Fear in the Organization

Queen Latifa once quoted “Fear can be good when you're walking past an alley at night or when you need to check the locks on your doors before you go to bed, but it's not good when you have a goal and you're fearful of obstacles. We often get trapped by our fears, but anyone who has had success has failed before”

Most of us have worked in an organization where your peers, direct reports, managers, directors, VPs, or even someone on the executive team displays some sort of fear.  Fear can be good in some cases as it highlights the need for a better risk management or a solid strategy before moving forward but in certain scenarios, having employees that live in fear, especially management is dangerous for the department and can be very harmful to the overall organization.  In my opinion, there are three reasons why fear exists in the organization and key decisions that you as an employee can make to handle the fear.

First is the fear of unknown.  This could be caused when employees think of ideas that are very “green” or otherwise known as original, brand new or have never been tried or tested.  Often these precedence setting events come with a lot of resistance due to the lack of knowledge that others have in the organization.  In my experience, this fear comes into fruition when people in the organization that hear these “green” ideas start immediately saying no or the word “but”. 

Second type of fear that is detrimental is the fear of change.  Let’s face it, we are creatures of habit and we like stability.  An article from HR Focus highlights 50% of quality improvement programs and 30% of process reengineering efforts are unsuccessful due to lack of change management.   When new ideas or a different way of managing a problem comes into light, it often triggers a fear in people.  This is especially true when the change involves a re-organization, mergers and acquisition, new enterprise resource planning applications like Oracle or SAP get introduced.  Questions start arising such as, “Am I going to lose my job?”,   “How will this impact my current day to day?”,  “Who will be my new management?”,  or “Do I have the skills to do my job?”  These questions start generating fear which creates a brick wall in some individuals.  A great example is when I was a business analyst 9 years ago and was introduced a process that took an individual hours and sometimes days to reconcile.  I found a way to automate the process and was really excited to share it with the individual.  Rather than welcoming me with open arms and sharing my same enthusiasm, the first comment that came out of her mouth was “Why are you automating my process?  I had a system down in handling this.  Now I’m probably going to get replaced”.  I’ve noticed this attitude with some of the tenure employees in the organization and it is a fear of being replaced or letting go before retirement that exuberates the fear of change.

The third type of fear in my opinion is the worst of all, which is the fear of perception.  “How is this going to make me look?”  It is less about the organization and more about “me” as an individual.  An example that made me really think about this type of fear is when I shared an idea about a use of a particular technology.  As an employee of an organization, I believe it is our job to bring best practices or new technology to the right individuals that can evaluate and provide support.  When I met with my superior to share an article that I read and how we can leverage the technology in our organization to our benefit, the immediate reaction was NO.  Few weeks passed and another manager approached me about this particular technology.  I shared my findings and my opinions.  This manager decided to take action and found a way to fund this project.  This information came back to the individual that I had originally discussed and he was not happy.  He had a conversation with me and started stating:  “This is making me look bad.  Why did you share your thoughts…I now have to pretend to support it”.    These comments made me feel that this individual was basing his decision out of fear – fear of how he is looking to the organization.

As an employee, when you face fear of the unknown, fear of change, or fear of perception, you can handle it in a few ways.  First, Educate!!!  Educate your direct reports, indirect reports, peers, management, and etc.  Find creative ways to educate such as email, face to face, or internal social media.  Second, communicate to the people that will be directly or indirectly impacted.  The more they know, the more people are likely to understand the impact.  Third, practice great listening skills.  One of my favorite authors Stephen Covey wrote, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.  If we don’t embrace change or find creative ways to bring people along to embrace the change, we will become like an “egg” described in the quote from CS Lewis.  “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

List of Free PMP Prep Exams Online

I believe in the importance of taking practice tests in order for you to be successful in your PMP exam.  I have written a blog on how to get PMP certified in two weeks – which provides additional tips/tricks on how to prepare for the exam:  http://www.sovbob.com/pmpcertifiedtwoweeks

