The people behind Stack Overflow, the wildly popular programmers forum, has a proposal to host ASK ABOUT PROJECTS at no cost.

Askaboutprojects.com is a leading forum for project management questions answered by a global community of project management experts (including us here at Vertabase).

You can help move this proposal forward at Area 51. This is the “staging” area for sites under consideration by the folks at Stack-Exchange.

If you are interested in project management, or have a project management question, check out the Ask About Projects website.  Its a community driven site where you can ask questions, you can answer them and you get to decide who’s answers are good or not.

Next time your client comes to you with a tight deadline, an aggressive schedule or fast turnaround, ask them “why?”

And if they are coming to you every week with tight deadlines and crunch-times and overnight deadlines or deadlines in hours instead of days or weeks, ask them “why?”

Ask them why it’s such an emergency. Ask them why it’s so important and why they need it so quickly.  And did they have the need yesterday for it? Will they have the need tomorrow for it?

50% of the time they won’t have an answer.

50% of the time they are just getting something off their desk or trying out a new idea or seeing if they can relieve some of their pressures by having something new come out of your department or your team.

(You can usually tell if this is happening when they don’t have time to look at the draft work-product you produced for them or to comment on sketches or mock-ups or even the tweaks you made based on their initial feedback.)

Next time they come to you with super rush deadlines, ask “why?”

And build it into your process.

You’ll get a lot more work done. And your clients will be happier when you have the time to dedicate to the jobs they truly value for their longer-term needs.

Incidentally, “why?” doesn’t mean you’re turning away the work or saying you won’t do it.  The idea is to put a  business case ahead of the expenditure of resources. It’s about prioritizing work so you can focus on the most important jobs and knowing what the work-product is supposed accomplish.

I will be speaking at the November meeting of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Great Lakes Chapter. The topic is:

How To Achieve Economic Growth and Innovation Through Linchpin Project Management

Attendees receive a 1 PDU continuing education credit from the PMI.

Below is a description of the session. You can register at here.

Project management evangelist Mark Phillips will bring to life the new buzz-phrase “linchpin project management.” He takes the concept explained by author Seth Godin and defines it in everyday terms, recommending steps that project managers and other business leaders can take to create a culture of linchpin project  management.

Attendees of this presentation will learn the critical distinction between the view that project managers lead “operations” and the view that they lead “projects,” with the latter being preferable.

By seeing their roles as true managers of projects, the individuals in these roles maintain creativity by distinguishing themselves as being in charge of something unique, something that is bringing change and has never been done before.

Finally, Phillips will describe the innovation-driven authority that the best project managers can derive from their roles and provide tips for individuals who want to achieve this level of mastery.

Timothy Keirnan’s Design Critique: Products for People podcast published an interview with Mark Phillips from the Internet User Experience 2010 Conference in Ann Arbor.

The podcast discusses how designers, studios and internal art departments can use project management techniques to create better work product.  The podcast gives real-world, non-technical tips. It also goes into some of the political / personality challenges you might encounter.

If you don’t know about Timothy’s podcast, its about encouraging usable products for a better customer experience. It recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary and has included interviews with such note-worthies as Michael Graves and the creators of SnagIt.

Formal project management methodology can be overkill on some projects or a lifesaver on others. In general, it’s clear on when to go through the detailed steps of a methodology and when not to. It depends on the overall size of the project.

1. A short project doesn’t require much in terms of formal project management. The steps you’d go through in putting together all the documents and spreadsheets of a methodology are done automatically as part of getting the project done.
2. A long project should go through formal project management steps to make sure all bases are covered and that nothing is dropped or forgotten. (This is especially true during when gathering requirements for the project.)

The problem comes when you think the project will be short and it turns out to be a long one.

To avoid this, do a quick, 10,000 foot estimate on the project’s size before getting started. In the language of formal project management (like PMI’s Guide to the PMBOK), this is called a top-down estimate. It can be based on experience and past projects you, or other people in your organization, have done. Templates or archives of these past projects can be helpful sources of information for the estimates.

Take the time to actually put together an estimate, as opposed to just eye-balling it or basing your estimate on “gut” alone. It can save you from the headache of underestimating the tools, resources or information you need to get the project done.

