Less Well-known Benefits of Schedule Management

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Photo by Elena Mozhvilo from Unsplash

Besides bringing control to your project schedule, schedule management delivers additional benefits. Here are a few rarely-discussed benefits of schedule management. 

Defines elephant bites. The adage about eating an elephant one bite at a time works with projects, too. However, the phrase doesn’t mean much unless those bites are defined and are seen as reasonable. The work breakdown structure – as the basis for the overall project schedule – is the perfect tool for defining reasonable bites. Tasks represent the small chunks or bites that need to be produced to deliver the project. A good schedule helps you deliver a project successfully, because people can grasp those small bites and how their tasks contribute to the overall project objective.

Facilitates great how-to discussions. A company’s IT upgrade project team faced a dilemma: should they upgrade the network connections first, then the PCs, or the other way around? While there were technical pros and cons to each option, the schedule ultimately decided the sequence. Vendor resource restrictions determined the best approach — in some parts of the business, the PCs were upgraded first; and in others, the network was upgraded before the PCs. Without considering the schedule in the decision, it would have taken longer to complete the project. A better approach to completing the project was identified because of scheduling discussions.

Provides a defense against unreasonable expectations. A common challenge for project managers is handling expectations of the timeframe required to deliver project outcomes. The best tool for fact-based discussion of timeframe is a set of tasks defined and sequenced along with a reasonable time estimate for each task. That discussion becomes even more powerful if you’ve captured history of task completions, which reinforces your estimates for the current project. If the timeframe is too long,  you can use that information to ask your sponsor which tasks to cut or convey the risk from reducing the hours allocated to a task.

Gives you a map! Successful initiatives all share a common trait — there is a known and understood path from where things stand today to where you want to be. For projects, a sound schedule is that map. A complete schedule includes milestones and closing tasks, which serve as “X marks the spot” tasks that tie things together and confirm you’ve reached the treasure you were seeking. 

Have you come across schedule management benefits?

For more about schedule management, check out my Project Management Foundations: Schedules course. You might also want to watch my recent LinkedIn Office Hours session about evaluating schedule quality.

How to Recover From a Mistake

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Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

Even the most experienced project manager will occasionally make a mistake – a flaw in the project plan, misinterpreting business directions, or overlooking an issue or risk. Here are a few tips on how to recover when you make a mistake in a project:

  • Take ownership. The quicker you take ownership of what happened, the sooner you can work on fixing the problem. You want your team to focus on solving the problem, not blaming one another for what happened.
  • Fully understand the issue or mistake. You need to understand the problem before you can make adjustments to the project. Interview key clients and team members to understand the issue. Then, analyze the facts and assumptions used to make project decisions. For example, confirm that information presented as fact is actually fact. Verify that the initial assumptions used to move forward with the project are still valid. If you discover invalidated assumptions, determine what needs to be confirmed before making those assumptions in future projects. After you collect this information, present the full story of the issue and corrective actions to management.
  • Craft response alternatives. The best project managers quickly develop possible response for addressing project issues. If appropriate, present these alternatives to management so they can decide which one to choose – and you can act quickly. If you won’t have responses identified before you discuss the mistake with management, tell them how you will design your responses and when you will present them for consideration.
  • Update your risk management plan. When a mistake is made, you want to reduce the chance of the mistake being repeated. Add information about the mistake and how you handled it to your risk plan and register for your project — and update any other data sources project managers consult for project guidance. If a risk response was inadequate or inappropriate, update the documentation and review the situation with team members involved in drafting or confirming the risk response. Learning is the best way to prevent future mistakes, which brings me to my last tip…
  • Turn the event into a learning moment. When an error is made, it can be tempting to lash out. Focus on what leadership expert John C. Maxwell calls “failing forward.” Educate your stakeholders to make them better project advocates. By turning a mistake into a learning moment, you can increase the capability of your organization.

If you have other suggestions for recovering from a mistake, please add them in the comment section.

For more about risk management, check out Bob McGannon’s Project Management Foundations: Risk course.

