Category: Project management

In this article we will examine the project activities, their role and characteristics.

To do this, we would like to start from the basics, i.e. the definition of a project and then fully understand the activities necessary for its development.

What we want to do is create a mind map in which the individual project activities are not confused and random, but find a meaningful and temporal setting in your mind.

What defines a project?

PMbok definition of a project is “a temporary effort undertaken to create a unique product or service.”

In other words, it is any endeavor, done individually or collaboratively, designed to achieve a particular goal.

Thus, projects are a temporary effort that is carefully planned, researched, executed, monitored, and delivered within a specified period and within a given cost.

Projects can range from simple to complex and can be managed by an individual or an entire project team.

A project must follow 5 basic principles:

1. Clarify project goals and scope

Before a project begins, the overall goal, scope and scale of the project must be clearly set out and agreed upon. You can read this article about project scope.

2. Develop a work breakdown structure

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure (Work Breakdown Structure – WBS) is an important part of the project management process, where deliverables are broken down into assignments and activities required to achieve them.

3. Deliver a realistic schedule

This is arguably one of the most common mistakes that project managers and teams make during project management. People often get overly optimistic and ambitious about when a project can be delivered, resulting in getting themselves and the project results in trouble.

The best way in this case is to visualize all aspects and needs of the project in one place, visualize the time sequence of the project, estimate how long each task would take and create a realistic schedule accordingly. This can be done by using the gantt of a project management software.

4. Create a project risk plan

After you have created a thorough list of activities, sub-activities, and milestones for the project, it’s time to ascertain all possible and potential risks involved. At this stage, you need to think about any risks that could impact the project by doing a proper project risk analysis while also estimating the severity of the impact. Once finished, you need to create a project risk response plan explaining the risk management.

5. Manage change requests

A project, by its definition, is something that does not remain static over time and is subject to some degree of change that may relate to workflow or workforce for example. No matter what change, or project change requests are received, a project manager must have a clear grasp of what the impact of this change will be and how to ensure it is handled smoothly and quickly.

Project activities: planning and development

As you can see, a project is therefore made up of activities, and it is through these activities – arranged in a relevant way – that a project can achieve its intended outcome and be completed successfully.

So let’s look more specifically at the role and characteristics of project activities.

Project time management comprises two sets of processes for planning and scheduling project activities necessary for timely project completion.

1. Project activity planning and scheduling.
2. Project implementation program development.

When planning and scheduling project tasks and activities, the project manager must perform the following four steps:

• Setting up activities.
• Defining relations between activities.
• Estimating resources needed to perform activities.
• Estimating activity duration.

Let’s examine each step in more detail:

1. Setting up project activities

The first phase of planning and scheduling project activities require the project manager to establish the amount of actions and activities needed to produce project deliverables in a timely manner.

The input to this process will be the definition of the project deliverables.

The project manager should also work on developing project activity templates to help streamline the project planning process.

Specific steps – or milestones – should be identified and approved for each of the listed activities.

2. Defining relations between activities

The next step in project activity planning involves the project manager sequencing all of the activities determined in the previous step.

The manager will use the project task lists, milestone list, and project scope statement per to define the relationships between the tasks.

With the help of project management software ou can set priorities for each of the project activities and make the sequences of activities organized and sorted by importance and urgency.

You also need to define dependencies between activities, which can be either internal or external.

Activities with internal dependencies are related to any actions the project team will take to produce deliverables within the existing work environment, while activities with external dependencies are related to non-project factors that define the success of project-related activities.

Both types of activity dependencies should be addressed and added to sequenced and prioritized task lists.

Once the relationships are defined, the project manager should update the project activity templates, outline dependencies, and link them to the product scope statement.

3. Estimating resources needed to perform activities

At this stage, the project manager should review the stakeholder requirements and scope statement to assess the amount of resources needed to carry out project activities.

Expert opinion and alternatives analysis should also be used in some cases for this purpose.

The project manager should then also develop resource calendars and define the types of resources required.

Once all of this information has been gathered and analyzed, it should be used to make a resource breakdown of activities sorted by type, priority, and time.

This breakdown is crucial to creating the project implementation schedule.

4. Estimating activity duration

The final stage of project activity planning and scheduling involves the project manager defining and estimating an amount of work time required to complete each identified activity.

The amount of time will depend on the amount of work effort and resources available for the activity.

The project manager should review the resource breakdown and project activity models to estimate the number of work periods required to complete the identified activities and thereby produce the desired results.

The output of this process is the activity estimates linked to the resource schedules.

The four stages of project activity planning and scheduling lay the foundation for creating a detailed timeline of project implementation.

In a nutshell, a successful project is therefore based on the effectiveness of the individual project activities that are part of the project.

A product’s life cycle (which should not be mistaken with a project’s life cycle) bears a strategic relevance for the company that produces it.

Each year, countless products are released into the market in a cleverly designed way to connect with the consumer and hope that the investment pays off for the organization that created it.

However, once the goal of connecting with the consumer is achieved, durability, or rather managing the product’s life cycle, is the key to ensuring that this product thrives year after year and makes the Company that produced it thrive as well.

In this article we will be looking at its relevance in business strategies. By the way, have you already checked out our article explaining the difference between Corporate Governance and Management?

What is product life cycle management?

Product life cycle (PLC) describes the different stages a product undergoes from launch to its potential obsolescence.

Here’s a simple example: let’s think of a product as a flower in a garden.

You can’ t just plant it, i.e., launch the product in the market, water it, i.e., create occasional promotions, and expect it to flourish year after year. At some point, its vitality will decrease and you will have to consider what to do, whether to replant it or to eliminate it altogether.

You can see, then, how managing the life cycle of a product is an important part of business strategy and helps you adapt your approach to the product.

The four phases of a product’s life cycle and related business strategies

To better understand this, it is worth breaking down the product life cycle into 4 distinct phases, which will be examined below.

1. Introduction

This is referred to as the launch phase of the new product, where sales increase slowly because awareness is currently limited.

Costs are high and include large amounts of advertisement and promotion.

In the introduction phase, the organization will operate at a loss, making this the most critical phase of the product life cycle.

Strategies for achieving success during the introduction phase:

• Clearly identify the market so that at launch you can target and effectively engage with the consumer most likely to become a customer.
• Build a dominant market position, stand out from your competitors, your product doesn’t have to be just one of the many in the crowd, but have a unique incentive for consumers to connect with it.
• Be a pioneer. Being the first to launch a new product never seen before.
• Set a strong brand identity.

2. Growth

Once awareness is built up and an appropriate distribution strategy is implemented, the product will be growing and, economically speaking, break-even will be reached first, after which the organization will begin to earn a profit.

When a product is growing, it means the market has accepted it and consumers are trying it out.

This is the moment to ramp up distribution to make sure you match the product’s supply to demand.

During growth, of course, competitors will enter the market – if they aren’t already there or otherwise increase their share.

Here are the business strategies during the growth phase:

• Keep track of prices to ensure you will remain competitive with new offers.
• Confirm that the actual customer fits the expected target customer and modify the message to users if necessary.
• Find new distribution channels using sales history.
• Improve product quality by possibly adding new features or support services to increase market share.

3. Maturity

The product reaches its maturity stage when sales volume slows down and begins to plateau or, in some cases, drops slightly.

Now an action becomes necessary otherwise the product sales will start to decline rapidly.

Products reach maturity for a number of reasons, including competition launching a product that is highly valued by customers, price wars, and initial enthusiasm for the new product beginning to fade.

This obviously leads to a decrease in profit, given by both a decrease in sales and an increase in promotional spending.

