I don’t know when I first heard someone say that. I suppose it was likely one of my parents. It could have been through one of my Boy Scout leaders or maybe from a nun in one of my youth catechism lessons. It’s one of those age-old axioms that holds a piece of eternal wisdom about how we should go about our journey. It is a little nugget that has never left me.
And now I’m looking at my calendar. It is reminding me that my approach to retirement is getting shorter, which makes me ponder what I am leaving behind for others. Am I leaving this profession better than what I found it?
Some might term this practice of leaving things better than what we found them as the building of legacy. To me that term has always seemed a little void of humility. This is because I have generally viewed those who are capable of leaving legacies as ones who have built up significant resources and influence over the course of their life – those who would be of a character less humble by virtue of their voluminous accomplishments. But I am thinking about this differently now that I am looming at the door of retirement. Perhaps anyone of any stature can leave a legacy.
You see, I subscribe to the idea that we live in a universe where everything and everyone is somehow connected. Maybe it’s just quantum mechanics, which I won’t pretend to understand. But to me it’s obvious that through our actions, and even by merely existing, we can and do have an impact in some way on someone and therefore by association on the course of history. The impact and influence we have had on others is what we hand down and pass along to those coming up behind us. By definition, that is our legacy no matter how seemingly insignificant we may view our contribution to mankind.
And so today I considered that, if I had to narrow it down, what three pieces of advice (elements of my legacy) would I pass along to other project managers? I have thought through what I have learned in text books, what I put into practice based on what I have learned from others, and (maybe more importantly) through the changes I have made from the lessons I have learned. Here they are:
Balance Project Objectives and People
In that project managers are generally task-focused people, it is easy for us to be consumed with checking off a list of completed project objectives. And, because our center is on the completion of things, it’s easy for us to deflate the fact that we are exclusively dependent on imperfect humans, not machines, to do the work of completing these objectives.
Here’s the trick: The project manager who can balance the weight of the demand to produce a high level output with the limitations of humans is the one who has mastered the trade.
Every one of my project teams over the years has had people of various skill levels and output capacity. And nearly every project has had unrealistic delivery expectations. Given this situation, the taskmaster in us would simply demand that no matter the available skills, time, or budget, “just get it done”. Sadly, I have heard this phrase far too often from managers at every level. This demand and approach is infantile. It demonstrates limited management and leadership skills. The good news is that project managers have a much bigger toolbox than this.
Here are a few of the tools that can be applied in these seemingly impossible situations: 1) inspire, influence, motivate, and empathize with team members to do their absolute best work while praising them at every opportunity for the good work they do, 2) use data to show progress to the project sponsor as often as possible and use this information to continually align on team output capability and expectations, and 3) together with other project leaders, generate ideas and formulate the best path forward when projections indicate that an on-time and budget delivery is at risk. The possibilities here are only as limited as the team allows. So, open up the floodgate of ideas and let everyone contribute. Doing these things early and often will pave the way to a favorable ending to any project.
Yes, for any number of reasons, some team members will under-perform. And yes, some project sponsors and other key stakeholders will be unreasonably demanding on the project team. These are times when the project manager earns their title and honors their profession by finding ways of further motivating team members while simultaneously working through ideas with leadership for improving the project outcome. Neglecting or not satisfying either of these will cause an imbalance that may put the project at risk.
We juggle. We balance. We explore. We moderate. We find a way. That’s what we do.
Projects Will Ultimately Fail Without Sincere Buy-in
Too many times I have had project stakeholders at every level tell me they are all-in and then immediately demonstrate that they are not through an underwhelming response or performance.
When participation weakens, interest wanes, or enthusiasm diminishes we know that problems have already set in and we have work to do to bring excitement back to the project.
I look to actions instead of words as my crystal ball for predicting the future of a project. I have watched companies spend millions on halfhearted efforts. Every single one of those projects eventually (maybe not immediately) failed. They failed before the project was initiated (actually, the best case), during project execution (most of them), and even after the final acceptance upon project completion (the most ridiculous case).
If key stakeholders at every level are not fully invested and inspiring others to do the same from the beginning of the project, throughout project execution, and for the duration of the time it takes for the organization to fully adopt the change for which the project was intended, it will very likely put a tick in the failed project column. Note here that some of our most important project work happens even before the project starts.
A software project is a great example. If stakeholders are not convinced of the need for the new software, if they are not interested in participating in configuring the software to meet their needs, or if they are not willing to use the software in the way it was intended to be used, the software project will have been a waste of everyone’s time and money.
My advice here is to gather up whatever influence the project manager has accumulated and use it to entice as many key people as possible to get as involved as possible as early as possible and as often as possible in a way that piques and maintains their sincere buy-in. Before project initiation, if the project idea is not embraced by all key stakeholders, press the pause button, reassess the ‘why’ of the project, and do not proceed until buy-in is secured. And then throughout the project, gather and exercise every idea that helps build and maintain excitement and anticipation. Do this with every project and the result will be a large successful portfolio.
Trust, Not Control, Wins in the End
Project managers who insist on constantly micromanaging their team members and putting in strict controls over every action during project execution will surely lose more respect than gain accomplishments from their team members. Ultimately this kind of management leads to more failed than successful projects and an uptick in the erosion and demotivation of teams across the organization.
Team members have worked hard to become experts in their field, which should gain them well deserved respect from their project managers for what they do best. So, loosen boundaries as much as possible, give every person on the team room to shine, and recognize them individually and publicly when they do. If and when they fall short, speak to them in private to discover why and plan with them the path forward to revive their success.
Of course every project needs controls. But put in only necessary controls that cover critical constraints. Don’t allow controls to prohibit the speed of production, stifle critical contributions, or limit brilliant innovations from team members.
For instance, I have managed projects with highly technical people. Left completely on their own, they tend to over-engineer and over-complicate technical solutions. This is a sign of their expertise, but it can sometimes result in busted time lines and budgets. We need both: excellent work and an on-time and budget ending.
What I have typically done to resolve this is to work side-by-side with the team’s business analyst, technical leads, and key business owners to come up with ways to provide value even if we need to cut back on some requirements while maximizing what can be delivered within the limits on time and budget. This approach creates project co-owners, empowered decision makers, and contributors to the management of project constraints while still giving everyone room to excel at what they do best. At times an executive steering group may need to make some of the decisions or provide direction, but the point is to get all the right talent contributing, completely bought in, and dedicated to the best and final outcome.
By transferring some control and responsibility to every team member, the team becomes single-focused, united, and stronger. They also appreciate that I am not micromanaging the details of their work, that they have been given the respect they have earned, and that they have been given some control and ownership of the project outcome. That is powerful stuff! Everyone is invested, productive, and valued. Together the team wins.
Final Thoughts
As I worked through composing these three pieces of advice, so many other things came to mind. It was difficult to narrow this down. But in my final analysis, as seen weaved through the three items above, the place from where my four decades of projects have succeeded or failed was in the treatment and management of the people who did the work. It was not pressure from the bully executive. It was not in keenly written rules, regulations, procedures, or processes. The longest lasting and greatest contribution to project success in my experience has nearly always stemmed from relationships rooted in hard-earned mutual respect.
I hope these three pieces of advice will help project managers leave things better than we found them. Are they part of my legacy? Maybe. I’ll let others decide that.
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