Change management

Experienced project managers know that change is inevitable and there are many consequences of failing to manage project changes. Some of the critical consequences are;     

• Scope creep
• Cost and budget overruns
• Project delays
• Poor quality of the project deliverable
• Often the project team performs incomplete work for the project deliverables
• Stakeholders express concerns about the project manager’s ability to manage the project

So the problem is not the change itself but how the change is managed. There are many benefits of managing changes properly such as increased stakeholders’ satisfaction, improved quality of the project deliverables, opportunities for the additional project work etc. There are basically three types of changes that need to be addressed in order to ensure a project success. These are; 

Technical changes: These are the internal modifications in scope of the work of the project. 

Market changes: These are changes that are inevitable due to external market conditions such as competitors’ product or service enhancements or regulatory changes. 

Contractual changes: Changes that are made on the contract with the stakeholder or supplier. These changes include but not limited to the terms & conditions, scope of work, requirements, schedule, costs etc. 

The most important function of a project manager is to prevent uncontrollable changes. Uncontrolled and unexpected changes in user /stakeholder expectations and requirements as a project progress always negatively impact a project. This is known as scope creep. Many times new features are added to the project with a wrong assumption that one small feature will add nothing to cost or schedule. This unplanned addition is called feature creep. 

A change in the one of the  triple constraints of a project has an impact on the other two. The key is to find balance between the need to manage the scope of the project against the agreed requirements, cost & schedule. 

Impact Analysis for Change Request

Changes may negatively or positively impact a project. When a change request is made, you as a project manager need to analyze the same in order to evaluate whether it is within or outside the scope of the original project requirements as well as how it is going to impact the three constraints of your project namely scope, schedule and cost.  Impact analysis is the most important step to effective change management procedure.  Your impact analysis should not only reveal the impacts of changes on the above three project constrains but also it should provide you the essential information related to the effects of changes on people, processes, quality of the project and on the operation of your company.  By implementing proper impact analysis procedure you should also be able to evaluate the overall project risks, how the change is going to alter the existing risks, whether or not the project is going to face new risks and the cost associated in managing those risks.    

Every organization has its own way of doing things and in most cases structured processes are available.  You need these organization process assets that may or may not have formal procedure for impact analysis. However, the following guidelines will always help you understand essentials of impact analysis procedure and how you can diligently implement such procedure. 

Step one: Do you have the money? 

Every work involves some cost and the impact analysis of change requests also requires some budget especially when it is a large change request.  Do you have the contingency budget to cover the cost or do you need to request the project sponsor / customer to pay for the added cost? 

Discuss this with the project sponsor and always come up with adequate numbers so that you can properly make formal presentation to the project sponsor and request the extra fund that you need for the impact analysis. 

Step two: Determine the reason for the change. 

Why the change request is made in the first place? Can you avoid it / defer it or is it inevitable? Determine the business need for this change and how the change is going to benefit the project, the process, the work product, the quality, the stakeholders and the organization.  Also review the Change Log to determine if the amount of change is excessive on the project. If change is certain, determine what is the priority of this change in comparison to other changes, such as current requests and requests being implemented? 

Step three: Analyze the impact on triple constraints. 

Scope: Determine the impact on the overall scope of the project, Work Breakdown structure (WBS), Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) and Resource Breakdown structure (RBS). You need to find out information in details by identifying the product features that would need to be added, changed, or deleted and any sections of the PBS, components of the WBS that would also need to be added, changed, or deleted and also the resources that would be required to implement changes and how it is going to alter the RBS. 

Also you need to identify any changes that need to be made to the agreement with the customer or any vendor or subcontractor.  

Cost: Identify any changes that need to be made to the cost management plan and the overall financial plan. Who is going to pay for the added cost? Find out whether the change will be paid for by an external sponsor. Similarly like scope, you also need to identify any changes that need to be made to the agreement with the customer or any vendor or subcontractor.  If subcontractors are involved, determine whether the change is going to impact the subcontracting cost. Refer to your organizational process assets and guidelines to ask for the additional cost or price for the change from the procurement department. Your impact analysis report also should highlight the financial benefit to the project and the financial benefit to your organization. You should also document other benefits such as improved schedule, better performance, lower risk, future opportunities, stakeholder satisfaction, enhancements to the organization’s intellectual capital, and technological advancement. 

