I’ve always stood by the belief that strong people skills (a far reaching topic in itself) are critical to the success of any manager or leader, whether they’re a Project Manager or CEO. Certainly there are those who exist without those skills, but their success and longevity are often minimal, as we shall see below.

According to some HR specialists, 2009 is the year of the socially skilled diplomatic character who approaches tasks with a “together we can” attitude, as opposed to the authoritarian “I want” approach.

The change that many have already embraced is from strict hierarchical vertical structures to more horizontal networks. The old manager was expected to organise, direct, set objectives, communicate clearly and enforce the hierarchy. Today’s manager needs to be a coach and an inspirational leader.

The new manager is expected to have or cultivate ‘soft skills’, relational and emotional, be a superb communicator and able to realise the best from the people that he or she manages. The need for strong communication skills has become paramount since to coach and inspire, one needs to be a convincing communicator. What now counts for at least the other 50% are social skills, assets of character, ethical and spiritual skills, which are difficult to teach and usually more naturally acquired through one’s upbringing or early education.

The latest Global Leadership Forecast is the largest research study of its kind (by leaderships experts DDI) and it examines leadership development practices among organisations in every industry and major economy across the globe. It taps the views of not only HR professionals, but also leaders up and down the management hierarchy and across all major job functions.

1,493 HR Professionals and 12,208 Leaders from 76 countries participated in the study and surveys were created in 11 languages.

HR professionals indicated that, on average, 37 percent of those who fill leadership positions fail. These leaders left their positions and/or failed to achieve their position’s objectives.

Reasons that leaders fail survey

19%    Leadership/Interpersonal skills
19%    Strategic or visionary skills
12%    Business management skills
9%      Personality/Personal style
8%      Technical/Professional knowledge
6%      Experience
5%      Motivational fit
2%      Other

The survey revealed that basic skills are leaders’ primary downfall. When asked about the primary reason that leaders fail, leaders ranked a lack of leadership skills (such as facilitating change, building a team, coaching) and interpersonal skills (such as building relationships, networking, communication) at the top of their list.

These threatening and dispiriting comments show a lack of even the most elementary principles of good leadership behavior.

Running a close second as the primary reason that leaders fail was a lack of strategic or visionary skills; inadequate business management skills was a distant third. Thus, the top three reasons for leadership failure were all skills; personality or personal style, technical knowledge, experience, and motivational fit were ranked considerably lower. Management level was unrelated to the leaders’ ranks, and HR professionals in the matched sample also agreed with leaders on the rankings.

In one respect, the fact that the top three reasons for failure were all skills is encouraging because skills can be developed. Multiple research studies have shown that well-crafted training can produce observable improvement in leadership and interpersonal skills (DDI, 2007). By contrast, the qualities causing failure at the bottom of Figure 7 are either so personally ingrained that they are extremely difficult to change (personality, motivational fit) or take a long time to develop (technical/professional knowledge, experience).

Download the full survey from DDI’s web site here

The APM Programme Management Specific Interest Group recently published the following article I wrote:

I’ve observed the efforts of a number of organisations to build a PMO. In some cases, the term PMO is used with the letter ‘P’ interchangeably representing the words programme and project because no one seems to know whether they are building a programme or project office, or a combination of both. That often derives from the confusion within the organisation over what exactly constitutes a project and a programme. There are plenty of people still naively referring to projects as programmes, and vice versa; but I digress.

Are you nodding already?
If you’re sitting there nodding your head, I’m pleased that you know what I mean and you’ve probably seen the organised chaos that so much time, effort and money can often achieve in the hands of the right people. Don’t laugh …just continue to nod.

Then there’s the need to introduce a project or programme office quickly enough to help with some immediate delivery needs. However, rather than implementing a PMO that can add value within 30 days of its conception, the PMO manager embarks on a PMO project that is equivalent in complexity to the construction of the next NASA space station, with the ability to serve a purpose scheduled for 950 days from the project launch date.

It’s not rocket science
The fact is, it’s not rocket science and many so called experts who persuade the uninitiated otherwise deserve a kick up the backside and to be sent back to school. You are nodding again aren’t you?

Some organisations (especially start-ups) find themselves needing a PMO to help certain projects or programmes through their life-cycles and achieve the associated business benefits. These projects and programmes should serve as quick-wins for a start-up and they are often extremely important as they provide stakeholders with the reassurance they seek in those early times.

So off goes someone in the organisation to find a ‘PMO expert’ who can help build a PMO. However, far too often the organisation finds itself with a consultancy or individual who misses the point and rather than pragmatically enabling a PMO to quickly add value, the need for the next NASA project is unveiled.

The poor organisation is persuaded to set its sights on enjoying the benefits of a PMO way past this year and beyond the completion date of the projects or programmes that so urgently needed some basic PMO support. So why didn’t the expert unveil a customisable out of the box compendium of PMO templates, processes and tools, instead of persuading the client that the wheel needs to be reinvented?

Short-term and long-term
A mature PMO takes time to achieve and that’s a long-term objective. It’s a bit like my sporting career as a water ski racer. The first objective was to win those local 20 minute races – long before I contemplated the 60 minute international events.

The point that I’m making is that there are PMO solutions that can add value to any organisation’s projects and programmes in a very short space of time. A phased approach to a PMO is all that’s needed to serve the short and long term needs of the organisation and to help a PMO’s maturity evolve over time.

Excel is far from excellence
There are many topics I could focus on as I draw to the close of this short article so I’ve chosen just one that most management can relate to. We all have our back-up drives filled with Excel spreadsheets that have been gathered along the way. The risk register, the resource tracker and there are some project managers who have yet to progress to MS Project. Now your head should have stopped nodding and started shaking. Or are you laughing again?

