Project Leadership
Wendy Briner Michael Geddes Colin Hastings
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VAN NOSTRAND REINHOU) New York
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Project Leadership
Wendy Briner Michael Geddes Colin Hastings
rn
VAN NOSTRAND REINHOU) New York
Copyright 01990 by Ashridge Management College. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 90-3712 ISBN 0-442-30811-6 All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recorc taping, or information storage and retrieval systems-without written permission of the publisher. Published in the United States of America by Van Nostrand Reinhold 115 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10003 Distributed in Canada by Nelson Canada 1120 Birchmount Road Scarborough, Ontario M1K 5G4, Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Printed in Great Britain
Contents
Preface
ix
Acknowledgements
xi
Introduction: The Brave New World of Project Manage
xii
PART I
THE PROJECT LEADER
Chapter 1 The Modem Approach to Project Leadershi Chapter 2 What Makes a Good Project Leader' Chapter 3 Organizational Teamworking PART I1 MANAGING THE PROJECT Chapter 4 Understanding the Big Picture Chapter 5 Establishing Success Criteria Cha'pter 6 Getting the Project Under Way Chapter 7 Assembling the Team v
vi
CONTENTS
Chapter 8 Keeping on Track Chapter 9 Handing Over and'winding Up PART I11 ACTION SUMMARY Recommended Reading and Viewing
Figures
The project triangle xiv The triangle in context xiv Stakeholders in a project xviii 5 The project leader's direction finder The project leader's tasks 8 Focus of attention 11 Fourteen integrative processes 19 The project continuum 35 Stakeholders in a project 41 Exercise: mapping your team 45 50 Pressures on the client organization Different types of risk 53 Matrix of project types 54 55 Concrete project with high visibility 56 Open project with high visibility 57 Concrete project with low visibility 58 Open project with low visibility 59 Levels of communicating the Big Picture Integrating stakeholders' expectations with the Big Picture 60 Project performance: success criteria 64 The obvious and less obvious success criteria 66 68 Levels of agreement and disagreement A work breakdown structure 82 84 Critical path analysis for an office move A resource curve ~h vii
viii
FIGURES
Getting high visibility teams off the ground Getting low visibility teams off the ground The balanced team A job designed to motivate Team development Reasons for accelerating team development Planning review system 'Plan-do' cycles Gantt chart Achievement graph Estimated completion date chart The Superteam Charter The project 'moodograph'
This book is not about project mane t people I~ IIGW specialism understand the term. It is about the rapid of project leadership in organizations. The world of traditional project management is e:volvingIapidly in two fundamental ways. Firstly it is moving iaway frorn a preoc:cupation with project planning and control tools as me Keys to success, ana towards the management of people and their performance. Secondly it is moving away from a preoccupation with complex construction projects towards a wider appreciation of the diversity of 'projects' that are mushrooming within organizationIS. The new ways in which organizatior1s are Lrsing projects as ,.....I..L.llalI~C;, or making things mechanisms for managing innovation-,and happen fast, have resulted in the rapid rise in importance of a new role - that of the project leader. Few people will bear that title; they are more likely to be called New Product Development Manager, Computer Installation Co-ordinator or Exhibitions Manager and so on. Many will not have titles at all, such as the person evaluating and preparing for a new acquisition, or the person appointed to coordinate a move to new offices. Over the last six years, we have been concerned to identify what matters for the effective project leader. How do the successful ones make things happen in practice? Our learning has grown out of the activities of our research and consulting unit, Ashridge Teamworking Services, and its work on high performing teams summarized in an earlier book, The Superteam Solution. Since then we have been .l
.
x
PREFACE
working a great deal with the new breed of project leaders, both in consukancy assignments and in the special course we developed to meet their training needs entitled 'Leading Projects Effectively'. We have also looked at the many ways in which projects of different types are being used within organizations as diverse as manufacturing, financial services, retail organizations, an opera company, television, the lifeboat service and a political party. The result is a book that says little about the traditional techniques because many of the new project leaders find them inappropriate or limited in application. It concentrates instead on the skills, awareness and understanding deployed by project leaders operating successfully in a wide range of organizational and project settings. We have tried to distil their experience, make sense of it, and present it in a form that will provide both conceptual clarity and practical payoff for the growing number of people who find themselves permanently or occasionally in project leadership roles. The book begins by explaining why the concept of project teams is being adopted so enthusiastically in modem organizations. In Part I we chart the temtory of the project leaders' activities in more detail. We identify and describe three different types of project activity in organizations, each of which requires different project leadership approaches. We show how the emphasis of the role needs to change at different phases of the project life cycle. We also outline the six key elements of the project leader's role and describe a number of 'integrative processes' which appear to be used by effective project leaders. Part I1 provides practical guidance to project leaders about how to handle issues that emerge at each stage of the project life cycle, and ways in which they can increase the chances of a successful project conclusion. The book ends with an action summary of the text and a guide to further sources of development. We believe that the emerging project leadership role is of-growing importance to organizations, and that it is exceedingly demanding but very rewarding when performed successfully. We hope that this book will help many more who find themselves in this role to reap its rewards. Wendy Briner November 1989 Michael Geddes Colin Hastings
Acknowledgemenl
Edgar Wille, who provided us with much valuable criticism and who, singlehanded, fashioned our different styles and contributions into a consistent whole. Karen Watts, Deborah Barrow, Liz Tabel and Liz Hoare, who politely and good-humouredly deciphered our scribbles and masterfully manipulated the word processor through many drafts, re-drafts, last-but-one drafts, pre-final versions and . . . wait for it . . . final versions! Our colleagues in Ashridge Teamworking Services, David Pearce, Peter Bixby, Julia Pokora, Frank Tyrrell and Sally Klewin who have in many ways contributed to, and influenced, our thinking. Our consultancy clients, research collaborators and course members, who are all out there in the jungle 'doing it'. To each other, for sticking with it.
WB
Introduction: The Brave New World of Project Management John Kingsley had a disaster on his hands. He'd worked in a construction company all his life as a project manager. There was nothing he didn't know about getting buildings up on time, within budget and to the technical spec. Three years ago he'd wanted a change and taken a new job as Co-ordinator of New Stores Development with a large high street retailing group and life had been nothing but hassle ever since. 'They make it so complicated here,' he said, 'Everyone wants their say; the Merchandising people, the Finance Director, the Distribution people . . . even Personnel think they have a right to dictate to me.' To make things more difficult, John didn't control his own construction team any longer there were subcontractors whom he thought were appalling, but they'd always done the Group's new stores. And the Architect and Interior Designers - what a crowd! They could never make up their minds what they wanted. The last straw was a telephone call from the recently appointed Store Manager saying did he not realize the impact on the bottom line, and their reputation, if the previously announced store opening had to be delayed by three weeks; then there was a message asking John to make sure he attended a meeting with the Managing Director that afternoon! Consider another case where Liz Jones, working for a compater systems company, was asked to take over a prestige project to introduce a computerized typesetting and layout facility for a national newspaper. The project was already in mid-cycle. The client organization, however, had demanded the replacement of the xii
INTRODUCTION
r
existing project team because its key managers were not being fu kept in touch with progress. In this case, the challenge facing Liz w how to manage: the expectations of senior management in her own organizatic who regarded the project as vital to the organization's reputatic and commercial future the needs of senior management in the client organization - wl were dissatisfied with progress and felt excluded from t planning process the demands of technical staff in the client organization -who h specific requirements from the system being introduced whi were not being met the problem of assembling a new which, for politic reasons, needed to include some ~ I I G I I I U G Iof ~ its demotivat predecessor the difficulties of keeping the members of thi!s team in touch with each other when it included both American ana European advisers 11 resourc the delicate exercise of negotiating additional financi~ when the project was already badly over budget.
Today's project management Thousands of project leaders, project managers and project c ordinators will be familiar with the kinds of situation describ above. Although project management has traditionally been fou mainly in the construction industry, modem project leaders are handling a much greater diversity of tasks in different types of organizations in every sector of the economy. These 'new style' projects may have similarities to traditional construcction or t:ngineeri projects, where there are hard criteria of time, ccost and s!pecificatil to be met. Just as often, however, their goals a1re more ismbiguoi --*: -and project leaders have to contend much more ..2*L wiLn organ~~arruna~ politics, external environmental or marketing pressures and, above all, the needs of individuals inside and outside the organization to --have an influence on the project. These factors have a fundamental effect on the project leader's role. Traditional projects have often been depicted as a trian~gle(Figt[re
0.1).
xiv
IN?RoDuCITON
Figure 0.1 The project Mangle
F'igure 0.2 The triangle in context
INTRODUCTION
xv
In new style projects the traditional triangle is set in a circle of additional factors (Figure 0.2) which have always existed but which have become more important as the project approach has spread across the whole spectrum of business and organizational activity. The centre of gravity of any project is always somewhere within the triangle, whilst the size and position of the segments in the outer circle are different for every project.
Types of projects now being undertaken New style projects, like traditional ones, vary in size, length and complexity. They range from installing new computer systems to introducing new appraisal systems, from organizing an office move to launching a new product, from researching and testing a new drug to making a bid for a major new advertising account, from implementing a new management information system to managing the take-over and integration of another company. Whether in manufacturing, retail, financial services, local government, the health service or a charitable organization, there is usually one person, the project leader, whose role it is to ensure the project is completed successfully. There has been a huge growth recently in the number of people performing this role. Most of them are technical specialists. Many come out of line jobs and are totally unprepared for a role that demands such different and complex skills. Many of them fail. John Kingsley, with his construction project management experience, found that his new style project leader role in the retail group required something else that he didn't seem to have. This book is designed to help this growing number of project leaders to achieve greater success. It offers frameworks, and real examples, to help them develop a clear mental picture of what they are there to do. It provides checklists of core skills and tasks of successful project leadership. It will also assist senior managers in appointing project leaders; it will enable them to appreciate the difficult environment in which project leaders must operate and to give the right kind of support. The project leader will be offered a wealth of practical tips about how to make projects successful. Before discussing the details of the project leader's role, however, we will consider why organizations are using the project approach more and more, what 'new style' projects are and how they differ
xvi
INTRODUCTION
from traditional construction or engineering projects. We will then look at the implications of these changes for project leadership in the organization. Organizations in turmoil Since the early 1960s, the limitaLlullJul the traditional hierarchical and functionally divided organization have been well documented. In particular, so-called 'bureaucratic' organizations find it difficult to be flexible and responsive in a dynamic and changing environment. They tend to inhibit innovation and individual initiative. The traditional divisions between professions and specialisms, and related restrictive practices add to the problems. The proliferation of sites both within a country and across countries increases communication difficulties. Organizations now exist in an environment even more turbulent than in the 1960s. The growing demands of international competition, increasingly sophisticated customers, an unprecedented complexity of new tasks, uncertainty in the environment, all require levels of performance, adaptability, flexibility and speed of innovation that, only a few years ago, would have seemed impossible. 'The best' is constantly being upgraded and redefined. In addition, better educated employees are demanding more opportunities for involvement and development. The modern organization has to pay more attention to preserving people's motivation and commitment. All organizations are being forced to experiment with new ways of making things happen. The term 'organic' appropriately describes these more flexible, innovative and market orientated organizations. In recent years, new clues have begun to emerge about how these organic characteristics can be developed in large organizations, in spite of their in-built tendencies to bureaucracy and rigidity. Many are striving to create an infrastructure which allows size and financial weight, as well as the ability to change, adapt, respond and seize the initiative. Key words that run through these new experiments in organizations are involvement, innovation, complexity, commitment, creativity and collaboration. 'Organizational teamworking' brings all these together. It sets out to link different specialisms horizontally across the organization. It even extends outside to include suppliers customers and joint ventures. The theme of multi-disciplinary and multi-level teamworking alsc
INTRODUCTION
xvi
appear.s repeatedly in studies of Japanese success. Their ability tc create commitment through collaboration between managers an( workers and between different specialists is the envy of the world The future health of organizations depends on the ability tc complement increasing specialization with successful integration o the separate specialisms to serve the wider goals. Only organizationa teamworking can cross specialist boundaries and ensure sharec understanding of the complex issues facing organizations. From this commitment will grow and success will follow. Many large organizations use project teams to stimulate thi: collaboration and commitment across the organization. Smalle organizations, as they grow, are also w~rkinghard in the samt direction. Organizational teams (frequently temporary in nature) art being created to bring together individuals from the differen specialisms. These teams may be called project groups, task forces quality teams or customer care groups, but their aim is the same Significant authority and responsibility are devolved to them to creatc and implement solutions within a broad framework of supper+ provided by the organization. A lot o € work 1p e s intc) helpin! previously unconnected individuals devcelop a s~enseof commor purpose. Involvement in these teams --I IGlGaSGS u ~ r i a ~ ~ talent cd enthusiasm and commitment in the orgaflization. Teams are deliber ately created to stimulate communication and cross-fertilization ir order to produce better quality solutions to complex problems. We believe that the traditional views of project management mus be adjusted to deal with the new reality. A new style projec management is required. ---a-
A new definition of project management We would define this new style project management as 'managing the visible and invisible team to achieve the objectives of the stakeholders'. Six concepts underlie this definition. The first four are explicit: The visible team: that is, the group of people working directly or the project who come together from time to time to make thf project happen. Very often they, and the project leader, are working only part-time on the project. To complicate matters, the project leader frequently starts off with no people allocated to the
xviii
INTRODUCTION
project, and may need to gather a visible team by informal processes. Sometimes members of the visible team come from outside the leader's own organization. The invisible team: that is, the group of people who contribute indirectly to the work of the visible team; their co-operation and support are vital to the success of the project. As with the visible team they may be inside or outside the organization. Project leaders neglect the management and motivation of this network at their peril. The multiple stakeholders:that is, the people who have an interest in the outcome of the project. There are always a variety of stakeholders in any project, but Figure 0.3 illustrates those who are normally involved. (Sometimes these stakeholders may be combined, as shown, but this depends upon the nature of the particular project.)
\Project leader 0
----*
0
0
affected by
Figure 0.3
Stakeholders in a project
Managing organizational teamworking: that is, project leaders consciously directing the efforts of all involved inside and outside the organization towards collaboration of high quality. Organizational teamworking spreads beyond traditional boundaries.
INTRODUCTION
xix
Networking largely supersedes hierarchy. Co-operation and mutual enabling replace adversarial and controllinn relationships. The remaining t-wo concepts are implicit: The organizational context: all projects are established to achieve a task, usually within clear constraints of time and cost. What makes new style projects more complex is the greater impact of organizational factors beyond the immediate project. These are now central, not peripheral, to the project. There are numerous vested interests, often at odds with each other (as John Kingsley discovered). Evew- -project is about more than just time, cost, and speccification. It is incwitably about organizatiorial politic:s, about cha.nge (whe re some 1people gain and some lose:), about t he wider conimercial, financiaI, or strategic significance of the project to the organization as a whole. Project leaders who are just good at getting the technical side of the task done well, often 'fail' because they lack sensitivity to the wider contextual factors represented by the circle in Figure 0.2. These factors require different skills. Technical skills alone are no longer enough to get you through. The people factor: as many fiascos are caused by inadequate people management as by insufficient skill in technical areas. This is evident from an analysis of disasters in traditional engineering and construction projects. Recent interviews with project leaders have confirmed the increasing importance of the people factor. It has always been there, but many good technical specialists have little experience or appetite for managing this key dimension. Comments from the research included: - 'I need to look on myself as a manager rather than a technician.' - 'One of the problems I have is seeing people unhappy and not knowing why they are unhappy.' - '1 constantly have to cope with people who "know better".' - 'I always have to judge which works better in a particular circumstance - playing Mr Nice Guy or being a real ogre!'
The concepts in action If we refer back to the problems of John Kingsley and Liz Jones we
can see how an appreciation of these concepts would help them to lead their project teams more effectively. John had both a visible and invisible team, with team members coming from both within and outside the organization; there were multiple stakeholders, with differing expectations, and from different levels in the organization. Above all, his biggest single problem was the human factor - 'They make it so complicated here, everyone wants their say'. Liz's main problem was also how to manage conflicting interests to achieve the different objectives of the various stakeholders. The teamworking skills required to motivate a replacement team, often working apart from each other, were more important to her than an understanding of the technical aspects of the project. If she could motivate the team to perform better, and develop better relationships with the key stakeholders, then technical and financial support would be forthcoming.
This Luun 13 &boutdeveloping your understanding of these concepts. It introduces you to ways of improving your skills and of increasing your understanding. Thus you will become a more effective project leader. You will be better able to operate in the exciting new field of project management which is crucial in developing modem organizations. You will be better able to manage both the visible and invisible team, with internal and external members, to be aware of all the stakeholders and meet their needs. While technical knowledge can never be neglected, it is the people skills which are the key to successful project management.
Part I
THE PROJECT LEA
1 The Modern Approac to Project Leadership
A project leader responsible for a team developing a new drug came 01 a recent course in project management because, he said, he thought hi 'job was impossible' and he hoped 'that the course would provide him with the Holy Grail of project management'. By the end of the programme he accepted that there were no absolute answers, but there were guidelines or concepts which could make his job less impossible. We see three particular concepts as likely to help you do your 'impossible' job more effectively. Decisions taken in the light of them will be of higher quality. You will become a more effective project leader. The three concepts are in the following areas: understanding the role of the project leader understanding the concept of organizational teamwork understand:ing the project life cycle.
The role of the project leader All the project leaders we have met think that, because their projects are unique, their roles must also be unique. However, analysis shows that there are common characteristics in every project leader's role, not necessarily found in other managerial roles. Outside line hierarchy
A project is specific and often outside 'day-to-day' business. It is
4
THE PROJECT LEADER
therefore outside the normal line hierarchy. It may even go beyond a matrix of responsibility and authority. There are unusual and temporary links to senior managers. There are few formal or informal codes of practice on how a project leader should respond upwards and downwards. Many project leaders find they have to establish their own lines of contact. They have to determine their own definitions of success. They have to make their own demands for resources and means to monitor performance. Outside the 'normal' hierarchy they have some freedom to determine their own destiny, just because they are out of the ordinary. On the other hand, they may meet considerable opposition to their demands and initiatives because they are seen by colleagues to be rocking the boat or undermining the status quo.
More than specialists Even very senior specialists in organizations, such as company lawyers or personnel directors, rarely have direct personal responsibility for a line activity important to the company. To be effective such specialist managers have to build strong channels of informal influence. These are based on their personal credibility and their ability to ensure that their expertise has an impact on the overall business. Giving correct advice is often not sufficient. They have to persuade line managers of its application and direct benefits. For example, management accountants spend much of their time interpreting financial data on behalf of line managers and presenting it in a comprehensible way. Rarely can they insist that a line manager listens to them if, in the end, helshe decides that the information is wrong or insignificant. The specialist doesn't usually carry the ultimate responsibility. The project leader, however, is responsible for the success or failure of the project. This makes it easier to insist on the provision of resources, but it also means having to deal with the numerous and often conflicting interests which are at play. The project leader has to be as persuasive and influential as a specialist colleague.
The characteristics of a project leader's role ~jectleader is: sponsible for the achievement of project goals which are limited
Looking outwards Managing the client, end-user, and external stakeholders (including suppliers and subcontractors) to e:nsure thi .--'% ~ r o i e c meets'tt t pectatiorIS.
Looking Iupwards Managing: your spconsor in order -..*-...- ..+:,...-I to achievt ulralllr. 3
1
C
ul
Looking backwards Monitoring progresls with appropriate control syar~~rta, to ensure that the project meets its targets and that the team learns from its m i s t e k ~ ~
THE R OF T
Lookin,g inward. your performance to ensure that your team leadership is a positive contribution to the project.
The Droiect leader's direcrlul~1111der
. I
?king forwards nning in order to ensure LIIO~ the tea111J ~ L J..~calistic targets, and obtains appropriate resources to achieve those targets.
-
"-6..
ooking downwards [anaging the team in order I maximize their jerforma~ )th as individuals and )Ilectively.
6
THE PROJECT LEADER
but require very visible and dynamic activity. In relation to the project the role is similar to that of a general manager. unable to hide. It is clearly apparent who is in charge. It is therefore a high risk role. limited in direct authority. This varies according to the project leader's position, but it is usually necessary to negotiate for resources and support from a wide network of people inside and outside the organization. expected to cut across normal organizational boundaries and customs and needs to be unconventional in approach; dealing with resistance o r opposition is very demanding. often working in areas new for the company - new technology, new markets or new approaches to old situations. The unknown and unpredictable are often feared by many in the mainstream organization. Credibility may be low to start with, and needs to be built up.
The project leader's direction finder Figure 1.1 illustrates the idea that a project leader must look in six directions: upwards, outwards, forwards, backwards, downwards and inwards. Looking upwards The person who initiates the project - the project leader's boss - is the sponsor of the project. The sponsor provides an organizational umbrella should it be needed. The sponsor is also, of course, an individual with personal reasons for asking you to do the job in question. It is important to know these reasons. For example, unless you know why the organization wishes to install a new computerized management information system, you may tread on a number of sensitive toes and find it impossible to complete the project successfully. So looking upwards and managing your sponsor is an essential part of the project leader's role. Looking outwards All projects have a client, an end-user (who might be different from the client) and possibly a number of other external stakeholders (such as suppliers and subcontractors). Such parties have expectations of the project which you must seek to meet. These first two facets of the project leader's role are about managing the stakeholders.
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADERSHIP
'
Looking backwards and looking forwards These two facets arc part of the same function. As a project leader you will neea appropriate control systems to ensure that you meet targets and learn from your mistakes. You cannot do this, however, without lux wa first lookir-IS Fn-=.?rds - establishing realistic plans, raisin: the necess: ~ r yresoulrces, and putting in plac:e the a1 monitoring and rep(>rtingsystems. These middle two tacets of the project leader's role are about managing the project life cycle.
Looking downwards As the leader of a team, you have a responsibility to ensure that they perform well, both individually and collectively. A main theme of this book is how you can do this in the context of organizational teamworking. Looking inwards It is all too easy to become too involved in th day-to-day tasks of a project and forget that your own perform ance has a big impact on the overall progress of the project. These last two facets of the project leader's role are about managin, performance - maximizing both your own performance and that a your team. There are, then, three dimensions to a project leader's role: the management of stakeholders the management of the project life cycle the management of performance The concept of organizational teamworking The projects we are considering here are dynamic means of change. They require the skills and knowledge of a whole range of people, sometimes on a regular or permanent basis, sometimes on an occasional basis. A project team is often a frequently fluctuating body of people from different levels of the organization, many of whom may never meet each other. As indicated earlier, the term 'organizational teamworking' describes this type of collaboration. It has a number of characteristics distinguishing it from the more traditional teamworking: The people in the team are spread throughout the organization, and frequently outside it as well.
CGANIZATIONAL
Negotialting succes criteria
derstanding what the client wants and :grating this with the desires of individual m members.
The tealrn together
iuring that the team works productively when ether by establishing and agreeing basic es of conduct and procedure.
me cnaracteristics:
I -- -Brought together for a specific project - Seldom full-time
-
=
Ensiuring that team members are kept informed whc:n working apart, and retain their con --imitment to the project.
Membership contributions
=
Ens,uring continued commitment by valuing individual contributions m d delegating leadership roles where possible.
=
Kee:ping the team moving forward by setting real istic targets and achieving motivation.
Non-hierarchical team members
- Leading the team
2ross-functional
- Continu~ous plannil~g =
30th 'visible' and invisible' t~ nembers
Figure 1.2
The team apart
I ne
i
and revi~ ew
Constantly revising the project plan in the light of changing circumstances or amended stakeholder expectations, and keeping members informed of any changes.
- Managin~gthe outsi~ d e = Keeping suppliers and subcontractors 'in tune'
project leader's tasks
with the project in order to avoid problems arising from poor quality or delays in contributions.
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADEPcUTP I
Team members seldom work full-time on the project, and oftel LIICI have other priorities and departmental loyalties fighting- LUI LL-: attention. Team members are often not under the direct organizationa control of the project leader, and may even be higher in thl hierarchy than the project leader. Being scattered and lacking visible coherence, the team member may not think of themselves, nor be seen by the organization, a parts of a project team. l?-I
The team can be defined as: 'All those individuals whlo have " .. significant contribution to make to the successful achievement ot th project through one or more of these fac their technical or specialist expertise their sponsorship, political support. or commitment their expectations of and interest in its outcome.' Creating a sense of team out of previously unconnected specialisi with other priorities is a complex skill. Project leaders have to build a committed project group, often against all the odds, and then achieve the full benefits, both personally and to the organization, of this form of cross-functional collaboratioln. To do this, a successful projec leader has to understalnd how to carry out a number of tasks, a outlined in Figure 1.2. Organizational teamwu~nnrgincorporates the three dimension. which were earlier identified in the project leader's role: '
the management of stakeholders in the project the management of the project life cycle the management of the performance of indivic A more detailed analysis of organizational teamwormng, ana rne skills required-to lead such a team is given in Chapter 3. The project life cycle
Every project goes through the same phases: definition, planning an resourcing, implementation and hand-over. Different terminolop may be used, but the basic project life cycle is alvvays the !same. Th project leader needs to understand the personal and orgl~nization; politics which operate throughout every phase of a projec:t.
