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Cumulative Cost and Budget Spreadsheet Tool

As both a Project Management practitioner and a College Professor and University Instructor, I have found that there are very few simple-to-use templates for creating a time-based project schedule and budget. This package has a series of 4 Excel spreadsheets (but any standard spreadsheet program should also work) that allow a student or practitioner to build a time-based budget that shows unit activity (scope) planned period (time), and cumulative cost all on one page. It has been created to demonstrate a fictitious but realistic budget for the purchase, installation, and testing of a mid-size local area network of about 200 desktop and laptop computers and  5 servers. The project is expected to take 15 weeks from start to finish with a total budget of $402,200.

4 spreadsheets in total allow readers to copy and build their budget.

Sheet 1,2,3 shows the building blocks of creating a time phase schedule for buying and installing laptops, desktops, and servers. Unit activity and planned unit prices drive the planned equipment budget. Similarly, there are a few human resources planned with daily labour rates driving the total labour cost plan. The summary cost lines from the equipment and labour detail sections are then summed to yield the total planned cost for each week and cumulatively.

Sheet 1 shows the numeric data entry only. It was started at row 30 to leave space for a data-driven graphic table to be added later.

Download Sheet 1

 

Sheet 1 15-week budget before a graphic table with input cells yellow. This is the same as sheet one except for the user input cells for unit installations, unit prices, labour days, and labour rates have been shown on a yellow background to ease of use. The other cells are formula-driven.

Download Sheet 1 with Yellow Input Cells

Sheet 2 shows the addition of a data-driven graphic table inserted above the numeric spreadsheet. The instructions for creating the table are:

  1. Select (curser click on) rows 35 and 36 to include all cells from C35 to Q36
  2. Click on the Insert tab from the top of the spreadsheet
  3. Click on the Column Icon
  4. Select (Click on) the top left 2-D column icon

Download Sheet 2

 

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A two-column graphic showing the weekly planned cost and total cumulative will be superimposed on your spreadsheet. It will not likely be properly positioned or sized to line up with your numeric entries and weekly columns. You will need to use your cursor to grab the corners of the graphic table to stretch and position the table to line up with your numeric entries.

Sheet 3 is the same as spreadsheet 2 after the graphic column table has been stretched and positioned to fit above the numerical data it represents.

Download Sheet 3

 

Sheet 4 adds a Gantt chart showing key milestones and dates.

Download Sheet 4

Three Attributes of Construction Sector PMs and Nine Important Concepts to Know

The role of an effective project manager has been studied and observed—scholarly researchers studying the managerial profiles of successful project managers (ref 3) observed common traits including extroversion, rational judging, and structured behaviors, for example. Another study from researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ref 1) found common traits of project managers to include openness to experience, surgency, adjustment, agreeableness, and compositeness.

 

I’ve previously written about how the construction industry needs more software project managers—particularly to address labor shortages (i.e., half a million, the ABC reported) as well as help absorb some of the displaced talent from big tech layoffs, I argued.

But what attributes might those PMs need entering the construction industry, and what are some of the important concepts construction PMs should know?

 

Three Traits that Make an Effective Construction PM

Certainly, the above-mentioned managerial profiles of project managers would be useful to have as a project manager in the construction industry.

If I had to choose just three traits needed of a construction project manager, they would be:

 

1. Adaptability

The construction ecosystem is one that is fragmented and requires a high degree of finesse from its practitioners. For example, did you know that the average home has 22 subcontractors working on it? Research from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB; ref 2) found that builders, on average, employ two dozen different subcontractors and subcontract out 84% of their construction costs in the typical home they build.

