Triple Constraints

The science of project management is obvious. Calculating resource needs against upcoming work, mapping the critical path for your project timeline, or managing your budget based on a fluctuating scope. But there’s also an art to project management. It’s an area that goes beyond what you learn from the PMBOK – it’s something that requires confidence and finesse.

The art of project management is all about managing relationships. You must ease your clients’ concerns, whether those clients are internal partners or external customers. You must push back carefully when your clients’ pipe dreams force scope creep. And you need to create a strong rapport with your internal project team in order to help prioritize your own project tasks when they may compete with other concurrent projects.

In my opinion, the art is far more important than the science. It’s also more difficult to master. You learn these soft skills over time. Your first project with a challenging client can give you invaluable experience. A dozen more, and you are on your way. And those skills translate beyond project management. They’re useful in nearly any profession.

My recommendation is to force yourself to balance your project management training with direct relationship management. Don’t expect your peers or clients to follow the rules of project management. People are unpredictable, and adding some art to your project management science can help you prepare for any challenge.

Watching my alma mater Notre Dame dismantle Nevada this past Saturday, I couldn’t help but think that there were three main things that allowed ND to win the game:

1. Superior talent
2. Preparation
3. Motivation

Having one of these things without the others would not have let the team win. This may seem like common sense in the sporting world, but it also applies to the business world. Charlie Weis was able to get his team ready for the game and they won in convincing fashion. Charlie serves as a project manager and boss for one of the most stressful jobs in the country. We can apply some of his practices into our own lives.

When you are kicking off a project, you are like the coach of a football team. You have been given the task of guiding your team over the goal line and on to victory. Now what do you do to help your team win?

Talent

First, you need to make sure you have the talent on your team. In the world of college football, this is called recruiting. In the world of project management this is called resource procurement. In both cases, you have to plead your case as to why the talent (player or employee) should be part of your team. In college recruiting, you need to explain how you can help the player/employee develop and pursue their goals while they work to solve the goals of the team. In business, the majority of the recruiting pitch is aimed at the functional manager. You need to explain how having the employee on the project will help the company succeed.

Preparation

Next, you need to prepare your team for the big event. This involves analyzing your own team, your opponent (or project in the business scenario), and figuring out ways to put your players in a position to succeed. No one coach can do this on their own and this is why there are scouts and assistant coaches. The same principle applies to the project management world. Successful project managers partner up with business analysts and other resources that specialize in defining projects and recognizing risks and opportunities.

When analyzing your own team you need to look back at previous performances and evaluate how players performed. You work on fixing those things that broke, while reinforcing and practicing those things that went well so they continue to work. In the sports world that is simply called practice, but in the business world these tasks occur during lessons learned meetings and best practices sharing.

Motivation

Notre Dame players are motivated this year to prove that previous years were a fluke and that the team has the talent to challenge for a national championship. This motivation to prove others wrong is often a strong force for teams. Players on a team are also motivated by a desire to showcase their talents in the hope of attracting the attention of scouts.

These same principles are at stake on a project team. Team members are motivated to perform well because they want the project to succeed. This is often epitomized by the “us versus them” mentality that many teams embrace. They also work hard because they desire recognition from peers and managers. How can a project manager increase motivation within the team? One key way is to be honest at all times. Tell your team how it is, not how they want it to be. When you provide feedback to your workers focus on giving them actionable information so they can continue to grow as employees.

Conclusion

Take this information and apply it to your next project. And remember, win one for the Gipper!

In these tough economic times, it is imperative that you focus on ways to improve yourself and your career. One way to accomplish this task is to perform your own personal SWOT (not to be confused with SWAT) Analysis.

What is a SWOT Analysis?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.

SWOT analysis is commonly used as a strategic tool to determine which projects/initiatives to conduct. When conducting a SWOT Analysis, you are often presented with a chart that breaks these topics into two areas. The chart typically looks like this:

SWOT Analysis Chart

You will notice that the upper half of the chart is dedicated to internal forces and the lower half is dedicated to external forces. From a corporate standpoint the internal forces are often focused on the product you currently offer as well as any improvements you are developing. The lower quadrant deals with how the market is trending and any competitors you may have in your field.

How to conduct a personal SWOT analysis

When you conduct a personal SWOT analysis, these topics take on different meanings.

• Strengths =Characteristics or traits of you as an individual that differentiate you from the competition in a positive way. These strengths could be your stellar academic career or professional experience and accolades.
• Weaknesses = Characteristics or traits of you as an individual that do not make you as appealing as the competition. These could be lack of experience or a lack of skills.
• Opportunities = Openings in the workforce or opportunities to improve your personal characteristics in an attempt to improve your marketability. These could be a new company moving into your town or a new educational opportunity that has presented itself.
• Threats = Workforce trends that are working against you in your career growth. These could be a downsizing at your office or other events that flood the market with job seekers.

In order to determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you must be frank with yourself. All too often, people place the blame for their lack of career growth on others. If you wish to succeed in your career you need to take credit for the growth you have made, while also taking the blame for opportunities you failed to seize.

Perform a SWOT analysis and then take the results to improve your marketability.

• If you lack experience, volunteer to serve as a project manager for a company initiative or for a charity.
• If you lack skills, seek those skills through work or education.
• If you possess solid skills or experience, make sure your resume and job search highlights these facts.
• If you have an opportunity and it makes sense to your career path, jump on that opportunity.
• If there are threats to your current job, make sure that you investigate and pursue alternatives so that you have someplace to turn should things go sour.

You may not always like the results of your SWOT analysis, but as GI Joe used to say “Knowing is half the battle”. Now go out there and fight the good fight.