There’s a reason people feel this way and hate entering their time. It’s because timesheets are something that have typically been abused in the past, used as a weapon against good people, and have ultimately not provided any value at all. Certainly no value to the person that is entering their time, but even many no value to the person or company that has requested their time. This makes it even worse as the pain and suffering that was endured to enter the time in the first place now sits on a shelf rotting away.

May project managers have wondered how to make a timesheet that provides value. How to make a timesheet that not only provides value to the company, but even more importantly provides value to the person who has been asked to enter their time.

We’ll start with how to make a timesheet that does not provide value and then provide some ideas on how you can make this drudgery almost (let’s not get crazy here…the word is ‘almost’) enjoyable.

How to Make a Timesheet That Everyone Hates

The following are some suggestions you can follow if you want to make a timesheet that everyone hates:

1. Make sure it is bogged down in administrivia

One thing you can do that will guarantee heavy groans and sighs whenever timesheet is mentioned is to turn it into an administrative nightmare. Make the login process complicated or have them pull up an entirely different timesheet application. Or, better yet, have them fill out their time on a spreadsheet and email it to someone to collect and aggregate their time. Then, make sure this person asks them all kinds of ridiculous, short-sighted questions about how they spent their time.Then, add an element of a painful approval process that either slows down them getting credit for the time they spent, or even not getting paid promptly and you have the beginnings of making a timesheet that is sure to bringing your toughest resource to their knees.

2. Make it as disruptive as possible

The next step on how to make a timesheet that everyone hates is to make it as disruptive as possible. Get down into meticulous details about the work they were doing. Ask them detailed questions like “was the graphic image you were working on cropped from the left or the right?” or “which side of the truck did you take the necessary pipe out to complete the job?” and then make sure they fill out even more details in a 255-character Notes field. They’ll really hate that! Make sure to account for every bathroom break and dock them for that time.

3. Make sure they know you’ve got your eyes on them

The finishing touch to really make a timesheet that everyone hates is to make sure they know that you know their every move. You know that they started at 8:05 instead of 8:00. You know they took an extra 15 minutes at lunch because the doctor appointment for their kid ran a bit long. You know that they left 10 minutes early on a Friday afternoon because it was their 20^th anniversary. Be sure to bring these points up in conversation with them so they know that you are tracking them with the precision of a hunter tracking down their next kill.

OK…so these may be a bit over the top, but, not that much. You probably won’t find one place or person that breaks all of the rules above, but over a person’s professional lifetime they have undoubtedly encountered most, if not all of the above timesheet sins.

Now do you understand why there’s such a huge sigh when it’s time to fill out timesheets for the week?

How to Make a Timesheet That Provides Value

It’s really not that hard to make a timesheet that provides value. The biggest thing is to keep in mind your motive for requiring people to enter time. People will quickly learn and react accordingly if your motive is to hit them over the head with their timesheet entries. They will also quickly understand and react accordingly if they see how you are using the information gleaned from these timesheets to make their jobs easier and the company more productive.

Here’s one place you can start to if you want to know how make a timesheet that provides value…keep it simple! Don’t ask for a ton of information that you will never use. There’s really no reason to ask for more than the following items:

Date – You obviously need to know the date on which the work was done.

Time spent – This is the duration of time that was spent on that particular activity. There are two ways to ask for this piece of information and pros and cons of each.

• From / To – The first way is to have someone enter the time they started a task to the time they finished. This could be either with a stopwatch type functionality (like an attorney would use) or it could be as simple as a drop down box with the time of the day broken up into 15 or 30 minute increments. This is typically a better solution for someone who may be at their desk all day and working on their computer on a regular basis.

• Duration – The second option is equally as good and works better for someone that may be out on the road, at the client site, or elsewhere that will not allow them to enter their time throughout the day. They just need to enter how long they spent on the task at hand…usually rounded up to a 30-minute increment.

Client – You need to have the name of the client the work is being done for, especially if it is considered billable work.

Project –Next, would be a short list of projects that are only assigned to that client. Don’t ask your people to do a whole lot of finding a needle in a haystack when it comes to which projects are assigned to which clients. Do this for them and make their job of entering time as easy as possible.

What you did – The following will vary with every company’s particular needs, however, if you gather the following information you will find you have more than enough to put together unbelievably accurate estimates, and get an idea of those areas that may be candidates for improvement:

• Phase – Break your activity into 5-7 main Phases. This is the top level bucket of where activity occurs and can almost follow a departmental flow within your company. Examples of a phase would be Planning, Implementation, or Testing.

• Deliverable – For each phase, there is typically a set of core deliverables that will be worked on. Identify what those are and include them as part of the timesheet application you use. Examples of a Deliverable could be that within the Planning Phase, a Site Visit was done and a Blueprint was complete.

• Action (optional)- If you’ve done a good job of introducing the importance of accurately tracking time, people won’t mind this one last element. This is what was done to the Deliverable from above. For example, the following Actions could be taken on the Blueprint from above…Meeting, Create, Review, Edit. Again, this is an optional attribute but one that can certainly bring value depending upon your organization.

Using the above pattern will make it easier if you are wondering how to make a timesheet that provides value. Very simple and easy to use. Plus, the majority of information can be pre-populated so all that is left to fill out is the time spent, deliverable and action.

True, people aren’t going to jump up and down like their eating dessert, but at least it won’t taste like broccoli.

If you want a simple to use time tracking system that won’t make people groan, try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days. Use this Time Tracking Software to complete your Timesheets online. Simply login and fill-in your timesheet. Your project dashboards, plans and reports will automatically be updated with your Timesheet information, so you’re always kept up-to-date. 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting the finer things out of life. The problem that can arise is when wanting more than what we need begins to put a burden on us either financially, mentally, or physically. The trick to having a successful life is finding that balance between what we want and what we really need.

The projects you manage fall into the same category of having needs and wants .There are certain things that everyone NEEDS the final project to accomplish, and then there are other things that people WANT a project to accomplish. 

This is a blurry line and one that is filled with passion and emotion during the scoping phase of any project.  Stakeholders will argue vehemently that their particular “bells and whistles” are a need, if not a necessity, of the upcoming project.

How, then, do you determine what are the true needs are that fit into your project management plan and how can you go about extracting these needs from stakeholders? The following suggestions should prove helpful in this area.

1.  Engage all Stakeholders in Conversation – We’re not talking about the kinds of conversation that take place in the hallway as people pass each other on their way to the next meeting. Rather, we are talking about sitting down in someone’s office or over lunch and really getting an understanding of what that particular person is wanting the project to accomplish.

 This is important for a number of reasons. First, it allows you as the Project Manager to understand what is important about this project for this particular stakeholder. This gives you background information that you will find useful when making decisions about the project management plan that are sure to come up in the future. This also will afford you the opportunity to understand what is NOT important to this person. 

If you find that there is a theme across all stakeholders you talk to, you can use this information as ammunition to “de-scope” a particular part of the project that is not necessary.

A word of advice…make sure you are talking to the right people about the project. It’s assumed that you’ll be talking to the project sponsors and others that are above you in the corporate hierarchy. But, you don’t want to forget that there are other stakeholders that can make a tremendous amount of noise later if they are left out. 

Make sure to include the final Users of the project once it is complete. I’ve seen projects go swimmingly well all the way to the point of being implemented in its final resting place only to come to a grinding halt.

The reason was that the person who was on the front-line of using what this project delivered, was never consulted. Their feedback was not in the project management plan and the project (and the PM) paid dearly for that oversight.

2.  Listen Carefully for Contradictions and Read Between the Lines – When you are talking to these people about the needs they have for the project, be careful to listen for contradictions and to read between the lines.

They may say to you that the reason they need a particular feature to be added to a project is to help the company, or increase sales, or save time. However, if you listen really carefully, you may find that what they are really saying is that they are looking to advance their own career, make another group look bad, or make their life easier. 

Unfortunately, some people and their needs for a project are not as noble or transparent as others. You need to look for and listen to these carefully as you put your project management plan together.

3.  Clarify Vague Ideas - Another area that you need to zero in as a Project Manager to truly understand the needs of a project is to clarify vague ideas. People will sometimes have a tendency to throw out very complicated ideas with a simple “I just need it to do this…”, or “It only needs to do that…” They will intentionally make it sound like it’s not that big of a deal to get something added to the project. You, on the other hand, know that it is a big deal to get something like this added.

Don’t ever be scared or timid to dig into the details of what someone is asking for and claiming to be a need. Make them clearly explain what they are looking for and justify the reason. Be prepared for them to push back and get a little agitated with your questions. 

That’s to be expected. Let them know that in order to put a project management plan together that meets everyone’s needs you have to understand the details.

4.  Trust, but Verify – If you hammer only one nail into a board, it has the ability to turn and twist. Hammer two nails into that board and it’s harder to move. Put three nails into that board and it’s not going anywhere. It’s the same thing when it comes to putting together your project management plan and defining the needs of the project. 

You can listen to just one person about what is a critical need. However, that may twist and change as the project evolves based upon circumstances. If you start hearing the same requirement as a need from two, three, or many more people that is undoubtedly a critical need that must be addressed.

5.  Prioritize Needs – Nobody likes to hear “NO” when it comes to what they can and can’t have included in a particular project. The following is a helpful way in working through such an exercise. Once you’ve captured all of their “needs”, ask them to prioritize them based upon the following criteria:

a.  This is a Must Have – These are the needs of the project that if they are not included in the project management plan it would be considered an utter failure. Ask the person you are talking to about what falls into this category on their list and put a Number 1 next to those items.

b.  This is a Should Have – These are the needs of the project that would be really nice to have, but are not critical to the success of the project. They may be items that make things go smoother or faster but the project can be used without such features. 