Below are sites that promote free PMP Prep Exams online.  I did a basic search and documented the top 15 sites.  Hopefully this will help with your PMP Prep Exam and give you a one-stop for most links. (I am not endorsing any of the below sites.  These are merely tools for you to refer as you prepare for the exam):

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions.htm

Click here to view the rest of the links:  http://www.sovbob.com/freepmpprepexams

People Skills for Project Leaders and Team

Art Pittman gave a chapter meeting discussion on people skills for project leaders. Here are some take-aways that I noted:

Dirty little secret of project management: It is all about the people

DAC (remember I blogged about this in my last post)
- D: Direction (Vision)
- A: Alignment (Get the resources)
- C: Commitment (Team)

Emotional Intelligence
- Self-Perception - Awareness
- Self - Expression - How you assert
- Interpersonal - empathy
- Decision Making
- Stress Management

Great Quote:

"People are emotional first and rational second: Logic makes people think; emotions make people act"

What makes a best team
- Well-oiled machine
- Know your purpose and role
- Everyone work together.
- Everyone knew what was happening - picked up for each other
- project has good leadership
- great support from top

What makes a worst team
- No idea of the project goal
- Out of focus
- Each individual has their own agenda
- Illusion that the team is strong - but the team is "tangled"

Top Team Skills
- Contributors
- Communication
- Understanding of a common goal
- Diversity
- Commitment from team members/leadership
- Cross-functional synergy
- Trust
- Collaboration
- Accountability
- Flexibility - Learn/Adapt
- Leadership
- Positive Attitude

"Cost of trust doubles the cost of business"

Sincere apology
- Sincere
- Intentional
- No excuses
- Consequences
- Empathy
- Retribution (What Ill do going forward)
- Expect - may need some time

Giving Feedback
SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact)

It was a great session. For additional information, go to pmitriadnc.org


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One on One with Art Pittman

I had a privilege to interview one of my friends, Art Pittman, to discuss the topic he will be presenting during the April chapter meeting for Piedmont Triad PMI.  Art and I met last year at a PMI meeting and found out that we both are passionate about growing/implementing Agile at the workplace. 

Art is a Leadership Coach and an Agile Consultant who specializes in leading, communicating, and connecting with people to support and improve individual and team performance. He capitalizes on creativity and innovation to help identify, define and develop simple solutions to complex problems.   He is Adjunct Staff at the Center for Creative Leadership and is a CCL-approved feedback coach and certified Organizational Workshop facilitator. He is certified on the CCL-proprietary 360-degree assessments, Workplace Big Five 4.0, and other psychometric assessment instruments. Art is also certified as a Professional Scrum Master. 

On Monday, April 8th, Art is going to have a super collaborative session on what makes up great project teams.  There will be an activity which everyone will have an opportunity to participate.  He will wrap up the session with the DAC model (You have to be there to know what the acronym stands for ).

For registration details - http://pmitriadnc.org/Events?eventId=642088&EventViewMode=EventDetails

 

Conquer your paper and digital clutter - Recap of PMI March Chapter Meeting

I attended a much needed session hosted by PMI March Chapter Meeting presented by Dr. Merchant on conquering your paper and digital clutter. Here are some great tips:
The RAFT concept for paper management:
- Read - piling your paper on items you need to read
- Action - paper that needs action (either a phone call, fill out a form, action via computer)
- File - papers need to be filed
- Toss - trash papers that are not needed
Ways to sabotage your day:
- Check email first thing
- Surfing the net
- Multi-Tasking
- Bad attitude - predicting negative consequence
Keep IRS related information at least for 3 years.
For next month's session, make sure you register at: www.pmitriadnc.org
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Lesson from my mother - Education is key to success

My mom has been a great role model for me all my life. I love her strong work ethic, dedication to family, and her family management skills. The one thing that mom regrets is not going further in education.

