How do you get a team to develop a clear and elevating goal?

The truth is, I don't know for sure. No one does. If we did, we'd be mass-producing winning teams instead of writing about them. But here's my 2 cents worth

 

1. First and foremost, a team's clear and elevating goal as described above is never the goal you gave it.

That's your goal, not theirs. To the team, it's a task, a project, or an assignment. What's the difference? One is inherently motivating; the other isn't. One is something for which the team is willing to take 100% responsibility; the other is something you will hold it accountable for.

2. There is no recipe or formula you can apply to a team that will result in a clear and elevating goal each time.

The highest-leverage activity a leader can accomplish is to catalyze a team around a clear and elevating goal. If I could bottle that skill and develop it in leaders, I'd be running a skill-building production facility (and you'd be in line!). But that doesn't mean it has to be a random happenstance. It means that crafting a clear and elevating goal is a design issue rather than a formulaic process. And what you are designing is a set of conditions that encourages a team to explore what it wants (rather than what its employers want).

3. There is, however, a set of initial conditions that you can design and influence.

Unfortunately, while most leaders would kill for teams with clear and elevating goals, what they are killing are the conditions that support them. The single most important variable I've discovered is that the team's larger operating environment supports the team in thinking about what it wants out of a project the team has been assigned to. Organizations have a way of systematically extinguishing the wants of team members, while simultaneously calling for passion and commitment. We tell people what they should want. We tell them our goals and our parameters and then we tell them to get busy. As I ask folks on client sites what they want out of a project, more frequently than not I hear "Gee, no one's ever asked me that before."

The leader who understands clear and elevating goals will invest in creating a culture of responsible leadership that acknowledges intrinsic motivations and supports personal freedom and choice. Then, he or she will make room in projects for team start-up processes that truly engender ownership within the team for the project.

4. You can challenge the team to discover such a goal and even invest time in that discovery process.

Ttreat the clear and elevating goal as one of five conversations a team must have (in fact, that a high-performance team will naturally engage in). But it's not the first conversation I would encourage; it's the fourth. There are three other things I would do first to give the team the best chance of reaching high performance.

 

5. It's always a nonlinear process, a lateral-thinking process, and a surprising result

Most leaders make the mistake of challenging teams to "choose a number," meaning setting as its goal a performance metric for the business, project, or technology. That's frequently misplaced MBA-speak. Clear and elevating goals are usually qualitatively different than the assigned task while beautifully supporting the task getting done. For instance, a team assigned to launch an Internet banking service created the slogan "we're reinventing banking" and envisioned itself on the cover of its industry's trade journal. The team designed hotel-like hangers for its doorknobs that said "Do Not Disturb. Busy reinventing banking."

 

6. It usually happens coincident with breaking through conflict

Clear and elevating goals seldom emerge until well into the project. In the forming-storming-norming-performing metaphor of team development, I've found that the storming phase is often resolved by the emergence of a clear and elevating goal, which then guides the norming and performing phases. You can support this process by helping the team develop healthy ways to disagree and stay committed to each other as a team.

 

Hattip :  Christopher M. Avery, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium

 

project Leadership

Nice read here

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First Steps

I was recently asked by a friend, "How can I get the company to execute projects on time within budget - all the time. What are the tools and culture needs, where do I start ?. We need project excellence "

To me that was a very opened ended question- which I will address to the best of my abilities;

To get Enterprise Project Management going is no easy task. One needs over mature of time , in this thought process. Baby steps are always called for. The cost of doing it wrong is dollars wasted or opportunities could be lost. The key is to identify the Business processes, people and tools that one has. Once this is understood, then the framework for "Organizational readiness" can be created.

These are are my first steps, My 10 point programme to create this framework would be ;

1) A Comprehensive strategy for Process Oriented Project Implementation.
This area would delve deeply into the motives of the company, what do they want, eventually. Who will lead the charge, what resources can be allocated, etc. The Essence of this Phase would be to ensure that EPM is really what is wanted and an overall EPM Mobilization efforts charter is created. This also could considered as complete business plan. After all, this is a new business practice and investment. Like all other investments a due diligence process needs to be done.

2) Best Current Practice review
Review all the Best Current Practices within the organization's current Project portfolio. Identify short coming and areas for change. Ear mark those practices that have worked well. Look for the practice that are not used anymore, ask why these practices failed or not used. Look at the lesson learnt from past projects. Follow the rigor of historical analysis.

3) Project Management Office (PMO) creation.
Create a central control zone for managing the creative processes that are needed to sustain the EPM efforts. Executive sponsorship is required. There's the saying, that those who care -- will be there. Once a new entity /department is created within a Enterprise, everyone goes gung ho and wants to be, a part of it or just shut themselves out. This is just normal human reaction. Executive leadership will ease the concerns and bridge management tiers. By showing strong support, they tell the Enterprise - this is something that is important to the business mission.