 

The job of a project manager, then, is one that requires synchronization of many moving parts and coordination through many more project stakeholders. It’s ever-critical for project managers in the construction sector to understand change management modalities, for when equipped with these, they will be able to dynamically guide customers, stakeholders, and cross-functional project delivery partners through:

  • Project kickoff and discovery to fully understand project scope.
  • Resource allocation, organizational commitments/dependencies (and possibly technical debt) to strategically facilitate project scheduling in a way that is faithful to organizational resources and customer needs.
  • Strong customer relationship management and project planning to ensure a high-quality customer experience while allowing for a dynamic response to (and also limiting the quantity of) change orders requested from customers.

 

2. Business Acumen

Forecasting construction projects properly is a mission-critical task that allows businesses to stay profitable, and it’s also a skill that requires business owners and important collaborators (e.g., project managers) to have great finesse.

A project manager might work in lockstep with a business analyst as well as an inventory manager, for example, to better calculate financial commitments annually through job costing, building financial reporting dashboards as well as project management dashboards, etc.

Seeking educational opportunities (e.g., understanding construction financial management) offered through the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) can help project managers strengthen these skillsets.

 

3. Collaboration

As hinted above, construction is a highly collaborative business sector that requires coordination (and cooperation) of a lot of critical cross-functional teams.

Above graphic credit: Fuks et al (ref a) via 4. Polančič (ref 4)

 

The best ways to achieve a higher degree of collaboration with fewer blind spots and information silos include:

  • Adopting cloud-based collaboration tools – Online collaboration (e-collaboration) have been studied by scholarly researchers (ref 4) and prove to deliver a “mutually beneficial relationship between at least two people, groups or organizations, who jointly design ways to work together to achieve related or common goals and who learn with and from each other, sharing responsibility, authority and accountability for achieving results.” Common advantages of cloud-based systems, the researchers highlight, include:
    • Usability – i.e., “SaaS should be easy to use, capable of providing faster and reliable services. User Experience Driven Design aims to maximize the usability, desirability and productivity of the application” (table 1).
    • Efficiency – SaaS, cloud-based solutions allow “computers [… to] be physically located in geographical areas that have access to cheap electricity whilst their computing power can be accessed over the Internet” (table 1).
    • Maintainability – “SaaS shifts the responsibility for developing, testing, and maintaining the software application to the vendor” (table 1).
  • Collaborating with IT and construction technologists to build interoperability of systems (e.g., standardization of change orders, quality control and consistency through the systemization of processes through industrialized construction, standardization of IoT deployment, etc.) as well as the implementation of advanced technology to drive greater real-time visibility and quality assurance (e.g., site-observational drones; robots to automate procedural tasks with a greater degree of consistency, while also removing humans from needlessly dangerous situations, etc.).

 

Nine Important Concepts Every Construction PM Should Know

Now that we’ve covered the common traits that would make a project manager successful in the construction sector, what are some of the important concepts PMs entering the construction industry should know?

 

Here are nine important concepts to know:

 

1. The Five Stages of Project Management

The five stages of project management are equally applicable to the construction industry, which include the following:

  1. Project Initiation – The start of a project, typically including documentation of responsibilities, proposed work, expectations – e.g.,
    1. Project goals
    2. Scope of work
    3. Project organization
    4. Business case
    5. Constraints
    6. Stakeholders
    7. Risks
    8. Project controls
    9. Reporting frameworks
    10. Project initiation signoff
    11. Summary
  2. Project Planning – The high-level planning and scheduling of scoped work via tools like Gantt charts, project management software (e.g., for the construction industry, cloud-based tools like Procore, Contractor Foreman, Autodesk Construction Cloud, Monday Construction, Houzz Pro, etc.). Typical deliverables may include:
    1. Work breakdown structure
    2. Activity network diagram
  3. Project Execution – The completion of scoped work
  4. Project Control – Measures to prevent scope creep (see in next section), cost overruns, etc.
  5. Project Close – The conclusion of the project.

 

2. Scope of Work, Scope Creep, and Scope Management

The scope of work is the documentation in which features and functions of a project, or the required work needed to finish a project, are defined, typically involving a discovery process during which information needed to start a project is gathered (e.g., stakeholder requirements).

