Archive for category: Project Management

One of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly-Successful People is to put first things first – that is – put your time and energy into what’s important and say no to what isn’t. Let’s look at common project manager habits that you might want to break in order to have time to focus on what’s truly important in your projects.

• Attending repeat meetings routinely. Meetings are often pre-scheduled every one or two weeks. It’s a handy way to carve out time to keep stakeholders up to date. What if there’s no significant project news or risks to talk about? There’s no need for a meeting!  New habit: Work with your team to determine whether a meeting is necessary. Then, skip or cancel it if there isn’t anything relevant to cover.

• Answering emails in order of receipt. Many project managers answer emails in the order they were received to reply in a timely fashion. Timely communication is important, but not every email requires an immediate response. New habit: Set specific times in your day to respond to emails. Review all new emails and prioritize responding to them based on their urgency and importance. (Give people another communication method for emergencies.)

• Getting administrative tasks out of the way. Everyone has administrative tasks to do and seeing them on our desks can be annoying. (This is so me!)  Many people will finish these low-priority tasks up front, so they aren’t nagged by the piles of paperwork. Most of the time, you can postpone these activities until things calm down. New habit: Set aside time in your schedule when it’s usually quiet to handle your admin tasks.

• Worrying about non-critical-path tasks. Keeping the project schedule on track is important. But you don’t have to scrutinize every task in your project. Don’t get distracted by issues with tasks that aren’t on the critical path. Instead, focus on critical tasks – the ones that affect your project timeline. New habit: Focus on critical path tasks and tasks with very little slack. Leave the management of other tasks to your team members.

• Wasting time on time-consuming reporting processes.  Reporting is important — and time-consuming. You can streamline reporting, but that usually takes time. So what? Take the time to automate or delegate reporting. You’ll recoup it many times over during your project management career. New habit: Spend time up front to streamline reporting. Consider restructuring your project reports to make them easier to create.

• Wasting time on any process. Just like reporting, there are lots of project management activities that are important, but chew through your workday. Think about ways to perform these tasks more efficiently. Prioritize them by how much time you can save. Then, spend some time each week making your efforts more productive: build templates, implement new tools, harness AI, and so on. New habit: Set aside some time each week to work on ways to make your work more productive.

• Interrupting your focus by answering the phone. Phone calls interrupt your work and distract you. But they aren’t necessarily important or urgent. Don’t answer the phone unless you know it’s important. New habit: Don’t answer the phone unless you’re expecting the call. Set up a communication method (I recommend texting) for immediate and important communication. Commit to answering other forms of communication within a specific timeframe, such as 24 or 48 hours.

Do you have habits that you know aren’t effective? Do you have ideas for how to focus on what’s important? What is the one thing you could do differently that would help you focus on what’s truly important? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about being effective, check out Dave Crenshaw’s Time Management Fundamentals course. Or look at Chris Croft’s Five Ways to Control Your Time course.

Coming Up

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 57,000 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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As a project manager, you must be able to recognize that your project schedule isn’t feasible. That way, you can proactively address issues, mitigate risks, and increase the likelihood of project success. Here are common warning signs that your project schedule needs work.

• Building and sharing a schedule before scope definition is stable. When project objectives and scope are still in flux, a schedule is nothing more than a rough guess. Teams may be anxious to get to work, but it’s too soon to share a schedule if scope continues to change. This schedule will mislead people about when deliverables will be available. It also makes life miserable for the managers who allocate people to the project, because they have to replan staffing for the viable schedule when it’s available. Best practice: Ensure your scope is stable before distributing a schedule.

• The schedule depends on heavy workloads. Team members often juggle multiple tasks on a project. And many have day-to-day business support responsibilities that aren’t tracked by the project. This combination can produce an excessive workload for a team member, which leads to burnout, decreased productivity, and increased risk of errors. Best practice: Understand the percentage of time each team member can dedicate to the project and schedule accordingly.

• The schedule doesn’t consider competing priorities. The most critical project team members often deal with competing priorities (in addition to day-to-day bustiness duties), such as working on other projects, resolving business issues, reviewing project change requests, and taking on work delegated from their managers. These other duties take time and can affect the person’s availability on your project. Talk through what your crucial team members do in the organization and allocate their time to project tasks with this in mind.

