PM Power Tool: Leveraging Delegation

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PM Power Tool: Leveraging Delegation Do you want to expand your capability to manage more projects? You can by delegating! But delegation can be scary, because you’re releasing control to others. With the right attitude and activities, delegation can become your go-to tool that isn’t so scary. Here are the best ways to make delegation work for you as a project manager.

  • Pick the right team member. Sure, it’s easy when a team member is experienced in what you want to delegate. Usually, you have to decide whether a team member has the skill and judgment to perform the delegated responsibility. Consider their desire to grow, their ambition, and the stakeholder relationships needed to complete the task. When your team member has good relationships and the right attitude, delegation goes better. 
  • Clearly define the assignment and completion criteria. Determine exactly what you want from your team member. This includes the deliverables and your definition of successful results. Successful delegation might mean saving you time or it could be applying more specific technical expertise than you have. Keep in mind, you might be able to tackle the task more easily or faster, but that isn’t the point. Determine what you need, which is not necessarily the same level of quality you yourself would produce. Also, decide what you would like your team member to learn or experience from the delegation. Communicate all this with your team member, and you’ll increase your probability of success.
  • Discuss the approach to completing the task, while allowing flexibility. In some cases, delegated responsibility requires a specific process. In other instances, you may have a preferred approach. Share that approach in your delegation conversation. If there is flexibility in how to accomplish the assignment, then encourage your team member to take the approach they’re comfortable with and/or learn as much as they can from the delegation.
  • Provide necessary resources and authority. Think about what your team member might need or benefit from for the assignment. This goes beyond access to tools and data. For example, introduce your team member to key stakeholders. Notify the team and stakeholders about the authority you are delegating to your team member. And finally, arrange for access to key experts.
  • Allocate time to support your team member. Delegation isn’t a “set it and forget it” exercise. The best delegators prepare to guide their team member to help them succeed. Schedule frequent check-in meetings with them and reserve the time in your calendar. Review their progress and examine any interim deliverables. You can reduce the meeting frequency if they make suitable progress. Be responsive to impromptu questions and provide tips along the way. This not only increases the success of the delegation, but also increases your team member’s confidence in their ability to complete their responsibilities to your satisfaction.

Follow these tips and delegation will become your PM power tool to expand your accomplishments and those of your team!

Delegation is both powerful and scary. What techniques have you used to make delegation work for you – and to make it less scary to apply?

For more about working with team members, check out Daniel Stanton’s Project Management Foundations: Teams course.

Coming Up

Do you have questions about careers in project management? Will I like being a project manager? What skills do I need? What about education? How do I get experience? Are certifications worth it and what do I need to do to earn them? What are the possible career paths? Chris Croft and Bonnie Biafore co-authored the course How to Launch a Career in Project Management to answer all these questions – and many more. For this Office Hours event, we want you to watch the course FIRST. Then, if you still have questions, join us in this event to ask questions we didn’t answer.

No excuses! Here’s a link to watch the course for free: https://tinyurl.com/how-to-launch-career-in-PM

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 46,000 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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Recognize Constructive Conflict

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Recognize Constructive Conflict

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Conflict isn’t fun for most people. Emotions are high and substantial outcomes could be at risk for both business and stakeholder relationships. Constructive conflict can be beneficial and should be used, instead of being suppressed. Here’s how to recognize constructive stakeholder conflict. 

  • The issue and intended outcome are clear. Conflicts that improve project outcomes have a common characteristic: the issue and desired outcome that are the source of the conflict are well-defined and understood by all parties. Only in that case can discussion lead to an agreeable and lasting resolution. I’ve seen a conflict where a marketing director was arguing for more money to boost sales and the CFO was arguing to reduce costs. When the discussion started, neither senior leader was focused on what was better for the business. When they finally agreed on the best outcome for the business (overall profit), they were able to make constructive progress on resolving their conflict. 
  • People share and respect truths. The best outcomes come when people involved in a conflict recognize and respect the viewpoints of all parties. Constructive conflicts are an opportunity for people to share their experiences in an open and non-judgemental way. If anyone in the discussion ignores others’ opinions or experiences, conflict resolution isn’t likely. Make sure that everyone can share their specific experiences and explain how they relate to the issue under discussion. Provide time for questions to ensure that everyone understands the context of others’ experiences and viewpoints. The best outcomes come about when stakeholders spend time collecting experiences and viewpoints to consider and then use that combined experience to make a decision .
  • Emotions are recognized but aren’t the focus of the conflict. It’s important to recognize that stakeholders’ emotions could be triggered during the discussion. Recognizing and acknowledging those emotions (without making them the central theme of the discussion) leads to the best outcomes. It also ensures the discussion focuses on the appropriate issues, not personalities. Here’s an example of a statement that recognizes emotion while guiding the discussion toward the central issue. “I sense that this situation is making you nervous, and that’s understandable. What is the business situation that concerns you the most so we can focus our discussion on a solution that addresses that situation?”
  • The conflict resolution has no strings attached. Constructive conflicts produce a resolution that is agreeable to everyone without anyone owing anything to anyone else. Everyone can walk away satisfied, knowing that the next time an issue arises, a level playing field exists for all stakeholders involved. Here’s an example of an attached string: “Ok, I’ll agree to this, but next time we discuss something I want more funding for my budget.” That doesn’t close the conflict, is not really constructive, and will lead to less than ideal outcomes.
  • A process to measure success considers all viewpoints and is agreed to by everyone. Constructive conflicts end with an agreed-to resolution and a method for measuring whether the resolution was successful. The metrics should be focused on the issues or concerns stakeholders brought to the conflict. For example, a stakeholder agrees to a resolution but is concerned that it might increase costs for a part of the project. You should include separate cost tracking measures to focus on those expenditures. This demonstrates support for the stakeholders and confirmation that their concerns are valid.

