Welcome
Welcome to the Foresight Newsletter, a free monthly publication of Prevoyance Group Inc. This newsletter shares project management tips and observations that I hope will prove informative and enjoyable.
Contents
Foresight is a monthly newsletter published by the Prevoyance Group, and this month contains four sections:
Project: Building the Team
Life
Heard in the Hallways: Rumor Mill
Travels with Patrick: WCSO
Project
While watching the Super Bowl, the quintessential event in US team sports, I was struck with an interesting thought. Of the many penalties that can be levied against a team in American football, one seems common to nearly every other team sport: having too many players on the field.
With the profusion of sport and team analogies overrunning the workplace, it is interesting that this concept is rarely applied to a struggling project. While most sports teams will make annual trades and eliminations to get the perfect combination of talent, the average project continually adds resources, rarely making "cuts" except in the case of gross negligence or noteworthy underperformance.
Imagine any team sport without any restriction on the number of players on the field. Like many a project manager, pressed with a losing situation, when such a team was caught in a losing battle, the likely choice would be to call in another player, in the hopes of overwhelming the opposition through sheer numerical force. As this cycle continues, imagine a playing field flooded with people. Utter chaos would reign as communication from the coach to players would completely dissolve, and players would be randomly running around with the appearance of much busyness, but little concrete accomplishment. Despite the obvious humor, this brouhaha would very much resemble many a project team.
Projects could use a "too many players on the field" penalty, and any good manager should consider implementing a conscious process whenever the calls for more resources come in. Are the wrong resources on the project, and is that driving the call for additional talent? Is the "game plan" flawed? Were incorrect assumptions made on scope or timeline that should be reevaluated? Any executive or lackluster coach with a checkbook and a pen can add more resources to his or her team. The more astute ensure they are evaluating and modifying the team, not just augmenting it. This leader also ensuring their team is following the right game plan, and modifying it appropriately if existing resources are not getting the work done.
Life
* When you ponder expanding your knowledge to build your career, and begin contemplating "drastic" and expensive measures such as an MBA or other graduate degree, consider a more basic option. Most of the greatest management thinkers of the last 100 years have published thousands of pages and more content than you could get at even the finest business schools. A few hundred dollars and a commitment to read one or two books a month can give you the knowledge you desire without the time and monetary commitment of an advanced degree. An "Amazon.com MBA" may not have the prestige associated with it that you would get from a major university, but if it is knowledge and personal development you are after, it may be a great alternative.
* "Culture" and "morale" are two of those intangibles that serve as fodder to many a management book, but remain hard to define. Next time you are traveling on a site visit, or on a particularly relaxing vacation, pay attention to the mood of your workplace on returning. Contrast can be the best measure of something where overexposure makes it hard to see the forest for the trees.
* Travel delays are inevitable, and invariably inconvenient, but I am always amazed by the extent to which they put some people off. I was recently subjected to a four hour delay on an international flight, and no less than thirty seconds after the delay was announced, several folks were huffing and puffing as they began stabbing their mobile phones or Blackberries to complain to the airline and seek an immediate rebooking. Hurriedly barking orders at Platinum Hotlines, they stormed off the plane, being sure to grumble at the flight attendants and other passengers. Their resulting rebooking got them out an amazing 25 minutes earlier.
Heard in the Hallways
Nothing saps a project's energy and enthusiasm more than negative rumor, and the best way to ensure the effects of rumor are the most devastating is to ignore them. A certain undercurrent of rumor is inevitable, but as soon as you get wind of a rumor about a deadline shift, layoff, bonus plan change or no more doughnuts on Fridays, confront the team with the known facts, ask for questions and move on. Frank and honest communication are the best weapons against speculation and innuendo.
Travels with Patrick
As commerce becomes increasingly global, there seems to be a new standards body appearing every week. From the ISO, ITU and ILO comes an expanding alphabet soup. Despite the myriad standards, one area that seems refreshingly safe from international standards is the hotel bathroom. We can not even agree on what to call it across borders; is it the toilet, restroom, WC, bathroom? Aside from the stereotypical bidet in French hotels, there is also more often than not a towel warmer. A nice luxury but a seemingly complex fixture for something as mundane as a warm towel post-shower. Europe as a whole seems to opt for the "microphone showerhead," the detachable variety on the long silver hose that allows for cleanliness and a more realistic experience when singing in the "rain."
Occasionally I've been thrown a curveball and found a hotel shower with no curtain whatsoever. Being a generally clumsy person I was forced to remain on my best behavior to prevent cleaning myself and the entire room. The American contribution to bathroom technology is the relatively mundane "red lamp on a timer." While not always present, I've found this mysterious red bulb in several hotels. I still do not understand its purpose, whether it's for warming, drying, tanning or keeping French fries warm.
Perhaps the time for the UN to get involved has arrived. I can picture annual meetings for the WCSO, and can only imagine the heated towel delight that could be created if the French and Americans would only combine forces...