10
THE PROJECT LEADER
Dejinition: understanding the Big Picture and getting stakeholder agreement Projects emerge in all sorts of ways - the chairman may have thought it up in his bath, or it may be the product of painstaking research or endless committee discussions. But however they emerge, the roles of sponsor and client (which may be combined in the same person or groupldepartment/division) and project leader are the first signs of definition. At this stage the project leader needs to answer the question 'Why do they want it?' This involves understanding: 'why'
the rationale behind the project. What are the commercial, marketing or organizational politics behind the project? For instance, what is the true reason for the organization's relocationlnew product? 'they' who the primary stakeholders are, particularly the sponsor and the client. What are their stakes in the project? For instance, does the sponsor really have the support of the Board in computerizing customer accounts? 'it' the true scope of the project. It's not just a case of what is in the project, but also what is outside the project. For instance, is this company takeover quite what it seems to be, or is the acquiring organization really interested only in one of the subsidiaries?
If you can't answer the question 'Why do they want it?' with real certainty, then you will be heading for trouble. If you don't know where you're going it's very difficult to bring together the resources you need to get there! It sounds obvious, but the obvious is often neglected. Planning and resourcing: mobilizing resources and getting offthe ground Once you know what you're trying to do, you have to decide how you're going to do it. As the project plan is being developed you should be identifying the resources needed to achieve it. You can start making informal approaches to people inside and outside the organization. It is also important to be checking for any possible pitfalls. This is part of the
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADERSHIP
11
'political sussing out' process, establishing supporters and identifying possible objectors. You are developing your team and mapping out your territory of responsibility, and developing relationships with the stakeholders. The process of planning and gathering resources continues throughout the project. Plans are revised in the light of actual events or circumstances, and the developing expectations of stakeholders.
Implementation: keeping the project on track Once the initial plan is agreed, and the project resources (includinthe team) are in place, implementation can start. This is the stage when most of the resources will be spent. You have to concentrate on maintaining a high standard of performance, in technical and personal terms. Control systems need to be used t provide feedback so that the original plan is continually monitore and amended in the light of circumstances. Communication withi the project team and with the sponsor, client and end-user are crucial in keeping the project on track.
Hand-over: handing over a i d winding up IOU are concentrating on liaison wit At this final phase of a 1 the st~akeholdersto see inai iney are getting what they want, and o ensuring satisfactory technical performan1ce. How(:ver, you must take
I
Management of life cycle
I
Management of performance
I
Figure 1.3
-----
Planning Resourcing Control systems
------
Self Team
-- - - - -
- - ---
---I
1
Definition Planning I m p l e ~ ~ l s ~ ~ r a tnallu-uv~r ru~~ phase phase phase phase
Focus of attention
12
THE PROJECT LEADER
care to retain the commitmen~tof the team members during this ." phase; this can be a problem it they are unsure about their own futures. The three dimensions identified earlier - the management of stakeholders, the management of the project life cycle and the management of performance - c:an now t:be seen as also relevant to the phases of a project. Your focus of attention, as project leader, will change over the duration of the project. This is illustrated in Figure 1.3 (the thicker the line the greater the attention needed at a particular time): As indicated earlier, the next chapter describes the personal skills you need to fulfil the role of the project leader, while Chapter 3 develops the concept of organizational teamworking. Then the main body of the book (Chapters 4-9) deals in detail with the way that you, xoiect leader, can manage the project life cycle effectively. Conclusion We have noted the importance of seein!5 the pro ject and its leadei role in terms of:
-
le management of stakehollders te management of the pro,ject life ( ~ ~management l e of the D ~ ~ ~ ~ I I I Iof ~ Iindivi(~~d13 I L G IIIVVIVGU PIreject.
-
111
he
It's Iuorthwhi ~g -these three aspects o n large cards. .a1nd . display~ngthem in your office as a reminder that you have to achieve excellence in the manalgement of each cme. To help you discover in which areas you might benefit f 'rom somle help, we have devised the , LL^ -U ~ ~ C "11 U LUG poject leader direction finder. following questionnairt, L.-.",.a :hapter 2. We suggest you work through this before you g< (
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADERSHIP
13
QUESTIONNAIRE To what extent is one of these statements true of you and your team? Try to make your judgement honestly and put a cross at what you consider is the appropriate point on the scale. Not at all true A 1. I can confidently say that I keep fully informed everyone who wants to be. 2. My team is good at making invisible team members feel they belong. 3. Both I and all members of the team are very clear about our targets. 4. I have ensured that my project has appropriate mechanisms for measuring progress. 5. My team members would say that I provide them with a lot of support to enable them to do their jobs better. 6. I have clearly demonstrated to my senior management that I understand the full impact of my project on the organization.
B 1. I know how to get things done informally in the organization. 2. 1 am honest with myself. 3. I don't get caught out by not having enough resources when I need them. 4. I feel fine asking my sponsor for help. 5 . I review individual performance and progress with team members regularly. 6. We are good at keeping everyone informed honestly about our progress.
Very true
-3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
Not at all true
C 1. My team genuinely regard key people outside the organization as part of our team. 2. I take active steps to manage my stress. 3. Team members share with me the responsibility for planning and anticipating. 4. When things go wrong, we are good at taking effective action to put things right quickly. 5. I help my sponsor to help me by keeping himher fully informed. 6. I put time and effort into developing our effectiveness in working as a team.
D 1. I am constantly trying to anticipate the problems that lie over the horizon. 2. I communicate conviction and confidence about the project to others. 3. We have a clearly developed strategy for marketing the project within the organization. 4. All my team are fully aware of the project's importance to the organization. 5. I fully understand the expectations of all my project's stakeholders. 6. My project team never repeats the same mistake. E 1. Much of my information for planning comes from members of the team or even outsiders.
Very true
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADERSHIP
Not at all true
15
Very true
2. I make conscious decisions about changing 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 my priorities at each stage of the project life cycle. 3. I understand the politics.at the top of my 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 organization. 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 4. Team members share with me the responsibility for managing important external relationships. 5. I am aware of the personal strengths and 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 weaknesses of my team members. 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 6. Team members share with me the responsibility for keeping things on track. I am seldom caught out by unforeseen events. I seek regular feedback from others about how to improve my performance as project leader. I am successful at persuading other departments to give me the resources I need. I bring members of the team together regularly. I feel confident in confronting and trying to resolve disagreements at a senior level that affect my project. There's always a good feeling throughout the team when we pass an important landmark in the project. G 1. I take time out to think about how effectively I am leading the project. 2. I can always get access to senior management when I need it.
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
16
THE PROJECT LEADER
Not at all true 3. I am good at imagining what might happen
in the future. 4. We have reliable sources of feedback about how we're doing. 5. My project's team members are clear about the performance I expect of them. 6. I have all the contacts I need both inside and outside the organization.
Very true
1- -2- -3- -4- -5
1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5 1- -2- -3- -4- -5
On the following table, mark in opposite the relevant statement your score on the 1-5 scale - i.e. if you scored yourself as 4 on Statement A6 then record 4 against A6 below, and so on; Then add up your score for each element. You are best at managing the element with the highest score, and need to work at improving your management of the element with the lowest score.
THE MODERN APPROACH TO PROJECT LEADERSHIP
LOOKING UPWARDS
LOOKING OUTWARDS Scor
Score
TOTAL
-
TOTAL
LOOKING BACKWARDS
LOOKING FORWARDS
Score
TOTAL
TOT A T
LOOKING DOWNWARDS Score
-
1
LOOKING INWAR
2 What Makes a Good Project Leader?
You may now be coming to the conclusion that the variety and complexity of the project leader's role make it impossible to do! Many project leaders do feel that they would need to be super-human to do everything which is expected of them. How can any individual hope to hold on to all the complex threads of a modem project? The answer lies not in holding on, but in letting go! Let go of the assumption that you have to know everything and do everything yourself. Instead, see the leader's role as one which integrates, orchestrates, energizes and co-ordinates people and processes, and gives as much emphasis to managing the organizational context as to managing the technical specialists. The project leader as integrator Project leaders are usually managing specialists in areas other than their own, who have to be brought together to produce effective results. So, the project leader's own expertise may be important in commanding respect and credibility but be of limited use in actually getting the job done. A good example of this is the paediatrician who heads a child care unit in which his own abilities are combined with the specialisms of psychologists, physiotherapists, social workers and educationalists to provide a complete service to disadvantaged children. So the project leader must be an integrator. Integration involves
.
Being
Clarifying individual success criteria
stakeholders' (Looking upwards Providing P"rpo= and direction d
\O
(Looking forwards
Continuous planning and review
Figure 2.1 Fourteen integrative processes
Keeping the WHOLE team informed
20
THE PROJECT LEADER
pulling together all the activities of the project, watching out for any links that are missing or get broken. Integration must happen at thre levels at the same time: integrating stakeholders integrating the project life cycle integrating people's performance. You may not feel you have the ability to act on different levels simultaneously, but it can certainly be developed with practice. One key is to recognize that you need others to help even if you don't have a formal project team. Another key is to let go of your image of yourself as a particular technical specialist, and instead recognize that your new specialism is that of integrating your own and others strengths and capabilities to the full. In the words of one architect client of ours: I used to see my leadership role as being like rowing alone through treacle. If there were problems, I rowed harder and put more effort into the architecture. Now I realize that my role is actually to work on making the treacle thinner and on building up a team of different kinds of rowers with me as the cox! If I get the organizational context going with me and the teamworking right, the rest is easy!
This chapter is about the core integrating processes that you, together with your team, will need to deal with the dynamic complexity of project leadership. We are not going to inundate you with lists of competences or skills but we will indicate what needs your attention and give you some practical ideas. The integrative processes illustrated in Figure 2.1 are interrelated, so don't treat them in isolation. They apply across all three project leadership concepts. Look at your target areas for renewed attention, revealed by the questionnaire at the end of Chapter 1, then follow through to the particular heading where the process is explained.
-
'Wiring in' to stakeholders looking upwards and outwards
This is essential to the building of strong durable links with the important stakeholders. 'Wiring in' suggests making contact. The metaphor is intended to remind you that wires are only useful if the current is flowing.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT LEAL
Securing stakeholders' agreement
New style projcects can have a bewildering numb€:r of stak~eholders You will soon come to realize that they all want so~methingdifferent .- .LIIC Ls~ilkeholdersare in your p r o:--+~ c~.-.-A ; I~I ~ Uwhat the: Establishing who really want is never simple, even if it appears so. The first thing to dc is to ask a lot of questions. People are rarely clear in their firs pronouncements and you can build your credibility very rapidly b helping them to clarify their ideas. You can also point out where thei expectations clash with those of others and get the parties talking tc try and iron things out. Getting a real understanding about what the: all want, and then getting agreement is a consummate skill in its owl right. Reconciling the expectations of finance director ,s, desig~ engineers, production people, marketing and the custorner whe~ developing a new product involves being a very skilled juggler! Thl skilled project leader often acts as a broker or negotiator to try anc find a best fit formula that meets as many needs as possible. Withou this, you cannot succeed. -A-
,
Building credibility
In creating a positive organizational context for your project, thi single most useful (and most undervalued) resource you and you team can have is the positive support of your colleagues throughou the organization. You have to earn this. You and your team members have to buil~ your credits with the organization. Establish early on what make your senior management think that a project is well managed. Is it keeping within the budget? Is it overcoming technical difficulties? Is it being in tune with market or internal political movements? Show you appreciate the wider implications of your activity. If you knovr what they think is important and what makes them feel uncomforl able or suspicious about the health of a project, you and your tear can set about demonstrating that you do appreciate their perspective You will be worthy of their confidence and able to face difficul problems or push for what you need. Building credits early on will stand you in good stead later in th project bargaining when you need to. You need to show that yo understand: the technical impact - that you and your team appreciate thc
22
THE PROJECT LEADER
technical issues and difficulties which you (and they) face the financial impact - that you have thoroughly researched and analysed the financial costs, benefits and risks to which your project exposes the organization the people impact - that you understand that the outcomes of organizational projects frequently mean changes for many people in the organization, some positive, some negative; you need to manage the project to gain widespread commitment and satisfaction, whilst minimizing negative, demotivating or destructive consequences. At times, however, you may need to push very hard to get something that's critical to your project and, in doing so, make yourself very unpopular in some quarters. As one personnel manager, heading up a group installing a new appraisal system said: That's when I really tested out whether the team had built up its credits in the organization. If we hadn't, there's no way we could have expected to get what we were demanding. We had to cash in a lot of credits that day, but the payoffs for the project were enormous. It was uncomfortable, but worth it.
Getting resources against competitive challenges from other projects may be one of your headaches. Seldom is enough allocated to organizational projects. Raising resources and holding on to them is often a political problem in which the project's credibility rating is important. Whilst sometimes an organization will have a special budget for a project, further resources (especially people's time) often have to be obtained from various departments by negotiation and personal influence. Your project's reputation for being effective will help you in securing official and unofficial resources. If you are out of credits your bargaining power will be weak.
Networking Successful project leaders build networks of relationships to help them get things done. Spend time networking - talking to people informally to trade information and find out what is going on. Project leaders who are not plugged into the formal system of their organization and that of their clients often find themselves wrongfooted, surprised and left in an exposed position. Successful project leaders learn from what they hear and see. They learn that there are
I
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT LEADER?
23
formal and informal ways of getting things done, of finding things out and of getting decisions made. They also use networking to test out new ideas. Networking or 'asking around', is also an excellent way of spotting hidden talent that might benefit the project. It is said that by making no more than three telephone calls, the skilled net^ n access any information or specialist advice he or she may e:ver needI! Looking for ideas or information from a wide variety of scJurces ca'n -... -LL:.help you find ways of solving sticky problems or of tackling .sometning that has not been done before in your organization. Highly effective project teams also actively seek outside specialists to help them do things better. One project team studying acquisitions in France went and talked to another company in a totally different business which had recently taken over a French company. They picked up invaluable know-how which they could not have got any other way. I
Marketing the project
I
A project is like a product. It needs to be well packaged and marketed if people are going to want to buy it. Remember - the merits of your project are not self evident to everyone else. If they do not understand, value or support it, you have only your poor marketing to blame. So use all the simple marketing tools at your disposal, and find some invisible team members with the skills to help you make your project match the standards that are used for important products in your organization. Make presentations (both formal and informal), particularly about why the whole project is important to the company, how it will be done and how people can help. Highlight the issues that will be of special interest to the audience - what's in it for them. Make it interesting, exciting and different. Plan and execute a marketing campaign throughout the project's life cycle to ensure it gets the attention and recognition it needs. A one-off activity in the start-up phase will be easily forgotten. Make sure that news of the project regularly reaches the eyes and ears of the influential. This can be achieved by formal reports, updates and newsletters. One project leader produced a regular, electronically published newsletter with the project logo on the cover. It was circulated widely and left in public areas such as the restaurant and reception.
I
I
24
THE PROJECT LEADER
Ensure that everyone who would like to know is kept in touch with your intentions and ideas, your progress and problems. Many project leaders deliberately plan for their team members to go out and talk about the project informally to pivotal people within the organization. We all know the informal rumour machine can send ideas around; you can use it to your advantage.
Keeping on the ball
- looking forwards and backwards
The project leader needs to think like a footballer in possession of the ball, constantly aware of the opposition's threats, of his own team's support, and of the need to maintain the initiative. Anticipating We are continually surprised by the number of managers who say they're anticipating, but are in fact not looking beyond today's problems. You need to be able to step back from the immediate pressures of the day, and look at the whole situation. Disasters rarely occur out of the blue; there are hearly always early warning signs if you look for them. Find short periods of time to run through any worrying situations, preferably with somebody else off whom you can bounce ideas. Just think through the implications, knock-on effects, contin. gencies. Ask yourself 'What is the worst scenario? How would I deal with that?' A useful and well known way of looking at a project is the SWOT analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
-
What's going in your favour? Where are you vulnerable? What chances exist to take you forward? What would knock you over?
Having done your own analysis, check it against your stakeholders' ideas. One project leader described anticipating as 'getting myself and the team to play different videos of how the project might unfold and how we'd like it to unfold'.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT LEADER?
25
Continuous planning and reviewing
We still find many project leaders who think that pl anning i something to be done just once, at the beginning! This approac assumes that everything can be predicted in advance, whicn 11 nevecan. Continuous cycles of planning, doing and reviewing must take place throughout the project, and the greater the uncertainty and innovation, the more important this process is. Two important tips for good planning are to know the limitations and benefits of one's tools, and to involve (and believe) those people who have the best quality information. The tools must be manipulated by the project members and not vice versa. 7'hey mu$ provide the information on which to make judjgements and drai conclusions. Be wary of the 'wish-and-hope' ty pe of informatio which is sometimes fed into sophisticated planning sysrems, only t distort the picture. Planning and decision making processes must not be allowed t degenerate into ritual. Their results must be made widely known an, acted upon. Review is the important next step after planning, and it must b~e constructive, not like those described by a senior team m a l l d g ~.111 ~a torpedo development project. . 1
.L
Our project review meetings are just nightmares. Everyorle waits in --- -.. U Y UIIG arid tear them silence for the project manager to pick them off one L-. to shreds. It seems his main aim is to send us all off with our tails betwee our legs. I
We all have a tendency when reviewing to point to the things that w did badly. The project leader must create a climate in which people face mistakes and poor performance honestly, but must not allow it to stop there. There is no point in identifying mistakes without learning from them and agreeing what will be done next time round. Keeping the whole team informed
Are you keeping your sponsor up to date? Successful project leaders do not get so absorbed in the fascinatio~ of their own project, as to believe that its merits are equally clear I everyone else. They recognize that, whilst their project is occupyir all their time, the sponsor and the invisible team have many oth~ demands being made upon them. It is an important task for proje
26
THE PROJECT LEADER
leaders to maintain interest and enthusiasm for the project. Even if it is very ably managed, with excellent technical performance, it can easily be rated low if those who make judgements are not kept well informed about what is happening. A regular dialogue with senior managers should ensure that they are never taken by surprise. Invisible team members frequently get either forgotten or taken for granted. Project leaders tend to assume that they will be there when needed, forgetting that they have other priorities and deadlines to meet besides those of the project. It's important, therefore, to involve them early and prepare the ground so that they know what will be required of them and when. They need managing just like any other team members. Secretaries are often much neglected and underutilized invisible team members. One secretary commented: They never even told me before this that I'd have to be the project's secretary- they just sort of assumed I would, that I had nothing else to do! Even now, I have to keep bullying them to remember that I do have a real role in the project and that I need to know the decisions and plans that they hatch up. They'd forget me otherwise!
As new stakeholders and team members become involved, you need to put a lot of effort into introducing them to the project and explaining what is going on. This takes time and requires remembering that they are starting at first base.
Seeking feedback Tell us how we're doing. We want both the good news - to reassure us and make us feel good- and the bad news - so that we can do something about it quickly.
This request was made by one project team to its principal stakeholders. Asking for feedback is so much more effective than waiting for it. It provides invaluable early warnings of any problems. The request itself, and any necessary follow-up action build a project team's credits within the organization. You don't need to have anything as structured as a questionnaire - there are several other ways, such as review meetings and informal conversations. Of course, it's no good asking for feedback and then ignoring it when it comes. We know of a case in which clients were asked how they saw the company. The answer came back: 'You are arrogant.'
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT LEADER?
27
The company's response was: 'Yes we know; that's what they said last time we asked!'
Focusing on results
- looking inwards and downwards
It's up to you, as project leader, to maintain motivation, momenLum and direction.
Providing pur
ldirection
You can help create a sense of purpose amongst your team in a number of ways. The first is to help their understanding to go beyond the project specification to the underlying reasons why the project is important to the organization as a whole. We did a lot of work with a project team developing a major new piece of software in a financial services company. The technical specification was clear and the project complex, but somehow the systems analysts and programmers involved didn't get fired up about it - there were other more technically interesting projects around. The turning point came when the team spent a hour with the chief executive and the marketing director who expIained how the new system was a crucial part of the company's aggressive expansion strategy, designed to give it a competitive edge in customer service. This appreciation of the project's wider purpose triggered a new and real sense of motivation in the team. It also unleashed a wealth of new ideas about how the system could be significantly improved and finished more quickly than the existing plan proposed. The second way of creating purpose is to tease out of the team how the project could be used to achieve some of their own personal visions and aspirations. It is surprising how often people see that being in a good project team can enable them tco achieGc:, ambitions that they could not realize on their own. In the sa me software team , a -1-, 1-, , team decision to use an innovative new programrrl~~~g I Q I I ~ U Q ~gave G each member an opportunity for rapid self development. It also created excitement by taking the risk of going for a much more ambitious solution with significant payoffs for the organization. The third way to create purpose and direction lies in the way you, the project leader, communicate your own excitement, conviction and sense of mission about the project. If you are not very -.A
-A
28
THE PROJECT LEADER
enthusiastic about it, it's very difficult to expect others to be motivated. Demonstrate your desire to sustain purpose, direction and momentum by communicating conviction, a sense of urgency and a constant search for better or quicker ways of doing things. Clarifying individual success criteria
The project as a whole must have clear objectives, defined in terms of time and cost. But those must be translated into clear work goals agreed with each individual, specifying what work will be done, by when and within what constraints. Always make sure that the different jobs are co-ordinated with each other. Particularly in projects with high levels of uncertainty, team members are given considerable scope in terms of how they reach their objectives, but you need to demonstrate through your attitudes and behaviour what is acceptable and what is not. How people discharge their responsibilities will directly affect the success of the project. A sales person who, anxious to promote the virtues of the project to the client, 'bends' the truth, creates unreasonable expectations and discredits the project. The culture of the organization itself is important here. For example, pushiness and aggressive persistence are sometimes seen as virtues, whereas in other companies more subtle (or devious!) ways of behaving are required. Being tough on quality
Havinl;set individual success criteria, you have to follow up to ensure that they are met. Effective project leaders discipline themselves to be tough on quality, and they encourage the same attitude in others. They set high standards for themselves and their team, and they ensure that any lapses are checked immediately. Television current affairs programmes, for example, often make last-minute changes to the graphics they use. The graphics person works to achieve the high standards set by the team, despite the personal inconvenience of redoing work. The project leader insists that this happens when it needs to and that team members know why. Anything that's not good enough is not accepted. When an individual is underperforming, the project leader has to address the situation speedily, explaining why the performance is unacceptable, and helping the person to improve.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJEC 1 LCAL)ER? 2'
Creating a supportive culture To maintain high performance in the tearn, you nt:ed to g ire~ suppolt d in every way possible. You might simply ask peo:ple how you cou11 . ---:I-. f l>- -. - - -:-LI, a , , help them to do their job more quickly or easuy. UI yuu I I I I ~ I I LG L I G C ~ introductions to other parts of the organization when an individual team member feels inhibited. Perhaps you can provide some extra resource on a temporary basis to help a team member under pressure. You might be able to relieve a bottleneck and stop people feeling that they are carrying an unfair burden. It's very important that interest in the quality of results is shared across technical boundaries. Team members s hould bc: able ti challenge and support colleagues in the interest of gettin:g a bette result. There should be plenty of frank discussion, full of constructiv criticism, with everybody concentrating on the issues and not on the shortcomings of particular individuals. It should be the aim of the project leader to create an atmosphere in which self criticism rather than criticism of others is the rule, and in which people are free to say what they feel and be listened to.
Reflecting Introspection, self analysis and quiet reflection are not qu;~litiest k come naturally to people of action. They want *LU gel on and d things. One chief executive we know admitted as much, b~ remarked how frequently his business problems came into pel spective when he was shaving! Many others we know have said ths they take stock best when walking the dog; 01 thers ha7re sudden flashes of inspiration and clarity in moments of \wakefulnless during the night. Research into effective learning confirms the ~mportanceof the natural process of reflection, and pulling bacEr - from (lay-to-dalY concerns to see them in perspective. Researchers iat Shell hlave called +L, l. .A-+ ":."I IJG LIIG UGJL J I I I X ~ ~ this the 'helicopter quality'. They found it to f, predictor of suitability for senior management. We are convinced that the same goes for effective project leaders. They consciouslIY ---- all, -11 * build in time to reflect, to survey the whole picture and, above LO review their own performance. It is appropriate sometimes to do this with a colleague, team member or consultant, to provide the necessary mixture of challenge and support. --A
u
30
THE PROJECT LEADER
Celebrating success Effective project teams and leaders help themselves to maintain momentum by celebrating their collective and individual achievements and successes along the way. Interim targets are important markers of success. Project leaders are always looking for ways of recognizing and celebrating achievements and contributions. Simple ways in which you can do this include: sending a personal handwritten note offering congratulations and thanks talking o r writing publicly about team members who are outstanding, describing what they have done and why they were so successful holding an impromptu party or get-together to celebrate success saying 'well done' and 'thank you' spontaneously. Team members will respond in different ways. Experience and observation will help you discover the best approach in each case. When commenting on the results produced by a team member, outstanding project leaders often say: 'It takes a very special sort of person to do this work.' They are modest about their own contribution, making sure it is not more highly valued than that of other team members. Respect for the capabilities and efforts of others in the visible and invisible team is a common characteristic of individuals whose teams produce fine results. Conclusion
Only you can judge what proportion of your time you should be allocating to each part of the integrating process. But as the project progresses, you should be asking whether any adjustments are called for. Many project leaders are too reactive - they revel in firefighting and crisis management, instead of balancing these skills with the more productive, strategic approach. One thing is clear - you should always create small but significant periods of reflection time. Without this you will never even realize if your priorities are upside down.
