In this Issue:
*allPM Co-publisher's Letter, Judy Umlas
*From the Co-publisher's Desk, Frank Saladis, PMP
*allPM August/September Poll Results and New Poll Question
*Theme of the Month: International Project Management Day – Acknowledging the Profession
By Frank P. Saladis PMP
*Quality in Project Management - A Practical Look at Chapter 8 of the PMBOK® Guide
By Harry Rever – Director of Six Sigma
*21st Century Leadership of Global Project Teams
By Ray Ju, PMP, MBA, MAL
*Securing Cross-Cultural Collaboration in International Projects
By Diane Hofner Saphiere
*Project Management Across Borders: India
By Heather Robinson
*Meeting the Intercultural Challenges of Virtual Project Management
By Dr. George F. Simons
*Communications Toolbox™: I’ll Take Purple Please - The Big Game of Project Management By Laura B. Moore, PMP
*Project Communication – A Powerful New Tool
By Clark A. Campbell
*Risk Doctor: Responding Flexibly to Risk By Dr David Hillson
By Dr David Hillson, PMP, FAPM
*PM Crossword Connections™: Going Global PM with an International Twist
By Frank Saladis, PMP
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From the Co-publisher's Desk— Judy Umlas
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I’m going to try to write this letter fast, without thinking too much about what I really want to say, or I won’t dare touch this topic at all. The topic is Communications, in the context of “lessons learned.” I had a communications breakdown with all of you that I had no idea I was heading for. In last month’s newsletter I stepped out of the “normal” publisher’s rhetoric box and shared with you that I was going through a very tough time with my elderly parents – my dad was hospitalized with a serious bout of pneumonia and my memory –impaired mom was moving from place to place since my dad couldn’t care for her. And then I wrote this: “I know I have your good wishes, your prayers and your concern to buoy me up. I really do feel that.” And I really did feel that.
But lurking in the back of my brain was the thought of how wonderful it would be when many of you wrote to me with get well wishes for my parents, your sympathy, empathy, understanding and commiseration (i.e. the sharing of stories about things that you have lived through like this and come through, whole and complete). So I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. THREE of you (out of 40,000 – you do the percentages, as they are too painful to me) wrote me beautiful, heartfelt notes. allPM.com member and contributor Laura B. Moore even sent flowers – to me! That was after I wrote to her about how devastated I was not to hear from you, I must admit. You all know that I crave feedback, certainly on the newsletter. But this time I was craving feedback of a personal and human nature. For good reason, I’m sure, I’ve been called “high maintenance” by those who love, worship and adore me; I have high standards of behavior for myself and others – too high, I’m sometimes told. But here’s the deal: WHERE WERE YOU???
Please get that I’m not blaming anyone (very much). I know how busy we all are, how frantic our lives are. I even wrote to a dear allPM.com colleague and asked her if she had seen the newsletter because I was sure I would have heard from her and she wrote back:
“Sorry for not having sent you a message before. I wanted to, but I was too taken up with preparing for a big meeting that now is finished. OUFFF!”
And then she wrote kind and beautiful words that had deep meaning for me. So I’m just realizing that when I wrote that I knew that I had your good wishes, etc. I wasn’t lying. But it was only a partial communication. I would have really loved to hear from you. And I still would (I’m being honest this time). Tell me it will turn out all right. Tell me I’m doing the best that I can. Tell me I’m a good daughter with everything I am doing and trying to do to give my parents a few years of sweetness in their lives. Tell me I will survive without my parents when they go – I need that assurance even though I’m a “big girl.” Tell me that it is okay to feel so distracted by what is going on with my parents, and still do what I have to do at work, and with my kids, and my husband in spite of this. I really want and need a few big virtual hugs right now.
So lesson learned for me (and I hope my awful experience can have some value for us as project managers as well as just people): don’t be overly generous when you communicate and take the responsibility off the shoulders of people who matter to you. Tell them what you need when you need it. Yes, we have to be appropriate (and I know I step over the line quite often, but many of you have told me that it is refreshing and certainly not dull when I do this). I guess I’m just being real, rather than “professional.” So there you have it. Thanks for “allowing” me to communicate and share my painful lesson learned. Oh, and my email address is judy.umlas@allpm.com....
