Do these questions sound familiar? Did you finish X? Where do things stand with Y? Are we on schedule? Are you on budget? How long do you think that will take? Do you need help? What are we going to do about Z? These are pretty typical questions managers and project managers ask their team members. Unfortunately, these are dangerous questions.
The bad news? One twelfth of the year is gone already. The good news? You’re not alone, you’ve got eleven more months to achieve your goals, and I’ve got some tips to help you out: Are your goals specific and measurable? In other words, do you know what success will look and feel like? Do you know how you will know when you are done? If not, develop a clear picture of success ASAP. Are your goals broken down into manageable parts so you can start feeling some success soon? Try writing a series of statements something like this:”I will {feel good} when I’ve achieved {this tangible outcome} by {this date}.(Work backwards to set the dates.) If those intermediate tangible outcomes add up to success, you’ve got a great plan and the ability to see and celebrate your progress.
“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.” Warren Buffett
If you burn 500 calories more than you consume each day, you will lose a pound a week. This fact surfaced while I was out running today. Curious, I visited a website upon return where I could plug in the time and distance to see how many calories I’d burned. The website essentially screamed back, “That’s Not Running!” I consoled myself with thoughts of the three giant uphills, oodles of orange spotted lizards flushed out by three inches of rain, and my habitual gander into the woods where moose have crossed my path in the past. Humiliation aside, the reality is, it’s NOT running! If I am “running” to take a break, get the blood flowing, get outside, or get 30 minutes of exercise, and I note my accomplishment accordingly, it doesn’t matter that I am not exactly “running.”
Whether you are managing a corporate giant or a small business, you need to track progress. For some, that means tracking key results, for others, it means tracking endless detail. Here are 7 tips for maximizing results and minimizing effort. Don’t just track results, track assumptions. If your sales are increasing exactly as desired, but you are growing because existing customers are buying more and not because you are successfully penetrating a new market as planned, you have a problem. Your luck is masking failed insights, decisions, efforts, and investments. Be clear about underlying assumptions and ask, “Are our assumptions still valid?” Define milestones that reflect major decisions and vital learning, not just the completion of tasks, especially fairly predictable tasks. Keep asking, “What don’t we know? What obstacles must we overcome?” Don’t let a growing list of checked off milestones give you false confidence. It’s the ones that aren’t checked off that can sink your ship. Keep asking, “What could go wrong?”
A few days ago, USA Today featured “no excuse” workout tips and an interview with Jane Fonda, who has just released two new workout videos. The perennial problem of too much weight and too little exercise is always of particular interest this time of year thanks to two traditions: cult-like over-eating from Thanksgiving until New Year’s followed by the opportunity to undo all the damage, along with previous years of damage, in one fell swoop with New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and get fit. Predictably, the newspapers print advice and the fitness and weight loss folks proffer truly astounding, totally proven, miraculous products and services. Shortly before Valentine’s Day provides another misguided opportunity to run amuck, I boldly predict a surge of articles encouraging resolve and dispensing with guilt. If happens every year so I have great confidence in my prediction.
A 27 pound, spiked tortoise broke through a wooden fence and has gone missing in Easthampton, Massachusetts, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. This African Sulcata can grow to 300 pounds and live 100 years. Eleven years ago it was a tiny little thing that the kids, who have since moved out, loved. So why not? SO WHY NOT? If this phrase was uttered at all, it must have been as a statement. Likely in answer to any questions and concerns raised AFTER the purchase. What would have happened had it been asked seriously? It would take a really dishonest or ignorant pet store owner to fail to mention the 300 pounds and 100 years. And it would take a parent totally infatuated with the idea of such an exotic pet and unable to think for about two minutes to ignore the image of a 300 pound tortoise in the yard, house, or garage long after the kids are gone.
The difference between decent project management and excellent project management can be measured in delays, cost overruns, lost customers, employee misery, and business jeopardy. Boeing’s Dreamliner provides a great example of all five. So what are the secrets of the top project managers? What do they do differently that makes their projects finish on-time, on-budget, and with good results?
Plans fail. Based on assumptions, oversights, and an unpredictable future, how can they not? So why do we so often fail to plan accordingly? Why, instead, do we “plan harder,” trying to extract more certainty from the uncertain? The most important and most neglected aspect of planning involves identifying potential problems so you can: Prevent them, and Be prepared for those you fail to prevent For example, you try to prevent fires by ensuring wiring is in good condition, performing safety inspections, managing combustible materials appropriately, etc. But you also prepare for the possibility of fire with contingent actions: smoke detectors, fire extinguisher, and support for the local fire department. These contingent actions won’t prevent a fire, but you would be foolish not to have them ready should a fire occur.
Some companies have none, others have several. In both cases, your business suffers and your people suffer unless you have exactly one management system. What is a management system? A management system includes the periodic tasks that your management team performs to: Confirm or adjust your direction, goals and strategy Establish priorities to provide focus and ensure cooperation Assign resources to ensure accountability and attainability Monitor progress and make adjustments How your company executes these steps is open to significant variation but the basic steps ought to be regular and recognizable.