As we enter a new year and even a new decade, it could be an appropriate time to look at good resolutions I could take (and that you may want to consider) to improve my (your) effectiveness in Project Management.

1. develop project team members
2. understand the business objectives of the project
3. respect all commitments that I accepted
4. plan the full project in details and execute in steps
5. know, communicate and manage the critical path
6. anticipate and plan for changes
7. demonstrate flexibility
8. do not fudge with PM ethics
9. lead with a positive and collaborative attitude
10. focus on people

1.     develop project team members

Very early in my professional life, as I was reaching my first management position, I met with Yves, a great Human Resources Director at Digital Equipment. He asked me: « what is the number 1 priority for a manager? ». As I was still reflecting on the question, his own answer came very clear and loud: « your priority #1 is to develop the resources that are under your responsibility. If there is only one thing you shall learn from working at DEC, this is it! » While Yves was referring to people management roles rather than project management at the time, I strongly feel that his advice applies even more so to PMs.

As a project manager, resources are under my leadership for the duration of the project, it is my responsibility to get the best out of these project team members and also help them grow as much as possible.

Doing so serves the project; it will help the team members to find an interesting next assignment when the project completes; and it benefits the company that gains better resources working for it. It can be done through a combination of exposure to new tasks, coaching, challenging members to go further, providing them the support and training they need. Of course, a prerequisite is to know my team members. I’ll need to have a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, their past experiences, and their personal objectives, to build on these for the success of the project and their own professional development.

2.     understand the business objectives of the project

Too often, as a project manager, I was told about my project objectives only in terms of schedule, deliverables and budget, without real explanations about why the project was critical or important for the business. So, I focused on delivering a quality product on time and on budget. Not so bad.

But, on one occasion (the deployment of an Enterprise Resource Planning solution) it came as a surprise to me that, while the sacred triangle of Project Management had been fully satisfied and somewhat exceeded on one of the dimensions (23M of costs versus 25M budgeted), my customers were only partially satisfied. How could this be? Well, I learned that the project as defined did not fully take into account what critical users would perceive as success. Their perception was in fact limited to the reports they could get from the system to run the business. They had little if any visibility of how the reengineered processes drove greater efficiency, or the guaranteed data integrity of the new systems, or the improved data consolidation mechanisms, or the benefits coming fro the unification of processes…

So, on my projects in 2010, I will ensure that I better understand the business results expected by my customers, how they will perceive and measure these and how I can establish a baseline, with a picture of the current situation, to put in evidence the improvements brought by the project.

Understanding the expectations that key stakeholders have of the project will also make it easier for me to communicate clearly to the project team and to focus our attention on these.

3.     respect all commitments that I accepted

The first thing I shall do to enable the above is to learn to say « NO ». It is never easy to say no but we all learn the hard way that it’s even more difficult to respect an unachievable commitment.

This applies of course to project budget, schedule, resources… It also applies to how I handle relationships with others: team members to whom I could be tempted to make promises that are beyond my control (especially true in the matrix organizations we often evolve into), sponsors who can decide to appoint another PM, stakeholders who often have conflicting but nevertheless understandable requirements, boss who has pressure from the top…

It will also be wise that I order these commitments by priority for my customers and that we are very clear on which ones leave room for negotiation if need be.

One of my first managers used to say: « time, cost, quality: pick any two and give me some freedom on the third one ».

4.     plan the full project in details and execute in steps

I will plan the full project in as much details as possible. Of course, the immediate next phases may be planned with greater granularity but it’s important to have a reasonable level of details for the entire project. Without this, it is not possible to predict the time and costs and resources required over time for the project. This also sets the tone and makes the overall project’s deliverables clear for me and for team members as well as stakeholders and sponsors.

It is also particularly useful to have the full view before accepting to crash or timebox the project’s schedule or to respond to a demand to do it with limited resources or budget. It allows me to understand where I and the team are making compromises, the risks this creates and to reset expectations accordingly.

The execution of the project will in my experience almost always benefit from staged or phased deliverables. It allows the team to focus on a limited scope; it energizes us to meet a deadline that’s closer to us; it creates confidence in ourselves and builds trust with the customer as he can start to see and touch some deliverables; a quicker feedback loop is there in case adjustments are required; and it enables progressive testing.

