Succeed With Your Team!
jo bos, ernst harting & marlet hesselink
PROJECTDRIVEN CREATION
• A concise handbook providing feasible and realistic tech-niques for the implementation of the leading approach to project management, Project-Driven Creation (PDC).
• A unique integration of the four ingredients of successful project management; the traditional (control) tools plus working in project teams plus managing the project envi-ronment plus personal leadership.
• Easily absorbed, practical concepts.• Tricks and tips of the trade.• Clearly illustrated.
In an independent review of project management methods by PMI Netherlands/Berenschot, PDC was rated as the most versatile of them all. They gave it the highest overall score and praised the large number of available practical tools.
The authors, Jo Bos, Ernst Harting and Marlet Hesse-link have many years of expe-rience with project and pro-
gramme management. As consultants, trainers, and coaches working in the field, they share a passion for improving project management through the application of PDC.
www.phaos.nlwww.jo-bos-en-co.nl
isbn 978 90 5594 823 9
jo bo
s, ernst h
arting &
marlet h
esselink
PRO
JECT-DR
IVEN
CREATIO
N
Copyright © 2013 Jo Bos, Ernst Harting, Marlet HesselinkCopyright Chapter 23 Insights © The Insights Group Ltd, 2009. All rights reserved
Editor and English Language Consultant: Sue LoewensteinGraphic design www.igraph.be
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way or any form without the written permission of the authors, with the exception of short
quotations that form part of reviews and book discussions.
ISBN 978 90 5594 xxx x NUR 800
www.phaos.nlwww.jo-bos-en-co.nl
Preface 6
1 TheEssence 8 2 Projects,programmes,andprocesses 14 3 Phasesinaproject 20 4 Theprojectcontract 26 5 Theprojectdefinition 32 6 Structuringtheproject 38 7 Projectcontrol 44 8 Time:theprojectschedule 50 9 Money 5810 Quality 64 11 Projectorganisation 7012 Communication 7613 Information 8214 Riskmanagement 8815 Forcefieldanalysis 9416 TheProjectStart-Up(psu) 10017 Thecollectiveintake 10618 TheProjectLeader 11219 TheSponsor 11820 Creatingtheprojectteam 12421 Internationalprojectteams 13022 Personalleadership 13623 Insights 14224 Projectsandthelineorganisation 14825 Projectcloseoutandevaluation 15426 ImplementingProject-DrivenCreation 158
Authors 164
Referencestootherchaptersarenotedwitha 1
Contents
Sincetheinitialpublicationof Projectmatig Creëren 2.0.orPMC(ourDutchhandbookonprojectmanagement)per-sonalleadership,commitment,energy,andinspirationhavebecomeanintegralpartofthe‘normal’projectvo-cabulary.Thousandsofprojectleaders,theirteamsandsponsors,havemasteredandnowapplytheconceptsofPMC.Asaresult,PMCisnotonlyanacceptedpractice,buthasbecomeoneoftheleadingsystemsofprojectmanagementinTheNetherlands.
Intheensuingyears,wereceivedmanyrequeststobringoutacompacteditionthathighlightedthekeycon-ceptsandtools.TheDutchversion,PMC Compact,waspublishedasahandyguideaimedatprojectleaders,sponsorsandprojectteams.Itexplainedourmethodsinclearstepsandincludedmanypracticaltipsgarneredfromourdailyexperience.
Ourworkwithinternationalclientschallengedustoaddresstheneedsofmulticulturalprojectteams.Inthecourseoftailoringourconceptsforthisaudienceandre-vampingsomeofourmaterials,werealisedthepotentialutilityofanEnglishlanguageversionofPMC Compact.Asareflectionofitsrevisions,itsportsanewname,Project-Driven Creation(PDC).Youhaveinfrontofyoua‘pocketbook’thatputstheessenceofourapproachliterallywithineverybody’sreach;practicalwithawealthofex-periencebasedadvice.
Ourexperiencecompelsustorelatehowinspirationandcreationcanandshoulddriveprojects.Inthedaily
operationsoforganisations,however,weseeagrowingaversiontoriskandanincreasedpreferencefortightcontrol.Thedemandforaccountabilitygrowsandleaveslittleroomforcreativity.Fearoffailureresultsincurtail-ingtheresponsibilitiesandpowerofprojectleaders;however,itisexactlynowthatempoweredleadership,commitmentandcreativityaresodesperatelyneeded.WiththeadoptionofPDC,inspirationreturnstoacentralpositioninprojectsandorganisations.Thisisespeciallyrelevantwhenweneedtoforgestafffromdifferentback-grounds,departmentsorevencountriesintoaneffective,multidisciplinaryteamcapableofbringingacomplextasktoasuccessfulend.
