Page 38 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

Have PMaaS On Speed Dial

Here’s a bold claim – a solution to EVERY issue you may encounter during the life of your IT Project
can be found in the Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) market.

It is a bold claim and I LOVE challenging it! So far, it is a claim that is holding true.
From resources to innovative, leading-edge approaches to project delivery, from bridging capability
gaps to end to end project management office. Whatever your project needs, you can get it from the
ever expanding PMaaS universe.
Have A Contingency Plan

Sometimes, your Plan A fails! How this affects your project outcomes largely depends on what
happens next - the quality of your response. Making it a habit to have a great Plan B is vital. In fact,
some of the best PMs I know plot out a Plan C, D and E too.

Not just for the obvious reason either, having a back-up plan makes sense in itself, but quite often
they find that visualising a plan B or C means that they actually come up with something better than
their original plan A!!

In the same way that an actor friend has ‘ad libs’ practiced and rehearsed and a radio presenter
friend has a plan for what he’ll say in the event of a technical issue, IT Project Managers who know
what they’ll do in the event of a ‘diversion’ from their plan are the ones whose projects best survive
them.

Again, have your PMaaS partner on speed dial, know exactly where all your resources are deployed,
and which can be switched and know which deliverables can be delayed for the greater good.

Practice Staying Calm

I’m always impressed by Project Managers who can hold their nerve when the situation that they
are in would be enough to make the calmest of souls panic. Unsurprisingly, it is these managers who
make it through challenging times with the best outcomes.

My PM friend Malc articulated this once by saying he knows that he produces his best work when he
is calm and relaxed. This goes for when a project is going well and, especially, when it isn’t.

He’s right, isn’t he? It’s obvious really. A bad situation only gets worse if you panic but if you
approach it calmly and rationally you will be better placed to find the solution. We all know this but
it’s kind of natural to panic when faced with a big problem … your heart races, your breaths become
more shallow, the adrenaline flows and you get that knotted feeling in your stomach!!

Some lucky people are naturally calm, for others it’s a matter of practicing calm - mindfulness and
meditation techniques are great for this. By the way, once you’ve nailed those contingency plans,
you’ll find that you become more calm in adversity.

You’re Never Out Of The Fight
Have you seen ‘Lone Survivor’? It’s a film based on a true story of a Navy Seals team whose mission
went badly wrong. There are many memorable quotes and lessons throughout the movie that we
can borrow for IT Project Management when our own missions go bad. My favourite is:
“I can never forget, but no matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets or no matter how far you fall,
you are never out of the fight.”