When persistence is not always good…………………….#pmot

Posted on April 15, 2013 by admin

Project Managers are generally encouraged to be persistent and this characteristic is normally seen to be a “good” thing and something to be encouraged.

Sometimes, however, being persistent can bring “bad” results.

Consider the case of a Project Manager who has a preconceived agenda & seeks to impose it on a meeker member of the team. Despite the initial objections of the Team member the Project Manager persists and “badgers” the other into doing what She wants.

Six months later the project hits a major hurdle and the Project Manager realizes this was exactly what She was warned about all those months ago but chose to ignore in order to bash ahead with her agenda.

The wise Project Manager always listens to her Team and is prepared to question her own agenda with as open a mind as possible.

Persistence is a great attribute of any Project Manager but not when it impedes good judgement.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Building great teams……..#business #leadership

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

Team building is not all about weekends away in the Lake District building rafts & swinging through the trees. Effective Managers employ simple everyday methods to build team performance. Here are 10 tips for great team building:-

Do as I do not as I say. – If you ask team members to carry out tasks you either cannot or wouldn’t do yourself you will quickly lose respect.
Eliminate the blame culture – Organizations which have an overwhelming blame culture are unproductive & waste energy. Avoid blaming others, especially in public, and seek to improve your own performance & those of your team.
Open & Honest Feedback – is to be encouraged. If you want to question a team members performance it must be done in private & in an open, honest manner. Be prepared to hear things you don’t want to hear but don’t be afraid to point out weaknesses you feel need to be rectified.
Don’t delegate irresponsibly - by overloading your team or passing off un-savoury tasks you don’t fancy doing yourself. This will only create resentment & lower morale.
Get your hands dirty – now & then, the team will really appreciate it – and so will you.
“Big Up” your team – to Senior Management instead of taking the credit yourself.
Have an “open door” policy - to listen to people’s personal problems, it will be much appreciated.
Show Leadership – by taking responsibility for failure as well as success.
Treat others as you would have them treat you – it’s obvious but the best advice normally is.
Celebrate Success – buy the drinks, cakes – whatever but celebrate that win !

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Digital Switchover – a great project management success #pmot

Posted on October 24, 2012 by admin

This week has seen the completion of the Digital TV switchover in the UK. Over a 5 year period the team has managed the successful transfer from Analogue to Digital in all regions of the UK. This has involved:-

Re-engineering over 1100 transmitters from Analogue to Digital.
Maintaining coverage at around 98.5% of UK residents.
Making 95% of the population aware of the programme.
Ensuring those who need help get it fast.
Freeing up the Analogue bandwidth for other uses.

The Team achieved all this and more completing the changeover on time and within budget. It was also an excellent example of collaboration between public sector broadcasters, independent broadcasters, Ofcom, Government and other parties.

Particularly impressive were the adverts targeted at the public which were clear, concise and informative.

Congratulations to the Digital Switchover team for a job well done.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Helping you to juggle sand #pmot

Posted on June 12, 2012 by admin

Sometimes Project Management can be like “juggling sand”, tasks to complete, schedules to meet, requests to be met etc etc

If your job seems like are constantly juggling sand here are some simple tips to help you cope:-

Keep a notebook – it doesn’t matter how good your memory is you will NEVER remember everything.
Make a TO-DO list and prioritize it.
Say NO – if you can’t do something by a certain time don’t pretend you can.
Offer an alternative, if you can’t do A could you do B instead ?
Delegate – if you have a team delegate tasks effectively.
Communicate – if Management asks you to do something keep them up to date with progress.
Be PROACTIVE, rather than reactive.
ANTICIPATE problems before they present themselves.
Manage your time – if its simpler to phone rather than visit someone then do that.
Follow up verbal requests with an email so you have a traceable record.

Be Assertive, don’t swallow more than you can chew.

If you have any more suggestions please share them by commenting below.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Dealing with difficult customers……..

Posted on December 31, 2011 by admin

angry customer

Do you have to deal with some really “difficult customers” ?

The first question you should ask is “why is this customer being difficult ?”

Most customers are “difficult” because they are not getting what they want

in terms of product quality or delivery.

So here are some tips for Managing those customers:-

1) Understand what the customer wants – EXACTLY. Get them to spell it out in detail in a product spec.

2) Ensure that your product matches the customer spec.

3) If you hit problems which affect customer delivery or quality you need to be pro-active by:-

a) Keeping the customer informed – don’t take the ostrich approach & bury your head in the sand – arrange a regular conference call on a regular basis until any issues are resolved.

b) What is the contingency ? – is there any alternative you can offer the

customer until you resolve the issue.

c) Give them a timing plan detailing all activities associated with fixing

the problem – and keep it up to date.

d) Don’t bullshit the customer – maintain integrity by being open & honest,even if it feels painful doing so.

Taking a pro-active approach to managing customer expectations will pay off

in the long run as they realise that everyone has problems & the above approach demonstrates you are going the extra mile to solve their issues.

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Why YOU need a Project Manager #pmot

Posted on November 25, 2011 by admin

project managers Some organizations think they can run projects without a Project Manager

They believe that they can save money by having an engineer or administrator do the project managers tasks.