So on to the theme of the great month ahead. Due to the vision and commitment to the project management profession of one person – Co-Publisher Frank P. Saladis, PMP – we are celebrating International Project Management Day tomorrow and will continue the celebration through the entire month of November. Frank will tell you in the lead article this month about how this all got started two years ago and how it has grown magnificently throughout the world and how you can participate. So be prepared to acknowledge your team members, your colleagues, your virtual teammates, your fellow allPM.com members! While it is best to do this on a regular basis throughout the year, MAKE SURE YOU DO IT TOMORROW!!! Send a note, make a call, tell your team member’s boss what a great job he or she is doing – do anything, but make sure you DO SOMETHING!
Since we are celebrating International Project Management Day, we are focusing this month on what is happening globally around the world and how best to manage projects with and within different cultures. Our thanks to a wonderful, forward-thinking company, Cultural Detective (www.culturaldetective.com) for providing us with three excellent articles that deal with the tricky and exciting challenges of managing projects on a global basis. We also have an extremely informative article by Ray JU, PMP on the leadership of global project teams. Laura B. Moore puts another tool in her Communications Toolbox column that you will love on mixing strengths to get the best results. And Harry Rever, Six Sigma Black Belt and PMP gives us his excellent input on putting PM and Quality together in his article Quality in Project Management – A Practical Look at Chapter 8 of the PMBOK® Guide. (His column Ask Harry! Will be back next month, so get your questions ready). Clark A. Campbell provides us with an incredibly simple but powerful tool in his article on The One page Projet Manager. Risk Doctor David Hillson talks about the need for flexibility in his Risk Briefing. Frank Saladis, of course, has written the total tale of International Project Management Day. What is so exciting about this is that we can all see how one person can bring vision to reality and MAKE HUGE THINGS HAPPEN! Thanks to Frank for doing this. And for creating his IPM Day crossword puzzle, of course. Would you expect any less?
So in the spirit of the day tomorrow, I personally acknowledge each and every one of you for the jobs you do in whatever part of the world you are, and for the contribution you make to your companies, your communities, to your families and to the world at large. As I have said before, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!
Until the next time….
Judy Umlas |
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From the Co-publisher's Desk - Frank P. Saladis, PMP
The coming of November means International Project Management Day is upon us once again. At least that’s what it means to me and to many of my colleagues around the world. The first International Project Management Day was celebrated on 2 November 2005. Since then interest in the day has grown significantly. Those of you who are familiar with IPM Day are aware that the day was designated to offer project managers and project teams some well deserved recognition for the countless hours they dedicate to ensure that their projects are completed successfully. It is also a day that brings attention to the value of project management and how a solid and well executed project management methodology can very positively impact an organization’s strategic objectives.
This issue of allPM Today newsletter is dedicated to the worldwide community of project managers who face the challenges associated with unrealistic deadlines, resource shortages, budget cuts, uncooperative business units, imaginative requirements, unreasonable customers, and ever changing business priorities. It isn’t all bad. Project managers and teams continuously provide us with the very essentials of everyday life. Teams are out there everyday building new highways, shooting movies, building ships, bridges, and new vehicles. Project management can be found in every type of industry and non profit organization, in all forms of government and right in our own homes. Everyone, at some time in his or her life has managed a project. Some may not have any formal training and others have multiple certifications, but they engage in anything from remodeling a living room to launching a space shuttle.
My experience in working with project managers and project teams in various industries has indicated that project managers possess a special character that is not seen in other disciplines. It is difficult to explain exactly what is special about project managers but it has to do with an extreme dedication to “get it right” and to willingly accept assignments that seem just about impossible.
Imagine the project team that was assigned to place the first man on the moon. In the early 60’s that was a formidable task requiring courage, imagination and perseverance. It took many years but the goal was finally accomplished. There were struggles, setbacks, and several tragedies along the way, but the project managers and teams prevailed. Think about the Chunnel between England and France, the construction of the many dams around the world, the Panama Canal, the development of the I-Phone, the technology infrastructure within an organization. Project teams made these a reality and there are thousands of teams out there in every part of the world creating new wonders that will improve our lives in ways we can’t even imagine. Project managers are out there rebuilding after disaster strikes and developing systems to prevent or minimize future disasters.
It truly is time to say thanks to these men and women who lead teams, find solutions to a multitude of daily problems and issues, work miracles daily, and still come back for more. IPM Day is also for the sponsors and executives who have seen the value of project management and promote a methodology that will take their organizations to higher levels of maturity in the project management discipline. We appreciate their efforts and encourage them to spread the word among their associates and colleagues at the executive and board levels.
