Communication: Assumptions and Expectations

In this blog, we will explore the communication tools that will limit the misunderstanding that can occur on projects. The misunderstanding stem most frequently from assumptions and expectations and limiting the possibilities associated with those two areas will support project success.

Ever run into an issue where a team member assumed that turned out to be incorrect? I certainly have and it caused additional delays in delivery. Ever had a client be frustrated with a response because they interpreted the answer differently than you did? I have and it caused a significant amount of effort to gain clarification and keep the project on track. The bookends of assumptions and expectations can be disastrous for a project. Especially with the modular nature of our software systems these days. The “plug and play” of small areas of expertise and the misinterpretations, assumptions, and missed expectations can cause immeasurable rework and a break down in trust.

If there were an easy answer to this age-old dilemma in project management. It is simple and simple does not mean it is easy. It is challenging, it can be time consuming, and it is can be counter intuitive. The desire to get work done quickly and into the hands of the client is often the reason that there are delays in delivery. The adage time takes time is a true metric in project management. Wanting to land a deal, the level of effort is trimmed so that the bid can be won. What that can cause in the project is a scarcity mind set, where there is a belief that there simply is not enough time to complete the project. While that may or may not be true, beginning a project believing there is not enough time creates a series of decisions that limit the time at the beginning of the project when the decisions regarding the governance and framework of how the team will interact are being formed. This is where a lack of alignment between the various stakeholders begins and where the greatest possibility exists to establish those processes that will limit rework throughout the project.

The truth is, this is not only true in project management, but also for many relationships. Think about it for a minute. Ask yourself, are there examples in my life where a few minutes of conversation would have prevented a misunderstanding? Has there been an occasion where I made assumptions that were different that what happened? When I have expectations of how things are going to be handled and it turns out differently, does it matter to me? What about when I think there is alignment and I later discover that I misunderstood? If it is possible in my personal life, certainly it is possible in my professional life since it is all the same life. The saying, “the way we do one thing is the way we do everything” is another way of saying we frequently handle all things in a similar manner.

The key to these issues, time scarcity, assumptions, and expectations, is communication. Not just any type of communication, it is based on the art of asking questions, lots of questions. It is also built upon the communication tool of repetition. That are is to say what you are going to say, say what you say, and then recap what you said followed by asking what the group or individual heard. It also means that every decision made can be changed, with one caveat, that the impact is documented and agreed upon.

What I have seen repeatedly is changing a process and not being clear that the process has changed, making an exception and not documenting the exception, adjusting to meet client expectations without tracking the cost for every aspect of change. There is an ebb and a flow to every project, a give and take, a balance between client needs, the cost, and the value realized. The other key to note, it is not the big things that end of costing the most. It is the little agreements along the way that cost the most in the long run. An hour here or there is not much, and it adds up. It sets presidents that set additional presidents. Each time that occurs, the margin erodes until it is gone.

Once again, this is not project management specific. This happens in all relationships and it is not about keeping score, it is about limiting the frustration and resentments that can occur when there is a lack of balance. Communication, exploring through questions, writing down agreements, introducing it repetitively will anchor everyone in the language and the agreements made. Continuing to be flexible and adjust works well as does capturing the impact of the changes made and ensuring that there are limited assumptions and expectations.

In summary, ensuring assumptions and expectations are uncovered at the beginning of the project and taking the time to document them will foster a level of alignment and understanding across the stakeholder relationships. Probing questions, restating the agreements, and clarifying changes in processes and agreements supports in healthy communication. The simple tool of say what you will do, do what you said, say what you did allows everyone to be clear on the processes being followed. This simple practice in all relationships will add clarity and reduce misunderstandings. What are you practicing today?

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Building Blocks

I was sharing with a colleague the other day about the building blocks, the basics of well-being. I believe project management is an extension of ourselves. When we are taking care of ourselves, we are taking care of our project management. The integration of the various areas of our lives into a cohesive tapestry ensures that we are continuously practicing similar things whether we are working on personal relationships or work relationships. There isn’t an either/or, there is only a both/and. When we are mindful of how we are treating ourselves, we become mindful of how we are treating others. There is no separation. That doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes; it does mean there is no ill intent behind the mistakes we make. The building blocks of well-being have corollary building blocks in project management.

