 Reforming Project Management |
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Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Off to Colorado
We wrap-up our Lean Project Leadership (Shusa) Program this week with a visit to Colorado. (The next program starts the end of January 2003.) While there I'll be delivering a guest lecture at the Colorado State University graduate program of Construction Management while Greg Howell visits the University of Colorado to do the same. Both of us are speaking on Projects, Planning, and Promising. We are trying out our thinking in advance of writing a paper for the 12th Annual International Group for Lean Construction Conference. The conference will be held at Virginia Polytechnic at the end of July 2003. (No IGLC program description is currently available.)
I'll also be visiting a a construction project where the project team has been operating on the Last Planner System™. I plan to write about both the lectures and the visit to the jobsite. With a little luck, I might even get to ski!
Monday, December 09, 2002
Disruptive Technologies Can Be Useful
Disruptive Technologies Can Be Useful by Sean Gallagher. The article explores the role electronic collaboration tools have on projects.
Even IBM has had to adjust. As relationships created by virtual teaming on projects have proliferated, IBM has changed how it manages people. Cherbonneau says team members and managers now have to agree on the same objectives—completing specific features by specific dates—so workers are focused on one set of goals.Imagine that, a project where team members are aligned around the same goals and priorities! I didn't know projects could be otherwise successful. The author warns "...working online can speed change but...(result in) fallout." Aargh! Sunday, December 08, 2002
Remember your stars as you work with problem players
Ken Harden, Builder.com, writes Remember your stars as you work with problem players. The author advises project managers to not let weak players drag down the team, particularly the team members that give 100% everyday. His advice, "Find an acceptable point of failure, and then let it happen." He's saying to let the breakdown occur to surface the problem with the poorer performers. While that might look unacceptable to many high-achieving project managers, Harden argues it is often the only way to bring the necessary attention to the project. For project managers that have team members assigned to the project by others, this may be a reasonable point of leverage. Harden highlights the concern by noting that "The most dysfunctional teams are always going to get the lion’s share of the company’s attention and remedial resources." That point is well-supported by research.
In the best-selling book First, Break All the Rules authors Buckingham and Coffman share 25 years of Gallop data on how disproportionately high attention to poor performers gets in the way of teams learning from their high performers. I'm not sure Buckingham and Coffman would agree with Harden's specific advice, but they are very clear on one point: spend more time with your high performers. You will learn from them and raise the standards of performance for the whole team.
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