10 EARLY SIGNS YOUR PROJECT'S A FAILURE ~ By Adam Alami

Projects are often the offshoot of crisis situations. They kick-off in circumstances that inherently prevent success. In most instances, very little is done to assess the organisational culture and ensure a healthy environment—something crucial to the desired objective.

Instead, the management team often assumes that 'all is good'. The focus is to kick-start the project as early as possible. Such a mindset ignores the very things that ensure everything really is 'all good'.

The management team must keep an eye out for early signs of challenges. Identifying these makes it possible to smooth the rough edges just in time to build the desired synergies and promote organisational goals.

As the project manager, you must use what was learned from prior experiences to identify symptoms that lead to the looming bottlenecks that spell disastrous outcomes. You're not, however, doomed from the get-go if you embrace the right mindset—one that sets your project team firmly on the path to success.

What does the right mindset look like? It's one where you're conscious of the early warning signs of failure. If you understand the warning signs, achieving the desired outcome is much more likely to become a reality.

From my own experiences, I've noted these 10 warning signs that your projects underestimated what's needed for success—with consequences that damage the final outcome and benefits.

1. Disengaged Stakeholders
Stakeholders' perception of success and failure is pivotal in deeming a project successful. If stakeholders are disengaged and alienated, it will likely lead to your team not accomplishing the desired results.

Thus, you must seek the buy-in of key stakeholders and/or a wider population of end users. Without seeking stakeholder involvement, you run a risk of stakeholder resentment towards the endeavour. Why? Stakeholders are unlikely to value the initiative and, instead, see it as a wasted exercise.

2. Ambiguous Scope or Business Case
This is one of the most common mistakes that project teams make. I call it the 'cowboy' approach to initiating a project. You're not performing thorough due diligence and planning. This matters because business case and project scope pave the way to a common understanding that promotes the project mandate and defines the desired outcome.

Thus, you must capture the intended objective in a very concise and easy-to-understand format. Why? Business requirements and rules help define the project scope. They're pivotal to declaring a project successful upon completion.

3. Inexperienced Project Team
A project is often the outcome of a crisis scenario that requires people to 'think on their feet'. This ability is inherent to a gifted few. Most people must rely on prior experience to cope with adverse factors associated with a project.

Thus, you want seasoned professionals that enable the project team to perform based on their conditioning and exposure to factors that influence project execution. But here, having the right seasoned professionals is crucial. Why? A mismatch between the depth of team experience and magnitude of project complexity can—and often does—translate into a lack of confidence and its related ineffectiveness.

4. Dysfunctional Project Team
Projects embody a plan greater than just the mere components that comprise the resources required for execution. A befitting synchronisation is critical to optimising resource use and ensuring seamless implementation. Thus, projects are greater than the sum of their parts—the people and processes that make up the project. In the true sense, there's no magic formula to attain the desired outcome.

Thus, you must embrace and encourage close collaboration, knowledge sharing and team spirit. All three are crucial to project success. Why? If the project team is dysfunctional, fragmented and antagonistic, communication will break down, leading to an atmosphere that strains project execution.

5. It's Not the Right Time to Do It
Nothing can be worse than bad timing. Sometimes it's just not the right time to do a project. There's plenty of possible reasons for this. Maybe the organisation doesn't have the appetite for it. Maybe the end users aren't ready for the change. Maybe it's … you get the picture.

Thus, you must be cognisant of X by doing Y. Why? If the environment or timing isn't right, then the project is akin to a fish struggling to survive in shallow water.

6. Disqualified Vendors
Quite often, organisations fail to perform a rigorous vender assessment to gauge the suitability of the supplier and the solution. The vendor selection process is, by necessity, a diligent activity—one that should never be undermined. Thus, you must access—and scrutinise—the ability and capability of a supplier to deliver an effective solution. Why? This is one of the most critical factors to ensuring project success.

7. Unhealthy Client/Vendor Relationship
Project managers tend to neglect client/vendor relationships. They presume the relationships are unshakable—making it easy to take crucial relationships for granted.

Thus, you must understand the dynamics of a healthy working relationship. Pay attention to signs of imbalance before things start to break off. Why? Think about it this way. If the relationship with your spouse is not going well, then buying a house together will be a bad proposition. An unhealthy client/vendor relationship will eventually have an adverse impact on the project outcome.

8. Power Struggle
Performance and recognition delineate a power struggle within the team, which can be fatal and adversely impact the project. A power struggle dilutes the focus of delivering the desired objective.

Thus, a delicate balance to maintain the power dynamics within a project team goes a long way towards delivering consistent results. Why? Power struggles divert energy to fuel in-house fights—energy best spent on achieving project outcomes.

9. Personal Agendas
The project objective should be the sole criteria to drive a focused agenda. However, it's not uncommon for people to walk into a project with personal agendas. They may intend to use the project as a platform to attain personal gains.