Ask the person you are talking to about what falls into this category on their list and put a Number 2 next to those item.

c.  This is a Nice to Have - These are the items that fall into the category of “bells and whistles”. The project would be just fine without these things but this will make it just that much fancier or easier to use. These will then have a number 3 next to them.

That’s it. Now sort the “needs” of the project into 1, 2, and 3 priorities and this is most likely what you will find.  If there was a list of 10 items, 2 or 3 will fall into Must Haves, 3 or 4 will fall into Should Have, and then a final 2 or 3 will fall into Nice to Have. 

Focus on the Must Haves in the project management plans and you will have boiled the project down to the essence of what is important. Throw in a couple of Should Haves for good measure and good will and then get to work!

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Now, change gears with me and bring this process to a reality show I call “Corporate Life”. You will find that at its most basic level the same decision process is made. It’s time for a company to downsize. The company may have been negatively impacted by the economy, a large customer may have pulled out, or their products and services are quickly becoming irrelevant in the marketplace. It’s time to vote the next group of people off the island.

The voting off process goes something like this. There’s a lot of whispering and pontification within a select group of peers (managers and executives) about who needs to get voted off the island. They will spend days and weeks behind closed doors going down the list of names, salaries, skills, reasons to go, reasons to stay and other criteria that will help them make their decision. Once the final list is made, plans are put in place for the ceremonial ritual of dragging everyone into a large conference room and then picking them off one-by-one.

It’s really not personal. It is just business. Everyone in that room can see the numbers as well as anyone else and understand that either they have to go, or the entire company runs the risk of going under. It’s very logical and makes sense. But, it’s still a shock and hurts nonetheless.

The reality of this reality show called Corporate Life is that nobody wants to be voted off the island. During times like this, Project Managers may find themselves in a precarious situation. While we all know the value that a Project Manager brings to a company, others may not. They may just see a Project Manager as an unnecessary layer of middle management that can be dismissed with minimal impact. After all, everyone can manage their own projects, right? That mentality is why you need to understand how to be a Project Manager that does not get voted off the island.

How to be a Project Manager that Stays on the Island

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to talk to someone who has been part of the decision making process, or have been part of it yourself, the first thing you realize is that it’s not a game. People take this responsibility very seriously realizing that it affects people’s incomes, families, lives and even sense of who they are. However, there are certain things you can do as a Project Manager that may make it easier for them to lean toward keeping you on the island. The following four suggestions are how to be a Project Manager that stays on with the company during those tough times. 

Note: The time to start exhibiting these skills, qualities and attributes are not when everyone is huddled up in the room making their decision. The time is now before the decision making process starts! Make it amazingly easy for them to make the decision that favors your way.

1. The ability to self-manage

The first quality you must have if you are wondering how to be a Project Manager that stays on, is to have the ability to self-manage. What does this mean? This means that you know what you should be doing and you don’t wait around for anyone else to come to you with specific directions about what to do. If you find yourself waiting around for instruction and direction from your boss, or client, or even your peers, then you’re going to quickly find yourself in trouble.

A big part of managing yourself is the ability to know what is important and having the ability to prioritize. This allows you to work on the right thing at the right time and not get caught in the trap of unnecessarily spinning your wheels. Many Project Managers find themselves in the trap of confusing being busy with being productive. They may walk around the office with their clipboard, a scowl on their face, and at a rapid pace. They look incredibly busy, but they are incredibly busy working on the wrong thing. It could be compared to someone scurrying around to straighten the deck chairs on The Titanic. Sure, that could keep you busy for some time but to what end?

2. The ability to be a self-starter

If you are looking to learn how to be a Project Manager that is part of the “going forward” team, then an extension of managing yourself is to be a self-starter. This means that you have the catalyst within yourself to get things going. You have an internal pilot light that never goes out, but rather ignites the passion and energy you need to get others around you motivated.This means you can’t stand around and wait for someone to come to you, to tell you, that you did a good job in order to feel good about yourself. You need to have the experience, wisdom, and insight within yourself that you know when you’ve done a good job and when you may have stumbled a bit. You then pick yourself up, learn from that experience, and keep moving forward…without help from anyone else.

3. The ability to be versatile

Versatility is an important aspect of anyone who works in business today. It’s the ability to do multiple things at multiple times and switch back and forth with ease. We’re not talking about multi-tasking. Multi-tasking usually ends up being the ability for someone to do a whole lot of things poorly by just giving the task at hand enough attention to say they’ve done it. The results are marginal and typically not exceptional.

If you are looking for how to be a Project Manager that stays around during tough times, then you need to be able to see the big picture as well as the little picture. You need to be able to understand and create strategic direction that is within your control, and then take it down to the tactical level. You need to be able to speak “sales” to the Sales team, “tech” to the Engineering team, and “business” to the executive team. And you need to do all of these things exceptionally well in order to stand out from the rest.

4. A volunteer spirit

Do you know the three little words that mean so much that are rarely heard on the reality show called Corporate Life? No, not “I love you”, but rather “I’ve got that”. This is when people go through the room looking for an owner of a particular task or activity and everyone slides down in their seats hoping to not be picked. Amazingly, coincidental business fires seem to erupt that people need to take care of immediately and they promptly exit the room never to be seen or heard from again. And you wind up just sitting there like a deer caught in the headlights.

Try these three little words next time…“I’ve got that”. Say this before everyone slides down in their seats or leaves the room for a faux emergency. You will find that when the decision making process is going down, people will remember you uttering those three little words time and again and this will ultimately give them more input to make their decision easier.

While there is no silver bullet on how to be a Project Manager that is not voted off the island, these four principles will certainly put you in a much better position when the next council convenes!

Looking for another way to survive the reality show called Corporate Life? Make sure you have at least a 30-day FREE trial of ProjectManager.com with you at all times! This extremely versatile, agile, and lightning fast application allows you to share project plans, manage your teams online, and track progress daily. Anyone would be crazy if they voted those skills off the island!

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=459FrPMwznE

Ever had a project fail on you? If this has happened to you, why not briefly share with me in the Comment section below,  ”what went wrong” – and more importantly… “how you fixed it”. We can all learn from this…

What steps can you take as a project manager to get to this point of moving up in the organization? More than anything it has to do with mindset. It has more to do with how you view yourself and the value you bring to your company as it does the opportunities that will present themselves to you.

The following three mentalities are what you need to break free from to move forward: 1. The task management mentality; 2. The 9 – 5 employee mentality and 3. The “can’t do” mentality.

1. The Task Management Mentality

The task management mentality focuses only on the “here and now”.  You can identify people that have succumbed to this mentality with expressions like “This is how we have done this particular way of doing things for years and it works just fine,” or “I’m comfortable with doing it a particular way, and I really don’t see a need to make a change”, or “A change means learning something new and gets in the way of how I’m currently doing things”.

You’ll need to stop saying these things out loud or even thinking them to yourself if you are interested in moving up the corporate ladder. Being at the top of an organization is all about breaking out of the existing way of doing things and trying something new. Otherwise, the competition will.

Below are a couple of suggestions for breaking free of the task management mentality:

Look beyond the here and now – You need to see the big picture, not the immediate task that is at hand. Sure, you may feel that what you are doing is repetitive and the same every week. You may schedule the same project update meetings, or make sure the latest version of the plan is checked into the document repository, or even ask the same questions week after week. But, what is this helping move forward? Are you working on a project that will greatly reduce expenses or allow the sales team to sell more of your product? That’s what you need to focus on and not just the here and now.

Who cares if that’s the way it’s always been done –  Think about where we would be if brilliant creative minds such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, or Steve Jobs were content with that’s the way it’s always been done. Just because it’s been done a certain way over a long period of time doesn’t mean that it always has to be done that way. Change the task at hand to be more efficient, productive, or effective. It’s this type of thinking that is needed as you move up the corporate ladder.

2. The 9-5 Employee Mentality

I hate to say it, but I’ve worked with Project Managers that believe that they are on the clock only from 9:00-5:00. It’s as if they work somewhere mining coal and punch in when they arrive in the morning and punch out when they leave at the end of the day. And, you will never find them “on the clock” at 8:59 and certainly not 5:01. By the way, this was the same project manager that liked throwing chairs across the room and kicking his desk, but that’s an entirely different article.

You may carry some of the bad habits or mentalities from other departments depending upon how you came up through the project management ranks. Some of these traits may be that you have to take breaks at a certain time of day, or lunch time can never be interrupted (“can’t you see that I’m at lunch”), or you may not be “on the clock” yet and not able to provide answers or information until you are.

I know. Sounds incredible, but I’ve seen these behaviors by semi-proficient project managers in real life with my own eyes. “Don’t talk to me, I haven’t had my morning oatmeal yet” followed by shutting something down later that afternoon that would take another 15 minutes to complete just because it was 5:00. True story.

You will never move up within an organization with that type of attitude. It just won’t happen. Rather, get into an attitude of flexibility rather than inflexibility. There’s give and take in any and every relationship we have. We’re not saying don’t take breaks, or lunch, or leave at a reasonable hour…just be reasonable about it.

3. The “Can’t Do” Mentality

“We have a bit of a challenge ahead of us to get this done on time, do you think we could bend the project management rules just a bit to get this done a bit faster?” the salesperson asks the diehard task management mentality project manager.  “Nope,” the project manager stubbornly replies. “What if we moved this task around to here and shifted priorities for this one week, that might do it, right?” the salesperson continues. “Nope,” the project manager stubbornly replies. It doesn’t matter if it’s two questions or a dozen, the answer is always the same “nope, can’t do it”.

This “can’t do” attitude is a career-path breaker. One thing that there’s no room in business for is just looking at the problems and what can’t be done and not coming up with alternatives or solutions. If you’ve had the opportunity to listen to and watch a good salesperson sell, they rarely say “no”.  You may have feelings one way or another about their particular style or approach, but you have to appreciate the fact that they focus on what “can” be done.