Schedule: Your project needs to be completed within time otherwise you are invariably going to incur cost overruns because the project schedule is linked to scope and cost. Estimate the time required to define and plan the proposed solution and the time required to implement the proposed changes. Evaluate the changes to the milestones and to the critical path.  Also identify the changes that would need to be made to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the project management schedules and the milestone lists. Determine changes to the contractual schedule with the subcontractors. Also determine the impact of the change outside the delivery organization by identifying any changes that would need to be made to the Agreement with the sponsor and with any subcontractors. 

Step four: Identify dependencies 

Your various project activities are interwoven by complex successor relationships.  Identify other tasks that are dependent on this change being approved. Also determine the predecessor relationship and prioritize the tasks that must be completed before this change is implemented. Also it is equally important to determine the resource dependencies and how you are going to use resources for this change.  And finally, you also need to identify other dependencies such as market conditions, government regulations etc. 

Step five: Analyze the risks 

Analyze the risks that are associated with this change. Identify all the risks qualitatively and quantitatively the project is facing or will face in the future due to this change. Also identify threats that are associated with this change. Threats would include changes that have possible negative impacts or risk. Even a small change might include a high amount of risk. 

Step six:  Determine the impact on the Project management system 

Identify and list all the changes that would need to be made to the project procedures description or to the project decision structure. Identify changes that would need to be made to the communications management plan, the project quality plan, the risk management plan, the technical environment plan and overall the project management plan.  Also determine the costs to update the project management system.  

Step seven: Document your findings  

Properly document all the results of your impact analysis. Prepare a detail report for the change control board to approve changes. Follow your organizational process assets and procedural guidelines to document reports of the impact analysis. When the change request is approved by the change control board, the change order is created. Identify the project documentation, including the project management system documents, which must be changed or updated to reflect the approved change. Update the financial management plan when a change has a financial impact. In order to show the changes to work items or completion dates, update the project management schedule, operational schedule, and the work breakdown structure. Most of the change request is associated with changes to the scope and in such scenario update the project definition, deliverable definition, or other documents that control the project scope.  Also update the technical specifications, the test plans, the quality management plans.  A great deal of a project manger’s time is spent on communication.  With every approved change request, you need to prepare new reports or arrange new meetings and that is why it is imperative that you also update the communications management plan.  Most important document update is the updates on the risk register. Document all the qualitative and quantitative risks and also include updated risk definitions due to this change.  

If the change control board approves a change request then you need to create change management work product that will consist of change request templates, instructions for the changes or the change order and a log to record changes.  

Implementation of change management also equally important and things may go wrong if a project manager fails to properly implement change management. That is why it is important that the project manager work cohesively with the team as well as with the change control board.  

Also another important factor to remember is that the impact analysis for multiple change requests may not reveal hidden costs. In such scenario, it is always recommended to rely on expert judgment.  

Identify stakeholders and bring them early. Stakeholders who are found later will make changes and could cause delays. Any change that is made later is harder to integrate and is much more costly. Communicate with the stakeholders effectively and on a regular basis. Give a project presentation, list all their issues and concerns, report progress and inform changes and updates to the project management plan. Another important function of a project manager is to prevent uncontrollable changes. Stakeholders have greater influences over the requirements as well as changes in a project. That is why it important to have effective communications within the team and between the team and other project stakeholders.

Let’s try to understand why do you need a communication management plan?

• Communications management plan reduces and mitigates risk
• It provides you clear guidelines on how  you formally  interact with the project stakeholders
• Communication management  plan provides tools to utilize resources effectively
• It gives you the ability to analyze the impacts of various meetings
• It also ensures mutual commitments with the sponsor and other stakeholders
• The Communications management plan clearly documents all the deliverables and delivery schedules
• You should  be able to deliver  the right message at the right time to sponsors so that you can control  rumors and unnecessary work products
• A well defined communication management plan enhances your ability to meet stakeholders’ expectations

A project manager inspires people, shares the project vision with the group and creates a very motivating environment.  Communicate with all levels of the members of your team regardless of level. Communicate clearly your plans & ideas and make sure everybody understands them.

Your communication management plan should include both internal communications and external communications. Your internal communication management plan includes status report, progress report, trend report, forecasting report, variance report, earned value report etc. External communications requirements include types of meetings and reports, existing policies and contractual agreements etc.

Here are some simple steps to create an effective communication management plan.