4) Validation/Communication Strategy
Identify with all partners, stakeholders and resources criteria that will ensure that the value pathway being created is within the boundaries of strategy. This will help in ensuring that PSI ( Project Success indicators) are being fostered at the early plan stage. Remember, even at this junction of the programme, the initiative is creating a method of partnership, feedback, communication that will sustain long term benefits once EPM is deployed.

5) Orientation of PM and resources
Getting the grass root level people on the same page is vital and critical. No amount of technology investment will sustain ROI's unless there is a complete buying by the grass root level folks.

6) General Management orientation
As the Mobilization efforts are in play, take time to speak to the other people within the Organization. Create an Orientation session or just a brown bag session. Let them know what is happening and how things are going. This is an across the board initiative, let all who have ears hear. Transparency and info sharing always pays off.

7) Getting IT/Technical Support in the loop
As the the technology is IT related, the IT department has a lot to contribute to the initiative. They need to understand the ramifications of the technology platform , networking, component infrastructure and support needs for an EPM solution. They are just as critical as the business owners. Seek to be known, just like you would like other to know thee !!

8) Risk Matrix
Once you gone thru at least one iteration of the above 7 steps, you would have bundles of information to created a first cut Risk Analysis. Never go to the next step till this done. Project Management is all about Risk evasion. Period !!

9) EPM Build 1.0 documentation
This is first cut on what,when, how and who will eventually need to get things done to successfully implement and deploy EPM. This is the end state for EPM mobilization efforts. What begins as a 2-4 page project Charter, now will have an end state of about 100-200 pages document. This becomes the bible for next phase.

10) Road Map
Personally I always like to create a roadmap of what the folio may need to be with lets say 5 years time. So even if a phased in or turnkey method is used. One can review holistic viewpoint and milestones across the time line. This also permits a company to project deep into what may be termed as a future folio. Immersive technlogies like HALO and Telepresence will certainly have impact in EPM in terms of Global Service Delivery of Projects. We should must always keep the eyeballs on progressive and emergent areas. Thats how one is alwasy leading and not following !!

Innovations is Hard

If you have a good idea, then 5 people have already thought about.
If you have a great idea, then 10 people are already doing it.

This is the innovations curve and where does it start and how does one get to the top ?
A small premier for you to enjoy.

Knowlege Manifesto !!

Some Time ago, I created this and now am sharing. Enjoy !!

Seven tips on how to run a successful community.

If you're building a Project community you have to love what you're doing and be the best member of it. It takes great care and patience to create a space others will share and you have to nurture it and reward your best contributors. It's a decidedly human endeavor with few, if any, technical shortcuts

1. Take emotion out of decisions
2. Talk like a human, not a robot
3. Give people something they can be proud of
4. Bring users in during community decisions
5. Moderation is a full-time job
6. Metrics spread the work out
7. Guidelines not rules

This is a good cull of information from Fortatious !!

How Adobe is leading the way into India !

A key element of what has been called "web 2.0" -- along with ideas such as user-generated content and social networks -- is the concept of "rich Internet applications" (or, as Microsoft recently termed them, "rich interactive applications"), which use the web as a platform for new types of online experiences. From delivering browser-based software that functions like a traditional desktop application to providing immersive video experiences online, a new generation of Internet-connected applications is beginning to evolve.

Adobe president and COO Shantanu Narayen talks about the key role that India will play in the company's global growth strategy. Some highlights of the article and strategy

What is Adobe doing in India, and how does that fit into the company's global strategy?
India is a huge market vis-à-vis ensuring that the publishing industry uses our product. Whether it's for newspapers or magazines or film, our products are used around the world.

What did you initially decide to do in India, and how has your strategy evolved?
Naresh Gupta, our managing director in India. In 1997 he was thinking of going home, and he talked to [Adobe co-founder] John Warnock, who said, "Why don't you set something up for us in India?"

What are examples of the kind of work that's being done there?
The [Adobe] Reader for mobile devices was completely done in India. We actually now have a full-fledged business unit there.

What are some of the challenges of operating in India, and how have you tackled them?
Hiring people poses greater challenges. The evolution and the maturity of our processes allow us to do research and development around the world. I think we have matured our communication and understanding of best practices quite well.

How does India compare with China, Eastern Europe or other emerging markets?
The other thing that's exciting is that I think India can be one of the places, [like] China, with a number of people who will access the Internet using a non-PC device rather than a PC. There's going to be new market development that happens in some of these emerging markets.

From what I gather here from their product strategy article is very simple. India is worth investing in. The challenges are high, but every emergent market space is challenging !!

Via [ Knowlege@Wharton]