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Featured in Seth Godin's
Bull Market 2004

A reader suggested I post my list of top 10 rules for a project manager. Upon further consideration, I've decided to make it an expanded Project e-Tip. This one will not be displayed in the customary format. Today is the 730th day of my weblog. That's right, it's the last day of two years of blogging. Woo hoo! I'll go back to the Project e-Tip format next week.

I thought this would be easy. It wasn't. Readers regularly write me for advice on one thing or another. I've noticed a pattern in my responses. But it took me some time to settle on exactly ten "rules". I don't even like the word rules, unless rules are made for breaking. (Don't tell my teenage son that.) So I propose these "rules" in a spirit of collaboration. I'm looking forward to your comments, your proposed alternatives, and a few healthy arguments along the way.

© 2004 Hal Macomber. Reforming Project Management http://weblog.halmacomber.com Share freely with attribution.

Ten Rules for Project Managers By Hal Macomber, Project Reformer

Adopt practices for exploring a variety of perspectives. We think we see what we see, but we don't. We really see what we think. Remember the blind men and the elephant. Make it your habit to inquire what others see. You'll see more together.   Stay close to your customer. Clients' concerns evolve over the life of a project. Take advantage of that to over-deliver. Stay in a conversation with your client to adjust what you are doing.   Take care of your project team. We've come to accept that the customer comes first...the customer is always right. We can't take care of the customer if we first aren't taking care of our project team. It's a challenge. While there are some things we can do for the whole team, it comes down to taking care of each team member as the individual that he or she is. And to make it more difficult, then we must bring their various interests into coherence.   Keep your eye on the overall project promises. Project work can be difficult. It is easy to loose sight of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Remind your team and yourself of the overall promises and how you are doing fulfilling those promises.   Build relationships intentionally. Project teams come together as strangers. To do great work...innovation, learning, and collaboration...all take people who like and care for each other. Don't leave that to chance. Start your projects by building relationships among team members.   Tightly couple learning with action. Projects are wonderful opportunities to learn. Don't put that off for the after project lessons learned. Make it your habit to incorporate learning loops in all your project activities. Your team will appreciate it. Your customer will benefit from it. And best of all, it will make your job easier.   Coordinate meticulously. A project is an ever-evolving network of commitment. Keep that network activated by tending to the critical conversations. See that people are making clear requests, promises that have completion dates, and share opinions that advance the purposes of the project. Without attention to those critical conversations the project will drift.   Collaborate. Really collaborate. Make it your rule to plan with those people who will be the performers of the plan. Don't wait 'til the project has gone south to get their help. Start out that way. Continue collaborating as the usual way you work through the project.   Listen generously. People are able to say what they can in the moment. For the most part, people are well-intended. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Take the time to listen. Ask questions. Seek others' opinions. And while you're at it, don't be so harsh on yourself.   Embrace uncertainty. Expect the unexpected. There is far more that we don't know and can't know than what we can anticipate. Be resilient to what life throws at you. Anticipate that your team will learn something along the way that can and should change what you have promised and how you can deliver on your promises. And when you take a set-back -- we all do sometime or another --review the other nine rules for how you can work your way out of it.

So there you have it. As I wrap-up my second year writing this weblog, I can confidently suggest that the above ten ideas will dramatically improve your projects. Are these ten rules the top ten? You decide. But don't take too long. Share these rules with your team. Your team members are sure to help you carry them out!

Some of my readers will notice that I left out one of the five big ideas: "optimize the project not the pieces". I didn't know what to do with that idea. It seems to me to be the advice to project participants rather than the project manager. What do you think?

Want a copy for printing? (8½ x 14) Ten Rules for Project Managers or this PDF version Ten Rules for Project Managers.

posted by Hal at 11:18 PM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

In today's Washington Post John Henshaw Director of OSHA writes, OHSA's Work Defended. He was repsonding to a cover story of August 15 on Making OSHA More Business Friendly. His letter to the editor is off the mark. Here's my response to the editors.