At the PMI® Atlanta World Congress, Greg Balestrero , PMI CEO, opened the congress with a very moving talk about the value of project management by reflecting on his trip to Atlanta via motorcycle. His talk was punctuated with photos of his trip that captured the results of project management efforts from beautifully constructed bridges to highways with an amazing history of planning and persistence. Greg mentioned his BMW motorcycle and commented on the executive support for project management that BMW provides in their continuing quest for excellence.
International Project Management Day seemed like the right thing to do but a better thing to do would be to acknowledge project managers and teams far more frequently than just one day each year. If you are a project manager, recognize your team often. If you are an executive, take a minute now and then to say thanks to your project managers and visit project teams on occasion. Leaders already know the power of acknowledgment. Use that power and watch your project teams grow even more effective and productive. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to buy them a few cups of coffee or tea while you are acknowledging. They can savor the recognition just a moment longer.
In project management we generally avoid the “just do it” approach but when it comes to recognizing project managers and their teams JUST DO IT! You will be very glad you did. And allPM.com celebrates, recognizes and appreciates what all of you contribute to the world every day!
Frank P. Saladis, PMP
Frank.Saladis@allpm.com |
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August/September Poll Results
How important is emotional intelligence to your overall success as a PM?
a) critically important - 50.85 % (60)
b) very important - 38.98 % (46)
c) moderately important - 9.32 % (11)
d) not important at all - 0.85 % (1)
Total votes: 118
The October poll question is:
I acknowledge my PM colleagues at work:
a) On a daily basis
b) Once a week
c) Once a month, if at all!
d) Never, but I had better start doing it!
If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today. |
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Theme of the Month: International Project Management Day – Acknowledging the Profession
By Frank P. Saladis PMP
Project management is a profession that many people just don’t seem to understand. Even project managers have difficulty explaining to their family and friends what they actually do. During a keynote address I delivered recently my daughter was in attendance and remarked to me after the speech that I mentioned the word “PMBOK” at least 20 times. She had no idea what it was. Since I was in the presence of a group of project managers I basically took it for granted that everyone would know what I was talking about.
There is a lesson learned here (lessons learned, what a concept!) We really can’t make any assumptions about how people perceive the job of the project manager and we especially can’t make any assumptions about the terminology we use or about the methods and procedures used to manage and complete our projects. It is also apparent that many people view project management as “added work”, overhead, or something that prevents real work from being accomplished. The generally accepted practice in business is to plan minimally and get started quickly. The belief is that less planning means more time for work and therefore faster time to completion or to the market. This is where we begin to see the value of project management. Projects that that start off quickly and follow the “just do it” approach ultimately end up in triage (a medical term referring to treatment of problems or sorting injuries and prioritizing treatment) Additional cost, displeased customers, schedule overruns, and probably several changes in the project team can be expected. Troubled projects are (in most cases) the result of poor planning. The perception that following a project management methodology will delay the project and prevent the team from being productive has been fueled by the belief that if you take too much time up front to plan you will not have enough time to meet the deadline. Where did the deadline come from? It was probably a guess based on loosely defined information, a lack of understanding about the complexity of the work to be done and a failure to analyze the current workload of the existing resources.
That’s where project management comes in. It is an organized, common sense approach that will, when properly administered, increase the probability of success significantly while supporting and contributing to the organization’s major goals and objectives. If you are a project manager you already know all about this. You may also being dealing with the frustrations associated with working for people or within organizations that do not seem to fully understand the challenges of the project manager position or the benefits that can be derived if the entire organization actually embraced the true value of a project management methodology.
