Lead the Horse to Water, And Make Damn Sure It Drinks: How to Lead Successful & Transparent Projects

When it's your job to be sure a project gets done and gets done right, there is limited room for error. You need to lead your team to the finish line on time and on-budget or face the music. Newsflash: A project led poorly will likely fail miserably. When filling the shoes of a project manager, you need to develop and keep a very specific toolset nearby, and it has nothing to do with a PM certification hanging on your wall. That toolset will help you avoid dangerous terrain; keep the people you're working with happy, energetic, optimistic and on track; and give you the confidence to communicate effectively with your stakeholders, be it the newest staff member or the most rigid department chair. Join me in this session as I share with you my project experiences and show off some great tools you can put to work right away.

Transcript

1. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Lead the Horse to Water, And Make Damn Sure It Drinks: How to Lead Successful AND Transparent Projects by ALANA RILEY Associate director of Web Design, Content + Social media providence college Originally presented at the HighEdWeb 2011 Conference in Austin, TX - http://amde.it/L2graC. Recently modified for SUNYCUAD 2012 - http://www.sunycuad.org.
2. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad @alanariley Follow me on Twitter at @alanariley - http://amde.it/L2gOC2
3. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad speakerdeck.com/u/alanariley
4. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad ? Question time: How many people are currently using some form of project management? How many people have that plan in writing? How many people are confident that other departments are aware of that project management process? How many have little to no plan in place?
5. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad “DON’T HAVE PM PROCESS” “TOUGH TO IMPLEMENT” A lot of people I speak with tell me they don’t have the time or resources to implement project management.
6. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO. Don’t be one of those people. Stop making excuses and jump on the wagon. You absolutely 110% need some form of project management, and it’s not as hard as you think!
7. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad it will HURT YOU, YOUR STAFF + YOUR ORG. Not having structured project management will hurt you, your staff and your organization.
8. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad We’ve all heard the horror stories of projects that have gone terribly wrong -- you want to do A but you end up doing XYZ and it costs you $200k more than you thought and now you’re at a dead-end, unable to finish, completely lost, and not looking very professional.
9. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Without leadership, management, accountability, tracking and planning your project will end up in the trash, and if the situation is bad enough, your job could end up there, too.
10. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad There are 3 things I think most people want their projects “to do” - they want them to come in on time, within scope and within budget. And those are 3 very important things. But don’t forget - you also need to be sure your staff/ team is happy and healthy throughout the lifecycle of your project.
11. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad THINK ABOUT ONE AREA THAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT During this presentation, think about one thing or area you could improve upon to make project management at your institution better. And if you don’t have any project management in place, think about how you can start implementing it - baby steps. You don’t have to do everything at once, but you do need to do something; you need to start somewhere. Follow your gut and start with what you feel is most important; the one thing that will help your team the most.
12. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad 3 So let’s start at the ground level, and talk about 3 things.
13. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad DOCS TOOLS people People, Project Documents and Project Tools.
14. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad PEOPLE HEALTHY // happy // productive People: How to keep them mentally healthy, happy + productive at work.
15. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad documents charter // wbs // network diagram Project Documents: Charter, WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) + Network Diagram
16. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad tools basecamp // screenflow // wunderlist Tools: Basecamp, Screenflow + Wunderlist/Wunderkit
17. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad berklee college what’s worked really well Before getting into those 3 topics, I want you to see what a well-structured project management process looks like - Berklee College of Music is a great example.
18. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Providence College building it from the ground-up At the end, we’re going to chat about what we’re doing at Providence College, because we are starting from the ground-up like many of you are; we’re putting things in place piece-by-piece, and educating the community one step at a time.
19. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad PPC Within the Berklee IT department, there is something called the PPC (Project Portfolio Committee). This committee is responsible for regulating the process by which technical projects get approved, denied, scheduled and executed.
20. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad collaborateS with DEPARTMENTS to propose, charter, schedule, manage + review projects requiring I.T. resources The PPC...
21. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad PROTECTS RESOURCES HELPS DEPARTMENTS GET WHAT THEY NEED keeps things organized The PPC...
22. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad This flow chart illustrates the process by which all projects requiring technical resources MUST follow, divided by project role and department. Notice the step in the middle which says, “Confirms workplan for semester”. Each project that is approved gets scheduled to begin in one of three 4-month blocks throughout the year. The project can take as long as it needs to; it’s not limited to 4-months, but it does need to begin within a pre-determined 4- month block.
23. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad When initially proposing a project, the first step is simple and easy: A department member must fill out a short online form to give the PPC a snapshot of the project.
24. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Question number 2 asks if the project supports one of Berklee’s strategic initiatives, a department goal, will cut costs or improve efficiency, is related to legal matters, or “Other”.
25. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Once a project is approved and becomes active, anyone can see the status of the project at any time. Users can view which division and department the project is for, who the project sponsor and manager are, the phase the project is in, and if any items can be downloaded to further explain the project. Most commonly this is the project charter (notice the paper clip indicating an attachment).
26. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad A separate view lists the priority of each project, as determined by Berklee’s strategic goals.
27. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad The PPC also provides a resource library to assist the Berklee community with project planning and general business processes. Included are checklists, templates, how to guides, training documents and examples.
28. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad MEETINGS ONE-on-one WEEKLY team leads MONTHLY full team DAILY HOT TOPICS To wrap-up this section I’m going to talk about meetings. I was previously in a project to implement a new web portal, and there were 4 types of meetings we held regularly. One-on-One: Project members meet with the project manager to discuss their progress, concerns, etc. Weekly Team Leads: We had 6 sub-teams working on various aspects of the portal implementation process (Technical, Taxonomy, Training, etc) and the team leads met weekly to discuss the progress of their groups. Monthly Full Team: Once a month the full teams, including their leads and the project manager, met to provide updates and/or have working meetings. Hot Topics: When it’s down to the wire, get together often! Our core team met once a day for 20-30 minutes to provide one another with updates on ‘hot issues’ requiring immediate attention. We kept a running list of these issues, and removed them from the list when they were no longer a threat to project milestones, phases or deadlines.
29. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad LET’s TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO. Now to the fun part! Let’s talk about what YOU can do.
30. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad PEOPLE HEALTHY // happy // productive Let’s begin with people, because it’s people who make projects happen.
31. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY So what is all of this stuff about keeping your staff happy and not stressed all about? (There is a book called “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Anchor. Some of the items discussed in this section are from his book. Others are from studies conducted by Dan Ariely, who focusses on behavioral economics.)
32. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad DID YOU KNOW? So, here’s something shocking. Did you know our brains perform better when we’re happy? Crazy, I know. It’s been proven that our brains are physically hard-wired to work at optimal performance when we have a positive mindset.
33. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad DID YOU KNOW? So, here’s something shocking. Did you know our brains perform better when we’re happy? Crazy, I know. It’s been proven that our brains are physically hard-wired to work at optimal performance when we have a positive mindset.
34. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad FACT. having A POSITIVE MINDSET CAN CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF A SITUATION. So much so that being of a positive mindset can actually CHANGE the outcome of a situation, not just make it better along the way. I’ll give you three examples: Students who were primed to be happy before taking a test outperformed those who were not. Doctors who were primed to be happy before diagnosing a patient came up with more creative, innovative methods of treatment than those who were not. Salespeople who were primed to be happy before making a sale outperformed salespeople who were not. Now think about your project team: How can you as a project manager ensure you’re doing all you can to keep your team happy? If happiness and positivity equals productivity + innovation, then you need Positive Psychology tucked in your project management tool-belt at all times.
35. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad 17 1 : Here’s the tough thing about that. As a society, we know very well how to be unwell. According to research, for every one study done on happiness, seventeen were done on depression.
36. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad WAR TERRORISM RECESSION UNEMPLOYMENT FORECLOSURE COMMON TERMS What are some common, household terms that have become part of our daily life? By no means are these terms new to the world, but they’re coming towards our generation faster than they ever have before. War, terrorism, recession, unemployment, foreclosure, homelessness. Chances are one of us knows someone who has lost their job, or is fighting overseas, or is on the verge of losing their home or already has. With so much going on effecting just about everyone, how can you positively influence your team to do great things while fighting the reality of life?
37. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad HOW can YOU MANAGE PEOPLE WITH SO MUCH GOING ON IN THEIR LIVES? Let’s start with this: How many times have you come into work in a bad mood, but managed to pull yourself together, only to have someone say something to you in an agitating tone that sent you right back into that bad mood? As a project manager, you do NOT want to be that person. You want to be the exact opposite. You want to be the person that pulls your team out of the hole when they’ve managed to find themselves in it; you always be aware of how you act, and how your actions effect your team. But... there is one prerequisite you need to complete first.
38. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad BEFORE YOU CAN MANAGE PEOPLE, YOU NEED TO MANAGE YOURSELF. Before you manage your team, you need to manage yourself. Forget about going to management seminars or reading books on how to be a great leader. If you’re not happy, there is no way you’re going to be able to positively influence anyone else. You will come off fake and your team will see right through you. Part of being a good manager + leader is enjoying what you do, caring about the people you work with, and having an honest dedication to seeing something succeed. Keep in mind when I talk about being “happy” and “positive” I’m not just talking about smiles and rainbows. I’m talking about a way of life; feeling as though you have purpose; feeling fulfilled. As hard as you try, you’ll always have bad days, and that’s okay. It’s how you get through those bad days, and how you lead your team through those bad days, that will matter in the end.
39. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Exercise. WRITE DOWN THREE POSITIVE THINGS EACH MORNING OR EVENING. If you find yourself in the category of, “I’m happy but not very positive”, then start doing little things to train your brain to become more positive. One simple thing you can do is write down three positive things each morning or evening that occurred over the past 24 hours. This will train your brain to focus on the positive parts of your day, not the negative parts.
40. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad YOU CAN LEAD A PROJECT IF NEGATIVE. YOU WILL LEAD IT BETTER IF YOU’RE POSITIVE. Devil's Advocate: Can you lead a project if you’re not 100% happy or positive? Of course you can. But just as Students, Doctors + Salespeople did better when they were happy, the same is true of your and your team. Don’t aim to just get a project done, aim to make it better than anyone thought it could be.
41. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad TWO STORIES I’m going to tell you two stores before moving on to Project Documents.
42. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Story One: A group of people boarded a flight, only to find out it had mechanical issues and would be delayed. Every 15-20 minutes flight attendants would update passengers keeping them in the loop. After 40-60 minutes of being on the flight, the captain came on the speaker and told the passengers he did not feel comfortable flying the plane in its current condition. He assured everyone that once off the plane, the gate agent would have updated information for them. When the passengers arrived at the gate attendant's post, she had no information. She became visibly irritated the more people asked her questions. She began to announce the right flight but the wrong gate; the right gate but the wrong time. Eventually she told people if they did not stop asking her questions she would call the police. Shortly thereafter she abandoned her post.
43. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad not knowing what was happening... led to frustration, which led to anger, which led to irrational behavior, which led to a lack of productivity. What went wrong? The gate attendant became frustrated because she was not properly informed as to what was happening, and felt inadequate because she could not provide her customers with the right information. Having no information led to frustration, which led to anger, and once she was angry there was no chance of being productive. She jumped ship. Could the gate agent have picked up the phone and called someone? Could she have told the passengers to hang on a moment until she had more information? Absolutely. But in stressful situations, people don’t always think clearly, and that’s why management and communication are so very important to any business or business process. Don’t think your team is above reacting negatively in stressful situations; be prepared and ready to lead, and have a plan in place. Remind yourself: Frustration + anger are strong negative emotions that will impact everyone it its path, including your customers, your users and your employees.
44. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad FRUSTRATION + ANGER are STRONG NEGATIVE EMOTIONS THAT WILL IMPACT EVERYONE. What went wrong? The gate attendant became frustrated because she was not properly informed as to what was happening, and felt inadequate because she could not provide her customers with the right information. Having no information led to frustration, which led to anger, and once she was angry there was no chance of being productive. She jumped ship. Could the gate agent have picked up the phone and called someone? Could she have told the passengers to hang on a moment until she had more information? Absolutely. But in stressful situations, people don’t always think clearly, and that’s why management and communication are so very important to any business or business process. Don’t think your team is above reacting negatively in stressful situations; be prepared and ready to lead, and have a plan in place. Remind yourself: Frustration + anger are strong negative emotions that will impact everyone it its path, including your customers, your users and your employees.
45. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad THE LESSON
46. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP YOU NEED GOOD Had there been a better communication plan in place, and better management and leadership over the situation, the gate attendant may have had all the information she needed to calmly inform passengers what the next steps were. Sadly, she wasn’t informed and crumbled under the pressure. There was no management, and no leadership. It made for a negative experience all around.
47. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Story Two - An Experiment: A group of people were asked if they wanted to build lego robots for a small financial reward. The were split into two groups - A and B. When both groups were done building their first robot, they were asked if they wanted to build a second.
48. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Completed robots in Group A were put safely in boxes off to the side. The team was then given a new set of legos to begin building their second robot. Completed robots in Group B were not put in boxes, but instead dismantled in front of the builders and the same pieces given back to build their second robot with. What would you think if you were in these groups? If you were in group A, you would probably think, “That was fun! I’m going to make this better than before. I know I can make ABC parts even better than last time!”. But if you were in group B, you would probably think, “Wow. I just worked really hard to build that and now they just destroyed it. And I have to do it again?!”.
49. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Completed robots in Group A were put safely in boxes off to the side. The team was then given a new set of legos to begin building their second robot. Completed robots in Group B were not put in boxes, but instead dismantled in front of the builders and the same pieces given back to build their second robot with. What would you think if you were in these groups? If you were in group A, you would probably think, “That was fun! I’m going to make this better than before. I know I can make ABC parts even better than last time!”. But if you were in group B, you would probably think, “Wow. I just worked really hard to build that and now they just destroyed it. And I have to do it again?!”.
50. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad THE LESSON It’s all in the perception. The act of putting finished robots in a box made people feel as though their work was appreciated, while destroying the robots in front of the people who made them lowered morale. Group A looked at building their second robot as exciting and challenging, while Group B looked it as doing the same thing all over again again, and chances are with that mentality you’re going to end up with a lesser quality product than you previously developed. Their creative inspiration was taken away in the blink of an eye.
51. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad it doesn’t take much to make someone feel appreciated.. So remember -- It doesn’t take much to make someone feel appreciated.
52. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad it doesn’t take much to make someone feel unappreciated.. But it also doesn’t take much to make someone feel unappreciated.
53. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad if you lead poorly you will produce poor results.
54. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Y.M.S. FIRST THING IS FIRST! Before you can manage people, before you can mange projects, you have to manage yourself. And the #1 thing people do too often is say YES before assessing the situation. I call this Yes Man Syndrome (YMS).
55. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad project management | alana riley It’s good to help, but not at the expense of your staff.
56. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad projects pile up people get stressed If you say Yes too often, too many projects pile-up without enough resources to manage them. That will stress your team out. Stress is obviously not a positive emotion, so why would you want your team to experience it? What good could possibly come out of it?
57. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad You don’t want to be the problem - you need to be the leader.
58. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad docs charter // wbs // network diagram
59. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad CHARTER The Charter is your license to do business. If you don’t have a Charter, you shouldn’t be doing a project. Why? Because you don’t really know what you should be doing, nor does anyone else. If it’s not thought-out, documented or discussed, you’re not ready to begin.
60. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad SCOPE BUSINESS CASE ASSUMPTIONS, RISKS + DEPENDENCIES PROJECT TEAM DELIVERABLES MILESTONES + PHASES CHANGE CONTROL PROCESS CHARTER The Charter is your license to do business. If you don’t have a Charter, you shouldn’t be doing a project. Why? Because you don’t really know what you should be doing, nor does anyone else. If it’s not thought-out, documented or discussed, you’re not ready to begin.
61. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Scope, Business Case, Assumptions, Constraints, Risks + Dependencies
62. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Core Project Team
63. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Misc. Project Teams
64. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Milestones + Phases
65. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Change Control Process
66. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee Charter: Managers of anyone involved in the project SIGN the Charter! By doing so, they are saying, “I agree to this project, and acknowledge that my staff will need to spend X amount of time on this project on ABC dates.”
67. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Every task every person every time estimate WBS Work Breakdown Structure: After the Charter, begin your WBS. List every task, every person, and every time estimate. The Project Manager should meet with the project team to establish who needs to do what, and how long it will take. DO NOT GUESS how long it will take Sam to setup the servers, or Jane to configure the database; get the facts from the people doing the work. Now can they guess? Sure, they will of course have to estimate how long it will take them. As a general rule, ask them to over-estimate a bit. For instance, if something is going to take 10 hours, have them estimate 12-15; build-in a buffer in case something goes wrong. What if they’re sick and out for a week? What if the wrong servers are shipped and need to be sent back? It’s almost a sure bet that something will go wrong at some point, so build that into your plan and estimates.
68. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad WBS: Primary task on the top followed by Sub-tasks.
69. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Every task every person every time estimate CRITICAL PATH NETWORK DIAGRAM Network Diagram: After the WBS, it’s time to put things in order. Take what’s on the WBS and move it to a timeline.
70. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Screenshot of Network Diagram: Structure tasks in the order which they must be completed. Example) 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 can be done at the same time, but 3.2 and 3.1 can only be completed after 2.3, and will take 1 month. Task 4.1 can only be completed after 2.5, and will take 6 months. This gives you and your team a nice timeline of what’s going to happen when, and who is going to be involved in each task.
71. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Berklee is a Mac shop, so we don’t use Microsoft products, but if blocks aren’t your thing (the pervious slides were made in OmniGraffle) you can use something like Microsoft Project.
72. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad tools basecamp // screenflow // wunderlist
73. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Basecamp is a great Online Project Management tool, and the best news, it’s FREE! Well, free for you to try. You can signup for an account and manage 1 project. If you’d like to use this within your entire organization, you can signup for projects that allow for Unlimited Plans. If you do this, you can dump everyone from your organization into Basecamp, and then Admins of projects can users as needed to their project. You can easily track Calendar Events, Milestones, Phases, Tasks and To-Do’s, and Basecamp has a spot to upload files and collaborate on documents. It’s also mobile friendly (apps and HTML5).
74. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Screenflow is perfect for recording usability tests or vendor demos. Last Fall, I recorded web portal vendor demos, exported the files to .mov’s, and uploaded them to a secure storage area for any project team member to access. Screenflow is for Macs, but there are a ton of similar tools available for PC users as well.
75. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Wunderlist! I love Wunderlist. It’s a very sleek task management application. Get it free @ http://amde.it/OUPsLX
76. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad It’s available for just about any platform, so whether you’re an iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC, Linux user or Web guru, Wunderlist has you covered.
77. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Wunderlist syncs your tasks so whatever client or app you use your tasks will be there. You can share lists with people, print tasks and email tasks with the click of a button. You can also customize the look and feel of the app to add a personal touch.
78. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad The makers of Wunderlist have a new product out that allows for even greater collaboration called Wunderkit. Get it free @ http://amde.it/IP1pOJ
79. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Providence College building it from the ground-up Providence College is a great example of an institution just starting to implement project management from a web perspective (within the Web Services department)
80. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad basecamp online forms weekly meetings spreadsheet We are starting out VERY simple, which means, you can do exactly what it is we’re doing because it’s nothing that costs money; it’s nothing that you have to go to training for - these are simple processes you can begin today. How hard is it to keep a running log of your projects in a spreadsheet, with the name of who is leading that project (or doing that task) next to it? How hard is it to get together and review the progress of that list 1x a week? You can do that. Yes you can.
81. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Our online forms - http://amde.it/OUQFmJ - are perhaps my favorite, as they take certain things we’re asked for frequently and put structure to them! We provide timeframes for when each request must be submitted, and make it clear that submitting a form is NOT a sure thing; we will review your request to verify it meets certain strategic guidelines, or has specific goals, prior to proceeding. Remember: If it’s not in writing, it’s hard to enforce, so - document everything! We even have a web forms to request a web form, so that gives you an idea as to the level we’re taking this.
82. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad Takeaways It’s hard to cover everything in 45-60 minutes, but the things we’ve talked about so far - People, Docs + Tools - should hopefully provide you with some ideas that you can take back to your department and begin brainstorming on.
83. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad start small, but start. positive staff = productive staff communicate effectively document EVERYTHING use innovative tools
84. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad make it fun. And most importantly? MAKE IT FUN! Life’s too short. Don’t settle for boring when you can have exciting. Just look at the PC Web Team - we work hard, but we have a heck of a lot of fun along the way (Follow the @pcwebteam on Twitter at http://amde.it/OUSzno)
85. alana riley project management presentation at sunycuad speakerdeck.com/u/alanariley alana.riley@providence.edu Questions? Drop me a line! I’d be happy to chat more.