Archive for year: 2023

If you use social media to manage your projects, why not reduce your typing with a set of project management acronyms? Bob McGannon and I decided to jump start the list with these (mostly) tongue-in-cheek acronyms. If you have suggestions to add to this list, share them in the comments!

SOS – Sponsor Over Shoulder – Can’t share truthfully in this message. 

Example: Talk later, SOS.

DT – Disappearing Team member – The issue that arises when team members’ work gets reprioritized, and your schedule suffers.

Example: My head hurts. My schedule has the DTs.

MIA – Methodology in Advance – Choosing the methodology to deliver a project before understanding what the project is for or what its outcomes are supposed to be.

Example: We’ve decided the MIA, so fingers crossed that it will work. 

RSAP – Ready Shoot Aim Project – Project deliverables were defined before needs were identified, understood, or confirmed. 

Example: It’s an RSAP. The stakeholders will never fund this!

LOL – Lousy Outcome Limit – The project’s performance has reached the point that it will definitely be cancelled. 

Example: We’re at LOL. I’m looking for a new job!

BTW – Behind Task Waffling – A string of excuses for why a task is behind schedule.

Example: That team gives me no deliverables, just BTW.

ASSER – Assuming Requirements – The requirements aren’t sufficient because the project team assume they know what stakeholders need.

Example: Our requirements are nothing but ASSER.

DITY – Do It to Yourself – Moving forward with a project despite knowing that fatal issues exist.

Example: It’s a DITY. This project won’t be pretty!

IOB – Incredibly Obscure Benefit. A questionable business justification for moving forward with a project. (Related to the essence of political campaign advertising)

Example: It’s an IOB business case. We’ll never deliver those outcomes!

FAQ – Frequently Altered Quality – Repeatedly watered-down quality levels from the original level as the project progresses.

Example: We keep FAQing this project, so we’re going to end up with a Dollar Store-quality product.

Stat-they – Status of They (Versus stat-us) – The make-believe status that key stakeholders (they) want you to share versus the accurate statUS that the project team reports.

Example: We gave them our status, but they really wanted a STAT-THEY.

UNCLES – Unrealistic Constraints Leaving Everyone Stumped – Project constraints that are unrealistic but senior management won’t change them.

Example: This project’s impractical and plagued with UNCLES.

OMG – Overly Modified Goals – Changing the project’s success criteria to keep it going despite diminished outcomes.

Example: OMG is the only reason this project is still alive.

SHOT – Sponsor Hung Out To-Dry – When politics or a powerful key stakeholder commandeers your project and sends it in a totally ludicrous direction.

Example: I have a sponsor, but he is SHOT.

POV – Point of Variance – The degree of variance from plan that can best be described as “This is when the screaming started.”

Example: We hit our POV, and the management review turned into a shouting match.

WARNS – Warnings Repeated with No Support – Sharing the reality of the project that management just won’t accept (or can’t handle), 

Example: I’ve tried WARNS, but management isn’t listening!

SPOC – Singular Point of Crisis – Your project’s point of no return. (Similar to LOL.)

Example: We’ll never deliver this; we’ve hit our SPOC.

TBA – To Be Admonished – The penalty project managers receive for trying to tell the truth.

Example: Management isn’t helping. They’re planning to TBA me.

TGIF – Thank Goodness It’s Finalized – The cheer a project manager shouts when they mistakenly believe project planning is finished.

Example: I yelled TGIF, but then reality hit.

CRISP – Crisis Right Inside Simple Project – When a project looks simple but has hidden complexities.

Example: I thought this project would be easy, but now I’m in  CRISP.

WTF – Wobbly Time Forecast – Very questionable estimate for completion of a critical task.

Example: My project schedule is a mess, its full of WTFs.

WOAA – When Objectives are Achieved – The surprised exclamation the team shouts when project objectives are achieved. 

Example: WOAA, we got an award!

GOFWOP – Going Forward Without a Plan – When insufficient planning will doom a project. 

Example: Management is in a hurry. This project will definitely GOFWOP.

STAIN – Stakeholder indecision – Sponsor and stakeholders don’t make decisions and delay project progress.

Example: Our project status is STAINed. We’re twiddling our thumbs until the stakeholders make up their minds.