Common business strategies that can help during this phase fall into one of two categories:

• Market change: this includes moving into new market segments, redefining target markets, winning over competitors’ customers, and converting non-users.
• Product change: for example, adjusting or improving product features, quality, prices and distinguishing it from other products in the industry.

The example of Apple best serves to show the second point. In fact, Apple is the first company to show innovative product life cycle management.

Realizing that most cell phone users subscribe 12- to 24-month contracts, Apple releases a new “modified” iPhone every 12 to 18 months. By the time the current model is approaching its maturity, the company releases a new, updated model. The result, you know, is a loyal following proud of the latest technology that is unlikely to switch to a competitive product offering.

4. Decline

This stage can be identified by both a decline in sales volume and a reduction in profits.

Allowing the product to reach decline should be a strategic choice, meaning that the organization has identified the “expiring” product and intentionally planned that this would not be upgraded, but would be discontinued at some point in the future.

For example, this choice is given by a scheduled launch of a new product that will replace the current one but will not be an upgrade.

Business strategies to minimize losses during decline are:

• Minimize promotional expenditures on the product: rather than trying to boost sales with contests and discounts, you need to allow sales to naturally decline.
• Reduce the number of distribution points.
• Roll out price discounts to persuade customers to purchase your product while supplies last.

Product life cycle: bottom line

A product’s life cycle is seamless, and so should business strategy.

Knowing where the product is within its life cycle will help determine refinements or adjustments to strategy.

The most important piece of advice for using product life cycle management in business strategies is to regularly review sales volume and profitability.

Here, data that will help identify what stage the product is in can be extracted, allowing you to plan your product life cycle response strategies more effectively.

Project quality is a major factor in achieving client satisfaction, which in turn is a key component in project success.

Therefore, nothing about quality should be taken lightly, but more importantly, quality control should not be something improvised or done afterwards.

Before a project manager can actually be planning for project quality control, they must know what are the quality expectations.

One of the key principles of project quality management is that quality should be planned for, not inspected.

The project manager must take into account the cost of achieving the expected level of quality as opposed to the cost of non-compliance.

Quality cost includes training, safety measures, and actions to prevent subpar quality.

Noncompliance cost can greatly exceed the cost of quality and results in lost customers, rework, wasted time, wasted materials.

Planning and identification of parameters to be monitored for quality

When the project manager has collected the necessary input and assessed product description and project scope, they should begin working to create a plan on how to meet quality requirements.

Since planning is an iterative process, so is quality planning.

As events occur within the project, the project manager should evaluate these scenarios and then apply corrective actions to the planning document.

In fact, during project implementation, some things are likely to go wrong and stakeholders may demand changes. Therefore, the impact of these variables on project quality must be assessed.

This ensures that project management and project outcomes are in line with quality.

So let’s look at what parameters need to be monitored to guarantee the quality of a project:

Parameters to monitor for quality: Project scope

Scope statement is a core input to the quality planning process. As a matter of fact, the scope defines what will and what will not be delivered as part of the project.

The end results and customer expectations will help guide the quality planning session to ensure that the customer’s quality requirements are met.

Product description

Even though the project scope generally defines the initial product description, the actual product description may include supporting details that the project manager and project team will need to take into account. Consider the example of an apartment building: the requirements, specifications, and technical details of the building will need to be considered and reviewed as this information will most certainly affect quality planning.
tandards

Parameters to monitor for quality: Standards and Regulations

Standards and regulations in each area should be re-examined to determine that both the project plan and quality plan are acceptable. For example, a project to fit a building with an electrical system will have certain regulations to which it must comply.

Parameters to monitor for quality: Other process outputs

The project manager will need more than just a scope statement and product description to plan for quality.

Outputs from other processes will also need to be reviewed for quality aspects. For example, in our earlier building example, if the supplier quality level is unacceptable, the project may be jeopardized and fail.

Quality features

PMBOK® defines quality as the degree to which a set of intrinsic characteristics meets requirements.

It is said that a project meets its quality expectations when all project requirements, agreed upon at the beginning of the project, are met and thus the resulting product or service is usable for the stakeholders.

However, there are three quality characteristics that must be taken into account:

Quality is subjective

Surely quality can be measured objectively using the parameters mentioned earlier, but sometimes quality that is appropriate for one person is not for another.

Using a simple example: young people will consider a mobile phone to be of high quality based on its visual appearance, brand name, and technical specifications such as camera quality, memory capacity, and screen resolution. However, for someone in the age group of 60 and older, just the ease of answering a phone call or sending a text message may define the quality of the mobile phone.

Therefore, to understand the quality requirements in a design, it is also worth considering this factor.

Quality has many faces

The definition of quality depends on the business context and industry.

For a service-oriented organization such as a bank or airline, service quality is expressed through the level of customer satisfaction.

For a product such as a cell phone, a car, or a computer, quality means conformity to product specifications and suitability for use.

Quality is everyone’s responsibility

Quality in project management is twofold: project quality and product quality. Project quality is about ensuring that the project is executed consistently with the triple constraint of time, cost, and scope. If the project falls within the tolerance levels defined by these three factors, then it is possible to say that the project quality is high. Projects are carried out to develop a solution, which can be a product or service. If this output meets its specifications and satisfies stakeholder needs, then the product is said to be of high quality. Meeting quality expectations is therefore not just the responsibility of the project manager, but of everyone involved in the project.

Therefore, it is important that the project manager and team members understand the importance of quality and manage projects as best they can to achieve all parameters.

It doesn’t matter if you have the best project management software, you reached all milestones on schedule, and the project was completed on budget; if the output doesn’t meet quality standards, the project won’t be a success.

Corporate governance and management are not the same thing, although some people might think so. Actually, they are two very different things.

Let’s make it clear in this article where we will look at the two roles separately. The purpose is to establish once and for all the differences between corporate governance and management.

Corporate governance role

Governance is the act of the management board meeting to take decisions about company direction.

Tasks such as supervision, strategic planning (which has nothing to do with project planning), decision making, and financial planning fall under corporate governance activities.

The board is responsible for creating the corporate charter, which is a set of fundamental policies that outline the mission, values, vision, and structure of the organization. As needed, the board creates and approves key policies.

Corporate governance: 7 questions to understand it

In a paper titled “Distinguishing Governance from Management“, the author Barry Bader asks seven questions to establish whether a factor falls under governance and is therefore the board’s responsibility:

1. Is it “big”? The greater the impact of a decision, the more of a role the board should play in forming and understanding the action and its possible consequences.
2. Does it involve the future? The board imparts the long-term vision by providing a master plan for the organizational structure.
3. Is it the core of the mission? Corporate governance is custodian of the corporate mission.
4. Is a high level policy decision needed to settle a situation? Decisions of this kind are usually those that require compliance with laws or regulations, those that may affect accountability, etc.
5. Is a red flag waving? The board should focus on what are considered “trends.” As a rule of thumb, a factor or indicator becomes a trend when it repeats for at least three reporting periods. Corporate governance must then take action if events, reports or activities undermine this trend.
6. Is a “watchdog” watching? A “watchdog” includes media, government, IRS, etc. If these are keeping an eye on the organization, the board needs to step in.
7. Does the CEO want and need the board’s support? There is little debate on this point: if the CEO wants and needs board support, the board must provide it.

Governance duties and responsibilities

In a perfect corporate world, all managers and employees know their duties and responsibilities and act responsibly; they are honest, hardworking people with a solid commitment to ethics and integrity.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case and the board of directors is understood to be precisely that:

control and balance that supervises employees and all aspects of company operations.

Corporate governance should avoid getting involved directly in daily concerns.