Scope creep refers to the continuous and/or expanding work requirements past the project’s original scope, which can happen at any point after the project begins. Scope management is the process of defining and managing the scope of a project to ensure that it stays on track, within budget, and meets the expectations of stakeholders.

 

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3. Lean Project Management

Project managers and project leaders in manufacturing industries may be familiar with lean manufacturing principles – lean construction is an industrialized construction method whereby companies approach the business of building things more effectively and efficiently by minimizing waste and maximizing value for all stakeholders.

 

The approach centers around:

  • Minimizing waste.
  • Reducing expenses.
  • Boosting productivity.
  • Improving quality over time.
  • Increasing value for the customer.

 

Image SourceWikiCommons

Many resources exist for project managers looking to adopt lean construction – e.g., the Lean Construction Institute offers certifications, eLearning, whitepapers, membership, as well as a directory of lean practitioners, while the Lean Construction Blog offers a Lean Academy, conferences, webinars, and its industry-known podcast. Consider, for example, a recent interview I conducted with a Milwaukee Tool continuous improvement leader about lean management and industrialization as one additional resource to get started with IC and lean principles.

 

4. Project Management vs Program Management

Harris & Associates, a civil engineering and construction management company that ranks in Engineering News-Record’s Top 100 Construction, defines project management versus program management (i.e., project manager versus program manager) in the construction industry as follows:

  • Program management/program manager – management of large portfolios encompassing multiple projects on multiple sites (they provide the example of a K12 school district, where the program manager may be responsible for upward of 10 elementary schools, five middle schools, and two high schools).
  • Project management/project manager, meanwhile, will “manage work on one of the schools [… handling] the single project from cradle to grave: pre-design, design process, bid/award, construction and close-out.”

 

5. Project Management Triangle

The project management triangle is a model employed by project managers that dates back to the 1950s and it “contends” the following principles:

  1. The quality of work is constrained by the project’s budget, deadlines, and scope (features).
  2. The project manager can trade between constraints.
  3. Changes in one constraint necessitate changes in others to compensate or quality will suffer.

 

 

Image source: WikiCommons

 

6. Scrum

Project managers from the tech and software development industries may be well familiar to scrum, though its principles are equally useful for contractors. Scrum, simply put, is a framework that helps teams work together while empowering teams to learn through experiences, prioritizes self-organization while working through problems, and encourages ongoing reflection in the constant pursuit of continuous improvement.

 

7. SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a commonly used business tool and acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, described as a “framework used to evaluate a company’s competitive position and to develop strategic planning.”

 

Image Credit: swot-analyse.net via WikiCommons

 

8. Quality Management

Quality management (aka: total quality management or TQM) is defined as “the act of overseeing all activities and tasks that must be accomplished to maintain a desired level of excellence [… including] the determination of a quality policy, creating and implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement.”.

Examples of quality management in the construction industry may include procurement managers assuring that materials to be used are not damaged; tools and equipment used to perform work are properly serviced, calibrated, and not out of specification; the right tools to drive the highest degree of quality are employed (e.g., consider, for example, how M18 FUEL™ Controlled Torque Impact Wrenches utilize proprietary sensors and machine learning algorithms to drive greater repeatability for solar installers).

 

9. Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is described as a “leadership style that prioritizes the growth, well-being, and empowerment of employees [… aiming] to foster an inclusive environment that enables everyone in the organization to thrive as their authentic self.” What’s more, Investopedia describes servant leadership as embodying “a decentralized organizational structure.”

The application of servant leadership in the construction industry has been studied by researchers for the SA Journal of Industrial Psychology and findings have “indicated”…

… job resources mediated a positive relationship between servant leadership and work engagement and a negative relationship between servant leadership and burnout. Servant leadership had a positive significant relationship with job resources and significantly explained a proportion of the variance in job resources. Job resources, in turn, significantly explained a proportion of increase in work engagement levels and a proportion of reduction in burnout levels. An insignificant relationship was found between job demands and servant leadership.

