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Criteria for Accepting Deliverables

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What criteria do you use to accept a deliverable? Have you ever even thought about it? I recommend applying more scrutiny to whether a deliverable is complete when closing a task. Here are criteria for deciding whether to accept a deliverable and close project tasks.

  • Deliverables have been produced and can be reviewed. You can’t accept a deliverable if it doesn’t exist yet – or you don’t know that it’s ready. The deliverable for a completed task (software code, machine part, installed stovetop, etc.) has to be shared and then validated. If a deliverable product or service can’t be reviewed (maybe the software is complete, but the server is down), then the tasks to produce that deliverable have to be kept open until the review is completed.
  • Acceptance criteria are met. The next level criteria is that the deliverable passes the tests and meets the stakeholders expectations. (This is why it’s important to document acceptance criteria before work starts on tasks.) If stakeholders aren’t satisfied, a task needs to stay open or new tasks have to be added to your schedule to correct the deliverable, so it meets expectations.
  • Broad stakeholder approval is received. In some cases, deliverables need to be reviewed by other stakeholders after acceptance criteria are met, for example, customer reviews. The customers might not have provided acceptance criteria, but their views on the product’s viability are important. For this broader review, you distribute a sample of a product and collect customer opinions. If issues are raised, the related task(s) have to stay open or new tasks created to complete the work that needs to be done.

Sometimes deeper examination is called for before accepting a deliverable and closing project tasks. Consider the following techniques:

  • Does the product contain scope creep items? Scope creep usually occurs when a well-meaning stakeholder shares an idea with a well-meaning project team member. If that idea makes its way into a deliverable without going through the change management process, voilà, scope creep. If you find scope creep in a product, you should consider whether to accept a deliverable or ask your team member to remove the scope creep item and re-submit their product for review and task closure. For example, you might not accept the deliverable with scope creep until it has passed the change control process. Or you might decide that is the result of a broader interpretation of a requirement and does not have to go through change control. Some people might leave it in because “it seems to work,” but the rest of know that is an irresponsible thing to do.
  • Complete a detailed quality audit. At times, particularly in regulated industries, products aren’t considered viable until certified personnel have conducted a detailed review or audit, (medical instruments for example.) This activity usually goes above and beyond the acceptance criteria provided by internal stakeholders. When this audit is required, do not close tasks until the audit is complete and results are satisfactory.
  • Does the deliverable include appropriate documentation? If you don’t have a separate project task for creating product documentation, documentation needs to be delivered along with its corresponding deliverables before accepting the deliverable and closing the task.
  • Does the deliverables support successor tasks sufficiently? This acceptance criteria is often missing: whether the deliverable provides what successor tasks need. Don’t close a task until someone confirms that its deliverable allows successor tasks to proceed. 
  • Does the output create new risks? Sometimes, the approach taken to produce a deliverable is different than planned. As a result, downstream risks may arise, even though the product meets all the acceptance criteria.  In this case, consider whether to accept the deliverable. You might want to ask your team to use a different method that doesn’t create new risks.

What do you look at before you accept a deliverable?  Do have any best practices to add to this list? Share with us in the comments section.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 63,000 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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Building the Best Possible Project Team

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We usually don’t get to pick all of our team members. When you can, focus on individuals’ characteristics that will, when combined, give you the best possible team. Here are five key traits for a successful project team. 

  • The ideal mix of skills. Every project team needs the proper mix of technical and business skills. That way, the team can produce the right products that are usable by the business. You need a team that can design and build a product, but can also perform business analysis to develop procedures that will optimize the use of that product, In addition, personal characteristics, such as patience, diligence and the ability to multi-task can be important. Think through the skills you need as you build your project scope statement. 
  • Include people with earlier experience working together. Team members that have worked well together before are more likely to succeed on future projects. Over time, working together means you have a better understanding of each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and working styles. This familiarity can lead to improved foresight, more effective communication and efficient problem solving. 
  • Include team members who directly benefit from the solution. Involving people who benefit from the project solution can give you significant insights into its potential business impact. It also cultivates a sense of ownership among the project team. Note: Verify that the perspectives of the beneficiary team member align with those of the broader beneficiary group. That way, you won’t overlook discrepancies in objectives from different areas of the business.
  • Choose team members with positive relationships with key stakeholders. Maintaining positive relationships with key stakeholders can be the difference between success and failure. Good relationships build trust, and trust leads to better listening and improved exchange of both good and bad news. Good relationships also help ensure buy-in. And buy-in is crucial for meeting project expectations. 
  • Strive for diverse backgrounds and communication styles. Diversity in a team can lead to innovative solutions and improved problem-solving. A team that includes a mix of communicators, creative thinkers, and individuals from diverse backgrounds draw upon a wider set of knowledge, skills, and approaches to support business needs.

