In the past few weeks, we have looked at the relationships of a project manager with the project sponsor, the project team, and other key stakeholders. In working with all of these stakeholders, it can become easy to neglect our own well-being. We tend to stretch ourselves thin and try to work extra hard to keep up with all of the demands.

While this may work in the short term, this cannot be sustained in the long term. After a while, you will experience the law of diminishing returns for the work you perform. As a project manager, you are also a key stakeholder in the success of your projects.

Taking steps to take control of your time and your well-being will go a long way to increased happiness and improved performance.

A few ways to take care of yourself include:

Find time to plan your day: It is easy for the day to quickly get away from us with urgent requests and other fire drills. Taking the time to plan out your day will help keep you on task. Some people will take time at the end of the day to review their tasks and calendar and identify what they want to work on the following day. Others will start early in the morning before most people arrive to work to plan for the day. Prioritize the tasks to identify the most important work that needs to be completed to meet your goals. Inevitably, unexpected things will come up during the day, but keeping your highest priorities in mind will help to keep you focused on the key tasks you need to complete.

Learn to say “no” and push back when necessary: Most people aren’t afraid to push back and you shouldn’t be either. You can’t do it all. If you are asked to do something that does not move you closer to your goals, consider if it is worth doing. In most cases, the answer will be “no”. Also, consider meetings that you are invited to. Ask yourself if you are needed at that meeting. If not, decline the invitation. Be polite, but firm. Most people will understand.

Find time to take a break: We are expected to do so much, it can be hard to find time to take a break during the day, at lunch time, or even after hours. We have the feeling that we have to be available 24 x 7. Working too much can tire us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Taking a break gives us time to get re-energized, making us sharper and more productive. Get away for a little time may help us look at problems and issues more clearly and enable us to identify solutions. Find time during the day to take a short break, which could be taking a walk to clear your mind. At lunch, avoid eating at your desk. Occasionally, meet up with a friend for lunch and talk about something other than work. Some people will take their lunch hour to exercise. After work, try to disconnect and address your personal needs, whether its exercise, your hobbies, or spending time with family and friends. Also, make sure to get adequate sleep. Creating some separation from work will help you to come back the next day more energized and better prepared to take on the challenges of the day.

In the end, if you do not address your well-being, who will? There will be days when certain urgencies will need to be addressed and you may lose control of the day. Avoid making this a daily occurrence, where you will eventually find yourself adrift and move way from your goals and what is most important to you. Taking care of yourself will not only be a benefit to you, but also to the people around you.

In the past few weeks, we have looked at the project manager’s relationships with the sponsor and project team. There are many other stakeholders to also consider when managing a project.

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a stakeholder is “an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project”. Stakeholders can be either internal or external to the organization. Usually, projects involved some form of change and these changes will be perceived positively by some or negatively by others.

Internal stakeholders are people within your organization whose jobs will be either impacted during or after the project. Departments that are required to provide resources and support during the project are impacted with additional work that may conflict with their regular responsibilities as well as other projects they are supporting. Other internal stakeholders may see their jobs change as the result of the project, either in the way their work is performed, introducing new work or through eliminating certain work. This may lead to new opportunities for some, but may also involve assuming new responsibilities, retraining, or reductions to current staff. This can lead to uncertainty and anxiety.

External stakeholders may include customers, vendors, other business partners, as well as government or regulatory agencies. Customers may be impacted by the introduction of a new product, changes to an existing product, or the replacement of an existing product. For some customers, new products may be welcome. For other customers, changes to or the elimination of current products may cause inconveniences. This can lead to customer dissatisfaction or the loss of business. Vendors may be involved as part of the project providing products, services, and/or consulting. Government or regulatory agencies may be involved where laws or regulations need to be followed or new procedures implemented. In these cases, the work may be mandatory and involve set deadlines.

Whether the project has a positive or negative impact on the stakeholder, it will lead stakeholders to either support the project or offer resistance. Project managers need to be sensitive to these impacts.

In constructing a plan to manage project stakeholders, start by identifying the key stakeholders. Determine their interest in the project, and if they will be positively or negatively impacted by the project. Also, determine their level of influence.

For stakeholders who will be positively impacted, recruit them to be project champions to promote the positive impact of the project to the organization and its customers. The project sponsor is also a project champion that can be a key influencer. To get buy-in from people, they will need to understand the benefits and the positive impacts to them.

For those who may offer resistance to the project, meet with these stakeholders and listen to their concerns. Be empathetic to their concerns. In some cases, these discussions can uncover risks or issues that had not been previously considered. In other cases, their concerns are caused by the uncertainty of the changes that will be taking place. Understanding these concerns will help you as the project manager to address these concerns.

Developing a communications plan will help to keep stakeholders informed. Communicate as frequently as you can and share as much as you can (things that are not considered sensitive or confidential). Frequent and open communications can help to build trust and to get stakeholders on board.

