Make Something that Matters

If you've read Hugh's book Ignore Everybody or read some of the cards on his site gapingvoid, you know that he is not conventional. Sometimes he may be hard to interpret.

The card above can be about Project work. How it should be. It should MATTER. Even the sometimes mundane and seemingly boring parts that we hate doing. In the end, our goal is to move the Project to completion. To give the Customer something that matters.

Go do work that matters on your Project.

Selling Your Project in 15 Seconds

You have a great Project idea. You've done the work to prepare. You know what it will "cost". You know the people that must be on your Team. But, you still have to sell the project.

Maybe you've already submitted your plan to a decision-maker. They've said: "If Ms. X will go for it, I'll go for it. But, I haven't had the time to meet with her yet."

Then, on Tueday afternoon, you get into the elevator. At the next stop, Ms. X gets in with you. You have 15 seconds. How will you pitch your Project to her? Are you ready? Will you keep quiet?

Here's a link to a site that focuses on how to make that 15 second pitch to sell your Project. At 15SecondPitch.com you can learn more about how to make your Project pitch. Or how to make a short pitch for any idea. Try it and see. Then, practice. You'll be ready the next time you see your Ms. X. 

Mind Mapping for Customer Relationships

Projects have Customers. Internal. External. Someone needs and wants the output that our Project will produce. Look at how one company is using mind maps to improve their relationships with their customers.

The Dangerous Middle

When we start a Project, we're usually interested and excited and focused. When the Project is wrapping up, we often have the same intensity - "we're close to the finish - keep at it!".

But, sometimes the middle can seem different. Things are going as planned. We are on budget. There are no recurring problems. So, we relax a bit. The work starts to seem a little boring maybe. After all, when things are going well, we don't have the excitement and drama that we have when there are "problems" to solve.

That's when things can drift. We relax a little too much. We start to put things off. We start to ignore the basics. We weren't TRYING to cause a problem. But, when we let up too much, problems start to appear.

Don't let up in the middle. Keep the focus. Get things done early. The Dangerous Middle can lead to bigger problems if we ignore it.

Can You Descibe Your Project on One Page?

Project plans are often many pages in length. Sometimes, that is a necessity. The Project is complex. The details are important. The Customer expects to see a long, detailed plan. Aside from the "have to" situations, however, can a Project be described on just 1 letter-sized page (written in a font size that is readable!)?

Being detailed and being able to communicate details in writing are valuable. Being able to boil it down to 1 page takes practice. It takes editing. It takes some thought. It takes the ability to see through all the details to the heart of what is really important.

So what would be in this short plan?

• The purpose - in a few sentences at most, what will be achieved by successfully completing the Project?
• Who will benefit by the completion of the Project? Who is the Customer?
• What is the time frame for the Project - when does it start, when is it scheduled to be completed?
• Who will work on the Project? The Company. The Team. The Division. Whatever group or person.
• Is there something special about this project? Is it a one-of-a-kind? A first? Number 648?
• How will the project execution happen?  Careful! This is where the details want to be written down.

For a specific Project, a different set of items might be important. That's part of the exercise. If you only have 1 page, what is critical? What must be said? What details can be excluded?

Try this on a new or existing Project. You might learn more about what critical factors need attention. Attention to detail is often important - unless we get caught in the detail and miss the larger picture.

Not a Pretty Project Picture

This is a graph of the US BLS Employment statistics for Construction of Buildings. This roller coaster graph is not only a picture of the working lives of many Americans, but is also a picture of many great Projects - delayed, suspended, or canceled. Delayed works of architectural and engineering wonder coming to life. Suspended dreams of great craft work. Canceled plans for more great Projects.

How is This Moving Project Work Forward?

Projecting Forward is supposed to be about moving project work forward. Most of the topics so far are very basic. So, how does that move anything F-O-R-W-A-R-D?

Well, that is a good question. I asked myself that question. Moving forward has to start with a foundation of some sort. So, to answer my own question, I'm working first on the foundation and will move into more forward thinking items as I go.

Meanwhile, if you want to think ahead some, read here.

Are We Planning for Planning's Sake?

Each project starts with some version of a plan. Maybe several different plans. We're trying to decide - beforehand - how to successfully get to the delivery stage on a Project.

 

However, what happens once we start executing? We start out to do the work and something happens. It doesn't go as we planned it:

• Something is late.
• Something is out of sequence. 
• Someone does something completely "off the plan". 
• The Customer changes the requirements. 

It makes you wonder if all this "planning" was a waste of energy and resources.

 

No, it isn't a waste because it isn't just the plan that matters. What matters is the thought and debate and editing and reviewing and rethinking and re-editing that are required before we get "The Plan". It's in the preparation of the plan that we become able to handle the changes and the unexpected.