Extra credit if you realize that this article includes hints for ways to turn an unconstructive conflict into a constructive one. Share your examples of the constructive conflicts you’re experienced – or tips for making discussions more constructive.

For more about dealing with conflict, check out the Develop Conflict Management Skills learning path.

Coming Up

I finished recording the update to my Advanced Microsoft Project course and I’m really excited about it. The videos are more to the point, and the course has a new, more substantial example project. It should be out in a few months!

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 46,000 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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Make Your Project a Positive Place to Work

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Make Your Project a Positive Place to Work

Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash

You’ve probably heard “the leader sets the tone.” This tone is all about the environment you create for your project team. Here are things you can do – TODAY – to make your project a positive (and attractive) place to work. And that helps you make your project a success.

  • Receive news, both good and bad, with a constructive attitude. Managing a project means understanding the news: task completions, delays, stakeholder conversations, new ideas, and conflicts. To understand the news, you need to hear about it. And that happens only if you support your teams. Make it difficult or unpleasant for team members to share news with you (think of the phrase “shooting the messenger”) and you won’t know what’s happening on your project. Thank people who share information, whether it’s good or bad. That way, you can respond proactively to project issues, instead of reacting to the truth bomb a key stakeholder drops in your office because your team didn’t share the issue with you.
  • Build a team. Yes, even for a short project. Come up with a team name — not the project business name. (Nobody wants to work on the Amalgamated Velcro Production and Efficiency Management Project…but they might enjoy being on the “Better Rip and Stick” team!) Act as if YOU are part of the team (because you are) and promote teamwork to get tasks done. Share accountability. Celebrate little victories. You’ll get dedicated team members who will want to work with you…now and in the future.
  • Make sure team members understand the business relevance of their tasks. Team members will be more engaged when they know how their work packages fit into the big picture. The work is more meaningful and more satisfying to them! Talking about the purpose of tasks can also decrease errors. Team members will raise potential issues more readily when they understand the context of their work. You’ll get better deliverables and more dedication from your team.
  • Help team members feel like they belong. A diverse team is good, but that’s only step one. Include all your team members in decision-making and planning your project. Beyond that, take time to understand who they are, what goals they have, and what project experiences will be most meaningful to them. Help them achieve those goals when possible.

What tips do you have for building a positive project environment? What benefits have you gained from offering team members a positive environment to work in?

For more about working with teams, check out Daniel Stanton’s Project Management Foundations: Teams course.

Coming Up

Join Chris Croft and me on August 22, 2023, at 9am MT for our live broadcast “Do You Need Project Management Certifications, and If So, Which Ones?”

One of the most frequent questions Chris Croft and I get is “Do I need project management certification?” quickly followed by “Which certification or certifications should I get?” Everyone’s journey is different, just like Chris and I took very different paths. So, we’re going to explore whether project management certifications are valuable, what else you can do to make yourself stand out, and finally, which certifications to look at if you decide you need them. Bring your questions to this informative and fun session. By the way, this topic is just one that we explore in our new course, How to Launch a Career in Project Management. 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 45,000 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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Learning to Love Project Constraints

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Learning to Love Project Constraints

Photo by Kevin Ku on Upsplash

Limited budgets, required scope, hard and fast deadlines, and quality standards. These constraints make project delivery challenging! Wouldn’t it be great to manage projects without the pressure of constraints? Not so fast. Here’s how constraints help us deliver our projects. 