Step 1: Documents the followings

1. With whom you need to communicate?
2. What deliverables are needed?
3. What media you are going to employ in the communication?
4. When the communication will occur?
5. Where the communication will occur?
6. The purpose of the communication

Step 2:  Document the list of deliverables, the list of stakeholders and your stakeholder analysis for each stakeholder. You need to document communications requirements with the sponsor, with the functional management, the subcontractors and with the team.

Step 3:  Determine the needs for media. Your communication management plan should have a media section where you document the types of media that you plan to use for communications on this project. Document the media requirements to make sure that all stakeholders have access to the particular media or technology that they need for their required communications.

Most cases you will be using the following media types:

• Conference calls
• Fax
• Knowledge repositories available on company’s intranet
• Paper reports
• Power point presentations
• E-mails
• Video conferences
• Instant messages such as AIM
• Electronic files, including zipped files, word processing files, and spreadsheets
• Web sites
• Information stored electronically on company servers
• Project management software such as MS Project
• On line project tracking tools

Step 4:  Document a schedule for the milestones and communication deliverables. You should have a table or calendar that shows your deliverables and other communications time.

Step 5: Determine the assumptions, dependencies, and risks associated with your project communications.

List all important assumptions you considered while creating communications management plan such as all stakeholders speak English or all team members will be company’s full time employees only. This may change the moment you hire contractors.

List all important factors upon which your communications management plan depends. For example, the communication among team members located in several time zones depends on how and when they communicate, what communication media they use and how they distribute reports.  A dependency is an input or output or time-related relationship.

When managing dependencies, confirm that the deliverables are well-defined, within the project scope, and also include a statement of work. Confirm that the schedule and cost are understood by the parties involved.

Identify past, present and potential risks that the current project faced, is currently facing or will face in the near future and list any important risks inherent in the communications management plan.  

Step 6:  Every work involves some cost and in your communication management you should itemize the costs associated with communications. For example, you should have a list of cost associated with conference calls , video conferences, instant messages such as AIM, your and team members time in preparing reports, cost of using other facilities etc.

Step 7:  The final step is to review your plan before you finalize it. Here is a check list of your communication management plan.

• List of your stakeholders and your detail plan on their communication needs
• Organizational type such as projectized, functional or matrix
• Document any geographic or multicultural requirements
• If you are working with a remote team make sure remote team requirements are met
• Document use of technology against your stakeholders’ access and technical skills
• Check to be sure your stakeholders are assigned appropriately to the reports, meetings, and other communications types according to role, level of detail, and personal communication preferences
• Review all the levels of communication and do not overburden stakeholders with too much or too little information

Your communication plan also should include the communication methods such as formal, informal, verbal and written. You communicate internally and externally to the project team and vertically and horizontally within the company. Use the following guidelines for selecting a communication method. However, please remember that every organization is different and you need to take into account your company’s processes and procedures for conducting work and communications.

Formal written:  Project charter, reports to the management, project management plans, communicating between divisions etc.

Formal verbal: Presentations and speeches

Informal written: Notes, e-mails, memos, status updates among team members, online chat etc.

Informal verbal: Conversations, meetings, discussion and often water cooler gossip  

In step 3, we will discuss about project changes and  how you manage a change.

by Caruba

Even though technology is the life-blood of Silicon Valley, technology is not the answer to failures in business meetings. Are you squeamish when preparing for a  meeting? Are you already a victim of the technology fad? In my blog series, you will get rationales for this plus other eye-openers:

• Background: How to overcome today’s meetings shortcomings–today.
• PERT & communication keys–tomorrow’s take-away.
• No: everybody can’t create competent meetings–it ain’t automatic.
• Teamwork is task-dependent, not exhortation-prone.
• Useful audio/visuals demand more than pretty pictures.
• Hotels and airlines–maybe; depending on message.

Background

Creating competent meetings that achieve their objectives is complex. Meeting-callers must observe and honor applicable research and field-findings in education and group communication. Only when working with research or otherwise-proved methodology can meetings-callers conduct meetings that have a right to succeed! The recommended ideas and methods have been developed and perfected with groups of all sizes, from small-groups (psychology: 5-7) to school-room-30 size to hundreds to thousands. They work!

Tips and tricks do contribute to ‘better meetings.’ ‘Better’ is not necessarily ‘competent.’ Tips are cut-and-paste. Most work but won’t enrich your overall know-how and capabilities. It’s wiser (no matter at what level you need to address and work with people) to learn underlying concepts and caveats.

