Project Management and Hiking
Glen Alleman wrote a great post in his blog Herding Cats entitled Agile Planning. There he makes an interesting comparison between the hiking “projects” and software ones and asks serious questions to the adherents of the Agile methodologies.
He says:
Hiking requires Planning and Scheduling and Execution. Alternative plans are needed, alternative schedules always happen and alternative execution choices are always there. So what’s all the noise about Planning and Scheduling in agile software development?
And more:
Preparation is the key to a successful hike
Why wouldn’t…
Preparation be the key to success for a project?To argue otherwise – that planning, preparation, sequencing, and execution performance management – is not needed is dangerous in the hiking paradigm. Why do we think these activities are not important in the project management paradigm?
Good questions to ask ourselves and especially those religious fanatics who claim that their extreme approach with no planning is always a better solution than the traditional management methodologies.
Filed Under Project Management, Software Development | Leave a Comment
The 15 Commandments of the True Leader
Do you want to be a good boss? Can you rely on your team absolutely? Do you want to be a true leader? To feel like a general who can lead his soldiers through fire and brimstone to the ultimate victory?
Well, you just have to follow these advises that Pawel Brodzinski called 15 Ways to Be a Good Boss. I would call them The 15 Commandments of the True Leader. Here they are, published with the author’s kind permission:
1. Give credit to your team whenever they’ve earned it. Publicly.
2. Don’t be too fast with criticism. Wait until you calm down.
3. Don’t wait with feedback to next performance review. That would be too late.
4. Be team’s advocate in front of your supervisors. And vice versa.
5. Let people find consensus instead of telling them what to do. Whenever possible.
6. Enter when you see a conflict. Be fair no matter who is engaged.
7. Be open, honest and straightforward. More often.
8. Listen to the team. They have good ideas.
9. Let people be accountable. Whenever they can.
10. Don’t be afraid to make bold decisions. They pay off.
11. Make though decisions when you believe they’re right. They’ll backfire when not made.
12. Don’t panic in any situation. People count on you.
13. Take the responsibility for the team’s work. Their mistakes are yours.
14. Find the time for your people. Whenever they need it.
15. Cultivate teamwork and team chemistry. Individuals and their interests can destroy both.
The Recommended Weekly Readings (2007-08-18). Project Management
I will try to establish a new series on my blog – The Recommended Weekly Readings. It will be a list of links around some topic that I find interesting for you. This week they’ll be on the topic of Project Management.
One of the richest and most valuable resources in the subject of Project Management is GanttHead. I highly recommend you to become members of this site and to subscribe to their newsletter. In relation to my recent posts about leadership (How a PM Can Become a Real Leader and The 20 Qualities of the Inspirational Leader) I found Andy Jordan’s article Project Manager vs. Project Leader where he argues that no matter how qualified in the area of task management a PM is they must have leadership skills. “PMs have a responsibility to manage their teams – even in a matrix organization – and that means being a leader”. Later on he describes the different sides of the leadership, the easy and the hard parts of being a project leader.
Another great article you can find on GanttHead is Tom L. Barnett’s Leadership-Powered Project Management. He says that all the leaders we know from history, no matter whether they were political, military, or business leaders, no matter their different styles, they all shared some similar leadership qualities. Mentioning Washington and Lincoln, Gates and Welch, Churchill and Eisenhower, Tom Barnett gives us the similar traits that are common among the great leaders. The traits that will set us apart as leaders and distinguish us from everyone else.
Although leadership skills are necessary quality for every project manager, there are techniques of the craft which are a mandatory part of the PM’s skillset. The PM Hut blog published recently Thomas Cutting’s post How to Really Fix a Failing Project where he focuses on the most important things a project manager should do when his or her project is in trouble. If you can stay calm and follow his advices there is a great chance you will get your project back on track.
PM Hut is a great source of useful information for the project managers. It is some kind of aggregator where they publish articles from many experienced and interestingly writing bloggers in the field of project management (including me, too 
).
Writing the project documents is probably the most hated obligation of the project manager. I know a lot of PMs who don’t understand very well the purpose of each document and this is the main reason for their frustration when it comes to writing it. PM Hut has published an article by Sam Elbeik to help in this matter. While his article is pompously entitled The Secret of Successful Project Management it is a simple and understandable explanation of the purpose and the value of the key project documents like the Project Charter, the Plan, and the Progress Report.
At the end I am giving you a very serious article by the PM guru Tom Mochal in the TechRepublic’s PM blog devoted to one of the first things that happen in a project – the kickoff meeting. Why it is important and how you should conduct it – read it here (note: it may require a free registration!)
P.S. This series is inspired by Liz Strauss’ post on thematic link posts, which is a follow-up to Joanna Young’s post on the same subject. Many thanks to both of them for the idea!
Filed Under Leadership, Links, Project Management | 4 Comments
How Can a PM Become a Real Leader?
Tom Mochal of TenStep wrote an article in the Project Management Blog of TechRepublic called Exhibit leadership on challenging projects where he argues that the challenging projects are the ultimate place where the project managers can show and test their leadership skills. He gives a list of advises what a project manager should do to become a real leader in case trouble reaches his or her project. I would only note that Tom Mochal’s advises are very helpful not only for troubled projects but for all projects. Following them can guarantee a very high probability a project to succeed. Here they are:
- Keep your eyes on the big picture. When things get tough, everybody’s temptation is to become acutely focused on the problems. A leader stays focused on the vision of completing the project objectives. When everyone in the team tends to run into details, your leadership keeps everyone focused on the big picture and the value you’re providing.
- Maintain team cohesion. When circumstances get tough, even the most loyal team members can tend to become pessimistic. Team members are tempted to start shooting perceived enemies and, unfortunately, they sometimes shoot each other. They begin to question each other and find fault with one another. The real leader fights this urge and helps the team stick together.
- Be the first to sacrifice. When there’s pain to share, leaders should do just that. If the team needs to work overtime, the project manager should work overtime as well. If the project team needs to come in on Saturday, the project manager needs to be in as well. Don’t just share the pain — take more than your share (but not all) of it.
Well, this is the only point I wouldn’t agree much with. If you take the blame, the sacrifice, and most of the pain you wouldn’t be able to continue leading the team. You would be thrown away. I agree the leader should share the team’s burden but at the same time they should keep their dignity and authority. (Mike) - Remain calm. Panic is a common human emotion and no one is immune to it. A leader, however, thinks the problems through and remains rational. Being calm will enable the leader to make the right decisions for the entire team. Panic only leads to disaster, while calm leads to victory.
- Motivate. In tough and challenging times, people tend to get emotionally drained. They can’t see how it’s all going to work out. The project manager should focus on motivating the team and show how the result will be good. A leader must remain positive and likewise keep the team positive.
- Create small wins. When things are bad, the team starts to wonder how they can win. The project manager should look for ways to win — even small, interim victories. With each small win, the leader will build esteem and a positive attitude.
- Keep a sense of humor. Hardly anything in life can’t be laughed at. As the project manager you need to look for opportunities to instill fun, and laugh at yourself and the situations that present themselves.
When project managers show leadership, the team will follow – maybe not immediately, but eventually. The project manager is the person to lead the charge and to keep the entire project on track.
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