Spectacularly successful SNEC-PMI 2010 Conference

Just returned from the spectacularly successful SNEC-PMI 2010 conference. Great job by all the volunteers who made it happen, under marvelous leadership. Here I am at the SNEC-PMI volunteer table.

I gained valuable insights, inspiration and encouragement from seasoned project managers on my next book. Also got to meet and network with current and past colleagues.

Winning at Westchester PMI 2010 PDD

I just enjoyed an outstandingly successful day at the Westchester PMI Professional Development Day in Elmsford, NY.

Here I am with Michelle LaBrosse (of Cheetah Learning), who started the day off right with a high-energy keynote presentation that had the audience roaring in laughter. She was kind enough to autograph my copy of "Cheetah Negotiations", which now has special meaning to me.

During the day, I learned about the IBM computer (Watson) that will compete on Jeopardy in 2011, and am digesting my very filled notepad. It is fascinating to hear about project problems on unconventional projects. When was the last time you developed a computer that takes in written natural language, and outputs through a plunger to operate a buzzer?

R. Camper Bull closed off the day with a presentation of Project Management Leadership. Guess who is responsible for leadership on your projects? (Don't ask me for a prize - it is a trick question).

As an experienced speaker and Toastmaster, I can't help but wonder what life would be like if we could get presenters to stop using 6 point font on PowerPoint slides.

I am glad that I made the trip to Elmsford for the 2010 Westchester PMI PDD. Brenda Horton and David Morgen made David Ingram and I feel very welcome and the event was superbly organized.

Is it the tools, or the project manager?

It is not the tool that makes a good project manager.A good project manager makes a good project manager, regardless of the tool.

I see people getting hung up on the tool. Should we use MS-Project Version 2000, or 2003, or 2007?

I hear excuses of "We can't manage well, because our company only has an antiquated version of MS-Project"

Nonsense. It is not the tool. It is expertise and mindset that delivers projects.

A project manager with expertise and mindset with a pencil and napkin or Excel spreadsheet will win out over a naive project manager with MS-Project Version 2034.

Don't hide behind excuses of the tools.

If your projects are going South, then look in the mirror and get help to identify areas of weakness and learn the required skills to send your projects North again.

Grow up - You are a project manager, not a professional parent

A lot of literature in project manager circles have the underlying theme that a project manager is a "baby sitter for adults". You see references to project managers as developing team members into leaders and acting as a benevolant dictator. My response is "grow up"

As long as you think of yourself as a "baby sitter for adults" and see your team members as being dependant on you to accomplish their project tasks, you will attract and retain team members that fit your perception. You will also find yourself complaining that your project team members are not working independently and your day will be consumed with micromanagement.

However, if you realize that your highly educated, competent and passionate team members need a facilitative project manager, then you can get out of your own way. Listen to the underlying theme of your project team's communications and "grow up".

Develop a vision for your project. Document, communicate and live your vision. Lead your project team towards your vision and they will follow. They can't follow you if you are stuck in the outdated project management thinking and acting as the baby sitter.

The world needs project leaders, not professional parents with MS-Project and PowerPoint.

What is Project Management?

Project Management is a profession with components of other leadership and organizational professions. It takes many skills to be an outstanding project manager. Yet, how can you concisely describe the profession of project management to a person in another profession?

I offer some suggestions in my latest newsletter, titled "Project Management is like...".

How to succeed in Project Management

What makes a successful IT project manager? Is it someone who has completed their training and passed one of the project management exams, to get a shiny new certificate? Does it require a Master's degree in project management? Are certified project managers more successful than seasoned project managers who never took a formal exam?

The answer is "e. All of the above".

As I continue researching the question "What makes a successful project manager", for my next book, I find recurring themes listed below.

1. Must have passion for the project.
2. Must be willing to negotiate for the project. Give and take, take and give on scope and timelines to not come across as "unreasonable".
3. Must have learned from on-the-job training and know the IT and business landscapes. Know the organizational structure and political structure of the organization that you are implementing the project in.
4. Have learning agility - be able to learn new skills and topics that you need on your project, quickly. You must be able to pick it up on the fly.
5. Seek out mentors - these behaviors are not learned from text books or "PM Bootcamp".
6. Disgust for "clipboard project managers" who walk around with the figurative clipboard and ask for status.
7. No fear of having tough conversations and facing confrontation.

There you have it - absorb these seven winning behaviours into your professional conduct, and you will succeed in IT project management, as well as attract senior leaders to notice you.

WolfPack Wins

Hartford Wolf Pack won the ice hockey game last night. Game was slow at times, and was tie at two goals each before going into overtime.