My mom was born and raised in India. In the 60s/70s, educating women was not really a priority. The assumption was you graduate high-school, get married, have kids, and take care of family. My mom graduated high school but the concept of higher education didn't exist.

Now looking back, she wishes that she had taken school more seriously. Rather than studying music, she should have focused in business/accounting - concepts that would have helped in life. When our family moved to US in the 90s, the only job mom could do is blue collar.

As I was growing up, she stressed the importance of education and not just stopping with bachelors but pursuing higher. She didn't want us to make the same mistakes.

Education is very important. Jobs are requiring a minimum of bachelors. If you want to move up to management, it is preferred to have a Master degrees. I typically do something each year in terms of education. I may pursue a certification, learn a new technical or Project management skill, or focus on an area of a soft skill.

If you keep your skills updated, the fear of losing job is eliminated. It also gives you confidence to try new roles.









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PM Topic: Importance of Stakeholder Management - They can make or break your project

Stakeholder Management used to fall into the communication knowledge area in PMBOK.  Because of its importance, there is now a separate knowledge area dedicated to Stakeholder Management in PMBOK 5.  For PMs, it is important to know your stakeholders, understand the power they hold, and find ways to keep them satisfied and informed on project progress.  If you are not satisfying or managing stakeholders effectively, it can create major issues in the project. 

I've encounter situations where project goals collide with departments and I end up getting involved spending numerous hours resolving issues.  There are times, when issues arise due to some stakeholders not being adequately involved or the feeling that they should have been involved but weren't - This can create lots of complications and can negatively impact the project.  I've been involved in projects where ineffective stakeholder management has created project delays, increased scope, or canceled projects.

There are three key things that I remember to ensure stakeholders are managed effectively:

• Ensure you have all the key players - Understanding the project scope and identifying positive and negative dependencies early will ensure you have a complete stakeholder registry - You lessen the risk of last minute surprises.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate - Find ways to deliver the message by using multiple channels.  Don't just depend on e-mails or meetings - If you are launching a new product - invite them to your sprint reviews or product checkpoints.  Have engaging meetings - where stakeholders participate and provide feedback.  
• Understand your escalation path - Know your escalation path and keep them informed regularly on the project.  If a situation gets out of control, they can help remove obstacles so you can keep the project moving.

For more information about stakeholder management, please review Stakeholder Management in PMBOK.  Also, I found the below link helpful.  It is a great introduction of the 4 areas within Stakeholder Management in PMBOK:  http://www.pmhut.com/pmbok-5-boosts-stakeholder-management

One on One with Chris Wright

I had an opportunity to speak with Chris Wright to get a sneak peek into what our PMI chapter can expect on Monday, January 14th. Chris Wright is the founder and President of Tanden, which is a project management, leadership development, and professional training company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. His organization provides a wide variety of project leadership training and seminars, management and leadership development, and PMO consulting and portfolio management. Before Tanden, Chris was a project and program manager in the telecommunication and wireless space. He was part of the project to implement cameras in phones, which was first of its kind in 2003 – pretty cool!!!


The topic for Monday is on communicating the value of project management up the chain of command. He will be providing techniques that help us project managers educate the value and benefits of project management to senior management. When speaking with Chris and about this topic, he stressed that we as project managers often focus on a science of project management. What gets overlooked is the art of project management. “Projects are delivered by people – not delivered by templates or forms or tools. Tools support the delivery – but we often overlook the leadership side.”

One of the techniques about communicating up to senior management is the kingdom example, which he will detail out on Monday along with other examples. King is the upper management and they are accountable for different counties. He is going to share how project management can be used for the collective good for the “king”.

If you haven’t register – you don’t want to miss this meeting: http://pmitriadnc.org/Events?eventId=573597&EventViewMode=EventDetails

Reflection: Lessons Learned vs. Retrospective – Which one will you implement?

