"Punish Inaction"

I've become a major fan of Dev Patnaik's book Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy I'm looking forward to interviewing Dev tomorrow for an upcoming People and Projects Podcast episode.

Don't wait for the interview--get the book now and start reading.

While prepping for the interview I came across what I expect to be my favorite quote for this entire month, from a recent article Dev wrote for BusinessWeek.

The quote is credited to Stanford University engineering professor Jim Adams who said, "Good companies reward success, punish failure, and ignore inaction. Great companies reward success and failure and punish inaction."

This hits on a common theme in both my interview with Michael Roberto about his book Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen and in my discussion with Ralph Heath, author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big: we too often seek first to punish failure instead of learn from it.

Yet the even greater wisdom of the quote has to do with how we deal with inaction. You be the judge. How have you seen inaction most often handled?

Tolerated? Expected? Ignored? Seriously. How many times have you said, "I thought of that years ago!" as someone makes money off an idea you had in the shower but went down the drain because you didn't take action.

"Punish inaction."

Do you want to excel at delivering projects and leading teams? Take those strong words to heart today. And don't just consider the inaction of those on your teams and the stakeholders you work with.

You and I both need to look in the mirror to consider the inaction that has been holding us back.

Do you want to make big things happen this year? Reward success. Enthusiastically learn from mistakes. And develop a disdain for inaction.

P.S. Have you still not taken action on getting a copy of Dev's book? :)

Labels: accountability, Books I Love, executives, innovation, learning, managing stakeholders, mistakes, podcast, project management, teambuilding, teams

posted by Andy at 1:52 PM  

Leaders are Readers! Here's my Recommended Reading List

If you're like me, there are a lot of books you'd love to read but they just seem to stack up in a pile of good intentions. I don't consider myself a fast reader and I can honestly say that I don't particularly enjoy reading.

But this I know for sure: leaders are learners.

And one very beneficial way to further your learning is to fill your mind with books and other resources that will teach, challenge, and encourage you to be more effective and make a greater impact on your career, family, and the world.

I'm often asked after keynotes and workshops for a list of recommended books. I have recently added a page on our website with book recommendations that I invite you to visit!

Labels: Books I Love, leadership, learning, project management

posted by Andy at 5:32 PM  

You Have One of The Best Jobs in America (at least according to CNN)!

For the record, just having a job these days is a blessing!

But since I get the privilege of working with project managers and other leaders, I was pleased to see that IT Project Managers ranked #5 on CNN/Money Magazine's Best Jobs in America survey.

PM's certainly didn't show up on the list for lowest stress, as any of my project manager colleagues can confirm. Yet the job track of Project Manager continues to be a good career investment.

Are you still procrastinating on getting your PMP certification? If so, check out my overview of how to get your PMP. Invest in your career by getting your PMP in 2010.

P.S. If you're willing to take less money, be a College Professor that teaches project management! Professors hit #3 on the overall list (and #3 on the Least Stressful list). The fact that Education/Training Consultant showed up #1 on the Least Stressful list makes me wonder about the validity of the survey, but I digress. :)

Labels: career, PMP certification, project management

posted by Andy at 1:37 PM  

"Ignorance keeps you perky"

Earlier this year Peggy Noonan wrote an article about President Obama's new term: "Every new president starts out fresh, in part because he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Ignorance keeps you perky."

The months since have shown that running a government is more challenging than running a campaign. Though you and I are not seeking to be the leader of the free world, Noonan's point can be translated to those who strive to deliver projects and lead teams. When we first take over a project or team, our optimism may be based on ignorance. What is it that we don't know?

This all comes to mind as I prepared for my podcast interview next week with Michael Roberto, author of Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen.

In the book, Professor Roberto essentially tells us that leaders must first hone their skills as problem-finders, not just problem-solvers. He offers very practical advice on how leaders can overcome the many barriers that make it a challenge to discover problems earlier instead of reacting to them later when the consequences can be much more severe.

The podcast episode is not scheduled to be published until late October but I invite you to get your copy of Michael's book now and enjoy the interview when it comes out.

In addition, here's an article that Michael just recently published that will give you a taste for what's in store.

Here's to us all becoming better problem-finders!

Labels: Books I Love, conflict, crisis, denial, illusion, podcast, project management, project sponsors, risk management

posted by Andy at 11:00 AM  

Jobs in Demand: Project Manager

A recent edition of CIO Magazine noted Project Manager as one of the hottest jobs in IT. Some favorite quotes from the article:

• "The most successful project managers can help save their company time and money by ensuring that these projects stay on track."
• "There is 'huge demand' in the market right now for people who have demonstrated an ability to execute."

