The Dean's List

My idea for a new app for your smart phone is a project health check application.  This application will provide a checklist for project managers to evaluate the overall effectiveness their own initiative or a project being managed by someone else.  I recently completed an independent program review for a large European-based Financial Services Firm.  What critical aspects of the program did we evaluate in our health check?

1. Executive Level Sponsorship- How engaged is the Steering Committee?  Are they actively supporting the initiative?  Are they helping to clear obstacles and distractions for the Project Leader and and Project Team?  Strong program leadership starts at the excutive sponsorship level.  Effective leadership at this level works hard at minimizing competing priorities, cascading communication down through their management channels and ensuring their is an open escalation forum for discussing internal politics, issue resolution and scope changes.

2. Program Governance – How is the project organized?  Are key resources properly aligned against priorities and well positioned with the business line management?  Is there a strong central core team?  A clearly defined project organization structure, well defined reporting lines and dedicated resources are basic principles for a healthy project.  The use of consistent and simple program management status reporting templates can be a significant contributor to a well run program and enable effective governance.

3. Resource Management – Does the project team have built in “smart capacity?”  Are there available resources for troubleshooting issues or forming a SWAT Team to work on an issue or opportunity?  Are roles clearly understood?  Ensuring that the Project Leader and project team resources that are held accountablefor deliverables, are also responsible for the people, tools and performance management necessary to complete their tasks, is a critical success factor.  Healthy programs have minimal matrix reporting and dedicated core team members.

4. Voice of the Customer – Are the results and benefits of the project fully supported and funded by the business customers?  Do the internal clients actively own the project outcomes and end products?  No matter if you are using the traditional SDLC approach, Agile development or the Scrum methodology, all of these disciplines must fully vett and shape their objectives regularly with the business stakeholders.  The closer to the ultimate customer the better! In my opinion nothing is more dangerous than an IT only driven project.

5. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule.  How practical and realistic is the project schedule? When timelines are your enemy daily discipline becomes fundamental.  Without a realistic timeboxed plan a project will experience a legacy of delays and unresolved issues.  Healthy projects have an effective cadence and rythmn based on a disciplined scheduling scheme.  In my experience the first priority on the development of a project business case is a pragmatic and believable schedule.  A schedule that captures all the business cycle events, customer expectations and resource assumptions required to effectively deliver the project goals.

6. Transparency of communication- How do project resources stay current on project related events, decisions, changes and results?  How do project stakeholders stay in the loop?  How does the Steering Committee stay up to date on progress and issues?  Maintaining project transparency is a key to managing and mitigating risk.  Healthy projects utilize traditional and non-traditional communication channels to keep the organization informed.  The larger and more complex the project, the bigger the communication challenges are for the project team.  Effective Project Leaders operate very much like a Chief Marketing Officer.  In healthy projects they often they spend 50% or more of their time on communication related efforts.  Also project related documentation must be easily navigated and accessible to everyone.

7. Rewards and Consequences – How is performance managed within the project lifecycle?  What happens when milestones are missed, deliverables are late or poor quality?  How are good project results recognized?  Healthy projects are led by a Program Leader who has the authority to deal with the consequences of poor performance and can reward effective results.  I define it as “having the juice” to drive results.  Being able to call out and escalate poor performance, problem workstreams, and missed deadlines will have a systematic effect on project performance.

This list of health check items is a great place to start when evaluating the effectiveness of a project.  Hey….maybe I can find a developer to work with me on this new app for my really smart phone!  Let me know what you think.

I have been asked to comment on the best books I have read lately.  I travel for a living and spend a geat deal of time on airplanes.  There are some favorites from the last year or so that I would recommend.  Here is my Dean’s List:

Rework – by Jason Fried and David Hanson.  A business book that does not dole out the same old tired management advice.  These guys from 37Signals offer a new playbook for managing in the entrepeneurial space.  I loved the contrarion viewpoints.  Also provided me with some new quotes and cliche’s.

A Painted House – by John Grisham.  A true “southern” story narrated by 7 year old Luke Chandler.  Grisham introduces us to the Chandler family and some great characters working in the cotton fields of Arkansas in the 50′s.  Good change of pace story.

Little Bee – by Chris Cleave.  Well written, not funny, classic about a 16 year old Nigerian refugee girl and her rich but disturbing story as she reconnects with Sarah, a woman from England with whom she shared a tragic encounter.  An award winning page turner.

The Shack – by William P. Young.  Well known spiritual novel.  Some times you find a book and sometimes a book finds you.  This one came to me at just the right time.  A profound story of hope.  Loved it.

The Big Short – by Michael Lewis.  Every bit as good as Liars Poker and Moneyball.  Fast paced and provides some great industry insight into the financial melt down without losing you in finance techno-babble.  Lewis is a gifted writer.  I will read anything that he writes….love this guy.