The fact is, it’s 2009 and it really is time to be big boys and girls and realise that there are plenty of affordable automated online solutions that can help any organisation’s PMO and its project and programme managers become far more efficient and effective. Throw in some planning, kick the addiction to Excel, and these solutions can be delivering real benefits to the organisation within a month or two. It’s ok to nod again because this can be a reality - so easily and so affordably.

In Summary
For an effective PMO, there should be three other critical aids standing alongside the right tools. They are; 1) People with the appropriate skills and experience; 2) Processes, and 3) Information.

With all of this in mind, I recommend that you begin to take a good look at the way you or others manage the PMO at your organisation. The food for thought is right here in front of you. It can form the basis for a few questions that might well establish whether the right people are managing your PMO. Because these people will help determine the success or failure of the projects and programmes that your stakeholders are observing from a distance, with their fingers poised above the eject button.

Incidentally, where is that online executive dashboard that the stakeholders want? Remember they’ve asked for an executive dashboard – not the Starship Enterprise!

I thought I would post this article that I wrote for the APM Programme Management Specific Interest Group newsletter last year.

Many aspects of life rely on communication. School, parenting, relationships, sport, politics, social and business are just a few. The trouble is, when communication is performed poorly or not at all in any of these areas, people and results suffer.

Programme Management is no different and although we sometimes use advanced techniques to manage risk, apply the latest processes to operate more effectively, etc, communication is more about understanding people than anything else. The guidelines set out by the OGC and other organisations are certainly very useful references, but those guidelines can only become truly effective when they are applied by a Programme Manager who understands the human element of communication. Or put simply, a Programme Manager who understands people and the environment around them.

The Gower Book of Programme Management highlights the fact that a Programme is often in greater need for effective communication because it is often a one-off initiative which can face unique issues and challenges. It goes on to explain that a programme will not always enjoy the luxury of a regular set of commercial disciplines and management structures, which means effective communication is often more critical.

A Strategic Tool
Sometimes we focus on specific areas of managing a programme and as a result, items such as the Communications Plan drift into the background as other matters take precedence. The fact is, many people do not appreciate the real benefits of a Communications Plan.

The Programme Communications Plan should be seen as a strategic tool and a living breathing document, as opposed to a static document which has a few blanks to be filled in and is seen as a chore that needs to be done to get a tick in the box. When the plan is created with this frame of mind, often that Programme Manager will proceed to communicate on the fly, as opposed to according to plan. The result of communicating on the fly is often a hurried, mediocre or worse effort that will only serve to achieve mediocre or worse results. It’s almost like a Project Manager creating a detailed schedule then ignoring it. Neither is a recipe for success.

The Communications Plan should be seen as a powerful tool to help us build relationships. With the influence that both internal and external stakeholders can have on our programmes, I see that as a very high priority and one which is often overlooked. If the programme hits a problem, ideally we want informed stakeholders with whom we have already built relationships, to support us when things get tough. We are far more likely to gain support from people with whom we have built understanding relationships than from those who are strangers and know little or nothing about us, our programme or objectives. Furthermore, the better our relationships, the less likely we are to encounter problems.

At the most basic level, the failure to follow a good Communications Plan will often result in complaints such as; “I don’t understand”, “you didn’t tell me” and “where did this come from?”

Treat the Communications Plan as a dynamic tool that can be used to foster relationships and promote your programme. To do this it needs to be a living breathing high priority document which is both implemented and kept up to date.

The 5th Habit of Highly Effective People
In his best seller, ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ Stephen Covey’s 5th Habit is about the principles of empathic communication and he describes communication as the most important skill in life. He writes, “if I were to summarise in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: ‘seek first to understand, then to be understood’. This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication”.

Similarly, in his book ‘People Skills’, Robert Bolton writes, “communication skills alone are insufficient …the person who has mastered the skills of communication but lacks genuineness, love and empathy will find his expertise irrelevant or even harmful”.

The point I’m getting to is that whether we are managing internal or external programme communications, the Communications Plan in the hands of a Programme Manager who neglects the art of emphatic communication can be likened to the baton (stick) in the hands of a tone-deaf conductor. Of course the Communications Plan alone gets you a tick in the box, but that’s missing the point isn’t it.

Not everyone is blessed with great people skills and those that seem gifted in this area have often acquired their skills from the environment in which they grew up as children and then on through adult life. Our environment certainly plays a big part in developing these skills as children and adults. But regardless of how well developed our people skills are, the more aware we are of our people skills, the more we can improve them. Robert Bolton’s ‘People Skills’ book and Neuro Linguistic Programming are just two examples of how we can enhance our people skills.

Whilst some might think that improving their people skills is a rather basic subject for professional managers or leaders, take a look at one of the most powerful leaders in the world. George Bush certainly has a long way to go to become a great communicator and although he reached the top of his business, he continues to be ridiculed by millions because of his inability to communicate well. Regardless of who or where we are in life, there are few who would relish such ridicule and fundamental failing as a leader.

Development Dimensions International, Inc. published a report last year titled the “Best Practices for Tomorrow’s Global Leaders”. The study includes responses from 4,559 leaders and 944 HR representatives from 42 countries. To cut a long story short, the most common reason for leaders to fail in their roles, according to HR professionals was due to poor people skills.

