Project Management – Page 11 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

How would you describe the “back office” functions at your company (finance, procurement, legal, HR, etc.)?

March 26, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How would you describe the “back office” functions at your company (finance, procurement, legal, HR, etc.)?

They occasionally add value and respond in a reasonable time. 29.78%
They add value in every interaction and are highly responsive. 25.56%
They are extremely frustrating and overly bureaucratic. 19.38%
They rarely add value and tend to slow things down. 17.98%
They make my life a nightmare, and I can’t get anything done. 7.3%

Improving the back office. Eighty percent of you report your back office functions like procurement, finance, legal and HR only occasionally add value (30%) or even worse, rarely add value or make your life extremely difficult (55%). That’s alarming. But blame resides in two places. One place is with the back office. If you’re in one of these functions, remember these other groups are your customers. While policy and procedure has a place, responsiveness to their needs helps business performance. If you’re more interested in process and bureaucracy than you are in getting things done, it’s time to rethink your priorities. The other half of the blame is with those who consume back office services. Going to them with short timelines, ill-formed requests and excessive requests for exemptions doesn’t make their lives easier. You need to plan your requests better. Give them time to respond (they have a lot of customers!). Respect their rules and processes. The answer lies somewhere in the middle here (and 26% of you have found that sweet spot). It’s a partnership — treat it as such.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to managing your time?

November 7, 2019/0 Comments/in Career, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to managing your time?

Too many meetings: 18%
Too many emails: 22%
Too many interruptions: 40%
Poor calendar planning: 2%
Difficulty estimating task length: 10%
Something else: 7%

Pardon the interruption. The clear winner in time management challenges is the dreaded interruption. Once someone breaks your concentration, it takes 5 to 15 minutes to get back on track. Find ways to minimize the interruptions. Close your door. Work in a conference room outside your normal work area. Work from home. If an interruption does happen, try telling the person “It sounds like this is an important issue. I want to give it the attention it deserves. I’m focused on something else right now. Can we set a time to reconnect later today to discuss?” It acknowledges their issue and tells them they’re important. It allows you to get back to your task. And a lot of times by the time that meeting has rolled around, the person has resolved the issue without your help. Everyone wins. If you don’t protect your time, no one else will do it for you. Be proactive about it if you want to actually get things done.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

In the Absence of Clarity There is No Accountability

December 24, 2018/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

A leader’s number one job is to create clarity. Leaders who fail to create clarity will struggle with holding their people accountable because their people will choose to perform the activities that fit closest to their current comfort zone.

Today’s post is by Hamish Knox, author of Accountability the Sandler Way (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Stop reading if you’ve never said or heard this from a leader, “but I thought they knew what they were supposed to do!”

A leader’s number one job is to create clarity in their organization. Lack of clarity leads to lack of accountability and ultimately frustration and conflict.

As much as we’d like to think we aren’t, humans are animals. Social animals. In the wild social animals are led by an alpha who provides guidance (usually in the form of violence) on what is acceptable behavior in the pack.

Animals also have no capacity to process language so all of their clues about what is acceptable and how to be accountable come from the alpha’s behavior.

When an alpha (in the wild or in business) is unclear about the behavior that is acceptable and/or the consequences for not showing the right behaviors, the animals in their group will demonstrate the behaviors that they believe the alpha wants. If the alpha doesn’t punish or correct those behaviors, their group members will continue doing those activities until their alpha erupts with frustration, which they caused.

With humans, our team members filter the behaviors they believe their leader wants from them through the filter of their hopes, dreams, fears, and comfort zone. A recurring theme in my coaching sessions with the leaders I work with is “why aren’t my people doing (behavior expected)?!” The answer is usually “because they didn’t know you wanted them to do that and that behavior is outside their current comfort zone.”

In the context of executing a project, a lack of clarity from the leader creates roadblocks to successful completion because the project team isn’t sure of their accountabilities.

Our clients find the “RACI” structure works well for creating clarity with project teams. “RACI” breaks down to those who are:

What has your experience been when working on a cross-functional team?

November 8, 2018/0 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: What has your experience been when working on a cross-functional team?

It’s been great every time: 17.3%
It’s been OK most times: 40.7%
It’s been hit-or-miss: 32.0%
It’s been horrible: 3.3%
I’ve never worked on a cross-functional team:6.7%

Cross-functional teams function — most of the time. Most of you have had good experiences on cross-functional teams. For those who have had it be hit-or-miss, consider the following culprits for the misses: team members aren’t fully committed to provide time and effort, they don’t have their supervisor’s support, goals aren’t aligned or there’s no clear charter for the team. These are some of the most common dysfunctions of a cross-functional team. All of these can be solved during the initial stages of forming the team. Do all you can to drive commitment, alignment and direction as soon as the project starts. Skipping that step can spell disaster.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How well does your organization translate qualitative measures into quantitative metrics?