Reminder for project managers: We are paid to lead, execute, and deliver for the business. And if we do a good job at that, we can save our company money.

Labels: leadership, project management

posted by Andy at 3:21 PM  

People and Projects Podcast now on iTunes

Just a quick note to announce our People and Projects Podcast is now available on iTunes. Click here to listen or subscribe!

You are also invited to visit the People and Projects Podcast home page. Thanks!

Labels: e-learning, leadership, podcast, project management

posted by Andy at 1:16 PM  

Do We Really Need Another Social Network? PPMNG!

So, I totally get that the last thing most of us need is yet another social network. It could be you've yet to jump into the fray and try one out. Perhaps you think they're a waste of time.

Or it could be you're in so many social networks that it feels like a burden to you. For the last year I've been focusing primarily on LinkedIn and Facebook. Without discipline any use of social networking can get out of hand.

"So add another one?"

If you're in a position or career track related to project management, I'm recommending "Yes."

Thanks to how easy (maybe too easy) it is to create a social network using the NING platform, there's a new network called the Professional Project Managers Networking Group (PPMNG). You can find it at http://www.ppmng.com/.

I've created two groups on PPMNG that I invite you to join: The People Side of Project Management and Certification Prep.

Next week I'll have a newsletter out that will talk about the pro's and con's of engaging in social networks. For now, I wanted to get the word out in case you haven't heard about PPMNG.

I'd tell you more but I have to get back to Twitter, or Facebook, or...... :)

Labels: networking, PMP certification, project management

posted by Andy at 3:16 PM  

"Project Management is a life skill"

"Project management is a life skill."

I say this in nearly every workshop I deliver. I know it sounds a bit geeky, but the truth is we're doing projects all the time. Not only can it help us at work.... It can also help at home.

Take this story from Donna, a recent workshop participant:

Hi Andy, Thank you, thank you, thank you! The reason why I attended the Project Management class last week was strictly business/work related. However, the WBS structure Delphi Technique particularly the "wallpapering" portion changed the climate in my house to peaceful and the level of my blood pressure to normal! :-) Here's how.... I have a teenage son that's a senior in high school who has a 4.0 gpa with big plans and NO ACTION!!!! Everyday since the first day of school he has carried a list of about 20 college/universities around in his wallet that he would like to attend, coupled with endlessly talk about big plans to play football in college, and would really, really, really like a part-time job to work on the weekends. After many unsuccessful attempts to demand, bribe, motivate, encourage, influence, and even challenge him to take action, my efforts fell on dead soil. This kid did not take ACTION! He only came up with excuses. As I sat on the sofa as usual thinking about what I would try next to give this kid a push, I began to take the work I brought home out of my bag. Guess what came out with it.....THE GOLD SHEET!!! As I looked at what I had written down for the "key things I learned" the fire works went off! I jump up and began to put the WBS Delphi Technique (wallpapering) in motion. (Some tweaking fit the purpose) I also added a daily log. (Something has to be done everyday! Even if it's nothing but adding a task.) Directly in front of my son's room I placed plastic over the wall to protect the paint and created the high level structure. (RED and BLUE in the pic) I chose the wall in front of his room to serve as a reminder every time he exited....... there's work to be done! I then explained to my son what we were doing and turned him loose. He had to add the details. (ORANGE, WHITE, AND YELLOW in the pic). Here's what he has accomplished within a matter of days..... Decreased his list of 20 college/universities down to 5 Scheduled to re-take the ACT Scheduled to take the SAT Completed 3 of the 5 college applications (turned in one including transcript requests) Began the essay portion of the applications Scheduled a meeting with his counselor Began the creation of his football highlight DVD Completed 2 job applications GOT THE PART-TIME JOB!!!!!! (within 3 days!!!!!) As you can see......this system is a lifesaver for my son and an answered prayer for me!!!! Needless to say.....he thinks I'm crazy! ha ha ha! Thanks again!

Way to go, Donna! As we stress in our workshops, this stuff only works when you take action on it. Project management skills are completely actionable and practical to daily life, both at work and home.

Ready to start helping you team (and family!) more reliably deliver? Contact us today!

Labels: project management, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 8:15 AM  

A Good Excuse to Say "Thank You!"