Figure 1 - Percent of HR leaders selecting the reason for failure
Reference: Development Dimensions International, Inc. “Best Practices for Tomorrow’s Global Leaders”
http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_leadershipforecast2005_globalreport.pdf

As with many of the 35% of leaders who actually fail in their role, not every Programme Manager will boast strong people skills. For anyone lacking in that department, one way to avoid the perils of people skill failure (at least where the Communications Plan is concerned) is to leverage the skills of an internal Communications Manager or those of a Project Manager who seems to excel in communications. For the obvious reasons, most would jump at the chance of contributing at programme level. At the same time, the Programme Manager in question should take steps to enhance their communication skills to avoid becoming one of the statistics shown above.

The Meaning of Communication is the Response that you get
It’s all very well developing what seems to be a thorough Communications Plan, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the effectiveness of the Plan should be monitored and modified accordingly throughout the course of the programme.

What we communicate in our programmes will influence our audiences and how they react will influence us, or at least it should. Because if we are to see true two-way communications exist, we need to know how our audience is reacting so that we can react accordingly.

Encouraging feedback is always a good way of doing this because it’s how the audience perceives the messages that really counts. Failure to monitor and assess feedback can easily result in ineffective effort which might even have a negative effect on the programme.

When encouraging feedback, we naturally set ourselves up for comment, some of which might be negative. The key here is to expect it, prepare for it and be both patient and receptive. This is our opportunity to address negative comments and ask “what can we do to be successful together?” It’s the perfect opportunity to apply our people skills and convert stubborn stakeholders into supportive stakeholders - just like the good salesman who will relish the opportunity to convert a cold prospect into a buying client.

No matter what angle in life we look from, communication is about the two way exchange of information, not one way. Ignoring that basic principle is a cheap ticket to trouble - ask any successful CEO or marriage guidance councillor!

Communicating Inside-Out
The OGC recommends that that the Communications Plan should describe what will be communicated and the authority required, how it will be communicated, by when, by whom and to which audiences.

When managing a programme, whilst some associate the Communications Plan with external stakeholders only, it is equally important for internal purposes and we should tailor our efforts to both.

Introducing the Communications Plan early is always a good idea from an internal and external perspective. Not only can it act as an excellent PR vehicle highlighting early successes and raising positive awareness, but it can serve as a knowledge transfer tool and involve stakeholders sooner rather than later, facilitating greater commitment, understanding, motivation and momentum.

Internal Stakeholders
Personally, I have always seen the benefits of taking internal communications seriously, through the way in which people have quickly begun to feel appreciated, recognised, involved and informed. All this leads to a more motivated workforce which is critical for any Programme Manager. Motivational theory is a vast subject unto itself and has been studied closely by the likes of:

Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs;
Douglas McGregor - XY Theory ‘Authoritarian/Participative Management Style’;
Frederick Herzberg - Hygiene Theory;
William Ouchi - Theory Z - ‘Japanese Management style’);
Victor Vroom - Expectancy Theory of Motivation

One of the more popular theories is discussed in Chapter 10 of The Gower Book of Programme Management; Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs http://www.maslow.com/. Maslow explains using a pyramid diagram, how our basic needs as humans are physiological, requiring things like food and water; this is shown at the bottom level of the pyramid. We then move up the pyramid to safety needs such as job and home security. Once satisfied, the next level up is the need to feel belonging, followed by the need for self-esteem. At the very top of the pyramid, self-actualisation, such as self-fulfilment, is shown as being our final need.

There are few of us who have escaped the feeling, at some point in life, of ‘being kept in the dark’, ‘not appreciated’, ‘not recognised’, etc. Some professionals can also lack self-esteem, even though it might not seem obvious. With this in mind, there should be no reason for any Programme Manager possessing an ounce of empathy to inflict such feelings on their staff. The Communications Plan can certainly help provide our teams with some of their needs and subsequently aid motivation.

Maslow delves deep into the theory of motivation as does McGregor and the others, and it’s worth doing some high level reading to gain a better understanding of the subject. However, at the most basic level, it takes only a little empathy to appreciate peoples’ needs so that we can act accordingly when managing people internally and facilitate motivation.

Bruce Tuckman’s Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing model discusses team development and behaviour in detail. Again, this material is worth reading, at least at a high level.

There are many vehicles with which to address internal communication, but more importantly is what is carried on those vehicles and how it is delivered. A list of 20 possible vehicles is included in the next section of this article; ‘External Stakeholders’.

Here are just a few examples of internal communication that can help motivate staff:

Individual successes praised;
Team spirit improved;
Job security emphasised;
Programme and project importance highlighted;
Tools and resources made available;
Successes celebrated;
Overcoming challenges celebrated;
…there are many more.

External Stakeholders
External stakeholders can make or break a programme and it is critical that the Communications Plan is sufficient enough to play its part in the game of Stakeholder Management. Whilst Stakeholder Management is beyond the scope of this article, it’s worth noting that the collective benefit of this activity is the creation of relationships which consist of understanding, trust and cooperation. Once again we find ourselves very close to the words of a marriage guidance councillor because again we come back to the fundamental task of communication and people skills.

There is a whole fleet of vehicles that we can use to deliver our messages to stakeholders, and our choice depends on the message and where it’s going. These vehicles can also be used for internal communication. Here is a list of 20:

Announcements
Blogs
Bulletins
Cascade briefings
CDs
Email
Exhibitions
Information Packs
Intranets
Meetings
Newsletters
One-to-One meetings
Podcasts
Press Releases
Programme Portal
Reports and Programme Documents
Seminars
The Media
Videos
Workshops
Etc.

Conducting a Winning Performance
I have purposely avoided describing how to create a Communications Plan in this article. What I hope I have done, is emphasise the fact that the Communications Plan has the potential to be a powerful tool, which in the hands of the Programme Manager with strong people skills, can help conduct a winning performance that the audience loves.

