Don't Panic .... Try This Instead!
With attention focused on panicking, little progress was occurring; my friend didn’t want to think about the possible bad outcome and thus took no action, exacerbating the potential problem.
Around the time I was learning the fundamentals of project management at my job, my friend was working to complete a PhD at a nearby university (in a field unrelated to my own) and was seriously stressed out about it. There were many activities required for thesis completion, but they had not written them down in one place, and certainly not in the form of any sort of plan or timeline. My friend worried about not finishing on time for the thesis defense (a fixed date).
I pointed out that it was only a potential problem; if everything was fine there was no need for worry. On the other hand, if the time crunch were real, it might still be possible to do something about it. First, we needed to determine if the worry was justified. Applying my recently acquired project management skills, I suggested we write down all the different actions and tasks necessary to finish, and take our best guess about how long each one might take.
While most tasks could be estimated easily enough, one was trickier. My friend knew that it would take a long time to manually process their raw experimental data into a useable form but struggled to quantify how long it might actually take. I suggested guesstimating the fastest (best-case) and slowest (worst-case) possible times required to process each data point. We multiplied by the number of data points and quickly realized the potential problem was in fact a real problem – even in the best-case scenario there weren’t enough hours in a day to finish the project on time.
Initially, this only reinforced the worrying, but then I pointed out that there was an entire department full of bright students who could be quickly trained to perform the data processing. Hiring some helpers for this time-consuming (but straightforward) part of the project got the schedule back on track. My friend graduated on time and became “doctor”.
Everybody worries; worrying consumes energy but doesn’t provide any tangible benefit. Invest some time to determine if the thing you’re worrying about is actually a problem. If not, no need to waste energy worrying about it!
If the problem is real, many people react by ignoring it, hoping it will go away. A much better strategy is to assess the nature and scope of the problem, lay out a plan, and take action! In my experience, in business people tend to be judged not on problems occurring, but on how effectively they deal with them when they do pop up.
Another common behavior is for people to try to deal with every aspect of a problem themselves, working harder and harder, stressing more and more. People don’t realize that it’s okay to ask for help (in this example that took the form of student data processors, but in other circumstances it might be suppliers or colleagues with needed expertise, etc.).
One final note. It was very interesting for me how the project management principles learned at my corporate engineering job applied perfectly to a problem in an entirely different venue and discipline. Keep an eye out for analogous patterns. This wouldn’t be the last time in my career that a concept from one area helped me solve a problem in a seemingly unrelated area.
I was struggling to get updates from my regional project management directors. Sensing my frustration at having to constantly repeat my (apparently futile) requests to the team to provide their updates consistently, my boss suggested, “If you want something done, schedule it.” He meant that if updates are needed at a specific time, actually schedule them directly on people's calendars, making the expectation and reminder "automatic" each month, and emphasizing the importance of the updates by turning them into meetings – people tend not to show up empty handed to meetings where they're expected to present. Scheduling removed a bit of "friction" and created a sense of urgency that resulted in real progress. Amazingly, they didn’t miss any updates after that point!
One of the best bits of advice I received when I first became a manager was to “delegate a task when your team member is 70% as good at it as you are, not 99%.” Many times, people are promoted to management positions because of their strong performance as individual contributors, but then they’re shocked to learn that a whole separate set of skills is required to succeed in their new role. Delegation is high on this list of new skills. Delegation means handing off tasks for someone else to do them. A common mistake is to only hand off a task when the team member is as good as you are at it. This is a trap! While it may seem like a good idea to protect the quality of the task, it doesn’t work in practice.
Don’t be fooled by the latest fad in project management, Agile. Agile is pitched as a revolutionary method, but the fact is, it simply DOES NOT GET THE RESULTS that visual waterfall approaches do. Period.
We see team after team fail using Agile methods, for very specific reasons. Let’s look at the 6 painful TRUTHs of using Agile methods. You don't need the latest fad, you need to use the best practices to manage a project to completion.
Problem-solving methods haven’t changed in over 20 years, and some methods have been around for 30-50 years without significant improvement. CAEDENCE has released a novel improvement to problem-solving that overcomes shortfalls in existing methods.
Applicable to all structured problem-solving approaches, Visual 8D™ enables teams to execute the familiar problem-solving steps (with no additional effort), while capturing plans and progress in easy-to-follow diagrams. Visual 8D™ puts teams in the position of providing answers to management and customer questions before being asked, resulting in improved control of the situation and minimizing time wasted on extraneous actions.
Being action-oriented is a good thing, right? Well, yes and no. There's a big difference between learning and adjusting quickly ("failing fast") and wasting time and resources by "rushing off half cocked".
Executives and teams alike are eager to be (and be seen) "doing something", but they often fail to recognize the distinction between 'activity' and 'progress'. As a result, they act upon the first reasonable idea that comes along. The trouble with acting on the first reasonable idea is twofold. First, there might have been much better ideas, and second, once you start working on the first idea, you stop looking for the better ones. Outcomes are often sub-optimal – problems not solved, product not launched, etc.
Want to dramatically improve your team's odds of achieving consistently strong outcomes? Next time everyone's ready to run with the first reasonable idea, set aside just 30 minutes and challenge the group with this 3-step process.
I was asked to take over the redesign project as lead engineer after a team from another site had struggled and failed to meet the financial target. The assignment came with one condition (which, in hindsight, should have been a big red flag): “Don’t let the original leader know he’s not in charge anymore, we need to keep him engaged.” If I had it to do over again, I’m quite certain we could have delivered on the goal in half the time if team leadership had been clearly defined.
Management made several fundamental errors with this team: (1) They should have recognized the original project was not on track and intervened to course-correct much sooner. (2) They should have trusted the original team leader to act professionally and contribute despite being displaced, rather than feel it necessary to deceive him. (3) They should have made the leadership responsibilities unambiguous to everyone involved.
Some years ago, a bright young engineer was assigned to my group. He was very capable, energetic, and technically sharp, but a bit “rough around the edges” when it came to dealing with people. My job was to “polish the diamond-in-the-rough”, to teach him the soft skills he would need to succeed. I provided one-on-one feedback after attending his meetings to help him see how his abrasive style was holding him back, and to offer some alternative ways of communicating that would not only get the tasks done but also nurture long-term allies who would want to help him again in the future.
While there are a lot of great leadership techniques and tips out there, it turns out there is no magic bullet that works every time for every situation. You have to apply the best practices with consistency and integrity. You have to build environments of trust and common purpose. You have to measure and check. Doing so will not guarantee success, but it will stack the deck in your favor, maximizing your chances of succeeding.
Continuous improvement in a business is not a one-time action. It comes from a series of smaller actions taken over a long period of time. Driving improvement requires steadfast attention and a drive to achieve excellence. It can take months or years to make permanent improvements and change a culture. In your projects and initiatives, are you keeping your ‘foot on the gas’ to change the long-term outcomes?
Executing an effective cost reduction initiative goes beyond simply identifying a need, communicating a dollar value, and holding workshops. Cost reduction initiatives must start with a broader review of gap areas across the entire enterprise (considering existing and acquired sites) and definition of the future state goals. Buy-in must be secured among the key stakeholders and participants. The steps and metrics needed to ensure engagement before, and accountability beyond, the initiative kickoff must be planned.
