I am loving this conversation. Please keep going.

I am loving it because it goes to the heart of something that I care deeply about: the PM Mindset and belief system that we need to develop, as we are called upon to lead major change projects in today’s complex environment.

How do we know when to step back and let our stakeholders do their “work” and when we do need to step in and influence (sell ideas and options to) to help them absorb change when the project stalls?

To stay alive and be able to sleep well at night, how much of ourselves should we pour in our projects to make them succeed and when do we know to stay detached. And can we really stay detached and yet keep our passion for the work we are doing?

Our views on these topics reflect what we learned from our diverse backgrounds, experiences, and the scars – paper cuts we collected along the way.

So please keep the conversation going. I am thrilled with all the ideas we are sharing here.

Thank you guys.

I do agree with you that the sponsor is the ultimate owner of the project. That being said, the sponsor has brought us in, usually, because they needed help.

(I’m totally digging this convo btw…sorry Samad for filling up your blog page)

It’s interesting to me you see the “why” and “what” of a project as something that’s really none of our business. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong…that just hasn’t been my experience. (And it doesn’t help that I have a history of shoving my nose where it doesn’t belong bwahahaha).

I think the value of the PMs involvement in the “why” and “what” comes not at the beginning of the project, where what’s known about scope is being hammered out; but in the middle, where change requests start getting raised, usually because the scope is getting better definition through learning, focus and exposure.

When this happens, there’s a high potential for stakeholder conflict. As PMs I see we have a choice: get involved in the conflict, resolve it by whatever means necessary and move on…or stop all work, push back to the sponsor and get him to deal with it. “Call me when you’re ready to move on.”

Resolving by any means necessary often means taking the initiative to work out new and sometimes crazy solutions, and selling the ideas to the stakeholders, which is why I believe in what Samad’s said above.

However, I don’t think either approach is right or wrong, and there’s merits to both. My background is financial trading systems where stakeholders usually ask me to take out a mortgage on my soul before they’ll hire me. LOL

Cheers, my friend!
Geoff.
http://edge.papercutpm.com

1. I would agree with the notion that a PM needs to operate as a facilitator, bringing different stakeholders together with the aim of achieving an amicable understanding.

2. I am a bit concerned about the looseness of the term “our project”. it is only ours by the virtue of the charter given to us by the project sponsor. Ultimately the project really belongs to the sponsor and we are merely the sponsor’s agent entrusted with the task of driving the project to it’s completion. We can largely influence the ‘how’ but to a much lesser degree the ‘why’ and the ‘what’. If the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ are under review and their validity is questionable, strictly speaking it is not the PM’s business to get these issues resolved.

What do you reckon?

Cheers, Shim.

When the project becomes larger and increasingly complex, though, I find stakeholders stop agreeing on what the objectives are and start throwing food at one another instead.

As project managers, we have to get to end of job; and since we’re the ones with the purview of the project, it often falls to us to influence our stakeholders and change their positions such that we can get agreement to proceed. If we don’t do this, our projects can stall.

New ideas are really solutions to problems that people don’t know they have. In that context, I would agree with Samad that there is an element of “change agent” in what we do, because it’s often the only way to break stakeholder deadlock.

My two cents anyway!
Geoff.
http://edge.papercutpm.com

You are so right that there are “absolutely no absolutes”. I love that.

You are also so spot on when you said that we all have our own individual observations and interpretations. I think this is an exciting time that we have these blog posts as medium to have a dialogue to express our ideas and learn about each other experiences. I am thrilled anytime we can engage in these thought provoking discussions and I look forward to many rich and exciting conversations with you.

Cheers,

Samad

So just a few points:

1. I’m not sure whether or not we, as project managers have the capacity, nor the ethical or professional responsibility to “ensure stakeholders are not making choices that dilute the business objective of the project”. After, it is the stakeholders who, in their collective wisdom, helped shape the business objectives in the first place. We are given a set of objectives and if these change due to this business decision or another, it’s our job to manage that transition via scope control.
2. I wonder about your comment regarding the role of the project manager as a change agent. Looking forward to other PM’s comments on this issue. I’ve expressed my view in my earlier comment.

Keep on writing mate, that’s the only way we can enrich our collective knowledge base.

Cheers, Shim
http://www.quantmleap.com

Thank you for your comment.

You article does a good job outlining proper change management process. Thank you so much for this contribution.

And thank you for the inspiration you gave me to write this post. I never thought about this story in the way you brilliantly put it. But once I read your post, I looked at the story in a new way and I saw the parallel with what we do as PMs. So thank you and I look forward to more inspirations form you. I will be reading your blog.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to comment.

