These real stories illustrate how a CEO successfully builds a project-based organization. The first story is about persistence. Executive Shuffle Projects at a high tech manufacturing company were missing schedules, blowing budgets, and not delivering expected benefits. Worse, management wasn’t finding out about project surprises until just before the projects were supposed to deliver. They […]
Category Archives: Tips
A delegation dilemma
John is the visionary and articulate chief executive at one of my clients. Unfortunately, he gives vague directions to his teams, believing that he is empowering them with freedom. When the results don’t satisfy him, he swoops in to micro-manage. His people feel whipsawed, while John is frustrated at their slow progress toward realizing the […]
How to create an environment of accountability
Often leaders ask me how to improve accountability within their project-based organization. However, that leader may actually be contributing to the accountability problem without realizing it, often because he communicates his expectations poorly or not at all. I believe that accountability starts with clear communication. You can’t hold someone accountable unless they first understand what […]
A controlling or micromanaging leadership style doesn’t work well
… especially on projects that must create and apply complex knowledge. Good leaders facilitate more than they bark orders. They share power and information. They build an environment where teamwork, trust and prudent risk-taking are the norm. But when it is necessary, a good leader also drives accountability, makes hard and unpopular decisions, and pushes […]
People and relationships trump methodology and tools
I’ve seen high performance teams do amazing things. Don’t misunderstand me. Process and tools are important, too, when they enable good people to work together to use their skills “at the top of their certification.” People and process are inextricably intertwined and absolutely necessary in any project environment.
Plan (enough). Flex (a lot).
Projects are in the middle of constant change. Without some degree of planning, they will get swallowed up in the resulting tumult. However, being able to flex and adapt to changes is equally key. A successful project organization must be good at both planning and flexing, and it must be skilled at varying the balance […]
Just enough is often the best approach
Striving for perfection is often the enemy of being good enough. Especially when upgrading organizational capabilities, a theoretically elegant and correct solution often fails. The change required to implement it is too large and intimidating, so buy-in suffers and adoption falters. A less perfect but simpler solution actually works better.
Be a pragmatist rather than a purist
Be a pragmatist rather than a purist when it comes to management methodologies and frameworks. Such things are means to an end, not ends in themselves. I’ll happily mix and match bits and pieces from different approaches, such as PMBOK and agile, as long as they are effective for the situation I’m in. That’s why […]
Five core management beliefs
Recently I was flummoxed during a discussion of current trends in management. Several core beliefs guide my thinking about the best ways to manage projects. They are so deeply held that I rarely stop to think about them explicitly. In the discussion, I rashly took it for granted that other people held similar underlying beliefs, […]