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| Deb
Barry |
How
to Introduce a Project Manager:
An Anecdote
After
you have identified the need for a seasoned project
manager, the challenge of choosing the right individual
begins. Whether it is an outside consultant or
someone from an internal project management group,
first and foremost, the project manager must be
able to act as a partner. They must freely
share why various approaches will make the team
and the project more successful and ultimately
make everyone’s roles easier, all while
managing to influence the current team. They must
also have the skills to manage the sensitive agendas
that are critical to achieving success.
I won
skeptical support from my area manager by stating
that I would bring in a consultant that I had
worked with before that was a true team player
and that he could also interview him before engagement.
We would position
the consultant to help get things launched while
partnering him with one of the managers on staff
that would later take over the project manager
role.
While
this is not necessarily an easy change for a current
manager, the real hurdle is in gaining the support
of the other departments. For
an interdepartmental project to run smoothly,
each area must respect the project manager.
My peer
who had the other bulk of the work was extremely
skeptical of even establishing a single person
as the overall project manager. After
some frank discussion centered on the stakeholders
desired date and that the current project completion
date had not been well verified, he said he would
give it a try for a full thirty days then would
make his final decision.
Two
weeks into the consultant’s engagement, my manager
and peer said that bringing in this project manager was
the best thing that they had ever experienced. This
particular consultant was non-threatening while at the
same time could draw out what actually needed to be accomplished
for the project. After five working days of joint brainstorming
sessions, each individual understood what needed to be
done and how, both in his or her own area and in the other
areas. Confidence was high that deliverables
and supporting tasks had been identified, that every step
had been documented, realistic timeframes assigned, and
risks had been thought through. The
project manager had captured a written, detailed activity
schedule, facilitated the definition of the working teams
and leads, scheduled regular status calls, obtained agreement
on the role of the project office, and so on.
He had helped them develop a plan for a new completion
date so that the entire team understood what it would
take to meet it; not only that, but they felt it could
be done.
In the
example I have provided, it was likely the project
would have been completed without a designated
skilled project manager, but about seven months
later than the area manager had originally estimated.
This would have resulted in well over a million
dollars in unneeded overtime expense as well as
customer dissatisfaction. From my perspective
as the department head, I would have been on the
phone and in numerous uncomfortable meetings having
to explain why things were taking longer then
we had originally thought. But since the project
was successful, other than one small bump that
made it a week late, I want to leave you with
the other less measurable project successes that
will benefit a company for a long time.
Of
the approximately thirty technicians, managers,
directors, and executives that had a part in
this project, not one will allow another project
to start without first naming a project manager.
They will also
more readily seek the help of consultants if
internal help is not available when required.
Each one of them will make sure that someone
included money in the budget for project management
and a project office. They all
learned firsthand that it was more important
to have a project manager and methodology in
place than whose department or budget it came
from.
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 Deborah
Barry is a senior project manager with over 12 years experience managing
business transformation focused program/project initiatives involving enterprise
deployments and leveraging technology. Prior to joining Project Managers,
Inc. she held various management and executive management positions in a
Fortune 100 corporation. She first learned the benefits of project management
techniques as a client, using consultants while heading a joint venture. |
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Project
Managers, Inc., founded in 1998, serves executives that need to ensure
the successful implementation of mission-critical, business transformational
initiatives. In addition to sound program/project management practices,
the firm specializes in mitigating cross-functional risks required to
ensure success.
Project Managers, Inc.
212 South Tryon Street - Suite 1680 Charlotte, NC 28281
Phone: 704-332-6611 www.projectmgrs.com |
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