Published in “Project Times” website, March 13, 2017
Click here for original article.

In leading and participating in hundreds if not thousands of projects during my 25-year career as an executive, consultant, and non-profit leader… it is apparent that the most important aspect of projecting success is keeping your project team motivated and engaged. It seems as though success (especially on technical projects) would stem from some highly technical concept but that doesn’t hold true. Instead, those teams that are motivated and engaged far surpass all else.

The good news is that motivating and engaging a project team is almost exactly the same as motivating and engaging employees. People want to be treated well, informed and appreciated. Here are a few of the top strategies to motivate and engage project teams:

1. Vision and goals – One of the most common mistakes project managers and executives make is ineffectively or simply not communicating a clear vision. When employees do not know where they are going or why they are not motivated to “get there.”Don’t be confused. Companies with vision statements on the walls are no better off than those without a vision statement. What matters is when the project managers and executives live and communicate the vision on a consistent basis. How does the vision relate to the project? How is the project team involved and a part of this vision? Think about the following questions: Is it part of daily conversations? Does it matter? How do departments, project teams, and employees contribute to the vision? Have you translated the vision into goals? Clarity, simplicity and passion matter.
2. Leadership that combines passion and focus – Day-to-day leadership and communications engage employees. It’s as simple as that: project managers do not have to be charismatic; they must be passionate and focused. If the project manager is energized about the project, the project team will follow.For example, an organization I worked with that had the most engaged employees was led by a less-than-charismatic CEO; however, he had passion, drive, focus, and integrity. Everyone knew where we were headed and which of their tasks were most critical to the current focus and direction of the company. There was no doubt what was critical. Priorities were clear. And everyone knew that it was likely that the CEO and/or other executives would stop by to discuss ideas and brainstorm about the company’s area of focus. Their input seemed to matter. Suddenly employees were engaged. We managed multiple projects at this company and had engaged project teams because they knew they were a part of something important and felt needed.
3. Appreciation – A simple thank you can go a long way! It is amazing how much of an impact being appreciated has on a project team member’s level of engagement. Unfortunately, I’ve seen countless examples of exceptional employees who don’t receive any appreciation, but instead get negative attention at times for bringing up potential problems or roadblocks that must be tackled in order to achieve the project goals successfully. There is nothing more disheartening to an exceptional employee than a complete lack of appreciation for the results achieved.On the other hand, the best leaders who drive bottom line business results speak with their employees and project teams. They review goals on a frequent basis and discuss roadblocks. They show interest in the employee’s ideas and provide immediate positive and corrective feedback. The best leaders appreciate progress and congratulate success. And the best leaders with the most engaged employees give credit to their employees for successes and take responsibility for the issues.
4. Empowerment – Empowering project teams within reasonable guidelines will go a long way. People want to feel as though they have some level of control over the project’s success – and that they have an impact. Knowing they are empowered to make decisions within specific guidelines enables motivation and engagement.

The only unique circumstance related to project teams ties to the cross-functional nature of projects. Project team members need to feel “safe” and “free” to participate in projects without repercussions from their manager (which could be as simple as working long hours to get both done without discussion). Thus, the project manager must be alert to these occurrences, talk with the managers associated with his/her team members and proactively address this topic.

Since projects will have a substantial effect on your customer loyalty and bottom line – the two most critical aspects of any business – it is worthwhile taking a few steps back to think about how to ensure success by looking at one of the most critical ingredients – team member motivation and engagement. Set aside time to think about engagement and how you can improve upon your situation (no matter how good or bad) – one small step at a time will be noticed by your project team and success will follow.

The post Keeping Your Project Team Motivated & Engaged appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Liquid Planner” website, October 3, 2016

Lean manufacturing has become a popular way to eliminate waste, reduce costs and improve efficiencies. This philosophy originated, largely, at Toyota and is used to better align customer needs with manufacturing operations.

The challenge with lean is that, despite its attraction to many executives who want to cut costs and increase productivity, a lean process doesn’t happen overnight. There are plenty of obstacles to overcome—obstacles that are almost identical to the challenges of implementing projects successfully.

Even though lean and projects have these implementation challenges in common, my clients waste quite a bit of effort debating whether lean and project management can work together, or whether they’re at odds with one another. Of course, this conversation goes against the point of lean—to eliminate unnecessary waste—yet it occurs frequently. After 25 years of leading manufacturing operations, implementing lean principles and conducting hundreds of projects, I can assure you that the opposite is true:

Lean is supported by the basic tenets of project management.

The intersection point: a vast opportunity!

There is a point of intersection for lean and project management that will deliver substantial bottom line business results—growth, profit, cash and margin. But there has to be a level of commitment for this to work. Lean requires continuous, short spurts of excellence in execution and focus to accomplish results. To achieve this goal, you need resources, team involvement and collaborative goals. The reality is that most lean programs fail as executives lose interest.

