The ABC’s of Project Management For Project Managers

By William Thom

I recently watched a very interesting independent film (on DVD) that sparked a thought. The 1992 film “Glengarry Glen Ross” is a movie about some desperate salesmen in a desperate situation. Alec Baldwin, who plays Blake, engages in an extremely abusive diatribe with the sales team in which he exclaims “A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.” Having been in a sales role in a previous life I had heard this before, but I reflected on this for a moment. Then I asked myself, “Are there ABC’s for Project Management?”

Digging deep into my collective resources on project management I found the document that I intended use for the basis of this article. It was titled “The Competencies For Project Managers” and I thought for sure it was going to provide information that would benefit project managers in all industries. It turned out after reading this document again that it was an eye opening experience for me. Though I had seen this information before in a presentation, looking at it again I discovered why the PMO in the corporation failed. The competencies listed did not tie back to any project management competencies pertaining to PMBOK or any other project management methodology including the very own project management solution the corporation paid for. In fact, the competencies were so generalized they could be used for a typical managers role. But being an optimist, I have a solution so let’s delve into that.

As project managers I feel we should follow the same ABC’s that salesmen do but in a different perspective “Always Be Closing.” Now let’s break this into parameters that apply to Project Managers, this is an action oriented item. Think of all that a project manager is responsible for. First a quick review of the project management process groups, they consist of …

Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Monitoring, and Closing.

“Always be closing” in each of the project process groups. In each of these groups, there are a number of items that need to be addressed. Get them on your list or get them into the project plan and work on closing the action items. Always Be Closing!

In addition to the process groups there are the nine knowledge areas of Project Management which consist of …

Integration Management
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Communications Management
Risk Management
Procurement Management

For each of these groups there are items that may be determined necessary for the success of a project. Again, identify what needs to be done, get in the plan or on the task list and “Always Be Closing.”

There are more ABC’s of project management to keep in mind for the success of a project. The next ABC on the list is “Always Be Courteous.” In respect to this, it is good to remember that as project managers we are also responsible interpersonal understanding and customer service. Interpersonal understanding involves the workings of individuals and knowing how to get the best out of the individuals on the team. I personally like the DiSC Personality Profile method of learning about your team resources. In regards to customer service, if you place yourself in the customer service role for a moment, as a project manager you are in a service role and the team members are customers. Kindness and understanding will get you farther than bitterness and intolerance.

Next on the list of ABC’s is “Always be Considerate.” This is not similar to the courteous guidance. This is directed towards the impact and influence of a project manager. Here is where a project manager should be considerate of the organization and understand the need for relationship building. If a project manager is aware of the organizational goals and its mission, the project manager can reinforce this when the going gets tough on projects. When it comes to relationship building, as a project manager, we may need to influence these relationships in order to have an impact on the project success by incorporating the sound practices of project management. The advantages of sound process benefit the current projects and provide valuable information for future projects.

This next ABC is around the managerial side of project management and that is “Always Be Cultivating.” The focus of this topic is around teamwork, developing others, team leadership and being assertive. As a project manager we are in a leadership role that is responsible for the team success as well as the project success. There are times when we may need to develop others either with mentoring or training in order to get the best results from the team resources. We need to realize that when new teams are created there is the typical forming, norming, storming and conforming. In this situation (and others) we need to provide the leadership, persuasive assertiveness and use of personal power to keep the focus on the goals of the project and strive for cooperation.

The next ABC for project managers is “Always Be Cognitive.” This is the area where project managers must be up for analytical and conceptual thinking. In regards to analytical thinking, as project managers we will be dealing with various problems and complex situations. There is the need to be able to scrutinize the information and break it down into discernible facts that can deliver a solution to a situation. This is not a task specific to the project manager, this may require the team to gather and discuss the situation and follow the process to break it down and resolve it. It should be the project manager who is able to recognize this and take the necessary action. Conceptual thinking on the other hand may involve experience or training to provide solutions. Its not based purely on fact but it also takes into consideration intuitive processes, creativity and inductive reasoning. I feel that this is where an organization may consider Agile Project Management, be advised that this requires a specific type of project management mindset in order to be successful.

There are two more ABC’s to consider so let’s keep going. “Always Be Competent.” This has four areas for consideration, self-control, self-confidence, flexibility and organizational commitment. These are pretty self explanatory yet, let’s take a moment for review. Self-control is huge for the project manager as we face the issues and risks that arise during the course of a project. If we maintain our composure in the face of challenge we reflect our ability to take charge and keep a project on course. Self-confidence is an area that ties in a project managers ability to be in control of his surroundings and be confident in the outcome. It is our ability to respond positively to a situation versus react with inability. The point here is to take the time you may need to think and respond accordingly. There will be times that you will be asked to find a solution, respond with what actions you may take to resolve the issue and give it a time frame. Flexibility, this is a broad topic that takes into account resources and the triple constraints of project management. be aware of this and determine how to manage it with consideration for the success of a project. How much flexibility exists is dependent on the type of project being managed. Organizational commitment is when you work to improve the organization not the financial condition of your wallet.