As a project manager, what choices have you made that improved your team’s performance? As a project team member, what team characteristics led to positive project outcomes? Share with us in the comments section.

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

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 63,000 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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Avoiding Common Pitfalls Using AI

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In a recent survey, AI in project management was my readers’ top topic to explore further. AI’s benefits are often highlighted, so let’s look at potential pitfalls using AI in project management. For an ironic twist, I asked an AI tool to identify the five most significant traps. 

Beyond best practice — required practice! Any output from an AI tool needs human review for clarity, context verification, and refinement. To show this, you’ll see the AI tool’s answers along with my human interpretation and insights. The My insight entries either clarify what wasn’t clear in the AI response or expand what AI identified to other scenarios. Overall, the AI response identified the high-level concerns I had thought of. However, I didn’t consider it complete. Of course, I could have asked AI to provide more detail on each high-level topic to see if it provided some of the insights I identified.

  • AI-identified pitfall: Overreliance on AI. Project managers may become too reliant on AI tools and overlook the importance of human decision-making. It’s important to remember that AI tools are only as good as the data they are trained on and the algorithms they use. They can’t replace human intuition and experience.
  • My insight: AI also can’t “read a room.” Sure, there are great tools to take notes during meetings, track and assign action items and check calendars. What they can’t do is tell whether a person is happy with an assignment. They also can’t tell if people are content with the meeting. They aren’t detecting body language (yet!). So, they only tell part of the story.
  • AI-identified pitfall: Data quality issues. AI tools require high-quality data to function effectively. If the data is incomplete, inaccurate, or biased, the AI tool’s output will be flawed. (My aside: Yep, garbage-in, garbage-out is still true.) Project managers need to ensure the data they’re using is high-quality and free from bias.
  • My insight: In addition, you need to review the sources the AI tool uses to produce its responses. One way to minimize data-quality issues is to include mandatory experience levels in your AI prompts. For example, “As a project manager with over 20 years of experience in delivering projects in the information technology sector…” then ask for the information you’re looking for. This approach helps improve response relevance and accuracy, but you still need to review the output.
  • AI-identified pitfall: Lack of transparency. Some AI tools are “black boxes” that don’t offer any insight into how they arrived at their output. This lack of transparency can make it difficult for project managers to understand how the AI tool is making decisions and to identify potential issues.
  • My insight: A simple rule – don’t use AI output without understanding the sources the tool referenced. Most AI tools are now providing specific (and actual) references as part of their response. Check those references to ensure their context is suitable for what you are trying to do.
  • AI-identified pitfall: Inadequate training. AI tools require significant training to function effectively. Project managers need to ensure that they and their team members are adequately trained in the use of the AI tool and that they understand its limitations.
  • My insight: Using AI to produce something you don’t fully understand is another version of inadequate training. I heard a story where a web developer used an AI tool to produce code in a language that he had not learned. While initially it appeared to work, errors arose. The developer didn’t have any idea how to debug the code, and refined AI queries to correct the code were unsuccessful. His reputation with his client was tarnished because he didn’t appreciate the need for proper training.
  • AI-identified pitfall: Ethical concerns. AI tools can raise ethical concerns, particularly around issues of privacy and bias. Project managers need to ensure that they are using AI tools in an ethical manner and that they are not inadvertently perpetuating biases or violating privacy laws.
  • My insight: Do your homework! Understand your local laws. They are changing quickly around the world. The safest thing is to analyze the output from AI tools, verify its accuracy and how much it has “spit out” the work of others. Make changes or don’t use the output without seeking permission from the referenced author. Another approach is to apply the output to your own stories and experiences. For example, if AI output recommends that you need to beef up project requirements, document that need by conveying your own stories where requirements were inadequate. That way, you use your intellectual property, not someone else’s who didn’t provide permission to do so.