Instead of creating these lean execution systems from scratch and letting the excitement wear out before meaningful success, the most successful organizations leverage an already-existing base that springs from project management fundamentals. Strangely enough, teams rarely follow this path because they think that lean and project management cannot play in the same sandbox. Those companies are losing out on a vast opportunity!

How do you take advantage of this opportunity? By knowing when lean and project management approaches work together, rather than in opposition. Here are four examples of how lean manufacturing principles and project management approaches intersect, and make your process faster and better:

1. Focus on the customer

One of the most important aspects of lean is the focus on the customer. Instead of creating elaborate systems to figure out demand, the idea is to find the most direct route to the customer and pull the demand. Here, “customer” doesn’t necessarily mean the end-user customer; lean principles view the customer as the next person to receive your work. Your customer can also be the person on the line if you’re a support role to the line (thereby including management). In other words, focusing on the customer can flip thinking upside down.

My most successful projects followed this same rule. When following the critical path, you should be thinking of what your customer (next person on the critical path) needs and when they need it by. Ask yourself: “What can I do to provide value within this critical path and how can I make sure work continues to move (flow) through the critical path?” These are project management principles.

2. Focus on value

Another of the key tenets of lean is the focus on value. Instead of getting caught up in non-value added yet wildly popular fads of the time, the idea is to focus on what will create value. Actually, lean manufacturing in itself is sometimes viewed as a fad. For example, I’ve had clients who want to implement lean principles, and at least 60 percent of the time these executives see it as a quick fix: Coordinate a few kaizen events, and the company will be in great shape. This is never a successful strategy!

Project management is the same. Spending days on project charters, complicated project plans and different resource task lists is useless if value is not at the crux of the plan. In project management, the key is to focus on the critical path. The critical path will align with those tasks providing value that will add up and achieve your end objective. Following the critical path aligns with how to implement the future state value stream map.

3. Be more Agile

Agile is at the intersection of lean and project management. An Agile approach allows you to break down lengthier projects with complex components into reasonable chunks. Agile yields a quicker process, as you’ll gain rapid feedback on the first chunk of work (which could relate to a milestone), rather than waiting to the very end and making complicated changes to the finished product. With Agile, you can incorporate continuous feedback into each chunk of work, or sprint, so that you continually improve the process as you go along.

In lean manufacturing, this same principle applies as you perform a kaizen event. The objective is to have a reasonable and achievable amount of work that will provide an end result that aligns with a step towards your end objective within a short period of time, typically a week. Once you perform the first chunk, you incorporate feedback and lessons learn into the next chunk. As chunks are added, layers of complexity are achieved. The bottom line is that smaller batch sizes of work are performed in an iterative fashion for the most successful lean and Agile approaches.

4. Give projects visibility

Lean manufacturing programs are known for making the process and associated metrics visible. For example, an aerospace manufacturer client I worked with had lead times of 6 -13 weeks involving several operations. It was complicated but critical to know if they were behind schedule long before the item didn’t ship on time and showed on a past due list. Thus, we chunked the work load into smaller buckets and hung work order packets on the wall by the machine or machine group. This provided visibility into whether a certain group of machines were getting overloaded. We also put problem orders into a separate section so they were immediately visible to everyone. Last but not least, we started showing the age of the work orders with color coding. This enabled us to manage work orders successfully.

The same is critical in project management. I’ve worked on countless project plans with hundreds of pages. Who can keep track of all that complexity (similar to the piles of work orders at my client)? Thus, my most successful clients have found a way to communicate project progress in relatively equal chunks of work with clear progress towards objectives in a visual way.

Often, this is supported by a project management tool with visibility into schedule. The result is a clear picture of a simple timeline with critical milestones in weekly or monthly buckets—and effectively show progress visually. Tasks that are ahead of schedule or behind schedule pop out immediately so that action can be taken. And, importantly, tasks that have been idle (no progress for a period of time) can be color coded so they’ll emerge and be visible.

A strong partnership for projects

Using lean and project management approaches together can take your production process to the next level. Instead of wasting time debating whether these two approaches can work together, look for the common elements. I see lean as uncommon common sense. And, in my experience, the most successful projects also followed uncommon common sense. If you focus on putting the best of both of these methodologies together (customer, value, Agile and visibility), business-winning results will follow.

In our latest eBook, “Are You Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?” we take a look at what it means to be lean and thrive in Industry 4.0, and what tools are necessary to keep up with new world market demands. We’re going there right along with you!

Download the eBook now!

The post 5 Ways Project Management and Lean Manufacturing Speed Up Processes appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, December 22, 2016
Click here for original article.

As project managers, the 80/20 of success is in leading, coordinating and facilitating among people.

Of course, the technical knowledge is a base requirement; however, no matter how technically correct, the project manager will not achieve significant results if the people side of the equation isn’t a focus. Thus, project managers must be exceptional communicators and networkers.