Without being directly involved, boards should work closely with managers by providing guidance.

Furthermore, corporate governance allows managers to develop their operational strategies and reviews them to ensure they are in line with overall planning.

To recap, corporate governance is the “what” and includes:

• Determining mission, policy, and strategy
• Designating and supervising management
• Managing governance processes
• Providing insight, wisdom and judgment
• Monitoring the organization’s performance
• Identifying and strategically managing risk

Management’s role

Management structures can come in an infinite number of formats depending on company size and type.

For all cases, management decisions support and implement the goals and values provided by the board of directors.

Managers also make routine operational decisions and manage all the administrative work that makes operations run.

Management is virtually the bridge between corporate governance and lower-level executives.

One of their duties is to communicate the board’s expectations to employees placed at lower levels of the operation.

To achieve this, managers can break down corporate governance expectations into short- and long-term operational goals to see implementation through to completion.

While the board creates corporate policies, management is responsible for enforcing corporate policy and holding employees accountable for their actions.

Managers need a variety of skills that are significantly different from those of board directors.

First and foremost, they need good motivational skills so that they can motivate staff and create a work environment where everyone thrives. Also, it is beneficial for managers to possess good coaching skills since most employees will require some level of training and need continuous incentive to improve their performance.

Although the board can provide an overall budget, department managers often have to define their own budgets and communicate their needs to senior managers.

Senior managers communicate lower management budget needs to the board so that budget issues are reconfirmed throughout the company.

In other words, managers are in a position where they must meet or break the expectations and requirements of people at many different levels of the organization.

As a result, managerial positions are often high-pressure jobs that require a cool head even in high-stress situations.

To recap, management is the “how” and includes:

• Policy and strategy development and implementation.
• Defining and supervising annual operational business plans
• Appointing managers and staff
• Supporting governance processes
• Board decisions implementation
• Performance measurement
• Service and activity delivery
• Strategic and operational risk management

Corporate governance vs management: Conclusions

All organizations need both governance and management functions, and it is up to each respective organization to ensure that both functions are operating.

Frameworks are not standard and can be modified to meet each organization’s needs, as long as the necessary separation between corporate governance and management is in place.

Top-down and bottom-up management are two of the most popular approaches in the Project Management world.
What you need to know is that before beginning to work on a project, it is very important to have a management approach in place and to be consistent with it.

Besides choosing the project management methodology that we have already discussed, the choice of the style with which you would like to manage the project is crucial. Today we will focus on understanding what top-down and bottom-up management are.

When it comes to choosing a management style, in fact, there are many things to consider. For example, what is the corporate culture and personality of the managers? What kind of project management tools are being used?

The project manager’s choice of a management style is a personal choice, but it is based on certain characteristics of the “work environment” and is very important because it will affect every aspect of the activities, project and team.

What is top-down management?

Also referred to as autocratic leadership, top-down is the most common form of management.

It is the classic hierarchical system, with a chief executive officer (CEO) defining the direction for the entire organization.

Leadership is then handed down through a series of managers, mid-level staff to the last team member in an almost pyramidal system.

In top-down management, everything from the workplace to business systems is determined by upper management and passed down the chain of command.

Each role is responsible for carrying out the mission as stated by superiors, with little room for comment or criticism.

Some lower-level managers may also take part in the decision-making process, but in the end, the final decision always rests with senior management.

Most organizations still use top-down team management.

Any company with a hierarchical ladder with a CEO at the top tends to be structured this way.

Top-down project management means that all project goals, guidelines, information, and plans are defined by management and expectations are communicated to each project participant.

This approach requires extreme process formalities, as any ambiguity can easily result in misunderstandings and project failure.

Pros and cons of top-down management

• Pro: Clarity if the leader knows stuff. One of the benefits of top-down management is that it sets clear expectations, as goals are delivered by one person and that message is not muffled by multiple voices and opinions. Since the law is set from the top down, employees don’t have to be distracted from participating in the decision-making process, which gives them more time to focus on their tasks. Obviously, this kind of structure works best when the leader, o project manager in the case of a project, has thoroughly researched and considered all facets of how the decision will impact the project, business and employees.

• Cons: Lack of buy-in if the leader is weak or somewhat dictatorial. On the flip side, the idea of a domineering personality leading the project or an organization in general can veer from caring and attentive management to something more dictatorial. If this happens, the consensus of team members suffers and morale plummets, with bad influence on the project. Also, if the leader does not have a strong personality, employees will be less likely to take responsibility.

What is bottom-up management?

The concept that “two heads are better than one” is the number one reason why some organizations and project managers do not implement a top-down management approach.

The idea is that there may be a lot of talent even “in the lower levels”, cthat would be wasted with a top-down approach.

In this model, it is the entire organization that is involved in the process of driving the business; in the case of project management, it is the entire team that influences the project management process.

This collaborative method gives employees a say in how to achieve goals.

This way, teams are self-directed and decide the best way to complete their tasks, rather than receiving orders and only then acting on them.

While still a minority, more and more companies are adopting the bottom-up management style.

Pros and cons of bottom-up management

• Pros: Make the most of a team’s talents. One advantage is that bottom-up management can retain talent, keep spirits high, and achieve project consensus. In fact, this management style gives lower-level employees a say. Their input is regarded as a competitive advantage. Because the entire organization feels part of the process, the company is more likely to improve productivity. If everyone feels a part of the goals, they are likely to be more dedicated to achieving them.

• Cons: Too many voices and ideas slow down business agility. In terms of downsides, having employees taking part in the decision-making process can slow things down or cause the project to follow unproven ideas that end up in blockages or problems. This can cost valuable time by creating an advantage for the competition. There is also the ego aspect. If everyone has a chance to be heard, the motivation may be purely personal (increased self-esteem) rather than goal-oriented. This can lead to divisions and conflict within the team, increasing discontent and the climate of competition in a negative sense.

 Top-down or bottom-up: choosing the direction

And so: what is the best approach? The answer is: it depends.

Top-down or bottom-up is essentially a compromise between speed and accuracy. The method you choose depends on both the type of project you are working on and the amount of time you have for completing it.

Whatever planning approach you decide to use, your main goal should always be to deliver the project output on time.

So regardless of whether you prefer top-down or bottom-up planning, at the end of the day what really matters is being able to quickly pinpoint critical issues and communicate with project team members in a timely manner.

The main goal is always to find ways to make project management and collaboration more efficient.

Receiving a negative feedback is never a pleasant experience.

You work hard to create a quality product and seeing your actions judged negatively can lead to anger and frustration. These are negative reactions that later can also compromise our performance.

Moreover, even though feedback can often be given objectively and with the truest intentions, it can also be inaccurate or harmful. For example, it may come from a colleague who wants to cause trouble, from a boss who has completely unachievable expectations, from an employee who is afraid to tell the truth, etc.

In any case it is difficult, indeed, to understand what is real and what should be filtered.

There are many resources that suggest how to ask for feedback, but there are relatively few indications on how to react to negative feedback received.

What you need to know is that if you are able to turn a negative feedback into something positive, it can become key for success.

How to face a negative feedback

And for those who are really averse to negative feedback, there is an excellent alternative: no negative feedback, none at all.

Is it everybody’s dream? Of course, except that the lack of feedback can only mean one of two things:

• Work is generally good but people aren’t developing their skills any more.
• Work is bad, but nobody says it.

And neither of these two scenarios is positive when your goal is to grow professionally and progress in your career.

So here are 7 ways to turn negative reviews into positive results.

Facing negative feedback: Better safe than sorry

When a product is to be released, especially if it is new, the project manager must already think ahead by providing stakeholders and clients with as much information as possible.