My son and I had a great time. I am still not used to the "boo, boo, boo" at the visiting team. It is unsportsmanlike to cheer the roof off for the home team and boo the visitors. I guess it is part of the hockey culture. I am sure this behaviour would be frowned upon at Wimbledon games.

Visiting team goals are not recognized, but when the home team wins, the crowd goes wild, as you experience in this video clip of the winning goal.

Just as professional baseball players are taught to spit every time the camera focuses on them, I wonder why hockey players are taught not to shave? Also part of the culture, I guess.

As the ex South African at the game last night, I must say that it was far more fun than watching a five-day cricket test match in the blazing sun. The various performances keep the crowd engaged for the whole match, making it a very fun experience and everyone asking "When can we go again?"

Neal Whitten at Upstate New York PMI

I attended an excellent event yesterday at the Upstate New York chapter of PMI, in Albany New York.

Neal Whitten led the interactive workshop which focused on successful and effective project management behaviours.

I don't like everything that Neal says, because he doesn't accept excuses on his projects, even when project problems are clearly someone else's fault. The message is "Well, what are you doing about it?" Most project managers seem to a way to blame someone else, instead of working towards a solution. It is hard to look in the mirror and accept responsibility.

The Upstate New York Chapter of PMI did an excellent job of organizing this event. I was very impressed with everything from the location to the registration table and the room setup. Congratulations to the volunteers who must have put in many hours to create such a valuable and enjoyable experience.

If you get a chance, attend one of Neal's workshops. It is an excellent investment in your career.

Learning from Neal Whitten in

Learning from Neal Whitten in Albany NY.

The Prosperity Equation

Just finished reading "The Prosperity Equation" by James Ziegler. Well written - "Straight from the heart" book about some of his experiences in starting, building, and rebuilding his businesses and life.

It is easy and quick to read. If you could use some inspiration and motivation to follow your dream of building your own business, then get a copy for your personal library. If you are scared by the stories that James shares, then keep your day job.

If there is one thing lacking in the book, it is some depth about the time that business wasn't booming and his world wasn't working. I would like to know more about the few years that James was working through challenging issues, before business took off. What was the experience and what were the steps that led to solutions?

Either way, I recommend that you read "The Prosperity Equation" to expand your experiences and be aware of possibilities that life has on offer.

How to network in Person

So many of our daily interactions as project managers are virtual, that our in-person network skills can fall into disuse.

To brush up on your in-person networking skills, review these five tips for in-person networking. Focus on the person you are speaking to when you are networking at a project management chapter meeting, or convention.

Monorails and Project Management

I was fascinated by the documentary on monorails on TV yesterday afternoon. The Schwebebahn (Monorail) in Wuppertal, West Germany was built over 100 years ago and continues to demonstrate the following significant advantages of monorail transportation:

1. It is unobtrusive to traffic. Urban monorails run above the traffic, unlike buses and trams. They reduce traffic instead of adding to the congestion.
2. Provide inexpensive and safe public transportation which is a big advantage over buses and trams.
3. Is a tourist attraction.

Other monorails offer additional benefits.
1. They can be fully automated
2. They run silently, therefore can run close to urban housing, such as high-rise apartments in cities without the noise from heavy traffic.

Obviously, monorail transportation is an under-utilized form of public transportation and we should be erecting more monorail systems.

The purpose of this post is not about the benefits about monorails. It is about the lessons we can learn from monorails for project management.

Status reports are a part of project management. The amount of time and energy consumed to produce scorecards, dashboards and PowerPoint slides varies on your organization, and can be a significant drain on your resources.

However, think about the Schwebebahn as you go about reporting status on your projects this week. How can you make your weekly project reporting process:
1. Above the traffic? (Get the reports out, without congesting the resources doing the work?)
2. Fully automated? (Without manual copy-and-paste from Excel to PowerPoint?)
3. Inexpensive? (Outcome of point 2)
4. A tourist attraction? (OK - Maybe this objective is a little far-fetched, for a status report)


Look up the Schwebebahn on Google and learn about this amazing world of monorails. Then you will see the benefits of applying monorail concepts to your project management services.

Winterfest 2010

Photos from the trip to Winterfest in Jaffrey, New Hampshire this past weekend with boy scouts. Wonderful experience where the mounds of snow were welcome.

I always wonder about the poor souls who go to so much effort in vain attempts to catch a few elusive ice fish, (while ice fishing)

Mainfold tips for project managers and Toastmasters

Hot off the press - my March 2010 Newsletter containing tips for project managers and Toastmasters went out yesterday. Already received compliments for the value of the tips.