 

Final Word

The work of project managers in the construction industry shows great promise and represent continually important roles to maintain scope management, resource allocation, budgets, and schedules as the industry faces strong headwinds. For those entering the industry, your work will be highly valued, and you may find a fruitful career when shifting from more volatile industries. The above construction PM traits and industry concepts are intended to be useful in this transition. For project managers in (or entering) the construction industry, I’ve also prepared a more extensive List of Construction Project Management Terms.

 

References

  1. Henkel, T. G., Haley, G., Bourdeau, D. T., & Marion, J. (2019). An insight to project manager personality traits improving team project outcomes. Graziadio Business Review, 22(2). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/publication/1353
  2. Emrath, E. (2020, 12). Average new home uses 24 different subcontractors [Data set]. National Association of Home Builders. https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news-and-economics/docs/housing-economics-plus/special-studies/2020/special-study-average-new-home-uses-24-different-subcontractors.pdf
  3. Montequin, V.R, Nieto, A.G., Ortega, F, and Villanueva, J. (2015). Managerial style profiles of successful project managers: A Survey. Procedia Computer Science 64, 55-62, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.463
  4. Polančič, G., Jošt, G., and Hericko, M (2015, 02). An experimental investigation comparing individual and collaborative work productivity when using desktop and cloud modeling tools. Empirical Software Engineering 20(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10664-013-9280-x
  5. Fuks, H., Raposo, A., Aurelio Gerosa, M., and Lucena, C. (2005, 06). Applying the 3C model to groupware development. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems 14(2):0218-8430, http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S0218843005001171

 

Embracing AI-driven Project Management: A Guide for PMs

AI project management software is revolutionizing the landscape of products and services. A host of tools are making their way to the market to capitalize on their potential. Given their ability to automate tasks, analyze data, aid insights, and improve the bottom line, AI project management tools will rapidly become part of standard operating procedure within companies, transforming traditional project management.

This rapid transformation has left project managers wondering how their job expectations will change, whether they will be replaced by AI, and how to adapt to the change. This article aims to cover those questions.

 

Table of Contents

AI Project Management Today……………………………………………………….. 1

Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Rewriting……………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Summarization………………………………………………………………………… 3

Generating Reports…………………………………………………………………… 3

How to Adapt and Thrive with AI Project Management Tools………………… 4

Embrace the Changes in the Project Management Role……………………. 4

Learn Continuously About New Technologies…………………………………. 4

Think of AI Project Management Tools as “Interns”…………………………. 5

Picking the Best AI Project Management Tools…………………………………… 5

AI Project Management Tools are the Future…………………………………….. 6

 

AI Project Management Today

As industries are becoming more competitive, project managers expect more output from their employees and themselves. AI project management tools assist PMs to select and prioritize projects based on company and stakeholder needs. They help PMs ensure that company resources are allocated to the most impactful projects in the most impactful way.

AI tools help increase the per hour value of work, especially because employees are happier and more productive working with AI. In fact, a McKinsey report found that the productivity gains among junior workers are higher than they are for senior workers.

 

For project managers, AI can perform many productivity boosting tasks including:

Analysis

AI project management tools can analyze and report on work you or your teams do and offer improvements. Some AI tools can spot patterns in historical project data and generate project plans optimized for your company and stakeholder needs. They can also spot areas of improvement in employee work.

For instance, any project manager will tell you how bad requirements can have negative downstream effects like rework. Requirements errors make-up 70 to 85 percent of the cost of rework.

When you write requirements for projects and/or products, AI tools can help you rate the quality of your requirements based on the 6C’s (i.e., clarity, completeness, conciseness, consistency, correctness, and context). The results are rated on a scale of 0% to 100%.