Looking at project management from a different perspective, there is a truly exhilarating feeling when a project manager looks back at a project that has been completed successfully. Completed projects are a testimonial to the project manager and team and visibly demonstrate the true Power of the Profession. Gazing upon a completed bridge or a new park in an urban area, or a new sports stadium or concert arena will provide anyone with a feeling of awe and an appreciation for the work that was done. These are projects and we need to take the time to recognize those who worked so hard for us to enjoy them. Recently the city of Newark, New Jersey celebrated the opening of the Prudential Center, an arena, or more appropriately a masterpiece of a building, that brings pride to the community and unlimited opportunities for economic growth. The grand opening of the arena was brought to the public through another project- a concert by Bon Jovi. Yes, rock concerts are projects! I don’t think too many of the fans were thinking about the WBS for the concert or the risks associated with pyrotechnics but you can rest assured that a strong team of dedicated professionals planned every part of the concert from the amplification and sound to an extra set of guitar strings.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Frank P. Saladis (PMP) is Senior Consultant with International Institute for Learning, Inc. He has been involved in the development of standardized Project Management Guidelines (PMGs) for the AT&T Corporate Information Technology Services (Corporate ITS) organization and is the author of the Project Evaluation Review Process (PERP). He is the recipient of the 2006 PMI Linn Stuckenbruck person of the year award. |
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Quality in Project Management - A Practical Look at Chapter 8 of the PMBOK® Guide
By Harry Rever – Director of Six Sigma
Abstract
Project quality management is a vital aspect of any project, yet it is often misunderstood or improperly applied. Chapter 8 of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK® Guide), addresses the various aspects and importance of the topic, however, it doesn’t really tell project managers how to apply the tools and techniques effectively and with confidence. This paper attempts to make the topic of “quality” easily understandable and applicable to any project. Included within this article are practical advice, hints, and suggestions on the three aspects of project quality: Planning, Assurance, and Control. A project manager must have a firm grasp on how to effectively utilize data and measure results to effectively communicate with various stakeholder groups. If a project manager and a project team understand the various quality tools as well as how and when to use them, they will ultimately make better decisions, move the project along faster, and be much more successful with project recommendations and implementation.
Introduction
For most people, crunching numbers, dealing with data, and making charts is simply not too much fun. Most likely the data you want or need is either hard to access or nonexistent. If you actually can access the data, getting it in the format you need can be another hassle, altogether. To make matters worse, analyzing data, especially large data sets, can be confusing and downright monotonous. Yet few would argue having good supporting data makes project life easier, especially when communicating with stakeholders and top management. The proper use and application of data and data analysis can help just about any project be more successful. Often times, unfortunately, project managers struggle with how to effectively use data, and various analysis techniques, to make better, more informed decisions. “Quality management” is one of those ambiguous topics that can be quite confusing and maybe just a little bit scary. Project managers who struggle with the quality aspect of project management need some straightforward and practical advice on how to apply those quality tools and techniques mentioned in Chapter 8 of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK®.) The following article attempts to give readers several suggestions and guidelines on incorporating quality concepts, tools, and techniques into the successful management of any project.
The PMBOK® summarizes the tools and techniques associated with quality management in the table shown in Exhibit 1. Project quality management is broken down into three main processes: Quality Planning, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control. At first glance each process group has an imposing list of inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. Keep in mind these tools are not new. They have been used in business settings for decades. Most of the analysis and charting techniques listed in the table can be done in a basic spreadsheet. The key for project managers is to simply incorporate the right tools from each process during the course of a project.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Harry Rever is Director of Six Sigma for International Institute for Learning. He is a dynamic presenter and practitioner of Six Sigma and Project Management with an innate ability to teach the concepts of quality improvement in an understandable and more importantly, applicable manner. With over seventeen years as a project manager, process improvement consultant and trainer, Harry has numerous examples of what works (and what doesn’t) when managing projects and applying statistical process improvement concepts. He has experience leading people including supervising project managers, quality analysts, and sales teams. Harry has trained thousands of employees on Six Sigma, process improvement, and project management and he frequently presents at conferences and seminars. He has certifications as a Six Sigma Black Belt, Quality Manager, Quality Consultant, and Project Management Professional. Harry earned his MBA from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas and has Bachelors degrees in Marketing and Management from Texas Tech University. |
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21st Century Leadership of Global Project Teams
By Ray Ju, PMP, MBA, MAL
Recognizing International Project Management Day
In celebration of International Project Management Day, we have to realize that as Thomas Friedman states, “The World is Flat” in the sense that the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries have been leveled. The silos and vertical layers of bureaucracy are slowly being dismantled brick-by-brick in favor of a more transparent multi-national global collaborative organization. Those that can recognize the economic threats and opportunities quickly in their own backyards or across the pond will not only survive in the intense competitive markets; they will thrive and succeed as the market leaders. It is up to us as individuals and project managers in these leadership roles to look at where we can affect change and make a difference. Think about who has helped you in your life, taken that extra step, or stopped to just listen. Most people tend to forget what you tell them, though they always remember how you make them feel. Now take those kind of good feelings and positive energy and pass it forward. Act locally and think globally.
Introduction
Global commerce and technology have rapidly bridged the gaps of distance and time, which has resulted in the blurring of who the customers and suppliers really are. Automobiles, clothing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, finance, information technology and consumer goods sectors are all examples of having to rely on disparate teams and resources being brought together to design, develop, build, market and support products world wide.
