optimizing project performance: identifying and filling ... … · optimizing project performance:...

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The Solution

It turns out that 80% of “high-performing” organizations focus on

ongoing training for PMs, according to a recent Project Management

Institute (PMI)® survey.1 With such training in place, respondents’

project success rate rose 17%.2

To elimintate barriers to PMO success, you need to get past the

symptoms (e.g., lack of improvement in project efficiency and

performance) and begin to identify the root causes. Then, implement

a project management learning program to ensure success.

This guide will walk you through how to:

�� Detect skills gaps in your PMO

�� Fill these skills gaps

�� Prevent future skills gaps through proactive training

and recruiting

The Challenge

Skills gaps are the biggest

barriers to the success of the

project management office

(PMO). Too often, project

managers (PMs) who are

well-trained in their PMO’s

processes, templates, and tools

still deliver underperforming

projects, or demonstrate only

minimal improvement project-

over-project. The best processes

cannot overcome disappointing

results if skills are weak.

Optimizing Project Performance: Identifying and Filling Your Skill Gaps

To learn how to assess and enhance your organization’s PM leadership skills, contact an expert at +1 888.374.8884 or [email protected].

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© 2016 TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Diagnosing Skills Gaps

You diagnose skills gaps much like you discover engine troubles: gaps become evident only after you experience their

effects. By the time the dashboard warning light comes on, the engine may already be in trouble. Take it as a bright red

flashing “check engine” light when, despite significant investment from your organization, projects deliver only a small

return on investment (ROI), or performance and efficiency stagnate, or policy adoption is low. We call these “the mysteries

of lower-than-expected returns.”

Like that check engine light, these are high-level indicators. To prepare a solution, PMO leaders must diagnose the root

causes, which usually fall into one of two interconnected project management skill sets:

�� Technical skills, which directly impact process and workflow. These include project scheduling, budgeting, quality

assurance, among others. Many organizations focus these because they are “hard” skills, and by definition easier to

measure and are more objective.

�� Relational skills, which indirectly impact process and workflow through interpersonal interaction. These include

motivational, negotiation, leadership, and facilitation skills. Many organizations miss these, because they are

considered “soft” skills and are harder to measure objectively.

While many organizations put more emphasis on technical skills than relational, this overlooks the fact that projects don’t

get done by themselves. Projects get done by tens, hundreds, and sometimes

even thousands of people, all of whom require leadership to execute. We think

of project execution like a suspension bridge’s roadway: The roadbed will sway

and ultimately collapse unless it has ample support. Technical and relational

skills are the two towers, bearing equal loads to support the roadbed. If either

is weak, project execution will be weak – or fail.3

Identifying Technical-Skill Gaps: Reviewing Documentation

Technical-skill gaps are the easiest to diagnose because they’re the most

visible. Start by looking at project documentation, which provides an

accessible glimpse into a manager’s technical skill set. Documentation

shows his or her processes and contributions to the project. Schedules, risk

assessments, and contracts also shed light on core management skills.

Technical & Relational Skills,

Side-by-Side

�� Technical skills: Task-based

skills that reflect management

ability; they’re hard-core skills

that define how PMs drive

projects forward.

�� Relational skills: Communications skills that

reflect leadership ability;

they’re interpersonal skills

that define how PMs interact

with project teams and

stakeholders.


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When assessing a PM’s technical skills, consider:

Identifying Relational-Skill Gaps: Listening to Feedback

If your team passes its technical-skills assessment with high scores, there may

be hidden relational skills gaps. Identifying these gaps is a harder challenge.

Think about it in the same way as scientists search for planets. Mathematical

formulae can predict how stars move; when one moves in a way that doesn’t

match scientists’ expectations, they look closer to try to find that suspected

planet. If your “planet” is a PM’s relational skills gap, only people can tell you

how a manager works in his or her environment. Therefore, use feedback to

create a 360-degree view of your PMs.

Say you have one PM who, on paper, is the best in the office. She’s certified,

organized, and always documents her processes. Even so, her projects never

quite deliver the promised return, and at times finish late and over-budget.