Manchester Honda excels again

Manchester Honda in Manchester, CT, continues to deliver better than best customer experiences.

Last night at my Rotary club, Manchester Honda made a generous donation to the South Windsor Rotary club auction.

Guess where I am purchasing my next Honda - and telling all my friends about the incredible experiences.

Manchester Honda - Sets the example in customer service

Preparing for a weekend trip with the Boy Scouts, to go ice fishing in New Hampshire, I decided to replace wiper blades on my Honda Odyssey. I figured it would take about 15 minutes and cost about $50. I stopped at an auto parts store and was about to purchase replacement blades, when I remembered that Manchester Honda offer a blade replacement service. (Customer service people have reminded me of this on prior visits to service my Hondas)

I turned around and drove in to Manchester Honda, to confirm their offering for wiper blades. The pleasant surprises started at the door, and only got better. Firstly, I was quoted about $20 to replace the blades, and told it would take about 20 minutes. I suggested an oil change before the long trip this weekend, and was told that the oil life time of 60% doesn't require an oil change now. I can live with this arrangement, and gladly handed over the keys.

Within no time at all the van was returned, with new wiper blades and a complimentary car wash. All of this at no cost, because I am a regular customer. Now, I am a regular and delighted customer.

The reason I am a repeat customer is because Manchester Honda sets the example in customer service. Is there any mystery in this situation? I will keep on taking the time to drive to Manchester Honda as long as they keep on taking care of me. What are you doing to delight your customers today?

**
On a side note. Honda have still not issued a conclusive recall on the fading brake pedal issue on the 2007 Odyssey. It seems that it will take a Toyota scale scandal for Honda to pick up the ball and fix this issue where the brake pedal fades away due to air in the breaking system. I have had my van repaired twice under warranty and still experience this disturbing behavior. Let's hope Honda picks up the pace on this before it causes more accidents. Do a google search to see how many Odyssey drivers have complained about soft and fading brake pedal issue)

Stop thinking outside the box

Reviewed a presentation today, with multiple presenters. What a surprise - PowerPoint was abused (again). I wrote "Dodging the Bullet Points" which has helped many presenters raise their presentation standards, to avoid exactly these sort of painful experiences.

Anyway, rather than bore you by discussing the usual amateurish visuals, the real lesson is from the accompanying speeches.

Presenters used well-worn (worn-out?) buzzwords and phrases as if they were on the leading edge of management theory. "Thinking outside the box", and quoting Steven Covey isn't cutting it for me any more. It doesn't matter how convincingly you say it.

Where on earth have you been for the past ten, fifteen or more years, if you still think that "Thinking outside the box" is going to impress your audience?

Therefore, in your next speech:
1. Take some time to select contemporary quotes from the media or Internet.
2. Read a book published in this century.
3. Ask a trusted advisor to review your slides, to make sure that you are not still "Thinking outside the box"

Needless to say, most of the presenters were oblivious to the time restrictions on the presentation, and kept on quoting Old Dead White Guys (like Churchill) to a young, multi-cultural audience long after their allotted time had come and gone.

The only saving grace was the final presenter who acknowledged the time and cut short her segment of the presentation in an attempt to get the show back on the road. This is what speakers should do - paraphrase your segment of the presentation without making a big deal of it.

SNEC-PMI Job Fair = Huge Success

Linda Benedict organized a hugely successful event yesterday for job seekers in Cromwell yesterday. I contributed my time to support this event. Linda sets the example for planning, leading and coordinating an outstanding event.

Take a look at this clip from Fox news.

Snow again

After all these years in New England, we still marvel at the beauty and serenity of a snowfall.

Slaughter the sacred cows that drag down your project

Do you have reports, procedures or norms in your projects that are never questioned? Is the format of your status report obscuring it's very purpose of providing status to enable good decision making? How open are you to suggestions for improvement by looking your project's "sacred cows" in the eye, and taking the bull by the horns when needed?

I am currently working on a project where the department heads insist on using a weekly status report format that takes 20% of the project administrative resources each week to produce. This is in addition to the plethora of dashboards and status meetings which have mushroomed on the overstaffed project team. I will call the status report in question a "milestone plan" for easy reference.

This milestone plan has an unknown ROI. No one on the team can explain who uses the milestone plan or quantify the value of this milestone plan. The department head insists that the milestone plan be up to date at all times, and any team member who dares to pose a reasonable question regarding this milestone plan earn demerits on their annual review. Every team member has been subjected to this punishment in an attempt to raise awareness around this irrational waste of shareholder money. This has lead to an unwritten policy of "don't ask questions - keep doing what you are told to do".