As our economies have branched out beyond geographical borders, so have our interdependencies on developing and growing relationships on a global level. Traditionally the management of people, processes, and technology has been applied with a limited 18th century industrial model that was very hierarchical, top down and localized. These techniques were appropriate at the time as industries and manufacturing were emerging in key business centers around the world that specialized in providing products based on regional materials and resources at hand. Comparisons and contrasts will be made on management philosophies focusing on where we have historically been, are currently at and how to prepare for the future in leading world class project teams with a 21st Century model. The topics to be discussed include distinguishing world class companies, the application of non-violent communications, embracing diversity, collaborative inquiry, widening communities of involvement and, making desired change in gaining mutual purpose through collaborative relationships based on influence.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Ray Ju is founder and Leadership Architect of Get IT LLC, a management consulting firm based in San Francisco. His passion for project management is taught in the Master of Science in Regulatory Affairs program at San Diego State University and he is on staff at the University of California Berkeley Extension, Project Management program. Ray is frequently invited to speak at conferences in Asia, Canada, Europe, and throughout the United States. His credentials include a Bachelor in Broadcast Communications, dual Masters Degrees in Business and Leadership, and he is licensed as a General Contractor.
Ray has been an active member of the Project Management Institute and is certified as a Project Management Professional #560. He is VP of Programs for the Diversity Specific Interest Group (SIG) and is a member of the Pharma, Health Care and PMO SIGs, and also with the San Francisco Bay Area and Honolulu Chapters. He has gained, applied and shared his twenty plus years of project management experience in organizations such as Perot, Chiron, Cisco, the City of Oakland, Sun Microsystems, Wells Fargo Bank and AT&T. His positive impact and influence on high performance project teams spans the globe from San Francisco to Shanghai and Siena. Ray truly believes in the balance of art and science in consistently delivering project success and satisfaction to his customers while developing an ever expanding global network of social capital. |
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Securing Cross-Cultural Collaboration in International Projects
By Diane Hofner Saphiere
You’re fortunate enough to have been assigned a major new international project. This is a great opportunity for your career, but it could also be career breaking. There is a lot riding on this project. Success will mean huge money and future market possibilities for the organization. But, the timelines are tight, and project success will require excellent communication and collaboration among all project team members. Team members are located in multiple markets, and represent several different nationalities and business functions.
You facilitate a kick-off meeting of the project team, and, while everyone is extremely talented and enthusiastic, you notice that team members have very different approaches to project management. You tend to focus on efficiency, believing the 80/20 rule can help the team manage the most important tasks for maximum impact. A couple of other influential team members, however, focus on effectiveness. They want to make sure things are done right the first time, that things are well planned enough to avoid mistakes. Another potential issue you see is that this project involves major change for the organizations involved. It is groundbreaking, and means new ways of doing business. Yet several of your team members already strike you as risk-averse; they don’t want to change the way their employees do things, and seem to see many downsides to new approaches.
You realize that the differences you noted in the kick-off meeting are only the tip of the iceberg. Even in that meeting, you noticed major communication style differences—some team members speaking up a lot, others quieter; some ready to debate, others looking to agree and build on one another’s contributions. Going forward, how do you anticipate other differences, to prevent them from surprising you and dragging down team productivity and project success? Click here to view a graphic “Overview of Key Cultural Differences” that illustrates some of the differences that may make a difference on your international project.
Once you’ve looked over the chart, you may wonder what to do with so much complexity. How do you overcome differences of opinion and approach? As the project team leader, do you insist that things be done the way you know best? Your experience and expertise, after all, is why you were given this project. Or, in a case like this, is there some other answer? Is there, perhaps, a way to use these differences as assets, to effect more creative, thorough, and longer-lasting outcomes on this project? Following are a few rules of thumb for interculturally effective project management.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Dianne is Founder and Intercultural Consultant with Nipporica Associates LLC (www.CulturalDetective.com). She brings a wealth of global business experience to her consulting practice, specializing in improving her clients’ intercultural management performance. She has managed multinational, virtual project teams since 1989, speaks Japanese, Spanish, and English, and has lived one-third of her life outside the US on three different continents.