Documentation indicates she is strong in scheduling and budgeting, and

decisions are always timely. Therefore, you know it’s not a technical gap. With

that knowledge, you should seek feedback on her performance and behavior

within the team and with clients. This feedback could tell you that she didn’t

quite get along with her team, and that she sometimes left key stakeholders

out of the decision-making process – a clear relational skills gap.

Quality of contracts for outsourced work

Quality of deliverables (how detailed are the reports and notes?)

Scheduling and how the manager navigated interdependencies

Whether risks are completely identified and appropriately managed

Whether all stakeholders have been included in the project as expected


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Such feedback can do more than indicate skills gaps; it can point out strengths

in your PMO, too. Say you have a recently promoted PM who is still getting

certified. Though she sometimes struggles with scheduling and documentation,

everyone enjoys working with her, stakeholders are pleased – and everyone

goes the “extra mile” to ensure her project’s success. Here, feedback not only

affirms her relational skills, but also indicates future potential, provided she

gets the right technical training.

When gathering feedback, ask your project teams and clients whether or not

the manager:

Engaged stakeholders in key decisions

Motivated teams and rallied them through stressful times

Facilitated interactive meetings with many contributors

Aligned projects with organizational goals

Communicated clearly and effectively, particularly when translating organizational strategy

Thought analytically, and adapted thinking quickly as situations evolved

Changed leadership styles as project needs dictated (i.e., allowed for flexible, not hierarchical, decision-making as part of an Agile project)


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Fixing a Skills Gap

Once you know where weaknesses lie, there are two primary ways to “fill”

skills gaps: education and recruitment. Education is preferable in most cases;

you’re solving the problem mostly with existing resources. Further education

transcends the skills-gaps problem itself. By instilling a focus on employee

development, you’re creating an organization that can attract and retain top

project-focused talent. In contrast, recruitment is a way to acquire skills for an

immediate strategic need, or to kick-start a cultural shift.

A project management learning program must balance technical and relational

skill sets – despite the fact that 66% of organizations believe leadership skills

are not as teachable as technical skills, though they’re the most important for

early project management success.4 Put succinctly, “Most companies don’t

train people how to manage or think,” says noted leadership consultant Simon

Sinek.5 Don’t fall into this trap; leadership is not unteachable!

Technical and relational skills are best taught through a combination of training

and coaching. The current trend is to use “70-20-10 type training,” where 10%

of training is in a classroom, 20% comes from exposure (i.e. mentoring), and

the rest comes from actual in-the-field experience. This phased approach

allows managers to absorb new skills and then apply them within their real-life

working environments.

Training

Successful classroom, online, or blended-environment training should focus

on broad skills gaps that affect managers across the PMO. For example, you

could have 10 managers who struggle with delegation, but different subsets

might have different root causes for the issue (e.g. poor communication versus

an unwillingness to share responsibility). A course that focuses on all aspects

of delegation – technical and relational – will help the entire PMO improve.

Case in point: Forward-thinking companies have used a course called “Leading

Complex Projects” to teach relational skills. While some organizations expect

the course to help PMs learn to deal with, and manage, the complexity of a

particular project, the course shows that executing on a very complex project is

not only related to technical skills but also about interactions, motivation, and

organizational culture.


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PMs learn to open their thinking to the larger program environment – the

interconnections and relationships that are needed to really understand what’s

happening in the business, not just getting the project done. By seeing the

bigger picture, PMs recognize more of the variables that are influencing their

projects, rather than just thinking about the problems.

Coaching and Mentoring

While training is a way to present new skills, coaching and mentoring programs

allow managers to practice and contextualize their skills under guidance. At

the same time, it’s also a way to address individual strengths and weaknesses.

While training can fill common skills gaps across the PMO, coaching can focus

more precisely on the exact skills an individual needs to raise his or her game.

That’s why it’s especially useful for newly hired or promoted project managers,

who may have different skills gaps than their more senior counterparts.

But successful coaching programs do not happen without buy-in from senior

leadership. On the surface, this affords you the resources you need to operate.

Even deeper, though, this support builds a culture of two-way mentoring.

Executives can coach senior project managers toward advancement, while

project managers can build executives’ project management skill sets. This

turns the PMO into a hotbed for executive advancement, and it transfers vital

project management skills to the C-suite.