I encourage anyone interested in programme management to visit http://www.e-programme.com/ to learn more. Membership of ProgM is free and you can apply for membership to receive the monthly newsletter by mailing info@e-programme.com

The likes of Harvard, Stephen Covey and other respected names in business support the fact that leaders need to empathise strongly with their followers and care about what they are feeling. Good leaders give people what they need, and not necessarily what they want and leaders must balance respect for the individual with the task at hand.

People who fail to lead with empathy can learn a lot from publishers such as Havard and Covey, in particular, Covey’s book; “Principle Centered Leadership”. Some people enjoy the luxury of growing up in an environment in which empathy becomes second nature, but many don’t, although the quality can be learned.

Giving our full attention, being completely present and seeing things from another’s perspective takes courage, patience and an inner feeling of security. It means moving to the into the hearts and minds of others, to see the world as they see it - not as we see it. It doesn’t mean feeling the way they feel, but it means ‘understanding’ how they feel based on how they see the world. This is what differentiates sympathy from empathy.

Covey explains that an attitude of empathy is enormously attractive because it keeps you open, and others feel that you are learning, that you are influencable. He adds that the key to leaders having influence on others, is the others perceiving that they have influence on us.

At the heart of empathy lies communication, and whilst communication is not really a matter of intellect, it is a matter of trust and acceptance of others, their ideas and feelings. It is also the acceptance of the fact that they are different from you, and from their point of view, they are right.

In my work as an interim manager, I have on occasions watched weak leaders blaitantly take advantage of employees who are not strong enough to stand up for themselves. Not only did they fail to empathise, but they lied. In fact I once walked away from a lucrative offer from such a person because quite frankly, I have no time for those who are intent on being successful , yet unethical.

Any good leader truly skilled in the use of empathy will appreciate the value of this quality and know that leading someone by their heart is far more successful than leading someone by their mind. Mind leadership is poor leadership ….and short-lived.

Stakeholder Management helps us ensure successful change. It helps managers assess and manage the environment around the planned programme and brings out the interests of the stakeholders and identifies potential conflicts to assign a level of risk or challenges to the programme’s success. It also helps identify existing relationships between stakeholders that can be leveraged to build coalitions and potential partnerships that go on to build valuable trust and collaboration among the stakeholders.

But what is a stakeholder?

A stakeholder is anyone who is:

- managing the programme of work;
- working within the programme of work;
- directly or indirectly contributing to the programme of work;
- affected by the programme of work or its outcomes.

So even the smallest programme will find itself with a long list of stakeholders who need to be managed carefully.

Understanding stakeholders as well as their needs, desires, characters, feelings, levels of influence, perceptions, etc is something that requires strong communication and people skills. Because we’re not managing systems here - we’re managing human beings and they’re made up of all sorts! Remember - most people don’t like change; it’s human nature, whether we like it or not, and we need to work with that.

All our stakeholders (groups and individuals) will have their own set of thoughts when it comes to our programme of work. Some will see opportunity and want to see you succeed whilst others will see a threat and prefer to see your failure. Others won’t care less about your programme until the day they realise it has an affect on them.

There are many ways to skin a cat but I’m using the OGC method and quite frankly it’s very similar to other methods I’ve come across as they all consist of the core components of good stakeholder management. So here are the main areas to address in stakeholder management:

1. Identify stakeholders
Tip: Create a stakeholder map
Use categories if the list is long

2. Establish stakeholder management strategy
Tip: Address who, what, how, what and how

3. Analyse stakeholders
Tip: Create a Power/Impact Matrix and periodically update it.
This link might be helpful

4. Stakeholder communication
Tip: Use, clear, concise, tageted effective delivery of your communications and encourage feedback.
This is your PR opportunity. Use it to your advantage!

5. Communications plan
Tip: What, how, when, by whom.
Communicate early successes ‘quick wins’ to help win early commitment.
This link might be helpful

6. Communication channels
Tip: Consider seminars, workshops, media, bulletins, web, etc.
Use a blend of whatever works best with your stakeholders but ensure communication is two-way, not one-way.

7. Managing stakeholders
Tip: Apply your best people skills

8. Responsibilities for stakeholder management
Tip: Use key contacts who are in a strong position to influence key stakeholders

The benefits of good stakeholder management are common knowledge but many organisations still suffer from poor stakeholder management.

Common failures include:

- Engaging with stakeholder too late so their views can not be considered without substantial revision and delay.

- Inviting stakeholders to participate too early resulting in a complicated decision making process that causes delays.

- Inviting the wrong stakeholders to participate thereby reducing the value of the contribution and leaving the door open to damaging external criticism.

- Treating the participation of stakeholders as insignificant and inconsequential resulting in poor stakeholder “buy-in” at the implementation stage.

However stakeholder management is approached, it should be done diligently. It’s amazing the difference it can make!

It’s been a few months that I’ve been blogging from a professional perspective and I find it an ideal way to communicate with the many people that I’ve worked with in the past and to share knowledge. I was interested in Bain & Company’s recent article on how corporate blogging is have a serious impact on business, from many perspectives.

Darrell Rigby of Bain explained that blogs are now reducing the reliance on internal e-mail and the traditional public relations-oriented corporate website. Darrell adds that a successful corporate blog should:

• Establish the blog’s focus and mission;
• Develop a simple-to-use site and update it frequently;
• Create links with key audiences;
• Ensure consistency with corporate image and product branding;
• Employ RSS;
• Consider the option of wikis;
• Establish clear blogging guidelines for the corporation and educate employees about potential legal repercussions.

This blog that I write is an excellent way for me to maintain a presence in the market, without being in the face of prospective customers. As I’ve already mentioned, it’s also a way of being helpful to many people. Internally, blogs are often being used to respond to a crisis, encourage teamwork, and generally improve communications.