You can apply the same principle to the way you manage your projects and will quickly find yourself in a better position to move up in the organization. Nobody wants a ‘yes-person that can’t deliver on their promises, but what they do want are people that come up with reasonable solutions that can be relied upon and delivered.

Do You Play Well with Others?

A bit of an extension to getting rid of this “can’t do” mentality reminds me a bit about some recent shopping experiences. I was looking for a particular item in a store and was having trouble finding it. I asked the person that worked at the store where it was. “Over there,” they said and pointed to the left. They never picked their head up, they didn’t look at me, and they immediately went right back to what they were doing. I couldn’t find what I was looking for and left the store.

The other store I went to I asked the same question. This time, the employee stopped what they were doing, took me to the item, and asked if there was anything else they could help me with. What a difference. I have a much better perception of the second employee than the first and will always go back to that store.

You can be guilty of the same behavior as a project manager. Somebody comes and asks you if you know where a file is or know who to talk to about the latest on a particular issue. Stop for a moment and give them the time of day. Show them where it is and maybe even walk them over to the person if need be. Don’t get so wrapped up in what you’re doing that you miss the big picture of being a team player and working well with others around you. Because, playing well with others is also a requirement for moving ahead in any organization.

If you are looking to get ahead, focus on getting out of the Task Management mentality, the 9-5 Employee Mentality, and the “Can’t Do” Mentality and you will quickly find yourself playing well with others in the executive suite.

Looking for Project Management software that plays well with all Projects? Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and see how easy it is import in your existing Microsoft Project files into ProjectManager so everyone can share!

The same principle applies in project management. During good times you can have project managers running willy-nilly through a company, making all kinds of noise and mistakes and still maintain their jobs. However, during those tougher times is when those Project Managers quickly begin to sink and disappear under water.

That’s good for you as long as you’re a good Project Manager. But, now the question is “what do you do for a project when the company is sinking?”  Good question.  Managing projects during troublesome times is very different than managing a project during good times. You will quickly find that resources are distracted, or worse yet, gone altogether. Other people may be reassigned to different projects, priorities will undoubtedly be shifting and executives in the company will be holed up in corner offices and conference rooms trying to figure out the “next best thing” to keep the company afloat.

None of the above discounts the fact that you have projects that still need to be completed. It may be for a client that has already paid, has a contract in place, or an internal project that is part of the “game changing” plan that will soon emanate from behind the closed doors of harried executives.

What To Do For a Project When Your Company Is Sinking

Here’s some simple advice to follow that is only four words long…be in the room. That’s it. You need to be in the room. That’s what you do for a project during tough times to make sure it still gets done. What does this mean?

Think about the chaos that ensues after a company may have gone through a rough patch and has to lay off a sizable percentage of their workforce. It’s like a rock that is thrown into the middle of the pond. The pond may be perfectly calm and serene and then the rock hits with a huge SPLASH! Water goes everywhere and the ripples begin to spread out from the center covering the entire pond. In a relatively short period of time, however, the ripples have become smaller and smaller, the rock has disappeared and things begin to calm down and get back to normal.

The same thing happens in a company whenever there is a disruptive event such as a layoff. However, there are forces at work that are trying to minimize the impact of the splash and the ripple effect. These forces that are at work assessing the situation, determining priorities, having meetings, and then making decisions.

You need to be in those meetings. You need to be in the room as much as possible during these times so you know what to do for a project you may be concerned about. It may be lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of support, or a combination of all three. However, as much as possible you need to be involved in what is going on in regards to your project. You need to be in the room.

How to Be In the Room to Know What to Do For a Project

The following suggestions are something you can apply whenever your company has gone through such an event as described above.

1. Self-manage 

If you are going to wait around for somebody to tell you what to do next, you’re crazy. Don’t take it personally, but you and your projects are most likely not a priority right now. You’re an experienced Project Manager and you know what to do for a project. Now is the time to create your own path and not wait on someone else to do it for you. Find out what’s going and insert yourself into that mix. You certainly can’t barge into a Board meeting that is occurring, but you can drop in on a conversation you overhear in the hall or follow up on a rumor that you may have heard from two or three sources.

2. Be at the right place at the right time

Part of self-managing is that you know where you need to be and when to get your job done. If all the action is occurring on the floor below yours, find a reason to visit that floor often. If you have multiple offices, and all the action is occurring in another office, find a reason why you need to get to that office. Don’t assume that anybody in this environment is going to come to you and ask your opinion. You need to be around to give your opinion about what to do for a project you are managing.

3. Keep your head down

We’re not talking about keeping your head down for fear of getting shot or being timid, but rather keeping your head down to stay focused on what needs to be done to move your projects forward. This allows you to make progress, gain traction, and stay ahead of the curve once the dust settles.

4. Don’t wait for an invitation to the party 

It may not be politically correct and even fly in the face of good manners, but this is the time you do need to crash the party.  If you know there is a group of people working on what you are interested in, don’t wait for them to ask you to join them. You may need to even take this to another level. There may be certain people that DO NOT WANT YOU AT THE PARTY depending upon your viewpoint and opinion of what is going on with the company. These are especially the parties you want to attend. Decisions may be made at these discussions and meetings that could adversely affect your project and you want to make sure you are in the room to speak your mind.

One More Word of Advice

One more word of advice when it comes to what to do for a project when your company is sinking has to be done prior to the tide going out. You need to attach yourself to revenue. Find those projects that bring cash into the company. Work on projects that help with the bottom line. Be associated with projects that have a high potential / low risk of being the next best thing…which ultimately will bring in revenue.

It’s too easy sometimes to get in a comfort zone of working on a particular type of project. However, if you don’t take a moment to reflect on what the value of these projects are to the organization you may find yourself one of the first ones overboard. Continually ask yourself and assess your situation and ask “if a layoff happened tomorrow, would the projects I’m working on bring enough value to the company to keep me on board?” If not, start finding those projects that will. You obviously won’t be able to change your portfolio of projects overnight, but if you consciously make those decisions you will be in a much better situation when those tough decisions have to be made.

One thing you should have with you in the room when you are talking about your projects are the facts! ProjectManager.com makes it easy to have the facts about your projects all in one place. Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and watch how value as a project manager increases.

Here’s the problem when you start to feel like this as a Project Manager. Like it or not, your team takes a queue from your disposition, attitude, and even energy level. They may not articulate the fact that they base their level of comfort upon how you are feeling or acting, but they do. If you come in dragging or act despondent as if there’s no hope, then your team will quickly follow suit. You set the pace.

Rather than commit career suicide and take others down with you, try the following 4 perspective changers and see how quickly you can be re-energized as a Project Manager. You’ll see a huge difference when it comes to the performance of your team.

Unclutter EVERYTHING

One thing that happens when you stay somewhere for a long period of time is that clutter accumulates. This clutter is made up of different things, both literal and figurative. For example, your office may be cluttered, you may not be able to see the top of your desk, or your computer is littered with unused files and shortcuts. There may be orphaned projects that are languishing and just need to be closed out, or broken relationships that need mending.  There are Post-It Notes everywhere with tasks that need to be entered into your planning software.

All of these things need your attention so you can move forward gracefully and efficiently. If you come in each day with the weight of clutter bogging you down, you will find it hard to work on new and exciting things. Clean up your office, rediscover your desktop, close out projects that need to be closed, update your project planning software, and mend relationships that may be broken. You will feel a great weight lifted off your shoulders and begin to look at things in a new way.

Meet with (Happy) Customers

It’s no surprise that the day of a Project Manager is typically filled with putting out fires, dealing with project stakeholders that may be frustrated, and fielding dissatisfied client’s issues and complaints. Day after day, week after week and year after year this type of activity will gradually wear you down. This results in sapping you of the energy and feeling of accomplishment that accompanies a job well done.

What can you do? Go visit some happy customers.

Take a day and go out and visit customers that are using your product or have benefited from a successful project implementation. Hear what they like, listen to how it saved them money, made their jobs easier, or helps their customers. Reflect on their ideas and suggestions about making things better. You will come back with a renewed excitement about the services you and your company provides.

Think about it this way. When was the last time you called the electric company and said, you really appreciate the fact that your electricity has stayed on for a long period of time without interruption? Probably never! They only hear from you when there’s a problem.

As a Project Manager, you are the electric company. It’s a rare day when someone will let you know they appreciate their lights being on. The only time people will come to you is if there are problems or something has gone horribly wrong. You’ll have to take upon yourself to find out how much people appreciate that their lights are on! Change your routine and take the initiative to visit some happy customers. You’ll feel better after you do.

Bring in New Blood

If you’re in a position to hire people and you need to bring in someone new, bring someone on-board that is different than you. We are all drawn toward certain types of people and personalities. When you look at the team you have assembled, are they the same as you? Do they have the same background, same education, and same experience? Hire someone that is qualified, but also has a different background, different education and different experiences. Bringing in new blood adds excitement back to the mix.

What if you are not in a position to bring someone new on board? You can still connect with people that are entirely different than you. If you’re in IT, connect with someone in Marketing. If you are in Marketing, connect with someone in Finance. This can be either inside or outside your organization.  You will find that they may have experienced similar issues as you, but approached it from an entirely different angle.  Think about how much experience you have gained throughout the years. Everyone else has as well. Take time to meet with them, pick their brains, and find new and innovative ways to solve nagging and old problems.  You can bring this energy and different approach back to your routine and become more engaged.

Pursue a New Certification

Most employers will pay for this additional training and certification. All you need to do is come up with a compelling value-add reason of how this will benefit your company.  That’s pretty easy to accomplish. Do some research and find out how your certification will yield more consistent results and higher project closure rates. Translate that into financial cost savings and then make your pitch to your manager.