Do you see other pitfalls to using AI in project management? Rules for how to make AI work effectively in your work? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about AI, check out Dave Birss’ How to Research and Write Using Generative AI Tools course. Or search LinkedIn Learning for his name to find all his courses.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 62,000 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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Using Personality Traits to Assign Project Tasks

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Project team members come with diverse personalities. Let’s look at how to take advantage of different personalities and their work preferences throughout your project.

Important! As project managers, we might assume a person’s personality limits their abilities. For example, extroverts like to talk, but they‘re still able to actively listen to stakeholders. Be careful not to confuse preferences with capability.

Here are some examples of putting personalities to use: 

  • Introversion versus Extroversion. If possible, I assign introverted team members to support senior leaders who appreciate thoughtful consideration. These leaders appreciate team members who carefully digest information before responding. On the other hand, extroverted team members are better for leaders who engage in rapid-fire discussions. These leaders expect quick answers across a range of topics and thrive in dynamic settings.
  • Big picture versus detail-oriented thinkers. When constructing work breakdown structures (WBS), I like a mix of big-picture and detail-oriented thinkers in the room. Big picture thinkers excel at creating the high-level work breakdown structure–listing and combining overarching topics into high-order categories that make sense to the team. From there, the detail-oriented thinkers shine at identifying specific tasks needed to complete the work. Next, the entire team creates the mid-level breakdown and assigns the tasks. Big-picture and detail-oriented are both needed when you’re building a WBS from the top down and the bottom up! When it comes to testing, detail-oriented team members work thoroughly to confirm products to satisfy business needs.
  • Leader versus follower. Team members often need a degree of guidance and leadership to carry out tasks. Assigning a person to lead an effort might seem straightforward…pick the best leader. Maybe not! Sometimes you might need a person who will strictly follow your directions or who will make sure there is alignment with one of your business’ specific and rigid processes. In that case, a person who readily embraces and follows rules and processes might be the best leader.
  • Sensing versus intuitive individuals. By definition, a sensing person looks at the details of a situation and uses their senses to examine what’s in front of them. An intuitive person thinks more abstractly. They focus on future possibilities and patterns as opposed to what is currently present. Intuitives also typically pick up the feelings or disposition of other stakeholders. Sensing individuals are better for collecting and analyzing information.  Intuitive folks are better at collaborating with stakeholders who you suspect aren’t disclosing all of what’s on their mind.

Do you see yourself in any of these categories? Do the activities and roles sound like you? After examining yourself and the tasks you like to do, spend some time doing the same analysis for your team members.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 61,000 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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How to Deal with People Who Ask for Estimates

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How to Deal with People Who Ask for EstimatesA big challenge in project estimating is dealing with the requestor! Leaders often have a number in mind. They might want you to deliver an unachievable objective or expect an unreasonable level of accuracy. Here are a few techniques to handle a challenging estimate requestor.   