In thinking about projects across organization sizes, I cannot think of a project that doesn’t at least involve multiple departments. The pure nature of a project requires some sort of cross-communication and coordination. The ideal situation for these smaller projects is if both departments report to the same executive. Less conflicts will occur. However, 80% of the projects I’ve led or been associated with throughout my career, ranging from small, family owned business projects to private equity backed firms to large, complex, global organizations, do not. These require significantly more coordination with other departments reporting to different executives along with coordination with customers, suppliers, trusted advisors, and others. Thus, networking is a critical skill to develop to deliver bottom line business results with projects.

Networking is the process of connecting with other people to exchange information, develop contacts, to further one’s career and to further project success. Thus, there are countless reasons you’ll need to network for project success. A few of these are as follows:

1. Find project team members: Since projects are commonplace for delivering critical changes to the business, there tend to be an overload of projects at every company. Thus, it isn’t surprising that there are limited resources to staff a project. Logically, you’ll have to negotiate for team members and/or make your project more appealing than others.
2. Convince project influencers (such as leaders with resources, those who can influence decisions etc.) to support your project: These people can be some of the most important to achieving project success. If your influencers do not support the tasks or resources, your project will stall.
3. Explain the whys behind your project: For project team members, influencers and even sponsors, it will be important to explain the whys behind your project. Why is the project important? Why is it important to the company’s success and vision? Why should your team members want to be involved?
4. Negotiate conflicts: Hands down, this has proven to be the largest detriment to project success. Undoubtedly, your project will run into a conflict between departments, resources, personalities, or some other issue. Ignoring the issue is the best way to ensure failure. Instead, the better equipped you are to handle these conflicts and get everyone on the same page moving forward, the better your success.
5. Publicize results: Although promoting project success doesn’t always seem that important outside the team, it is vital. People need to be reminded why the project is important and feel a part of the success.

Becoming as effective as possible at networking will contribute directly to project results. Thus, a few strategies for networking success seem appropriate.

1. Know your networking partners: Not every person is the same. If you know of the person, get to know what is important to him/her. Do not assume what is important to you is what is important to him. And, if you don’t know your networking partner (which is quite common), find out something about them in advance. If you don’t know the specific people, make sure you know the types of people likely to attend. Find out what is likely to be important to that group of people so that you can start the conversation off with something in common ground.
2. Quality not quantity: Networking is not about collecting the most business cards. Get to know the people you talk with and follow up after you meet them. Tailor your phone call or email to what you learned about them. No one wants to be seen as a number. Find out about the person.
3. Provide value: This is one of the most important keys to success. Think about what you can provide to the other person. What resources could you share? What expertise or information might they need? Do NOT think about what you want from them; start by thinking only about what you can give to them.
4. Follow up: Follow through and provide the value you offered. And, then follow up and see whether it was helpful and if there is anything else you could provide. Again, think solely about the other person and helping them be successful.
5. Smile and be energetic: Smiling can go a long way! No one wants to network with a grump. Think about it. Also, if you are excited about your topic, it is likely to carry over to them. It must be genuine of course, and success will follow.

Since projects will have a substantial effect on your customer loyalty and bottom line – the two most critical aspects of any business – it is worthwhile taking a few steps back to think about how to ensure success with projects. Networking can have a profound effect on this success as it impacts project communication, coordination and results. Follow these networking strategies and success will follow.

The post Networking Success for Project Success appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, November 14, 2016
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In our experience working with manufacturers and distributors from small, family-owned businesses to medium-sized, private equity backed companies to global….

large, complex organizations, projects account for 80% of the improvement. There are projects to improve efficiencies, reduce inventory, grow sales, expand into new regions, consolidate operations and the list goes on. Thus, if we must rely on projects for business growth and profitability, should we think about our project managers as million-dollar project managers?

Most likely the answer is yes. However, in our experience, project managers are not often treated with much respect. Often times they are seen as lower level resources responsible for executing initiatives, coordinating resources and reporting progress up the chain. But, is this how we should treat our resources who can have such a far-reaching impact?

Let’s think about the reach of project managers impact. There are several key points to consider:

1. Impact on resources: Undoubtedly, the number one concern from all levels of leadership relates back to resources. There are “too many,” “not enough,” “not the right skills,” “not allocated properly” and so on. Thus, anyone who has a significant impact on resources should be considered valuable.
2. Daily decisions on which tasks gain priority: Similar to the impact on resources, determining the priority of tasks is crucial. As a project manager, there is a constant need to prioritize among tasks, collaborate with departments, etc.
3. Ingrained in the business: Project managers are in the “thick of things” on a daily basis. In order to complete tasks and achieve results, project managers are involved in a wide array of activities. They are familiar with what is working and what isn’t working in each department as it relates to project tasks. There are very few projects which are confined to a singular department.
4. Communicate across the organization: In order to complete their tasks, the project manager must communicate and collaborate across departments and layers of the organization. Since high-quality resources are hard to come by, it is vital to keep communications in a positive light.
5. Impact on profit: Certainly, almost every project relates back to profitability in some respect. Whether we are growing the business, increasing margins, automating key processes or improving efficiencies, there is a direct impact on profit.