So, you may not be able to bring back the same excitement you had the day you started your new job, but you can come close. Unclutter EVERYTHING, meet with (happy) customers, bring in new blood, or pursue a new certification all for the purpose of bringing excitement back to your job!

Looking to get reenergized? If you’ve cleaned up your desk and have nowhere to put all those tasks, try ProjectManager.com free for 30 days. This Project Planning software would be a great place to start!

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This recent switch and viewpoint toward the workforce has caused some concern for Project Managers who now wonder what project collaboration looks like with teams that are dispersed in multiple locations and time zones.

What is collaboration in the first place? Collaboration is the ability for people to work together towards a common purpose to achieve business benefit. Sounds very noble and inspirational, doesn’t it? It’s great to be connected to a group of people that are working together toward a common purpose. Everyone pulls in the same direction, has each other’s back, and has a mutual feeling of pride and accomplishment once the task at hand is complete. These are your peers who you have been through the good and bad times, stayed late at night together, traveled together and put forth that extra effort necessary to get the job done.

But, what if you never see these people? What is collaboration in the new virtual work environment that is becoming more common every day? Is it even possible?

Yes. Collaboration with a virtual environment is possible. It’s just a little different and requires a bit more effort. The following are some guidelines you can keep in mind when it comes to project collaboration with a virtual team.

Know Your Team

It takes a self-disciplined, self-motivated, and self-energized person to be able to work remote.  Not everyone is able to handle the responsibility that comes when they are put in that environment, and many do not enjoy being away from the core team. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of your team you can choose which team members will thrive in a remote environment and which ones will sputter and not succeed. If you don’t start with a strong foundation of those who can be successful working remotely, then you certainly won’t be able to maximize your collaborative efforts.

Keep in Touch

It’s up to you as a Project Manager to keep in touch with everyone on your team. You need to take the lead when it comes to collaboration, and what is collaboration without people knowing what is going on? Disconnects will arise if you only meet with your remote team members during scheduled virtual meetings. Team members may be reluctant to bring up topics that need to be addressed in a group setting. Make sure to set up individual conversations, incorporate these into your Communication Plan and use collaborative technologies that are available such as webinars and video conferencing.

Conduct Effective Virtual Meetings

A big part of working successfully and collaboratively with remote workers has to do with how effectively conference calls and virtual meetings are conducted.  People need to view meetings they attend remotely just as important, if not more so, than the ones they attend in person. It’s hard to sneak into a face-to-face meeting without everyone knowing you are late, disrupting the meeting while you are finding a seat, and then getting caught up with what everyone has already discussed. This frustration is compounded when you add the element of distance, not being in the same building or not being able to get in touch with someone who is critical to the call. These are all collaboration killers.

Reward Collaborative Behavior

If you are fortunate enough to have someone on the team who is used to collaborating virtually and is very effective at it, make sure you reward and reinforce this behavior. Maybe they share their screen every chance they get, or send out files ahead of time to make sure everyone is on the same page, literally. Catch people doing this type of thing correctly and make a big deal out of it the next time you get together.

Use the Best Collaborative Tools

What is collaboration effectiveness if you can’t see or work on the same documents or materials together? The trick is finding which tools are the best ones to use. How can this be done? First, you need to start with your objectives. Do you just need the ability to set-up conference calls every now and then or do you need full-fledged video conferencing where the team members can see each other? Next, you need to determine the size of your typical team and the budget you are able to spend. The good news is that for smaller teams (5-7 people) there are numerous free options out there that range from Skype, to Free Conference Call (http://www.freeconferencecall.com/) for phone conferences, to AnyMeeting for web and video conferences (http://anymeeting.com/).

Finally, understand how these tools work and make the most out of them. Work out the kinks before a “real” meeting takes place. Set up a meeting for the purpose of understanding and testing the functionality of whichever platform you have chosen. There is nothing worse than fumbling through technical glitches for 10 minutes before everyone can get up and running and move on to the business at hand.

What are “the best” tools to use? There really is no one answer to that question. There are so many “really good” tools on the market today that it becomes a matter of understanding your personal preference, budget, and collaboration needs. What’s important is that they consistently and uninterruptedly work for you and your team.

Be the Person that Sets the Lead

If people ask you “what is collaboration?”, then it is up to you as the Project Manager to provide the answer. You need to make sure that you take every opportunity to work with and collaborate with others to work together towards a common purpose to achieve business benefit. This becomes challenging in a virtual environment, but it is certainly not impossible. Make it a point to show others how to collaborate, what the benefits of collaboration are, and how some of the obstacles can be overcome in this new work environment.

Provide for Face-to-Face Meetings

There are countless projects that are done where the people have never even met each other. They are just a voice on the other end of the line that you can actually establish a relationship with and feel a sense of camaraderie. However, if it’s within your authority and budget, there is nothing like getting this online team together every now and then for face-to-face collaboration sessions. It may be a special project that is being worked on, or the kick-off of a new project, or celebrating the completion of an old project. If you have worked well virtually up to this point, you will see the effectiveness of your team’s collaboration skyrocket after these face-to-face opportunities.

Embrace the new working model as a Project Manager. People are choosing to work remote for many reasons and you need to know how to make the most of this arrangement. Mastering this skillset of managing and collaborating with remote teams is another skill you can add to your resume that will serve you very well in the future.

Looking for a project management collaboration tool? Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and see how easy it is to perform Twitter like messaging and commenting, share documents, images, videos, and discussions…all online!

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Okay, we’ve all been there. We’ve all dragged the chain at some point. If you’ve ever managed to turn around a consistently under-performing team, tell me briefly how you did it. We can ALL learn from your success…

This begs the question then…what should a project manager be like? That’s really a personal opinion with hundreds of different possible answers. Some may say they should be firm, stern, kind, nice, concerned, eloquent, good-presenter, great communicator, or an effective collaborator. The list can fill up an entire page with very different ideas and perceptions of how a project manager should act.

However, let’s take this from a different angle. What are some of the ways a Project Manager should NOT act? This is a shorter and more obvious list. We tender the following 5 ways for your consideration:

Hesitant – Who wants to follow a project manager that is unsure of themselves and doesn’t have a clear direction of where they are going? Nobody. Project Management is a leadership position and people, not surprisingly, look to them for leadership. Nowhere is the quality of hesitancy more loathe than during crisis situations on a project. These are the times on the project when something has gone wrong and decisions need to be made. Direction needs to be given in real time.  This is when a project manager digs into their past experience with similar situations and gets things under control quickly.

Apologetic – We’re not talking about being rude. If you accidentally bump into someone in the hallway you should apologize. What we are talking about is apologizing for every little thing that doesn’t go just according to plan. A project manager is responsible for managing any number of resources that do not directly report to him.  Most of the time they will do things perfectly. Other times, what they deliver may be close. Less frequently, their output may be a total miss.If you have to apologize for each and every one of these situations, you will find yourself apologizing all day long. You will quickly begin to lose your effectiveness and credibility. Rather, if it’s a small enough issue that doesn’t negatively impact anything…let it go. If it’s a bigger deal, rather than come in with an apology…come in with the facts and a solution. “This is what happened. It did not go according to plan. However, we do have a plan in place that will get us back on track quickly”.

Now, if it’s a trend that project deliverables are constantly missed on your project, then that’s an entirely different issue. But, if it’s the type of miss that occurs every now and then in the normal course of business, just fix it and move on.

Too Thoughtful – “Who wouldn’t want a thoughtful project manager?”, you may wonder. We are not talking about thoughtful as in “considerate”, but rather thoughtful in “thinking a lot”.  Project Managers are faced with having to make decisions all day long. There are always multiple paths to take, different resources that could be used, and various ways to get something done. They all require thought and thought requires time. But, don’t get stuck in paralysis by analysis. Project Management is an action-oriented discipline. You need to keep things moving forward. You are not tasked with having to make “the best” decision every time, but rather a “good decision” every time. Take the time necessary to make lots of “good” fast decisions and you will do just fine in your career.

Surprised – You will see many unbelievable things as you move along in your career as project manager. In your early years as a project manager it may have surprised you if somebody committed to doing something, did not deliver on time. Or, that a client asked for something just the way you delivered it and then said they never said to do it that way. Or, that timelines or budgets were slashed in half while the scope of the project was not.People don’t want to follow a project manager that is surprised by these types of events all the time. Rather, they are looking for someone that has “been there, done that”, knows how to deal with the situation at hand, and expeditiously puts the issue to rest.

There’s another facet to being surprised. This is when everything falls in line, the project is delivered on time, it’s scoped properly and everyone is thrilled with the results. If you are a project manager that says “I’m so surprised that happened this way”, then that doesn’t elicit confidence in you either. This is what good and effective project managers do and this should not come as a surprise to anyone.

By the Book, Exclusively – The Book provides some great guidelines but isn’t intended to be followed exclusively in all situations. The “Book” is any project management methodology, development methodology or other system that has been put in place for you and your team to follow. Some project managers adulate the Book so much that it begins to take the place of common sense.For example, perhaps part of the process spelled out in the Book is that prior to moving out of one phase and into the next, there’s a particular signature that needs to be in place. The problem is that the person with that signature is out of the country for two weeks. But, the project needs to move to the next phase by the end of this week to be delivered on time. Rather than figuring out an alternative to move the project forward, I’ve seen “stick-in-the-mud” project managers who find it extremely hard and painful to make an exception to the Book, ultimately compromising the completion of the project.

There are as many perceptions of what qualities a good project manager should possess as there are ways to complete a project. However, there are some universal truths when it comes to how a project manager should NOT act.  Always remember that a project manager is in a leadership role within the company and their actions should be commensurate with that visible position.

One thing everyone can agree on when it comes to project management is that great tools are a must! Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and see how easy it is to manage your projects. Project dashboards, intelligent reporting, online collaboration and up-to-the-minute project results are just what you need to manage your projects successfully!

