attask project leadership lessons from 40 ppm experts

8/11/2019 Attask Project Leadership Lessons From 40 Ppm Experts

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PROJECT LEADERSHIP

Lessons from 40 PPM Experts on Making the Transitionfrom Project Management to Project Leadership

Sponsored by:
http://www.attask.com/http://www.attask.com/


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Foreword............................................................................................3

Introduction......................................................................................4Our Project Leadership Experts...................................................5

Learning to Share................................................................................9Nurturing Effectie Communication............................................10Leading from the Front................................................................12Project Leadership, Not Project Management.............................13Building Trust One Project at a Time...............................................14The Keys to Success: Ownership, Transparency, andAccountability.....................................................................................15Nailing the Vision: Ensuring Project Success ThroughClarity....................................................................................................17Business-focused Leadership........................................................18Wild Dogs and PMs: Team Building for Successful Projects.............19Preparation, Visibility, Empowerment..........................................20Communicating wit Empaty........................................................21Going from Boss to Teammate..................................................22The Deal is in the Details.................................................................24Virtual Leadership.............................................................................25How WIFM Rescued a Failing Project.........................................26Winning Staeolder Support....................................................27Lightening the Weight of the World Through Trust.................28Moing Proects Beyond Analysis Paralysis.............................29Getting Down to Genuine Leadeship..........................................31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No More Winging It: Deising a Plan to Sae a Proect........32

Trust and Respect: The Keys to Successful Projects...............33Risking Your Popularity to Be a Strong Leader.........................34Connecting Sustainability to te Enterprise..............................36Committing to an Agile Transformation.....................................38Encourage Autonomy, Collaboration, Eploration...............39Rescuing Failing Projects............................................................40Trust: The Key to Successful Leadership...................................42Becoming the Linchpin for Your Project.......................................43Implementing Situational Adapted Leadership.......................44

Canging an Organizations DNA.................................................46Ensuring Success Through Face-to-FaceCommunication................................................................................47

Leading Those Who Follow...........................................................48Starting Proects wit Loe and Integrity..................................49Cultural Competence: Effectie Leadersip inMulticultural Enironments...........................................................50

Project Leadership: The Main Ingredient in GettingTroubled Projects Back on Track.................................................52

Delegating Your Way to Project Leadership.............................53Consistent Proect Management Witout Ecuses ...............54Clear Communication Leads to Commitment.........................56Principles of Performance-Based Proect Management.......57Loe Your Proect, and Your Team Will, Too.............................59

Meet AtTask...................................................................................60
http://www.attask.com/


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FOREWORD

Strong proect leadersip can mae te dierence between success and failure but is surprisingly elusie to manybusinesses.Wen it comes to proect management, we tend to tal about te tacticalte assignments, te tass, te approals, andso on. But business is eoling, and many proect teams are now being ased to lead cange, instead of ust timelinesand milestones. Tis eolution is accelerating and is drien by fres tining and business necessity supported byadanced tecnologies tat are igly accessible to a muc broader range of contributors. Eectiely managing wor isno longer just the role of a few specialists.

At AtTas, wee been bot witnessing and enabling tis trend for many years. Its te reason our strategic focus goesbeyond elping clients better manage proects. Our Enterprise Wor Management solution allows tem to iew wor in aolistic wayproiding complete isibility across not ust proects, but te entire lifecycle of wor.

Wit isibility comes transparency, confidence, and ultimately, te power to lead. Decisions no longer need to be madewit out-of-date and incomplete information, resources can be truly optimized, and productiity materially improed.

We ope youll nd te collectie wisdom captured in tis eBoo to be a source of insigt and best practice as youcontinue your own journey to be a project leader.

ERIC MORGAN

AtTas CEO


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Gartner predicted a massie sea cange in te world of proect managementa cange tat is forcing proect managers intoa greater leadersip role and requiring tem to wor closely wit senior eecuties. Wit te generous support of AtTas, we

reached out to 40 top Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) professionals and asked them the following question:

Please share a remarkable leadership secret that had a major impact on an enterpriseproject you have managed. Please tell the story and the results that you achieved.

We receied a range of insigtful answers tat paint a picture of an industry in transition. Te essays in tis boo rouglybrea down into tree categories. Seeral of te practitioners focused on te new relationsip tat proect leaders needto forge with senior management, how to understand their concerns and communicate with them in any

way that

works. Many PPM experts wrote about leading change and getting teams to work together in new ways. Finally, many ofour eperts wrote about specific leadersip tecniques tat ae elped tem clear urdles and remoe obstacles.

Making the shift from project managementto project leadershipisnt easy, but te rewards can be signicant. We opete collectie wisdom and ard-learned lessons contained in tese pages will inspire you and elp you tae your ownteams to a iger leel.

All the best,

DAVID ROGELBERG

Editor

2014 Studio B Productions, Inc. I 62 Nassau Drie I Great Nec, NY 11021 I 516 360 2622 I www.studiob.com

INTRODUCTION
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Cesar AbeidPROjECT MANAGER

Glen B. AllemanPRINCIPLE

Paul CableCONSULTANT PROjECTMANAGER

Naomi CaiettiPROjECT MANAGER /CONSULTANT

Geo CraneDOCTORAL STUDENT,PROFESSOR & COACh

Michiko DibyCEO

Michel DionPROjECT MANAGER

Deanne EarleCOMPANY DIRECTOR &PROjECT CONSULTANT

Cris FieldGLOBAL PMO MANAGER

je FurmanPROjECT MANAGEMENTINSTRUCTOR / PM BOOk AUThOR

OUR PROjECT LEADERShIP ExPERTS

Frank GrippoDIRECTOR OF WEB SERvICES

Bob HartmanCERTIFIED SCRUM TRAINER

Barry HodgePROjECT MANAGER

Jon HydePROGRAMME MANAGER

Michael KaplanFOUNDER AND CEO

Robert KellyMANAGING PARTNER

Torsten KoertingMANAGING PARTNER

Susanne MadsenPROjECT LEADERShIP COACh

Ric Maltzman &Dae SirleyCO-FOUNDERS

Margaret MeloniPRESIDENT

Jose MoroCEO

Carlos j. PampliegaARChITECT & PROjECTMANAGER

Rob PrinzoPRESIDENT

Patrick RichardSENIOR PROjECT /PROGRAM MANAGER

Gregg D. RichieINSTRUCTOR

In Carlos RieraGonzlezSR. PROjECT MANAGER

Tres RoederPRESIDENT

Johanna RothmanPRESIDENT

Peter SaddingtonPRINCIPAL

Susan de SousaDIRECTOR

Pam StantonAUTHOR, SPEAKER &CONSULTANT

Stephanie StewartDIRECTOR OF AGILE LEADERShIP

Jo Ann SweeneyFOUNDER

Peter TaylorOWNER / DIRECTOR

Tony TogliaDIRECTOR, PROjECTMANAGEMENT OFFICE

Ricardo Viana Vargas

DIRECTOR - PROjECTMANAGEMENT

Cinda voegtliCEO

Ed WallingtonPROjECT MANAGEMENTADvOCATE

Neil WalkerPROGRAM & PROjECTPRACTITIONER

Todd C. WilliamsPRESIDENT


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Share aremarkableleadership

secret that hada major impact

on an enterprise

proect you aemanaged.

Many enterprises may have good data,but because they are working in silos . . .these data are not available to end userswhen they require it.

Ed Wallington

When it comes to organizational projectmanagement, communications is a criticalcomponent that, when executed properly,links all project stakeholders to a commonset of goals and actions.

Michael Kaplan

Project leadership relates to people,relationships, and behaviors. Neil Walker


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Leadershipis setting a new direction or vision for a group to follow, whilemanagementis controlling resources in a group according to dened standards.

Peter Taylor

Swift trust occurs when a diverse group is brought together in a temporaryorganization, such as a project oce or virtual team created for an urgent project.

Naomi Caietti

I included stakeholders from all areas of the organization, not just IT and not just

the team members, which helped elevate stakeholder interest, bring transparency,and break down silos, subsequently driving success. Tony Toglia


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I dont begin a project until I fully understand it. This means that I will sit withproject sponsors and not proceed until I have nailed down their vision.

Michiko Diby

What turned the project around was business-focused leadership by the sponsorand PM as well as business-focused collaboration by the team to dene and pursuewhat mattered most.

Cinda Voegtli

The role of the PM is rst and foremost to create an environment in which the PMs

team can be successfulnothing more, nothing less. Chris Field


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W

en it comes to organizational proect management,

communications is a critical component that, when executed

properly, links all project stakeholders to a common set of goals and

actions. If proect managers (PMs) do not eectiely sare tese basic

components or team members dont understand them, expected outcomes are

eopardized and proect budgets become subect to unwanted ris.

A basic prerequisite for a smootly functioning proect team is eectie

communications within the team and between the team and other project

stakeholders. One of the dangers of project management is the belief that all

communication lins are operating eectiely ust because people are taling to one

another. One of the most common pitfalls of communication is the assumption that

because a message was sent, a message must ae been receied.