Last but not least, “Always Be Communicating.” Put this hand in hand with “Always Be Closing.” This topic was not even on the original list of competencies but it is certainly very important. As project managers we must be on top of project communications among the members of the team and we must communicate the proper project reporting that feeds up the chain. Though it is good to get things out to the team in an email, be sure to talk to team members on the phone or in person, especially if you have tasked them to do something. I’m not sure I like the word “tasked.” why don’t we just remove the “T” and follow-up on what you “asked” them to do. Communications is so important, we should be persuasive in our communication methods in order to encourage the best response from those on the team. I’ll say it here, that you won’t find me peeling a lemon and passing it out as a team snack. But add some sweetener and water and you’ll cool down even the most heated thirst. And really, that’s what we want to do, we want to make the project work, we want the project to be successful. You should display goodness and kindness in your communications if you want it to be effective. There is a time and place to handle difficult team members, communicate in a manner that elicits the best productivity from your resources and measure the results.

Let’s take a moment to recap this information. What we have reviewed here are seven ABC’s of project management for project managers. Here is a list of them …

1) Always be Closing
2) Always be Courteous
3) Always be Considerate
4) Always be Cultivating
5) Always be Cognitive
6) Always be Competent
7) Always be Communicating

You may want to take the time to reread this article, take some notes compare this to your current actions and see if you can improve your results. If there is something you could do to improve the success of your project, or your project team or the organization, is there something that your have learned here that can assist you? I would certainly like to hear from you. Likewise, I would certainly enjoy hearing about your experiences.

I can be found through Linkedin, William M. Thom – MISM, PMP
http://www.linkedin.com/in/williamthom

I can also be found through Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/people/William-M-Thom/1310100994

email: billtpmp@gmail.com

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Small Business Lead Generation Made Easy Online

By TJ Kazunga

With people giving Yellow Pages and directory inquiries a miss and going straight to the internet to search for local businesses, it is essential for small businesses to both have an online presence and a small business lead generation system in place. There are two roads to go down to get more business prospects – SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click).

SEO is more of a long term goal, as it can take months to get high up on the search engines for the keywords people are typing in to find your type of small business. Of course, if you do know some tricks of the trade you can get more exposure faster and your small business marketing will pay off a lot quicker than that. The major search engines do cater for the local small business.

Google offers a free local listing, which all small businesses should take advantage of. Google ‘Google Local Business Center’ and you will find where to sign up. You will need a free Google account to set up this listing, and then you can enter in your business details and your business classification. Google will then mail you a postcard with a confirmation pin number on, which you will need to enter to activate the local listing. Once you are live, people performing searches in your local area for your type of business are likely to see your business listing and a map at the top of the Google search page. It’s a great start to online lead generation, as people find your business quickly and easily.

Yahoo offers a similar service. Do a search for ‘Yahoo Local Listing’ and take a look at what they have to offer. They do have a free basic listing, but the monthly paid “enhanced listing” option is worth considering, as you can enter in a detailed business description, more photos and offer online coupons to encourage your visitors to pick you over your competitors. These online coupons are great for both B2B and B2C lead generation.

Having these listings in place give you a good head start in getting your website found when people search online for your business type. They are just a small fraction of the many ways that SEO can get your website noticed by your business prospects. Other ways include finding sites with high PR (page ranking) and getting backlinks from them, as well as entering your business details on online directories. Your customers need to be able to find you for small business lead generation to be successful.

Now, if you are looking for a quick and worthwhile use of your business resources to generate leads, then the way forward is to use PPC. Unlike using SEO, you can often see results and traffic on your first day using this method of B2C and B2B lead generation. Google AdWords is the most popular and most effective PPC program used.

As small business marketing using PPC is fairly new and local keywords still relatively cheap, it is an ideal method for small business lead generation. You sign up for an Adwords account, enter the local keywords that you would like to bid on, and depending on the competition and how much you bid, you are on the first page of Google straight away and people can find you. You only get charged when people click on your ad, and you can track and test what keywords are most effective.

In conclusion, you can see that SEO is important in the long term for getting your site ranked high in the organic listings, but in the meantime, while you are achieving those high rankings you should use PPC for your small business lead generation.

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What You Need to Start Your Small Business

By Dustin Heath

Many people dream of having their own small business but are often afraid of the risks involved or are unsure of how to go about starting this kind of endeavor. There are many unknown variables that go with starting your own small business and if you do not know what steps to take or where to look for advice it can be very overwhelming.

The best way to find out how to start your own small business is to look it up on the Internet. The Internet is a great source of information on how to set up your business, what you need to do, how to get started setting up a website and even what you need to know about taxes.

There are no guarantees when you start this type of thing that it will succeed but it has been shown that careful planning has helped to make many small businesses very successful.

Having a clear objective will also increase your chances at being successful. One of the most important items every small business should have is a business plan. This will be a road map to how your will run your business and how you will handle different situations that may come up. It also goes without saying that having adequate financial backing will help make or break your your plan. Every small business owner who is starting out should understand they may not make enough money in the first 5 years.

If you do not have enough financing to help carry you through the start up and cover your expenses you may find you will not last very long.

Many small businesses also fail to realize how important it is to use marketing properly so that you can get maximum exposure at the least amount of cost. Your plan should also have a section about your marketing strategy. Many new owners fail to market their new business because they are caught up in the mechanics of starting it and all the other details. But if you do not market your business then no one will know you are around and they will not know to go to you. There are many different ways to use marketing to your advantage, especially on the Internet. The Internet is a great way to pass the word around about your small business thru blogs and forums.

Dustin Heath recommends that you visit http://www.AnneGWilson.com to learn how you can start your own home-based business earning multiple streams of income with a Plug-In Profit Site – Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

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