3 Organizational Teamworking
Ask people to name the teams in their organization and you are likely to get answers such as the sales team, the production team, the training department and so on. These are functional teams defined by a formal structure. You may hear about the divisional team, the board, or, in a project based organization, certain project teams. These are cross-functional groupings, again defined by the formal organization structure. There are, however, many other teams in an organization that most people don't 'see' in the same way. To recognize these 'invisible' teams, we must think a bit more about the nature of teamworking in modern organizations. What is organizational teamworking? Organizational teamworking is the sum of individual and organiz: ational activity actively directed towards collaborative effort between individuals and groups both inside and outside the organization. Organizational teamworking is therefore the total set of processes whereby individuals from different parts of the organization, and outside it, work in an active collaborative way to achieve a shared task or objective. It is the antithesis of people working independently, purely within set boundaries, waiting for others to approach them, or taking up adversarial positions in relation to others. A minimum amount of collaborative activity has to take place between individuals in totally
32
THE PROJECT LEADER
different parts and levels of an organization to make it work at all. Experience and research suggest that increasing the range, scope and volume of collaboration between individuals at different levels, across different functions and across organizational boundaries is a great advantage. Many organizations are now creating more flexible temporary structures to complement the formal ones. Whilst the traditional structures require teamworking to manage ongoing processes, the temporary task structures (all of which are really projects) are being created to respond to change, to provide flexibility and to stimulate innovation and productivity. The British Council has set up a new division to bring together consortia to bid for and subsequently manage large educational contracts overseas; a number of specialists, previously working completely independently in their own fields, combine their expertise for each project. This is an example of competitive and environmental pressures forcing organizations to become more fluid and responsive, yet simultaneously more tightly knit, in order to bring multi-disciplinary, multi-functional skills to bear on increasingly complex and fast changing problems. Specialists are required to step across into each other's territories and enjoy a dynamic and robust interaction hardly possible in a more traditional structure. Another feature of these projects is that they form, dissolve and reform, bringing together people because of what they can contribute, not because of who they are. Organizational teamworking is about cutting away barriers and boundaries, and creating a web of links and contacts between individuals in order to get things done. . The production director of a high turnover knitwear factory where the mix was always changing according to fashion and season, defined his problem: There are four people who should be the key to the launch of our new range. The trouble is that the organization chart makes them look more like the four legs of a table. The structure doesn't say that they are a project team but they have to be. There's the marketing manager, the production planner, the designer and the distribution manager. One cannot sneeze without the others being affected. And if they don't get it right, and can't see themselves as a project team, then I know only too well what that does to my cash flow if the range doesn't go on sale at the right time. Each of the four people here had to be very different, but each
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMWORKING
33
needed an organizational teamworking mentality. They were sc much more powerful when they saw themselves as a project team. There are many individuals, whose roles are not related in the formal organization structure, who have to work collaboratively tc achieve something. They must be seen to be in every way as much ol a team as the formal teams defined by the structure. The projecl leader's role is to link together people who have a contribution tc make to solving a problem or bringing about a change. The skills of organizational teamworking
In a conventional, hierarchical organizational structure, most com, munication is from top to bottom; less from bottom to top. Sideway! communication often means going up, across and down, anc frequently it gets blocked en route. People lower down in tht organization rarely communicate directly with outsiders. The result i: that collaboration is clumsy and sporadic. Effective project leaders break out of the mould and have a much sharper and aggressive strategy for stimulating project collaboration. They use a number of approaches. active scanning They search systematically for those people who can contribute in whatever way. streetwise know-how They are not passive and nake, expecting others to make the first move. They have a realistic view of organizational politics and inertia and know how to make thing! work for them. four dimensional behaviour They move in all directions - up down, sideways and outside the organization, to influence prepare the ground and mobilize commitment and expertise They are not inhibited by traditional organizational boundaries.
The rest of this chapte r aims to provide a clear understanding of organizational teamwoI.king by examining how concepts such as 'project' and 'team, are seen in the context of modem organizations The continuum of project types How does the organizational tesmworking philosophy affect what we mean by 'a project'? We have found it helpful to describe three
34
THE PROJECT LEADER
different types of projects along a continuum (Figure 3.1). We call them 'concrete', 'temporary' and 'open' - though, of course, various types of projects will fall between them, combining characteristics from those on either side. The three categories of project type are each distinguished by their degree of definition: the specificity and tangibility of the anticipated results or outputs
- The highly specific projects seek precise, clear concrete outputs. Low specificity projects are not clear at the beginning about the outputs to be attained. One of the aims of the project may be to define feasibility of various possible outputs. the degree of formality that exists in the structure, administration and control. - If the project is highly defined then there will be clear roles and systems, often like those used elsewhere in the organization. - Projects used as temporary vehicles for organizational change will not have existing structures or systems to draw on but will have to create them. - Very informal 'project' groups may not see the need for any kinds of roles, structures or systems at all.
-
It is important to understand the project continuum because different types of project require very different leadership strategies and skills. Figure 3.1 summarizes their differences and we will look at each one in more detail below. Concrete projects
Concrete projects will be readily recognized by companies in the construction and aerospace industries. For many years they have been used as a most effective way of organizing work. Although each job may be significantly different from previous jobs, well tried methods have been developed for tendering, writing specifications, estimating, planning and controlling. The skills and specialisms needed are also clear, even if a few new specialists are required fbr each job. You know that you will need design engineers, heating engineers, tool makers, financial controllers, network planners and SO on. A company that builds and commissions packing factories worldwide
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMWORKING
35
CONCRETE PROJECTS CHARACTERISTZCS Full-time leader Full-time visible team members with clear roles, special skills and hierarchy Sponsor and client are clear High visibility on the corporate landscape
Well known situation for all stakeholders Well established systems, for estimating, planning and controlling
ADVANTAGES Accepted
Individuals and organizations are comfortable with concrete projects. Well understood relationships, structures and risks.
Controlled
Tools are tried and tested. Means of acquiring resources well known.
DISADVANTAGES The cracks
Invisible team ignored. Things fall between the cracks leading to mutual blaming.
Adversarial
Potentially adversarial and combative relationships with important external agents.
Systems take over Control tools become overriding rituals with a life of their own, giving rise to lack of anticipation and surprise when the unexpected occurs. Critical gap
Lack of real understanding of distance from the sponsor and the clients.
Myopia
Technical myopia when one discipline sometimes dominates.
Figure 3.1 The project continuum
36
THE PROJECT LEADER
Figure 3.1 continued
"FMPORARY PROJECTS CHARACTERISTICS Full- or part-time leader Part-time members - conflicts of priorities, time and interest No clear roles or relationships Cross boundaries
Who the sponsor and client are is less clear. What they want will emerge. Planning and control systems shaky or nonexistent Resources a 'guesstimate'.
ADVANTAGES The leader is nominated. May be assigned Flexibility other people. Typically has more choice than the leader of a concrete project. Many uncharted areas so leader generally less fettered by precedent. The sponsor must be interested otherwise he/ Interest she would not have set up the project. Accesslmaking Will cut across the normal lines. May give unusual access to senior people. A way of a mark making a mark and building credits for all involved. DIS. TAGES Conflicting priorities, confused roles, new Ambiguity demands. Suspicion and awkwardness at working across Crossing boundaries many unfamiliar boundaries. difJicult What are we doing? Why does it matter? Clear Emerging direction direction takes time. Those not involved may be suspicious of what Credibility the project is trying to achieve. Hence need to problems work hard to achieve credibility.
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMWOR"'"'"
37
Figure 3.1 concluded
OPEN PROJECTS CHA RACTERZSTZCS No formal leader. Most interested person will be the focal point. • M[embers will self-I;elect at.tracted t,y intereait.
0
0
Activities organi2!ed and monitored by tea.m members. Experim ental unl somethir~gcomes
ADVANTAGES Commitment Individuals take part because of theilr own motivation. Willing give energy and time. Creativity Innovative ideas get a chance to be tested. Low risk Low investment of resources. If fail nDZSADVANl"AGES No resources Time is unofficial and money non-existent. Slow progress Higher pri work.
ng mome ;tractions' make maintaini~
Seen as subversive Success may challenge the mainstream. Frienus won.
will
neeu
LU
01
38
THE PROJECT LEADER
has a clearly defined project structure with project leaders and senior project leaders. The former might lead a team concerned with a project engineering problem in an existing plant; the senior project leader might be totally responsible for designing, building and commissioning a new concept plant in a distant and unfamiliar part of the world. In this company there is a broad understanding of how to run a business using well defined project teams. This does not mean that running projects of this kind is easy. Many are extremely demanding and complex, particularly those integrating new technologies, such as the Hong Kong Transit Railway. Another illustration of a concrete project is the naval vessel refitment team, responsible for overhauling and refurbishing all classes of naval vessels within tight time schedules and even tighter budgets. They use many specialist subcontractors and combine civilian and naval staff. Estimating techniques are based on solid historical practice. The specialists needed are determined by the particular vessel's specification and the logistics are handled by tried and tested systems. The project leader has to face problems such as the growing number of technical subcontractors, maintaining quality and productivity, and coping with adversarial relationships. Temporary projects
As we move across the continuum the types of project become less formal, less durable, less familiar and less established than the concrete type. They appear under a variety of banners: task forces, block busting teams, corrective action teams, think tanks and working parties, to mention but a few. Temporariness is their main feature, and their purpose is less easy to define in technical and financial terms. Organizing a large exhibition is one example. A well known computer distri'butor exhibits regularly at an annual exhibition. This distributor appoints each year a project leader, with a core of part-time members selected to represent parts of the business to be featured at the exhibition. Temporary sub-teams, under the core team, are used to put together the exhibits and materials. This is a fairly well defined type of project in overall scope, although there are very different new themes each year and new technologies and forms of display to be incorporated. Another example of a temporary project is the introduction of a new product into the competitive savoury biscuits market. Co-
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMWORKING
39
ordinating research and development, manufacturing, market testing, regulatory control and image presentation had been taking too long. So a task force was formed of all the participants who had a stake in getting the product out of research and on to the shelf. This included people from outside the company like the advertising and PR agencies. Their brief was not only to define and develop the new product, but to do it much more quickly and in a more radical way. An even less clear project is the task of developing a new strategic direction for a company. Here there are many options; project teams can be asked to investigate, to examine, to pull together and finally get agreement to a preferred option. For example, a company making simulators was revising its after-sales service using a project team to identify what existed, what should exist and therefore what a new service package might look like. This project was potentially huge. The team had to agree what to include and what to leave out and, perhaps most important, the basis for these decisions. We have seen a particular trend in the use of temporary or problem solving projects as vehicles for organizational change. Project teams drawn from across organizations create a depth and breadth of understanding of the problem and the options available to solve it; they find processes of decision making and implementation likely to lead to success. Success in this instance is often expressed in such terms as 'getting people committed'; the implementation of change may often be accelerated because there are a larger number of people who can make it happen and are willing to get into actior
Open projects At the far end of the continuum are those projects whose objectives are unclear and where there is uncertainty about the direction or viability of what is being attempted. An open project sounds like a non-project. Its objectives will often be fuzzy and may change frequently. There is accumulating evidence that small, unofficial projects (often called 'skunk works') produce significant innovatiops and are significant vehicles for change. Organizations concerned rapidly to harness ideas and opportunities which present themselves at all levels encourage the use of informal projects - often just a small group of interested people gathered together by an enthusiastic individual. Their purpose is often to test out and develop new ideas for business improvement. The belief is
40
THE PROJECT LEADER
that business improvements can be made not only by large schemes, carefu~llyplanned and handled by specialists, but also by putting into practilce a tho1isand small ideas. This type of project is more useful than Inay at fi rst appear. An increasing number of companies are -- -- - - encouragirig people to form spontaneous groups to sort out problems which they see as hindering their work. Quality drives, customer focused drives, innovation drives, performance improvement drives - all are promoting more open projects. For every open project that makes the grade and emerges with substantial results, there are many that die or remain invisible. This makes it harder to quote an example. Those that succeed frequently grow into 'temporary' or even 'concrete :' project S, and on e example of this process is a softwar.e reseal-ch engi~ neer who developed new tools for optimizing the usage of complerr telecolrImunications networks. This was initiated by one man's interest, was extended by trying out very small experiments, subsequently developed into formalized small projects which, in turn, became a very highly regarded permanent unit of about twenty strong.
What do we mean by the 'team'? Although these three project types are very different, each one is an expression of the concept of organizational teamworking. Each requires the web of collaborating relationships up, down, across and outside the organization, which is such an essential part of the effective modern organization. Each also requires a different attitude in its leader and team members. In organizations which are hierarchical, status conscious or have a history of strong functional allegiances, organizational teamworking across boundaries is neither easy nor natural. This is why newly appointed project leaders in this situation have such a difficult role: to carry out a task and bring about a new style of working. Central to this new style is the new concept of 'team'. The main point of this chapter is to emphasize the importance of seeking out all the people whose energy and commitment you need to make your project successful. But if you draw people from all over the organization and outside, how do you identify the actual team members? The rest of this chapter gives you practical help by providing some categories and criteria for de~iding~who should figure in your mental picture of your team.
External stakeholders
Internal stakeholders
Customer stakehok
Project leader's organization
Outside services Sub-contractors
isible team
/
I KUI
= a.u
on this diagram will be a member of the project's i organizat
Stakehcrlu~3 111 a project
42
THE PROJECT LEADER
All those who have a significant contribution to make to the success of the project must be seen by the project leader as part of the team, because they are the stakeholders on whom lasting success depends. You perhaps need to think of 'contribution' in a wider sense than usual. People contribute not only through their special skills and expertise, but also through being supportive and by expressing their expectations clearly. The project leader's task is to establish the different types of contribution needed and the impact of each one, and to devise ways of mobilizing all the contributions towards the same end. It is helpful to have a simple map linking the principal stakeholders. Every such map will show a unique pattern, but some features have been found to appear frequently and Figure 3.2 illustrates a familiar sort of pattern. Anybody who appears on a map like this is a member of the project's organizational team. The three broad groups are: internal stakeholders customer stakeholders (who may be internal or external) external stakeholders (other than customers). We now consider each of these groups in terms of the different interests they have in a project and their relative importance in your team. Internal stakeholders We have identified four main categories of internal stakeholder. the project leader He or she wants the project to be successful, aims to be effective and competent, and will want to maintain a good reputation within the organization. the core members These are the regular contributors, who may be full- or part-time, each of whom has a particular skill. They are seen by themselves and others to be formally associated with the project. They are usually the visible team. They want sufficient scope and resources to do a good job and make the project a success; and they look for personal satisfaction through the project. the sponsor This is the senior manager, who fosters, guards and promotes the project, but is not directly involved in operational
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMWORKING
43
details. The sponsor is primarily concerned, if the project is an internal one, to maintain credibility and currency within the organization, but he or she may also have personal ideas or interests which need to be taken into account. If the project is for an external client, the sponsor has the organization's interests uppermost and is concerned with costs and reputation. the other members These can be described as the suppliers of services which are part of the project. They are frequently specialists who give advice or administrative support, usually in other departments such as finance, personnel, computing, distribution and secretarial. They are interested to know when and to what extent their services will be required. But most of all they want to understand enough about the project to be able to deliver to the best of their abilities. Customer stakeholders (external or internal) Every type of project has an ultimate customer or client. The expectations of the customer may be clear or confused, but it is the customer who accepts or rejects the project team's output. Customers are getting more demanding in terms of acceptable quality of products and services, so even when you know your customer well you cannot be complacent. In a project for an external client, the most powerful stakeholder is the individual who holds the purse strings. He or she is concerned about the nature of the project, its broad business applications, and the kind of organization you represent. Sometimes it is much more complex: there may be a steering group representing multiple stakeholders in the client organization. As well as the decision makers, there are often end users whose actual operations may be significantly affected by the results of a project. The perspective of such people at the sharp end may be very different from that of senior management. For instance, the laboratory technician who administers a medical diagnostic kit will have very different concerns from the doctor who prescribed the test, or the hospital or governmental purchasing agent who decided to make the test available. But the technician's feelings may not be known to the decision makers. Many projects are for internal clients, that is for other departments or companies under the umbrella of the same organization. A common example is the computer department which develops
44
THE PROJECT LEADER
bespoke software for the marketing, finance or distribution department of the same company. Internal clients deserve the same care and attention as external clients. Assumptions based on historical prejudice are often made about other departments and these have to be challenged. Users will have different perspectives and interests which need to be understood and taken into account. It is easier to show this understanding if the customer stakeholders are at the very least perceived as team members and better still become actual members of the team. External stakeholders There are many different kinds of external stakeholders. Some of the most common are suppliers of raw materials and products, specialist advisers or consultants, subcontractors and third parties who do part of the work, governmental bodies who execute statutory requirements as inspectors, interest groups, lobbyists, voluntary group opinion leaders and the media. There exists an 'adversarial' view in which all those inside an organization are seen to have common interests which are not shared by and are likely to be opposed by those outside it. Organizational teamworking fundamentally challenges the adversarial view. It does not deny that there are conflicts of interest, but it approaches them as problems to be worked through, by building robust links with outsiders on the basis that there are benefits to be had by all involved. Instances where suppliers or subcontractors have been brought in to work closely with the project team show that the speed and quality of communication, and therefore appropriate action, increases dramatically. The message is to bring in from the cold the main outside players, work continuously with them and not against them, and ensure that they work with you. All external stakeholders have one thing in common, their ability to make your project a success or a failure. You need to bring them on board and harness their power.
Conclusion We have presented broad definitions of the team, the project and organizational teamworking. The project leader's role has accordingly
46
THE PROJECT LEADER
to be seen as the integrator or orchestrator of many different sources of expertise and energy. The conventional organization chart is often a bamer to project success. Modem project team leaders and members, with the support of their sponsors, need to be able to move more freely across traditional organizational boundaries to find what they need to get things done quickly. On this basis it is possible to see teams of people inside and outside organizations where you never saw them before. Individuals become linked in many patterns like particles in an atom. Organization is seen to be three-dimensional and not flat. Boundaries break down, or continuously change. In organizational teamworking, the important fact is not who or what you are, but how you can help the project to be successful.
4 Understanding the Big Picture
The mountaineer Chris Bonington, speaking (~f climbiing team commented: It is important that all members of the team feel that they are completely in the picture and trusted. Through their understanding of the overall picture they can contribute to the success of the enterprise.
These sentiments apply equally to all projects, indeed to any activiity where a number of people come together for a specific purpose. Every project needs a Big Picture from which everybody can s what the project is and why it is important. If people do not know t reasons behind a project, it has no meaning for them; their actio have less purpose; they are less committed to its success. If you want to have a highly motivated organizational team, you need a clearly expressed rationale and purpose. As Ron Buckridge of the CEGB has said, 'project management is an art, and every artist needs a vision'. British Airways has a Big Picture, in which it is the leading airli in the world in an increasingly deregulated industry. A project link1ed to improving customer service in, say, check-in or seat reservation is a discrete part of a bigger and more important whole. The specific project does not seem isolated or incomprehensible; it is a clear a1..A worthwhile part of a vision, expressed in words that all c understand. If the Big Picture is clear and simple, the project gain! sense of purpose and direction.
50
MANAGING THE PROJECT
The pressures on the client organization What drives a project may not at first be easy to see. It is helpful to stand back from the specific project objectives to see why the project is significant to the client organization. Figure 4.1 summarizes the pressures upon the client organization. The Big Picture may be affected by a number of these pressures, or by just one. Let us look briefly at each.
- What is its business?.
- How well is it doine? - Is
market share increasing? How about profitability? or growth?
pressures
- What are the
-7-r
- Does it have a competitive
current trends affecting the
edge? Are there any existing opportunities? What threats are there? - What are the competition doing? - Who are the leaders, and why?
- economic - social - political
umer ures
I
- How are the customer's demands changing?
- What standards are needed?
Figure 4.1 Pressure on the client organization
Commercial pressures These are pressures affecting overall performance. They may be for quality programmes aimed at meeting profit objectives needed for survival or to facilitate future investment. They may be for improved product development, manufacturing, administration or selling. You need to find out where the company places most emphasis - what is perceived as being vital to the organization's health? You need to test your understanding with the clients, recognizing that any views are
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE
51
affected by personality and position in the information network. Putting together what you have discovered for yourself and what the client tells you will give you a picture of what pressures are creating the need for the project. Some supermarket chains have projects developing systems to identify and measure the costs of buying, stocking, handling and selling all the items on their shelves. The Big Picture reason for these projects is to manage the mix of products to achieve profit levels which are predictable. Cost margins are narrow and can easily be lost with all supermarkets now offering a wide range of exotic foods, as well as standard items. Some foods are relatively very expensive to buy and handle. To continue to operate, the supermarkets must manage the detailed profitability of individual lines of food and be able to predict which new lines will contribute. Another kind of commercial pressure is the risk, particularly financial, of any project. Research and development and software development projects are notorious for overspending. Capital invested in machines to produce a new product that flops has to be written off, and there is also a loss of image and presjige in the marketplace.
Competitive pressures Everyone knows that the Far East is very competitive, able to produce high quality goods at low price levels. The television and video markets, for instance, have been swamped. Large retail stores are most concerned about the inroads being made by specialist boutiques which provide an alternative shopping experience and draw customers away from the stores. Is your project a response to competitive pressure such as this? How does it help your client organization to keep up or move ahead?
Consumer pressures Consumer pressure may take the form of changing tastes. In the package holiday market, for example, consumers are not so keen now to get the cheapest holiday if it means poor hotels. They are becoming more discriminating, and are looking for comfort. Excitement and sports facilities also matter as well as value for money. We
52
MANAGING THE PROJECT
are moving out of the 'take it or leave it' era of mass production into an era of customized products and services. This need to keep up with consumer tastes may be driving new product development, or a new campaign for existing products in your client organization. This is important to the Big Picture of your project. Environmental pressures
It may at first seem that 'the environment' is too broad a concept to relate to a particular project. But it quickly becomes clear that political, social and economic forces do influence the overriding purpose of a project. For instance, the ageing population is creating new waves of activity in housing, leisure, investment and pensions. Conversely, the shrinking younger population is causing many companies to worry about the development and availability of specialist skills. Some parts of your project may be strongly' influenced by these broad trends. Understanding project risk Risk plays a part in the Big Picture of any project. Projects are usually conceived to achieve some change, so certain stakeholders are bound to feel unsure about its effect upon them. You need to understand the nature of the risks facing your project at the outset, to know what you are taking on. Are you putting yourself on the line with little chance of success? How prepared are you to be out there on your own? Concrete projects with high visibility are the most risky for the project leader, with the risk reducing with the degree of visibility. There may be risks of considerable personal or financial damage if things go wrong. The Piper Alpha and Apollo disasters are extreme examples of circumstances turning against a project and the worst risks being realized. Before starting a project, the project leader must have a clear view of the nature of the risks and their potential for disaster. An understanding of them can then be shared with certain team members and steps taken to avoid calamity. You should at least be clear about the extent of risk you are willing to work with. Looking the other way and hoping for the best will leave you vulnerable when things go
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTIJRE
Risk Natural risks e.g. building on different terrain in other climates
Product liability risks faulty design in components causing damage
53
Possible precautions
- statistical probability analysis bas previous data - drawing on personal ex - your own or that of c
-
thorough plan]ned testi~ product recall procedu~ insurance total quality m
Technical risks
- new engineering - new production processes which do not perform or have to be reworked Business risks - financial loss - dented reputation in market - dissatisfied clients
- build in extra budget - prototype - milestone revic - good project leadership! recognize your limitations and use experts to help assess and plan (for example those with financial or marketing skills) - don't ignore early warning signs of problems
-
Personnel risks
- loss of key experts - labour disputes
- build in contractual obligations - make it attractive to st,aY - probability analysis on past activity
- no strike agreements - build in extra budget Psychological risks
- have a good coach, - effect on future career or mentor - feeling stretched beyond past - don't bottle it up experience and current competence
- fear of failure Figure 4.2' Different types of risk
COUIIS~.IIUI
54
MANAGING THE PROJECT
wrong. The simple categorization of the different types of risk shown in Figure 4.2 is helpful for understanding and explaining risk in different project types. You will find more about risk assessment and reduction techniques in the learning resource section at the end of this book. These have come from extensive experience of engineering and construction projects. Combining a thorough knowledge of the factual information on which the project is based with a deep understanding about its nonquantifiable risks, you will usually be able to decide what to do. Take courage in both hands and make sure everybody in the team knows the risks as you see them. Then they will be less surprised if any of the risks become reality. Project types and the Big Picture
With some projects it is relatively easy to formulate the Big Picture, but with less visible or more loosely defined projects, dealing in experimental or new activities, the Big Picture is more fluid. High visibility
t
Building a bridge
New drug research portfolio Strategy development
Company takeover
I
Concrete
Open+
Temporary New budgeting system for hospital plastic surgery unit Upgrade of statistical software system
I
I
Early experimental research Feasibility studies for a new pricing policy
Low visibility Figure 4.3 Matrix of project types
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE
55
Characteristics Highly visible, seen by the sponsor and the organization to be vital. Much senior management attention and nervousness. Crucial to the organization's survival or market position; therefore, a significant part of the corporate strategy; risks which would arise from failure seen to be high. Project leader has considerable power; will be the hero if the project succeeds but is also potentially the villain of the piece.
