The Project Management Institute published an article earlier this year discussing the importance of assessing people skills in project managers. “The best project leaders don’t just manage projects. They manage people too.” Because many project teams are cross-functional in nature, the project manager must be able to communicate with and motivate people from a broad range of backgrounds and experience levels. The article states that “ninety percent of a project manager’s time is spent communicating with stakeholders.” The article goes on to explain that when choosing a project manager organizations should look for individuals who can:

1. Communicate project goals cross functionally and with all levels of the organization.
2. Unite project stakeholders through collaboration and teamwork.
3. Gain project buy-in with active listening and relationship-building.

Last week I had a first-hand opportunity to see a project manager demonstrate these skills. I participated in a three day kick-off meeting as part of the team who will be implementing organizational design changes that are happening in our business unit. This project is very complex and the results will impact employees at all levels of the organization. Although the project manager for this team is new to the business, it quickly became clear that she had significant experience in project management. Some of the activities she initiated to make this project kick-off a success were:

• The agenda, goals, and expectations for the kick-off meeting were clearly communicated to the team in advance of the meeting. Team members knew exactly what information they were expected to prepare for the discussion.
• Time was allocated according to priorities and while minor modifications to the agenda were made as the meeting unfolded, the project manager made sure the meeting stayed on track.
• Each member on the team had a role in the meeting and was expected to provide input and gain understanding on what other team members were contributing. Ground rules were set in advance to minimize outside distractions.
• Time for relationship-building was scheduled at the beginning of the meeting and during the team dinner.
• At the end of the meeting the project manager reviewed all action items, along with the agreed upon due date and individuals responsible for follow-up.
• A roundtable discussion was held at the end of the meeting for people to provide input on what worked well and what they still had concerns about. Each team member was required to comment, ensuring everyone’s voice was heard.

After leaving the meeting I felt like the next steps in the project and the expectations for my role were very clear. I also felt comfortable with and respected by the others on the team, even though this was the first time I had met many of them. Most importantly, I felt like we had set up a good foundation for which to build success. These positive outcomes were primarily due to the communication among the team which was facilitated so well by the project manager.

PMI Article: http://www.pmi.org/Professional-Development/Career-Central/Assess-People-Skills-in-Project-Managers.aspx

I encountered an article that reviewed five often overlooked skills needed to excel in project management.  It was written by Wayne Brantley who is the managing director of Villanova’s project management training and PMP certification prep courses.  The five skills he mentioned that are crucial to project management were:

1. Public speaking and effective verbal communication
2. Writing and electronic communication intelligence
3. Networking
4. Decisive Leadership
5. Research

As our group projects kicked off yesterday I found this article to provide key insights into how we can lead our group to have a successful fund raiser.  Three of the skills above really resonated with me as being important for our group projects.  I believe step two, writing and electronic communication intelligence, will be integral in our group successes as many of us have busy work and life schedules.  It will be integral to effectively communicate with each other and with the vendors we will be working with to make the fund raiser is a success.

 

Also, step four decisive leadership will be important as well.  As we have short deadlines to make sure this fund raiser is a success we will need to be decisive in our decision making.  We must avoid getting lost in the details and losing focus of what the essentials are.  With a short deadline it will be integral to make sure our plans are thought out in advance and that we do not allow ourselves to be sidetracked by insignificant obstacles or derailments.  Decisive thinking and decisions will need to be made as we encounter obstacles and challenges along the way.

 

Also step five which was research really resonated with me as well.  As this is not the first time a fund raiser is being attempted it will be important to do the proper planning and research to make sure that we do not fall into common traps or pitfalls of leading a project fund raiser for charity.  There is a lot of valuable research out there that can assist many of us in planning our fund raiser.  Whether it is key contacts, common pitfalls, or project planning resources, the key will be to do the proper research to hopefully make each of our projects a success.

 

http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/five-skills-to-enhance-project-management.html

 

Language happens to be one of the most difficult obstacles we face as a Japanese company working with an American company for a technology project. To begin, I’d like you readers to watch a short clip from the movie, “Lost in Translation”.

Suntory Whiskey Commercial

Notice how the director is going on and on about something, and their hired interpreter has basically chopped it down to being “Look into the camera”? That’s a bit like the problems we’re currently facing.

For their latest automation, the customer has a list of requests for the interface. To address any ongoing programming issues, our customer sets weekly conference calls between US and Japan. Our customer does not speak Japanese, and only a select few of us speak both Japanese and English. None of the interpreters are engineers of software or machinery. Long story short-

REQUEST FROM CUSTOMER: Return back to Format “A” for a portion of interface data (Prescription Number + Store Number = XXXXXXXX-XXXXX) as originally used during prototype testing. Current format “B” is  only Prescription Number ( = XXXXXXXX)

OUR UNDERSTANDING/COMMENTS: We never, EVER had the store number displayed before. When was this request made?? We will adjust the software to reflect this change.

THE RESULT: The store number is now visible on the main Stand-by screen, and NOT on the requested areas by our customer. Fix is on the way, 24+ hours lost on unnecessary work and revisions. Again.

How did this happen? Like the Suntory Commerical, weak translation/language barriers can cause various setbacks to the nature of the project and its organization. Adding to this a massive workteam and timezome difference, the delays have a profound effect- loss of one day can equal the compound loss of a week’s worth of other groups’ working time.

The first problem is that our translators, including myself, vary in terms of in experience. Experience, in this case, can mean background, or project understanding, as well as fluency and the interpreter’s available vocabulary.

Now, add to this the problem of the translator’s “style”. Most companies who rely on internal translation/interpretation, they trade the strength of project/product knowledge for wildly variant translations. From our weekly conversations, I’ve heard translations that are “approximate” to “gisting”. And because none of us are career-interpreters who happen to work for the corporation, I’ve never heard a “Perfect”, 100% translation. An example of the types based on the above story-

Customer says: “We’d like the revert the Rx number format on the interface in the fill drug process to the way it was before, with store number after the prescription number.”

Perfect Translation: – (Exactly as above.)

Approximate Translation: “They’d like to revert the Rx number format back to the way it was before with store number.”

Gisted Translation: “They want to add the store number to the interface.”

How have we addressed this problem? The obvious solution would be to hire professional translators- possible experience problem, but nigh-perfect transmission. But seeing as how funding and manpower are limited, our solution has been to have additional written e-mails for more difficult issues that are not being resolved or being “lost in translation”. In addition, the interpreters roles have expanded to include “policing” the conversations. Recently implemented, we’ve not had enough time to assess the effectiveness of our new system, but our “initial” exchanges have proved to be insightful and much more accurate.

So, have any of you had any experience with major translation mistakes during projects? If so, how did your company deal with it? If you had to compromise (as we did), what did it “cost” your company, if anything?