Dear editors,

John L. Henshaw wrote in today's paper that OSHA is doing just fine. Perhaps he hasn't noticed what is going on in the construction industry. As many people die each year now as did in 1992. That is in spite of all the investments made in safety. A few months ago I wrote an Open Letter to John L. Henshaw which I published to my weblog. I invite you to take a look. We can make a big impact in a short time. It seems it's just not Mr. Henshaw's priority. On average 1300 people will be injured today. 3 will die. 1 will be Mexican. This is not the time for complacency, defensive letters, and self congratulations. It's time to address the abominable condition in the construction industry.

Hal Macomber

Please join me in keeping this issue in front of OSHA and our industry.

posted by Hal at 10:22 AM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

Making Do: The Eighth Category of Waste, by Lauri Koskela.

I've written about the eighth waste in my posting introducing Two Great Wastes™. A number of people want to update Taiichi Ohno's taxonomy of materiel waste. Lauri Koskela is the most recent. Lauri's eighth waste is the most novel. He claims we incur waste when we fail to use the tools, materials, and processes that are called for. He calls this making do.

Lauri calls making do the opposite of buffering. He distinguishes that as the urge to keep the process going in spite of not having everything ready. When buffering materials are waiting on processing. With making do processing continues without all appropriate wherewithal. Lauri claims,

"Making do is usually applied when there is unexpected unavailability of a (standard) input. Making do is another penalty due to variability."

I really like his formulation. Lauri is getting at something that we all know well. Have you used a screwdriver when another tool was called for? I have. Have you improvised steps for accomplishing a task rather than use the standard called for? I have. Have you substituted one material for another rather than stop to get the right material? I have. I imagine at one time or another we have all taken an expedient action. We were making do with some intention to just get the job done.

Blindness is not making do.

While I wasn't present for his presentation and discussion I heard that some people thought he was stretching it. Here's their argument: how can we be making do when we are working with all we have? And if we are, how would that be a waste? We can think of scenarios where we are in the wilderness, or far from a source of material, or in a country without access to the best resources. Lauri is not speaking about any of this. He's speaking about the situation where we have the time to do planning. We have clear direction about what is preferred. And we have access to sources of materials, tools, skilled labor, and process. It is in these usual project situations that making do is so wasteful.

One problem is people think waste is observable. It is not observable only assessable. What do I mean? We can observe someone is using a screwdriver. We have the opinion that a different tool would get better results. That is our assessment. There is not given waste. Further, if people are blind to other possibilities, then how can we call it waste? Do you open a paint can with a screwdriver? I do. Did you know there is a special tool for opening paint cans? Well, I didn't. One cannot claim I am making do when all I know about is the use of screwdrivers for opening paint cans. Blindness is not making do.

I'm still curious about the underlying contributors to making do. It seems to me that resignation, laziness, expediency, habit or custom, blindness, and deliberate action all contribute to the waste. Local economics and market conditions have a great impact on whether we call an action making do or doing good. When I can hire laborers for a few dollars a day am I making do when I choose not to rent equipment at two or three times the cost? Of course not! Economics matter. There is no universal standard for assessing that one is making do.

I have one last comment about the formulation. Lauri presumes cognitive action. Lauri says that it is our response to the unexpected unavailability of wherewithal that is the waste. Sure, but I think he can go further. In the project setting variability is a function of the performance of the planning system and practices. We can engage in a way that minimizes the unexpected unavailability. Doing so would reduce the urge for expediency. That could lead to a significant reduction in this waste.

Lauri offers a new distinction for engaging with the world that allows people to observe and assess waste. Read Making Do: The Eighth Category of Waste. Share the paper with your team. And begin observing and assessing where you are making do.

Check out other IGLC papers and commentaries.

posted by Hal at 9:55 PM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

 

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