SWAG-E – Somehow, we are gainfully employed.

Example: This project is a mess, but at least we’re SWAG-E.

Coming Up

Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter. I’m happy to know that you have found it helpful and enjoy seeing your comments and questions.
I am taking a short break, so this is my last article for 2023. My articles will resume the week of January 8th, 2024. The end of the year is a great time for renewal, so I hope you enjoy this time and start 2024 with energy, motivation, and enthusiasm!

 

Marlene Chism is an expert in conflict, anger management, working with difficult people, and having difficult conversations – things most of us want to avoid. Despite the tough topics, she’s a truly lovely person. In this LinkedIn Learning Office Hours, we’re going to dig into some of the concepts she teaches for dealing with conflict. We’ll spend the rest of the session providing practical advice for dealing with conflict and other difficult situations. Bring your questions about the conflict you need help with, and we’ll provide advice for as many as we can fit in!I hope you will join us on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, 11am MT, 1 PM ET for this no-nonsense, advice-packed session on dealing with conflict with composure.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 55,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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A recent Project Pointer talked about controlling project scope by confirming that each scope item has a true owner behind it. That is, someone who understands the business processes related to their scope items, has funding for it, and has time to work with the project team to realize its benefits. But what do you do if a powerful senior leader is pushing scope, but isn’t its true owner? Here are a few tips if you find yourself in this situation. 

• Ask your sponsor for help. Scope ownership is the responsibility of the project sponsor or product owner — project managers oversee managing scope. The sponsor should handle challenges or questions about new proposed scope. You can also run proposed scope through your change management process. Either way, the scope request and its ownership should be scrutinized. When the sponsor or change control board decide on the proposed scope, be sure to define and document its impact on the project. Then integrate this impact into your project management deliverables, including the cost, schedule, and risk plan.
• Find additional stakeholder(s) with similar interests. Business processes rarely involve only one area of the business. So, process improvements might benefit more than one senior stakeholder. If you’re struggling with a scope owner, look for another stakeholder who’s interested in the proposed scope. Two stakeholders might be able to fulfill all the scope ownership criteria. Note: Make sure the stakeholders are willing to work together before keeping the scope item in your project.
• Consider a different business justification. A proposed scope item might have business merit, but the explicit income or cost savings isn’t there, or it’s theoretical to calculate. In this case, think about a different way to justify the scope. For example, risk reduction could justify scope items. A friend of mine just upgraded his mobile phone. He didn’t upgrade because it was broken or because he’s a new tech geek. His phone wasn’t compatible with new versions of the operating system. He justified the purchase so he could keep the operating system up to date and reduce the risk of data security breaches.
• Determine if delegation can support the proposed scope. Sometimes, the issue with scope ownership isn’t funding but with business process knowledge or time to support the effort. In this case, the answer might be to delegate scope management responsibilities to someone with the requisite knowledge and time. This approach presents a significant risk: that the person who delegated authority overrules decisions that the delegate makes. This can negatively affect the project schedule and cost. Try to ensure that the delegate’s authority is “veto-proof”, so their decisions won’t be overturned. This way, you can move the project forward with confidence.

Do you have other tips for ensuring that scope items are represented by true owners who can fulfill their ownership duties? Or do you have questions about a specific situation you’ve encountered? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about scope, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Coming Up

Anna Lung’aho Anderson and I get so many questions from people who want to transition into a career in project management. In this LinkedIn Learning Office Hours, we’re going to dig deep into the work YOU have to do to move into project management. Yes, it does require some effort on your part. We will talk about how to figure out if project management is a good fit for you; learning project management hard skills and terminology; how to update your resume, LinkedIn profile, and approach to networking; and finally, how to research companies you apply to so you have a better chance of getting their attention. We’re also going to explore how to move into project management from non-traditional backgrounds, such as sales, real estate, customer service, nursing, and (fill in your current role here).

