Thursday, January 21, 2010

Project Management for the Soul

From professional blog co-authored by Judge Wyld. A Judge Wyld post.

Project Management for the Soul

Sole (shoe leather), Sole (singular self satisfaction), Soul (essence of empowerment.)

How you approach project management is affected by your motivation. There are people who love project management and there are those who can’t stand being the center of expectations. If you are the type of person who loves project management, what is your motivation?

1. Do you love the activity; the hustle and bustle of planning, communicating, solving daily unexpected challenges? There is a wearing down of shoe leather as you plan, collaborate, connect pieces, and follow up. Is it the rush of activity that gives you a ‘rush’? Do you rise to the step learning curve while working with many experts in their fields and seeing what they have to offer?

2. Do you love the personal satisfaction; making sure that you implemented the processes to the letter which provided the project positive results. You were the focal who contributed your project management skills that integrated the mechanisms and turned the gears to bring about a product meeting the requirements. Do you enjoy that feeling of professionalism and proven skill that a mature project manager possesses?

3. Do you love helping everyone become better; encouraging others to understand more about their own capabilities and to appreciate others for their unique contributions to the Team’s success? Did you initiate and foster contributions beyond the assigned utility of each person or organization? Each stakeholder and team member can obtain a personal goal in addition to their participation toward the success of the project. Do you thrill in managing a project that moves team members forward in life?

Sole, Sole, or Soul: project management is about people; it’s about you, it’s about others. The people on a project team can achieve a deeper satisfaction from producing a product than the satisfaction derived by the people who end up using the product.

Sincerely,
Judge Wyld

My Fault, And THIS is What I'm Going to Do to Make it Right

From professional blog co-authored by Judge Wyld.

My Fault,
And THIS is What I'm Going to Do to Make it Right


Project Management.

Professionals want to be perfect. Project Managers want to think of everything and to have a plan to keep the project running smoothly despite 'surprises'. But when you don’t think of everything and a glitch occurs, how do you handle the situation with others?

As you read below, imagine a situation such as materials delivered to the wrong place, not inviting your sponsor to a major project change approval meeting, or an important strategy meeting with key team members that you were hosting but failed to attend.

1. Accept that the resulting situation was YOUR mistake. Other factors may have contributed, but ultimately the mistake was YOURS.

2. Accept that other people on the team or outside the team were affected. They arranged their day or even their week around a particular expectation. Your mistake affected not only that event but other events that they had to arrange. They will also be affected by accommodating your workaround.

3. Communicate number 1 and number 2. Call, stop by, and email; all three if possible. Mention that the mistake was YOURS. Mention that you want to followup with the corrective action. Detail the steps of your efforts that will make the correction convenient for them.

Why take this approach?

1. If you don’t then you will be seen as someone who makes excuses and blames other 'things'. "Oh well, things happen!" sounds immature.

2. If you don’t then you show disregard for all of their efforts leading up to their being prepared for and making up for the fumbled event. "Oh well, it was ONLY an hour of their time," sounds naive.

3. If you don’t communicate that you are aware of your mistake, their loss of time, and the followup efforts, they will not be willing to follow you in the future.

You are dealing with people on projects. You cannot avoid being judged when you make a mistake, but forgiveness is still possible on the rare occasions that you make mistakes.

Sincerely,
Judge Wyld