Whether you like it or not, there has been no escaping this year’s World Cup. Despite the disappointment of England’s untimely departure, the competition continues to dominate the front and back pages. Whilst he is nursing the pain of the USA’s recent exit, our resident Yank and marketing expert Dan (Editor’s note: a.k.a “Editor” heretofore) has asked me to reflect upon the “lessons learned” from Brazil 2014.
Here’s a list of 10 shameless analogies to project management from this year’s tournament:
The ticket to understanding elements of your project management potential may lie in this year’s World Cup(image courtesy Jorge in Brazil via @Flickr, re-used with permission. Changes were not made to the image.)
The twelfth man – Whether it’s been the sun, the samba or the Selecao, there’s no denying that the support for this year’s cup has been fantastic. Amid the hype, the USA’s coach Jurgen Klinsmann gave a master-class in stakeholder engagement with his letter to America’s bosses ahead of their game against Germany.
The death of tiki-taka – Methodologies come and go. As Spain’s exit shows us, the trick is to have the flexibility to choose an approach that fits the game and gets a result. This serves as a word of warning to those always following the flavour of the month.
“No tactics without technique” – The English national team have once again failed to make it far on the biggest stage. Over-drilled and under-skilled, Hodgson’s men proved that no matter how good the tactics, a team needs a fundamental level of competency before it has the capability to achieve its goals.
Beware! Underdog bites! – In a group of three former world champions, Costa Rica were the lowest risk on the register at the start of the tournament. That hasn’t stopped them becoming an issue.
Beware! Striker bites! – What struck me about Suarez’ misdemeanour was the public outrage incurred: not by the monster munch itself, but by his silence on the subject, before making an apology. Whether there’s an appeal process or not on your project’s evaluation, no communication is bad communication in times of crisis.
Home advantage – Brazil may not have been at their scintillating best so far in the tournament, but it comes as no surprise that half of the teams to reach the quarter finals are South American. Familiar working conditions, lofty aims and high expectations have undoubtedly spurred the hosts – and their neighbours – to outperform the rest of the world.
A game of two halves…and extra time and penalties – The number of games that have gone into extra time this year has probably been more popular with the fans than with the players due to the heat. Overtime has seen the levels of performance drop and the number of mistakes increase as legs tire and concentration is lost.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job…” – What do ‘Big Phil’ Scolari, Didier Deschamps and van Gaal have in common apart from a team in the quarters? Charisma. The value of strong leadership for team work, conflict resolution, communication and – ultimately – project success, is undoubted and immeasurable in value.
Calamity in Qatar – Whilst Brazil seems to be getting over its teething problems, Sepp and his cronies continue to baffle with their handling of plans for the World Cup in Qatar. If you want an example of how not to do a risk assessment, how not to engage stakeholders, how not to monitor compliance, or how not to run a project: look no further!
On scope, on time and on budget? – Despite its successes, criticisms that will mar the legacy of the Brazilian World Cup have all come from three classic project management perspectives. First, delivering all that entails an international tournament in a country with more pressing socio-economic and political issues was the cause of the widespread riots that threatened to kill the fever of the cup. Second, spray painted turf at Fortaleza (editor’s note: not to mention rickety structures) was a symptom of widespread under delivery. From the pitches, to the stadiums, to the transport infrastructure, Brazil did not come close to meeting requirements on schedule. Finally, the cost of the World Cup will ultimately be judged against the benefits that the tournament brings to the nation over the next few years. (editor’s note: Against the backdrop of Rio de Janiero playing host to the next edition of the Summer Olympics, the impact could face even more scrutiny. Given what has transpired in Greece in recent years, the legacy of hosting the 2004 Summer Olympics is negligible and forgotten, especially in light of losing out on so much economically without the burden of the World Cup hosting gig to boot.) Whether the impact of this World Cup demonstrated value for money in Brazil will be a question that overshadows the tournament’s place in history.
Nick Sharpe joined p3m global as a University of Exeter graduate in 2013, working in a consulting capacity to drive improvements in the Project Management methodologies of our clients. After a quick-fire induction on our Project Management Fundamentals course, and initiation into the wonders of the ‘iron triangle’, Nick was qualified in PRINCE2 and MS Project, and assessing clients project management frameworks. Nick has worked with clients in the recruitment, telecoms and energy sectors, and with HR, Business Services and IT departments.