So, since it is clear that project managers have a substantial impact on business success, it is wise to think about how to maximize their performance. As a metaphor, the million-dollar project manager is appealing since there is often million-dollar impacts. Thus, what should we do to ensure project managers are treated more like million-dollar project managers?

1. Provide clarity of the big picture: Project managers will be more invested in their projects if they understand the impact on the organization. Make sure to provide clarity of the big picture and how they fit in.
2. Give them discretion: There have been countless studies as to what is most successful in keeping valuable employees (like your million-dollar project managers), and the net conclusion is that employees want some ability to affect the outcome of their work. We must give them some level of discretion to make decisions and guide their projects within reasonable parameters.
3. Recognize small wins: Managing projects can be a slog into details with little to show for it. Find small wins to celebrate. Make a big deal of the importance and tie it back to the project manager and their team.
4. Support their decisions: There is nothing more important than supporting your project managers. Of course, providing constructive feedback is essential; however, when in the heat of the battle, it is vital to support your project manager’s decisions. Without this support at critical junctures, the project will suffer, and the project manager will become dismayed.
5. Promote the project: Promoting the project throughout the organization can do quite a lot for its chances of success. How do you get resources to want to join your project team? Start by being attractive. This often times goes back to how compelling the project seems. Make it so! Do you think the best leaders’ projects for improving margins happen to be more enticing than the average leaders’ projects of the same type? No; perception becomes a reality.

Since projects will have a substantial effect on your customer loyalty and bottom line – the two most critical aspects of any business – it is worthwhile taking a few steps back to think about the project managers driving these results. If you think about their impact, a million dollars might not be sufficient. Therefore, start thinking about your project managers as though they have a million-dollar impact and results will follow.

The post The Million Dollar Project Manager appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, October 11, 2016
Click here for original article.

Projects are the cornerstone to achieving bottom-line business results.

In working with clients ranging from small businesses to large, complex, global organizations across multiple industries, I’ve yet to run across a client that doesn’t rely heavily on project results to support customers, grow the business and increase profitability. What else could be more important to business success?

Related Article: How to Increase Teamwork to Ensure Project Success

Since projects cannot succeed with a sole participant, project teams are essential to success. Therefore, discovering the best ways for project teams to work together will lead to results. After leading and participating in hundreds of major projects and many smaller projects over the last 25 years, I’ve compiled a short list of best practices for project teamwork.

1. Clarity of goals

As with almost every team, the team will be far more successful if the individual teammates understand the goals. Start with the goal of the project. Why are we doing this? What does it accomplish? What are the expected results of the project? Answering these questions will provide clarity of the overarching goals.

Next, go over the critical path milestone. What is the goal of each milestone? Who needs to do what to make them happen? Following this exercise provides clarity of the project plan and project objectives. All team members are on the same page up front.

2. Resolve goal conflicts

Of course, gaining clarity on the goals and critical path alone won’t foster teamwork. The next step is to resolve goal conflicts. I’ve found that as teams go through this process, 80% of the time, some sort of conflict will arise. The main conflicts fall into two categories – resource availability and department conflicts.

In today’s Amazon-impacted world, speed is of the essence. Equally troubling, since the recession, organizations are running lean and so time is limited. Thus, conflicts related to resources are commonplace. For example, let’s assume there are 16 hours remaining this week, and one team member has to complete a project task on the critical path that would require 8 hours of time by the end of the week in order to keep the project on-track. Alone, this is not a problem. However, his/her line manager also has a priority task that requires 16 hours of time that must be complete by the end of the week. An inherent conflict exists. The sooner this problem is uncovered, the sooner it can be resolved.

Equally commonplace are inherent conflicts between departments. For example, if a project task requires Purchasing to get volume discounts while a different task requires Planning to reduce inventory which would require more frequent deliveries, even though both team members are available to complete their tasks, there is a conflict between the two. Again, the sooner this is uncovered, the sooner it can be resolved.

3. Reward project goals; not individual goals

One of the most common issues that arise is when the individual is rewarded for doing what benefits them instead of the project team. Similar to aligning goals, rewards and recognition need to follow the team. If each person does their part to contribute to getting a milestone accomplished, the entire team should celebrate success. If one person can be rewarded for achieving an individual goal while the team doesn’t meet its goal, a miss-match will occur.

4. Metrics

I’ve found that one of the most important ways to align teams is to have a common set of metrics. What is measured will be achieved. Thus, if the team has a clear set of metrics, everyone will be tracking the same items. Thus, as conflicts arise, the metrics will provide initial direction. Also, the metrics focus teams on what is most important. In my experience, the simple act of selecting and tracking a few metrics can create significant teamwork. The team unites behind improving the metrics.