According to Project Management Institute, all aspects of project communications

can be challenging to projects, but the major areas of concern are:

Te gap in compreending te business benets; and

Te language used to communicate proect information being frequently

ambiguous and aored wit proect management slang.

Te responsibility for deeloping and nurturing real communication lins belongs

to te PM. Understanding tat te communication requirements of proects ary

greatly, te PM can focus on seeral areas to increase proect communications:

Remain an eectie communicator. Be a communications epediter.

Encourage good communications across boundaries.

Leerage tecnology eectiely.

Use a proect website.

Run eectie meetings.

KEY LESSONS

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ENSURE COMMUNICATIONAMONG TEAM MEMBERS ANDBETWEEN THE TEAM ANDPROJECT STAKEHOLDERS.

CREATE AND USE ACOMMUNICATIONSMANAGEMENT PLAN.

PLAN COMMUNICATIONINTERNAL AND EXTERNALTO THE PROJECT.

When it comes toorganizational projectmanagement,communications is

a critical componentthat, when executedproperly, links allproject stakeholders toa common set of goalsand actions.

MICHAEL KAPLAN

Michael Kaplan is the founder

of SoftPMO, a New Yorkbased

consulting rm tat specializes

in improing eecution and

resource management. He is a

recognized leader in program

management and seres as an

adisor and mentor to senioreecuties. In more tan 20

years of practice, Michael

as wored wit seeral of

the worlds most successful

organizations, including

Fortune 500 companies and

goernment agencies, elping

tem to aciee te full intent

of their most urgent and

critically important initiaties.

NURTURING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Founder and CEO ofSoftPMO

Twitter I Website I Blogb
http://www.twitter.com/mkaplanPMPhttp://www.softpmo.com/http://www.softpmo.com/http://www.softpmo.com/blog_left_column.htmlhttp://www.softpmo.com/blog_left_column.htmlhttp://www.softpmo.com/blog_left_column.htmlhttp://www.softpmo.com/http://www.twitter.com/mkaplanPMPhttp://www.attask.com/


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T

he perception of project managers (PMs) has changed

signicantly oer te past decade. I ae witnessed a fundamental

sift in te sectors I operate inone tat as seen a diergence from

the traditional PM role to encompass leadership qualities typically

resered for eecuties.

Preiously, PMs sat witin an organizations command-and-control

management structure. Tis autoritarian approac was perasie trougout

most sectors and typically limited eibility, stied innoation, and reduced

te ability to respond rapidly to issues. Maretplace canges oer te past

decade ae compelled senior eecuties to demand more from teir people,

compelling their people to adapt swiftly to the onslaught of change through

etensie transformational cange. PMs ae been carged wit unraeling te

pletora of business requirements to delier proects successfully.

Senior eecuties set te strategic obecties of te organization, but tey are

not eperts on ow te business runs at te operational leel. Te people

engaged at tat leel are. Tis disconnect is replicated at te proect leel, as

well. After all, no one person (or team) can do it all or know it all, and PMs are no

eception. A decade ago, I discoered tat successful transformation proects

need eectie actions by all of te people inoled at eery leel. Tis certainly

requires greater leels of collaboration and inuence tan iterto seen, not only

witin te deliery team implementing te cange but across te organization

and een eternally.

PMs face the challenge of gaining contributions and buy-in from people who dont

report directly to them. Therefore, project success often depends on ones ability

to inuence and persuade people at eery leel. Tis, in turn, requires leadersip.

Proect leadersip relates to people, relationsips, and beaiors. So, by leading

from te front, steering eeryone toward a common obectie, and engaging tem

eectiely en route, youll soon see enanced proect performance.

KEY LESSONS

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COLLABORATION ISESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFULTRANSFORMATION PROJECTS.

PROJECT SUCCESS OFTENDEPENDS ON YOUR ABILITY TOINFLUENCE AND PERSUADEPEOPLE AT EVERY LEVEL.

LEAD FROM THE FRONT.

Project leadershiprelates to people,relationships, andbehaviors.

NEIL WALKER

Neil Walker is a project

management professional,

consultant, and author. He has

more than 20 years of experience

leading and deliering tecnology-

enablement projects and business

transformation programs that

ae aligned people, process,and technology with business

strategy for blue-cip nancial

serices, professional serices,

and Uk goernment organizations.

Neil has consulted across United

kingdom, Europe, Canada, and te

United States in specializations

suc as program deliery

assurance, project turnaround,

strategic relationships, and

collaboratie woring.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Program & ProjectPractitioner at Synatus

http://www.twitter.com/ppmpractitionerhttp://www.neilwalker.net/http://www.ppmpractitioner.com/http://www.ppmpractitioner.com/http://www.ppmpractitioner.com/http://www.neilwalker.net/http://www.twitter.com/ppmpractitionerhttp://www.attask.com/


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Leadershiphas been described as the art of leading others todeliberately create a result tat wouldnt ae appened oterwise.Tis is someting tat appens eery day in proect management, yetwe call it just thatproject management rather than project leadership.

A confusing situation, but te dierence can be tougt of in te following

way: Leadershipis setting a new direction or ision for a group to follow, wile

managementis controlling resources in a group according to dened standards.

Using tis denition, ten, ere is a great eample of ow suc leadersip brougt

about a signicant cange. We ad a proect in wic, despite good plans and great

people, we experienced issues resulting from the fact that neither we as the supplier

organization nor te customer ad addressed te issue of organizational cange

management (OCM) in any serious way. Yet, tis was a big program of cange runningoer a planned period of two and a alf years and aecting undreds of people.

Recognizing tis gap and te ris to te oerall proect, te customer proect

manager and I agreed that we needed to do something, and that something was

to lead the team in acquiring new skills while at the same time supporting the

proect. We did loo at te use of eternal OCM resources, but te price tag was

astonishingly high and hadnt been budgeted for, and so this idea was rejected.

Instead, we embared on researcing good OCM material, initing eternal eperts

who were willing to speak to the team in return for a good meal and some expenses

and running worsops wit te team to eplore te OCM callenge and deelop a

plan for change management.

Te result, altoug peraps not te perfect OCM engagement, was twofold: Te

team learned a new sillor at least ad teir awareness raised oer te need

to tae OCM seriouslyand te business cange impact was relatiely smoot

(certainly better tan ad we done noting). had we ust managed te situation, Im

not sure wat te outcome would ae been. Te fact tat we led te situation was

a positie ting.

KEY LESSONS

1 BE A PROJECTLEADER, NOT APROJECT MANAGER.

Leadershipis settinga new direction orvision for a groupto follow, while

managementiscontrolling resourcesin a group accordingto dened standards.

PETER TAYLOR

Peter Taylor is the author of two

best-selling boos on productie

laziness: The Lazy Winnerand

The Lazy Project Manager.In

the past four years, he has

focused on writing and lecturing,

chalking up more than 200

presentations around the worldin more than 20 countries, and

as been described as peraps

the most entertaining and

inspiring speaker in the project

management world today. Peter

also acts as an independent

consultant, working with some

of te maor organizations in

te world, coacing eecutie

sponsors, project management

oce leaders, and proectmanagers.

PROJECT LEADERSHIP, NOT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Owner / Director at TeLazy Proect Manager Ltd

http://www.twitter.com/thelazypmhttp://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/http://thelazyprojectmanager.wordpress.com/http://thelazyprojectmanager.wordpress.com/http://www.thelazyprojectmanager.com/http://www.twitter.com/thelazypmhttp://www.attask.com/


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Acurrent trend is to highlight increased engagement of projectmanagers (PMs) to elp drie strategic initiaties. Organizationsneed to be more agile, customer focused, and innoatie to staycompetitie in te global maretplace. A few years ago, I ad te

opportunity to work as a PM and systems engineer on one of the

largest Medicaid data warehouse projects in the United States. The project was

comple; igly isible; and ad multiple staeolders, irtual teams, and remote

data centers of ecellence. Te U.S. Department of healt Care Serices (DhCS)

ad an urgent need to implement and delier a 21st century business intelligence

(BI) system. Staeolder engagement was te ey to producing results and positie

outcomes for this project.

Wat ey leadersip tenet did I use? Swift trust. PMs and program managers lie

tis eery day: Agility is important for deeloping swift trust wit teams, sponsors,C-leel eecuties, and staeolders. Swift trust occurs wen a dierse group is

brougt togeter in a temporary organization, suc as a proect oce or irtual

team created for an urgent project.

As a leader, you must earn trust quicly to inuence ey staeolders. Eeryone

will start with little or some knowledge to gauge trust among the team. You must

demonstrate that you can be trusted and trustworthy. Team members must also

demonstrate their integrity and ability to be accountable, thus earning trust within

the group and from the leader. Why is this skill set important? According to recent

Project Management Institute research, building trust is a key trait that successful

PMs and program managers share.Results and OutcomesTe BI solution went lie on Marc 29, 2008, and tat solution for DhCS is still

in production today. Te proect was designed to elp more eciently manage

Californias $38 billion Medicaid program (nown as Medi-Cal), sae money for

California tapayers, and improe ealtcare serices for millions of California

residents. It is the largest Medicaid data warehouse in the nation.

