Obtaining Effective Sponsors (Case Study)

In my role now as an executive consultant (since leaving HP in the year 2000), I note how difficult it is to work through the political environment in client organizations.  I’ve seen projects fail not because project managers were not enthusiastic about what they were doing but because they failed to get effective sponsorship support.  In contrast, proactive sponsorship is extremely effective in achieving desired project outcomes. 

One client in the US government exhibited a masterful approach both to the politics within the organization and obtaining proactive sponsorship. His political plan tapped what he knew about the organization and the people within it, his passion for implementing project management, and his drive to succeed.  Here is his story: (more…)

A Little Respect

Senior managers often insist on doing things their way, even though they are new to that position or portion of the business and do not understand project management. One time I was being pushed to become a technical expert on a project I was managing, because the senior manager thought that is how to earn respect. I argued that a project manager’s responsibility is to drive the overall process and get issues resolved, not try to second guess the technical experts. We did not resolve our disagreements in the initial conversation but

(more…)

Problem or Solution ?

As is common in many project situations, I as a project manager have had to deal with running projects with little formal control or have been given solutions to produce that were unclear or perhaps even wrong. This amounts to working on a solution in search of a problem. Such situations invariably create resistance from stakeholders. I find that I need to (more…)

“Friends Don’t Let Friends do Outsourcing”

I have a friend (let’s call him Andy) who used to work for me and was a good engineer. He subsequently became VP Engineering at an outsourced software development company overseas. I have another friend (let’s call him Don) who also worked with me at a large software company in the sales group; we went on a couple trips together to call on customers when I was a product manager.

So when Andy wanted to spin out his own outsourced software development company (after learning the business), and Don wanted to find someone to develop a Web 2.0 demo / app so he could pursue funding or BD opportunities, I thought it a no-brainer to hook them up, as they could help each other out, right? (more…)

How do we track progress after a Map Day?

Deliverables-based project management, or as Timm Esque, author of “No Surprises Project Management”, calls it “Commitment-based” project management, makes tracking of deliverable completion relatively easy. Rather than worrying about the task details, the PM worries about the status of the deliverable. And here are a few rules I apply:
1. It is either “done” or “not done”. 60% done is “not done”. Sorry, but the customer will only care if the team delivers what s/he wants, not 60%.
2. The consumer of the deliverable needs to “accept” it. That is, the consumer needs to say that it meets the requirements (more…)