Why Are Projects So Hard to Bring to Closure?

When you think about how to plan a project for closure, you may wonder why this is so difficult. There are a number of reasons why this is the case:

1. The devil is in the details

To use another cliché, the devil is in the details. When a project begins, most people that are involved are excited about the prospects that it will bring to increase revenue, decrease cost, help with sales and marketing, or get paid for by a client. The big picture looks exciting and everyone is anxious and ready to go. Once the project has sloughed on for a couple of months, however, everyone begins to realize what a grind this project has become. There are a number of unanswered questions and decisions that need to be made in order to finish the project. This requires meetings, time, and bandwidth and has a tendency to keep project closure at bay.

2. Requirements change 

Depending upon the duration of the project, the requirements that were in place when the project started may have changed. This could be due to a host of reasons, ranging from legal considerations to a change in plans. You should count on these changes occurring as it will happen on nearly every project. Have plans in place to allow for this type of change to occur and make sure everyone knows that this will extend the closure activity related to the project.

3. People change 

There’s horror story after horror story of how one person may have initiated a project and then that person leaves the company or moves to another department. They are replaced with a brand new person who has a very different view of the world, and more importantly the project. “We’re not doing it that way anymore”, are the first words out of their mouth as they sit down at their desk for the first time. You will definitely need to know how to plan a project for closure when the new sheriff comes to town.

4. Clients may be extremely picky 

Clients come in all shapes and sizes. There are those clients that are great to get along with, they are easy-going, flexible and just focus on the big picture. Then, there are those clients that are fastidious, demanding, persnickety, and finicky. These are the clients that come with a punch-list of items that must be done in order to close the project out that is an inch thick. This certainly presents a challenge when it comes to wrapping a project up, and more importantly, getting paid.

How to Plan a Project for Closure

There are a number of steps that can be taken to deal with the various situations described above.

1. Begin with the end in mind 

We’re back to the expression, “beginning with the end in mind“, but there is definitely value in it when it comes to closing out a project. This is where you establish and define your project objectives, what the project is designed to accomplish accompanied by objective measures and specifications. The key is “objective” measures and specifications. There is a big difference between saying that the result of the project will “look good” (very subjective…who is it supposed to look good to?) and “the color will be green, the size will 6’ x 6’, and it will be made of a particular type of wood”. The second is very specific, objective and is easy for people to compare and validate.

2. Prepare a checklist of what must be done to close the project out

With the specificity of the objectives described above, it is now time to put together a checklist of all of those items that must be complete before a project is considered finished. This list should include the following questions:

Are all project activities finished? Have all the meetings been conducted that are necessary to complete this project? Have other departments or the marketplace been made aware that this project is complete? Are there any other activities that may have been missed up to this point that need to be complete?

Are all required deliverables complete? This is a good time to reflect on the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).  Take an objective stroll through this document and ask yourself if all tangible deliverables have been completed. This includes documentation, training guides, and other deliverables that may not be “mission-critical” but are nonetheless important to the closure of the project.

Have all necessary acceptances and approvals been obtained? This is one area where newer project managers run into trouble when it comes to how to plan a project for closure. Not to be negative here, but the reality is that you sometimes can’t take people at their word. Putting their name in writing guarantees that selective memory will not be an issue. I’ve unfortunately seen it way too many times when an approving manager of a department verbally says “Yes”, but won’t commit their “Yes” to writing. Then, when something goes wrong after the project has been delivered…they don’t seem to recall giving their verbal approval.I cannot stress enough how important it is to get sign-off and approvals in writing during the lifecycle of the project. You never, ever want to stray too far away from these approvals. This makes the person providing their signature accountable for their actions and forces them to look at the deliverable prior to saying it’s ready to go.

Have all required administrative tasks been performed? This includes closing out any open contracts, making sure any and all time has been entered against the project, billing is complete and people on the project have been released and/or are assigned to new projects.

Is all project documentation and deliverables archived? You want to make sure that all documentation related to the project are in a central repository for easy access later. This may serve as the basis for a similar project in the future, or you may need to answer questions that arise about this project. It’s also a good place to store the Lessons Learned from this project. But, make sure you have these in another location as well where you are actively implementing these in future projects.

Include Project Closure Activities in the Project Plan

Once you know how to plan a project for closure, you need to include these activities in your project plan. It’s easy to take these steps for granted because they occur around the end of the project, and many times even after the project has been delivered. But, answering the questions above, pulling the proper documentation together and related activities takes time. You need to budget that time into your plan, otherwise, you will find that this most important step may not get done.

If you “begin with the end in mind” and realize that “it ain’t over until it’s over” you are well along the way of understanding how to plan a project for closure.

Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and experience the exhilaration of projects that are brought to closure time and time again. Include all of your project closure activity on our project planning module, assign it to the proper resources, and even store your approval documentation all in one place! 

To aid in the completion of projects, most companies have created and implemented some form of project lifecycle. The activities that comprise the project lifecycle can be captured using Gantt charts and Gantt chart software. Whether your company specializes in marketing, web development, or construction projects, there’s a certain path to follow. The path will typically include the following six components:

Requirements – This is where “what” is going to be built is defined

Design – This is where “how” it is going to be built is determined

Build – This is where the “what” and the “how” come together and the work is done

Validate – This is where what was built is confirmed to have been done correctly

Install – This is where the project is implemented in its final location ready for use

Maintain – This is the ongoing maintenance or updates of what was delivered.

Each one of these phases has their own teams of people that are working on deliverables that are specific to each department. These are then passed down the “assembly line” and follow the Gantt chart for the next group to bring their skills to the table and add value to the project along the way.

What is missing from the above list, however, are Approvals or Checkpoints along the way. There is nothing worse or more demoralizing than a project making it all the way to the Installation phase only to hear that “we need to bring this back to the drawing board”. Your heart sinks as you see the project come to a grinding halt and shift gears to reverse! You watch helplessly as it moves backwards through the validate, build, and design stage just to start over again in the requirements phase.

And then the congressional hearings and finger pointing begins about the project. How could it have made it this far? How was this missed? Who was responsible for approving the work? How much will this cost us to fix? What is the impact on this project’s schedule and others that were coming right behind it?

Approvals and Checkpoints along way would remove all of this angst and should be included in the project schedule and incorporated in the project Gantt chart. Now, congressional hearings and finger-pointing will most likely still ensure, however, you’ll now be able to provide objective, fact-based answers to such questions.

Approvals Instill Accountability

If someone knows they will be responsible for putting their name on the dotted line and approving the work prior to it moving forward, they will pay that much more attention to the quality of the work along the way. They will make sure all the requirements are gathered, the design is sound, the build is solid, and all defects have been found. They will challenge their team members within their department to do the same and the quality of the output will dramatically increase. Doing so will make the approval process more than just another line item in the Gantt chart software, but an event that really means something.

People Have Short-Term and/or Selective Memories

We’ve all experienced the “drive-by approval”. This is when you are walking in one direction down the hall and someone else is walking the other direction down the hall. “Hey, you good to go with moving the deliverable on to the next phase of the project?” you ask. “You’ve got my blessing”, they reply. You take that as your approval to move forward. Nothing is written down and nothing is documented.

A couple of days pass and this drive-by approval comes back to bite you hard. Something went wrong with the deliverable that moved forward and prompted the obligatory escalation meetings. “I never approved that deliverable to move forward”, they now say. “Of course you did”, you reply, “don’t you remember passing me in the hall and saying you’ve got my blessing?”.  To which they reply “I wasn’t giving you approval to move forward, I was just giving you my blessing!”.

Perhaps an extreme example, but you get the point. Unfortunately, I’ve seen it time and time again. Squirrely functional managers will conveniently forget what they approved when the going gets tough. Or, they will try and spin what they said to the point that they actually meant something else. Not everyone acts this way, but some do and you need to be mindful of the risk this introduces to your                                                       project.

How to Keep Your Project Moving Forward

In order to take each and every step forward with confidence, make sure you have the necessary approvals and paperwork in place to not worry about having to go back to the drawing board. Even if the project does need to go back to the drawing board, you have expended and implemented every bit of due diligence possible on your part as a project manager to make sure it moved forward.

Approvals or Checkpoints don’t need to be a big deal. They are a zero duration task and just a blip on your Gantt chart. It could be a simple Form or a quick Email that states that the project or deliverable has been cleared to move on to the next phase. It’s just good project management housekeeping to make sure you have the necessary documentation in place with the project deliverables.

Something else will occur when you ask someone to sign an approval or checkpoint form. Some people will become offended. “What, you don’t trust me?” they retort when you put the form in front of them. This is EXACTLY the person that you want to make sure signs the form. The ones that are most indignant about signing the form or make the most noise about trust, respect, and other honorable attributes, are the very reason this form is in place.  These typically are the people that have the shortest-term or most selective memory. The ones you most likely will never have to worry about are the ones that understand this is a matter of course, applies good project management principles, and is for the good of the project, team and company.

Just let those who make the most noise know that this is part of the process that occurs on each and every project. Show them where the checkpoint appears in the Gantt chart software. It’s up to them whether they want to sign the form or not. However, until they feel the deliverable is ready to move out of their department, it will begin to show up as a risk on the weekly project status reports to upper management. Being objective and consistent across all projects will make this an easy, and effective conversation to have.

Strategically place Approval and Checkpoints throughout your project lifecycle and you will establish traction from your project like never before!

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You were (and are) a great project manager. It had nothing to do with your performance. You had systems and process and controls in place for work management and time reporting. Procurement was a breeze and you rarely had projects that went over budget due to your attentiveness and scrutiny on expenses.

Things just changed.

You remember when you started 6 years ago. The place was buzzing with activity. Sure, work management was a challenge because there was so much going on, but everyone was positive and upbeat. Every new project that came in offered an exciting challenge, opportunity to learn and feel a sense of accomplishment from doing what had never been done before.

