Comments on: Invite Performers to Decline

by: Hal

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 03:49:50 +0000

Dirk,

I certainly know what you mean. I’ve been on the listening side of that conversation more than I want to. However, people will step up. Sometimes I’m surprised, but frankly I’m never disappointed. The key is to have regular conversations as a team. It might be a ‘peer pressure’ thing, or maybe it’s just the right thing to do. Either way, when we take the time to create the situation for people to sign-up for the promise, they invariably do sign-up.

Hal

by: Dirk

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 15:20:10 +0000

Hal: I agree, but in this age of “it’s not my fault”, this is the last place you want people to be self accountable.

by: Hal

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 18:07:32 +0000

One of the big challenges in doing projects is getting project performers to sign up for the promise of the project. It is that promise that is most critical. All the tasks that go into fulfilling the promise to the client can change, and will change, as the project unfolds. Someone needs to play the role of leader to get performers to be team members. At the point people have signed on, then accountability gets easier. The team doesn’t need the leader to hold them accountable. They do it for themself and for each other.

Still, as Frank, Ester, Jeffrey, Greg, Glenn and others have said, we must create the situation where people promise responsibly.

by: Dirk

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 16:33:19 +0000

I think we are all missing the point. We need to be honest, but we also need to hold our team accountable. To do that we must first take the ownership of activities out of our control as project managers and place them squarely where they should reside… with the actual team members. We cannot and shouldnot play the “Adult” to the willing child saying yes I will do something when you know darn well they will not. I suggest having them set their goals with your guidance, then hold them accountable for their actions. Saying No is just a start. The real key is making everyone Empowered, thus accountable for their estimates/actions.

by: Mike

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:17:24 +0000

Hal:
The commitment we make also covers not wasting resources and most of all letting the Product Owner (P&L) make the decisions and then support their decision making by specifying what we can and cannot do. In fact the boundary definition as to what is NOT part of our effort, is more relevant than the scope as it permits the product owner to say what they are NOT interested in and leave what is bounded as “terra incognita” for us to explore and report back. It also makes changing a boundary a strategic decision and not something that slips in as a ‘good idea’ during the exploration.

by: Hal

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 12:34:26 +0000

Mike makes a good point about the word ‘promise’ vs. ‘commit’. When we promise to do something we know that there is always the chance that we won’t be able to fulfill the promise either based on personal or external situations. I equate decline to a promise not to perform. It turns out that people actually break that promise too. There are some cases we need someone’s absolute commitment that they will not do something.

I might ask someone to promise to only proceed when certain conditions are present. Mike uses the word commitment for that kind of promise. While there are times when promise and commit are used interchangably, there is no doubt memorializing that commitment by signing a Sarbanes-Oxley statement underscores the seriousness of the commitment.

by: Alan Mossman

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 07:46:16 +0000

Mike, Am I right in thinking SOX = Sarbanes-Oxley??

by: Mike

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 23:59:26 +0000

Consider that promising may be too weak a statement. Right now we have committed not to doing stuff we don’t understand, more importantly we have also signe the SOX commitment and that, in fact, makes it easier for us to keep our commitment.

Not that our commitment is limited to projects; we take our commitments very seriously and will keep them at the task, the function, what ever level is needed.

Interesting thing is that C, D, and P&L level Management (who also signed SOX) wholeheartedly stands behind us. It is always interesting to note the change in tone when a conversation that this needs to go to the Legal department for a SOX review.