I’ve spent quite a few years not traveling during the holidays. Some of those decisions were made due to happenings at work.

Working right up to and or through any holiday season has revealed one secret – it’s a great time to find time to get some things accomplished.

Contract project managers – you know – those who don’t get paid if they don’t work, can give themselves a little work-based treat over a holiday when employee types leave in droves to get their holiday started early. Most years I noticed that if Christmas fell on say a Friday, by Wednesday, somewhere around 30% of the business employees were gone and by Thursday as much as 70% of the cubes and chairs were empty. I felt like a kid locked in Macy’s overnight!

I found I was able to get a lot of work done. For project managers, having time to review and make adjustments to project plans, to clear out any email backlog, and to ponder any upcoming and New Year’s goals was a real gift. All this, done without the constant interruptions of meetings and the dreaded IMs was almost, FUN! I was even able to brew a pot of coffee and come back an hour later to find it waiting for me – not so on more “populated” days!

In my usual and somewhat contrarian way of doing things, I’ve been able to begin post-holiday work feeling as if I’ve had time to mentally catch up with the life of my projects.

Not a bad way to start a New Year…

From CIO.com…

Worth a look – if you’re even thinking about “looking!”

I had a conversation with someone just recently about PMP Certification. I had it – they didn’t, and they wanted to know if it was worth the effort.

This is a tough answer for me to provide. Here’s why…

Some organizations, including State and Federal employers, started attaching much importance to PMP Certifications about 10 years ago. Some even wrote their project manager job requisitions to demand candidates be PMP certified. This pushed a lot of people into the PMI (Project Management Institute) arena – and made the institute a LOT of money.

Once there you learn there are fees to take the exam, you have to go to a specific testing center to take it, and it is a wide-open test – meaning any and all of the PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge) subjects may be on the test. Some of this was a stretch – even for someone like me who then had over 10 years project management experience. There are also continuing education PDUs required. Keeping these up-to-date can be both time-consuming and expensive. I took it, I passed it – to soon realize I probably needn’t have bothered.

Positions I was then working applied almost NONE of the highly vaunted PMP guidelines and principles. To them, project management meant you knew your way around Microsoft’s Project Management software. I was already doing this on a daily basis. Approximately one-half of the subject matter on the test had never been known or applied in ANY organization in which I’d worked – and the same or less has been seen since.

There are also time-in-position requirements for those wanting to take the test. Allegedly, you’ll need to have at least 7 years of project manager experience. I know of at least 3 people in my former organization who just decided they wanted to be PMP certified, scammed experienced they never had, and were “accepted” into the PMI testing level. For someone like myself, who HAS worked as a project manager, having a web developer who sat in his cube alone and coded all day being allowed to sit for the exam made it somehow less meaningful.

So now we have quite a few people running around the job market with “PMP” after their name who have never worked as project managers but who are apparently good “test-takers.” This explains why many projects are so mismanaged.

My answer to the question then is: Are you really a project manager? Do you even want to be? If you answer “Yes” because you are already in a management position and you accept the responsibility, then go for it. If you are a developer or analyst who thinks adding “PMP” after your name will just make you more money – please find some other certification more inline with the tasks you actually perform.

Employers: Quit being so enamored of certifications and pay attention first to experience. If you know your organization is not using PMI principles then don’t force candidates to have certification for tasks they will never perform. You’ll miss out on those who can really do the job versus hiring someone who is good at taking exams.

This is NOT to slam all IT certification processes. Many are extremely specific to the certification and require, (therefore proving) advanced levels of technical skill. Except for a history of successfully completed projects, the skills of a project manager are not so easy to certify.

To all those who have jobs, to those who have to work over the holiday, and for those who are looking for work…

Happy Thanksgiving to us all. Make it a safe one!

This idea applies not only to project managers, but to program managers and business owners as well. It is simple, cheap, and relatively painless – yet almost no one bothers to do it.

Ask for information.

It has always amazed me that in a world so overloaded with “information,” things on the planet are not getting any better, or more efficient. Sure, we can do a lot more than we could 10 years ago and who, 20 years ago, could have forecast the level of Internet usage of 2011? But sometimes I believe basic and useful data still gets away from many of us on a daily basis.

Many of the posts on this blog focus on human interactions – something else I feel is getting lost in Information Technology – and at a huge deficit. Combine this with the fact that many contract and employee personnel are so worried about keeping their jobs, “heads down” and no questions asked is the mode for too many.