June 28, 2018/0 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How well does your organization translate qualitative measures into quantitative metrics?

Very — Every qualitative measure has hard metrics to support it.: 10.5%
Somewhat — Some qualitative measures have metrics; others don’t.: 49.4%
Not at all — We don’t translate qualitative measures to metrics.: 40.1%

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Often there’s a temptation to say, “Well, it’s a qualitative measure, so we don’t need a metric for it.” With that mindset, you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out if you’re having the impact you desire or if you have surprising problems lurking out of sight. The vast majority of qualitative measures can have quantitative metrics associated with them. Determine which metrics are indicators of the qualitative measure, and track those. While the correlation won’t be perfect, you’ll at least have a gauge of progress and early warning of possible issues before they occur.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

One Question that Dramatically Improves Cross-Functional Collaboration

March 19, 2018/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Cross-functional team environments are challenging because people bring a “function first” mindset to the team. If you can get them to shift their thinking slightly, you can unlock the performance these teams are capable of.

Craig Ross is co-author of the new book, Do Big Things (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

It was painful to watch: the client to whom I was providing coaching was trying to lead a cross-functional meeting. She wasn’t having much success, and her experience isn’t that unusual. In similar situations, most companies struggle with a ‘my-function-first’ mentality from teammates. And it wrecks productivity. In fact, over 90 percent of executives cite a lack of collaboration for their workplace failures.

At the first break in the meeting, I took my client aside and asked her, “Do you want to rock the world your teammates are functioning in right now?”

She looked at me with desperate eyes. “Sure. At this point I’ve got nothing to lose.”

I suggested to her that she ask a specific question—the same one I’ve equipped leaders with that are eager to see team members become more collaborative. And quickly.

“Ask each of them to tell you what role they have on this team,” I said.

My client looked at me as if I was asking her to embarrass herself in front of the team. “I already know what they do,” she answered.

“Stay with me for a moment,” I replied. “You’re right – you think you know what they are supposed to do, and so do they. And their current mindset, as well-intentioned as it is, is obviously not getting the job done.”

She looked at me waiting for more.

How well do you define the question at hand before rushing off to solve the problem?

February 1, 2018/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you define the question at hand before rushing off to solve the problem?

– Very – I always have clarity on the “why” of the problem. 31.9%
– Mostly – Sometimes I’ll jump straight into problem solving. 61.3%
– Not very – I tend to race off and solve before understanding why. 5.9%
– Not at all – It’s quite often I skip the problem-definition step. 0.9%

Understand the “why” first. Most of you try to understand the “why” before rushing off into problem-solving, but doing so can be hard. It’s easy to succumb to the temptation to get the problem solved quickly. This usually means immediate brainstorming, analysis and solution-generation. I’d venture to guess that all of us have rushed off like this once or twice only to find we solved the wrong problem. Get clarity on the “why” before any solution generation begins. Slow your teams down. Understand what your stakeholder wants and why it’s important. The more effectively you do that, the more likely it is your final recommendation will be approved.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

3 Simple Tools to Create the Needed Commitment to Change

October 9, 2017/1 Comment/in Books, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Any major change initiative requires effort to bring people along and get them committed. The keys to doing so are stakeholder involvement, communication, and involvement.

Today’s post is by R. Kendall Lyman and Tony C. Daloisio, authors of Change the Way You Change (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

A few years ago, we were asked by a large pharmaceutical manufacturing company to help transition ten of its fifteen plants to a just-in-time inventory system. The technical aspect of change was led by another consulting firm. But as the “go live” date approached, senior leaders realized that front-line operators weren’t as committed to the new system as those who had been involved in the analysis.

We weren’t surprised by this finding for two reasons. First, not everyone can participate in the scoping, diagnosis, planning, and design phases of such a large project. Diagnosis and design teams are often formed with representatives to ensure perspective from across the organization. But those not asked to participate can feel left out, confused, or even unaware of the change.

Second, because of the complexity of the technical change to processes and systems, very little resource had been allocated towards the human side of the change. There was a video in the lunchroom streaming information about the project in two different languages. But it felt more like a sales pitch than an interactive dissemination of information that operators needed.

When we were hired, they were only six weeks from “go live.” Not enough time to get real commitment from so many employees. Ultimately it took another six months to get the commitment necessary before any significant change could happen.

The ability to accelerate organizational change is arguably the most important role of a leader, yet one of the least understood. While the leaders at the pharmaceutical company had a long-range strategy and were executing on their short-term plans, few had mastered the art of getting people to change the way they would need to approach their new jobs.

Great leaders of change positively impact business performance by making change part of their leadership agenda. During this process, we were reminded of the importance of three simple yet effective tools in enabling change—tools that if used consistently will change how leaders lead change.

Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement

5 Project Management Lessons from Walking Across Spain

July 12, 2017/0 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Whether it’s knowing what you need and what you don’t on a project or knowing how to manage conflict effectively, a long 500 mile stroll can help you build these skills.

A few summers ago, I hiked the ancient Camino de Santiago trail across Spain. It was the best month of my life for many reasons. Along with a lot of other great things I got by walking almost 500 miles, it also taught me some valuable project management lessons that I can use at work.

Less is More

When you are carrying everything you need for a month on your back, you learn to be very smart with differentiating what you need versus what you want. Variety in clothing colors and styles drives complexity and weight in packing a backpack. By the end of the trip, I found that I used 20% of the clothes I packed 80% of the time, and the rest was dead weight. I ended up throwing away a lot of the “I want” clothes and just washing and wearing the “I need” clothes more.

LESSON – As I scope future projects at work, I will ruthlessly force myself to differentiate between what is essential to deliver well, and strip out all the “nice to have” parts of the project that aren’t absolutely required.

Someone Has Probably Done this Before

An amazing thing about the Camino de Santiago is that people have been walking that same trail for over a thousand years as part of a Christian pilgrimage. Whenever I got a blister or a twisted ankle, I realized that hundreds of people probably had that exact same problem at the exact same place and got through it somehow. When I walked by the 800 year-old ruin of a hostel for medieval pilgrims, I realized they probably dealt with the same loud snoring and other problems that today’s pilgrims face. My guide book had the following quote from the journal of a German peregrino in the 1400s that could still be written today – “The women (nuns) in the hostel yell at the pilgrims a lot. But the food is good.”

LESSON – Whenever I start a new project at work, I will seek to learn from the experience of others who have done similar projects in the past.

Know When to Pull the Fire Alarm

The Easy Way to Write a Great Business Case

July 5, 2017/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Business cases are the key to getting ideas approved and funded. If you follow a few basic principles, you’ll find the cases you make get approved more quickly and easily.

If you want to get people’s attention with your business case, you need to solve a big problem. The problem definition section outlines the core business problem or opportunity that your project will directly address. Provide a summary of the core problem, including a description of the pain point and what’s causing it, also include the impact that this problem has on the organization.

Defining the Problem

A well-written problem statement gets your reader to say, wow, that’s a big problem and we need to solve that. It’s what motivates action and will lead to approval of your idea.

Write in plain language. Remember, people from all different functions across the organization will be involved in the approval process. You need to make it easy for them to understand what the problem is.

Let’s look at some example problem statements. My first example is about training.

Problem: Our associates have skill deficits in their ability to write a business case, communicate clearly and effectively, and make decisions quickly. The negative impacts of these skill gaps are that business cases often need to be rewritten, which delays project implementation and time to value. Also, our associates are spread out all over the country. The travel cost of sending someone to a training session is $1,000 per person.

My second problem statement example is about a company’s website:

Problem: The company website was built in 2004. It’s on an outdated content management system platform that lacks basic search engine optimization functionality. Creating pages and blog posts on it takes substantial amounts of time. This means our site is not ranking well in searches, which leads us to miss traffic and sales leads we should be getting. There’s also a need to refresh the image of the website and incorporate our blog into the main website itself. Website standards have changed over the years and the current site looks outdated. This has a negative impact on our image.

Both problems I just laid out are stated clearly and simply. They give the audience a quick understanding of the issue and why we must solve it. When you write your business case, make sure you have the same level of clarity on your problem statement.

Defining Your Idea

How do you drive accountability in your organization?

November 10, 2016/0 Comments/in Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How do you drive accountability in your organization?

– Primarily through incentives: 17%
– Primarily through consequences: 20%
– Through an even balance of incentives and consequences: 50%
– I don’t drive accountability in a consistent manner: 13%

Where’s the accountability? A balanced mix of you are using incentives and consequences to drive accountability. The striking number is the 13% who aren’t consistently driving accountability at all. If you’re in this group, ask yourself if you’re getting the performance and results you desire. If not, I’m pretty sure there’s a causal link between those results and how you’re not consistently holding people accountable. Without clear incentives and consequences, you’ll find it hard to change performance.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

What’s the biggest challenge you face on projects?

November 3, 2016/1 Comment/in Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: What’s the biggest challenge you face on projects?

– Our teams or leaders are disengaged: 20%
– Scope creep: 33%
– Internal politics: 33%
– Loss of resources mid-project: 8%
– What we build simply doesn’t work: 1%
– Other: 5%

Politics, Scope, and Disengagement. The big three killers of projects are all controllable factors. Reducing political issues on a project is a function of aligning goals and building consensus on project goals and resources. Managing scope creep requires rigorous chartering and change management processes. Preventing disengagement comes down to showing team members how their contributions matter and putting the right incentives in place. Don’t let your project fail because of things you can control. By taking a rigorous approach to managing these issues, you can prevent your project from becoming the next corporate dumpster fire.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!