Project managers are constantly juggling schedules, cost, and resources. Because of the rapid, evolving nature of projects today, people will come and go on projects. This webinar will consider how to respond to resource shifts and mitigate the impact of changing roles and people.

1. Managing Revolving Project
Resources
Creating culture to quell the confusion of change
Your presenter is:
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed., LPC, PMP
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2. What’s on tap for our time together today…
Project managers are constantly juggling schedules, cost, and resources. Because of
the rapid, evolving nature of projects today, people will come and go on projects. This
webinar will consider how to respond to resource shifts and mitigate the impact of
changing roles and people through establishing culture in your project.
 Cost of failure of projects
 Revolving door…reality of today’s project stakeholder
 Creating culture in your project
 Leadership & charisma: What you do matters
 Process & templates: The tools you use helps
 Communicatingearly & often: How you go about it
 Wrap it up!
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3. Cost of failure of projects
Tons of time, training, and money have been invested in ensuring
project management processes are in place and people know how to
use them. And yet projects still fail.
• A study reviewed 10,640 projects from
200 companies in 30 countriesfound
only2.5% of the companies
successfully completed 100% of their
projects.
• A separate study analyzed 1,471 IT
projects and found the average overrun
was 27%, but 1:6 projects had a
costoverrun of 200% and a schedule
overrun of 70%.
Source: http://gmj.gallup.com/content/152429/cost-bad-project-management.aspx
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4. There are a variety of reasons this happens on the functional
side and behavioral side of project management.
Today we’ll focus on the behavioral side because if we
address that then most of the time the functional side will fall
into place.
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5. Reality of today’s project stakeholder
Ebb & Flow of
Stakeholders
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6. Having a stake in it
A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) breaks down a
stakeholder as a person or organization that:
• Is actively involved in the project
• Has interests that may be positively or
negatively affected by the performance
or completion of the project
• May exert influence over the
project,the deliverables, ortheteam
members
Basically, a stakeholder is
anyone (or any other project)
involved in or somehow
affected by the project.
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7. Skipping across the circles…
Stakeholder structure is a lot like concentric circles
The more directly involved in the day-to-day activities of a project, the closer to
the center of the concentric circles the stakeholder will be. Position on the circles
changes over the life of the project based on the type of work needed.
Marketing Graphic artist
Copywriter User experience Sponsor
System architect Content
Analyst
Core team
Programmer
Quality Assurance Product designer Customer
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8. Keeping it tight keeps you flexible
To maximize efficiency and
response to global demands of
business, stakeholders may
come and go at regular intervals
on a project.
For this to be as seamless as
possible, processes must be
streamlined and tight.
And where does this start?
With the project manager
(Um, that’s you)
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9. Stepping up as they step in and out
Culture:
Touchstone for
revolving resources
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10. Calm in chaos
A "project culture" is a
collection of attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors that
live outside of the individuals
in the project.
It provides a set of consistent
standards and norms to
which the team can refer
throughout the project.
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11. Too much, too little, just right…
Solid, strong culture in a project
• Remains unchanged as stakeholders
reduce work, leave, or join the project
• Stakeholders adapt their behavior to
the project and not the other way
round
Absence of culture in a project
• Behaviors may be very inconsistent
• Confusion abounds
• Turf battles ensue
Too much culture in a project
Homogeneity – useful viewpoints may
be ignored or downplayed to preserve
the existing culture.
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12. Management through culture
Revolving stakeholders should enhance
not hurt your project, but a few things need
to be in place for that to happen.
Creating and maintaining processes that
support consistent behaviors serve as a
foundation for the natural ebb and flow of
stakeholder activity on projects.
These norms provide a touchstone for the
shifts and become the identity or culture of
the project.
Project culture addresses stakeholder
burning questions: expectations for
contribution, documentation, meetings,
workflow, reviews/status, roles,
responsibilities, communication
expectations, and transition.
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13. Lead, follow, or get out of the way
Creating culture boils down to three basic things
Leading with charisma –
What you do Reflect, Represent, and
Realize
The tools you use Processes and Templates
Communicate Early and
How you go about it Often
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14. Creating culture in your project: What you do makes the difference
Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do
something you want done because he wants to do it.
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Leadership &
Charisma
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15. Project success
Not based solely on timelines, budgets, and
scope and the processes that support them.
Success is also tied to how stakeholders feel
about the project, the team, and the leadership.
(Um, that’s you again, project manager)

16. The same but…different
Group perception of your skill, your knowledge, and your ability to be “like us” are
very important to establishing the norms and standards of culture in your project.
It’s this culture that becomes a touchstone for changes and transitions of the
many stakeholders and the work done for the project.
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17. Lend a helping hand
When people feel you are invested in their
success and believe you support their
interests, they tend to feel more motivated to
support you.