5. Celebrate successes

Lastly, celebrating success is an important way to tie it all together. Teams unite when the individuals get to know one another. Celebrating success allows the team to connect in a different way and it creates momentum. Thus, celebrating small wins along the way (such as the achievement of critical path milestones) can go a long way to enhancing teamwork.

Teams with stronger levels of teamwork surpass the results of those with high individual contributors that do not work as effectively together. In my experience, even if the high individual contributors are the best of the best as compared to medium contributors that work well as a team, the team of medium contributors will win that race. Appreciate the value of teams and consider implementing a few of these strategies to accelerate success. Bottom line results will follow.

The post Best Practices in Project Teamwork appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Liquid Planners” website, November 19, 2015
Click here for original article.

Projects abound for manufacturers. There’s no doubt that manufacturing is growing, supply chains are becoming more complex, requirements are popping out of the woodwork, and the most successful way to navigate these waters is to design and execute projects flawlessly. Thus, manufacturers must become adept at managing projects to make sure that results follow.

Here’s an example to consider. In my consulting practice, I focus 99 percent+ on manufacturers across all company sizes and industries. If there are common best practices among a six million dollar building products manufacturer, a 50 million dollar food processor and a multi-billion dollar aerospace manufacturer, I pay attention. I ask myself questions like: Which projects are consistently delivering results in the manufacturing sector? Why are these yielding significantly more than other projects or other competing priorities?

To help executives think through priorities, we need to take a step back to consider these best practices for managing manufacturing projects:

1. Know that fundamentals remain cornerstone.In manufacturing environments, project management fundamentals remain cornerstone to success. For example, selecting the right team, devoting enough time to the planning phase, gaining executive commitment, and following the critical path are key to success.For example, rapid progress was the focus when I was working with an aerospace manufacturer to reduce lead times. Consequently, there was a tendency to jump right in and not devote enough time to the planning phase. After significant conversation, we were able to dedicate the time to the planning phase. Thus, the project was set up for success and results followed.
2. Master speed.Manufacturers are feeling pressure to make rapid progress. The bottom line is that speed rules the day. If you can deliver a day quicker than the competition, you’ll likely gain the business. Amazon has driven dramatic change in manufacturing and distribution companies as their high service levels have become the standard. Thus, manufacturers need to design their projects with speed in mind.Of course, keeping the fundamentals intact is critical; thus, we can’t short circuit the planning phase or another aspect of the project that doesn’t seem as important. We must find a different way of designing the projects which accelerates progress. For example, using an Agile method—which focuses on improving iterations and processes over time—can be an effective way to achieve faster results at a high quality. Agile processes also requires improved leadership skills to gain insights from team members.
3. Create a cross-functional focus.Although a cross-functional focus is beneficial regardless of the environment, it’s especially critical in manufacturing environments. In order to create rapid and sustainable results with projects, a cross-functional team must be involved. In more than 25 years of leading projects in manufacturing companies, I’ve yet to find a project that could be implemented by a single department successfully.Even in the most isolated of cases, related departments need to be in the loop and supportive of the changes. Projects have started to involve more and more functions because supply chains have become more complex. Plus, manufacturers are under constant pressure to improve customer and profit performance while reducing costs. Thus, those project leaders who are better able to encourage collaboration among departments and cross-organizations will thrive.
4. Have a common goal.Going hand-in-hand with striving for a cross-functional focus is the need for common goals. It’s rare that the project team has conflicting goals; however, every organization I go into seems to have conflicting goals surrounding the project. For example, if the project team’s goal is to support a key customer with improved service levels and reduced lead times, everyone on the project team typically understands that goal. But the individuals are held accountable to a different set of priorities in their day-to-day tasks.For example, the purchasing manager might be held accountable to purchase price cost vs. standard cost. If quicker deliveries are required to support the customer objective, the purchasing manager of my best clients will likely meet with the supplier to work out a “win-win” agreement. This agreement could have a negative impact on short term purchase cost even though it will be a longer-term benefit. If the purchasing manager is held accountable and evaluated solely on purchase price, he will be in direct conflict with his project’s team goals. Thus, the hard work to create success in manufacturing is derived from involving the appropriate sponsors, executives and related parties to ensure common goals are used.
5. Proactively manage the critical path.As in all projects, the critical path is important. In manufacturing companies, the key is to proactively manage the critical path. I have worked with hundreds of project teams, and the one aspect in common across all manufacturing projects is that everyone is busy. Customers’ expectations are high. Demand for immediate progress on several fronts at once comes from many stakeholders: owners corporate, your private equity backers or the board of directors.In many cases, executives have 16 hours of work to fit into each eight hour day, and it trickles down from there. Thus, even the most well-intentioned project teams get derailed with conflicts and last-minute emergencies. Therefore, proactively managing the critical path becomes essential to success. What helps is to remind critical path task owners that their task is coming up (or make sure they use a project management tool that keeps them on top of things). Ask if there are any potential roadblocks. Work those in advance. Communicate frequently. The bottom line is that success will occur if the critical path is aggressively managed.