People came and went over the years, but it was always for family responsibilities or a position opening up elsewhere that furthered the career path that person was on. They hated to leave the company and everyone was sad to see them go.

But something changed, and here you are orphaned at your house alone and disconnected from the rest of the work world. What did you miss?

Recognizing What’s Not There

It’s pretty easy to see when the company got into trouble. There were some bad business decisions that were made and some big clients were lost. “No worries”, you thought, “we have plenty of work and projects to manage and we’ll be just fine”. But that ended up not being the case. You can see the pattern that occurred now that you look back:

1. Good salespeople left

It’s one thing for people to leave for other opportunities, but when you see good (and best) salespeople start walking out the door, it’s time to start asking why. This is usually a harbinger of things to come. If a salesperson for your company loves what they are doing, makes plenty of money off what they are selling, and has no problem selling it then there really is no reason for them to leave.On the other hand, if they do find that changes to the product, pricing, or work management policies are negatively impacting their ability to sell, then they will leave. Now that you look back, you did notice the best of the best start moving on to other opportunities.

2. Members of the core group left

There was always the group of people that kept things running. These were the pivotal employees with a plethora of institutional knowledge that had been around since the beginning. They architected much of what the company is built on and were influential in many of the major business decisions that were made. Looking back, you saw that over time this core group of people began to dissipate as well. There was always someone there that was willing to try and step into their shoes, but it just wasn’t the same.Some even left with no other place to go! Definitely a sign of turmoil and shifting that is underway.

3.Things start to disappear

You remember walking into the conference room one day and noticed the monitors that were used for video conferencing between your multiple offices had disappeared. You used these all the time as a project manager that was responsible for work management across multiple locations. Now they are gone. This struck you as a bit strange, but you really didn’t put too much thought into it.Looking back you probably should have. You remember a friend of yours who worked for an Internet company back in heyday of the .COM era. He told you about the catered lunches that were brought in for everybody 4 days every week (every day except Wednesday). Then, the lunches stopped. Then the layoffs started. Then the company shut down.

It’s hard to see what is NOT there. But, if you’re observant and start to notice trends, you may start to see patterns emerge that mean it’s time for you to be prepared for a change.

Recognizing a Change in Rhythm

Something else occurred that should have been a sign that things were changing. There was a definite change to the rhythm or cadence of your day. Work management will typically settle into some type of routine. The routine may be long, grinding and out of control, but it’s a routine nonetheless. For example, when you started with this company in just a matter of weeks you had to plow through 140-150 emails every day. Meetings were back-to-back and you would rarely have any time to yourself.

Looking back, you realize you dwindled down to maybe a couple dozen emails each day. Your calendar had a smattering of standing meetings on it each week and you had plenty of time to yourself. Nobody had any questions that needed to be answered, there were no problems that needed to be solved, and no issues were forthcoming. Your daily work management rhythm was coming to a grinding halt. This fact, coupled with what “was not there”, should have triggered red flags in your head that your company, and you, could be in trouble.

See the Signs and Do Something About It

Looking back, you could have done things differently if you had more carefully tuned in to what was happening around you.

Associate yourself with the right group

Just because a company is in trouble, it’s not a foregone conclusion that it will all go away. Find those pockets of resistance that would be considered as part of the “going-forward” team and make sure you are associated with them. Look for those areas that are bringing in revenue or working on the next great thing that will help turn the company around. You need to associate yourself with these groups sooner rather than later, so you can provide value to them, then when decisions are being made for layoffs, you’re name doesn’t come up on the table.

Prepare your resume

As a rule of thumb, you should update your resume at least one time per year whether you need to or not. Then, in an emergency situation, it’s one less thing you have to worry about. Not sure what to put on your resume? What you can do is send yourself a quick email whenever you have accomplished something that is noteworthy. Apply a business rule to it in your email program to automatically store that email in a folder called “Resume”. Then, when the time comes, all you need to do is scroll through the list of emails to jog your memory of all the accomplishments and projects you completed.

Network 

Network like crazy! This is again something you need to do ahead of time. It’s like an insurance policy. You pay into that insurance policy month after month with the hopes of never having to use it. You may not be thrilled with the monthly premium you have to pay, but you sure are glad you made that investment when you need it. It’s the same with networking. You may not be thrilled with the time necessary to keep up with everyone each month, but you will be glad you took that time when you need it.

All you know at this time is that you need to do something different. Start now. Work on your resume. Start networking. Offer some volunteer work management assistance to your favorite charity. You’ll find in no time at all you’ll be back at work and paying attention to “what is not there”.

Looking for something that won’t disappear? Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and bring value to any company you are associated with. You’ll be able to collaborate with anyone, anywhere in a secure online environment and bring your projects to a close!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb3LhwPr7P4

No question… this video is an awesome resource! Tell me what you liked about it most. Oh, and if you have any tips for managing remote teams of your own, I would be soooo grateful if you could spare a few seconds to share them with me in the Comments section below…

But, he undoubtedly has his favorite tool. It may have been the first tool he purchased many years ago when he started his first job. Or, it may be a tool that was given to him by someone that meant a lot to him. This tool has a special place in his heart and one that he uses frequently.

As a project manager, you have access to the use of many project tools to get your job done. For example, you may use a work breakdown structure (WBS), to define what needs to be done to finish the project. Or, one of your favorites may be the risk register that helps you catalog and manage risk. A project tool that is one of my favorites is the 4-blocker status report that shows accomplishments, next steps, risks, and discussion points all on one page. This is a great project tool for executive debriefs and keeping the project moving forward.

While all of these project tools are great…I have to say that my absolute favorites are any that have to do with project communication. There’s no way a project can be successful unless everyone knows what is going on with a project, its current status, next steps, and what;’s expected of them to complete the project.

There are a number of ways this project tool can be implemented. The following are some ideas on how to make use of your communication vehicles (in any project) by understanding the multi-directional aspect of effective project communication.

Multi-Directional Aspect of Effective Communication?

What exactly is the multi-directional aspect of effective communication? All this mouthful means is that you need to communicate in different ways when you communicate in different directions. For example, communicating project status to a C-Level executive is very different than communicating status to an engineer that is in the trenches banging out code.

There are three directions in which you will communicate. Up, Down, and Sideways.

Communicating Up

Communicating “up” is getting the word up the food chain to those that may be above your position. This includes your boss, executives and other stakeholders that have a vested interest in the success of the project you are managing. 

Why is this important? It is important to keep this group of people apprised of the status of your project because they can make your life easier, or miserable…depending upon what and when they knew about what was going on. For example, if you know a project runs the risk of not making it due to a lack of resources, this is the group that can reallocate resources or reprioritize other activities in order to make your project meet its deadline. This is the group that will also ask “why didn’t you tell me earlier when I could have done something about it?” if you come to them too late in the process.

What are the challenges of communicating with this group? The biggest challenge with communicating up is that everyone is extremely busy and doesn’t have time for the long-drawn out explanations of what happened, why it happened, or what went wrong. You may be able to get a sound-bite or two in while you are walking with them down the hall or rushing to your next meeting together.

Which project tool should you use? To communicate your message “up” to this group it’s most effective to use the 4-blocker type of status report that I mentioned earlier. Make sure the information is brief, succinct and quickly nets out where things stand. Otherwise you run the risk of their eyes glazing over, losing interest, and a decision not being made. Also, this group relishes face-to-face conversation and short one or two line emails that get right to the point.

Communicating Down

Communicating “down” is not to be taken in a negative way, but rather in a hierarchical way of those who are on your project team that are working with you on your project. These are the cross-functional resources from various departments that temporarily roll up to you while your project is being worked on. 

Why is this important? This group is important to keep apprised of what’s going on with the project for obvious reasons. These are the people who are on the front lines of getting things done. They know the intricacies and nuances of what is being worked on and can provide you with the feedback (both good and bad) that you will need as a project manager to keep things moving forward.

What are the challenges of communicating with this group? Like the executives above, this group is extremely busy…just in a different way. They are most likely overloaded, overwhelmed, and under great pressure to get their work done. This is not just from you as their project manager, but also includes their functional manager and possibly other project managers as well. You need to be careful not to bury this group with too much unnecessary information that will slow them down or cause them to get frustrated or aggravated. Just give them enough information that they need in order to get the task at hand done.

Which project tool should you use? To communicate your message “down” would include weekly status meetings, 1-on-1 conversations, updated and proper project documentation (such as requirements, specifications, etc.) and emails with a bit more explanation on the background of why decisions were made one way or the other. This will give them enough information to be comfortable in doing their job.

Communicating Sideways

Communicating “sideways” is an often overlooked aspect of communication. This is the type of communication that you carry on with your peers and colleagues that are on a similar level on the Org Chart. While it’s not a “requirement” that you effectively communicate with your peers, it sure makes everyone’s job that much easier. 

Why is this important? These are the people that run other departments that you may rely upon to get your job done. You may need resources from their departments, or deliverables to be finished in a certain way, or just a plain old favor every now and then. By maintaining positive and respectful communication with your peers, you will find that all of these things will flow that much smoother.

What are the challenges of communicating with this group? Sometimes you just might not like them and their personality makes them hard to communicate with. They may run their department different than you, or feel they have to make you jump through a certain number of hoops before they say “yes” to your requests.

Which project tool should you use? Lunch. That’s right. Lunch with your peers and colleagues is one of the best project tools to use when it comes to communicating with this group. This gives you the opportunity to understand each other’s position and needs, commiserate over what’s wrong with the company, talk about how to make things better, and just get to know them better. You will be amazed at what a profound difference having some semblance of a relationship with your peers will do for your projects.

