Always have a plan B when negotiating

choiceAB

Too many times people, including project managers, freeze like deer in the headlights when asked what their contingencies are.  Rather than get all dramatic, in the event you may not get your first choice, you should know what your other choices are and assign pre-qualifying criteria to them.  Be prepared to negotiate...EVERYTHING. I hate making emotional decisions.  I do make them but not until after the logical decisions have been exhausted. It doesn't matter if you're trying to negotiate a new salary or deciding where you and a group may have dinner for the evening.  You should know what your options are and negotiate the best outcome.

If given the choice between A or B, when I want C, I commonly abstain.  This frustrates people, maybe because they are used to groupthink and they are trying to avoid conflict.  Some may think I'm being passive-aggressive or an obstructionist.  Actually, if I know what I want, I just won't settle (when I don't think I have to).

The PMBOK offers a few helpful negotiation points in Section G.8.

• Analyze the situation.

• Differentiate between wants and needs - both theirs and yours.

• Focus on interests and issues rather than on positions.

• Ask high and offer low, but be realistic.

• When you make a concession, act as if you are yielding something of value, don't just give in.

• Always make sure both parties feel as if they have won. This is a win-win negotiation. Never let the other party leave feeling as if he or she has been taken advantage of. (I don't always do this)

• Do a good job of listening and articulating.

Know your choices.  Don't settle.

Giving Back to the Project Management Community

To give a little back on Friday, June 24, we're giving away ten (30-day) promotional PMP flashcard memberships. These will be fully functional memberships. You'll have access to all 2,000 PMP exam flashcards. You'll have access to real-time progress. The only drawback is it will only be a (30-day) promotional membership. But, if you're preparing for the ®PMP, this is your chance to save 10 bucks! (the cost of unlimited access at PMPrepFlashcards) We all know, with the cost of a PMI membership, the PMP exam, and other preparation materials, you're going to need it. Since Twitter has been so instrumental in our success thus far, we're limiting this promotion to Twitter account holders only.

3 Simple steps Get 1 of the 10 promotional memberships

1. Have a Twitter Account
2. Log into PMPrepFlashcards with your Twitter Account
3. Send us an email identifying your Twitter Account Name and we'll flip the switch

Let us know if you want us to tell others that you got a FREE 30-day membership.

3 Simple steps Get a free unlimited account or money

1. Create a PMPrepFlashcards account (Does not require Twitter login but it's easier)
2. Get someone else to sign up for a Premium account ($10)
3. Have them send us an email with your account name.

Think of it as a referral fee. If you get others to sign up, and you have a PayPal account, we'll start sending you $5 for each. Don't forget, they have to send us an email with your account name.

Graphic source: Politiken.dk

Doing AB Testing

So, as you can see, we're getting a little better at graphic development.  I guess you get what you pay for.  So, if given the choice, which would you click?  We're finally at a point where the PMPrepFlashcards product is stable at version 1.1.1 and we're very happy to introduce it to new customers.  But, how do you do that?  How do you get people to a new website?  One way is to get potential customers to have ads.

Here are 2 ads that have appeared here on The Critical Path.  Through recommendation, I added my name to the ads.  Nobody knows who HueCubed or PMPrepFlashcards are.  I'm doing some A/B testing to see which is more clickable.  Is it the flashy ad or the plain ad?

Do me a favor, choose one!  By selecting number 1 or number 2, Google Analytics should tell me which is the most popular.  Who needs a poll when I can just review the Analytics?

If you want to let you feeling known publicly, I welcome comments below.

Nine Destructive Behaviours

Geoff Crane, in the time I've known him, has opened my eyes to the area of project leadership many ignore.  Geoff looks at things from a human perspective.  I know it sounds odd but many of us make objective, quantifiable calculations.  Geoff does as well but he doesn't ignore his gut feelings.  He writes about his knowledge and experiences on his blog Papercut Edge. Geoff recently wrote a series about destructive behaviors (behaviours for my colleagues in Canada) project leaders need to avoid; 9 of them in fact.  As I read each, I found myself nodding my head over and over again.  Yep, he nailed that one.  Yep, he nailed that one as well.