I use the term “selling” in the general sense. Anytime our stakeholders are faced with difficult choices, we may have to lobby for (sell) the options that we believe will advance the project business objects and that are in the best interest of the organization, as opposed those options that protect the stakeholders against loss. Often stakeholders may prefer the easy way out from difficult decisions and delay, defer, or avoid making the tough choices. We need to be there to ensure stakeholders are not making choices that dilute the business objective of the project.

I think in that sense, we are constantly selling new ideas to influence the direction of the project. The sponsor may have the responsibility to sell “what” change to implement and “why” to implement it. But within the project, there remains hundreds of decisions that need to be made about the “how” to implement the change. And I think this is where we spend a lot of time on a daily basis making sure the right business and technical decisions are made that are aligned with the business objectives of the project.

The other question is: should the project manager play the role of change agent or should they operate in a support role? I think the more complex the project is and the more it requires the stakeholders to change not only how they do their jobs but also their priorities, commitments, and loyalties, the more organizations look to the PM to also play the role of change agent.

I personally think that, in most organizations, there is a leadership vacuum in regard to complex change initiatives that the PM ends up needing to fill. I think PMs should step in and play this role anytime there is a vacuum. Even of the PM does not have all the skills necessary for the role, I think at least with such experiences and overtime the PM will develop the muscles needed for this work in future projects. Otherwise, it is incredibly difficult to deliver such complex change projects successfully, if the project manager just focuses on their PM duties.

I would love to hear you take.

Yes, we are change agents. We might not have signed up for it, in addition to our roles as project managers or leaders, but it’s what we do. It has become our responsibility.

Honos habet onus. Honor is burdened with responsibility.

Be it asking someone to taste green eggs and ham (over and over again) or challenging a customer to make hard (and sometimes painful) choices, we must continue to be patient and persistent.

It’s the least we can do.

Best Regards,
Derek
http://thecriticalpath.info

PS: I published an elaborate article on controlling change requests, hope you’ll get the chance to read it.

You state that “project managers are in the business of selling new ideas and implementing change initiatives. One of challenging situations we often face is when our projects bring about change that some of our stakeholders welcome while others absolutely resist”.

Although I agree with the notion of project managers implementing change initiatives, it seems to me that task of selling new ideas is not quite a project management activity. Project management, as far as I see it, is the task of driving a particular process towards achieving a pre-determined business objective. It is not the PM’s role to convince others that the objective is justified and worth following, but merely to using the mandate given to him/her and drive the realization of that objective.

I am also not sure I fully agree with your notion of PM playing a role of change agents, at least not in the context of playing a leading role in that process. The responsibility of achieving wide range stakeholders buy-in sits with the project sponsor. The PM can operate in a support role but most certainly it is not the PM’s prime responsibility to ensure that all stakeholders agree with the change.

Please let me know what you think?

Cheers, Shim
http://www.quantmleap.com

Project Management is a constant balancing act isn’t it.

We as Project Managers are often squeezed between the expectations of those who authorize us to lead the change and the expectations of those who see themselves as potential casualties of change and resist it.

Those who authorize us want to see action and progress, while we stay on time and budget. Those who see themselves as potential casualties of change need us to help them change at rate they can absorb.

On top of all this, we often have a fixed budget and deadline that does not reflect the flexibility we need to meet these often conflicting expectations. During the course of a project, it is impossible not to disappoint one or both of them, as they are rooted in fundamentally conflicting priorities.

In my view, it is the responsibility of those who authorize the change and those who will experience loss from the change (real or perceived) to do the hard “work” necessary to bridge gaps in priorities and/or adopt new ones.

The “work” involves all the discomfort, stress, and heavy lifting necessary to resolve conflicting values, priorities, loyalties, and interests.

So what’s the Project Manager’s role in all of this? I see the role of the PM as a catalyst that ensures the focus remains on this “work” and that this work is not avoided, because people will try everything possible to avoid it.

To avoid this work, authorizers and potential casualties of change will look to the project manager to take sides or do the “work” on their behalf. Succumbing to this to this temptation places the PM right in the center of the crossfire.

How does the project manager avoid this and manage to stay alive?

It is a very delicate balance. This is a great topic. I think this makes a great subject for us to explore in our respective blogs in the future.

As PMs don’t we need to take things a step further? Ultimately our primary concern should be action. Stepping into others’ shoes will help us understand people’s reactions, but it either stops there (because we have understanding), or results in very very slow progress (because we try to make them understand). How do we step into others’ shoes and influence an action (barring super powers, which I wish I had hehe)?

I shall give some thought to this.

Thanks to you and Derek for some provocative insights!

Geoff.
http://edge.papercutpm.com