Getting it done...
Getting it done...
Warning: long post... If you are a "Doer" this post is for you. You've made the best possible choices. Here's how to make it happen.
Why it matters:
All the planning in the world is useless if you don’t act. You spend a lot of energy and time making the right decisions. Once the planning is done, you need to act effectively to carry out the plan. This is true for small projects like moving a department or planning a party as much as it’s true for coordinated global infrastructure projects.
Why I can help:
I finished my career as a Senior IT Project Manager after having directed massive global projects for AT&T, IBM, Siemens, Wells Fargo, and other Fortune 50 companies.
My cousin, a hospital director, asked me how to plan for a department move. He’s a phenomenal anesthesiologist but has no project management experience. The result is a crash course in the essential elements of project management.
Project Management for non-Project Managers (Working with a team of people)
When you are managing or creating a change, think of it as a project. Here are the key things you'll need to know to tackle a project such as a large department move or your kid’s birthday party.
Tools - There are dozens of Project Management tools available online. However, the learning curve may not be worth the return. With that in mind, you'll at least need a copy of Microsoft Excel and a copy of Microsoft Word or the equivalent applications. If you are working in a team environment, you'll also benefit a lot from team collaboration tools such as instant messaging and collaborative workspace tools such as Webex or Zoom which allow you to conference, share work screens live, and use whiteboards together from your desktop. Trello is also a good tool for collaborating on projects if you have the budget for it.
Key things to know about project planning:
Planning is the step that will benefit you most. Don't skimp on the time and effort spent here. It will save you more time and effort than it costs. It’s a great rule of thumb to “Plan slow and act fast”.
Things go wrong. Understand this and know how to manage the risks to minimize the fallout. You’ll want to set aside a contingency fund of at least 10% added to the budget after all your estimates are in. Why? Because estimates are best-case guesses.
Communicate, communicate, communicate - If the entire team knows what is happening, what should be happening, and why, they can help you to succeed. Make sure everyone has access to the information they need to understand what's going on in the project.
Make sure the team knows it’s your responsibility to help figure out how to deal with friction and obstacles and their responsibility to let you know of upcoming issues as soon as possible. No surprises.
Break down the tasks into manageable chunks that can be assigned to a particular person or group which can be held accountable for the results. Get the people who will be doing the work to help you define the tasks.
The chunks (tasks) should be detailed enough to provide you with actual results that can be tracked at least weekly. Sometimes a task will take a day to complete and sometimes it may take multiple weeks. You need to be able to track tasks or an estimate of how much of the task is completed at least weekly.
Track each task to completion. A task is only complete when the entire task has been done. The person receiving the work verifies that the work is done properly before the task is accepted.
Every person or group that gets a task assigned must understand the task thoroughly and they must acknowledge responsibility to complete the task as they have committed.
Every person in a chain of tasks is responsible for making sure that the work from the previous person is acceptable and if not, to notify you and the person responsible so the work can be fixed. For example, if a map of the new location is needed, the person getting the map is responsible for verifying it has all the required information.
When complete, each task must be reported to the PM. Problems should be reported immediately. Again, No Surprises. (Never shoot the messenger).
In your status calls, you need answers to these questions:
What is complete?
What problems, obstacles, or friction is coming?
How can I help?
The project manager's role is not to perform the tasks but to assign the tasks, make sure they are understood, communicate and manage changes, monitor progress and quality, and direct efforts to deal with problems.
Put the tasks into a rough chronologically ordered list (Excel, Word, Trello, MS Project) with at least the following columns:
Task name
Task owner (person responsible for making sure it's done and reported. Not necessarily the person doing the work).
Start date.
Due Date.
The person responsible for doing the work.
The person accepting work.
Dependencies (other tasks that affect this task - e.g. construction start has a dependency on permits).
Percent complete. (use zero for not started, 25% for started, 50% for in progress, 100% for complete OR just use zero and 100%. Either the task is done or it's not)
Task notes
In meetings cover at least these topics:
Status updates (including budget if you are responsible for tracking it). Each task owner should provide you with an update weekly.