Asconsultants,trainers,andcoachesweworkonadailybasiswithprojectleaders,projectteams,theirsponsors,andlinemanagement,intheimplementationofPDC,trainingprograms,ProjectStart-Ups,projectevaluations,teamworkshops,andcoachingsessions.Weareparticularlygratefultoourclientsfortheoppor-tunitytoworkwiththemandlearnintheprocess.
SueLoewensteincontributedtoreworkingtheDutchmanuscriptintoaneditionforaninternationalaudience.BramVandenberge,thedesignwizard,foundawaytoturnour‘drytexts’intothebookyouarenowholding.Wehopethatthisisthebookyouhavesooftenrequest-ed.Weeagerlyawaityourreactions.
Jo Bos, Ernst Harting and Marlet Hesselink
6 7
Preface
130 131
21 international project teams
Ifyouthoughtworkingwitha‘nor-mal’projectteamischallenging,tryonethatconsistsofteammembersfromdifferentnational,culturalorethnicbackgrounds!Theseback-groundsprovideaunique‘program-mingofthemind’thatresultsinvastdifferencesinbehaviours,values,norms,preferences,andperceptionsof‘reality’.Thesedifferencescoverareasasdiverseas‘powerdistance’,therelationshipbetweentheindividualandsoci-ety,conceptsofmasculinityandfemininity,dealingwithconflictsanduncer-tainty,theimportanceofrulesorpersonalrelationships,howweregardtime,ourrelationshipwithnature,theexpressionofemotions,personalspace(bub-ble),etc.Culturalcuriosity,agenuinedesiretounderstandtheother’swayofthinkingandfeeling,andrespectingdifferencesisanabsolutelycriticalsuccessfactorforworkingwithmultinationalprojectteams.Theleadersoftheseteamsmustbeagileandflexibleinconstantlyswitchingbetweendifferentworldviews,needsandsensitivities.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead
Don’t confuse fluency in a language with communication. A perfect sentence in reply to what you just said is by no means synonymous with understanding what you actually meant to convey.
CAUTIONCultureThinkofawaterlily.Floatingonthesurfacearethe‘artifacts’;behavioursandstructuresthatwecansee,perhapsadmire,ordespise,butnoteasilyfullyunderstand.Belowthesurface,atthe‘stemlevel’,wefindthevalues,normsandgoals,whatweconsidertobegoodorbadandwhatisthereforeacceptable.Hiddenin
thedarkmudoftheunconsciousaretheimplicitassumptionsandtaken-for-grantedbeliefsabouttheworldandourselvesashumansinit.Theseassumptionslargelyruleourvisiblebehaviours.(Schein)Soifyouwanttounderstandyourforeigncolleague,you’llhavetodigalittledeeper.
Preferring one’s own (national/regional/ethnic) culture to that of someone else is fine. Considering it to be superior is not. This erodes mutual trust and respect and thus frustrates productive working relationships between team members.
CAUTION
TIP
Match team members’ strengths with their tasks. To illustrate, heaven is where the cooks are French, the police British, the mechanics German, the lovers Italian, and everything is organised by the
Swiss. Hell is where the cooks are British, the police German, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, and everything is organised by the Italians!
132 133inTErnaTional ProjECT TEams
Core QuadrantCulturaldifferencesoftenleadtosomelev-elofmutualincomprehension,tensionorconflict.Asimplebuteffectivetooltode-scribeandexplorethenatureandsourcesofthesetensionsistheCoreQuadrant(Of-man).Let’sbeginwithafundamentalqual-ityrecognisedinUS(business)culture,self-confidence.Understress,thisqualitymayturnintoapitfallwhereself-confi-dencedeterioratesintoinsensitivebehav-iour.Thechallengeistoturnitintoitsposi-tiveopposite,empathy;tryingtoseetheworldthroughtheeyesoftheotherperson.Overdoingthisinturnleadstoinsecurity,abehaviourtowhichourconfidentAmericanbusinesspersontendstobeallergic.Wetendtobeallergictothenegativeoppo-sitesofourcorequalities!Foreachnational(sub)cultureintheteam,anumberofthesecorequadrantsshouldbebeconstructed.