Manufacturers rely on project results to grow their business, increase profitability, improve efficiencies, accelerate cash flow and deliver exceptional customer satisfaction. Thus, it is well-worth looking at best practices to ensure success. Start with the fundamentals, keep speed and cross-functional goals in mind and aggressively manage the critical path—and success will follow.

The post 5 Best Practices for Managing Manufacturing Projects appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, March 1, 2016
Click here for original article.

In today’s Amazon-impacted world, customers have higher expectations of rapid turnaround, 24/7 accessibility, and increased levels of service. These events have contributed to an information overloaded society.

Not only do we receive countless emails, texts, social media messages, marketing messages and the like, but we also are expected to be able to make sense of it all and execute projects successfully – on-time, on budget and on results. A tall order to be sure!

Survival seems challenging enough, let alone thriving in these sorts of conditions. In taking a step back from the details, it becomes clear that we must employ tools to increase our chances of success. And, of course, we’d like to make the process easier and clearer along the way. One option to achieve these goals is to delegate. Those who properly delegate will have more time to focus on critical priorities while keeping details moving in the right direction. A few tips that will help ensure success include:

1. Choose wisely – One of the keys to delegating successfully is to select the “right” tasks to delegate. Delegating away your strengths rarely achieves success, and it does nothing for morale. Typically, delegating your areas of weakness can be a good approach; however, it is vital to take a few precautionary steps. Gain expert advice in surrounding yourself with strong project team members and supporters. Leverage those strengths of your team members that happen to coincide with your weaknesses. Don’t waste time delegating “C” items. Ignore them. Every action requires effort. Focus your efforts on what’s most important. Delegate the next set of priorities as you’ll want to make sure those get accomplished. Think about “C” items when all else is done.
2. Empower – Don’t throw around the word empowerment lightly. It is the rare project manager who knows how to empower his/her team. It means you must start by being a great leader. Provide guidelines. Collaborate on goals. Address the hard issues. Encourage team members to try new ideas. Support them in their failures. Take responsibility for the problems and share successes. Give your project team the ability to make decisions within their guidelines with full knowledge that they’ll be supported no matter the result. Soon, your team members will feel empowered. Once they are empowered, delegation becomes more of a collaborative affair.
3. Diversity – There are many different tasks required to ensure a successful outcome for a project team. In order to leverage your team members’ individual strengths while minimizing their weaknesses, you’ll need a diverse set of skills and people. Thus, you’ll have a much better chance of success in delegating the diverse types of tasks required if you have a broad set of skills in your team with a wide array of backgrounds. This will also stimulate ideas and debate which can encourage empowerment so long as the leader supports experimentation.
4. Core Metrics – Undoubtedly, no matter how effective you are in delegating, it will fall apart without core metrics in place. Work with your team to determine which critical milestones should be monitored. Develop leading metrics that will raise a red flag if the project is veering off-track. Put effort into making sure that the metrics selected will provide warnings in advance if needed. Don’t have too many metrics which become burdensome to track; instead, select the “right” few that will be indicators of success. Agree upon them with your team upfront.
5. Provide training & mentoring – In addition to delegating assignments, it is imperative that you take the time to accompany that task with the proper training and experiences to go with it. Mentoring can be valuable as well. Mentoring provides an example of someone who has “been there, done that” who is also an expert who is available for advice. By providing mentoring and/or helping your project team members find mentors in their area of expertise, you have, in effect, purchased insurance for your delegation. As anyone who has even been in an accident knows, insurance becomes invaluable when you need it.

Delegating project tasks has become a must in today’s new normal business environment. No leader has enough time to “do it all himself”, and no leader has the broad and diverse set of expertise required to be the ideal resource to handle every task. Instead, delegation provides not only a way to make sure the project gets done on time but it also adds to the quality of the result by leveraging team members’ strengths for the collective good.

The post Keys to Delegation Success for Projects appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, March 21, 2016
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How important is collaboration to project success? Several years ago, it was important but not critical; however, within the last 5-10 years, it has become a cornerstone to success.

In today’s Amazon-impacted world, customers have higher expectations of rapid turnaround, 24/7 accessibility, and increased levels of service. These expectations drive complexity. Additionally, we are in a global economy. Executives are hard-pressed to find a product sourced solely from the country of origin. Most likely, at a minimum, your suppliers’ supplier will be from another country. On the customer side, typically, those who export grow sales more rapidly than those who don’t. The bottom line is that we are more interconnected than ever before; thus, collaboration is critical to success.