Bain’s efforts to understand the continually evolving management tools landscape led them to include Corporate Blogs as one of the five new tools in its “2007 Management Tools Guide” along with Consumer Ethnography, Lean Operations, Mergers and Acquisitions and Shared Service Centers. This an excellent indication of how serious blogging is now being taken.

Bain’s article went on to list some of the things that are achieved via a blog.

External blogs promote:

Improved branding. Blogs can create product communities that increase customer loyalty;
Gathering market research. Feedback from customers about new products and services can help companies develop a rapid response to problems;
Stronger market segmentation. Blogs can build brand awareness in market niches;
Broadening the CEO’s reach. CEO bloggers reinforce the company’s image and message, establish the CEO as an expert, and provide customers with direct access to top management. A growing number of Fortune 500 CEOs are tapping into the power of blogs, including the heads of McDonald’s, IBM, GM and Sun Microsystems.

Internal blogs encourage:

Sharing and distributing information. Employees who’ve been outside the decision-making or brainstorming process are encouraged to participate;
Round-the-clock employee forum. Blogs can become a virtual meeting place for a global corporate community working in different time zones.

Many of us maintain blogs and many of us don’t. What is clear however is that a blog is now acknowledged by leaders in the corporate world as being a tool that should be embraced and used well.

ProgM is the Programme Management Specific Interest Group of the Association for Project Management and the British Computer Society. I have to say that the March issue of the the ProgM Newsletter is the best yet. The table of contents includes:

- The ProgM Olympics 2012 Event
- Partnership Governance: Getting it Right (Paul Rayner)
- The Universal Disagreement to Programme Management around the world (Geoff Reiss)
- 2007 Local government conference
- Improving Project Success through cross project KPI reporting

I encourage anyone interested in programme management to visit http://www.e-programme.com/ to learn more. Membership of the ProgM is free and you can apply for membership by mailing info@e-programme.com

Most well run organisations will have risk managed at four distinct levels which are; Corporate/Strategic, Programme, Project and Operational. To do this effectively, a framework for managing risk needs to be designed and implemented to address the following:


1. how risks are identified;
2. how information about their probability and potential impact is addressed;
3. how risks are quantified;
4. how options to deal with them are identified;
5. how decisions on risk management are made;
6. how all these decisions are implemented;
7. how actions are evaluated for their effectiveness;
8. how appropriate communication mechanisms are set up and supported;
9. how stakeholders are engaged on an ongoing basis.

But this is just the beginning because it’s all very well having a thorough framework documented and sitting pretty on the shelf with a tick in the box, but risk management needs to instilled within the people of the organisation. A healthy culture of risk management needs to exist and for this to happen, everyone involved needs help in appeciating and understanding risk within the organisation. I personally feel that this requires sponsorship from the top down and if leaders at the corporate level understand this too, they will take the time to ensure that risk is taken seriously and subsequently managed well.

Setting up a good risk culture is a real challenege and the UK OGC states that it involves at least the following:

1. strategic planning;
2. legal requirements;
3. agreements and contracts;
4. communication techniques and information management;
5. staff matters, including how staff can be motivated and involved;
6. education opportunities and continual professional development;
7. continuous improavement and/or analytical techniques;
8. how the organisation is monitored and evaluated;
9. resource management, incuding equal opportunities and delegation.

This subject is a big one and if you need help with some guidelines for a framework, a great place to start is the OGC’s Guidelines for Managing Risk.

If a need a list of generic pain points that risk management will address to support your case for better risk management, start with these:

1. increased certainty and fewer surprises;
2. better service delivery;
3. more effective management of change;
4. more efficient se of resources;
5. better management at all levels through improved decision making;
6. reduced waste and fraud and better value for money;
7. innovation;
8. management of contingent and maintenance activities.

Don’t forget the more specific pains that your organisation is already suffering, to build your case.

No matter where you sit within the organisation, if you see that risk is not being appropriateley addressed, take the initiative, pluck up the courage and set out to facilitate some change.

It´s amazing in business life, we sometimes ignore basic facts. For example the need to communicate. Communicate and you will survive.

Krauthammer provides consultancy-based training and coaching for clients all over the world. Synonymous with lasting performance improvement, Krauthammer is most active at the fusion of the individual, team, and corporate dimensions. Article below by Zbynek Rozboril - Krauthammer Consultant

Everybody knows that in this crazy quick age, we face a huge amount of change. Sometimes it seems that organisations are more chaotic than organised. The number of processes that can be really properly described and will work all the time seems to be pretty low. The rest is chaos and permanent change. Sad? Maybe. Reality? For sure!

Yes, for organisations it is crucial to change from day to day … those who stop for a moment will lose the race.

BUT honestly …who likes change? If you do …my compliments!

How does this situation challenge us? What is the main message?

Every change process needs a “red threat”, vision, sense, the reason “why”. Because who knows “why”, easier finds the “how” … And this vision has to be clearly communicated all the time until the end of whole change process.

People in organisations always search this reason of change. And … very often don´t find it. Because of this lack of information they feel often frustrated and don´t know what to do. Where are the needed information? Who should communicate them and keep them vivid in organisational life? Yes, the author of the idea …CEO … the crucial ambassador of corporate culture and vision.

In my line of business I often meet CEO´s that have a clear vision of what should happen; a clear idea of desired state. Perfect! BUT; what do they do after the change process has begun? The CEO stop providing information and stop supporting the process, and the whole effort is delegated to someone in HR who knows only limited context.

