Comments on: Being Economical with the truth http://www.guerrillaprojectmanagement.com/being-economical-with-the-truth Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:48:44 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: samad_aidane http://www.guerrillaprojectmanagement.com/being-economical-with-the-truth/comment-page-1#comment-321 samad_aidane Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:21:45 +0000 http://www.guerrillaprojectmanager.com/?p=126#comment-321 Sarat, you make great points about the importance of building trust relationships with our sponsors and stakeholders so we are able to deliver bad news. And you are right that we have to learn how to deliver bad news so people are not surprised. We also need to help project managers in those situations where stakeholders do not have the capacity to handle bad news (the truth) and as a result require a lot of efforts and heavy lifting on the part of the PM. This is where we can help PMs to be very tact and savvy so they are delivering the right information, to the right stakeholder, at the right time, and in the right way. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment and look forward to your feedback and continuing the conversation. Sarat, you make great points about the importance of building trust relationships with our sponsors and stakeholders so we are able to deliver bad news. And you are right that we have to learn how to deliver bad news so people are not surprised. We also need to help project managers in those situations where stakeholders do not have the capacity to handle bad news (the truth) and as a result require a lot of efforts and heavy lifting on the part of the PM. This is where we can help PMs to be very tact and savvy so they are delivering the right information, to the right stakeholder, at the right time, and in the right way. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment and look forward to your feedback and continuing the conversation.

]]> By: Sarat Varanasi http://www.guerrillaprojectmanagement.com/being-economical-with-the-truth/comment-page-1#comment-320 Sarat Varanasi Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:48:24 +0000 http://www.guerrillaprojectmanager.com/?p=126#comment-320 Samad, Great post. I have learnt about this the hard way. In my personal opinion, it is not so much about "how economical we want to be with the truth" but it is mroe about how we say the truth. As all of us would agree, no sponsor would like surprises. They want to be informed through out the process and should ideally see it coming before we say there is a crisis. One other aspect I have used is to identify the stakeholder from the sponsor group who will work with you. If we are able to do that, notify them upfront, take them into confidence and discuss potential alternatives in confidence, I think it gives us the opportunity to handle the crisis better and also takes the pressure of the Project Manager. Sarat Samad,

Great post. I have learnt about this the hard way. In my personal opinion, it is not so much about “how economical we want to be with the truth” but it is mroe about how we say the truth. As all of us would agree, no sponsor would like surprises. They want to be informed through out the process and should ideally see it coming before we say there is a crisis.

One other aspect I have used is to identify the stakeholder from the sponsor group who will work with you. If we are able to do that, notify them upfront, take them into confidence and discuss potential alternatives in confidence, I think it gives us the opportunity to handle the crisis better and also takes the pressure of the Project Manager.

Sarat

]]> By: My-Project-Management-Expert.com http://www.guerrillaprojectmanagement.com/being-economical-with-the-truth/comment-page-1#comment-9 My-Project-Management-Expert.com Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:22:06 +0000 http://www.guerrillaprojectmanager.com/?p=126#comment-9 Hi Samad, An excellent post which I greatly enjoyed reading. Project reporting is such an overlooked area of IT project management. As such, too many project manager's fail to realise that it gives them the power and time to do their jobs; which is to deliver the project. But it is also a poisoned chalice. Get the level of reporting wrong and not only will the project fail, but you will be heading the wrong way down the career ladder. Project Manager's therefore need to strike a balance between reporting everything, and reporting what is required. This comes with the experience of managing the expectations of <a href="http://www.my-project-management-expert.com/project-management-stakeholders.html" rel="nofollow">project management stakeholders</a> and also from being consistent when completing the weekly <a href="http://www.my-project-management-expert.com/project-management-report.html" rel="nofollow">project management report</a>. As we both know, there are no short cuts in this profession. However by being politically savvy and understanding when to panic, project managers can ensure that they continue to tread that fine line which is required to communicate effectively upwards, whilst ensuring that they have the time to do their job. Regards Susan de Sousa Site Editor http://www.my-project-management-expert.com Hi Samad,

An excellent post which I greatly enjoyed reading.

Project reporting is such an overlooked area of IT project management. As such, too many project manager’s fail to realise that it gives them the power and time to do their jobs; which is to deliver the project.

But it is also a poisoned chalice. Get the level of reporting wrong and not only will the project fail, but you will be heading the wrong way down the career ladder.

Project Manager’s therefore need to strike a balance between reporting everything, and reporting what is required. This comes with the experience of managing the expectations of project management stakeholders and also from being consistent when completing the weekly project management report.

As we both know, there are no short cuts in this profession. However by being politically savvy and understanding when to panic, project managers can ensure that they continue to tread that fine line which is required to communicate effectively upwards, whilst ensuring that they have the time to do their job.

Regards

Susan de Sousa
Site Editor http://www.my-project-management-expert.com

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