Throughout my career, I’ve managed several projects and one of the final project rituals which is a must do is the notion of lessons learned.  Earlier in my career, I decided that I would make lessons learned part of a weekly status reporting exercise.  I’m not a fan of doing lessons learned at the end of the project and logging it to a repository which no one will use or look.  

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about a notion of lessons learned – Are they really valuable?  Whether you do it at the end of a project or throughout, do we get the right lessons and is it agreeable with the whole team?  Here is a typical lessons learned exercise:

• Project manager holds an hour meeting at the end of the project to discuss lessons learned
• The team discusses what went well and what needs to be improved 
• Project manager logs lessons learned in a log
• The document gets filed in a repository

If you look at the above steps – how do you know if the entire team was engaged or whether the lessons learned will be reviewed by a subsequent project team?  These exercises are typically great for extroverts like me – Love to talk and love to throw suggestions – but what about the rest of the team?  

In the Agile world, Scrum introduces a retrospective ritual which is conducted at the end of the sprint.  During retrospective, the team provides feedback on the sprint and the process.  A way that our coach has trained us is by following the below framework:

• Give sticky notes to each team
• Scrum master places the following categories on a white board:  Went Well, Went Bad, One-Time Occurrences
• When the team places the sticky on the board, they make sure their statement is unique and not a duplicate
• At the end of 10 minutes, scrum master asks the team to vote by placing a dot on the sticky.  Each person will have 3 voting dots per category
• Scrum Master discusses with team their three highest vote item per category and documents the results
• Next – Scrum master places the following categories on the board:  Start, Stop, and Continue 
• The process of writing, voting, reviewing, and documenting occurs as previous
• At the end of the retrospective, the team makes the commitment to work on the highest vote and the document gets posted to a place where it is visible to the team

Sounds simple – Tools that are used are white board, sticky notes, and markers.  I have several introverts in the group and I see them engaged throughout the process.  There are two main things that allow this process to be effective:

•  Reflection vs. Brainstorming – Each team member is empowered to write their thoughts on the categories.  Since this is a reflection exercise and not brainstorming, the fear is eliminated of talking to group on your thoughts.  It eliminates the feeling that you are being judged or getting cut-off.
• Voting – The only items that are discussed are ones that have the highest votes.  This allows the group to focus and discuss items that are most important.  This process engages all personality types and doesn’t get overshadowed by the extroverts or the one that has a lot to say at all times. 

I’m sold on the notion of retrospectives – whether I run a project via traditional waterfall or agile, in order to get “lessons learned”, the retrospective framework provides the tools and techniques to effectively get team’s thoughts on how the project or sprint is going and what practices should start, stop, or continue.

Top Gun Project Managers

Richard Morreale, our June PMI Triad guest speaker, discussed with our group on what it takes to be on the top of the PM profession.  Here is a recap:

·         Most projects fail due to costs, schedule, expectations, and positive experience
·         Reasons for project failure

o   Lack of agreed requirements

o   Users/business unit are not co-located

o   Lack of proper planning

o   Poor change control – Too bureaucratic

o   Inadequate cost control

o   No agreed process

o   Poor communication

o   Lack of focus

o   Lack of commitment

This was a really interesting point:  In the late 1970s/early 80s showed a project failure rate of 70%.  Companies spent millions on project management methodology, tools and technology, project planning and control, reporting, cost and schedule maintenance, risk and issue management, project metrics, and quality assurance.  In year 2000, the statistic of project failure rate was still at 70%. 

After spending so much money on training and tools, why were projects failing?  What does it take to allow projects not to fail?  Here is a laundry list of each PM to evaluate against.  If you are lacking in any of these areas – develop a personal development plan to work on improving:

·         Hard Skills – Only 20%! – What we learned when we got our PMP certification
·         Soft Skills:

o   Enthusiasm

o   Energy

o   Commitment to excellence and success

o   Passion

o   Positive Attitude

o   Approachable

o   Go the extra mile

o   Get it done attitude

o   A “no problem” person

o   Motivator

o   Communicator

o   Interpersonal skills

Richard ended his presentation with an idea of a PM to be a master of paradox.  For example – Have the ability to be a visionary but know when to go into details.  Another example is the ability to be both a manager and a leader. 