While the end of another year is rapidly approaching, now might be a good time to reacquaint yourself with your staff – whether you manage 2 people or 200. How? Develop a simple survey of your own.

At least once per year, give your “ground troops” the chance to speak their mind about their work. I don’t mean the maternal, “Are you happy here dear?” inquiry…I want to know what doesn’t work – for the organization and for its individuals. Not only does this give you a chance to gain vital and often hidden information, it gives your resources a chance to feel heard.

You can design your own survey questions based on any rumblings you’ve heard in your organization or project – or base them on things you just suspect. Here are a few simple examples…

1. Do you feel your workdays are productive? Why? Why not?

2. Are there any repetitive tasks you feel could or should be automated?

3. Are the organization’s/project’s systems (servers, software, speed, storage, etc.) adequate for the work you are expected to perform?

4. What one aspect would you add or delete from your job that would make it more productive?

5. If you were in charge of your area, what, if any changes would you make?

There is a caveat though.

If you aren’t going to read the info, don’t bother asking for it.

We are living in a world where individuals often feel minimized or ignored. Many people are doing jobs important to your company with this mindset. This has an impact not only their productivity, but on their ability to maintain a vested interest in what’s best for the organization. I don’t want people working for me who feel this way. While my job is not to make their work environment perfect, I can and should look for ways to improve it.

There were many IT layoffs over the last decade – some continue. This means those remaining are working harder and longer hours to help achieve business goals. Top flight people with cutting edge skills job hop – costing the organization thousands of dollars to replace them – and they don’t all just leave for more money. They often leave because their work makes no sense or because the brick wall of management forces them to work in an environment that never asks for input. Anyone who has experienced this knows how discouraging it is.

If you can’t afford a Christmas party this year, order up a few pizzas and have a group meeting where you read aloud some of the responses – I’d make the survey anonymous if you want the REAL scoop. Let others comment on suggestions made and pay attention to the info you receive. It will be well worth your time and efforts.

I read an interesting post via CIO.com this week which posed the question:

“Do enough IT professionals want to be CIO?”

I had an immediate reaction to this question, based on over 30 years of experience – here we go…

My first answer to the specific question would be “No.”

Why?

Smart observers realize that, outside the lofty-sounding title, this is often a “no-win” job position. If things are going well, chances are someone in the organization thinks you just got lucky. If things are NOT going well, you are the immediate point-of-contact and quite possibly the scapegoat for all the organization’s various foibles.

The article goes on to talk about some organizations who are taking IT professionals and sending them to “leadership camp.” This is a red flag to me. CIOs, like the best project managers are born, not made.

The two roles have a lot in common. CIOs and project managers have to be conceptual thinkers – something that can not always be taught. But just as you can’t take a top-notch Java developer and make him a project manager, all project managers won’t make great Chief Information Officers.

Why?

I’m not a psychologist, but I have an opinion based on experience. A CIO has to have a much broader focus than just internal projects, deadlines, and resource management. To get a little off-the-wall, while I would look for an “oldest child” personality to be a great project manager, I may pick the “youngest child” personality to be my CIO.

Why?

I want the CIO to be able to “what if?” in a big way, corporate-wide. Some call this “blue sky” thinking. The CIO needs to be an expert at it. The project manager, on the other hand, needs to restrict their thinking to “blue sky” as it relates to their projects – not the entire company. Any CIO who does this is just often seen as a micro-manager – which should leave the organization wondering, “Who’s in charge here?”

While my “oldest child” project manager deals with many daily and tangible aspects of IT, the “youngest child” CIO is not as hampered by any follower or leader roles and is more often able to look outside the lines for new ideas, new concepts, and new direction. The project manager should be focused on reaching the successful end of a project. The CIO needs to be thinking about reaching the successful end of a business quarter or a decade.

I agree with a lot of what was mentioned in the article. It is no doubt extremely hard to move IT professionals who have made careers from being focused on the details to instead learn to forget the small stuff and focus only on the big picture. If I was trying to find a new CIO I think I’d be more interested in finding this elusive personality type – rather than looking at any string of certifications or even past experience. Having prospects take a test like the Myers-Briggs might even be worthwhile.

If the IT industry is in need of leadership – it may have to start coloring outside the lines and look for natural-born leaders and visionaries versus prospecting just those with IT experience.