Her direct business experience has been in marketing alcoholic beverages and running a global consulting services organization, and her key clients have been in the electronics, energy, financial services, hospitality, manufacturing and specialty chemical industries. Dianne is a frequent author, has been a faculty member of the Intercultural Communication Institute for over 20 years, and is a recipient of the International Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research’s (SIETAR) Outstanding Interculturalist award. |
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Project Management Across Borders: India
By Heather Robinson
Since the liberalization of the Indian economy starting in 1991, the headlines about this country tell a new story. We are hearing less about swamis and starvation and more about outsourcing, software programmers and a burgeoning middle class. Even if you spend just a day in a large Indian city, you are struck by the uncommon density of global corporations. Name a Fortune 500 company and it’s likely they have an Indian presence; many, such as GE, Microsoft, Nokia, and Novartis, have major commitments in India. The global work being done in India is no longer just about call centers or BPO (business process outsourcing) tasks such as transcribing audio medical records or scanning legacy documents into digital format, but includes key functions in software design, financial, legal and HR support, component manufacturing for automobiles and airplanes, and a broad range of pharmaceutical-related activities.
All this activity means much project management and much management across borders. As we work with managers based in Western countries, we hear two kinds of stories about working with India: stories of schedule slippages, unmet specifications and emotional frustration, and also stories of delight at every level. We believe that part of what makes for such different experiences is whether the Western project managers are adapting their methodologies to managing in an Indian context.
While successful project management involves multiple issues, this article focuses on keeping schedules on target. We will outline three methodologies the “delighted” managers use for achieving timely delivery in an Indian context
Increase the Frequency of “Ping”
Because Western project management methodologies have their roots in linear “conveyor belt” planning (for example, the waterfall model), applying them without adapting to India’s “cyclical” time sense, often gets poor results. Let’s take a simple example: in the West, if you ask a person to do something for you, they will likely assess when they can complete the task and will let you know. The next interaction you expect to have is to receive the completed task. If you want to get something by a particular date or time, you “reserve” that time slot as early as possible. In India, if you ask a person to do something for you, they may well “interrupt” what they are doing and start attending to your request immediately, until interrupted by another request. Using this framework, you could think of the Western scenario as “first in, first out” and the Indian as “last in, first out.”
© 2007 allPM.com
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Founder and principal consultant of Success Across Borders, an organization development consultancy, Heather designs and facilitates intercultural training, team optimization programs and seamless outsourcing initiatives. Since 1995 she has been working at the nexus of European, Indian and US cultures for clients such as Pepsico, Boeing, Texas Instruments, Nokia, Daimler AG, SIEMENS, Cisco Systems, Robert Bosch, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis and Infineon. With many publications in her name, Heather is a frequent speaker at international conferences. She is co-author of the Cultural Detective: Switzerland (www.culturaldetective.com). Heather has a master’s degree in strategic planning and systems design, and has completed several courses at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. She lives in Seattle, Washington and can be reached at har5055@aol.com. |
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Meeting the Intercultural Challenges of Virtual Project Management
By Dr. George F. Simons
Who is the virtual worker?
Many people are already doing virtual project management to some degree, whether they know it or not. They communicate virtually on an everyday basis with people who are even within shouting range via technology rather than walking over to them and holding a conversation. Some work regularly with others whom they do not see because they work on different shifts. Others are telecommuters, full time or for part of the week or for parts of their job. When projects are executed by a number of people in different places or at different times, we speak of “distributed project management.”
Virtual working takes on an extra meaning, however, when entire business processes are virtualized. In other words, new technology is no longer just provides better or faster tools to help us do what we have already been doing, but a fresh way to manage, collaborate on or even transform a process and realize added benefits. Often this flexibility and range involves more stakeholders than before. They bring extra diversity to the scene. In a complex virtual project, besides professionals and workers from various parts of the organization, there may also be full or part time consultants, vendors and service suppliers, government agents, and representatives of community groups all with some degree of access to each other.
Diversity challenges in virtual environments
An Arab proverb says, "We don't know who discovered water, but we are sure that it wasn't a fish." Culture is pervasive and even more transparent in virtual working than in face-to-face collaboration.
In cyberspace, we know even less about what we don’t know and how it may show up unexpectedly. When the project team members or sub-teams are on different continents, in other countries, and separated by time zones, the challenge grows. In such cases,
- There are new intercultural dimensions to the activities involved in the virtual work processes themselves. Virtual project teams create their own culture as well as borrowing from as well as confronting the specific national or organizational cultures.
- Specific cultural challenges arise to the creation, formation and maintenance of relationships of individual workers and teams that will take place largely at a distance.
