We’ve been adding more Agility into our production process here at Vertabase.  As product manager, I’m leading this effort.  One of the techniques I’m using is to push-back at the development team when they ask me questions, particularly about features.

One of my favorite responses is “Do I need to make a decision on this now?”

The urge to make a decision now is strong, coming from a plan driven background. But it unduly locks-up the team, our customers and our product.

While it is comforting for the team to have me (or a customer, for that matter) make a decision, it makes them less nimble and responsive. It focuses them on meeting a set of requirements, as opposed to the customers’ needs. The responsibility for the feature is no longer in their hands. They can simply follow directions and meet a spec.

So far, the team has been empowered by seeing that a decision doesn’t have to be made nor a policy/spec adhered to, and re-focused instead,  on the simple art of the right feature implemented well.

Sometimes you do need to ask a question. You need to make the first move.

• Ask for help.
• Ask for advice.
• Ask for a deeper relationship.

These are the most powerful questions to ask.

When you are open, unafraid and ready to work with other people. Truly work with them, together.  Without judgment or control.

This can be especially scary for a manager who believes their value comes solely from their position on the org chart. (See imposter syndrome and imposter syndrome in project management here and here.)

Foster collaboration instead of direct delegation.

A project is a collaborative endeavor. Everyone has a contribution to make. Your job as project manager is to let people give their best. It is better to lead then to delegate and direct. (Team members are not mini-me’s.)

Create an environment where each individual works with others to bring their unique talent to the project.

P.S. Leadership and vision ultimately are what bind people together to work towards a single goal. Authority alone can’t hold it together over the long-term.

A corollary to “Is a Question worth It“:

Spark a conversation, instead of asking a question.

Use a form of communication that invites the other person to come up with a solution or offer an avenue of exploration on their own.  Present them with the problem you want to solve.  Open yourself up to letting them take the lead.  It puts everyone on equal footing, builds trust and strengthens your relationship.

It helps your team come together, which is a great thing for a project manager. After all, isn’t it about building an effective team that works together to deliver the project’s goals?

As project managers, we ask a lot of questions.  But we need to ask ourselves if questions are the right form of communication.

When developing a communication management plan (PMBOK Guide, 4th Edition, Chapter 10) it’s helpful  to define how people like to communicate.  This encompasses both their preferred medium (email, phone, meetings) and the form your communications should take to be most effective.

It may seem harmless enough, but a question is not always the most effective way to communicate.

When soliciting work performance information we may ask about the status of an activity or deliverable. In the role of project leader or representing the voice of the customer we may ask about alternative solutions or push the edges of solutions/methods presented by team members.

But different people take questions differently.

• To some, a question is a direct request. What you mean as an exploration of a topic is taken as a demand or request to do something.

• To others, a question is a direct affront to their role.

• And questions about money, to non-money people, can raise uncertainty in your leadership and cause discomfort.

Like all communications, what matters is what listener takes away, regardless of your intent.

Pay attention to the effect questions have on various stakeholders and determine whether they are an effective form of communication with that person. Once you learn that, add it to your communication management plan to keep as a reference.

Use your questions wisely.

“Out of sight, out of favor,” as a colleague phrased it.

We tend to trust the opinion of those who we’ve seen last.

This is especially true when managers of parallel level are away on vacation for a while.  If you’re minding the shop for them, this distance can color the way you interact with management above and the team below, particularly if you share resources.

If you’re coming back from vacation, keep this in mind and prepare to re-insert yourself into the organization and ongoing processes.

A further application is In virtual teams or virtual work environments. It pays to take things with a grain of salt, remembering that both your opinion, and the environment which is receiving it, might be colored by distance.

A great example of this is an interview I recently conducted for a developer along with a team mate who was remote.  The team mate picked-up on a communication issue with the developer. I listened to him but was skeptical. I’d sat with the developer and talked to him. He seemed like a fine communicator and gave off a good vibe.  We gave the developer a test project. Within an email or two it became clear that communication was an issue. He wasn’t understanding the words we were using (basic words that were fundamental to the domain).  My team mate had been proven right and we stopped further interviews with the developer.   Being physically in the same location had influenced my ability to pick-up on the issue my team mate had sensed.

That knife cuts both ways - giving an edge to those nearby and harming those farther away.

Its been called the oldest question in management.  Who makes better managers: a professional manager or a person who is expert in their particular field?

For example, are auto engineers the best people to run car companies?  Are programmers the best people to run software companies?

Corp! Magazine recently published an article of mine addressing this question.  It pulls specific examples from GM, Ford and Apple.

My conclusion?  Its all about management for execution. However, you need to have vision, often product focused vision from a specialist, to know where to point the execution.

When building a trust relationship don’t try to win.

Trust is built in a relationship by meeting expectations. You either meet them or you don’t. You can’t talk your way into someone trusting you just by showing them how right you are. People have to come to their own conclusions. That’s how they’ll grow to trust you.

Forcing your conclusion on them may bring acknowledgment, or resentment, but it won’t bring trust.

This tidbit can be helpful for project managers to keep in mind when dealing with sponsors, stakeholders, customers and team members. It comes compliments of a presentation by Pam Hansen at the PMI Great Lakes Chapter.

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 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.