How did he do it!?  How did he describe situations that could have been taken from my biography?  Too bad I didn't have Geoff's book several years ago.  I could have avoided all 9 destructive behaviors.

1. The Sack
2. The Magpie
3. The Deer in Headlights
4. The Hungry Vulture
5. The Premature Solutioner
6. The Terrier
7. The Wanderer
8. The Anticipator
9. The Reluctant Puppet

When he decided to publish the series as an ebook, I was flattered that he asked me to write the forward.  Do yourself a favor.  Read his blog.  Read his ebook.  You'll be glad you did.

Forward from Nine Destructive Behaviors

To be successful as a project leader, you need to know destructive behaviour when you see it. And there is no better tool for this than Geoff's ebook! The Latin saying, ‘praemonitus, praemunitus,’ loosely translates as ‘forewarned is forearmed’. “9 Destructive Behaviours Project Leaders Need to Avoid” is an essential read for any individual wishing to be a successful project leader.

Get a free copy here!

Let's do what makes sense

I sat in a meeting Friday afternoon to meet the new guy over at the vendor's office and give my assessment to my client.  It never gets boring, listening to rhetoric from a vendor.  They usually speak to my client, not with my client.  A few months ago, after I asked the vendor a very specific question about the sloppiness of a metric, the vendor replied  Do you have a problem with that!? Well, actually, I think both of us (the vendor and I) have a problem.  We're both here to ensure this client gets quality work.  It doesn't matter if it's a software build, documentation, or even a graph is a slide deck.  The vendor lamented and the metric actually makes sense now. The new guy, though perhaps giving us lip service, actually established himself as a bridge builder and communicator.  He said he wanted to know our concerns so we'll all be in step.  He gave us his email address and mobile telephone number, telling us not be hesitate contacting him.  When we pressured him on a request we've been demanding from the previous leadership, he said they would figure out a way to get it done.  When asked of our first steps going forward, his response was...

Let's do what makes sense.

What a refreshing response. No "let me get back to you". No "let me check with my boss".  It was a direct answer.  It was ambiguous but I thought it was acceptable considering the situation.  Compared to hearing traditional responses like "Ya, we can do that" when asked to if the vendor could make a change or deliver something, this guy actually said Let's do it.  If we can be in agreement as to what makes sense, we're golden.

At the end of the day, I don't care what they can do.  I care what they will do.  Let's hope we're turning over a new leaf.

The Pepsi Challenge of Waterfall, Agile, or Kanban

I kind of enjoy it when people get all in a huff over which soda is the best.  It's bad enough they can't even decide what to call it. Is it soda, pop, or soda-pop?  I've even heard a few refer to any brown carbonated non-alcoholic beverages as a "Coke".  I don't get that at all.  I'm going to assume these people just don't care.  All they want is a brown carbonated non-alcoholic beverage that will satisfy their thirst.  As far as soda-pop, I am the complete extreme opposite.  I drink Coca-Cola.  I don't drink Coke; I don't drink Pepsi.  If I ask you for a Coca-Cola and you ask me if Pepsi is OK, I'm going to respond with a stern but polite "No".  But, at the end of the day, I am also just looking for something to satisfy my thirst.  But, I digress. Since the Pepsi Challenge in the mid-70's, there has been another battle raging.  Let's call it the Delivery Challenge.  Regardless of what facts may be reports, detailing which approach lowers risk the most, which approach delivers the most value up front, or which approach leaves the stakeholders feeling the most satisfied, we all have our favorite.  If delivery approaches were soda-pop (yes, soda-pop) in a blind taste test, chances are we'd stick with our favorite regardless of what we may have picked.

From my own perspective, I don't believe we should be so blind to these opportunities.  We should be open to the idea that formulas can be improved and we should be open to the idea that processes can as well.