Change requests - examine any proposed changes to understand the impact on the scope of the project, schedule, budget, and quality. Make sure that everyone understands that each change will be reviewed and either approved or disapproved due to impacts on the schedule, budget, or resources.
Issues and Risks (Issues = already caused a problem, Risks = potential to cause problems.) Track each Risk and issue in a log file that assigns an owner to track each, the action plans in case a risk becomes a reality, and the plan to get back on pace if an issue arises.
Action items - every issue should have action items needed to resolve it, an owner, and a due date.
Managing risks
Risk management is at the heart of project management. Things go wrong for every project and risk management is the tool to correct that.
Doing a credible job in risk management requires the active participation of the project team. It’s one of the few parts of project management where you get multiple benefits for a single activity. Walk through the tasks with the team and ask “What are the kinds of things that could go wrong with this task?
Consider:
As you get estimates for each task, make sure the owners spell out any foreseeable risks in advance. This makes them think through what could go wrong and gives you a more accurate estimate.
Ask this key question: For similar projects or tasks, how much did it cost and how long did it take? (People unintentionally estimate best-case scenarios when they take on a task. Asking how long it took others gives a better estimate.)
Get the project tasks clearly understood, communicated, and critiqued by all the key project team members.
With the team, actively look for possible problems and also possible opportunities that will help the project.
Make sure the project team not only understands what needs to be done, it also understands how problems in one area affect the other areas.
Take the opportunity early in the project, when changes cost the least, to identify and fix potential issues.
When “Things go wrong”, you will have the plan to deal with them in the most effective manner possible, as early as possible.
When things go right, you get the choice of going to your stakeholders and returning reserves from the project budget or bringing the project further under budget.
Ways to deal with risk:
Avoid it - Identify the risk early enough to avoid it altogether or avoid it as much as possible.
Mitigate - Find ways to reduce the risk such as back-up plans, having extra cash set aside in a risk reserve, and allowing extra time for tasks that will benefit from the extra time.
Share the risk - Purchase insurance to cover as much of the risk as necessary or get a sponsor to absorb some of the risk.
Accept the risk - Sometimes there will be risks that are low impact or low probability that you should simply allow for. Put aside a risk reserve fund (I recommend 10% if you can negotiate that) as part of every project and add a small cushion of time to the project. That way, when the small, low-impact risks become issues, you'll be able to absorb them and keep going.
Set aside reserves of time, money, and resources to help mitigate risks.
Go through each task with the team and capture these items:
What could go wrong? (the risks)
How would that impact us? Is it a low, medium, or high-impact item?
How likely is that to happen? Is it low, medium, or high probability?
Determine how much risk you'll tolerate (e.g. for low impact/low probability, just monitor to make sure it doesn't get worse. For medium impact/ medium probability, write a risk management contingency plan, for high impact or probability, assign risk reserves in advance and have contingency plans.)
Track risks in a risk register until they are no longer risks or they have been dealt with.
For risks that are large enough to exceed your tolerance threshold, set up a risk trigger and assign an owner. Have the team performing the task tell you what the action plan would be if this risk turned into an issue.
Assign an owner to track each risk until it is resolved.
Review the risks each week with the team and keep an eye out for new ones.
Executing the project:
During the execution, hold weekly meetings (at least weekly, more frequent if needed) to update status, track progress, surface issues, and new risks, deal with changes and action items, and communicate.
The purpose of the meeting is to make sure the team is on the same page and dealing with risks and issues as they arise. It is to coordinate efforts and can be used to dig into problems to resolve them.
Catch people doing the right things and point those out during the weekly meetings. Track progress and share it with the team so they know exactly where the project stands. Keep status posted in a place that's accessible for the entire team, whether that's a shared server or a community bulletin board.
Be prepared to hold people accountable in the meetings for their deliverables. Do this in a completely factual and fair way. Don't assign blame, find and fix problems. Try to find them before they become big problems.
Communicate early and often with the stakeholders as well as the project team.
Celebrate small successes and be certain to celebrate bigger ones.
When things are successful, find them, focus on them, and double down on efforts in that area.
Celebrate the small and large successes. Learn from your successes even more than from your failures.
Good luck!