Management Tips – Managing Projects & Leadership

Try a Different Approach to Keeping That Project on Track

Too many projects measure success on time and budget. While these are important — and easily measureable — factors, they alone may not help you realize your business outcomes. A few suggestions on how to approach big projects differently:

• Revisit and revise your business case regularly. Because markets and competitive environments change, you should regularly revisit what exactly you’re doing, and more importantly, why you’re doing it. This will help uncover hidden stumbling blocks and guide your project toward accomplishing its business outcomes, which can shift over the course of its timeline.
• Enlist an entrepreneurial project manager. The number one driver of successful projects is a great manager, someone able to manage stakeholders and risk who is comfortable adapting and changing course if necessary. Find and develop project managers who exercise judgment instead of obediently following the process. You need a strategic thinker to adjust to changing circumstances.

New Leaders Should Ask Questions, Not Answer Them

Too many new leaders believe they’re expected to know answers without input or guidance, but many of the best insights on how to fix a company lie with employees further down the org chart. Creating a trusting, honest dialogue with these key personnel should be every new leader’s top priority. Meet with as many individual contributors as you can, as soon as you can. Ask simple but effective open-ended questions: “If you were put into my role tomorrow, what are the first three things you’d do and why?” “What are the three biggest barriers to our success, and what are our three biggest opportunities?” Listen intently and take notes. Really great ideas can emerge from these meetings — along with some really mediocre ones — and your intent listening will show your employees that you respect their expertise.

Two Keys to a Successful Virtual Team

Getting team composition right is critical, especially for virtual teams, which are more autonomous than co-located teams. When putting together a virtual team, consider:

• Size: The best virtual team is a small one—under 10 people. Four or five is ideal. Relatively minor coordination and communication challenges grow exponentially as a virtual team grows, and few things erode trust faster than being left out of important communication. Rather than creating a big team, consider keeping the core team small, with advisory groups providing input as needed.
• Accountability: When virtual teams come together from a range of functions, leaders may lack formal authority over all team members. If team members are evaluated on their performance within the line of business they represent, rather than on their contributions or successful collaboration, members may feel a disincentive to collaborate. Instead, establish clear lines of accountability and uniform performance measures at the outset.

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