What my colleague shared with me is resistance. They made it clear that it isn’t that simple, that it isn’t about the building blocks, if it were that simply we would have all figured it out by now. I recognize that resistance, I’ve felt it and thought it and held to it tightly. The shear thought that the building blocks make that much difference is preposterous. The thought that if we consistently practiced the basics every day that results would come. If we focused on the building blocks instead of the end goal, that the end goal would begin to come into view. It cannot be that simple or I would have figured it out by now!

What if we hypothesize that our national health crisis is due to the denial of the fact that the basic building blocks are the answer? What if all the fancy diets and exercise programs that we’ve been trying out and continue to search for is a longing to prove our pre-conceived notion of “it has to be harder than simply implementing the basics”? What if the same is true for project management? That we continue searching for an easier, better, more efficient way to manage projects without implementing the rudimentary practices? If it were that simple, we would have figured it out by now!

To create a life filled with success, we must focus on our well-being, the well-being of mind, body, and spirit. To create a successful project, we must focus on the well-being of our project, the health of our client relationships, line of site to the end, and team. To be an excellent project manager, we must practice the basics of project management and before we can do that well, we must practice the basics of well-being. We use our bodies to conduct work, whether it is on the football field or in the office, we must become mindful of our bodies to ensure excellence in delivery. Practicing the basics of our well-being teaches us how to practice the basics of project management to create optimum health. The lessons we learn for our own self-care, translate to the career we choose, the relationships we build, and ultimately the life we create.

Resistance to this is normal, natural, and healthy. The answer is simple and challenging. It isn’t complicated. I’m suggesting it is simple and it is challenging. While we continue to understand a great deal more about why the basics work, the fundamental answer hasn’t changed. Don’t get me wrong, a lot has been refined over the years, we have a deeper appreciation for the complexity associated with how things work together. The fundamentals we are challenged to be consistent with to enable our well-being are food, sleep, movement, breathing, and meditation. Practicing these daily is the challenge when all of life seems to ask us to take an easier path. The basics of project management which we are challenged to be consistent with are the management of risks, issues, action items, scope, and resources. Just as life has a way of challenging our ability to care for ourselves, circumstances occur in projects which makes it challenging to stay consistent with the basics.

What is it that makes a difference? What we are practicing matters. Where we choose to focus our energy matters. Focusing on the basics, practicing excellence in those basics of self-care and project management, allows us as project managers to move through the day with ease and flow. Having the basics taken care of means we can focus our energy when something unplanned occurs. The fundamentals will support moving through any circumstance with grace. What are you practicing today?

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Trust

One of the keys to being successful as a project manager is having relationships built on trust. It is one of the key ingredients to successful relationships in life and business relationships are no exception. We are rarely successful in life without that core tenant as a corner stone to our relationships. Trust allows for mistakes to occur without suspicion of an underlying motif. Trust suggests that the information provided is the best information available and that there isn’t anything hidden or held back. There are two primary qualities that build trust.

Integrity

In his book, The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz terms it “Be impeccable with your word”. Another way to say it is do what you say you would do. All the documents that are delivered on most projects are moment in time deliverables. We write out the processes, procedures, and guidelines that everyone on the project will follow. It includes when we will provide information, what information we will provide, and when it will be provided. Those agreements about how the project will be governed, is the responsibility of the project manager. They are responsible for ensuring that everyone on the team, client, and team member alike, are aligned with how the project will flow. When projects last years, this critical component may change over time. It is equally as important that the documentation that says how we will conduct business is kept up to date. This allows new team members to join and understand how to integrate with the rest of the team.

Just as everything is built one moment, one segment at a time, so it is with trust. It isn’t just the project governance that matters. Trust is built on showing up on time for meetings, by delivering on action items when you say you will, by reviewing changes to documents prior to the changes being made, by eliminating surprises whenever possible, and by simply being in integrity with all that you do and all that you deliver for your client. It is also by using facts, not suppositions, when relaying information. It is by eliminating hearsay through the questions that you ask, by ensuring you are working from the lowest common denominator, and by ensuring that you have the facts that are available at the time. One of the things that caused me problems early on in my career was by conveying information without the facts that were available. Learning to ask the questions was the biggest lesson that I learned. The saying is “don’t make stuff up”. Don’t assume anything in your communication with your team or your client. Ensure you have the facts regarding the information you are conveying and, if not, do not convey anything until you are able to back it up with the facts.