Hey, do you need a reason to celebrate today? Well guess what? The first Thursday of every November is International Project Management Day!

Now how exactly is one to celebrate International Project Management Day? That's a fair question. Increasingly there seems to be a day or month for just about everything. For example, who would have known that November is also Peanut Butter Lovers Month? I can figure out how to celebrate that over lunch today. But how do you celebrate International Project Management Day?

I propose you brainstorm a list of stakeholders who have been actively involved in (or have positively affected) your development as a manager/project manager. Today would be a great day to thank them.

Here are some of mine:

• Diane Conrath and Bob Pawlikowski, who promoted me from being a programmer/analyst to a manager for all the wrong reasons.
• Bill Henry, a former Vietnam vet turned DBA who taught me countless project management lessons through his quirky quips.
• Ron Bieber and Ken Bridgeman, who are some of the most talented technical leaders I ever managed. Or did they manage me?
• Walt Wikman, who encouraged my development and provided many opportunities for higher levels of leadership. He taught me to take a more global mindset to business, and he didn't keep me from speaking at conferences when I was discovering that I really loved doing so.
• Cindy Elzinga, who was one of the toughest bosses I ever worked for but did more to stretch me than any previous manager. I didn't realize it (or like it) at the time, but she greatly prepared me for what I'm doing now.
• Ben Snyder, who took a chance on me as a project management facilitator for Systemation when he was probably overstaffed. I have great respect for Ben as a leader, as a CEO, and as a person.
• Seth Freeman, who was both a joy and pain to work with as a stakeholder... and turned out to be a valued friend.
• Karl Wiegers, who encouraged me to pursue a speaking and writing career and graciously offered advice and feedback during the early days of my business.

There are countless others who have molded my ability to lead people and projects today. How about you? Use today as an excuse to take a moment to thank them.

P.S. I'm thinking real project managers would have come up with an acronym for today! So, fellow PM's, congratulations on IPMD!

Labels: appreciation, leadership, project management

posted by Andy at 9:41 AM  

When the Company Cuts the Travel Budget

A recent survey indicates that some companies are putting the brakes on business travel. This has the potential to impact how you invest in your people when it comes to their personal and professional development.

What are some options when buying airfare is not one?

• Bring it in-house. The price point for bringing a class in-house (where we come to you) can be significantly less expensive than sending people out to individual classes. Could you use some help delivering your projects more successfully? Or developing the leadership skills of your organization? We can partner with you on an in-house engagement that can get you the capabilities you need while saving you money.


• Take another look at e-learning. Visit our e-learning home to see how our solutions can help develop the knowledge and skills you need at an incredibly low price. In particular, check out the site license deals!


• Keep an eye out for our web conferences. Many of them are free and allow you to tap into expert insights without having step onto a jet bridge.

You can develop your teams while being a responsible steward of a limited budget. Give us a call and we can help match your budget with our services to help grow your staff.

Labels: e-learning, learning, project management

posted by Andy at 12:07 PM  

The Tech Disaster Awards

I enjoyed reading Jake Widman's recent article about The Tech Disaster Awards: What You Can Learn from ITs Biggest Project Failures.

Maybe it's just a relief that none of the listed belong to me or any of my clients!

Regardless, the reason I invite you to read it is that even the big failures have lessons that can be drawn from them. Do we really need to be reminded that it's important to know what we're building before we start cutting code?

Apparently so.

Enjoy the article. As a next step, here's a suggestion: Click here (or on the image to the right) to view a related clip from our popular Lipstick on a Pig keynote. Watch for the clip entitled Project Success and Failure. It has some valuable insights to help you and your team understand what leads to project failure (and how to better set your project up for success).

Here's to no Ig Nobel awards in your future!

Labels: crisis, Information Technology, learning, Lipstick on a Pig, project management

posted by Andy at 1:55 PM  

New Option for Earning Your PDU's

Thinking about becoming a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)? Or maybe you are a PMP and need some PDU's to keep your certification?

We have a new offering to help! Today we are announcing our new e-learning product What You Need to Know About Risk Management.

2 PDU's for under $50 USD is a great deal! But beyond that, you'll get practical learning that you can apply in your organization regardless of the corporate culture.

Click here to learn more!

Labels: e-learning, PMP certification, project management, Project Management Institute, risk management

posted by Andy at 5:33 PM  

Join me in Atlanta or Lacrosse for Professional Development Days at the local PMI Chapters

If you live near Atlanta, GA or Lacrosse, WI and have an interest in project management, I invite you to join us for a day of learning with the local PMI chapters!