 

Rewriting

Beyond just offering analysis, you can also write and rewrite content and documentation using AI. The rise of ChatGPT has dramatically shifted the landscape of many industries and professions, including project management. You can automate project planning, generate project status reports, summarize meetings, and even develop training materials.

You can also write, and rewrite documents based on drafts and get those results formatted in bullet form or as a paragraph. The best tools also allow you to select and edit the AI’s output to your team’s specifications.

Monitoring Progress

AI project management tools offer PMs the ability to monitor the progress of their projects or sprints. Team members and stakeholders can visually see how the project is progressing against the planned timeline. With AI project management software tools, you can communicate with your team and update project progress. This can help improve team communication and collaboration, leading to more successful project delivery.

 

Summarization

Project managers often must grapple with vast amounts of data in bite-sized pieces to make informed decisions. AI tools can create a brief abstract or reframe requirements in different terms so PMs can make decisions quickly. The ability to reframe requirements also has explanatory power so that team members from different disciplines can better understand their colleagues’ intentions.

 

Generating Reports

Current tools can generate reports from your documentation with one click. An AI project management driven method leaves tools to summarize meeting notes or project updates in seconds with pre-structured headers, tables, and more, these tools ensure that project managers have perfectly formatted content.

While these are some basic tools that project managers can use, AI project management tools can go even further. This includes converting requirements data into user stories, translating requirements from language to language for better collaboration, and even elaborate on existing requirements.

 

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How to Adapt and Thrive with AI Project Management Tools

 

There’s no doubt that AI in project management will be the new paradigm in the near future. A Gartner study said that AI will handle 80% of project management tasks by 2023. The best way to deal with this upcoming change is to adapt to it. Here’s how:

Embrace the Changes in the Project Management Role

A change in the role of project manager is inevitable in many ways. Here are a few ways you can adapt and thrive in the evolving role of PM.

  • Focus on Soft Skills: With automation handling routine tasks, the PM role will focus more on soft skills like leadership, strategy, and building high-performing teams. Organizations will need the leadership skills of PMs to keep their companies competitive by switching to AI tools.
  • Strategic Alignment: While AI will lead to gains in productivity, using this productivity boost in the right way will involve PMs focusing more on aligning projects with strategic goals for results. This includes using other strategic tools like baselining and documentation tools to direct the power of AI in the best possible way.

Learn Continuously About New Technologies

The future is a hybrid of machine speed and human judgment. To keep up with these rapid changes, PMs should stay updated with the latest technologies and tools that can help them in their work. This includes new AI technologies as well as other technologies coming down the pipeline.

A key skill for the future is data literacy. In a recent report, 31% of organizations said data-related skills like data management, analytics and big data, are the highest talent development priorities.

And with AI taking over the manual aspects of the job, the PMs role will become even more human-centric, with soft-skills like critical thinking, conflict resolution, and deal making becoming more important.

A culture of learning within companies is important as almost 30% of employees consider learning as a key factor when considering a new position.

 

Think of AI Project Management Tools as “Interns”

Virtual assistants will gradually shift PM activities towards coaching and stakeholder management. AI tools are best understood as competent interns that need some oversight while doing administrative or manual tasks.

The dominant paradigm will involve PMs dealing with more human-oriented tasks that involve soft skills, deep market research, and making critical decisions on product positioning.

 

Picking the Best AI Project Management Tools

Intelligence: Any artificial intelligence must be powerful enough to tackle the task at hand. When looking for a tool, get one that gives you high quality output when automating tasks, analyzing data, and providing context.

User-friendliness: PMs in competitive industries are often time stressed. An AI project management tool must be easy to use. The best tools give you options both for a prompt-based interface and a button-based interface.

Interaction with other tools: An AI tool in isolation is not useful to project managers. However, an AI tool that is integrated into a larger ecosystem of tools is extremely valuable. The best tools typically come with packaged software that allow PMs to document, test, and review their project management performance.