I am really excited about this event because Anna provides many more services and resources related to project management careers than I do: Career Development Coaching, Resume Writing, Interview Preparation, Negotiation, Resume Review, Change Management, Executive Coaching, and Leadership Development. I hope you will join us on Friday, December 8, 2023, 11am MT, 12 PM CT for this deep dive into the first steps to moving into a project management career.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 54,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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For the hundredth or thousandth time, I got pulled into a discussion about whether a project manager needs to be an extrovert. It’s a useless argument. None of the key behaviors that separate struggling project managers from successful ones relate to extroversion or introversion. Here are several effective behaviors that introverted and extroverted project managers demonstrate.  

• Believe in the project objectives. Buy-in from stakeholders starts with the project manager. You need to understand the value (and outcomes) the project brings to the business, demonstrate a pathway to success, and respond to queries to build stakeholders’ belief in the project. You can do all these face-to-face, as well as through project status reports or targeted emails to key stakeholders. Both extroverted approaches and introverted approaches work. The key is prompt and accurate communication. 
• Use active listening when interacting with people. Getting stakeholder support depends on them feeling heard and understood. When you talk to stakeholders, focus on what they say and what they need. Don’t get distracted. They want to feel like you heard what they said and can act on that information. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talkative or reflective. The key is that stakeholders believe you have their interests in mind. 
• Be gracious and convey gratitude. Project management is a team exercise. Team members, management, vendors, product owners, and product users need to pull together to deliver a project. Be gracious when you ask them to participate, and be grateful when they deliver. In return, they will dedicate themselves to you and the project. You can do this quietly with a well-placed conversation or written note, or with bold, outgoing actions. Genuine kindness and gratitude go a long way.
• Make decisions effectively and confidently. Many people think that quick decisions inspire confidence. Nope. Effective decision-making uses a combination of data, experience, and team input. Sure, some decisions require immediate action. In other situations, it’s better to take time to collect more data and opinions. Neither approach to making decisions has anything to do with extroversion or introversion.  

This list is by no means complete. What other important PM behaviors can be handled by introverts and extroverts alike? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Coming Up

Anna Lung’aho Anderson and I get so many questions from people who want to transition into a career in project management. In this LinkedIn Learning Office Hours, we’re going to dig deep into the work YOU have to do to move into project management. Yes, it does require some effort on your part. We will talk about how to figure out if project management is a good fit for you; learning project management hard skills and terminology; how to update your resume, LinkedIn profile, and approach to networking; and finally, how to research companies you apply to so you have a better chance of getting their attention. We’re also going to explore how to move into project management from non-traditional backgrounds, such as sales, real estate, customer service, nursing, and (fill in your current role here).

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 53,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Someone recently asked about the best methodology for managing a research and development (R&D) project. The answer depends on many factors. Here are a few things to consider and the methodologies you might use depending on the nature of your R&D project.

• Project goals and objectives. R&D projects usually have lots of unknowns. You might be testing new materials, new processes, new tools, or all of these! Working through unknowns requires flexibility and taking small steps. You’ll want to promote learning during the project, too. Agile methodologies, using short iterations, are ideal for this type of situation. Each iteration might not produce a tangible product but can generate learning and knowledge, which help define the next step for the project. Projects where the driver of iterations is learning as you go are sometimes referred to as Spiral Projects. Each “spiral” will help identify and refine the goals and objectives for the next spiral or iteration.

• Team size and location. Larger teams, or teams with critical skills working remotely, need more formal structure. It’s important to take time to ensure communication is flowing and information is understood. In this case, a more predictive methodology like waterfall is helpful. But, you rarely need to manage an entire project this way. A hybrid approach can be effective. A sub-team that is not co-located with the core team might use agile methods. Then, they can work with the core team to integrate their deliverables into the waterfall project that the core team manages.

• How much you know about requirements. Agile projects are ideal when requirements aren’t well-defined. Requirements emerge through exploring and producing sample deliverables. However, R&D projects often have well-defined goals and well-understood requirements. Research and development come in with the processes for satisfying those requirements. For example, a car manufacturer has requirements for an electric car battery that is half the weight of current batteries with 20% more range. In this example, an agile project might be the way to go to try out new chemical and manufacturing processes.

(On the other hand, agile isn’t as good a fit when the requirement is to produce a chili pepper that is tasty but not hot. You need to plan to determine who your target market is. More planning, in the form of market research, might be needed to determine consumers perceptions of tasty peppers and hot peppers. Because of this planning, a waterfall project might be the answer.)