To learn more about Richard Morreale - go to http://www.richardmorreale.com/

Saag Paneer Automation

As I was preparing a meal for my family - Saag Paneer, I thought about automating my cooking process to see if I can shorten the cooking time. Typically, the dish takes one hour. After using tools such as food processor and multi-tasking by making chapatis on side, my cooking process that takes over an hour turned to be 20 mins. I was excited that I saved 40 mins by automating simple tasks. The best thing - the dish was amazingly yummy!!! At work, often times, we do things the same way everyday. We get stuck in a rut because it is comfortable and safe. If we would take few minutes and seek alternative ways, we may save those "minutes". Thinking creatively and finding ways to get the job done faster makes us very effective. It also makes us available to take on work that can be challenging. In a competitive market place, people that can think quick on their feet and work effectively survive. The next time we are doing tasks, challenge yourself to think creatively. You may surprise yourself.

One on One with Richard Morreale - Author of Top Gun Project Managers

I had an opportunity to speak with Richard Morreale to get a sneak peek into what our PMI chapter can expect on Monday, June 11th. I was astonished when I heard about his experiences. Here is a brief bullet list:


• Worked for the Apollo Spaceship program – started out as a messenger

• Worked for Computer Sciences Corporation – started out managing small projects then ended up working on projects for the Army and Navy

• Spent roughly 10 years in Europe – working for England Revenue Services (really cool!)

• Developed CSC – UK’s first project management group

• Opened a project management consultancy group in UK

• Written several articles and books on project management such as Killer ideas for delivering successful projects and Top Gun Project Managers.

The chapter meeting is going to be on “Top Gun Project Managers” – What it takes to reach the top of the Project Management Profession. Richard will be discussing with us 8 strategies that each PMs should follow, how to become a master of paradox, and soft skills needed to be successful. He is a firm believer of a success equation that 20% of what we have learned is in the PMBOK and the other 80% is our attitude, behavior, and how we treat people.



If you haven’t register – you don’t want to miss this meeting:

http://www.pmitriadnc.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1093816&eventId=494682&EventViewMode=EventDetails

To learn more about our speaker Richard Morreale:

http://www.richardmorreale.com/

Networking for Mutual Benefit - Takeaways

Networking for Mutual Benefit – Takeaways

You know it is a great meeting when after the meeting, people stayed back to talk to each other. Here are some takeaways to share:

Must Read Books:

• Never Eat Alone

• How to Win Friends and Influence People

What is Networking?

Teddy Burriss’s motto – “Networking is finding, developing, and nurturing relationships that mutually move people forward thru life”

• Not just for job search

• It is all about building relationships

• If you are not building relationships – you will not be successful

• It is a successful way to build business, find new job, help others

How to Network?

• You can’t ASK until you have developed a relationship

• Key to networking – making it all about the other person

• Meet people that are different so that you can learn new ideas, solutions, and possibilities

• Try to meet someone new daily

• In real life conversations are best form of networking

• Leverage social media to connect with people

• Connect with your weak ties periodically – people in the past you have had a relationship with that you haven’t contacted in a while

Principles of how to win friends and influence others

Teddy went over 9 critical – When I googled the principles, I liked all of them. I’ve copied the principles from the below website: http://www.westegg.com/unmaintained/carnegie/win-friends.html#one

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.

2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.

3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Six ways to make people like you

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.

2. Smile.

3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.

6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Win people to your way of thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."

3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

4. Begin in a friendly way.

5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.

6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.

7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.

8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.

9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.

10. Appeal to the nobler motives.

11. Dramatize your ideas.

12. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.

2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.

3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.

