Why doesn’t the project manager see it coming?

...or a completely new approach to project management First published in May 2009 in Project Manager Today Magazine

...if you can show it went wrong due to the misbehaviour of your team members, you can avoid the chop.’

My niece has been watching The Apprentice. I know this because when I announced that I had to lock myself away to write an article for Project Manager Today she commented, ‘like in The Apprentice?’ ‘Er, yes’ I reply absent-mindedly. ‘I wouldn’t want to be the project manager because if your team gets called into the Board Room you get all the tough questions from Alan Sugar.’ I watched the first series, so I vaguely remember the formula. As I think about a suitable reply I remember wondering at the time why the task coordinator was called the project manager. In the episodes I watched there was little evidence of stakeholder management, planning, risk elimination, learning, resource allocation, team engagement, business case development or even ensuring benefits delivery. The absence of leadership was also very evident. Because of the competitive nature of the game, the task manager had to deal with team members who would be openly or covertly hostile, trying to undermine them in tasks where the role clarity of the team members was poor; this was a formula for disaster. Perhaps the title ‘project manager’ was simply aspirational. ‘It’s funny how they can never tell in advance,’ she said, ‘that they are going to get fired.’ Funny indeed!

,,,had to deal with team members who would be openly or covertly hostile, trying to undermine them

For me it was also interesting that only the team who had ‘lost ’(ie, made less money) got a grilling, even though, all too often, the other team had just been lucky and the project management had been atrocious and they got no chance to learn what they had done wrong. There was no way for either of the project managers to record what they had done to try to get it right, or where they thought they’d missed something or messed-up. As the thoughts crowd my mind I’m still silent. ‘The tasks which involve just selling seem to have different challenges and problems from those where they have to create something to sell.’ ‘But it seems that as long as you, the project manager, are vocal and demonstrate in the board room and that you have worked really hard to bring the project back once things start to go wrong, and if you can show it went wrong due to the misbehaviour of your team members, you can avoid the chop.’ I can think of no response, so I don’t give one. ‘But sometimes the mentors, I think that’s what they call Sir Alan’s two sidekicks, hang about to criticise and “rat” on the hapless project manager if you just make stuff up.’ Mentors indeed I think. This time I reply: ‘Thanks for the inspiration, I’ll use it as the theme for my article.’

In the game show, as in real life, it is always better to be lucky. And, if things go wrong, it is useful to show that you are working determinedly to resolve issues. You might even become a hero, get a bonus or get promoted. A project where nothing critical happens is often perceived by managers as easy and little credit is given to the hard work, which may have gone into it. In truth, part of being lucky is the fact that things go wrong publicly in the project so you can demonstrate how capable you are by fixing them.

You first read it here I want to share something else aspirational, which I have been working on for the past few years. A completely new approach to project management. I have not published a single word about my new approach anywhere, so you are reading about it for the first time. I intend over the next few years to turn the research into tools, products and useful things and I really don’t want lots of ‘me too’ versions to clutter and distort the concepts and frameworks we develop. So, if you do read this, please just wait and get the stuff directly ‘from the horse’s mouth’ rather than creating a ‘made-in-my-own-shed’ Frankenstein version.

The new approach was developed in conjunction with a client and, at Pentacle, we have a policy never to publish any breakthrough ideas or materials until our client has had a healthy head start.

‘So how come a quarter fail and half barely make it?’

About fifteen years ago I published All Change! It went on to become one of the most popular books for practising project managers. Seven years ago I published Perfect Projects. The title was a provocation to say that as a community we actually knew all we needed to know in order to deliver perfect projects. The question was, ‘So how come a quarter fail and half barely make it?’ Fortunately for me one of my clients approached me with an aspiration. What could I do to ensure that all their project managers always delivered perfect projects? The client had already made a start on the project, so a significant amount of the credit for this new breakthrough in project management goes to them. My contribution was to move from the concept, working with them to create a practical set of tools and techniques, and then to develop the teaching that would enable the project leaders to deliver constantly perfect projects.

...give them a sixth sense.