This will help to avoid a lot of questions during the project lifecycle and negative reviews at output delivery.

Facing negative feedback: Remember that you cannot please everyone

Negative reviews can happen to everyone. No matter how good a product may be, there will always be people who think it could have been done better. After all, sympathies and antipathies are just subjective opinions and someone will always be unhappy.

Facing negative feedback:  Make the right researches

When you get negative feedback, do not panic, it is not the end of the world!

It is important to make a research afterwards: if the complaint is reasonable enough, it is worth to discuss it, make a Root cause Analysis and try to improve what can be improved.

The most important thing is, therefore, to find the reason why this negative experience occurred.

Be aware that you cannot respond to feedback until you really understand it. Especially when you hear something new, it is usually a wise idea to ask some reliable sources for confirmation. Just ask them if they have noticed the same behavior or error.

This way of working not only provides you with more details about the action affected by negative feedback, but also helps to avoid over-correction based on a single person’s opinion.

Facing negative feedback: Give a prompt response

Ignoring negative feedback won’t just make it disappear, it will only make things worse.

Clearly this does not mean that you should respond to a criticism the very moment you receive it. Leaving your computer, taking a deep breath and having a moment for yourself, can be normal and even beneficial at first, especially if the feedback is about a very important factor.

Finding an activity that helps you disconnect for a moment, can improve your mood when confronted with the response processing.

However, this does not mean waiting for months. It must be done within a reasonable timeframe, depending on the gravity of the problem.

That said, the faster you deal with a negative review, the easier it will be to handle the next discussion and clear up any possible misunderstanding. Customer experience will benefit from this.

Facing negative feedback: Ask and listen

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, contact those who gave that negative feedback and find out exactly what didn’t work for them.

Naturally, some answers can be quite harsh, but don’t judge and don’t let your emotions take over.

Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes could be useful to understand their point of view and better understand the cause of the negative feedback.

Facing negative feedback: Take your responsibilities

Mistakes are a natural part of human efforts and you should not be afraid to admit guilt.

The more responsible you are for your actions, the more credible you will be and the more people will trust you.

Making mistakes is human – as long as you don’t make them over and over again.

Facing negative feedback: Learn and solve the problem

Negative reviews can be an important source of knowledge.

They can help the project team find any missing links to product development and make it better than ever.

You should try to respond proactively, track the criticism received, bit by bit, and provide a solution to each one. You should avoid getting defensive and be good at keeping the points concise.

When you move on to solving the problem, you must do so with positive energy. This can make the process much more effective.

Transforming a negative Feedback into an asset

As the famous saying goes:

“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem”

So, those who are afraid of negative reviews must change their attitude and consider constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth and learning.

Negative feedback is a chance to improve your weaknesses and bring the quality of your work and product to a new level.

A study demonstrated that we tend to avoid people who have given us negative feedback.

It may seem easier to consider yourself as the victim in a huge workplace conspiracy, but getting away from people who tell the truth and give negative but constructive feedback is a big mistake.

In this regard, negative feedback can be a great pretext for restoring relationships and, with the right approach, the greatest critics can become the best motivators.

The Product Manager is a core figure for a business. He ensures the company’s position in the market, drives the product roadmap to meet deadlines and focuses on long-term success.

How does a product manager perform this important task? We will discuss the subject in this article.

What does a product manager do?

The product manager is among the most highly paid and respected professions in the business world, but at the same time he is also one of the least known.

So let’s try to make things clear.

Product Management is a very broad definition that covers a number of different skills. In fact, often different organizations want a Product Manager for different tasks according to specific business needs.

However, here is a general description of what any good product manager should do:

• Develop a product history or roadmap for each part of the product life cycle.
• Optimize the product to achieve the organization’s business objectives.
• Focus on comprehending the customer base to assess satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.

In other words, a product manager should cover virtually every aspect that has to do with the product with the main objective in mind: the product’s success.

From this perspective, a product manager creates a strategy for the success of the product and works closely with the various departments – marketing, sales, design – to help make this concept a reality.

Why is the role of the product manager so important?

A good product manager is the key to ensuring that the product reflects business objectives and customer needs in the best possible way.

As a result, this means higher revenues and happier customers.

Some companies are hesitant to hire product managers believing that other people – with no specific experience and training – can also cover that role.

A product manager understands the whole picture and clearly understands the product vision, thus making the best decisions about how to proceed through a specific roadmap.

Here is more in detail how the work cycle of a product manager works:

Vision

The first step in product management is setting a vision for the product. A product manager starts with a clear definition of the problem you are trying to solve.

He will then discuss and fine-tune this problem with each specialist within the product team.

Building good products is a team effort and it is therefore important to have different perspectives and use everyone’s knowledge to find the best solution.

The solution that results from this process is the product vision.

Roadmap and execution

Once everyone has agreed on the ultimate goal, the product manager will develop a product roadmap.

This is a general plan on how to provide the product vision; it is still a vision but also contains specific action points on timing, who is involved, activities, final results and processes.

It is basically a guide regarding how the product will be created and here the key challenge is to find the balance between the ideal product and what can realistically be delivered with the available resources.

In addition, when designing a roadmap, It is crucial to keep in sync with what may be changes in the future of the industry.

A product manager is responsible not only for current product performance, but also for future performance.

Managing conflict and issues

At the beginning of the product development process, the product manager is in charge of keeping the design, development and business teams up and running, coordinated and working in harmony.

Often it is easier said than done. Developers, designers, investors and other stakeholders obviously attribute different importance to different aspects of the product.

This can lead to conflict, where people tend to think that their area is the most important and that their needs are the most urgent.

For example, in IT, someone on the corporate side may not appreciate the importance of UX design and only worry that a specific feature is created without a second thought. A designer can provide a list of last-minute changes to developers, unaware that these require a major code rewrite. A developer may want to implement an experimental framework, but this leads him to work more slowly than an alternative, thus risking losing an important deadline. The product manager must therefore anticipate and manage problems of this kind.

Product launch and beyond

When the product gets launched on the market, it is definitely a reason to celebrate… but not for long.

Product development is in fact a dynamic and constant process and new features, bugs and new requests will be on the daily agenda again.

Eager to evaluate product performance, the attention of the product manager will also turn to data and user feedback.

What is the conversion rate? How do people use the product? Have sales increased? What do the reviews say?

Addressing every inquiry, criticism, question and idea takes time.

After the analysis of this data and the comparison with the design teams, The product manager will introduce changes to the roadmap to discuss new information and business priorities.

As you have noticed, the role of a product manager is truly multifaceted. Sometimes it requires sparks of creativity, in others it requires rigorous planning, expert interpersonal skills and a sharp eye for detail.

Being a product manager is certainly a demanding role, where multidisciplinary skills are required, but at the same time it is very rewarding.

In the end, it is the product manager who decides the direction of the product and who can see first-hand how it impacts customers.

Standard deviation is an abstract construct based on observation rather than computation or experimentation.

The standard deviation, also represented by the Greek letter sigma σ, is a metric used to express the amount of variation or dispersion in a group of data.

In other words, it defines how much the members of a data group differ from the average value of the group itself.

A low figure for the standard deviation means that the data tends to be close to the average or expected value of the set, while a high figure means that the data is spread over a wider range.

The standard deviation and “normal distribution” concept is part of the general principle of probability on which the past can be relied upon to predict the future.

Obviously what will happen precisely is unknown but in many situations what happened in the past can be valuable to predict the future.

The main question is thus: to what extent can one rely on past models to predict the future?

