Archive for September, 2009

We’re at itSMF Fusion 09!

Published September 21, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

From the editor:

Global Knowledge is hanging out in Dallas, TX, for the annual itSMF Fusion conference. Today was the welcome reception and exhibit, and the show seems to be off to a good start! We met many friendly folks and talked a lot about ITIL and IT service management.

Here’s our ITIL “guru” Hank Marquis

A shot of the show floor…

If you’re at the show, stop by the booth and say hi! We have some fun stuff to give away, too. Hopefully the rest of the conference is just as enjoyable as today was.

Interested in Attending PMI Global Congress?

Published September 10, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Every year, the Project Management Institute hosts an industry conference called, “Global Congress.” Project managers from all over the world attend and take advantage of numerous networking and educational opportunities.  This year, there are more than 150 educational presentations, including one by our very own Samuel Brown! It is being held in October in Orlando, Florida.

Right now, PMI is offering a great discount to anyone who registers before September 23rd. Visit their conference site here and save $250 on the registration price.

If you need help convincing your manager to let you attend, try using these handy information sheets that outline the costs and benefits. There’s one for PMI members, and one for PMI credential holders.

Should be a good time, and there are always lots of booths giving away free stuff! (Because you can never have too many pens!)

You’ve Got to Give a Little to Get a Little

Published September 9, 2009 Darrell Stiffler Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard of Rod McKuen? According to Wikipedia, “McKuen’s commercial success is unparalleled in the field of modern popular poetry. His poems have been translated into a dozen languages and his books have sold 65 million copies.” McKuen was wildly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. I attended one of his concerts in 1971. I, of course, was a mere child then. Yeah right! I still remember one of the lines in a love poem he delivered that night. He said something like “love means that you are getting more than you have to give.”

I consult, teach and write blogs about project management. Hopefully, I know a little something about the subject. I am not so sure about love. However, in both cases the phrase “give and you might be surprised about how much you get back” holds true. So what is my point? When managing a project you must deal with stakeholders.

Isn’t one of the secrets to successful management of stakeholders giving them the perception that they are getting more than they are giving? So what do they want? I’m not asking what the requirements are for the product or the service that the project is supposed to deliver. I mean: what does everyone want. Stakeholders want respect. They don’t want to be taken advantage of or made to look like a fool. They want perceived value. You as a project manager have control over two of the three wants of stakeholders, and you probably have some influence over the third. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?

Giving respect to all stakeholders can be a challenge. Stakeholders usually have an agenda that may or may not run parallel with the objectives of the project. They will challenge you and sometimes can make your life miserable. They can, at times, be disrespectful to you and of your authority. Don’t lower yourself to that level; maintain a respectful countenance and dialog. That does not mean giving into them or allowing them to bully you. Stand your ground, but maintain a respectful attitude. As long as you keep to the high road, you will always win in the long term. You may lose a battle but you will win the war.

In order to be put into a position of project manager you are probably “one of the sharper knives in the drawer.” You also probably have some charm and charisma. If you don’t, then spend some time developing these traits. Developed communication skills are essential. However, you may at some point have an opportunity to make yourself look smart at the expense of another person or organization. Don’t do it! What little you may gain now by looking clever will not be worth the price you have to pay by creating a detractor.

I have always found it fruitful to give credit to someone else. Make someone else look good. Giving sincere compliments is always a good thing to do. Do not lie, though, just to have something “nice” to say – avoid giving undeserved or insincere compliments. If you cannot give a sincere compliment, you are not looking hard enough.

Giving a stakeholder their perceived value requires investing time in that stakeholder. You must ascertain what is valuable to that stakeholder, and every stakeholder may have a unique perception of what is valuable. You cannot make assumptions as to what they define as valuable. Taking a look at a stakeholder’s office may give you a clue. Looking at the signature block of an email, if it is not a standardized signature block, might give you insight. Asking open-ended questions sometimes helps. Sometimes, taking a direct approach of just asking them what they value is best. Listen to what they are saying and what they are leaving out. Stakeholders may not know what they want, and you may have to listen to what they don’t say as well. Investing the time to find out what is perceived as valuable to your stakeholder can be invaluable.

Getting more than you give can be a challenge, but I have generally found that the more I give of myself, the more I receive back. Practice giving, and you might be surprised of how much you get back. As for love advice, I will leave that to Rod McKuen’s poetry.

Meetings are a Tool

Published September 4, 2009 Brian Egan 2 Comments

Editor’s note: This post is third in a series discussing the reasons that meetings run late. Click here to read previous entries.

In general, there are too many meetings and they are too long. Meetings waste a lot of time. The problem is that meetings are a tool that is often used very poorly. By “tool,” I mean that meetings are a method for arriving at decisions, so they are a decision tool.

The decisions that are made by employing meetings generally require input from a number of people, which implies debate and analysis in advance of a conclusion being reached.

When properly managed, meetings can be very effective. But without proper management, they waste a lot of time.

Skilled Carpenters
How many people have been trained to use meetings efficiently? Not very many, is the obvious answer. Or at least not very many people show signs of having been trained.

The average meeting owner assumes they are capable of running meetings because they have seen others do so. However, they do not necessarily witness the best practices. Quite the opposite. The inevitable result is the propagation of bad practices.

Meeting Management as a Learned Skill
If meetings are to be more efficient, the people who are using them to arrive at decisions must be trained in their use.

As with all skills development, there must be training and then performance feedback for meeting management. The effectiveness of meetings must be judged and feedback should be given. If a meeting runs badly or over schedule, the causes need to be analyzed and remedial action taken.

Only through training, experience, analysis and feedback can someone become a better carpenter, cook or meeting manager.

Spread the Blame But Not the Responsibility
Of course it is not always the meeting owner that is responsible for meeting failures. For instance, participants can be uncooperative or antagonistic.

However, the owner is ultimately accountable for the failure, because it was he or she who chose to use the meeting as a decision tool. Failure is the owner’s problem, even if it was not directly his/her fault.

Meeting “Experts”
More companies need to focus on training and performance measurement. Only then will meeting owners feel obliged to take full responsibility for the effectiveness of how they use meetings as a tool.

Dilemma
The problem is: how do we make meeting owners accountable for meetings in a productive way rather than in a purely punitive way? How can we encourage a more skilled-use of meetings rather than merely penalizing inefficiency?

More to follow…

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