This blog accords with an old adage: “Give a man a fish; he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish; he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

My Goal: Improve your own and your company’s overall competence in Meetings Management … and management control of all materials prepared for in-house use, customers, and sponsored sessions for outside interests.

Critical differences: Meetings Management deals with the communications aspect of the meetings–the message, its practice, and protection. Meeting-planning has received most industry-press attention but concerns itself essentially with logistics and other advertised elements. These are two very different disciplines. Logistics are important if/when needed but are always of less import than the message. Perfectly-produced meetings can fail to communicate messages–the reason they were called. That’s a ‘failed meeting.’

Take care when considering industry blandishments. Except knowhow, nothing can solve every meeting problem, no matter how much you pay! Knowhow’s inexpensive but requires work. People take on extra work only when dissatisfied with current circumstances … our task today with you.

Amazingly, an excellent source of information is the clinical research and US military findings from WWII. Most exists in palatable form but is rarely seen in business magazines. Much applicable research reported by related professionals was reported in their professional journals and books (see our ‘Granddaddy’ article’s bibliography, in 1970; our web). Those books/journals are not general reading for meetings-callers–but should be.

There’s no independent or professional journal in the meetings field … partly because corporate management has usually believed that ‘anybody can do it’– and so have declined to pay for unbiased information. We all can do without the many problems bought with those savings. Publications that honor legitimate meetings requirements and established research deserve the intellectual and cash support of thinking-persons and fact-starved user-companies.

To learn more, visit www.meetingsCavalier.com, click the ‘Business Writing’ button and read the first ‘Final Thoughts’ segment on the ‘Titles’ page, at the asterisk below the “ISD” book, ‘Looking at Today’s Realities.’ Sufficient dissatisfier?  Scary enough? Like scary? A dozen more pages to ‘Final Thoughts.’

For key early research bibliography, see ‘Granddaddy article.’ For bullets re: early military research, see “FirstTake” magazine, on ‘Recognition’ button, p13. ”Granddaddy” was frozen in time in 1970. For a superior bibliography of later work in brain/learning/reasoning research (1970s to ’90s publication date), see a book at once the most difficult and insightful that I’ve ever seen in this field: “Descartes’ Error,” by Antonio R. Damasio (NYC: Grosset/Putnam; 1994.)

Tune in for more tomorrow where I discuss using PERT to design and run meetings!

Here are a few suggestions on how to ensure lessons learned don’t fade from memory only to resurface in the next project.

• Ensure ‘Lessons Learned’ conversations are taken seriously, the appropriate amount of time is committed to make these sessions happen, and they are part of every project plan regardless of the size of the project. Every item in the list reviewed should suggest a course of action, so it is not a mere mention of a problem but a proposal for a solution.
• Make improvements part of organization, team and individual goals. It is important to commit the time and resources to make these improvements happen, and check in on them on a periodic basis.
• Ensure improvements are documented and considered during the roadmap creation process, so sizeable improvements are not brushed off and can benefit by a structured project implementation.
• Ensure all levels of the organization are made accountable for solutions. Entertain ideas from all stakeholders to make this an effort everyone becomes vested in.

Making a strong commitment to learn from your mistakes sets the right tone for organizations and sets the company up for success one project at a time. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how to ensure lessons are indeed learned and not forgotten.

The fact that a leader can make or break an organization is well understood. However, companies continue to build less than stellar management teams, thereby inadvertantly driving their organizations to the ground.

Why?  One of the biggest causes for this in my experience has been that companies are too quick to promote employees to positions they do not yet have the skills for. Don’t get me wrong. I am all for giving people opportunities to advance in their careers. However, without the right mentoring or coaching, this is a disaster waiting to happen.  These employees will go on to set the direction and processes for their teams, which in turn can have a very bad effect on the rest of the organization.

Below are a few examples I have seen in the past of how talented people end up in positions they are not ready for-

• A person does really well in their current position and their competence needs to be rewarded by elevating them to a higher position.
• A person has been around at the company for a long time and their loyalty needs to be rewarded by promoting them.
• A person threatens to quit and the organization cannot afford to lose him/her, so we’re going to bring him/her back by offering a promotion.
• The current manager left the company and the organization is needing someone to fill his/her shoes, so let’s slot in X, Y or Z.

