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  • Virtual is good, but you can't replace face-to-face

    We've been working on a project with a client for the last 6 months. The challenge of the project was not so much the technical aspect of the work, but understanding the needs of the client. We were working via email and phone conference calls with the client. The problem was that it was difficult to get a clear decision from the client. Especially with email, the delay between the questionn and the answer made communications difficult. When we were on the phone, we were also missing an important part of communications: non-verbal. We were stalled . We decided to invite the client to our offices. With all of us sitting at the same table, we were able to reach an agreement as to what needed to be done and how we were going to do it. It was easy to reach the agreement because we were able to communicate more efficiently. Being face to face gives us all the information that someone transmits: the verbal AND the non-verbal. Virtual meetings are not as rich It's easy to give the wrong impression in a virtual meeting such as a webmeeting or a phone conference. For example, someone's sarcasm can be interpreted more negatively than it really is if we don't see her smile when she makes the comment. We have to remember, in these situations, to check with the person who's projecting a negative image if that is really her intent. The other side of the situation is also true: someone can interpret our comments wrongly because they are not getting the whole message. It's up to us to remember the limitations of the virtual world. Connect with Karine Simard and the AceProject team via Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter .

  • Can leadership be learned?

    Leadership is much more than a skill. While we may learn to tailor how we communicate with others to influence them to follow us, can we really learn a personality trait? What is leadership? Leadership can be seen in two ways: As the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task” . As "creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." While learning to influence others is a skill that can be learned, it feels a lot like manipulation to me. Leaders that use manipulation consciously to get people to do what they want seem dishonest to me. I think true leaders hold a deep belief in their cause or goal, a belief that is infectious. They don't need to convince or manipulate others to follow them in their projects. People want to follow them. That's natural leadership. While leadeship skills may be learned, natural leadership cannot Natural leadership is a personality trait. It requires personal conviction, self-confidence and extroversion. Think about the natural leaders you've met: the great bosses you've had, the teachers you will never forget, the friends who made the gang special. What they had that made them natural leaders was not learned. They were born with it. What do you think? Can leadership be learned? Connect with Karine Simard and the AceProject team via Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter .

  • A gutsy move in California

    Last week, California's CIO announced that state projects information would now be available on a web-based dashboard, for everyone to see. This is one gutsy move. It takes a lot of courage (and little fear of failure) to decide to put up a web page that shows whether projects are on time, and on budget, along with 15 more indicators. It takes even more guts to make this information clear and simple: the dashboard will display red/yellow/green visual indicators for each project. Anyone will be able to understand the dashboard. How transparent are you? News like this should resonate with every project manager. Project status is the one thing that everyone needs to know, and yet sometimes it's the hardest piece of information to get. When a project's status is unknown, people make up their own ideas of how well (or how bad) the project is going. Furthermore, this news also highlights the importance of having higher management support a project. When the State's Chief Information Officer makes transparency a priority, it becomes much easier for project managers to achieve good visibility for their projects, and to convince their teams to believe in the project.

  • Virtual teams make everything more difficult

    Virtual teams are a fact of today's projects. With outsourcing and increased mobility for the workforce, there is a higher proportion of people who either work in satellite locations, or simply work from home. The project team becomes virtual. How can we keep up with everyone when we can't see them? A huge part of project management is getting a feel of how the team is doing How can we do that without seeing the people we work with? After all, the biggest part of a person's message is not conveyed with words. It's transmitted via pitch and intonation of voice, the way she sits or stands, her facial expressions and hand gestures. These are all things someone can't show in an email, a tweet or a chat window. And while video conferencing and conference calls can help getting a bit more from that team member, it's still not the same as being right in front her. Another issue is created by writing instead of talking. In writing, people have different personalities. When we write something, it's not spontaneous. We get to re-read it, improve the message and control the information we send more closely. This means that someone can be very unhappy about something in the project, and never express it in her communications. Weeks or months later, the problem has grown exponentially and it may not be fixable anymore. A third issue with virtual teams is the ability to hide things better. Since the project team is not in a war room and the team is not physically together, a team member who would have difficulties would be able to hide it from the team and her project manager. This can cause significant delays in projects, and even compromise the whole project. As a project manager, how can we adapt to the virtual team? Step 1: Remember the eyes. One very important thing is to keep something visual going on during a conference call ( this article has good examples of desktop sharing applications). I'm sure everyone has been on a conference call while doing email at the same time :-) When there is a visual element to the virtual meeting, it's easier for everyone to stay focused on the subject. Step 2: Don't skip the one-on-ones. Even if it's only by phone of chat, it's important to dedicate time to each of your team members. The easiest way for me is to plan a weekly 30-minute meeting with each person. When someone works from home, it's very easy for her to feel left out if no one takes time to talk to her personally. The one-on-one is a great time to get a feel of how things are going with this person, without everyone else listening in on the conversation. Actually, with virtual teams, this a must . If you don't have those one-on-ones, you have very little chance of learning that a team member's kid has been sick lately, or that she's having technical issues with one of her tasks. Step 3: Keep it social. If at all possible, have a face-to-face kick-off meeting, and have a party when a big milestone in you project has been delivered. The fact that people don't work in the same place doesn't mean they don't work together . Getting the team to know each other (and their project manager) will help everyone adapt their working habits to suit the team.