Decision Points – By George W. Bush. You can really get into the head of our former president as he struggles with epic decisions.  After reading this book it easier for me to understand why people are so polarized in this country.  “W” provides us with a good read without preaching politics.

Unbroken - by Laura Hillenbrand.  The gripping story of Louie Zamperini.  A track star in the 30′s, WWII hero in the Pacific and a POW who teaches us all a humbling lesson about resilience, courage and survival.  For me, a real “head shaker”.

Horse Soldiers – by Doug Stanton.  Just finished this one about US Special Forces in the pre-Afghan war riding with the Northern Alliance tribesman.  It was like the modern “Charge of the Light Brigade” for me.  Cool book if you like military adventure like me.

No Angel – by Jay Dobyns.  Jay infiltrated the Hell’s Angels as part of the ATF’s Operation Black Biscuit in Arizona a few years ago.  Jay “Bird” is a fascinating guy who joins the brotherhood of hate and is actually “patched” leading to some hair raising encounters. 

Lone Survivor – by Marcus Luttrell.  As you can see I love these non-fiction books.  This is the true story of a Navy Seal crew that meets tragedy in the mountains of Afghanistan.  It is like two books in one.  The first part details the rigorous training of Navy Seals in Coronado California.  The second part follows the crew into battle with the Taliban.  Some real suprises surface in this page turner.

Well that’s my list of favorites.  I have read some others but they are not worth recommending.  In fact most of the business related books this past year have put me to sleep before the plane even leaves the ground!

This blog may explode a few myths regarding some traditional tried and true management practices.  My experience in working with managers of all shapes and sizes has taught me a few lessons that you will not read in most textbooks.  In fact you may still hear or read some advice that is contrary to my thoughts expressed here.  No worries mate, I would love to hear your arguments for using some of these flawed management practices.

Employee of the Month:  Instead of motivating all employees this practice violates every known principle of effective positive reinforcement.  The problem is that only one person can earn it and the rest go unrecognized.  I recommend that you implement recognition and rewards that identify everyone who is achieving outstanding performance.  You will get much more bang for the buck.

Performance Appraisals: As you have heard me say many times before, any system that doesn’t recognize performance as it’s happening misses the opportunity to get the most and best from employees.  The most serious flaw of the typical performance appraisal system is the assumption that all performers cannot receive a top rating at the same time.  Appraisals need to be continuous and timely.  Evaluate each performer against what he or she is expected to do, not in relation to anyone else.

Stretch Goals:  This may be one of the best ways to discourage and de-motivate your workforce.   Efforts toward these mandated goals diminish over time and discretionary effort towards all goals will suffer.  Instead I recommend setting multiple mini-goals.  Use SMART objectives that can provide an opportunity to ensure positive reinforcement along a path that culminates over time in achieving a grand, final goal.

Employee Ranking:  This type of system breeds unhealthy competition and inhibits teamwork and resource sharing.  Your competition should be viewed as outside the organization, not inside.  I have not seen a ranking system yet that can level set comparable positions in a fair and objective way.  In fact these systems can evolve unfotunately into a “horse trading” environment.  “You support my person’s rating and I will support yours.”  It is far better to evaluate individuals and teams against the objectives they help to create.  How many rating systems include a team or unit performamce rating as an evaluation tool?

The Sandwich:  The sandwich practice is a cousin of “you did a good job, but…..” approach.  It’s when managers sandwich criticism between two positive statements.  While it makes it easier for the manager to deliver bad news it creates a “waiting for the other shoe to drop” mentality on the part of the employee.  Employees know that managers are trained in this technique.  They know how the feedback game is played.  I say, be direct.  If some behavior needs correcting, pinpoint the behavior, explain the consequences and then discuss the behavior that you want to see instead.  Then reinforce that behavior when you see it.  This is good management.  The sandwich is a no-no.

Favoring “Smart” People:  Many organizations feel that smart people are in short supply.  Not true.  In fact some organizations tend to treat them differently than the average employee.  This preferential treatment can cause great harm to a meritocracy.  Ask the ex-employees at Enron about the accomplishments of the “smart” people there.  Intelligence is not an important factor in domain expertise or in delivering performance.  Given the right environment and culture most employees can become smart and talented.

Promoting Jerks:  There is a perception in some organizations that managers that are well liked are not effective at producing results.   In realty it is the other way around.  Managers that are well liked have achieved this level of respect from their staff because they are effective.   Before you promote a “technical” expert into a managerial position make sure they can communicate effectively.  Do they have social skills and some basic understanding of human behavior?   In fact a novel idea is to send them to Management 101 training before they are considered for promotion. 

I am sure you have observed some other Bad Management Practices.  What are they?

What is a good follower?  How do you learn followership?  What kind of followership training does your organization offer?  Is it possible to be a leader and a follower at the same time?  Of course it is.