Itgetsevenmorecomplicated‘whenworldscollide.’ImaginethemergerbetweenaUSmanufacturingcom-panyandanR&DfirminBelgium,acountryknownforitsreserve.Rein-forcedbytheadditionalculturaldif-
ferencesfoundinmanufacturingandR&D,anunfortunatedynamiccoulddevelopbetweenanAmericanprojectmanagerandherBelgianteammem-bers.ThisisillustratedbyaDouble Quadrant:
TheBelgianprojectteamhashadabadweekandprojectshesitancyandinsecurity.Thistriggersanallergicre-actiononthepartoftheirnewUSprojectleaderwho,inresponse,showsherselflargelyinsensitivetotheirissues.ThisisnowinterpretedbyherBelgianteamasarrogance,towhichtheyinturnareallergic.Itdrivesthemevenfurtherintotheirinsecurity,
provoking…etc.Beforeyouknowit,allarelockedintoanunhappypatternofmutualmisunderstanding.Theviciouscyclewillonlybebrokenifallareawareofwhathashappenedandarewillingandabletofocusontheirre-spectivechallenges.Self-confidence,temperedbyempathy,tendstore-spondverywelltoreserveincombina-tionwithamodicumofassertiveness.
Insecurity
Assertiveness
Reserve
Arrogance
Belgium
+
–
–
+
Insensitivity
Empathy
Self-conficence
US
+
–
–
+
Insecurity
Insensitivity
Empathy
Self-conficence
Core Qaulity Pitfall
Allergy Challenge
Too muchof a good
thing
Positiveopposite
Positiveopposite
Too muchof a good
thing
+
–
–
+
Never assume your sense of humour is universally shared. It doesn’t easily transcend national borders.
CAUTION
134 135inTErnaTional ProjECT TEams
Virtual teamsAspecialchallengeisposedbyteamswhosemembersarebasedindifferentcountries.Herearetentipsthatapplytoanyteambutareparticularlyusefulundertheseconditions.
•All you need is love Aswithanyteam,trust,respect,humourandacertaineaseareprerequisitesfortopperformance.Thisismuchmoredifficulttoachieveatadis-tance.Createthebasisbyarran-gingforatleastoneface-to-faceteammeetingatthestartoftheproject.
•Be tech savvy Pulloutallthestops:videoconferencing,Skype,confe-rencecalls(ifnecessaryatmid-night),blogs,chats,Yammer,tweets,newsletters,adedicatedprojectwebsite;whateverittakesfortheteamtokeepintouch,andnotjustonprojectmattersbutalsoatapersonallevel.
•Culture rules Propagateateamatmospherecharacterisedbysha-redleadership,culturalsensitivity,mutualcollaboration,sharinginfor-mationfreely,andhonouringcom-mitments.
•No room for newbies Ingeneral,onlyprojectleaderswithatrackrecordwith‘normal’teamscanbetrustedwithavirtualteam.Veryexperiencedprojectleadersalsomustbecomfortablewith‘new’technology.
•Yes we can! Ifanything,thisteammustbedrivenbyasharedmis-sionanddedicationtocreatingaresulttheyallbelievein.Yetano-therreasontogetthemtogetherforaninspiring,‘live’ProjectStart-Up16 .
•¿Que? Nothinggoeswithoutsaying.You’llhavetoclarifymanyissuesrangingfromtheroleandresponsibilitiesoftheprojectleadertotheinterpretationofagreementsontheschedule.
•Open eyes and ears Bealerttosubtleindicatorsofstrifeorchangesinmoraleexpressedinmailmessa-ges,phoneconversations,etc.Respondpersonallyandquickly.
•The A-Team Whenselectingteammembers,focusoncompetencieslikeautonomy,networkingskills,emotionalintelligenceandculturalsensitivity.
•Cast your net wide Itpaystonur-tureyourrelationshipswiththelocalmanagersofyourteammem-bersabroad.Youmayneedtheirsupport.
•Ah, but next time… Projectevalua-tions(andnotjustattheend)areaprimetoolthatenablestheteamtolearnandimprovetheirperfor-mancenexttime‘round.
International stumbling blocks•Leadershipbehaviour
•Genderroles
•Theimportanceofpersonalrelationships
•Attitudestowardstimeandpunctuality
•Themeaningoftheword‘yes’
•Theroleandrulesofusinghumour(Lewis)
TIP
Never ignore, let alone try to eliminate, cultural diversity within the team. Instead, organise a dialogue around cultural differences. Guard against stereotypes and focus on the differences in
beliefs, values and norms with regard to work. Listening is key; try to understand the project from the position of the other person based on his or her cultural background.
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