Collaboration: PMs know that success in any project is a team sport. So, an AI tool that simplifies project requirements will make it easier for developers to understand business analysts and vice-versa. A tool that can translate requirements accurately is even better since distributed teams can perform across the world.

 

AI Project Management Tools are the Future

In conclusion, AI has the potential to significantly enhance project management practices. By embracing AI tools like virtual project assistants, continuously learning about new technologies, using AI for improved decision-making, automating administrative tasks, and using AI for project selection and prioritization, project managers can adapt to this new landscape for improved outcomes and profitability. It’s an exciting time for project management as we explore these new possibilities.

 

 

Source: Futuristic Architect Businessman Industry 40 Engineer Stock Photo 1196903896 | Shutterstock [AS1]
Caption: AI-driven project management increases employee productivity across the board. [AS2]
Source: AI Improves Employee Productivity by 66% (nngroup.com) [AS3]
Caption: Summarizing helps project managers get the gist of long documents to make quick decisions. [AS4]
Caption: AI is best seen as a project management intern. [AS5]
Source: Blue Printer Paper · Free Stock Photo (pexels.com) [AS6]
Caption: Learning and career growth are particularly valued among younger employees. [AS7]
Source: Workplace learners: new workplace expectations | Statista [AS8]

Managing Uncertainty with Risk Management and Communication

“Sticking with … uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos,
learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.”
  ~ Pema Chodron

 

Spiritual or not, this is the path of the project manager. Accepting uncertainty is a mindset that we want to promote for all stakeholders. It is about accepting and managing change and the uncertainty it brings.

 

This article is a follow up to my February 2023 article Goals Are NOT Expectations[1]

 

I’ve experienced more than one organization that refrains from publishing long term plans, cost and revenue expectations, and budgets out of fear that they will be penalized when predictions are not realized. In other settings, project managers are held accountable for missing deadlines and budgets that seemed realistic when they were created and used to justify project approval. Even when changes out of the control of the project manager were the cause of the project’s schedule slippage, budget overrun, or failure to meet benefits expectations.

 

Paradox

There is a paradox. Everyone likes certainty, and that like, left unchecked, leads to problems.

It is fine to like certainty but expecting it causes dissatisfied stakeholders and project failure. While we try to approach certainty, we recognize that, with few exceptions, it is unattainable.

 

The Best Made Plans

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – Robert Burns

Burns got it right. Schedule and budget as best we can, and the next day there can be change, a sickness, storm, strike, or any random event that disrupts the schedule and causes cost overruns. Even if you are clever enough to build in buffers, they can be blown through.

We know we can be certain of some things that, for example, we can be certain that there will be change, we can’t control everything that affects our projects and that things will not always be how we’d like them to be. However, we can never be certain of staff and resource availability, requirements, deliverables, cash flow, the completion of tasks, inspections, tests, and more.

 

Since the certainty of a plan is a pipedream, we are left with two choices, don’t plan or manage uncertainty. Given Benjamin Franklin’s statement, “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” the first option is not recommended. That leaves us with the need to manage uncertainty.

Doing it means accepting and letting go to manage expectations using risk and communication.

 

Accepting Reality

The first step is to accept that uncertainty is an unavoidable reality in projects. This acceptance is a mindset change from thinking that everything must come out the way we want it to everything will occur as it does, and we can work with it. Acceptance is the key to the “knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos.”

Acceptance does not mean passivity. With acceptance and confidence in your ability to handle anything that happens, acceptance puts you on a solid platform for success. You relax in the midst of chaos. Until you and your stakeholders accept uncertainty you cannot optimize your performance. Acceptance is what enables you to let go and let your own and your team’s skill and experience take care of business.

 

Then manage expectations using risk management, and communication, to get the reality of uncertainty across to all stakeholders and have them accept and let go.

Lets look at expectations to see their role in managing uncertainty and the way risk management and communication are keys to managing them.