• The schedule was built on unrealistic estimates. Overly optimistic estimates plague a lot of project schedules, which means trouble. The uniqueness of project work makes it difficult to estimate. Plus, people might not be trained on estimation techniques. One way to improve estimates is to use PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) estimation. Estimators provide three estimates for a task: optimistic (O), most likely (ML), and pessimistic (P). People don’t pull these numbers out of the air. They think about the work and consider what might happen (good and bad. This analysis improves the accuracy of the estimate. The typical formula for calculating PERT estimates is: (O+(4*ML)+P)/6.

• Note: There is another way to improve estimates. Get into the habit of comparing final actual effort to your original estimates. These comparisons help project team members understand what happens in projects and how much effort different types of tasks take.

• Stakeholder managers don’t buy into the schedule. Managers who allocate their people to a project have a big impact on the project schedule. If managers don’t think the schedule is realistic, they aren’t likely to allocate their people to work on the project. Review your project schedule with the managers whose people are needed for the project. Make sure they have bought into the schedule and the project outcomes.

Have your schedules suffered from gotchas I haven’t mentioned? Do you regularly look for other warning signs on your schedules? If so, share with us in the comments section.

For more about project scheduling, check out my Project Management Foundations: Schedules course.

Coming Up

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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When project ideas flow freely, it’s challenging to manage scope. One sure way to keep scope in line is to evaluate whether the owner of each scope item is the true owner. If they aren’t and you can’t find the true owner, you can remove that scope item from the project. Here’s how to tell if someone is the true owner of a scope item:

• True owners supply funding. The true owner will fund the development of their scope item and can increase the funding (within business case parameters) if the cost of delivering that scope increases. The true owner can defend the priority of their scope against other people’s scope. If they can’t do either of these, they aren’t really the owner.

• True owners can provide capable resources for requirements, verification, and implementation of scope items. If they provide new or lower-level resources, they might not be the owner. Delays in getting resources could mean other scope items have higher priority. If there are resource delays, re-evaluate whether the scope item is actually out of scope.

• True owners can make decisions about the scope. They can make decisions about how to build and implement the scope item. Others may be involved in decision-making, but the true owner has the final say. They need to understand the current business processes as well as how those processes will change when the project deliverables are implemented. When scope decisions affect others, the owner is able to resolve stakeholder conflicts by consulting with and influencing others about the scope in question.

• True owners have time to support the project. True owners make time to support the project effort to handle questions and issues. They are able to participate so they won’t delay the schedule.

In the next newsletter article, we’ll look at what to do if a senior leader is pushing scope but doesn’t fit the criteria of scope owner.

Have you encountered scope that seems to be orphaned without an owner? Or someone promoting scope that doesn’t seem to fit the project goal and objectives? Would these criteria have helped you figure out whether the items were in or out of scope? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about defining 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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Today’s project teams often bring cultural diversity to a project. All your team members need to feel they belong and are accepted. That means cultural sensitivity is an important skill for project managers.  Here are tips to help you manage cultural diversity in your projects to improve project outcomes and address culture-related issues that arise.

• Consider cultural sensitivity training. Identify your project team’s experience with working across cultures. If their experience is limited, schedule cultural sensitivity training. This training not only builds skills; it makes a statement that all cultures will be embraced during the project. It also helps facilitate communication. Look for specialized training programs, workshops, or online resources that cater to the specific cultures on the team.

• Take advantage of diversity. Promote and celebrate the richness of the project team’s diversity as a strength. Diverse team members can provide valuable insights for navigating cultural nuances. Ask team members to share their experiences to build rapport as they work with other team members. Seek out their unique viewpoints to enhance problem-solving. In addition, share diverse team members‘ viewpoints with key stakeholders to expand stakeholder’s perspectives and their perception of the project’s value.

• Align project controls with cultural norms. Consider cultural preferences when building your project plan, communication methods, and approach to conflict resolution. For example, build regional holidays and local working hours into your project schedule. Take into account cultural norms of hierarchical or consensus management as you develop your approach to decision-making. If team members are used to different norms (hierarchical or consensus), talk through the process and identify what will work best for the people and stakeholders involved. Making these adjustments builds trust and avoids misunderstandings.