Elements of the Big Picture Precise knowledge of movements in the competitive market will influence the opportunity to complete the project. Product features similar to those of competitors may reduce impact or demand and require a change of direction. Changes in the fortune of other parts of the business may influence funding. If the key ratios move negatively then the flow of resources to the project may be questioned. Changes in the political situation of the client organization may alter its priorities. A new chief executive may not be convinced or may impose different criteria. Figure 4.4 Concrete project with high visibility ' In Chapter 3 we introduced the idea of a 'project continuum' ranging from the highly concrete to the open and ill-defined. The Big Picture varies in style and clarity from project to project. If we link a visibility continuum with the concretelopen one we have broadly four types of projects, as shown in Figure 4.3. This helps in determining which aspects of the Big Picture are most important to you. Visibility arises from the significance of the project in the eyes of the most influential people in the client organization or your own. Is it a politically sensitive project which will receive a lot of media attention? Is the risk involved in failure high for the organization? If so the visibility will be high and the project leader will be running a
56
MANAGING THE PROJECT
Characteristics
Seen by client to be of strategic importance but involves stepping out into the unknown. Prescriptions for what needs to be done, what the risks are, what is important, will have to be discovered by experience. Direction will need refining and methods of getting there will be very flexible. Will have high level support, so will be on senior management's agenda, but support may be lost if no satisfactory progress is made. Elements of the Big Picture
Much time will be needed with the client organization to tease out its vision of what success would be like. New priorities, questions and opportunities will arise and may radically reorientate the Big Picture. Changes in senior management or shifts in the internal political liaisons and power groups will have a marked impact on the Big Picture. Ideas will need to be repeatedly tested out. It will be necessary to gain inputs from the sponsor to evolve the framework of the Big Picture.
Figure 4.5 Open project with high visibility
high personal risk. The four types of projects, and the Big Picture formulated for each, are set out as follows: Concrete project with high visibility Open project with high visibility Concrete project with low visibility Open project with low visibility
-
Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6 Figure 4.7
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE
57
Characteristics Seen to be useful, helpful, necessary to the business activity but not regarded as critical by client. Will be vulnerable to the political pressures and predi spositions of the client, so priorities may change. Funds may get reallocated to other areas.
Elements of the Big Picture Links to the business or external environment, especially competitor or government pressure, need to be watched so as to be ready for increase in visibility and vulnerability. Client management concerns need to be monitored so ready for threats to the project by higher priorities. The rating of the project in terms of organization's values needs to be understood to give confidence that it will not be suddenly dropped. It needs to be known who is personally supporting the project, and the strength of their commitment in case of opposition. Figure 4.6 Concrete project with low visiibility (Figure 4.7 Open project with low visibility, see How to use and communicate the Big Pichure There are three main levels where a clear ana communlcame Picture will be of use, as shown in Figure 4.8. These are:
B.,
broad level for motivating all stakeholders selective level for channelling effort and support from appropriaLstakeholders detailed level for corrective action by project team
Communicating with stakeholders and project team members .- ---
People have considerable commitment to offer. When they unaerstand
58
MANAGING THE PROJECT
Characteristics Sponsor interested in project but not able or willing to risk too much publicity for political reasons. Will be forgotten if it fails, but may blossom if succeeds; will need to be promoted to gain recognition. Interested parties are trying their ideas out on the side. Low resource justification, a lot of voluntary effort.
Elements of the Big Picture Working hypothesis is being tested out, quietly. Parts of the Big Picture known but much is very grey and being clarified. If successful, will be woven into the environmental map; if not, then no problem. Will need selling to stakeholders if it moves into a more visible category; a public Big Picture will then need to be formulated. This possibility has to be held in view. Figure 4.7
Open project with low visibility
the end purpose of what they are doing it links with their own ideas and liberates their energies. Commitment is often hard to gain if the reason for doing something is unclear or if there is doubt as to whether it is right or possible to do it. When the Big Picture is clearly stated, it helps people feel they are doing something worthwhile. When people are willing to put a lot of personal effort into the project, but do not know how to, the project leader can help by interpreting the broad perspectives of the Big Picture in terms of an individual team member's specific activities. As Figure 4.8 indicates, in addition to the visible team members, whose commitment and understanding are vital, you also need to communicate the Big Picture to the other stakeholders in the project, to ensure that their expectations are compatible with those of the project. Invisible team members especially need to be given the Big Picture at an early stage, before getting actively involved. The role of
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE
59
I
To provide vision and direction
Communicated broadly to all stakeholders and projec team members
BROAD - T O ALL STAKEHOLDEE LEVEL To maintain commitment and guide channelling of report
Communicated selectively to client and in varying detail to project team, as relevant
SELECTIVE - TO APPROPRIATE LEVEL STAKEHOLDERS To use in monitoring for drift and consequent refocusing
Communicated to project team for corrective action
DETAILED - TO PROJECT TEAM LEVEL Figure 4.8 Levels of communicating the Big Picture
the project leader is that of integrating and reconciling the expectations of the stakeholders with the client's Big Picture. This process is demonstrated in Figure 4.9. The shaded rectangles represent the stakeholders' own expectations. Your aim as project leader is to integrate these rectangles so that all of them fall within the client's Big Picture. When this happens, the conditions exist for a successful project. Your own understanding of the Big Picture is only the preliminary to the whole process. Keeping the information to yourself is of no value - you need to communicate it to the others in your project team so that they can appreciate some of the 'whys and wherefors'. This
I
60
MANAGING THE PROJECT
Specialist Services
m
Before focusing on the Big Picture
After focusing on the Big Picture Figure 4.9 Integrating stakeholders' expectations with the Big Picture
gradually builds up their individl nitment to the project and confidence in each other. The first step in communicating the Big Picture is to put it across in a brief, catchy way, like a good advertisement, which can be understood by many people. The second step is to give enough more detailed information to team members so that they can appreciate the wider meaning of the Big Picture. Some project leaders do this in the form of team
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE
t
briefings or launch events early in the first phase. But givir information is not enough. People need an opportunity to thin^ about the implications and to ask questions to test and extend their understanding. Most important of all, they need an opportunity to make comments or suggestions so that they actively contribute to the -. building and iriterpretation of the Big Picture. Thley need an activi,tY in which they c:an react and take part. It is not en(>ughto give them a 1. why the project is i i i i u u ~ ~ aNT-.. lrul i ~ ~.... will . written documcn~explaining they be converted and convinced even by the most out:standing clear presentation. Both these methods are necessar!1 but nc . sufficient. Feeling part of the Big Picture takes .nme, though discussion and much repetition. --A
6
Monitoring As the project proceeds, the Big Picture provides the basis for testir whether all the elements are still in line with the fundament . . purposes of the client organiz ation. It can prcwide the: basis fc project reviews, and if: can stinnulate qllestions and ansvvers whic ensure that the main di rection isI being fa~llowed.(3 r it can be used 1 ,-I--- an example, the. Culasguw lam--, help make choices. Tane, as Gardc Festival team. They had many, frequently changing alternatives 1 choose between. As fame spread, they attracted many people wh wanted to exhibit. They were able to evaluate requests on the basis ( their contribution to the Big Picture with its motto, 'Glasgow's milc better'. Conclusion When you have created a common understanding of the nature and significance of the Big Picture - the commercial pressures, tl competitive pressures, the consumer pressures and the enviro~ mental pressures - in the organizational team, you will have created group of people who are committed to making it happenI. You will not be alone in steering the project along the right traclr; you will have willing and eager supporters. They will be able to: spread the word to new team members with confidence take independent action, knowing that they are in line with tl rest of the project
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cope with risk have a common reference point for reviewing their progress and other overlapping activities handle projects ranging from high to low visibility, whether concrete or open. As Chris Bonington believed, knowing the Big Picture builds commitment, trust and confidence. Your team will be ready to climb the mountain! The next chapter takes us to base camp before we begin the assault on the summit.
5 Establishing Success Criteria
Within every Big Picture are the detailed success criteria for the project - sets of specifications which the project has to meet to be successful: what the stakeholders expect from the project, explicitly or implicitly. This chapter is concerned with the fundamentally 'important process by which a project's success criteria are agreed with the stakeholders. If this process makes it easy for stakeholders to feel personally involved in the project they are likely to collaborate in handling its ups and downs. What are success criteria? Before you can establish what to do in a project it is obviously essential to know what the end product should be (the output), and to have clear standards (the criteria) against which to judge it. As we have seen, there are concrete projects where the output and the success criteria can be clearly defined (for example, the development of a new aircraft to meet specific operational requirements). At the other end of the spectrum are problem-solving or open projects whose purpose may in fact be to define a desirable output. In such a case the main success criteria are likely to be the desireslambitions of the individual stakeholders, which cannot necessarily be measured at the outset. For example, a project team set up to investigate alternative business plans will need to understand the aspirations of the board (which may be unstated) if its proposals are to stand any
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chance of success (even if there are some specified hard criteria for the business plan itself). Regardless of the type of project, we tend to see hard criteria as the exclusive basis for judging success. They are, of course, important, but they often express only the minimum rather than the optimum. They may not be the basis of assessment when things are less straightforward. Most sales people are set very clear financial targets in terms of the volume of orders they must attain in each quarter. But the best sales people go further, and distinguish themselves by the way they treat their clients. Achieving a sales target can hardly be called success if goodwill is lost in the process. The soft and less easily measured criteria of the project are often more important than the hard and easily measured criteria. For example, you might be installing a computer system for a company; it works very effectively, and is delivered on time and within budget. However, if it is not user-friendly, because criteria for this were not made clear in the definition phase, the customer will not be satisfied and the project will not be a full success. It is part of the job of a
Hard criteria (WHAT)
Soft crilteria (HOW)
Tangible
Intangible
Quantitative
Qualitative
For example, you must meet
For example, you must demonstrate
deadlines
a co-operative attitude
performance specifications
a positive image
specific quality starldards
total quality
cost requirements
total project cornrnitn~w~~
resource constraints
an appreciation of tlie level of risk involved ethical conduct
Figure 5.1 Project performance: success criteria
ESTABLISHING SUCCESS CRITERIA
f
project leader to 'tease out' such soft criteria in discussion with th client and end-users at the start of the project. Hard success criteria tend to relate to what is done. Soft succes criteria relate more to how it is done.3Figure 5.1 expresses this. High standards in the less tangible areas associated with botn products and services have become crucial to an organization's competitive edge; so soft criteria are not just 'nice to have' extras, but essential elements of success. Living up to the soft criteria will sometimes limit damage from some failure in relation to hard criteria. For instance, quick, honest information about problems or incidents can buy stakeholder tolerance of a delay. One high tech companv says: 'What can damage us most is overselling and underdelivering this is very much an attitude of mind. Naturally, it is still necessary t deliver good products that work to specification, but many compet tors may be able to do that just as well. For many project leaders, it is extremely imp~ortanttc discove what the soft criteria are. This gives them tlhe edge over th competition. Success criteria, both hard and soft, can sometimes on1 be discovered by detective work. Stakeholders may not deliberatel hide information about criteria; it may just be that they have not gon through the discipline of formally defining them. However, th criteria will be implicit in what they do and how they react. Th project leader can help them to arrive at the criteria throug discussion of their actions and reactions. Seeing what they don't war can help here. Obvious and less obvious criteria
Figure 5.2 give:S some od the criteria whic::h need to be con!sidered by tding of what will the project leiader in building up an L~nderstan represent success in the project. Operating only on the basis of th openlhard criteria declared by the stakeholders at the outset will giv rise to misunderstandings and confrontations; the chances of succe: will be considerably reduced. We suggest you run through your current project and ask: What is the expected output? What are the openhard criteria? What are the openlsoft criteria? Do you suspect any hard or soft criteria are hidden under the table?
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Hard
Soft
In the open
declared, visible, openly discussed by all parties
- performance specs - time, money - contractual terms and conditions
- delivery terms and quality
- how project controlled
- review meetings
- what procedures to be used if it goes wrong - how communication is to take place
Under the table
withheld deliberately, undeclared by oversight, or not usually discussed, but very influential
- 'real'
political concerns 'don't rock the boat' or 'if anything goes wrong you're on your own' or 'don't reduce my visibility with top managers'
- new options arise
- the risks too large for
budget constraints that are arising or foreseeable - eg delivery dates; resource availability
May emerge unknown by both parties, but should be dealt with positively when they emerge
-
from practical events the client personally - outcomes from joint and experience the unexpected participant days of enforces different problem solving constraints 'Acts of God' - crisis -
Figure 5.2 The obvious and less obvious success criteria
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67
Do you think any additional criteria, either hard or soft, are likely to emerge? If you're unhappy with some of your answers we suggest you go back to your stakeholders for clarification; test out your assumptions and keep your eyes and ears open.
The critical stakeholders: the sponsor and the client We have described the project leader's primary function as an integrator of a complex network of people and activities. It is clear that there are often two stakeholders who, because of their actual or potential power, dominate the project leader's life: the sponsor and the client; sometimes these are the same person (for example, in an internal project carried out for your boss); in other cases they are different (for example, where a project is being carried out by your organization for an outside company or another division). A close understanding and rapport with these stakeholders is obviously essential to the success of the project. As individuals, the sponsor and the client will bring to bear on the project their personalities, knowledge, prejudices and ambitions, as well as their 'official' opinions. Some will be more accommodating and flexible than others. As a project leader you need to work out your own way of handling them to obtain the maximum benefit for your project.
The process of getting agreement As we have said, in the world of project management, getting agreement can be difficult because there are so many interests, and demands are not static. Factors change, people change their minds and new opportunities occur that nobody thought of before. It would be unreasonable not to expect this. How many times do you agree absolutely 100 per cent with something? Not very often, we suspect. In most instances you probably agree more with some aspects and less with others; some things you wholeheartedly support; some things you are happy to go along with; some things get your grudging acquiescence; other things you will block, fight and
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undermine with all your strength. You will find it's the same with your stakeholders. This is illustrated in Figure 5.3. The project leader's dream is to get all the main stakeholders in the top left-hand corner of the graph, and keep them there. You may ask how realistic this is: how far can it be achieved?
Strength of agreement
T
I completely agree and will drive this forward.
I think this is right with minor reservations. I will actively support. This seems OK - see how it goes. There are parts of this that I don't like.
I am totally opposed to this. -b
Strength of disagreemer; Figure 5.3 Levels of agreement and
disagl cclllcllr
A project can easily operate around the midpoint, where most stakeholders think things are all right, but rapid moves to the right are the danger signals. With the critical stakeholders it is a minimum insurance to find out what aspects of the project they are unwilling to negotiate on. If you d o not d o this there is no chance of success. Stakeholders' interests differ, but they may be compatible or capable of mutual accommodation provided, of course, that they communicate with each other. There is a story about two people fighting over the last orange. Neither will give way until an independent gobetween points out they both want the orange for a different reason one wants the juice, the other the rind. There's no reason to fight, both their requirements can be met. So it is with stakeholders - if all parties know the objectives of the others, then agreement is usually possible. Early in the life of a project, it is not always clear what the
ESTABLISHING SUCCESS CRITERIA
6"
stakeholders' expectations are, so the pieces have to be assembled i jigsaw fashion so as to create a unified whole. With projects of a concrete nature, the phase of gaining agreemer usually takes place prior to the drafting of any formal contract, sinc both the hard and soft criteria need to be agreed to enable th contract to be drafted. With problem-solving or open projects the1 tends to be a continuous process of periodically testing the levels ( agreement as new situations arise.
Assessing the stakeholders Before you even start to try to get any agreement with your principal stakeholders it is important to build up as much background information about them as possible. The sort of questions which yoll need to ask yourself are: What do they do? How did they get to their current position? What is their status in their organization, and their degree c influence? What do they think is important? Are there things that plea$ them very much? Are there things which they. hate? It's not muc use preparing lengthy reports, for i~nstance, if they rlever rea anything longer than a page. What sort of people are they? - cautious, radical? - informal, formal? - who are their heroes? - what are their interests outside wor How do they work? - do they like to be kept up to date? - do they like to make instant decisions quickly, or do they war to discuss, understand and reflect before they decide? - what do their office and surroundings tell you about them? Which of their colleagues are close tco them? What do stories which circulate in the: organiziition tell you aboi their personal reputations? -P I-!:--. : . I .&I---* What are other people's experiences UI W u r K l r l g W I L I I LIICIII I Once you have assembled background data about them it isi helpful t prepare for initial meetings by asking yourself some quest:ions:
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What do you regard as the 'non-negotiable' aspects of the project? What compromises would you be prepared to make (in respect of the project's success criteria and in terms of the way you like to work) in the interests of the project's success. This gives you a base from which to handle initial discussions with the stakeholders, and upon which you can build the necessary level of mutual trust, understanding and commitment. It is worth remembering that your project may not be the stakeholders' greatest interest. Their time is precious; you must make the best use of it.
Working with the stakeholders
There are a number of assumptions typically made at the start of a project by sponsors/clients/project leaders. Some of these are:
Negative assumptions by the sponsor These specialists never understand political and operating realities,, they always talk details and technicalities. It's all too complicated and frustrating. They assume I know everything and ask me to make choices about things I don't know enough about. They never listen, but always assume that things can't be done. They're not flexible. Things never come out as they should, there's always some bad news, or some other kind of surprise.
Negative assumptions by the client They want to give me what they have got 'off the shelf; they don't understand why this matters to us. But it's very important to our future and my reputation. They're only concerned to get finished fast and collect their money. We'll get left with all the hassle. They always come up with something different from what we had agreed. I can never get hold of them.
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Negative assumptions by the project leader Tell me how you want it done and I'll do it that way. They must know what they want, so why don't they just say so. They're always changing their minds, they show no consideration. No wonder we can't get finished. They want the impossible and won't acknowledge reality. Still, it's their problem anyway.
Negative interactions Where stakeholders and project leaders hold these assumptions about each other, the typical pattern of interaction is as follows: Formal start-up meetings deal with hard criteria only, with much bargaining and positioning. The difficult issues do not surface. People are asked to make instant choices and to commit themselves to them. Contact is infrequent during the project; periodic ritualistic reviews are held; there is a tendency to discuss only the good news. Then at the delivery stage, part of the project may be late, or significantly off course. There is disillusionment, anger and acrimonious wrangling. Nobody wins.
Positive assumptions by the sponsor Some outputs of this project I clearly want and will push hard to make sure they happen. There are many questions that I don't have answers to, and some questions I don't know how to ask, but which the team ought to be able to help me frame. There are organizational/politicalrisks in this project that I must steer around; otherwise we will face difficulties. The team needs to be aware of these. If we get it right, how can we get the best contribution from the whole team? What could be achieved and how can I help it happen? What are the project leader and the team like, will they deliver, are they in control? How can I be sure they won't be an embarrassment or worse?
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Positive assumptions by the client
There are parts of this specification that must work, othc , and particularly I, will be in trouble. There are aspects I am not sure about, either what the upuuns are, or what the trade offs might be. But the project team ought to be able to help with their experience. I want to know where I am, and what I have to deal with. I need to be able to work in a straight and direct way with these people. Let's cut out any unnecessary business and work together. Positive assumptions b y the project leader
Both the sponsor and the client (assuming they are not the same person) have very clear ideas about some aspects of what they want, but not about all. We must help them to articulate the gaps so that we can bridge them. Sponsors have a wider organizational perspective than me, but am I sufficiently well attuned to appreciate their concerns? Each sponsor is an individual; how are their views affected by personality? Clients know their own organization best, and are under pressure to make sure that the project is successful. Some aspects will be clear from the start, others will become clear as more people, with different perspectives, are involved. There are bound to be political schemes afoot in the clients' organization; how can we help clients not to get caught out? How can we complete this project within the real constraints? Do we all understand those constraints? We know from our experience that there are always better ways of doing things, so how can we find these? I cannot afford for this project to fail, because of what that would do to me personally. Positive interactions
With these attitudes, a typical pattern of interaction between stakeholders is:
ESTABLISHING SUCCESS CRITERIA
Early acceptance of joint ownership of the project results, and th need to work together to deliver them. Early meetings, especially if the project is towards the open end c the project continuum, to explore the parameters, define the nor negotiable elements and the reasons behind them, establish as fzas possible the success criteria, and recognize the perceived copstraints or blockages. There tend to be several meetings, not always long but with space in between giving time for reflection. Further investigation takes place to make sure that significant aspects are thoughtfully incorporated, and that there is a consistent understanding of agreed success criteria. Meetings are: - discussions, rather than any one individuia1 taking orders <)r instructions from another - investigations of hard and soft criteria concluaing witn a cle; understanding of what is agreed - occasions for getting to understand the perspectives ( stakeholders. Concerns and worries are identified; potenti, trade-01'fs or cornflicts sorted out. Nothing is left 'under tk mat'. This type of approach will produce a clear understanding, thi amounts to getting stakeholders' agreement, by building respect fc different viewpoints. There will be joint ownership of what has bee agreed and considerable commitment to seeing the project throuel If you are able to create this sort of climate at the outset, it is muc easier to adapt to the changes that are inevitable as tlhe projet progresses. This approach means spending proportionately more time at the early stages, clarifying and testing out plans before too much action has taken place and it becomes difficult to backtrack. The main points to remember here are: L,
Agree the need for emergency.contact with the sponsor or clien and use it when you have doubts; don't wait until things a] falling apart. Invite the sponsor and the client to early reviews, show them prototypes, preliminary drafts or mock ups. Give them something to react to before the work is too far down the road. Having something tangible in front of them often helps them find out what they really want.
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Flag problems early, analyse implications of actual or potential deviations. Make proposals to the sponsor or client about how to proceed; set out the alternatives and explain the trade offs. Don't hide the problems. Think of the impact on the sponsor or client's success criteria. Keep the sponsor or client up to date on progress in a way which suits their working style - written reports, informal chats, or whatever.
Skills needed to build a robust relationship with the principal stakeholders As soon as possible in the project life, the leader needs to start building a trusting relationship with the principal stakeholders so that the work can be done to satisfy the acknowledged mutual interests. Trust must be maintained and built upon throughout the project. Trust grows out of good experience. Bad experience produces pain and anger which tend to have a more lasting effect than good experience. Bad experience early in a relationship tends to cancel out the good. It takes great effort to re-establish even a low level of trust. This is why we have talked about the need to built 'credits' with stakeholders - proofs of good intent and understanding. This is the essence of a robust relationship. Building such relationships is a form of negotiation. Neil Rackham and his team from the Huthwaite Research Group analysed the behaviour of negotiators to find out what distinguished the skilful from the less effective. Some of the techniques identified are set out in the following paragraphs.
Labelling The skilful negotiator knows how tactfully to unravel the reasons behind demands. For example, instead of saying 'Why do you want this next Thursday?' the skilled person will say, 'I should like to make sure I understand, can you tell my why you want this delivered on Thursday?' This slows down the pace and encourages the other party to make a thoughtful reply. Testing understanding and summarizing 'Have I understood correctly?' and 'Am I right in supposing that you mean . . . ?', are useful questions in exploring which aspects are fixed and clear and which may be challenged. Another way is tentatively to
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propose alternative ways forward, to discover which elements are acceptable. Or you can ask 'what if questions, which concentrate on the circumstances - 'What if we could do X?' Questioning keeps control of the discussion and gains information. Summarizing closes down discussion, but also provides another opportunity to check understanding. This is very useful when a discussion is really at its end. Stating the impact on you Skilled negotiators reveal their reactions by saying, for instance, 'I am slightly lost; can we go back a bit?' or 'I feel uncomfortable about that because it does not meet Y's understanding'. This technique puts disagreements or difficulties on the table without getting into an argument. Counter proposals Frequent counter proposals result in a ping pong match where everyone loses sight of the others' original viewpoints. In the end nobody is really clear what the problems are. Defendlattack spirals Defendlattack spirals lead the parties to take up positions which are more and more difficult to relinquish. So the barriers go up, rather than being gradually dismantled. Additional arguments Another losing technique is to heap on more weak arguments in your favour on the basis that the other side will give way under the volume of argument. This tends to cover up but not to resolve the objections, which then resurface later. d Project leaders have to learn to be very good at negoti influencing. Difficulties arise for those who rapidly take up rigid positions and get boxed into corners.
What if the sponsor or azenr won't play? Of course, it is not always easy establishing an effective relationship with client or sponsor. Are you thinking to yourself: 'But my sponsor is an impossible person, he will never discuss things with me?' or 'This client hasn't the patience to wait for half a second, never mind think about something?' or 'We've tried asking them what they want but they play their cards close to their chests.' Such attitudes are not unusual. Not everyone wants to join in a collaborative activity, mainly because they cannot see how it might serve their ends. So we
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summarize below ways in which the less willing can be encouraged to collaborate. Change the format If meetings or encounters get st1uck into a pattern of unproductive hostility, there are ways of breaking tf ie sequence. Change some aspect of how the meeting runs; perhaps hold it in another place; break the agenda items up; get different people to lead parts of the meeting. Sometimes meeting the sponsor or client in different circumstances helps. If you have only formal contact, find ways to meet casually and test out ideas and suggestions in a more relaxed way. In a bureaucratic organization that likes to debate reports, ~t rarely acts on them, reduce reports to a summary of the ain points. This gives participants an understanding of the project without supplying them with material for unproductive inquests. Rather it focuses attention on the ideas and on what can be done. Own your own concerns In non-critical areas you can afford to compromise. But when the success of the project is at stake, you need to prepare carefully, dig in, and argue your point with mviction - others will respect this. oncentrate on content Always try toI keep att ention on the issue, ~t on the people involved. Be asselrtive, not. aggressive. Concllusion
r nis chapter has emphasized the need tor the project leader to gain a clear understanding of the end product and the different kinds of criteria against which to judge its success. Getting agreement with stakeholders is essential. This is done by balancing everyone's non-negotiable expectations and going for what is possible. Wherever possible, make positive assumptions which lead to positive interactions, and use positive approaches to negotiation. There are always ways of reframing and describing a situation in different terms. Always concentrate on the issue, not the personalities. Taking a negative view of the project and its stakeholders will make your job impossible. If you believe your client is too difficult, your actions will prove you right. But if you look for the good, for the slightest hint of co-operation, you are likely to find it. Self fulfilling
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prophecies work both ways. You may never actually enjoy working together, but there is satisfaction in refusing to be rattled by difficult people, particularly if you acquire a degree of - albeit reluctant - cooperation.