Location	Date	Keynote	For More Information
Atlanta	8/16	Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis	Click here
Lacrosse	9/18	Beyond Time Management: 5 Keys To Getting More Done with Less Stress	Click here

I would love to have the opportunity to meet you! Check the chapter websites for details.

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, project management, Project Management Institute, time management

posted by Andy at 2:28 PM  

Killer Whale Sized Opportunities to Teach and Learn

What can you learn from "the new guy?"

I've been enjoying Andy Jordan's blog on the People Side of Project Management. In a recent posting he talks about interacting with "the new guy" and how we can not only help them as mentors but that we can also learn from them in the process.

In Amy Sutherland's book What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage she relates that killer whale trainers remember that "every interaction is training." (click here for a post I made about this book). Every time trainers interact with Shamu they are teaching, whether they realize it or not. Both Shamu and the trainers are learning about what is expected, how to treat each other, consequences for actions, etc.

I'm convinced that I miss killer whale-sized opportunities to learn each day because I'm not sufficiently paying attention. But when I do, those lessons can be more valuable than an expensive weeklong workshop.

I remember when I finally got that the dirty little secret of business is that it's all done on relationships. Previously I wanted to believe that the smartest one wins. Or that the best argument wins. Or that filling out the "right" paperwork and following the "right" process was the secret to successfully delivering projects.

But through the gift of a couple great mentors who modeled the secret of building relationships, I've been able to navigate situations that would have left me as Shamu Chow years before!

Our interactions with the new guy (and the old guys!) are modeling how to look at the world of projects and business and people in a potentially different way. May we all be forces for good as we teach (and have our eyes and minds wide open as we observe).

Want to become a more effective leader? Join our Leadership Fast Track Program to accelerate your ability to lead with confidence, take focused action, and achieve the results you desire.

Labels: leadership, learning, listening, managing up, mistakes, project management, project sponsors, teambuilding

posted by Andy at 1:46 PM  

Are You Leading or Are They Leading You?

Earlier this week I had a discussion late into the evening with Allan Holender, author of Zentrepreneurism. Though I have some rather significant worldview differences with Allan's proposed ideas, I greatly enjoyed our discussion and look forward to future conversations with him.

A comment from Allan that caught my attention was a quote from Jim Rohn: “You become the average of the five people you hang out with the most, so choose them carefully.” This is similar to the wisdom of Solomon: "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." (Proverbs 13:20).

I've heard this referred to as the Law of Association and find it intriguing, both personally and professionally.

Perhaps you've learned what took me longer to grasp in my early management experience than it should have: the importance of surrounding yourself wisely. Surround yourself with Yes men and you'll find a group of people who willingly go over the cliff with you professionally. Surround yourself with people who can respectfully but firmly dissent or provide constructive criticism and you have gained a priceless gift (while avoiding more pain than you might realize).

In our leadership and project management workshops we talk about personality styles and the power of having diverse styles on teams. The varying approaches to detecting issues, solving problems, and looking at the world can keep us sharp and stretch us beyond the comfy chair of status quo.

Yet you become the average of the five people you hang with the most. In my willingness to appreciate and interact with people who can think quite differently from me, I must also stay aware of who is doing the leading and following.

Pre-adult years are so critical: hang with the wrong people and they take you down a bad path (as in "Bad character corrupts good company" in 1 Corinthians 15:33). Yet whether a teenager or a well seasoned professional, if you only hang out with like-minded people, your thinking can be complacent and too black-and-white.

How can this dilemma be resolved?

The path I'm pursuing is to surround myself with an inner core of people who are good examples, willing to speak truth to me, stretch me in a positive way, and keep me accountable. I seek extended time with these people. In this case, I'm being led, in the most positive sense. Hopefully I am able to spur them on in a positive direction as well but in this inner core (or Rohn's "five"), it's my desire to make sure it's a positive influence.

Yet I don't want to fall prey to the tainted wisdom you would find in, for example, the book The Secret. Author Rhonda Byrne recommends that if you want to avoid, say, being fat, avoid fat people. I understand a friend's weight standards can influence another's, and if someone spends extended time with a negative influence, I have no problem with reducing their exposure to that person. But Byrne's recommendations are at best incomplete and at worst repulsive.

