Get the Most from Projects: Project Post-Mortems

A recent client of ours finished a project worth well over $10 million, and when we asked about documenting lessons learned, we experienced a great deal of resistance.  “We’re too busy planning the next project to do a post-mortem on the last one.  Besides, who’s got time to spend a week navel-gazing?”

Far be it from us to suggest a week of navel-gazing after a project, but we would strongly recommend doing some form of review after a project so you know why things went well so you can repeat them, and document some things you might do differently next time.  Amazingly you can likely do this in an hour or two, and your return on that investment can be exponential. 

This week we discuss how to conduct Post Project Mortems as painlessly as possible.     

Monday’s Tip: Make a conscious choice.  For every project or initiative, no matter how big or small, make a decision as to what type of review to do.  In some cases, the choice may be not to do one, but ensure that this is by design – not because you were too lazy to consider it

Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t let the review take on a life of its own.  If your review of a project takes more time and effort than the project itself, you are doing it wrong.  You get the most value from your first hour or two of a review, and then you hit the point of diminishing returns quickly.

Wednesday’s Tip: Use the information collected in future projects.  The only thing worse than not reviewing projects and initiatives, is to do so, and then never refer to the information again.

Thursday’s Tip: Focus on the first 80%.  You can very quickly become paralyzed by analysis.  Be extremely selective in pursuing areas where you want to dive deep.  In some cases, it may be well worth a closer look.  In many others it will be a time killer.

Friday’s Tip: Focus on Team Learning.  Individual performance issues should not be dealt with through a post project review.  Do not assign blame, but rather look to uncover the causes of extraordinarily good or poor outcomes.

Leadership Development Activities

There are no silver bullets in any discipline, but organizations that actively improve the quality of their leadership have better sales and production, more consistent safety, higher quality, and better results.  Many organizations make investments in leadership development without accruing these benefits, and some managers find themselves in organizations that don’t value these things at all.  Find out what you can do to improve the quality of leadership for you and your organization this week at Wily Manager.

Monday’s Tip: Leadership is a Habit. Habits are the product of repeated behaviours.  Figure out what behaviours are most critical for effective leadership in your situation.

Tuesday’s Tip: Focus on small changes. You don’t eat an elephant in one bite, and to create great leadership habits, you need to focus on one small thing at a time.  Over time, these small changes add up to monumental shifts in leadership practice.

Wednesday’s Tip: Get a Coach. Sometimes your organization will provide one for you, other times you need to choose a trusted friend or colleague.  Either way, you need someone to help you with the discipline of forming great leadership habits.

Thursday’s Tip: Focus on Leadership AND Management. People who suggest that management is not as important as leadership, have never been in a leadership position.  You need to do both these things well – work on improving both.

Friday’s Tip: Have a Leadership Development Plan. Improved Leadership will not happen by itself, or if you try to manage it off the side of your desk.  You need a deliberate, action-oriented plan to improve your ability as a leader.

Leadership Boot Camp

Find out all about the Wily Manager Leadership Boot Camp:

  • Why bother?
  • What it’s about
  • Who should participate
  • How it works
  • What’s covered

Listen to the ‘Leadership Boot Camp’ Podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

Leadership Boot Camp Podcast Slides

Download the Leadership Boot Camp Brochure:

Wily Manager Leadership Boot Camp Brochure


Why Most Leadership Development Activities are a Waste of Time

It all starts off with noble intentions and great expectations.  Organizations invest thousands to send a manager off to some Leadership Development Training, with high hopes of getting a return on their investment, and of seeing some measurable change in managerial performance.

The normal result is a large invoice for the training and related costs, and a new PowerPoint slide hung on the wall, with some convoluted model or diagram that’s supposed to change our lives, and solve all organizational ills.

How do managers and organizations get is so wrong?

They have the right idea, but they make the same mistake that any of us that has ever been on a diet before has made.  We think that some temporary action, and new package on an old bit of knowledge will make a difference.  Here’s a blinding flash of the obvious:  if you want to lose weight, eat more veggies, eat less of everything else, and try to exercise more.  Most importantly, make these changes habits rather than a temporary intervention.

Organizational and Leadership Development is no different.  Figure out what behaviours you want your managers to display, and take action to make those behaviours into habits.  This is incredibly easy conceptually, but much harder in practice.  You need to look at your reward systems, development systems and processes.  Part of your answer may include training, but only then as part of the solution.

