Difference between revisions of "NewYork2008:Navigating internal politics and relationships"
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*In non-profit sector - degree of emotional involvement in the work is more intense than corporate work | *In non-profit sector - degree of emotional involvement in the work is more intense than corporate work | ||
*Establish formal & informal communication with stakeholders - customize to each stakeholder | *Establish formal & informal communication with stakeholders - customize to each stakeholder | ||
| − | + | *Understand what each stakeholder cares about (their concerns, emotional involvement) and manage the relationship with that in mind | |
| − | + | *People that don't understand technology and are concerned about costs - need extra explanations for simple technical/project needs | |
| − | + | *Having a decision maker that does not understand technology causes a lot of extra work | |
| − | + | *Trainings for decision makers on technology does not always work - hard to schedule and gain their interest | |
| − | + | *Forces PMs to think carefully about projects and what they are doing | |
| − | + | *Rephrasing things in layman's terms can help PMs fully understand the project/technology | |
| − | + | *Need to communicate the changes fully to decision makers so they care/are interested in trainings | |
| − | + | *Personal training sessions for technophobes help them understand technology the way they need to | |
| − | + | *Managers that "think" they know a lot about technology - challenging, annoying | |
| − | + | *Need to be able to make a case for the technology being requested (new, cool software needs a purpose) | |
| − | + | *Why? is always a useful question - why is it needed? what is the purpose? | |
| − | + | *Delegate right back to person who requests things - ask them to document what they want and often it won't happen | |
| − | + | *Who is going to maintain cool, new ideas in the organization? | |
| − | + | *How to have conversations about technology with people who are scared of it | |
| − | + | *Point to concrete outcomes - time saving, money saving, money making | |
| − | + | *Stress in dealing with anything technological | |
| − | + | *Lure people into participation with simple explanations and technical implementations | |
| − | + | *Strip things down to basic language - simple illustrations or metaphors - a picture is worth a thousand words | |
| − | + | *"Hot swapping is like working on a plane when its in flight" | |
| − | + | *Wanting more involvement from higher ups but not getting it | |
| − | + | *Iterative production for projects where there is not a lot of direction - expect changes | |
| − | + | *Don't become too wrapped up in the dysfunction and withdraw | |
| − | + | *Need to have a positive attitude or move on | |
| − | + | *"Planned vs. emerging projects" | |
| − | + | *Articulate costs so everyone understands the costs of random projects that come up | |
| − | + | *Pressure for web-based projects - everything needs to be web-based | |
| − | + | *Written organizational policy to include IT from the beginning to avoid too many emerging, high priority projects | |
| − | + | *Establish strong boundaries - give people rules to follow when working with you | |
| − | + | *"Become the constant buzz-kill" to people's last minute project ideas | |
| − | + | *Mixing formal and informal communication - email, meetings, and ad-hoc calls and chats all help do the job | |
| − | + | *Project Management is not a series of switches, its a series of dials - gentle adjustments | |
| − | + | *There are some people you have to circumvent | |
| − | + | *How to get everyone involved in an IT project - even if they're not interested | |
| − | + | *Feed them to get them involved in training/testing | |
| − | + | *Logmein.com - website with shared desktop tools to help train remote people | |
| − | + | *You may need to try different things to get them involved - face to face interaction | |
| − | + | *Find someone at the organization who knows how to work with some of the more difficult personalities | |
<br>*** IT is a great lens into what's wrong in the organization | <br>*** IT is a great lens into what's wrong in the organization | ||
<br>AH-HA's! | <br>AH-HA's! | ||
| − | + | *Educate end users to ease anxiety | |
| − | + | *A picture is worth a thousand words | |
| − | + | *Understand that you have to become the constant buzz kill to "emerging projects" | |
| − | + | *Project Management is not a series of switches, its a series of dials - gentle adjustments | |
Revision as of 18:47, 13 January 2016
Politics of Project Management facilitated by Mohammed
Managing relationships with people
Ambiguous authority
Empowerment
- In non-profit sector - degree of emotional involvement in the work is more intense than corporate work
- Establish formal & informal communication with stakeholders - customize to each stakeholder
- Understand what each stakeholder cares about (their concerns, emotional involvement) and manage the relationship with that in mind
- People that don't understand technology and are concerned about costs - need extra explanations for simple technical/project needs
- Having a decision maker that does not understand technology causes a lot of extra work
- Trainings for decision makers on technology does not always work - hard to schedule and gain their interest
- Forces PMs to think carefully about projects and what they are doing
- Rephrasing things in layman's terms can help PMs fully understand the project/technology
- Need to communicate the changes fully to decision makers so they care/are interested in trainings
- Personal training sessions for technophobes help them understand technology the way they need to
- Managers that "think" they know a lot about technology - challenging, annoying
- Need to be able to make a case for the technology being requested (new, cool software needs a purpose)
- Why? is always a useful question - why is it needed? what is the purpose?
- Delegate right back to person who requests things - ask them to document what they want and often it won't happen
- Who is going to maintain cool, new ideas in the organization?
- How to have conversations about technology with people who are scared of it
- Point to concrete outcomes - time saving, money saving, money making
- Stress in dealing with anything technological
- Lure people into participation with simple explanations and technical implementations
- Strip things down to basic language - simple illustrations or metaphors - a picture is worth a thousand words
- "Hot swapping is like working on a plane when its in flight"
- Wanting more involvement from higher ups but not getting it
- Iterative production for projects where there is not a lot of direction - expect changes
- Don't become too wrapped up in the dysfunction and withdraw
- Need to have a positive attitude or move on
- "Planned vs. emerging projects"
- Articulate costs so everyone understands the costs of random projects that come up
- Pressure for web-based projects - everything needs to be web-based
- Written organizational policy to include IT from the beginning to avoid too many emerging, high priority projects
- Establish strong boundaries - give people rules to follow when working with you
- "Become the constant buzz-kill" to people's last minute project ideas
- Mixing formal and informal communication - email, meetings, and ad-hoc calls and chats all help do the job
- Project Management is not a series of switches, its a series of dials - gentle adjustments
- There are some people you have to circumvent
- How to get everyone involved in an IT project - even if they're not interested
- Feed them to get them involved in training/testing
- Logmein.com - website with shared desktop tools to help train remote people
- You may need to try different things to get them involved - face to face interaction
- Find someone at the organization who knows how to work with some of the more difficult personalities
*** IT is a great lens into what's wrong in the organization
AH-HA's!
- Educate end users to ease anxiety
- A picture is worth a thousand words
- Understand that you have to become the constant buzz kill to "emerging projects"
- Project Management is not a series of switches, its a series of dials - gentle adjustments