Tired of the Feeling You're Herding Cats? Problem Solved!

Have you ever heard the saying "it's like herding cats"? When you did, or if this was the first time you've heard it, did it resonate with you? Did you smile and nod your head? Well then at some point in your life, maybe even currently, you are a leader. 

Project managers aren't just admins. They aren't just coordinators. They aren't just planners or schedulers. Project managers are leaders. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes in complete denial but they are leaders. They see the forest and the trees. 

But leaders can't lead if they don't communicate. The people that you lead may be very skilled at what they do but it's your job to ensure that none of their talent is wasted on frivolous things because you did not communicate a direction to them. Having a team of the best football players on earth is pointless without a coach. Mediocre teams with coaches will beat all-stars with no coach. 

But it's like herding cats!! Yes it is. We are all busy with competing priorities daily.  That won't change. So how do I gets the cats to herd so we can get things done on schedule, with the level of quality we need and on budget ?  

Cats may be very independent minded, divas who don't really put much stock in others. The sun don't shine till they wake!  But no matter how high the pedestal they're perched on, cats still need to eat. They've got to come down to feed. 

The independent minded, divas on your team, and all of the other team members for that matter, desire more than just showing up for a paycheck each week. We all do. Spend the time as a PM formulating your plan, coordinating resources, and scheduling WEEKLY progress tracking meetings with your team. Then feed them with communication / direction for the upcoming week. Give them specifics (their favorite dish) and deadlines (or the food will get cold). Here's a translation of the metaphor for the non-metaphor types ;)

Herding Cats	Translation	Practical Application
Get the Cats to come prepared to eat	Prepare the team to provide the right updates on the right tasks at the right time	Detailed Tracking Meeting Agendas
Show them what they ate and whats on the next menu	Motivate the team to continue to perform by advertising their progress (good or not so good)	Detailed Progress Reports
Tell the top Cats only what they need to know to help keep the other cats in line	Remove blockers by synthesizing them and providing clear decisions for the Execs / Sponsor to make to unblock progress	Executive Briefing Decks
Keep them from straying too far	Manage scope by focusing only on those actions that will help the project, whittling out those that do not, and focusing the action item owners only on those action items that are current (right actions, at right time, for right deliverables)	Action Item Logs

The challenge is that producing the 'meal' to maximize your results take time. Lots of time and analysis. This is the reason why most project managers DON'T do it. They either don't understand the value / benefit, don't know how to do it or they simply just don't have enough hours in the week to do it. Even with all of the software tools we have at our disposal today, this is still a highly manual, labor intensive administrative effort that most PM's  avoid. 

'There are too many other things that need my attention and I just don't have the time'. 

At www.exorion.net we've solved this problem! 

Just like the microwave oven turned hours of meal preparation into minutes (or in some cases just seconds) we have turned the analysis and prep time of communication to project team members into one that is done automatically in seconds! 

So now you're asking yourself 'how is that even possible?' Go to www.exorion.net and click on the BETA test tab and watch the product presentation video for more information.

This is the most powerful way for project managers to herd the cats. You have to be consistent. If you communicate frequently; providing the information they need in a highly digestible and consistent format, at the right time to the right people, your team will understand what needs to be done, how when and why. 

If your project was floundering, it will turn around and sail. If you were doing well, you will supercharge it towards success! Using our solution consistently on all of your projects will 'train the cats' to adopt successful behavior that will carry over from project to project for success on a consistent basis. 

Need to herd the cats to get your project done? Feed them good food. They'll show up on time and leave happy. 

The next time you catch yourself thinking "my project feels like it's rudderless at sea" or its "out of my control and I'm always playing catch up instead of leading it", you'll know that today you heard of a solution that will put you back in the drivers seat and steered towards success. www.exorion.net 

Project administration - better than root canal surgery by Kirin Bondale

Regardless of the PM methodology used for a given project, project administration exists. On the low end it may be as minimal as reporting which specific work items have been completed and effort remaining on incomplete work items. On the high end it may include time entry, issue, action, task and risk status updating.

Convincing project team members that these activities are a necessary part of their work on your project is a challenge, especially when you have no formal authority over these resources. As project managers, what can we do to alleviate this pain? One approach could be for the project manager to shoulder this burden on behalf of the team, but that is hardly a good solution. The PM will end up with little time to manage all but the smallest projects.

http://www.projecttimes.com/kiron-bondale/project-administration-sure-beats-root-canal-surgery.html

Universal Challenges for Project Professionals

There are many challenges experienced while managing projects that transcend business units, companies and even industries. They are common and sources of risk that until now are simply accepted along with lower quality project results. The industry, project scope, technology etc. change but the issues for project professionals and for those who manage projects, are consistently the same issues. 

Challenge: ‘Although I have a recurring scheduled meeting weekly, to go over the progress of my projects, booked into my teams’ calendars, the people I need to have in my meetings to move it forward don’t attend and when they do they aren’t prepared with the answers I need.’

Challenge: ‘Although I spend time pouring through the details of my project daily, I never seem to feel like I’m controlling my project. Instead, it feels like my projects are controlling me. I’m always playing catch up.’

Challenge: ‘I always feel like I have too many projects to manage and I have to cut corners on the amount of time I spend on the project plan maintenance just to stay on top of things that are in progress.’

Challenge: ‘I spend way too much time preparing and providing status updates on my projects. I just don’t have time to produce all of these status reports and effectively manage my projects.’

Challenge: ‘as a project professional, I know that I am only as good as my last project. I also know that it’s vital that I build and establish my brand. I can’t do it in such a busy environment, as I am forced to cut corners to get my job done. How do I increase the value of my brand without having to give up my workload (especially projects I really want to work on) to do it?’

A large chunk of a project professional’s day is buried in administrative work that requires a great deal of time, concentration, plan & progress analysis to determine the impacts of a project’s current progress. This then needs to be clearly communicated to the team in order for the plan to be executed effectively.

There are a lot of moving parts of a project that can help or hurt your project. If your analysis is done badly or not at all, many of the challenges above become the norm. If done well, the number of projects that can be managed by the same project professional reduces dramatically. There seems to be no solution to this, so sub-par quality is simply accepted. More project professionals are hired to compensate for this shortage.

At least 75% of a project professional’s job is focused on clear, concise and timely COMMUNICATION! The successes of your projects rely on your ability to communicate the right information to the right people at the right time. While this sounds simple, determining the right info, people & time is a challenge that requires solid preparation and plan analysis. 

While there are dozens of project planning & execution software solutions available there are no software solutions that support the project professional with the heavy administrative element of their jobs.

The administrative element of a project professional’s job directly impacts: the number of concurrent projects they can manage, the efficiency with which they manage their projects; the efficiency with which their team executes and the level and effectiveness of the involvement of the project sponsors and executives. Ultimately this leads to an increase in the amount of control you as a project professional and your sponsors and executives have over the projects.

No matter how well-crafted your plan is, if you aren't communicating the right info to the right people at the right time to produce the right results your project will struggle.

Most organizations either do not understand or see the value in hiring a project administrator. In many cases the kind of analysis that the PM needs done, needs to be done by the PM in order for the PM to gain a greater insight into the deliverables of their projects and the dynamics of their team.

If any of these challenges ring a bell or if there are challenges you've experienced I haven't mentioned here please reply by commenting on this blog. And thanks!!

 by Sean Best, PMP. Owner of exOrion LLC. His 20+ years of project management experience includes work in the banking, payment processing, telecommunication and software development industries. He can be reached at exorion.solutions@gmail.com