Just like a carpenter has a favorite tool they may use all the time, you as a project manager have many project tools at your disposal. Never lose sight of the fact that any project tools related to effective communication will provide a substantial return on your investment.

We think one project tool every project manager should use is a FREE 30 day trial of ProjectManager.com. Use this great tool to effectively communicate the latest on your projects with project status reports, progress reports and resource reports. Everyone at every level will appreciate the insight this great tool provides! 

Who wouldn’t want the life of a rock star? You get to stay up late every night and sleep in all morning. You tour the world on your private plane and fancy buses. You go from one party to the next, get paid millions of dollars each year, and have tens of thousands of fans screaming out your name. What’s there not to love (besides of course, short-life spans, no private life, and broken marriages?)

We won’t so much focus on the downside of the rock star life, but more along the lines of the screaming fans and millions of dollars each year. What then, are some of the attributes you should possess that can put you in this category of the project manager who achieves rock star status? That is, the project manager who stands out from everyone else around them based upon their skills, abilities, talent and experience.

The following six attributes may put you in this category. Just be sure to crank them WAY UP!

Confidence Builder

The project manager that is a rock star instills confidence in other people. You can tell by the project manager’s swagger. They have a certain way they walk. They lower their voice a notch or two when they talk business. They exude “been there, done that” and people feel comfortable with them being in the lead. Confidence is not to be confused with arrogance, but rather an attitude that everything is going to be alright.

Seriously, would you want to follow someone who was anything less than confident? This is not to say that the project manager who is a rock star has the answer to everything or their projects don’t get into trouble. However, they don’t overreact to such situations and methodically figure out a way to get to the best solution and decision.

Change Manager

A fact about every project is that there’s going to be change. It is next to impossible for a project to make it to completion without change entering the picture. These changes may range from something minor (a matter of personal preference) to something major (a key requirement may have been missed). The project manager that can adeptly manage change is one that will rise to the top in no time.

It’s up to you to expect change. Have processes and procedures in place when change occurs. Realize that it’s part of your job to roll with the changes that come your way. Do you have a change request form ready? Does the client understand that they can change things at any time, however it will cost additional money? Do internal stakeholders at your company understand that change typically extends timelines? Make sure you have all of this groundwork covered before changes occur and it will make managing the change process that much easier.

Exceptional Planner

The project manager that is a rock star is known for their stellar planning capabilities. Sure, we all know how to put a project plan together. That’s the cost of entry to the party. It is the exceptional project manager that has a plan for everything else as well. They don’t just plan out the details that will feed into the project plan, but they plan out the big picture as well. Which meetings need to take place? Where do they need to occur? Who needs to be there and how will they be run? They may come to realize that Sales need to get involved again in the project. They immediately put a plan in place to make that happen. This person can see both the forest for the trees and the trees for the forest, and this allows them to put the plan together at both a tactical and strategic level.

Outstanding Communicator

There are two extremes of project communicators. There are project managers that sit at their desks and unleash a cavalcade of emails with subject lines such as “Need Status”, “FYI”, or “Is this done yet?”. They rarely see their team face-to-face and feel that their job is simply to serve as a conduit for forwarding emails from one person to the next. Plus, they like the perceived security that having an audit trail affords them. This allows them to pull up a piece of paper and say “See…I told you about that”.

The second type is the project manager that rarely writes anything or sends any email, but knows the ins and outs of what is going on with the project because they are side by side with their project team. They know the issues, challenges, risks, and status as good as anyone on the team and exactly what needs to be done next. Their team knows they are in this together and have an increased level of trust due to the incessant communication that this project manager exercises.

The project manager that is a rock star leans more toward the second type…with just enough email and paper trail to keep things on track. They communicate up, down, and sideways within the organization. They listen WAY more than they talk. They ask questions for the sake of understanding deeply. They collaborate on solutions and get buy-in from (most) of the team prior to proceeding. Even if there are some on the team that do not agree with the project manager’s decision, they respect the fact that they listened and clearly communicated the reason why the decision was made.

Risk Mitigator

Arguably, one of the most important functions that a project manager serves is that of a risk mitigator. A risk is anything that might occur to a project that would prevent it from being completed on time and within budget. Isn’t it the project manager’s job to complete projects on time and within budget? That’s why I would consider it one of the most important functions they serve.

It is the exceptional project manager that looks under every rock for problems that could arise that would get their project off course. Are there enough resources? Have all the requirements been captured? Is there the possibility for another big project to come in and delay this project? What’s more, they put a contingency plan in place to deal with these risks in the event that they occur and become issues.

Problem Solver

What would a project be without problems? By definition, a project is a one-time endeavor with a clear beginning and end date. This means that it’s one of a kind, unique and this particular flavor of project hasn’t been done before. And there’s the problem. You don’t know what you don’t know and with each project is going to arise a fresh set of problems to deal with. The project manager that is a rock star navigates these problems with ease. They don’t get stressed and overexcited when problems occur. Neither do they get depressed and downtrodden when something goes wrong. Rather, they methodically work through the problem, find a good solution (doesn’t always need to be ‘the best’, many times good will suffice if it can be done quickly) and move on with getting things fixed.

While staying up late, sleeping all morning and going to party after party may not help your project management career, you can be a project manager rock star by displaying the above 6 attributes. If you are a confidence building, change managing, stellar planner who lets others know what is going on while avoiding risk and solving problems, then you are well on your way to a successful career.

Don’t go to your next party alone. Bring ProjectManager.com with you with our FREE 30 day trial. Find out how you can save time and hassle by quickly creating project plans anywhere and anytime, produce outstanding reports and ultimately improve your success! 

You’re picturing yourself in front of this stuffy crowd of stately stakeholders all looking over the top of their glasses at you. They have a permanent look of disbelief etched upon their face. Your presentation is up on the screen and your project reporting software is coming into focus. You begin talking, but are interrupted almost immediately with a barrage of questions that rivals any episode of Jeopardy.

But then you realize… that was the way it USED to be! You used to dread these meetings. You would sweat and fret over the presentation. You would obsess over your reporting software in preparation for the meeting. You would make sure that each and every word was hand-picked so as not to cause alarm, enflame, or elicit any other type of emotion, that would cause this honorable crowd to go down a path of negativity of which would be hard to recover.

It’s not like that anymore. You’ve figured out how to present at these types of meetings, and have come to almost (“a-l-m-o-s-t”), look forward to these meetings. If you have the same gut-wrenching, heart-palpitating, headache-inducing reaction to the Quarterly Executive Project Review, then the following points will help you make the most of these meetings.

But first, let’s talk about the benefits that can be derived from such a meeting.

The Benefits of the Quarterly Executive Project Review

Look past the fact that the meeting is called a Project Review. You can make it whatever you want. Sure, you need to discuss project status, risks, next steps, etc., but you can also use it to focus on new opportunities, gather strategic information related to where the customer is going, and make the relationship between your two organizations seem like a match made in heaven. You don’t have to limit the meeting to what was pulled from your project reporting software.

Use this meeting as an opportunity to clear up all those stubborn little obstacles that haven’t been resolved since the project started. Your counterpart at this client meeting has done the best he can, but sometimes things are even out of his control. At this table are the people that can make a difference, and even more importantly, they can make a decision so activity can get unstuck and the project can move forward.  Resources can be assigned, schedules can be cleared, and budgets can be reallocated at the single nod of an executive giving the go-ahead.

A Recipe of DO NOT’s for a Good Executive Review

The following are some guidelines you’ll want to follow for the purpose of having a productive and stress-free executive review.

Don’t dwell on the past

This crowd doesn’t care that you met your goals. It’s an assumption on their part. These people are a no-nonsense, no-excuses group of people that didn’t get where they are by resting on their laurels. Spend 20% of the meeting rapidly going down the checklist of what’s been accomplished so everyone is on the same page, and then the remaining 80% of the time on the future. Talk about next steps, strategic initiatives and issue resolution. This is how this crowd is wired, that’s what keeps them engaged, and that’s what makes you sound credible.

Don’t just present the positive

If you get in front of everyone and just focus on everything that went right, then your credibility begins to dwindle as well. These people have made plenty of mistakes in their career and they know stuff happens. They also realize that’s part of business and if you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not pushing the envelope and you’re certainly not learning. They know there’s more to business than just what shows up on a sanitized project report. You don’t have to air all of your dirty laundry, but do be mindful to include a ‘missed opportunities’ component to the presentation. It can go something like this. “We tried a new way of completing this particular task in hopes of reducing cost for your company. Unfortunately, we found that it didn’t work and we stumbled a bit on the schedule. However, what we did learn from this brief experiment has now been implemented in another section of the project where we have been able to reduce cost by 15%. Any questions?” That resonates with this crowd and gives them the respect they deserve.

Don’t sound like a Project Manager

This group of people doesn’t care about Gantt charts, or project schedules, work breakdown structures, or the project reporting software you use. Do you know what they do care about? The bottom line. Do you know why they care about the bottom line? Because their personal financial statements are joined at the hip with the company’s bottom line. Bonuses, compensation and other employment variables are intrinsically connected to how well the company is doing.With this fact in mind, always speak in terms of how much money this saved, the income it generated, the expenses it cut and any combination thereof that allows them the ability to take home a bit more for themselves.

Don’t spend a lot of time putting Your PowerPoint together

This may sound counterintuitive, but they don’t want to see another PowerPoint presentation. If they wanted to read mind-numbing bullet after mind-numbing bullet they could do that on their own time. Have a conversation with these people.  Ask them questions. Let them ask you questions. Look them in the eye when you talk to them…not at some screen filled with mindless dribble that you’re reading from. If you do have a PowerPoint, just have it serve as a backdrop to the main show…which is you.