Here are some reasons why they are wrong:-

All projects need managing.
Project Management is a skilled profession which requires years of learning and development.
A professional Project Manager understands how a project should be structured to ensure success.
She will plan the project to minimize overall timescale.
He understands how to get “stuff” done.
A Project Manager makes team members life “easy” by scheduling activities & dealing with the politics & administration of the project.
He understand conflict resolution and mediation.

So what is the likely outcome of trying to manage projects on the “cheap” :-

The project will be structured poorly if at all.
The timeline will be extended extensively.
The inexperienced individual trying to manage the project will become completely overloaded & unable to cope with their own tasks.
Rather than being cheaper costs will escalate out of control.
Key deliverables will not be met.
Customers expectations will be compromised.
The business will be irreparably damaged.

If you really want to save yourself money hire the best project manager you can get.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Do NOT hire an interim project manager if… #pmot

Posted on June 5, 2011 by admin

Interim Project Managers 1) You need additional Project Management resource for the foreseeable future; in this case you will be better off engaging someone on a “permanent” salaried basis, even if finding them will take longer.

2) Your processes are so specific any new recruit will take several months or even years to become familiar with them.

3) You want to engage an individual (probably younger) you can mould to fit your organizations culture.

4) Your organization is expanding at a steady and predictable rate.

However, sometimes an Interim Project Manager is the best solution if:-

1) You have identified a short to medium term lack of resource in the Project Management arena.

2) You want someone quickly who can make an immediate impact.

3) You have a specific project which requires targeted resource.

4) Your organization is expanding rapidly but unpredictable.

When employing additional resource be sure to take into account the circumstances in which it is to be deployed.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Project Management Rapture….#in…#pmot

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

I knew exactly how Reverend Harold Camping felt on Saturday when his end of the world prediction (known as “The Rapture”) failed to transpire.

I’ve been there, oh yes I’ve been there; not predicting the end of the world of course, but forecasting a key project milestone to a customer. Tracking progress carefully and communicating regularly and what happens……a project bananna skin sneaks under the sole of my foot and all hell breaks loose, my project milestone is suddenly hoofed into the future and I’m left in front of the customer with egg, not only on my face, but dribbling down my shirt as well.

Of course I always go back to the customer offering 3 options and making every endeavour to minimize the delay but…..it’s never the same.

Like so many of the good Reverends followers who sold their houses, or spent their life savings prior to “Rapture” the Customer inevitably feels cheesed off to say the least.

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Return of The Apprentice….#pmot…#in…#entrepreneur

Posted on May 11, 2011 by admin

There are always plenty of laughs to be had in BBC’s “The Apprentice” – that’s what its all about after all, rather than a serious look at innovation or
entrepreneurship, it revolves around getting a bunch of young (naive) wannabes together who are generally arrogant, self opinionated and full of it; falling over themselves to look even dafter than they are in reality (all helped by clever editing of course)

Sir Alan hams it up, pontificating in cockney barrow boy English whilst trying not to fall off the box he has to place on his chair in order not to look too short.

Each task has a “project manager” – which has probably done more to damage the profession than anything else, most of the prats on the show probably think a Gantt is a term of abuse.

The funniest bit last night was when Sir Alan referred to himself as an “electronics expert….who sees things other people cannot see..”

Hmmmmm….perhaps he was referring to Amstrad’s “emailer” phone.
Oh Yes the famous emailer phone, widely used by Sir Alan’s receptionist to
usher in the hapless competitors.

Doesn’t every home have one ?

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Lost opportunity cost…..#pmot…#in

Posted on May 3, 2011 by admin

Bizplan03

In the last post we discussed risk aversion. One of the pitfalls of being too risk averse is lost opportunity cost.

In New Product Development Project Managers constantly balance time to market with product quality, resource management, project costs & a host of other competing factors.

In an effort to develop the perfect product with maximum process capability and meeting 100% customer satisfaction the real cost of lost opportunity is often missed.

Consider a product which on release will generate, on average, $100,000 profit a month for 12 months. If the product release is delayed by 1 month the lost opportunity cost can be estimated as $100,000. What should be emphasised is that this amount will NEVER be recovered. If the product lifecycle is estimated as being 12 months depending on the competition then releasing the product 1 month late reduces the lifecycle to 11 months.

If that lost $100,000 was invested at a compound rate of 5% per year over ten years it would be worth $163,000 !

So here are some tips to minimize lost opportunity cost:-

1) Invest in the project at the front end, providing ample resource and support.

2) Fix the product spec before the end of the design phase.

3) 100% perfection is great but 95% is normally good enough for most customers.

4) Make it easy for engineers by setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aggressive, Realistic, Timely) targets.

5) Publicise Project Milestone targets.

6) Communicate Lost Opportunity Costs.

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Tag Archives: project manager

When persistence is not always good…………………….#pmot

Building great teams……..#business #leadership

Digital Switchover – a great project management success #pmot

Helping you to juggle sand #pmot

Dealing with difficult customers……..

angry customer

Do you have to deal with some really “difficult customers” ?

The first question you should ask is “why is this customer being difficult ?”