Standard deviation applications

Odds study began in 1654 when French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat solved an enigma that troubled gamblers for more than 200 years: how to split the prize in the case of unfinished gambling if one of the players is in advantage?

Their solution meant that people could, for the first time in history, make decisions and predict the future based on numbers.

In the following century, mathematicians developed quantitative risk management techniques that transformed probability theory into a powerful tool to organize, interpret and apply information to help make decisions for the future.

The concepts of standard deviation and “normal distribution” thus began to be the focus of these new developments and studies.

In 1730 Abraham de Moivre suggested the shape of a normal distribution, the so-called “bell curve”.

Later on, Carl Friedrich Gauss confirmed de Moivre’s bell curve and elaborated the mathematics necessary to apply this probabilistic concept to risk.

A normal variation can be large or small depending on the population, or data group, that is being studied and the normal distribution curve defined by its standard deviation provides tools to help understand the likely range of results that can be expected.

This prediction is clearly never certain, but there is a high degree of probability that it is reasonably correct and the degree of certainty increases as the amount of data used in the analysis increases.

How to use deviations in project management

A key factor in understanding the concept of standard deviation is to consider that it was based on the analysis of data obtained from hundreds of measurements.

Therefore, this concept will have less value in determining the one-time consequences on the basis of a single result or a single risk event.

For each set of measured data, the main things to remember are:

• The standard deviation is expressed in the same terms as the measured factor. If the factor to be measured is the age of people’ death, measured in years, the standard deviation will also be measured in years and, again, if the factor to be measured is the length of a bolt expressed in millimeters, the standard deviation will be expressed in millimeters.
• The standard variation value for a specific population is constant, if 1 SD = 0.5 mm, 2 SD = 1 mm and 6 SD = 3 mm, then if the target length for the bolt is 100 mm and also the average length produced is 100 mm, then 99.99% of the bolts produced will range from 97 mm to 103 mm (± 6 SD).
• Percentages for 1 SD, 2 SD, 3 SD and 6 SD are always the same because the value of the standard variation expressed in millimeters, years, etc. varies according to the overall variance of the population and, of course, the measured factor.

How to apply standard deviation to projects?

PMBOK says that you can determine a project standard deviation or activity by applying the following simple formula:

SD (σ) = (P – O) / 6

with P being the pessimistic duration, i.e. when things are really going badly, and O being the optimistic duration, i.e. when things are going very well.

For example, if P = 25 days and O = 10 days, according to PMBOK the SD = (25-10) / 6 = 2,5 days.

This formula, according to PMBOK, implies a symmetric bell curve or a normal (Gaussian) distribution – as explained above – where if durations are considered, the distribution suggests that there is a 50% probability that the project will take less time than the average and a 50% probability that it may take longer.

However, PMBOK looks generic when you consider that a normal distribution is rarely the case for project management durations where a beta frequency distribution is much more common, since there is a limit to the speed at which you can complete a project, but virtually no limit to the time it takes to complete it.

The resultant asymmetric distribution therefore does not possess the characteristics of the normal curve.

According to the previous data, if we applied the formula (P – O) / 6, the standard deviation would be 2.5 days.

However, the true standard deviation for this distribution is 7.81 days, given by the following formula:

SD = √ [(O-E) ² + 4 (M-E) ² + (P-E) ²] / 6, dove E = (O + 4M + P) / 6

D = √ [(10-15) ² + 4 (13,75 -15) ² + (25-15) ²] / 6 = 7,81 days

The three critical numbers in this case are:

• 10, the optimistic time frame
• 13,75 the average between optimistic and pessimistic time frame
• 25, the pessimistic time frame

Lastly, the concepts of “standard deviation” and “normal distribution” are precious quality control tools in the event that the project is producing or purchasing hundreds of similar components – like bolts.

They are less precise concepts when dealing with the probability of completing a “one-off” or one-time project.

In both situations an understanding of variability and probability is important, but when faced with the uncertainties of a “one-off” design, the “beta” deviation provides a more reliable approach.

The Risk Register is a valuable working tool, often underestimated.

Projects sometimes involve huge work demands and significant amounts of money to be completed successfully.

Ensuring that they are completed is an extremely delicate yet complex task.  How can you achieve this? Simple: with a risk assessment and, thus, the compilation of a risk register, one of the most important documents of a project.

Why is a risk register so important?

A risk register contains a list of potential risks that the team has identified in relation to a specific project.

It also includes measures that can be adopted to ensure that these risks do not escalate into a tsunami that could eventually disrupt the work.

A risk register is mainly a communication tool for sharing concerns and risks related to a project with all stakeholders.

Since everything is written in an official document produced before the project even begins, this document is of greater significance than when doubts are expressed during a “routinary” meeting.

The first approach to a risk register

The first thing to do is to determine risks.

No one expects the project manager to be a fortune-teller, but their experience should guide them through this task.

The projects are all different, of course, but for organizations that manage similar projects year after year, there may be historical data to review to identify common risks.

Also, it is possible to forecast some risks based on market forces or staffing issues.

To collect the possible risks that may arise during the management of a project, you will need a systematic approach to ensure you get the most thorough overview possible.

The project risk register is a system that can then keep track of that risk if it actually appears and then assess the actions set up to resolve it.

Recording a risk in the official register gives you a unique place to enter all the data related to the situation in question. It is thus possible to track the specific risk throughout the project, verifying whether the actions taken to fix or mitigate the risk work.

By recording the entire process in a log, you are less likely to lose track of the risk during a demanding project.

This makes the risks less likely to turn into real problems that can significantly threaten the success of a project.

Finally, when the risk has been resolved, it can be officially labeled as closed or terminated.

How to use and fill in a risk register

Here is how to use and fill in a risk register and which items must absolutely be included in this official document.

Risk list

Together with the help of experts and project stakeholders, it is crucial to list all the potential risks that the project may face.

In this case a brief description of the potential risk is included, for example, conflict of resources that lack enough time due to multiple concurrent requests.

Furthermore, it is important to give a unique identification number to specifically track each individual risk in the register.

Assign a risk category

Risks are not all equal; some risks are caused by technical factors, other risks are at the level of personnel or even, environmental risks, brand risks, health risks, etc.

Each risk must be assigned to a specific category.

Assess the impact of each risk

The impact shows the magnitude of the consequences of a risk.

A low impact means that if the risk were to occur, the potential damage to the project would not be so severe.

A high impact means that serious adverse effects can be expected and, clearly, these are the risks that should be given more attention.

Estimate risk probability

The next step is to estimate the probability that a risk may occur. Naturally, the higher the probability that the risk will occur, the more you will need to be careful.

Calculate overall risk value

After estimating the impact and probability of the risk and filling in the appropriate values in the risk register, the overall risk value is calculated.

This is simply the product of the impact and the probability factor:

overall risk value = impact * probability

Assign a manager to each risk

To each risk a manager must be assigned. This risk manager will be the individual in charge of monitoring risk and taking appropriate measures to limit its impact.

Often it is directly the project manager, but sometimes there may be risks where a specific team member may be better suited and closer to the role.

Define mitigation actions for each risk

Lastly, you should list all the measures that can be adopted to mitigate, circumvent or eliminate the risk. All measures must be reported in the document.

Risks lie in all situations, both in daily life and in business, and this is doubly true in project management, where everything is in motion.

Risk documentation is fundamental for the success of any project, it offers a single place to identify the risk, note down its history.

Developing a risk log allows you to follow the process, from where it first occurred to where it is resolved, and even mark the person who will be in charge of managing each risk.

A project manager will never be able to anticipate everything that might go wrong in a project, but following a structured plan and having a clear risk log will be proactive and capable of taking prompt action before the risks become real problems.