Let's look at this in greater detail.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Dr. George Simons is president of George Simons International, a virtual consulting organization specializing in intercultural issues in distributed working. He is the author of the Global Teamwork Diversophy game (www.diversophy.com) and an author of five programs in the Cultural Detective Series (www.culturaldetective.com). |
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Communications Toolbox™: I’ll Take Purple Please - The Big Game of Project Management
By Laura B. Moore, PMP
It’s football season again and around my house, that means packing up every weekend for tailgating and a day spent at U.C. Berkeley (Cal) football games. This behavior continues until December this year, when it all culminates in The Big Game – the football game between Cal & Stanford University. For some members of each school, there is great animosity between the schools… for example, if you wear red (one of Stanford’s colors) to a Cal football game you will most likely have several students and young alumni chanting “take off that red shirt!” until you give in and remove it (point to note, if you’re a female or modest at all, wear a shirt under the red shirt, or just don’t wear the color red to begin with!)
The thing is, I married a Cal man, but I didn’t myself attend Cal. I almost did, and I also almost attended Stanford,( but that’s another story for another time). So truly, I see the benefits and the downsides to both universities and although I may be looking at divorce papers after saying this, I think both schools are wonderful. In fact, when you combine the strengths of the two schools, you fill in for many of the weaknesses and find synergies that not only benefit the students, but the world in general (when you look at the research they conduct, this is not an understatement).
So now the usual question – where is Laura going with this…
Here’s the thing – Cal has blue & gold for their colors; Stanford red & white. The primary colors there are blue and red, which mixed together make purple (the significance of which will be explained later). ‘Ya following me? No? Okay, a bit more then…
Think about your projects. Consider each milestone as a game along the way to the big game, which will bring you to the final play in the final game that is your project, landing you either in the throngs of victory, or the depths of defeat.
This may sound a bit grandiose for a project, but let’s go back to football… every Saturday game requires the playmakers to strategize, to know their opponents (for a project, their risks, roadblocks, etc.) and to build their team up for victory in spite of sprained ankles, mid-terms, or whatever may come up during the season. By careful strategizing and precision execution (though sometimes just by dumb luck), the team wins their weekly battle and moves forward in victory and with confidence to the next week. If this is your project team, you’re probably doing an awesome job and your project is exactly where you want it and all of your stakeholders are happy.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Laura Moore (PMP, M.A. Social Psychology) has an eclectic background that includes not only project management, but clinical research and social work as well. Currently, she works as a Senior Project Manager in the telecommunications industry and does, what her team calls "guerilla project management", that is, taking urgent, high impacting issues and resolving them within a matter of days. Laura lives in California with her husband Lorin, and their two amazing daughters Lily Faye and Layla Blue. |
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Project Communication – A Powerful New Tool
By Clark A. Campbell
Imagine your boss asking you to quickly provide a report on your project – what aspects of the project are on, ahead, or behind schedule; who is responsible for each of the project’s major tasks; how the project is performing in terms of the budget; how well the project is meeting its objectives; what major problems have cropped up; and generally how well the project is presently progressing, coupled with a forecast for the next three months!
Wow, you think, that’s a lot of stuff. It will take me and my team hours to collect and organize that much information and put it into a presentable form. This could hurt our performance because this is time away from doing what’s really important, namely working on the project. And then there’s a good chance the boss won’t even read all of it because things are always hectic and the boss is always very, very busy.
After working on enough projects, I knew it was a challenge to provide upper management with the information it needed about a project, to provide it in a way that was easily understood and digested, and to collect and present the information in a format that did not take up too much of my and my team’s time.
This was the impetus behind the creation of the One-Page Project Manager; which is a communication tool that I needed but that simply did not exist in the project management world. It is designed primarily to communicate all the salient information a project’s stakeholders need to know and provide it in a timely, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-compile format.
Moreover, every project has a an important group of people deeply interested in a project though not directly involved in it, yet few project managers know how to effectively communicate to them.
This constituency includes the board of directors, senior management, suppliers, customers, and superiors or subordinates indirectly involved with the project or its outcome, and others. They want to be told what is going on in ways that engage them and don’t waste their time, but they don’t want to be given long reports with very detailed analyses. Yet, they also don’t want communications that are too brief, too inconsequential, and too unsubstantial which tend to generate more questions than they answer. Instead, they want enough information to answer their questions, but not so much information as to cause them to become inundated with facts and figures.
The One-Page Project Manager neatly balances their need to know with their desire to know just enough in as easy-to-read format as possible. It answers more questions than it generates, which is why it is such an effective communication tool.