Recruitment

Although no skill is unteachable, there are skills that are difficult and time-

consuming to teach. Recruitment is a way to fill an immediate need for a skill.

But be warned: This is not necessarily a “quick fix” to a skills gap. Workforce

planning is a long-term solution because it takes time to hire and train the new

employee.

Hiring is also a tool for effecting cultural change. Culture is the one thing you

can’t train; it’s the sum of all its parts – people. If a skill gap stems from a

cultural problem, then consider hiring someone who can shift the balance. For

example, a company with an introverted culture might find employees hesitant

to share feedback. By hiring an extroverted project manager who offers

incentive for feedback and encourages discourse, you are introducing a change

agent.


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Put simply, hire for the personality you want; pick someone who is a good

cultural fit over a technically able, but culturally complementary individual.

Keeping Skills Gaps Closed

It’s not enough to simply fix a skill gap; long-term PMO success requires a

permanent commitment to education and PM development. Again, think about

the bridge metaphor. Rope-and-plank bridges address an immediate need to

cross a chasm, but they’re shaky and they don’t last. Suspension bridges, on

the other hand, are strong and permanent. When you spend the time building

and maintaining the right support towers – or skill sets – you’ll be able to

continuously bridge the gap and execute projects excellently.

When hiring new PMs, make sure their skills not only fill current needs but

also needs you’ll have down the road. Don’t just pick the skills that lead you to

success; pick the skills that maintain that success once you reach it.

Additionally, run periodic skill assessments, survey your project teams, and

encourage continuing education and certification to ensure skills gaps stay

closed. Recurring classes and formalized coaching programs as part of the

new-hire process help prepare PMs when they arrive. This is easier when you

facilitate a culture that values learning and risk-taking. It’s easy to fill skills

gaps when managers buy in to training. But beware: when organizations fear

change, employees will resist education.

Finally, look to see what skills the broader organization may offer. Collaboration

helps fill existing skills gaps while also building organizational synergy. Case in

point: one business unit in a large organization ran autonomously, to the point

of doing all its own graphics, layout and copy editing for its documentation –

not its core competency. The manager noticed world-class competency in the

company’s marketing team, and asked for help. It was provided. The marketing

team upskilled the business unit, and in the process learned more about the

business unit’s products – helping them become better marketers.

GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS 4301 North Fairfax Drive Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22203, USA +1 888.374.8884

EMEA 7 Bishopsgate London, EC2N 3AR, UK +44 (0)20.3743.2910

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At TwentyEighty Strategy Execution we deliver performance education that closes the strategy execution gap by strengthening peoples’ strategic and project execution capabilities to drive higher performance. By combining the best of cutting-edge university research and proven business techniques, we deliver a performance-focused perspective designed to increase alignment and engagement across teams, business units or the entire enterprise. Learn more today at strategyex.com.

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© 2016 TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.


Committing to Lifelong Education

No PM is perfect, and everyone can benefit from continued project

management education. Even if you don’t experience “the mystery of lower-

than-expected returns,” you should still periodically audit your PMs to make

sure they’re operating effectively. In rare situations, strong teams can pull

dead-weight managers, though it taxes team morale.

Once you’ve found a skill gap, educate your PMs and allow them to practice

their new skills in a project environment. The end goal is to create a culture of

learning that promotes employee growth and development. At the same time,

learning programs tell employees that you’re willing to invest in them. That’s a

vital tool for talent retention and, ultimately, business growth.

References

1 “High-performing” organizations have a well-established PMO that is highly aligned to

strategy and has formal, standardized project management practices, according to PMI’s

Capturing the Value of Project Management survey.

2 Capturing the Value of Project Management, Project Management Institute, © 2015 Project

Management Institute, Inc., accessed on June 22, 2016.

3 For a complete discussion of this analogy, see The TwentyEighty Strategy Execution Alignment

Skills Bridge brief.

4 “Building High-Performance Project Talent,” Project Management Institute, © 2013 Project

Management Institute, Inc., accessed on June 22, 2016

5 “How did that idiot get to be my boss?” Re:Focus, © 2016 Simon Sinkek Inc., accessed on

June 22, 2016

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