 

Managing Expectations

Expectations are beliefs about the way something will come about in the future. When stakeholders have rational expectations, accepting uncertainty, they are more likely to keep calm and carry on, even when faced with chaos. With calm acceptance, the probability of success is high.

It is both the organization’s and project manager’s responsibility to make sure expectations are rational and reasonable. Risk management and communication are the tools for managing expectations.

The bottom-line expectation is to work for the best outcome possible while being ready for anything. It is expected that you as a project manager will plan and work to satisfy stakeholders. When expectations are well managed, stakeholders are more likely to be satisfied. Satisfied stakeholders mean project success.

 

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Communication

Communication is the means to achieve rational and realistic expectations.

Communication uses the results of risk management to inform and lead. Communication includes plan presentation and revisions, and continuous candid dialogue in the form of regular progress reporting and informal conversations.

For example, when presenting a plan stress the planned outcome in terms of a range of possibilities with different likelihoods of occurrence. Include statements like “While we are confident that we will meet our sche3dule and budget expectations, we acknowledge that there may be variance. Our risk assessment and plan goes into the details regarding that possible variance. We will regularly assess risks and performance to manage expectations.”

 

Mindset Training

Mindset training is a form of communication. Its purpose is to enable setting the stage for effective performance. Without mindset training that confronts biases and beliefs about the need for and ability to achieve certainty the project manager’s ability to manage expectations is limited.

 

Training time is limited. That is why mindset training is best done by embedding it in skills training as well as in regular meetings and presentations. For example, when giving a presentation to senior stakeholders take a few minutes to highlight that plans are predictions, and that they do not guarantee the predicted outcome. That is a great introduction to the part of the presentation that addresses risk. Posters and informal dialogues can help. In project management training include a segment on expectations management and the need to accept and manage uncertainty.

 

Risk Management

Risk management is the key part of planning that acknowledges and accepts uncertainty and manages expectations. Risk management seeks to identify and avoid the things that get in the way of success, and to promote the things that enable it

We assess risks and plan to remediate them with effective responses. We acknowledge that there are both known and unknown risks. We monitor and adjust throughout the project.

The degree to which risk management is a formal and regularly performed part of planning is a measure of whether uncertainty is accepted in an organization. Producing a plan that has a single, unqualified completion date, expense cap and benefits expectation is a sign that more mindset training and communication is needed.

 

Action

What do you and your organization need to do to create the mindset that uncertainty is unavoidable?

 

[1] https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/goals-are-not-expectations-change-mindsets-to-avoid-the-suffering-of-disappointed-stakeholders/

Best of PMTimes: Managing Stress in Project Management

Introduction

Project Manager (PM) is no doubt one of the most stressful jobs out there as the PM is directly responsible and accountable for the success or failure of a project. Some PMs believed that they can handle and cope with the high level of stress but there are some who are ignoring or refuse to recognize that they are under stress. The experience of stress is not only impacting the cognitive and behavioral performance, it can also have a negative impact on your personal health, wellbeing, and family life. You might not able to change the amount of stress you have on a daily basis, but you can change how you deal with it. It is important to manage the stress before it becomes more and more difficult to handle and manage.

 

The Yerkes-Dodson Curve

Based on the Yerkes-Dodson curve, moderate level of stress improves performance and when the stress level increases more, the performance decreases. Hence, it is crucial for project managers to be able to moderate the stress levels for optimal performance.

 

Causes of Stress in Project Management

Imaging the project deadline is 2 weeks away and there are still some critical issues to be resolved. To make it worse, one of your key team members has been hospitalized. Customer is unhappy and management is requesting for a daily review. The source of stress in Project Management can be many and varied. Some common sources are listed below:

  1. Unrealistic timeline
  2. Working in a matrix system which PM does not have the full control of the resources
  3. Lack of resources – human and/or equipment
  4. Proliferation of virtual teams and cross cultural influences
  5. Inter-group conflict in organization
  6. Project environment

And the list goes on.

