If you are going to communicate the value of a project to the stakeholders, whether to the client, internally at the C-level or to the user community, you need to make sure that you are all speaking the same language. Terms and concepts must be universally understood if you ever hope to get everyone on the same page. Changing the language based on the audience may seem like a great idea but it only leads to misunderstanding and mistrust. I know it’s tempting to “dumb it down” for some audiences. Some friendly words of advice: Don’t do it. It is your responsibility as a key member of the project team to ensure that everyone understands the project goals and the roadmap and their place within the roadmap. If that means that you have to work a little harder at communicating and articulating, then know you’ll be the better for it in the long run. And, try to avoid using jargon and undefined acronyms, even if you think everyone will understand them. There’s nothing more embarrassing then opening a presentation with jargon only to have someone ask you an hour later during the Q&A session what the jargon term meant. What it means is you've just wasted an hour.

*You say tom-ay-to, I say tom-ah-to.

Jeff Lowell

If you missed it, click for the INTRO and here for #1 Change is Hard.  To easily see all of the current posts in contiguous reverse order (newest to oldest), click on the "10 Observations" link under the Categories heading in the sidebar on the right side of the page. Be sure to catch the next chapter: 2. Business is Organic.

I want to encourage everyone who reads this post to add comments (that tiny link at the very bottom of the post) and share their experiences as well. Oh, and please feel free to re-post and share (please use the buttons provided for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook).  If you're interested in doing a guest post or want to present an alternative view, contact me.

We all know the story: The project, which will undoubtedly be the greatest thing in the history of projects, and that has been kicking around for months (sometimes years), finally gets funding approval. The goals are laid out, the sponsor signs on, the project lead starts assembling the teams and the evangelizing begins. But, once the lucky beneficiaries of this wondrous new project get wind of its impending implementation, something starts to happen…slowly at first but then with great ferocity: Resistance. The truth is every successful project means that some things will change: Processes, systems, jobs, lives. While resistance needs to be dealt with, a little humanity goes a long way. Communication (big surprise) is key. But most important: Tone matters. You will always have die-hard resisters. Part of your job is to explain the benefits to the majority in a way that engages them; building trust and credibility…which will help ensure the success of the project. It may sound obvious, but it seems so easy to forget: The end-user is your customer. And, some of them realize that your appearance means the end of life as they know it. Treat them with respect and understand that some of them are frightened.  And remember, at this point in the project, you need them more then they need you. Of course there are other places, besides the user community, where resistance can come from. But that discussion is for another day.

Jeff Lowell

If you missed it, click for the INTRO.  To easily see all of the current posts in contiguous reverse order (newest to oldest), click on the "10 Observations" link under the Categories heading in the sidebar on the right side of the page. Be sure to catch the next chapter: 2. Parlez vous YSTIST?

I want to encourage everyone who reads this post to add comments (that tiny link at the very bottom of the post) and share their experiences as well. Oh, and please feel free to re-post and share (please use the buttons provided for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook).  If you're interested in doing a guest post or want to present an alternative view, contact me.

Hello and Welcome!

All of us in the IT and Project Management space see a lot of "stuff" on every project. We laugh about it, we cry about it, sometimes we even talk about it. There are always many lessons learned. Many times, these lessons are dutifully written down, distributed, agreed upon and then filed away only to become tomorrow's "Oh, yeah" moments. Well folks, I’m about to do it again. We all have our personal take on what's important and place different values on the lessons we learn from our experiences. I will be sharing some of mine.

While project management, as a practice, continues to become more formalized, structural issues that plagued us in the past have given way to a saner way of doing things. Methodologies such as CPM, CCPM, ECM and now Agile give us the tools we need to effectively manage tasks and resources. But, in spite of everyone's best efforts, "stuff" still happens.

Over the next few weeks, I will be publishing some of my observations regarding a recent, very large, complex IT and business transformation project. Maybe you've had similar experiences. Maybe not. Either way, if only one person gleans a little insight or contributes to the discussion, or most important, smiles because of something I write, then I have achieved my goal.

The titles of the upcoming posts are: 

1. Change is hard
2. Parlez vous YSTIST?
3. Business is organic
4. A true friend
5. The missing link
6. Time travel is in your future
7. “There’s a splinter in my email”
8. Be flexible...and stand your ground
9. The train (and re-train) is coming
10. It’s over…or is it? 

To easily see all of the current posts in contiguous reverse order (newest to oldest), click on the "10 Observations" link under the Categories heading in the sidebar on the right side of the page.

I want to encourage everyone who reads these posts to add comments (that tiny link at the very bottom of the page) and share their experiences as well. The point here is to look fondly upon the everyday things that happen during IT projects. The things that make us shake our heads but that are important nonetheless. Oh, and please feel free to re-post and share (please use the buttons provided for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook).  Hopefully other subjects to explore will emerge. I might even feature guest bloggers. Interested? Contact me.

Thanks!

Jeff Lowell