The irony of these questions is that each and every one of us while we may be a leader, we are also a follower.  We all know that leaders are not just those in the formal position of leadership.  Influence leadership is a very real force in today’s flatter organization structures.  Every day we make decisions on when to step up and lead as well as when to let others lead.  In one instance you are leading and in the next moment you are following.

So what are the characteristics of good followership?  Here is my Dean’s List.

1. Supporting your boss’s decisions…even the unpopular decisions.  If you disagree do it in private and avoid embarasing the boss in public.  Don’t be a “yes-man” speak your mind openly and frankly in a one-on-one meeting with the boss prior to the decision point.

2. Make timely decisions in your own area of responsibilitiy and then run it by your boss; use your initiative.  Showing initiative will avoid becoming micro-managed.

3. Accept responsibility whenever it is offered.  Volunteer when the opportunity presents itself.  View these opportunities as a chance to listen and learn.

4. Tell the truth and don’t quibble.  Remember your boss will be giving advice and making recommendations up the chain of command based on your information.

5. Do your homework.  Give your boss all the information needed to make informed decisions and judgements.  Always error on the side of being over prepared.

6. Keep your boss informed of what is happening in your area.  The bad stuff as well as the good stuff.  Don’t let the boss be surprised by information gleaned from other sources about your area of responsibility.

7. If you see a problem, fix it.  Don’t worry about who would have received the blame or who will now get the praise.  Don’t let your ego get in the way of effective teamwork.

8. Share information across department/functional lines.  Knowledge sharing strengthens the organization and enables your peers to get a clearer view of the big picture and interdependencies of the work at hand.

How do you stack up as a follower?  Which of these traits do you need to improve?

I don’t know about you but there are a number of things that bugged me about 2010 that I hope will change in the near future:

The paparazzi – These people are media bottom feeders covering non-important news about people I don’t really care about.  Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, The Kardashians.  Who cares?  Why not report on the troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afganistan.  We should be seeing daily reporting on these heroes.  Let’s tell their stories…this is what is important.

Politicians - I have never bees so down on the political process in my life.  For me both sides of the aisle are not truly representing the will of the american people.  I don’t hear a common sense voice in the entire political arena.  Way too many haters!  It is seriously time to implement term limits in this country.  We should be ashamed we elected these clueless clowns.  In my view the majority of them are in politics to serve their own selfish interests…not mine.

Brett Favre – Please retire and take your Wranglers or Lee Jeans with you.  Talk about ending your career on a low point!  Let’s hope he does not get into broadcasting.

Annoying commercials – The commercials  with the Geico Gecco and the Capital One Vikings being continually repeated ad nauseum.  What’s in my wallet? None of your business!  I also hate the woodchucks and the screaming pig.  Enough already.

Baggage fees, ATM fees, administrative fees etc. – We are all being nickeled and dimed to death.  Finally someone (Southwest Airlines) woke up and said, “This is how we can differentiate ourselves”.  Very smart decision.  What about the rest of corporate america? 

MTV – I remember when MTV stood for Music Television.  Do they even show any music videos anymore?  What is the programming strategy beyond the Jersey Shore.  I want my MTV!

How many times have you asked yourself how can I be a better leader?  What does it take to raise my leadership profile in the organization?

I don’t have all the answers to these leadership questions but I have an opinion on what separates the best from the rest.  Here is the Dean’s List

1. Willingness to make the tough decisions – Having the courage to declare the current path as unsustainable and implementing a mandate for change

2. Openly sharing your vision with people at multiple levels – Developing a compelling plan that clearly points the way forward

3. Carrying a relentless bias for action and results – focusing on rewards for accomplishments vs. effort

4. Consistently demonstrating passion and optimism – not viewing change as a “crisis”

5. Soliciting feedback to improve self awareness, performance and to better understand your own behavior as a leader

6. Surrounding yourself with the best talent available – no compromise in the hiring process

7. Demonstrating sound business judgement in turbulent times – the great differentiator!

How do you stack up?

I don’t know about you but my mornings sure have changed over the years.  No more getting up, putting on the coffee pot and walking out to the curb to pick up the daily newspaper.  Those days are over.

Now the morning routine has evolved into an information sweep.  First task is to flip on the computer and TV and begin the sweep.

1. Check emails…delete the spam…respond to the important mails

2. Check the favorites…ESPN…CNN…Tampa Tribune…Drudge Report…you get the picture

3. Check the Fantasy Football league home page…any trade offers…waiver requests

4. Make sure the TV is on in the background…Sports Center…TMZ…BBC News

5. Check the phone for any text messages while I was sleeping….I am in bed by 9pm

All of these early morning information sweeps are done without the newspaper.  In fact I am sipping my coffee but taking huge gulps of information before I even start my day!  It used to feel like information overload, but anymore I need to feed on information before I feed on my Cheerios.