The best project managers successfully wear many different hats.

Sometimes they are project managers – using various project management tools to make sure all the project requirements are met. Other times they are counselors – getting various personality types to work well together. But sometimes, they need to be detectives – observing and investigating what is not working.

There is a certain type of resource that sometimes ends up on a project. I call them the project “wastrel.”

The term “wastrel” is often used to describe a vagabond – but in the project environment, their assigned definition is “one who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently.”

If this resource is present on your project team they will be easy to identify.

~ They show up for meetings – but often late and almost always unprepared.
~ They take up more of the project manager’s time than the rest of the team combined.
~ They need constant reminding of their project deadlines and deliverables.
~ They often “go missing” – meaning you just can’t find them.
~ They are always late because of someone else – never themselves.
~ While the project manager is waiting on them for “A,” they deliver “B” instead – and want a reward for doing so.

This type of resource on a project team can become the one bad apple that spoils the entire bunch. It is critical that the project manager “detect” this type of wastrel ASAP. A project manager wearing their detective’s shield will weed out this person quickly merely by noting the increasing level of frustration felt when trying to get straight answers from this resource. When every single interaction is stressful – leaving the project behind deadline and the project manager feeling stressed – there is a wastrel draining project resources. Allowed to continue, this person will eventually drain the life from the project, the project manager, and every other resource on the project team.

The really bad news? Chances are, this is a life-long personality of the wastrel. You will be unlikely to improve or re-focus this person. It is an unfortunate fact that projects are built with human resources that sometimes are just not the right fit. A personality clash between resources can and should be dealt with by the project manager. A wastrel personality often needs to just be removed.

Yes it is.

My time is valuable to you when you’re paying for it. My time is valuable to me – all the time.

I just went through a rather annoying 48 hours + trying to set up ONE PHONE CALL. This took several emails over 2 days to narrow down a 30-minute window for what needs to be about a 30-minute phone conversation. I’d already asked for this time frame and had also asked which of the various numbers provided I was to call. Although the time was agreed to, phone number preference was not given so I start with the “Office” phone choice.

Voice mail.

I try the “Cell” phone number option.

Voice mail.

WHY AM I HERE?

I have now wasted time trying to contact someone who can not be available at the time they agreed to. I have planned my afternoon and in fact my day around this time window to make sure I am prepared for the call so as not to waste anyone’s time. Apparently mine is of value only to me.

I am now annoyed enough to not want to discuss this particular project – something I was looking forward to earlier today. If this was a “one-off” I would not be so irritated. Things happen during the day that are sometimes out-of-control. But this situation is systemic in too many business environments.

What it reveals is poor time management combined with an inability to set and keep priorities. It fosters bad feeling in a working relationship that needs to run smoothly if the project is to do the same. It is also crazymaking for the project manager who has been given tasks to complete. I will now not be able to move onward with what I had hoped to accomplish before the end of the work week tomorrow. I am stalled.

Time is money…tick, tick, tick. You’re getting billed for nothing.

I’ve been on one or two interviews in my time. Okay, more than one or two.

While the main focus of the interview is to hire for a task or, from the other side of the table, get hired for a position, there is even more to be gained from the interview process. But sometimes this opportunity is lost in the buzzword shuffle.

As technology gets more and more complex, job descriptions for project managers have become diluted with buzzwords that have little to do with hiring the best person for the job. Employers or their HR Departments have become bogged down with technical “requirements” that are more applicable to a Sr developer than a project manager.

There are some valid aspects of aligning a project manager with the technicalities of the specific project they are brought in to complete, but these technical “affiliations” are usually not the best sign of potential success. If you are a financial institution you’ll hope to hire someone with a background in successfully managing financially-oriented projects. But, unless that background is in your current organization it is still a screening criteria versus a guarantee of future success.

Instead of filling job descriptions with 30+ technical buzzwords with boxes you want a PM to check off on, focus on the goal of the open position which is to find someone who can take responsibility for a “project” and “manage” it to completion.

One of the best interviews I ever attended was in response to an ad for a PMP-Certified, Senior Project Manager. Here’s why it worked well for all involved…

First, after less than 3 minutes of discussion, the company proved to me that they actually followed PMP guidelines and suggestions for project management. Most don’t. This gave credibility to the fact that they were requesting a PMP-Certified candidate. Most don’t.