And then it comes. The vision becomes really fuzzy, frustration arises and confusion prevails. People feel under pressure and start to defend themselves. They miss the leader. And Mr. Goodfeeling leaves the company, as does any potential for successful change.

Let´s take an analogy. Have you ever started to run? How did you feel after the first couple of days? Terrible, right? And what would happen if you stopped reasoning with yourself why you are putting yourself through this pain everyday. You would probably stop! But what you need to do is to keep the reason of change at the forefront of your mind.

So my dear CEO, what can you do to make your change process really effective with significant impact? It’s quite simple really …

a. Be there. Don´t escape. Be with your people all of the time. Keep explaining to them where you plan to go. Be with them physically and often. Discuss and provide information – especially in the very beginning when people react emotionally and feel anger and fear from the change.

b. Clearly set responsibilities, targets and values. It will help you to change the idea to the action. Key ideas what to do you can find for example here in interesting Krauthammer HCD model:
http://www.krauthammer.com/content.cfm?id=590

c. Expect that some will object to the change. Good! Take the risk because the end result will be worth it. Remember that objection is a sign of interest. When you talk to those who do object to change and their response is silence, it‘s a sign for you that they fear you and true cultural change cannot happen.

d. Start with yourself. Never start changing things from the bottom up. You need a top down approach. Show that you believe in the change, that you can embrace the change and the challenges that come with it. You are an example for others and people will tend to imitate your behaviour.

By Zbynek Rozboril
Consultant

Krauthammer Czech Republic, s.r.o.
Tel: +420 296 508 470 - 1
Mobile: +420 602 149 987
Fax: +420 296 508 472
E-mail: zbynek_rozboril@krauthammer.com

For immediate access to our open training and in-company customised solution, please visit our new website: http://www.krauthammer.cz

I wrote this article for the British Computer Society’s Programme Management special interest group newsletter ProgM, which was published earlier this month.

Tony Blair Once Said; “I am pleased that one of its (the Improving Programme and Project Delivery Report) key recommendations - establishing Programme and Project Management ‘centres of excellence’ within departments - has already been endorsed by the Cabinet. Achieving this requires clear leadership from the top and better delivery on the ground. Better programme and project management in the Civil Service has a key role to play. Of course these new centres must recruit the right people, develop programme management skills, and promote the delivery culture.” (Tony Blair - 2003)

Not Everyone Understands Like Tony Does
Programme Managers will sometimes find themselves struggling to explain the benefits of good programme management to those further up the chain of command. When these people have a solid appreciation of the business benefits of structured programme management, we will usually be allowed to get on with the job that we’ve been hired as professionals to perform.

But what do we do when those we report to have not the faintest idea about programme management or the value of it? When the words “programme management” have been sold to, or forced upon them, without them having a true understanding of the process, purpose or benefit of good programme management? I can see you nodding!

Scenario 1 - The Hopeless Case
At worst, it can be like trying to persuade a colour-blind neighbour that their yellow curtains just don’t go with the red carpet and pink wallpaper in their lounge room. In other words, they just don’t get it and in some cases, they simply never will. Worse still, is when the colour-blind knows he doesn’t get it, but he won’t listen to someone else who does.

Scenario 2 - The Hopeful Case
At best, it’s a matter of education.
Scenario 1 - The Hopeless Case
For the hopeless case, unless you can get the person in question fired (good for you and the company if they’re incompetent) perhaps you should consider your future and other opportunities outside of that organisation.

A mature organisation is likely to have more capable people positioned at the C-level, but young organisations often suffer teething problems. Low calibre people are often in top positions in a new organisation for any one of several reasons:

1) they knew someone
2) they were cheap (as my mother says; “pay peanuts - get monkeys”)
3) the HR department failed to recruit well
4) their ability to sell themselves exceeds their ability to deliver

Scenario 2 - The Hopeful Case
For the hopeful case, this is the moment when a Programme Manager needs to sell the business benefits of programme management to those who don’t yet understand enough about its purpose.

Whether an organisation takes a top-down or bottom-up approach to programme management, programme management delivers a capability for change and the business user then needs to use that capability to deliver the benefits. This is a relatively straightforward benefit that can easily be explained to a smart C-level executive. But whilst he or she might understand that, they also need to understand how programme management achieves this.

Getting back to basics and describing the benefits of the fundamental elements of programme management is your next challenge.

Programme organisation and governance
Programme planning and control
Benefits management
Stakeholder management
Risk and issue management
Programme assurance and quality
Configuration management
Internal communications
Programme accounting
Programme scope and change management

All of these form part of the Programme Manager’s role, but if C-level executives and others are trying to force their own hair-brain ideas of programme management down your throat, you need to help then understand the fundamentals listed above and provide a clear and concise benefit, approach and rationale behind each. You need to give that that warm and fuzzy feeling that spells; “know what I’m doing so let me get on with it”.

In Summary
If you are good at what you do, and you have clearly articulated the role of programme management to a high calibre executive, there’s a good chance that the voyage ahead will continue on calm waters.

But if this fails, and those in question remain as blind as the neighbour who thinks their yellow curtains look great with the red carpet and pink wallpaper, I suggest that you either facilitate their removal (if you can) or the removal of yourself.

Either way, as a Programme Manager, you have a role to perform and an approach to achieving that fine performance. Don’t let anyone compromise your ability to put on a class act. If it’s necessary, find another stage in another theatre. The chances are that their doors will stay open a lot longer than the one you walked away from.

www.robert-llewellyn.net

I had a mail from Programme and Project Management guru Geoff Reiss whilst in New Zealand. His book “Project Management Demystified” has now become a best seller in the UK world of project management and the new 3rd edition should extend the already significant readership. It provides a very accessible coverage of all of the important techniques in an entertaining manner.