We did some work with PepsiCo, who are generally well recognized as very competent at Leadership Development Activity.  Their development model calls for 10% Leadership Training, with the balance of development activities taking other forms such as coaching, job-shadowing, special assignments, and secondments.

Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely believe that quality leadership is the stargate to better production, increased quality, improved safety, and better cost control.  I just think that organizations that attempt to bridge their leadership quality gaps via training are taking the easy way out, and burning shareholder money to boot.

Just like most of us don’t need another diet book, but rather the discipline to use one of the 44 we already own, leaders don’t need another day in a classroom – they need help making habits out of the things they learned last time.

The 80/20 Rule and the Office Martyr

As a society, we’ve decided that many behaviours that were acceptable only a few decades ago, are now completely out of the question.  A careful viewing of any episode of Mad Men will confirm how much has changed in a relatively short time.  Gone are the days of getting completely plastered at lunch, and then driving back to the office to finish up your day.  Same goes for smoking, recreational drug use, gambling, gluttony, and virtually all other forms of excessive, self-destructive behaviour.

There is one glaring exception: workoholism.  I am often bombarded on Monday mornings with tales of alleged heroism about how someone successfully avoided their family all weekend, so they could work right through to finish some insignificant office project.  The same people will drone on about how they get to the office before 7.00am, and work past 6.00pm on a regular basis.

Here’s a newsflash: this is something to be embarrassed about, not something one brags about. Not many people entertain people at the water cooler boasting about their other self destructive vices:

“I spent the weekend gambling away my kids’ tuition money!”

“I ate 12 boxes of Krispy-Kreme’s in one sitting on Saturday.  Then I purged, and did it again.”

“I’m pretty sure my eating disorder is serious enough now to warrant medical attention”

All of these sound as ridiculous to me as, “I work 80 hours per week on a regular basis”.  Congratulations – you’re completely dysfunctional, and probably need to see a mental health professional – top speed.

Workoholism is the working professional’s last and only chance to be a martyr.  These martyrs think the tales of their self-perceived heroics will place them in higher standing amongst their peers and boss.  It doesn’t – the only thing your organization cares about is what you get done.  Think of how many times in your working life you’ve seen the obsessively hard worker be passed over by someone else, who works significantly less, but gets way more done.

There are only two situations that I could envision someone working an 80 hour week:

1)   The exceptional project, event or occurrence that will quickly pass to return to a more reasonable way of working, or

2)   You are a farmer – in which case you have my gratitude and respect.

The rest of you need to wake up and realize this self-destructive behaviour for what it is.  For thoughts on how to get out of workoholic trap, visit our site this week, where we talk about the 80/20 rule, and how to apply it.

Use the 80/20 Rule to Get More Done

How is it that some people just make it look easy?  They seem to get everything done, they work reasonable hours, and everyone seems to like them?  They’ve likely mastered the 80/20 rule – the principle that says that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your effort.  Learn how to get more done, and a special lesson from a German Field Marshall this week on the Wily Manager website.

Monday’s Tip: Know what you need to accomplish. This is different than the to-do list of everything you want to accomplish.  Figure out the mission-critical items that will bring you success in your role.  Hint:  if you’ve got more than few (3 – 7) you’re diffusing your effort.

Tuesday’s Tip: Schedule your time according to these priorities. Unfortunately, that may mean less time for other things that a) you enjoy, or b) other people want you to do.  Be ruthless – schedule your mission-critical items first, and fit everything else in around them.

Wednesday’s Tip: Come to grips with the fact that no one cares how busy you are. Your boss or your organization cares about what you get done, if it takes you 80 hours per week, then that should be a source of embarrassment for you – not pride… so stop bragging about how you worked through the weekend.

Thursday’s Tip: Learn to say “No”. This can be difficult, especially if it is your boss that is asking you do things that are far outside your mission-critical items.  However, most organizations have more “noise” than actual value-creating work.  Focus on the value creating items… ignore the busy-work.

Friday’s Tip: Do less work, not more. The truly successful people do not try to cram more activities into their day.  They do less, get more done, have less stress and are more happy than the perpetually busy over-worked person.

The von Manstein Matrix

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Who Cares About von Manstein?