© 2007 allPM.com
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Mr. Campbell is currently Senior Vice President, Administration and Professional Services for O.C. Tanner, the world's leading provider of employee recognition awards recognizing service milestones. Clark Campbell’s best selling book, The One-Page Project Manager, published by John Wiley & Sons, is in its fourth printing. His second book, The One-Page Project Manager for IT Projects, is scheduled for release by Wiley in 2008. Clark has advised corporations and taught university graduate students the power and simplicity of The One-Page Project Manager. These include: General Electric, Zimmer, ARUP Laboratories, Simon Kutcher Partners, PetroChina, Tasley Pharmaceuticals, Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Utah Graduate School of Business, Society of Certified Public Managers, Partners in Business – Utah State University, Human Resources Association of China. |
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Risk Doctor: Responding Flexibly to Risk
By Dr David Hillson, PMP, FAPM
Last week I travelled to London by train. We left the station at the scheduled time, followed a fixed route, stopping at a number of predetermined stations on the way, and arrived in London two minutes early. I also recently took a trip on a sailing boat across a small bay. Following a short delay in getting the boat ready, we set off in the right general direction, but were soon driven off course by the wind and tides. We also had to avoid other boats during the crossing, as well as one fast-moving jet-ski which appeared unexpectedly in front of us. Fortunately we were able to reach the other side by adjusting the sails and steering the boat carefully. Our route was certainly not a straight line across the bay, but we arrived at our chosen spot close to the expected time (and we had a very enjoyable time on the way!).
Which of these two journeys best represents your project or your business? Are you travelling by train or sailing a boat? Do you follow a set plan and schedule, expecting each milestone to be passed on time, and hoping to arrive at your destination exactly when you planned (or at least reasonably close)? Is your motto “Plan the work, then work the plan”? Or are you affected by events and circumstances (both foreseeable and unplanned) which require corrections en route to ensure that you arrive safely?
Most of us recognise that life, businesses and projects do not follow straight lines. In most cases, we can set clear goals, and we are often able to plan a route to get us there. However we know that reality is nearly always more untidy than our neat plans. Risk management is one response to this situation, seeking to look ahead and identify possible sources of variation to the plan, then developing appropriate actions to keep us on course.
© 2007 Risk Doctor Limited
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Dr. David Hillson (PMP, FAPM, FIRM, MCMI) is an international risk management consultant, and Director of Risk Doctor & Partners ( www.risk-doctor.com). His speciality is risk technology transfer, assisting organisations to develop in-house risk processes, and he is a popular conference speaker and author on risk, winning several awards for his papers. He is recognised internationally as a leading thinker and practitioner in risk management, and his recent emphasis has been the inclusion of proactive opportunity management within the risk process, which is the topic of his latest book "Effective Opportunity Management Exploiting Positive Risk", published in 2003 by Dekker of New York.
David is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and was a founder member of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group. He received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for his work in developing risk management over many years. He is a Fellow of the UK Association for Project Management (APM) and past chairman of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group. David is also a Fellow of the UK Institute of Risk Management (IRM), a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), and a member of the Chartered Management Institute.
David can be contacted at david@risk-doctor.com |
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PM Crossword Connections™: Going Global PM with an International Twist
By Frank Saladis, PMP
(Click here or the image above for a larger, printable crossword in a new window. )
Across
1 Study of the earth
5 PMI Publication
8 Australian greeting
12 Result of decomposition (in PM)
14 Role of a project manager
15 Operating system or Spanish for two
16 Fixed Price Contract
19 Celebration (Spanish)
21 Europe Based PM organization
23 Leisure time or a day off
28 Boundary line
30 Expression of happiness
31 Founder of IPM Day
32 The family of man
34 Mean Time
35 PMI CEO
37 Involving the entire earth
38 Patterns of human activity
40 ______2 PM method
41 Many projects managed together
42 People working in a cooperative manner
Down
2 Traditional German celebration
3 Begin a project phase
4 Type of Bar Chart
6 Involving many languages
7 Common NYC greeting
9 Decision technique using anonymous experts
10 Kiss, Bow or ______
11 New PMI Credential
13 Provides annual webinars for IPM day
17 Common to all
18 Individual involved in a project
20 Conduct of international relations
22 Cultural or national
24 Cooperative and supportive behavior between two humans
25 Standards of behavior
26 One who is followed
27 Non verbal communication using the body
29 Time difference NYC and London
33 80-20 rule
36 An accepted practice
38 Change Control Board (Abbrv)
39 Found on E. 42nd St in NYC
© 2007 allPM.com
Click here to view/print the crossword solution. |
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