5. Let the other person save face.

6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."

7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.

8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Negotiating with a Car Salesman - Lessons Learned

Valuable Lessons Learned – Negotiating with a Car Salesman

People often tell me that I’m a hard core negotiator…I often get sought out to give advice on apartment rentals, house buying, or salary negotiations. One of my buddies recently took me to negotiate a deal for a car purchase. I learned something this weekend – How to be prepared to negotiate with a car salesmen. Here are some valuable lessons learned from this weekend –

Listening

o It was very important to listen to the salesman. As he talked, I knew that a sale for him was crucial as he needed to make his numbers and it was the end of the month.

o He also mentioned that they sell on average 10 cars a month. Since the next business day was the last day of the month, their chance of selling a new car was 33% - very low if you need to make your targets.

o My car salesman, while talking to his manager, repeatedly mentioned that this sale would go towards end of month numbers. He really had a sense of urgency to make the deal.

BATNA

o My negotiating class taught me the importance of BATNA – Best alternative to a negotiated agreement. Thank You Bill Davis and Wake Forest!!!!

o I had a strong BATNA vs. the car salesman – I was in no rush of purchasing a car and I was interested in other brands. My best alternative would have been either to wait or go to another dealership. On the other hand, my car salesman, he was 1 car away from making the numbers.

Walk-away Point

o I’m not really a car person – I’m pretty shallow when it comes to cars…do they look pretty; is it easy to maintain; can I show it off to my friends. When I walked into the dealership, I didn’t know what car or model I wanted to purchase but I knew my walk-away point.

Don’t Finish Negotiation on the Same Day

o At the end of the negotiation, I took the offer and went home to sleep on it. I also felt it makes the other party nervous – will she take the car or not.

o I also knew I may have a little more wiggle room to negotiate when I got an email after 10 minutes from the dealership opening time.

Be Fair

o In India, there is a saying that good deals are often when both parties feel happy. If one side feels slighted, in the long term, the deal will somehow get sour. I did enough research to know what was fair for both me and the salesman. I made sure my end amount was good to make both parties happy.



One on One with Teddy Burriss

It was a hot sunny day when I entered Starbucks on Wednesday March 21st. As I was contemplating what I will order when I get to Starbucks, my diet told me no fufu drinks, stick with green tea but my body told me Caffeine!!! I was also anxious to meet Teddy Burriss, who will be speaking at NC PMI Triad’s April chapter meeting on networking. I found out about Teddy from a friend couple of months ago and I instantly followed him on Twitter. I really enjoyed his tweets and especially his blog, “Are you listening to me.”

After I ordered by soy latte (yes..I cheated), I sat down to have a one on one conversation with Teddy. My first question was –Do you work??? I see Teddy post on twitter all day long and checking in at various places around Triad using four square – I really was curious as to how he was able to make a career out of networking and leveraging social media. Here are some highlights of our discussion:

In my long life of 29 years :), I’ve had an opportunity to network with a lot of people. I have good radar when it comes to a fake networker – who is sparking a conversation because they need something from you. I also know when someone is truly genuine. Teddy is all about finding, developing, and nurturing relationships. At our April chapter meeting, he will go over why it is critical to give before you ask when it comes to networking and the power of the statement: “How can I help?”

Teddy has a very interesting background. I knew I liked him when I found out he comes from a technology background (Sometimes us tech geeks have to stick together). Seven years ago, he was working for an organization selling technology. He was asked to make cold calls – Teddy’s answer – there is a better way. He found Linked In in 2007 and enjoyed connecting with various people. He left his job and pursued his passion of helping people. He teaches social media and assists any customer facing employees or business to leverage networking and social media to their advantage.

