Page 63 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

England captain Eoin Morgan demonstrated his leadership skills, not just during the match, but
apparently, also at a reception thrown by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. The team were a
little rowdy, chanting "Allez Allez Allez" when Morgan intervened and said, "Look, guys, we’ve got to
calm it," according to reports in the Daily Telegraph. They calmed it. Firm leadership and respect
from the team for that leadership are vital and sadly missing in many of the IT Projects we are asked
to help bring back into line.

2 - Deliver When It Matters

A lot of struggling projects have a lack of clear prioritisation. Look at that Wimbledon final, Federer
hit more aces, he won more points and broke serve more often but it was Djokovic who executed his
game better when it mattered. Be mindful of what really matters in your IT Project and focus your A-
game on those areas.

3 - Consistency

Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal, who fell to Federer in the semi-finals at Wimbledon, have an
unprecedented stranglehold on men’s tennis. Federer is 37, Nadal is 33, Djokovic is 32. The greatest
male tennis player of my childhood, Bjorn Borg retired at 26. None of today's "veterans" are playing
their very best tennis these days, but all are playing with a steady consistency that is keeping the
newcomers out of the top rankings.

This consistency is something we should aim for. All too often I see the same project team deliver a
resounding success and then follow it with a turkey. Be a student and practitioner of what works for
you!

4 - Use External Resources
Coaching obviously played a huge part in both the sporting successes outlined here and your IT
Project partner can be a really useful independent pair of eyes when you can't see what's going
wrong with your IT Project.

Beyond this, it's worth developing a sense of flexibility about who makes up your IT Project team.
Don't feel that you have to rely on your in-house squad when there are a range of resourcing
solutions available from the Project management as a Service market. One Project leader told me
once that she feels like they have failed if they have to reach out to PMaaS and this way of thinking
needs a reframe. Traditionally, the England team would have all been born in this country, a casual
glance at Sunday's heroes reveals a different story! Captain Eoin Morgan was born in Dublin, Jofra
Archer in Barbados, Jason Roy in South Africa, even man of the match Ben Stokes was born in New
Zealand - you get my point! You don't have to rely on 'home-grown' talent for your success.

5 - Celebrate and Remember It's Fun

Watching Djokovic during his game (and Federer too) was a lesson in celebrating each point. I mean,
they don't run around the court in a lap of honour at the end of each game but there is always a self-
congratulatory 'air fist' or a growled "YES". No little victory goes unacknowledged and it should be
the case with IT Projects. We're really good at chunking work into manageable units, like sets and
games in tennis, but we are often really bad at giving ourselves credit where credit is due.

I got really tense watching the cricket, I paced around, I chugged a beer or two, I bit my fingernails
and then I remembered that I loved cricket and that this was meant to be fun. We sometimes forget
to enjoy ourselves when delivering IT Projects too. C'mon! This is the best job in the world - let’s
remember to enjoy it!!