  • Career military man who finished his career advising the West German government
  • He assessed top performers on how they got things done
  • Provides guidance on how to organize our time

The von Manstein Matrix:


The Pareto Principle:

  • 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts
  • You need to work hard to identify the 20%

How to Get “Lazy”:

  • Don’t fall into the activity trap.  Nobody cares how busy you are, they care what you produce
  • You need to do more than just work hard
  • Decide what NOT to do

Applying the Matrix:

  • Don’t try to keep all people happy all the time
  • Have a work plan
  • Practice saying “no”
  • Assess your direct reports on the matrix
  • Fire the hardworking, stupid ones

Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!

 

The von Manstein Matrix

Learn how to be “lazy” yet get more done at work.

Listen to ‘The von Manstein Matrix’ podcast:

: Download Podcast (MP3)

von Manstein Matrix Podcast Slides

Take a look at ‘The von Manstein Matrix’ Cheat Sheet

Solutions to Office Layout Disgruntlement

We’ve heard many managers compare their jobs to that of baby-sitter.  The only difference being when the kids upset you, you can send them to their room, and the snacks and TV-watching options are better for the baby-sitter.

It is true that managers of people get dragged into all kinds of trivia, and much of it should be ignored.  There seems to be no more emotional issue than that of the office layout.  Several years ago, people were mourning the loss of office walls, as many organizations transitioned to cube-farms.  Now people fight over the size and location of their workstation.

Unfortunately, most managers have very little time/patience/control over the office configuration, so the best they might be able to do is offer some advice to disgruntled cube-dwellers as to how to cope with the physical office reality.  Here are some ideas:

Define Your Office Boundaries. This worked for Les Nessman at WKRP, and it can work for you.  Don’t acknowledge anyone unless they knock at your pretend door, and certainly don’t put up with people walking through your pretend walls.  You might even want to suspend wall paintings from the ceiling to line up with your pretend walls.

Engage in Closed Office Behaviour.  Make loud personal telephone calls.  If you feel the need for a nap, close your pretend door and sleep like you would at home (unless you sleep in the nude).  Need to pick your nose?  You’re in the privacy of your own office – go for it.  If someone tries to talk to you through a pretend wall, look towards the pretend door, and shout, “I can’t hear you.  Would you like to come in here?”

There’s No Place Like Home. Most people spend more conscious hours in their workplace than they do in their homes.  You need to make the place comfortable.  Buy a portable fridge to put under your desk, as well as some small kitchen appliances (start with a toaster, blender, and espresso machine).  You probably don’t control much in your work-place, so make your 8 X 8 part of the empire a castle.

Of course with this new-found freedom, you will also have to respect and ignore others engaging in the same behaviour if the illusion is to be complete.  Here’s a YouTube clip on office layout that outlines the perils of being too interested in what’s happening one row over on the cubefarm.

Managing the Office Move – Even When Your Staff Hates It

About once per year, either Bob or Jed will end up working with a client-company that is making a significant change in its office concept.  Managers end up being stuck in the middle between the HR or Executive group who thinks the change is a good idea, and the staff who often hate the idea.  Being stuck in the middle is a continual struggle for managers – office space is simply the best example.

So how does a leader manage this middle ground?  Join us this week for different ideas on dealing with being caught in the middle.

Monday’s Tip: Start the Dialogue Early. Nobody likes surprises, and you need to begin a discussion with people long before you make any changes to your physical space.  Organizations spend a great deal of time and money planning the physical move, and forget entirely about the psychological move they are asking people to make.

Tuesday’s Tip: Ask for their input – but only on the negotiables. There’s nothing quite so disrespectful as giving people the illusion they have a vote, when they really don’t.  If something is not negotiable then you need to say so.  Consult people on things you are willing to consider their feedback on.  For the non-negotiables – identify them as such.

Wednesday’s Tip: Tell people why. Even if people don’t agree with something, they are more willing to come on board if they understand why.  If the reason is to save money, then don’t be afraid to say so.  If you don’t tell people why, their imaginations will create all kinds of sinister reasons for such a change, and then you’ll be fighting that battle, too.

Thursday’s Tip: Over-communicate by a factor of ten. Don’t forget that the most powerful communication media is listening.  You also need to repeat your message multiple times via multiple media.  If you send out an email once, and think you’ve communicated something, you will have failed miserably

Friday’s Tip: Tell people what they can do/have/try. Focus people on the positive things about the change you are asking them to make.  In an office move talk about the things that will be better in the new space.

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