  • Project roles: sponsor VS manager

    While working on a project, I realized the project team was not clear on the roles and responsibilities of the project sponsor VS the project manager. Who's the sponsor anyway? The project sponsor is the person who pays for the project. Because he or she is paying for the project, they get to decide on the project scope, schedule and budget. They're the ones really taking the big decisions. Don't confuse sponsor and client, however. The person who buys the product is not necessarily the one investing in its development. For example, we develop AceProject and then sell it to our clients. The clients get the product after the development project is completed.While their opinions are very important to the development process, they are not the ones funding the project. When we are developing custom features for a client, then the client is also the sponsor, because they are privately funding the project. Otherwise, the project sponsor here at Websystems is Daniel, our President. What about the project manager, then? The project manager makes sure things get done. The project manager takes the sponsor' decisions on the scope, schedule and budget, and does her best to deliver what's required. The project manager does not take decisions as to which features get developed, or how long the team has to do the work. That's the sponsor's job. Imagine you're going sailing Let's say your team is the crew of a sailboat. In this case, the sponsor (that would be the captain) decides where the boat goes, and when it should arrive. The sponsor also decides how big the crew will be. These decisions are transmitted to the project manager, who organizes the work shifts, works out an itinerary, and does everyting in her power to motivate the troops and get the boat where it's expected to be, when it's expected to arrive. If something happens and the project manager realizes that the boat can't reach its destination on time, she takes that problem to the sponsor, who decides what to do about it. The travelers on that boat (the clients) just enjoy the ride. Everyone on your team should understand this Understanding the differences between sponsor, client and project manager is crucial to your team working well together. When things aren't clear, people will make up their version of the truth, and it's rarely what it should be.

  • Who likes change?

    The short answer: no one. When we are not the person who has decided the change, it automatically creates uncertainty. There are very few people who like uncertainty in their life. When project managers decide to change their methods, it creates uncertainty. This uncertainty shows up as resistance to change: in you project team, your organization's direction and your client. As the project manager, it's your job to communicate the change well: Why are you changing your methods? What is expected to be gain with this method? What is the impact of the change on the team, the direction, the client? Moreover, as the project manager, it's your job to pay attention to how your stakeholders react to the change. Are people "getting with the program?" Is resistance getting stronger or weaker? It's important to be close to your team, direction and clients. It's your responsibility to sell the change, and then make sure it brings the benefits you sold your stakeholders.

  • Advertising your projects

    Advertising is an effective way to spread information. It gives you (the advertiser) control over what message you want to send. It also gives you control over who receives your message. One advertisement can reach thousands of people, way more effective than talking to each one of these persons personally. In your organization, who know about your project? Do you and your team sometimes feel like no knows or even cares about your project - that is, unless it's late or it's having problems? Do you sometimes feel like the person in the office next to you has no idea what you're working on? Often, these situations are caused by the fact that everyone reports up the chain of command, but there is not process for communicating with your peers. Taking time to tell your colleagues about your project can be seen as a waste of time - you could be working on your project instead of just talking . However, who else but your peers can understand what you are working on, the challenges you are meeting head-on and the feeling of accomplishment when you finally fix that bug you were hunting down? As a project manager and as a team leader, it is your responsibility to give your project visibility inside the organization. It's simply internal marketing. It can be as simple as a weekly email with a summary of what's been done and kudos to the team members for their good deeds. It can be a simply sheet tacked to the kitchen billboard. You can also make it more elaborate, with a monthly lunch event or happy hour. It really depends on the organization's culture and energy. What's important is that everyone on your department, and even the whole organization, knows what's going on with the project. Imagine IT taking the time to tell you about their latest server upgrades, and the challengers they overcame? If you knew more about their day, you would understand how much work it takes to make everything run smoothly. Because they usually don't advertise about their job, they are a mysterious bunch, and it's hard to know what their day is made of. The same goes with your project. Wouldn't you team feel better about the project if they felt it was important enough to be talked about by the whole organization?
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