If we hadn't done the work of planning, we wouldn't have a clue where the Project was supposed to go. We wouldn't know if we were off track. It's the process that does it. The real work to benefit the Project is in the wondering if the plan is right and then deciding to scrap the original plan and re-write it. That's the type of real work that makes us ready for the failures and mistakes and unexpected events that happen as we proceed with the Project execution.

So, planning and plans are necessary Project work. But, if things get off track after the plan is published, we are ready - because we did the necessary work at the beginning.

Monday Pause

We do get caught up in life and work and Projects. 

Pause today and consider this poem from William Henry Davies.

(Thanks to Tom Peters and here.)

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Experience, Talent, and Ability

Many think that experience is the most important thing. I've written some commentary on that here.

Talent can easily trump experience. Only experience that demonstrates talent has value.

Ability can easily outweigh experience. Experience must demonstrate ability and an increased ability to have value.

Aim for Talent and Ability.

We're All in Sales

I used to hate the idea of sales. That's mainly because I viewed it as trying to get someone to buy something that they didn't really want. Sometimes I still think that way - except with a newer understanding. It's when I don't believe in what I'm selling that it's hard to be motivated to sell it. If I don't believe in my company or product or service - or myself - it's hard to be convincing in trying to persuade someone to "buy".

Selling doesn't always involve an exchange of money. It is also required for other things - ideas, position, time.

On our Projects, like it or not, we're all in sales. That's not a new idea, but it is a true idea. I know that some of us "just want to do our work". But, even if we "just want to do our work", it takes some sales ability. In order to be able to do our work, we have to sell someone on the idea of letting or allowing us to do that. But, if we don't believe in it, we won't be very convincing and probably won't be convincing enough to sell the idea.

More than that simple example, we have to sell in several areas of Project work:

• The Project Itself - at almost any level, there is someone who has to agree with the idea of the project itself. Seldom does the go-no/go idea come from a single person. We sell the Project to an outside Customer or to someone within our own organization.
• Working on a GREAT Project - someone has a GREAT Project. We want to be on that team. We have to convince someone (or maybe several someones) that we should be part of that GREAT Project. We sell our skills and talents. We have to demonstrate the value that we can bring to the Project.
• Getting the Best People on a Project - great people are in demand. Everyone may want them on their Project. To get these folks on our team, we have to sell them on the idea of the Project so that they will want to choose our Project over other choices. We may sell the idea to them several times in several ways before they agree.
• Other Project Resources - we sell others on the idea of using space, or time, or equipment, or materials, or other Project resources. We don't always get them just because we say we need them for the Project.
• Selling Ideas within the Project - once the Project is rolling and we are on that GREAT Project with a GREAT team, the selling is not over. If we are leading, people on our Project are not going to blindly follow our ideas. If we are at the lowest level of experience and "ranking" within the Project, we have to convince others that our ideas are worth pursuing.  Whatever our role, ideas have to be sold.

Every day, we are all in sales. Even on Project work. We can't sell it well if we don't believe in it. Now, let's go sell something for our great Project work.

Mapping Information for Projects

Mind maps are an increasingly popular visualization tool for collecting information or planning. (Get the Wikipedia story here, see more at the Mind Maps blog here, or the mind maps software blog here).

Here's a sample of a hand-drawn map on the left. If you aren't familiar with these, they start with a central idea or subject. Then, they branch out with subtopics off the main idea. The branches can continue as far as you have paper (in the hand-drawn version).

 

 

We can use these for Project work such as:

1. Outline new ideas for a new project(s).
2. Brainstorming answers to a problem.
3. Outlining a book or project report.
4. Recording notes from a meeting.
5. Explaining a concept.

The software version is similar but more symmetrical. (Both free versions and purchase versions are available online. If you are interested in the software version, check the mind mapping software blog for more info.)

These make a better public presentation tool and are better for those who prefer software to hand-drawing.

The question becomes, what's the benefit of using these maps for our Project information?

It seems the answer depends on a few basic things:

1. What kind of learner are you?
2. What's your preferred method of explaining or notetaking?
3. Can you easily learn new ways of learning?

I've used both the handwritten and the software versions. I won't say they are the golden answer to all questions and problems, but, for me, they are a useful way to visualize information. The hand-drawn version requires only simple tools - paper and pens or markers (using different colors does help with visualizing) - and is obviously portable. But, if you are at your computer, the software version goes together quickly also and can be printed in color.

Try one out and see how they can contribute to your Project work.
What other unconventional tools do you use?

Scheduling - Purists vs Randoms - Obvious Lessons

In ProjectWorld, scheduling can create massive controversy. Much of the debate is between "Scheduling Purists" and the opposite - I'll call them "Random Purists".

Scheduling Purists often feel that whatever is generated on paper (or on screen) is what will happen, at a certain time, and in the exact required sequence. They are often disappointed and amazed when the actual execution of the Project happens in some other order of events or when a specific task goes (apparently) unnoticed long after its scheduled start date.