• Your organizational culture and expertise. Because of unknowns, R&D projects are typically complex and costly. Introducing a methodology that your organization isn’t familiar with will escalate that complexity. If you decide to use an unfamiliar methodology, start slow. If possible, try the methodology in a small area of your project. Consider bringing in experienced people to help. You can then expand the use of this methodology as you learn. Iin other words, start with the methodology you know and migrate to new ones as you gain experience.

If you work on R&D projects, I’d love to hear about the methodologies you use and any best practices you’ve learned. Share with us in the comments section.

For more about agile and waterfall methodologies, check out my Project Management Foundations course and Doug Rose’s Agile Foundations course.

Coming Up

My updated Advanced Microsoft Project has been published to the LinkedIn Learning library. This update is completely rerecorded with a new, comprehensive sample project. It is half as long as the previous edition because I took out all the topics I cover in my other Project courses. My humble opinion is that it is also more engaging, because of everything I’ve learned about recording videos in the past 8 years! Here is a link that lets you watch the course for free for the first 24 hours after you begin watching.

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/advanced-microsoft-project-22898395

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 52,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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You may have defined a project with a set of scope statements. A better approach to defining a project is with a single project objective or goal statement. This statement focuses on the overall goal of the project, which helps obtain stakeholder buy-in. It also helps the organization focus on what the project’s supposed to do. Here are tips for creating an effective project objective statement. 

• Keep scope definitions out of the project objective. You want the objective statement to be business oriented. What business change should the project achieve? Defining the project goal without scope does just that. It also creates organizational focus on what the project is supposed to achieve. Discussion of scope can follow later. At that time, you can confirm that the scope statements are appropriate to meet the project objective. 
• Evaluate whether the objective statement clearly states the problem to be solved or the opportunity to be pursued. Make sure you have a clear statement about why the organization will pursue the project. Have someone – anyone – read the statement. The project purpose should be clearly understood, regardless of the reader’s role in the organization.
• Confirm the statement’s ability to inspire. A project objective statement should inspire stakeholders to support the project. It should also excite project team members about participating to make the project objective a reality.
• Verify that the statement presents an appropriately challenging goal. Stakeholders should see the objective as a challenge that will motivate and stretch their capabilities without being out of reach.
• Ensure the statement allows flexibility for achieving the goal. In an agile world, the best approach is to let stakeholders determine the best ways to accomplish a goal. This generates the best solutions with the strongest stakeholder buy-in.
• Include an objective measure of success. No goal is valid without a clear (quantitative or qualitative) way to identify that it has been achieved. An effective objective statement includes a clear way to confirm that the objective has been met.

• Examples

• • Reduce aircraft costs by 15%, increase overall aircraft availability by 10%, and increase aircraft mechanic productivity by 25% measured by time spent on mechanical work versus overhead.
  • Design and implement hospital diagnostic capabilities to accommodate a 15% increase in patients, while limiting the increase in investment in diagnostic equipment to no more than 10%. (Notice this statement does not say “redesign” as this would limit the options available to the project team. This gives them the option to add a new diagnostic area if that is the best option.)
  • Increase consumer product division profits by 15% and increase market share over 2023 levels through new packaging, new products, or other approaches. (This does limit options to a specific area of the company, but that’s reasonable as that is where the concern for profitability and market share lies. Flexibility as to the approach or scope of activities is supported in this project objective statement.)

If you have other tips for writing an effective objective statement or examples of statements you’ve used in the past, share with us in the comments section.

For more about writing powerful objectives, check out Jessie Withers Goal Setting: Objectives and Key Results course.

Coming Up

My updated Advanced Microsoft Project has been published to the LinkedIn Learning library. This update is completely rerecorded with a new, comprehensive sample project. It is half as long as the previous edition because I took out all the topics I cover in my other Project courses. My humble opinion is that it is also more engaging, because of everything I’ve learned about recording videos in the past 8 years! Here is a link that lets you watch the course for free for the first 24 hours after you begin watching.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bonniebiafore_my-updated-advanced-microsoft-project-has-activity-7120114915880701953-wD1I?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 51,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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