>Lies and dashboards

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Sorry to tell you this, but the majority of management dashboards are far from the truth. This is especially true for project management.

This is how it works. No one wants to hear bad news, and the way it manifests itself is “give me bad news and I give you pain”! Don’t give me problems, give me solutions.

This is fine and I agree in principal, but the implication of this approach is,

many Dashboards are not a real reflection of the situation to avoid drama and escalation.

Things look nice and green, sometimes a little yellow, but overall not a real reflection of either the key activity, Issues or the real status of a project.

What’s the answer I hear you ask ?

It depends where you’re at. If its an existing project, get someone the team trust in the middle as a buffer, go back to the source, the statement of work and build the real truth from there. Make people feel safe to be transparent.

What was committed to the customer. Now look at the key milestones, do they really reflect what was committed at the outset, and honestly review the key milestones and the realistic delivery dates and any potential issues in the real world.

Now you have this baseline review the project plan, and see where you are against it and the real dates.

Now you have an honest appraisal of where you are, what the gaps are and the realistic dates that can be achieved.

If it’s a new project, recognise that the price of pain drives people to give you a massaged outlook.

By the way, this is not only present in project management. I was recently on a plane sitting next to an FD of an organsiation, who explained to me that the CEO he worked for always tells him, “I’ve never missed my targets in last 5 years, not planning on doing so now” What do you think his dashboard looks like ?

By the way this doesn’t mean we should be soft and not deal with the key issues that are present, I’m just suggesting you can create the right culture to be more transparent. It’s a bit like empowerment; people wont take it unless they feel safe to do so.

So the truth is, the rough and tumble of business life drives a certain behavior, but the great news is once you understand this, you can create an environment that gives your team the safety to be honest and realistic, so you can understand and deal with the real issues and be comfortable and confident that you are acting and making business decisions based on the real truth.

Lies and Dashboards

The truth about how to really find out where you are Continue reading →

Escalate or procrastinate, anyway… pass the potato

Picture this… you are in a corporate environment and you are concerned about how something is going or if a project is moving quick enough so you escalate.

What happens next…. well it goes up an organisation until eventually gets to someone who can do something about it.
What goes up must come down right ?

What happens next, you go up the management chain, then someone comes back down like a boomerang and asks the same questions you would have asked and now youre micro managing the people who need to get the thing done, they get bitter and twisted and slow down because they think you don’t trust them, then they start drinking, put their tools down and go home.

The very thing you were trying to speed up just slowed down.

Who’s fault ? for not managing upwardly ?

Ok, I’m exaggerating a little, but not much.

Is there a better way ?  Absolutely.

Look, I’m not saying if things arn’t moving you should leave them, but the height of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

The three things to do to accelerate a project are:

1. Discover

Work out what the real problem is, get buy in from the people you are working with, they know whats going on, they’re probably just a bit weiry and too close to the problem

2. Coach & Act

Once youve found out what’s going on, brainstorm ways to get the best traction, you will be surprised by the result. The person with the problem knows the answer they are just looking for leadership and support.

3. Inform

This old fashioned method doesn’t work and is in-effective.(Tell people your problem for support, then they beat you up with it!)

Definitely the professional way is keep people in the loop, give them feedback on whats going on and what you are doing about it, it makes you look good and stops them driving you mad. By the way, If they are driving you mad, that’s your fault!

Interested to hear from your experience the best methods you have seen to mange effective escalations and more importantly getting critical stuff done with a sense or urgency.

Make it happen the right way, you deserve it!