The project has a greater chance of success
when stakeholders feel:
• More connected to what their work will
accomplish for the “big picture” of the
business
• More trust and respect in the project
experience
• More fairness and familiarity as it relates
to consistency and understanding
• More confidence and inclusiveness in
the project environment
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18. The charismatic in you…
Although it’s a tall order for anyone to
assume, project managers have a
not so secret helper – CHARISMA…
When people think of a charismatic
leader, they tend to describe them as
being visible, strong, energetic,
values-driven, principled, outgoing,
self-confident, powerful, and
influential. The charismatic almost
seems larger than life. People
LOVE being part of their orbit.
What’s interesting about charisma is
anyone can have it with a little
effort.
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19. Research says…
According to an article in Scientific
American Mind, recent research on
charisma, originally thought to be an
innate attribute of a leader, was
actually found to be an attribution
given by followers.
When followers see a leader as one
who advances group interests, that
leader is considered to have more
charisma.
Perception of charisma of a leader had
a direct correlation to how well a
company was doing.
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20. What’s this got to do with project managers?
For culture to be established and embraced in a project
stakeholders need to feel their interests and the group’s
interests are being served.
With the understanding that charisma is made and
earned and not born, project managers can use the
“three Rs” of leadership to build culture in their project:
• Reflecting
• Representing
• Realizing
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21. Reflecting project management style
In traditional leadership, reflecting requires that
one learn about the culture and history of a group.
In project leadership this requires the project
manager to have a deep understanding of why
the project is important to the business, how it will
be integrated and used, and when it is needed.
To do this project managers must do a lot of
listening and asking questions.
• Be curious and stretch beyond what’s currently
known
•Research what others have done inside and
outside the company on similar projects
• Help stakeholders connect the value of the
project to the company’s future
•Understand what’s important to the stakeholders
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22. Representing feels all right
In traditional leadership, representing requires that the person lead
others to draw the conclusions you need them to draw instead of telling
them. It just “makes sense” or “feels right” to others because the person
representing is a proponent of the group.
In project leadership this is the ability to ask questions and facilitate
dialogue among stakeholders. You don’t have all the answers. They do
as individuals and as a team. It’s your job to create a culture that
promotes open discussion early and often.
It also requires that you know what you don’t know and partner with
someone who does. Representing doesn’t mean you’re the expert. It
means you know how to connect with others who are and can integrate
what they know into a compelling story for the project that becomes part
of the lore (and work) of your project’s culture.
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23. Going for what really matters
In traditional leadership, realizing requires
that the person pursue the top interests of the
group. They get the group organized and
focused.
In project leadership it basically comes down
to making stakeholders feel like they matter
whether they are on the project for a short time
or for the long haul.
When project managers are present they:
• Are organized and transparent
• Do what they say they are going to do
• Clear with stakeholders about project roles
and priorities
• Model a culture of consistency
• Purposefully execute the project as it relates
to the “big picture”
• Listen and ask questions
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24. Creating culture in your project: The tools you use
If I have seen farther than others, it is because I
was standing on the shoulder of giants.
~ Isaac Newton
Process &
Templates
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25. Helping stakeholders find their way
Your behavior establishes
your reputation as a project
manager, and your reputation
determines how people feel
about your project and its
culture.
Charisma helps with shaping
a positive project culture
environment andprocess
andtemplates facilitate it.
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26. Tools for managing resource shifts
Whether stakeholders are involved with your
project for a short period of time or the
duration, process and supporting templates
can ease transitions that invariably occur.
• Orientation to norms, standards, & team
• Role/responsibility
• Tech tools – Google Docs, Sharepoint
• Documentation and naming scheme
• Change control process
• Change template
• Status reporting process
• Status report template
• Work Authorization system
• Deliverable review process
• Project charter
• Project scope
• Time tracking process
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27. Creating culture in your project: How you go about it
Communication works for those who work at it.
~ John Powell
Communicating
Early & Often
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28. Communicating shouldn’t be a surprise
Putting a
communicationprocess in
place will help with
transitioning resources.
As part of the process it’s
important to determine
stakeholder information
needs and define the most
appropriate communication
approach.
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29. Talk to me…and listen
Consider the following when
planning your communication
process:
• Method of communication
• Frequency of communication
• Feedback requirements
• Distribution
• ROE – Rules of Engagement
• Principle lines of
communication
• Authorization to make
decisions
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30. Wrapping it up
Project managers are constantly juggling schedules, cost, and resources. Because of
the rapid, evolving nature of projects today, people will come and go on projects. This
webinar considered how to respond to resource shifts and mitigate the impact of changing
roles and people through establishing culture in your project.
 Cost of failure of projects
 Revolving door…reality of today’s project stakeholder
 Creating culture in your project
 Leadership & charisma: What you do matters
 Process & templates: The tools you use helps
 Communicatingearly & often: How you go about it
Questions???
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31. Thank you!
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed, LPC, PMP
asigmon@systemation.com
Twitter @alisonsigmon
www.slideshare.net/ahsigmon
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