Managing Projects

Beginnings

July 15, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

If you want to predict how a client project will end, look no further than how it begins. Just about everything you do during the sales process and in the initial days of a project sets the stage for how it will wrap up.

Until both sides commit to a project, you might let minor assumptions about scope or outcomes slide. Once you have commitment, or so the reasoning goes, you and the client can hammer out the remaining details.

Sometimes, that approach makes sense. During the sales process, for example, you don’t have to nail down the precise schedule for the client team’s participation in every task of the project. It may be that neither side is ready to make some decisions until a project ramps up, so it seems natural to table some matters for a later time.

Sadly for some consultants, that later time never comes, and the client’s initial expectations for how the project will unfold become the operating assumptions. Then, you have to try to bridge the gap between those expectations and the reality of what you can deliver. Consultants get stuck with that unenviable task more often than they want to admit.

One way to flush out unresolved issues is to plan for a detailed walkthrough with the client before you start the work. Review the project plan, schedule, and the roles and responsibilities of each team member. Clear up those lingering questions and get everyone aligned around a common set of expectations.

That may seem obvious. But, what often happens, especially on smaller projects, is that everyone agrees to do the work, establishes an end date, and you start the project, sorting out unresolved issues as you go. Too often, this approach leads to difficult conversations with the client and the need to rework project tasks.

Lots of consultants miss the opportunity to shape the endings of their projects by taking some basic steps at the outset. If you’ve ever had a project that didn’t finish well, you can probably trace the root of the trouble to the beginning, not the end, of the project.

Filed Under: Managing Projects Tagged With: Client Relationships, consulting process, managing projects

Deliverables

June 1, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

If you’ve been consulting for more than a week, you’ve likely heard a client ask, “What are your deliverables for the project?” Sometimes, you get that question even after you and the client have agreed on project objectives, tasks, and expected value.

Some clients (and consultants too) just aren’t comfortable unless there are compulsory deliverables for you to dutifully create, package, and submit for approval. I’ve seen some consultants agree to tie their fees to the client’s acceptance of interim work product. That makes about as much sense as paying for part of a haircut before the barber has finished cutting your hair.

I know that complex projects and many IT initiatives need formal milestones with reviews of what you have accomplished. But too often, a deliverable, which is supposed to be a means to an end, becomes an end in itself.

It’s common to see project teams fixating on how they’re going to put together deliverables to gain the client’s approval, instead of focusing on the underlying success of the project. It’s not hard to find failed projects that have a long paper trail of approved deliverables.

Few things divert you from the real goals of a client project more than slavish dedication to creating deliverables, which can end up being of dubious value anyway. Change happens during any project, so a deliverable may not be relevant by the time you finish it.

Sure, it’s essential to measure progress. Just be sure that you don’t equate project success with meeting requirements for deliverables. Once you confuse the two, you’ve lost sight of why the client hired you in the first place, and it won’t take your client long to figure that out.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Managing Projects Tagged With: consulting process, managing projects

Uncovering Hidden Value

March 24, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

We all have times when we wish we could be a fly on the wall–during clients’ internal deliberations about us, for example. The fate of a project or sale is most often decided behind closed doors and out of your hearing. And it can be disconcerting not to know for sure what others are saying about you.

When people make decisions, there are reasons and then there are reasons. Each person’s total perception of value and the risk associated with achieving that value are what influence a decision. Usually, the reasons you hear for a decision are only part of the story.

When you win a project, it’s easy to take a client’s explanation for the decision at face value. After all, that rationale is likely to reinforce your own views of why you should have won. If you choose to remain unaware of the complete set of reasons for the win, though, you’ll jeopardize your ability to deliver the value your clients expect.

Maybe a client tells you that project success means finishing the work on-time, within budget, and with the expected outcome. But it’s likely that client is also concerned about other ramifications, like career advancement, peer approval, and avoiding risk, to name a few. And it’s probable that your client chose you, in part, because of your ability to meet those other objectives.

You’ll deliver a better outcome and strengthen your client relationships if you uncover and understand your client’s total perception of value. The simplest way to do that? Be curious. Ask questions. The more you learn about your clients as individuals, the more likely you are to understand their unspoken definition of success.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day demands of client work. But it always pays dividends to take a step back, connect with your client, and be sure you focus on all of the client’s expectations of value.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Managing Projects, Selling Tagged With: client issues, Client Relationships, Client Value, managing projects, Selling

Surprises

March 12, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

“I hate surprises.” More than one client has told me that, and you’ve probably heard it too.

Most surprises, especially the bad ones like a blown deadline, take shape long before they become a reality. You may not prevent some surprises, but an early-warning system can help you predict them before you have a full-blown problem on your hands.