I had a friend who spent weeks obsessing over his PowerPoint. It had to be just right. It was the money slide that carefully and slowly built upon itself and was designed to leave the crowd breathless. The day of the executive review came and the presentation started out great. Then, somebody accidentally hit the button that shut everything down. The screen went up into the ceiling, the projector shut off, and his hopes fell to the floor. All that was left was printed-out copies of a jumbled mess that left people with no clue of what he was talking about.

He vowed never to let that happen again and since that day has kept it simple.

Take a new view of the Quarterly Executive Project Review meeting. View it as an opportunity to tell good things and move your project forward. Apply the four principles above and you’ll find that you just can’t wait until you get in front of these executives again!

Try ProjectManager.com free for 30 days and you’ll have just what you need for your Executive Review. Our Project Dashboard lets you see the health of your project in real-time and drill down to investigate problems and issues that can be resolved instantly by the right executive!

There are a number of benefits that come from implementing such a structure within a company. But a PMO is not something that is typically started right out of the gate, especially within a smaller company. The following article will discuss some of the benefits of a PMO as well as some of the tell-tale signs suggesting it might be time to establish a PMO.

The Benefits of a Project Management Office

There are a number of benefits that come to a company as soon as they implement an enterprise-wide project management office:

Create and implement consistent systems and processes

One of the most noticeable benefits of a project management office is their ability to create and implement consistent systems and processes. Companies will become successful for a number of reasons. They have a great product, they have great salespeople, they are innovative, or a combination of other factors will lead to their success. With this success comes growth, and with growth comes growing pains.

There’s a certain mindset that occurs as a company is growing exponentially. I once heard a colleague of a fast growing company express the sentiment that “any decision that moves the company forward is the right decision”. The spirit of what he was saying was that you can’t take time to slow down in a fast growing company and methodically analyze every possible solution to a decision that needs to be made. Rather, people need to make decisions on-the-spot and in real time in order to keep things moving.

This works great in theory. However, long-term, what it introduces is very inconsistent, unpredictable, and sometimes unreliable ways of getting the work out the door, whatever that work may be. Once a company has reached this point of confusion, it’s a great relief to those who are affected to have an objective third party (also known as a PMO) come in and smooth things out.

The members of the project management office will identify the systems and processes that are working, get rid of those that aren’t, and fill in any missing gaps.

An objective source of truth

Another benefit that comes once a project management office is implemented is that there is one objective location to find the truth. What does this mean? If it is set up properly, a PMO will not have any resources reporting directly to them (other than project managers and perhaps some business analysts). As such, there is nothing to hide or cover up when it comes to reporting on project status.If a department is running their own projects, they may not be quite as objective to report on the true status of where things stand. We’re not talking about people deliberately lying here, but rather providing their “version of the truth”.  For example, a department may know they missed the date of a deliverable. But, they also know that by the time the next status meeting comes around they will be able to catch up and choose not to report it is a potential risk.  Then, an emergency happens, this deliverable never gets finished, and now the project is in crisis mode.

A project management office provides visibility into such an occurrence and heads off the negative consequences. If the deliverable was not complete on the date needed and a clear (and near) end date was not forthcoming, this would have been reported as a potential risk. This would have given the project sponsor or company executives the ability to do something about it so it didn’t get out of control.

The President of a software development company once told me that he uses the person that runs his project management office as the barometer for how well (or poorly) things are going on within the company. “If he’s a little on edge, I know I need to dig into more details and see where I need to help. If he’s calm, cool, and collected then I just go to lunch. I know everything is going just fine.”

Introduces economies of scale

A project management office also reduces or eliminates duplicated efforts and wasted resources. If someone doesn’t have an overarching view of the activity that is happening within a company, similar projects and initiatives can start to appear in multiple locations when there really is no need. One solution would suffice, but the people that are working on the other solutions are not aware that there’s already a solution. A project management office can stop this duplication of efforts by coordinating amongst various departments and only expending the effort necessary to get the job done…once.

The above are just some of the benefits you’ll realize once a project management office is implemented successfully. But, how do you know when it’s time to go down this path?

When is it Time for a Project Management Office?

There’s no particular size, revenue, or makeup of a company that would indicate that it’s time to start a project management office. However, the following symptoms may be signs that you want to look into setting up this valuable department.

1. Work is not getting out the door 

Due to the success of the company and what you offer, there are log-jams and slowdowns that are creating bottlenecks across the company. This is drastically slowing work down, creating rework, and introducing all of the subsequent problems that occur because of this type of mismanagement.

2. It feels like every project is the first time you’ve done something like this

Even though you may have done a particular type of project time and time again (for example, your company may create websites that require some amount of customization for a client) it feels like this is the first time you’ve ever done this type of project. People are tripping over each other, necessary questions are not asked until it’s too late, or deliverables sit on a shelf somewhere, not getting worked on, while the department that should be doing the work is sitting on its hands. If it becomes a comedy of errors to get a project out the door, then it may be time to set up a project management office.

3. There is not a single group that knows what’s going on across the company

Everybody has bits and pieces of where things stand, or they may have their own very myopic view of the world…but nobody knows how everything ties together… and this is starting to create problems. Deliverables that are passed from one department to the next may not be configured in the proper way, or they be missing key elements of what was originally agreed upon re delivery. It may be time to put a project management office in place to provide that general overview.

As previously mentioned, a project management office is something that will typically be introduced into a company once it has reached a certain size. However, the principles of a project management office can be applied across companies of any size as they get a jump start on creating the systems and processes needed to successfully run their projects as they grow.

Looking for a project management solution that will grow with you as your company grows? Whether you have one project manager or dozens of project managers, ProjectManager.com will help you manage teams, track results, collaborate online, and report out intelligently. Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and experience the flexibility for yourself!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D75HlnHPak

You’re a legend! You probably have a few interview tips and techniques up your sleeve that EVEN I HAVEN’T THOUGHT OF! Can I entice you to share a few of your ‘killer interview tips’ in the Comments section below?

That’s a correct understanding. However, we’re going to back WAY UP in this article when it comes to talking about a project management system. We’re going to look at the macro-level of project management and how all of the documents, meetings, conversations, activity, deliverables, tangible products and services work together in the project management eco-system.

Input – Process – Output

There are three things that must be present in order for a system to work. These are the Inputs, the Process, and the Outputs. For example, take a car as a very simplistic example of a system. You input gasoline into the engine which converts, or processes, the fuel into the desired outcome of motion (the output).

It’s really no different when you think about managing a project. There are certain inputs (documents, meetings, requirements) that will be processed (teams of people working on these inputs) to produce the output of a final deliverable. This deliverable could range from the finished product that is delivered to the customer, to a work-in-progress that is shipped off to another department for them to complete.

Characteristics of INPUTS in a Project Management System

There are a countless number of items that could be considered Inputs in a project management system. The following examples are two types of Input and what must hold true for each of them:

1. Documents

There are any number of documents that are associated with a project through its lifecycle. These include business requirement documents, scope documents, quality assurance documentation, and the like. In order for these inputs to be truly useful, they must be thoroughly vetted, have the input, backing, and support of everyone on the project that needs to provide input into such documents.This will require some effort and snooping around from you as the project manager. This is the area that falls into the category of “you don’t know what you don’t know”, and it’s hard to tell if everything that is important to know about the project and what needs to be accomplished has been captured.

One way of at least getting a sense for this is if you begin hearing a repetitive theme or the same answers time and again to your questions from different people. This means you’ve done a pretty good job of pulling out as much information as possible before you move forward.

2. Meetings

Meetings, or more precisely, the decisions from meetings, can also serve as Inputs into a project. The trick with the decisions from meetings is that they can sometimes get swept under the carpet or never see the light of day.Your job as a Project Manager at this point is to muddle through all the non-value-add dialogue of these meetings, then get to the core of what really matters and what must be done. This is important to serve as Input into the project deliverables, as it will shape the final outcome. These meetings were held for a reason, and if that reason is not realized by the end of the project it can only mean rework, lost productivity, and pain.

Characteristics of PROCESS in a Project Management System

Once these Inputs have been gathered, verified, and sent along their way in a project management system, they will next be acted upon. If the Inputs are Nouns (documents, meetings, decisions, etc.) then the Process would be Verbs. This is where actions such as Create, Review, Build, Develop, and the other action-oriented words take place.

What is the project manager’s responsibility when it comes to this section of the project management system? This is typically the black-box, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” part of the project. It’s sometimes hard to understand what happens in this area as it is filled with subject matter experts and those with enough technical prowess to rival Archimedes.  But, a project manager must know at a high level what processing is taking place on the Inputs that have been provided.

It is the responsibility of the project manager to make sure everyone is dealing in reality, providing realistic dates and cost estimates, and to not get bamboozled by those who may have decades of experience in one particular area. The only way this can be accomplished is to gain the trust and respect of these experts. How do you do that? Make their lives easier. Clear obstacles, help them focus, make sure you have accurate INPUTS into their PROCESS and end products don’t come back for more work. Respect their time, push back when necessary, and always work in a spirit of partnership rather than an  “us versus them” mentality.

Characteristics of OUTPUT in a Project Management System

And finally, there is the finished product. After each department or group has acted upon the Inputs and provided value via their Process…this is the result. The finished product can be something that is delivered to another department to put their unique signature on (for example, a version of a software package going from the Development team to the Quality Assurance team) or can be the finished product that is delivered to the customer (for example, a building that has been completed).

Regardless of the final product, it is your role to make sure the original requirements of the project have been met and that scope has not ballooned out of control.

This is the epitome of the 30,000 foot view of a project management system. At its core it consists of somebody putting something into the machine to be worked upon, value being added to that input and a final, useful deliverable coming out on the back end as output. Input – Process – Output. If you view your projects that way at a macro-level you’ll be able to move mountains.

Looking for a Project Management System in the conventional sense of the term? Try ProjectManager.com FREE for 30 days and see how easy it is to input your documents, track your processes, and deliver your outputs in real-time!