Planning a project and conducting a strategic analysis should be a key activity for a project manager no matter what industry they work in.

Although digital technologies and the online environment have changed in virtually every industry, the skills, tools and techniques for project planning continue to be relevant.

This requires the project manager to achieve a clear and thorough understanding of the project requirements, business environment and a broad spectrum of other factors to develop the best plan.

This poses the following question: What type of tool or strategy is considered “best practice” in project management?

We have already discussed extensively the techniques available to define a project management strategy. Although there is a wide range of techniques currently available, today we will be focusing on the one called SWOT.

What does SWOT mean?

SWOT stands for SWOT analysis or SWOT matrix.

The name is an acronym and stands for a project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

SWOT is a strategic planning technique that recognizes these four factors in any project plan.

In this way, the SWOT approach helps the project manager narrow down project goals, while also pinpointing which internal and external factors can help or constrain efforts to achieve these goals.

The SWOT analysis uses a question and answer methodology to collect information:

• Strengths are inherent qualities of the project that can provide an advantage.
• Weakness are the characteristics of a project that put it at a disadvantage.
• Opportunities are external elements – environmental conditions or circumstances – that are related to the strengths of a project, giving it an advantage.
• Threats, instead, are the elements that capitalize on the weaknesses, reducing the effectiveness of the project.

Given the importance of such analysis for resource allocation, determining the strengths and weaknesses of a project, as well as situations to optimize both, becomes a must.

When to use the SWOT technique

SWOT analysis can be used for a wide range of purposes and can fit virtually any situation.

SWOT can be used when assessing a project, but also during the project itself to pinpoint obstacles and know how to overcome them in the best possible way.

Moreover, if a project becomes stagnant, does not progress, evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can open your eyes to new possibilities.

Lastly, when you introduce a project plan to business leaders, shareholders or key stakeholders, having a SWOT matrix in the presentation will provide the necessary credibility to the plan.

Here are a couple of more specific applications for SWOT analysis.

Strategy

Whatever effort is made to develop a corporate, social or personal strategy can benefit from SWOT analysis.

Clarifying precisely what resources, limitations, opportunities and problems are to be faced in a project can help define the type of strategy that a team or individual might adopt.

If, for example, there is a strong link between strengths and opportunities, if the external environment aligns strongly with positive internal factors, the strategy may involve a more aggressive search for all opportunities.

If, on the other hand, the negative external and internal factors are aligned and weaknesses and threats are strongly linked, then it must be assumed that there is a higher risk level also for small opportunities and the strategy to be adopted must be more risk-averse.

Matching and converting

SWOT can extend beyond the strategic level and this can be done through two separate processes: matching and conversion.

• Matching: After determining strengths and opportunities, simply connect each strength with the opportunity that allows a team to make the most of it. For example, if a company is strong in IT knowledge, it should be linked to any opportunity to use that pool of skills.

Conversion: Once a team is aware of its weaknesses and threats, it can look at the conditions under which they could be considered strengths or opportunities. This step, which is simple on paper, can be difficult to be actually put into practice. Here is an example: a company may identify an existing product line that does not meet the needs of the market as a threat.

If the company has no way to redesign this product line, it may be looking for markets that may need the products the way they are. Basically, conversion turns a threat into an opportunity.

Business Plan

For large organizations, strategic planning is only one part of the overall planning process.

SWOT is therefore great for evaluating the whole organization: current conditions, existing products and services and their expected life cycle.

SWOT analysis benefits

We already mentioned many of the advantages of SWOT analysis, yet they are worth listing.The use of a SWOT matrix:

• Allows a team to determine how feasible a project is.
• Allows team members to view the results and actions needed to achieve their goal.
• It is very useful to collect and interpret information useful to optimize a project’s work efforts.
• It is good for determining what factors are critical to achieving the organization’s overall goal.

SWOT analysis limitations

Despite its value, SWOT analysis (like all things) is not perfect and there are some things to take into account when using it.

SWOT analysis can potentially be improperly used, especially by the less knowledgeable individuals, and this can lead to an ill-informed or distorted presentation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, thus leading to an incorrect strategy.

Furthermore, a SWOT matrix only creates a list of positive and negative factors and cannot devise strategies or goals on its own. This is how it also becomes essential to be able to interpret it correctly.

In the first part of the article we outlined what process repeatability is and also discussed the advantages of process repeatability and sustainability.

We now keep on examining further aspects of process management projects

Concerns about process repeatability and sustainability

Even though process repeatability and sustainability bear several benefits, the idea of submitting processes and procedures to a standardized way of doing things can be a cause for alarm for people who are not used to them.

Does standardizing mean losing individual creativity? This is the most common concern that revolves around the adoption of repeatability in processes.

Actually these concerns are out of place, let’s see why:

1. Does process repeatability and sustainability mean monotony and boredom?

By definition, the right way of doing things means uniformity. For some people, however, this concept will inevitably seem dull and boring.

The bottom line here is that by removing ambiguity and setting a standard against which to evaluate performance, standardized processes can help employees feel that they are actually achieving “something” at work.

Team members are much more likely to feel a higher sense of accomplishment – and not boredom – if they get standard processes that help them achieve positive results.

When a task is performed to the prescribed standard, it is (almost) guaranteed to be performed 100%.

And, let’s face it, checking the boxes in the to do list definitely gives a fair amount of satisfaction.

2. Does process repeatability and sustainability destroy creativity?

A concern related to the previous one is the concept that if you standardize crucial processes in an organization, the result will be a work environment that does not promote innovation and creativity.

The main concern here is that standardization means an organizational culture that eliminates all individual thinking and new ideas, replacing a positive diversity and exchange of thoughts with a monocultural mentality.

Here it is important not to mistake the process repeatability for lack of innovation.

Once again, standardization is the elimination of inefficient alternatives that could lead to conflict.

By clearing inefficiency and unnecessary conflict in an organization, everyone can get rid of unnecessary waste of time and energy to focus on innovation in areas where it is really important.

The irony here is that, if considered wisely, process repeatability is good and even promotes innovation.

By standardizing processes, it will simplify operations so that everyone can do more and be more effective team members.

It goes without saying that if someone in the organization finds a way to improve a standardized process, the organization will consider the idea and, if positive, adopt it.

There is no reason why a standardized process cannot be changed over time if circumstances, experience and innovation indicate that it really is time for change.

How can you build a repeatable, sustainable and successful project management process?

Until now we have covered what a repeatable and sustainable project management process means, as well as the advantages it brings, but how is it possible to create such a process?

Here are some suggestions on how to do it:

Finding shortcomings

The thing about doing things differently every time is that, sooner or later, you will forget or overlook one or more steps.

So to create a repeatable and sustainable project management process, you will need to review previous projects, best practices and find gaps.

For example: has the product found many bugs? The solution will then add more testing and quality control time.

Or do you always receive an incomplete list of requirements? The solution will be to create a set of fixed questions for each initial project meeting.

Engage all process elements

Bad habits would not exist if someone did not prefer them. Perhaps the project manager is lazy? Are stakeholders always too busy? Or does someone on the team want the whole process to revolve around them?

Also, you need to consider that people will fight to keep the old, and ineffective, process going just because they are accustomed to it. You can find more reasons for this in this article about company changes.

For those who decide to implement the change, it will certainly be a difficult and frustrating task, but it will have to be done and everyone will have to be involved if the organization wants to improve.

Taking into account variables

Surely each project will present unique situations compared to all other projects (even the most similar ones), but this should not be an excuse not to commit to finding repeatable and sustainable processes.

A repeatable project management process should be a framework in which you can link different variables and still get consistently positive results.

