My Twisted Brain

Last week, Rod Dunican spoke to our class about training project management.  I’ve had some formal and some informal training in Project Management, and what Rod had to say was spot on with what my experience has been.  I’ve seen many learning projects derailed due to scope creep, lack of communication with stakeholders, and unreasonable deadlines among other things.  These are all issues that proper Project Management can easily counter.

One thing that piqued my interest was Rod’s discussion about all jobs being project-based.  It’s true for the most part.  There are very few positions above entry-level jobs that are simply do-this-thing-over-and-over-rinse-repeat.  Even many entry level positions are now much more project-based than they used to be.  My wife works in aircraft ground maintenance while going to school.  Essentially, she get the aircraft ready to fly again after arrival.  Each aircraft is a new project for her.  She must communicate with the stakeholders (her scheduler, supervisor, and airline representatives), schedule out the work (cleaning, restocking, reporting completion), etc.  The position requires the same skills as, say, a meeting planner (although relative importance of those skills may vary).  A project manager, according to Rod, is both the grease and the glue.  They are responsible for lubricating the mechanism to keep things smooth, while simultaneously holding it all together.  They’re also the ringleader, keeping everyone jumping through the right hoops at the right times.

This is important to keep in mind in all positions, but is extremely important when designing training programs. A training program is often under several guns at once, being subject to cost constraints (”Training shouldn’t cost much.  After all, we’ve already written the manual, right?” - Typical corporate manager), time constraints (”We need this training ready for this Friday’s product release.  That shouldn’t be a problem should it?  That gives you three whole days!”), and quality constraints (”We need everyone to be able to operate the entire suite of software immediately.”).   It takes exquisite project management skills to pull these off, including explaining to stakeholders why they can’t have all three sides of the triangle in one shot.

Communication - The Key

Communication, I think, is the key to successful project management.  Without it, the most detailed planning falls on its face.  If the Project Manager cannot communicate schedules, priorities, and other important elements of a project to the project participants, no amount of planning will keep things on track.  In my opinion, based on quite a bit of experience, communication is the choke point of a successful project.

One thing that Rod commented on was that his experience with certified PMs is that they come in with their ideas about how things should be and are not fluid and flexible.  In order to be effective at communicating, flexibility is absolutely necessary.  Not all people communicate in the same way.  Flexibility allows a good project manager to communicate with all of the stakeholders in ways that are meaningful to them.  Training development teams may consist of Instructional Designers, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Web designers, the clients themselves, and others, all of whom have different communication styles and may have different goals and objectives.

Finally, keep in mind that communication is more than just talking and listening.  It includes writing style, how things are documented (communicating over a temporal barrier), even body language.  If you’ve got your system of managing a project going, but no one else can understand your system, your project is in jeopardy if you’re out for a day or a week.  Use the conventions as appropriate.  It’ll save your butt when someone else has to take over your job!  Regarding body language, you’re more likely to gain cooperation of other project participants if you project a cooperative, collaborative image yourself!  Spare the rod!  Don’t come off as a dictator.  Use your communication skills to gain a collaborative relationship with your participants.

Thanks Rod, for coming and sharing your perspectives on project management with the class.  It’s something that I think gets forgotten in many learning environments, and is something that we all as IDs should keep in mind!