Our job at Pentacle was, in short, to give them a sixth sense. We had to enable them to see the future clearly in order to avoid things that hadn’t happened yet and to ensure that they could communicate their thinking and actions clearly so that the organization could recognize their hard work and applaud and reward them. Why doesn’t the project manager see it coming? Actually the very best ones do see it coming. They have probably built up their experience over many projects and have learnt to go beyond being a practitioner to having project management in their blood. But overall there is little incentive or capability for project managers to go into the future, return with an understanding of what to do in the present and do it. And for the less experienced project manager this is a big ask.

With the working title ‘PPI’, the Perfect Project Initiative is made up of five elements . . .business case development or even ensuring benefits delivery. For me it was also interesting that only the team who had ‘lost’- made less money, got a grilling although . . .

1 Project Purpose Index

The first step of our new approach is to develop an index of the importance and criticality of the project itself and the project execution. Building a business case and identifying the benefits delivery elements are essential. Also all the execution parameters, such as the effect on business as usual, or other projects, have to be compiled. This understanding is the basis for the Project Performance Indicators.

. . . although the other team had often just been lucky and the project management had been atrocious and they got no chance to learn what they had done wrong. There was no way for either of the project managers to record what they had done to try to get it right or where they thought they’d missed something or messed-up.

. . . are vocal and demonstrate that you have worked really hard to bring the project back once things start to go wrong.

2 Project Performance Indicators

Just like Key Performance Indicators, these are derived from the Project Purpose Index but there is a twist. Self-assessment means that the indicators are constantly self-appraised and we also combine positive and negative measures. This is supported by the mentoring process described later. The zero line, or calibration, is set by the Project Perspective and Incidents.

‘The tasks which involve just selling seem to have different challenges and problems from those where they have to create something to sell’.

3 Project perspective and incidents

In truth, about 95% of what is going to happen in a project is predictable in the future. If the project is ‘Foggy’, with lots of external participation, and where the progress is not obvious or visible, like night follows day you will experience a set of challenges, These will differ significantly from what goes wrong in a ‘Painting by numbers’ project with one supplier and easy progress measurement. We have tracked the ‘glidepaths’ of each type of project to highlight anticipated incidents so that the project manager with little experience knows exactly what to expect and when, and can demonstrate that they have eliminated the issues well in advance.

. . . little evidence of stakeholder management, planning, risk elimination, learning, resource allocation, team engagement, business case development or even ensuring benefits delivery. The absence of leadership was also very evident. Because of the competitive nature of the game the task manager had to deal with team members who would be openly or covertly hostile and trying to undermine them in tasks where the role clarity of the team members was poor, this was a formula for disaster. Perhaps the title ‘Project manager’ was simply aspirational.

4 Project practitioner insight

Project management requires both science and art. The art of project management is the development of the more insightful and people-based, softer aspects of project management. These, in practice, actually have a much bigger impact on overall success.

It was intriguing how the ‘mentors’, in this case Sir Alan’s two sidekicks, didn’t do much mentoring but instead hung about to criticise and ‘rat’ on the hapless project manager.

5 Project performance and implications mentoring

Project mentors, who can be line managers or programme managers, need to be involved closely in the initiative. Using workshops we help them understand how to both ‘dig in the dirt’ with the project manager to identify why past surprises may have arisen, but also to develop an understanding of possible future events on or off the ‘glide path’. They can also help the project manager with the Project Performance Indicator scores. It is crucial that the mentoring programme becomes part of the day-to-day business-as-usual operations for the organisation.

. . .only the team who had ‘lost’ - made less money - got a grilling although often the other team had just been lucky.

So there you have it. The approach has now been proven and is probably the basis for the next step in the development of project management. In these challenging times, as a project manager, make sure you see it coming!

This article is dedicated to Simon Cooper, Tim Bennett, James Gellatly, Gary Ford, Graham Barrett and all the rest of Simon’s team without whose creativity, insight, professionalism and determination this next phase of project management thought leadership would not have got very far. And without whose hard work the concept would never have been proven.

Dr. Eddie Obeng is Learning Director at Pentacle The Virtual Business School. He is author of All Change! The Project Leader’s Secret Handbook, Perfect Projects and on Programme Management, Putting Strategy to Work. 20 London End Beaconsfield Bucks HP9 2JH +44 (0) 1494 678 555 [email protected]