• Promote a culture of “positive intent.” Despite your best efforts, cultural misunderstandings are likely to occur. Promote a project culture where team members expect positive intent from each other. This helps ease tensions. Create a norm where team members immediately raise a concern if something makes them uncomfortable. The team members then meet and strive to understand the concern. Sharing the intent of the communication or action is key to understanding. Team members can agree about how to move forward in a way that is comfortable for all involved.

For example, one team member conveys their ideas bluntly and directly while others like to share their ideas as possibilities to consider. The blunt team member comes across as bossy or directive when that wasn’t their intent. The other team members can share their feelings about the bluntness, so they can talk it through and come up with a way to interact that works for everyone.

Do you have questions about how to solve cultural issues that arose in a project? Or techniques you’ve used to embrace cultural diversity to improve outcomes? Maybe you can share some of the nuances of your culture and how to work with those on a project. Share with us in the comments section.

For more about diversity, belonging, and inclusion, check out Pat Wadors’ Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging 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.

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 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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Producing a useful product is one aspect of successful project delivery. Considering the thoughts and feelings of stakeholders is just as important because it helps prepare stakeholders for accepting and using your deliverables. Here are four recommendations to help you support your stakeholders’ needs.

• Find which business areas your project affects. Include specific tasks to research the tools, processes, strengths, and weaknesses of each stakeholder area. If you have access to business analysts, this is a great first assignment for them to tackle. If you don’t, the project manager should conduct stakeholder interviews to collect this information. What you learn helps your project plan accommodate your stakeholders’ realities and prevent surprises during project implementation. You certainly don’t want your solution to make your stakeholders’ weaknesses worse.
• Plan early exposure to the solution. You can generate ownership of the solution by letting stakeholders see early versions of your products. Encourage them to share feedback. They will be more confident when they take part in creating project outcomes. What does seeing a solution mean? Showing stakeholders anything that is an early view of an upcoming product or service: prototypes, business processes shown with sticky notes, early versions of IT user interface screens, or IT testing or design diagrams. Many project managers delay these activities because the solution may change. But that’s the whole idea of early exposure! Your stakeholder perspectives can be incorporated into your products to deploy positive changes. So, show the product early, even earlier than you’re comfortable with. You’ll increase stakeholder buy-in.
• Identify business processes before committing to new tool deliverables. A risky way to run a project is to come up with what looks like a useful tool to build to help your business and move forward with a project to implement it. HOW and WHERE that tool could be used in your business should be analyzed first. Develop to-be business processes to figure out how your business could incorporate a new tool. Use those new processes to show stakeholders how the tool could create better outcomes. In short, if you want buy-in from stakeholders, create to-be processes first. Then you can start a new project to deploy the tool.
• Let stakeholders drive project definition and organizational change. There are stories about the placement of new campus sidewalks. As the story goes, buildings were constructed and opened, and sidewalks were laid on the worn paths created by the campus’ occupants. This was better than laying sidewalks where designers THOUGHT people would walk. This is an excellent example of letting stakeholders drive change. Project teams are often guilty of thinking they know what stakeholders want. And they design projects according to that vision – often to catastrophic results. Letting stakeholders drive projects can build enthusiasm and help focus on what that stakeholders want changed or improved.

What other steps can you take to account for what stakeholders really want? Share your thoughts, questions, and anecdotes in the comments section.

For more about working with stakeholders, check out Natasha Kasimtseva’s Managing Project Stakeholders course.

Coming Up

• Join Tiffany Uman and me on Wednesday, Oct 25, 2023 1:00pm MDT for our live broadcast “How to Provide Project Updates to Executives “. Your leadership team is not out to get you. That said, communicating with them effectively is essential, especially when providing pertinent project updates to drive the business forward. In this live Office Hours, Tiffany Uman and I will dive into the key DOs and DON’Ts for presenting updates to your leadership team with confidence and getting the buy-in you need. I’m excited to hear her advice about communicating project information to executives. Post your questions in the event comments or bring them to the live event!

Tiffany is a career coach, workplace expert, and fellow LinkedIn Learning instructor. Check out her course,  Nano Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions with Tiffany Uman.

• 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-login/share?account=2125562&forceAccount=false&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Flearning%2Fadvanced-microsoft-project-22898395%3Ftrk%3Dshare_ent_url%26shareId%3DY6Ij%252BD6QSpybAA2hvHxhlQ%253D%253D

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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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