One of the pitfalls of being a project manager is coming from a place where you must have the answers, you must know because everyone looks to you to have the answers. The result can be that you begin to miss asking the questions because you are coming from a place of knowing rather that a place of not knowing. Thinking you know what is happening based on past projects or past events can sometimes blind you to what is occurring on the project you are now leading. Blinded by the past, you may fail to ask the questions to understand the present situation. Staying in a place where I don’t know, where I don’t have the answers and am curious about getting to a place of understating has been a successful approach for me. Being a master at asking all the possible questions to ensure that the information that you are receiving is also not based on preconceived notions is a skill worth developing.

Building trust starts with doing what you say you are doing, the other is to say what you are doing. In other words, when things must change to fit the changing circumstances, explaining what you are doing because of the circumstances is equally as important as continuing to do what you said you would.

Don’t See Intention in Others Mistakes/Don’t Make Assumptions

Another core tenant in building trust is coming from a place of trust. “Don’t Make Assumptions” is the second agreement from the book, The Four Agreements. The foundation for building trust with others is coming from a place of trust in them. Rather than seeing their actions as containing ill intent or making assumptions about what they are working toward, start with the facts associated with the circumstances and have a conversation about the situation. Whenever your come from is fear or distrust, you will receive the same in return.

Trust Yourself

The last ingredient is to always trust yourself. We each start our days with the intention of doing our best, rarely does anyone start out their day by choosing to be anything other than their best. Trust that you start your day with the intention of being successful, trustworthy, honest, kind, and fair. Start your days with the choice of enjoyment in all that you do during the day. Come from a place of we can, team, and collaboration. Work with integrity, trust, openness, and your relationships will thrive. Choosing to work in a way that you know everyone is doing their best, just as you are doing your best, allows for mistakes to be made and learned from rather than condemned. Your client will appreciate your approach when you are working from a place of trust. Practice it with yourself and see the difference it makes in all your relationships. What are you practicing today? 

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Meeting Facilitation: 3 Rules for Success

How many meetings do project managers facilitate in any given day? Between requirement, design, internal status, issue resolution, and client status meetings the number can be staggering. The skills associated with facilitating a meeting become paramount to the project manager. Keeping a meeting on track, on time, and valuable to those attending makes a difference and can make or break a career. I am also acutely aware that there are some meetings that, despite all the know how in the world, simply don’t go as planned. There are the x key techniques that are designed to create a successful meeting outcome, whether the meeting goes as planned or goes off in a direction you didn’t see coming.

Vision

Every meeting has a purpose, a desired outcome. The key is to consider the entire meeting from the perspective of what success looks like. The vision for the end of the meeting, with all participants leaving with the same understanding of what is next or what was decided sets the stage for the content and flow of the meeting. This is important for everything from status reporting to issue resolution meetings. Status meetings can be some of the biggest culprits for meetings going in a direction other than what was planned. Setting the stage and maintaining the context of the meeting throughout the meeting by coming back to the vision, the purpose, and the desired outcome keeps meetings on track. It supports halting conversations that require follow on research, preventing someone from hijacking the meeting, and circular conversations that have no end.

The significance of vision is one of focus.  When you have taken the time to gain alignment with the meeting participants prior to the start of the meeting, maintaining the flow to stay on course becomes vision focused, it is not about the people involved. Finding the graceful way to stop conversations outside of the purpose becomes one of revisiting the vision. A cautionary note. Be aware when many participants have shifted away from the initial purpose and have aligned with a different conversation, one they believe is of greater importance than the original purpose or outcome. Being able to move with them and gain alignment from the group that the direction needs to shift clears the way for a successful meeting. As with all things, there is a graceful middle ground, where allowing the conversation to flow and ensuring the flow is in the direction of the desired outcome is the role of the facilitator. Rigidity and laxness would be best avoided. Rigor would best describe the role of the facilitator when describing what it takes to maintain a vision focused meeting.

Agenda

Having defined the purpose and clear vision for the outcome of the meeting, the agenda creates the flow for getting to the end. Ensuring the basics are taken care of, such as how much time each topic will take, what mechanism will be used during each topic, and who will lead each topic allows the agenda to flow freely. Three items which would be best to include in all agendas are: 

• Introduction including attendance, statement of purpose, a review of the agenda, and gaining alignment on the purpose and agenda topics 
• Action Items review 
• Decision review

·    Maintaining the timing of each of the topics is important. This includes interrupting the conversation to let everyone know that the time is running over and gaining alignment on continuing the discussion or creating action items to resolve the topic later would be appropriate. Gaining alignment from the participants on the “what’s next” allows them to take ownership of the outcome of the meeting.