My project management presentation from the Adobe Developers Summit UnConference 2009 is now available online.

It covers simple and effective tips to improve your project’s success and manage projects better.

Part Four of Four

I’ll wrap up this series with a discussion of power.

Without authority a project manager is stuck.  A project manager needs to exert some form of authority to implement changes and move the project forward.  This authority can be formally granted in the organization or informally obtained and built up over time.

A linchpin needs to make a difference and exert influence over their individual realm. A linchpin project manager needs to exert influence over a process and other people. They may or may not formally have that power. If they don’t, an organization can unlock a wave of innovation by empowering project managers to make changes. Giving project managers formal authority.

But sometimes, a  project manager needs to build up their own authority.  Somehow. There are many different ways of gaining authority and many different kinds of power or influence that you can wield.  This article focuses on the kind of authority a linchpin project manager can gain: innovation driven authority. Authority you build up by being innovative, creative and delivering results.

INNOVATION DRIVEN AUTHORITY
A linchpin takes advantage of those things they have control over, and makes a difference in that realm.

They may realize they have authority over something small (what some may consider small). But it is specifically in this realm that they can affect change by starting and finishing something that is unique. By doing their part differently, they can invest themselves in the project and make it remarkable.

They may have a different read on what the customer wants or a different feel for how the customer wants to be treated. Then, through their own internal strength and belief that its ok to be different, they let that approach influence how they run the project -and how they ask others to work on the project.  Of course, this is not without risk. Their approach might be “wrong.” They could be heading for disaster.

But a linchpin project manager combines the willingness to take risks with formal project management skills.  This includes having a system in place to monitor projects, see when they’re going off track and do course corrections (or kill the project if need be).  It includes identifying and managing risk.  It means knowing how to report progress to other people in the organization, your clients, so they can have an accurate read on what to expect.

The project might fail. But a linchpin project manager will have distinguished themselves by trying to make a difference, of being more than just a competent project manager. By being an innovator.

By building a track record of trying to do the remarkable, a linchpin project manager can build up their reputation and their authority. This is authority based on results and creativity. Innovation driven authority.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS A SOURCE OF THE REMARKABLE
Throughout the series we’ve talked about structural changes you can make in your organization to foster linchpin project management. This article talked about giving people the authority to make changes or how to gain authority through innovation.  This is no small challenge and one that even the largest companies are grappling with (see The End of Management from the Wall Street Journal).  One thing is certain, someone who is inspired to be a linchpin has a tremendous amount of creative energy waiting to be used.  If you don’t give them the room to use that energy, to exercise their abilities, they will push for the authority to do so.  And if, after pushing and pushing, they still can’t get it, they will likely try to take those energies elsewhere (or, you’ll kill that energy and lose a valuable asset).  By not creating a culture of linchpin project management you could be fostering your next competitor right in your own shop. At the very least, by keeping creativity chained up, you’ll dull that source of creativity in exchange for the average and known.

By definition, a project manager is someone who ACTIVELY applies the tools, techniques, knowledge and skills of project management to help projects achieve their requirements. The most important word here is “actively.” A project manager, in the best scenario, is an active participant in achieving results. What’s more, a great project manager really is that linchpin who is particularly focused on delivering the remarkable.

Part Three of Four

Art departments, marketing firms and creative agencies have a unique challenge when it comes to project management.   How do you distinguish between operations and projects when you do projects for a living?

Making this distinction helps you empower your project managers to be true agents of change.  This distinction gives them room to be linchpin project managers.

Picture an art department, marketing company or creative service firm. They keep the lights on by doing unique things.  Their job is to come up with new designs, new campaigns, new slogans, new websites, new whatever.  True to the definition of a project, they are unique undertakings, there are fixed deadlines and there are risks involved. But this is something they do every day. It is the day to day operations of the company.

This blurs the line between operations and projects.

In these situations, most creative firms turn to the talent to deliver the results.  And, without question, the talent is key.  But project management has a large role to play and a project manager can be a big contributor to the whole process.  The project manager can help you deliver remarkable results for your clients.

Unfortunately, what often happens though is that the project manager gets relegated to a secondary role. They become minders of the talent or administrators of the work.  They get stripped of the value they can provide.