When I'm dealing with the government client on a particular contract, I use Waterfall.  We're talking Waterfall the size of Niagara Falls.  It's not that I choose this approach (drink).  It's all that is currently offered. When I'm managing my own personal projects and deliverables, I use Agile and Kanban.  I'm not saying one is better than the other!  But, when the choice is mine, I know what I like from each.  I ala carte the way I do things, so (as the customer) I get the most value while not bastardizing the original processes.

I know there are those out there who are cursing me.  They are strict Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper zealots.  Think of me as that kid down at the local Kwik-E-Mart who takes his cup and adds a little of each soda-pop in his 64 ounce cup.  It may look nasty but it sure tastes good.

...and at the end of the day, isn't it important that I just satisfy my thirst?

Image source: USAGeorge

Measuring Success in NYC

When you have a project, you need to find out from the customer how they will judge the success of the project.  Don't go off giving the team high 5's and leave the customer scratching their head looking at the bill.  At the inception of the project and at the identification of each deliverable, get agreement from the customer as to success criteria. I just returned from a trip to New York.  Let's use that trip to illustrate my point.  My wife and I will represent the customers.  Both of us had a different measurement of success.

For my wife, the trip would be a success if we made it to the Gershwin on time to see Wicked.  For me, the trip would be a success if I got to have dinner at John's Pizzeria.

We identified contingency plans, so we could have different levels of success.  [1] Drive almost an hour and a half to Union Station in Washington DC.

Milestone 1 - Success

[2] Take the train to Penn Station in New York.

Milestone 2 - Success

[3] Get to the W Hotel in Time Square and check in.

Milestone 3 - Success

[4] Get to the Gershwin Theater

Milestone 4 - Success (Customer #1 is 100% satisfied)

The show was really good.  If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.  It was odd seeing some people not dressed up.  Call me old fashioned but if you're going to the theater, it wouldn't hurt you to dress up.

[5] The next milestone was get to John's Pizzeria.  I just wanted a pie and a beer.

Milestone 5 - Success (Customer #2 is 100% satisfied)

After dinner, we returned to the hotel and then spent the evening in Time Square.  Last time we were in there, I proposed.  Not a coincidence, our hotel room was right over the spot where I popped the question. Since I take everything so seriously, we then went to a toy store, where I was promptly attacked by a Transformer.  Needless to say, that was not on my risk register.

Thank you to my wife for allowing me to check in via Foursquare and Gowalla.  I didn't do it a lot.

How was your weekend?

A Schedule More Complicated Than a Rube Goldberg

I just reviewed an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) comprised of almost 5000 lines.  I didn't write the thing.  I was just asked to review it.  You might be saying to yourself that must be an absolutely awesome schedule, detailing every nuance of a project.  Counter to that, you might be saying to yourself that is the most overdeveloped schedule ever creating, complicating the most trivial of work. In the business of project management or leadership, you should always be asking yourself, "does this make sense?"  If it doesn't, you should be looking for the Goldilocks approach to documentation or process.  Do something that is not too complicated or simple.  Do something somewhere in the middle.

Don't make your schedule as complicated as a rube goldberg machine

As I read through the IMS, I started to think of a Rube Goldberg machine and the OK Go video titled This Too Shall Pass.  Rather than reading a very straightforward schedule, identifying all of the deliverables and a decomposition ad nauseam, I saw a schedule that both inveigled and obfuscated.  A Rube Goldberg machine is the perfect analogy for this schedule.

A Rube Goldberg machine is irreducibly complex. It is a single system which is composed of several interacting parts, and where the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to break down. If one component is missing, the machine doesn't work; the whole system is useless.  This is NOT how an IMS should be written.  I see a schedule as a tool of transparency.  It is a way to communicate if a project is on time in a passive manner.  A fully resource loaded (properly decomposed) schedule can help you do a lot of other things.  But 5000 lines?  I don't think so, not in this case.

Image Source:  www.rubegoldberg.com