Of course, I can't right all wrongs in the world. Despite my efforts, the milestone plan will continue to exist long after I leave this department.

However, the lesson for readers of this blog are:
1. Be aware of sacred cows on your project. Try to find out the unwritten rules that you and your project team operate in. Don't slaughter the sacred cow in your host village - the chief will run you out of town for not observing his rituals.
2. Ask trusted advisors to speak the truth to you. Find a few intelligent advisors such as your professional coach who speak up to help you avoid pitfalls. Do everything you can to not create your own sacred cows which impede project success.
3. Always question the ROI of status reports on projects. Mindless creation of status reports, without frequent evaluation of the ROI, is arguably the largest waste of project resources known to man.

Now, go ahead and ask your project team "What did this report cost to produce, and who is using it?" Would you invest your mother's retirement fund in this project with this ROI?

Professional Adventures

When last did you try something new? Obviously, I expect that you try new flavors of coffee every now and then, read a book on a new topic by a new author and read articles about project management that you don't normally read.

However, in addition to these adventures, when last did you look at facebook and consider the benefits of facebook to develop relationships with team members and stakeholders? I am posting one topic of project management advice on facebook every day and getting feedback that people enjoy reading my postings. I also find that I know a lot more about project management that I typically have opportunity to disclose in day-to-day interactions. Facebook provides me with the opportunity to teach team members about project management in the informal setting of their own facebook account.

Facebook is the undiscovered tool to build informal relationships and teach project management to the benefit of project success. I find that building relationships with project stakeholders and team members on facebook is improving project communication on my projects due to the fact that team members have a stronger relationship with me as result of communications on facebook.

Therefore, my advice is "Review your facebook account and use it for informal communications to have better project outcomes".

In the same vein - what other professional adventures have you undertaken recently? Please don't tell me that you are doing the "same old, same old" and still filling out the same stupid spreadsheets that you were using five years ago.

Review how much effort you are putting in to manage your projects and think of ways to:
1. Reduce your labor intensity. (How can you get the same results with less effort and time?)
2. Get better results for the same time investment.
3. Identify tasks that don't need to be done. (This is the fastest way to free up time - stop doing what doesn't need to be done).
4. Review the status reports that you are creating manually, and investigate the ROI of implementing a computer system to generate regular status reports.

Variety is the spice of life. Your career needs professional variety. Take new views on your project activities, and add in some spice. Project management is only a bland profession, if you choose to make it so.

What is the business of Project Management?

Latest free newsletter discusses the business of project management and comes with money-back guarantee if you don't see your organizational project management service in a new light after reading it.

What is the value of your project management service? (Hint - your value is probably not reflected in your paycheck).

Project management service has value that is usually not defined nor marketed. You need to see the value and market the value of project management services if you are to prosper. You must help sponsors to distinguish valuable project management services from bureaucrats calling themselves project managers. Otherwise you will continue to be a commodity.

Graduated from Core Essentials Program

Recently received my certificate after graduating from the Core Essentials Program at Coach University.

I am proud as punch to now offer an even higher level of coaching services to my clients. As always, if you know anyone who is stuck trying to reach an elusive goal, then please pass my name along.

Systems Theory and Constraints

Great presentations at SNEC-PMI Chapter meeting in Cromwell, CT last night. Good speakers and thoroughly enjoyed talking shop with a long-time acquaintance who has taken a new position as an Enterprise Project Manager.

The main speaker - Michael de la Maza - facilitated a memorable presentation. Michael spoke about systems theory and constraints. If you have read Eli Goldratt's book "The Goal", then you understand systems theory. I read it years ago when we still lived in South Africa, and recall parts of the novel, but had forgotten the details.

On point that stuck with me from last night's event is this "It doesn't matter where you start, as long as your team continues to identify and work against the constraints in a system, you will improve. You create a learning organization. If you can learn at a faster rate than your competitors, then you will dominate your industry". For example, Toyota and Hyundai.

Therefore, your goal should be create learning organizations in your project teams. This means that you must foster anyone who identifies constraints and help them to work against the constraint to increase throughput. If you can iteratively remove constraints, then it doesn't matter where you started off, your systems will continue to improve and you are streets ahead of non-learning environment teams.

Michael's presentation was thought provoking and a lot of fun.

Remember "It is not where you start that matters in system theory, it is how fast you identify and work against constraints that matters". Sounds like a good motto for success in life as well.