Focus on objectives

The biggest drawback to having a repeatable process is that it is easy to pay too much attention to the process itself, rather than the actual goal of the project.

In this case, the process actually becomes an obstacle to success.

Whenever you add a step to the process, you will need to consider how it will affect the il project workflow.

Will this process streamline things or can it cause a blockage? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Which process would result in higher quality output?

These questions will be crucial in determining whether a new, repeatable, sustainable process makes sense to the project or not.

If you can implement a repeatable, sustainable project management process, you will be able to dramatically improve team efficiency and improve project quality accordingly.

In addition, another key point is to simplify the monitoring and evaluation of project metrics, so that you can better see where and how the team needs to improve in order to be successful.

Bottom line, what matters is the commitment to quality work; work that is satisfactory to the organization and its customers.

The best repeatable and sustainable processes will be those that improve organically, adapting and increasing the value of the output so that the sum is much greater than its parts.

Having replicable and sustainable project management processes is the foundation for any respectable organization or project team.

Imagine if a project manager and a project team did not have set guidelines for project management, what would happen?

You know what, it would be like taking a random group of random people off the street, having them sit together in an office and expecting to get a job done right

This is basically what happens when you do not have replicable and sustainable project management processes.

An organization’s operations include activities that must be completed on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis to ensure that processes run smoothly.

But if these processes are not standardized, replicable and sustainable, it will inevitably lead to chaos.

The processes we are referring to can be very different: from the management of a customer service request to activities that are less often repeated. However, what is important is that each process, regardless of how often it is carried out, should have rules to manage scope, quality and methods.

If these rules are not standardized and sustainable, you cannot strive to ensure the utmost quality by limiting human error.

Simply put, managing activities will turn into an operational nightmare.

To prevent this situation, then, you need to make sure you have replicable and sustainable project management processes.

What is process replicability?

Essentially, process replicability and sustainability means a set of rules regulating how people in an organization should complete a given activity or sequence of activities.

Sound, replicable and sustainable project management processes provide a framework for new projects based on what has been successful in the past and lessons learned from what has not been so successful.

Standardization can be applied to any process, activity or procedure relevant to the organization. Picking up the phone, paying and storing invoices, managing customer information, keeping track of activities, etc. are all tasks that can be standardized.

At the same time, processes need to be flexible enough to allow the necessary changes to address the uniqueness of each project/activity without having to resort to a completely new process every time.

Process Repeatability and Sustainability Benefits

Basically, process repeatability and sustainability means that the project manager, as well as team members, have a proven and well-established process to use.

If done correctly, standardization can cut ambiguity and guesswork, ensure quality, increase productivity and boost employees’ morale.

So let’s recap the advantages of standardization as follows:

• Improved clarity, because a standard process will remove the need for guesswork, extra research, or “double work”..
• Quality assurance, because the work is done by default and optimized.
• Productivity boost, because project team members will not need to search for information or revise any documents to find answers.
• Employee morale boost, because team members can be proud to have learned the process and refined their skills.
• Customer Service Perfection, because every request is addressed in the best possible way.

Now we will try to analyze all these advantages in more detail:

Process repeatability and sustainability reduces ambiguity and guesswork

The first and most obvious advantage of process repeatability is the reduction of the potential for ambiguity and guesswork.

It is likely that any complex activity is likely to have some grey areas or borderline cases and the problem is that time spent in speculation is wasted.

With a straightforward set of instructions to work on to complete a task, team members will spend less time trying to understand it and more time actually doing it.

Effective procedure repeatability means that there is a correct way to complete a particular task, defined in terms of a clear, measurable end result.

Process repeatability and sustainability ensures quality

If lack of standardization translates into more ambiguity, an inevitable consequence of this will be poorer reliability and less consistent quality.

This is because not all approaches to a certain task or procedure are the same; there are better and worse ways to pick up the phone, manage important client information, and send status updates to the project manager.

One of the most important ways in which standardization can help ensure quality is to minimize the chances of key details being overlooked.

Repeatability and sustainability drives productivity

Generally, standardization is accompanied by streamlined and more functional performance, which means that an organization can reduce waste and do more with available resources.

Repeatability and sustainability promote productivity by eliminating inefficiency.

This is the result of eliminating ambiguity and quality control: tasks are completed more efficiently and there are fewer quality control problems from tasks that were not completed correctly the first time.

Another benefit of eliminating alternative procedures is the reduction of unhealthy competition and conflicts.

For example, it may happen that an organization might have three different “semi-formal” systems for keeping track of workflows, each of which has its own constituency within the organization.

Three different groups of people, three different systems: conflicts are therefore unavoidable.

Although all three systems are more or less the same in terms of productivity, trying to coordinate them within the organization is likely to lead to competition and conflict between the three different factions.

If, on the other hand, everyone learns the same way to do business and manage processes and stick to it, it will be easier for teams to work together.

This means more productivity through the resulting synergy and less time wasted trying to communicate through gaps in understanding and communication.

Repeatability and sustainability is beneficial to employees’ morale

The key factor to bear in mind regarding repeatability and team member morale is that standardization will help employees feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Repeatability should not mean dullness and lack of creativity, instead it can – and should – mean standards that anyone can master and be proud to refine.

If handled correctly, standardized and repeatable processes establish a relationship between people and their work processes.

This relationship can increase pride in the quality of work performance and the result is high morale and productivity.

No wonder everyone wants to know if they are doing a good job or not, and not knowing if they are doing their job properly can be very stressful.

Having to apologize for inadequate or wrong work can also be humiliating as well as stressful.

So if processes are ruled by standards that teach team members to do efficient, high-quality work, employees are more likely to take a sense of belonging and pride in the work they do.

Instead of uncertainty and inefficiency, team members will thus have a defined way of performing their assigned tasks that actually works.

And the result is a higher employee morale.

This means that the link between standards and team members’ morale is fundamentally about employees’ ability to be proud of their achievements.

If the standardized process is efficient, it avoids unnecessary frustration and guides those working to achieve something meaningful and useful.

Repeatability and sustainability means better customer service

A great customer service is the natural consequence of teamwork having less ambiguity, higher output quality, better productivity and higher morale.

Repeatability and sustainability can drive the customer service department through standardized processes to talk to customers and methods to centralize information.

Standardization can also indirectly improve customer service, because if an organization is more productive and efficient, the result will be better results for customers.

The more you can produce with the resources available, the shorter the delivery time and the happier the customers will be.

You’ll find further aspects of process management projects in the second part of this article.

The competitive advantage that a Project Manager can achieve is strongly associated with project management. This is rarely easy and, consequently, the role of project manager is not a simple task.

Typically, a project manager’s tasks include the estimation of project work, the drafting of project plans, and progress and scope monitoring.

Not only that, possibly the most important responsibility a project manager must fulfill is managing relationships with the people involved in a project.

A good project manager works hard to preserve team morale and ensure that stakeholders remain happy from start to finish.

Becoming a project manager certainly requires a lot of cross-functional skills, so here are 7 tips for achieving this goal with greater peace of mind.

1. Avoid micromanagement

Project managers have the tendency of being extremely careful when a project is assigned to their team.

This at first glance might be logical, but sometimes has a very different motivational and relational substrate. You underestimate the capabilities of resources or enter a stressful situation to prove your position as project coordinator.

This leads to a constant micro-management in which project managers constantly pester and monitor employees and their work, closely tracking their team until the project is completed.

In such a situation, team members may be exhausted or otherwise dissatisfied with the work environment.

The micro-management of the project is not the result of exaggerated micro-management, but rather the effects are counterproductive for the project itself.