Unfortunately, none of the above speaks to the employee’s ability to be able to tackle new responsibilities a key management position might bring. In fact, such managers often turn around and make bad hiring decisions, and the problem continues to ripple through the organization. Even worse, other talented people leave the organization or company because they do not want to work with such a management team.

It is important to set your employees up for success, and the best way to do that is to set up an environment where they can learn/acquire/demonstrate the skills they need before they are promoted to a key management position. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

One way to support that effort is, when there is a problem, to resist the urge to jump into the fray and come up with a solution on behalf of the team. Sometimes the best thing for a leader to do is nothing! Project leaders often feel the incredible urge to show that they are getting things done. The temptation is to be able to say that they tried rather than admit they did nothing at all! The situation is worse when they jump in to solve the problem without all the facts and figures at hand and without waiting for the project team to complete their analysis. This derails the team and creates additional churn.

As quoted in 100 Rules for NASA Project Managers, “Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. It is also occasionally the best help you can give. Just listening is all that is needed on many occasions. You may be the boss but, if you constantly have to solve someone’s problems, you are working for him.”

I can think of two instances where I applied this to much success.

A couple of years ago, one of the projects in my organization had hit a roadblock. A supposedly big problem was holding up our next milestone, and much to the frustration of the team, there was no solution in sight. The problem was quickly escalated to me as a risk to the project and a meeting was scheduled to discuss the consequences. In attendance at the meeting were all the immediate stakeholders who were contemplating the unthinkable.. a schedule slip.

Since some of the stakeholders  were consumers of the product and not very close to the implementation, I requested the team to go up to the whiteboard and draw up the current architecture being considered, and then draw up the problem encountered. One of the key questions I asked was, “Let’s go back to the basics. Can you explain to me in simple terms the overall problem?”. The engineering team had to explain the problem in really simple terms and talk through the issues in plain terms. It forced the team to take a step back from the details and draw up a simple overview of the problem. What a difference that made! The solution became immediately obvious to the engineers and stakeholders. The solution was not at the point the team was stuck at, but upstream of that component.  No heroic efforts were necessary to solve the problem thereon, and no schedule impact was seen either. Just a simple fix and the problem was solved! It was a huge moment for the project team to have resolved the problem themselves.

Another intance where this approach was successful was when my project team was at odds because two people could not agree on a solution. Bringing them together into a room and having them talk to each other about all the details, the pros and cons, and potential outcomes, was all it took to reach a consensus. All I had to do was to setup the meeting and ask simple questions. The team took care of the rest by themselves.

It is important that your team tries to solve a problem themselves, and patience is key. Your role is simply that of a facilitator to the proceedings. Give them the forums and the facilities to make these huge leaps, and the situation can be a postive learning experience for all people involved.

Do you have any such examples to contribute from your experience? I’d love to hear how this has been successful for you.

There is lots of advice out there on how to become a good leader, but I’ve found a GREAT leader is one who paves the way, and then gets out of the way! It’s not an earth-shattering thought, but surprisingly, rare in practice.

Self-managing teams are nimble and highly successful as a unit. They only rely on their management structure to stand by them when they take risks, and to remove obstacles.

Paving the way:

- Set up some basic protocol, and work together with your team to setup basic project templates and guidelines. This structure will help you stay connected with project information so, if your team is sinking and asking for help, you have the information and resources available to support them (Did someone say risk management?).

- And, most importantly, stay flexible and open to new ideas on how to improve this setup so it doesn’t die a slow painful death.

Getting out of the way:

Now that you’ve paved the way for your teams to work, get out of their way and let them work! Give them the freedom to succeed and fail, and to learn from their mistakes, so your people can evolve and become good leaders themselves. Don’t make yourself a bottleneck for non-critical tasks.  Too much red tape is a productivity killer like nothing else. Step in when your team is gasping for air, and then step away when they have the oxygen they need, so you’re part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Know when to lead and know when to get out of the way! Yeah, that’s a lesson I learned the hard way. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you have applied this in your own areas of expertise and how much success you’ve seen.

These areas of expertise may be in any area but are most likely to develop in the critical, central areas of the company where the most value is added to its products. For example, for Software Company the key skills may be in the overall simplicity and innovation of the program for users or in the high quality of software code writing.
Core competencies are not considered as being fixed.

Core competencies may change or abandoned in response to changes in the business environment. Sometimes companies are forced to make such changes due to economic environment. One of the software companies I worked for strived for innovation and customer satisfaction. Due to downturn in company business, company dissolved entire software test automation group. You can imagine the impact on quality of products and in turn impact on customer satisfaction.