KEY LESSONS

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AGILITY IS IMPORTANT FORDEVELOPING SWIFT TRUST WITHTEAMS, SPONSORS, C-LEVELEXECUTIVES, AND STAKEHOLDERS.

YOU MUST EARN TRUSTQUICKLY TO INFLUENCE KEYSTAKEHOLDERS.

Swift trust occurswhen a diverse groupis brought together ina temporary organiza-tion, such as a projectoce or virtual teamcreated for an urgent

project.

NAOMI CAIETTI

Naomi Caietti is founder and

CEO of TeGlassBreaers

and has been a consultant,

a published author, and a

recognized epert on personal

growth and leadership

deelopment for proect

managers for more than10 years. She is a global

speaker and a featured

subject matter expert for the

ProjectManagement.com

community and was recently

interiewed by Samad Aidance

of NeuroFrontier on Leadership

for Women PMs. Naomi blogs for

LiquidPlanner and is the author

of a chapter in Peter Taylors

book,The Project Manager Who

Smiled.

BUILDING TRUST ONE PROJECT AT A TIME

Proect Manager /Consultant at te Stateof California

http://www.twitter.com/califgirl232http://www.theglassbreakers.net/http://www.projectmanagement.com/blog/Extraordinary-Leader/http://www.projectmanagement.com/blog/Extraordinary-Leader/http://www.theglassbreakers.net/http://www.twitter.com/califgirl232http://www.attask.com/


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Finally, we focused on accountability. We used project scorecards

and dasboards to leerage te transparency into accountability. Our

biggest win was creating a custom issue category called decisions,

referring to decisions tat were olding up design and build eorts.

The dashboard was grouped by senior leaders and displayed before all of them in

te boardroom. Tat transparency droe many eecutie decisions forward tat

had been lagging to that point.

We saw a signicant improement in performance by leeraging a preeisting

tool in a way that facilitated stakeholder ownership, brought transparency to the

project, and displayed accountability. We brought focus and resolution to our

problem areas and got back on track.

KEY LESSONS

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FACILITATE OWNERSHIP OFPROJECT ELEMENTS.

BUILD TRANSPARENCY INTOTHE PROCESS.

ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY.

I included stakeholdersfrom all areas of theorganization, not justIT and not just theteam members, whichhelped elevatestakeholder interest,bring transparency,and break down silos,subsequently drivingsuccess.

TONY TOGLIA

Tony Toglia has been

inoled in ealtcare

technology, administration,

project management, and

leadersip since 1987.

He currently manages a

proect portfolio inolingcomputerized pysician order

entry clinical, ancillary, and

business oces at a growing

regional ealtcare deliery

organization.

THE KEYS TO SUCCESS: OWNERSHIP, TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Director, ProjectManagement Oce atRideout Health

Website
http://www.frhg.org/http://www.frhg.org/http://www.attask.com/


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T

e news was grim. Te nine-mont IT proect, designed to delier

a wealth of new cost data to a group of critical business users,

was six months into the scheduleand still gathering requirements.Although some technical work was underway, the team was

oundering in ow to settle te scope and proceed. Meantime, millions of

dollars in additional prot per wee from better product pricing decisions te

new data would enable were being lost. And nising te tecnical wor on time

was looking like an impossible dream.

But wit less tan tree monts to go, tis proect recoered. It was actually

recoered on one specic day, wen te sponsor, proect manager (PM), and

team gathered with two key business users and laid out the state of the project.

Te PM and sponsor called te meeting, because tey ad realized tat teteam meant welltey were trying to mae sure tey identied all te customer

requirements so tat tey could delier a full tool for te pricing analysts. But

therein lay the problem: They were gathering all the requirements as abstract,

equally weigted items to satisfy rater tan focusing on te driing business

goals and wat mattered most for acieing tem.

That day, the group explored what mattered most to the analysts ability to make

better pricing decisions and reap te maimum amount of etra prot. By te

afternoon, te group ad identied te e most important metrics te pricing

analysts needed from the sales and customer support data. The technical team

ad started reworing te remaining scedule to delier ust tose e metrics.In te end, te proect was deliered witin two wees of its original deadline.

Tis proect was not saed by eroics or more resources or tigter scedule

management. What turned the project around was business-focused leadership

by the sponsor and PM as well as business-focused collaboration by the team to

dene and pursue wat mattered most.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

THE SPONSOR, PM, AND TEAMSHOULD GATHER WITH TWOKEY BUSINESS USERS TO LAYOUT THE STATE OF THE PROJECT.

DETERMINE WHAT MATTERSMOST TO THE PROJECT AND ITSUSERS.

BUSINESS-FOCUSED LEADERSHIPBY THE SPONSOR AND PM CANSAVE A PROJECT.

What turned theproject around wasbusiness-focusedleadership by the

sponsor and PM aswell as business-focused collaborationby the team to deneand pursue whatmattered most.

CINDA VOEGTLI

Cinda voegtli is founder and

CEO of ProectConnections.

com, an online resources and

support serice for more tan

350,000 managers and team

members worldwide. She

has more than 20 years of

deelopment and managementeperience and adises

companies of all sizes on

practical project processes. Her

passions are acieing ust

enoug proect management

that makes sense and gets

used; building business-say

cross-functional teams; and

helping project managers bring

together the skills and attitudes

that make them truly greatproject leaders.

BUSINESS-FOCUSED LEADERSHIP

CEO ofProectConnections.com

http://www.twitter.com/ProjConnectionshttp://www.projectconnections.com/http://blog.projectconnections.com/project_practitioners/cinda-voegtli.htmlhttp://blog.projectconnections.com/project_practitioners/cinda-voegtli.htmlhttp://www.projectconnections.com/http://www.twitter.com/ProjConnectionshttp://www.attask.com/


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Wee all eard prases lie common sense aint tat

common, te sum of te parts, and its people tatdelier proects, and few would disagree wit te sentiment

beind tem. Yet, it neer ceases to amaze me ow few people

take these wise words to heart when managing projects, no matter how large

or small.

Ie been fortunate enoug to be inoled wit some really successful

projects as well as some remarkable failures, and the common denominator

among tose considered successful is typically te people inoled. My not

so secret secret reects tis.

Te role of te proect manager (PM) is rst and foremost to create anenironment in wic te PMs team can be successfulnoting more,

noting less. Tae, for eample, team building. Eeryone recognizes te

importance of an eectie team, yet ow many of us mae proision for tis

in our plans and take the time to understand and play to the key strengths of

the team?

I was inoled wit a truly remarable proect in wic te upfront inestment

in team building paid diidends. Te Wild Dogs (a name tat te team

cose for temseles to reect teir determination to wor eectiely as a

team) were able to delier truly remarable results in te most callenging

of circumstances. Altoug te teams success can be attributed to seeral

factors, including collocation, a willingness to inest in te teams deelopment,

and a real sense of passion, it was without a doubt the unconditional support

for fellow team members that allowed magic to happena lesson we can all

learn from the teams namesakes in the wilds of Africa.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

THE TEAM IS THE KEY TOPROJECT SUCCESS.

THE PMS PRINCIPLE ROLE IS TOCREATE AN ENVIRONMENT INWHICH THE TEAM CAN SUCCEED.

The role of the

PM is rst andforemost to createan environment inwhich the PMs teamcan be successfulnothing more,nothing less.

CHRIS FIELD

Cris Field oined Pisel Inc.

in March 2014 to establish its

Global Project Management

Oce (PMO). he is passionate

about project management

and is an actie member of

the UK Board of the Project

Management Institute,aing sered as president

from 2009 to 2011. Cris

founded and is responsible for

organizing Synergy, one of te

largest project management

conferences in the United

Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of

te Britis Computer Society

and Member of the Association

for Project Management.

WILD DOGS AND PMS: TEAM BUILDING FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

Global PMO Manager atPiksel Inc.

Twitter I Website
http://www.twitter.com/huttonshonleyhttp://www.pmi.org.uk/http://www.pmi.org.uk/http://www.twitter.com/huttonshonleyhttp://www.attask.com/


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W

e were hosting more than 2,000 websites on an antiquated

platform when the decision was made to migrate them to a

new enironment. Te websites ad been built oer seeral yearsusing dierent standards. We did not ae te sta for suc a

callenging tas, so we ired a new team, including an osore group. Te leads

were silled but did not ae large-scale proect eperience. Te traditional

approach to project management was not going to succeed. So, how did we

accomplis tis in nine monts? Preparation, isibility, empowerment.

What was the process? We wrote a program that created each new website

and entered it into our tracking software. A project coordinator was assigned to

ealuate te new website, and updates to copy and design were implemented

as needed. Te quality assurance (QA) team ten receied te website fortesting. Any issues found were logged and assigned to a deelopment team.