5.     know, communicate and manage the critical path

The critical path is a good communication tool towards teams and management. It presents a logical succession of tasks that lead to a successful conclusion when all are executed on time. It enables focus on key tasks and can serve as a basis for prioritization decisions.

However, most PM tools will display only one critical path on my project based on resources, dependencies between tasks and progress made. I have learned over time that there may be multiple other critical activities that the tool will not detect as « critical path » tasks. However, some could lead to greater delays if not completed on time. An example on one of my projects was the task related to communicating an IT application’s objectives to the end users whose work would be impacted upon its introduction. We had plenty of time to do this while building the software and it took only a few days to execute it in the end. Because it was not highly visible on the project’s critical path (small effort, due date quite late in the schedule), we focused on it very late and it caused major issues for the project when treated as a rush activity.

So, apply your experience, common sense and your holistic understanding of the project rather than blindly trust the critical path proposed by the tool you use. Question the proposed critical path to understand why some tasks you did not suspect to be critical are there and others that your guts tell you to worry about are not on the critical path,.

6.     anticipate and plan for changes

First things first, in order to anticipate changes, I will start by solidifying the requirements with a very strong stakeholders’ buy in to establish a clear scope and perimeter for the project.

Of course, this will never prevent justifiable changes to be required but it can limit them significantly. And, I will implement a clear, simple and fast turn around process to handle demands for modifications, including who may submit them, the vetting process, the estimating approach and decision criteria.

I will also keep in mind that the process does not operate in a vacuum and that changes outside the project’s perimeter will potentially affect it. It could be a change of an executive who happens to be a stakeholder, a move of the competition, new entrants or modifications in the market place…

By the way, there could be positive changes that enable me to produce better deliverables sooner or cheaper. For example, it happened to me that a service management system we were developing for one of our regions was then selected to be rolled out Worldwide. While it increased the project’s scope, costs and timeline, the cost per end user of the solution was drastically reduced overall, enabling greater and more homogenized services for the company at lower cost.

7.     demonstrate flexibility

Of course, I learned as a project manager a number of approaches, methods and best practices for each of the nine specific knowledge areas of project management proposed by PMI® (www.pmi.org): integration, scope, risk, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications and procurement.

However, it is of crucial importance that I remain open and flexible about which one to apply to my specific project and context. For example, an agile development approach may fit well the software development of a new web front end for monthly Key Performance Indicators visualization, while a waterfall approach may be better suited for an Enterprise Resource Planning solution deployment.

I will also always look for new techniques, approaches, and tools. Especially ones other team members may have experienced with success on prior projects. I.e. I’ll always be looking for ways to learn and progress. For example, I learned to implement very productive short daily issues review meetings for critical projects as it had been successfully used in the past by our sponsor. On a different project, I learned about the criticality of learning about local culture. I tried (unsuccessfullyL) to run a brainstorming session with my Japanese colleagues before understanding that there was a better suited approach to draw requirements and establish priorities with them.

8.     lead by example with the PM ethics

Since 1981, PMI® developed progressively a code of ethics and professional conduct. http://www.pmi.org/PDF/ap_pmicodeofethics.pdf

As certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), I am committed to doing what is right and honorable. This Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct describes the expectations that we have of ourselves and our fellow practitioners in the global project management community. It articulates the ideals to which we aspire as well as the behaviors that are mandatory in our professional and volunteer roles.

I will continue to make mine these values that the global project management community defined as most important: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty.

9.     lead with a positive and collaborative attitude

I will certainly continue to be under heavy pressure from management and customers to deliver a superb product in a reduced timeframe and with limited resources.

This shall not prevent me from creating and maintaining a positive attitude in the team.

I shall also provide a collaborative environment where the team’s communications are facilitated. The tools are there, we just need to facilitate their implementation and usage.

The objective is to build an atmosphere that recognizes the urgency, the pressure, the amount of effort required by each of us and also one that shows confidence in our joint ability to succeed. The project manager like any leader is looked at by collaborators a little bit as an orchestra conductor. So, his positive leadership sets the tome and influences the overall ability of each player as well as the perception of the customers and engagement of stakeholders. More on Project Leadership.

10. focus on people

Focus on people: the team members I shall develop (see resolution 1), the customers and stakeholders I shall satisfy (see 2, 3, 6), my family with whom I will spend as much quality time as possible.

I will keep in mind that a project is a temporary endeavor while the relationships I build during its course last much longer.