 

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Stress Management Techniques

Project Manager must first acknowledge or recognize that he or she is being under stress and then develop self-discipline before proceeding to learn and practice what are the techniques to manage stress. Learning to manage stress successfully begins with our willingness to take an honest look at ourselves.

Many techniques can help to manage stress. There is no-one-size-fits-all technique and no technique will be able to eliminate stress totally. Each person must decide what will work best for him or her. A few techniques should be explored to determine which works best and once they have found some strategies that work, commitment to practicing them is the key for managing stress.

I find five interpersonal skills and/or attitudes that help reduce stress taken from “Tangible Tips for Handling the Endless Stress in Project Management” by Steven Flannes, Ph.D., Principal, Flannes & Associates below to be really helpful in managing stress in Project Management:

  1. Detach or dissociate: Consider the team meeting where you are extremely frustrated by seeing wasted time or the personal posturing from a team member. To use detachment or dissociation, allow yourself to mentally “check out” of the meeting as much as is appropriate, letting your mind wander to a more pleasant image. Obviously, these approaches are used selectively and discretely.
  2. Monitor “what if?” thinking: In the middle of a stressful event, it is natural to engage in “what if thinking,” asking ourselves “What if we’d only done this in the past, then we might not be in this crisis right now?” As is evident, this form of “what if” thinking involves a focus that is not present oriented. An alternative to this form of thinking is to focus very much in the present, such as posing this question to yourself: “It’s Thursday at 3:17 PM, I’ve just received bad news about the project. What can I do in the next hour to take a small step towards improving the situation?”
  3. Develop potent conflict resolution skills: We add stress to our work lives by either under reacting to the stressful situation (avoiding or denying it) or over reacting to the stressful situation (coming on too strong). Both approaches increase our stress. A menu of conflict resolution skills (which will help reduce stress) is found in Flannes and Levin (2005).
  4. Know when enough is enough, and stay away from debating: A natural but often unproductive approach to resolve a stressful situation is to debate another person about the wisdom of your point of view. This does not mean you should not assert your belief, but you should know when to stop, often when your message has been heard. At this point in the dialogue, if we continue try to be seen as “right,” we are actually increasing our stress. It’s better to stop earlier than later; it can be a matter of diminishing returns to continue to be seen as “right.”
  5. Look for a paradoxical component in the situation: In the midst of a situation that is legitimately stressful, we may find ourselves taking ourselves, or the situation, too seriously. Cognitive behavioral psychologists would say that we are engaging in “catastrophizing” behavior, in which we take a singular, negative event, cognitively “run with it,” and then find ourselves believing, for example, that the entire project is probably doomed because of this one serious problem. An antidote to this is to find a paradoxical cognition that you can hold onto, something that will put your stress and worries in perspective.

Other techniques:

Prioritize: Put up a priority matrix and assign every task based on its urgency and importance. Focus on the tasks that are urgent and important. Don’t overwhelm yourself by worrying about your entire workload.
Avoid extreme reactions: Why hate when a little dislike will do? Why generate anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage when anger will do the job? Why be depressed when you can just be sad?
Applying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to Stress Reduction: NLP provides a number of excellent tools and concepts to empower individuals to cope with or change non-resourceful or negative stress to resourceful or positive resources.With NLP you can change overwhelming, immobilizing feelings into powerful motivating forces.
Exercise: Take some time off from your busy schedule and plan for some physical activities, whether it’s jogging, cycling, hiking or other activities to work off stress.
Meditation: Learn how to best relax yourself. Meditation and breathing exercises have been proven to be very effective in controlling stress. Practice clearing your mind of disturbing thoughts.

Summary

The success in managing stress does not depend solely on the type of technique that is used, but instead the commitment from the individual that makes the difference. The same strategy might not work for everyone. Individual must take an honest look within him or herself and determine what is practical and make the most sense. Working to reduce stress can enhance happiness and health for many years. It does make a difference!

 

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