Thus, you must ensure the objective stays focused on the organisation. Why? Personal agendas create a substantial risk. They potentially derail the project—which was launched with an intention to deliver organisational objectives rather than anyone's personal agenda.

10. The Project Is a Political Manoeuvre
Anyone who says that organisational politics have nothing to do with a project is, quite frankly, being naïve. Projects are often driven by political manoeuvres. They can be used as tactics to divert attention from the 'elephant in the room'. They can be used to pretend to be fixing the problem.

In reality, there might not be as many broken pieces as being portrayed to camouflage a political manoeuvre. Be aware of any underlying politics. Assess that the pieces really are broken. Why? The project could be running under pretences to achieve a defined outcome.

Final Note
These tell-tale signs may have different interpretations based on their magnitude and timing. Hence, an effective evaluation of the impact—one that also formulates a resolution—yields better understanding of the root cause. It empowers management to avoid project failure.

What about you, our readers—do you recognise any of these signs your project is doomed? What other signs do you look out for? Let's discuss.

6 EASY WAYS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS TO BOOST THEIR PEOPLE SKILLS ~ By Skornia Alison

You may be great at your profession. You may have a spectacular list of achievements. But if you lack a few essential soft skills, you won't get too far - in your personal life or professionally as a project manager. Like it or not, social skills are essential survival skills. They let you adjust to varying environments.

To develop people skills, you need to be able to do three things: demonstrate principled behaviour, build relationships and develop strong communication skills. Being a people-person doesn't come naturally to everyone, of course.

Many people have introverted personalities and prefer being "on their own" with everything. Asking for your own personal space once in a while is okay. But being an entirely reclusive person can hurt your potential to go above and beyond - in both your personal and professional life.

The bottom line - you need people in your life!

Despite your personality type, you can find ways to improve your interpersonal skills to build better connections at work (or elsewhere). To become a team player. To improve your reputation. To strengthen your social skills. To strengthen your relationships on projects.

Ready to do all that and more? Try these six ways to develop and improve your people skills.

Smile Often: Positivity is a magnet. Regardless of how you feel, be on your best behaviour and put on a smile. People-persons manage to control their inner emotions by not only appearing happy on the surface, but also making sure others around them are happy. Greet and smile at anyone you see. You might be surprised when you get the same positive behaviour in return.

Be Considerate and Caring: It's hard to find people who genuinely care for you. That's why this attribute is something that makes everyone tick. How can you be considerate and caring? Show empathy during good times and bad. Offer a helping hand. Ask people about their day. Actively listen to what they have to say - and respond. Appreciate people. Thank them for the little things they do. Just let them know that you are someone who really cares.

Don't Pick Favourites: Reclusive personalities tend to "pick" their people. Whatever your preference, just don't be picky if you want to be a people-person. Social personalities don't differentiate people (outwardly). They don't act like one person's opinion matters more than any others. Also, try not to discriminate or gossip about people you don't like. To be a team player, you need to treat everyone the same - no matter what type of response you get in return.
Resolve Conflicts: Part of being a socially active and friendly people-person is trying hard not to create enemies. This doesn't mean that you won't find people who challenge you and disagree with your views or opinions. Conflicts are inevitable. The way you react to those conflicts, however, is what's important. Be able to resolve conflicts through effective communication and by handling situations properly.

Improve Your Communication Skills: Being able to communicate carefully can be quite a task. This seriously affects relationships no matter how strong they are. Want to be a good speaker? Don't speak when it's not your turn. In other words, listen when it's your turn to listen. Choose your words carefully by not blurting out every thought. Avoid dishonesty. Keep your words clear and concrete to avoid misunderstandings.

Make Sure People Have a Great Time With You: What do people like most in other people? Certainly, you have to be kind, caring, considerate and all of the above things. But other personality traits have the power to make someone highly popular. The ability to make others laugh definitely attracts people and puts a smile on their faces.
This is also a great way to put down barriers other people often put up to avoid "relationship building". Use humour (though not in a rude, inappropriate way), and watch how much it changes your interactions with people.

There you have it. Six easy ways to change the way you communicate. Now you're ready to take your people skills to the next level - both personally and in all your projects.

9 Secrets to Project Management Success : Ref : CIO

Project management seems so straightforward. You set a deadline. You set a budget. You select the right people. The project gets done.

In reality, project management is rarely straightforward. The wrong people are assigned to the project. People don't know what is expected of them or get conflicting information. The scope changes. Deadlines aren't met. Put more succinctly: Stuff happens.
So what can businesses, and project managers, do to improve the odds of projects being completed on time and on budget? Dozens of project leaders and project management experts share nine secrets to successful project management.

1. Ensure that you have full project details before starting. "Creating a completely detailed project scope approved by all stakeholders is a necessity," states Adam Balkwill, technical director, Garfield Group, an integrated marketing agency.