After meeting Teddy, I’m ecstatic about listening him discuss networking for mutual benefit. With having over 500+ connections on Linked In and over 700 followers on Twitter (which is very difficult as I only have about 60+), he has truly mastered the art of networking for mutual benefit. To register for NC PMI Triad's April Chapter meeting, please register here

One on One with Anthony Reed

Anthony Reed has over 30 years in project management and executive positions. His area of expertise is implementing multi-million dollar, international business applications. The business, IT, travel, and sports publications which have featured him include the PMI Today, Dallas Morning News, Runner’s World, Ebony, Southern Living, and the Journal of Accountancy. His latest book is Running to Leadership: What Finishing 100+ Marathons On All Seven Continents Teaches Us About Success. Anthony is one of about 300 people in the world who finished 26.2-mile marathons on all of the continents, including Antarctica. Anthony shows how he fuses marathon risk taking and endurance with project management strategies to motivate global teams through difficult projects. I had an opportunity to speak with Anthony Reed last week about his background and what will we expect at our March meeting and seminar. Click here to read more about Anthony Reed

Agile - Are you falling into empty ritual syndrome?

My first blog entry of 2012. Received inspiration to write this blog from the PMI Region 5 Leaderhsip Conference.


Daily Stand-up Meetings

“Sprint” sessions

Task Boards

If you work for an organization or department that believes Agile is all about daily standup meetings, having sticky notes all over the board when gathering data, or doing development in sprints, then you are not alone my friend. How do we convince our senior leadership that Agile is a mind-set not just a latest trend in software development? How do we start living by Agile principles rather than performing two to three rituals? In my experience, the main reasons we fall into empty ritual syndrome are the following:

Lack of training on Agile
How many of us have gone to a PMI event and have tried techniques presented by the speaker? Many of us fall into traps where we listen to great lectures and try other’s best practices without putting the brain power of understanding the fundamentals. We are so anxious to try a technique; we fail to understand the true purpose.

Pretenders/Wannabes
Many of us enjoy certain aspects of Agile like daily stand-ups because they make us feel that we are doing something “agile”. Some are pretenders and perform these rituals to please senior management. Agile Manifesto, , contains four core values that is key to embrace for every agile practitioner
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

If you follow a few of the core values, then you fall into a trap of doing some of the rituals and will not get the benefit of following agile.

Implementing Rituals that are not “empty”
I’m very new to Agile and ways that I’ve tried to learn the methodology is go to PMI events related to Agile. I’m also attending free webinars at to understand the philosophy behind Agile. I love trying new ideas and implementing new strategies at the work place. Before implementing a “ritual”, I’m asking myself – What is the purpose and how will my organization benefit from the ritual?

How to Get PMP Certified in Two Weeks

I received my Project Management Professional Certification in January, 2011.  I’ve been asked by several people on my strategy as I only had two-weeks to study before my exam date.  Here was my strategy.  Please note this may not work with everyone. 

PMP Exam Prep Strategy

Tools:  PMBOK 4^th edition, Crosswind PMP Exam Success Series:  Bootcamp Manual

• Before doing any studying, I took the 200 question assessment that was provided by Crosswind CD (back of the book).  The assessment showed process groups that I needed to improve. 
• I started studying each of the process groups, taking the practice test along with the CD assessment for that process group.   I focused heavily on process groups that I scored low based on the initial assessment. 

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Dean Reinemund speaks on his military experience

On April 21, 2011, at the Customer Service Center for Pepsi Beverages Company, we had an opportunity to invite Dean Reinemund as a key note speaker for the newest Employee Resource Group, VALOR.  VALOR is an employee led group that recognizes, appreciates and supports PepsiCo’s veterans, military members, their families, and the communities in which they live and work. 

Dean shared various stories and his learnings from his military experience.  He served 9 years in the military, in which 4 were in the Naval academy and 5 in the Marines.  In his discussion, he covered four main areas on how the military has helped him succeed:

• Military introduced the principal of servant leadership
• Helped defined a moral compass
• Allowed him to see the role and the criticalness of culture
• Allowed him to see a difference between training and education

 Below are the highlights from the discussion:

Servant Leadership

            A great leader is one that shares the notion of service to others.  In his military experience, leaders always eat last.  It is critical to take care or serve others first.  He gave a story of a platoon leader.  The platoon team that wins is when the leader of the group cares for the team.  