NOTE: For a critical review of The Secret, see my new book: Shining the Light on The Secret).

Rather than avoid those who are different, I want to engage with them. However, as the title of this blog states, it's important to keep track of who is influencing who. To what degree are you influencing them? In what ways are they influencing you?

I enjoyed my discussion with this Buddhist business author, but there is nothing in the discussion that changed my worldview (not out of closed-mindedness but because the alternative worldview seems sorely lacking).

Aspiring leader, here are my challenges to you:

• Who are some of the best influences in your life? Are you spending enough time with them to spur you on in a positive direction?
• Who are some of the worst influences? Are you spending too much time with them?
• How often are you interacting with people who think differently from you? Hopefully they can expand your thinking but may I also suggest you keep an eye on whether their influence is for the better or the worse?

Surround yourself wisely, with those who influence you personally and professionally in a positive direction, and with those toward whom you can influence in a positive way.

Labels: conflict, leadership, personality styles, project management, worldview

posted by Andy at 8:59 PM  

Get Your PMP® Certification!

Nearly every week I work with leaders at all levels of organizations who want to get better at not just talking a good game--but delivering. At it's core, project management is about delivery. If you want to get serious about developing a reputation for being a person who gets things done, I strongly suggest you commit to learning how to be a great project manager.

Many of my clients ask how they can learn more about becoming a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). We've recently added a page to our website to help you learn more about the process. Click here to learn more about how to get your PMP certification.

So many people tell me they're thinking about getting this certification. Let's stop thinking and start doing! This page can help. You can do it!

"PMI and PMP" are trademarks, service marks or certification marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc., which is registered in the United States and other nations.

Labels: leadership, PMP certification, project management, Project Management Institute

posted by Andy at 9:59 PM  

Silence is deadly (for projects and teams)

If you've been around projects long enough you know the drill... There are real problems being encountered but everyone above you seems to either be unaware or uninterested in grappling with them.

Denial is a powerful defense mechanism but rarely an effective project management strategy.
Eventually there's a project crisis. Rinse and repeat.

Since we regularly help organizations deal with issues related to these, I was pleased to read some recent results from research performed by VitalSmarts and The Concours Group. They surveyed more than 1,000 executives and project management professionals across 40 companies in a wide variety of industries.

Their Silence Fails study found direct correlations between our willingness and ability to speak up about issues and how successfully we deliver projects. The five most lethal issues that don't get discussed are:

• Fact-free planning. Failure is nearly predestined through insufficient acceptance of reality when it comes to timeframes and resources. The problem isn't that the limitations exist. The problem is people won't discuss the reality.
• Absent without leave (AWOL) sponsors. What happens when the sponsor doesn't lead? Can we talk about that? If not, prepare for failure.
• Skirting. When people skirt around the predefined process, we're often left with the resulting scope creep. If we can't discuss how this impacts projects, we'll likely soon be discussing why the project failed.
• Project chicken. We know we're late but we also know another team is late so we don't speak up. It's a deadly game that happens way too often. And the result? It's not pretty.
• Team failures. Just because we put people on a team together doesn't make them a team. Do we perpetuate the dysfunction by pretending everything's fine or do we intentionally work to improve the team dynamics. The answer can significantly impact a project's success.

Does your team or organization struggle with these issues? Contact us today about our Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis in Real World Projects keynote. It's perfect for a company meeting, offsite, or retreat.

We discuss these dynamics in more detail, including practical ideas about how to break out of the rut of failure caused by illusion. Contact us today for more information.

Labels: crisis, denial, Lipstick on a Pig, planning, project management, project sponsors, risk management, teams

posted by Andy at 12:17 PM  

Oversimplifying the issue

“Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright

A customer recently shared this quote with me based on a topic we had covered prior to a break. I had to share it with you… Have you seen Galsworthy’s wisdom in action?

We are a culture that loves the sound bite. Wrap the concept up in a 10 second blip… that’ll do just fine. From a cultural standpoint, think about how we oversimplify issues. For example, you’re either a liberal or a conservative. You’re either for saving the lives of millions of people through embryonic stem cell research or you’re a religious whacko. It would appear there’s no middle ground or shades of grey.

In business, think of how many times training classes or articles state we need to “do the right thing”, “put the right people on it”, “ask the right questions”. A recent article recommended that prospective leaders make sure they “do the right thing at the right time”. Uh, thanks for the insight.

At 30,000 feet, everything looks pretty simple. As Galsworthy states, “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.”