Although external collaborators are what we typically think of in a global, Amazon-impacted world, it is often just as important if not more important to consider your internal collaborators. Does your sales team talk with production? Does R&D talk with marketing? Does your Ohio location talk with your California location? Often times, different sites within the same country can be more collaboration challenged than when coordinating with sites in other countries. How often have we heard the challenges in collaborating across the U.S. yet we seem to be able to coordinate across borders? Quite frequently! It is as if we are speaking a different language even though it might be the culture of the south vs. the hustle of New York or the laid-back nature of California.

No matter whether we are collaborating across functions, sites or countries, these keys to success will give you an advantage:

1. Provide background – Instead of jumping into a conversation and assuming your internal or external partner knows about the initiative, take the time to provide background information. Make sure they are comfortable with the topic and understand what you want to accomplish, why it is important, etc. If you are on the receiving end, make sure to ask questions. Starting on the same page makes all the difference in the world.
2. Take a breath – This tip relates just as much to collaboration as it does to everyday communication. Do not run on for several minutes on a tangent without pausing to see if your audience is following along. Don’t assume the lack of questions is good news. Ask for confirmation that you are answering their questions and whether what you are saying makes sense.
3. Build a framework together – What reason are you collaborating? Most likely you are working on an initiative together or need help or advice from the other person. Either way, build the framework together. Thus, if you are putting together a project plan, make sure to put it together with a give-and-take perspective. Suggest a place to start. Ask the other person where you should go next. Trade off consistently if you need a way to force yourself to remember to ensure fairness. If you have become more expert at collaboration, mix it up. Start with the first few tasks, if you are strong in those areas, and defer to the other person for the areas they are strong in. Build upon each other’s strengths.
4. Compare resources – Another way to collaborate is to compare resources. For example, if you are rolling out a product, you could have internal and external resources involved in the project. Compare the resources of different team members vs. your objectives. Most likely, each person will be more successful supplying inputs and resources to the areas of the project within their capabilities and resources. It seems quite obvious; however it can often be an overlooked key to success. In the new product rollout, the engineering group is likely to have access to resources to optimize the production process whereas the logistics group will have more resources available to optimizing packaging. Match up resources with project plans.
5. Share successes – Sharing in successes and creating opportunities for quick wins encourages collaboration. It is always a good idea to look for opportunities where you can turn 1 + 1 into 22 instead of 2. Collaboration will achieve 22!

Collaborating has emerged as vital to success for any project or major initiative. We must communicate internally among departments, facilities, and levels of the organization. That alone can put most companies over the edge. However, in today’s Amazon-impacted, global environment, we must collaborate externally as well. Customers, suppliers, supply chain partners and other business partners such as trusted advisors must come together and collaborate with a clear, shared objective to achieve dramatic business results.

The post Success or Failure? Collaboration is Key to Success appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, April 12, 2016
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After leading hundreds of projects and participating with hundreds more, I’ve looked for what created project success.

In this case study of project success, we asked questions: What was in common among the projects? Did the project teams do something in particular? Were they a certain type of project? Did the project sponsor do something unique? Did it matter if they crossed departments, organizations or parts of the world? Certainly, there had to be common traits that seemed to lead to project success – what were they?

The most common factors determining success – achieving project results on time, on budget and on target – include the following:

• Project leader: Every truly successful project had a project leader who was effective. Not all were spectacular, but each one was effective in leading the project team. The project leader was respected by the team. In order to be respected, the project leader included the project team in the process, worked issues as they arose, was willing to push back as required, and was an effective leader overall.
• Executive sponsor support: Not every project had a sponsor; actually most didn’t have a specific executive sponsor; however, they all had someone in some sort of position of authority who supported the project at critical junctures. This could be at the start – in essence, the project supporter got the ball rolling for the project. Or, it could have been related to a roadblock – the project supporter helped the team work through the roadblock. Or, it could be that the project supporter was a cheerleader for the project team or with the executive team to keep the momentum flowing.
• Celebrate successes: A seemingly fluffy topic that was in common with the project successes was the celebration of success for wins along the way. Certainly, quick wins get the project off to a solid start and creates momentum. Most successful projects focused on creating quick wins – small is fine so long as it can create momentum. For example, my firm just introduced a proprietary process for driving supply chain performance called TST – achieving the right combination of torque, speed, and traction to drive performance. The torque component is vital. If you have speed and traction without torque, you have a slow start. As good as the team might be, if they get out of the blocks slow, it is a long, slow road to get to the finish line.
• Critical path timeline: Although not all successful projects had a project timeline, every successful project had some sort of critical path timeline. In essence, the team understood what tasks were most critical, what sequence to complete these tasks and what handoffs were required along the way. When thinking about my TST process, this is the traction component. Steering towards the finish line is essential. Have you ever seen someone seemingly achieving victories and move quickly, just to find out they took the wrong turn? This certainly arises with project failures.

Most project teams that experienced failure got sidetracked in lengthy project tasks – some even followed up profusely on these tasks; however, the tasks were not necessarily those on the critical path timeline. In essence, they took several wrong turns, even though they were working hard and efficiently tracking task progress. From the technical point-of-view, I’ve found this to be the 80/20 of success! Put your follow-up and communication efforts here.