Wit te onsite and osore teams woring togeter, most websites were

tested and ed in a day. Wen teams came across situations tey didnt now

how to handle, the issues were logged and assigned to management. We had

weekly training sessions with the teams, teaching them how to handle issues

on their own. After a few months, the teams were functioning without upper

management.

To accomplish this much work in such a short time takes preparation. We

ad supporting software, worows, reports, and queues in place before

we ired any sta. A large-scale initiatie also requires isibility. Our reportstracked progress in real time and sent us alerts if a project were stalled. Most

importantly, a busy team needs to be empowered. Instead of micromanaging

routine issues, we gae our people te sills to mae decisions.

So, ow do you migrate 2,000 websites in nine monts? Preparation, isibility,

empowerment.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

PREPARE FOR YOUR PROJECT INADVANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

TRACK PROGRESS IN REAL TIMETO ENSURE VISIBILITY.

GIVE PEOPLE THE SKILLS THEYNEED TO MAKE DECISIONS.

A busy team needsto be empowered.Instead ofmicromanagingroutine issues, wegave our people the

skills to makedecisions.

FRANK GRIPPO

Frank Grippo graduated

from Purdue Uniersity

wit a degree in Computer

Science. Starting his career

as a database and web

deeloper for Dialogic and

Healthstreet, he has since

been at LexisNexis for 13 yearsand is currently the director

of Web Serices. In LeisNeis

Web Visibility group, Frank is

creating websites to help law

rms maret teir businesses.

He is responsible for project

managers, deelopers, quality

assurance, and support stas.

PREPARATION, VISIBILITY, EMPOWERMENT

Director of Web Sericesat LexisNexis


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Let me start by admitting that I am not currently a project

manager; rater, Im writing from te perspectie of an Agilecoac and trainer. Tis essay reects wat I ae seen wile

woring wit clients oer te past year.

Te one remarable leadersip secret I ae seen proect managers

and Scrum Masters alike employ is the ability to communicate with senior

eecuties eectiely. Tis sounds simple, but communicating wit an

eecutie requires special sills tat arent normally taugt. It is not a type of

communication that happens naturally. It certainly requires impeccable logic,

condence, and an ability to spea clearly, but it also requires more tan te

obious: It requires empaty and an understanding of te issues eecuties

face. Tis rarely considered idea is often te dierence between te successand failure of a conersation or idea.

The formula for communicating with empathy begins by framing the context

at te start of te conersation (In our organization . . . or On tis proect .

. .) and asing eecuties for teir opinion (Wat do you see as our biggest

callenges? or Wat tings do you see as riss?). haing a conersation

about wat worries te eecutie sows your empaty and respect for is or

er position. Trying to sole your problems witout regard for te eecuties

problems will generally not produce positie results.

Tis leadersip secret can moe eecuties wo were iolently opposed to

an idea to support it after tey understand ow it would teir problem,

too. If you ae empaty for your eecuties and te tings tey are

concerned about, your ability to tie their problems to yours will allow you to

come up wit solutions tat sole bot. Transform your conersations today

using this leadership technique.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

LEARN TO COMMUNICATEEFFECTIVELY WITH EXECUTIVES.

FRAME THE CONTEXT AT THESTART OF THE CONVERSATIONAND ASK EXECUTIVES FOR THEIROPINION.

TIE YOUR PROBLEM TO THE

EXECUTIVES PROBLEM.

If you have empathyfor your executivesand the things theyare concerned about,your ability to tie their

problems to yours willallow you to come upwith solutions thatsolve both.

BOB HARTMAN

Bob Hartman, known as

Agile Bob, as been inoled

in the software industry

for more than 30 years.

He uses his experience to

elp organizations, teams,

and indiiduals all aroundthe world. Bob is a popular

conference speaer, a certied

scrum trainer and certied

scrum coach, and is assistant

chairman of the Scrum Alliance

Board of Directors.

COMMUNICATING WITH EMPATHY

Certied Scrum Trainerand Coac at Agile ForAll, LLC

http://www.twitter.com/AgileBobhttp://www.agileforall.com/http://www.agileforall.com/bloghttp://www.agileforall.com/bloghttp://www.agileforall.com/http://www.twitter.com/AgileBobhttp://www.attask.com/


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Ionce had to manage a team of electricians on a job site in the

Peruian desert. I ad neer met tose guys before, and teyonly spoke Spanish (my Spanish is passable at best). In addition,

we ad a tigt deadline, leaing us only tree days to complete

all the work. In those three days, I learned a lot about leadership, and the

secrets I uncoered stay wit me to tis day.

During our rst meeting, I ad to eplain wat needed to be donete

requirementsand wy we only ad tree days to accomplis it all. At rst,

I started talking to them in English with the help of a translator. Because

I understand Spanis way better tan I spea it, I quicly realized tat my

translator was not coneying eactly wat I needed to epress. So, I decided

to switch to my frail Spanish.

As soon as I did, I noticed that the attitude of the team completely changed.

In teir eyes, I went from being a Canadian wo ad arried to tell tem wat

to do to a isitor wo was speaing teir language. Almost immediately, tey

moed to a position of osts and also realized tat, toug I was an engineer

project manager, there was something essential to this project (the Spanish

language) that they knew way better than I.

I went from boss, to someone who was in a position to learn from them.

Next, I explained how absolutely important their work was going to be to

mae tis proect successful. We went oer te requirements and started

working.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

TRY TO SPEAK YOUR TEAMSLANGUAGE, EVEN IF YOU DONTKNOW IT WELL.

DEMONSTRATE THAT YOU NEEDPEOPLE.

SHOW THAT YOURE READY TO

PITCH IN AND GET DIRTY.

Demonstrate thatyou need people.Doing so empowersyour team, humanizesyou as a manager, and

helps all stakeholdersown the project andits success.

CESAR ABEID

Cesar Abeid is a certied

project management

professional and has a B.E.Sc.

in Electrical Engineering from

te Uniersity of Western

Ontario. Cesar oined

Remontech in 2004, and

since then has successfullyimplemented and managed

proects trougout Canada,

te United States, Brazil, and

Peru. He has a passion for

bringing project management

ideas to all. Cesar is also te

host of the weekly Project

Management for the Masses

podcast and the Construction

Industrypodcast.

GOING FROM BOSS TO TEAMMATE

Project Manager atRemontech, Inc.

http://www.twitter.com/pm4tmhttp://remontech.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://remontech.com/http://www.twitter.com/pm4tmhttp://www.attask.com/


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Because our deadline was quickly approaching, I made another

decision that turned out to be important: I decided to join themin teir wor. I suited up in personal protectie equipment and

accompanied tem into te eld, got dirty, and did some of te

work myself. The tasks were all completed within our timeframe, and I made

friends I am still in touch with to this day.

So, what were the leadership lessons here?

The answer is surprisingly simple. To lead, you need to try to speak your

teams language, een if you dont now it well enoug. Demonstrate tat you

need people. Doing so empowers your team, umanizes you as a manager,

and helps all stakeholders own the project and its success.

Finally, show that you are ready to do the work yourself, if needed. Show

tat you are not afraid to roll up your sleees and get dirty. Tis will earn

you respect and help you position yourself to compel all to do what needs

to be done.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

TRY TO SPEAK YOUR TEAMSLANGUAGE, EVEN IF YOU DONTKNOW IT WELL.

DEMONSTRATE THAT YOU NEEDPEOPLE.

SHOW THAT YOURE READY TO

PITCH IN AND GET DIRTY.

Demonstrate thatyou need people.Doing so empowersyour team, humanizesyou as a manager, and

helps all stakeholdersown the project andits success.

CESAR ABEID

Cesar Abeid is a certied

project management

professional and has a B.E.Sc.

in Electrical Engineering from

te Uniersity of Western

Ontario. Cesar oined

Remontech in 2004, and

since then has successfullyimplemented and managed

proects trougout Canada,

te United States, Brazil, and

Peru. He has a passion for

bringing project management

ideas to all. Cesar is also te

host of the weekly Project

Management for the Masses

podcast and the Construction

Industrypodcast.

GOING FROM BOSS TO TEAMMATE

Project Manager atRemontech, Inc.

bTwitter I Website I Blog
http://www.twitter.com/pm4tmhttp://remontech.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://pmforthemasses.com/http://remontech.com/http://www.twitter.com/pm4tmhttp://www.attask.com/


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S

eeral years ago, I moed into a senior program management role

at an Asian bank, managing a struggling steady-state enterprise

resource planning (ERP) installation. Luckily, I was friends with themanaging director of operations, wo was able to gie me te eads

up: Wee ad oter senior people in your position wo focused on tecnical

competency and business acumen. The business tore them to shreds. Find

anoter approac.

Somewat unnered, I cautiously stepped into te role. Tere were all inds of

functional problems on te ground. From my perspectie, toug, te single

biggest problem was a silo-based wor culture. Eeryone around me was smart

and talented, but those things clearly werent enough. To be able to make this

ERP system wor, te organization as a wole needed to wor as a single team.