Think about projects that, once you dig into the requirements, are not as simple as they might have seemed on the white board with the sales & marketing folks. How about an employee who is struggling with his performance but has some real world challenges going on in his personal life? Or maybe you can think of processes that are a good idea but require changes to the culture to allow for acceptance?

Start digging into issues a little deeper and we’ll often find there’s less black and white and more shades of grey. It becomes more apparent that answers aren’t quite as easy as we may have thought.

For example, the whole stem cell debate has caught my interest. Did you know that while the politcally active mud wrestle about funding of stem cell research, adult stem cells are being used to treat over 67 diseases... today? And there’s promising research (here’s one example) that may make embryonic stem cell usage irrelevant some day.

In business, the reality is some things are black-and-white. There are generally accepted accounting principles that need to be followed. It’s not all shades of grey. Also, we need to simplify at times. In fact, I’ve found many an aspiring leader who failed to influence a situation because they presented too much detail to their executives. They should have provided more headline, less encyclopedia.

We can often win when we do a good job of simplifying.

But oversimplifying can be deadly. This blog entry is a call for you to be wary of oversimplifying.

Suggestions:

• Spend some time in the mud. If you are not spending enough time managing by wandering around, your idealism might be unfounded.


• Check yourself to see if you too often speak with the “right ______” phrasing. If you catch yourself saying, “We need to do this the right way” or “use the right tools”, let that be an alert that your altitude may be causing you to not appreciate the reality of the situation. Is it really a matter of right and wrong? It might be! But often it’s a matter of trade-offs.


• Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth. You need people around you who will tell you the truth, not just defer. Though it can drive me crazy at times, I purposely develop relationships with people who look at the world differently from me to make sure we’re not all sharing the same Kool-Aid.

Labels: culture, idealism, illusion, planning, project management, reality, requirements

posted by Andy at 3:18 PM  

Illusions in the Maine Medicaid Project

In a recent issue of CIO Magazine, Allan Holmes details the Maine Medicaid project. If you're tired of failed IT projects, I have bad news for you--it's another one. But don't let that stop you from learning from it....

In my Lipstick on a Pig keynote we discuss how you can often deconstruct a crisis to find fundamental illusions that eventually led to the disaster.

This story is packed with examples. Here's a learning exercise for you... Block out 15 minutes to read the article. If you have any leadership role on projects, it's a must-read. But don't stop there. Browse the comments that other readers have left. As you read both, note the illusions that led to this unfortunate crisis. I found the illusions in the reader feedback almost as interesting as those in the article.

OK, here's the link. Zap me a quick e-mail (or post a comment here) regarding your observations.

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, project management, risk management

posted by Andy at 10:44 PM  

Stakeholders and Trust

Ever find yourself complaining about people in other departments or on other teams? You have to rely on them to get things done but they're always challenging you?

Or maybe it's management. Yeah, they're the problem. They're so pushy, won't listen to logic, and too often micro-manage.

If you run a company or are in sales, maybe you slip into whining about customers that are a pain to deal with.

In project management terms, those people are stakeholders, defined as individuals and organizations who are actively involved in what we're doing or whose interests may be effected as a result.

When I hear an executive coaching client or teams complaining about stakeholders, I typically reframe the conversation to a discussion about trust.

Trust.

We know it's important. We know it's difficult to develop and easy to betray. Yet I find too many aspiring leaders who are not actively, intentionally working to develop it.

If you have the time, I strongly recommend you read the Edelman 2006 Annual Trust Barometer. It's bursting with analysis on trust, slicing data on the topic in ways I found incredibly engaging.

Here's one snapshot that is relevant to those who are actively managing stakeholders. It's a quote from Dr. Jennifer Scott, president of StrategyOne, the research company that conducts the Trust Barometer studies:

"When there's trust, stakeholders cooperate more eagerly. They challenge
less. They tend not to ask for verification or look for other partners. With
trust, things get done. Without trust, things cost more, take more time,and
exert more strain on an organization. Stakeholders will double-check every word you say before cooperating with you. They’ll make almost any task more ponderous and exhausting.”

Are you actively, intentionally working to develop trust with your stakeholders? Don't answer flippantly. What more should you do?

Instead of being annoyed by your stakeholders, look at it as a sign that you need to improve trust. Trust me. :)

Labels: leadership, managing stakeholders, project management, teams, trust

posted by Andy at 10:08 PM