  • Point out unknowns. Because projects are unique, they include things that haven’t been done before. That’s where risk and uncertainty make estimating so challenging. When you discuss the development of an estimate with the requestor, talk about the unknowns. Point out what’s different or unique. This can help the requestor understand how difficult estimating can be. Then, ask the requestor questions about any insights they have about project unknowns. This can spark meaningful dialogue and produce a reasonable expectation for the estimate.
  • Uncover and discuss assumptions. Requestors often have unspoken assumptions about the project concept, which can be related to their beliefs about technical complexity. Or they may remember a project they think is like the one they want estimated. Ask the requestor about their assumptions for the project and then talk about whether those assumptions make sense. This can change the requestor’s understanding of the estimating effort and result in a better initial estimate that will be accepted more readily.
  • Present research possibilities. Doing research is a part of building good estimates. But sharing that with a requestor rarely relieves the pressure.  You have a better chance of convincing them to support research by explaining what you want to research and the resources you will use to conduct it. The requestor might reduce their pressure for fast estimates when they see the details of the research that’s needed. The research helps bring facts and historical trends into your estimating.
  • Use estimation ranges and ways to narrow them. Recommended practice is to associate a range with an estimate. For example, an order of magnitude estimate usually appears like $300,000 plus 75% – minus 25%. This range allows for the unknowns and risks that can affect your estimate. When you talk to the requestor, you need to share more information. A range isn’t enough. Talk about the data points and events that could narrow the estimate. Suppose one of the major unknowns is a vendor’s quote. Once you receive the quote and the cost is known, you can incorporate it into the estimate and narrow the range. Explaining this process helps the estimate requestor accept the variability of the estimate.
  • Present historical data about past projects and the inaccuracies of hasty estimating. Discuss similar projects that can validate an estimate. And show how initial estimates are often off the mark. This can temper the requestor’s expectations. Make sure the referenced projects are truly similar. When you look at a past estimate that wasn’t accurate, identify why it differed from the actual values. That way, you can draw parallels to the current estimation process to get a better idea of the estimate and how it might not be accurate.
  • Try to understand the requestor’s perspective and challenges. The requestor could have a valid business reason to pressure you for an estimate. Understanding their challenges can be helpful — it could uncover alternatives.  For example, breaking a project into smaller phases to achieve the requestor’s objectives more quickly. Or expanding the use of a tool or process already in the business to satisfy a pressing business need.

What else have you done to manage requestors’ expectations and demands for estimates? Or what unsolved challenges do you have related to people asking for project estimates? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about estimating methods, check out my Project Management Foundations: Scheduling course.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 61,000 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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Improve Your Foresight

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Improve Your ForesightProject managers need foresight to anticipate potential issues and handle project curveballs. Developing foresight takes time so here are five tips to help you expand your foresight. 

  • Learn from the past. Most organizations keep project files but few people ever look at them. Take time to study previous projects in your organization, successful and unsuccessful alike. Look for trends and patterns. Find out why things went astray. Figure out whether risks were predicted and how they were dealt with. Lessons learned documents are a gold mine for developing foresight, but only if you read them!  
  • Talk with project stakeholders. Rarely does everyone related to a project have the same perspective. Talk to stakeholders about the goals, benefits, shortcomings, and other stressors that came from the projects they were involved in. Listen carefully and be ready for criticism. Not only will these discussions help build your foresight – you will solidify key relationships that make it easier to share truth and increase your ability to make your project stakeholders happy.
  • Review plans and question assumptions. Be prepared to examine, question, and edit your project plans multiple times. Many projects fail because the initial plans weren’t analyzed and adjusted. Question anything that is new or appears to have come from guesswork or assumptions. Test assumptions for feasibility and add tasks to your plans to confirm those assumptions. These activities help ensure you create achievable plans.
  • Consider alternative scenarios. When asking for estimates from your team members, use the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Don’t just ask for a single estimate. Ask for optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates. Talk with your estimators about those three estimates and what thinking when into them. You’ll learn more about the challenges your team members might face. This can significantly increase your foresight and help you predict issues before they occur.
  • Never stop learning.  Sign up for courses. Obtain certifications, follow industry experts online, and attend conferences. The more you deliberately expand your knowledge, the better you can envision the road ahead rather than just reacting as your projects progress.

How good is your foresight? What experiences in your past helped you build your foresight? Share with us in the comments section.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 60,000 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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Project Justification: Trade-off Options

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The justification for a project isn’t always obvious. There could be a lot of negotiation to address conflicting business needs. And it can go beyond juggling the triple constraints of cost, scope, and time. When the team is struggling to agree on project justification, here are some trade-offs to consider.