Moral Compass

            A difference between great vs. ineffective leaders is the notion of having a good moral compass.  Dean shared his moral compass in which faith is at the core with family, friends, and country being surrounded by the core. 

Role of Power

            Power is a two edge sword.  Leaders that use power for good leads to greatness while the opposite leads to devastation.   Dean reminded us to stand up for what is right and not to go along with leaders that abuse powers out of loyalty and fear. 

Role of Diversity

            Military was one of the first institutions that were the most diverse.  Everyone was at a level playing field.  It taught Dean the importance of diversity and how it is crucial to success in the organization.  

Pamela Culpepper - SVP of Global Diversity and Inclusion for Pepsico speaks on diversity and inclusion topics

On March 18^th 2011, we celebrated Women’s month at the Customer Service Center for Pepsi Beverages Company and invited Pamela Culpepper, Senior Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion officer of PepsiCo to speak to our organization around diversity and inclusion.  The conversation was around answering key questions on three topics:

·        Career Advancement

·        Lessons Learned

·        Work Life Balance

What is the secret to getting promoted?

Pamela introduced the P.I.E model as the secret to getting promoted – Performance, Image, and Exposure. 

• Performance is the price of entry.  It impacts trust and demonstrates you have the ability to go to the next level.  It is important that you are open to feedback - obtain guidance and direction from others.  A key litmus test is to compare your performance to others and then ask others to rate you. 
• Image is not only how you appear to others but it is also the ability to portray yourself in words.  Don’t fall into the trap of your work speaks for yourself.  Communicate what you have accomplished clearly and concisely so that other senior leaders are not interpreting your effort.  Another dimension of communication is non-verbal – ensure your intended messages are complimentary with your non-verbal cues such as tone and body language.
• Exposure – Once you have proven yourself with performance and have the image that you are promotable, next step is to surround yourself with influential sponsors in the organization that will sell you to the rest of the organization. 

When using the P.I.E methodology, key factor to understand is Exposure makes up the largest percentage – 60% and Performance is only 10%.  The only way you can enter the pool of potential candidates is through strong performance.  Once you are viewed as a strong performer, it is crucial to focus on Image (30%) and getting the right visibility.  As a leader, this is where you can develop skills such as delegation and empowerment – training and allowing others to do your job. 

What are Pamela’s lessons learned?

Pamela provided great insights of what she has learned throughout that has made her successful in her journey.  She labeled these as developmental career nuggets.    

• Know what is important to your organization
• Know your limitations – Major in self awareness
• Make it easy for others to give you feedback
• Create a climate of trust around you
• Learn how to deal with 1^st times
• Be an early adopter of change
• Be consistent and predictable when it comes to deliverables

You have a family – How do you balance?

• Balance is in the eye of the beholder
• Spouses (for women) may need to be subjective to new titles – trailing spouses, stay at home dad
• Quality over quantity related to time

When you hear a great speaker, such as Pam Culpepper, that excites you about making a change, it is important that you reflect and create action plans.  As a minority female, one of the points that hit the heart was the P.I.E allocation.  I’ve always focused solely on performance and not worried about other factors, especially image.  Image makes up 30% - which is a crucial ingredient to be successful.  In addition, as part of the millennial generation, it is essential to minimize distractions.  Our generation has a different outlook in terms of image and communication.  More than ever, organizations are seeking to adapt in order to attract and retain the Gen Y workforce.  If you have joined an organization that is slow to accepting Gen Y idiosyncrasies, minimizing distractions – such as personal appearance and tailoring your communication style – will go a long way.  Not every organization is going to be like Zappos – where there are parades, beer carts on special occasions, and you can wear flip flops.