Create a war room, love the tough days, fortify governance and more

Your top 5 tips for swerving IT project mistakes and burnout

In recent weeks, we’ve written about mistakes and how best to handle them and how to deal with IT Project Management burnout.

As always, we love your feedback and it’s been really interesting how these themes can dovetail and loop: mistakes leading to burnout, burnout leading to mistakes.

Also, it’s telling how many of us can totally relate – it seems that everyone has experienced that project.

Often more than once!

That project that almost destroyed you; made you question your career choice; took you to the edge and then tried to push you over; made you burn the candle, not just at both ends, but in the middle too; impacted your sanity; blurred your work / life balance; kept you awake at night and exhausted you in the day; made you feel like you were firefighting with a petrol pump …

… and ultimately …

… the same project that made you an infinitely better Project Manager; taught you more than achieving any framed certificate could; fashioned you into the resilient, respected and invincible project leader that you are today.

IN CASE NO-ONE ELSE TELLS YOU – YOU ROCK!!!

Both the tempestuous paragraph in italics and the glorious one in bold text, were sentiments and experiences shared by IT Project Managers … perhaps YOU can relate too?

Between the italics and the bold, what made the difference, was YOU, your team, your processes and your resilience. I don’t think that we give ourselves nearly enough credit for the difference we make, it’s “all in a day’s work” or “just doing my job”. Well, for once, I’m here to tell you that you’re amazing!

It’s not just positive affirmation or psych-up talk either, the reality is, if you acknowledge when you’re brilliant, you can repeat it and scale it.

The “lessons learned”, “post-mortem” or “feedback loop” part of a project is vital. This blog is about some of the themes, ideas and innovations that have emerged following our recent posts on mistakes and burnout.

YOUR TOP 5 TIPS FOR SWERVING IT PROJECT MISTAKES AND BURNOUT

1 – Have Fun and Love the Job – Even When Things Are Going Awol

Project Leader Tim shared a penalty shoot out strategy that he and his team deployed to stay sane during a project that was veering off course, or as he put it, “rising to the challenge and maintaining job satisfaction.”

Tim’s project had more “more bugs than a bushtucker trial” and that meant lots of support tickets. Tim’s team cleared a dry-wipe-board on the wall and designated it their penalty shoot-out score board – every new ticket was a goal for the opposition, every solution deployed a goal for Tim’s team. “It kept us motivated to keep on top of the issues as they were coming thick and fast and we made sure we celebrated all our ‘goals’,” Tim told us.

Whilst taking your IT Project’s challenges seriously, it’s important that you can relish and not dread the process.

IT Project leader Malc says, “When your project is challenging … BE challenged. Play chess with it!! Dance with your project’s demons!! It’s better than burying your head in your hands and becoming a bundle of anxiety. Be 100% present.”

2 – Managers Manage, But Challenges Breed Leaders

Difficult projects often evoke sentiments along the lines of “I started the project a manager and ended it a leader”, they certainly bring out the best in those with leadership skills but can also shine a spotlight on teams that are lacking strong leadership.

The constant talent churn, that’s become the norm of late, has left some IT Project teams without natural leaders! Talent shortages mean that those with leadership acumen are being headhunted and while you may have amazing project managers, teams without robust leadership can soon find themselves in trouble when projects hit major problems – much feedback has been along these lines.

Prevention is always better than cure, Stoneseed’s Advisory services have proved pivotal in highlighting operational gaps of this nature – the value of a fresh pair of eyes and a “baggage-less” perspective cannot be overstated. Once a leadership gap is identified, Project Management as a Service resources can be deployed to address your issues – Stoneseed can provide a strong project manager to lead your project, visit our PMaaS page or contact us to find out more.

TIP: When you have experienced PMaaS talent working in your project, ensure everyone becomes a knowledge sponge, watch (and learn from) how they lead

3 – Fortified Governance – Super powering Your Pmo

Following an IT Project skidding off course, you’re either grateful for the governance that you have in place (without which things could have been so much worse) or you learn lessons and implement more robust governance protocols.