Many times management of company inadvertently change or choose core competency one over the other. As business reforms and adapts to new circumstances and opportunities, so its core competencies may have to adapt and change. However, companies have to be very careful in doing so. Take an example of Toyota which is considered one of the most efficiently run companies in the world.

Toyota’s global competitive advantage is based on a corporate philosophy known as the Toyota Production System which consists of concepts such as JIT and Kaizen. According to Jeffrey Liker, the author of “The Toyota Way”, the mission of Toyota is to build trust and confidence with customers by delivering outstanding quality products and services which add real value to their businesses.

However, in recent years there has been a number of recalls of multiple models of Toyota including Corolla and Camry which are considered amazingly reliable. How could this possibly happen to the car company that was the undisputed leader in quality? The answer is becoming quite obvious. Toyota seems to have abandoned one of its core competencies – quality. Toyota is suffering from trying to get too big, too fast. Toyota sensed weakness from its auto rivals in the American market, and also noted opportunity in emerging markets such as China and India. So, it started enormous expansion around the world. In doing so, Toyota abandoned one of its core values which is to never build a new product in a new factory with a new workforce.

This is exactly what Toyota ended up doing with its first full-size pickup truck in San Antonio, Texas. The pickup truck was recalled due to a number of problems. The recent recalls expanded with other models as well as in other countries. Toyota’s quality problem has gone global. With abandoning one of its core competencies – quality, Toyota may have won the rights to brag as the world’s biggest car company, however, that appears to have come at a heavy cost to its reputation for quality and in turn customer dissatisfaction.

How could this relate to project management? Project managers need to make sure that their projects and their goals are aligned with organizational values and core competencies. Understanding the importance of competencies and core values, and how they need to work in conjunction, is profoundly important for project manager’s success. Project manager should give thought and efforts towards developing both of these sets of attributes and remain focused on business goals.

In today’s economy, there are a number of displaced project management professionals, all vying for similar opportunities.  How do you stand out when networking?

Did you know 70-80% of jobs are secured as a result of effective networking?  Benchmarks suggest that other methodologies don’t have as nearly as successful results.  Statistics shows recruiters place 15%, ad/job postings a meager 10% and direct company contact fills a paltry 5% of open positions.  In today’s economy, you cannot afford to network poorly.

Networking is all about promoting your brand identity.  Your brand is all about knowing who you are and what you offer.   You need a brand identify before you can effectively market yourself to others.  To create your brand identity, you need should ask yourself a few key questions:

• What’s my reputation?
• For what have I been recognized or rewarded for?
• What do managers and colleagues say about me?
• Am I the “go to” person? 

Practice your elevator pitch before your next networking event.  Can you develop a 30-second commercial?  Make sure it answers the following three questions:

• Who am I?
• What are my differentiators?
• What is my value proposition?

Networking events present great opportunities to promote your brand.  Remember to be authentic, have a positive attitude, convey confidence and join in the conversation.  Do not misrepresent yourself, criticize your colleagues or over-explain a job loss.  If you engage in social media, never post content that can come back to haunt you.

Networking opportunities are everywhere!  Aside from family and friends, think of your neighbors, your church, your doctor, lawyer, CPR or broker.  Don’t forget professional associations, volunteer activities, civic associations, schools or alumni groups.  In other words, tell everyone you know…

Oh, and don’t promote yourself as a DIVA.  Ann has that covered.

Lisa DiTullio, Principal, Lisa DiTullio & Associates, LLC.  www.lisaditullio.com

Journey - Courtesy Flickr

The Journey

This week I shared with you some quotes that have helped to inspire me through some tumultuous times.  I find they make me feel energized and able to inspire others and pave the forward when ‘things go wrong’.  And, things almost always go wrong in projects – don’t they?  So, in addition to our standard toolset of project management, I encourage you to seek inspiration, be inspired, and inspire others to do their very best and excel at whatever projects you are leading.

I am listing the quotes that have inspired me and were shared in the blogs during the week:

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. Mahatma Gandhi.

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it”. George Barnard Shaw.

“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.” Pablo Picasso

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something. Thomas Edison.

Hope they gave you all some food for thought… and helped your journey this week.  Enjoy!

I would love to hear some of the ways you inspire yourself and your teams to reach higher…. Please share your thoughts.