Visual Queues

Seeing it in writing matters. When participants see their words, or a paraphrase of their words, it allows them to let their points go. Rather than continuing the conversation based on a perception of not being heard, they are able to see that what they have said matters, it is part of the permanent record. Not only that, recalling what happens in a meeting can be extremely challenging, the written notes, one authentic voice for the outcomes, something to be followed up with, the visual action items and decisions of the meeting, allow everyone to have a common understanding. Being able to review this information before the close of a meeting allows everyone to have a common understanding of the outcome and what comes next.

Summary

There are three things that allow meetings to run smoothly. A clear vision, an agenda that supports the vision, and visible outcomes from a meeting. I know, there is a lot more nuance than those three things. The problem is, we rarely take the time to prepare and plan for those three things to be completed in excellence. Gaining alignment along the way will create success and ownership of the outcomes of the meeting. One of the last things to remember, you can plan the plans, you cannot plan the results. Another way to say that is to be clear on the purpose, the desired outcome, and a vision for what you want to create with the participants during the meeting while letting go of any expectations as to what will happen as the meeting unfolds. Being attached to a meeting going a certain way causes tension and stress. Allowing the meeting to flow and moving with it reduces tension and stress and will cause successful meetings.

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Drive to Success

Success. Attaining a desired outcome, getting what you want, or reaching a destination can all be considered success. Success is what ever we define it to be so why do projects fail? The answer seems obvious when you consider the definition of success. Projects fail because we don’t start with a well-defined outcome, a clear destination, or the clarity of what is wanted. Why is project success so elusive? We’ve built methodologies around our inability to define success, they are called iterative and agile. We have shortened the project cycle so that we can adjust to change rapidly, and the change isn’t always the circumstances of the project. The change can come from within such as indecisive clients and resource turnover. The world of managing projects is really a world of managing change, issues, and risks. If you really want to master project management, master change, risks, and the inherent issues that arise.

I know, it seems obvious when I stop and consider those things that create the most fluctuation in a project schedule. Yes, loss of resources causes fluctuation and loss of resources is generally a risk on most projects. Yes, changes in policy, laws, or other external influences causes fluctuation and are also risks to every project. Contracts with vendors expiring, software licensing, or the weather can cause project delays, and are also risks to most projects. Planning for project risks supports a project manager in building contingency into the project schedule. What I’ve also experienced is that most contingencies are used in the first 20% of the project timeline which indicates we either use our contingency (time or money) too soon or we don’t plan for enough contingency.

I’ve also experienced loose change management at the beginning of a project with tighter change management controls towards the end of the project. In other words, change is easy to absorb at the beginning and much more challenging later in the project. I realize that agile is a way of avoiding this and, in my experience, falls short as frequently as waterfall or iterative methodologies. I’ve watched similar occurrences on TV shows such as Fixer Upper. At some point, only so much change can occur. The important thing is to ensure the client is making conscientious choices ever step of the way and clearly understands the impacts of the choices being made. Conceding early and giving in to demands to maintain an easier relationship is not always the answer that works best for a successful project. There are times when laying out the facts clearly and showing change clearly is paramount. Otherwise, the entire budget will be used, and the project will begin to lose money. It is paramount that concessions be made sparingly, and the financial impact be clearly articulated to the client every step of the way.

The how to of managing change, risks, and issues has some mechanics associated with each of these areas. Most of it has to do with managing the relationship with the client and most of that relationship is rooted in intention. The intention of most project managers that are successful is about building a relationship that is rooted in finding the win/win of every obstacle, every issue that arises, and every decision that must be made. It is the intention of finding a path where both parties succeed in achieving what will create a lasting partnership where project success is found. I’ve experienced projects where distrust has eroded the relationship and the project flounders. I’ve experienced healthy relationships and watched challenging projects thrive. The relationships that have been the most successful are those rooted in mutual benefit to all parties involved.

Learning the mechanics of change, risk, and issue management is an important beginning to successful project management. The PMBOK and other literature can teach the critical aspects of those capabilities. However, the mechanics will only allow for monitoring and capturing metrics and demonstrating project health. The critical aspects of these capabilities are rooted in intention. I’ve read that 90% of leadership is in the intention of the leader with 10% is rooted in the mechanics. If that is the case, intention is the driver, and the mechanics are secondary. Intentional project management is about leadership, being clear with the client on the intention of the use of each of these capabilities and gaining alignment from the client on how to apply each of these to the project will build a solid relationship and a successful outcome.

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