  • Resources versus project finish date. Project requirements often come with pre-set, aggressive deadlines. Adding resources, including contracting specialized skills, is one way to meet those deadlines. Keep in mind, even with more resources, aggressive deadlines can increase risk because the schedule is more sensitive to resource changes and task completion issues.
  • Using out-of-the-box, configuration, or customization when implementing software. Software products often come with a standard set of business processes they support. This out-of-the box approach to implementing software is the easiest and least expensive. Most software packages also supply features to configure the product, providing flexibility to support varied business processes. While configuring is more expensive and time-consuming than using out-of-the-box software, configuration can enhance business efficiency and effectiveness. Alternatively, businesses might choose to customize the software to address specific or unique processes. Customization is costly and comes with inherent risks, such as compatibility with future software updates from the vendor. Prioritize using out-of-the-box or configuration. Reserve customization for cases where the business relies on proprietary and unique processes that require tailored software support.
  • Deliver in phases versus running one large project. Many stakeholders submit a broad set of project requirements. While they are all useful, you might not need all of them to deliver business benefit. Breaking a project down into phases means you can deliver value earlier. It also reduces risk, especially when project team members have day-to-day operational responsibilities. A longer project means it’s more likely that key team members will be pulled away to handle operational needs. Finally, when the business is cost-conscious, a smaller project is helpful. The initial project phase will cost less. Also, stakeholders will scrutinize the requirements for future project phases, because they need a stand-alone business case. Finally, as business conditions change, a seemingly important requirement might not be as crucial.
  • Quality versus speed. Quality versus speed is a powerful yet risky trade-off. Sure, you can reduce project cost and deliver products sooner by using fewer quality assurance processes. However, the project cost might increase if the delivered products have errors that affect the business, or worse yet, your business’s customers. This trade-off is often made late in a project when deadlines are at risk, and teams are desperate to deliver on time. Discuss this trade-off possibility in advance before deadline pressure is present. Negotiate to keep the quality assurance processes needed to protect the business from costly errors.
  • Long-term maintenance versus initial development. In product development projects, a crucial decision involves identifying the ongoing maintenance activities required once the project concludes and the product is in daily use. You can minimize product maintenance by investing more effort, cost, and time during development. Development for a simpler product can be faster and less costly, but it can increase maintenance effort and long-term usage cost. For example, you could build a machine that is self-lubricating, which would be more costly. However, maintenance would involve ensuring that there was enough lubricant for the machine to work properly. The simpler machine would cost less to build.  But then, it would require effort, resources, and downtime while the machine is periodically disassembled and lubricated manually. Working with the product designers, project managers can identify the holistic total cost of ownership to negotiate project approval. 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 59,000 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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Attaining Harmony with Your Sponsor

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Harmony between the project manager and project sponsor increases your ability to achieve project objectives. Because each relationship is unique, you must build it with intention. Here are critical items to understand to increase your harmony with your sponsor:

  • Your sponsor’s perspective of their strengths and areas to improve. Everyone has strengths and areas for improvement. Determine where your sponsor sees themselves as a solid contributor, and where they feel they could improve. That way, you can optimize the contributions you make. Prioritize the outcomes that the sponsor needs the most, that you can produce given your strengths, and the sponsor might struggle to produce. This collaboration inspires confidence and increases productivity. When you support each other, your interactions become more comfortable and predictable, and that benefits every project you two work together on.
  • How your sponsor processes information. Some people like to see the big picture, while others prefer diving into details. A sponsor might focus on task status or concentrate instead on budget status. Think communication plan: what information, presentation format, communication method, and frequency. Communicate the information your sponsor cares about most in the way that makes it easiest for them to understand. When other information is significant, point it out to the sponsor. Use the sponsor’s preferred method and frequency of delivery, such as face to face every Friday, by email as needed. Make sponsor communication high-priority. When you follow your sponsor’s communication preferences, you will increase your effectiveness and your sponsor’s confidence.
  • Your sponsor’s triple-constraint priority. Manage your project according to your sponsor’s priority of cost, scope, and time. That way, you know the trade-offs your sponsor would be willing to make. For example, if time is most important, followed by scope, and then cost, you can guess that the sponsor would choose to spend more and shave a little scope in order to stay on schedule. This priority also guides you in how to manage risk responses and report variance. With this knowledge, you can proactively recommend or implement adjustments as the project progresses. You and your sponsor will be aligned, even when things aren’t on track.
  • Your sponsor’s decision-making approach. Some managers prefer having facts so they can analyze them to figure out a course of action. Others want you to do the analysis and present options with pros and cons so they can choose. Your sponsor will make decisions more quickly when you give them the information they want. Following their decision-making approach can also streamline how you manage change in your projects.