2. Assess priorities

Many project managers adopt an agile approach in which the different parts of the project (and their dependencies) are mapped and listed at the beginning, but over time the priorities may change.

Reassessing priorities periodically and changing work deliveries therefore becomes essential in certain cases.

3. Manage time effectively

Time management is the top priority for a great manager.

It is essential to maintain a balance between being productive during working hours and your hobbies or leisure time.

Also, a good project manager makes sure that team members are able to respect this work-life-balance.

4. Manage effective communication

The skill of communicating effectively with stakeholders and the team can be the way to deliver a successful project on time.

Promising impossible things and soliciting team members to perform unattainable tasks can only lead to problems.

It is essential that a good project manager should also be a good communicator with whoever is in front of them.

The project manager must also be a good listener; communication is not only a one-way thing.

Body language also matters a lot.

You will probably have seen, at least once, people whose lack of confidence is reflected in their posture, hand gestures or facial expression.

Project managers must be exactly the opposite, they must look confident and exude power through body language and through what they say.

5. Know the ultimate technologies in the industry

Technology is an ever changing process and every day new platforms and new software are launched on the market.

We too at Twproject are in evolution and we are about to release a new release.

For a project manager, being curious and knowing the new innovations in project management is undoubtedly a competitive advantage.

The knowledge of the different innovations that are emerging can bring the project, and the organization in general, to a profit.

6. Conflict and problem solving capabilities

In any project it is almost inevitable for a project manager to encounter problems, whether big or small.

In these moments it is extremely important that the project manager controls their emotions and do not react impulsively.

It will be critical to remain calm, considering the options you have, and working out a plan to get the project out of the danger zone.

The problems can be diverse in nature, related to employees within the team, complications with new regulations or unforeseen expenses that affect the budget, etc.

Being a great problem solver and understanding how to implement it depending on the problem and the situation is one of the greatest competitive advantages a project manager can achieve.

It is also important that a good project manager understands the psychology of people so that they can mediate conflicts between two parties – or prevent conflicts from arising.

A good project manager needs to understand their team, knowing what each individual is capable of giving to the team, both in practical and personal terms, and what each one’s capabilities are.

Knowing your team’s strengths and weaknesses, not merely from the professional skills point of view, but also with regard to the character aspect, becomes essential to manage the team in an excellent way and to avoid, as much as possible, conflicts.

7. Have plenty of experience

Surely there will be people more gifted than others by nature to fill the role of project manager, but even the most talented professional, without experience, does not really go far.

So, first-hand experience in this role becomes a competitive advantage for a project manager.

Using the right kind of skills at the right time requires an overview that is often only acquired with years of experience in the role.

Project management requires planning, direction, implementation and collaboration.

There is no skill that separates the average project manager from the best, but it is the mix of skills that sets a good project manager apart from the rest.

All project managers can become great if they are committed every day, especially if they aim to achieve the 7 competitive advantages we have mentioned in this article.

SMART guidelines for goal setting are key aspects of project approach.

It happens, however, that these guidelines are, in some cases, set aside for the sake of extemporaneousness of the project itself or an alleged clarity of shared objectives.

The result is a vicious circle: unclear objectives lengthen and undermine the project results.

When objectives are set, specificity is crucial: for example, challenging yourself to “do more work” is too vague, because in this way you cannot monitor progress and the point of arrival.

In short, if objectives are not measurable, achieving success can become challenging.

SMART objectives are therefore the answer, since they can be split into five measurable factors.

Although progress in personal or working life is possible even without setting objectives, surely the application of the SMART system brings more chances of success.

What are SMART objectives?

SMART objectives are a fairly new idea: in 1981, George T. Doran, a consultant and former business planning director at Washington Water Power Company, published a paper introducing SMART objectives.

T. Doran describes G. T. Doran describes SMART objectives as a tool to create criteria and help improve one’s chances of achieving a goal.

SMART is the acronym used to guide the definition of objectives and in detail means as a tool to create criteria and help improve one’s chances of achieving a goal.

SMART is the acronym used to guide the definition of objectives and in detail means:

• Specific (simple, reasonable, relevant).
• Measurable (relevant, motivational).
• Achievable (agreed).
• Realistic (reasonable, resourceful, result-based).
• Time-bound (based on time, limited in time / cost).

S – Specific

When setting a goal, you have to be specific about what you want to achieve.

This is not a thorough list of how you will achieve a goal, but should include an answer to the popular “5 w” questions:

• Who: You must consider who needs to be involved in order to achieve the goal. This is particularly important when working on a team project.
• What: You think about exactly what you are trying to achieve and list the important factors and aspects.
• Where: This question may not always be applicable, however, if the project is about a specific place or event, it must be specified here.
• When: You will go down to the details of this question in the “time-bound” section of the SMART objectives definition.
• Why: It simply answers the question “what is the reason for the goal?”

The more information you can get, the better the results will be and the easier it will be to achieve your objectives because the definition of the path to follow will be clearer.

M – Measurable

What metrics will be used to establish whether the objective is achieved successfully or not?

This makes a goal more tangible and practical because it provides a way and numbers to measure progress.

If the project takes several months to be completed, the advice is to set some milestones taking into account specific activities to be conducted.

The more quantitative data you have, the more control you can have over your progress.

A – Achievable

This step focuses on how to achieve the goal and if you have the right tools and skills.

Sometimes the team does not possess the required resources. If this is the case, you will need to consider how to get them or if there are alternative methods to achieve the goal while not having the required tools and skills.

So, to prevent unpleasant surprises and to make a goal achievable, a prior analysis of what you can actually do to achieve the goal is necessary.

R – Realistic

In order to define relevant and realistic goals, you need to quantify the extent of your potential and those who are associated in the organization.

This refers to focusing on something that makes sense with the broader business goals, then to marketing goals and/or business strategies.

For example, if the goal is to launch a new product, it should be something that is in line with the overall business goals.

The project team might also be able to launch a new consumer product, but if the company is in B2B and does not plan to expand into the consumer market, the objective would not be relevant.

T – Time-bound

Anyone can set goals, but if realistic timing is missing, it is likely that the project will not achieve the goal successfully.

The key is to ask specific questions about when the goal is to be achieved and what can be achieved within a given time frame.

If the project spans a long period of time, it is beneficial to break it down into mini-goals or milestones. Providing time constraints thus creates a sense of urgency.

SMART objective system benefits

The concept of SMART objective setting performs well not only within business, but also in private life because it provides a clear framework for achieving objectives.

Here are the main advantages of SMART objectives:

Provide directions

Implementing SMART objectives, you get a clear business direction that can guide your team in making everyday decisions.

Help with planning

When you achieve success in setting SMART goals, you gain an advanced level of planning of project activities and everyday issues.

Faster results

SMART objectives help you carry out activities faster and with less strain because less time will be wasted on non-productive actions.

Motivational tool

Strong business objectives can become a tool to motivate team members. For example, if the goal is to increase sales, you can implement incentive programs related to achieving certain goals.

To recap everything in a very short and very meaningful sentence:

working without objectives is like sailing without a compass.

It’s like being on the vast open sea when you don’t know what to do, on what resources to count on, let alone the direction to take.

The same happens with organizational objectives: people, groups and systems need clear, structured and well-defined objectives.

The SMART formula is therefore a powerful tool that provides transparency, attention and motivation to achieve all the objectives.

SMART objectives are also easy to implement and do not require specific tools or training.

Some people believe that the SMART method isn’t suitable for long-term goals because it lacks flexibility, while others suggest that it may stifle creativity, but regardless of different points of view, specific and measured goals are the key to success.