Tats toug in a large, traditionally minded ban, and een touger wen

countless ngers are already pointing wit ostile intent in eery direction!

I started by cleaning up my own house. Using techniques Id learned from my

father (a schoolteacher), I set weekly customer-focused challenges for my people

tat tey ad to sole in groups. For eample, te ris management department

was regularly missing its morning ris reports. So: Find a solution tat (1) lets us

notify them in person if the report will be late (before they go looking for it) and

(2) sole te late report problem. Tis ad two eects: (1) We were nally able

to get out in front of my customers issues across the enterprise and stop the

grumbling; and (2) my front-line customers went to teir management (on teirown) to let them know they were seeing some interesting changes in my unit.

At tis point, I ad an opening to inite representaties from all of my customer

groups to the table to begin working on short-term capacity plans. The result?

hig praise from my most demanding customer: Geo did in si monts wat

tree vPs before im could not. he got tose people to wor togeter.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

AVOID A SILO-BASED WORKCULTURE.

BEFORE IMPLEMENTING ANYOTHER CHANGES, CLEAN UPYOUR OWN HOUSE.

SET WEEKLY CUSTOMER-

FOCUSED CHALLENGES THATYOUR PEOPLE HAVE TO SOLVEIN GROUPS.

Weve had othersenior people in yourposition who focusedon technical competencyand business acumen.The business torethem to shreds. Findanother approach.

GEOFF CRANE

Geo Crane is a former senior

project portfolio manager

who has ties to some of the

worlds largest banks and

professional serices rms. A

staunc belieer in te alueof soft sills oer ard sills, e

as returned to uniersity to

pursue a doctorate in clinical

psychology. Unable to stay

away from the action, though,

Geo continues to elp

aspiring eecuties organize

their project work and is an

adjunct professor of Project

Management at Durham

College in Ontario, Canada.

THE DEAL IS IN THE DETAILS

Doctoral Student,Professor and Coac atThe Papercut ProjectManager

bTwitter I Blog
http://www.twitter.com/papercutpmhttp://edge.papercutpm.com/http://edge.papercutpm.com/http://www.twitter.com/papercutpmhttp://edge.papercutpm.com/http://edge.papercutpm.com/http://edge.papercutpm.com/http://www.twitter.com/papercutpmhttp://www.attask.com/


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The most successful project managers (PMs) possess leadershipabilities and employ them. As a military PM, it was a skill I learnedfrom watching the good leaders, and it was taught to us from thebeginning of our military journey. We were often required to brief

muc iger-raning ocers about our proects.

Once, I managed te deliery, installation, data collection, and analysis of a

proect to test solar potooltaic panels as a bac-up power source at remote

construction sites around te western Pacic. Tis region included 14 sites,

stretching north and south from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, to Adak, Alaska, as

well as east and west from California to japan and Subic Bay, Pilippines. Te U.S.

Department of Energy proided te solar systems, but te U.S. Nay SEABEES

installed, tested, and collected te data. Because tis was a ig-leel goernment

proect, it was ig-isibility, watced by all leels of te cain of command.

Te biggest callenge? Not only ad no one on te proect eer wored togeter

before, but we couldnt see eac oter. We conducted all communications oer

ham radio gear. Today, we call this a virtual team, but in te early 1980s, tat term

did not eist. So, ow do you get a team of people wo ad neer met face to face,

to get to know each other and work together? How do you conduct team-building

actiities? Two words: virtual leadersip.

I ased eac team member to ae a ead-and-soulders picture taen, ten

send that picture to the 13 other sites. I implemented the policy that when they

were speaking to another member of the team, they bring their picture up so that

the speakers could see each others face. I also conducted sessions in which weasked questions and discussed the issues and challenges we faced. Finally, I had

an open-door policy, were any person from te team could come to me wit

any issue, and we would openly and freely discuss it. The outcome was that when

we all came togeter at a base near Los Angeles, California, te team met as if tey

had been working side by side the entire time. They discussed family, hobbies, and

common interests, because they already knew so much about each other.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

WHEN TEAM MEMBERS WORKVIRTUALLY, HAVING A PICTUREOF EACH TEAM MEMBER FOSTERSBETTER COMMUNICATION.

MAINTAIN AN OPEN-DOORPOLICY TO ENCOURAGECOMMUNICATION.

The most successfulproject managerspossess leadershipabilities and employthem.

GREGG D. RICHIE

Gregg D. Ricie, PMP, CNP,

MCTS, is a full-time instructor

for Project Management

Academy. He also teaches for

te Uniersity of Wasington

in the Project Management

Certicate Program, as written

two books on Microsoft Project,and is a 20 year eteran of

te U.S. Nay SEABEES. his

copyrighted signature saying

is, Goals are lie underwear:

You ae to cange tem once

in a while to feel better about

yourself.

VIRTUAL LEADERSHIP

Instructor at ProjectManagement Academy

http://www.twitter.com/PM_Academyhttp://www.projectmanagementacademy.net/http://www.projectmanagementacademy.net/http://projectmanagementacademy.net/blog/http://projectmanagementacademy.net/blog/http://projectmanagementacademy.net/blog/http://www.projectmanagementacademy.net/http://www.twitter.com/PM_Academyhttp://www.attask.com/


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For many years, I wored in a fast-paced broerage rm inManattan tat ad more tan 1,000 deelopers woring onconcurrent proects. Sometimes, tey ad to moe in code cangeson te y midday, wile stocs were trading. And sometimes, tese

canges ad bugs tat ad to be eliminated immediately to preent trading wit

the wrong calculations. Sound chaotic?

To bring order to tis cowboy enironment, our cief information ocer (CIO)

issued an edict tat te deelopers must start using a new cange management

system for all future software canges. Tis CIO was igly respected and

enoyed all te forms of power one migt nd on te Proect Management

Professional test: formal, punisment, referent, but te deelopers put up

strong resistance, and te cut-oer failed for more tan a year.

I was put in carge of conerting te deelopers to te system, and I created

a hands-on class that I made all about the WIFM factor (Whats in It for Me?).

I sowed te deelopers tat tey would benet greatly from te system,

especially because of its autobac-out option. Tis feature meant tat te

net time a deeloper would get a 3:00 a.m. call to bac-out one of is or er

canges, tat deeloper would no longer need to scramble around looing

for te old ersion of te code. If e or se ad entered te cange troug

our system, it could be backed out automatically. All the person had to do was

ae management ey in B for back-out. Te deelopers found tis to be an

appealing argument, because it would sae tem ours of maor stress on eery

back-out.

Te benet?

The result was the IT department went from almost 0% to 100% compliance,

bringing a huge drop in the number of defects in our production-trading

enironment.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

SHOW PEOPLE HOW THEY CANBENEFIT FROM YOUR PROJECT.

PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TOCOMPLY WITH CHANGE WHENTHEY UNDERSTAND THEBENEFIT TO THEM PERSONALLY.

I was put in chargeof converting thedevelopers to thesystem, and I createda hands-on class thatI made all about theWIFM factor (Whatsin It for Me?).

JEFF FURMAN

je Furman, PMP, is a igly

experienced IT project

manager and project

management instructor. He

managed software projects

for Fortune 100 rms in te

New Yor City area for morethan 15 years and currently

teaches project management

for New Yor Uniersity and

for the U.S. Army at Fort Hood

and other bases around the

United States. The second

edition of his book, The Project

Management Answer Book

(Management Concepts Press),

will be out in August 2014.

HOW WIFM RESCUED A FAILING PROJECT

Project ManagementInstructor / PM BooAuthor at NYU

http://www.twitter.com/PMAnswerBookhttp://www.jeff-furman.com/http://www.jeff-furman.com/blog/http://www.jeff-furman.com/blog/http://www.jeff-furman.com/http://www.twitter.com/PMAnswerBookhttp://www.attask.com/


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Communicating proects is more tan information ows amongteam members: Its winning the trust and support of keystakeholders outside the team.

For any project to succeed, we need to take our stakeholders on a journey. This

journey starts where those stakeholders are in terms of how much they know and

how they feel about our project. It ends when they are where we want them to be.

Before people act in te way we want, tey ae to feel positie about wat we

are asing tem to do. Before tey feel positie, tey need to now te essentials

tat will cange teir attitudes from negatie or neutral. Tus, communications

becomes an escalator that we take our stakeholders up. First, we make them

aware of our proect; ten, we build teir understanding. Net, we win teir

support, ten inolement. Finally, we as tem to commit to our proect.

just focusing on information ows gies people an intellectual concept of our

proect. Teyre familiar but ae no emotional inestment to support us and

ensure that our project succeeds. Thats assuming they pay attention to the

information we circulate.

A few years ago, I supported four projects, together transforming a multitude

of in-country systems and processes to a single European-wide system. One

project manager (PM) got the concept of stakeholder journey, and together we

deeloped a simple communications plan wit staeolder route maps at its

eart. Te oters didnt. One said, No need for communications; well ust telltem and teyll do it. Anoter PM pulled out a door-stop document and said,

I already ae a comms plan. It was ust for sow. Te fourt proect team ad

great fun creating entertaining ideos and posters but no plan.

