else I need. Once toasting is complete I’m into single task mode again…

Remove lid from butter
Spread the toast
Replace lid
Repeat with vegemite (or preferred spread)

Done and ready to eat. But wait, there’s more multi-tasking yet…

Pick up toast, take bite, chew
While chewing put butter in fridge and carrying toast in other hand for next bite
Repeat while putting the vegemite away
Take more bites and chew while wiping down the bench and putting the toaster back where it lives.

Voila!

My toast analogy may have flaws but hopefully you get my drift. Multi-tasking is not rocket science. It’s something we do all the time. All we’ve done is given the term some sort of special meaning that moves it up the necessary-skill-list when we talk about projects. Admittedly there are those people who are better at multi-tasking than others and they can be great to have in your project team because you almost end up with 2 or 3 resources instead of 1; almost. People only become good at multi-tasking through practice, because that’s all it takes. Keep doing it enough and you’re bound to get better at it.

All projects need PM’s and team members who can multi-task because on every project you will have a long list of things to do, remember, write down, make instant decisions on or think about. Being able to make sense of all that in a heartbeat as questions or demands come at you from all directions shows you can multi-task.

So, get out there and practice. Then learn when to apply your multi-tasking abilities and when to leave them by the wayside because there will be times when certain tasks need your undivided attention. Like licking the vegemite off the knife…

One final comment… no matter how much you blokes practice women will continue to be superior at all things multi-task related. Your challenge is to prove me wrong!

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There is no Fog!

18 May 2010 - POSTED by Deanne Earle

As professional project consultants we often have the opportunity to travel here and there and everywhere working with lots of different clients on a variety of projects. I don’t know about you, but whether I’m abroad for business or pleasure I observe everything, noticing all those weird little idiosyncrasies that seem to go unnoticed by others.

My latest observation is fog lights. Not the fog lights themselves per se but how they’re used. Today’s cars have fog lights as standard and they serve a very specific purpose that seems to have got lost amongst the excitement lots of buttons and levers on modern vehicles generates. The Automobile Association gives some solid advice for driving in the fog and I quote, "Use common sense when it comes to fog lights. Some drivers are worried about dazzling other motorists, and some simply don’t know how to turn them on." Why then am I observing car after car blinding other drivers during perfectly clear weather? Don’t people know what fog is? Where’d they get their drivers license—out of a Cornflake packet? Or can they not find the off button?

Just like fog lights, the vast majority of project management tools available can simplify our world and ease the way when conditions are poor. On-line, collaborative, traditional, dashboard-based, traffic light systems, and escalation processes, all serve a purpose in their own right, yet that doesn’t guarantee correct use. They could equally be brought out at the wrong time making everything far more difficult and long-winded than necessary. Just because they’re available doesn’t mean you have to use them.

With all those tools vying for your attention, what do you do? Do you go all out and throw everything you can possibly get your hands on at a project? You could, however you might just end up with a whole bunch of new noise pollution that only succeeds at blinding others and diverting attention from the real problems. Unless you’re working in such a regimented environment where Tools Rule and methodology must be followed at all costs, you’ll learn along the way what works for you and what doesn’t. To help you on your way, here are three tips to keep up your sleeve…

Check the conditions—keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open, constantly.
Know your options—use what makes sense when it makes sense to do so.
Keep an eye on the forecast—always look at what’s further down the track. Having some view of what’s ahead will mean you can respond quicker with minimal disruption.

As a driver I know my car’s fog lights do absolutely nothing on a clear night and are invaluable in the conditions they were designed to serve. By applying this same approach to projects, you can focus on what really matters and apply those extra resources when it counts to maximum effect.

And most importantly, never underestimate your powers of observation!

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Be Careful What You Ask For – Because You Might Just Get It!

10 March 2010 - POSTED by Deanne Earle

Very early on in my career, I learned two very valuable lessons:

Never confuse sales with implementation; and
Be careful what you ask for

Whether I’ve been consulting, managing projects or in operational management roles both have had an influence in every project. They’re two lessons I speak about regularly with my mentees and encourage them to keep in mind as they develop their careers. Why? Because these two lessons can and do shape project outcomes.

I’ve listed two lessons but in this post I’m going to focus on the 2nd one, which isn’t as silly as it sounds and you’ll see why later.

When we think about projects the first thing that comes to mind, after the obvious budget and contract related elements, is defining the requirements. That is, being clear on the scope of the project. What does the project have to deliver in terms of functionality, controls, reporting, audit trails, transactions (batch or interactive), cost savings, productivity improvement, overhead and possible resource reductions etc? Whether it’s the immediate team or an indirect stakeholder, everyone has a genuine reason why certain functionality or functions are business critical. It’s during this time that the project manager must employ the following skills:

The PM must allow ideas and initiative to flow while also staying focused on the task at hand and ultimate goal; and
Be able to sift through all the requirements so as to nail down the real business needs and prioritize the wants.

These skills require facilitation, collaboration and bucket loads of diplomacy. As responsible PM’s who do more than tick boxes and file status reports, we must find just the right balance between being fair yet firm. It’s important to have some idea of the standard functionality vs what might require a configuration tweak or what could result in a modification. A small tweak that uses a seemingly unused field to satisfy a ‘nice to have’ could result in data being transacted that causes order fulfillment failures.

It is clear that what was asked for was delivered but now it’s delivered it’s actually not what was wanted. Lesson number 1—Be careful what you ask for.

And, when someone says to you ‘but I saw it in the demo!’ or ‘I was told it worked that way!’ check it out by running some tests in the test environment (because there is a test environment, right?) and find out how it impacts other functions. Don’t rely on the marketing materials and sales presentations. Hence Lesson number 2—Never confuse sales with implementation. What you see and hear in the demo isn’t always implementable.

So next time someone says to you ‘this is business critical, we can’t operate without it’, make sure they know what that means for the future and that they best be careful and absolutely certain that’s what they want.

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