6 Getting the Project Under Way
When you have got your main stakeholders to something like a workable agreement, you will be thinking about how to get the project under way. By reminding ourselves of Figure 1.3, we can isolate the priorities to be considered at this stage. In terms of the project life cycle, we have arrived at the 'getting it off the ground' phase. This means finding out, in ever increasing detail, what you have let yourself in for. Guestimate becomes estimate which, in turn, becomes a predictable event. Your main concerns are: deciding what activities need to be undertaken mapping out interim targets and a total timescale identifying interdependent events spotting potential blockages or problems estimating resource requirements - people and money. In terms of managing the stakeholders, the main issues you face are likely to be: working with your sponsor to get the resources you need, in competition with other projects or priorities getting time and people from other managers to build the invisible team building your own network, getting the right people or equip ment, perhaps by cashing in credits previously earned
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building the client's confidence, assuring him of your care and capability. In terms of managing performance, your problems are to gather the people who are going to be part of the visible and invisible team. You will be concerning yourself with what kind of people you need and how to get hold of them, and this can prove difficult. When you have found the people, they need to be assembled and launched, fired with enthusiasm to be part of something worthwhile and effective. At this busy phase of the project, when everything is new, you have these three main areas simultaneously to keep in focus and attend to. That's why you are so busy! Managing the first steps in relation to the project life cycle, stakeholders and performance. You may be wondering if the same set of activities apply in all projects. Well, that would be simple but unfortunately it would be misleading. All these aspects need to be covered, but in different degrees of detail and precision and using a variety of tools.
The project continuum at the start The project continuum (Figure 3.1) helps you to know what to anticipate and how to set about getting your project going. Concrete Concrete projects will usually have established approaches to planning and estimating with plenty of historical data and experience on which to base your figures. That is not to say that they are reliable but they should exist. There will be costing and budgeting procedures. Often computerized tools for planning and monitoring will be available and be well used. The worst problem for the project leader of a concrete project is that some organizations are so dynamic and changes of team members are so frequent that the team never feels like an entity. Therefore constant investment is required to incorporate newcomers and bring them up to speed. Similarly, project teams will tend to have defined roles, with clear job descriptions and clear skill requirements. Plenty of documentation will exist to get you started; many of the project management
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tools used previously will be suitable for your project. Common problems will arise from competing with other similar projects for time, money, equipment and people.
Temporary Temporary projects will pose very different problems in this start up phase, as there may not be a budget; you may need to make a special case for financing. There will be little data on which to plan, as there will have been little or no relevant historical information. So the planning can only be in broad steps, and it is advisable to go only as far as you can see, which may not be far. One project leader said 'It's a matter of plotting the steps you can see and then getting into action, but keeping a close eye on everything to make sure you're on a reasonable track'. One-off frequently changing projects, with many variables, do not lend themselves to detailed and labour intensive planning tools. The Glasgow Garden Festival was planned and controlled using large paper and pencil charts that could be easily changed, as new exhibitors presented themselves. The team in many cases, will not resemble the concrete team at all. If you are lucky the leader will be full-time but all the other members, both visible core and invisible, will be part-timers. With temporary projects working in new areas, the start up team is often not the same team that will implement it. The 'ideas people' are not always the best completers. So a team that was formed of senior administration managers to design a training and development framework for all European employees, formulated the priorities, set the budget parameters and then brought in others to design specific proposals and implement. You may need to think about changing people in your team as the project progresses.
Open projects As you might expect, with open projects there is little need for planning or estimating. Everything is small scale and vague; even the back of an envelope might almost be too sophisticated. Thinking out the possible steps, making sure that any costs are kept within invisible bounds will be all you can do.
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Team members will largely be volunteers who have turned up because they are personally interested and are prf:pared to give the:ir time (on the side). So you may find you have a teaLm who are just th~e people you want to work with, or they may be :I motley crew who have to be found useful activities in the area of interest. At this phase of the project, it is a case of horses for courses. Yo will need to select your estimating and planning tools to fit yor project type, but beware of letting systems or tools take you over. They must fit your needs for information and clarity. Before you get off the ground properly you will need to work out what action is required to get the project moving. Organizing to get under way
Define the principal steps Any project needs to be broken down into activities and stages. In concrete project the stages may be well known to you and your team members, and you can start to produce a detailed work breakdown based on a clear and common understanding of the planned course of events. The planners - nowadays the computer buffs - must be part of the team, or, better still, the core team members themselves should have controlled access to the system. The closer the interface between the tools, the information that goes into them, and the people doing the work, the more useful the plan~ningsysltem. 'No w we all know what the system can produce, and are underritand whiat ---- --"-..---", IllUlG a ~ ~ u ~ a t e the reports mean, we can give the planning manager data to keep us all up to date with what is happening,' said one contented project team member who was part of a large privatization project.
Work breakdown structure Project manal5ernent c,omputer systems can be used to isolate ti individual s t e,s~ that h: ave to be taken and their sequentii11 relatio ship one with another.- the work breakdown structure. ---- *-- Take, for example, the launch of a new health Loeaury ~ r o d u cfc t the mass market. The product has been defined by research an development and now has to be brought to the market. The broa steps could be as in Figure 6.1.
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Define the market segment
I Define packaging
-
Decide how to distribute
I Prepare advertising message
I
I
Design packaging
Test ads
I
Design machinery changes
I Prototype engineering changes
Define system and make alterations to administration
I
Produce packaging
Test run
\ Consumer test product
\
I Set up delivery system and test
' /
Go into production
I
Trial runs - test consumer and distribute I
Full production
Figure 6.1 A work breakdown structure
If you have a temporary or open project, your work breakdown or map of events will probably be much less substantial, but you need to sketch in the critical events or meetings and have an understanding of the course of action which will lead you to the projected final stages. An Ashridge course member, Bob Fellows, who was the leader of a temporary team looking at his company's performance in customer service reported: 'We needed, first of all, to decide which aspects of service we were going to look at, and how we were going to get the data, before we could talk to the Board about the priorities for the company.' He needed to get his team's and his own thinking clear about how to proceed, to avoid heading up a blind alley. A sample flow chart helped by showing the activities which he and his team had agreed on.
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Finding the critical interdependences If your project has many activities which have to be co-ordinated, you might worry about whether they will fit together at the right moment. Delays in one or two elements can be critical. If the equipment is not delivered to the exhibition stand, it doesn't matter how stunning the graphics are, the product will be a failure. There are techniques PERT (program evaluation and review technique), CPM (critical path method) and CPA (critical path analysis) which help co-ordinate complex projects. Figure 6.2 gives a simple example of CPA. This 'network diagram' shows the interdependence between tasks, and also the time required for each one. It can be used to determine the earliest and latest times when the project will be complete. The tasks that block the starting of other tasks are isolated, and the shortest possible completion time is estimated. The project leader can concentrate on making sure that the critical events take place on time. The technique also helps the project leader to identify at the outset those items which need to be achieved on time and budget, and whose achievement can be reported to the project's stakeholders. There are three principal benefits from the use of critical path analysis: Project staff have to identify each task, its duration and its dependence. Risks arising from unplanned events are therefore lower. Projects following an established pattern, such as routine construction projects, can be planned and monitored closely. Computerization means that very large or complex projects, such as large engineering projects, can be planned in detail. The network diagram and critical path can be updated at regular intervals, and the computer will automatically revise completion dates and resource requirements. However, we find that critical path analysis is used fairly infrequently outside large construction or engineering projects, mainly for two reasons. First, the tasks making up the project have to be clearly defined and quantifiable at the outset. This is often not possible in temporary or open projects where precise specifications only emerge as the project evolves. Second, critical path analyses, printed on computer paper, can tend to produce a false sense of security; they
GE'ITING THE PROJECT
WAY
I
Key to Figure 6.2 (1) The letters above each arrow designate a task to be done, eg 1rask A is arranging the lease. -..~-. (2) The numbers below each arrow represent the unit of rime me t z ' ' eg Task A takes 5 units. t the (3) The Earliest start time is calculated by re Femng back to the st;~ r of project, and represents the earliest time: you can reach the event in . question after taking account of the intervening aependences. Thus Event 20 cannot be completed until Tasks A and C are finished, ie 6 units of time. Event 45 depends not only on Events 10,20, and.30 (the shortest time route), but also on Events 25 and 40. It cannot therefore be achieved in less than 37 units. (4) The Latest finish time is a similar calculation in reverse - the time for the intervening task is deducted from the previous Latest finish time. Thus Event 35's Latest finish time is 38 (Event 50) less 7 (Task L) = 31. (5) The Critical path is where the earliest start time for an Event is thle same as the Latest finish time. & -
A
.
are only as good as the data that has been put into them. If esti mates are poor and the analysis is not regularly updated with morl accurate information, serious misunderstandings can build up, basec on false expectations. If you need to use a critical path, make sun you invest in maintaining, revising and in publishing up-to-datl versions.
Identifling and justifling required resources The question of resources crosses two dimensions of projec leadership: the project life cycle and managing the stakeholders Deciding what resources you will need, and when, is a big part a getting the project off the ground. Justifying your requirements tl those who have the power to agree them is an important part o managing your stakeholders. You are likely to be in a competitiv~ position. If your project has low visibility, you will hz to bl particularly persistent and tactically skilled to get what you 1need. Thl steps to follow are:
,ve
Plot the resources that you estimate are vital to the project. Thesl can be qualified to show the possibilities of reducing the time o increasing the quality, as the client or sponsor may wish.
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Resource estimates are always rather loose, but concrete projects tend to have hard historical data and experience of overruns that give a reliable basis for calculations. In temporary projects the principal resource is people, who will have to be bargained for with their line manager. Anything like a survey to be carried out by outsiders would be a one-off allocation of funds outside the budgeting process. Determine your resource curve. Plot the loading of resource against the phase of the project life cycle. This is most useful for demonstrating the changing requirements for people and cash as the project unfolds. A typical concrete project might have a curve as in Figure 6.3. The volume under the curve represents the total resource required to complete to specification. If a restraint is placed on the level of resource at any one time the completion time will extend. Getting Getting it off Keeping it Handing over stakeholders' the ground on track and winding agreement UP
Number of people or cash
Figure 6.3 A resource curve
Time
All the books on Japanese management tell us that investment in the 'getting it off the ground' phase, in testing out possibilities and in replanning frequently before committing large resources, produces the best quality results and shortest implementation time. Poor systems definition leads to more rewrites, debugging and system maintenance. Working your way through the estimating maze is only the first step to getting resources under your control. The real hurdle is justifying your case to those with the power.
GETTING THE PROJECT UNDER WAY
87
How to justify resources Making a good case 'If I understand their reasoning and have the impression that they have thought the issues through, then I am likely to believe their budgets' was the advice of one sponsor who had to decide how to allocate limited resources between several projects. There are two parts to making a good case. First, show that the basis of the estimates is reasonable. This means that if you have used firm historical data you must say so and illustrate the risks that have been experienced in the past due to arbitrary cuts. Or if your project is at the open end of the continuum, you must indicate that this is a best guess, which will be reviewed after certain events have clarified the resource demands. It helps to demonstrate that you have consulted others thought to be sound, when you were putting your case together. Second, make your information easy for the sponsor to understand, using simple graphical summaries where possible. Masses of detail that looks unstructured does not give the sponsor confidence that the project is in good hands. Be credible to the stakeholders Knowing the Big Picture and being familiar with the political network of the organization, will help you to present your case. Highlight aspects that you believe will be seen as important in the wider company context. You can afford to push hard on these, whilst soft peddling on demands likely to be perceived by others as less important. Showing that you understand the trade offs that have to be made between high and low visibility projects, will earn you respect in your sponsor's eyes. Know when to be flexible Even the most genial people can become obstinate and difficult when it comes to budgets. The adversarial approach rarely gains the best outcome, but that doesn't mean you have to fall over in the face of opposition. You must choose your cause. When resource reduction seriously threatens you, then you must resist. You must, however, also show you are aware of other issues that the management will be taking into consideration. For instance, try to suggest solutions to resource problems as well as just saying what you need. One project manager, in an opera company, found that she was asking for a certain stage technician's time when he was involved in rehearsals for another production. She suggested a way in which
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her proposed schedule could be altered so that he could join her production team too. Intangible resources Other projects and departments will be fighting equally hard to obtain resources. To be sure of securing those you require, you therefore need to draw on your own intangible resources - the confidence, trust, ideas and active support of individuals outside your visible team, whether they are sponsors or invisible team members in other departments, such as finance, marketing or personnel. Your own network and credibility within it will help you to get support when you most need it. You will have to be prepared to help others out. Intangible resources work on an informal basis of mutual give and take. ('Oh yes, I think I can get Fred to do that, he owes me a good turn.') Find routes through your network of contacts, tapping into resources to find different approaches to getting things done. With temporary and, especially, with open projects, intangible resources will be your main resource bank. Build and nurture them. They have a high yield. Conclusion
This chapter has looked at ways of defining what needs to be done to get the project under way, and at ways of acquiring the necessary resources for your proj
7
Assembling the Team
Putting the team together can be an awesome task for many project leaders, not least because it may feel as if other parts of the organization are determined to prevent you from succeeding. Assembling the team is a design job; getting the right mixture of people and combination of roles to best achieve the task. You need to build the whole team by identifying and cultivating invisible team members from within your organization and outside. There are two theories about the relationship between task, people and roles. The 'classical' theory starts with analysing the task and activities to be done, and from that defines the roles that are needed. You then look for people who can best fit those roles. The alternative theory starts with the task but focuses on success criteria. It then looks for the people who would be committed and able to contribute towards fulfilling those criteria. Their roles are then evolved in line with what they can contribute. The latter approach is more flexible and suits the needs of more open projects. Temporary and open project teams are often unclear as to the roles and structures they will need. Forcing a traditional structure on to them restricts individual contributions. Figures 7.1 and 7.2 summarize the main differences between getting high and low visibility teams off the ground. At team assembly stage organizational politics and common practices for allocating people will play a part in whom you get. We hav tried to identify a few ground rules to help put together a team that ha a good chance of success.
PROJECT TYPE WITHIN CONTINUUM Concretemigh visibility
Temporarymigh visibility
OpedHigh visibility
1 Specialist skills known: get experts. 2 Bargain high for the best. 3 Roles clearly defined overlaps and integration of expertise needed. 4 Ensure a balance in ways of working and team contribution. 5 Unite team early - confront problems together.
1 Skills needed may not be clear. 2 Creative people needed at early phases. Change to implementers later. Flexible to outsiders. 3 Rapidly changing membership. 4 Attract interested, keen people. 5 Unite team towards broad goals. 6 Recognize and harness different team contributions.
1 Unclear what needs to happen, difficult to define skills and knowledge required. Formal rules not helpful. 2 Focus on people with fire and optimism. 3 Unite the team with common values on what is to be achieved. 4 Define own ways of working, self selecting. 5 Flexibility to outsiders.
Figure 7.1 Getting high visibility teams off the ground
PROJECT TYPE WITHIN CONTINUUM ConcreteILow visibility
TemporaryILow visibility
1 Specialist skills known - role definition helpful. 2 May not get the best people. Development plans may be needed to cover people gaps. Use invisible team. 3 Focus on balancing the working preferences and different team contributions. 4 Focus on creating unity of purpose and insist on confronting early blockages.
1 Skills needed will emerge. 1 Very unclear what needs to happen, low key activity. Roles may not be helpful. 2 Important to get going with those 2 Identify interested people who are trying on their own to do who are interested. something similar. 3 Difficult battles with other managers over time and 3 Getting enough time to achieve anything substantial will be hard. conflicting priorities. 4 Loss of momentum will be a 4 Rapidly changing membership. 5 Recognize and tap into the continuous question. contributions and range of abilities that exist. 6 Use the visible team to fill gaps spread the load. 7 Gocus cIn creating the unity and energy to continue. There will be I
A:..-
Figure 7.2
low visibility teamns off the! ground
Open/Low visibility
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MANAGING THE PROJECT
The politics of team selection When you are beginning to make the case to get the people you want in your core team, you will inevitably come across custom and practice in the allocation of people. Large project-based organizations, such as oil exploration companies, have large pools of people and there are managers whose role is solely that of allocating people to projects. In smaller companies with fairly concrete projects, individuals either with special talents or with the eagerness to be involve are usually in greater demand. So they go to the highest bidder. A number of approaches to team selection are used: A top group of managers or a committee decide, producing a list of team members based on pragmatic criteria. The project leader may or may not be in the group and may have to guess why he has got the individuals he has. A senior manager appoints - the project leader has no choice. The project leader influences the selection process, putting together a team from inside the organization or by hiring new fulltime recruits or specialist advisers from outside. The project leader and core team members select the rest of the team themselves, to make sure that the fit is optimal. This is more common with temporary or open projects. Where there is no clear or permanent project leader, the team can be self-selecting, or individuals may volunteer. These approaches are viable across the project continuum; most difficulties are encountered with projects which are more open and have low visibility. The only negotiating tactic at that end is to appeal to an individual's personal interest and foster tha Getting the right mix of people
The criteria that you and your senior management may use when thinking about the kind of people who would be best for a project team are: level of technical or specialist knowledge and skills required personal interest in and energy for the project's aims - at least a belief that it is desirable and feasible personal compatability of the individual beliefs, aspirations, and working methods with those required by the project
9
EAM
TEAM MEMBER CHARACTERIS7
TASK Doing things
:OMPANY WORKER or IMPLEMENTER once the basic framework of what needs to be -one is established, energetic and persistent activity is directed towards getting things done
A sense of direction
CHAIRMAN - who keeps the team performing SHAPER - who fnom hislht:r own internal energies knows whi~t must happen and insists that others follow
Sources of new ideas, PLANT - the unusl Jual who produces -.views and information new thoughts or ideas &om hislher head ESOURCE INVESTIGKTOR - who athers information, people, access tc) other ..,ays of doing things Sense of realism
!ONITOR EVALUATOR - who has both :et on the ground and is concerned about what m really be done
Getting things f i inished C'OMPLETER FIFlISHER -- who ha!3 wncern fc)r detail and tying things UI -I, IIliiKCS SUI~:LIML >nclusionsare reac
*L^L
Keeping the teal together
EAM WORKER :Is the striesses and , , d a i n s between i n d i ~ l u u aand ~ ~is able. c,LU L vllrlr lem togel:her solving wnflic:ts and bt ~ncernedfor the i~ndividual!3
Source - R.M.Belbin Management Teams. (Names in upl Belbin.)
Figure 7.3
The balanced team
Ire those us
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MANAGING THE PROJECT
the importance of having certain groups or stakeholders (eg users) represented on the project team teamworking capabilities - a balance of different personal perspectives, qualities and ways of working. In fact, the above considerations are often overridden by the practical question of availability and by political motives - who does management want to keep and who would management like to shunt out of the way? Research and experience suggest that the right mix of technical skills alone does not make a good project team. Meredith Belbin, through extensive research, established that teams which have to work together over a period of time need a balance in the range of contributions. Imbalances are not necessarily tragic, but are likely to lead in the medium term to at best, average performance. Figure 7.3 summarizes the attributes which, when balanced within a team, are most likely to make it successful. Belbin also discovered the nature of consistently lower performing teams. He noted particularly teams made up of types which were too similar, for example: teams of SHAPERS will tend to squabble over which direction to go in and may end up in doing very little. They need to work out ways of taking decisions and keeping to them. Then they can work together for a short period. teams of COMPANY WORKERS will have problems with open projects where new ideas are required. They will tend to stick to what they know even if it doesn't work well. If you find yourself with teams like these, you need to be open about the situation and perhaps use members of the invisible team to redress the balance. Recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the team when it is together helps the project leader consciously to balance the way it works and watch out for dominating features or gaps that may cause problems. Belbin emphasized that teams with balanced membership delivered better quality results. They were able to combine the capabilities of all members in a constructive way so that they did better.
Getting the roles right Concrete projects tend to have clear role definitions based -on the
ASSEMBLING THE TEAM
95
variety of skills known to be needed. In temporary or open projects more formal role definitions tend to get in the way. The reason for the project's existence is often that something new has to be thought through, such as a change in company culture. Such a project might call for a big variety of inputs and would find existing functions irrelevant. In the start up phase of more open projects the specialist resources needed may not be clear. The advice is to question what you need and start from there, keeping the structure as simple as you can. You may have seen role definitions or job descriptions being used to form rigid boundaries between team members and the invisible team. We have found that roles are useful to get an idea of who i expected to do what and, equally important, what an individual is no going to do. Once the team members get into action and start to worl independently of you and each other, there needs to be a simple programme that holds the activity together. You want to have a broad idea of what people are up to and your idea should be close to theirs. We explained earlier that organizational teamworking inclorporatecd the concept of working in the 'grey areas'. This means th at, whils,t having a clear centre to their role, your team members will uverlap with others. Watching what is happening, spotting cracks and doing something about them, picking up misunderstandings, are all habits that core team members will have to develop to make the project succesful. For the high performing project team, one of the major considerations is the appeal of the work to be undertaken by each person. Is the job likely to be interesting and therefc rating or is it going to be hard to find somebody who is ab what is required? Temporary and, especially, open projects can only flourish if the effort you are asking people to put in to your project is seen by them to be worthwhile. If you are squeezing time out of them, maybe against the will of their immediate boss, they have to be willing to get involved. In your casual networking discussions it is worth finding out what people think could or, better still, should be done differently in the organization. Listen for the level of their indignation, it might indicate that they could be recruited at an appropriate moment! If your project is more concrete, or perhaps a temporalry project that is well under way, new roles start to appeal-. Then 1IOU might think about the components of a particular job. 11
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One approach to job design is to review the package of tasks and ask whether the need for personal autonomy, skill variety, task identity and feedback are fulfilled? If not, the job is probably not very satisfying and the question will be how to restructure it. Figure 7.4 describes the elements of a well designed job. Skill variety
- independent
- opportunity to use a
decision making in some significant
variety of different skills, not just one
\ / Job dimensions / \
I
,
Feedback
- means for individuals to find out for themselves the positive and negative effects of what they have done
-e 7.4
- beginnings and endings that give a sense of having
A job designed to motivate
In new project teams, particularly with open projects, an individual's job often grows by attracting bits and pieces and by responding spontaneously to demands. The person concerned often gets to the point of being unable to achieve what he or she wants, feeling pulled in all directions. The job becomes a 'dustbin' job, and cannot be done effectively. Supporting staff such as administrators, internal public relations people and systems support people are vulnerable to this kind of job distortion. The main point is to ask yourself the question: 'Does the way work is organized in our project team help or hinder?' If it hinders then look at the roles and how they are operated. Then adjust accordingly.
ASSEMBLING THE TEAM
9
Building the invisible team Like 1temporar'y or ope:n project team rnembers., all invisible teal membbers have other de:mands on their ti me. The task of the projec --A -- easy leadel. arm cure- lean1 members is to make I L as as possible fc invisible team members to come into the team at the appropriate tim and easily contribute of their best. --A
L---
I--
:.
Invisible team link There is no inherent reason why the invisible team should be committed to the project. Their commitnnent and motivaticon have t be earned by the visible team members who musit demon strate thi they appreciate their situations. Negotiate the nzlture andI extent ( the contribution each invisible team member is to make so that yo1 expectations of each other are compatible. Near the time of their actual involvement, invite them to meetin1 and brief them extensively on the Big Picture, how the team works and its operating ground rules. It is just as important as for visible team members that they understand how their role fits with everyone else's and that they see some of the benefits for themselves. Givthem as much notice as possible of their actual i~nvolvemt:nt s o thi they can plan their commitment to the project team arc)und the other responsibilities. It is common to devise a system of 'counterparts' in which eve] invisible team member has a contact person in the visible team 1 whom they can relate and who is responsible for keeping them i touch with everything that is happening. We have seen this system used to great effect in a complex shipbuilding project involving very many different contractors. The object is to build 'credits' with invisible team members. In this way, 'outsiders' become 'insiders'. enemies become friends and supporters. The strategy is one ( involvement and not exclusion. The high performing prc~jectteal -- *LA-, works hard to break down any barriers betwet11 L I I G I I I S ~ ~ Van-' ~S external stakeholders. They take note of the outsider's perception ( the team and work hard to ensure that it is seen in a positive ligl within and outside the organization. This is the essence of collaboative working. You can extend this to bringing members of your client's organization into your project team. We know of several project
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teams working on large projects where the client actually has representatives sitting in the same offices as the project team members. In one oil exploration project, the contractors have actually moved most of their people into the client's offices. In this way, the team is dramatically redefined.