Only te rst proect won wide staeolder support and deliered new systems

that people willingly used from day one.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

ENSURE THAT STAKEHOLDERSBUY IN TO YOUR PROJECT.

WIN STAKEHOLDER SUPPORT,THEN THEIR INVOLVEMENT.

ASK STAKEHOLDERS TO COMMITTO THE PROJECT.

Communicatingprojects is morethan informationows among teammembers: Its winningthe trust and supportof key stakeholders

outside the team.

JO ANN SWEENEY

Jo Ann Sweeney is acommunications consultantknown for her results-focused approach, rapportand consensus building,and clarifying complexinformation. An FCIM and FIIC,se specializes in woring

with complex project teamstat ae focused on tetechnology solution rathertan its deliery. jo Annhelps them get key peoplecommitted so that the projectdeliers te epected businessgoals and wins recognitionfor a great job. In addition,she runs communicationstraining for project teams andmentors leaders wo ae

communication responsibilities.

View more at: CommunicatingProjects System

WINNING STAKEHOLDER SUPPORT

Founder of SweeneyCommunications Ltd

http://www.sweeneycomms.com/communicating-projectshttp://www.sweeneycomms.com/communicating-projectshttp://www.twitter.com/CommsAbilitieshttp://www.sweeneycomms.com/http://www.commsabilities.com/blog.asphttp://www.commsabilities.com/blog.asphttp://www.sweeneycomms.com/http://www.twitter.com/CommsAbilitieshttp://www.sweeneycomms.com/communicating-projectshttp://www.sweeneycomms.com/communicating-projectshttp://www.attask.com/


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Tere is someting wrong; te conersion does not balance. Wemigt ae to call it o. Tese were te words my team memberblurted out as I approached. Unfortunately, not far behind me wasmy boss, te cief information ocer. My boss was trailing me from

des to des, because tis was a large conersion inoling most of our maor

applications. If one failed, they all failed. We had been rehearsing this for months.

I calmly asked my team member to tell me what had happened. He showed me

te conersion report and te out-of-balance totals. On is face, I saw fatigue; at

that moment, I could see that he thought the weight of the entire project was on

his shoulders. I knew that he was smart and committed. He did not need me or

my boss to ump in and start reiewing reports and issuing orders. he needed

time to step bac, tae anoter loo, tell me te nature of te situation, and oer

a potential solution.

I looed at im and said, Oay, go tae a quic brea. Wal away from your

computer and your des. After your brea, come bac and reisit te report. I will

cec bac wit you in one our. Ten, I waled away.

My boss trailed me; in not-so-used tones, e bared, Tae a brea? Tats

ow you sole a problem tat could bring us to our nees? Tae a brea? I

looed at im and said, just trust us and gie us an our. In less tan an our,

my team member called me oer to adise me tat eeryting was in fact ne

and tat in is nerousness and fatigue, e ad transposed two numbers.

In tis scenario, trust made all te dierence. My boss grudgingly trusted me. I

ad to trust myself and stand rm in my approac, I ad to trust tat my team

member could resole te problem, and my team member ad to trust in te

fact tat I belieed in im.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

DURING PROJECTS, TRUSTMAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

TRUST YOURSELF, AND STANDFIRM IN YOUR APPROACH.

On his face, I saw

fatigue; at thatmoment, I could seethat he thought theweight of the entireproject was on hisshoulders.

MARGARET MELONI

Margaret Meloni, MBA, PMP, is

president of Meloni Coacing

Solutions, Inc., a company

deoted to elping clients

successfully naigate te

human side of the project

world. Her background in

IT project management and

proect management oce

leadership enables Margaret

to understand the challenges

clients face when managing

projects. A recipient of the

Uniersity of California,

Los Angeles, Extension

Distinguished Instructors

Award, her wish is to see

her students take on tough

projects and emerge strongand sought-after project

managers.

LIGHTENING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD THROUGH TRUST

President of MeloniCoacing Solutions, Inc.

http://www.twitter.com/MargaretMelonihttp://www.elearning4pms.com/http://www.elearning4pms.com/http://www.pmstudent.com/http://www.pmstudent.com/http://www.pmstudent.com/http://www.elearning4pms.com/http://www.twitter.com/MargaretMelonihttp://www.attask.com/


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My boss called me into er oce to assign te latest mandatefrom corporate IT. The scope, she said, was for our businessunit to delier a maor upgrade of Windows to our 10,000 end users,wo were spread across seeral countries and dozens of sites. Te

deadline was 12 months.

Now, lets talk about scope. The project had many unknowns. Before we could

deploy the upgrade, we would need to test all of our business applications for

compatibility. Because tere was no autoritatie inentory of applications, we

would need to gater tat rst.

Tere was some buzz about a new tool tat would deploy te upgrade auto-

magically oer te networ, but it was still in deelopment at Microsoft. Tis

meant tat we migt ae to congure eac of tose 10,000 computers

manually, one at a time.

Budget, you as? No one new, yet, wat would be funded by corporate IT ersus

the local business units. Still, we would need to prepare a funding proposal

and get it approed in time to submit our deployment scedule to te cief

information ocer witin 30 days. Te optics and politics of tis situation were

massie tat failure, as tey say, was not an option.

I summoned an emergency worsop of representaties from our functions and

sites to build a plan for application inentory, testing, remediation, and end-userdeployment. I stood at the whiteboard with an eager smile, marker in hand.

Thats where it got ugly.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

DEVELOP A WHAT-IFSCENARIO TO BEGIN THEPLANNING PROCESS.

USE THE SCENARIO TO BUILDA PROPOSAL AND DRIVECONSENSUS.

Technical people

make fact-baseddecisions and committo plans grounded indata. What I wasasking of themviolated their verycore.

PAM STANTON

Born and raised in New

Jersey and a graduate of Yale

Uniersity, Pam Stanton is an

author, speaker, coach, and

consultant who has 25 years of

experience in transformational

leadersip. Se specializes inthe impact of group dynamics

on project outcomesor,

as se puts it, Te human

Part of te Gantt Cart. her

book, The Project Whisperer,

chronicles two decades

of insight into the human

element of successful projects.

MOVING PROJECTS BEYOND ANALYSIS PARALYSIS

Author, Speaker, andConsultant at Te ProectWhisperer

http://www.twitter.com/pamstantonhttp://www.pamstanton.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://www.pamstanton.com/http://www.twitter.com/pamstantonhttp://www.attask.com/


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Te pusbac was immediate and erce. Too many ariables to

build a plan! how can we build a plan before we now weter te

deployment will be automated or manual? Our plan depends onwat ersion of Windows tey will use. Sorry, but we cant possibly

build a plan until we ae all tese questions answered rst!

I was stumped. I mean, couldnt we just throw ideas onto the whiteboard and

work out some reasonable guesstimates? Thats when it hit me: Plan, plan, plan.

The people around the table were hung up on the word plan! To tis room full

of highly analytical people, plan equaled commitment.Technical people make

fact-based decisions and commit to plans grounded in data. What I was asking of

tem iolated teir ery core.

Immediately, I dropped the word plan. Drawing a large timeline on the

witeboard, I wrote, Wat if . . . ? Wen te eercise canged from building a

plan to deeloping a wat-if scenario, te oodgates opened and ideas poured

out. We captured te wat-ifs as assumptions tat would need to be met for

tis scenario to wor. Fantastic! Tats all I eer wanted in te rst place.

By the end of the workshop, we had a great plan for how this project could work,

assuming that we could get certain commitments on resources, technology,

funding, etc. It wasnt a huge Gantt chart but rather a simple one-pager that

included grapical boes and stars sowing maor actiities and decision points.

I called it our Assumption-based Scenarioand used it to build a proposal thatdroe consensus wit leadersip and articulated wat decisions ad to be made

for us to proceed.

Ie reused tis approac dozens of times since to moe proect teams out of

analysis paralysis. It wors lie a carm as long as I neer utter tat four-letter word.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

DEVELOP A WHAT-IFSCENARIO TO BEGIN THEPLANNING PROCESS.

USE THE SCENARIO TO BUILDA PROPOSAL AND DRIVECONSENSUS.

Technical people

make fact-baseddecisions and committo plans grounded indata. What I wasasking of themviolated their verycore.

PAM STANTON

Born and raised in New

Jersey and a graduate of Yale

Uniersity, Pam Stanton is an

author, speaker, coach, and

consultant who has 25 years of

experience in transformational

leadersip. Se specializes in

the impact of group dynamics

on project outcomesor,

as se puts it, Te human

Part of te Gantt Cart. her

book, The Project Whisperer,

chronicles two decades

of insight into the human

element of successful projects.