Let me start by asking you a few questions about your attitude towards administration. We all know that some of us are better organised than others.
Even so, take a moment and answer the following questions;
Are you one of those PMs that is excellent at planning and managing what others do, but not so good at managing your own tasks and time?
Do you feel as though everything is under control, as you know all that is going on and therefore, there is no need to review or update the risk register, etc.?
Have you learned something useful and incorporated the lesson into the project, and so there is no need to document?
Are you lazy?
Buried in Paperwork? Let Derek Bland and PM-Partners help you sort out your priorities.
None of the advice below excuses the lazy – sorry, guys.
There will be some of you that need to adhere to a PM method that is document heavy, and the application is not proportionate to the size and complexity of the project. It may be that there is no company-wide method or project, programme or portfolio management (P3M, for short) standards being applied. The advice below will not get rid of this problem, but may help you to organise your time. p3m global is a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management consultancy and training company that is involved with the design and implementation of project management methods; therefore, we can help define and/or streamline your processes.
The advice below should be adjusted to your own needs and those for the project.
1. KNOW WHERE IT IS – BE ORGANISED: It is essential to be organised form the start. Ensure you have a good folder structure that helps you to find documents easily as this will save you time. An example would be to have a folder for; strategies, registers, schedules and work packages and a folder for products to be produced. Let’s be honest, communication is driven by email and so it is as important to have a similar folder structure for your emails.
2. KNOW WHAT IT IS AND WHAT THE CURRENT VERSION IS: It is imperative that you version (yes, it’s a verb in this case!) your documents. A good practice for documents that are being worked on (WIP) are to use a decimal place and once approved/signed off, the version is rounded up to a whole number. This process is then repeated for all subsequent versions. Example of WIP versions, v0.1, v0.2 etc. Once signed off it becomes v1.0, followed by the next version earning a label v2.0, and so on. Another option for documents or registers is to use a date format. I like to use YYMMDD. Therefore, my Risk Register will be Risk Register, PMP Project 140131. This ensures that it will always be the latest version. Make sure you have a good naming convention for all project documents and ensure that all of those producing product documentation follow these protocols.
3. KNOW WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO DO TASKS – BE DISCIPLINED: We all know that projects in a fast-paced and or complex state can throw up urgent issues. However, it is important to schedule set times so that you can review documents – even if only a quick check – to verify that they do not need updating. Make a recurring schedule item in your calendar and add a checklist of activities to the calendar appointment. Break-up mundane activities into small manageable tasks. A simple example* might be;
4. BEWARE THE MEETING, ESPECIALLY THE IMPROMTU ONES: Meetings are necessary and can aid greatly in communication and assist in team building. However, avoid agreeing to a meeting if you feel it is for said meeting’s sake. I once worked on an extremely large Government Project. The main project team took up one floor, with additional staff distributed thorough the building. The floor was open plan and so it was easy to see what was going on around you; ergo, it became easier to be distracted. I estimated that around 35% of my day could be taken up with impromptu meetings or chats at the water cooler. Do not be afraid to say that you have something urgent that you are working on and arrange a time to meet to discuss. However, consider if the meeting is really necessary or whether the person just wants a chat or the person may simply want to get something off of their chest. Although this may not be a priority for you, you should try and find some time to listen to concerns, because you never know: something productive may come out of it.
5. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED: I am not just referring to lessons to be logged in the Lesson Log; rather the way that you work. Ensure that you actively audit yourself by taking time to reflect and think about;
How have you been perceived in a particular instance; did you try something new which worked, could you have communicated better? Did you provide information to the correct level of detail and in the correct format?
How well have you managed your time? Could you have performed some tasks more quickly without compromising quality? Were some of the meeting necessary or did they drag on too long and how could you improve this the meeting next time? Remember you are the Project Manager, many of the team will want to learn from you. Anything that you can learn for yourself needs to be acted upon and so log it – learn it – embed it.
* – Please note that the above list is a very simple example and does not negate the need to update or review project documentation as required. The very act of recording a risk or issue often promotes ideas on how best to deal with it.
Derek Bland is Project Management Consultant & Trainer at p3m global. His experience includes consultancy on design and delivery of bespoke Project Management methods, conducting Project Audits and advising PMs on best practice improvements. As a trainer, Derek delivers on a variety of Project Management Courses, including PRINCE2 and MSP.
