Handling Tough Conversations

Describing some topics and experiences about project management, and making a case for why you should practice them.

From GRWebDev meetup in January 2014

Transcript

1. tough conversations experiences in management of technology projects
2. matters less when things go well
3. matters more when things go badly
4. wrong!
5. actually matters all the time
6. matthew seeley @maxsilver
7. matthew seeley @maxsilver at for a really long time on 50+ different projects
8. todo
9. todo describe good project management I’ve experienced
10. todo describe good project management I’ve experienced make a case for why you should practice it
11. four steps observe! think! record! communicate
13. listen to what is spoken
14. listen to what is spoken watch for what is unspoken
15. story time
16. ask about the unclear examine the assumptions
18. analyze the requests using your knowledge and history brainstorm with your team for feedback and ideas
19. record
20. take good notes
21. take good notes paper ! looks better
22. share info! with your team
23. share info! with your team maintain its accuracy
24. communicate
25. repeat what was discussed
26. provide communication regularly and predictably repeat what was discussed
27. never ever ever hide or skip! problems, setbacks, or delays always be open and honest! about the project
28. todo
29. todo describe good project management I’ve experienced
30. todo describe good project management I’ve experienced
31. todo describe good project management I’ve experienced make a case for why you should practice it
33. doing project management well builds trust
34. doing project management well builds trust encourages sustainability
35. doing project management well builds trust encourages sustainability promotes reliability
36. doing project management well builds trust encourages sustainability promotes reliability reduces stress
37. our behavior directly impacts! our clients behavior
38. “You are always so calm, I feel much better after talking to you” - the client
39. #winning
43. “ we have no managers* ”
44. “ we have no managers* ” * we have people who have all the roles and responsibilities that a project manager would have, but we’ve relabeled them a “primary responsible person” so we can live in a hipster indie dream world where words are meaningless and work just handles itself.
45. translation : “ we have no managers* ” * we have people who have all the roles and responsibilities that a project manager would have, but we’ve relabeled them a “primary responsible person” so we can live in a hipster indie dream world where words are meaningless and work just handles itself. we have managers
46. if you define ‘management’ by exclusively bad attributes
47. if you define ‘management’ by exclusively bad attributes then ‘management’ will always be bad, by definition
48. if you define ‘management’ by exclusively bad attributes then ‘management’ will always be bad, by definition (hint: it’s a tautology)
49. so, don’t do that.
50. eliminate the bad parts of the role promote the good parts of the role
51. managers roles ! don’t have to include : - being the “boss” - hiring or fire people - promoting or demoting - setting hours - enforcing policy - being terrible people
52. managers roles ! don’t have to include : - being the “boss” - hiring or fire people - promoting or demoting - setting hours - enforcing policy - being terrible people
53. eliminate the bad promote the good
54. matthew seeley ! @maxsilver