MOVING PROJECTS BEYOND ANALYSIS PARALYSIS

Author, Speaker, andConsultant at Te ProectWhisperer

http://www.twitter.com/pamstantonhttp://www.pamstanton.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://pamstanton.wordpress.com/http://www.pamstanton.com/http://www.twitter.com/pamstantonhttp://www.attask.com/


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When I hear that Gartner is predicting a major shift in theleadersip role tat proect managers (PM) will tae on oer tenext few months, I get excited. Although I am a fan of technology andsystems, I ae been tremendously frustrated by te productization

of proect management. Cloud-based portfolio management, turney program

management oce models, and magic metodologies ae all been lauded as

the key to success. When it comes down to it, though, for this shift to become a

reality, PMs must get down to raw, genuine leadership, especially when working

wit eecuties.

I ad tis reelation seeral years ago wile woring on two enterprise proects

wose teams consisted of multiple eecuties. On bot engagements, I felt

condent about te proects. I ad eecutie support, rm budgets, and so on.

Te problem was tat progress was ard fougt eery step of te way. Decisions

werent being made, and te team was polluted wit organizational politics. Tis

is when I learned that project leadership often required being uncomfortable.

When projects are running smooth, you are managing them, and the other

aspects of leadersip (coacing, ision casting, etc.) are enoyable, but calling

out eecuties in front of teir peers and subordinates is not a comfortable

place to be. No methodology or tool was going to help me. I needed to dot my

is and cross my ts, ten ae a fran conersation wit eac of tem about

epectations and issues aecting te proect. Altoug it was not an accusatory

positionrater, collaboration on woring togeterit was unnering. In te

end, I was able to illustrate te issues and deelop solutions to get te proectsmoing forward. Most gratifying was te increased condence in my leadersip

abilities.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

STRIVE TO BE A LEADER, NOTJUST A MANAGER.

PROJECT LEADERSHIPOFTEN REQUIRES BEINGUNCOMFORTABLE.

When it comes down

to itPMs must getdown to raw, genuineleadership, especiallywhen working withexecutives.

ROBERT KELLY

Prior to starting KPS,

Robert Kelly successfully

led enterprise projects for

15 years, with a portfolio

that spans IT, marketing,

procurement, and sales

initiaties and proect results

in more than 40 countries.

Robert is a sought-afterexpert, with speaking and

print contributions to the

Project Management Institutes

PMNetwor, Fast Companys

30 Second MBA, and

Triangle Technical Recruiters

Association. In addition, Robert

is te co-founder of #PMCat,

a global community of project

managers sharing best

practices.

GETTING DOWN TO GENUINE LEADERSHIP

Managing Partner atkelly Proect Solutions, LLC

http://www.twitter.com/KellySolutionshttp://kellyprojectsolutions.com/http://kellycrew.wordpress.com/http://kellycrew.wordpress.com/http://kellycrew.wordpress.com/http://kellyprojectsolutions.com/http://www.twitter.com/KellySolutionshttp://www.attask.com/


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Te program is going really well, probably because we ae aneceptional team woring on it, said te cief eecutie ocer (CEO).I was more tan a little confused to ear tis. So, wy do you need

me? I ased. Well, I ust get tis feeling I could be missing someting important,

said te CEO. he wasnt wrong.

The Global Program was in fact in total disarray. There was no plan, no budget,

no requirementsin fact, no documentation at all. Te tree milestones were

all more than four months late, and no one had any idea what if any work had

been done on them. In fact, the only concrete documentation was the contracts

te business ad signed wit arious clients promising deliery of a new

infrastructure wit stringent penalty clauses for non-deliery.

Sadly, tis situation is not unusual in my world. As a troublesooter, I am inariably

brought in to turn around failing programs or to ensure that the impossible is

deliered. In suc cases, leadersip sills are paramount. But leadersip doesnt

mean shouting and banging heads together. Well, not initially anyway.

In tese proects, aing te condence to tae a step bac, calmly assess te

situation, and deise a plan of action demonstrates true leadersip. After all,

te old adage of If you can eep you ead wile all oters are losing teirs still

holds true, especially in such chaotic political situations.

And that is exactly what I did. The result? I was able to determine where the real

problems lay and get tem ed. I also renegotiated te client contracts wit

zero penalties and ensured tat te new deliery dates were met. Meanwile,

te CEO and board learned a aluable lessonnamely, to bring in a proect

management professional from te outset rater tan trying to wing it.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

LEADERSHIP SKILLS AREPARAMOUNT WHEN TRYINGTO SAVE A FAILING PROJECT.

HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO STEPBACK, ASSESS THE SITUATION,AND DEVISE A PLAN.

Meanwhile, the CEO

and board learneda valuable lessonnamely, to bring in aproject managementprofessional from theoutset rather thantrying to wing it.

SUSAN DE SOUSA

Susan de Sousa is MyPMExpert

and runs the industry-leading

website of the same name. She

is internationally a recognized

expert in project management

teory, practice, and deliery,

aing successfully managed

some of Europes highest-

prole programs. Many oftese delieries were rsts

and had been deemed

impossible to delier in te

designated timeframes and

budgets. Susan is also a

frequent media contributor

and sought-after conference

speaker as well as a published

author. She is in the process

of writing a book entitled How

to Deliver Impossible ProjectsSuccessfully.

NO MORE WINGING IT: DEVISING A PLAN TO SAVE A PROJECT

Director at InterzoneSerices Ltd

http://www.twitter.com/MyPMExperthttp://www.my-project-management-expert.com/http://www.mypmexpert.com/http://www.mypmexpert.com/http://www.my-project-management-expert.com/http://www.twitter.com/MyPMExperthttp://www.attask.com/


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Trust and recognition. These two actions transform a rag-tag groupof indiiduals into a team. Trust and recognition implicitly buildpride, boost morale, and increase performance. Ealuating yourproject team by their capabilities, not their titles or tenure, breaks

down te articial walls establised in organizations and creates energy tat

cannot be surpassed.

About six years ago, when called into a client to rescue a project that was months

behind schedule and projected to exceed its budget by more than 100%, I was

challenged with a senior accounting manager who was the lead for one of the

three tracks on the projecta track responsible for integrating online payment

functionality from a nancial institution. he was arrogant, cocy, and not a team

player. One member of is team was a unior analyst new to te organization.

During te proect assessment interiews, te unior analystlets call er

Micellesowed an amazing ability to organize information and understand

the complexities of third-party integration, and she had a calming demeanor that

is so critical in te ig-stress enironment of a proect turnaround. After tree

wees of woring wit te senior manager to no aail, I turned to Micelle and

asked her to be the lead of that track. Her immediate response was that she was

unqualied. After 20 minutes of er ustifying er position and me eplaining

wy se was fully capable, I simply told er, Micelle, I ae more condence in

your capabilities than you do. I will check in on you daily to answer any questions,

but you do not need to cange anyting you are doing. You ae te sills. Tis

concluded our meeting, and se appreensiely left my cubicle.

I did as I promised, checking in with her daily. After a week or so she agreed this

was unnecessary, and she came to me when she needed help. Needless to say,

se succeeded. Te benets, oweer, went far beyond er.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

TRUST AND RECOGNITIONTRANSFORM A GROUP OFINDIVIDUALS INTO A TEAM.

CHOOSE THE PROPER PERSONFOR THE JOB RATHER THAN THEONE WHO HAS SENIORITY.

TRUSTING THE RIGHT PEOPLEGAINS YOU THE RESPECT OF

YOUR EXTENDED TEAM.

Evaluating yourproject team by theircapabilities, not theirtitles or tenure, breaksdown the articialwalls established in

organizations andcreates energy thatcannot be surpassed.

TODD C. WILLIAMS

Todd C. Williams is an epert

witness, eecutie consultant,

published author, blogger for

four sites, and president of

eCameron Inc. he as spent

the past 25 years rescuing

failed projects and teaching

companies how to turn theirision into prot by creating

initiatie-ready organizations. In

his book, Rescue the Problem

Project, A Complete Guide to

Identifying, Preventing, and

Recovering from Project Failure,

e denes a people approac

to rescuing and preenting

project failure.

TRUST AND RESPECT: THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

President ofeCameron, Inc.

http://www.twitter.com/BackFromRedhttp://ecaminc.com/http://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/http://www.twitter.com/BackFromRedhttp://www.attask.com/


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Most people on a team know who is capable. It was no exception

with this crew. The other members watched Michelle with

ecitement, because tey new se would ecel. Eecutiessaw a new face in meetings and heard how she was reining in

the problems on the payment-processing track. The result was contagious

enthusiasm spreading within and beyond the team. The proper person was

doing the job rather than the one who had seniority.

Furthermore, it was transformational for the accounting manager, who became

more umble; contributed to te team; and, after four wees of aing Micelle

woring as te lead, apologized for is arrogance and complemented te

decision to place Michelle at the helm. She had a better demeanor for working

wit te serice proider, and e was appier proiding te systems nowledge

for the integration.

Trusting te rigt people, recognizing teir sills, callenging tem to question

their abilities, and placing them in successful situations gains the respect of your

extended teamyour superiors, subordinates, and your customer.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

TRUST AND RECOGNITIONTRANSFORM A GROUP OFINDIVIDUALS INTO A TEAM.