Effective governance and a well-structured Project Management Office (PMO) are crucial to IT project success and alignment with organisational goals. Governance provides a framework for decision-making, accountability, and oversight, which helps mitigate risks, manage resources efficiently, and ensure compliance with regulations and standards. The PMO, acting as the central hub for project management practices, standardises processes, tools, and methodologies, ensuring consistency and quality across projects while also playing a fundamental role in strategic alignment, helping prioritise projects that deliver maximum value.

PM Natasha shared how her team had “fortified” governance and their PMO to “enhance transparency, improve communication, and facilitate better control over project scope, schedule, and budget” resulting “more predictable and successful project outcomes”.

“We stripped it bare,” Tash told us, “we were brutally transparent as a team about when a lack of an A-game, PMO or governance strategies, had been our downfall. Honest assessment and a desire to do what it takes to make it, not just better, but the best we can be, has had a huge impact on project outcomes.”

PMOs come in many shapes and sizes, from smaller Project Support Offices to full enterprise PMOs, it’s never a one-size-fits-all.?Whether it’s a small team, an office or virtual, the PMO sets and maintains standards for project management throughout an organisation and oversees creating and embedding procedures and best practices. At Stoneseed, most of our engagements begin with a discussion about your current PMO capabilities, to assess the level of support needed, whether it’s establishing, refining, or supporting your PMO.

Stoneseed’s PMO services can provide governance, enhance your existing PMO or help you build from scratch and help monitor your progress – get in touch to find out more.

4 – Make Your Mission Control … Mission Ready

I love PM Stefen’s idea of creating an IT Project “mission control room”. It can be an actual room (with whiteboards and banks of screens) or a virtual, notional space. Having a sense that at the heart of your IT portfolio is a space where everyone collaborates and is always “facing the project” can deliver great value.

As discussed, maximising the potency of your PMO is part of this, of course, but project teams that face repeated problematic IT Projects can find value in taking a step back and assessing how things are in their “mission control room”. Is everyone united and focussed on the mission (picture a NASA control room at a launch)? How would you rate camaraderie – does everyone get on? Do your platforms TRULY support your ambitions? Etc, etc.

You don’t have to call it “Mission Control”, have fun with the name, writing for Project Times, Paul Gouwes coins the phrase “The War Room” adding it’s where “Strategy Meets Unity” … “a sacred space where ideas clash, plans take shape, and unity prevails.”

“As a die-hard team player,” he writes, “I thrive in the war room’s charged atmosphere. Why? Because it compels us to gather, discuss, and align. Team meetings become our compass, pointing us toward shared goals. Unity emerges—the kind that transcends job titles and department silos. We are no longer lone warriors; we are a battalion with a common mission.”

5 – Have A Future Ready Fit for Purpose Platform

Ensure that your battalion, or mission control crew, have the right resources for the job. We’ve discussed human resources via PMaaS, and help with governance and PMO, but what about the platform and software you use – is that fit for YOUR purpose? At Stoneseed, we can help with that too!

A pillar of Stefen’s “Mission Control” initiative was an extensive overhaul of all his team’s systems. Enhancing governance and reporting with either existing or cutting-edge new tools can be transformational for PMO development and success.

Stoneseed’s new P3MO Platform, for instance, is designed to enhance collaboration, automation, integration, and business intelligence for your mission control. It’s built using familiar Microsoft Office 365 technology, leveraging the capabilities of the Microsoft 365 platform, including Planner (Microsoft Project), PowerApps, Teams, Forms, Automate, and Power BI, Stoneseed’s P3MO Platform can unlock your PMO’s full potential – Stoneseed offer expert build and rollout too!

If we’ve sparked a feeling that your operation could benefit from that fresh pair of eyes and baggage-less perspective, at Stoneseed we’d LOVE to help.

From talent and resources via PMaaS, to PMO and the governance and platform underpinning your projects, Stoneseed is a one-stop shop.

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