Accelerating team development Once you have assembled your team, the toughest part of getting the project under way is behind you. But there is more to do. We know of project teams that launch their projects by getting the visible and invisible teams together, to outline the Big Picture. Perhaps more important is the opportunity for members of the team to put names to faces and to start building the identity of the team. One large contractor working in the Far East found that a banquet which should have been held to celebrate completion of the work had actually been organized to take place before the job had started. The mistake turned out to be the single most useful event in the early stage of the project. Communicating with people in the team was much easier after the banquet. A similar example is the branch of a political party whose election team used a combination of headquarters and local officials to paint and clean up the venues, such as church halls, before the action started. Organize something together - preferably informal and not too project oriented - so that people can get to know each other in a relaxed way. Team development for the core
1 invisible team members
When any new team or group assembles for the first time, there is uncertainty. All teams go through a series of predictable stages of development before they can perform to their full potential. These stages are summarized in Figure 7.5. Team development is a conscious set of activities designed to move the team constructively through these stages, so that they reach the stages of 'reforming' and 'performing' as soon as possible. There is no guarantee that a group of individuals brought together to work on a project will work well as a team. It is very rare for a team to 'click' straight away and to perform to peak efficiency from
FORMING
STORMING
NORMING
WHY ARE WE HERE
POLITE
B I D FOR POWER
Information gathering
Conflict (overt. covert)
Ritual sniffing
Infighting
PERFORMING
REFORMING
CONSTRUCnVE Question ground rules and assumptions
ESPRIT
Cohesionlidentity
Raising standards
Listening
How to do better
Compmmiselbuild
Flexible contributions. roles, leadership structure
Make invisible visible Confusing re endslmeans individual needs
Uncertainly. anxiety Pairinglcliques Withdrawal/av<%idilnce Slereotyping Dependencelshunting
.
3
Confn search
r and :ion
Competitive. poinls scoring
Ackn~
S~apeg~tin (external) g
Experimentation
'I' hehaviour
Clarity of 'what'
Hidden agendas
Disclosure
,,..
.,akness
Testinglconsensus Rewardinglsupporting
Rigid on goal, flexible on how to reach it
'How to' problem solving Interdependence
Effectiveness
Maturitylexcellence 'We' behaviour
Lost ideas
INCLUSION SKILLS T O RESOLVE EACH STAGE
GIVE UP T O
-
Including
CONTROL
Articulatelsummarize differences
I
Comfort RiskI Non c
:ement
b
* Search Linklbuild for mmmohality Deft:nee of own vi %
Risk wsibility of be~ng wrong or not having all the answers
SUPPORTIVENESS,A Disclose Draw out How tolwhat if?
I Control
b Risk of depending on others to deliver. trusting them
Figure 7.3 xeam aevelopmenr - Cogg's Ladder. A model of phases of team development
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the outset. Even where some members have worked together before, old ways of working together may not be appropriate to the new project. Consider, for example, the following quotes from typical project team members: I'm an individualist . . . I'm much better when I'm allowed to get on and do my own thing. Frankly, I've been put in here to make sure that this project doesn't screw up the work my department's already started doing on this. I've never seen these projects work here - they're just whitewash - this one won't be any different. I really don't know why I'm here - I can't see what it's got to d o with my normal job - I guess they couldn't find anyone else.
You never start off with the perfect mix of ability and motivation. Your job is to shape, nurture and build the people you have into a
1. To accelerate the natural development stages - you don't have time to let nature take its course! You need your team up and running as soon as possible. Some teams get 'stuck' in one stage. Even more disastrous can be the team that gets locked into overt or covert conflict which never gets resolved and continues to divert team energies away from the task. start of a 2. To find the most appropriate ways of working project where the task and the different needs and strengths of individuals will determine what's appropriate. Then as it evolves ensure that the ground rules can be changed to suit a dynamic situation.
3. To be aware of andfully utilize the team's resources - those teams that bring out the full richness of the skill, experience and motivation of their members achieve more. Bringing people's strengths out into the open for all to appreciate is also a powerful bonding process. 4.
To energize and re-energize the team - any time spent gaining clarity of purpose, understanding of the different contributions and roles, and appreciation and respect for others in the team, "elps to stimulate commitment and release energy. 7.6 Reasons for accelerating team development
ASSEMBLINCi THE TI
ha\ re thought team that can achieve more than those people wfould . . in benefits of designing activities t themselves car,able of. Four ma :nt are summarized in Figure 7.6. evelopmt accelerate the team's dc Conclusion
In the first stages or a project there is much u n c e r ~ a ~:r about ~ ~ y i ts purpose, about the other team members, whether it will be enjoyable and so on. The team is like a great iceberg - only a small part of it is visible. To overcome some of this uncertainty should be your main aim when the team first comes together. 'I'm not interested in politics. I just want to ge:t on wit1h the job.' This is a frequent but unrealistic cry from projject lead1ers. Team -.-.A Lum~romiseselection is political; reactions have to be weigheclA arlu made to get the right mix of people. Teamworking is also development experience. The team that you start with is not the on you finish with, even if it comprises the same me mhers. mn.
In the early sta objectives:
am development, yc
ild set yourself f o ~
to create scome sens;e of team identit! f the ovl to begin tc3 discuss, and sh:ire perce rn purpose anid success criteria ---L to begin to answc;~1~:--U caul I ~ e a mmenluc~LIIG qucarlulr 'What's iit for me?' to draw out the underlying concerns that individuals have aboi the project, or the team or any other issues that might make the1.hold back their commitment. Rather than discuss these here in detail, we've suggestecd a simp uu . exercise you can do with your team in relation to each O ~ ~ G L I I V GIthe exercises in order, starting off with the simplest (and safest) and gradually building trust so that by the fourth one you and the team feel confident enough to work on some of the real factors that might hold back team performance. To many project leaders, not used to this kind of activity, these exercises may seem a little strange. We can only encourage you to try , . + : . . a
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them.out, and remember that time spent in developing your team is an excellent investment with significant paybacks in terms of its efficiency, happiness and productivity. It is not a cost nor is it an optional extra. It is an investment. The vast majority of teams underperform because they don't plan enough how they are going to work together and don't review their methods and remove the sources of inefficiency. A Norwegian engineering company in the business of building oil platforms, has found that building a team before work starts on a project, substantially reduces costs and improves timescales. Exercise 1: Accelerating team development: the early stages At the early stages of team formation, much useful information lies hidden, iceberg-like, below the surface. Reactions, thoughts and feelings about the team stay private as new members test the water to see if it's safe. There's a lot of uncertainty about. Here are some clues to some of the things that may be going on beneath the surface. Helping these issues to surface, by gently probing or by revealing your own thoughts and feelings, can often provide a starting point for team development. How clear are members about what might be demanded of them (by sponsor, client, leader)? What might be the different attitudes and feelings (positive and negative) that new group members bring? What different aspirations and success criteria might people from different backgrounds and functions bring? Where do members' loyalties and commitment lie - to the task force, to their department, elsewhere? What's in it for the project team members? How clear are individuals about their roles, responsibilities and key working relationships? Are members there because of: - their appropriate knowledge and skills - their position or status - being told to - not being wanted elsewhere? To what extent are other roles or commitments competing for their time?
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What history and past experience are individuals bringing with them that may help or hinder their attitude to this team? What action must be taken, by whom, to resolve any such issues that are likely to have an adverse effect on team or individual performance? Exercise 2: Accelerating team development: the 'superteam' solution Talk these questions through with your team. What ground rules do you need in each area to be successful?
negotiating success criteria
- Are all the key stakeholders agreed on the success criteria? - If not what will we do about it? - How do we keep stakeholders committed? managing the outside
- What help and resources do we need that we don't have in the team?
- Who are our friends and enemies - how do we manage them constructively? continuous planning (planning the what) - What tasks need to be done? - What are the main landmarks? the way we work (planning the how) - How do we want to organize ourselves? - What norms and ground rules are really important for success? delegating leadership (leading the team) - Who is providing drive and energy? - Who is keeping us on track? - How do we share the leadership functions? membership contribution (membership skills) - Is everyone contributing? - Are we using our collective strengths and experience? - What's missing? team together - How productive are our meetings? - Are there unresolved conflicts? - How creative are we? team apart - How do we stay in touch?
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- How do we deal with competing priorities? - Do we get together often enough? - Do we do what we say we are going to do? Exercise 3: Accelerating team development: understanding the project in its context Get team members to write down their answers to the following questions individually. Then structure a discussion where they reveal their answers. Ensure that it's all recorded for subsequent use. purpose
- What is the stated purpose of the project as described by the project leader, sponsor, client, team members, others? What is the unstated purpose of the project as seen by the same stakeholders? consequences - What are the intended consequences of the project (both in hard and soft criteria terms)? - What might be some of the unintended consequences (positive and negative)? - How could we reduce or reverse the negative consequences? visionlpotential What, in our wildest dreams, could we achieve if we really pulled all the stops out and carried everyone along with us?
-
Exercise 4: Accelerating team development: role clarification Identify the differences in these perceptions and ensure they get resolved. 1 . team leader to team member This is what I see you actually doing currently in your role This is what I think you ought to be doing in your role. 2. team member to team leader This is what I see myself actually doing in my role. This is what I think I ought to be doing in my role. 3. team leader to team member (and vice versa) How am I stopping you from being as effective as you might be? Here's what I think I can do to help you in your role. In what other ways would you like me to help you in your role?
8 Keeping on Tracl
Having understood the Big Picture, negotiated success criteria wit the stakeholders, worked out a plan of action, and assembled yo1 team, you're ready to go. In a simple world the implementation phase of any project ought to be very straightforward - after all, you're simply carrying out previously made plans. In practice, of course, we all know that the implementation phase is fraught with difficulties an-' there is a danger that the project leader's role becomes one c firefighting to cope with the latest crisis rather than the provision c far-sighted leadership universally acclaimed by all the stakeholder We've entitled this chapter 'Keeping on track'. While the trac may be fairly clear for concrete projects, it is often indistinct for ope ones, but all types of projects need to be kept moving and the sam basic principles can be applied to all types. If you are going to keep your project moving forward onI track yo need to ensure: that project control and monitoring tools are appropniate to th type of project, and can be adjusted to suit changing requirt ments while still giving you and your team relevant informatior that your project team performs to the highest levels, respondin to the changing needs of the project in the light of the informatia from the project monitoring systems; that your stakeholders remain committed to the project, and are willing to modify their success criteria in the light of changing circumstances.
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The tools for control and monitoring and ways of motivating your team will depend on the nature of the project. What works for one type of project may not be suitable for another. For example, a well defined project with clear, hard success criteria and a highly visible full-time team is able to use far more clear-cut systems than a more open project with only part-time team members. In this chapter we look at each of the three objectives outlined above and provide some guidelines on how to make yourself more effective in each area in your particular project. Project control and monitoring systems
As recently as ten years ago, project leaders would have seen the use of effective project control systems as the prerequisite for success in implementing a project. Today, however, a number of important riders would be added: Such systems must not be seen to control the project, but to provide information to enable the project team to manage the project effectively. Such systems must be simple to operate and understand, and must not be an end in themselves. Such systems must be used with the full support of the project team, who must have confidence in the validity of the information being generated and in the way particular targets are set and monitored; they must not feel threatened by the system. Projects are dynamic and cannot be subject to rigid procedures. However, you do need to keep track of events and costs, so that you can make modifications as the project progresses. The function of project control systems is to provide the project team with good information on which to make good decisions. The better the information, the better the decisions. What every project leader needs to do is to decide which areas or activities are critical and need to be closely monitored if the project is to succeed, and which are not. For example, in a project to develop a new drug, it is obviously essential to set and monitor stringent quality control standards. You cannot disregard test results in order to achieve your budget. On the other hand, if you are responsible for an office move, it is unlikely that you will ever get everyone to agree on the colour of the tiles in
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the toilets - you have to take a decision based on a reasonable degree of consultation, and then press ahead. With an open project, where the objective is less clear, and where strict control of resources is perhaps inappropriate, it is nevertheless important to set some overall targets. For example, if a group of people are getting together informally to see how They might be able to improve customer care in a certain area, then it is important to set some specific intermediate goals in order to maintain momentum; otherwise commitment levels will gradually fall away. One drawback of the term 'project control system' is that it implies inflexibility. It creates the idea that, having made a plan, all you have to do is to control the project in accordance with it, and success will be inevitable. This, of course, is not so; very often the more high performing a team is, the more it wishes to deviate from the original Plan
Discussions with stakeholders; agree any revisions to objectives; identify any potential problems; re-negotiate resources
Review by project team in light of events
Figure 8.1 Planning review system
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plan and improve the specification as it goes along. In practice, what happens is that a good project team and an effective leader, constantly modify the project's specification as it develops. They test the changes out with the stakeholders, identify any problems, replan where necessary and renegotiate resources and support if required. These activities can only be carried out if you are aware of the project's progress. Today's projects need something more than planning control systems. They need planning review systems to enable the project to move forward (see Figure 8.1). These 'plan-do' cycles are extremely important in maintaining the commitment of stakeholders and the interest of the team. To be in control of the process in a way which enables the project's performance specification to be improved, will encourage stakeholders. In effect, the implementation phase is a series of continuous 'plando-review' cycles with the centre of gravity gradually moving forward as shown in Figure 8.2.
Figure 8.2
'Plan-do' cycles
As each activity is tested out, and receives the support of the sponsor and the other stakeholders, the team develops a cohesiveness in the way it works, and becomes more confident in pressing forward with the project. It starts to face the uncertainties which arise in any project with a much greater degree of purpose. A framework has developed for dealing with such things.
Identification of intermediate targets While the concept of continuous 'plan-do' cycles provides a useful framework within which to work, you need to identify the points in the project which mark off each cycle. Not every element of a project is equally crucial to its success, and you need to identify at the outset
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which ones are. It is particularly important to identify those tasks which must be completed before another can begin. This identification process also provides motivation for individual team members. Once this has been done, you can set up the appropriate monitoring processes. In chapter 6 we outlined the use and value of work breakdown structures and critical paths. They provide the starting point for identifying intermediate targets. Even with a very open project it is possible to discuss what needs to be done, although a critical path cannot be prepared for such projects. We discuss below four categories which affect success and need to be monitored. Critical event-times or bottlenecks Your work breakdcpwn (anc critical path where available) enables you to identify when deadline have to be met. It also helps you to identify potential bottlenecks, fo which you can draw up contingency plans. Critical event times and bottlenecks occur in all aspects of t h ~ project. Some will be within your own direct control or be capable o being directly monitored by you. Others will occur in the work o subcontractors or outs;"your direct knowledge. Differen systema and prlocedures will be rieeded for different situations. For examplt:, the s uccessful execution of a building projec 1- -L depenus un , L U I I I ~ I I ~ ; I I palis L ueing ordered at the right time. A temporary project, such as the development of a strategic plan, ma: require you to meet the timetable of a series of meetings, each o which may deal with elements of strategy if you are to arrive at thl boardroom with a comprehensive plan. I1Ub
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Costs incurred and resources used Like time, costs and resources arl elements which need to be continually monitored. Normally these arl identified in the project plan. Sometimes cost limits are very clear1 set out and relatively easy to monitor. On other occasions cost limit are not well specified, and extra costs mav be ~ermissibleif certail results are achieved. This can all be spelt out in is project cost plal agreed at the outset. Projects at the 01 3en end of the continuun generally don't have any specific cost limits. ._ Direct costs are fairly easy to identify and monitor - usually using monetary measure. Other types of resources are not so easy tl identify and track. Take specialist skills or materials needed at certai~
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points in the project. Have these been identified at the outset? Have you decided how to check their availability and their usage? Appropriate monitoring procedures need to be established for any items of this nature.
Quality assurance or performance specification Concrete projects have quality assurance and performance specifications in the original project definition. The success of open projects often depends as much on how you do things as on what you do. It is important to be very clear as to who is the most important party to satisfy on a particular quality target or performance specification; who has set the standard to be achieved? Is it the client or the end-user, or even a third party such as a regulatory body? Alternatively, you and the project team may have set your own performance specifications. This will determine how you monitor a particular quality target and the degree to which you could vary the specification if necessary. For example, there may be hard specifications set down by a regulatory body, from which you cannot deviate, while end-users may be fairly flexible in some aspects of their final requirements. Personal success criteria of stakeholders Individual stakeholders establish their own success criteria, well defined in some types of project, less so in others. For example, the development of a corporate strategy plan is a very ill-defined project, with the individuals concerned possibly having differing personal objectives. You must know these in order to identify the elements which need monitoring. The monitoring process Once you have established the items to be monitored, you need to decide how you're going to do it. There are three basic monitoring processes which apply to all types of project: receipt of positive reports, stating categorically that an event has happened - say, a cost has been incurred, or an external licence has been obtained. While such a process is invaluable, particularly with concrete projects, over-reliance on this method will tend to demotivate people - they may start to think you don't trust them. 'by exception' reports, whereby it is assumed that the particular items or targets have been achieved unless there is a report to the
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contrary. Whilst this method obviously has risks, it does have the advantage of demonstrating to the project team that you have confidence in them, and that you assume that they are effective in carrying out their tasks. Exception reporting enhances team development and increases the team's commitment to the project. The danger is that only the negative gets highlighted and people may feel that their successes are not recognized. automatic procedures, whereby the project management system which you are using will not move on to the next stage until the earlier stage has been signed off or closed. For example, payments on a project are often controlled through systems which refuse to allow you to progress to the following month until the scheduled payments for the earlier month are either completed or have been amended to the satisfaction of the appropriate authority. A great danger of any monitoring process is that it becomes too complicated; it can become an end in itself rather than a source of help to the project team. A team member who is keen to press ahead will not take kindly to being asked to submit lengthy written reports every fortnight! However, there is no doubt, particularly in concrete projects, that formal reporting systems are necessary; the most
I
Planned1-1 Actual
Events
Time Figure 8.3 Gantt chart
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effective ones restrict the number of written words allowed and rely on graphics or diagrams to keep track of progress; people find it much easier to relate to pictures than to words! Four of the most widely used forms of presentation are set out in Figures 8.3 to 8.5. Gantt charts are useful because they show very clearly how actual progress is proceeding against plan. They represent the actual start and completion times for each event in a different colour from the original plan. But they are not the most effective way of illustrating the effect of any time delays on the final completion date of a project. For this an achievement graph is useful. An achievement graph shows the rate of progress against plan. In such a graph both axes are divided into equally spaced time units, with the x axis representing planned time units and the y axis achieved time units. Events are marked against their planned
Planned time
Target Line
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Figure 8.4 Achievement graph
Planned
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completion date on both axes, creating a straight line at 45O which i the target line f n v +he project. AS events are achieved, thei completion is recorded Dn the y axis plotted against the planned tim for the event shlown on t he x axis. The resultant actual line shows h o ~ the project is p ~ u g ~ c a s ~When ~ i g . the actual line is steadily below th target line, it is clear that the end of the project will be delayed. t projection of the actual line will give a probable end date for th project. The estimated completion date chart enables you to re3iew how L.
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PROJECTED COMPLETION DATES Year 1
Year 2
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Figure 8.5 Estimated completion date chart
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your estimated completion date changes during the course of the project. A chart for a project of, say, three years' duration is shown on p. 113; five specific phases o r targets are also shown. The horizontal axis gives the projected completion date for each target, estimated on a quarterly basis. The vertical axis is the date of the estimate, also carried out quarterly. The first horizontal line can be completed at the start of the project; in the example, 'C' is due for completion in the third quarter of Year 2, with overall completion at the end of Year 3. At the end of each quarter the chart is updated with revised completion dates. If the project remains on time throughout, each target should be plotted in a vertical line as the project proceeds. If there are delays, the completion dates drift to the right. In the example, the chart shows that at the end of the second quarter 'B' is expected to be late, but that the completion date should still be achieved. By the second quarter of Year 2, the completion date has slipped by six months, and it is clear from the shape of the chart that the available time to make up the delays is running out. The three forms of graphical presentation described above are concerned with the measurement of time. Performance indices on the other hand measure performance in a variety of fields; it is normally used in the area of finance (cost/income/profitability), but the same principle can be applied to materials or manhours. The principle behind a performance index is that the actual figure (say cost) is divided by the budgeted figure (say cost) for any resourcelinput at any given time. Thus if, at a given stage, budget costs were, say, £100 but actual costs were, say, £120, then the cost performance index at that point would be 1.2. Anything over 1, therefore, represents an overrun on costs, while anything under 1 represents a reduction in cost. Any significant deviation &om 1, highlights the need to look into the reasons for the deviation. A performance index is a very simple tool for presentation purposes' to the project team and stakeholders. It is easy to understand and, when applied to key areas, prompts the project team to look into why a particular activity/resource appears to be performing differently from the way that was originally anticipated. The devices described above are simple to operate, and give a very clear idea of where a project stands in respect of time, cost or resources. However, more complex projects may require the use of more complex monitoring systems. In particular, a project needing a
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sophisticated critical path and careful scheduling of resources,may necessitate the continual updating of the original critical path if it is to be monitored effectively. Such a process can only work if there is an adequate project support team to maintain the system - a revised critical path based on inadequate inputs will do more harm than good. Graphs and performance indices are generally not relevant for open projects, where forms of reporting are, of necessity, much more informal. Nevertheless, the discipline of reporting and reviewing is just as important for these types of project.
Managing team performance Deciding what items you need to monitor, and how you're going to monitor them, is only one aspect of keeping your project on track. The information provided by such monitoring systems has to be put to good use by the project team - it's not much good having first class information if the team continues to operate inefficiently. Ideally, a project team develops its own momentum and energy, and drives the project forward with commitment and enthusiasm; they trust their colleagues to back them up, and actively promote the 'plan-do' philosophy outlined earlier in this chapter. In concrete projects, when the team members are very visible and often come together, this level of teamworking is fairly easy to develop; people are accustomed to handling problems and conflicts which surface in meetings. But in temporary or open projects with less visible teams, identification of potential problem or conflict areas is much more difficult. People who disagree with the way the project is going, or who are encountering their own local difficulties, tend just to shelve the issue or give up and hope the problems will go away. It is at this end of the project spectrum that the project leader's personal leadership skills and style are really put to the test. One way of thinking about how you can keep your team's motivation and performance high is to think of the team under two headings: the team together How can you get the best out of them when the team meets? What actions can you take to make the meetings more productive?
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the team apart How can you maintain momentum when they are not meeting regularly? Do you keep in touch with the team members, and support them when they need you? The team together
There are always project meetings - regular in the case or wncrete projects, occasional with less defined projects. Good meetings don't just happen. They have to be worked at. Your first job is to ask the question: Is this meeting really necessary? Regular meetings are not ends in themselves. They can turn into tedious rituals if they have no real purpose. There are three main reasons to call a meeting: to communicate information, to solve problems and to make decisions. From your point of view, meetings also serve a number of important underlying purposes: They create identity, cohesion and a sense of 'togetherness' meetings help to make the team visible. They help to make team members feel involved in discussing and arriving at decisions - which in turn produces a sense of ownership and commitment to those decisions. They develop synergy - the creative energy that helps the team achieve more collectively than individual members could on their own. They help to reinforce the team's ground rules. Meetings are times when these rules are seen in action and are reviewed, renewed or enforced. They provide an opportunity for teams to celebrate their successes together - generating and sustaining good morale and to revitalizing team members after intense periods of work. Whatever the type of project, you will probably find it necessary to schedule some regular meetings of all team members. These help to keep the project on track. But day-to-day issues may have to be resolved by other meetings, often impromptu or at short notice. These may not involve all the team but just those who need to talk about something together. Meetings may also not always involve, or be led by, you! Effective delegation is part of good team leadership.
KEEPING VN I K i
Meetings - the ten 'golden rules'
To help you in your tasl9, we have preparted what 1we regarcI as the te essenltial rules for succt:ssfully running nieetings. Preparation Circulate an agenda and relevant papers sufficient in advance to allow team members to read and prepare. Take in; account any preparation or recommendations of subgrouk, created in past meetings. Purpose Think carefully, if appropr I other team members, about what you want out o~ LIIG 111eeting. Make sure everyone is quite clear why they are there. Time scheduling Structure the available tiime to ensure s .-.--. to ne_ appropriate airing for each issue. Encourage orevlty achieve everything on the agenda. Creating understanding Try to ensure good comrnunicatic between team members by listening actively to c~thersar responding to what they say; by asking for clarification to clear L confusion; and by summarizing to keep the group on the rig1 track and check for understanding. Encourage other tea members to do the same. You only learn when you listen, n b ~ when you talk. Staying on track Stick to the agenda and stop team members (or yourself!) from wandering off the subject. Do not allow team members to introduce personal hobby horses or red herrings. Using diverse experience and skills Encourage the active partic pation of all team members, especially the quieter ones. Avo dominating the discussion yourself or giving too much time 1 r contributions from over-assertive team members. Creative problem solving Encourage the team not to take no fc arI answer. Discourage wonds like 'can't', 'musn't' and 'i mpossibl in favour of 'what if >, 'how ' and 'there must bt:a way tc3'. Use tt fu11 diversity of the team 21s a source of ideas # - - - I - : - - - ,c- - - --- Cneclcrr~g JUr ugreernenr I-don't assume that SIICIILG IIICQIW LU sent. Check everyone for agreement, particularly in importa! decisions to which widespread commitment is importalnt. - .Review the working of the team Encourage brief bur none feedback about performance at the end of each meeting. Ensu that basic ground rules are still appropriate and working well. Action Ensure that all actions agreed at the meeting a
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summarized and understood. Identify clearly the individuals responsible and ensure that realistic deadlines are specified. Circulate this summary in writing to all concerned within twentyfour hours to act as a reminder. One last idea is to build in enough 'silly time'. When members of a team have been apart for a long time they often need to get to know each other again and reform the team. You should allow some informal time for this 'bonding' process to take place. We call it 'silly time' because it is often spent catching up on gossip and lighthearted banter. But it is important. Remember that meetings represent valuable time, and are held to help keep the project on track and moving towards completion.