The challenge here is to give a project manager the space and authority to manage the project. A project manager can actively contribute to the work product and, over the long term, to the work process,  to make it great.  They can be instrumental in making sure creative juices are flowing towards making the customer happy and the team efficient.

Here are some results a linchpin project manager can deliver.  A project manager can improve turnaround time on projects or increase speed to market and help create better campaigns.  They can give you information on how to keep the company profitable or how to avoid doing a ton of work for free when you’re pitching a client. Bottom line, a project manager can give you ideas on how to create better stuff than you currently are.

One great example of how they can do this is insisting on a  creative brief for every project. Instinctively most designers know that this would improve the whole process.  A project manager can make sure that the first question asked when starting a new project is “Why are we doing this?” so you can spend your time wisely,  as opposed to “ok…what’s the first task?” and hope that you deliver what the client wants.

Give it a try on one project. Let the project manager actually manage the project and the people. Let them contribute and shine. You might be surprised at the tremendous results they can achieve for you.

Part Two of Four

In the last article we introduced the concept of  Linchpin Project Management.

• Linchpin Project Management fosters linchpin project managers;
• A linchpin project manager is someone who drives change in an organization.
• A linchpin project manager needs to be willing to be a driver of change, as a person and

A linchpin project management environment

fosters remarkable change and can make

your company indispensable to your customers.

This article focuses on one factor that determines the environment for project management.

Operations or Projects?
Is the project manager working on operations or projects?

This might seem like an academic distinction, but it is fundamentally important in how the project manager sees their role in the organization and the standards to which they are held.

For example, if they manage operations, the fact that the business is still going means they are doing their job.

But if they manage projects, they are doing their job only if the company keeps improving.

Operations are things you do every day to keep the lights on, the company working and customers happy.

Projects are unique undertakings. They have a distinct start and end date. Often they are used to help move operations from status-quo to some new (and hopefully improved) state. A project means change.

A project manager is, therefore, in charge of something unique, something that is bringing change. Something that’s never been done before.

People who run operations are sometimes called project managers. This is because the operations of the company require producing distinct work- product for specific clients.

(I see this a lot in creative groups like marketing or art departments.  In fact,  the next article in this series is dedicated to project management for marketing or art departments.)

Calling an operations manager a project manager leads to confusion, accentuates the project administration role and dilutes the role a project manager can have as an instigator and facilitator of change.

Don’t get me wrong, every company needs project administrators. They are indispensable to the smooth flow of operations. But there is a difference between project managers and administrators.

Project managers are linchpins that get things done. Projects are all about change and project managers are all about making change a reality.

Bringing it back to Godin’s recommendation – to have a linchpin project manager, decide whether the role you have called “project manager” is one to oversee what it takes to keep the lights on, or if it truly is a position of change.

If it is a position of change, let the project manager ask tough questions of the stakeholders and the team, let them question why things are being done a certain way, let them hold people accountable. Then, they can be agents of the remarkable.

Stay tuned to the next article in this series for further guidelines on how to create a culture of linchpin project management.

Part One of Four

Seth Godin has built buzz with his latest book “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?”

His message is that people need to carve a passionate role for themselves in their work, a role that employers and customers simply can’t live without.

His message resonates loudly in the world of project management.

Project managers should step up and “run” projects, actively,  rather than “administer” them, in a passive sense.  Project managers should be linchpins.

What mistakenly passes for a project manager in many organizations is an interested passenger, a project administrator, rather than a driver.

The linchpin project manager is a driver -and agent of change.

Seth Godin drew this same conclusion and  wrote about it.  In this series, I’ll recommend steps you can take to create a culture of linchpin project management.

Organizational Factors
For an employer or manager, hiring the right person is only part of the equation.

Organizational and corporate culture factors can determine how much of a linchpin a person can be. By understanding these factors employers can implement a linchpin culture for project management. By getting these factors right, an employer can not only make it easier for a linchpin to shine but also create an environment that fosters linchpin project management.

This is a culture that drives remarkable change and can make your company indispensable to your customers.

Stay tuned to the next article in this series for recommendations on how to create a culture of linchpin project management.