Dr Martin Barnes, President of the Association of Project Management, said;˜If you plan to read one book on project management, this is the book you should read.

The detailed announcement of the third edition is available here.

Most of us have witnessed a few dreadful PowerPoint presentations in our time. I’m sure most of us are also guilty of giving presentations that we could have been done so much better. The Communications expert Bert Decker has published a really interesting article on his Blog about using black slides.

Bert points out that a black slide will do three things:

1. Clear the screen
2. Black out the screen
3. Totally change your mindset

I’m not going to reproduce Burt’s advice here so just click here to head over to the article on his Blog.

Many Project Managers believe that to enjoy total project management success, you need to manage projects using a formal project management methodology. They say it helps give you direction, it saves you time and it improves the quality of your deliverables. But does it?

Most good managers use a methodology of sorts, whether it be written on post-it notes stuck to their screen, documented in a stack of procedures on their desk, or included in software that they have bought. Regardless of the type of methodology used, there is one common theme - that it typically helps them to manage projects and therefore improve their project success.

What is a Methodology?
A methodology is “a set of methods, processes and practices that are repeatedly carried out to deliver projects”. The key concept is that you repeat the same steps for every project you undertake, and by doing that, you will gain efficiencies in your approach.

What is a Standard?
So what is the difference between a methodology and a standard? A standard is “a collection of knowledge areas that are generally accepted as best practice in the industry”.

Standards give you industry guidance, whereas methodologies give you practical processes for managing projects. Standards are not methodologies, and vice versa. The two most popular standards are PMBOK and Prince2.

What should be included?
When you buy a project methodology, it should give you:

1. A core set of processes to follow for delivering projects;
2. A set of templates to help you build deliverables quickly;
3. A suite of case studies to help you learn from past projects;
4. An option for customizing the methodology provided;
5. The ability to import your existing processes into it.

MPMM is the only methodology that provides all of these features

What will it not do?
A Methodology is not a silver bullet. It will not fix projects by itself or guarantee success. It is fair to say that no methodology “out-of-the-box” will be 100% applicable to every type of project. So you will need to customise any methodology you purchase to ensure that it perfectly fits your project management environment.

Why use a Methodology?
While a methodology is not a silver bullet for projects, it should help you by giving you a clear process for managing projects. After you have customised it to perfectly fit your environment, your methodology should tell your team what has to be completed to deliver your project, how it should be done, in which order and by when.

Using a methodology you can:

Create a project roadmap;
Monitor time, cost and quality;
Control change and scope;
Minimise risks and issues;
Manage staff and suppliers.

Of course, you will need to use the elements of the methodology that are most suitable to each project you undertake. For instance, when managing smaller projects, you will only want to apply lightweight processes to your project. When managing large projects, you should apply the heavyweight processes to monitor and control every element of your project in depth.

But if you can manage every project you undertake in the same way, then you will gain efficiencies with your approach, work smarter and reduce your stress. You will also give your team a clear understanding of what you expect from them and boost your chances of success.

If you want a methodology to help improve the way you manage projects, you are likely to want:

1. A core set of processes to follow for delivering projects.
2. A set of templates to help you build deliverables quickly.
3. A suite of case studies to help you learn from past projects.
4. An option for customising the methodology provided.
5. The ability to import your existing processes into it.

Click here to download a FREE trial version of MPMM

I’ve done a heck of a lot of interviewing in recent months; of people who have applied for Project and Programme Management roles. In this time, I’ve come across some superb CVs and spoken with some very articulate and switched on managers who display strong communication skills. I’ve also been lucky enough to have worked with all sorts of managers and leaders from various cultures and countries.

But not everyone sparkles so bright (if you get my drift!), particularly in the area of people skills. This point has inspired the topic of the first article I am writing for ProgM who publish a Programme Management newsletter.

Let’s face it, life in the absence of people skills is very disappointing to say the least and whether it’s a business partner, spouse, politician, project or programme manager, when people skills are lacking, the people around them and the objectives at hand suffer.

Only a minority spend time and effort improving their communication skills in adult life. Much of project and programme management is about managing people and for that you need a plethora of people skills. Those processes, plans and frameworks just won’t do it all. It’s a bit like our PCs …they help us achieve an awful lot but they just won’t make the tea or coffee, no matter how much we’d like that to be the case.

A manager might have all the credentials under the sun after his or her name and that shiney name on the office door. They might keep the most meticulous project schedule and rigorous risk log and boast an impressive technical background, but if they don’t have strong people skills, the road ahead is likely to be so much more difficult for themselves, their passengers and everyone their pass en-route.

1) Bridging interpersonal gaps
2) Overcoming communcation barriers
3) Listening skills
4) Assertion skills
5) Conflict management skills

Each one of these five areas goes deeper than most of us have ever dived, but the deeper we dive and discover, the better we understand the most critical art in management - people skills. And remember; whilst widely recognised as being the single most important skill any of us can have, communications skills fall ‘within’ people skills and in fact communication skills can be ineffective without other people skills.

PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, etc, are all challenging and take months of hard work. But far more time and energy needs to be put into developing people skills. Any Manager who is smart enough to commit time and effort to enhance their people skills is certain to reap the rewards ahead of those that don’t.

If you work in a country which is new to you, the matter becomes even more of a challenge as you need to blend cultural awareness into your art. See my posting; ‘When Cultures Collide‘.

Development Dimensions International, Inc. published report last year titled the Best Practices for Tomorrows Global Leaders. The study includes responses from 4,559 leaders and 944 HR representatives from 42 countries. The reported uncovered some interesting statistics;

- 65% of leaders who remain in their positions are successful. However, 35% are deemed as being unsuccessful leaders.