The eXtreme version of the Random category is just the opposite. They want to do what they want to do when they want to do it and it will "take as long as it takes". Or, perhaps when they are "trying to be part of the team", they don't say it THAT way, but they generally ignore what's planned since they believe a different sequence or set of activities is best.

Whenever these two are together on a project, they will obviously create friction. Friction can be good, but this usually creates friction so hot that it will burn through a Project and leave a scar.

So, is one of them right and the other wrong? Not really.

A few points from this two-sides-of-the-coin extreme are these :

1. One person (or one small group) shouldn't decide what will be done and when. As many participants as possible should be involved in the process.
2. In spite of best efforts at the beginning to define what will happen when, something will likely change. That statement is not a way out for the Randoms to throw away the schedule and do what they want. Think of it like this - we say what we plan to do today, in the next hour, with some certainty. The shorter the time-frame, the better the certainty.  However, trying to say with certainty what we will do in 2 months at 8:00AM or in 14 months is reaching, to put it mildly.
3. Plans and schedules have to be somewhat flexible and should be expected to change as we move further away from "Start Here".
4. Items 1-3 are not excuses to throw it all in the trash. The Customer always has a desired timeline for completion of the work. The old sayings "You can't hit a target you can't see" and "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there" come to mind.
5. Friction about some details and plans leads to better plans. But, neither ignoring the schedule because we choose not to "own it" nor demanding that the original plan be followed at all costs will benefit the Project.

Project schedules are typically necessary. It might be a list. It might be a 2,376 item graphic. It might be milestones on a calendar. Whatever form it takes, we can expect that the schedule that's developed early in the project will need some adjustment as we go along. And, we can expect that someone working on the Project who ignores the plan and schedule will generally fail to deliver.

PROJECT-ing Forward

There is some debate in the Project community. The wider community.

Some vote for PMI, PMP and all the other letters.


Some vote Lean and Agile and 2.0 and the "new way".

It can be easy to pick a side or easy to go buffet style and take some of each. (That will be heretical to some who are strongly on one side or the other.)

Better still, when we think about better or great Project work, think about how we can move the discussion forward.

Not stuck in any time period or stuck on any method. (Sure, certain fundamentals don't change. We can debate the fundamentals another time.)

If we must get stuck, let's get stuck on PROJECT-ing Forward.

Doing something new. Doing something better. Learning every day. Making mistakes and trying again.

But, don't stay stuck. Move ahead.

Who Manages Time?

Time - "A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future."

In doing Project work, we manage people, money, and materials. Those are often thought of as the basics. Within reason, we can get people and manage what they do for your Project. We can get money (okay, let's not argue about this one in the current lending climate!) and we can manage it. We can get more materials and we can manage them.

But we can't really get more time. And, how do you manage time?

MORE TIME

1. Time is a different resource for a Project. Like the definition says, we can measure it. It only happens in a sequence.
2. Customers need the Project completed in a FIXED amount of time - by a certain date. Very seldom is it their preference, even if they add to our Project Scope, to give us more time.
3. Every work day, we only have a fixed amount of time.
4. Even if we excel in productivity (doing more in less time), Project tasks will take some amount of time.
5. One task may wait for some time before another is completed so that it can start or finish.
6. We may have a schedule that says something will be done in a certain amount of time. If that something isn't done as planned, it doesn't really get more time - it uses time from something else - that can't get more time - that uses time from something else - on and on. I know, it's not all that sequential.
7. We don't really ever get more time.

MANAGING TIME

So, how do we MANAGE TIME?

1. We don't really manage it.
2. Sometimes it seems to manage us, instead.
3. We can only treat is for what it is - a scarce resource (usually) that is part of the whole Project picture.
4. We can manage the USE of our time. Deciding what to do today and in so doing deciding what not to do today.
5. Time needs attention. 
6. We have to stay aware of it. Late is never acceptable on a Project. If you are late, sometimes everything else that went well is forgotten. All that is remembered is - "She was late". "He didn't complete it on time."
7. "Better late than never" - is a lie. At least for Project work. So, though we can't really manage it, we must make the best use of it on our Projects.

YourSelf as a Project

Interesting post titled "42 Practical Ways to Improve Yourself" by Celestine Chua over at Lifehack. (She also has her own blog about Personal Excellence.)

To keep improving our Project work, we have to also make a Project of ourselves.


Notice a few of her personal items that also sound like Project work:

• Overcome your fears
• Level up your skills
• Get out of your comfort zone
• Put someone up to a challenge
• Identify your blind spots
• Ask for feedback

42 ways to do something is both interesting and overwhelming (how will I ever do all of those?). We can pick a few that strike our interest and work on those first. Then, go back for more - for us, for our Teams and for our Projects.