To reduce uncertainty and anxiety among stakeholders, provide additional information, training, and tools to help them prepare for the changes.

In working with groups who will be supporting the project efforts, review their priorities with them and work to resolve scheduling and resources conflicts as early as possible. Addressing this as early as possible will make it easier to make adjustment. Being sensitive to their other priorities will improve their engagement and commitment to the project.

Resistance can create many problems for the project manager. These problems can include project delays, cost overruns, and poor user or customer adoption. Getting in front of any resistance as early as you can help to move the project to a successful completion.

Last week, we looked the importance of the project sponsor relationship. This week, we look at the project team.

PMI defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.” Two key words in this definition are “temporary” and “unique”. Due to this, project managers are presented with distinctive challenges with each project they manage, as each project includes a different mix of team members.

A new project team is usually assembled for each project. These teams consist mainly of people:

• Working part-time on the project in addition to their regular work and perhaps other projects.
• Representing different departments across the organization.
• Working in cross-functional roles.
• Geographically dispersed across several locations and, in many cases, across the globe.
• Working within and outside of the organization.

This can create unique team dynamics which include:

• Team members who report to different managers.
• Team members having conflicting and competing priorities.
• Team members who may not have experience working together.
• Teams perhaps experiencing cultural differences.

As a Project Manager, you will have to work through these dynamics. Some keys to success for managing your project team include:

Open and Honest Communications

It is important to communicate the objectives of the project and the expectations of the team. This needs to be communicated to the team as well as to the reporting managers of the team members. Given the dynamics of the team, it is important to address issues as soon as possible and to be open in how you communicate with your team. Gaining the trust of your team will be very important to gain their buy-in and their cooperation.

Clear Understanding of Roles and Responsibilities

As project manager, make sure that each team member understands their roles and responsibilities and how each person fits into the overall project team. Again, it is also important that there is clear understanding with the reporting managers of the team members. This will help to reduce misunderstandings and conflict.

Engage in Team Building

Each project team has a unique mix of team members and each team needs to through its forming, storming, and norming to become an effective team. Team members will also need to build trust among themselves as they will be dependent on one another.

Hold Regular Meetings

To ensure that the project is moving forward and issues are addressed in a timely fashion, regular team meetings need to be held. In many cases, weekly meetings will suffice. These meetings are also an opportunity for continued team building.

In managing the dynamics of the project team, having a strong relationship with the project sponsor will help to gain support for the project. It will also help in resolving issues that may arise where conflicting and competing priorities cause team members to miss certain deliverable dates, which can cause schedule slippage or cost overruns. If a project manager cannot resolve these issues with the reporting manager, the sponsor may be able to intervene and work with the managers to come up with a solution to keep the project on schedule or adjust the schedule as needed.

In the past, I have been asked what I felt was the biggest key is to the success of a project. There are many possible answers: delivering the project on time, staying within the budget, meeting the customer needs, amongst others. While all of these are important, none of this is possible without support of the people around you.

In looking at the people side of project management, I have found 4 key constituents to consider when managing a project:

1. Project Sponsor
2. Project Team
3. Other Stakeholders
4. You – The Project Manager (YES, You)

This week we will look at the relationship of project manager and the sponsor, the key stakeholder for the project providing executive support. Typically, the sponsor provides the funding for the project and has the greatest stake in the project’s success. They will also be the main champion of the project.

Projects with a sponsor at the highest levels of the organization tend to be most successful. As projects are usually cross-organizational, a high-level sponsor will have more influence across the organization and will garner more support. Sponsors in mid-level management will find it more difficult to get support from other groups which may have other conflicting priorities.

The sponsor can also serve as an escalation point when there are issues that require a higher level resolution especially across different departments. A high-level sponsor will be better able to consider cross-organizational issues and identify a resolution in the best interest of the organization.

It is also important for the project manager to have direct contact with the Sponsor. This will help the project manager to better understand the objectives and concerns of the sponsor and for the sponsor to get information on the project directly from the project manager, who is ultimately responsible for the day-to-day activities of the project. In larger organizations, the project manager may be several levels removed from the sponsor. This can lead to additional layers of communications between the sponsor and the project manager, which can water down the communications between the two. In these organizations, strong communications can be even more important.

The project manager should schedule regular meetings with the sponsor to provide updates and to address questions and concerns that the sponsor may have as well as identify any changes that may impact the project. Depending on the project, these meetings can be monthly, semi-monthly, or quarterly. In some instances, more frequent meetings may be necessary.

In these meetings, it is important to be forthcoming and honest with updates to the sponsor. Provide the sponsor with the information they need to know, not just what they want to hear. If there is a risk or issue that may adversely impact the project, the sooner it is addressed with the sponsor, the sooner it can be resolved.

In establishing a strong working relationship with the sponsor, the project manager will be in a better position to manage the project and gain support in working with the project team and other stakeholders.

Next week, we will look at project teams and the unique challenges that they present to the project manager.