• Speed: Certainly the third component of my TST process is a key to success with projects – and, I find it is one of the most common elements of success specifically in today’s new Amazon-impacted world. Unfortunately, if you get side-tracked with too much analysis, too much debate, and discussion on team objectives, too many conflicts over resources and the like, you slow down progress. Yet in today’s world, customers expect immediate service, 24/7 accessibility and quick access to the required information. If you are missing speed, you will be passed up by your competition driving in the fast lane!
• Communication: This almost goes without saying as communication, communication, communication is as critical as “location, location, location” in real estate. Not only does the project team need to know why they are focusing on the project, who owns which task, with whom they should interact and collaborate in order to be successful, and to whom they should hand-off as the next critical path task, but they need to communicate with all related parties frequently. These should include the project sponsor, managers who need to support their efforts with resources and in communications etc.

I’ve found these types of trends to be a strong indicator for success. Thus, make a deliberate effort to create your next project with these success traits, and I have no doubt you’ll be delighted with your project outcomes. Give it a shot and report back with your struggles and successes. Building on strengths and success is the best way to breed success.

The post The Elements of Project Success: A Case Study appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.

Published in “Project Times” website, May 10, 2016
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In reviewing project successes and failures, it turns out that project success has little to do with the technical aspect of projects. Instead, it is all about the people.

Within the last year, we’ve been called by clients struggling with issues ranging from poor delivery performance to sagging margins, while other clients want to ensure they are prepared for strong revenue growth. Every one of these clients required some sort of project to deliver the intended results – growth, profits, margins, cash flow, and efficiencies. Company sizes ranged from $7 million to $50 million to $250 million dollar facilities of multi-billion dollar companies. Industries ranged from building products to aerospace to food. Project scopes ranged from SIOP (sales, inventory, and operations planning) to a dramatic improvement in customer service levels to ERP selection to support the company strategy. Yet despite these differences, every project boiled down to people.

It is commonplace to think that project success has everything to do with whether the technical elements “add up” or whether best practice processes are utilized. Although these can be important, they are not the key driver to project success. Instead, it boils down to people.

Recently, we went into a new client to evaluate a group that was perceived to be struggling so that we could straighten out the challenges. Although there is always something to improve, this group alone was not the root cause of the challenges. There definitely were some technical challenges to resolve; however, the 80/20 related to connections and perceptions – in essence, the people element.

In another client, we have been working on an ERP project with multiple parties. It certainly hit some bumps in the road along the way. Some are typical bottlenecks with these sorts of projects, and some were atypical. What is sure is that 100% of the challenges resulted from the people equation, even though it was a technical project. Miscommunication and the lack of communication abound. Thus, our role became one of connector among several diverse roles and people. Again, the people aspect drove the “80/20” of success.

So, what are a few strategies to keep your project in the “green” when it comes to people?

• Project leader: Since success begins and ends with leadership, start here. Project leadership is always harder than is originally thought and can be a thankless job. Be upfront and stay in front of this danger!
• Don’t bother creating a team: Radical but true. A true team will sink or swim together. Unless you can affect each individual’s salary, bonus and workload (which is an extreme request in 99.9% of projects as they are cross-functional in nature), don’t expect your group to work as a team with the expectation that everyone has the same goal from their day-to-day manager. Instead, find a way to use these diverse backgrounds to your advantage. Bring the group together on specific tasks, engage individuals in a way that works for their particular situation and day-to-day manager.
• Communicate the why: No matter what else happens, the number one priority should be to communicate the why behind the project. One way to bring this group of individuals together for a common purpose is to make sure the purpose is crystal clear – and the why behind the project is understood and energizing.
• Follow up selectively: Since we know that cross-functional project teams run into many conflicting objectives and challenges, it is important not to waste precious energy on non-essential tasks. Focus selectively on what will move the project forward and ensure success – in essence, ignore everything but the critical path.
• Celebrate successes: Don’t wait for the project to be completed successfully. Instead, look for wins along the way. If success or failure boils down to people, it is wise to think about what will keep people motivated. Ignoring them while they overcome daily obstacles might be commonplace but it won’t equate to success. Catch people doing right.
• Get rid of poor performers: One of the most important things a leader can do is to address poor performers. It gives your top performers hope that you understand what’s required for success and that you appreciate top talent.

Without people, there are no projects. Since projects can drive substantial results, it is worth figuring out how to stack the odds in your favor. And, the great news is that there is no deep, technical understanding required to lead a project effectively. Instead, your ability to ask good questions and lead people are the keys to success as a project leader. Give us the best leaders with mediocre technical skills any day vs. mediocre leaders with excellent technical skills. Undoubtedly, the project will deliver dramatic improvements to your business instead of continually struggling.

The post Project Success Is All About The People appeared first on LMA-Consulting Group, a supply chain consulting firm.