"The scope should include interim milestones, with deliverable dates and a budget worksheet that represents all time involved. If the initial project writeup has enough detail, the better you and your client will interact through its production," Balkwill says. "Change requests will happen on every project, but this allows you to manage the client when something is out of scope."

2. Have the right (and right-sized) project management team in place. In order for a project to be successful, you need to have the right project team in place, people whose skills and experience can benefit the project, from the project manager on down. It also helps to "limit the number of people involved," says Josh Meah, COO, JackMyRep.com, a reputation management company.
Amazon.com uses the 'pizza' team methodology based on the idea that a team shouldn't be larger than 6 to 10 people," he explains. "A manager really can only handle so many direct reports without losing grasp on either the vision for the project, details of the work involved, and personalities and personal requirements of their organization and staff," he says. "So, to maximize effectiveness, limit the size of your project management teams." And involve people whose skills match the project requirements.

3. Set expectations -- and milestones -- up front. "Set relatively (based on risk) frequent milestones and check in often to ensure projects stay on track," advises Pat McGuinness, chief technology risk officer, GE Capital. "If you only set longer-term or high-level milestones, you won't realize a project is in trouble until it's too late. My team at GE Capital schedules multiple project benchmarks and iterative reviews to make sure the money being invested in an IT project is being used efficiently and that project goals are being addressed."

"When [everyone] on the team clearly understands the [scope] from the beginning, you eliminate the ambiguity that can derail a project," adds Juan Velasquez, marketing specialist, Do It Wiser, a provider of toner cartridges and green office supplies. A good way to do this," he says, is to hold a kickoff meeting, where everyone involved attends. Kickoff meetings "help to set expectations," where you can "discuss the project in detail," create a workable roadmap and assign people roles and responsibilities.

4. Be clear about who is responsible for what -- and deadlines. "When multiple people are collaborating on the same task, assignments, deadlines and other important details often get lost in translation," explains Fred Mouawad, founder and CEO, Taskworld, a task management platform. To avoid confusion, "determine which team members are responsible for which pieces of work [up front], and enforce accountability. An online task management program is a simple way to do this."

"It's important that each member of your team understands what is expected from them," adds Brandon Seymour, owner, Beymour Consulting, an SEO and inbound marketing firm. "This includes the full scope of the project and a precise timeline of when tasks need to be completed." Because every project is different, "it helps for all of the key players to have a solid understanding of how each of their efforts contributes to the project as a whole. Project milestones and benchmarks are great for managing these expectations and keeping teams on track with deadlines."

5. Don't micromanage. "Meet regularly with the team members who will be working on the project. However, allow them breathing room to work without feeling micromanaged," says Shilonda Downing, owner, Virtual Work Team, a virtual assistant company. "Creating a balance here is key to ensuring that work is being done and that team members feel empowered to do their best work."

6. Make sure you have a good system in place for managing the project, one that everyone can and will use. "Email seems the most obvious form of communication when managing a project, but it can hinder progress," says Chris Griffiths, CEO, DropTask, a visual task management solution. "Trawling through email threads for previous correspondence is a huge time waster. Using software that keeps all project information and communication in one place not only saves time, [it] maintains a productive workspace."

"Our team and clients are located across the country, which means we can't share physical files," explains Amy Driehorst, lead project manager, Weaving Influence, which connects authors to online audiences. So "we use a digital project management application that not only allows us to manage all aspects of the project through task lists, but also serves as an online filing cabinet housing all the documents associated with the project as well as a discussion board," she explains. "The ability to [easily] add clients to the project allows for smooth communication and sharing of information."

7. Keep team members motivated by rewarding them when milestones are reached. "It is useful to set milestones while planning projects," notes Ajay Kaul, managing partner, AgreeYa Solutions, a provider of business software. To ensure projects stay on track, "recognize team members whenever a milestone is met. Celebrating milestones can be a great way to track progress while keeping team members motivated."

8. Hold regular project status meetings or calls, but keep them short. "Frequent communication with all members of the team as well as the client is the best way to ensure a project is on track," says Driehorst. "This is especially important in a virtual environment, where [you] don't have the luxury of popping into a colleague's office to check the status of a task. I find scheduling regular calls in addition to all the other forms of digital communication we use ensures open and clear communication for all concerned."

While keeping everyone up to date on the project's status is essential, "you need a way to communicate everyone's status to the rest of the team without getting bogged down by the details," says Martijn van Tilburg, CEO, 10,000ft, a project and resource management solution provider. To avoid participants tuning out, "keep status meetings short and sweet [by limiting] everyone to [for example] 90 seconds of talking. This encourages team members to focus on the most relevant details about the past week."

9. Build in time for changes. "In technology, projects don't ever seem to follow specifications exactly," notes Samit Shah, cofounder, EventEdge, which builds custom event apps. "To avoid pain points and save time, build in extra time for specification changes and requests. You will be thankful."