- Most of the 35% of leaders who are unsuccessful, fail because they have poor people skills or exhibit inappropriate personal qualities (see illustration below).

- One-third of internally sourced leaders fail, usually because of poor people or interpersonal skills.

The report states; “bringing in the numbers and making tough decisions get respect, but it’s the people and personal issues that cause leaders to fail. These findings are consistent across geographic regions”.

It was noted that when organisations select new leaders internally, they often base their decisions on the leader candidates’ technical expertise or past performance, even at senior levels. While past performance is a good indicator of future performance, new leaders need to be assessed relative to new job requirements.

So the next time you scour your local bookstore or Amazon for that new groundbreaking management or leadership book, consider investing in your people management skills too. The benefits will reach far beyond your projects, programmes and even career.

This is the 100th article to be posted on the Blog and I thought it would be very fitting to have something extra special published to mark this milestone. I’m pleased that one of the world’s leading project and programme management mentors has this morning offered me this great article that he has just written.

You can learn more about Geoff’s oustanding background in project and programme management at the foot of this article and at his web site www.geoffreiss.com

“Thank you Geoff”

The Elephant in The Room - By Geoff Reiss

Banks, software houses, manufacturers, civil engineers, central and local government organisations, universities and charities: I have been lucky enough to have observed a great many organisations struggling with the whole concept of benefits.

I have observed, and here informally outline, some stages in benefits maturity in the hope that it will help you understand more; improve more and that it will help you creep up the career ladder. Be warned that even the most mature organisations have significant problems with benefits.

The recent Centre for Business Practices Research Report on Project Portfolio Management Maturity established a benchmark of current business practices in a range of organisations. The report reported that the vast majority of commercial organisations had achieved only a very low level of maturity in project portfolio management maturity, and none had reached an advanced level.

On the other the report went to stress the value and benefits of project portfolio management, that organizations are better able to align their projects to business strategy.

Rising Maturity
In the less mature organisations, money is devoted to projects on a purely political basis. Projects spring up like weeds and out number the occasional rose. Any senior manager can initiate significant expenditure simply ˜because it sounds like a good idea. All projects are pet projects“ someone’s favourite idea.

As maturity rises a passing attempt is made at managing benefits. The key difference from the first stage is that the organisation realises it aught to be bothering with benefits but this all interferes with important issues like ˜getting one over on one’s colleagues. Projects do at least start off with some form of initiation process and documentation but the benefit statements are trivial and easily abused. Benefit statements are like tabloid horoscopes: you could cut them out, shuffle them round and paste them in different places without anyone noticing. A senior manager who can’t get a pet project going is not worth knowing.

Even more mature organisations analyse projects sensibly but only on a one off basis. There is no attempt to think about them collectively so, as far too many projects get started, only a few can ever finish. Prioritized projects get the resources they need but the basis for resource allocation is wholly political. The organisation is now back to managing its projects by politics but spending more to get there.

The wrong question is asked: can we justify this project? A much better question would be: what is the best possible portfolio of projects we can undertake?

Even more mature organisations try hard to predict benefits in a formal Project Initiation Document. There is much talk of financial benefits and Key Performance Indicators. A Programme Board examines project proposals that are signed off by line managers and KPI owners. Unfortunately for many, once the project is underway, the idea of benefits is quickly forgotten as the team focus on delivery dates. No one ever gets round to measuring the actual benefits. Only rarely does the focus stay on the benefits.

The Elephant in the Room
Even at the highest level of maturity organisations achieve there will always be an elephant in the room. It is huge, heavy, rather smelly but quietly standing in the corner of the room. Absolutely no one is allowed to mention it. It is the organisational equivalent of the emperor’s new clothes.

It might be the FD’s pet project; the Chairman’s ego trip; the chancellor’s day dream of a building named after him; the CIO’s desire to keep his team gainfully employed or a Member of Parliament trying to make a mark.

There are all sorts of benefits statements, graphs and figures and a formal initiation and approval process but everyone knows “this one is going ahead regardless”. When a senior manager decides that their pet project is definitely going to happens, predictions will be bent to look good and to support the emotional need.

Will anyone dare blow the whistle? Such an initiative is very often the long term justification of a single, misplaced knee jerk reaction.

It is your duty to help your organisation on the benefits ladder. You might well be able to deliver benefits by helping your organisation to improve its benefit management processes and project portfolio maturity. But do keep an eye open for and on the elephant in the corner and especially keep away from its rear end.

*** END ***

About Geoff Reiss
Geoff Reiss is a world expert on project and programme management with a 35 year career in tow. He is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management and Honory President of ProgM, the Association for Project Management/British Computer Society Specific Interest Group in Programme Management. He also has a masters degree in project management.

Reiss sat on UK government’s review panels for the first and second edition of Managing Successful Programmes. He was a subject matter expert on the Project Management Institutes’s Program and Project Portfolio Management Standards. He sits on the association for project management’s programme management qualification programme board and judges the annual programme of the year award.

He has worked with a wide range of major organisation to improve their ability to deliver projects successfully including Lloyds of London; Serco, Standard Chartered, Fortis and Barclays Banks and CitiCorp; British Aerospace; Barco, Panasonic and many, many others.

He has conceived, designed, developed and marketing four significant software products.

He has written four significant books: Project Management Demystified (2 editions, 15 reprints) and Programme Management Demystified have become two of Britain’s best selling books in their topics. One Project Too Many, jointly authored with Geof Leigh, was published in August 2004. He led the six man author team for The Gower Handbook of Programme Management.

Geoff’s web site can be found here: www.geoffreiss.com