Consider these nine common causes of surprises that can put any client project on the ropes.

Unknown stakeholders may seem to come out of nowhere to influence a project’s direction, outcome, resources, or schedule. You can be sure these people are out there. Identify them early by asking all your client contacts to help you understand who the influencers in the organization are.
Unexpected resistance goes beyond the normal objections to change that most of us routinely encounter. As you might guess, unknown stakeholders are often the source of unexpected resistance.
External events can have a profound effect on any project. A client merger or acquisition, for example, can stop a project dead in its tracks. Keep an eye on how the external environment impacts your effort.
Poor chemistry on a team can sidetrack its best efforts and sink a project quickly. Interpersonal issues often don’t surface until it’s too late to reverse the damage.
Late delivery of anything usually wreaks havoc with the project schedule. Before you decide that the schedule doesn’t need to be changed because the team “will catch up,” be sure your plan is achievable.
Fuzzy project objectives result in a lack of a common understanding about what you will accomplish. Without agreement about where you and the client want to go, you won’t get there. No matter how much you’ve discussed scope and objectives with your client, keep it on the front burner throughout the project.
Lack of demonstrable progress can create a perception that the project is floundering, even if it isn’t. Project teams shouldn’t keep their accomplishments a secret. Plan to achieve regular milestones on a predefined schedule.
Executive turnover can cause a change in project direction, or may even result in a project being cancelled. Because so much of what happens in a client organization is beyond your view, you may not see this one coming. Keeping a candid and open line of communication with a range of client executives can help you read the tea leaves.
Project team emergencies occur with regularity, especially during large or lengthy projects. Be sure you have a Plan B ready in case a team emergency strikes.

It’s impossible to prevent all of the potential surprises you’ll face in your client work. But if you keep these nine causes in mind, you’re more likely to experience pleasant surprises, instead of the dreaded ones.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Managing Projects Tagged With: Client Relationships, managing projects

What You Want Your Client to Know

February 8, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

It’s exhilarating to learn that you’ve won a new project. But that moment is often followed by the sobering realization that you now have to make good on your promises. Or, as one consultant put it, “The good news is that we won the project. The bad news is that we have to do the project.”

In last month’s issue of my newsletter, The Guerrilla Consultant, I wrote an open letter from a client to a consultant that expressed what most clients want to say at the outset of a new project. I got quite a few suggestions to write about the flip side of that–what a newly-hired consultant would have to say to the client.

My take on that second letter is the subject of this month’s issue of The Guerrilla Consultant.

Enjoy the article.

Filed Under: Consulting Process, Managing Projects, The Guerrilla Consultant Tagged With: Client Relationships, managing projects

Why Best Practices Are Losers

January 28, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin 6 Comments

If you spend any time with a service provider, it won’t be long before you hear how the use of so-called “best practices” will pave the way to client success.

Using the best practices developed by other organizations, you’ll hear, will accelerate the design of a solution to most any problem. Listening to this, you’d think best practices were silver bullets.

The problem with the best practices approach is that it usually doesn’t work.

Starting any project with a canned solution narrows your focus to how you will implement that solution, instead of broadening your thinking about what should be done. I’m not suggesting that professionals blindly use the best practices of others without some consideration of the client’s situation. What can (and does) happen, though, is that teams begin with an analysis of how to make someone else’s answer work when they should devise innovations for the situation they face.

What makes the use of best practices even more dangerous is that it’s a follower’s strategy. By leaning on the well-worn solutions of others, you’re dooming your client to a future of following the pack, not leading it.

Of course, there is value in learning from the experience of others. If another organization has addressed a similar issue, it’s helpful to know what they did. And best practices can jog your thoughts and maybe even inspire you.

But as a tool for guiding strategic initiatives, it’s a real loser. Remember, one company’s best practice can too easily become another’s sunk cost.

Filed Under: Managing Projects Tagged With: project management

Invisible Fences

January 21, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin 3 Comments

If you’ve worked with clients for a while, you’ve probably experienced the pain of an awkward client moment. It often happens in a team meeting. Maybe the executive sponsor asks the team, for example, how the project is progressing, and then listens to a glowing report from the group.

You know that the client team members are telling the executive what they think she wants to hear, but they are soft-pedaling potential problems. How much should you say when it’s your turn to speak? Whatever you decide to do, there will be painful consequences.

If you choose to contradict the team’s view, you risk the wrath of your client teammates. If you just nod in agreement as the team spins the facts, you’re complicit in a charade that could lead to the unraveling of the project.

Naturally, events aren’t always that black and white. Still, we often face this challenge: how to communicate what we believe is important without needlessly damaging client relationships.

