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Archives for February 2021

How Do You Retain Critical Resources?

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I was reflecting on a recent project and the struggles we had with resources. As a lean company, there weren’t too many options when someone was out for some reason. It was a big impact on our schedule and caused more than a few “creative moves” to keep the project on target.

Part of the issue stems from this simple fact: Project Managers rarely own their resources. Many projects span departments and have a blend of employees and contractors. And businesses are constantly over-allocating! Even the best Project Managers fail without enough resources.

So how do you obtain – and retain – these critical people?

Resource allocation is one of the trickiest facets of project management. The resources named in the Charter aren’t usually the ones you Launch with. The more you understand your company’s culture, it’s priorities and projects, and the way it handles resource shortages and fire drills, the better equipped you’ll handle the next resource complication.

One of the most effective ways to get the inside scoop is to meet with the direct managers of your resources. These folks aren’t always part of your management team, so you may need to seek them out. Get to know them, their priorities, and how they run their departments. Learn what’s going on in their world and you’ll have the knowledge – and relationship – to mitigate risks to your project team.

3 Key Questions to Ask Resource Owners:

  • How is their department structured? If everyone is cross-trained, the hit from your project is minimized. But if there’s “1 key guy” who knows some legacy system and he’s on your team, you can bet he’ll be pulled for emergencies! This will drive your allocation plan.
  • Have there been any big hits lately? Life happens: people move, have babies, take vacation. Business also happens: restructuring, product launches, audits. Even if your resources aren’t directly involved, they may be affected: Joe covers for someone who leaves; Suba is assigned to a task force. If you’re aware, you won’t wonder why Joe’s work is falling behind or why Suba isn’t answering her emails…knowing is the first step in resolving issues.
  • What other projects are on-deck? A big project may compete with yours or put a strain on the whole department’s resources. Knowledge gives you options. If the projects are running in parallel, you can work with the resource manager and the other project’s PM to align your schedules or find alternative resources.

If resources are your biggest project risk, call it out early and often. If you see a spike in resource needs coming up, put it on the Risk Register so the Sponsor and Steering Committee know. Talk with your team about it; show them the plan and work on mitigating it. They may think of solutions you wouldn’t have considered. You do not need to come up with the solution by yourself.

And remember, no team member wants to disappoint their manager – including their Project Manager! If you know about your team’s schedule and help them balance their work, your resources will be more inclined to tell you when they’re having other conflicts. The trust relationship will grow, leading to an increase in participation and output.

Are you staying safe…or risking forward?

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I was at a conference a few years ago. Mid-morning on the second day, a presenter walked onto the stage and asked us to close our eyes and imagine we were standing on the moon and looking down at the timeline of our lives.

I’m not great at visualization, but I could definitely see the line and the bright points of success and joy…as well as the dark spots of fear and failure.

The presenter was Victoria Labalme and she went on to talk about presentation skills and the confidence that comes from speaking from who we are rather than focusing on just the material.

For me, that years ago session was transformative. During the next break I hurried to the back of the ballroom and signed up for Victoria’s Rock the Room® training.

Since taking that course, I’ve had incredible success with executive presentations, kick-off meetings, and team updates. Her lessons helped me understand how to plan and run each meeting so they are not just an exchange of data, but so worthwhile that attendees have spontaneously applauded at the end, and sent me apologetic notes if they need to miss a meeting.

This morning I clicked open one of my favorite Sunday morning video posts from Jeff Walker and – bonus! – he was interviewing Victoria about a new book she has coming out called Risk Forward.

Listening to them talk about the premise of the book made me wonder: what if I hadn’t taken that risk to sign up for her course? What if I held back with my usual “wait and see” attitude? What if I hadn’t stepped up and gone to the conference in the first place?

It’s so easy these days to sit in our homes and not push ourselves – not risk criticism, overwhelm, or disappointment. We have a nice & safe, aesthetic distance between us and our teams (aka Zoom, Teams, and WebEx). So while the world feels “paused” we may be putting our growth on hold, too.

Are we still thinking forward to the next 5 years – the next 2 years – 1 year – to the end of the project?

The reality is, when we stop moving and growing, everything else around us stagnates, too. And that includes our projects and our teams.

Humans are social creatures – yes, even the introverts among us. This past year has been a challenge in many ways. It’s tough to feel that connection when you can’t be in the same room without blocking half your face. Many of us are now permanently “work from home”, cutting off impromptu conversations at the coffee machine or grabbing a minute of someone’s time to ask a question after a meeting.

We must be more mindful than ever of our own inertia. And take extra steps to make sure we’re intentional in our growth.

This past year may have tossed our plans and dreams out the window. But that shouldn’t stop us from making new plans and having new dreams.

I am working hard to find new ways to grow and evolve. I’m setting new goals. I have new dreams. Will something else happen to knock them over? Possibly. Will I have days where I’m glad I can hide behind a computer screen? Yup. But if I don’t keep moving towards those goals and dreams, I’ll never achieve them, will I?

I hope you’ll join me in risking forward – hey, if you fall…it will still be forward, right?

9 Tips: How To Be A Successful Project Management Consultant

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I was participating in a Facebook Group today about project management. Someone responded to a comment I had made about being a consultant. She asked me, “I’m currently working full-time as a PM and thinking about going back into consulting bc the pay is much better. But there are pros and cons, especially w benefits and job assignments ending. Can you give me tips on how you’ve managed successfully over the years?”

Here was my reply:

There are definitely pros & cons! But…for tips on how to remain successful, here goes:

  1. Financially, plan on ~40 weeks employment per year. Everything else is awesome. Save it for a rainy day or use it intentionally – it can be the difference between your current salary and where you want to be!
  2. Financially, remember that insurance is part of your monthly expenses (mainly medical) if your partner doesn’t carry it.
  3. Plan vacation weeks…and take them! It’s more difficult to take vacation as a consultant because if you’re ending 1 project you want the next to start asap! So plan your time off and schedule it during an engagement (non-milestone time, of course)
  4. Maintain a relationship with your recruiters. They may not have something for you now, but if you find a good one, keeping in touch can pay off
  5. Get good at ramping up quickly. As a consultant, you’re always “the new guy”. Use it to your advantage by asking a lot of questions – about the company, stakeholders, expectations, to get to know your team…the new person is forgiven for asking questions
  6. Track your hours! One of the reasons for jumping to consulting is to be paid “more per hour” than an FTE. If you give your clients extra time each day/week, your hourly rate essentially goes down. So be careful. After 1 or 2 contracts you’ll have a better sense of how many hours something will take and you’ll be able to estimate your contract with more accuracy.
  7. Truly enjoy moving around. I wouldn’t go back to being an employee if you doubled my salary. I love going from company to company, learning about different products and getting to know new teams. And when I’ve done what I set out to do? I get to move on to the next adventure!
  8. Believe you can help – that’s why they’re hiring you! I can’t overstate this one. We all feel more comfortable working with people who have a “can do” attitude. But as a consultant, it’s doubly important. We have a resume of past clients, but each new company requires we prove ourselves to a new group of stakeholders.
  9. Put your client first. This final tip may seem obvious and something any good employee would do. Along with believing you can help your client, your focus on their needs increases their trust in you. This begins a virtuous cycle of trust -> responsiveness -> success. Putting my clients first has led to follow-on projects (and job offers) after all of my contracts.

If you’re a consultant, or are thinking of joining our ranks, let me know which of these nine tips impacted you the most. What’s your biggest takeaway?