The team apart: some more 'golden rules' As we said earlier, the real work of teams takes place outside meetings. In some types of project the number of formal meetings is actually very small, although there may be a number of ad hoe meetings. There is no point in agreeing a series of actions at meetings if all that occurs at the next meeting is a series of carefully thought out explanations as to why individual team members have failed to carry them out. A large part of the responsibility for seeing they are carried out falls on your shoulders. Here is a second set of rules to follow:
Who does what and'when Before the team splits up, make sure that everyone has a clear idea of what they personally have been mandated to do, in terms of actions and results within a specified period of time. Encourage each member to see themselves as a team ambassador, entrusted with the responsibility to manage those outside the team with whom they come into contact. Holding on and letting go Encourage each team member to hold on to the lines of support you have created but at the same time to let go of your apron strings and work responsibly alone. In the same way, make sure that you yourself let go of team members. Trust individuals to meet deadlines, trust their commitment and let go of the tasks you have delegated to them. Interference through distrust or anxiety will produce a negative reaction. Protecting members from distractions Even with full-time team members, events sometimes occur outside the team's work which
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require a response from an individual team member. If possible, try to act as a shield for them by handling some of the pressure. Encourage them to approach you if they need support. At the other extreme, where the project is a part-time activity, team members need encouragement from you to avoid your project just being seen as a distraction. Maintaining momentum and commitment It is far easier to create excitement at the start of a project than to keep generating it when the team is working apart. You can help to sustain momentum by providing team members with constant reminders of their priorities. This is particularly true of part-time members who have conflicting responsibilities. Without interfering with the work of team members, you must try to keep them motivated. Keep in touch with each member, be available when needed and provide support. If the pressure is too great, you may need to renegotiate success criteria with the sponsor or client or do some kind of deal with those who control other aspects of the team member's responsibilities. Even if the team is unhindered by outside commitments, you still need to maintain momentum by finding ways to show each of the members how valuable their contribution is and by reminding them of how their part fits into the Big Picture. Open projects, with less st]:uctured reporting, require you to make special efforts to mainta in momentum. -- UIG Learn is apart Creating active communications Your role when is rather like a spider weaving a web. You are at the centre but you are constantly making the links between one point and another by staying in touch with individuals and passing information between different members and between them and the centre. Tom Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence, termed this 'management by walking about' (MBWA). Creating 'ecarly warnling' systems A major caw;e of project failure is where problems are not foreseen 01-,worse, where a problem is foreseen bjr one tearn member but hidlden from the others because .- -- - - - - - r?---. of worry over apportionment of blame. cnwurage the adoption of a ground rule that any problem encountered by any team member, particularly if it might affect others, is signalled to you early. Create a blame-free atmosphere where it is acceptable to share problems, to ask for help and to admit to being stuck. Encourage the frequent, fast and frank exchange of information and the idea that it is a cardinal sin to let another team member down. A L -
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The superteam charter We se. that m
)w two devices to help you work towards ground rules ~efor you. Both derive from work done by Ashridge
THE SUPERTEAM CHARTER WE AGREE THAT, IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL, WE WILL COLLECTIVELY SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR: 1. Being obsessive in the pursuit of success criteria but inventive and flexible in our strategies for getting there.
2. Having high expectations of ourselves and each other as regards commitment, energy, skill and supportiveness. 3. Demonstrating fundamental respect, admiration and positive recognition of the qualities and capabilities of all those who contribute. 4.
Giving early warning of any possible problem areas and not hiding mistakes or passing over problems.
5. Working intensively at keeping each other up to date with what's happening and at bringing new people and outsiders on board. 6. Asking how we can overcome the problem when things go wrong, instead of blaming others.
7. Representing the team positively inside and outside the organization.
8. Valuing, involving and being open with invisible team members who we believe are crucial to our success.
9. Understanding how our own roles fit in with others and with the wider picture and, using this awareness, feeling able to contribute ideas and questions to other people's thinking. 10. Being straight but sensitive with each other where our performance does not match these aspirations and being tough and ensuring that we do something about it.
Figure 8.6 The Superteam Charter
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Teamworking Services into high performing teams (described in a uuun, The . Superteam Solution. The first is the Supertear.. earlier hn-t Chartc:r (Figure 8.6). Read through this and ch~eckwhether your team (:an realljr subscribe to its terms. -----A .. .W-.L:I,LI I G I ~ to measure the device is a checklist by The secunu development of your team. Try it out by ticking o score for your team's performance:
The way we work Early warning systems Getting people on board The Big Picture Guarding the ground rules Reliability Quality assurance Testing perceived constraints Tying loose ends Handling stress Making things happen No surprises Handling crises No blaming Handling change and adjustment
The team together Productive meeltings Conflict resolution Building m ~ m e r + - ~ - Contracting for action Being together Celebrating succ Having fun
Membership contributions The Big Picture Getting people on board Assembling the team Winding down Moving on Common understanding Individual roles/goals Taking initiatives Handling poor ~erformance
The team apart Early warning systems Staying in touch Sustaining momentum Joining Conflicting priorities A communications MBWPi The seczretarial role Paralle'l im~lementation
Retaining the (
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ent of stakeholders
We have stressed the need to ensure that project monitoring systems are appropriate to the task, and generate the right information to enable the team to perform at the highest level, whether together or
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apart. This keeps your project on track and enables you to keep stakeholders informed of progress, so that they remain committed to the project and feel part of the team. Even if the sponsor, client and end-user are unable to attend your project meetings frequently, they must be kept fully informed and able to communicate with team members. In a concrete project the main stakeholders often attend all project meetings, and have instant access to all necessary information. In other types of project you may have to make special efforts to keep in touch, employing the most appropriate methods. Do they like informal chats over a cup of coffee or pint of beer? Or do they need regular presentations with slides or graphs? What is the best method of getting them involved in the project? Perhaps a site visit, or involvement in a prototype demonstration. All contacts with stakeholders enable you to pick up signals, both explicit and implicit, on how they see the project developing and whether their expectations are changing. For example, if end-users are excited by seeing the possibilities of a new computerized information system, encourage them to talk to their boss (the client) about any enhancements they would like to see. Get them on your side, make them part of your team and committed to your project.
Conclusion Keeping a project on track involves not just agreeing a plan, issuing instructions and checking to see that everything is being carried out accordingly. It's a matter of the project leader being acutely aware of the subtle but significant shifts of opinion, desires, or expectations of the people who make up the project team and stakeholders. You have to keep the monitoring systems finely tuned, and you have to encourage consensus and team development in relation to an ever changing objective. The process of implementation is challenging and exhilarating. There's a tremendous sense of achievement when you come to hand over the project.
9 Handing Over and Winding Up
Even when a project appears to be completed, there is often a lot of work still to do. Quality experts tell us that the cost of re-work due to mistakes, oversights and poor processes is often about 25 per cent of the original production costs. There are sad stories of computer departments spending around 80 per cent of their total investment in software development on patching and maintaining creaking systems. So the after life of a project is important. Three aspects of the project after life show how successful its leader has been: ensuring that the client organization is linked into the project so that they can use it confidently. Few leaders start soon enough on this process or put enough effort into it. auditing the project life cycle and processes, building on strengths and attacking weaknesses identified. Individual and organizational learning results from an audit. Experience without review means that mistakes are liable to be repeated. dismantling the organizational team and moving on. Celebrating and enjoying the success of the project, so that you and your team feel rewarded and recognized for your achievements. Letting go is not as easy as it sounds. You may well have built up a sense of ownership over the months or years it has taken to get to completion. You may be reluctant to see it taken over until you are sure it is really fulfilling its purpose. This can often cause difficulties with the client who is, after all, the real owner and beneficiary.
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Maintaining high performance to the last minute can be a problem. Keeping the momentum going is tough. Team members who were very effective in the beginning at finding new ways of doing things are not nearly so interested in the detailed documentation necessary to hand over a workable system. , The following guidelines for this final stage aim to help you become a project leader with a high reputation for seeing the job through to lasting performance.
The problem of handing over If you've followed our approach of involving all main stakeholders early in the project life cycle, then you will have started the handover process at the beginning of the project and the final handover should contain no surprises. The difficulty is in the new relationship with the client. The client is no longer specifying results and setting policy guidelines; the client at this stage becomes the actual user, operator or consumer of your project's product or service. The client has to live with the results day in day out. The client needs to know the detail of how it's going to work. The 'client' is, in fact, likely to appear in the form of numerous users. So suddenly your project team has to relate to an army of other teams. The logistics of this absorb a considerable amount of time and are very important. Users are a long way behind you in their familiarity with the project. Yet now they have to live with it.
Remember where you came from . . It helps to understand the newcomers who have to be linked into the project to give it a strong healthy life. Remember that it's all clear to you because you've lived with it for weeks, months or years. Remember what it was like when you were groping in the early stages to get to grips with the complexity of it all. Remember that is where they are now. It requires humility and patience to carry out the handover effectively at a time when team motivation may be slipping a little. You may already be looking beyond the current project to the next one. Once the real users start to become active they find bugs, holes,
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gaps or unthought of problems. This is true, whether your project is building a house or a software package, whether it is a concre project or an open one. There are always genuine, interestir questions to be solved at the end, because it is impossible to think I everything 'on the way. The question is how to reduce the shocks number and severity. The handover process for open projects can sometimes be diffic~ to manage because, by their very nature, the outcome is ofte uncertain. Sometimes there is nothing to show for the project excel for the knowledge that further work would be viable. On the othl hand an open project which is successful usually becomes either temporary project, subject to a further tentative stage of develo ment, or a concrete project. Many ideas for new product developme start as 'skunk works', as some innovative firms call them, and go c to become con Crete prc~jects.To achieve this the project leader has manage the )onsors a~ndthe political environment very actively gain official st atus for 1the project. Making handing over easier
Handover success is achieved by involving the uscers earlier than you might have supposed. We stress this because handover is the point in the project life cycle where the uncertain areas between the project team and the client a greatest. Starting early and working for a long time to reduce tl uncertainty means that fewer critical issues are left out. Even mo important, it builds the ownership and confidenc:e of the client. Some methods which can be used at the hand01ver stage are set o below. Build in link 1
Give one team member tne specific job of managing tne handovc The client company should also have an implementation manage Having 'heavyweight' people charged with implementation prever the handover being left to everybody and nobody. It signals that it itment in being taken seriously. It injects direct resources a] ~ n dcontr this critical phase. It also ensures that detailed p extend to the end of the project.
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Bring support people into the team. These may be concerned with training, help services, maintenance, operating procedures, production of reference materials or troubleshooting. Start to integrate these people as soon as you have an outline or prototype which can give them an idea of what the end product might be like. They can start understanding and tuning in to the project before they have to respond rapidly to last-minute demands. It also builds their skill and competence without the risk involved in working with the final product. To gain a depth of understanding they need to be part of the team, and not seen as additional extras or second-class members. If you do not start this learning process early enough and don't invest enough time in preparing people - explaining, training, explaining again - then you have to inject large quantities of resources to rescue the situation. Concrete projects need a lot of publicity and explaining at this stage, but temporary projects may need even more! For instance, if you are trying to help a company to adopt a new strategic direction, you need to use all the marketing means possible to let people know what is changing and why. But this is only the first step. Understanding does not necessarily lead to action.
More support services A few days training, a newly qualified trainer, a huge pile of technical operating manuals as a back up - have you seen these being heavily relied upon as vehicles for handing over? It is a common pattern for many concrete projects where new machinery or systems are involved. If there are many users to train this is time consuming and complex. But it is nowhere near enough. Many new computer installations are underused or misused because the users are chronically undersupported. This produces a poor return on investment for the client, much frustration for the users and tiresome emotional worries for the project leader. Here are some ideas for enhancing the handover: Build up the introduction of the project to the users. Use presentation exhibitions, lunchtime meetings, demonstrations, models or tours. Provide several short training sessions - not one long one. Give small group simulations of the actual work environment with all
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its pressures. Or for temporary projects discuss with people involved the implications for their work of the recommendatior of the project team. For example, in a customer service projec what does being more customer orientated mean for th telephonist? Provide help line support, so that a t the ring of the telephonle ns. This is somebody appears who can sort out immediate proble~ n,l,,L,, p c n u ~ UII r-~ ~----. rrcw L G L I I I I U I U ~ ~ particularly important for people d e---A:-.. for the execution of their work. Use one-to-one or small group training at the workplace. Talk through problems. Find out what can and cannot be done and why. Many quality projects have found it is important to g through actual problems with the relevant core team. Build up a resource of specialist back up that can be pulled in a.. more techrtical ques;tions or to deal with unexlpected results. This is vital inI concreite projeccts with high risks depc:riding on ~ u n ~ u :-u n ~--1:-1 rcllably. ng equipment c---*:-Support and develop 'leading' users who work with other users but who are more experienced and can build the confidence of new users. They can talk the user's language and see the problems from their perspective. Quality experts or customer service focal points have been created as a result of temporary projects. Create a learning centre where individuals can work through particular auestions or routines with guidance. Hold informal questioda~ lswer seslsions to give a safety valve for complaints or hidden pro~blems. Write clear documentation, guides, handbooks which are userfriendly. Answer the questions naTve users always wanted - but never dared - to ask. This is just as important for less concrete projects with ideas which are difficult to communicate. d
If you constantly think about being user-friendly, the handover will be smoother because you will quickly see the problems, and-avoid minor hitches. Listen to the mood of users, ask them what help they need and react quickly and appropriately. A process for handing over to users A well known computer systems company has developed a series of steps to be taken by their project teams when handing over systems to
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client support teams. This could be used for a wide range of concrete projects and some temporary ones involving a lot of people. 1. 2.
3.
4. 5.
6. 7.
Making them aware: with written materials, presentations and informal discussions at least two months before introduction in order to establish expectations of what is on the way. Getting them interested: with written materials, presentations and informal discussions at least one month prior to introduction - in order to clarify expectations and answer queries (what, when and why?). Show a mock up, give a demonstration to give a visual idea of what it is. Reassurance (what will happen to us): through discussions with client co-ordinators, supervisors and end-users using documentation of prototypes. This takes place one or two weeks prior to introduction and answers questions like: how will the work change? What will be expected of the work group and what have others experienced? What support will be provided? Introduction: the system is made live or a pro1:otype emists. ations, Formal training: involving classroom training, demonst~ individual practice and comparisons with existiing systerns (if any). Some of the most important items covered by the training include: - gaining skills to use equipment - gaining knowledge to know what is happening and how to handle links between activities - practising routines, and highlighting how to use manuals and self-help facilities - stress key points for accuracy and control - build troubleshooting process to cope when things go wrong (what is really serious and must be avoided?) Practicing, coaching and problem solving: designed to provide quick help in early stages of use, to help users to solve their own problems. Informal contacts but friendly and easily available. Additional training: undertaken in a classroom to correct frequent faults in use, make modifications and develop an effective use of the system. Build up best practice. Sort out lroblems or identify modification needed. leview: involving discussions with users and s u p e ~ s o r in s order 3 assess the system's strengths and weaknesses and provide additional communication and training.
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Auditing the project life cycle
Why worry when the project is dead? Why not le:t it rest in peace' Many project leaders feel that this is sentiible. Picking ove r the pas can be a morbid and recriminatory experience. But it does not nee( to be. You and your organization can learn a lot about what to dc better next time. New best practices can be discovered and they nee( to be published to all team leaders, members and sponsors. Persisten organizational or procedural problems can be questioned to ge improvements in performance. One project based company askec itself why its vroiects failing I or producing disappointin! performance? iifte; aucliting sev,era1 projects, it ouid the commol features or pat terns of interactiton which showed clearly what wa -- -- -.*-- 'Pr1Ile .-- --.--, cause and what was- syrIipLum. companv's failu1t:s welt: connectec --with: W b l b
fi
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toc many people working on too marIY projec -.-,.-* --.piority changes frequsll~ projects technically focused, with insufficient Inarket st
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J Many project based companies working in software aevelopmenr nnc it difficult to estimate the time it will take to develop and test a defined piece of software. They underestimate. So they need to build up data about how long a project actually takes, using that as a standard for e stimating; and identifying where the blockages or deviations occu r. As the experience of projects builds up, guesses and hypotheses are turned it?to reliable data. Project audits usually reveal weaknesses in three area project definition, weak project sponsorship, or bad projec ation. A good project leader has nothing to fear from an 2
Topics for a project audit
Definition c)f success; criteria - were they adequate? - how were they arrived at? ." .. Steps in the pruJecL life cycle - where was the team ehecrive! - where were the proble:ms? Project organization and control tools - did they help alr hinder' What problems were met and how were they dealt wit1h? Identify the information from as many directions as possible Differentiate between symptoms and causes. n
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Constraints that were surprising. Links with stakeholders - strengths and weaknesses. Organization and communication of the core team and project leader. If you run an audit, it must be a participative problem-solving process with as many members of the organizational team as possible. (It should include the sponsor.) You need to hear all the views. So give your team members time to reflect on their experience in the project, and tell them prior to the meeting the sort of questions you have in mind. They can be encouraged to do mini audits with their parts of the visible or invisible team. Your client should be included in some aspects of the audit. Get input from the client to test some of your suggestions for improvement. One of the dangers of audits is that people, project leaders especially, perceive them as witch hunts. But this fear can be overcome by making clear the audit's ground rules: concentrate on the issues and problems, not the personalities; and do not criticize or disapprove of anything unless you can offer something better in its place. We can all push things over. Rebuilding takes effort and genuine interest. Tap into ideas that the organizational team members have; they have first-hand experience of the problems, and may well have worked out the best solutions. Once you have completed the audit, don't forget to let other project leaders or sponsors know what your experience has taught you. Your proposals on how to improve are valuable, competitive information. Sharing best practice, informally and formally is one of the most effective ways of spreading learning through the organization to improve its capacity for achieving results through projects. For instance, you can: send a summary of badtgood points with recommendations to senior management and other project leaders hold a briefing workshop to test out ideas for improvement ensure that a: comprehensive financial report is included, with real expenditure compared with original and revised estimates make sure others know why you have been successful -what you did differently. Success is rarely just good luck. Finally, ensure that you too learn from the review process. Each project you.undertake or lead provides a significant learning curve
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which may well prove invaluable in your future career. Think what have you learnt from your own experience. Try tc3 be spec:ific abou t the positive and negative events and how you haridled them. An example of a constructive project audit
The New Ventures Division of an international telecommunications organization was experiencing difficulty in bringing an important new product to the market fast enough and at a competitive price. In discussing the issue, the management team realized that there had been several smaller projects over the previous five years which had not been successful either, apparently because of technical difficulties that were insuperable. One team member suggested that this was not really the reason for failure but was just a face-saving formula that those involved knew would be acceptable to senior management. The team, horrified by this suggestion, asked one of the previous project leaders to form a small group to analyse the past failures, so that the whole Division could learn from them. The group worked rapidly and their report was circulated throughout the Division within ten days. The Divisional Director asked each member of the Division to put forward ideas about how the lessons from the report could be constructively applied to their own project. Each project team then discussed these extensively and came up with its own 'performance improvement plan'. Each plan had two sections:
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things we can do ourselves things that the Divisional Service Management team needs to do. The latter issues were brought together by the Divisional Director and discussed by the senior team; plans for their resolution, with clear responsibilities and deadlines, were circulated to all. Over the next six months some large changes were made, as well as a whole range of small ones by many people. Morale and confidence rose rapidly and progress towards meeting the main project objectives was generally recognized to have been substantially accelerated. In our experience it is surprisingly rare for an audit to be an integral part of the life cycle of a concrete project. We hope we have convinced you that it is worthwhile investing time and energy at the
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end of one project on an audit which will enhance the effectiveness of the next project. Project audits are even less common in temporary projects. While it may be true that the project itself may not be repeated, the use of project teams to progress organizational problems should be continued, as they are a valuable way of developing a business. A forthright personnel director declared: 'Project teams don't help to solve the different interests of the corporate centre and the business units. Take the team that looked at equal opportunities.' It could not be disputed that the performance of the team had satisfied nobody. The report was vague and hurried. Meetings had been hard to get off the g:round. Some people had never turned up. The business units refused to endorse the recommendations on the grounds that they were academic and impractical. In our view this personnel director was shooting at the wrong target. If he had asked how the team had been set up, what it had been expected to do, what priority it had had, how much and what type of contribution it had needed from corporate experts and the business units, it would have been clear that the process of constituting the team had doomed it to failure. Unfortunately, no alldit was done so the organization concerned will never know! Ternporary and open projects can use a project audit to increase their O Wn and the organization's understanding of how teams can deal eff c:ctively with organizational auestions.
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antling the project team As the project approaches its conclusion, a good team will gain momentum. However, individual members often look further ahead and become concerned about their career development and position within the organization once the team is dismantled. Because of this the elation of achievement can be speedily followed by depression. You need to help people understand this process which is illustrated by the 'moodograph' in Figure 9.1. A celebration held at the end of a project helps people to get the most out of its success. It is a chance to recognize the work, not only of the team's leaders, but of all its members, both visible and invisible. The end of a project is an emotional event, and a
HANDING OVER AND
Project timescale Figure 9.1 The ~roiect'moodograph'
celebration - nowever small - of its success helps people to come to terms with the change occurring in their life. :ir personal The future for team members may well d e p e ~ have been performance and the credibility of the project. successful, other project leaders may be trying to snap up your peol before you are really ready to let them go. You will have some tou decisions to make. Letting somebody who is important to you take a new post at this stage could be your last visible sign of ccommitme:nt and support to that team member. The messat;e is to. start ope1' 1 ~ discussing with members what they would prefc:r to do, what thleir --J --.Lo -* L:- 1strengths are, how they might develop or improve- anu wnar you *1111 the realistic alternatives are for them in the organization. One-to-o counselling sessions can provide reassurance and moral support. To prevent unnecessary apprehension, you should make sure tbar the sponsor and any other relevant senior executive has I~lannedt future role of project team members well before the end of t
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project. This must be done and communicated to team members in sufficient time to avoid loss of motivation. You need to have established who in the organization is responsible for making decisions on the future use of manpower; contact them, promote the achievements of your team members and keep the pressure on to make sure that they are properly rewarded. If you leave redeployment to the last minute, the organization may make hasty decisions that are disadvantageous to itself and to the individuals concerned.
What about you? What have you learnt from this project that tells you where you want to go next, or the sort of project you are hunting? If people who matter don't talk to you, perhaps you should let them know, using the audit report, what you have contributed. Some months before your project comes to an end you may need to start reminding sponsors and decision makers that you will be available. Organizations which work with a project management structure are usually well aware of beginnings and ends of projects. So the issue in this case will be to put together your negotiating position on the basis of what you would prefer to do and the type of challenge you are ready to take on. If you are seen to have been successful, you can often afford to be forceful in getting your next project set up with conditions that you know will help it to succeed. If you are not a shining star in the organization, review your own strengths and see where you need to build your expertise and organizational visibility. Think through the three concepts at the beginning of Chapter 1 in terms of what has happened in your project. How would you tackle things differently? Temporary projects are very different in that you are likely to have retained your normal job throughout, and have worked only parttime on the project. So you have no expectation of a totally new job. Temporary projects often give both leaders and members a wider view of the organization and its operating environment, as well as access to a wider network of important political influences. So, when a project ends, it is sometimes rather unexciting to resume business as usual. Reflecting on your own and/or talking to senior managers or mentors about what you have learnt can help you to capitalize on your experience. Understanding how certain ideas can constructively
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be applied to other situations is one way of moving from a functional to a more general management outlook. You may have discovered other aspects of your organization that you would be interested to explore further. Let your manager know of your preferences at performance appraisal time or through informal discussions. If you do not move on to new pastures, applying the broader perspective of organizational teamworking and the integrative processes of project leadership will help you to improve your 'home team'.
Conclusion This chapter has highlighted a number of aspects of the handing over and winding up processes. the pulling out of the project team and the phasing in of the longterm stable team keeping the momentum of the project team going until the end, even when interest and enthusiasm are threatening to decline the project audit, to build on experience the future of team members and, most important, of their leader.
Part I11
ACTION SUMMARY
In this section we present a summary of each chapter and, opposite, some questions and issues you might like to consider to enhance your effectiveness as a project leader. Introduction : The Brave New World of Project Management New style projects operate in areas beyond the traditional criteria of time, cost and specification, and are concerned with a big variety of tasks. They involve a wide range of stakeholders, organizational 'politics', the external environment, marketing pressures, and the complex needs and objectives of a large number of individuals. The new style leader therefore needs a broader perspective. These projects vary in size, length and complexity. The project leader has to use flexible and organic rather than bureaucratic methods. Attention needs to be paid to preserving individuals' motivation and commitment; teamwork is vital and involves not only internal specialists, but also external suppliers, subcontractors, customers, and end-users - it is multi-level and multi-disciplinary. The project leader's task is 'to manage the visible and invisible team to meet the needs of the stakeholders':
ACTION SUMMA
Introduction : Questions and Issues =
Is your organization using the project approach more a Is your project a traditional one, or a new style one? wnat arc the new influences and pressures affecting your project? = Is your organization a traditional 'bureaucratic' one, or is i adopting a more organic nature? What pressures do you thin1 are affecting its development, and how are these reflected in you project? = Do you think that, in your role of project leader, you will need tc rely on non-hierarchical structures and authority to execute your project successfully? = Identify three skills or competences which you think you will need to develop or build on, to become more effective as i project leader.
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Chapter 1 : The Modem Approach to Project Leadership The project leader's role is exposed and visible. It frequently involves working in areas which are new for the organization and which affect many people. The role is complex - some say impossible! The three main demands of the role are to manage the stakeholders (through looking upwards and outwards), to manage the project life cycle (through looking forwards and backwards), and to manage performance (through looking inwards and downwards). To be successful in the role, you need to understand and be able to stimulate the process of 'organizational teamworking'. This is very different from leading a team in the conventional sense. At different phases of the product life cycle the focus and distribution of your effort amongst the three main demands outlined above will need to change.