  • Budgets drive perceived value. A non-profit I volunteered for used to hold an intro training session free of charge. People would sign up and then no-show. When we began charging $5 for the session, the same number of people would sign up and show up! Likewise, an unlimited budget for producing project deliverables might lead to stakeholders taking what we deliver for granted. We would get endless change requests to add more functions and capabilities to our deliverables. Completing a project would become a minor miracle!
  • Scope guides us to the finish line. Without a well-defined scope, we would never know when we were finished. New business demands could lead to endless mandatory requirements. Sure, we want to be responsive to new business demands. We also need to deliver and stabilize products before addressing additional requirements. In an agile environment, you can do this promptly, but not if delivered features aren’t yet working as intended. Scope definition and management helps us ensure business capability moves forward in a stable fashion. Leaps in capability are limited to what stakeholders can absorb, and organizational change management can be effective.
  • Deadlines drive priorities and project staffing. How many times have you had staff start working on tasks at the last minute? When operational personnel step out of their day-to-day roles to work on projects, the organization struggles to deal with their absence. So, managers try to avoid that stress as long as possible. Without managed schedules and deadlines, getting staff for project work would become even more difficult than it already is. We need deadlines to set expectations for when business change will occur and to prioritize staff assignments.
  • Quality standards guide task definition and testing criteria. The quality needs of stakeholders helps define project activities. And those activities vary based on the quality required. Without quality standards, we can’t be confident that we have appropriate tasks and test plans. For example, word-processing software doesn’t require perfection. A glitch in a word processor isn’t likely to cause significant risk or expense. In contrast, an anomaly in air traffic control software could be devastating on people’s lives. Therefore, an air traffic control systems requires more testing and performance verification tasks, driven by the need for quality. 

What other reasons have you found to love project constraints? Share with us in the comments section.

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

Coming Up

Join Chris Croft and me on August 22, 2023, at 9am MT for our live broadcast “Do You Need Project Management Certifications, and If So, Which Ones?”

One of the most frequent questions Chris Croft and I get is “Do I need project management certification?” quickly followed by “Which certification or certifications should I get?” Everyone’s journey is different, just like Chris and I took very different paths. So, we’re going to explore whether project management certifications are valuable, what else you can do to make yourself stand out, and finally, which certifications to look at if you decide you need them. Bring your questions to this informative and fun session. By the way, this topic is just one that we explore in our new course, How to Launch a Career in Project Management. 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 44,000 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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Objectives for Successful Testing

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Objectives for Successful Testing

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Testing your project’s products is a critical step in delivering successful projects – testing is one way to confirm that your project accomplishes what it’s supposed to. An effective testing scheme must meet the following objectives.

  • Validate that requirements are satisfied. There should be a specific test for every requirement to confirm that it has been satisfied. If any requirement proves difficult to verify, revisit the requirement to ensure it meets the SMART test (specific, measurable, agreed-upon, attainable, realistic, and time-constrained). It’s a good idea to use a spreadsheet or tool to track requirements, verification test details, and test status (not completed, completed with error(s), completed and closed). That way, you can ensure that all requirements have a test plan and you haven’t overlooked any tests. 
  • Find and repair defects. Well-structured tests find a defect, if a defect exists, and don’t find a defect if everything works as it should. To ensure your tests work this way, identify what successful test results look like and what errors might occur. That way, when a test produces an error, it should indicate the repair that’s needed. For example, a test for a sales voucher would confirm “boundary dates”. Does an expiration date of July 1st mean that the voucher can be used on July 1st, or that it should be used by June 30? Specific tests will validate that the system correctly interprets the intent for the voucher expiration.
  • Build confidence in the overall solution. In the later stages of testing, schedule test sessions for stakeholders to use and become familiar with new systems and processes. This will increase stakeholder confidence — even when small defects occur in those sessions. Capturing, understanding, and promptly correcting errors can increase confidence. Work with your organizational change management team to schedule these test sessions when you believe products are nearly error-free, at a convenient time and place for your stakeholders. 
  • Improve the product development process. A good testing process notes trends in the types and causes of errors. Analyze the root cause of errors to decrease the number of errors in future projects. Business analysts participating in the testing process can help. As they learn the cause of errors, they can produce requirement details that avoid errors in the future. For example, they can specify that a sales voucher expiration date is the last date on which the voucher can be used. This provides clarity around whether the expiration date mentioned earlier would be June 30 or July 1st.

How do you plan and track your testing? What are the challenges and best practices you’ve found? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about testing, check out Greta Blash’s Business Analysis Foundations course.

Coming Up

Join Chris Croft and me on August 22, 2023 at 9am MT for our live broadcast “Do You Need Project Management Certifications, and If So, Which Ones?”

One of the most frequent questions Chris Croft and I get is “Do I need project management certification?” quickly followed by “Which certification or certifications should I get?” Everyone’s journey is different, just like Chris and I took very different paths. So, we’re going to explore whether project management certifications are valuable, what else you can do to make yourself stand out, and finally, which certifications to look at if you decide you need them. Bring your questions to this informative and fun session. By the way, this topic is just one that we explore in our new course, How to Launch a Career in Project Management. 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 43,000 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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