I think of this as the “invisible fence” syndrome. You’ve probably seen an invisible fence in use by pet owners. These electronic systems keep animals within property boundaries without tying them up. If the pet attempts to cross the boundary, a collar delivers a mild shock. It’s common to see poor Fido parked at the very edge of the boundary, dying to leap through but fearful of taking another step forward.

I’ve watched dozens of consultants in client meetings sit inside their own invisible fences when the situation called for pushing beyond the boundary. They may fear the potential “shock” of losing the sale, jeopardizing a relationship, or making waves in the client organization.

In nearly every case, though, the pain you might have to endure will be far outweighed by the reputation you’ll build for independence, objectivity, and putting the client’s needs ahead your own.

Once you pass through your invisible fence, you’re unlikely to go back. And that can mean big rewards in the quality of your client relationships.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Managing Projects Tagged With: Client Relationships, communication, consulting process, managing projects

Why Projects Fail

January 12, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

Ask any manager why a project gets off track and you’ll hear about unrealistic expectations, problems with scope, or leadership issues. The list of possible reasons for project disasters goes on and on.

Now, there’s a harsh reality facing many of us doing projects with our clients: Many people just don’t want to put in the effort to get a project done.

In 2009, for example, the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) surveyed 10,000 IT professionals. The survey found that IT employees’ willingness “to exert high levels of discretionary effort” to solve a problem or play a key role in the organization fell to its lowest level in ten years.

In the 2007 CEB survey, about 12 percent of IT employees fit in category of “highly engaged” workers; but that has now fallen to 4 percent. This isn’t just a problem in IT. The survey found drops in job satisfaction across industries and functions.

Why is this happening? A common theme is that many people are fed up with how they’re being led. They’re feeling disconnected from the company’s purpose, tired of being asked to make seemingly endless sacrifices, and they’re worried about their own futures.

Oh, and guess what? Some of these disengaged people are probably on your project team.

You can improve your odds of success in this environment by taking three steps. First, be sure that every team member can find a way to engage with the project vision (assuming you even have one). Also, answer two fundamental questions for every team member: Why are we doing this project? And, why am I important to achieving the outcome? The strength of your answers to those questions will ultimately drive how well your team engages.

Second, make each team member accountable for completing project tasks and for developing new skills. With project work, we have the opportunity to stretch our capabilities into new areas. But we aren’t good at making that development an explicit part of the project. Most people engage more actively once they understand how they also benefit from making the extra effort.

Finally, heed the advice of your experts. Find as many channels as possible to get feedback on how the project is progressing. You may not act on the all of the advice you get from others, but you better be perceived as someone who listens. If you’re not, it’s just a matter of time before you have a project blow up on you.

Filed Under: Managing Projects Tagged With: Client Relationships, managing projects

What Your Client Wants to Tell You

January 11, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin

When you learn that you’ve won a project, your client will likely congratulate you and express optimism about your upcoming work together. Clients may not be as forthcoming with other choice words they have for their new consultants.

If you asked your clients to put what they’d like to say to you in a letter, you’d probably hear much more than just best wishes for a successful project.

The content of just such a letter is the subject of this month’s issue of The Guerrilla Consultant.

Enjoy the article, and let me know what you think.

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Managing Projects, The Guerrilla Consultant Tagged With: Client Relationships, managing projects

The Opportunities in Project Management

January 9, 2010 By Michael W. McLaughlin Leave a Comment

In a recent survey of more than 200 senior executives and project management experts worldwide, only about a third of the respondents believe they are very good at project management.

In spite of nearly unanimous agreement on the importance of effective project management, many respondents say that more than a quarter of their projects are late or over budget. In my experience, that project failure rate seems low. Some experts say that the failure rate of IT projects is closer to 50 percent.

None of this comes as a surprise to executives. Most are aware of these shortcomings, but they struggle with how to solve the problem. More than half of the survey respondents (53 percent) say their companies are trying to improve their project management methods. But their efforts are often unfocused and inconsistent.

It’s clear from this survey why organizations aren’t bringing more projects in on time and with the expected results: Only 29 percent of respondents said they plan to improve the way they measure qualitative and quantitative project outcomes; 29 percent plan to use better tools; and just 26 percent plan to increase training and certification. These numbers indicate a lackluster effort to build the necessary skills to succeed.

Consultants can help their clients by demonstrating how enhanced strategies for project planning, assessment, and measuring results can make the difference between a successful initiative and one that becomes an albatross.

Read the full report for no charge at www.eiu.com/sponsor/oracle/projectmanagementforsuccess.

Filed Under: Consulting Process, Managing Projects Tagged With: managing projects, project failure rates, project management