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Chapter 1 : Questions and Issues =
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Copy figures 1.1,1.2 and 1.3 and keep them in your diary, or put them on the wall near your desk where you can see them daily. Can you relate personally to Figure 1.1? Work through Figure 1.2; are you confident you appreciate the difference between traditional teamworking and organizational teamworking? Can you answer for your project the three-pronged question: 'Why do they want it?' Have you completed the questionnaire at the end of Chapter I ? Ask some colleagues to complete it in terms of how they see you. Use it to help yourself 'look inwards', to assess what you are good at and where you need to develop. Which focal processes will you need to pay particular attention to at the four different phases of your project's life cycle?
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Chapter 2 : What Makes a Good Project Leader? As a project leader your main challenge is to integrate people and activities, so that the overall project aims can be achieved. It is a balancing act, pulling together the stakeholders expectations, the stages of the project life cycle and the visible and invisible teams' performance. Being an integrator means using specific processes to help you keep things together and going in the right direction. The 14 integrative processes highlight what you need to focus on and give you ideas as to how you might do it. 'Wiring into stakeholders covers four processes that assist you to look upwards and outwards from the project and to get into contact with your stakeholders. Being in contact is the beginning, staying in contact and enhancing the relationship are the next steps. Processes for looking forwards and backwards are essentially helping you to 'keep on the ball'. Being one step ahead, and continuously planning and reviewing ensure that you do not get lost in firefighting. No project leader can be completely in charge of the situation without appreciating his or her personal impact on the project. Combining this with looking downwards to maintain a culture within the team that emphasizes high performance will contribute to good leadership. 7
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Chapter 2 : Questions and Issues Think of how you spend your time. Do you attend to difficult technical questions to the exclusion of wider issues relating to your project? = Reflect back on the results of the questionnaire at the end of Chapter 1. Do you think you are concentrating sufficiently on strengthening your areas of weakness? = Do you find yourself dealing with crises rather than thinking ahead to avoid them? If so, what do you think you can do about this? = Do you take an overall look at the project often enough? Can you do anything about improving this frequency if you think it would be beneficial? =
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Chapter 3 : Organizational Teamworking 'Organizational teamworking' is the sum of individual and organizational activity directed towards collaborative effort between individuals and groups both inside and outside the organization. Increasing the range, scope and volume of collaboration between individuals at different levels, across different functions and across organizational boundaries is a feature of organizational success. Projects range in nature from concrete at one end of the spectrum, through temporary, to open at the other end. This categorization depends upon the degree of specificity or tangibility of the outputs and the formality of the structure and control systems of the project. Regardless of what type of project you're involved in there will be the same categories of stakeholders: - internal stakeholders for example, core team members and incompany support services such as marketing, production, finance - client stakeholders (which could be internal or external) for example, the client who pays, o r the end-user - outside services, such as subcontractors and suppliers.
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Chapter 3 : Questions and Issues How would you assess your organizational attitude? Do you think along traditional hierarchical lines? Who are your most frequent contacts - your immediate boss, your immediate subordinates, your immediate colleagues, colleagues at other levels in other departments of your organization? = Have you considered ways of developing non-hierarchical contacts? = How would you assess the nature of the projects you are usually involved in on the project spectrum? Do you recognize the characteristics in Figure 3.1? = Can you draw a 'map' of the stakeholders in your present project?
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Chapter 4 : Understanding the Big Picture All the potential contributors (direct or indirect) to project success must feel that they are completely 'in the picture' and trusted. This is important in securing their commitment. Feeling 'in the picture' means having a full understanding of why and how the project is important to the organization's strategy and an appreciation of the likely risks involved. These aspects combine to form the Big Picture. The elements of the Big Picture will depend on the nature of the project (concrete or open) and the target audience (organization stakeholders, client stakeholders, visible and invisible team members). Communicating the Big Picture is not enough. It has to be understood and internalized. It has to be a two-way process. The Big Picture must be regularly referred to by the project leader and team. Its rationale and its risks may not remain the same. If the Big Picture changes, the project may need to change as well.
ACTION SUMMARY
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Chapter 4 : Questions and Issues Which senior stakeholders can explain to you why your project is important to the organization's strategy? Do they all agree? = Get stakeholders involved in assessing the main project risk^ using Figure 4.2 as a checklist. Probe to assess whether the risk are real or imagined. If real, don't let them be minimized. Agre precautions to be taken. = Have you thought how to ensure that all your potenti: contributors fully understand the Big Picture? What is mot important to the different target audience? What differen communication methods should you use? = Do you look at the Big Picture in all your project review meetings? It's a useful way of reminding you why you are there. =
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Chapter 5 : Establishing Success Criteria Establishing clear success criteria is the basis of any project's effectiveness. All stakeholders will have their own ways of judging your project. Their perspective and their minimum expectations must be known to the project leader. Being as specific as you can will help you in the long run. There are two types of success criteria, hard and soft. Hard criteria are the familiar tangible measurements such as performance specifications, time and budget. Soft criteria contribute equally to success, despite being intangible. People's attitudes, the friendliness of personal contact, how quickly problems are responded to and solved are examples of soft criteria. One common difficulty is that project leaders believe that success criteria can be agreed openly at the beginning of a project and then forgotten. Projects are dynamic so you will need to monitor alterations in stakeholders' positions to pick up emergent criteria. Some success criteria are rarely openly discussed because they are politically sensitive or to do with the individual's personal perspective. Unspoken criteria influence a stakeholder's reactions at least as much as those which are acknowledged. The sponsor and the client are the stakeholders of overriding importance. Getting to know all their success criteria early on will help to establish a strong working relationship that will be invaluable when the inevitable problems arise. Gain acceptance of the main non-negotiable success criteria with the sponsor and the client. If there are conflicts raise them so that they can be addressed early in the project.
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Chapter 5 : Questions and Issues
What are the succzss criteria for jrour pro.ject? Hard? Soft? Are they ias specific as you think tlley shouId be? If they are ---- c-a-rt you reconcile the differences? threatened Lnow = Thinking of your sponsor, what are hislher criteria -those in the open and those undisclosed? What are the political risks for him/ her if this project fails? = What are your clients' success criteria - open and undisclosed? Can you learn anything from your previous experience with this client? =
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Chapter 6 : Getting the Project Under W a y
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ACTION SUMMARY
The nature of your project will determine how structured your initial tasks will need to be - a concrete project will have set timescales and procedures, while an open project will be much more flexible and fluid. Whatever the nature of the project, you must identify what needs to be done (a work breakdown structure) and determine the interdependence of the tasks (a critical path). While the discipline of preparing these is invaluable, ensure that you do not over-rely on such tools - quantitative tools work well for concrete projects based on routine or foreseeable tasks; this is not the case for open projects, where there is always the danger that the project team ends up managing the techniques rather than developing the project. Once you know what resources you're going to need, you have to develop a strategy which will enable you to get them:
- Make a good case by showing that your estimates are realistic and easy to understand.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the Big Picture. - Appreciate when to be flexible - don't push all the time, but be prepared to negotiate on non-critical resources.
- Identify providers of intangible resources, and make them part of your network early on.
ACTION SUMMAKY
Chapter 6 : Questions and Issues Assuming you have been able to decide where, in the pro:ject continuum, your project lies, have you taken a conscious -* . decision on how structured your project managemem LUUI~ will need to be? Are you satisfied that they will meet the need! your project? = Have you determined what needs to be done and the interdep dence of the tasks? To what extent have you involved ot her members of your team in this process, and do you think they are committed to the resultant plan? = Do you have enough detail to enable you to justify to your sponsor and the client the resources which you will need? If :YOU don't feel comfortable in putting forward your case, then perh aps you need more information or more discussion with ot -members of your team. = Have you been able to identify people who could be import members of your invisible team, and have you persuaded then. .support your project when the time comes? =
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ACTION SUMMARY
Chapter 7 : Assembling the Team Different types of project on the project spectrum tend to assemble their team members in different ways. Project leaders need to be aware of these and how they may or may not fit with the organization's or sponsor's normal ways of bringing people together. The project leader has to use a variety of means to get the right mix of people to provide expertise, credibility, teamworking ability and commitment. The way roles are designed or evolved differs with the type of project team. But, above all, opportunities must be created for people to contribute all their talents and experience. Effective project leaders assemble, brief, manage and motivate the invisible team just as much as the visible. All new teams go through a number of development phases before reaching full effectiveness. Frequently they get stuck in ineffective patterns of working. Project leaders can and must accelerate the team's development towards peak performance. This is an investment with significant paybacks.
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Chapter 7 : Questions and Issues =
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Have you negotiated an appropriate team assembly process with your sponsor? Does it enable you to fight for the people you need or want? Have you tended to select people for only their technical skills? Enthusiasm for the project or political credibility can be just as important. Did you consider having a project opponent in the team? How did you allocate roles? It is dangerous to allocate roles based on conventional tasks or specialisms. Did you review what tasks and processes actually needed carrying out and then fit these to people's wishes or capabilities? Have you changed people's roles as the project develops? Did you have a structured plan for development of the team? Have you asked invisible team members in what ways it could be made easier for them to contribute? Have you followed up their responses?
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Chapter 8 : Keeping on Track The project leader has three main concerns, generating relevant and timely data on the project's progress, maintaining the team's responsiveness to changing circumstances and building the stakeholders' commitment despite the changes. Project control and monitoring systems must be relevant, simple and operated by the project team. Since things never go according to plan, you need to be prepared. Plan-do-review cycles move forward by building on the monitored experience of the immediate past. All concrete projects need to have suitable methods for identifying and monitoring crucial event times, bottlenecks, costs, quality and personal success criteria. As the project moves forward, meeting procedures and decision making processes must be reviewed to ensure that they are efficient and effective. Many problems occur when the team is apart. So monitor and maintain strong communication links. Agree early warning signals for any deviation from plan. Keeping in touch with the sponsor and the client allows them to keep track of progress, to hear the good news and the bad news.
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Chapter 8 :Questions and Issues Do you have the most suitable tools for controlling an monitoring your project? Have you reviewed with your team th relevance of the information provided? Are there improvemen1 that could b e made that would help you all to be more up to date and better able to respond effectively? = How do you run project reviews? Are they useful problem identification and resolution sessions? Check with the team, the client and the sponsor. = How do project team meetings seem? Very effective, all right or pedestrian? Have you checked through the 'Golden Rules' ( meetings to get ideas for improving yours? = Managing a team with its members apart is hard work; revie. your team's performance and ask yourself: - Are you specific enough about who does what, by when? - Do you have an early warning system? - Have you monitored commitment through active contact? =
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ACTION SUMMARY
Chapter 9 : Handing Over and Winding Up It's easy for the project leader and team, who have lived with a project for some time, to forget that the end-users are not so familiar with the project, and need careful nurturing if they are to become enthusiastic supporters of the project rather than antagonistic towards it. Have a structured programme to involve users and any operational support staff, as early as possible in the handover. In particular, build in a process to publicize the Big Picture so that users understand why the project is necessary. Project audits are an invaluable management tool, helping you to identify the good and the not-so-good elements of a project, which will make the next project that much better. The project leader at this stage in the project life cycle must look after the interests of the team members when the project finishes.
ACTION SUMMARY
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Chapter 9 : Questions and Issues =
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When did you first involve the end-users in your current project? Do you think that was early enough? How did you communicate your project to the end-users and operational support team? Was it reasonably structured, or on a fairly ad hoc basis? Have you thought about having an audit of your present project? If so, how will you structure it, and to whom will you circulate the results? Are you happy about the next job which the full-time members of your project team will undertake? Finally, a test of how effective you have been as a project leader. Would you like to lead another project? Will you be asked to do so? Will you be able to gain the support of your former team members for your new project?
Recommended Reading and Viewing
The following books and videos have been selected for the help they provide with the various aspects of the project leader's task. The list is by no means exhaustive. It omits the more comprehensive books in favour of the 'quick read', practical books, suitable for the busy manager with specific concerns to dip into.
Books
I G E N E R A L MANAGEMENT MILLER, R. C.I. (1985) Moving into Management. Oxford, Basil Blackwell. A quick look at the main skills a newly appointed manager will need to acquire - time - delegation - communication motivation - teams - conflict - meetings - reports - training, etc. OLDCORN, R. (1982) Management. London, Pan Books. A good easy overview with self study help. VIDEO ARTS (1984) So you Think you can Manage. London, Methuen. The text, with notes, on eight of the main Video Arts films. Entertaining way of absorbing knowledge. LEIGH, A. (1984) 20 Ways to Manage Better. London, Institute of Personnel Management (IPM). Excellent summary of all main management skills. TORRINGTON, D. et al. (1985) Management Methods. Aldershot/
RECOMMENDED READING A) JD VIEW'ING
1:
London, Gower/Institute of Personnel Management. Mini-encyclopedia, even covers critical path analysis, !schedulin and similar techniques useful to the project leader. LEIGH, A. (1988). Effective Change, 20 ways to make t i nuwet London, Institute of Personnel Management. Project leadership is always about changing something, even if it putting something in position that it wasn't there before. This boa is therefore especially relevant. Techniques supported by chec lists. MINTZBERG, H. (1973) The Nature of 'Managerrial Work. Londor Harper & Row. A classic - but easy to read: valuable summary of ten r roles especially relevant to project leadership. MAJARO, S. (1988) The Creative Gap (Managing Ideas fur rrupr London, Longman. Managing creativity and turning it into innoval JOHNSON, G. and SCHOLES, K. (1988 2nd ealtion) ~xp~orzr; Corporate Strategy. Heme1 Hempstead, Prentice Hall. A valuable overview provides broad context for ti leader's role. I1 PLANNINGITZME MANAGEMEP (see also General Management) GAR Manage Your Ti,me. Lonclon, Fontana. Effectivt? use of Time. ILondon, Industri PER? Soc~ety. JENKS, J.M. and KELLY, J.M. (1985) Don't do. Delegate! TI Secret Power of Successful Managers. London, Kogan Page. LAKEIN, A. (1973 and 1984) How to get Control o f vour Time ar your Life. Aldershot, Gower. (Gower also sell two related videos.) SCOIT, J. and ROCHESTER, A. (1984) Managing Work. London. SphereIBIM. Lively; good illustrations; pl;anning and organizing we1 other books in the s:rime serie:s are equally gocld. . -. .--. ROBSON, M. (1988) Qualzty Czrcles (2nd edition). Aldersnot, tiowe Project leaders may find the principles of quality circles useful getting worker participation in planning and implementing. The is also a Circle Member's Handbook. *.
158
RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
I11 LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORKING SCHATZ, K. and L. (1986) Managing by Influence. New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Particularly helpful to the project leader, who has in the main to manage by influence, rather than authority. Very practical. BLANCHARD, K. (1984) The One Minute Manager. London, Fontana. BLANCHARD and JOHNSONS (1984) Putting the One Minute Manager to Work. London, Fontana. KO?TER, J.P. (1985) Power and Influence. New York, Macmillan (Free Press). Subtitled 'Beyond formal authority': help with deciding whose woperation is needed to succeed and how to get it. Will help create a networking mindset. HASTINGS, C. et al. (1986) The Superteam Solution. Aldershot1 London, GowerFontana. STEPHENSON, T. (1985) Management: a political activity. Basingstoke, Macmillan. Success is about power and power has many forms, covert as well as overt: there is nothing illegitimate about this, but it demands high skill. BELBIN, R.M. (1981) Management Teams. London, Heinemann. How to get from a team a synergy beyond the individual skills. A classic. ADAIR, J. (1984) The Skills of Leadership. Aldershot, Gower. BENNIS, W. and NANUS, B. (1985) Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. New York, Harper & Row. TICHY, N. and DEVANNA, M.A. (1986) The Transformational Leader. Chichester, J. Wiley. IV INTERPERSONAL SKILLS GRUMMITT, Jane (1980) Interviewing Skills. London, Industrial Society. BIDDLE, D. and EVENDEN, R. (1980) Human Aspects of Management. London, Institute of Personnel Management. HONEY, P. (1988) Improve Your People Skills. London, Institute of Personnel Management. A mini-encyclopedia that's interesting too.
RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
159
MacKENZIE-DAVEY, D. and McDONNELL, P.M.(1980) How to be interviewed. Corby, BIM. (1975) How to interview. Corby, BIM. Appraisal FLETCHER, C. and WILLIAMS, R. (1985) Perf and Career Development. London, Hutchinson. HODSON, Philip (1987) A Practical Guide to Successful Interview. Maidenhead, McGraw-Hill. RAE, Leslie (1987) Coaching for Results. London, Industrial Society. FISHER, R. and URY, W. (1980 Getting to Yes. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books. Negotiating agreement without giving in: a win-win approach.
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V
COMMUNICATIONIPRESENTATION SKILLS
STANTON, Nicki (1986) The Business of Communicating. London, Pan Books. STANTON, Nicki (1986) What do you mean, communication? London. Pan Books. ISBELL, Pippa (1979) Letfer Writing. London, Industrial Society. VIDAL-HALL, Judith (1977) Report Writing. London, Industrial Society. WAINWRIGHT, Gordon (1984) Report Writing. London, Management Update Ltd.
VI FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING HITCHING, C. and STONE, D. (1984) Understanding Accounting. London, Pitman Publishing. ROBSON, A.P. (1988) Essential Accounting for Manage~s(5th edition). London, Cassells Publishers Ltd. WARNER, Alan (1988) The Bottom Line. Aldershot, Gower. Accounting made easy in the form of a novel. MOTT, Graham (1987) Management Accounting. AldershotlLondon, GowerfPan Books. A guide to costing and management accounting techniques.
160
RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
Videos
I GENERAL MANAGEMENT
All Change: The Managemknt of Change. Video Managing Change. Millbank I1 BUDGETZNGIACCOUNTZNG
Balance Sheet Barrier. Video Arts Cost, Profit and Break Even. Video Arts The Control of Working Capital. Video Arts I11 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
The Art of Negotiating. Video Arts How am I Doing? Video Arts I'd Like a word with You. Video Arts Listen. Melrose From No to Yes: The Constmctive Route to Agreement. Video Arts Meetings Bloody Meetings and More Bloody Meetings. Video Arts If Looks Could Kill: the Power of Behaviour. Video Arts The Interview Game: Body Language. BBC Appraisal Skills. Gower Manhunt. Video Arts IV LEA DERSHZP, LEA DERSHZP STYLES AND TEAMWORKZNG
Challenge of Management. Industrial Society Leading to the Top. Guild Sound & Vision A Passion for Excellence. T. Peters. Melrose Teamwork - The Play. Rank Videos The Leadership Alliance (featuring Tom Peters). The Leadership Alliance V PLANNZNGITZME MANAGEMENT
Unorganised Manager (Parts 1 - 4). Video Arts How to get Control of your Time and your Life. Gower
RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING
VI PRESENTATZON SKZLLSICOMMUNZCATZON The Grapevine. Video Arts Making your Case. Video Arts Making Numbers Work. Video Arts Languages at Work. Centre for Information on Lar Research
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t
Index
Achievement see success 'Adversarial' viewpoint, 44, 87 Agreement, levels of, 67-9 Ambitions, utilization of, 27 see also motivation Antici~ation.24 ~ssu&~tions', positive and negative, 70-2
Audit see review Automatic monitoring procedures, 111
involvement in project team, 10, 11,41,43-4, 67
pressures on, 50-2 Collaboration see teamworking Commercial pressures, 50-1 Commitment, 5740, 119, 121-2 see also motivation Communication definition stage in, 5741 feedback, 11, 26-7 informal channels of, 4, 22-4, 88
Belbin, Meredith, 94 Bo?ington, Chris, 49, 62 'Bottlenecks', 109 British Airways, 49 British Council, 32 Buckridge, Ron, 49 Budget see resources 'Bureaucratic' organizations, xvi CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board), 49 Celebrations, 30, 132-3 Clients (customers, end users) of a project assumptions by, 70, 72 expectations of, 6, 43 and handover of project, 124, 126-8
marketing and, 23-4 networks of, 22-3,119 newsletters and reports, 23, 110-11
Competition between projects, 22 Competitive pressures on client, 51 Concrete projects assembly of teams in, 90, 91, 94 features of, 34-5, 38 handover stage in, 126 implementation stage in, 105,110, 122
overview of, 52,54-5,57 planning stage in, 79 Consumer pressures, 51-2 Contact see meetings Continuum of projects 3 3 4 5 5 , 79-81
INDEX see also concrete; open; temporary
projects Control systems see review Conviction see commitment Costs of a project, 109-10 see also resources Counterpart system, 97 CPA (critical path analysis), 83-5 Credibility, establishment of, 4,21-2 Critical event times, 109 Critical path analysis, 8 S 5 Criticism see review Culture, organizational, 28 Customers see clients Definition stage of project, 10, 34, 49-62 Direction finder for project leader, 6-7 see also motivation Disagreement, levels of, 67-9 Disasters (failure), 24, 119 End user see clients Enthusiasm see motivation Environmental pressures, 52 Estimated completion date chart, 113-14 Exception, reports by, 110-11 Exercises, see questionnaires Expectations, 28, 43, 58-9, 60 External stakeholders see clients Failure, 24, 119 Feedback, 11,267 Fellows, Bob, 82 Finance see resources Financial risk, 51 Flexibility, 87-8 Gantt charts, 111, 112 Glasgow Garden Festival, 61,80 Graphs and charts, 112-14, 132-3 Handover stage of project, 11-12, 123-8 'Helicopter' quality, 29
163
Hong Kong Transit Railway, 38 Huthwaite Research Group, 74 Implementation stage of project, 11, 105-22 Informal channels of communication, 4,224, 88 Information, 256, 106 see also communication Intangible resources, 88 Integration and project leadership, 18-30 Interactions, positive and negative, 71, 7 2 4 Internal stakeholders see project leader; sponsor; teams Invisible teams defined, xviii, 41 involvement of, in proj 25-6, 97-8 Japan, xvii, 86 Job design, 96 Line managers, 4 Managers and management, 4, 119 see also project leader; sponsor Marketing a project, 23-4 MBWA (management by walking about), 119 Meetings and contacts negative types of, 71 positive types of, 73-4,76,116-18 Mistakes, learning from, 25 see also review Monitoring see review 'Moodograph', 132-3 Motivation, creation of, 27-8, 95-6 see also commitment Negotiation techniques, i Networking, 22-3 Newsletters, 23 Objectives (targ 108-9
164
INDEX
Open projects assembly of teams in, 90,91, 95, 96 features of, 34, 37, 3940 handover stage in, 125 implementat&n stage in, 105, 107, 115 overview of, 54, 56, 58 planning stage in, 80-1, 82 Organizations structure of, mi-mii see also project(s); teamworking Output (result) of project, 34, 63 People factor, xix, 22 see also teamworking Performance indices of, 114 management of, 7, 79, 115-19 specification of, 110 see also review PERT (program evaluation and review technique), 83 Peters, Tom, 119 'Plan-do' cycles, 108 Planning stage of project, 10-11,25, 78-88 Politics and team selection, 92-8 Presentations and reports, 23, 110-11 Pressures affecting a project, 50-2 Project(s) life cycle of, 7, 9-12, 78 new style of, xiii, xv-mi, xvii-xix organizational context of, xix, 3-4 traditional style of, xiii-xiv types of, 3340, 54-8, 79-81 see also concrete projects; open projects; project leaders; stakeholders; temporary projects Project leaders characteristics of, 18-31 role of, xv, 3-7 see also teams Purpose see motivation Quality, 28, 29, 110, 123
Questionnaires and exercises action summary, 136-55 on project leader's role, 13-17 on team development, 1014, 120-1 on team members, 45 Reflection, 29 Reports and presentations, 23, 110-11 Resources for a project, 10-11, 22, 85-8, 109-10 Results (output) of a project, 34, 63 feedback of, 11,26-7 see also success Review (audit, control, monitoring) of a project after completion, 129-32 bases for, 61, 71, 73 continuous need for, 25, systems for, 11, 105-15 Risks of a project, 51, 52-4 Secretaries, 26 Self criticism, 2 Self-developme Shell, 29 'Silly time', 116 'Skunk works', 39, 125 Specialist information, 2: Specialist managers, 4 Sponsor of a project assumptions by, 70, 71 involvement with project 'team, 11, 25-6, 87, 1 3 3 4 role of, 6, 10,42-3, 67 Stakeholders assessment of, 69-70 assumptions by, 7 0 4 , 110 relationship with, 10-12, 2 0 4 , 57-61, 74-6, 78, 121-2 see also client; project leader; sponsor Succe:ss (achievement) ach~ievementgraphs, 112-13 cellebration of, 30, 132-3 "A. &.lieria for, 28, 63-7, 110
INDEX
161
management of, xviii-xix Superteam charter, 120-1 see also teams Support services, 126-7 Technical impact of a project, 21-2 Supportiveness, 29 Temporary projects SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, assembly of teams in, 90, 91, 95 opportunities, threats) analysis, 24 features of, 34, 36, 38-9 handover stage in, 132, 134 Targets (objectives), 28, 108-9 implementation stage in, 115 Teams overview of, 54 planning stage in, 80, 82 assembly of, 89-98 defined, xvii-xviii, 40-4 Training, 126, 127 development of, 98-101 exercises on, 1014, 12U-1 Uncertainty, 28 dismantling of, 1 3 2 4 Underperformance, 28 members of, 92-8 see also review monitoring performance of, User see client 115-19 see also invisible teams Visible teams see teams Teamworking, organizational concept of, xvi-xvii, 7-9 'Wish-and-hope' information, 25 definitions of, 31-3 Work breakdown structure, 81-2