Have you discovered other things that can help build a better relationship with a project sponsor? Or do you have questions about how to implement the ones in this article? If so, share with us in the comments section.

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 59,000 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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Trends in Project Management

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Here are seven of the hottest trends in the evolving field of project management. Post in the comment section with which of these topics interest you. I will prioritize future articles based on the topics with the highest interest.

  1. AI and automation in project management. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies are being integrated into project management tools. These help streamline routine tasks, improve accuracy in project forecasting, and enhance overall efficiency.

  2. Agile in non-IT environments. The principles of Agile, such as iterative development and continuous feedback, have reached beyond software development and are being embraced in fields like marketing, HR, and manufacturing.

  3. Hybrid project management. Many organizations are adopting hybrid project management approaches, which combine traditional waterfall and Agile practices. The benefit is to use appropriate approaches to different parts of a project to achieve the best project outcomes.

  4. Remote project management. With the rise of remote work, project managers must adapt their strategies to manage remote teams in different locations. This requires collaboration tools, virtual communication platforms, and effective approaches for developing teamwork.

  5. Emphasis on emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is now recognized as a crucial skill for project managers. With stakeholders, the ability to understand and navigate emotions will enhance communication, collaboration, and project success.

  6. Data-driven decision-making. Project managers are leveraging data analytics alongside project management tools to make informed decisions. By collecting and analyzing relevant data, teams can identify trends, anticipate potential issues, and optimize processes for better project outcomes.

  7. Focus on organizational change management. Successful project managers are using organizational change management principles to help teams and stakeholders adapt to project-related changes. This includes communication strategies, stakeholder engagement, and addressing resistance to change.

Post in the comments section to cast your vote(s) for your favorite trend!

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 58,000 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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Dealing with competing project priorities

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Dealing with competing project prioritiesTeam members usually juggle work on multiple projects, so competing priorities and limited staff time are bound to disrupt project schedules. When your project faces competition from other high-priority projects, follow these steps to optimize results for your organization:

  • Verify project priorities with management. Lack of guidance from senior leaders can result in conflicting priorities. Management might not be aware of potential conflicts unless project managers bring them to their attention. Present the project conflicts to management and ask for unambiguous project priorities so the project managers involved can adjust their schedules accordingly. If your project isn’t high priority, move on to the remaining steps in this article.
  • Identify the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) scope. To support current organization priorities, focus on the MVP scope for your project. This will minimize the drag on organizational resources while still delivering value to the business. Work with your project team to reassess and reprioritize tasks that focus on the MVP. You can defer or deprioritize non-essential tasks to reduce scope and workload. Moving forward, consider deferred scope items for a separate project when organizational priorities permit.
  • Identify the required skills to produce the MVP. Adjust your project staffing to supply the skills needed for the MVP. This adjustment might reduce the demand for senior project team members and alleviate prioritization conflicts.
  • Work with other project managers and/or department heads to optimize schedules. Compare staffing needs across projects with your colleagues. You may find ways to optimize schedules by redistributing tasks or sharing resources without overallocation.
  • Adjust your project timeline. Reevaluate your project timeline based on the MVP scope, available resources, and when resources are available to your project. Clearly communicate timeline changes to stakeholders to manage their expectations.
  1. Closely monitor your revised plan. Be flexible as your project and competing projects progress. You might need to adjust your plan again to optimize overall organization results. Regularly monitor and adapt your project plan as needed.

Every project manager has had to deal with competing priorities. How do you approach this dilemma? What changes have you made on past projects? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about project priorities, check out Andy Jordan’s Project Portfolio Management Foundations 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 xx,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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