Second, in another 3 minutes of conversation they told me most of what I really needed to know about the project.

~ It was a $5 million dollar project
~ It had 12 assigned resources
~ It was 2 months behind schedule
~ It had a critical and “unmovable” deadline to be met

What else is there for a project manager to know at the interview stage?

Did I care about the platform or the subject matter? As a point-of-information of course I did, but otherwise, did I really care? No. A successful project manager has the ability to quickly assess, plan, and implement people and technology – not reinvent the wheel. This project was well underway. They didn’t need a project manager who would come in and recommend the latest-and-greatest and recommend changing protocols. They needed someone to manage what they already had.

This is an important point. Clearly defining the stage of your project will help you hire the best PM. Some PMs are better at the theory of the project than the management of it. These are often called program managers or even “Technical Project Managers.” They are best used when a project is up-for-discussion and what to use and how to implement questions are on the table. These are NOT the best person for the 4 points I discovered during my interview as stated. This project was well beyond “blue-sky” zone and into full-throttle, heads down development.

The company also asked me several interview questions that let me know they actually understood their own needs.

~ Are you experienced at managing resources?
~ Discuss successes of other projects managed at the million-dollar plus level
~ Are you deadline focused?
~ Are you capable of implementing change when needed?

All questions expected to successfully manage this project at its current stage. This company knew who they needed and to do what. Outside the always hidden “gotchas” of project management, there was an excellent chance of them finding the best PM for their project.

So, if you need a project manager – hire one. You need a quarterback – don’t hire another owner, or a lineman, or a kicker. Don’t hire a technical talking head who can’t manage. Don’t hire a developer to manage – they usually hate it. Don’t hire a “What if…?” level manager for a “Are you done yet?” project.

Quality Assurance personnel are the workhorses of almost every Information Technology process – and are often the most taken-for-granted, ignored, and abused.

If you think about what their job entails this almost makes sense. They are paid to tell you, or your resources, what they’ve done wrong.

This information they provide can be taken in many ways – based on how your organization, and the people in it, work together – or not.

#1. QA is seen as a necessary annoyance.

While project managers and developers are working hard to complete a new module or a new application, they know that time to start testing is approaching. They aren’t exactly looking forward to it, but realize it has to happen. Time has been allowed for full testing and any necessary re-testing in the project plan. Resources capable of performing this testing have been identified and assigned.

#2. QA is all but ignored.

There is minimal mention of testing in the project plan. Few resources have even been discussed. No one wants to talk about testing.

#3. QA is discussed and planned, but not implemented – not really…

There is plenty of “talk” about QA but little action. QA is in the project plan but you’ve been developing this code for 9 months and have allowed only one week for testing, using 2 junior-level resources.

Come on people! You NEED these QA resources!

I’ll admit that the best and most productive QA manager I ever worked with was also the most anal-retentive and sometimes totally annoying individual. Several times while working with him, visions of my hands around his throat popped into my head.

He would seem to come into the project from out-of-nowhere and create havoc and discord. The developers wished him dead. Voodoo dolls in his image began popping up in cubes throughout the project.

Okay, I only saw one voodoo doll – but it did look like him!

However, this individual, with his near-religious search for code errors, made sure that what was finally delivered – worked. On “Live Day” the system ran like a clock. Reports reported what was expected. Customers may not have noticed improvements in the web process but they weren’t supposed to notice anything anyway – a project’s ultimate mark of success.

After spending 18 months working with this QA person, I’d rather have him with me and my project than not, anytime.

He kept things from getting sloppy – which happens – especially as that “Live” deadline approaches. He kept developers honest. This is not to imply that developers are dishonest, but they will tend to “peak and tweak” code without following the test process once and awhile. This QA Manager caught them every single time.

He also made sure that the best resources were performing the testing. This means people who actually worked with the application, knew what incoming data should be feeding the process, and who had some idea of what the outcome was supposed to be and look like. This sure beats organizations I’ve “experienced” who think developers can test their own code. No, I am not kidding.

I’ve written test plans. It isn’t fun for me because my real contribution to the project is to manage it – all its bits and pieces into a successful outcome. Developers aren’t testers – period.

QA is there for a reason and if your organization is lucky, you have someone devoted enough to warrant a voodoo doll of his or her own. They may “test” you – but that’s what you’re paying them to do…