Why grab a paper on the way to work when I already know everything that I want to know before I get there.?

What will happen to my breakfast if I buy a smart phone?

Anyone who knows me is aware that I have many passions in my life.  After my family and consulting, golf would be probably be next in line.  Despite what you may think the game of golf is nothing like the “game of business”.  However, I can think of a number of aspects of golf that would certainly benefit the business community.

First and foremost golf is a game of integrity.  Integrity and transparency are fundamental to the rules of the game.  Everything is done out in the open, from scoring to penalities.  In fact, in golf you are responsible for calling penalties on yourself if you break the rules.  How else could business be more like golf?

• In golf you keep your competitors scorecard and then you both sign for the results…..no need for SOX regulations
• In golf if you are out of bounds you are penalized and you must start over….no need for an army of corporate lawyers to interpret the rules
• If you are late for a golf tournament you are disqualified…..no starting over to accomodate tardiness.
• There is a limit on the number of clubs you can use in a golf tournament.  If you exceed the limit you are penalized…..again no need for the law department to find a loophole in the regulations.
• Professional golfers engage in a “pay for performance” sport…..clearly relative performance rankings based on results…..no bailouts or subsidies.
• Results of a golf tournament are posted immediately…..no time for public relations to massage the score so that the results can be whitewashed.

You see where I am going with this and I am obviously exaggerating for effect.  But there is some value in looking at business through the eyes of the golfer and seeing why we are experiencing a sea change.

What are your thoughts?

You can drive people or you can lead people.  When you sit down and think about it, we have all worked for both managers and leaders.  For me, I have observed real distinctions in approach between a manager and a leader.  Pushing is a management method based on coercion, sometines driven by fear.  Pulling is motivation used be leaders.  It is much more difficult than pushing and requires “selling vs. telling” techniques.

It’s like the shepherd vs. the sheepdog.  The sheepdog runs into a flock of sheep and they usually all run off in different directions.  On the other hand, when the shepherd moves the sheep will follow….all in the same direction as the shepherd.  You get action with both approaches but clearly one is more effective in the long run.

Sometimes you do need a sheepdog.  I am not advocating that leading is always the answer.  There are situations when immediate short term action is required.  There are times when a manager may need to push or drive people quickly from or towards a current position on an issue.  Using your organizational power or authority to get your team to comply is necessary when quick action is required.  Just remember, this is a coercive management approach that does not build long term commitment or strong followership.

The “Pull Principle” is based on the manager creating conditions for people to choose for themselves.  It means them deciding rather than you deciding.  Pull requires the manager to capture the “hearts and minds” of their people rather than just their hands to do something immediately.  I think you can see the difference. 

What is the right balance?

While I am a believer in the performance management process, I am not a fan of the year end performance review meeting.  Why?  It seems that the year end review should be the key to success right?  Wrong.

Most managers that I work with universally dislike and avoid the year end performance review process.  Employees also dread having their last twelve months reduced into a handful of sound bites.  More often than not the meeting results in a confusing message and diminished morale.  On top of this frustration, HR requires the manager to translate employee’s performance into a numeric rating or into a forced ranking model.  Not a great example of an effective process is it?

Supervisors have conducted performance appraisals for years.  Employees and managers have attended training sessions for years on giving and receiving feedback.  Still, I don’t see much improvement or any breakthroughs in improving the performance management process.  I am convinced the continual emphasis on the year end appraisal process is misdirected.   For the performance management process to work effectively I suggest three fundamental step changes.

First, a review of the employee’s job duties and responsibilities.  Pull out the job description and review it at the beginning of the performance cycle.  Manager and employee should each be crystal clear on the purpose of the job and the key measures of success before any discussion of annual objectives.  Due to reorganizations and the expanding and contracting of jobs, the scope of each person’s role should be discussed and confirmed.  The benefit of this discussion is to shift the focus to results rather than behaviors and activities.

Second, managers should create a work expectation that employees solicit feedback at regular intervals during the year.  Feedback sessions during the year should be held to answer the simple question “How do you think I am doing?”  There is a short term coaching and feedback benefit to this discussion and longer term the accumulation of this feedback takes significant pressure off the year end evaluation.  There are no acceptable excuses for empoyees and managers not to engage in open performance discussion during the year.  Remember it is not an issue of time but an issue of priority.

Third, performance management is also performance improvement.  Each performance planning cycle should include specific process or product improvement objectives within the scope of the employee’s control.  I recommend working backward to mutually agree on specific improvement goals in terms of quality, cost and speed metrics.  Without process improvement objectives or  “stretch goals” the opportunity for driving performance will be missed.

What is your experience with year end performance reviews?  What suggestions do you have for improving the performance management process?