You Don’t Have to Feel So Alone

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As a project manager, you have to make decisions, resolve conflicts, manage aggressive timeframes and make the most of small budgets. It can feel like you have to deal with these responsibilities all alone. Yes, your responsibilities are monumental. You won’t feel so alone if you follow these tips:

  • Work with your team members. Take time to work with your team on issues, idea generation, and solutions. It’s even more effective when you chat informally with team members at least 10 minutes each day. You won’t face obstacles alone and you’ll build stronger relationships, develop trust, and foster dedication with your team members. 
  • Show gratitude. Look for opportunities to say, “thank you.” When appropriate, acknowledge accomplishments with formal recognition programs or by taking a team member(s) out to lunch. Expressing gratitude helps build a unified team that will support you as a leader – and you won’t be on your own should things go astray. Do the same with your key stakeholders and project sponsor to build support you can count on when you need it.
  • Enhance your leadership approach. Project leaders have no choice but to rely on others. As you manage larger, more complex projects, the need to rely on others grows. View this dependency as an opportunity to delegate, train and learn from others. Your team members become stronger resources; you grow more familiar with your team’s deliverables; and project management becomes more of a team effort.
  • Leverage your network. Discuss your project with fellow project managers and get their perspectives. Use status reviews with your manager and/or project sponsor to share ideas and perspectives. Attend project management gatherings, like Project Management Institute® chapter meetings and network with other attendees. You might pick up a great idea to make you look like a hero on your project!

If you have more suggestions for reducing your sense of isolation, add them in the comments section.

For more about team building, check out Mike Figliuolo’s Building High-performance Teams course.

The Fine Art of Documenting Lessons Learned

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Crafting lessons learned can be tricky. Lessons learned should help future projects without criticizing anyone publicly. Here are a few guidelines for achieving those lessons learned goals. 

  • Identify recurring issues. Issues that are likely to re-occur if they aren’t addressed are significant lessons learned because they will help many future projects. Conversely, issues related to one-off technology or unique business processes won’t be that helpful in the future, creating useless entries to wade through in your lessons learned library.
  • Identify an avoidance or risk reduction strategy. Nothing is learned if you don’t document how to avoid the issue. Describe the issue or risk and explain what to do differently. Future readers need to understand the context, so be specific and include early warning signs for the issue. Entries with these details will help your project management peers (or yourself if the issue crops up after you’ve forgotten about it).
  • Improve project methodologies and guidelines. Lessons learned might present opportunities to improve your project management methodologies or templates. Write your lessons learned entries with this in mind. If your lessons learned entry can’t be applied to your methodology, there may be gaps in your project standards. For example, if your methodology doesn’t handle working with your procurement organization on vendor contracts, write your lessons learned entry to add that process to your project management methodology and template set.
  • Refrain from mentioning individuals or roles. Appropriate lessons learned talk about the issue that occurred and the approach for avoiding or reducing its impact to the project. Talk about outcomes and processes, not specific decisions or inaction. Don’t mention individual’s names. Mention roles only if absolutely necessary. 

Do you have tips for describing helpful lessons learned from your experience?

For more about lessons learned and project closure, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Successful Eating Plans and Project Management Have a Lot in Common

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Photo by Dan Gold from Unsplash

I enjoy cooking — and eating – and I also believe in the benefits of a healthy eating plan. A recent conversation reminded me of the similarities between successful eating plans and project management. So grab that acai bowl (or rice cake if you insist on dieting) and have a read.

  • The correct amount is ideal. Sufficient, not excessive calories are key to effective nutrition plans and project plans. Fewer people on a project are easier to manage, reduce communication problems and are more likely to work as a team. Just as you don’t want to eat more because you have low-cal foods on hand, don’t add project team members unless they have expertise you need. Using the correct amounts in your eating plan and your project will yield better results. 
  • The right mix is crucial. An eating plan includes a mix of nutrients to keep you healthy. A project also needs the right mix of technical leads, industry expertise, and action- and planning-oriented team members. Your project is apt to stall with an out of balance team. 
  • The timing of consumption matters. When you eat can be as important as how much you eat. Likewise, when you deploy project resources is important. Bring in experts too early and you might suppress your team’s ideas, because they defer to the expert. Bring in experts too late and you risk spending time and money on dead-end approaches they would know to avoid.
  • Produce early results. Eating plans that don’t generate recognizable early results might be dropped as unsuccessful. When stakeholders dedicate budget and critical staff time to the project, they want reassurance that they are making a wise investment. When you deliver early project results, your stakeholders will stick with you, just as you will stick to the menu when you feel healthier, stronger, and more energetic. 
  • Keep your eye on the goal. Persistence pays off! Whether your goal is health, strength, energy, or weight loss, keep your eye on your objective—and remember that progress won’t be consistent. That way, your chance of success increases. With projects, monitor performance and accept that business priorities and issues might impede project progress.

If you can think of other similarities, post them in the comments section. I’d love to add them to this list.

For more about project management, check out my Project Management Foundations course.