CHOOSE THE PROPER PERSONFOR THE JOB RATHER THAN THEONE WHO HAS SENIORITY.

TRUSTING THE RIGHT PEOPLEGAINS YOU THE RESPECT OF

YOUR EXTENDED TEAM.

Evaluating yourproject team by theircapabilities, not theirtitles or tenure, breaksdown the articialwalls established in

organizations andcreates energy thatcannot be surpassed.

TODD C. WILLIAMS

Todd C. Williams is an epert

witness, eecutie consultant,

published author, blogger for

four sites, and president of

eCameron Inc. he as spent

the past 25 years rescuing

failed projects and teaching

companies how to turn theirision into prot by creating

initiatie-ready organizations. In

his book, Rescue the Problem

Proect, A Complete Guide to

Identifying, Preenting, and

Recoering from Proect Failure,

e denes a people approac

to rescuing and preenting

project failure.

TRUST AND RESPECT: THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

President ofeCameron, Inc.

http://www.twitter.com/BackFromRedhttp://ecaminc.com/http://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/index.php/bloghttp://ecaminc.com/http://www.twitter.com/BackFromRedhttp://www.attask.com/


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Iwas told te cief eecutie ocer (CEO) would be dicult toget along wit. he was old scool. he pused too ard, adunreasonable expectations, and was relentless. He smoked and hegrowled. All of this I was told. A picture began to form in my head, and

it was not a pretty one. My proect ad to get troug tis CEO. he ad is ands

on eeryting. Despite being at te top of a successful organization wit more

tan $1 billion in reenue, e still approed epense reports, training room layouts,

and other details. Without his explicit support, our project would die. As I prepared

for te meeting, I realized I ad not paced my business cards. he always ased for

business cards, and it could make or break a meeting, I had been informed earlier

in te day. I quicly called my oce and ad a few cards oernigted to te otel.

Te net day, I waled into te CEOs oce. I was wearing my best suit and

holding a fresh business card. We sat down, and I braced myself. What followed

surprised me. Te CEO was cordial, ased questions, and was introspectie. he

eplained is callenges and is desire to be more ands o. he wanted te

team to do more and wanted our proect, wic was to improe organizational

project management maturity, to liberate him to focus more on the big picture.

Could it be tat tis dicult CEO was actually ust a real person wit opes and

fears like the rest of us? Was it possible that he was doing what he felt was best

to lead te organization to te net leel? I waled out of is oce, well past our

sceduled nis time, wit a pat on te bac and is strong support. Te proect

would lie to see anoter day. I waled down te allway and smiled to myself as I

was reminded that strong leadership sometimes means being unpopular. Othersmay see it negatiely as pusing and prodding, ust as we dont lie our personal

trainers when they ask for one more push-up, but those seemingly stubborn

demands from leaders encourage us to be our best.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

RISK UNPOPULARITY TO BE AGOOD LEADER.

SEEMINGLY STUBBORNDEMANDS FROM LEADERSENCOURAGE US TO BE OURBEST.

Strong leadershipsometimes meansbeing unpopular.

TRES ROEDER

Tres Roeder, PMP, is a

recognized global epert on

project management and

organizational cange. he is

te autor of two Amazon best

sellers, A Sixth Sense for Project

Management and Managing

Project Stakeholders.Tres has

been quoted byThe New YorkTimes, The Wall Street Journal,

MSN Money, and others. He

holds a B.A. in Economics from

te Uniersity of Illinois and an

MBA from the Kellogg Graduate

School of Management at

Nortwestern Uniersity.

RISKING YOUR POPULARITY TO BE A STRONG LEADER

President of RoederConsulting

Twitter I Website
http://www.twitter.com/roederconsulthttp://www.roederconsulting.com/http://www.roederconsulting.com/http://www.twitter.com/roederconsulthttp://www.attask.com/


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Wit te increasing empasis on sustainability in te C-Suite,it becomes more and more necessary to be able to connectthat emphasis to the fundamental workings of the enterprise. Thequestion becomes, where is the best place to make that connection?

Proects are te lifeblood of any enterprise. Proects are were

te rubber meets te road, were ideas are made real. Te proect carter

terefore sould be were te connection between te C-Suite and te

fundamental workings of the enterprise is made apparent and strong. But who is

responsible for insuring that the project charter includes an accurate portrayal of

te message being communicated from te C-Suite and wat is tat message?

Answering te second question is muc easier tan answering te rst. Te

answer to te second question is tat te message is part of te enterprises

mission/ision statement. As a PM, would you want to undertae a proect tat

was not specically aligned wit one of your organizations

stated missions, say for example, sustainability? Maybe. But your answer may

also be: Sorry, I dont really tin about tat. Im too busy managing my proect.

That answer is perfectly legitimate if the sustainability message has not been

broughtwith emphasisto the project managers. So where does the project

manager get his or her marching orders? Sometimes it comes from a project

sponsor. Other times it may come from program management.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

WITH AN INCREASINGEMPHASIS ON SUSTAINABILITY,IT IS NECESSARY TO BE ABLE TOCONNECT THAT EMPHASIS TOTHE FUNDAMENTAL WORKINGSOF THE ENTERPRISE.

THE PROJECT CHARTER IS WHERETHE CONNECTION BETWEEN THEC-SUITE AND THE WORKINGS

OF THE ENTERPRISE IS MADEAPPARENT AND STRONG.

THE MESSAGE COMINGFROM ABOVE SHOULD BECONSISTENT AND DIRECTLYCONNECTED FROM THEENTERPRISE MISSION/VISIONTO THE PROJECT CHARTER.

It takes true project leadership

(i.e. more than projectmanagement) to communicatea consistent message to theproject charters so that all ofthem reect the enterprisesmission, vision, and values.

RICH MALTZMAN

AND DAVE SHIRLEY

Ric Maltzman, PMP, as been an

engineer since 1978 and a proect

management superisor since

1988. As a second, but intertwined

career, Rich has also focused on

consulting and teacing. Currently

Rich is a Director, Learning and

Professional Adancement, at teGlobal Program Management

Oce of a maor telecom concern.

Dae Sirley, PMP, as been an

instructor and consultant, with

more than 30 years experience

in management and project

management, in the corporate,

public, and small business arenas.

EartPM, LLC is te collaborationof Ric Maltzman, PMP and Dae

Shirley, PMP.

CONNECTING SUSTAINABILITY TO THE ENTERPRISE

Co-Founders ofEartPM, LLC

Twitter I Website

http://www.twitter.com/richearthpmhttp://earthpm.com/http://earthpm.com/http://www.twitter.com/richearthpmhttp://www.attask.com/


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Where does the project sponsor or program manager get their

marching orders? Hopefully, there is portfolio management. That

could be eiter a formal function in larger organizations tat mayae a portfolio management organization, to a smaller company

where one person makes the decision about which projects to

pursue. Wateer te structure, te message coming from aboe

sould be consistent and directly connected from te enterprise mission/ision

to the project charter.

It takes true project leadership (i.e. more than project management) to

communicate a consistent message to the project charters so that all of them

reect te enterprises mission, ision, and alues. And tis leadersip will pay o

in the short, medium, and long term.

KEY LESSONS

1

2

3

WITH AN INCREASINGEMPHASIS ON SUSTAINABILITY,IT IS NECESSARY TO BE ABLE TOCONNECT THAT EMPHASIS TOTHE FUNDAMENTAL WORKINGSOF THE ENTERPRISE.

THE PROJECT CHARTER IS WHERETHE CONNECTION BETWEEN THEC-SUITE AND THE WORKINGS

OF THE ENTERPRISE IS MADEAPPARENT AND STRONG.

RICH MALTZMAN

AND DAVE SHIRLEY

Ric Maltzman, PMP, as been an

engineer since 1978 and a proect

management superisor since

1988. As a second, but intertwined

career, Rich has also focused on

consulting and teacing. Currently

Rich is a Director, Learning and

Professional Adancement, at teGlobal Program Management

Oce of a maor telecom concern.

Dae Sirley, PMP, as been an

instructor and consultant, with

more than 30 years experience

in management and project

management, in the corporate,

public, and small business arenas.

EartPM, LLC is te collaborationof Ric Maltzman, PMP and Dae

Shirley, PMP.


Co-Founders ofEartPM, LLC

THE MESSAGE COMINGFROM ABOVE SHOULD BECONSISTENT AND DIRECTLYCONNECTED FROM THEENTERPRISE MISSION/VISIONTO THE PROJECT CHARTER.

It takes true project leadership

(i.e. more than projectmanagement) to communicatea consistent message to theproject charters so that all ofthem reect the enterprisesmission, vision, and values.Twitter I Website

COMMITTING TO AN AGILE TRANSFORMATION
http://www.twitter.com/richearthpmhttp://earthpm.com/http://earthpm.com/http://www.twitter.com/richearthpmhttp://www.attask.com/


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Its no secret that Agile is the most remarkable of all leadershipsecrets. Yes, thats right: Agile

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