I have been re-listening to the Manager Tools project management related podcasts and have a question about whether I can implement O3s in a circumstance in which I regularly find myself. I am a High D with High C tendencies (D-7, I-1, S-1, C-5)
I am not a project manager but several times a year I get asked by my management to take on a role on a project where I am expected to "stay on top of it and drive it across the finish line". These are typically projects which have been ongoing for some time and are in jeopardy of failing (not being completed by the target date) or as a result of some problem in the project there has been an issue which has caught senior management's attention. The request will originate from 2 or 3 levels above me and roll down through the management chain to my manager due to his reputation for getting things done. The project sponsor may be a peer of my boss or my boss' boss.
There is never any announcement that I will be joining the team other than my manager makes a request of the PM to add me to the meeting distributions. I usually attend one meeting to get a feel for the project and then request a meeting with the PM to get a detailed update/background on the project. During this meeting, after getting the background, I explain to the PM that I have been asked to provide the PM any assistance she/he may need with escalation and that I will be providing my boss, and through him his management chain, with weekly status related to issues however this does not replace any reporting being done by the PM.
In almost all of these projects the sponsor, or her/his delegate, has disengaged from the project and the PM is not getting any form of feedback regarding the expected timelines and the progress against them. As a result the PM, and the project, are drifting and any sense of urgency regarding target dates is lost.
The problem I have is, given the lack of announcement regarding my role in the project, can I make use of "formal" O3s to provide feedback to the PM? I see a huge potential benefit since they would serve to help focus the PM on the project but am hesitant because I feel I may be overstepping my bounds (or perhaps it low-I self-conciousness).
Your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated.
Hi Steve, I'm not quite sure
Hi Steve,
I'm not quite sure I understand the structure. Do the PMs report to your boss, at least in the context of the project, or do they report to someone else? And do the PMs see you as a senior member of the organization who they might naturally defer to, or are you coming in as more of an unknown?
One complexity I see here is that you're not given any formal role on the troubled project. You're merely asked to help out. That means that all you can formally do is advise the PM / other project members. I'd say one option is for your boss to announce your role on the project at least to the PM. That might mean that you have a little more space to operate without overstepping your (real or perceived) bounds. You could possibly get your boss to position it as you coming in to do a bit of a review of where the project's at, and to provide recommendations. Again, that would allow you to work with the PM on what's going well, and what they need to do differently.
As for O3s and feedback, I'd say you're not in a position to use the full format of either formally, as you're not the PM's manager. A weekly meeting focused on the relationship would be great, though. You may want to listen to http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/05/project-manager-one-ones-part-1 and http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/05/project-manager-one-ones-part-2 if you haven't already. I'd also suggest the peer feedback model as described in http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/10/the-peer-feedback-model
One final thought - try asking the PM what would help them most. Probably they know the project's in trouble, and hopefully they'd really value some expert input. I'd guess each individual will benefit most from help in a different way, and DISC is a good start for figuring this out.
Good luck,
S
I suspect that
I suspect that other members of the project team are just as confused about my role as you are.
Nobody on the project team (including the PM) reports to me, at the moment I am an individual contributor. I wouldn't qualify myself as Senior from a management standpoint but I have 20 years of experience/knowledge combined with high D behavior. My methodology is primarily to get information, ask for clarification on technical issues and where appropriate make some suggestions based on my knowledge, restate why the project is important to senior managment, try to refocus the group on the tasks (who does what by when) by some requesting sort of "scorecard", and offer my assistance to escalate issues.
My generic observations are that in most cases the project team has lost sight of the end date and is focused on trying to implement the PERFECT product or process and as a result is pushing back on dates with the PM who feels like the project is no longer on the sponsors radar but won't reach out to the sponsor directly for assistance. The PM would generally benefit from a) some attention from "management" or their representative and b) an injection of "D" ;-) , but since the latter isn't physically possible some feedback and coaching on how to deal with the various personality types and keep the project moving. Perhaps Mark and Mike need to start another podcast series "Project Manager Tools".
Thanks for reminding me about "peer feedback", I was so focused on the project managment aspect of this that I overlooked that. In addition I will remind myself to actually ask the PM what would help them the most, I tend to put my own perspective on it and move forward based on that but that really isn't creating the best opportunity for them to learn something.
Steve Simmons
CGEIT, CISM, CISSP